Arsenal:
                 Lehmann
         Lauren Toure Cygan Cole
Pennant Gilberto Fabregas (Svard 87) Reyes (Hoyte 80)
Bergkamp (Aliadiere 61 (Clichy 69)) Henry (van Persie h/t)

What does save these games from being completely devoid of interest, is in the way they give us a chance to see players, or old players in new places. Their events don't always point to the future. Last year we saw the emergence of Toure as a central defender, but also we saw Gilberto score on his debut, which may have led to exagerrated expectations of him as an attacking force.

So what did we learn from this year's game? Well, the clear message from this and the other pre-season games is that Jose Antonio Reyes is ready. Last season we saw flashes of brilliance combined with incessant running. Now he seems to have added the understanding of his team and his team-mates that could well make his name almost as feared as those of Wright, Bergkamp, and Henry. He spent a lot of time on the left wing, where we continue to have an abundance of riches. Clichy came off the bench to fantastic effect, and Henry and Edu are both happy on that side. So, that's an abundance of riches on top of the first choice pairing of Cole and Pires! The right side's looking alright too though. Pennant had a good game and on this form could cause Freddie Ljungberg nervous looks over his shoulder unless ups his form a bit from last season's slightly under-par showing. Van Persie was less spectacular in his 2nd half appearance, but had some good moments even popping up in the box to head a Bergkamp cross narrowly wide.

Arsenal had the best of a goal-less first half in which United tried new-boy Alan Smith up front alongside former England star Paul Scholes. The first chance of the game came after 4 minutes when a sloppy clearance by Cole fell to Smith who set up Keane for a blast high over the bar.

Henry had our first chance soon after. It started with strong play from Bergkamp on the right wing, passed forward for Pennant's run ahead of him, and a cracking cross from which Henry forced a close-range save.

Dennis and Henry both forced good saves from distance, then Reyes was a whisker away from getting onto the end of another excellent Pennant cross. Henry squared a pass for Bergkamp as he ran into the box but it was a little behind the Dutchman and he left the bell behind as he tried to drag it forward with him with his trailing foot.

Along with Reyes and Clichy, Cesc Fabregas completed a trio of existing players showing great promise for the new season. It'll be interesting to see if he gets any chances when everyone's fit. One suspects not, but on this showing he could be up to it. He certainly has the presence, if not the haircut, of a much older man. It was nice play from the Spanish teenager which created an opening for Henry to take the ball to the goal-line, where he appeared to be pushed over by Silvestre just as he was going to cut the ball back, but the ref wasn't interested.

Another couple of chances came after great play from Reyes on the left. He passed infield to Henry near the edge of the box. Neat footwork and a fast swerving shot later, Howard was making a good save, but it rebounded off the keeper to Pennant in space on the right hand side of the box. At first it looked like a bad miss as he knocked it past the near post. But, to be fair, it came at him quite fast, and there was a defender in front of him blocking a large part of the goal.

Up the other end, Lehmann made a good save from a Gary Neville header, clawing it over the bar.

Van Persie came on for Henry at half time, giving Reyes the chance to go up front alongside Bergkamp. It soon paid off with a goal. But first Reyes went on an amazing mazy run which finished disappointingly, after he'd rounded the keeper, with a bit of a lash from an angle into the side-netting. But moments later Reyes beat the offside trap from just over the half-way line, Bergkamp's pass putting him through. He raced clear, and spotting the runs of Gilberto and van Persie on the other side of the pitch, as Howard came to meet him he unselfishly squared it for the Brazilian to slot into the empty net.

Soon after there was the van Persie header mentioned above, and then Smith equalised. It was a bit lucky how it came to him, with a Toure clearance bouncing off his body Smith followed it past the defender and then hit a terrific volley past Lehmann. Interesting to see the ref over-ruling the linesman on an offside call. Quite right too in the current rules - I think it was Bellion that was offside as the ball bounced forward but he had no further involvement in the action. Maybe we'll see more of that in the future - linesmen calling on the offside position, and the ref calling on whether it mattered. Could be difficult for defences and the moral is to play to the whistle - not a new message perhaps, but maybe a more crucial one these days.

Reyes soon restored the lead with a fierce shot from near the penalty spot - pouncing on a loose ball after Gilberto's lay-off from a Bergkamp cross had failed to find Pennant.

Aliadiere came on for Dennis (who passed the captain's armband to Lauren). He looked lively but was soon stretchered off after appearing to twist his leg. Later they said it was knee ligament trouble. A replacement for Franny Jeffers in every possible way. Clichy was the sub-for-the-sub and was superb. He took the ball to the corner one time, after good licking-up with Fabregas, beat 3 players who'd followed him there and came back to the edge of the box where he drew a foul. There followed some nonsense between Djemba Djemba (the fouler) and I think Fabregas, but others came to put the penny's worth in incluing Cole who ended up booked along with Djemba Djemba.

It was Clichy's run down the left that created the 3rd goal. His little chip forward for Cole was taken forward (a little fortuitously, perhaps) and then as Ashley tried to find a blue shirt on the far side of the box it was cut out, and turned into his own net, by Silvestre. Clichy is clearly a rival for Cole's position - but also very effective in midfield and they do seem to play well together. It's a shame that someone's going to have to miss out on the left, but very promising for the future.

One curious thing: Senderos not being given a run-out. Surely he's needed more than any of the other youngsters, what with Campbell being injured? So why not have a look at him?

As I said before, it doesn't mean anything. United's squad was weaker than ours, and they've got a potentially tricky midweek Champs League qualifier on their minds. If you saw yesterday's Premiership preview in the Observer you'll have seen that I tipped them for the title. I'd like to point out that I have a policy never to tip Arsenal for anything (and you've got to admit, in the 10 years of Arseweb it's not worked badly - I may not have won many tipping competitions but who gives toss about that, eh?). I don't know if United will win anything this year but I think we should expect them to put up a better fight than last time.