So if you’re anything like me, you’ll have just finished recovering after staying up for the final game of Arsenal’s pre-season tour out in America.
The boys may well have made us stick around until the early hours of the morning, but they repaid that sacrifice with two impressive performances to walk away victorious.
Arsene Wenger’s side picked up five goals and conceded two during their time in the States, whilst key members of the squad got a much-needed run out in the sweltering heat.
It may have seemed like the week flew by, but during the two win’s over MLS Allstars and Chivas, we’ve managed to pick up some interesting points ahead of the new season.
We’ve taken a look back at the action and picked out some moments that could be pivotal to the upcoming year and more importantly, influence Wenger’s decisions in the transfer market.
1 – Theo’s Not At The Races
This won’t come as a surprise to many of you, but Walcott just isn’t pushing the right buttons at the moment and his place in the first team is in jeopardy.
With the injury to Danny Welbeck and the fact that Olivier Giroud will miss the start of the season, this was Walcott’s chance to show he’s still capable of leading the attack.
But instead of coming out and proving his critics wrong, the 26-year-old has picked up the mediocre form that he finished last season with, and once again the youngsters are embarrassing him.
After Alex Iwobi took over as the first-choice right-winger, fellow academy graduate Chuba Akpom has managed to humiliate Walcott in the space of a week.
The youngster bagged a goal in two consecutive games, and despite them being tap-ins his play off the ball seemed to be so much more demanding and in control.
And if we wanted some good news on an incoming striker, then Walcott’s bad form could well be the justification Wenger needs to go out and buy a top quality forward.
I understand it’s only pre-season, but after missing out on a place in England’s squad for the Euro’s you’d expect Walcott to drive on and rediscover the form that earned him a contract extension in 2014.
Instead, we’ve got the very realistic chance of lining up with a winger who is lacking confidence as our centre forward on the opening day against Liverpool.
Take Walcott out of the picture for a striker and all of a sudden he’s back in contention for a place on the right-wing, but what makes him the first choice there?
The impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain has already been promised a big season from the boss, whilst Alex Iwobi and Joel Campbell have done the job when expected to fill in on the flanks.
As long as Wenger is at the club, Walcott will remain an Arsenal player so don’t expect him to get sold this summer, he remains a massive part of the British core and in Wenger’s eyes is a perfect attacker.
However, this recent form speaks volumes for what we can expect from Walcott, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Wenger upping his activity with the countdown to find a striker well and truly on.