I watched the England vs Wales game yesterday and was very proud. Not for the country I was born in but for a Welsh captain that ran the midfield. A Welsh captain that has had a major setback on his career due to an oaf. He had looked a little like a kid before, holding onto the ball for too long or making the wrong decisions. At Old Trafford Aaron Ramsey was one of our better players then he scored for the Welsh last week and now he has put in a wonderful display away from home against

Yesterday was a bad day for me. If I was a cartoon character then I would have had steam bursting out from both ears while my face would have turned a very rich shade of red (if that was actually possible)

Arsenal Vision was confiscated from my clutches because erm, it wasn’t optimised enough according to my good friend Mr and Mrs hosting service. I had already been thumping my head against the desk at the Vermaelen injury news on top of the Wilshere news.

They say, it is not good to go to bed mad but it couldn’t be helped in this instance.

Today has been a new day and I slipped out of bed the correct side today. The gloomy clouds above actually look somewhat artistic and the rain that may follow will be nice for those thirsty plants, flowers and trees.

I watched the England vs Wales game yesterday and was very proud. Not for the country I was born in but for a Welsh captain that ran the midfield. A Welsh captain that has had a major setback in his career due to an oaf. He had looked a little like a kid this season, holding onto the ball for too long or making the wrong decisions. At Old Trafford Aaron Ramsey was one of our better players then he scored for the Welsh last week and now he has put in a wonderful display away from home against a bitter rival.

With the news that Jack Wilshere will be spending a little bit of time away from the pitch, Aaron finding form right now could be just what we need. He can be *wait for it* like a new signing to go with our actual new signings.

Speaking of which I listened to the second part of Mikel Arteta’s interview and the more I listen, the more I am impressed. While talk is cheap and the proof is most certainly on the pitch. Arteta seems to have that glint in his eye, that excitement that he now has the chance to test himself at the highest level. He has taken a pay cut to join Arsenal.

He mentioned on a number of occasions that he wants to work hard, give everything he has and fight for the cause. Mikel Arteta is not Andrey Arshavin. He will not lose the ball, stare into the sky while the opposition bring the ball away. He will work to win the ball back, he will put his foot in where it might get hurt. We really need that and haven’t had quite enough of that over the last few years.

It was interesting to hear that he has no idea where Arsene wants to play him. He hasn’t had the chance to speak to Arsene Wenger just yet. At Everton he has played as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder and out wide. A typical Wenger player, a player who has many strings to his bow and I wonder where he will slot in. I imagine he will replace Wilshere’s position in the immediate term but I am not sure he has that type of engine. I suppose we do not have long to find out.

It is easy to compare him to Cesc Fabregas and assume a like for like swap but I don’t see it like that. Cesc Fabregas is one of the best midfielders in the world and is made to create chances. He was our captain and had been at Arsenal for a long time. There have been many high points with Cesc in the side but let us not brush off the negatives and pretend they did not exist because he was a gifted player.

At 2-0 up against Tottenham last season, the tide turned when the scummers pulled one back. We needed that experienced head to control the game, talk to the other players and remain calm. That didn’t happen. At 4-0 up against Newcastle, Cesc Fabregas was on the pitch and his experience did not steady the team. I am not saying that it should be all on the shoulders of the captain but his role is to play a big part in directing the team at certain times.

Mikel Arteta is unlikely to rack up the number of assists and goals that Cesc did but hopefully he will take the lead so the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Alex Song can really learn from and not just by example.

Another reason why Arsenal supporters should be generally excited is the form of Wojciech Szczesny. I didn’t see the game last night against the Germans but apparently he was amazing. I did see one breathtaking save from him via a youtube clip. Stretching out that long right arm to deflect a powerful shot over the top. It looks as if he has that glow this season, that developmental glow when a young player takes that next step up.

It is hard to find players where you can say could be the best in the world but with our Shezzer, we could well be looking at one of those in the near future. Confidence, height, ability, desire this lad has it all.

JY Park did it again for South Korea. Four goals in his last two games isn’t anything to be sniffed at so it is great to have him probably sitting on the bench, itching to score a goal. Van Persie has returned seemly without injury which is fabulous, especially after his recent four goal outing.

What a way for Chamberlain to introduce himself to the under 21s. Six assists in two games is pretty good going at any level. People are starting to take notice of the lad and I imagine that he will come off the bench for Arsenal and tear many a team a new one in the upcoming months.

The next run of fixtures isn’t too bad and we should pick up some points to gain some confidence before Wilshere, Vermaelen and Diaby return to the fold.

We have a collection of experienced players to join our very talented young players and hopefully the blend can start from the off.

So what to make of this squad now? What do we have?

Experience

Vermaelen
Mertesacker
Sagna
Arteta
Rosicky
Arshavin
Benayoun
Van Persie
Park
Santos

Talented Youth

Wilshere
Ramsey
Gibbs
Frimpong
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Miyachi
Afobe

Goals

Van Persie
Walcott
Gervinho
Park
Arshavin
Ramsey

Central Defensive options

Vermaelen
Mertesacker
Koscielny
Djourou
Song
Squillaci
Miguel

Creativity

Wilshere
Ramsey
Arteta
Benayoun
Van Persie
Arshavin
Gervinho

Now I know 99% of readers will already know this but it is nice to have it written down like this. Nice to see it in black and white. There is a hell of a lot of quality in there.

Call me deluded, call me naive, say that I sport red and white specs etc etc but there is enough quality in that squad to finish above all of the competition. The quality of the squad is not the question for me. Yes, I would have loved that one magical number 10 to dance through the opposition with their eyes closed or play a back healed pass through seven players, inch perfect with backspin but we didn’t get that. Jack is as near to that as we are likely to find on the open market anyway.

The questions are about balance, about desire, about mentality. We do not know the answers to these questions because this is as new a squad as you are likely to find.

Let us get that compact defensive shape right, press the opposition in the middle of the park, break and score some bloody goals. We have cried out for extra experience to take this team to the next level and now there is plenty of that.

So I am not going to concern myself about will we make the top four, will we be pushed out by Liverpool, who do not impress me one bit. I am thinking about us making up those missed points on those two Manchester clubs. We are 8 points behind but there are 105 juicy points to play for.

It is being made out that Manchester United were an indestructible force last season who have now improved. They have brought in some good players but have lost quality and experience in Scholes and van Der Sar. They are not unbeatable, Barcelona brought them down a peg or two in last season’s Champions League. Manchester City have plenty of quality but they also have plenty of ego’s to juggle. Like us, there is no guarantee that they will gel throughout the season.

If we end up in a fight for fourth place then so be it, if we end up fighting against relegation then so be it. The worst that can happen is that I would be wrong but right now a fight to be the best is what I want and what I expect.