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Carzola responded with a fantastic man of the match display against Fulham. In an otherwise tepid first half, the former Malaga playmaker was Arsenal's one ray of light, running at the opposition defence, completing a number of key passes and attempting to take the odd shot now and again. This standout individual display was punctuated in one moment where, given about as much space as you'd find in a toilet cubicle, Carzola used his lightening quick feet to weave his way between about three mesmerised Fulham players who had to resort to bringing him down on the edge of the box conceding a foul. The free kick came to nothing but that wasn't to deny Santi. In the second half, he scored the two goals that settled the match as a contest and rammed

Yet despite the development of players such as Nasri, Clichy, Fabregas, and more recently Gibbs, Ramsey and Wilshere there have been numerous players who have failed to make the grade. Denilson, Lansbury and Coquelin have all come through and failed to live up to their potential. Whilst obviously talent and temperament are high on the list of desired attributes, one feels that with the right guidance and support some of these players may have made it or at least attained a higher level of football

It would be insane to hold them to the same standards as the rest of the league. It’s like hauling a bloke off the street and pitting him against their sumo wrestler. OK, so the sumo wrestler might essentially be brain-dead, but he’s still a man mountain who has spent the last ten years reaching optimum weight to win contests with minimum effort. He’s a fatty and there’s no shifting him because he’s bedded into the very floor. Manchester City are a different proposition, in that they play football that doesn’t punish the viewer, aren’t run by complete idiots and don’t have a coach who considers the eye gouge a management tool. There’s a subtler evil afoot, and it’s masked by a beautiful exterior. They’re like a glorious Hollywood film funded by a tobacco multinational which then

Mertesacker and Koscielny this season and this match only served to emphasise how good they’ve been together this season. The affectionately nicknamed BFG successfully completed 14 out of 14 clearances along with 13/13 headed clearances. His French partner in crime also succeeded with 14/14 clearances but faired oh so slightly worse in the air, “only” successfully making 9 out of 9 with his head. That’s a 100% success rate between both centre backs! Unheard-of statistics in recent years.
The only blemish on a near perfect defensive performance was the slight lapses in concentration that allowed Benteke to get free to score a consolation and almost nick an undeserved late equaliser

Oxlade-Chamberlain back to full training and Serge Gnabry putting in an impressive shift against the Spuds, we have two young guns who should be chomping at the bit. Following Walcott’s injury, I’m sure it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed that the position that is open to them is very much a niche position. Of course, Wenger could plump for Rosicky