0:02

Matt and Tommy and we're currently being

0:04

sponsored by Peloton. Peloton has what

0:06

you need to achieve your fitness goals

0:08

no matter why you got started. From

0:10

four weeks strength building classes to running,

0:12

indoor and outdoor workouts and everything in

0:14

between, Peloton is here to push you

0:17

to achieve your goals. Just like it

0:19

already has for thousands of members worldwide.

0:21

I got my first Peloton bike around

0:23

the pandemic. It helps keep me on

0:25

track with my own fitness goals even

0:27

around my crazy schedule. Find your

0:29

push, find your power with Peloton

0:31

at one peloton.com push,

0:34

find

0:37

Hello and welcome to

0:39

another Arscast Extra as

0:41

always with James from

0:43

Gunner Blog James good

0:45

morning to you. Good

0:48

morning Andrew how are

0:50

you feeling after your

0:52

exertions on Saturday morning

0:54

to you? Good morning

0:56

Andrew how are you

0:58

feeling after your exertions

1:01

on Saturday morning? if...

1:16

British golfer Rory was going to

1:18

throw it away but in the

1:20

end Irish golfer Rory McElroy won

1:23

the tournament so it was

1:25

all good it was worth staying up

1:27

for exciting stuff I heard it was

1:29

very exciting yeah not my game but

1:31

I heard it was very exciting but

1:34

the exertions yes I am feeling it

1:36

pretty much all over hamstring I think

1:38

I did something to my hamstring did

1:40

something to my ankle have a big

1:43

hole in my foot from bad socks

1:45

and I got a big blister which

1:47

was not very pleasant, you know, the

1:49

way the bits of skin fall off

1:51

and stuff. Horific, we should say what

1:54

this was in Adolf. Well, we

1:56

for years have had an arse

1:58

blog five-a-side tournament, many, well... We

2:00

haven't had it for quite a

2:02

while, but years and years running,

2:04

we had this ARS blog, Five

2:07

Aside tournament, where we had five

2:09

teams, we had white, red, blue,

2:11

yellow, and green. And we would

2:13

have a great time, play five

2:15

aside, have some beers together, go

2:17

to a game, it was all

2:20

very good, and it was a

2:22

great part of the community, but

2:24

for various reasons. It hasn't happened

2:26

for quite a while, for quite

2:28

a number of years. It was

2:30

like a forerunner for the Ballers

2:32

league. I don't know what the

2:35

Ballers League is. I think it's

2:37

like, I mean I've just exposed

2:39

my age because I don't really

2:41

know, but I think basically a

2:43

sort of influencer led football league

2:45

to be absolutely nightmarish. So I

2:48

was joking. It was not a

2:50

full runner for the Ballers League.

2:52

Okay. Yeah, not too many influencers

2:54

on the ballers. Influencing the game

2:56

itself, but not anything beyond that.

2:58

This time around we only had

3:00

three teams, a sort of green,

3:03

and a red and a white

3:05

team, and yeah, it was great

3:07

fun. Beautiful day, you were there.

3:09

Market Road pitches, the sun was

3:11

shining, the quality of the football,

3:13

you couldn't take your eyes off

3:16

it, I could see you on

3:18

the sidelines, just a gassed, your

3:20

mouth, a gape, couldn't believe the

3:22

quality on show. It was difficult.

3:24

People spoke about the atmosphere against

3:26

Brentford and it maybe not being

3:29

quite what it was against Madrid

3:31

and I understand absolutely but you've

3:33

got to remember about 15 of

3:35

the fans in that stadium had

3:37

been watching the Ask Blog 5

3:39

Asides on the Saturday morning. So

3:41

that was in itself a real

3:44

come down to then go and

3:46

watch these supposed professionals playing after

3:48

watching the absolute elite competition we

3:50

witnessed. This is it. You know,

3:52

it's hard, isn't it? You know,

3:54

once you've had the caveat, it's

3:57

difficult to go back to sausage,

3:59

as Arson Vanger once said. Exactly

4:01

that. But yes, I mean,

4:03

you didn't come off worse.

4:05

We should send a get

4:08

well relatively

4:10

soon message to friend

4:12

of the show, Neil. Again,

4:15

the man with the the

4:17

giant cup display. From

4:19

the highs of the cup

4:22

snake. in the Emirates concourse to

4:24

the lows of a ruptured

4:26

Achilles tendon. Within the first

4:28

couple of minutes with nobody

4:31

anywhere near him. Painful. It's

4:33

weird as well Andrew because

4:35

he went through such a

4:37

rigorous warm-up. You know? Like

4:39

the pro he is. That's

4:41

it. Yeah, he was there

4:43

a good hour doing his

4:46

stretching and everything else. But

4:48

yeah. But yeah, terrible bad

4:50

fortune for him. commiserations. Just

4:52

as his magical sort of serpentine

4:54

cup tower was a positive omen

4:57

for the first leg in Madrid,

4:59

let's hope his destroyed Achilles

5:01

is not a negative omen. Oh

5:03

gosh, yeah, let's hope not.

5:05

Let's hope not. Yeah, but

5:07

all in order. We've got

5:09

an history with Achilles in

5:11

Madrid as well. That's right,

5:13

Lauren Keshelney. We were talking

5:15

about that at the weekend,

5:17

weren't we when... Yeah, well

5:19

obviously Achilles were on our

5:21

minds, given what happened at

5:23

the tournament, but yeah, the

5:25

Lauren Kachalni Achilles rupture in

5:27

the Europa League semi-final against

5:29

Atletico Madrid, at the Metropolitano.

5:32

Please, no more Achilles ruptures this

5:34

week. No, no. And get well

5:36

soon, Neil. Yes, get well soon.

5:38

May your cups be reaching the

5:40

roof again soon, that's all we

5:42

can say. I promise that somewhere

5:44

within the bowels of the Burnabout

5:47

on Wednesday night, I will be mind

5:49

sweeping round the press

5:51

room collecting people's discarded

5:53

coffee cups and attempting

5:56

to recreate the beautiful tower that

5:58

you built for us. on Tuesday.

6:00

You certainly won't get into any trouble

6:02

with the Spanish police if you do

6:04

that, that's all I'm saying. No, I

6:07

can't imagine so. I think it'll be

6:09

really, I think they'll really have a

6:11

appreciate it, have a good sense of

6:13

humor and probably be listeners to the

6:15

pod and understand why I'm doing it.

6:17

Exactly, exactly. Because I remember when I

6:20

was there in 2006 and you get

6:22

held in right after the game as

6:24

is normal, but then they were trying

6:26

to get us all out through this

6:28

kind of one... Small stairwell, well, and

6:31

it was getting a bit crushy actually

6:33

was a little bit dangerous And I

6:35

remember saying you know they had the

6:37

guys there the the police guys the

6:39

I don't know if it was Gordia

6:42

Seville or whoever it was But I

6:44

sort of said to them in Spanish,

6:46

and you know, maybe you could let

6:48

us down there because it's you know,

6:50

it's a bit dangerous here and he

6:52

just sort of put his hand on

6:55

his bat and went, huh, huh, and

6:57

I was going it's a bit dangerous,

6:59

it's a bit dangerous Keep talking and

7:01

you're going to get a crack of

7:03

this in the head. So it's like,

7:06

okay, I see where we stand with

7:08

this Let's just hope everybody can funnel

7:10

out Without any problems, but we did

7:12

thankfully and it was a great night

7:14

in Madrid and we'll hope obviously that

7:16

we can have another great night in

7:19

Madrid even if we don't have to

7:21

win It could still be a great

7:23

night in Madrid. That's true. Yeah, fingers

7:25

crossed I fly back quite early Thursday

7:27

morning You know, I've been out all

7:30

night. Yeah, that's it. No point going

7:32

to sleep. There is no point going

7:34

to sleep. And so then you were

7:36

over for the Brentford game. I was.

7:38

I was over for the Brentford game.

7:41

My favorite thing to be at. The

7:43

game of the season, they're calling it.

7:45

That's it. That's it. That's it. My

7:47

favorite thing was a family sitting behind

7:49

me who are actually listeners and readers.

7:51

They bought each other goodly morning mugs

7:54

for Christmas presents. But they had, they

7:56

had, they had, they're too small. boys

7:58

with them. One of them it was

8:00

his first ever game at Arsenal. It

8:02

was a bit of a shame it

8:05

didn't end in a win. I thought

8:07

that was going to be a lucky

8:09

charm but turned out not to be

8:11

but the the older of the two

8:14

young lads was a vociferous boor of

8:16

all things Brentford. It was great. It

8:18

was great. You know when they announced

8:20

a substitution they go going off number

8:23

17 King Lewis Potter. Everyone goes who?

8:25

He was just like boo! And when

8:27

they announced, you know, whoever's coming on,

8:30

everyone goes, who? He was, boo! So

8:32

that was, that was very, very entertaining.

8:34

He knew who they were and he

8:36

disapproved. Yes, absolutely. He was having

8:39

none of their, their Brentfordness, that's

8:41

all I can say. Booing is

8:43

very funny, I think. He's kind

8:45

of underrated how funny booing things

8:47

can be. I think it's funny

8:49

when it's a kid, but it's

8:51

kind of a grown adult doing

8:53

it's doing. You know what I

8:55

mean? it's sort of enjoyably polite

8:57

and childlike I guess yes I

8:59

guess so I guess so you

9:01

know what though I met a

9:03

few people who were kind of

9:06

over for the game or some

9:08

people who come to play in

9:10

the five-a-side hadn't they you know

9:12

specifically yeah then for the game

9:14

and I sort of I mean

9:16

yourself among them I kind of

9:18

will the game to be More

9:20

of a thing, you know, like

9:22

more important more stakes sure more

9:25

at moss But alas it could

9:27

not really be achieved. No, I

9:29

don't think so I wasn't you

9:31

know going into the game

9:33

expecting the same kind of

9:35

atmosphere Arsenal versus Israel Madrid

9:37

on Tuesday night far from

9:39

it I was you know

9:41

when when the five sides

9:43

were being Organized hoping that

9:45

this game would be a little more high stakes

9:48

than it was in terms of the Premier League,

9:50

but it is what it is and we've come

9:52

to terms with that. I will say, you know,

9:54

the going to games and trying to remember what

9:57

happened in games, and this has got nothing like

9:59

two beers before. the game so it wasn't

10:01

a question of anything else. But remembering

10:03

the details of the games that you're

10:05

at versus the details of the games

10:07

that you sort of work at, like

10:10

when I'm doing live blog and stuff

10:12

like that, I find it more difficult

10:14

when I'm actually there. Oh, tell me

10:16

about it. I'm doing that, you know.

10:18

Well I was going to say, I

10:20

was going to say I'm very impressed

10:23

by your powers of recall. That's why

10:25

I have to have a little file

10:27

on my phone. Yeah, your little lights.

10:29

What happened? Oh yeah. I mean I

10:31

guess it does help if there is

10:33

a lot of stuff that goes on

10:35

in a game that's worth remembering. And

10:38

in this particular one there wasn't a

10:40

great deal it's fair to say. Yeah

10:42

what's nice if you're at a game

10:44

you know you kind of want it

10:46

to be like five nil or something

10:48

because you're like by the time we've

10:51

analyzed all the goals that's probably the

10:53

podcast. Whereas with this it's like oh.

10:55

There's quite a lot of sort of

10:57

like quite grindy stuff. There we have

10:59

to remember and get through. Yeah. I

11:01

mean the team selection was won with,

11:03

like Everton last week, with Madrid in

11:06

mind, right? There were some decisions that

11:08

were forced by I guess injury or

11:10

whatever else, but certainly a team selection

11:12

that... had an eye on midweek and

11:14

maybe also a little nod to what

11:16

some of those players did in midweek

11:18

in terms of the effort they put

11:21

in against realm Madrid in that first

11:23

game. Yeah. Yeah. No Ben White. No

11:25

Ben White. A knock in training. We're

11:27

told. So don't know the details on

11:29

that. Hopefully it's a light knock. You

11:31

know, like the kind of knock a

11:34

doctor does on your knee to check

11:36

your reflexes. Oh yeah, the old little...

11:38

hammery job yeah not like a sledge

11:40

hammer but like a little doctor's hammer

11:42

yes what I'm hoping that's fine I

11:44

guess we could live with that if

11:46

that's all it is fingers But,

11:49

you know, his

11:51

absence, I think, had

11:53

an impact on

11:55

team selection in that

11:57

he clearly needed

11:59

or wanted to give

12:01

Jury and Timber

12:04

a bit of a

12:06

break in ideal

12:08

circumstances. That means you

12:10

play Ben White.

12:12

But without Ben White,

12:14

it meant Thomas

12:17

Partey had to start,

12:19

which perhaps wasn't

12:21

ideal. When you

12:23

see what happened later on, I

12:25

don't mean his goal, obviously, but he

12:27

went off. If we don't know

12:29

if he's injured or not injured really,

12:31

Michel Arteta said he felt something.

12:34

So, you know, these kind of little

12:36

knock -on effects of, you know, a

12:38

training ground knock can be quite

12:40

something. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that did

12:42

feel like a kind of late

12:44

decision, you know, I don't, Thomas Partey,

12:46

I think I'm about saying didn't

12:48

start at Everton and I think they

12:50

would have liked to arrest him

12:53

for this one. It

12:55

meant William Saliba, of course,

12:57

starting, I suppose one positive

12:59

is William Saliba and Jacob

13:01

Kivio in the 11, got

13:03

an opportunity to kind of

13:05

work on their understanding, their

13:07

partnership. First Premier League start

13:09

for Kieran Tierney in about

13:11

two years. Wow. And

13:15

then ahead of that, Georgina

13:17

obviously came in. We had

13:19

the Leicester Spottage in Chenco

13:22

in midfield. Ethan

13:24

Winneri on the right. Gabriel

13:27

Marcelli on the left, which was

13:29

a little bit of a surprise, maybe,

13:31

given the amount of running you'd

13:34

probably be expected to do across two

13:36

Madrid games, but someone had to

13:38

play. And Leandro Trossant through the middle.

13:40

Yes. So,

13:42

yeah, it was, so, was

13:45

Miquel, did Miquel Mourinho? No, he

13:47

came on. He came on.

13:49

Later. He came on later. So,

13:51

you know, it did feel

13:53

very, I don't want to say

13:55

underwhelming because I do think

13:57

at times, you know, you could

13:59

see the crowd trying to

14:01

get behind the team and raise

14:04

the team and this sort of circular argument rather of

14:06

you know is it the team that raises the crowd the

14:08

crowd raises the team etc etc etc but I think

14:10

just what I felt anyway was

14:12

that pretty much everybody understood what

14:14

this game was in the context

14:16

of our season I sort of

14:19

include Brentford in that as well

14:21

yeah interesting I mean do you think

14:23

that they what do you think that that

14:25

did for Brentford do you think that made

14:27

them sense and opportunity or I

14:30

thought they might be a little

14:32

bit more I thought so too yeah

14:34

aggressive well we'll come to a

14:36

moment of progression in a moment yeah

14:38

yeah but I suppose I meant

14:40

tactically sure sure I might see us

14:42

as a bit more vulnerable yes exactly

14:44

the same I thought the same you

14:47

know they they would have known they

14:49

were gonna face an Arsenal side that

14:51

was on a high I guess after

14:53

the realm of drink game but also

14:55

one that was changed, weakened you might

14:58

say a little bit and also one

15:00

that yeah potentially and and and with

15:02

an eye on the more important game

15:04

in midweek you know for all the

15:06

talk of focus on the game that's

15:08

in front of us and this is

15:11

the only game that matters human nature

15:13

is human nature isn't it you

15:15

know you know what really matters

15:17

and and what not that it

15:19

doesn't matter but there's you know on

15:21

the scale of matter this was kind

15:23

of low yeah I think that's true

15:25

But you know, they instead, they

15:28

came, they did a lot of

15:30

defending. Thomas Frank spoke afterwards and

15:32

said, oh, you know, felt we defended

15:34

our box really well. So yeah, it

15:36

was a slightly odd occasion. I mean,

15:39

the most striking difference in

15:41

terms of sort of people's atmosphere

15:43

and engagement with it for

15:45

me was like the periods

15:47

just before kickoff and just

15:49

before, just at the start

15:51

of the second half particularly.

15:53

you know against Madrid the seats

15:55

will fall long before second-half three

15:58

started and I came out for

16:00

the second half, I think it

16:02

was about 15 seconds late for

16:04

it myself, because I was just

16:06

finishing my drink at half time.

16:08

And I looked around and there's

16:11

so many empty seats and I

16:13

basically think there was just a

16:15

lot of conversations on the concourse

16:17

about, so what team would you

16:19

pick from Madrid? You know what

16:21

I mean? I just think people's

16:23

minds were elsewhere. I think that's

16:26

fair. And the weakened team, you

16:28

know, founded a bit difficult against.

16:30

against Brentford or to make chances.

16:32

I did notice one of the

16:34

conversation I had with Chris who

16:36

I was sitting with at the

16:39

game, was David Riah pumping it

16:41

long to Leandro Trossard quite regularly

16:43

in that first half. That's interesting.

16:45

And there was, you know, a

16:47

size difference, I think it's fair

16:49

to say, between Leandro Trossard and

16:51

who did they have at the

16:54

back? They had like three at

16:56

the back, didn't they? They had

16:58

Collins, I err and was at

17:00

Janelt? It was just... they would

17:02

take turns bumping Trossard and just

17:04

winning the headers. But it felt

17:06

like instruction, it felt like something

17:09

that he was being told to

17:11

do, maybe it's about winning the

17:13

second ball higher up the pitch,

17:15

I don't know, but I don't

17:17

know if that was something you

17:19

noticed. Just by passing Brentford's press,

17:22

they've shown themselves quite capable of

17:24

that in the past, but yeah,

17:26

I didn't actually particularly notice that

17:28

myself. It does seem like a

17:30

very odd tactic to employ, I

17:32

guess they're just thinking... even if

17:34

he doesn't win it can declare

17:37

rise to kind of mop up

17:39

those second balls. Or it was

17:41

an elaborate prank on Leandro Trossard.

17:43

He did something to annoy Michael

17:45

Artetta in training and he instructed

17:47

David Ryan. Yeah, maybe so. I'll

17:50

show you with this header against

17:52

a six foot four man. Yeah.

17:54

I thought we'd scored relatively

17:56

early on Andrew. Well the

17:58

care and tyranny one. was

18:00

about 25 minutes in. He

18:03

was, I was sort of

18:05

directly in line with Kear

18:07

and Tierney. So I celebrated

18:09

at about 80% I just

18:11

felt when I saw it

18:13

that maybe he was offside.

18:15

You had a semi-automated instinct.

18:17

Yes, yeah, unfortunately he was.

18:19

The decision came pretty quickly,

18:21

it's fair to say, you

18:23

know, in the ground, I've

18:25

been there at times when

18:27

there's been a far check

18:29

for an off-side goal and

18:31

it has taken a fucking

18:33

age. This one was quite

18:35

off-side indeed, so it probably

18:37

wasn't that difficult for the

18:39

new software. But what I

18:41

was expecting was the graphic

18:44

to flash up on the

18:46

big screen. So where I'm

18:48

stood in the North Bank...

18:50

Sit, you don't stand up.

18:52

Oh sorry, where I'm sat

18:54

throughout the game. Never standing,

18:56

respectfully. Yes. I actually crawled

18:58

down the aisle to my

19:00

seat. Just slither like a

19:02

snake. There's a screen. Sort

19:04

of if you can imagine

19:06

sort of on the roof

19:08

effectively or how was on

19:10

the on the base of

19:12

the upper tier if that

19:14

makes sense sure a little

19:16

a little screen and that

19:18

did show the kind of

19:20

3d generated graphic of Tierney

19:22

being sort of sliced in

19:25

half by the offside line.

19:27

I like the way you

19:29

nearly called him Tierri though.

19:31

Well it was such a

19:33

good finish Andrew. Was a

19:35

great, great header actually really

19:37

was. Ethan Renieri I think

19:39

with the cross and lovely

19:41

little header and you know

19:43

what I was a bit

19:45

gutted because the Arsenal subs

19:47

were warming up in front

19:49

of me in that corner

19:51

and they were so palpably

19:53

thrilled for Kier and Tierney

19:55

when he scored that goal.

19:57

But yes, I mean that

19:59

was, you know, I think

20:01

we'd had a couple of

20:03

moments before, he was so

20:06

delighted. And then it was whisked

20:08

away from him and taken away from

20:10

us as well. Would have been a

20:12

lovely moment, wouldn't it? You know, for

20:14

a turnie to score. Shame. Yeah. But

20:17

yes, I mean, that was, you know,

20:19

I think we'd had a couple of

20:21

moments before that from set pieces. Would

20:23

have been a bit of threat. Parte

20:25

headed the ball across the girl, but

20:28

nothing came with it. after that Zinchenko

20:30

had a shot from the edge of

20:32

the box that was going wide but

20:35

was saved anyway. And then in

20:37

the remainder of the half the only

20:39

thing I wrote in my notes was

20:41

Trossard having a shot saved I think

20:43

from the edge of the box. That

20:45

was quite smart play actually the way

20:47

he just sort of threw a shape

20:50

and went the other way and had

20:52

a left footage shot which the keeper

20:54

saved but I think the the thing

20:56

we've bypassed. is the challenge

20:58

on Martinelli by Christian Norgaard.

21:01

Now that was sort of on

21:03

my side close enough to not where

21:05

exactly where I was sitting I

21:07

was a bit more in line with

21:09

the penalty area but it was on

21:11

that side and when I saw it

21:14

in real time I thought oh fuck

21:16

that is a really bad tackle and

21:18

the ref very quickly gave a

21:20

yellow card and I could

21:22

see Martinelli go down and

21:24

then I looked up and

21:26

I saw Michael Artetta going

21:28

absolutely spare on the sideline. He

21:30

went mad, like right up to

21:32

the fourth official. So I

21:35

presumed that they had seen something

21:37

in the replay on the bench

21:39

that made him react in that

21:41

way. Having seen it again,

21:44

I'm sure. Yeah. Because I, to

21:46

be honest, I didn't really see

21:48

it. It was sort of the

21:50

opposite corner of the pitch to

21:52

me. Yeah. in real time so

21:54

I didn't have a great view

21:56

of it. Your view was obscured

21:58

by Norgaard himself flying from behind?

22:00

Well that's it. You know the

22:02

angle of the tackle actually made

22:04

it very difficult for me. Yeah

22:06

it's a bad challenge isn't it?

22:08

And one that could have had

22:10

quite serious repercussions I think. I

22:12

think that should be a red

22:14

card. Yeah. You know it's one

22:16

of those where if a red

22:19

card is given there is absolutely

22:21

no way that it gets overturned.

22:23

No chance. I certainly agree with

22:25

that. Yep. I think it very

22:27

well could be a red, like...

22:29

He's off his feet and it's

22:31

a tackle from behind with no

22:33

real attempt to play the ball

22:35

and he sort of does the

22:37

old scissors thing as well. That

22:39

kind of tackle was outlawed in

22:41

the 90s. You know, they outlawed

22:43

the challenge from behind years and

22:45

years ago and that was... very

22:47

much a challenge from behind and

22:49

it was hard and it was

22:51

cynical and it was dangerous and

22:53

I think it should have been

22:55

a red card in my opinion

22:57

anyway yeah I mean I had

22:59

chats with a couple of people

23:01

who were like oh is it

23:03

an orange is it dark yellow

23:05

I mean it's difficult to know

23:07

what that really means it's like

23:09

I think that what that means

23:11

is a yellow is is forgivable

23:13

but if it had been a

23:15

red there can't really be any

23:17

arguments yeah and I and I

23:19

Yeah, I think it could have

23:21

gone either way, frankly. Again, it's

23:23

one of those where you're like,

23:25

I don't know. You know what,

23:27

if we're sitting here this morning

23:29

and an Arsenal player had made

23:31

that challenge and been sent off,

23:33

there is not a hope in

23:35

hell that I could sit here

23:37

and defend them in any way.

23:39

That's the way I would put

23:41

that. Like I can sort of

23:43

see why the referee gave a

23:46

yellow. I can also sort of

23:48

see, based on the way games

23:50

are officiated. in the Premier League,

23:52

why the VAR wouldn't have upgraded

23:54

that to a red or told

23:56

the referee to go and have

23:58

a look. I'm not saying that's

24:00

right, but you know, based on

24:02

what we've... seen and our experience

24:04

of the way bad tackles are

24:06

officiated or judged by these officials,

24:08

I can understand why it stayed

24:10

a yellow, but I really do

24:12

think it's a very dangerous tackle.

24:14

And Martinelli's a bit lucky. What

24:16

did you make of him speaking

24:18

to Sky Sports afterwards? And he

24:20

said, In my opinion, if my

24:22

foot was on the floor, he

24:24

could break my leg. He said

24:26

he didn't mean it, I believe

24:28

him, but he still could have

24:30

broken my leg. For me, it

24:32

was a red. I need to

24:34

see it again, but for me,

24:36

it was nasty. You very, very

24:38

rarely hear players come out and

24:40

speak that, frankly or honestly, about

24:42

a challenge that they've been on

24:44

the receiving end of. And I

24:46

think that says quite a bit

24:48

about it, to be honest. Yeah,

24:50

I think that's true. That's true.

24:52

I think it's quite unusual. But

24:54

I also think that's good, you

24:56

know, I think that's fair. No

24:58

one's going to tell Gabri Martinelli

25:00

wrong. And I sort of think,

25:02

I do think that within football

25:04

there are always going to be

25:06

challenges and decisions that have a

25:08

measure of subjectivity around if that

25:10

is a yellow card or a

25:13

red card. I watch match of

25:15

the day, by the way, and

25:17

they... they all seem to come

25:19

down on the side of red

25:21

card for that one. Okay, I

25:23

haven't seen, I haven't seen it

25:25

yet. And generally, you know, Arsenal

25:27

don't get too many favours in

25:29

sort of public discourse about officiating.

25:31

So I think that's pretty indicative.

25:33

But I also think like, if

25:35

you accept that bit of subjectivity,

25:37

there has to be room within

25:39

that for people to like state

25:41

their opinion and push back and

25:43

debate. And if it's if it's

25:45

given a yellow, like Mikhailetes within

25:47

his rights to say, I'm sure

25:49

you said it in less polite

25:51

terms than this, but I think

25:53

that should be a red. And

25:55

Gary Marcelli is perfectly entitled to

25:57

say that as well. So I

25:59

think it's right that... players and

26:01

managers and people who are subject

26:03

to these decisions have

26:05

a prominent role in the

26:07

discourse. And I think players maybe

26:10

above all else, because players have

26:12

the best instincts for how

26:14

dangerous a challenge. Yes. they know

26:16

I think better than anybody watching

26:19

a replay. We had a question

26:21

actually on Blue Sky from Dan

26:23

at depow.bsky. So she says do

26:25

more players need to go the

26:28

Martinelli postmatch route to pressure pGMOL

26:30

to take dangerous challenges seriously? Sort

26:32

of an extension of what you've

26:34

just said, you know? Yeah, I

26:36

do think that there's a risk

26:39

with it, you know. I

26:41

seem to remember the kind of

26:43

Saka coming out and talking

26:45

about the treatment he was

26:48

getting in games at a certain

26:50

point in time. And I think, you

26:52

know, that was used against him

26:54

a little bit. Not so much.

26:56

I don't know if by officials

26:58

you could debate that, but maybe

27:00

more so by other fan bases

27:03

as a sign of kind of

27:05

vulnerability and maybe players don't want

27:07

to do that. I think like

27:09

what is a yellow card and what is

27:11

a red card, as much as we like

27:14

to be like, it's clear, it's black

27:16

and white, it's definitive, there are

27:18

hard lines around it. I actually

27:20

think it is an evolving conversation

27:23

all the time, and I think the

27:25

views of the players should weigh the

27:28

heaviest in those debates. So

27:30

I think good on Martinelli

27:32

for saying it, and it's not like

27:34

he hung the player out for to dry

27:36

and was like... he's a disgrace he must

27:38

be banned you know what i mean sure

27:41

yeah yeah yeah he just said i feel

27:43

that that should be a red card it's

27:45

a reckless challenge and i think good for

27:47

him and if it does influence

27:49

the discourse or the decision-making process

27:52

in the future then that's a

27:54

positive upshot yeah i mean by

27:56

the way we had other questions

27:58

to this effect like Baker who

28:00

said, morning fellas, how high on

28:03

the if that was Granite Jaka

28:05

scale was in all going to

28:07

challenge on Martinelli. I think Granite

28:09

Jaka would have been probably a

28:12

rest state. So there you go.

28:14

Yeah, it is a classic of

28:16

the if that was Granite Jaka

28:18

genre. Thankfully Martinelli was. was okay,

28:21

but it was a nasty one,

28:23

it really was. And I think

28:25

Norgaard is quite lucky to have

28:27

stayed on the pitch and Brentford

28:30

quite lucky to have had 11

28:32

men all the way through, quite

28:34

ironic given that we finished the

28:36

game with 10 men. We'll come

28:39

to that. Second half, we score

28:41

the kind of goal that we

28:43

don't usually score. It's, you know,

28:45

how often have we sat here

28:47

this season and talked about, you

28:50

know, the way Liverpool, all of

28:52

a sudden they're defending and then

28:54

they get all these men forward

28:56

and suddenly within five seconds, they've

28:59

scored a goal. Why don't we

29:01

ever score that goal? Well, we

29:03

did. At the weekend, it was

29:05

a very, very well-taking goal. From

29:08

back to front... By the way,

29:10

how much this was part of

29:12

the plan, because Brentford... on corners,

29:14

three kicks, they really load the

29:17

penalty area, they offer a real

29:19

threat. And throughout the game, it

29:21

seemed like when Ryer got possession

29:23

of the ball, he was looking

29:26

for the early release. He looked

29:28

for Martinelli directly a couple of

29:30

times, didn't he, with like a

29:32

long ball over the top. And

29:35

so I wonder if they looked

29:37

at that in Brentford's game and

29:39

thought they really do commit. in

29:41

these attacking situations on set pieces

29:44

and dead balls like if we

29:46

get if we get hold of

29:48

it let's transition quickly and we

29:50

we did it was a great

29:53

play from right to take the

29:55

cross and then and then release

29:57

Declim Rice who skipped past the

29:59

first defender drove on towards the

30:02

of the box played it outside

30:04

to Thomas Parte who had covered

30:06

a lot of ground pretty quickly

30:08

to keep up with Declan Rice

30:11

and he applied the finish a

30:13

really great finish as well so

30:15

from back to front it just

30:17

a fantastic goal. Yeah brilliant goal.

30:20

I mean Declan Rice we didn't

30:22

really touch too much on him

30:24

starting the game but he certainly

30:26

didn't look tired in that moment.

30:29

Incredible physicality and actually quite deft

30:31

play like I really like he

30:33

took a little touch inside just

30:35

before laying the ball off to

30:38

parte that gave parte the space

30:40

to come onto the ball and

30:42

hit that shot first time and

30:44

I think was it his ninth

30:47

assist of the season Declan Rice

30:49

so he's matched last season's tally

30:51

of goals and assists I think

30:53

it's seven goals and nine assists

30:56

for him this season. Wow okay

30:58

so that's one nil and then

31:00

We made changes didn't we made

31:02

a triple change? Yes. Saker among

31:05

those who came? Saka, who was

31:07

it, Saka, Lewis Kelly, and... Bob

31:09

Nodegaard, I think. Odegaard, on, and

31:11

Tierneys and Chenco Nuanieri, off. And

31:14

you're sort of hoping that we

31:16

could, with those players on the

31:18

pitch, maybe step it up a

31:20

bit. Yeah. Didn't really happen that

31:23

way. No, it didn't. No, it

31:25

didn't. it didn't we were a

31:27

little bit sort of i don't

31:29

think we were worse per se

31:32

i just don't think we really

31:34

experienced a lift in the way

31:36

you might expect with players of

31:38

that caliber coming on the pitch

31:41

yeah you know we did have

31:43

a few issues after that may

31:45

affect things you know within about

31:47

five minutes i think it was

31:50

Thomas party came off didn't you

31:52

know because you're in timber i

31:54

must say We're still waiting for

31:56

news on Thomas Part. we don't

31:59

know what's happening, but as impressed

32:01

as I was by that, you

32:03

know, 50-yard sprint to score, I

32:05

was thinking like, oh dear, he's

32:07

sort of the last player I'd

32:10

want to see making that kind

32:12

of run. Yes, I know what

32:14

you mean. I know what you

32:16

mean. Hopefully, there's not a big

32:19

injury ahead of Wednesday, because I

32:21

think we're probably going to be

32:23

without Georginao. We'll come to him

32:25

in a second. but the goal

32:28

that Brentford scored I mean I've

32:30

watched it back it's one of those

32:32

where you go it's just kind of

32:34

a bit sloppy all around maybe we

32:36

let the cross come in a bit

32:39

too easily I think that's the worst

32:41

mmm sort of error because I've watched

32:43

it and I'm like well it's not

32:45

great it's a second ball isn't it

32:47

for a set piece and I do think

32:49

effectively they just don't get

32:51

out. The number 33 is across

32:54

it enough. I'm not. He was

32:56

the substitute right back. I'm

32:58

not being quite impressed by

33:00

him actually, but I don't really

33:03

know him as a player.

33:05

What's his name? Coyote. Coyote.

33:07

So he's just got an

33:09

absurd amount of space really

33:11

when he gets played him

33:13

by Boimo to pick out whatever

33:15

cross he would fancy. they've

33:18

got an overload at the back

33:20

post. It's a very good finish all

33:22

that said I think. I really like him

33:24

I have to say I really like with

33:26

a as a player because if you watch

33:29

the if you watch the the goal we

33:31

score like he's there one of their

33:33

forwards and he is the

33:35

guy who absolutely just sprints back

33:38

maybe he could get out to

33:40

Thomas Parte even if he if

33:42

he makes that decision but obviously

33:45

he's got to try and contend with

33:47

Declan Rice too, but that willingness to work

33:49

for his team was just so impressive. It's

33:51

a good finish. He scores good goals in

33:53

the box. He's just really really dangerous, you

33:55

know, and he can leap like a salmon

33:58

as he showed a few weeks ago. sort

34:00

of hanging in the air to

34:02

head home for Branford. So yeah,

34:04

it was gonna be him or

34:06

in Boimo if they were gonna

34:08

score and it was him. So

34:10

that was about 20 minutes left

34:13

to play at that point in

34:15

time. Yeah. But Branford obviously pretty

34:17

delighted I think to be at

34:19

one all at that point. Should

34:21

they have been to one down

34:23

when Flecken got caught with the

34:25

ball right on the edge of

34:27

his box? Like does that feel

34:29

like... the kind of chance that

34:32

a fully fit, in form, full

34:34

of rhythm bikaiosaka just takes rather

34:36

than, you know, taking the extra

34:38

touches that he did because, you

34:40

know, he's still maybe a little

34:42

rusty from all the time he

34:44

spent out. Yeah, I wondered, I

34:46

mean, I've watched it back. I

34:48

was behind that goal and it

34:51

did seem like there was a

34:53

brilliant opportunity. You know, he takes

34:55

the ball around the keeper or

34:57

takes it off the keeper and

34:59

it's probably more accurate to say.

35:01

And I think there is just

35:03

a split second where if he

35:05

gets the shot off, you know,

35:07

he's got a very very good

35:10

chance of scoring. There's a moment's

35:12

hesitation and then the chance goes

35:14

away. Maybe a bit more sharpness

35:16

in front of goal. And he

35:18

scores there or has the composure

35:20

to... I think it's not even

35:22

composure, I think what happens is

35:24

those instincts are sharp and he

35:26

just does it without thinking too

35:29

much and I think maybe in

35:31

that situation maybe the first touch

35:33

isn't 100% what it needed to

35:35

be. But yeah, that was probably

35:37

the moment, wasn't it? I'm just

35:39

trying to think if there was

35:41

anything... else particularly. Well I mean

35:43

he had a chance towards the

35:45

end didn't he had a chance

35:48

which went wide of the post

35:50

but we finished the game with

35:52

10 men because Georgino I could

35:54

see him at one point he

35:56

was sort of down on his

35:58

hunkers you know and I

36:00

was going, geez, he looks very

36:03

tired. And I know he doesn't

36:05

play that often, but you know,

36:07

he should be all right. And

36:09

then someone gave him the ball

36:11

at one point and you could

36:13

see he really did not want

36:15

the ball. He did not want

36:18

it. Whatever he was feeling or

36:20

whatever was wrong, I don't know

36:22

exactly what happened. Someone said there

36:24

was like a clash with him

36:26

bomo and he fell awkwardly, maybe

36:28

broke a rib. If that's the

36:30

case, he's 100% out of the

36:33

game against Madrid on. on Wednesday

36:35

because it's very painful and it's

36:37

not there's almost nothing that can

36:39

be done for it no just

36:41

strap up take some painkillers and

36:43

wait that's all you can do

36:45

really yeah I once did mine

36:48

by challenging someone to punch me

36:50

as hard as they could in

36:52

a bar I was like I

36:54

was honestly like hit me as

36:56

hard as you can in the

36:58

stomach in the stomach in the

37:00

and they went a bit high.

37:03

Yeah and I think you know

37:05

I was certainly aware of it

37:07

aching or being sore for about

37:09

six months is they're horrible things.

37:11

Yeah no I did it playing

37:13

football as well just a guy

37:15

going into a challenge and he

37:17

sort of went in under my

37:20

arm sort of caught me with

37:22

the shoulder right on the side

37:24

of the ribs and you could

37:26

feel the like And it honestly

37:28

it was again it was probably

37:30

three months before I could Before

37:32

I could play again it was

37:35

really it's very very very painful

37:37

everything that you do with your

37:39

body Hurts yeah laughing hurts coughing

37:41

hurts Moving hurts. So if he's

37:43

broken a rib, I wish him

37:45

the best of look, but that

37:47

might be the last. We've seen

37:50

of Georgino this season, which is

37:52

a bit of a shame, and

37:54

obviously having just brought on Michael

37:56

Marino for Declan Rice, we were

37:58

down to 10 men for the

38:00

final part of the game. Good

38:02

job. We've had lots of practice

38:05

at that though in France. It

38:07

was all leading to this Andrew.

38:09

The master plan. Yeah, and kind

38:11

of, I mean, trying to think

38:13

like back to like what the

38:15

prevailing attitude in the stands was.

38:17

I think even though we were

38:20

down to 10, most of the

38:22

fans around me were still hoping

38:24

we might. you know, conjure a

38:26

winner from somewhere. We had to

38:28

go to be fair. We didn't

38:30

just sit back. We did have

38:32

a go and it wasn't like,

38:35

you know, some of the games

38:37

would ten men, maybe bright and

38:39

be an example where we sort

38:41

of thought, right, what we have,

38:43

we hold, let's sit in, protect.

38:45

We did try and go on

38:47

and win the game, but just

38:50

not enough. And it interesting, isn't

38:52

it? Because like, like, there's a

38:54

lot of isolated reasons why Arsenal

38:56

wouldn't. didn't win this game, you

38:58

know, we've spoken about Madrid, we've

39:00

spoken about the rotation, we've spoken

39:02

about the injuries in the game,

39:04

but equally it does also form

39:07

part of a wider pattern, you

39:09

know, where a team came in,

39:11

defended in a low blot for

39:13

long periods, we didn't find it

39:15

easy to break them down and

39:17

ultimately we've withdrawn again. We've drawn

39:19

again. Yes 12 draws now I

39:22

mean I don't think this game

39:24

you know leaving even leaving aside

39:26

the You know the context of

39:28

it between the two Madrid games

39:30

and everything else I don't think

39:32

there was much to learn from

39:34

this game that we didn't already

39:37

know you know another draw no

39:39

no another sort of another game

39:41

where maybe you're looking at squad

39:43

depth particularly in the in the

39:45

forward areas of the pitch not

39:47

quite being what you need what

39:49

you need what you need? for

39:52

games like this because you know

39:54

the reality is if we want

39:56

to continue improving and developing and

39:58

continue on this trajectory we are

40:00

hopefully going to have more games between

40:02

big champions league games that we

40:05

hopefully need to win. You know, to

40:07

stay in contention at the top of

40:09

the Premier League as well. That's got

40:11

to be the next development, right? When

40:13

Michael Artetta thinks about these games next

40:15

season, if we have a Champions League

40:18

quarterfinal against, you know, a big team

40:20

like Real Madrid or Barcelona or by

40:22

whoever it might be, and there's a

40:25

sort of a game in the middle

40:27

of that. You want to be in

40:29

the title race as well as being

40:31

in the champions league. So when we

40:34

think about what this squad needs, I

40:36

think this game was illustrative of what

40:38

we've kind of been saying all

40:40

season in terms of attacking depth

40:43

in particular. Yeah, and actually that's

40:45

the theme of our last few

40:47

seasons really that we've only

40:49

been able to focus on one

40:52

competition. You know, for the last

40:54

couple years it has been the

40:56

league this year. by the time

40:58

we get to the running, it's

41:00

very much the Champions League and

41:02

the league's not so much of

41:04

a concern. So yeah, I think, like

41:07

I say, I think it's

41:09

a kind of isolated, unusual

41:11

game, but there are some familiar

41:13

themes that make it part of

41:15

a wider pattern. Yeah. So a

41:17

draw, Liverpool win, not

41:20

unexpectedly against Westhand? Wasn't it,

41:22

I think. Yeah, I think

41:24

so. But you know, there's

41:26

a year, it's a year.

41:29

That's it, that's it. There

41:31

was more fun further down

41:33

the table, I think it's

41:35

fair to say. Yes, a lot of

41:37

fun. A whole lot of fun. It'll

41:40

be, it'll be a good episode

41:42

of the 30, I imagine, this

41:44

one. Yeah, we'll have a, we'll

41:47

have a good laugh at

41:49

that, but we did get

41:51

some requests for a bit of,

41:53

hashtag fun. I'm not going

41:55

to do the names because anyway.

41:58

People saying you can't blame. and

42:00

for the individual errors today.

42:02

Who plays football like this?

42:05

I guarantee you ask any

42:07

one of them players, should

42:09

we play like this? They

42:12

don't say no. His shit

42:14

tactics leave us exposed. Put

42:16

us under pressure. Don't allow

42:19

our balls. Hashtag hands out.

42:21

This one. Totnam no longer

42:23

sets my heart on fire.

42:26

Watching their games feels like

42:28

a waste of time now.

42:30

I've supported this team for

42:33

13 years, but this is

42:35

the first time I've ever

42:37

felt like losing is just

42:40

expected. This one, I'd take

42:42

Tim Sherwood back in a

42:44

heartbeat over this Aussie idiot,

42:47

or AvB, or Santini, or

42:49

Ramos, or Kristen Gross. or

42:51

Jerry Francis or Nuno. Clearly

42:54

the worst manager I've seen

42:56

in my lifetime manage our

42:58

club, just make it stop.

43:01

Hashtag and jot. This one

43:03

is quite mad. It just

43:05

says, disgusting fanatics who have

43:08

supported this pig. You stupid

43:10

fanatics have ruined Tottenham! I

43:12

don't think it's them, really.

43:15

I think there might be

43:17

wider issues. Wolf scored four,

43:20

missed three basically open goals,

43:22

so it could have been

43:24

seven. They were 17th! How

43:27

do you go to the

43:29

17th place team in the

43:31

league and almost ship seven

43:34

goals in 94 minutes? How?

43:36

Head explode emoji. Hashtag and

43:38

jact. I saw that one

43:41

as well. Fantastic. What can

43:43

I say? Good luck Vinai,

43:45

I guess. Good luck, Vinai.

43:48

Listen, I can't go that

43:50

far. I can't go that

43:52

far. That's true. We can

43:55

wish him well, but we

43:57

can... can't wish him luck.

43:59

That's exactly it. You know,

44:02

I don't, you know, don't

44:04

want to get like a

44:06

parking ticket. I hope he doesn't

44:09

get a parking ticket. In that

44:11

sense, I wish him well. Yeah. But

44:13

you know, for the rest. Sorry. Agent,

44:15

Agent Vinna. Agent Vinna. Is

44:18

he in place already? Because he

44:20

could be doing a very good

44:22

job. Yeah. Some might say. Deep,

44:24

deep, deep cover. Deep, deep cover,

44:26

all right. Okay. When they give

44:28

Angie's new contract, we'll all just

44:30

give a knowing win to Vin

44:32

I. Good on you, son. Has

44:34

Ang been sacked yet? We are

44:36

out on the Europa League with

44:38

him in charge. Probs better off

44:40

with no manager at all. He's

44:43

that bad. I had him down

44:45

as the worst manager in our

44:47

history. He's officially the worst manager

44:49

to complete a minimum two

44:51

seasons of management in the

44:53

Prem. And Jack's. Officially the

44:55

worst. Officially the worst. The

44:58

graphic came up on Sky

45:00

Sports, I think. Wow. So

45:02

there you go. 30, yeah,

45:04

he's 32 games in, they

45:07

are 15th in the league. Having

45:09

lost 17 games this week.

45:11

Will they get to the

45:14

Magic 40 point mark? It's

45:16

just a shame. There have been

45:18

so many other much worse teams.

45:20

It is, yeah, like in some

45:23

Premier League years we would be

45:25

seeing United and Spurs embroiled in

45:27

a relegation back in a true

45:30

relegation fight. Unfortunately, I think the

45:32

Premier League's got a real problem

45:34

with promoted teams going straight

45:37

back down. And I have to say

45:39

looking at the championship this year,

45:41

I don't, I fear, because I think it's

45:43

two years in a row. that three

45:45

have come up and gone

45:47

straight back. Right. And that is

45:49

a problem, I would say. It's

45:51

not good. So the main reason

45:54

it's not good is it

45:56

it's keeping people like spurs

45:58

in the league. Uh-huh. That

47:15

Matt and Tommy and we're currently being

47:18

sponsored by Peloton. Peloton has what

47:20

you need to achieve your fitness goals

47:22

no matter why you got started. From

47:24

four weeks strength building classes to running,

47:26

indoor and outdoor workouts and everything in

47:28

between, Peloton is here to push you

47:30

to achieve your goals. Just like it

47:32

already has for thousands of members worldwide.

47:34

I got my first Peloton bike around

47:36

the pandemic. It helps keep me on

47:38

track with my own fitness goals even

47:40

around my crazy schedule. Find your

47:42

push, find your power with Peloton

47:44

at one peloton.com Some

47:48

TAC presents the ins and

47:50

outs of caring for your

47:52

home, out, indecision, overthinking, second-guessing

47:55

every choice you make, in,

47:57

plans and guides that make

47:59

it easy to get home

48:01

projects done. Out. Beige on

48:03

beige on beige. In. Knowing

48:05

what to do, when to

48:08

do it, and who to

48:10

hire. Start caring for your

48:12

home with confidence. Download thumbtack

48:14

today. Worry Worry about what ingredients

48:16

are hiding in your groceries, let us

48:18

take the guest work out. We're Thrive

48:21

Market, the online grocery store with the

48:23

highest quality standards in the industry. We

48:25

restrict 1,000 plus ingredients. So you can

48:28

trust that you'll only find the best

48:30

high quality organic and sustainable brands all

48:32

free of the junk. With savings up

48:35

to 30% off and fast carbon neutral

48:37

shipping, you get top trusted groceries at

48:39

your door. And you can stop worrying

48:42

about what your kids get their hands

48:44

on. free gift. Welcome

48:48

back to the Arscast Extra. This is

48:50

part two of the show where we

48:52

answer the questions that you sent to

48:54

us on Blue Sky at gunner blog.bsky.social

48:56

and at ars blog.com and also on

48:58

the ars blog discord chat server which

49:00

you get access to if you are

49:02

an ars blog member on Patreon and

49:04

a reminder that this month in the

49:06

month of April we will donate every

49:08

penny that we make from Patreon to

49:10

four really really good causes helping people

49:13

all around the world. So if you

49:15

want to get that extra content and

49:17

help those people and... support great causes.

49:19

You can sign up for

49:21

just six dollars a month

49:23

at patreon.com/our Splop. So there

49:25

you go. I did want

49:27

to start on this one.

49:29

We had a little bit of

49:31

Vennie chat at the end, but

49:34

cartoon Steve Bold says, did you

49:36

see Gary Neville try to suggest

49:38

Vennie joining Spurs was a sign

49:40

that something wasn't quite right

49:42

at Arsenal? And I did

49:45

see a lot of our

49:47

American friends. complaining vociferously about

49:50

NBC adding Gary Neville

49:52

to their Premier League

49:54

coverage this weekend. But

49:57

that's a really weird

49:59

assertion. isn't it that Vinai

50:01

who left, you know, how

50:03

long ago, a year ago,

50:05

well over a year ago,

50:07

and joins, what's that got

50:09

to do with us at

50:11

this point? No, I agree.

50:13

Vinai joining Spurs is no

50:15

reflection at all on our

50:17

store. I mean, he's been

50:19

out of the job for

50:22

some time, he's been doing

50:24

other things. It's not like

50:26

he's left one to go

50:28

to the other. I did

50:30

see this. and I also

50:32

saw the reaction. I have

50:34

to say I didn't feel

50:36

as strongly about it but

50:38

I suspect that's because I'm

50:40

kind of inured to him

50:42

at this point in time

50:44

because we are so exposed

50:46

to him and I think

50:48

maybe for the people of

50:50

America it came as more

50:52

of a shock. Don't they

50:54

have enough going on at

50:56

the moment without this too?

50:58

That's a very fair question.

51:00

So yeah I did see

51:02

it. I mean I was

51:04

chatting to... Ali, at the

51:06

five-a-side about punditry before the

51:08

game, we're talking about different

51:10

pundits. I think Gary Neville

51:12

has kind of told you,

51:14

not you personally, but it's

51:17

told us where his punditry

51:19

is at. You know, I've

51:21

seen him say, well, when

51:23

I first came out of

51:25

the game, I knew all

51:27

the players. I knew all

51:29

the coaches. I understood the

51:31

way teams set up, the

51:33

way they trained. I was

51:35

able to provide a level

51:37

of tactical insight that was

51:39

unrivaled. But the game moves

51:41

on so quickly and he

51:43

now has been out of

51:45

the game for, I don't

51:47

know, a while, right, maybe

51:49

retired for a decade, I'm

51:51

not sure. Must be more.

51:53

And he basically said that...

51:55

That has forced the nature

51:57

of his punditry in an

51:59

to change to become more

52:01

broad. And I mean broad

52:03

in every sense, broad in

52:06

sort of like, you know,

52:08

sweeping brush strokes, but

52:10

broad maybe in terms of

52:12

for peeling to sort of

52:14

a lowest common denominator at

52:17

times. And I think that's

52:19

just borne out and something

52:21

he's actually said and admitted.

52:24

So I just sort of

52:26

feel like you have to

52:28

kind of. Take it

52:30

for what it is sort of

52:32

like when someone shows you there

52:34

a twat don't expect them not

52:36

to say twat things Yeah, kind

52:38

of I mean people you know

52:41

I've worked with Neville and Karika

52:43

and the overlap and sky and

52:45

so people may say I'm kind

52:48

of compromised or whatever which is

52:50

fine but I watched the clip and

52:52

I was like I didn't think it

52:54

was that bad like He basically said,

52:57

was saying, he thinks Arsenal

52:59

have regressed a bit this

53:01

season and they needed to be

53:03

the team to capitalize and win

53:05

the league if Man City didn't

53:07

and they haven't. And I, I, I,

53:09

those points, like I'm like, I think you

53:12

can debate the regression, but the point

53:14

of like, should we have been the

53:16

team to win a league when City

53:18

didn't? I, you know, I can't argue

53:20

with that. I think that's it. work

53:23

like that. It's just because one thing

53:25

happens, it doesn't mean the other thing

53:27

is going to happen. You know, there

53:29

is the randomness of sport. I do

53:31

think your point about, he retired in

53:33

2011 by the way, I do think

53:36

your point about, you know, where he

53:38

was at the start of his punditry

53:40

career versus where he is now, is

53:42

a really interesting one because I think,

53:44

listen, when Gary Neville was a player,

53:47

there is nobody, I would have... enjoyed

53:49

spending two minutes on a football

53:51

pitch with more than him because,

53:54

you know, get right in there

53:56

and do a kind of

53:58

Norgaard tackle. a few orange

54:00

a few orange cards yeah high

54:03

out for you for you in

54:05

that game exactly yeah yeah I

54:07

would have loved to do to

54:09

Gary Neville what he and his

54:11

brother did to Jose Antonio Reyes

54:14

right sure I would have enjoyed

54:16

that a lot when he first

54:18

started punditry it was good a

54:20

breath of fresh air I don't

54:22

know about that but it was

54:25

good I will admit that and

54:27

you have to sort of grudging

54:29

the admit A bit like how

54:31

Man United were good, you know?

54:33

And then I didn't like to

54:36

admit it, but it was true.

54:38

And now here we are 15

54:40

years later and both Neville and

54:42

Man United are shit and it's

54:44

a great thing. But I do

54:47

think your point about the way

54:49

the game has developed, like he,

54:51

I think it's basically him and

54:53

him alone is... So creating this

54:55

narrative about how football isn't that

54:58

entertaining anymore and everything's too mechanical

55:00

too robotic etc etc etc. Maybe

55:02

there's some truth to that maybe

55:04

there isn't I happen to think

55:06

it's all very subjective like if

55:09

you're a Manchester United fan like

55:11

Gary Neville you're not going to

55:13

be enjoying football very much at

55:15

this moment in time whereas if

55:17

you're a fan of I don't

55:20

know Newcastle who won a trophy

55:22

or Nottingham Forest who are having

55:24

a brilliant season your experience of

55:26

whether football is entertaining or not

55:28

is a very very different one

55:31

right but i think there's something

55:33

in the tactical development of the

55:35

game that he has become detached

55:37

from it's not the game that

55:39

he knew therefore i think that

55:42

is reflected in the things he

55:44

says in the opinions that he

55:46

holds holds and i do also

55:48

think with all due respect to

55:50

everybody at the sky sports that

55:53

there is a I don't know

55:55

if it's deliberate or concerted effort,

55:57

but it feels like they understand

55:59

the temperature of the internet fan

56:01

culture in a way, right? So

56:04

that maybe certain things are... said

56:06

to generate the kind of debates

56:08

and clicks and engagement that is

56:10

so important for those broadcasters. And

56:12

I think he is one of

56:15

the best slash worst at that.

56:17

Yeah, I think it's interesting. I

56:19

think, I mean, it's fascinating actually,

56:21

because we all watch a lot

56:23

of football and we all are

56:26

subjected to a lot of punditry

56:28

and we all have opinions on

56:30

when it's good and when it's

56:32

bad. Neville and Carragher always lumped

56:34

in together. I actually think that

56:37

if you were breaking down, if

56:39

you were looking at like the

56:41

way in which they engage with

56:43

games, if you watch Carragher on

56:45

a Monday night football for example,

56:48

I think he's still much more

56:50

tuned to the tactical side. I

56:52

would agree. Is now? You know,

56:54

there are lots of reasons to

56:56

not like Jamie Carragher and Arsenal

56:59

fans as a rule don't, but

57:01

I think that he does still

57:03

have that level of attention to

57:05

detail to detail. But it does

57:07

seem to move so quickly on.

57:10

I mean, Neville was kind of

57:12

revolutionary on television when he retired,

57:14

you know, 15 years ago, and

57:16

now feels outdated and outmoded. And

57:18

so maybe the lesson here, and

57:21

it's the lesson sky, probably should

57:23

have learned after the Andy Gray

57:25

and Richard Key's stuff, is like,

57:27

you need to, you need to

57:29

refresh. Yeah, and maybe the cycle

57:32

goes much quicker than anyone anticipates.

57:34

The problem is you build these

57:36

stars. So Neville's now a guy

57:38

with huge media profile that brings

57:41

eyes to Sky Sports and its

57:43

social media channels and things like

57:45

that. So they won't want to

57:47

dispense with him. And that's why

57:49

you get situations like Graham Sooner

57:52

still having opinions on a game

57:54

that he hasn't played for decades.

57:56

Yeah, it's a really interesting one.

57:58

The other thing is that... I

58:00

was having this chat with Ali

58:03

and he was kind of

58:05

saying, TV companies are a

58:07

bit behind. So, you know,

58:10

when you talk about the

58:12

tone of TV punditry, it's

58:15

almost as if they're

58:17

seeking to ape fan,

58:19

fan culture, fan coverage

58:21

of games. Sure. But

58:23

maybe from like five,

58:25

ten years ago, whereas

58:27

now actually, an alleyside

58:30

Mark Goldbridge as an example,

58:32

fan coverage is maybe being a

58:34

bit less biased or a bit

58:36

less, you know, like someone

58:38

like Goldbridge is sort of

58:41

branching out into more objective

58:43

football analysis and talking about

58:45

other clubs and and similarly,

58:47

you know, AFTV have launched

58:49

their channel which is not

58:52

just about Arsenal and I

58:54

do think that if you

58:56

look at... online coverage, it's

58:58

becoming sort of maybe a

59:01

bit more nuanced and

59:03

the TV companies perhaps

59:05

haven't quite caught up

59:07

with that. They're operating

59:09

a few years behind.

59:12

Yeah, maybe, maybe. You know,

59:14

I would counter that by

59:16

saying that I think maybe

59:18

some of that pivoting

59:21

to unbiased coverage of

59:23

games, if you like,

59:25

is more about... the

59:27

monetization than, you know, anything

59:29

else. Oh, yeah. There's nothing

59:32

wrong with that. And again,

59:34

I'm not saying there's anything

59:36

wrong with that, you know,

59:39

people can do what they

59:41

want to do. I'm not

59:44

suggesting they've done it

59:46

out of some sort of moral.

59:48

No, I know. I know. I know.

59:50

I know. I know what you mean.

59:52

But yeah, it's tricky, isn't it? Sure.

59:55

Listen to but then I part of

59:57

me is like yeah, but we are

59:59

playing our crowd. Do you know what

1:00:01

I mean? We're saying everything, well,

1:00:04

we're seeing everything through an

1:00:06

arsenal lens. Of course. Of

1:00:09

course. And there's always going

1:00:11

to be that sort of

1:00:13

like irritation. But Robbie muster,

1:00:15

is it Robbie muster who's

1:00:17

on US coverage and he

1:00:20

kind of comes back to

1:00:22

Neville with a pretty reasoned,

1:00:24

detailed, thoughtful response.

1:00:26

So there are people out there doing

1:00:28

it. It's just are they getting the

1:00:31

platform, the direction? Is sure of

1:00:33

you being produced the same way

1:00:35

for them to express those opinions?

1:00:37

I don't know. I'm told, someone said to

1:00:40

me the other day that, for

1:00:42

example, the BBC highlights of the

1:00:44

Champions League, they were like, it's

1:00:46

really good. It's a really good

1:00:48

show. They have like Roy Smith and

1:00:50

Ned Monua and... Is this on

1:00:52

the radio or the... It's on

1:00:54

TV. They've got access to the

1:00:57

highlights now. I didn't realize that.

1:00:59

It's a really sort of

1:01:01

neutral, objective, balanced

1:01:03

discussion that's really focused

1:01:05

on what happens on the

1:01:07

pitch rather than sort of

1:01:10

sweeping statements about club culture.

1:01:12

And I was like, well,

1:01:14

that sounds interesting, because that's...

1:01:16

There's not a ton of

1:01:19

that on mainstream television

1:01:21

at the moment. That's true. That's

1:01:23

true. I must check that out

1:01:25

then. I didn't realize BBC had

1:01:27

highlights of the Champions League. Yeah,

1:01:30

I think I've got that right.

1:01:32

Let's see. BBC, Chief Chairman,

1:01:34

League highlights. Yeah, indeed they

1:01:36

do. Obviously, normally I'm watching

1:01:39

our games live and I

1:01:41

don't necessarily have great cause

1:01:43

to sit and watch, you

1:01:45

know. if Harry Kane scored

1:01:47

for Buy Munich again. But

1:01:49

yeah, I told it's really good.

1:01:51

All right. Have you got a

1:01:54

question? Yeah, I've got a

1:01:56

question. Okay, we had

1:01:58

some questions. about Thomas

1:02:01

Parte. A couple of

1:02:03

questions about contracts, but

1:02:05

maybe more interesting is

1:02:07

like Milwaukee, Milwaukee, I'm

1:02:10

pronouncing that, but say

1:02:12

parte is unavailable for

1:02:15

Wednesday, who would you start

1:02:17

at number six? Rice. Rice.

1:02:19

Rice baby. I think if

1:02:21

we're accepting that Georgina is

1:02:23

not going to be there

1:02:25

and parte isn't available, then...

1:02:27

But what does that mean

1:02:30

Andrew? Does that mean taking

1:02:32

Marino out of the attack? Potentially,

1:02:34

yeah. What else is there? Really, when

1:02:37

you think about it, what else do

1:02:39

you do? I mean... I don't know, so people

1:02:41

will say Louis Skelly. Yeah, I

1:02:43

don't think you can play or

1:02:45

should play. Not that I would

1:02:47

have any real fear about it,

1:02:49

but I don't think you could

1:02:51

ask or should ask an 18-year-old

1:02:54

who was made a position his

1:02:56

own. this season by virtue of

1:02:58

the quality of his performances,

1:03:00

then sort of thrust him

1:03:03

into that kind of pivotal

1:03:05

midfield anchor role away at

1:03:07

the burnabout against rail Madrid.

1:03:10

That wouldn't seem sensible

1:03:12

to me when you could have

1:03:14

a really really good number six

1:03:16

in that position. in Declan Rice.

1:03:19

You can play Marino and Odigard.

1:03:21

It's a solid midfield trio. I

1:03:23

know Leandro Trussart is the false

1:03:25

nine. Isn't necessarily everyone's favorite

1:03:28

thing and you know I

1:03:30

thought he was all right

1:03:32

against Brentford but not much

1:03:34

more than that. But this isn't a

1:03:36

game we have to go out and score

1:03:38

a load of goals in. So I

1:03:41

think that solidity in midfield

1:03:43

would probably be my... my

1:03:45

way of dealing without party

1:03:47

if he was unfit. What

1:03:49

about you? Yeah, I mean

1:03:51

if Georgino was okay, that would

1:03:53

be my first choice. I

1:03:55

actually think, you know, it's

1:03:57

a game where Georgino could...

1:04:00

thrive. Yeah, if he was okay.

1:04:02

If he was okay. And he

1:04:04

looked probably worse than Parto. So

1:04:06

I think I have to agree

1:04:08

with you. Yeah, I think it's

1:04:11

got to be rice. And it

1:04:13

does mean Marino dropping out,

1:04:15

which I hope Land O'Trosard's

1:04:18

looking forward to challenging

1:04:20

for some long balls

1:04:22

with Rudega. But yeah, you

1:04:24

know. I think that's kind of the

1:04:26

only thing left on the table. I

1:04:28

wouldn't move Lewis Kelly in there. No.

1:04:31

As well as guaranteeing he's done in

1:04:33

his cameos and as you know

1:04:35

as tempting as that might be as

1:04:37

an option to put Tierney left back

1:04:39

Lewis Kelly and midfield. I just think

1:04:41

it's a huge spotlight to place on

1:04:44

a teenager in that particular position

1:04:46

in this particular game state as well. Yeah.

1:04:48

I mean we had another one about Wednesday

1:04:50

which we might as well talk about it.

1:04:52

It comes from MC football. Mc Football. He

1:04:54

says what's the protocol for Wednesday? Do we

1:04:57

need to do exactly what we did for

1:04:59

the first leg or does the game being

1:05:01

away instead of a homeie we all have

1:05:03

to change the kit we're wearing wherever we're

1:05:05

watching it? And he said by the way

1:05:07

I think he thought MC football was some

1:05:10

South American rapper but I'm just a pasty

1:05:12

white balding dad from Canada who still uses

1:05:14

the same email chat handle he had

1:05:16

from high school. So there you go.

1:05:18

I don't know man it's such a

1:05:21

tough one like me you know because

1:05:23

I'm bored pasty dad but yeah I'm

1:05:25

not Canadian and that's

1:05:27

not my email I got a

1:05:30

bit of a son on Saturday

1:05:32

so I'm not pasty okay

1:05:34

are you read no not

1:05:36

really not really soaked it

1:05:38

all in got that overdose

1:05:41

of vitamin D delicious

1:05:43

I don't know man it's such

1:05:45

a tough one like I don't

1:05:47

think there's another opponent

1:05:49

in the world, maybe Liverpool,

1:05:52

where you could win the home

1:05:54

leg 3-nill and still have room

1:05:56

for as much doubt as I

1:05:58

have room for it. we're talking

1:06:00

about this on Saturday, weren't

1:06:02

we? I've told the athletic that

1:06:05

if it gets to Neil Madrid

1:06:07

I'm leaving the stadium. I've made

1:06:09

that very clear I will not

1:06:11

be remaining in my in the

1:06:14

press box and they said okay

1:06:16

James no problem yeah yeah they're

1:06:18

fine with it they're fine with

1:06:21

it it'll make for a good

1:06:23

piece it's good intro now I

1:06:25

genuinely like my sort of

1:06:27

mantra I keep repeating is don't

1:06:30

concede early. I feel like your

1:06:32

mantra maybe is like score early.

1:06:34

That would be my preferred mantra

1:06:36

score early and then fucking relax

1:06:38

a bit. But you know that's

1:06:40

easier said than done and it's

1:06:43

sort of it takes away from

1:06:45

the question a bit as well

1:06:47

as because what what is Michael

1:06:49

Arteta's message to his team? You

1:06:51

don't want to just sit back

1:06:53

against rail Madrid at

1:06:55

the burnabaro. because they can

1:06:58

really hurt you and you don't want

1:07:00

them to get a load of momentum

1:07:02

and start peppering your goal with shots,

1:07:05

etc. etc. etc. You just do not

1:07:07

want to do that, but at the

1:07:09

same time, you don't want to leave

1:07:11

yourself exposed at the back. There's no

1:07:14

need to sort of push high up

1:07:16

the pitch and press them really high

1:07:18

up the pitch, leaving space to get

1:07:20

bypassed in midfield if they can do

1:07:22

that. That's why I do think the...

1:07:25

The midfield is really, really

1:07:27

important for this game. Because

1:07:30

they're without Camavinga. Maybe

1:07:32

they get somebody back from defense

1:07:34

and they can put Valverde

1:07:36

into midfield again. I'm not

1:07:38

sure. But you know if it's moderate

1:07:41

in there again and you've got rice outta

1:07:43

guard marino or party rice outta guard whatever

1:07:45

it might be in there I think you've

1:07:47

a very good chance of Not necessarily completely

1:07:50

controlling the game, but making life difficult for

1:07:52

realm Madrid in midfield So it is a

1:07:54

really tough one, isn't it? I don't know

1:07:56

what kind of team talk I would be

1:07:59

given the boys if it was up

1:08:01

to me. Yeah, I just think,

1:08:03

well, yeah, if Madrid score

1:08:05

in the first 20 minutes,

1:08:08

I feel quite sick, I imagine.

1:08:10

Yeah, I don't think you'll

1:08:12

be alone. I just know, like,

1:08:15

I've seen, I've never

1:08:17

experienced it myself, never

1:08:19

been, but I've seen

1:08:22

through the television, enough

1:08:24

times where that stadium

1:08:27

kind of gets its tail

1:08:29

up. And that horrible

1:08:31

kind of sense of

1:08:34

destiny begins to swirl

1:08:36

around the burnabow. I

1:08:38

think... What is the team talk?

1:08:41

I guess in a dream world,

1:08:43

Arsenal play as they

1:08:45

did on Tuesday night, you

1:08:48

know, and they're dominant

1:08:50

and threatening and physical

1:08:53

and all those things.

1:08:55

But as football fans,

1:08:57

we know. That's just

1:08:59

so much harder to achieve

1:09:02

away from home. Yeah. Because

1:09:04

of sort of magic alchemy

1:09:06

that's not easy to understand.

1:09:09

I guess it will be just

1:09:11

keep it tight. Don't do

1:09:13

anything stupid. Don't give anything

1:09:15

away early on, you know. I think

1:09:17

we are. a good

1:09:19

defensive team, organizationally, you know, we

1:09:22

are very disciplined and that should

1:09:24

make it difficult for rail Madrid.

1:09:26

So I think that's kind of

1:09:28

the, yeah, that's kind of the

1:09:30

strength that you would expect us

1:09:32

to lean into, but it's finding

1:09:34

that balance between, you know, letting

1:09:36

the opposition have the ball and not

1:09:38

doing anything stupid with it, don't give

1:09:40

it away in our own half, you

1:09:42

know, those transition moments that can really,

1:09:44

really punish you. So maybe we see

1:09:46

a bit more... are still being a bit

1:09:49

more industrial I don't quite know you

1:09:51

know yeah I guess that's it isn't

1:09:53

it don't do anything stupid like we

1:09:55

know for example if we get a

1:09:57

couple of free kicks well even direct

1:09:59

free kicks now. Yeah they're going

1:10:01

in top corner. Then this is

1:10:04

as good as a goal. No

1:10:06

but you know they struggle in

1:10:08

those situations and we're very good.

1:10:10

I think if we stay in the

1:10:12

game you know we've always got a

1:10:14

threat on that with Zaka and Ode

1:10:17

Garde you know players you

1:10:19

can hurt Madrid, Martinelli.

1:10:21

I just think don't do anything

1:10:23

stupid. Don't do it. Don't

1:10:26

give away a penalty needlessly.

1:10:28

Don't. get yourself sent

1:10:30

off don't lose possession

1:10:33

in your own third if you

1:10:35

can avoid it if we don't

1:10:37

do anything stupid we'll

1:10:39

be okay that's my

1:10:41

honest opinion yeah like I

1:10:44

think if we play if

1:10:46

we put in a good

1:10:48

performance we won't get beat

1:10:50

three or four but yeah

1:10:52

if Madrid go through we

1:10:54

fucked up somewhere right Yeah, yeah,

1:10:57

you could say that. That's

1:10:59

my analysis guys. Well done.

1:11:01

I enjoyed this one as

1:11:03

well from AFC till I

1:11:05

die on Blue Sky. And

1:11:07

he is AFC till I

1:11:09

die or AAF... Anyway, it

1:11:11

doesn't matter. This thing is

1:11:13

sorry, he says, hey guys,

1:11:15

have you heard about the

1:11:17

conspiracy theory that because of

1:11:19

the FIFA Club World Cup,

1:11:21

FIFA won't want the winner

1:11:23

of the Champions League to be

1:11:25

a team that's not in it.

1:11:28

And therefore, we might see some

1:11:30

dodgy refereeing calls in the

1:11:32

upcoming games this week. I'd love

1:11:34

to get your thoughts on it. Such

1:11:38

a good sound effect. I think,

1:11:40

well, and then at the end,

1:11:42

the referee, he pulls off

1:11:44

his face and it's Howard

1:11:46

Webb. PG& well have infiltrated

1:11:48

you away for it

1:11:51

and the conspiracy is

1:11:53

alive. I hadn't heard

1:11:55

that particular theory. Serious

1:11:57

question before you go on with

1:11:59

this. How many times did you

1:12:02

hear referenced this weekend and

1:12:04

all the conversations you had

1:12:06

with people over the weekend

1:12:08

at football? How many times

1:12:11

did you hear Robin Van

1:12:13

Percy at the camp now

1:12:15

referenced? Yeah, probably half a

1:12:17

dozen. Yeah. I think the

1:12:20

perception exists that Madrid have

1:12:22

had some favourable calls over

1:12:24

the years in the Champions

1:12:27

League. much sort of like a

1:12:29

Manchester United in the Premier League

1:12:31

in the 90s. And I would

1:12:34

be inclined to agree, I think,

1:12:36

you know, that if there is a kind

1:12:38

of subconscious bias within

1:12:41

the Champions League, I think

1:12:43

it probably lends itself

1:12:45

to the big Spanish teams.

1:12:47

So that's always a worry.

1:12:49

And also you've got, I don't

1:12:52

know, 80,000 fans or whatever

1:12:54

it is. screaming for

1:12:56

every decision from the

1:12:58

first whistle. Yeah, which we

1:13:01

know can have an impact. So

1:13:03

yeah, I worry about that too.

1:13:05

I worry that in a season

1:13:08

where so much of the

1:13:10

narrative has been about

1:13:12

officials and officiating, that

1:13:14

it could be the

1:13:16

case again on Thursday morning.

1:13:19

But I don't know. As I said,

1:13:21

yeah. Hopefully we don't, hopefully

1:13:24

we're not using that sound

1:13:26

effect. Yeah, hopefully, hopefully. But yeah,

1:13:28

the Club World Cup theory is

1:13:30

not when I'd come across. Is that

1:13:33

when you come across? No, absolutely no.

1:13:35

I just thought the question was kind

1:13:37

of funny. It is. It gives us

1:13:39

a chance to use that sound effect.

1:13:41

So there you go. Well, yeah, it

1:13:44

was well worth it for the sound

1:13:46

effects. I thought this question was

1:13:48

quite odd actually. said the quality of

1:13:50

our attacking football I guess against Brentford

1:13:53

again was so poor a lack of

1:13:55

creativity is painful to watch I don't

1:13:57

feel you ever talk about this on

1:14:00

pod, but feel it's a huge

1:14:02

issue. Can count on one hand

1:14:04

the amount of enjoyable league games

1:14:06

we've watched this season. I feel

1:14:09

like we talk about that all

1:14:11

the time. Me too. Me too.

1:14:13

I think we've referenced the need

1:14:15

to improve the quality of the

1:14:18

attack. We've certainly had countless conversations

1:14:20

about creativity when we've talked about,

1:14:22

let's say, left eight. You know,

1:14:24

is that the kind of is

1:14:27

at the position where we could

1:14:29

add somebody who's a bit more

1:14:31

as a for example? There's a

1:14:34

name that's been mentioned more than

1:14:36

once. We have Undoubtedly talked a

1:14:38

lot about Martin Odigard and his

1:14:40

not just his form this season,

1:14:43

but his absence this season are

1:14:45

difficulty in in filling that gap

1:14:47

when he was absent the fact

1:14:49

that we left or let Emil

1:14:52

Smith Rowe and Fabio Viera go

1:14:54

to players who could have played

1:14:56

in that position. So I think

1:14:59

we certainly have talked about those

1:15:01

being issues and this summer has

1:15:03

to be... built around that I

1:15:05

think you know creativity and attacking

1:15:08

potency are the two things that

1:15:10

I think this team needs and

1:15:12

we've said it more than once

1:15:14

I mean we've even talked about

1:15:17

you know that kind of maveric

1:15:19

individualism that you get from somebody

1:15:21

like Alexis Sanchez we have yeah

1:15:24

I mean also I there is

1:15:26

that thing we're like we're doing

1:15:28

a podcast after every game so

1:15:30

it's like you become wary of

1:15:33

just doing the same podcast every

1:15:35

week I sort of think that's

1:15:37

such a big theme that we've

1:15:39

probably Talked about it slightly less

1:15:42

just for fear of repetition, you

1:15:44

know, yeah, I mean we can

1:15:46

we can't really give anybody anything

1:15:48

more insightful on that because I

1:15:51

think it's it's an opinion that

1:15:53

is wild or wildly Widely maybe

1:15:55

wildly to maybe some people are

1:15:58

wild about this, you know, I

1:16:00

think among most Arsenal fans there

1:16:02

is an acceptance that up front

1:16:04

and just behind in terms of

1:16:07

what we do in terms of

1:16:09

creating chances has been the major

1:16:11

issue this season for various reasons

1:16:13

you know injuries suspensions lack of

1:16:16

transfer activity or the wrong transfer

1:16:18

activity last summer etc etc etc

1:16:20

so you know what can we

1:16:23

say I think what's interesting because

1:16:25

the last sentence it says I

1:16:27

can count on one hand the

1:16:29

amount of enjoyable league games we

1:16:32

watch this season I feel like

1:16:34

maybe that touches on a slightly

1:16:36

separate issue which is like are

1:16:38

we boring you know, which is

1:16:41

I think it's kind of like,

1:16:43

it's one of the big taboos

1:16:45

as a fan to be like,

1:16:48

is my own team boring? And

1:16:50

I think obviously no one's going

1:16:52

to say that when you beat

1:16:54

round with grid three nil. There

1:16:57

couldn't be anything less boring in

1:16:59

the world. But I do think

1:17:01

there is a sort of interesting

1:17:03

kind of style question around Not

1:17:06

just Arsenal, but I happen to

1:17:08

think Gary Neville is actually on

1:17:10

to something when he talks about,

1:17:12

you know, the modern game, what

1:17:15

the sort of positional style of

1:17:17

tactics has done. You know, for

1:17:19

years I said, I found Man

1:17:22

City quite boring to watch and

1:17:24

now you've got a lot of...

1:17:26

Same, yeah. A lot of coaches

1:17:28

trying to emulate that, often, like,

1:17:31

wildly unsuccessfully, unsuccessfully. So I think

1:17:33

there is something in that and

1:17:35

I think like, I think maybe

1:17:37

as well like for Arsenal fans

1:17:40

who grew up watching a pretty

1:17:42

different style of football, you know,

1:17:44

there might be, I can understand

1:17:47

questions over like, is the way

1:17:49

Arsenal play football sufficiently entertaining? But

1:17:51

equally, there are a ton of

1:17:53

people who don't really care about

1:17:56

that as long as we win

1:17:58

and to who really

1:18:00

value the structure and stability and

1:18:02

defensive rigor and all those things

1:18:05

that we do have now, you

1:18:07

know, and see that as a

1:18:09

sort of worthwhile trade. No, I

1:18:11

think it just sort of is

1:18:13

a reflection of where we are

1:18:16

in the league table as well,

1:18:18

to an extent that the accusation

1:18:20

that maybe we've been a bit

1:18:22

boring or not very entertaining at

1:18:24

times is probably a bit true,

1:18:26

but Again, without relitigating all of

1:18:29

it, there are so many reasons

1:18:31

for that. Why games have been

1:18:33

a grind, why it's been difficult

1:18:35

to find rhythm, you know, when

1:18:37

you're missing some of your best

1:18:40

players for long periods of the

1:18:42

season, you know, it has an

1:18:44

impact on what you do and

1:18:46

how you can do it. But

1:18:48

if at the same time we

1:18:51

had found across how many draws

1:18:53

have we got now 12? Yeah.

1:18:55

So let's say... in 50% of

1:18:57

those games we had just that

1:18:59

little bit extra in attack to

1:19:02

get one goal I don't think

1:19:04

there be too many people talking

1:19:06

about how we were boring because

1:19:08

we'd have how many extra points

1:19:10

12 sure sure so you know

1:19:12

it's fine margins it's fine margins

1:19:15

I get it but you know

1:19:17

I can see it from both

1:19:19

sides exactly exactly and I think

1:19:21

yeah because I know you mentioned

1:19:23

forest as like an example of

1:19:26

a group of fans who would

1:19:28

say, you know, their football hasn't

1:19:30

been boring this season. I think

1:19:32

that's definitely true. I mean, they

1:19:34

must be absolutely loving life. I

1:19:37

also just think stylistically, they are

1:19:39

quite different to many Premier League

1:19:41

teams. And so they sort of

1:19:43

are entertaining to watch, but... I

1:19:45

do wonder, I mean, it must

1:19:47

be hard though as well, when

1:19:50

a lot of your game is

1:19:52

based on sitting in and counterattacking

1:19:54

at pace with brilliant... some brilliant

1:19:56

counter attacking players right with the

1:19:58

pace that they have but there's

1:20:01

got to be a lot of

1:20:03

like knife edge stuff you get

1:20:05

all these highs of these exhilarating

1:20:07

moments and these breakaway goals, which

1:20:09

I think, you know, essentially are

1:20:12

unsustainable for a team like Forrest.

1:20:14

I think they've punched way above

1:20:16

their weight, it's been brilliant, but

1:20:18

I think they've punched above their

1:20:20

weight, and I think I said

1:20:22

this to somebody at the weekend

1:20:25

or maybe on a pod last

1:20:27

week, I can't quite remember, but

1:20:29

I think they'll probably end up

1:20:31

outside the top four. You know,

1:20:33

because you just can't sustain it.

1:20:36

So while it has been certainly

1:20:38

entertaining. I do feel like if

1:20:40

for example ours the word to

1:20:42

play like that people would absolutely

1:20:44

hate it you know yeah that's

1:20:47

true so yeah and that they

1:20:49

won't mind finishing outside the top

1:20:51

four if they come fifth because

1:20:53

oh yeah it's five teams doesn't

1:20:55

it that could land them in

1:20:57

the champions league but yeah it's

1:21:00

interesting area over to you over

1:21:02

to me okay What about this

1:21:04

one? Questions about Kiviore, but I

1:21:06

think we've sort of answered questions

1:21:08

about Kiviore and his future already.

1:21:11

The chili most, who's at chili-e,

1:21:13

dot e, dot b-sky, dot social.

1:21:15

He said, last week, post Everton,

1:21:17

our splog mentioned injuries to Odigar,

1:21:19

Saka, Jay, Zeus, Martinelli, Kai Havards,

1:21:22

as wrecking our season, especially in

1:21:24

attack. Given Marino's goals, has his

1:21:26

August injury been overlooked. A big

1:21:28

what if yes, but if fit

1:21:30

and integrated from the start, could

1:21:32

he have been our missing piece?

1:21:35

Looking back at the start of

1:21:37

the season now to see what

1:21:39

points we dropped. We dropped points

1:21:41

against Brighton early on. Ten men,

1:21:43

rice, more about ten men than

1:21:46

anything else. We dropped points against

1:21:48

man city, ten men. And I

1:21:50

still don't think that's a bad

1:21:52

point in any circumstance, however, whatever

1:21:54

sort of season city you're having.

1:21:57

And then the next points we

1:21:59

dropped were... against Liverpool,

1:22:01

you know, at the end

1:22:03

of October. No, Saliba. Yeah,

1:22:06

and that again, that's not

1:22:08

a bad point. And then

1:22:10

by the time we played

1:22:13

Newcastle in early November and

1:22:15

got beat, was Marino back

1:22:17

by then? Don't know. We

1:22:20

did lose to Bormas before

1:22:22

we drew with Liverpool as

1:22:24

well though, but that was

1:22:26

a 10-men situation. Yeah, Moreno

1:22:29

started the game. against Newcastle?

1:22:31

No, listen, I love finding

1:22:33

another reason to explain why

1:22:36

we haven't won the league

1:22:38

as much as the next

1:22:40

Arsenal fan. But I don't

1:22:43

think that is one. I

1:22:45

have to be honest. I

1:22:47

think that coming from another

1:22:50

club, there was always going

1:22:52

to be a period of

1:22:54

adaptation anyway. I'm not sure.

1:22:57

Yeah, I just don't look at those

1:22:59

games and think, you know, playing in

1:23:02

midfield would have been the difference. I

1:23:04

don't know, what do you think? It

1:23:06

was a bad injury. It was a

1:23:08

bad injury and I think, you know,

1:23:10

the sort of double whammy of it

1:23:12

was that he was involved with Spain

1:23:14

all the way to the end of

1:23:16

the euro. So it didn't really get

1:23:19

a proper pre-season, it comes to a

1:23:21

new club, gets injured. Would we have

1:23:23

got a bit more out of him?

1:23:25

More out of him? He's shown himself

1:23:27

to be a very good player I

1:23:29

think. Maybe not exactly the player everyone

1:23:31

wanted or maybe not the player some

1:23:34

of us would have liked to have

1:23:36

seen in that regard, but he's made

1:23:38

a big contribution this season I think.

1:23:40

But is it fair? I genuinely don't

1:23:42

know the answer to this. It's not

1:23:44

a loaded question. Is it fair to

1:23:46

say that only really happened when he

1:23:48

started playing up front? Yeah. Like we

1:23:51

haven't... We

1:23:53

haven't seen, I guess,

1:23:55

what he was brought

1:23:57

into doing midfield. We

1:29:10

better leave it there. Safe travel, safe

1:29:12

and successful travels to you James. Thank

1:29:14

you, yes. As I say, if it

1:29:16

goes to 2nil I will be home

1:29:18

quite early I should think. Just get

1:29:21

the bus. Straight to the airport. Yeah.

1:29:23

Exactly. The same to any of you

1:29:25

guys who are listening, who are flying

1:29:27

out. I know loads of you who

1:29:29

are going out there, so have a

1:29:32

great trip. Fingers crossed. It's the right

1:29:34

result and we can look forward to

1:29:36

some more special Champions League nights. We

1:29:38

will preview that game tomorrow over

1:29:40

on Patreon and also on Patreon

1:29:43

later today. We will look back

1:29:45

at all the weekends Premier League

1:29:47

action in the 30. Some games, not

1:29:49

naming any names. Wolves will get

1:29:52

a bit more coverage than some

1:29:54

of the others so please join

1:29:56

us for that at patreon.com/our spot

1:29:58

for now though take it easy.

1:30:00

Thanks as always for being here

1:30:02

and we will catch you on the

1:30:05

next one. Bye bye. I

1:30:33

got my first my around the pandemic.

1:30:35

It the me on track with my

1:30:38

own fitness goals, even around my

1:30:40

crazy schedule. around my Find your push, find

1:30:42

your power push, find your power with .com.