Afternoon all,

First up, Walcott has been telling us about how his first choice number was 8 this season, but his good mate Vic the kit man told him that was Nasri’s so he had to go for 14. It’s just a number to him though!

“Thierry was my idol. He looked after me when I was first here. It was brilliant to train with him every day and watch what he did. He was the best striker I have ever seen. So I suppose it’s like Ade having No 25 because Kanu had that.

“But as I say for me it is just a number.”

Also Wenger backed Gallas to be captain again this season at the Amsterdam Tournament press conference.

See what you think of the comments, it sounds as though Gallas is a bit of a stop gap captain really, Wenger is just giving him another season, and is going to see how it turns out. I think he’s waiting for Cesc to mature a little.

“William will be captain again”, “Kolo Toure will be his assistant.”

“He got a lot of criticism after what happened at Birmingham last season but until then everybody said he was a fantastic captain.

“He acknowledges that he made some mistakes and he has learned from it. Remember William was not the most gifted player when he was a young boy. He is where he is because he has a good evaluation of his own performance. That is what makes the big players. If you speak to a big player after a game they can always assess what they have done right and wrong. Therefore he has analysed himself what happened last season.

“But William is an important player in the team, plays in a position where it is easier to be captain and as well some players who could be captain are still young.

“He deserves another go to show his commitment and then we will see where we stand at the end of the season.”

It sounds like Wenger thinks he’s not the best player for the job. Interesting that he says he wasn’t the best player when he was younger.

But I think it’s fair that Gallas has this season to prove himself. He did alright last season, just a few problems, like the Birmingham game. As always – if the team are doing well everyone is happy, but Gallas becomes a scapegoat when we fail.

I think that he is a decent choice for captain, but he isn’t the long term option, and Wenger’s comments highlight that.

In the tournament we’ve got Ajax and Sevilla, both teams we have faced in the Champions League. We kick off against Ajax at 8.15pm tonight, and Sevilla tomorrow at 6.

Enjoy the game Gooners!