I received a text from Telboy the morning after Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over hosts Ajax. It read… I thought the team spirit and camaraderie were brilliant last night. The way they looked at the end was Henry shackle free. It looked like the new era has started.

Here's another one from Bernard, he of the Gooner's Diary blog, which read… Great run by Clichy. Difference was we probably would have lost to last minute goal last season, rather than won!

Certainly there was a battling quality to the Gunners’ performance in what became a highly competitive match with no shortage of needle. This may have been due to Ajax’s own sense of pride in not wishing to be turned over on their own turf, albeit in a pre-season game, or a developing sense of wishing to put one over on the opposition due to some of the hefty challenges that were going in. Whatever, it was a great piece of preparation for the start of the real thing next weekend.

There was obviously a fear of injury, although my suspicion is that Robin van Persie was stretchered straight into the dressing room to lessen the chances of him assaulting one of the Ajax team and getting the red card that would rule him out of three league matches. I certainly hope he did not suffer an injury if any sort, as a fit Van Persie is key to Arsenal’s campaign. In truth, I was pleading with Arsene Wenger to remove him from the fray even earlier, although as it turned out the referee seemed to have a policy of dishing out only one yellow card per player, and after that letting them get away with murder.

And in this context, the temperature of the contest came to the boil and Arsenal retained, even re-discovered, the competitive nature that has seemed all too fragile in recent times. What pleased most was that the football remained whilst a steely edge came to the fore. It might be selective memory, but I think the worst of the fouls were committed by Ajax players.

There is still improvement to be made. Against what one assumes to be Wenger’s first choice back four, Ajax certainly created their share of chances, but overall, I believe it was a match the visiting side shaded, and there were long spells of domination which had you wondering who was the home side here.

It appears as if William Gallas has got the nod over Kolo Toure as captain in Gilberto’s absence. Whether the Brazilian regains the armband on his return will be interesting, and possibly dependent on results until that point. Whether or not his leadership has in some way galvanised the team we cannot know, but there is an argument to say that if isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Gallas has made comments which have undoubtedly seemed critical and detrimental to the team to the French press, and although I have no issue with players being told to up their level, prudence suggests this is better done away from the ears of journalists. What gain the dirty laundry being aired in public?

One thing Gallas wants to do badly is win. His celebrations after key Arsenal victories have shown it means as much to him as it does to the supporters, and that is the kind of passion that should burn inside a captain. So if Gallas remains the skipper, he only needs to remember a bit more discretion in his public pronouncements. Whether or not wearing the armband increases his contribution is a moot point, but it shouldn’t. Maybe it’s Wenger’s way of reminding the player that he is one of the most senior at the club and that he should act accordingly. There is an argument that Kolo Toure is too much of a nice guy to crack the whip – and maybe that is what this team needs right now. There certainly appeared too much complacency last season, and given the club’s lack of title challenge, such an attitude was completely unjustified and did not go down well with the supporters.

Fans want players who care intensely about a result, so much so they will not allow heads to drop and spirit to dissipate when everything isn’t going to plan. The evidence from the Amsterdam Arena suggests that this will hopefully be far less of an issue from here on.