Cesc of the Fabregas may also not be out for as long as first expected, he may be kept wrapped up in cotton wool for the clash against bottom team beating Chelsea. Ideally we need our captain fit for such an important game, he is the difference between turning a draw into a victory or a defeat into a draw

Good afternoon Gooners,

I hope you like the decorating I have has been going on around here, There has been plenty of painting and cleaning up for some time now and finally the end is near, A few slight problems need to be worked on but I shall get to all that later.

I like I am sure many Gooners are still feeling pretty good about the performance and result at the Lane, there is not many places more enjoyable to go to, spank the hosts and leave later on in good spirits.

Someone on twitter recorded some Spud supporters chatting on the train and basically convincing themselves that it was our strongest team that beat them. It was quite painful listening really.

What it does show is the strength of our squad. Like I have said for a while now, our squad will keep getting larger and more talented as the young players we have grow, develop and ultimately improve. A few years ago Kieran Gibbs was a young kid with no hope of being a part of the first team, nowadays he is many supporters favourite to replace Clichy and start. Hopefully now that our squad is growing, perhaps the Carling Cup will not prove to be a hurdle too much this time round. I would fancy the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, Eboue and Vela against most teams in our league as long as they are supported by some of the first team squad.

To be honest I fancy Jack Wilshere against anyone on that kind of form, once he adds that injection of power both physically and in his running, like Cesc did a couple of years ago then he will take even more huge strides forward.

Tomas Rosicky has been full of praise for the 18 year old

“He is great talent. For his age he has a great brain and he has a great future, When he has got the ball he is very calm, that’s something that sometimes younger guys don’t have – they panic a little bit or something.

“With him you don’t see that though – he is very comfortable with the ball. That’s the first quality you are looking for and he has got that. Obviously we want Cesc in our line-up but all players who started [at Tottenham] showed that they are ready.”

It must be great for the likes of Wilshere learning his game as a 16/17 year old in training alongside Cesc, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin etc. He must have gained so much from them. It is probably a matter of time before he surpasses at least one of those players in terms of performances on the pitch.

Arsene Wenger has stood by his beliefs and it is those beliefs that look like paying off. I hate the saying ‘a failed experiment’ it is a throw away comment based on nothing. Producing Premier League players of the quality of Wilshere and Gibbs for practically nothing is as far away from a so called failed experiment as you are likely to get.

I am sure the likes of Liverpool would love the opportunity to turn back the hands of time and embark on Arsenal’s failed experiment instead of the spending as much money as you can, get the club into mounds of debt and win not very much experiment.

Fantastic news that Kieran Gibbs has not broken his foot, I like many sighed and wiped my brow upon finding out the news. Gibbs had yet another good display against the Spuds. He is breathing down Clichy’s neck and will one day get his chance. I personally would stick with Gael, even if he has made a few mistakes recently. I think his dynamic style suits our football, especially as we seem to have improved our collective pressing of the ball. Gael does that better than most, Gibbs slows our football down a little bit compared to Clichy, although is more of a goal threat. Having said that Clichy will not have endless amounts of chances to make mistakes, especially if Gibbs keeps improving.

We may just see a bit more rotation in that position as Sagna and Eboue were doing on the opposite side last season.

The injury news continues, captain Cesc of the Fabregas may also not be out for as long as first expected, he may be kept wrapped up in cotton wool for the clash against bottom team beating Chelsea. Ideally we need our captain fit for such an important game, he is the difference between turning a draw into a victory or a defeat into a draw. Unfortunately all the injury news isn’t positive. Rosicky who struggled towards the end of the Spurs game has an ankle problem whilst Eboue has a damaged knee, Arsene didn’t say how long they would be out for but they will not be ready for Saturday. Vermaelen isn’t quite ready to come back either which is a massive shame, I was hoping that he would be able to get some valuable playing time before Chelsea. However Diaby is ready to play,I hope he gets on from the bench and then starts against Chelsea. Denilson deserves to keep his place for the weekend after a marvelous display on Tuesday.

So what about the Szczesny outburst a few days ago? Wenger basically said that he needs patience because of his age and that is true. Not everyone can do a Cesc and come in at 17 years old and nail down a place. I didn’t think he needed to air his views in public though. That is not how we run tings at our club, it is the way of the likes of Spurs and Chelsea and other common riff raff. I fully understand Szczesny’s desire to play, especially after having a full season at Brentford and receiving rave reviews. You can understand why he could feel that he deserves a chance above Fabianski but the professional way would be to knock on the managers office and discuss his future and not to a media source.

I thought Wenger came across very well when asked about the tackling debate. He didn’t back down and just said that he condemned violent play. Wenger said that others should not take it personally, it is the act itself that is the problem. Well something along those lines.

I struggle to understand what the problem is. It is like me saying that killing people is wrong and OJ Simpson complaining about my comments. Not that OJ has done anything wrong after being proven innocent and all but you catch my drift *ahem*

I am looking high and low, flicking through newspapers trying to find Mark Hughes moaning about dangerous tackles headlines but am struggling to find anything at all. Not sure why that is. The amount of serious injuries in such a short space of time must be concerning the FA, surely?

Other bits and pieces I may mention tomorrow but I have to make tracks in a second. Before I go I would like to mention a few things regarding the new site.

The comments is currently unformatted so they come out in chunks, that is something that will be addressed soon I hope. I would advise registering (only takes a few seconds) so you don’t have to fill in the security box every time you leave a comment, you also get remembered the next time you comment. Just makes life a little easier. Once registered, you will get a confirmation email, if you cannot find it then have a look in your junk mail.

There are a few fiddly bits and pieces that need resolving and hopefully they won’t put you off too much until everything has been completed.

Enjoy your Thursday, back again tomorrow.