After a stalemate on a cold dreary night up north we ended a losing run of three games in the league and almost immediately the daggers are out again for certain players, and as always, the manager.

It’s very easy to get angry in the aftermath of disappointment and failure, and since last night there’s been a hefty amount of vitriol doing the rounds. After some time to digest the game and it’s implications, I’ve decided to try something different with this post and turn the attention away from the team and put it on the people who really make the club: us.

Generations before Arsene Wenger arrived at Highbury and long after his succeeder departs the Emirates, the one constant throughout will be the fans. Without them, Arsenal–or any club for that matter–wouldn’t exist.

So what’s our role in the perverted story that Arsenal Football Club has become? To support? To buy merchandise? To turn up in our free time and jeer when things don’t go how we want them to?

While free speech is a notion that should always be advocated, especially if you’re paying one of the footballing world’s most expensive season ticket prices, there’s no reason why a bit of common sense and empathy can’t help someone bite their tongue.

Yet there was a twisted orchestra of boos as Arshavin replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain during the Manchester United game.

It’s debatable whether the ire was aimed at him or at Wenger’s decision to remove the impressive Chamberlain. What’s not in doubt is the where the jeers were directed at the Villa game before the match had even started as Arshavin’s name was called on the tannoy.

As Chamberlain left the field in the United match, it was obvious that the crowd were displeased at his removal. Players aren’t thick and of course he would have received their displeasure as a sign that he was having a good game and that probably made him feel pretty good about his own performance.

But it’s likely that anyone booing at his replacement didn’t stop to think what their actions might mean in the long term. Maybe that night when Chamberlain ran the game back through his head, a few thoughts crossed his mind. With the footballing world at his feet, this kid’s going to accumulate a lot of England caps and one day might set a major international tournament alight much like the vodka bottle-sized Russian did during Euro 2008 before we signed him.

Perhaps Chamberlain contemplated what would happen if he hit a bad patch, stopped scoring and started making mistakes. Are the same fans that lamented his removal last week  then going to be volleying insults at him as he leaves the field, only for him to arrive home to find death threats sent via Twitter just like Aaron Ramsey was subject to after the Swansea and Bolton games?

There was a lot of love for Andrey after he single handedly stopped Liverpool with four goals all those years ago. But not any more.

And all of a  sudden Arsenal doesn’t seem like a nice place to be playing the game at these days.

Over Christmas I was back home in London and my Dad gave me his ticket for the Wolves match. A draw and a flat performance was soundtracked by the worst experience I’ve ever had at a home game. Around my seat nobody was happy. Singing was only instigated by a pocket of die hard Gooners who are probably so afflicted with love for the club they go to reserve away games. Around me there  was only slagging off and moaning. It wasn’t fun.

While it’s a basic human right to be in a society where free speech is allowed in any form, whether it be booing, singing songs about an opponent player’s dad washing elephants, or even the freedom to enjoy the game in silence, surely it’s better to use that privilege not to spout hate at something we’re supposed to love.

Dennis liked Arsenal and trophies in equal measure.

In 2004 Dennis Bergkamp gave an interview recounting Arsenal’s title ambitions midway through the season. We had just lost two games in a row–games which saw us exit the Champions League and FA Cup–and suddenly our title bid was looking wobbly. The next game we went in at half time at Highbury losing 2-1 to Liverpool.

We won the game 4-2 and I’ll never forget Henry scoring a goal after a run so mazy Carragher fell over and headbutt Biscan in the crown jewels. Dennis doesn’t mention anything like that in his interview but he does recall, “It was a little difficult at first but the atmosphere and the fans were just fantastic.”

Despite the comeback last week when we were 2-0 down to Villa at half time there was no such sentiment. Nope, just booing.

Bergkamp also once said, “I really like Arsenal. But you, do you really like Arsenal? Or just with trophies?”

Now is a time we should all be asking each other the same thing.

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**For the record I’m not asking anyone to remain silent and just accept things the way they are. Constructive criticism is a separate notion and something to be used to encourage us to continually want to improve–Arsene might claim to have poor vision whenever something controversial happens on the pitch but there’s been no instances of him being hard of hearing.

And of course it goes without saying, none of this is intended to reflect the actions and views of all Arsenal fans, only those who took part in the mentioned incidences.

What a wonderful weekend for Arsenal.

A 1-0 victory over Everton, made possible by a wonder-goal from our club captain; losses to league leaders Manchester City and those lads at Tottenham; and the unveiling of three glorious statues outside Emirates Stadium marked the 125th anniversary for the club that we all love.

All the good vibes prompted me to make four conclusions on a variety of topics that surrounded the anniversary celebrations.

Robin van Persie has enjoyed the year of his career

It is no surprise but it bears repeating: Robin van Persie has had the standout year of his footballing career. 33 goals in the Premier League in 2011, one more than Thierry Henry ever managed, and he is just three away from Alan Shearer’s all-time record of 36.

But amazingly for a player like van Persie it has not been about the goals. It has never been about the goals. His transformation from an experienced, talented but oft-unavailable player to the figure-head of this Arsenal squad has been remarkable. He has taken on the captaincy with determination and fostered a team spirit that values grit and heart as much as it does fluid football.

In every possible footballing aspect that you can consider he has been exemplary. To mark our 125th anniversary with a goal of such superb technical quality as to honour Arsene Wenger’s philosophy, to secure a 1-0 win that winks knowingly at the teams of the past, from the man who now holds the mantle as club captain, was absolutely sensational.

Lack of recent success has changed the attitude of incoming players

It occurred to me recently that our recent lack of success — in trophy form, of course — may well be responsible for a positive change in attitude of the players who have broken into the team over the past seasons. A few years ago Arsenal was a place constantly on the brink of winning trophies — an atmosphere that perhaps attracted the Samir Nasris and Emmanuel Adebayors of the world — players who expect success but perhaps do not possess the character to do the hard yards to make it happen.

As things currently stand Arsenal are not a club a prospective player would look at as likely to dominate the European footballing scene, we simply do not have the money-power. So when new players arrive — I’m thinking the Koscielnys, Mertesackers and Artetas — they know Arsenal’s current standing in the game and what it will take to achieve success. They’re also not disheartened by the apparent downward fall we have taken over the past six years, but looking up at where this club could be in the next three years.

This subtle change in attitude, combined with the English core of young players that are emerging, could see us develop into a far more mentally-strong team than we have previously been perceived.

Playing four centre-backs gave us surprising balance

While it should be mentioned Everton showed very little attacking intent the fact is that they were afforded very little opportunity by a back four that featured no full-backs. Koscielny and Mertesacker played through the middle, meaning Thomas Vermaelen shuffled to the left and Johan Djourou playing on the right. With injuries to Gibbs, Sagna, Jenkinson and Santos’ long-term absence confirmed — he’ll be missing for three months with ankle ligament damage — it is a line-up we will need to get used to.

Surprisingly though, it gave the side a lot of balance as Gervinho and Theo Walcott were able to bomb forward at will knowing they would always be covered in the event of a mistake. Vermaelen used the extra space afforded to him to hurt Everton with some raking cross-field passes while Djourou’s understandable lack of ambition was taken advantage of by Alex Song, who scuttled forward late on to set up van Persie with a brilliant pass for the winning goal.

Nine points is not a chasm

After having dug ourselves out of a massive early-season hole and still only sitting fifth on the table, two points behind Spurs, any Arsenal supporter could be forgiven for settling for a place in the top four come the end of the season. But with the top five now crowding into a tighter space and results between the five sides proving to be as unpredictable as Gervinho’s dribbling, is it unrealistic not to hold some hope that our team could finish top of the pile at the end of the season?

A top four place is still no certainty, make no mistake about it, but a win over Manchester City next weekend would make things delightfully poised. We probably do not have the experience within this group of players to win the league but as our improvement clearly indicates, we are a team on the up that has the potential to be better.

Thierry Henry as our next manager would be sensational

I have been of the opinion for perhaps two or three years that the man who will succeed Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager will be Thierry Henry. I don’t really know why this is the case, it’s probably a combination of what he has done for our club, the esteem with which he is held by the Arsenal faithful and the comment that Wenger once made that ‘nobody knows more about football than Thierry’. And now he has been immortalised alongside Herbert Chapman and Tony Adams as one of the three statues to be put up outside Emirates Stadium.

He lives and breathes football, he is an intelligent, charismatic man who understands the game, knows our philosophy inside and out and understands our club’s history. Not to mention the fact that he could bring in the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires and form a management team that would get every Arsenal fan quivering with excitement.

It might be a little idealistic but I’d love to see Henry as our next manager.

Happy 125th anniversary celebrations to all. Let me know what you thought of it all by leaving a comment.

This has been the strangest Arsenal season for as long as I can remember, for a number of reasons.

First came all the changes in the off-season. Fabregas, Nasri, Eboue, Bendtner, Clichy, Denilson, Traore out (have I missed anyone?); Gervinho, Jenkinson, Arteta, Mertesacker, Santos, Benayoun, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Park in.

The revolving doors were spinning like never before at the Arsenal and all the chopping and changing hurt us badly at the start of the season. What was our worst start in 20 years became our worst in 30, 40 and then 50 years as we languished as low as 17th, recording a negative goal-difference for the first time in our history in the Premier League.

A woeful run of results was topped off with the poison cherry that was our 8-2 defeat to Manchester United, a farce of performance that was sandwiched between Fabregas and Nasri’s exits and the arrival of our super quintet of new superstars.

Our new players took time to settle and consistency was hard to find, a 4-3 defeat to Blackburn summed up our struggle to recover, and a fourth place finish looked, for some time, an impossibility.

On a personal level Arsenal’s rollercoaster start to the season was given an extra loop-the-loop by my move back from Berlin to Australia and a level of work commitment that has meant I’ve missed my fair share of games this season — around five or six — something that my year-ago self would have deemed as unlikely and perhaps even unacceptable.

I may not have written much but nevertheless I have seen enough to be positively thrilled with the way Arsené Wenger and his new-look team has turned things around.

It is no secret that Wenger has adopted a new style of play this season, based more around lighting-pace up front then tippy-tappy possession football. Nasri has been replaced by the pacey and unpredictable Gervinho, a player that causes his fair share of trouble even on a bad day, while Theo Walcott’s continued improvement has seen him emerge as an effective player down the right.

The pair have worked delightfully with the incomparable Robin van Persie, their cohesion helping to push the Dutchman into the record books with a string of goal-scoring performances. He has been absolutely superb, our new captain, but without the support from his two wingers the goals would not be flowing as freely as they are.

Any fears that Gervinho’s absence during the African Cup of Nations could prove decisive have been alleviated by the emergence of the brave, cock-sure Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wenger has set The Ox free in fits and starts this season but the intent is surely there to have him prepared to play a starring role when Gervinho is unvailable.

In midfield Wilshere’s unfortunate injury added stress to Cesc’s unfortunate exit, but Alex Song, Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey have formed an excellent midfield triangle that has improved with each performance.

Song’s development into a midfield beast is almost complete — I wouldn’t trade him for any other defensive-midfielder in the country — while Arteta’s terrific technique has allowed him to become the unspectacular cog that has freed up Aaron Ramsay. The Welsh captain, who has recovered delightfully from his broken leg, has taken on the role of our most creative midfielder, combining excellent passing with a happy knack for pushing into the opposition box at the right time.

The biggest changes have come at the back though, where the arrivals of Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson have been mixed with the return of Thomas Vermaelen and shaken and stirred with injuries to Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna. It has meant oodles of different back-four combinations but nevertheless the result have been clear: a solid and steady improvement in function, cohesion and above all, goals conceded as the season has moved forward.

Vermaelen’s return has lifted the heart of every Arsenal supporter — he is a player that nobody, not even opponents, could possibly dislike — lion-hearted, brave and committed. He is a leader and the impact of his presence at the back cannot be understated.

But the supporting cast have chipped in ably too. Koscielny has developed into a superb tackling defender, combining excellent anticipation with a new-found sense of positioning while Mertesacker, who has been criticised for being too slow and reactionary, has actually been rather good. The German is a calm, organised presence at the back and his influence on the back four as a unit has outweighed his occasional lapses in one-on-one situations.

An injury to Andre Santos picked up mid-week in Greece will provide a new challenge four our versatile defenders. Vermaelen will likely slip into left back, Koscielny and Mertesacker will play through the middle and Johan Djourou, who has been understandingly unpredictable in his fractured appearances, will slot in on the right.

For the next couple of games it seems we will playing with four centre-backs across the back four, an amazing situation. But I daresay no Arsenal fans will be too concerned: this group of players have come a long way and, for the first time since the arrival of our transfer deadline day quintet, look and play like a real unit.

It has undoubtedly helped to have a goalkeeper with the quality and temperament of that man Wojciech Szczesny behind them. It is hard to believe that this time last season he was only the fourth-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal. Now he is our undisputed Number One, as important a player to us as van Persie and Vermaelen with the way that he commands his penalty area, takes the pressure of his defenders and bounces back immediately from mistakes.

I believe this group of players, and in particular our wonderful manager, deserve huge congratulations for the way they have recovered from the poor start, banded together, and produced such an excellent run of results. From hovering above the relegation places to fifth place, just two points off Chelsea in fourth, is an astonishing turnaround from the shenanigans that plagued the opening month of the season.

Not to mention our qualification as group leaders in the Champions League, a competition that may yet open up kindly for us with the exits of Manchester United and City (heh).

So I encourage you to pause for a moment, appreciate what our team has done, and enjoy what is yet to come.

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With Thomas Vermaelen set to return in some measure in the Carling Cup this evening, either from the start or off the bench, it will pose a rather welcome selection problem for Arsene Wenger.

The question is: how should he handle it?

Will it be Per Mertesacker who drops out or Laurent Koscielny? Or will Vermaelen return to cover the left side of the back four, a position he takes up as the captain of Belgium?

For my money Koscielny is the form defender in our back-four and, given our recent performances, is probably undroppable right now.

Additionally, Mertesacker’s height is beginning to show — he handled Crouch with some aplomb on the weekend — and a return to a Koscielny-Vermaelen could see a return to an old problem that we now seem to have solved.

So should Vermaelen play on the left? Does it make the most sense?

Rather than give you a definitive answer — an opinion which might come out in the comments if the discussion goes far enough — I’d love to hear your opinion.

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Jack Wilshere: out for two to three months.

Thomas Vermaelen: out for two months.

My reaction: siiiiiiigh.

Vermaelen is out for two months

It’s hard to keep a smile for more than a few days around here, isn’t it? We get thumped by Manchester United, respond with some of our most spontaneous and exciting transfer business in many a season, and now this!?

If this weekend’s match against Swansea marks the real start of our season — the first game since Wenger’s transfer splurge — it is a real shame that we will be about this pair. But it should not stop us getting three points against a promoted team that is destined to struggle through this season.

The bigger issue is how badly Wilshere and Vermaelen’s absence will hurt us over the next couple of months.

Following the exits of Fabregas and Nasri it is safe to say that Wilshere and Vermaelen’s importance is as high as it has ever been. Along with Robin van Persie and Bacary Sagna they are our two best and most consistent performers, as well as two of our best distributors of the football.

The biggest problem I see is that Vermaelen’s absence will slow the integration of new signings Per Mertesacker and André Santos. With two new defenders set to be thrown straight into the starting team, it could cause more of a disruption than we would ideally prefer.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger has a word to Mertesacker and puts him in charge of matters at the back. He will undoubtedly be paired with Laurent Koscielny at the back and in my opinion the pair have huge potential. While Koscielny might have been at Arsenal for a season longer it will fall on Mertesacker to use his experience to take control to make it work.

Further forward Wilshere’s potential three-month absence robs us of the unique energy and heart that only he can provide. My view is that Wenger will opt for a midfield three of Song, Ramsey and Arteta but I fear they may be a little bit too one-paced. In my mind there is nobody to move the tempo up a notch and that could be problematic in the bigger games.

The best way to alleviate any concerns with pace in the midfield trio is by ensuring we have as much pace as possible on the flanks and by encouraging new signing André Santos to attack as much as possible. This would give us an air of unpredictability out wide, solidity and technical quality in the middle of the pitch and offer the best way to cope with the losses of Vermaelen and Wilshere.

Let me know what you think.

* * *

LAST REMINDER: Pelé Sports Australia Competition — win free stuff!

Last Friday I launched a competition to win shorts, shoes and shirt with Pelé Sports Australia. That competition will be open until Thursday the 8th of September at 11.59pm. In other words, ONE MORE DAY.

One crucial thing I forgot to mention is that the competition is only open to my AUSTRALIAN READERS and those people residing in Australia. I’m really very sorry to those of you who entered the competition earlier who do not fit into this demographic, it was a complete oversight on my part.

To enter all you have to do is either:

1. Follow Pelé Sports Australia (@PeleSportsAu) on Twitter and post an @reply with the answer to the question: “Which new Arsenal signing will have the biggest impact and why?”
2. Become a Fan of Pelé Sports Australia on Facebook and post on their wall the answer to the same question: “Which new Arsenal signing will have the biggest impact and why?

The best 3 responses will win one of the 3 items shown above.

You can do also enter both the Twitter and Facebook competitions and it will give you a better chance of winning the t-shirt, shorts and shoes that Pelé Sports Australia have kindly offered me to give away.

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Arsenal have the welcome distraction of the Champions League coming up after back to back defeats against Liverpool and Manchester United in the league. A flurry on the last day of the transfer window saw Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta join the Gunners, and the quartet will hope to boost the side’s chances of progression. Marseille, Olympiakos and Borussia Dortmund comprise a tricky group for Arsene Wenger’s men, with a strong European campaign the perfect tonic to a slow domestic start.

German champions Dortmund are first up for the Emirates club, with Jurgen Klopp’s team travelling to London on September 13th. The side from from Signal Iduna Park blitzed the Bundesliga in 2010-11, winning their first top flight campaign in ten years at a canter. Borussia have a young side, with the majority of the first team under 25 years of age, which could be dangerous due to their exuberance, but a lack of experience may give the Gunners the edge.

Die Borussen lost key playmaker Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid over the summer, but 19-year-old sensation Mario Goetze has risen to fill the shoes of the departing Turk, with fantastic performances for club and country. The Germans have two excellent centre halves in the form of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic, and the guile and attacking threat of Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios will be a real threat to Wenger’s vulnerable backline.

Olympiakos topped the Greek Super League last term to win their 38th top flight title and will pose a difficult challenge for the English side. Spanish manager Ernesto Valverde has brought in a number of player’s from La Liga, including attacking midfielder Ariel Ibagaza and ex-Liverpool winger Albert Riera, and the eastern European outfit will look to attack Arsenal, especially at the Karaiskakis Stadium.

Marseille relinquished their Ligue 1 title in 2010-11, finishing second to Lille in the French top flight, but Didier Deschamps’ outfit are a well-tuned and strong side. The Stade Velodrome team have built on an already excellent squad this summer, with the addition of France international midfielder Alou Diarra and talented Morgan Amalfitano making Les Phoceens a tough opponent.

The French team have made their home ground a tricky place to visit, and beat Chelsea in the competition last term, disappointing the Stamford Bridge fans as they returned from their trip abroad empty handed. Despite this, Marseille have started slowly in Ligue 1 in 2011-12, picking up only three points from their first four games and, like Arsenal, will look to make amends for a slow season start with a strong European campaign.

Making it through the group is the minimum that Arsenal fans should demand and expect, but it will not be an easy accomplishment for Wenger’s men. Additional new faces are needed at the Emirates to ensure that the squad can be competitive on two fronts, and the home games are must wins. The good work in the win over Udinese in the qualifiers must not be thrown away, as Arsenal look to put their doubters behind them with a productive Champions League campaign.

Gareth McKnight writes for Soccerlens.com.икони

Everybody wanted action. Everybody wanted changes. Fresh faces to get excited about, to plug the gaping holes in a squad that looked nowhere near challenging for the title.

But surely NOBODY expected this:

Five signings in two days. Mental.

From left to right we’ve got André Santos, a stereotypically attacking Brazilian left-back signed from Fenerbahce; Mikel Arteta, an experienced, reliable Spanish central midfielder signed from Everton; Per Mertesacker, a 6’6 German giant of a central defender signed from Werder Bremen; Yossi Benayoun, a superbly-gifted Israeli attacking midfielder signed on loan from Chelsea and; Chu Young-Park, a hard-working, experienced South Korean striker signed from Monaco.

Each and every one of the signings brings superb value to the squad. Let’s take a look at how they will do so.

André Santos

We lost Gaël Clichy early in the transfer window to Manchester City and with Armand Traore following suit with a recent move to QPR, that left us with just the injured Kieran Gibbs as an established left-back. Gibbs is someone I rate highly despite his fragility but at 28 years of age and with plenty of international experience we have a player that, on paper, appears to eclipse the young Englishman. One thing that was always lacking with Clichy was a genuine attacking contribution from deep positions and in Santos we have a player that looks capable of providing this.

I expect Santos to slot straight into the starting line-up and his presence should both improve our side and take some much-needed pressure off Gibbs.

Mikel Arteta

Arteta is another player that I expect to move straight into the starting line-up and injuries aside, he should stay there for most of the season. The Spaniard has bags of Premier League experience and will provide a calm presence in midfield alongside the likes of Jack Wilshere, Alex Song and Aaron Ramsey. He has demonstrated his excellent technical skills, including an ability to wreak havoc from set-pieces and will undoubtedly improve our midfield.

Arteta is a versatile player — he often played on the right-hand side of a midfield four for Everton — and is more defensively-responsible than your average midfielder. He has always been a player that I admire, containing the unique quality of consistently having tangible impacts on a game of football, and he will undoubtedly become both a fan (and squad) favourite within a short space of time.

Per Mertesacker

If Arteta is the signing with the biggest marquee feel then Mertesacker cannot be far behind. For years fans have been crying out for a big, strong, experienced central-defender and standing at 6’6 with 75 caps for Germany Mertesacker is a player that ticks these boxes.

One has to feel that like Santos and Arteta, Mertesacker will go straight into the starting team alongside Thomas Vermaelen. With the underrated Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou moving to third and fourth-choice we all of a sudden have great balance and quality in this area of the pitch.

Yossi Benayoun

Benayoun is arguably the strangest of the five signings but provides further strength in depth in the final third of the pitch. He is a player that divides opinion but I was always impressed with his ability to have an impact off the bench for Liverpool and I remember being puzzled as to why Rafa Benitez did not use him more frequently.

Unlike the previous three signings I do not expect Benayoun to be a regular starter but his professionalism, experience and the danger he provides from the bench could see him make a valuable contribution to the squad.

Chu Young-Park

It is hard to know what to expect from Park, given that he is a player that I know little about. On paper he looks promising: 53 caps for South Korea, not to mention the recent award of the captaincy and a decent scoring rate of 25 goals in 91 appearances over three seasons for struggling Monaco. Korean players tend to come with a never-say-die attitude and are extremely robust and reliable and if Park fulfills that criteria, he will endear himself to the fans and the rest of his teammates.

Our team (and squad) as it now stands

Arsene Wenger and the management team at Arsenal have copped a lot of flak over their pre-season actions — rightly so, too — but you’ve got to hand it to him here: these signings are just what the doctored ordered. Each are over 26, have experience at the highest level and will improve the quality and depth of our squad.

It does pose an interesting question: just what is our likely first eleven going to be? And when everybody is fit, how does our squad look on paper? Here’s how I see it:

All of a sudden things are looking up, don’t you think? The season really does start now.

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There’s a game on tonight but for some reason I am thinking about transfers.

Cesc is gone — for those that missed it — for an enormous sum of money.

Nasri is probably on his way too, to Manchester City, and that should only increase our transfer funds.

Is Tevez for Nasri actually as insane as it seems?

But how will it be spent? Splashed on two direct replacements or spread around on a three or four?

My preference would be two sign two direct replacements: Lille’s Eden Hazard and Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez. It might sound unlikely, improbable, perhaps even insane. But is it?

Lille have turned down offers for Hazard already due to their presence in the Champions League. But we’ve got Fabregas money and throwing a large portion on that in the French club’s direction could sway their minds.

Hazard has been billed as a star in the making for a while now and was sensational last season as Lille won the title. He is destined to play for a great club — Zinedine Zidane has previously recommended that Real Madrid sign him — and if we did sign him, it would also accelerate Gervinho’s integration at Arsenal.

Yes, he’s only 20 and yes, he’s only succeeded in the French League. But anybody who has watched this kid play will know he is one of a precious few that can run a game from the centre of the pitch, a quality that can be attributed to our outgoing captain.

As for Tevez, does it not make sense?

He wants out, City have just signed Kun Agüero as a replacement and we are light on numbers up top. He would bring star power, aggression and goals and might well cause the fans to stop their panicking.

We’ve essentially replaced Nasri already with Gervinho and could do with a player higher up on the pitch. He might not be the smartest bloke in the world but a big of ruggedness would do wonders for our pressing game and bring out the best in our other attackers.

I rarely focus on transfer speculation but these are exceptional circumstances.

So what do you think? Would these two signings restore your faith? Are they even possible? Or am I just some sort of dreamer who needs to get my head out of the clouds?

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So much has gone on in the past few days it defies belief.

Our boys started the season with a respectable 0-0 draw at St James’s Park, Gervinho got red-carded on his debut for slapping Joey Barton, Alex Song looks set to join him in the naughty room after his stamp on the same man was charged for a stamp on Newcastle’s favourite philosophical criminal.

Koscielny and Co were flawless against Newcastle

Oh, and in the aftermath, Cesc Fabregas finally left for Barcelona.

Rather than getting distracted by the fireworks I have been far more focused on assessing our actual performance on opening day and in particular, how very different this team looked from last season.

For starters, there were the set pieces.

Just how cool did our new zonal marking system look? After years of benevolence it was refreshing to see some serious mental energy expended on this area of our game.

In a defensive sense we were almost flawless against Newcastle, a fact that was lost on a lot of people who were quick to make note of a lack of creativity in the final third.

One person who did not fail to notice it was last season’s most consistent defender, Bacary Sagna, who made the following comment which was lost between Barton’s tweets and Fabregas kissing the Barcelona badge.

“I think it was very important to start the season with this kind of game. We were very consistent throughout and I think we were all defensively aware, from the forward players to the back four.”

It might be early doors but this sort of comment suggests that this season’s team is one that Wenger wants to build from the back. What a refreshing change that would be.

For all the talk of a central defender being a must Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny were absolutely superb. They are two players who can concentrate for 90 minutes and it might make all the difference.

Wenger has a task to fill the enormous creative hole that Cesc and (probably) Nasri’s departures will leave. But a lack of creativity and star power may force us to be even more defensively-aware and team-focused, something that Sagna’s comments suggest has been a major focus in the off-season.

Either way, by choice and by chance, we look a very different Arsenal.

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With Ivory Coast forward Gervinho the only big name addition to the Arsenal squad so far this summer, Arsene Wenger will try to blood young talent in 2011-12 and give the superstars of tomorrow their chance today. As the mercurial Frenchman has done so many times before, relatively untested youngsters with the right levels of ability and potential will be given an Arsenal jersey when ready. Jack Wilshere was the emerging talent this time last year, and the 19-year-old is now a mainstay in the Gunners starting XI; the following are looking to follow in the England man’s footsteps and turn promise into performance.

Ryo Miyaichi

Fresh from a loan spell at Feyenoord, the 18-year-old Japanese winger has showcased pace, skill and quality thus-far in his short time in Europe, and could be set for inclusion in Wenger’s first team squad. Following on from 12 games for the Dutch club, local media have nicknamed the Aichi born man ‘Ryodinho’, comparing him with Ronaldinho.

In reality the Asian wideman is more akin in playing style to Theo Walcott, with pace to burn and trickery that could stump Premier League full backs this term. Miyaichi has been included in the side’s pre-season tour to his home continent, and impressed in his first appearance for the club against a Malaysia XI. With boundless energy, and the ability to change a game, if Wenger does decide to keep the Japan under-19 man at the club rather than to send him out on loan again, a role as an impact sub initially may be fitting for the promising winger.

Henri Lansbury

A product of the Arsenal youth system, the England under-21 international has got a taste of senior football with loan spells at Scunthorpe, Watford and Norwich, and may not feature in his manager’s plans in 2011-12. With the potential departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, it will be up to the likes of Lansbury and Aaron Ramsey to plug the gap left by their skipper, and learn quickly in a competitive environment.

The Enfield born midfielder has an eye for an Arsenal-esque through ball, and creativity that surpass his age (20) and the willingness to go from box to box – like Fabregas. He has shown that he can do the business at Championship level, and now is ready for Premier League football, whether with Arsenal or in a loan move back to Norwich.

Carl Jenkinson

Signed for a fee of £1 million from Charlton in the summer, the 19-year-old promises versatility and physicality for the Arsenal first team defence, and could be deployed at right-back or centre back. Despite only playing a handful of games for his former club, the defender’s ability was there for all to see, and the Emirates side beat a number of Premier League rivals to his signature.

Jenkinson qualifies for Finland and England due to duel-nationality, and will look to play under-21 football in 2011-12. Regardless of a spectacular own goal in a recent friendly against FC Koln, the tall defender has impressed in pre-season, and will give Wenger an option if Bacary Sagna is not available.

Expect this trio to feature in the Emirates first team at some point this campaign, as Monsieur Wenger looks to nurture the emerging talent at the club.

Gareth McKnight writes for Soccerlens.com.