Phoney War is nearly over.

The Emirates Cup has come and gone, and we have regained the title we relinquished last year. It has been some decent workouts, some facets of the team are improving, some still show clear flaws that if they aren't rectified, will haunt the team at the business end of the season.

The use of 3 central midfielders is something i have personally always prefered in a 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1, precisely because the bulk of our best players are comfortable in central midfield, they are not then asked to perform roles like playing on the flank which reduce their effectiveness. The midfield 3 so far has been decent, i won't praise it more until we show we can maintain it over a period of time without getting scared of our opponents.

In attacking motions, it means the ball is worked around well, however in defensive motions, there is big trouble, sat in the Directors Box yesterday, we come under pressure so easily, attacking teams are able to fly at our defence easily, and you wonder why at least one of the 3 players does not try eliminate this, preferably all 3 will make haste to prevent any pressure on the defence. This needs major refinements yet still, if it cannot be solved internally, then maybe externally will be a starting point.

The defence still showed they are not capable of keeping clean sheets, the goal we allowed Atletico to score was bad defending, and the second half against Rangers was comical to be kind. we assume Vermaelen is a quality starter, we still need a quality backup player, Silvestre-Djourou-Song Billong should not be first in line, last season showed all it took was 1 injury to Gallas for the floodgates to open.

Also a special mention for Wilshere, what a talent he is, but expectations must be reduced, i am not sure he is ready to be the player we rely on to make the difference, defenders in a competitive arena will wear him down physically to reduce his impact, we need to wait another 2 seasons at least before the team can count on him to make the difference.