It turned out to be a good day for the Club yesterday with the granting of Eduardo’s Work Permit followed by an opening match victory over Lazio, seemingly injury-free to boot. The paperwork issue resolved now enables Arsene to look to bring in a left-sided midfielder should he choose to do so; I am not convinced he is going to do so but it is an almost pointless exercise to try and second guess him in this aspect of the job.

What of the Lazio game? Another useful exercise, highlighting The Good, The Bad And The Ugly of recent seasons. Due to the game being a friendly, it feels harsh to criticise but some of the defending was the wrong side of shambolic; it was not so much the individual mistakes – Hoyte & Djourou were equally culpable in the lead up to the corner that led to the Italians equaliser – but as unit, they were just not at the races. To counter that, it is highly unlikely that as a four, they will play collectively. Which makes the performance less worrying. Indeed, some of the covering by the centre backs was excellent, Senderos making one particularly good challenge on Pandev when he was through.

The other aspect that perhaps ought to be worked on was the gap between the three distinct areas of the team; Defence, Midfield and Attack were at times stretched more than they should have been. Some of the individual performances were below par as well; Fabregas, Walcott and Toure looked like the cobwebs are still not fully shaken clear whilst it was apparent that Eboue still has some elements of the midfield role to adapt more fully to, several instances of he and Hoyte being in the attacking third of the pitch arose with no defensive cover at right back; Sagna and Eboue looked more solid defensively probably more due to the former’s curbed attacking instincts. But there is still another ten days until Fulham when miraculously, you can almost guarantee that the levels will be significantly higher.

But there were plenty of positives to take on board. Eduardo was, I think, the most impressive player on the pitch. His workrate was exemplary, linking the attack with the rest of the team excellently. He was at fault for the Lazio goal – ‘Row Z’ technique is obviously not that important in Zagreb – but his movement was impressive. His goal was a simple affair but again contained positives, leaving aside the abysmal defending by the Italians. Rosicky’s delivery was better than a lot seen in recent seasons and it would have been easy for Eduardo to take his eye off of the ball as it sailed over the head of a cluster of defenders and attackers. Bendtner’s finish also was commendable, particularly as the chance looked to have drifted away as he neared the bye-line. The ‘goal’ he had chalked off in the second half also had a decent finish. If he gets on a scoring run, Bendtner strikes me as the sort of player who will grow measurably in confidence.

A side issue with the opener and several other shots from both sides was the movement that the ball was taking in the air. If that is the ball being used in the Premiership this coming season, I am glad I am not a goalkeeper. The midfield also might like to note that if they shoot from outside the area, deflections can lead to opportunities.

The real beauty of the game though is that surely we have got the miss of the season out of the way? Surely no-one can make a hash of the opportunity that Hoyte put against the post? Can they?

Today sees the draw for the Champions League Qualifier. Looking at the teams in the final round or likely to be there, it strikes me that there is not one team that Arsenal should be afraid of drawing on footballing merit. There are decent sides in the draw who should not be under-estimated but not one that we would struggle to beat on paper. Some are more favourable than others; the ones to avoid are those on geographic grounds, Donetsk and Moscow will not be looked upon kindly in the opening week of the season. But you know they are the ones we will get…

’til Tomorrow.