I was making my way up the stairs to the North Bank Bridge before last night’s kick off when I was spotted by a couple of mates. One of them said they had enjoyed my piece on the Bolton game because it was a positive one. I told him I loved posting such stuff and hoped to do so in that tone more often. Of course, the raw material has to be provided on the field and last night v Braga, the ingredients for a feelgood piece were certainly provided.

Arsenal handed out a footballing lesson to a team that, like Tottenham, have not competed in the Champions League before. The standout performers were Jack Wilshere (for the first hour), Cesc Fabregas and Marouane Chamakh. Braga simply could not keep up. The team are developing a habit of getting their first goal a lot earlier than we have become accustomed too, and it certainly makes life less stressful.

I was surprised at the lack of quality provided by the opposition, and concluded that they can only have beaten Sevilla because the Spanish team had not started their league season and were caught cold. It is very difficult to imagine that Arsenal will fail to negotiate their way out of this group in spite of the long trip east to the Ukraine. The Braga game went of general sale to Joe Public, due to the lack of take up from Arsenal’s silver and red members. Champions League home matches in the group stage these days are becoming a tougher sell. Always live on the TV, rarely against glamour opposition, and – fortunately for the club – fairly predictable in the sense that they rarely fail to take three points. This is a fault of the competition format as much as anything. Arsenal can only beat the sides they are asked to play, but tension and excitement are generally in short supply. Entertainment in the form of the training ground exercise we saw last night is often the order of the day though.

I’d guestimate that about one in ten did not show up to use their seats. Almost all season ticket holders I am sure. The ticket exchange facility was not offered because the club did not sell all of their own tickets until late in the day. The confidence of these wins is hopefully going to propel the team to better things in the clashes with more challenging opponents that lie ahead, games that Arsenal must begin winning if they are to end the trophy drought. Everyone is looking ahead to early October and the visit to Chelsea. In the meantime, visits to Sunderland and the game against West Brom need to yield six points. With the side playing as well as they are right now, there is no reason they should not.

What happens on Tuesday at White Hart Lane next week is another matter. I suspect that those who are on duty on Saturday (surely a similar line-up to the Braga game unless Vermaelen recovers) will not feature. Players in need of some playing time will be mixed with the fringe players like Jay Emmanuel Thomas. The only saving grace may be that, with Champions League commitments of their own, Tottenham treat the tie equally frivolously, although I don’t think they will put out as weak a team as Arsene Wenger will. No-one expects Arsenal to get through, but life is full of surprises, so let’s hope that’s one. For once, in the event that this is a cup exit, I hope that there is no knock on effect on momentum as there sometimes seem to be when the club are eliminated from cup competitions after the turn of the year.

The win against Braga sets the manager up nicely for his annual Q&A event with shareholders at the stadium this evening. It begins at 6pm, which is hardly ideal for those travelling from work, but the club don’t exactly encourage attendance at this now obligatory date in the Wenger’s calendar. Arsenal collapsed so appallingly at the end of the previous campaign that the event was postponed from its normal May slot. On the two occasions it has been held so far, the questioners have been unfailingly polite and respectful, although last year, the manager was in a tetchy and defensive mood and put on a very poor display in his tone when dealing with the questions. He seems to fail to realise that although he is speaking to shareholders, he is primarily speaking to fans. Wenger believes they have nothing to complain about because he has helped to make their shares worth so much more, missing the point entirely. The questions for this evening have to be pre-submitted and vetted. Questioners have been asked to get their early for – presumably – some kind of prep talk which will offer them strict instruction on er… how to ask their question? Maybe they will video the questioners and play the film to the manager so that they don’t slip in an alternative question. Anyway, it does appear that it will be seriously stage managed and totally bland. I hope I am proved wrong and that some challenging questions have been picked out. Maybe it might even be opened to the floor… I wouldn’t bet on it.

Still, the club can keep acting like Pravda as long as the football on the field is as good as that we witnessed v Braga. The team is clicking, the goalkeeper is not flapping very much and the points are being notched up. Arsenal are on a run, and despite injuries, there are currently no signs that the wheels look likely to come off.

Before I finish, a quick plug for a couple of things I have been asked to mention. First up, the current issue of The Gooner is available to buy online for those who cannot make it to the stadium to buy one in person. And a sometime Gooner contributor, who for the sake of his blog uses the moniker DVBRISG, is well worth a read in my book. His blog is called It’s My Arsenal Opinion, so hopefully this mention will steer a few ships his way in the ocean of Arsenal blogs currently washing around planet internet.