Gervinho’s red card was the big talking point and many have differing views on it. Fans have said that he defended himself whilst others believe that he should be more professional. I fall into the latter camp. Joey Barton is Joey Barton, everyone knows what he is about. I defended Abou Diaby last season for reacting because it was a dangerous tackle and Diaby has massively suffered from career threatening tackles in the past but knowing what Barton is like, as soon as Gervinho’s shirt was

A scoreless draw at Newcastle can be and will be seen in so many different ways from all types of supporters. Many eyes were fixed on the fixture as the Cesc and Nasri stories dominated the headlines in recent weeks. How would the side cope mentally following the dramatic 4-4 draw last season at the same ground?

Those who expected an eight goal thriller would have been very disappointed as the game on the whole lacked the punch that it promised.

Arsene Wenger’s line up was pretty straight forward and nothing out of the ordinary, especially as Jack Wilshere was unavailable due to injury suffered in the Emirates cup and the obvious absence of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

The only real choice that Wenger had to make was who to select on the opposite flank of new signing Gervinho. Andrey Arshavin was given the nod, possibly due to the Russian competing in the final pre season matches where as Walcott had missed them through injury.

I have been looking forward to watching the Vermaelen and Koscielny partnership develop and it looked every bit as wonderful as I had imagined. Both players were fully committed, on the same wave length and dealt with pretty much everything that was thrown at them. Shola Ameobi and Demba Ba were kept firmly in the center backs pockets throughout the match.

Another great defensive positive was the organisation and command at set pieces. Arsene Wenger and a few of the players have been talking about the work that has gone into sorting out that area and if yesterday was anything to go by then we can collectively wipe our brows. Wojciech Szczesny was commanding, brave and aggressive while our defenders flung themselves at every ball into the box.

Newcastle United were starved of the ball for long periods, especially in the first half and had clearly been waiting for opportunities at set pieces but were continuously thwarted. Gibbs looked strong and dynamic while Bacary Sagna was his usual sturdy self.

Alex Song ahead of the back four was very strong and he pressed with the rest of our team very well, breaking up Newcastle’s play time and time again. My one criticism of Song at times is that he often delays making the pass and instead shields the ball, twisting and turning before releasing the pass. I worry that he will get caught and we could suffer a counter attack but also that we often lose the opportunity to counter ourselves. That said his defensive performance was top quality.

His stamp on Joey Barton was foolish and unnecessary. It will probably cost him a three game ban as the incident is likely to be looked into. Alex Song is a professional footballer who should know that getting away with acts like that is unlikely to happen unless you are the England center forward playing for Manchester United. Then elbow’s in the face are acceptable.

It was not the last act of stupidity of the day.

Tomas Rosicky continued to impress after some fantastic pre season displays. He was offensively our best midfielder and linked up with his team mates very well. His turns and drives into the opposition third reminded me of Rosicky in 2008. If Rosicky had continued his pre season form then the same has to be said of Aaron Ramsey as he struggled to stamp his authority on the game. He worked hard but flitted in and out o f the game.

Aaron Ramsey is a quality footballer who has just come back from a major injury. He will be a fantastic talent for many years but right now, I am not sure if he is ready to be a first name on the team sheet.

Robin Van Persie who is currently our best offensive player was not on his game. Van Persie seems to be a slow starter to seasons but I am not sure that he helped himself or indeed his wide attackers. His role as a false nine was to drop off the front and allow the wide players to get ahead of him. Robin often stayed alongside the center half and was easily picked up. Not only would have dropping off the front allowed runners to replace him but he would have been able to add extra creativity that was missing from Ramsey, Arshavin and company.

Gervinho was lively but lacked end product but at least he was willing to make something happen other than passing the ball, I like that about him and feel he is what has been missing from our team since perhaps Thierry Henry. Henry had better end product, probably at the same age but he had the same ability to skip past people to open up spaces that had previously not been there.

Gervinho’s red card was the big talking point and many have differing views on it. Fans have said that he defended himself whilst others believe that he should be more professional. I fall into the latter camp. Joey Barton is Joey Barton, everyone knows what he is about. I defended Abou Diaby last season for reacting because it was a dangerous tackle and Diaby has massively suffered from career threatening tackles in the past but knowing what Barton is like, as soon as Gervinho’s shirt was grabbed, he should have thought about the advice given to him not to react to possible Barton provocation. If that information was not passed on then why on earth not? It was a needless claw into Barton’s face and being the despicable human being that he is, he fell to the floor.

A man complaining of a player diving is diving to get the same player sent off. What utter madness. I don’t really care about Barton and that he deserved a red card. The colour of Barton’s card does not mean that Gervinho will miss vital games but Gervinho’s retaliation will mean that an important player will miss Liverpool, Manchester United and Swansea, probably sat alongside Alex Song in the stands due to not using self control.

This isn’t to ignore the fact that we should have actually gained a penalty. If not for the trip from Cheick Tioté which caused the controversy but at least for the man handling of Gervinho from Barton when the ball was still active but that is certainly the type of penalty that would be awarded against us and not in our favour.

Theo came on and had a shot saved but his overall contribution was below what it should have been.

Even down to ten men, we still looked the team likely to win the game. Johan Djourou came on in central midfield to contribute to preventing Newcastle’s only possible threat, the long ball and set pieces and he had a great chance to free Walcott or Van Persie on the break but his pass was badly executed.

The game finished goalless and defensively we can take great encouragement from the performance even if it was against an average side. Offensively in the absence of Cesc and to a lesser extent Nasri, work needs to be done. Too many attacking players were off their game but you would expect Cesc to be replaced externally. Hopefully we can work on our defensive foundation and improve both defensively and offensively as the season progresses.

Man of the match: Laurent Koscielny