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

Celtic 0 Arsenal 2 – Champions League Qualifier 1st Leg

They said that Arsenal couldn’t win up north, they said that Arsenal couldn’t grind out results against a physical outfit, Vermaelen was too short and Alex Song was not good enough to play in the Premier League let alone playing for Arsenal football club.

You wouldn’t begrudge Arsene looking at online recipes to find the tastiest selections of humble pie, I am sure Arsene would find tastier ingredients from the market whilst the rest shopped at Waitrose.

The media told us that we would find it difficult in a stadium that act as the 12th man, that we would suffer from their aerial bombardment, well this was certainly not the case as I do not remember Celtic being able to create many shots on Almunia’s goal.

What Celtic did do was try and stop us playing, playing at a high tempo and being overly committed, I lost count of the amount of times our players were put on their backsides by late or off the ball challenges.

Our front three players are still sharpening up their tools and that bodes well. Arshavin isn’t quite finding the final ball as yet, we know that is only a matter of time before that happens. Arshavin is not a player who dominates the game, he is usually on the fringes of the game but when he gets on the ball in dangerous areas he can produce moments of brilliance. Arshavin is a game changer whilst Cesc is a game dictator.

I look forward to when Van Persie has scored a couple of goals and when Arshavin slices a team open with a first time through ball, I also look forward to Bendtner getting on the end of a Clichy cross at the far post. In a system where the front three have licence to roam it is utterly foolish to imply that the players cannot play in that system.

The first goal was interesting, interesting in the fact that Cesc is now shooting from free kicks, he scored a long range skidder at Goodison park and now he is taking free kicks when previously Van Persie would have taken it regardless of which side of the ‘D’ the ball was in. Perhaps he has spent time over the summer perfecting his striking technique as Ronaldo did for Manchester United a few years ago. The poacher center back William Gallas did not know anything about it and wanted to get out of the way of the travelling strike. Two in two for Gallas who looks back to his Chelsea best.

His partner Thomas Vermaelen is the one I really want to talk about today. It is only two games so I attempt to hold back the temptation to over hype him but in a short space of time that I have seen him, I have been extremely impressed. As an athlete you cannot get better than Toure. Strong quick, good on the ball, what you would expect from a converted midfield player but in 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.

At £10 million, the 5ft10 Belgium International looks a real snip. One block he made in the first half was just sensational. Striding back as fast as he can to make up the ground flying in to put off the player who was about to strike at Almunia’s goal. His ability to win balls in the air will be a real asset to this team. He is the real deal.

Another feature of his play that I like, is his ability to stride out from the back and fizz passes into the feet of the forwards. I am sure he will start many counter attacks this season.

When you look at the money offered by Manchester City for Lescott, in the region of £24 million it is sheer madness and proves that Wenger is untouchable in the transfer market. With that money he has bought Vermaelen and Arshavin. That just says it all.

Alex Song continues to be the most improved player I have ever seen in my life. Another breathtaking performance from him. A mixture of physical power, tactical awareness and calm on the football. He looked knackered in the second half and will surely be rested for our next home game against Pompey on the weekend.

Denilson once again put in a hard working shift, box to box, making interceptions, filling in for Clichy when out of position and even curling shots just wide. He has been caught giving away possession over these two last games but that will sort itself out the more he plays.

This result may not have been possible last season, last season our boys wouldn’t have pressed the opposition the way they did, they would not have won back possession as much as they did and that was the platform for the victory. A platform that needs to be built in every match this season.

Abou Diaby made his first appearance of the season when he replaced Arshavin. That move added some more power to the team and rested Arshavin who wasn’t quite clicking. Diaby’s first contribution of the game was the play a major part in our second goal. His control and footwork saw him dribble past a couple of Celtic players, his pass found the overlapping Clichy who sent a low cross which hit off defender Gary Caldwell and into his own net. 0-2 and pretty much game over for the hoops. Celtic’s home support will not be there in the Emirates, their fantastic European record will be left at Parkhead.

If Arsenal find the level that they have played in the last two games then we shall go through to the Champions League proper without any major problems.