A piece of silver and a cartful of gold!

This weekend saw the inaugural Emirates Cup at the Emirates stadium. Featuring Arsenal, Lyon, AC Milan and Celtic (of all teams) it would provide showstopping, half paced pre-season excitement.

The one thing I love about the Emirates cup is that it does give us a bit of an insight into how the likes of Wilshire, Frimpong et al might cope against world class players. Naturally the pace of the game makes it a bit easier, but teams like AC Meeeeeelan play at a slow, deliberate pace and Arsenal were more than a match for them. Wilshire has again been one of the stars of the Tournament and I can see him getting more involvement in the first team this year.

Frimpong for me, I'm struggling to see what the fuss is about. Yes he's strong, he puts himself about the midfield and harries and wins the ball. His passing is poor by Arsenal standards and his persistent harrying and kicking would be punished more severely in a Premier League or Champions League encounter. Yes he's a good talent, but he is miles from first team squad material.

That said however, I did enjoy his performances and along with the rest of the squad I believe the cup achieved what was required; 1) to bring in a full capacity crowd to watch the new players in action, 2) to acclimatise the new players to the Emirates, 3) to give a increased level of pre-season competition above and beyond whats been played so far and 4) to give the players a bit of a boost pre-season by winning a trophy - even if its practically meaningless.

Koscielny (Kozza) looked to be a good player over both games. I think he can be a bit eager, but he's fast, has good anticipation and he is indeed a fighter. I think Djourou is a better player, but time will tell on his fitness.

Chamakh did well also, I felt at times he needed someone to be closer to him to benefit from his knock-downs and flicks, take a note Theo, get near him and you will score goals, get back in the England fold and be a better, more confident player for it.

I intend to do a piece soon about centre-backs and the revelation by Arsene that we no longer need midfield reinforcements.

Til then, sleep tight Gooners!

WG

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Pre-season is such a tease!

I endure a love/hate relationship with pre-season. When I was playing, it would be hard work followed by tough games against better opposition to sharpen us up for the start of the season.

Arsene does it differently, as do most top managers. Even the much-celebrated Emirates Cup is little more than a training match which boosts revenue and showcases this seasons new talent. This raises up expectations and hopes as you see players like Wilshire that practically won the cup by himself last year.

It raises belief and arrogance and sometimes I think the players believe their own press a bit. You can see it in their faces, they expect to walk some games and it cannot ever be like that. You have to be hungry, you have to want it.

I guess we'll see in 5 games whether we have a shot at silverware this season. I still think we need a big mean ball winner although I do think song has the component parts for it should he become more focussed. By way of an explanation, I think Song's a bit easy going, with a bit more focus and intensity he could be a stunning player.

I want Arsenal to be back on top where we belong, we have some of the best support in the world. Let's have the best team.


WG

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