The result last night means Arsenal is practically in the group stages of the Champions League. The goals, fortuitous they might have been, was nothing less than we deserved. It was the display of the professionalism and maturity that Arsenal have oft been accused of lacking.

Cetlic fans in fine voice, but the 12 the man can only go so far.

It would be wrong to say that the players might have suddenly discovered a magic formula over the off-season break, but Arsenal has so far showed an edge to their game that they didn’t have at the same time last year. It is more likely that that edge was discovered during the trials and tribulation of last season.

There is a noticeable physical difference, players like Ramsey, Denilson, Wilshere and even Cesc has filled out as expected at this age. Song seems more confident, Bendtner more assured, Gallas more comfortable, and so far the displays by Tommy V. seems to have made everyone more relaxed. Not having had the chance to see Vermaelen during the pre-season, his performance has been pleasantly surprising to say the least.

Not that everything is peachy, I am a little concerned by our full backs. The narrowness in the middle of the current formation means that they — the full backs— needs to be a bit more circumspect in going forward. On a few occasions have been caught out of position but their pace helped recover the situation. It isn’t something to be despondent about and I’m sure the professionals will work on this.

The good thing about the 2 games is that we haven’t really been that good at our best, which means that there is a lot more to come from this team. We have a lot to look forward to, as there is a lot of improvement to come from that team. It’s not going to be plain sailing all the way, and we’ve only played 2 games so far, but the signs are there and today is a good day to be a gooner.

Before I sign off I must touch on the talk of inexperience, and of physical attributes or lack thereof.

The accusation of inexperience somehow misses the fact that experience is gained through victories and defeats alike, these very players have been to Istanbul and won, Rome and held their nerve in a penalty kick-off, some to Prague both Sparta and Slavia, Madrid, Turin, all places where more “experienced” teams have come unstuck. Losses in the early season to Fulham, Hull, and Stoke does not count for nothing. Getting to UCL semi-finals is experience gained, losing to United 0-1 away adds to that experience, losing at home in the UCL semi’s in the way we did can destroy a player, but iron is hardened by a mixture of periods of heat blended with a spell of cold.

There is a big difference in playing in 600 premier league games, and playing in 150 premier league games coupled with 50 Champions league games and 20 internationals. Experience is not about quantity but quality, I dare say our players are steeped in quality of games played.

Does anyone really think there is a big difference between 5’11″ and 6’1″? It’s 2 inches! If it were basketball where the added the arm span makes the difference closer to 5 inches I’d be worried, but this is football where it’s all about how high you jump. How many times have you seen Crouch out jumped by a shorter defender? Crouch may be 6’7″ but I doubt he gets more than 2 feet off the ground when he jumps, unless you count the times he uses the defender for leverage.

So 6’7″ plus 2 feet that’s 8’7″ reach, compare that to say Vermaelen who was comfortably getting up there with Felliani. If Vermalen gets 7 inches higher in his jump which is entirely possible, it means at their peak jump, Crouch and Vermaelen is the same height 8’7″. As a reference the average vertical leap for an NBA basketballer (people how you’d expect to jum higher than footballers) is officially 28 inches. Randy Moss jumps 51 inches standing still and 53 Running, Jordan 48 inches and Kadour Ziani who is 5’9 gets an amazing 61 inches off the ground. It’s not about how tall you are it’s about how high you can jump.

Anyway two games into the season 1 league and 1 UCL win there’s a lot more to go, lets get behind our squad, this is going to be a big season for all of us.