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

Just before Cesc Fabregas lifted the Emirates cup trophy above his head I started imagining that it was the end of season 2009/10 and replaced the Emirates cup with either the Premier League or the Champions League, they say that energy goes where thought goes so I am bang up for giving that a go. Rewind roughly an hour and half and I was just viewing the line up that was about to take to the pitch. My pre match line up predictions went totally out of the window as Arsene approached this years trophy differently. Last season we had quite clearly a first team and a younger team, this time around we had a mix and match section of quality.

Our squad still amazes me how one moment we can look full to the rafters of talent, all over the squad then in the space of three games we can be down to the ‘bare bones’ I could say we can be down to handful of players but what sort of football supporter would I be without bringing out the usual cliche’s.

I felt like an excited kid on Christmas eve when I saw a midfield of Song, Cesc and Merida and then a front three of Wilshere, Eduardo and Arshavin. This certainly will not be another scoreless game until late on with those in the side I confidently said to myself (yup, I know it is the first sign of madness)

The started and we looked slick, creative and confident. I was still trying to work out how the central midfielders were lining up when Arshavin flicked a ball back towards Cesc and Wilshere, who looked like a couple of school kids running to get to the arcade machine first. Cesc fell to the ground and Jack Wilshere hit a left foot shot under the goalkeeper. He was continuing where he left off the day before.

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, his vision and passing are top notch. So when he burst forward just before the tenth minute you would have bet money on him making the right decision. His reverse pass to Eduardo was inch perfect, which would only have one outcome. Right channel in the penalty box, opening his body against the keeper, Eduardo is the best in the squad at finishing off chances and he placed a left footed shot perfectly off the inside of the post.

One chance, one goal. Simples!

Three fluid moving attackers and probably one creative attacking midfielder will be enough to tear open many teams during the league season, that I have little doubt. With someone like Eduardo getting into through passes then we should be in business.

Andrey Arshavin hasn’t been able to find his range of passes since the beginning of pre season, he was over hitting many through balls in the Barnet and Hanover 96 games, he was like a sharp shooter just trying to find his range, well after yesterday it looks like he has found the bulls eye. He is now rolling passes into runners paths. One pass to Eduardo was simply magic. Eduardo made a run through the right channel and the ball was fired into Arshavin’s feet, the Russian somehow dug his foot into the turf in the direction of the Crozilian and the ball spun over his head and perfectly into his path. Theo Walcott will thrive on that this season if they play a run of games together.

Suprisingly Eduardo didn’t put that chance away, instead placing the ball into the midriff of the advancing goalkeeper. Although Eduardo wasn’t presented with a host of chances his overall game was very impressive. I lost count of the amount of times he looked like he was about to lose the ball but managed to poke it through the oppositions legs and then find the pass. What a massive plus it is to have him back in the squad.

Gael Clichy unsurprisingly doesn’t look back to his best as yet, the Frenchman has only had a couple of games to get match sharp and fit but his replacement Armand Traore looks to have matured, his loan to Portsmouth seems to have done the trick. Still raw but defensively doesn’t look as lost as he did when he came in for Clichy a couple of seasons ago.

Eboue played very well at right back, contributing to our attacks down the right. His drags inside and running into the spaces ahead was impressive but he still lacks the end product with both his final pass or his shooting. Any player who can play 4 positions should be worth a place in the Arsenal squad and I hope he stays at our club.

Now onto Jack Wilshere, I do not need to hype the boy up anymore, everyone is already doing that and his feet certainly isn’t helping keeping himself undercover.

In my opinion he looked more impressive in the 45 minute cameo performance on Saturday but that is not to say that he wasn’t fantastic against Rangers. Currently he is setting the bar very high for 17 year olds around the world. His game understanding at his age is incredible, so is his attitude. I remember one moment during the game where he was calling for the ball and Eboue used a different option which did not come off. Out came the arms gesturing that he was the better option. You would be forgiven for thinking that Wilshere was the experienced player teaching the youngster to make the better option next time round.

Jack Wilshere’s feet is faster than I thought, his shifting of the ball from right to left in tight spaces is amazing, there are not many in our squad who can move the ball around like he can. I wondered why Cesc was brought into the team at 17 but Wilshere will be kept on the fringes of the first team but Wenger made a good point when he said that Cesc was a passer and Jack is a dribbler. It is not always easy to clatter into someone who has already made the pass before he gets on the ball but Wilshere will tease and torment opponents and you an imagine what the likes of Sam Allardyce and our good friend Phil Brown would be saying to his players. ‘Let him know you’re there, get stuck in, don’t let him play football’

He is growing and will be continuing to grow into a mans body and we will have to wait patiently until he does, very exciting in the mean time though.

Wilshere’s second and Arsenal’s third was taken with aplomb, just as if he was having a kick around with his pals in Stevenage park. Ramsey’s look up and cross was equally as good.

What have we learned from the Emirates cup? Well a three pronged attack seems to be working very well, giving us options and making life difficult for opposition defenders to pick up. We have learnt that our young players are growing up. Ramsey, Merida, and Traore look very capable squad players and very possibly more in the coming seasons.

We already knew that Jack Wilshere was special, but now we know that he is stronger and closer to first team material.

We also know that defensively we are still not home and dry and are still prone to the usual lapse in concentration, hopefully these issues can be ironed out with the return of Tomas Vermaelen and a few more training sessions.

The first trophy up for grabs is ours, let hope we can add some big ones to that from now until may.