Pretty, precise and pointless

I like to think I am more open minded than some of my more extremist relations. My first love will always be Italian football but I am willing to look at other options. So, when people keep raving about Arsene Wenger's baby Gunners, it is only natural that I would have a look.

Unfortunately for them (or for me), I picked the night they walked into a brick wall in the form of Burnley. Adolescent Arsenal started the game full of hormonal vigour but when they got clean through on the keeper a major problem emerged. They couldn't actually stick the ball in the net.

Credit the home goalkeeper, a man who looks like he swallowed Angelo Peruzzi whole. He made some fine saves but some of the shooting was fairly feeble. Having missed their opportunities, the boys from the Emirates were made to pay.

I read somewhere recently (I think Champions magazine) that this team will win the Champions League by 2016 (that's Arsenal, not Burnley). But on this evidence I have my doubts. It looked like the youngsters lost heart and were often out-muscled by solid, hard-working professionals. It all sounds reminiscent of Emmanuel Adebayor's recent admission that the team couldn't be arsed against lower level opposition (I paraphrase slightly).

That, it seems to me, is Arsenal's biggest problem. They seem to believe that teams should lie down before their beautiful football - but they don't. Instead, they fight them by every means possible. Maybe this new generation will have the toughness for the battle but, from what they showed on Tuesday, it was far from evident.

Anyway, enough of this English stuff. I feel like Udinese tonight! Udinese tonight!