Arsenal link roundup for Sunday, July 4th

Here are the Arsenal links for Sunday, July 4th:

• A Cultured Left Foot has argued that Germany's ability to track back in defense while still playing a quick technical game with young players should be an example for Arsenal for the upcoming season.
• The Daily Mail and the Telegraph are both reporting Pique's words from the Spanish camp that Cesc Fabregas is desperate to join them at Barcelona.  (NB: no link, because there's probably no point in giving them the hits for more of the same unsubstantiated affect).
• Joe Cole, while not an Arsenal player, has given his diagnosis of where English football is going wrong.  His stylistic solution sounds like something that Arsenal have been trying to do for years now:

"It’s not for me to decide where we go from here, but we have got to change the way we play completely.

"Every team I have played for – from West Ham to Chelsea to England – have always wanted to hit the front men as early as possible.

"You won’t get away with that at international level. It’s about technique, k eeping control of the ball, passing and moving.

"Chelsea do that more than other teams in the Premier League, and that’s why they’ve been successful. And it’s the same with Manchester United and Arsenal.

"If you keep the ball then you control the game.

"I was brought up that way and I don’t know why it wasn’t the same for everyone else because that’s always been the way forward. Maybe it’s time to really look at how we are teaching kids to play."

• Theo Walcott hopes to have an injury-free season in 2010-11.  The prospect of Theo getting a string of games together, some confidence built, and more mental strength is pretty mouthwatering.
• Young Guns is reporting that Arsenal have withdrawn from the Reserve League this year and are looking at different ways of getting their players older than 18 playing experience.  There is no official confirmation of this on the club website, and they have reported that the reserve team has scheduled some of its own "pre-season" friendlies, so it may not yet be true, but it's interesting to note that other clubs appear to be thinking the same way Arsenal are.
• And finally: at 1:18: Wilshere, in action two years ago vs. the West Ham reserves.