Francis Coquelin is another player who is surely likely to start tomorrow. He came on at Wigan with about 12 minutes to play and some of his give and go’s at the end made me wonder about how he would blend in with the rest of the first team given a run of games. He and Emmanuel Frimpong won

Good evening,

Arsenal have a big game tomorrow, a game that could shape our season. Fail to win and we could be out of… Oh I apologise that would be the rest of the English clubs. We in fact have a dead rubber match against Olympiacos in Athens because we have already qualified as group winners. I do like the sound of that I must say and it is something that we are not used to.

It is part of the Arsenal DNA to have to do things the hard way so it is pleasing to put the feet up have a cuppa hot chocolate and watch the game cool as a cucumber, instead of the edge of the seat stuff that we all take part in on a weekly basis.

Most of the players who started at Wigan will also be taking part in the feet up, hot chocolate shenanigans, but Tommy V and Santos have joined the group for hopefully a bit of sight seeing but nothing more. Not exactly why we have made them travel when resting would have been beneficial. I guess Vermaelen has missed a chunk of the season so far so he shouldn’t be as cream crackered as some of the rest.

As far as Arsenal are concerned, this game is a friendly to us. It means nothing but pride so risking key players would be unnecessary but it is a good time to give fringe players and younger players the needed playing time.

Experienced players such as Chamakh, Park, Arshavin and Benayoun will all get playing time and rightly so, but it is the younger players that I am most intrigued about.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has left Gooners wanting to see a little more every time he pulls on the red and white of Arsenal. Even watching a training video for the England under 21s left me licking my Gooner lips at the prospect of a fully developed Chamberlain strutting his stuff for Arsenal.

It was only shooting practice but the technique and power in both feet is a gift not dished out to everyone. We saw an example of that against Manchester City last week. The back lift was virtually invisible yet on his weaker side he powered a strike high towards the top corner which the City keeper had to deal with.

Francis Coquelin is another player who is surely likely to start tomorrow. He came on at Wigan with about 12 minutes to play and some of his give and go’s at the end made me wonder about how he would blend in with the rest of the first team given a run of games. He and Emmanuel Frimpong won the midfield battle against big spending Manchester City and have already shown that they can play at a high level.

With the January transfer window on the horizon, you can expect a few of the youngsters to head out on loan to gain valuable playing time.

When you think about it, Arsene Wenger’s work this summer has been rather interesting. The likes of Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos and Gervinho have come into the squad and have made an instant impact. They along with Per Mertesacker have hit the ground running and are now very important to this squad.

Those players mentioned tend to be the players spoken about and highlighted while the younger players are overlooked. I doubt that Alex Chamberlain would have received as much fuss from the press had he owned a different passport.

Arsene Wenger is often mocked for the use of the ‘killing young players’ phrase but rarely is that explored any further. Our goalkeeping situation is a perfect example. Many people were crying out for Arsene Wenger to sign Mark Schwarzer all this with our current incumbent in the final stages of his contract, itching for first team football. Szczesny publicly expressed his concern and you cannot rule out a move elsewhere had Wenger signed Schwarzer to replace Almunia.

You could argue that two of Arsene Wenger’s best players over the last 5 years have been Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, you are not going to find many people who would disagree with that yet it was our youth policy that attracted them to Arsenal and it was the development from the club that helped them fulfil their potential.

Arsenal FC are not going to be able to buy a 24 year old Cesc Fabregas or Robin van Persie you can be sure of that but it is possible at 16-18. Although most clubs around Europe are catching up and are even scouting our scouts.

Many youth players will not be able to develop enough to make the grade but a few with that something extra special will make the grade. Jack Wilshere had something special and you could see that from 16 years old. We made a potential world class internal signing by bringing him through to play at Anfield on the first day of last season.

With the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong and Ryo Miyaichi potentially moving away on loan and with Alex Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin pushing on perhaps we will see a few more internal world class signings making the grade in the next 18 months.

Tomorrow’s game should be quite interesting and even though we have a whole host of players left behind, there will be some players, maybe even experienced players not able to get into the starting line up.

I cannot see how Chamberlain, Rosicky, Arshavin, Park, Chamakh and Benayoun as well as Frimpong and Coquelin will all start the game. Two of those players will have to miss out and I am sure you could give a good argument for why the missing two should be starting. Anyway, over to you with that one Arsene.

Before I go, I just want to point you in the direction of some freshly embroidered COYG t-shirts that came through today. I am wearing one as I write this and they are pretty cool I must say. It reminds me of the old 1970’s Arsenal shirts with that type of material. Have a look yourself at http://www.coyg.co.uk.

Back tomorrow.