Where do I begin? Carlos Vela’s hat-trick of misses? The constant snowfall? The pitch invaders? The empty seats of the many who couldn’t make it? The biting wind on the North Bank bridge? Emmanuel Eboue’s white ballerina style tights? The formation?

Yes, the formation. I could accept an argument that there was no change to the currently favoured 4 – 2 - 3 -1, if you think Robin van Persie was playing in Cesc Fabregas’ position. But at times, it felt more like 4-4-2, or maybe 4-2-4. Good. Arsenal need to take the game to the opposition sometimes and perhaps a few recent home performances influenced the manager to field a more attacking line-up. Only two of the players had started the game at Villa on Saturday, although all seven subs that day were in the starting eleven for Wigan. However, it was a strong team. Certainly this was more about first teamers getting game time under their belts rather than a sneak view of the youth prospects. The board have doubtless discussed the financial merits of home domestic cup ties after only playing two last season. Matchdays equal money, with TV revenue, food and merchandise sales to add to ticketing income. Additionally, there is an acknowledgement that to appease the supporters, the club needs to win the occasional trophy, and limiting the options to the two big ones makes it that much harder.

The result at Upton Park will have made Arsenal the new favourites to win the Carling Cup this season, and certainly if they cannot go on from here and lift their first trophy since 2005, some serious questions need asking, given the merits of the sides they have to beat. Not saying it will be easy, just that a club of Arsenal’s stature should be able to win it, given the exits of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Arsenal certainly warranted their win, on chances created if nothing else. Carlos Vela seemed to be waiting until it was 3-0 to join the scorers, given his trio of misses. Robin van Persie set up the first two of these and is starting to look like his old self. It will be interesting to see if Wenger is able to accommodate him and Chamakh in the same starting eleven. My guess is that the Dutchman may well play a couple of matches in the Fabregas position until the Spaniard’s return. And if Wenger is going to persist with 4-2-3-1, then he may be considering this as a solution after Cesc’s departure next summer. It also allows for an easy change to 4-4-2. Certainly Van Persie is capable of creative football, and can spot a runner in the same way that our number four can.

Wigan played some tidy on the floor football and set up some decent chances of their own. Roberto Martinez wants his team to emphasize skill and technique as Wenger does. It is a shame to see them in the bottom three and football lovers must hope they can survive in the top flight.

The night before, I’d watched Barcelona take apart Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. It occurred to me that, although they have spent heavily on a limited number of players, key to the spirit and success of the Pep Guardiola’s side were the players that had been developed at the club from a young age. So when Fabregas returns, they will point out that his football development occurred at Barca, as they do with Gerard Pique. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal since 1996, and it is obvious that the Barcelona model – in terms of the way they play and their attendant success - is what he aspires to. And yet, aside from Ashley Cole and more recently Jack Wilshere, there have been no automatic choices that have been developed by the club in the way that they have at Barca. This came to mind because of the previous line-ups we have seen in recent seasons in the Carling Cup. Some very promising players, but whatever happened to them? It seems they are generally sold on, not regarded as good enough to get a chance in the first team. Which begs the question as to whether this is a matter of the coaching at the younger level being good enough, or whether the manager simply does not trust the staff there to do a good job. Only players he gets his hands on from the off – Fabregas, Walcott, Song etc – are going to make it.

So players arrive in London from abroad at 16, 17 years old, train with the first team and are gradually integrated. Their feeling for the club is not going to be an intense as it is at Barcelona, where for one thing, they all speak the same language, most being local youths. I am not sure where I am going with this, but I think there is a general belief that the spirit of the players at Arsenal is not comparable with those that have gone before. And it’s a spirit that has certainly helped Barcelona win things in tandem with their footballing ability. On one level Arsenal is like the United Nations, which is laudable, but I am not sure it is a recipe for success.

This is not relevant to Arsenal beating Wigan in a Carling Cup quarter final, but after seeing Barca 24 hours previously, the question arises, what does it take to be as good as that? Arsenal are in a great position to move on and dominate the English game over the next ten or twenty years. However, if I ask where the heart of the side is, it’s not as easy to pinpoint as it would be if asked about Barcelona, or in fairness Chelsea.

I have gone down this alley because, in truth, there is not a whole lot to say about the defeat of Wigan. Arsenal played better and could have won by more. But it will be a game quickly forgotten about, job done. Now to see what the semi-final draw produces for January.