Fitness foundations-Greetings from Graz

“You have very good voices,” smiled the Arsenal manager as a pocket of fans ‘serenaded’ him with a raucous burst of ‘we believe in Arsène Wenger’ as he left the training pitch after the first session of the Austrian trip.

The Frenchman seemed in good spirits. This is, after all, one of the purest times of the football season for him. It is total preparation - no disturbance, no pressure. A time to ingrain good habits.

“Always look for quality,” shouted Wenger to his squad at one point. It kind of sums up his philosophy for this camp.

The Arsenal manager once said he came to Austria for ‘good food, good pitches and good weather’. Although perhaps he would not have wanted it quite as hot as this. It is reported to be around 37 degrees centigrade today and may reach 40 degrees nearer the weekend. It was sweltering just sitting on the sidelines so what they players are feeling I just don’t know.

The highlight of today’s session was Nicklas Bendtner’s rising, rasping shot past Jens Lehmann and into the top corner of the net from long range. That came in the middle section of the session. The first part was drills, the second setting up certain scenarios of play and the third was a practice game. There are likely to be two sessions per day except in the build-up to or warm down from a match.

This will be the foundation of the players’ fitness throughout the coming campaign.

Last night, we went down to watch Middlesbrough’s 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin at Bad Waltersdorf. Ex-Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere made his debut and had a decent first half. The English side fell behind five minutes before the break, however on the whistle Yakubu equalised from the spot. Fabio Rochembach and Berlin’s Pal Dardai saw red late on and Boro boss Gareth Southgate is set to lodge an appeal because the Brazilian’s ban could stretch into Premiership games. A lesson for Arsenal in their two friendlies to come.

Wenger will have seen the dismissals. He arrived midway through the second half. We know that because his presence was announced over the tannoy.

Arsenal’s arrival is pretty big news out here!

Greetings from Graz

Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com Editor, 17 July 2007, 11.14 AM.

Morning all. We safely arrived in Graz yesterday and made the short trip to the club’s training base high in the hills. The players have not arrived yet but there are still plenty of footballers around — Middlesbrough are staying in our hotel.

Gareth Southgate’s side have been in Austria for around 10 days and conclude their stay with a game against Hertha Berlin at Bad Waltersdorf this evening.

Managed to grab a quick chat with Jeremie Aliadiere. He is a veteran of these trips with Arsenal so it is kind of ironic that, within a month of completing his move, he finds himself back in this part of Austria.

It is not surprising that the local media are very interested in Emmanuel Pogatetz, Middlesbrough’s Austrian defender. But apparently Turkish television will also be here in numbers over the next few days. They’ll be covering Boro’s new signing, Tuncay, tonight and staying on for Arsenal’s game with Genclerbirligi on Thursday.

This is the sixth time Arsène Wenger has brought his team to Austria for pre-season. But then this is now a very popular area for football clubs in early training. Relatively local sides like Stuttgart, Hertha, Kaiserslauten have come again. But it is a bit more of a trek for West Ham, Lazio, Copenhagen, Real Madrid, Plymouth, Stoke and Hapoel Tel Aviv. All those teams will training here at some point this summer.

For Wenger’s side, the hard work starts in earnest tomorrow. I hope for the players' sake the temperature dips before then - it is roasting over here right now.

More tomorrow.

First-team training begins in Austria - exclusive pictures

On Wednesday morning the Arsenal squad took part in their first training session since arriving at their training camp in Austria.

Arsène Wenger's team kicked off their pre-season schedule at Barnet on Saturday and take on Genclerbirligi in another friendly on Thursday.

Club photographer Stuart MacFarlane is in Austria to capture all the action as Arsenal limber up ahead of the new campaign. Scroll down to see his latest pictures.

William Gallas arrives

Robin van Persie gets off the bus

The squad warms up in Austria

Travelling fans enjoy the view

Theo Walcott passes to Alex Song

Wenger gets his point across

New signing Bacary Sagna

The French defender in action

Sagna is put through his paces

Eduardo makes a run

The Croatian in possession

Diaby gets away from Denilson

Eboue is tracked by Bendtner

Flamini and Fabregas in opposition

Pictures:Barnet vs Arsenal on Saturday

The Arsenal team warm up

Wenger takes to the dug-out

Eduardo Da Silva waves to the crowd

Lukasz Fabianski makes his debut

Theo Walcott sprints away

Kolo Toure holds off Liam Hatch

Nacer Barazite shoots goalwards

Nacer turns to celebrate his goal

He is technically sound and tactically astute

The name Bacary Sagna was an unfamiliar one to the majority of Arsenal fans when the French defender was first linked with a move to Emirates Stadium.

With the 24-year-old now confirmed as Arsene Wenger's latest signing, we spoke to Philippe Auclair of L'Equipe for a French insight into Arsenal's newest recruit.

Read on to find out why Sagna has such a big reputation in his home country, why he can blossom under Wenger's guidance and why he can make the step up to Premiership football.

Philippe, when did you first hear of Bacary Sagna?

I heard about him quite a while ago because he has been a regular in the Auxerre team for a few years now. Sagna is a pure product of Auxerre and has been a one-club person. He's a little bit of a late starter because he only emerged when he was 21 but he has proved himself quickly in the team and is now a regular. He won the French Cup with Auxerre too.

How big is his reputation in France?

According to everyone in France Sagna was the best right back in Ligue 1 last season. He has been pre-selected for the France squad and no one would be surprised if he becomes a regular for the national side. Willy Sagnol is nearing the end of his career and Raymond Domenech will have his own ideas but I'm sure Sagna will be a part of the national team. At the moment he is perceived as the long-term replacement to Sagnol. France have a glut of attacking midfielders but there is less competition on the right-hand side.

What are his strengths as a footballer?

Strength is one of his strengths. He is very quick, technically sound, and tactically very astute too.

He is nominally a right back but which other positions can he play in?

Sagna is very dynamic and certainly he could play all along the defensive line even though he is not that tall. He is a fairly compact kind of player, even though he has played in central defence in the past. He played in his natural right-back position for Auxerre but you could even imagine him being moved forward into midfield. Arsene Wenger has a glut of right backs now. Perhaps Emmanuel Eboue will play more on the right side of midfield now with Sagna and Justin Hoyte battling it out for the full back spot. No wide player has been recruited yet which is quite intriguing.

How important was he to Auxerre?

Auxerre will miss him a great deal. They have lost two of their big, big players in Sagna and Younes Kaboul but Auxerre are used to this, they are like a super-Crewe Alexandra because they develop players and then see them move on. Sagna is not so young, he is 24, he has established himself.

How quickly do you think he will adapt to English football?

He will adapt quickly I think. He is very strong and won't find the physical side of English football a problem. He can cope with the speed of play and he is obviously technically adept because Arsene would never buy a player who wasn't.

Sagna has already worked with one excellent coach, Guy Roux. How can Arsene Wenger improve him?

I think what will improve him is the level of play. It's a big jump from Ligue 1 so Arsene can help Sagna raise his game to the level which is needed in the Premiership and the Champions League. He can certainly help Sagna improve his attacking play because Auxerre played quite a closed, compact game tactically. When Guy Roux was in charge they adopted a very disciplined tactical approach. Now he is at Arsenal, Sagna will learn how to 'play' rather than just be a professional defender.

So is he ready to make his mark at Emirates Stadium?

I think he is ready. He might not play 50 games in his first season but he is very promising and everyone who has followed Sagna's career thinks he is the best right back in France.

Friendly:Barnet vs Arsenal on Saturday, July 14, 2007, 3pm

Goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Nacer Barazite helped Arsenal to a comfortable 2-0 victory at Barnet on Saturday as Arsène Wenger’s side got their pre-season campaign underway.

The Emirates Stadium side controlled the game virtually from start to finish and were buoyed by goals in each half. Adebayor screwed home a shot in the 18th minute and Barazite completed the scoring just past the hour with a thunderbolt from distance.

Denilson was stretchered off in pain just before the goal but later his injury was reported to be minor.

Otherwise this was the most satisfying - and friendly - of friendlies.

Arsenal named a relatively strong side for this now traditional game against the side who play host to the Club’s Reserve fixtures. In fact, Wenger’s starting XI would not have looked out of place in the Carling Cup or even FA Cup. Kolo Toure captained the team and the front pairing, fit-again Robin van Persie and Adebayor, may well be employed when Fulham visit Emirates Stadium on August 12. Alex Song was given a run out at centre back and 17-year-old Mark Randall started on the left side of midfield.

New signing Eduardo was present but only in the stands. Debutants Havard Nordveit and Lukasz Fabianksi were named on the bench. There was also a first run-out for the new white away kit.

Barnet included a couple of former Arsenal professionals in their line-up — Nicky Nicolau and Adam Birchall. The Bees also named Dr Richard Evans on the bench. The doctor, in his “late 40s” and from Wembley, had paid £10,000 for the privilege of coming on during that latter stages of the game.

Crowd congestion meant there was a five-minute delay to the kick-off. It did nothing to dampen the party atmosphere however the opening stages were high on intensity yet low on chances.

Jason Puncheon looked dangerous cutting in from the Barnet left and Robin van Persie fired in a couple of pot-shots. Adebayor got the glimpse of an opening only to be denied by Ismail Yakubu. That was the sum result of the first quarter-hour.

The opening goal arrived in the 18th minute. Van Persie surprised the Barnet defence with a low corner to Walcott at the near post. He clipped a cross to the far side where Adebayor hooked home a half-volley through a crowded area. On the balance of play it was hard on the home side.

Barnet had an excellent chance to equalise two minutes later when a cute header from Liam Hatch sent Puncheon clear in the left-hand channel. Almunia was out quickly to smother the shot.

The game was opening up. Van Persie’s right-wing free-kick was nodded on by Barnet striker Liam Hatch and a sliding Adebayor just failed to convert at the far post. Then, in the 25th minute, Walcott’s deep cross was met by the head of Van Persie. The ball beat the keeper, hit the bar and bounced down but, by then, the referee had blown for offside.

However, perhaps unsurprisingly in the first pre-season friendly, the pace could not be maintained. Before half time, Denilson let fly from distance and Gael Clichy charged down a clearance from keeper Lee Harrison only for the ball to trickle wide.

Barnet were nearly rewarded for a half of genuine endeavour when Hatch poked a shot goalwards as Song and Almunia dithered. Again the chance came to nothing.

Arsenal made six changes at the break and Barnet made five. Often wholesale changes unsettle a game however in this instance they seemed to improve it. Walcott made one penetrative run in the opening minutes then Kieron Gibbs flicked wide from Adebayor’s knock back.

In the 53rd minute, Flamini clipped a perceptive ball to the Togolese striker on the edge of the area. He had plenty of time and the ball was sitting up nicely, however he dragged his shot wide.

A couple of minutes later, Denilson came off worse in a challenge with Puncheon and, after lengthy treatment, was stretchered off. Henri Lansbury replaced him. Later, it was announced over the tannoy that the injury was not serious.

Arsenal were now looking to seal the victory. Adebayor failed to connect with an inviting cross from Walcott then, in the 66th minute, Barazite doubled the advantage with a rocket shot into the far corner of the net.

There seemed little danger when the former Dutch youth international collected the ball in the right-hand channel. But his fierce drive flew into the net, leaving Harrison helpless.

The goal killed the game as a contest. Traore arrowed a shot towards the top corner but substitute keeper Dave Blackmore palmed the ball aside. In the dying minutes, the dangerous Puncheon whistled a rising drive past the angle of post and bar.

Dr Evans made his appearance late on, much to the amusement of the crowd. He seemed to enjoy his moment - as did the crowd of 5,091.