Arsenal are out of the Carling Cup but positives can be taken from the game such as the brilliant performance of some of the young players.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as he explained that the Englishman looked like one who could deliver something “special” against Manchester City with the manager adding that the youngster is moving forward and showing consistency.

And on the midfield duo of Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin, the Arsenal boss declared that the two youngsters did well as they fought extremely hard against Roberto Mancini’s tough and experienced midfield.

After the game, the manager said:

[On the performance of Oxlade-Chamberlain] We lacked a little bit of experience to be more decisive in the final third but Chamberlain looked the whole night like he could deliver something special.

He has shown already tonight that he has moved forward, considering where he was in the last two months. He has improved a lot already.

The experience tonight shows that it’s good sometimes to be positive and as well patient.

I was very patient with him until now and I feel that it is important sometimes that you hold them back a little bit and keep them on the training ground. He has shown that he has improved a lot.

He has surprised me by the consistency of this game. You pushed him off the ball easily two months ago but tonight you could see that his resistance in the challenges, his strength in the duels, is there. That is of course very important at the top level.

[The midfield battle?] I feel in midfield Frimpong did well, Coquelin did well, we battled very hard in there. We were mobile, strong in the fight, we did very well I must say.

Sometimes we lacked a little bit of creativity in the final third, especially in the last 20 minutes when I felt there was plenty of room to give them big problems and we missed sometimes the experience in the final ball.

But I cannot fault the team, they have shown heart, quality and desire. At the end of the day it is frustrating for the players that they are not rewarded.