I watch the reserves and youth teams as much as I can and I must say, I have not seen him have a bad game. I am sure his pass success rate is very high as he rarely gives the ball away. He is also good enough to assist the attack

It was always going to be unlikely that the youngsters would come away from last night with disappointment, the game was pretty much tied up in the first leg but the way the kids controlled most of the game was great. Last week I praised Jack Wilshere for a masterful display this time I want to single out Francis Coquelin.

17 years old, plying his trade in the lower divisions in the French league. Gilles Grimandi, Arsene Wenger’s french scout must be given credit for finding an unpolished diamond in a mountain of stones. So far this diamond is being cleaned and polished and we are starting to see him sparkle.

Signed in the summer for thousands instead of the millions you would get for a more experienced and less talented Premier League player, Coquelin came into Arsene Wenger’s pre season squad and showed his quality every time he stepped onto the pitch. Technically very good as you would expect from a young player brought into the club. What I love about his play is his reading of situations. Like his older team mates Gael Clichy and Denilson he has the knack of nipping in front of his opponent and intercepting the ball. He turns away from the opposition in tight areas and is not afraid to use both feet, and well I have to add.

I watch the reserves and youth teams as much as I can and I must say, I have not seen him have a bad game. I am sure his pass success rate is very high as he rarely gives the ball away. He is also good enough to assist the attack. One of his goals this season was a left footed drive from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner. Another excellent example of great technique.

I have no doubt that he will be in the first team squad in a couple of years when he is wiser and stronger.

Arseblog makes a very good point about not expecting the young players to come in now and make the same impact that they do at their level. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is a powerhouse at that level and is physically head and shoulders above most that he faces but put him up against the likes of Essien and Mikel as well as the cloggers at Bolton and Stoke then it may well be a different ball game. Kyle Bartley has looked impressive this season but he is not facing the likes of Drogba and Torres each week. Wenger always says that he expects only a few to make it at Arsenal because of the gulf in class between the Premier League and Champions League compared to the reserves or youth leagues.

From that side last night I fully expect Wilshere and Coquelin to make it and others like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Frimpong could make the grade here but the truth is that many will make a career at other clubs in the Premier League and below.

I hear that the under 16s are even more talented which is just frightening. When I hear calls of Wenger to leave I seriously scratch my head that they do not see the structure that is put in place for the future of not only our team but the whole club. If some choose to ignore this then I just have to shake my head and have to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

So tonight is the Champions League final, I have to admit I am actually looking forward to watching it. Purely because it should be a very good technical game of attacking football. I am just pleased that Chelsea and Liverpool are not in the final. Our Spanish spokesman has said that Thierry Henry could dedicate a goal to Arsenal should he find the net.

I know who I am supporting thats for sure.

I read a comment on another Arsenal site called Untold Arsenal, and it filled me with emotion, I hope the writer doesn’t mind but I have pinched it and wanted to show you the feeling of that great win in 1989.

parsi said:

20 years ago today was the best day in the club’s history as far as I’m concerned. We had lead the League throughout the season, but had run out of puff by April. I really thought that we’d lost it when Derby beat us 2-1 at Highbury. (I always hated Dean Saunders after that game) But the emotion of Friday 26th May 2009 will stay with me forever. The match was played in the context of the Hillsborough disaster. Liverpool had also won the FA Cup so were going for the Double. We Gooners had drawn our last home match in an agonising, nailbiting 2-2 draw with Wimbledon. Was it me or can anyone alse remember Richardson taking about 12 corners in the last 5 mins? I was sitting my A levels at the time, but all I could concentrate on the whole day was the match in the evening. I worked out what team I would have picked. I dreamt of how we’d get the 2 goal advantage, what the HT and FT score would be. I shut my eyes and saw Adams lifting the trophy. I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotionally charged watching a game on TV. I’ve never felt so tense. It ended up with my younger sister watching it in her room, my parents watching it downstairs. I was far too nervy to watch it with anyone so I watched it on the TV in my parents’ room. I can remember shouting whem Smudger scored, but then scared it would not be given. I screamed when Thomas hit it straight at Grobbelaar after 75 mins as I thought that was our chance gone. The last 5 mins were just agony and bloody ITV kept the ticking down clock on the screen. I yelled at the tele for them to take it off. And then the tears started to well up in my eyes as it began to hit me we might not do it. I just sat in silence crying as 90 mins approached. Next thing I knew Thomas was one on one. “hit it Mickey, hit it” I sreamed. And then the ecstasy. Throughout the Aw years, 3 jobs and 2 marriages – I don’t think I’ve ever had such a pure release of such emotion and joy. I leapt off the bed, jumped up and down and (apparently) just kept screaming “Yes, Yes we’ve done it” I went beserk. There’s still evidence of the crack in the loung ceiling from when I jumped off the bed. Next morning I apololised to the neighbours for the noise fromthe night before. I was on a high for about a week. Having seen the game again many times now the best images are the Arsenal players taking flowers to the liverpool fans, McMahon raising his finger telling all that there was 1 minute left, Rocky’s clenched fist and the look on his face when he won the free kick for the 1st goal, GG walking up the Anfield stairs with the trophy. So what were other posters doing 20 years ago? What are your memories? And do you think it was our greatest day?

I wish I was old enough to have experienced that moment. I was 10 years old and ‘supported’ Arsenal because my friends did but I wasn’t really into football. I was more into bbc basic programming on my Amstrad 464! God, how sad. I remember walking back to my mates house from my own just after the game and his dad flew down the stairs and was shouting at the doorway, his face full of excitment like a kid just after opening the present he wanted for years.

Luckily I have changed my ways and that I can understand how that must have felt. On that note I must be off. Have a good old day.

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