Sagna has been absolutely UNBELIEVABLE at Arsenal. It’s like he’s been playing in the top flight English PL for years, not just a few weeks. No adjustment period, he just started playing brilliantly from pre-season — on. Wenger’s a genius when it comes to spotting these kids you’ve never heard of. He also purchased another young Frenchman, Lassana Diarra, from Chelsea very late in the transfer window.

Did you see this weekend’s Barca game v. Bilbao? The big story was that it was Henry’s starting debut but if you actually watched the game, it was another Frenchman who ran riot all over the pitch and deservedly got all the commentators’ attention — Abidal. I was amazed because I’ve always thought him one of the lesser talents on the French NT.

Forget Ronaldinho, Messi and the rest in that game — Abidal was the man of the match, no question. I hope he stays that way against Italy and beyond.