As the French national anthem belted out in Wembley stadium last night, I could not help but be proud of the fact that through such unspeakable acts of violence, people can come together to show solidarity in support of the French people. It was lovely to see two nations so often opposed as we and the French are, coming together in defiance of the idiots that have scared a continent.

And after Hannover was evacuated yesterday, there’s no doubt that Europe is a little scared of something happening in the aftermath of Paris, so precautions are of more importance than taking potential risks with people’s lives.

As for Arsenal involvement we saw Gibbs, Koscienly and Giroud all play, although thankfully the latter was just a second half substitute. Just as well really, because we all know that Walcott’s recovery is bound to hit a ‘little bit setback’ any day now.

I thought Koscienly did OK and was a little unfortunate that his goal set up the England hysteria over Deli Alli. Listen, I know the guy has looked promising and I know that he’s young and has every right to be pleased that he’s scored so early in to his England career, but given he’s a Spud it’s almost impossible to feel happy for him. It’s also going to be unbearable when we read the papers and hear the Spuds crowing about how he’s better than Gasgoigne, Giggs, Messi, Ronaldo, Pele and Maradonna all combined. The last guy the media hyped up from that lot after he scored a goal so early in his England career? Andros Townsend. Now he can’t even get in to the Spuds squad because of his off field transgressions. So perhaps everyone in England should calm the eff down.

Who am I kidding? This kid’ll be proclaimed the new messiah within six months and everyone will expect him to win the Euros single-handedly. Hopefully he’ll follow Andros’ lead though.

Anyway, let’s get away from anything non-Arsenal, because it just leaves an unsavoury taste in my mouth. I thought Gibbs also had a good game. He’s a good left back and it’s almost a shame that Monreal is playing so well, because the Spaniard really has made himself undroppable at the moment, which must be hard for Gibbs. He’s in a different position to Debuchy. Firstly, he should go to the Euros regardless of how much he plays, with games like last night showing that even when he’s not a regular he’s still a good player. Debuchy doesn’t have the same security from an international level and Deschamps rightly can’t pick him unless he’s playing.

Debuchy is also at the peak of his career, age-wise, where as Bellerin is on a very rapid upward trajectory. It’s clear that Hector will have the right back spot jailed for a number of years at this rate and so the long-term future for Debuchy is not great. Conversely, Gibbs is up against a Monreal a few years older than he is and who will not be at his physical peak forever, so he might feel he has more chance of de-throning Nacho. Gibbs can also play in front of Nacho and that has happened a few times already, where as we’re yet to see a Debuchy/Bellerin right hand side.

It’s all pointing towards an eventual exit for the Frenchman, but I can see Gibbs getting his chance on the left, or at least I hope he does.

Up top Giroud was never really in the game in the short bursts of watching the match and having dinner that I saw. There was one moment just after he came on when Cahill trod on his ankle and whilst Giroud winced but got up, I couldn’t help but think that it was probably an instruction from Mourinho that led to a sly little foul that could lead to injury. Chelski aren’t even our rivals any more at this moment in time, but Jose would do anything to cause other people problems in football, legally or illegally. 

I’m not sure about any of the other players who have played in games, but I had a quick check on the Chile game and despite the coach telling the press that Alexis was touch and go for the game, he played the full 90 minutes. My only hope is that because Uruguay had two men sent off and Chile dominated possession, Alexis wasn’t needing to do as much running around. But I suspect that he will have been his usual self and will have run himself in to the ground. We’ll know more as the week unfolds I guess.

Right, that’s me done for another day, I’m going to get another day in the grey smoke done and dusted so I can be one step closer to the weekend. Laters.