Arsenal were back to the best in yesterday’s 4-1 win at Newcastle and Giroud, and Cazorla scored two apiece to give us a very comfortable victory, not to mention Welbeck’s unluckily disallowed finish and the numerous other chances created in the 90 minutes. After the game you would have expected Arsene Wenger to highlight the attacking qualities in our rejuvenated side, but he was quicker to praise our defence.
“We played well today with a very offensive team,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com. “I felt that even defensively we looked comfortable and the balance was right.
“It was the first time I’ve seen Bellerin playing without a handbrake and you could see that there’s something there. Debuchy was outstanding in a completely new position.
“I asked him many, many times this week, ‘have you played centre back?’, and he said no, never. He responded very well. Mertesacker is coming back to good form and Gibbs got stronger and stronger in the game – Szczesny as well.
“We’ve had two good games and scored eight goals, conceding only two. After the Stoke City incident, this is a very strong response and it shows what I said that this team is united, dynamic and wants to do well.”
Admittedly Bellerin and Debuchy were impressive despite their inexperience in their respective positions, but they didn’t have to work as hard as was expected, while Cazorla, Giroud and Sanchez were brilliant in the attack to win us the points…