Dismantled. Ok, now there’s a booming start to a season if I’ve ever seen one. I called this one in our favor 1-2, but I never expected the absolute rout that our boys put to the Toffees. Stunning. My six year old was allowed to stay up late (as is our new tradition) to watch the recording I had of the match. He was an ecstatic, jumping frenzy of red, in his Fabregas strip.

Things were firing on all cylinders in all areas of the park. The defense was solid as a brick wall. Manuel Almunia looked great, not that he had all that much to do; the center pairing of William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen looked to be working quite well; and Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna were their usual excellence. I have to admit a bit of skepticism at the 4-3-3 diamond formation, particularly with Niklas Bendtner on the right, but man did it ever work. Alex Song looked as though he’s set to continue his good run of form from last season. When Everton did manage to get the ball into the middle third, we harrassed and hampered and basically stole back possession with zeal. And when we did possess, we passed very well. Our mesmerizing football for which I’ve longed so is coming back! It was a thing of beauty. Up front, the combined efforts of Robin van Persie, Andrey Arshavin and Captain Cesc Fabregas attacking from the middle just had the Everton defense in tatters. Not a downside to be had.

The oddest thing that struck me, was that our first three goals came from the last three players I would have expected them to come. But that’s only a testament to our comprehensive ability. Denilson’s shot at 26′ was a lovely curling shot off a side foot from Cesc. There wasn’t a thing Tim Howard was going to do about that one, and I much prefer Denilson’s silly dances to the silly dances of another, to remain unnamed dancing fool. We’ll do plenty of dancing without him.

At 37′ Vermaelen wasted no time opening his account with his new club by slamming a header home off an RvP set piece. His authority has been well and truly stamped on both ends of the field.

Four minutes later at 41′, Cesc took another free kick which William Gallas guided expertly into the net. Lovely touch, was that, and Everton went into the locker room at the half completely and utterly gobsmacked.

At the restart, any intent on their part to gobsmack us back evaporated, when three minutes in at 48′, Robin van Persie squared to Cesc, who promptly nutmegged Howard to put away our fourth. I was a bit baffled by Cesc pointing to the sky as his goal celebration, very unlike him I thought… but he cleared things up for me at 70′ when he scored his second. After a throw by Almunia, Cesc pretty much walked the ball up the length of the field, split defenders and slotted home our fifth. He then ran to the sidelines, where kit manager Vic Akers waited. He tossed Cesc an Arsenal shirt with Jarque 21 printed on the back, in honor of the Spanish Captain who died tragically at age 26, just a short while ago. Cesc held it aloft, pointed to the sky again, and then tossed it back to Vic. A touching and classy tribute.

At 89′, we nearly saw Andrey Arshavin add to the scoresheet, but it pinged off the right post where our man Eduardo Da Silva stepped up and put it away. The rout was complete. The message to our detractors was sent. The Arsenal will not be written off. How dare you?

Yes, Everton did manage to put away a consolation goal, somewhere in the jubilant haze that was the final minutes of the match, but I didn’t really see it. What a well-rounded, strong performance put in by our lads. Well done. And… perhaps most importantly, we didn’t let up. No complacency in sight. We got in there and kept on stomping until the barman pulled us off them. And that’s how it needs to be done.

I do not, and will not get ahead of myself here. But, if this is any indication of what our “still maturing” team can produce, and they can remain consistent, then I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come. But, the boys need to take it one game at a time, and I’m sure they will. Being the consummate professionals that they are, I’m sure the Everton Incident is but a distant and hazy memory and that they’ve all got Celtic on the brain now. I’ll post more on that after the match tomorrow. But for now, let’s bask in the glory that must surely be one of Arsenal’s best ever season openers.

This little clip emerged on the Interwebs recently. I found it via the essential Arseblog. It is, as I’m sure you will agree, ten shades of awesome. Bring it, boys… BRING IT!