- Yossi Benayoun feels Arsenal fans should be excited by their young players.
The Israeli feels the displays of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin again showed the club's future is in safe hands.
Benayoun said: "In the Carling Cup games you see a lot of young players coming in, doing their best.
"A few of them showed that they have a bright future for Arsenal.
"Manchester City didn't play better than us, but in the end we made a mistake from our corner. They have the players with a lot of quality to win the game."
- Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is happy being compared with teammate Theo Walcott.
Comparisons have been drawn between the 18-year-old and Theo Walcott as both joined Arsenal from Southampton at a young age - but Oxlade-Chamberlain says the similarities stop there.
“People are going to immediately compare me to Theo,” he admitted. “We came to Arsenal at a similar age, in similar positions, so it is an easy comparison to make.
“We are completely different players though. Theo is more of a winger or a striker, whereas I have always grown up as an attacking midfielder, who has later gone out wide.
“There are a lot of differences but at the same time Theo is a great player so for me to be compared to him is good."
- Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin says there were plenty of positives to draw from their Carling Cup defeat to Manchester City.
Coquelin was one of the stand-out performers alongside midfield partner Emmanuel Frimpong and the Frenchman was proud of Arsenal's display.
"It was a really good effort, I thought we did really well," he said.
"Manchester City played a strong side and it was a hard game but we did well and we're disappointed to lose. In the first half we did well and we had a strong second half.
"We will take the positives from tonight when we look back at it. We have learned a lot. When you play in front of this crowd there is always something for us to learn."
- Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says he's not bothered by talk of going to the Euros with England.
It has been suggested all-action midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain could even be a wildcard pick for England's Euro 2012 squad, much as Walcott had been for Sven-Goran Eriksson's ill-fated 2006 World Cup campaign.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, however, maintains he does not read too much into such speculation.
"I am not in the senior squad, I am in the Under-21s and the way I see it we go away in February with the Under-21s and that is my focus," he said.
"I have a lot of impressing to do at Arsenal before I think about going away with England in the summer.
"But if people are saying that, it is quite flattering to know you are being considered.
"My focus, though, is here at Arsenal, trying to get into the squad."
- Thomas Vermaelen admits he thought long and hard about signing a new deal with Arsenal.
Vermaelen admitted he thought carefully about the decision but says there was plenty at Arsenal to convince him to stay.
“I thought about it really long and of course I knew there were some doubts about my club,” he said. “For me the most important thing is that I feel happy at the Club.
“Another thing is that I have only really played one year because I was injured last year and I wanted to give something back to the fans.
“I felt like for me I was not done here. I still believe in the Club, I think the structure is really good and these are the main reasons why I stayed.
“I think people think that if things are going difficult it is going to be better at another club.
“For me if it's not going as you wanted at the beginning it doesn't mean you have to quit. It's always easy to quit and go somewhere else. I feel there is some belief in this team.”
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger feels Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the clear favourite for the Ballon d'Or.
Messi is in line to win his third Ballon d'Or when the ceremony is held later this month.
"Messi is a favorite because his team has won many things and he was instrumental in big games," said Wenger.
"He is even more obvious this year than others because of all the titles he has won: Champions League , League ...".
- Manchester City defender Kolo Toure insists Arsenal are on the right track to be challenging for titles again.
Arsene Wenger's men have not won a trophy since 2005 but Toure believes it is just a matter of time before they end the drought.
He said: "Definitely - they have young players working really hard, they played very well.
"It's magic - Mr Wenger brings in any player and makes them better. Credit to him because he's a fantastic manager.
"He knows how to see young promising players and that's a great quality for him.
"(Emmanuel) Frimpong was fantastic, Oxlade-Chamberlain was good as well.
"All of them were fantastic - they made us work really hard but at the end we had the killer goal."
- Arsenal are tracking Borussia Monchengladbach winger Patrick Herrmann.
Gladbach have slapped a €12 million price-tag on Hermann, who has been watched by Gunners chief scout Steve Rowley.
Rowley has taken notes on Hermann while watching Gladbach teammate Marco Reus.
- Arsenal remain in the frame for Peruvian teen Andy Polo.
The Universitario de Deportes prospect is also wanted by Real Madrid.
But Arsenal may be heartened by Polo's insistence that he wants to join a side who will give him a shot at the first-team.
Polo said: "Spain seems to me a great League. Real Madrid is a possibility but I know I should take it step by step.
"But I have to be realistic and join a team that can give me a chance to show my football. I'm very happy because I think I will be sold to a European team but I am waiting for confirmation from my agent."
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