Here is Gooner 48's Fans Eye View of the Reading v Arsenal Match :

I was in row B at Reading - not an ideal position when the ball is at the other end of the pitch because of a total lack of perspective. But when it comes to being almost part of the action it really does give a far better understanding of the pace, power and speed of a Premiership match. Those who only ever sit in the upper tier really have no idea, those who watch on the box with a view as seen from the upper tier really have no idea. It's the one advantage of the random away ticket seating process, every now and again you get a feel for the ferocity of the modern game. From a Subbuteo view of the match you get to see formations laid out before you but at ground level it really is a different ball game.

The ball can be seen to move in the air at speed, you can pretty well feel the tackles, the pace is seriously frightening and there is good reason for the sign on the back of the hoardings which states 'beware of flying footballs' - even though that conjures up a Daliesque picture of flying pigs being replaced by flying footballs with wings.

Anyway to my point - when people talk about poor choices made by various players you have to consider just how much time anyone on a pitch gets to make a choice. And unless you are a genius such as Cesc, the simple answer is no time at all. When you next moan about poor control you might be right, but when watching close up you just wonder how the hell a player could ever control a ball at all at the pace it is played into them, never mind figuring out what to do next with it. It becomes instinctive, knowing what to do next is almost a reflex action and Ade's goal was a good example of this in the build up play. Close up I'd say that every one of our players has fabulous ball control and errors are both relative and minor in comparison to other Clubs given the speed of our fast pass and move game. Cesc made some poor passes in the first half but the difference was you noticed them because of their rarity value. Getting to that next perfect level of a Hleb or a Fabregas does n
ot come easy but Theo is progressing in the right direction. It's all relative - if Rosicky played for Reading he'd be their main man and star performer every week. But he plays for us and relatively he looked rather moderate on Monday.

Right, I don't do this often, but I'm gonna do a Lazza here and say I told you so - I said a couple of seasons ago that Cesc could be the best midfield player in the world ever and was told not to get carried away. I've been saying how brilliant he is since the very first game saw him play in the League Cup. He is brilliant because he combines his all seeing vision with his two-footed consummate skills, his ability to ht the perfect pass is pure Bergkamp. I also pointed out some time back (last season I think - because I don't hoard sent messages) that at the same age Lampard didn't score that many goals and I thought that Cesc would start to score at some point and would eventually match Lampard in the goal stakes. I take no credit for such observations because AW knew all of this long before any of us had ever heard of Cesc Fabregas. Football is still a luck thing though, because Stewart Robson could also have been one of our best ever midfield players if his career was not
  marred by injuries. Richie Powling was another such prospect. Cesc however seems to be a fit young man who stays fit, thankfully.

So when I tell you that Theo has got what it takes its because I know that to be the case (not because I claim it to be a fact - it is still personal opinion), but in my opinion he has progressed, is progressing, and he is at the dipping in and out of the team stage. Which of course is what AW is doing. On no account should he go out on loan, because what you learn about football is learnt in training. Bruce at Brum will make Djourou a better player and at his stage that is what he needs - but it is a different case and Wenger knows best. Brum have stayed in the top flight because Bruce is a good defensive coach so it makes sense. As for Theo - sure he needs a run in the team to prove himself but he hasn't quite earned that yet, he is not quite there physically yet. Quite a few listees had the same doubts about van Persie when he wasn't a first team regular, I never did because some players just reek class and he's one of them. Temperamentally there were question marks, but t
hen there were about Denis Law and he was one of the all time greats. Theo is still learning, when he plays for England's under 21's he shows how far ahead he is of his peer group, despite being younger than most of them. At Club level he is being compared, unfairly, to football geniuses whilst still learning and still very young.

So I'm telling you Theo has what it takes and will make it - he will make it big time. Don't tell me I'm wrong now, because now doesn't matter - tell me in three or four years time. I won't keep this post so you'll have to.

Gooner 48 - One life, one game, one team, three doubles and keen observer of Arsenal youngsters coming through.