The new Goodplaya site is here.

HOW very Arsenal to announce contract extensions for Mark Randall and Kieran Gibbs yesterday.

I’ve said previously how after losing Diarra, Flamini and Gilberto, we’ve left ourselves not just exposed to injuries, but short of midfielders in the first place.

It does frustrate me because I really don’t see why we couldn’t have held onto Gilberto and then only sold him yesterday if replacements were tied up.

But let’s not just throw our toys out of the pram on this. Buying a midfielder is not a case of opening an Argos catalogue, seeing which one you fancy, checking they have it at your local branch and picking it up.

It’s a damn site more complicated than that and I’ve no reason to think the boss didn’t try very hard to bring at least one in and possibly more.

But these things happen. And let’s be honest with ourselves here: what would our reaction be if he had signed someone but they had turned out to not be as good as Denilson or Diaby? Would we praise him for at least signing someone?

I think not. We’d slam him for bringing such rubbish into Arsenal football club.

Football success, ultimately, is not about who you sign. It is about what you do on the pitch.

And that is what I will judge Arsene on this season. I happen to think he has made things tougher than they need be, but if we are successful then when I look back it won’t bother me one bit that we didn’t sign any of those replacements.

Of course, if a terrible run in December coincides with Ramsey and Denilson in the team because Cesc and Diaby are injured, I won’t be hugely sympathetic.

But we kind of have a choice: either spend the next four months harping on endlessly about midfielders or we get behind what is ultimately a massively talented squad that looks light in one particular area (and perhaps in central defence but that’s for another day…)

PLAYA RATINGS

ALMUNIA
One shot to save all game and he held it very well.7.5

SAGNA

Up close you see just how physically strong and athletic the guy is. Kept Newcastle very quiet. Never reacts when he gets kicked, which must be infuriating for the opposition.7.5

GALLAS
A quite uncharacteristic miss early on. Otherwise fine.7

KOLO
One good shooting opportunity that he rightly took on. Looked fairly solid, although was drawn towards ball for the Owen chance.7

CLICHY
Really bombed forward at times and in the second half he just seems to become phenomenally strong. Incredible energy, great running and after five years, he finally broke his duck: we saw a shot on target.8.5

DENILSON
A bit of a nightmare of a first half, where everything he touched seemed to go awry. But deserves credit for getting into the box and getting his shot away for the goal and after that he seemed to relax a little.6.5

NASRI
You can see he was the little kid who grew-up playing on concrete with big kids. Shows genuine signs of being the second coming of Robert Pires. Runs with his head up, runs with purpose and knows where the goal is. And I know this might be by-the-by but when he did decide to retaliate against a player, he did something that is really annoying but can only ever be punished with a yellow card. Compare that to Hleb’s idiotic bitch slap at the end of last season.8

EBOUE
There was the awful ball that led to the Owen chance. And then there was the brilliance for our goal and generally some really positive running. Look back at everything I have said and you will see I have never doubted his ability, just his application.7.5

CESC
Finds space and finds the killer balls almost without one noticing.7.5

RVP
Some excellent link-up play with Adebayor, a great penalty, a right-footed finish, a ridiculous shot off the bar that seen is person was quite scary and the requisite injury.8

ADEBAYOR
Lots of good work, but is not quite there at the moment. These things often take time for strikers.7

SUB: WALCOTT
Screwed up two pretty presentable chances but also went on a couple of great runs.6.5

SUB: VELA
Much stronger than I imagined he would be. Sure, we were 3-0 up, but he was sharp, direct and a real pain for defenders. Also likes running with it.7.5

SUB: SONG
The jitters are gone. Both his and mine. Hurrah.7

Arsenal 3 Newcastle United 0
From Goodplaya at the Emirates

THIS was great stuff on a gorgeous day accompanied by a terrific atmosphere.

Firstly: Make no mistake, the booing of Adebayor did not end with a good performance. It ended beforehand when the majority, sick of the boos of a few being seen as the sentiment of the majority, pointedly went out of their way to sing his name. And quite right too.

Newcastle looked useful, but were destroyed. Perhaps opting for two up front rather than five in midfield was their undoing. Either way, we’d have beaten most teams. Again, Cesc clearly helped. But this was a performance based on far more than just him and when we play like that, there really is no better show in town.

Gallas missed an early sitter and RVP should have had a penalty. I felt a little sorry for Nzogbia on the one that was given. A spot-kick for handball is just about the cheapest chance of a goal you ever get in football and I wouldn’t object were some punished with just a free-kick in the box.

But RVP swept it into the inside of the side-netting and we deserved our lead.

Then, heavens above, we consolidated it. And even more astonishingly it was Comrade Eboue (fresh from losing possession for the clear Owen chance) who was at the heart of it.

He collected the ball, shifted it out of his feet, sped forward, laid a good ball out wide to Adebayor and continued into the box (seriously). Then when it came in, he looked up, saw RVP behind him and backheeled it perfectly for a right-footed finish from the Dutchman. Great goal.

Newcastle rallied after the break, Butt hitting the top of the bar with one of those never going in headers and Almunia holding another shot.

But you always sensed we were looking to spring Newcastle and spring em we did. Nasri sprinted towards the box and if we’re honest, Adebayor was guilty of screaming at him for a ball that was simply never on.

The move broke down, but we recovered and eventually Denilson slid home smartly for his first Premiership goal. Another midfielder in the penalty area. Most strange.

We were 3-0 up and coasting with half an hour to go. We hadn’t enjoyed that luxury for ages.

The upshot was that we could enjoy ourselves. RVP slammed an absurd shot off the bar, then got his customary kick. Fingers crossed.

It meant Carlos Vela got a debut and to be honest my initial thought was that in the Carlos Vela News web site newsroom, there would be fucking bedlam. Sure enough, after dutifully documenting every spit and cough (literally sometimes) of the young Mexican’s life, they have suitably gone to town on his Arsenal debut.

He was class by the way. Very ballsy and as if he’d told himself to expect a kicking and so challenge extra hard for everything. He’s direct as well.

We could have added more and we should have added more. But the fact we didn’t mattered little and that really is the great thing about keeping it tight, getting a lead and then pushing on and putting the game to bed.

Then right at the end we got Joey Barton, who jumped into and fairly won a tackle with Nasri while “inadvertently” crashing into our number 8’s ribs. After a snide, snarling grin from Barton our man dumped him to the ground with a gentle ankle tap.

Kevin Keegan reacted by saying Nasri should have been sent-off (factually wrong), by lambasting Nasri as he left the pitch and by then spouting off in the interviews.

I’ve usually plenty of time for Keegan, but on this Mr Keegan, you are being a grade A idiot.

His reaction was that of a man who had just witnessed someone inflict this or alternatively had just battered a 16 year-old.

Barton is a pariah, an outcast who deserves no sympathy. Whereas punishment for anyone else in a similar situation to his would have entailed the loss of one’s job, Newcastle’s bollockless in refusing to sack this scum is matched only by the other clubs who were ready to snap him up immediately and pay him top dollar.

I know he has an alcohol problem, but that snide, snarling (and presumably sober) grin told you everything you needed to know. Humbled by his time in jail? Matured by it? Wanting to blend quietly back in? Not a bit of it.

Which is what makes Keegan’s carping over a little kick that never had any prospect of doing any damage physical or psychological either short or long term really stick in the throat. You kept him, now expect the consequences.

Mark Lawrenson hit the nail on the head when he said Newcastle don’t seem to get what the rest of the country think of Barton.

Little Sammy probably had no idea who he had kicked. But as well as being an excellent footballer, he clearly has good taste too.

And one more thing Keegan. You say:

“I like Nasri - he’s a player we looked at for a possible signing.”

I suspect many Goodplaya readers have also looked at J Lo as a possible girlfriend.

PLAYA RATINGS

ALMUNIA
There was an odd moment up the far end right at the finish that you probably saw better on TV than I did at the game, but otherwise had nothing to do.7

SAGNA

His usual solid self, tough in the tackle and got forward intermittently. It’s very hard to say a lot about his performances.7

GALLAS
Got a goal and generally did fine.7

DJOUROU
I do prefer him to Senderos. I’d love to know Arsene’s true views on the centre-back situation.7

CLICHY
Occasionally seemed almost impatient to get stuck in but was generally just his usual mad, endearing self.7

DENILSON
Some wayward passes early on showed that his confidence is down. That happens and he is better than those off target balls. Got better as the game went on and set-up Bendtner with a lovely backheel.6

NASRI
For the West Brom game I wrote: “As he wheeled away after that goal you couldn’t help feeling that on the off chance Alex Hleb had got into that position, he’d still be fannying around.” No need to change it.7

WALCOTT
A stilted start but he came to life with an excellent assist for the first, what should have been one for RVP and then a well taken goal.7.5

CESC
Usual composure and some surging run forwards without being at or needing to be at anything like his best.7

BENDTNER
In many ways he had one of those nights. But he also set-up the second with good work and scored the fourth. He and Ade even embraced after the goal.6.5

RVP
That he is yet to find his range is not a worry for me. He will. Far more important is he appears fit. Missed one good chance but got involved heavily in the play, particularly before the break.6.5

SUB: EBOUE
A few surging runs from Comrade. And the memorable: “Come to watch Eboue” chant.6.5

SUB: ADEBAYOR
Not very involved.6

SUB: SONG
Much improved.6.5

Arsenal 4 FC Twente 0
From Goodplaya at the Emirates

I’M going to start by pointing out that by beating FC Twente, we qualified for our 11th consecutive year of Champions League football.

I consider that fact to be a useful reminder of the bigger picture. Painful as defeat at Fulham was, there will come a time when we won’t finish inside the top four every year for over a decade.

In fact, before Arsene Wenger, we never had. And sometimes not even the great AC Milan do.

In the end it was very easy. But I left the Emirates pleased. The players had responded. Perhaps it had not been one of the great European displays but we had got an earlyish goal, killed the match on the night just after the break and then notched a couple more for players who could both do with a goal.

The easy answer was to say it was the return of Cesc that explained us being far better than Saturday. Not true.

We may have struggled on Saturday because we had no central midfield but the reason we were so absolutely turgid was because perfectly good players had an absolute stinker.

On Wednesday night they did not and on top of that Cesc offered us what Cesc offers, without needing to be anywhere near his most sublime.

After a start where he had once again played with his famous handbrake on, Theo Walcott accelerated away from his man and crossed low. When the ball came to Nasri he homed in on goal, got his shot away early and couldn’t care less that it rolled in after a deflection.

I think Alex Hleb used to treat football a bit like Quasar (or Laserquest). By that I mean he realised there were points to be had for standing in front of the opposition base station and shooting at it but considered torturing individual opponents far more rewarding.

In Quasar or Laserquest it often was. But not in football.

Nasri has no such problem and I apologise if that analogy either a) went over your head b) didn’t, but was tortuous anyway.

After the break Gallas stabbed in the second after deciding a minute or so earlier he fancied a goal. He seems to be able to do that.

I watched as he celebrated. Put it this way: if his team-mates really can’t stand him, some of them were doing a fairly remarkable job of pretending otherwise.

I should also add that where I sit (down by the singing section), dissent towards Gallas is non-existent. In fact, people rather like him and the sustained applause he offers the fans at the end of every home game.

Emmanuel Adebayor, on the other hand, is booed by a minority of fans (others make a point of singing his name).

Now, I’m very happy to offer my two cents on issues such as distribution of wealth, morality and greed. But I’ll do it either a) round the dinner table or b) at some public debate over it.

But I don’t go to Arsenal to do that.

I go to Arsenal very simply to see 11 men in red shirts score more goals than the 11 men in other coloured shirts. It’s a simple, almost pathetic pleasure. But that is why I go.

Of course, were we to put out 11 murderers, rapists and genocidal maniacs, I’d take issue with that and in all likelihood boo. But Adebayor is not one of those and while a gentle boo pre-season was fair enough, I struggle to see what positive it is going to achieve now.

Incidentally, the rumour Myles Palmer reported on Wenger being ready to sell Adebayor next summer and preferring Bendtner was one I’d heard on the grapevine too.

Booing wise, the same goes for Comrade Eboue, though I do think many of his boos were mistaken for disappointment at the withdrawal of Nasri and people just making the oooo sound like we used to for Kanu.

The third came from the much improved Theo. When he acts on instinct he thrives. When he thinks about it, he stalls.

And the fourth saw Denilson backheel for Bendtner to slot home.

I was pleased for both of them. Whatever you think of him Denilson is better than the stray passes and foul throws of Saturday and Wednesday night.

And the (few) ironic jeers that accompanied Bendtner successfully controlling after a sticky game were shameful frankly.

All in all, a good response. The draw is not easy, but it tends to be the supposedly simple ones that we frequently make the biggest hash of anyway.

Tomorrow it is the Geordies in a late kick-off at the Emirates. With Newcastle riding high and London poised to swelter in 27 deg temps and people drinking all day it should make for a good atmosphere and a more than decent spectacle.

I’VE a very hectic start to the day, so the match report and playa ratings that I’ve nearly pulled together will have to wait for now. They will hopefully be up around lunchtime and if not, tonight.

Needless to say, it was much improved on Saturday.

And people have started chanting: “Come to see Eboue, you’ve only come to see Eboue”.

Which made me smile.

DISPENSING with Senderos makes some sense.

With Gallas, Toure, Silvestre, Song and Djourou (assuming he now stays), we are not short of centre-backs. You can argue we are short of quality, but with every due respect to Big Phil, I’m not sure he adds a huge deal on that front.

I’d still like a big stopper. I doubt loaning out Senderos will make that any more likely.

The five centre-backs we now have, is actually two more than a year ago, when loaning Djourou left us with just Kolo, Gallas and Senderos.

I was fuming at the time. We had left ourselves hugely exposed to injury misfortune for no good reason. It is a similar, if even more acute, situation in midfield at the moment.

On Senderos I probably sit half way between those who wonder why on earth Arsene persisted with him for so long and those who see him as the second incarnation of Tony Adams and Franco Baresi rolled into one who has been sinned against by dark forces.

There is, also, the argument that if AC Milan want him, he can’t be that bad. True, but some of the same people who say that are probably the same people who say Fergie would not have sold us Silvestre without knowing what he was doing.

I’m not sure you can have it both ways.

Now is the time to get behind the team. The Twente game is not a formality but is really important.

The Emirates will not be full by the sounds of it, which will no doubt set some tongues wagging. I suspect the explanation is partly a lack of star signings and partly everyone being a bit choosier about which games they spend their money on in these tougher economic times.

The man from Gunnerblog expects a weakened team tonight. I can’t remember such a thing happening in the past despite comfortable first leg leads and I’d be surprised to see it tonight, given the price of failure.

The fans must get behind the team and I trust the majority will.

As for transfers, Arsene will have a lot of microphones stuck in front of his gob this week and he will do everything possible to provide an answer without actually saying anything about what he is doing. It’s all guff so don’t get upset by it.

We, as fans, must firstly wait to see what does happen between now and September 1st. Then we must wait to see the upshot on the pitch, whatever happens. Three games in is no time to be making sweeping judgments.

And yes, the return of Cesc is very welcome.