Theo Walcott is excited for the chance to play alongside summer signing Gervinho, calling him “a breath of fresh air.” Theo has also gone on record saying he thinks the Gunners owe their fans a fast start to the new season, after last season’s disappointments.

“Without a doubt [we owe the fans],” Walcott told Arsenal.com.

“They have been so loyal to us when we have not been winning trophies which we should be for such a big club. As players we are disappointed in ourselves but that is in the past now. This year is a massive one for everyone, for the Club itself. The fans are very important to us all and hopefully we can make them proud.”

It’s great to see that the players recognize what a massive crossroads this year may be for Arsene Wenger and his “youth project.” It is equally nice to hear that the players are determined to deliver this year, and hopefully bring home a trophy to North London. For the uncertainty and discontent that is swirling around this club right now, winning represents a perfect cure-all.

It doesn’t need to be said, but further failures will only see more questions being asked of this squad, both in the media and internally within the squad. Players in the squad like Walcott and Robin van Persie, both of whom will be entering the final year of their contracts next summer, may begin to wonder if Arsenal is really the club for them.

Like I said, it doesn’t really need discussing, the “what-ifs” and worst-case scenarios. This team needs to show the fans and their manager that they are good enough, and I think it is great that Theo Walcott is willing to acknowledge the fact.

As for Gervinho, who stole the show in his Arsenal debut, with two excellent goals in just over 25 minutes on the pitch, Walcott was full of praise.

“[Gervinho] will be a breath of fresh air I think,” said Walcott. “He looks a great talent.

“You can tell he can bring goals, he has got plenty of pace about him and he is very comfortable on the ball. I am looking forward to playing with him. You don’t want to put too much pressure on him but I am sure he can deal with that.”

Walcott assisted Gervinho’s second goal, which was created when Jack Wilshere played a beautiful ball wide across the box to an open Theo, who then picked out Gervinho’s forward run with a timely cross.

I look forward to seeing these two on the pitch together, and it was very encouraging to see that Gervinho seemed to have an understanding with most of his teammates.

If you had never watched an Arsenal match before Saturday, you’d not have guessed that Gervinho was a new signing. I really hope he can continue scoring, but the most important thing for Gervinho is to avoid hitting a wall physically.

Last year Marouane Chamakh had a tremendous first half of the season, but according to him, he ran out of gas in the second half of the year.

Chamakh’s form dipped back in January, and we still have not seen him return to the level he exhibited early in his Arsenal career. Some are beginning to worry that the first half of last year was the aberration, not the second half, and that Chamakh simply may not have what it takes.

Hopefully, Arsene will take note of this and use Gervinho more cautiously. It shouldn’t be to difficult, where Chamakh was forced to play nearly every game early last year, due to injuries to RVP and Bendtner, Gervinho is a type of player that Arsenal have in abundance. Arsenal have no problems with scoring early in most seasons, but when the home stretch arrives, it would be great to have a relatively fresh Gervinho who still has some goals in him.