It struck me on Tuesday evening, watching the youngsters dismantle Sheffield United how much more of a ‘fortress’ the Grove is in comparison with Highbury.

And the reason is simple. Good as Highbury’s surface was (and there is an argument that the new stadium’s is even better) the sheer extra space allowed by the larger playing surface accentuates the superiority of Arsenal over most teams.

It allows more room for better technique to hurt opponents. And having to cover more ground to prevent Arsenal’s play, the superior fitness of the home side counts for more.

So much so that if combination matches were played at the stadium instead of the more questionable pitch at Barnet’s Underhill stadium then I am convinced the Gunners would romp that particular league year in year out.

The players that turned out on Tuesday spend a lot of time training alongside the first choicers and are thus coached in the same way. As a rule of thumb, possession is everything, but in addition, the interchanges must be fast and frequent. Thus, the requirement for both excellent technique and high levels of fitness are key to becoming a successful Arsenal player under Wenger.

The performance is of course one in the eye for those that bemoan the lack of experienced signings at the end of the summer transfer window – not least myself. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten than since the club have last won a major trophy, we’ve been enthusing about the Carling Cup line-ups every season. It hasn’t yet had the appropriate knock on effect in the senior side when the back ups have been called upon.

Could this season be different? Wenger’s obviously going to say it is. One thing that does strike me is that up front, in 2007 we had Baptista and Aliadiere leading the line in this competition. 18 months later, it’s Bendtner and Vela. Most would regard that as progress, so maybe things are improving and maybe when these younger players are indeed utilised later in the campaign for matches in more significant competitions they might do the required job.

Anyway, plenty’s been said about the performance since Tuesday evening elsewhere, so I’ll move on to the electronic ticketing system and take the club to task. I know of at least two people who bought seats for this match on their memberships. One was a season ticket holder who decided to buy a seat in a different area, the other a red member. Neither’s card was electronically credited despite their having money withdrawn from their credit cards and getting a confirmation email from the club. My suspicion is that this happened to a good number of others hence some large queues not moving very quickly before the game and thousands upon thousands getting in well after the kick off. It’s simply not good enough and the club should be offering free tickets for the next home game in this competition to those who found they could not get rightful access with their cards without making a huge fuss. Some had to go round to the matchday box office (where apparently there were huge queues when the game kicked off) whilst some were admitted thanks to their seat print out email even though the hand held readers indicated no ticket had been purchased on the cards.

Sort it out Arsenal!

Finally, on a more light-hearted note, I was sent the following by a regular e-mailer. It bought a smile to my face, so I hope it does the same for you…

Imagine…

Tuning into the radio on Tuesday night, shortly after 10pm…

606 Presenter (Alan Green, for it is he): We’ve got JD from north London on the ‘phone; what do you want to say JD?

JD (with a heavy Spanish accent): I dunno Alan, it’s all wrong. Arsenal, they don’t treat the Carling Cup wiv respect, know what I mean? Y’know, all the other teams, like us at Spurs, we put out proper teams, first choice players, internationals the lot. But Arsenal they rest their old players and put out kids with no experience. It’s not right for the paying public. Do you agree Alan?

Presenter: I do, I do. I have been saying this for years. The Carling Cup, it’s the pinnacle of achievement for our teams. We get enough of the inexperienced players getting a minute or two in pre-season games, or at the end of the season when it doesn’t matter. But right in the middle, when competitions are being fought over, it’s completely lacking in respect for Arsenal to put out such a young team. It’s all wrong. The authorities should fine the club, make them refund the money paid at the turnstiles by the expectant crowd who were turning up to see Gallas, Adebayor and Fabregas. Now, we have Raffy from Merseyside. Raffy, what’s your point?

Raffy (a bit of Scouse in this Spanish accent is clearly noticeable): I couldn’t agree more. Look at our team the uvva night. We put out a proper team, with just a few youngsters. No young English players note. We even had two £20 million strikers on the pitch at the end. And the result, we whipped the mighty Crewe 2-1. Look at Arsenal – by the end they had six English players, and a Welsh boy on the pitch, and only one French player. They’re supposed to be a top European side – not with a team of English boys they’re not. And look at the result - they struggled to squeeze six past the experienced Sheffield United side. Talk about lack of respect for the virtues of the Carling Cup. It’s outrageous…