I fully understand that from what we saw so far, the Carling Cup was a good bite at silverware this season, but remember, for Arsenal, it’s just a prototype of what the regular side is supposed to be in a season or two. Had we lost a match in which we were outplayed, outpaced and outmuscled, I would have been mighty upset but that wasn’t the case and as it is, we can archive the cup with smiles and pride.

Pick three players who can make it in the first 11

Don’t be upset for yesterday’s elimination. I mean, if you had to pick three players who can straight away make it into the first evelen, who would those be?

For me, Wilshere, Ramsey and Vela but I’m more than sure that you guys could mention Fabianski or Simpson or Merida, who were all superb in these three cup matches, meaning that there is huge potentional in the young side. There’s no need to be upset about a lost match in which we had five clear goal opportunities because we didn’t lack in determination, we didn’t lack in created opportunities, we just needed more luck, which frankly, was all used against Chelsea.

Analysing the cup

It’s easy for the papers to write about how good the young ones are after 4-0 wins as much as it’s now easy for them to write about the upset. But let’s not forget that in the first round, the kids eased past Sheffield United who incidentally are toe-to-toe with Burnley in the Championship table. After that, they quickly got rid of Wigan, a Premiership side, before losing to Burnley, which again, was a match which could have easily gone the other way round had we taken our chances. And just look at the way Burnley celebrated yesterday’s win to realise how much it meant to them and how much they respected the young, average age of 19.5 side, fielded by Wenger.

Analysing the match

As I was reading Wenger’s comments after the match, I stopped writing this part as he expressed exactly my thoughts when he said:

It was a game we should never have lost. We played quite well, we had six one to ones with the goalkeeper yet were still beaten 2-0. However it has been a good education for our young players. Many of them were not fazed by the game – we just needed to be more clinical.

The only thing I would like to add is how disappointed I am with Bendtner. I can understand missing one open goal opportunity, maybe even two, but three – especially after the way he scored against Kiev – are too much for him. I still insist on saying that Nicklas should be a support striker, just like when he turned provider for Randall and Vela, as he no Eduardo when it’s time to put it in.

Looking forward

As I wish Burnley to consolidate on the Chelsea and Arsenal wins and go all the way through, Wigan are up next at the Emirates. Surely it would be a shock if the side beaten so easily by the reserves in the Carling Cup beats the regulars, so I expect no surprises there. With Chelsea and Liverpool both dropping points last weekend, we are back into the title race, although there’s still a lot of work to do. The busy Christmas period will tell a lot, and hopefully we will keep it all together until Eduardo makes his comeback for the much-needed help we need up front.