Reviews

Abou Diaby was a long way from what it takes to become an Arsenal regular against Manchester City on the weekend, although in my eyes his ability has never been in doubt. He needed to increase his effort, his fight and the rest would take care of itself. There certainly was an improvement

Cesc Fabregas was far from his best and did not impose himself on the game from the start. We did not see Cesc driving from the midfield, looking to make things happen

The game was scrappy at times, both sets of players not having enough time on the ball. Denilson and Diaby continuously showing positives and negatives in the space of seconds

The truth of the matter was that the game was over after the 90 minutes last Tuesday. Celtic would have had to produce a performance that would have been somewhat unrealistic

A fourteen pass move starting with Cesc chesting a pass down to Vermaelen deep into his half ended with Cesc floating a long pass to Eduardo who was hugging the left touchline

Vermaelen you see how much we have missed a natural defender. Someone who will throw his head in a crowded penalty area, someone who will fly in front of the ball to stop it getting toward your own goalkeeper

I would go as far as to say that he was our best attacking player on the day. He played a part in our first goal by beating his man and finding Cesc, he effectively tracked back to help Sagna and contributed to some great pass and move football

Once again Fran Merida looked the part in central midfield, Wenger once described him as technically perfect and you can see why. He seems to have a great understanding of what is around him

Tomas Rosicky looked at home in the middle of the park and it should come as no surprise – it is the one he assumes for his country and the one in which he rose to prominence with Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona's 4-3-3 is perfect for Cesc Fabregas, it gives him the freedom to get forward and supply killer passes, it also gives him the opportunity to make forward runs and get beyond the front players