Bacary Sagna is very strong in the air and it is somewhat of a surprise that he has not been used in the opposition penalty area as often as his strength in the air suggests. Safety of the counter attack may have been put ahead of trying to score. With Özil’s expert delivery, I want to see Giroud, Sagna, Mertesacker and Koscielny up from the back

At one stage last season, when results and performances were not going according to plan, Arsene spoke about the character of his squad, stating that it was as strong if not stronger than the invincibles. He was sneered at and ridiculed for his comments. Back then we had lost our best player to Manchester United (avoids temptation for cheap jibe) and instead struggled on with an inconsistent squad that were getting to know each other and the way the manager wanted his team to play.

We are now seeing exactly what the manager was talking about. This squad is developing a wonderful habit of winning games when not playing at their best. A criticism I have leveled at the team in the past.

Yesterday I was hoping to see us up the gears and produce some of our best football but that was not the case. Post Champions league as well as a small group of tired players has meant that quick, fluid attacking football will have to be put on hold until energy levels are restored as well as returning players from injury.

Aaron Ramsey has that strikers instinct about him at the moment doesn’t he? The ball just seems to fall to him in the penalty area. His finish following Özil’s early free kick was a lot more difficult than it looked, on his weaker side.

Begovic’s push out to Ramsey was the type of action that had it been made by Szczesny then many would have been calling for Begovic. Such is the way.

My early take on Özil on set piece duty is this, he won’t score many goals directly. He has taken two or three so far and none have been as good as Santi’s. It was nice to see Cazorla back on duty against Tottenham a few weeks ago. But Özil’s delivery from corners and set pieces are wonderful and is personally the most exciting, non exciting thing about the game, if you know what I mean.

Manchester United and Chelsea scored a significant number more than us last season from dead ball situations. Goals change the course of games and we’ve failed in that area for many years now. A set piece goal is just the type of goal you need following a Champions League game when legs can be a little heavy. I wonder if Mertesacker’s flick was meant for Koscielny instead of the back of the net. They have both combined before, I think it may have been at Fulham last season. I don’t quite remember but I think work has gone in at the training ground. Mesut Özil assisted many of Real Madrid’s goals from corners and set pieces during his time there so hopefully he can add that to our game.

Bacary Sagna is very strong in the air and it is somewhat of a surprise that he has not been used in the opposition penalty area as often as his strength in the air suggests. Safety of the counter attack may have been put ahead of trying to score. With Özil’s expert delivery, I want to see Giroud, Sagna, Mertesacker and Koscielny up from the back as often as possible while using Theo, Ramsey and other quick players as the insurance policy.

Sagna rose very well to meet Özil’s third contribution of the match with an inswinging free kick. A top class header that looped over Begovic.

Stoke City had leveled before the two Arsenal headers. A very tidy finish following a shot off Szczesny’s post.

It was quite surreal to witness Stoke City play football and keep the ball well. It made me smirk watching them put us under pressure in the second half with their keep ball as patronising as that sounds. I am not a fan of Mark Hughes whatsoever but credit to him for implementing that change so quickly. If it helps other chairmen turn their noses up at Tony Pulis then I am all for it.

Serge Gnabry made his first senior start for Arsenal and the boy grew into the game. I have no worries over the technical side of his game or his confidence in his game but I was interested to know how he would play his role in place of Theo Walcott. Given his age, I imagine Arsene would have kept on pitch instructions to a minimum and just asked him to play his natural game. His natural game was to drift inside and get on the ball just like the rest of our team and this did not help us too much.

‘Who would replace Theo’s role in the team if Theo was injured’ was the question I asked about a week ago on Twitter. Not just his pace but his actions. We have a number of technical ball playing offensive players. Players who are drawn towards the ball but Theo apart, we do not have a host of players who will spin in behind and give a passer the option of playing the final pass. When I heard of Theo’s warm up injury, I was hoping that Gnabry would try and replicate his senior team mate but this was not the case. Even with Theo fit and playing, I would love another player to make those moves for the likes of Özil, Santi and company so it is a slight worry when like on Sunday, Theo is not available.

That said, I think Serge has excellent potential, physically impressive, fast and has a powerful shot. Some of his goals at youth level have been remarkable. Interesting that he was chosen ahead of the older and more experienced Ryo Miyaichi. I expect both players to start at West Brom in midweek.

I think I mentioned this in my last post match article but we keep seeing flashes of what Jack will become I believe. One moment in the second half where he exchanged passes with Özil, dummied a shot in the box and had a shot blocked with his right had me a little excited at the prospect of when those moves come off. When he does a Ramsey and feels untouchable, when his fitness and sharpness is at it’s peak he will be changing games on a regular basis. But this will take a while, he still needs to be managed with rotation. If he stays fit then the second half of this season could well be Jack’s time.

Flamini was impressive yet again but it was interesting to hear Arsene hint post match that Arteta is still first choice. Given the Spaniard’s distribution from deep, I’d tend to agree. Be interesting to see what condition he is in come Wednesday.

Not a vintage display but with games coming thick and fast we are still winning, not only that but finding new ways to score goals which is fantastic. Better football will come to the Emirates so I am going to enjoy winning this way when it matters.