FC Koln 0-4 Arsenal

Ah I have returned from my holidays after barely keeping track with all that's been going on I think I'm on top of it all. So we took on FC Koln or Cologne, whatever you prefer, yesterday and as we were expected to do won easily. Again the result comes second to the pre-season preparation but it was nice to see our new boys out, with Podolski grabbing a smart brace against his old club. Giroud had chances too but their keeper made some nice saves. Cazorla looked very impressive, he's fast and very very creative, obviously this is one game and against a side that got relegated last season, but I think he could be a really good signing. Vermaelen scored first with a move that will have (slightly) older fans relieving many goals with a classic Arsenal corner that Steve Bould would have taken part in many times. The flick on at the near post and headed in.

In the second half we made wholesale changes and Gervinho continued his impressive pre-season with yet another goal that was a great piece of individual work down the wing and he finished well from a tight angle. It was a good match and it has really got people excited about the highly anticipated return of the Premier League this weekend, me included! However the main talking point of the whole thing is something that has been rumbling on since the start of the summer.

Robin Van Persie came on after the 69th minute, not the 45 he said he'd play but he still played. I think it sent a message to various people (Robin included), to just say, he's still contracted and he's still an Arsenal player. As expected he came on and played his part, he didn't do anything of note, but he played with professionalism and at the moment that's all he can do. Wenger again re-iterated we want to keep him and that he is part of our plans. What we must remember is that deadline day is not Saturday and if he plays on Saturday it doesn't mean he will be our player for the rest of the season so at the moment, much like the rest of the summer we can only wait and see.

But there are positives to take from yesterday and we look relatively sharp going into the first game of the season. Let's hope for a repeat of the scoreline against Sunderland!