His goal was absolutely wonderful, little steps at pace into the box a quick shimmy one way and a zipped low shot across the keeper and into the corner. I cannot think of many Arsenal players today who would have scored a goal like that. Theo Walcott

I finally managed to catch up with the Carling cup game via Arsenal player. I am not used to being forced to miss an Arsenal match, not enjoyable in the slightest I must say.

Match reports have been read and spoken about all over the internet and in the newspapers so I shall refrain from going into too much detail but wanted to make a few points.

Andrey Arshavin

I don’t suppose that there were many people who expected the little Russian not to take up his usual left wing position when the team was announced before kick off. I expected Yossi Benayoun to play in the central position with Arshavin playing in the attacking three, instead Arsene gave Arshavin the number 10 role that so many supporters have called for.

Arsene explained post match that having two wide forwards plus Arshavin is too much for the central midfield to cope with so the use of Benayoun from the left adds an extra defensive option when we are not in possession of the ball.

It is a little like the 1998 team when Ray Parlour tucked inside from the right and added his graft with Marc Overmars on the other side, often turning our 4-4-1-1 into a 4-3-3 at times.

I suspect that if we had Robert Pires as well as Marc Overmars at the same time then one of them could well have been demoted to the bench.

Arshavin flitted in and out of the game as he tends to do but the difference was that when he was in the game and on the ball, he was in better positions to make use of his strengths. His link up play with Park seemed very good but he seemed to be on other wave lengths to a few other players.

His goal was absolutely wonderful, little steps at pace into the box a quick shimmy one way and a zipped low shot across the keeper and into the corner. I cannot think of many Arsenal players today who would have scored a goal like that. Theo Walcott may have but in a different way, apart from Theo, not many others.

Playing in a more central role would allow Arshavin to shoot more often and that is one of his strengths. He would also be in a better position to make those angled passes to players moving ahead of him. The type of passes that he made so often for Samir Nasri last season, also the type of pass that he made for Park’s goal.

Given Arsene’s criteria for playing Arshavin in that role behind the forward I had a play around with the line up to see what a potential team could look like if for some strange reason we had a fully fit squad and Arshavin was granted his favoured role. It looks interesting with many tough choices in many positions. Would a team like that give a better balance of cutting edge and support to van Persie? Who knows.

Ju Park

Arsenal fans have been waiting patiently, or not so patiently in some quarters to catch a glimpse of South Korean Capi-tan Park Chu Young. He played against Shrewsbury but by all accounts had a forgettable game.

He has been working very hard behind the scenes, working on his fitness, trying to adjust to the Arsenal way of playing which I assume is very different to that of Monaco. His appearances for his country have given fans plenty of hope as he regularly hits the target for South Korea.

The forward left a good impression on the Arsenal faithful. His awareness and touches of the ball in small areas was very positive. Often exchanging short one-two’s with Arshavin and then spinning off into space. His movement was excellent and he made some very good runs off the shoulder of the Bolton defence.

Ju Park looks like he would work well with Robin van Persie, both intelligent footballers who have a good understanding of space and movement. I could imagine some neat exchanges around the edge of the opposition penalty area between those two.

Having watched Chamakh playing since he joined us, I cannot imagine the Moroccan and Dutchman complimenting each other. Both play in similar areas and would not really bring the best out of each other apart from van Persie crossing for Chamakh but that is not the main part of our game.

How many times will we see Park and van Persie on the same pitch? Probably if Park is brought on as a wide forward late on in a game to try and score a goal, apart from that I cannot see many other possibilities if our formation stays as it is.

Park’s finish was exquisite. Arshavin waited and waited and slotted a pass into his path, Park didn’t rush his shot, didn’t look panicked. He simply executed the image that must have been painted in his mind as soon as the pass was released. It reminded me of Eduardo and even Carlos Vela in the same competition just on the other foot.

Arsene has said that Park is now ready for the first team and I look forward to watching him play with better and more experienced players.

Yossi Benayoun

I thought Benayoun was our best player on the night. From the first minute to the last he used the ball very well and looked much sharper than in the previous round against Shrewsbury. Without having seen the distance covered stats, I wouldn’t be surprised if Benayoun won that hands down with the amount of grass he covered. If he can keep that type of form up then he may be knocking on the door for a first team place if the likes of Theo Walcott do not keep producing.

The youngsters

A mixed bag for the up and coming Arsenal talents. Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong both worked very hard and won plenty of tackles but the distribution was below par at times. It was Coquelin’s hospital ball to Frimpong that allowed Bolton to score the first goal. They will both have better technical games but it was reassuring to see that their heads did not drop and they continued to fight for the team. 18 year old Nicholas Yennaris had a great debut at right back. He hardly put a foot wrong and the evening will be a great experience for him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a difficult evening against the experience of Ricardo Gardner. Many have been annoyed at his recent absence from squads but we have to remember that the manager watches these players in training and has a better understanding of where a player is in terms of development. Chamberlain clearly has so much talent but often made the wrong decisions on the night. He did however start the move for Arshavin’s goal.

Conclusion

Bolton could and perhaps should have scored more than the one goal but for missed chances and good saves from Fabianski. That said, we played well in the second half and could have scored a few more ourselves if we had our shooting boots on, or perhaps even our passing boots in the final third. The victory adds to the momentum that is building and that can only be good. The return of Thomas Vermaelen is great and he had a good game, making some vital tackles and even unleashing a long range free kick that was well saved.

As the manager said it was the experienced players that pulled us through and that is great for the short term. We need our experienced players to find form and compete for first team places.

Next up, a Drogba-less Stamford Bridge.