Arsenal's Three Young Lions Plus a Goalkeeping Merry-Go-Round

I thought Walcott had a decent half against Hungary last night; heck he was the outstanding player of the half. I don’t think he put a foot wrong. He was patient yet hungry, read the game well, and provided decent delivery to the forward line. I also noticed that he drifted a lot to the left—tactical instructions I believe.

It was refreshing to see Walcott come off at half-time with his reputation further enhanced by a quality performance in an England shirt. Maybe if Adam Johnson had put away the early chance created by Walcott, he could have already have been credited with an assist by half-time.

The introduction of Kieran Gibbs at halftime nearly brought tears to my eyes. I flashed back to the Champions League game against United and his injury against Dynamo Kiev. He truly has come a long way.

On show last night were three products of the Arsenal Academy: A.Cole, Gibbs, and Wilshere, with the likes of the newly promoted youngsters Lansbury, JET, Eastmond, and Frimpong waiting in the wings. The days of England having only one Arsenal player (Walcott) in the national team might just be over!

With the win almost in the bag, Jack Wilshere’s cameo was not unexpected. Whilst he did not perform Messi-esque wonders, he was quick to get stuck in and on the ball as soon as he came on for the fantastic Steven Gerrard. Could he be a long term successor to the aging star?

If you saw the game you would have noticed that while Gibbs was more adventurous than Clichy going forward, he was quicker in retreating back into position. With superb crossing and quick thinking, I think he will give Clichy a run for his slot this year. I figure Clichy will start the season as first choice but won’t be surprised if he is overtaken by Gibbs at the end of season.

Mirror Spy is reporting of an impending transfer merry-go-round involving goalkeepers. In short, they speculate (from their ever reliable sources) that Schwarzer is indeed desperate to leave Fulham for Arsenal and that the deal will happen sooner rather than later.

At that, Fulham are expected to present a bid for Brad Friedel to Villa, who have lined up Manuel Almunia as a replacement. I wonder why we can’t just swap Friedel with Almunia, pay a fee, and keep Fulham happy!

Wenger has said that he always does his transfer business very early (Chamakh, Koscielny) or very late (Arshavin, Gallas). I think it's safe to assume that there will be no new signings in the next two weeks.

Between the Official Manchester United website mysteriously appearing to have an ‘invisible profile’ on its first team squad list with the name Mesut Ozil and Fergie signing unknown strikers named Bebe, we might be in for a long August filled with more speculations.

Till tomorrow…Victoria Concordia Crescit.