It looked all too easy for him to be honest. It looked like he didn’t break a sweat. Playing first time passes at speed, switch the ball left and right with either foot without thinking about it. If this is Cazorla in 1st gear then wow. We obviously need to wait until bigger tests come his way but it doesn’t take a football genius to see what he can provide for us. I watched his training video on Arsenal

Ever since we found out that our new signings wouldn’t be taking part in the Asia tour, the final friendly against FC Koln has been one that Gooners have been excitedly anticipating. It would be the only game that the public would get to see the new faces before the whistle blows next Saturday against Sunderland.

Most were pretty impressed with what was on show yesterday afternoon. Some have rightly pointed out the level of opposition   that we faced and that is very true. FC Koln have already started their season so a friendly match against Arsenal would not be on their priority list, but rather than judgethe level of opposition, I like to concentrate on our own fluency, our own interplay and combinations.

Arsene Wenger has created a system at Arsenal that is different from many British clubs. It has been this way for many years now. Once the system is well oiled and all the parts are functioning correctly then the team rather than individuals can beat anybody. When our game is off for whatever reason, regardless of the individuals in the team, we can struggle to beat many teams.

Leeds United at the Emirates springs to mind last season. It took a Thierry Henry sub appearance to make us look like scoring against a team that were far inferior. That is why to my mind, Manchester United and Chelsea can play badly but win but when we play badly we suffer more. As is often the case though, I digress.

Defensively we cannot assess our performance as we bossed the game from start to finish, a few individual mistakes aside. We need the opposition to cause us problems to really judge the work that Wenger, Bould and Banfield have put in since the players returned from their promotion and marketing holiday.

Steve Bould’s influence was very much up on show with our first goal. Not only did Bould successfully flick the ball on from a corner back in his day but I remember a youth team player being interviewed and talking about that exact corner routine being worked on by then youth team coach Steve Bould.

I for one have been pretty frustrated watching years of corner kicks being dribbled into the first defenders foot at the near post and cleared away game after game.

Having Mertesacker at the near post to flick balls on is a wonderful option as Peter Crouch aside, there will not be many players in the Premier League that will be able to look directly into his eyes from a standing position.

With the pinpoint accuracy of Santi Cazorla from a dead ball I do not think that is the final chapter in the corner kick routine this season. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we manage to execute it against Stoke in the early weeks of the season.

I was very excited to see Santi Cazorla playing as an offensive midfielder. I had the nagging feeling that he would be deployed on the flank and I guess that is still an option but a player of that ability is used far more in the middle of the pitch.

It looked all too easy for him to be honest. It looked like he didn’t break a sweat. Playing first time passes at speed, switching the ball left and right with either foot without thinking about it. If this is Cazorla in 1st gear then wow. We obviously need to wait until bigger tests come his way but it doesn’t take a football genius to see what he can provide for us. I watched his training video on Arsenal player last week and he slotted one pass in between the lines for Theo Walcott to finish and that was put into practice yesterday.

Theo Walcott looked sharp and physically strong, darting into those Ljungberg positions but now he has a regular incisive passer to find him. What was also interesting was the switching of positions with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming from a central position to a wide right position. That will give the opposition nightmares. Double mark Walcott at your peril, the Ox will just dart in behind him and it was that move that drew the penalty.

Podolski scored as if he was on the training pitch. Going back to the Ox for a moment, many have pointed out that he has pretty much exclusively featured in the center of the pitch this pre season and that is somewhat of a surprise this early. You can see his growth mentally. He no longer looks like the new kid coming in. He looks ready, confident and very dangerous. He did for England and he has done for Arsenal in every pre season game thus far.

In years gone by, Arsene would have thrown Chamberlain into the starting 11 this season and told him that his place was his because his talent and scope for improvement is huge but competition is quite frankly ridiculous for us this season. Perhaps I am playing down injuries a little too much but the strength we have is very deep. In fact the deepest since Arsene Wenger turned up in 1996. The great 2003/04 side had nowhere near this type of depth.

Lukas Podolski reminds me a little of Freddie Ljungberg, in the way that he will not change a match with individual brilliance but with goals at the right time. He works hard, tackles back and plays everything pretty simple. Unlike Gervinho he will not pick the ball up on the half way line and beat two players but he knows how to score goals.

His second goal was one that many of us have watched on his Koln and Germany YouTube clips. In the right place and a thumping finish. Last season I could see that Gibbs cut back being cleared away by the opposition defender with only van Persie in the box screaming for the pass. If we play Podolski out wide or through the middle, I think we can expect goals.

Oliver Giroud looked impressive and also uncannily reminded me of Robin van Persie in stature. Long arms, a slim frame and a very good touch. One knock down for Cazorla showed us his awareness for those around him. Aaron Ramsey would love those intelligent knock downs, That was also not a one off, he did the same in a French friendly before the European Championships.

On another day he would have scored two, perhaps even three. I think Wenger will start that attack against Sunderland even if van Persie has not found his ambitious train to Manchester by then. Arsene suggested that his new players will not start the season but I do not buy that for one minute, especially considering how easy they seem to have settled in.

What I enjoyed the most about the first half was the speed and direction of our passing. One touch, incisive and forward. With Walcott on one side and Podolski on the other, we will carve teams apart if Cazorla is allowed to find space in the final third.

At half time I thought about wholesale changes and it was only then that our strength of squad really hit me. We fielded a team full of quality from top to bottom.

All this was with injured players like Wilshere, Sagna, Rosicky, Ramsey and Frimpong still recovering. Mikel Arteta had a slight knock and was not risked but should be fine for Sunderland.

It is a shame that Arteta was not able to participate as I would have loved to have seen him linking with his Spanish compatriot. I suspect we will see that on Satur
day.

The second half team did not have the speed and fluency of the first half team, Podolski moving from wide left to center forward. Serge Gnabry started on the right but only managed 20 odd minutes which is a shame. I don’t know if that was purely to allow others to play or if it was down to a niggle. It may have been better for him to have played in that first half team given the team fluency but he showed some good touches, tried pieces of skill that nearly came off but time wasn’t on his side.

Gervinho continued his successful pre season with some great running down the left wing. He took the wrong option on occasion but in pre season that is to be expected. That will hopefully improve in time but his ability to beat defenders for fun surely outweighs the negatives.

Like against Southampton in the first pre season game of the season and a little like his goal for the Ivory Coast in last season’s ACN, Gervinho scored another solo goal with a run down the left. He is the one player you want on the ball when the opposition have camped outside their goal. Based on his pre season form, he should start the season but I am not sure that he will.

van Persie replaced Podolski midway through the second half which I found a little uncomfortable. He got a bit of stick from the Arsenal fans but that is only to be expected but I am not sure it really helps. We will have plenty of chances to boo him should he depart for Manchester.

All in all, we have plenty to look forward to. The opposition were not the strongest and we will face a much stiffer test this weekend but the players we have at our disposal look more than ready.