Lassana Diarra has wonderful technique and balance. His height and build makes him very difficult to knock off the ball. Many times against the Newcastle midfield Diarra would have the ball at his feet under pressure and dummy his man one way and twist away from the opposition.
Cesc is now showing that he can score goals. He was making good runs and getting into goal scoring positions but it wasn't happening for him. Arsene said that he showed a video of all the chances that Cesc got last season and now Fabregas has corrected the issue.
When Eduardo spins and runs off the opposition centre half will Van Persie spot him and give him the pass he wants? Or will Van Persie only be thinking of hitting it hard into the net?
Jens Lehmann is still the best goalkeeper at the club, but obviously that's only when in form. Jens will have to play the percentages until he can get some form back. No more playing one-two's with our back four. He will have to concentrate for 90+ minutes even if our team is winning 4-0 (Haven't seen that for ages!)
Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby do not compliment eachother in the way that we would need to win major trophies. Every good team needs a holding player, someone to do the donkey work. A player to plug the gaps that Gilberto does so well. Diaby is a naturally attacking midfielder.
Eduardo was the man to fill the strikers role that Henry left. Arsene knew that there was only ever going to be one Thierry Henry so he looked at it from a different angle.
I think he is ready. He fits into this Arsenal team like a missing jigsaw puzzle. Look at the difference between Julio Baptista when he first played a match for Arsenal and Eduardo. The difference is huge, its massive.
Could Walcott replace Marc Overmars and become the new left winger/third striker. Can he create and score goals? Can Theo keep possession well enough like Cesc, Hleb and Rosicky?
I was really hoping to evidence of the teams progress in this match from last season but to be honest it looks to me as if nothing has really changed
So Freddie Ljungberg joins Thierry Henry as the latest experienced player to leave Arsenal football club. Only Kolo Toure, Gilberto and Jens Lehmann remain from the unbeaten first team. Its pretty clear that Arsene is in the process of a total rebuild and its a very tough job. The redevelopment of the 1998 side to the 2002 side was a gradual transformation.