Koscienly is certainly not the type to just dive in and over commit himself. From what I witnessed in the Emirates cup, he likes to stand his ground, wait for the right moment like a snake and strike when the forward is not expecting it

The Emirates cup is over for this year, only one more friendly until the real action kicks off at Anfield. The boss is likely to have been pleased with what he has seen from his players overall during the pre season, the problem is that many of the first team regulars have not been able to take part due to our main nemesis, injury.

Arsene has promised to work on the overall defending from the team and that cannot be easy when key components to a strong defence have not been able to take part. The likes of Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Denilson are almost as important as the defence itself when it comes to stopping the opposition scoring.

We have been playing with two 18 year olds in the center of midfield for most of the pre season, and as good as they have been in all their matches, they are still learning and still developing their game understanding. Anfield or any other important Premier League game is a different kettle of fish altogether from training sessions, Austrian football teams or Celtic.

Alex Song will still be unavailable for our last pre season game against Legia Warsaw on Saturday which will mean that he along with Cesc and Van Persie would not have played a single minute of pre season football. Can they go straight into a Premier League game with just training under their belts? I am not so sure.

Missing three spinal players for potentially such a difficult game is a concern. But that is what squads are for, we are going to come across injuries and it is down to the rest of the squad to deal with key players missing.

It is also up to each member of the squad to take a step forward and improve their game. Thomas Vermaelen will be trying to do exactly that.

Vermaelen said:

“You have to keep performing every year. If you play for Arsenal you can never say ‘I had a good year, so now I’ll ease off’. That’s not possible. People ask you to do better every year and I will try to do that. I hope we can perform as a team and that’s the way we will achieve what we want. If you go to a new club, everything is new, and most of the time that makes it easier. For example if you start when you are 18 and you have your first season, that first season is always easier, and it’s the same when you go to a new club.

“But it’s always more difficult to stay at that level, and next year that is the challenge: not only to maintain the level but to improve upon it because it wasn’t enough last season, we didn’t achieve anything. We have to grow again.”

It will be interesting to see how Vermaelen performs this season, he has two new defensive partners and he has the first year under his belt. I am waiting to see if he has eradicated his mistakes. Often his eagerness to win the ball saw him over commit himself too far up field which allowed for spaces to be created in behind him. I want to see which role he takes up alongside either Koscielny or Djourou. Sweeping behind or attacking the first ball/

Koscienly is certainly not the type to just dive in and over commit himself. From what I witnessed in the Emirates cup, he likes to stand his ground, wait for the right moment like a snake and strike when the forward is not expecting it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsenal goals being started by Koscielny in future. Winning the ball quickly and playing an early ball forward to start an attack.

I think that may well be a feature this season. I noticed that our midfield worked in numbers to win the ball back quickly but it was not as high up the pitch as Barcelona for example. When the ball was at the feet of the opposition around the half way line players like Frimpong, Wilshere, Nasri et al were quickly onto them. Abou Diaby and Alex Song will be perfect for that role in the team. Especially Diaby’s long reaching feet.

Much is being made of the fact that apparently Barcelona wanted to talk with Arsene Wenger in 2001, Alex Ferguson has recently said that the England national team have already approached him twice in the past. I am sure there is plenty of might have been’s in the world of football for both player transfers and managers movements.

I am interested to hear what Cesc Fabregas has to say when he comes back and has microphones thrusted in his face. I suppose it will be quite predictable though.

* I have said I wanted to leave Arsenal.
* Barcelona is very close to me so it is difficult
* I am proud to be Arsenal captain and have always been happy here
* Wanting to end all the talk because he only cares about football
* Wanting to win trophies with Arsenal etc etc
* Make it sound as if he wants to say here for ever then leave the following season

I am truly fed up with the stories, as some of you may already know by my lack of Cesc talk of late but I do not want to see him leave, even if his name is getting on my last nerves.

I want this Arsenal side to be the best it can be and having Cesc in the side makes us a better team, as long as he gives his all in our shirt then I don’t care about the rest. He can cry about wanting to go to Barcelona when he is in the comfort of his own home, while he is wearing our shirt and accepting his monthly salary then he can grit his teeth and deal with it.

Harsh but fair I’d say.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Back tomorrow.

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