Bank holiday *boilk* to you all. I am as hungover as a Water Sheringham celebrating the death of more humans.

Arsenal won some silverware yesterday. The Emirates Cup came home. Hurrah. Hey, it's been four years since we won a trophy, I'm taking what I can get.

In all seriousness though it was another good warm up game, a decent team performance, and one young man stood out. Jack Wilshere won man of the match for the second game in a row, scored two goals, played out of his little skin and gave the manager some serious thinking to do about how big a part he can play in the season ahead.

On the evidence of yesterday there's no reason why this young man can't play Premier League football for us this season. He's matured a great deal and he showed in the two games how much talent he has. Arsenal fans should be very excited about what this lad can bring to the team in the seasons to come.

Arsene Wenger has certainly acknowledged the talent and the ability but at the same time he's looking for people's expectations to be realistic. And I think this is so important. There's a tendency to build up young players after a couple of performances and then when they fail to reach those heights on a consistent basis people are very quick to write them off again.

The example I'd use is Denilson. His first few appearances for the club were fantastic. He came in, played well, 'like another Cesc' said people, but has since struggled for various reasons. Now he's nobody's idea of a new Cesc and is, perhaps, a victim of raised expectations. If there hadn't been such hyperbole around his first few performances maybe people would have more patience with his progress.

Now, anyone who has watched football can tell you that there's something special about Jack Wilshere. Whatever IT is, he's got it. In spades. But how the club manage the next two or three seasons with him will be as likely to decide his future in the game than anything else. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders though, but he'll need it and the club will need to protect him.

For example, the complete and utter twats at Sky yesterday. They're talking him up for the England World Cup squad already. Christ, the lad hasn't been in the Arsenal squad regularly yet. And to be fair when the cretinous Geoff Shreeves asked Jack in the post-match interview if he was aware Fabio Capello was watching he just said "I have to worry about getting into the Arsenal team first". Sensible.

However, if he does start making appearances in the first team expect more of that kind of crap and it's dreadfully unfair to young players. I think in this era of instant opinion fueled by blogs and forums and message boards that fans, not just Arsenal fans either, are far too quick to make judgements about players. I think we're all guilty of it to an extent. And it seems to work the same way in the press now.

A series of three or four good games and a player is bigged up as 'The next X, Y or Z', international honours are just around the corner and a glorious career awaits. Some bad games and he's rubbish, never the answer and obscurity beckons. So when Arsene Wenger pleads for calm and quiet surrounding Jack Wilshere I think we have to respect that.

By all means let's be excited by his potential but let's not build him up so high that when reality bites we're not distraught and hysterical. His talent is obvious, but he's just 17 and playing in a no pressure pre-season environment. League football is different, European football is different, and believe it or not he might not play well some days. So while there's nothing we can do about what the press say or the hype merchants at Sky say, we can do the right thing and, like the manager says, respect his development.

Then we can all celebrate Jack's ascension as our new God and worship him like the deity he is.

In other news transfer target Marouane Chamakh has flipped his lid over the way Bordeaux have prevented him leaving the club. Apparently he's trying to force through a move to Arsenal and again it'd be typical of Arsene Wenger to talk about how we don't need an attacker then sign him up. As Gunnerblog said rather nicely yesterday ' I’m concerned about the defence, but I’m not sure Arsene is'.

Manuel Almunia reckons we're still better than Man City despite selling them Toure and Adebayor. That's all fine and dandy, the problem is we need to be better than United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

There's now a week of training ahead for the lads and then a game in Valencia on Saturday. The manager is still not ruling out the possibility of Vieira's return and I suspect this might be an interesting week. We'll see.

Right, painkillers, coffee and bacon. Liquidised. In a mug. The hungover breakfast of champions. Till tomorrow.

Lots going on this morning as the boss held his first real press conference of this pre-season. I watched it on Arsenal TV and he was flanked by Bacary Sagna who was roundly ignored by the press boys until they were reminded he was there.

Of course they all wanted to hear from the boss about the various goings-on, more than anything about the possible return of Patrick Vieira. It does seem as if there's something to all the speculation as AW said:

There is a football decision and then there's the psychological impact of a player of that stature coming in. We are nowhere near to making a decision like that. But it is a possibility. We don't rule it out and we don't say we will do it. That's my decision at the moment.

Which is classic, Arsene. We might. But we might not. But it's possible. Because anything is possible. But you never know. And when something happens you'll be the first to know.

I'm sure the Vieira song will get a rendition or two during today's game but I think any decision on his return will be made based on the physical side of things. I know the boss has talked about the psychological impact but it's difficult to see that being anything but positive. 

I've said for some time that the best thing for a number of these young players would be to play and train alongside experienced campaigners, and Vieira is certainly that. He could teach them a lot about football, about attitude and desire, and it may just improve them more quickly. Either way the boss will make his mind up but I think whether or not he's still got the legs will prove to be the most important factor.

He was asked about the sales of Adebayor and Toure and he confirmed that money raised from those sales would be available to him if he decided to go into the transfer market. When asked if selling to a rival for the top four was a factor he said:

I always say when you come to the decision to sell a player you can’t on top choose who you want to sell them to. If they are becoming a main rival I cannot stop it with a decision to sell a player or not. If they don’t buy from you they buy another good player from someone else.

Which is an interesting perspective. In Adebayor they've bought an effective striker provided he gets the right service and he's interested enough to play for you. Could they have bought a better striker with the money they have? Yes, no doubt. Kolo is a fine player but not the same player he was and while a change of scenery may rejuvenate his career the manager has looked at his stats, his performances, and decided to let him go.

So City are stronger but are they as strong as they could have been? That's the question. The one thing the boss did stress during the press conference though was that we are not close to signing anybody just at this moment in time. Truth or Wenger spin to put people off the trail? I suspect truth.

He would not be drawn on the statement of the Bordeaux president regarding Marouane Chamakh but the whispers are that the Moroccan striker remains a disinct possibility. He's stressing at all times the belief that this squad is strong enough to challenge next season, both in terms of quality and numbers. I know we all have our opinions on that but I wonder if there's a bit more to it.

If he talks all the time about how he thinks they're good enough then adds a player or two to the pack then they'll think they're good enough + 2 extra players good which will make them unbeatable! I could be reading too much into that.

Team news ahead of the weekend's football and the boss confirmed that Tomas Rosicky would be taking part as would Gael Clichy who some reports said would miss the start of the season. Aside from Nasri though the only injury is to Abou Diaby who has a minor knee problem but really you could spin a wheel, pick from any number of niggly little injuries and assign it to Diaby at any given time.

We read about how he'd spent the summer working on his fitness and that's only to be commended. He knows he's got to prove he's capable of playing for Arsenal this season. At some point you have to cut your losses with a player who is hardly ever fit or fit long enough to get into any kind of rhythm. It's reminiscent of a couple of pre-seasons ago when he was expected to step up and be Cesc's partner only to spend the time out injured and watch as Mathieu Flamini grabbed the opportunity by the throat.

So far he's only played against Barnet, the boss says he'll be back for the Valencia game in a week's time, so we'll have to just wait and see. 

Today's game against Atletico Madrid sees the return to Arsenal of Jose Antonio Reyes. I know he frustrated a lot of people with the way he left the club, me included, but on reflection I don't think he's a bad lad at all. He was just unable to cope with the familial pressures that blighted his time in England and I hope he gets a decent reception. He's had some nice things to say about the Arsenal too.

This morning's Mirror speculates that Philippe Senderos could be on his way to Everton as they prepare to sell Jolean Lescott to Moneybags City. I know the boss has talked about how many defenders we have in the squad but I'd rather we kept a 24 year old Senderos, for this season at least, than a 33 year old Sylvester. 

Perhaps his sale might be an indication of further moves in the midfield area. At some point he has to decide if Alex Song is a midfielder or a centre-half. If Senderos goes it does leave us a bit short in that area. Sylvester spent a lot of time out injured last season and in his time at United, Gallas has picked up one serious injury a season ever since he's arrived so I would inclined to keep him around.

Right, well that's it. Kick off today is 4.15pm. I will be sat downstairs, beer in hand, looking on with much interest, especially at the way the team lines up. If you're going have a nice day out and enjoy the football.

Till tomorrow.

Morning all,

happy Sunday to you all. A 1-0 defeat to Juventus yesterday in the Emirates Cup made it unlikely that we'll retain this most prestigious pieces of silverware, unless we spank Real Madrid today.

The Trezeguet goal was miles offside, even a blind man who didn't know the offside rule would have given it. It's not a big deal losing though. These games aren't about the results. There were some interesting bits and pieces to take from it though.

I suppose the main talking point is the reception given to Adebayor. When his name was announced pre-game there were some boos and when he came on in the second half you could hear more jeers when he touched the ball. Now, I'm not an advocate of booing players but I don't see any problem with fans wanting to let Adebayor know what they felt of his summer antics. He was out of order, they let him know. No harm whatsoever. Arsene Wenger called it 'disappointed love', heh.

In terms of performances young Jack Wilshere looked very good in the first half hour, as did most of the team in general. Gibbs was solid at the back, I thought Denilson had a very tidy game and was stronger in the tackle than I remember, Diaby came on and added something to midfield, Ramsey looks like he's got something about him while Djourou was quick and decent in the centre of defence.

The right hand side of Hoyte and Eboue was weak but given the fact they started yesterday and the supposed first XI will start today it's an indication that Sagna and Walcott, who combined well, are the ones who will begin the season there. 

Speaking after the game the boss said that even a 747 full of money wouldn't buy Adebayor now, although the new deal remains unsigned. He also spoke about a new signing, saying:

We are not close to signing anybody and I will focus on the players I have. If we can find someone, then we will do it. If not, I am happy as well. Experience-wise we a bit short in midfield but we will see. With Diaby not being injured, Denilson being available, we have quality in there. Today we did not have Rosicky, Fabregas, Eduardo, van Persie and Song. They are five top-class players.

Only one of those is a central-midfielder though. I have to say I'm finding the boss's comments about signings a bit strange. If we're short of experience and we need a body then shouldn't we be working hell for leather to find the right player rather than just saying 'Well, if we happen to chance across a vagrant quality central midfielder along the way we'll take him but if not then we'll just stick with what we've got'? 

On the other hand there is no real rush though. As the man from East Lower pointed out (after we'd finished recording the Arsecast the other night) our start to the season is not as tough as it might have been so there's no real rush. Knowing Arsene's penchant for late transfer window signings and the fact that you can drive the price down the longer you wait then it wouldn't be any surprise if the signing we all want came at 11.59pm on August 31st. 

Not much else happening really. In this morning's edition of El Mundo they report that Arsene Wenger, during the negotiations with Marc Ingla for Hleb and Adebayor, asked about Bojan Krkic. The youngster is only 17 and cannot sign a professional contract until he turns 18, at which point they can insert a ridiculous release clause. Barcelona don't want to sell though, obviously, because I reckon Bojan is going to be one of the biggest names in the world in a few years time. The boy, as they say, is a bit special.

So, Real Madrid later on. Should be fun. In the meantime have a good Sunday.