I know what you're going to say; "Belemo don't get ahead of yourself, it is only a preseason fixture and it was against a Colorado Rapids" and you're probably right but that notwithstanding, I have serious cause to be excited after a long time. If you keep up with my blog, you'll notice a common theme and it is that I want the youngsters to be given more opportunity in the first team.

The Preseason is an interesting time. It gives an opportunity for youngsters and fringe players alike to stake their claim for the upcoming season. Think of it as an auditioning process of sorts and it is very important for players to participate in these sort of fixtures. More than anything, it sets the tone for the upcoming season, giving us an idea about how the team will set up.

It was nice to see Emery using his preferred 4-3-3 and it is safe to say that Arsenal fans had a lot of joy during the fixture at Dick Sporting good park as new Boy Martinelli got on the scoresheet to make the scoreline 3-0. That was of course after a sublime effort that flew into the top corner from Olayinka to get the second goal after some dodgy defending gifted Sako the first goal of the game.

Emery has made the right noise in the youth development department and speaking after the game he said;

"We are working very well here in Los Angeles and the first match was good to use different young players, to give them chances to show their quality, commitment to work and to be with the idea to help the team.

Well, it is too soon to make any assumptions but I say it is a good start to the season. I always knew we weren't going to be active in the transfer window so I didn't get my hopes up, all that's left now is to focus on what we have. Speaking of what we have, I got a little bit too excited and posted this on my twitter

okay maybe it was a little bit more than excited but you need to hear what others are saying about him to get a better perspective. Here are a few other tweets

-Gabriel Martinelli scored his first goal for Arsenal last night with his chest. It’s important not to overreact, because it was only one game against a poor Colorado Rapids side, but he’s the best thing to come out of Brazil since Ronaldo Nazário by Patrick timmons

-Martinelli is 100% 1st team quality on the wings by Aubalacaflocka

Emery certainly thinks highly of the young team that started the game and when puzzled on if Martinelli will feature in the first team, he said;

 Our idea is to give every young player chances to be with us, first in the training ground and after playing matches like today. The idea is to give them more chances in other matches. They will win the possibility to be with us with their performances.

You can read the entire press conference after the match that discussed issues concerning working with Edu, the Koscielny situation and other issues Here

Until we meet again, up the gooners.

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