Fast forward to 2010 and several of those kids are now establishing themselves as first team players. Our long term thinking has allowed for our very own internal transfer market, and that should continue for the foreseeable future. Wilshere and Gibbs are already established. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas cannot be very far away then we have the likes of Chucks Aneke and Benik Afobe waiting to be moved up out of reserve team level

Good evening isn’t it?

That post victory Monday feeling is very much alive and kicking. So many positives are still floating around my head from the game. All of the new boys are settling in nicely, Chamakh on a free is ridiculous business, the center backs have slotted in seamlessly and will continue to improve and Manuel Almunia is looking like his old self again and that is only a fraction of the good stuff.

I didn’t get the chance to share my thoughts on the game yesterday, so I stuck them up this morning so if anyone is interested in reading about Koscielny’s Cobra impressions, Cesc’s golf clubs or football that money cannot buy then click here.

It is amazing to think that we played the sort of football that we did with so many players unavailable. We could be slowly getting to the stage where Wenger wants his squad to be. When the invincibles were broken up for the long term rebuild, Arsene had a first team squad full of young players with a few experienced players sprinkled in but beyond that Wenger had a selection of 14-16 year olds developing at youth level. When injuries did what injuries do, which is take away the players you need to remain competitive, Wenger had a thin squad left to choose from as well as a load of talented kids who were too young and under developed to be a part of the first team.

Fast forward to 2010 and several of those kids are now establishing themselves as first team players. Our long term thinking has allowed for our very own internal transfer market, and that should continue for the foreseeable future. Wilshere and Gibbs are already established. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas cannot be very far away then we have the likes of Chucks Aneke and Benik Afobe waiting to be moved up out of reserve team level.

Sometimes I really scratch my head at the amount of doom and gloom poured out by people about Arsenal and our future. All I see is blue, bright skies.

My positive feeling seems to be shared by Cesc Fabregas who has had some nice things to say about Manuel Almunia.

Cesc said:

“Manuel commanded the defence very well at Blackburn – but it is not just about one game or two or three,” the Spain midfielder said. “He is well-loved player among everybody here and performs well for this club. We all wish him a super season and have a lot of trust.”

 

Almunia has started the season very well, he has withstood everything that has been thrown at him. I do not believe that he was at fault for the goal at Anfield and in my eyes he has hardly put a foot wrong. He has been under plenty of pressure this summer, especially with the non stop talk about Mark Schwarzer.

As Cesc said, it is not about one game or three. He will have to continue his form throughout the season and when he inevitably does make a mistake as every single goalkeeper in the world will, he will have to show great character to come through it because he will suffer a backlash from fans who are already waiting to jump down his throat and launch into both keeper and manager for not signing this mystical world class goalkeeper who was available in our price range and that the players club wanted to let him go. Yep, that guy. The guy that no other club managed to buy this summer either for some reason.

Going to have to cut this one short this evening, have to work on the new site which is in its final stages of development before it can make the last step into the Newsnow first team.

Back tomorrow.