Going into tonight's Carling Cup game against Sheffield United, I have a lot of faith, like a lot of my fellow Gooners, in Arsene Wenger’s young guns.

Unlike most others, I have complete confidence in Alexandre Song. The young Cameroon international midfielder-turned-centre-back  has often been the subject of criticism (and many ironic cheers) from even the most loyal of Arsenal fans, due to a series of below-par performances.

On the other hand, Wenger has nothing but faith and confidence in his much maligned player’s ability, on numerous occasions citing him as capable of starting in the Premier League. So what is to be made of the unproven youth in whom Wenger keeps so much faith?

'So what is to be made of the unproven youth in whom Wenger keeps so much faith?'

Arsenal fans should share the same belief Wenger has in Song’s abilities. To understand my reasoning for this, one would first have to look at why Song is criticised in the first place. Simply put, he has failed to live up to the standard he set as a young midfielder at Bastia. Song arrived after from the French club on loan in 2005 and initially failed to impress, only registering five first-team appearances. A far cry from the 32 made in the two previous seasons in France.

In a shock move, Wenger signed him on a permanent deal, though many fans were unimpressed. Unfortunately for Song, in 2006-2007 sub-par performances in the first half of the season saw him loaned out to Charlton, which is when his fortunes turned around. His touch, so long missing at Arsenal, seemed to return; his tackles were no longer drawing automatic yellow cards, and praise was flying in from manager Alan Pardew.

His form was a revelation, nearly sparing the Addicks relegation. On his return to Arsenal, however, he was back to his old ways, recklessly elbowing an opponent in the face in the friendly against Barnet. Since the start of the season, Song has started once, in the Carling Cup against Newcastle, helping to lock down Obafemi Martins and company for the full 90 minutes in perhaps his finest game in an Arsenal shirt. So what should we make of these variable Jekyll and Hyde performances? With any other team, he’s a solid player; however as soon as he dons the Arsenal jersey, he falls apart.
 
What this means to me is that he needs confidence, and time. Though not easily visible, he has been improving, especially with the switch to centre back. Tonight he has his toughest job yet. He must lock down the Championship's leading scorer, James Beattie, who already has nine goals this season. His pace and power will be tricky for the occasionally slow-to-react Song. So it should be a good test of his mettle.