Arseblog & ArsenalVision live and Union Chapel 2026

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0:45With Andrew, James, Paul, Tim, Elliot, and Clyde.

0:57James McNicholas: This is Arscast Extra and Arsenal Vision live.

1:09Hello.

1:21Amazing.

1:30James McNicholas: Hello, everyone. You're all looking amazing. Thank you so much for being here again. It's one of the highlights of the year, the highlights of every year to be here with you guys at this amazing venue at Union Chapel. And with these gentlemen to my left, it's always a pleasure. So thank you so much for coming out and being here.

2:08James McNicholas: I think the mood might be good. Yeah, I think there may be a couple bigger highlights this season than tonight coming, but so far it is certainly one of the highlights for us. One of the things that we always start the event doing, and I think we should do it again, is to just thank all of you here for the response to the fundraiser this year. Incredible.

2:37We're very lucky to know Maraid King at the Foundation and Svenja and Freddie. They do incredible work in North London, but for those of you who by now probably know, and I'll make it very quick, there's great work they're doing in Zaddy Refugee Camp in Jordan. The kids need help. The club came to their aid. We asked if this community and Andrew's community could help out, and this year you raised over 600 ,000 pounds. to do that.

3:01So

3:04James McNicholas: they didn't write about that in the Daily Telegraph, did they? So the next time Tim

3:18the next time people talk about those fans, well you're those fans and you're the ones that raise money to help people in need, so congratulations and great job.

3:29James McNicholas: So, as we do every year, we're going to talk, obviously, about Arsenal, talk about the season, talk about what remains of this season. Not very long to go, but there's a lot to play for. There is a lot still to play for. We'll do an interval, obviously, as well. And in part two, we'll take questions. We'll give you the mechanism for submitting those questions towards the end of part one. So we're going to start with where we are now, how we feel now, how we've got here, and what does lie ahead. There's a range of, I think, emotions and opinions. Clive, I want to start with you first. Sorry to put you on the spot, but you have a microphone in your hand.

4:16James McNicholas: It's here. Hello, hello. Hello, hello. How are you this evening when you think about what's to come on Monday, next Sunday, and then obviously in Budapest, not Bucharest, to all the people who booked flights to Bucharest, by the way. There were a few. Yeah, well, I have a question. Why is everybody so happy? I'm traumatized. Honestly, when I did it last night, I spoke with Tony in the front row here, and I was so glad to meet him because he's just as traumatised as I am. It's a really, really exciting but tough time. We all look, we all read, we all see everything, and we see how we're perceived from the outside, and we can think of every scenario that could go wrong.

5:06James McNicholas: you know and um i was talking earlier who calms down the bloke who normally calms people down right so who is it mr valiant i think they call it yeah my wife is in here she's probably looking and saying it's me you idiot you may have you may have noticed there were stickers out at all the seats if you lick the back of the sticker actually so yeah it's tough but it's also equally exciting So that's where I am. James, you know, you've got a sort of a dual experience of this season, obviously from working as a journalist, but also as a fan and doing what we do. How has that impacted your mindset or how you're feeling about everything now?

5:58James McNicholas: I'd love to say that it gives you like this really kind of calm objectivity. where you're sort of distanced from it all and removed. But that would be a lie. I picked a terrible day to start watching the Scottish Premier League today.

6:23James McNicholas: Really bad day for that. I feel good. I do feel really excited about this week, this fortnight. I was thinking just before we came on, it's kind of a similar feeling that I have about the season. You're waiting there in the wings and you know you're going out. You're going to do something potentially really amazing. But there's also a small part of my brain that thinks I could say something incredibly offensive and be cancelled. And that's kind of how I feel about the next two weeks. I'm like, in theory, it's going to be, wow, great. But that small part of the brain, I'm afraid, however practiced a journalist you become, you're still a fan, and that bit never quite goes away.

7:12James McNicholas: Yeah, I mean, we wouldn't want you to steal Paul's thunder in that regard. Ah, took my line. Well, Paul, you are known for jinxing things, and before the show kicked off, you were giving us your thoughts on whether there was any cause for nervousness in the upcoming fortnight. So do you want to relay those thoughts to the audience? Well, I was okay till you started talking backstage. Then I started getting some nerves. Now, look, I think it's okay. I think, look, nothing's guaranteed. We saw that against West Ham. And I got to say, I didn't think I could be that low. But in that moment when they scored before they didn't, Jesus Christ Almighty, that was...

7:55James McNicholas: So I didn't see that coming. You're in a church.

8:01James McNicholas: Exactly.

8:06So, anyway, I didn't see that coming.

8:11James McNicholas: And so I probably don't see what's coming next either. But I think Burnley is probably going to be okay. Might even be good. I told you. Boo! I told you. I don't think you guys are meant for this. You know what I mean? This is the run-in, right? Bottlers that side. People are ready for the run-in this side. Yeah. Come on, toughen up. Grow a pair.

8:43Well, I think one of the things that it makes you realize is how much is on the line in the next couple of weeks. And because we haven't allowed ourselves to really dream about it yet, Tim, let's do it just a little bit. there is the question of the history that can be made and the season's had so many ups and downs that I think for some of us it's been hard to enjoy but there may be a moment if things go right in the next couple of weeks where we're starting to ask where this falls in the pantheon of great Arsenal achievements where we're remembered by history and I wonder if you've taken any time to think about you know as Mikel said and it was really at a low moment he said we should be excited about what we could achieve get on the boat right get excited about what we could achieve and it led to that great TIFO ahead of the Athletic Games So have you started to think about putting this in the context of history?

9:26James McNicholas: So are you asking me if I've thought about us winning the league at any point? No, I haven't looked at the table. Where are we? No idea. Yes, every single second for about the last six months. And there are times where I nearly cry thinking about it, to be honest. But yeah, I'm trying to enjoy it because I remember the last couple of times we won the league and all of that. And obviously it feels so much bigger now because the fan base is so much bigger. It's so much more global. One of the greatest acts of humanity that Arsenal will ever be responsible for. If we win the league, they will close Twitter down.

10:20James McNicholas: even Elon Musk will be like I can't take this and and rightly so because if we do this I personally have no interest in being a gracious winner and neither should any of you I mean you're not known to worry Elliot but you know I think this is one of those situations where people will say well if you were offered this at the start of the season you know you could win the league in the next two games and you could win the Champions League you definitely take that but there's also like a but not like this not like how it's been all the way like the the sort of ups and downs and the emotional roller coaster we've been on there's a scene in an airplane Where the main character is seated next to someone and starts telling them his life story and that person subsequently lights themselves on fire

11:23What was the question

11:26James McNicholas: Is this why you wanted me to sit next to you? So I met a phenomenal Arsenal supporter season ticket holder on the flight from Minneapolis out here We were delayed two and a half hours and by the end of talking to me about Arsenal for those two and a half hours I thought he was going to be that guy in airplane. I do have a lot of anxiety. I do have a lot of excitement. And I think it's okay to hold both of those feelings at the same time. I don't think it makes you less if you're worried we're going to blow it. It doesn't make you more if you're confident we're going to do it, Paul. But I think it's okay to try to live in the incongruity of feeling both things.

12:00I know I do. And depending on when you catch me, I'm more inclined to think one than the other. I do think, though, for the people here who get to go to games when I have the rare privilege to go obviously for many of you who go to all the games, it is special to be there with your people. It really is because they help you through it and so a night like this and a weekend like this and a chance to be at the game on Monday makes a difference because for those of us who experienced that VAR moment by yourself in isolation, it's excruciating. So I'm glad we have each other to go through it together.

12:28Yeah.

12:33James McNicholas: there's uh there's another scene in airplane where someone's hysterical and they all line up to slap that person in the face at the end of part one we're just going to leave elliot on stage and just form an orderly cue coming down that way um clive the you know the range of opinion about Arsenal this season the football we play you know has been wide and varied as well but I do wonder how you gauge the perception of this team having reached a Champions League final having won every game, did we win every game in the league stage? Yeah we did, we haven't lost a game in Europe this season after only two seasons back in it we talked about maybe the Bayern Munich game as kind of significant for Arsenal to sort of display their European chops Yeah, that Bayern Munich game was probably one of the most exciting tactical games I've ever seen, I thought we were brilliant that night and the way we played, the way we handled them, and it was tough but it was a real signal to where we are, I think looking at this as a whole, I don't think the outside world is ready for Arsenal being the protagonists about how we play.

13:51James McNicholas: They're not ready for our style, not ready for the fact that we care about every margin in the game. They don't like us for the set pieces, they don't like us that we care about our throw-in, they don't like us that we care about every detail. What they're much more comfortable with is Pep Guardiola being the protagonist, the example, the benchmark. And because of that, I think it's stripped away a lot of joy from people that we should be feeling, which makes Night's Like Tonight really, really important. I think we need to be comfortable being who we are as a fan group but Tim's right I know Tim's got about 40 ,000 bookmarks lined up right and he's not shy and so that's the way we need to react we need to defend our corner but in Europe we have been faultless so far and that's maybe surprising even us and the games have been high quality and we've got a real, real, real life chance of winning it for the first time.

14:58Andrew, I don't want to leave you out of this. I am curious. Are you able to care about this just because you care about it and we care about it? Do you get affected by how we're talked about, by the way we're discussed? How much of what could happen is going to, how much is it going to matter how that's talked about are you able to tune it all out and just focus on what we do if we do what we uh we

15:19James McNicholas: all want us to do i'm very much in the same camp as tim like mr insufferable i think you know i'm going to change my name legally to that you know but yeah i think we're sort of this season in particular we've all been it's not just this season it's last season and the season that came before and the season that came before that as well and how close we came and that that itch that we all have to we all have to scratch via success via winning something you know for this team for this group and for all of us as fans i think it's impossible to experience this season in isolation without thinking about you know what almost happened in in previous years yeah i i think that's absolutely right i i want to make sure that we bring the women's team into this too obviously a big part of the club and uh setting records for attendance by the way by the way uh tim arrived at like 25 past seven having been at the women's game in liverpool covering it off the train into a cab uh to be here tonight so that's the kind of uh that's the kind of dedication he's shown over the course of not just this season so many seasons um and i think tim deserves a few flowers for that

16:40Tim

16:44Last season against More favorite opposition Arsenal women won the Champions League This season a disappointing semi-final exit They say history doesn't repeat In France but it rhymes So maybe it's our turn for the men As the women did last season Do you have any thoughts though on What's going to be a big summer The women's team is going to change a lot There's some renewal coming and I'm curious how you think about ending this chapter and the new chapter that's going to be started.

17:09James McNicholas: Yeah, there's some really big players leaving, one of whom said goodbye to a couple of hours ago, Katie McCabe, who... APPLAUSE

17:24James McNicholas: Who didn't talk to anyone else in the mix zone. She wanted to talk to us because we're an Irish website. LAUGHTER So a bit of solidarity there. No, there's going to be a lot of turnover. There's very, very big players leaving. But it's also very exciting because there are very, very big players coming in. They're not kids either. They're 27-year-olds who've won international tournaments and won Champions Leagues and things like that. And so it's a time of renewal. So it's a little bit scary but very exciting as well. I think one of the reasons some of these massive players are going to come to the club this summer, today, 1pm kick-off at Anfield, 3 ,000 Arsenal fans travelled.

18:07James McNicholas: Most WSL teams don't get that for their home games.

18:17James McNicholas: And actually today, Liverpool said goodbye to one of their longest-serving players, and they actually had to ask the Arsenal fans to be quiet. so that she could have her send-off. And that's a massive recruiting tool as well. I know that for a fact. A lot of players look at what Arsenal have got fan-wise. You know, 25 ,000 were in the stadium on Wednesday night. It wasn't a massive game at all. And that's a massive, massive thing for players because it's totally unique to Arsenal throughout world football. That's a massive, massive thing that we should be very proud of. That's it.

18:57James McNicholas: Every year we sort of try and pick a player of the year. Sometimes that's really obvious this year. I don't think it's quite as obvious as it has been. Fernandez, of course, clearly.

19:11James McNicholas: Just letting that one ripple out there for you, James.

19:20James McNicholas: In seriousness, though, James, which player do you want to talk about as somebody who's stood out for you this season across the campaign so far? Don't back down, James. Bruno Fernandes. See it through. Well, it's tricky, isn't it? Because I think this is a team that is so much about the collective, and I think within any season there are seasons. And if you'd asked me in November, December, there's someone who I would have picked at that time. but it was head and shoulders above everybody else. And he's the player I've chosen to talk about tonight, and that is Big Gabby, Gabrielle.

20:06James McNicholas: I had a look before we came out, and apparently he scored a paltry three Premier League goals this season. I was convinced by November he had about 15, to be honest, the way it was going. And that kind of set-piece aspect of the season, which has been so talked about. It's something that I've really enjoyed watching how Arsenal fans have really come to relish, how a corner kick has become an event in a way that it's never been before. I think that's a fascinating aspect of Gabriel. I think his defending, his leadership. I think a lot of what Mikel Arteta has tried to instill in this team is this idea of relentless self-improvement.

20:49James McNicholas: And I don't think anybody necessarily embodies that quite like Gabriel. If you look at the player who arrived, where he is now, even down to the hair and the teeth. I mean, the guy, he's come on leaps and bounds. I'm very jealous on both counts. And yeah, I think he's just emerged as a fantastic defender and a true leader in the team and the squad. So I wanted to make sure that he got his flowers tonight. And I think if he hadn't had that injury in midwinter, I think he'd be right up in the conversations for Player of the Year. Can I just...

21:33James McNicholas: What I love about Gabriel is he's... Like for a year, everybody starts their comments on him with, you know, the most underappreciated player in the Arsenal team is Gabriel. and he's now the most appreciated, underappreciated player in the team. And it's a beautiful thing. Paul, let's stick with you. Who have you got? I'm going to go with El Gato, David Raya.

22:06James McNicholas: And I probably don't really need to say why you all know, but then this wouldn't really be a great thing to be at. for two minutes or so. Look, he's got it all. And the way we play, look, we all loved Aaron Ramsdale. Yeah, we did. And it was quite painful. And I didn't think it was necessary, but it was necessary. And it's not about Aaron Ramsdale. That could have been pretty much any good goalkeeper in the Premier League. He's just different gravy. He's the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, I think, clearly at this point. I don't want them talking about him being the best goalkeeper in the world because we don't need that shit right now.

23:02James McNicholas: We've got a league to win. We've got a Champions League to hover around. They hate us in the Premier League. They kind of like us in Europe, but wait till we win 1-0 in extra time with a corner.

23:22James McNicholas: I'll take it, I'll take it. They're going to learn to hate us. And Gabriel will be the reason it's 1-0. Quite right. And the way he helps us play and attack, we can play any way from the back that we need to. we saw in the Carabao Cup final it was just obvious look maybe we weren't going to win it given the other players we had missing but if we had Raya they wouldn't have done that to us that was a situational moment there he's just a phenomenal player we've got him in his prime and we'll have him for a few years more when we go for Premier Leagues Champions Leagues, we'll have that guy at the back yeah

24:09I, Clive, we know your opinion on whether Youngmin's son wanted to score. Did Mateus Fernandez want to score? Yeah, he did. He did.

24:18James McNicholas: Good player, we should get him. Well, you're going to sense a theme here, but your player that you want to talk about plays pretty close to the last two we just spoke about. Yeah, yeah, he is. whenever we watch us or you look at us and we get on the ball and we start to play, there's a player for me that really dictates how I feel about how we play and that's William Saliba. I think

24:45James McNicholas: if you look at when you start to look at all the data around it and just the way, the calmness by which he plays, he starts all our attacks off, he has the most touches every game and he has the most defensive jewels, he's always there and when he doesn't play we still defend really well but we defend in a much more unstructured way a bit more aggressive and we're all over the place so he is really important i think he he makes football look so easy that i think he is underappreciated honestly i think he is he never gets run never gets beat always reads things hardly ever gets booked never goes to ground, he's just outstanding and he's still so young.

25:28James McNicholas: Whenever

25:32James McNicholas: you're thinking about, will this carry on? Say we win this year and there's going to be a core of players staying and you're looking at this for next year and you've got to say, well, he's 24, 25. He's going nowhere. He's young for a centre. He's one of the reasons why this could continue. I think he should be up for player of the year, in my opinion. He deserves it just for the way he celebrates goals. I mean, arms akimbo, he loves it. And I think he's also a reminder that it's really hard to be a manager because you have to think long-term, but none of us want to think long-term because I know I probably said some things that look pretty stupid, a lot of things that look pretty stupid, but at the time, when he was loaned out, when he wasn't given a chance at Arsenal, and a lot of us were saying, well, that's it.

26:12Arsenal career over. He's gone. Why would he come back to us? Well, Mikel knew. The club knew what they were doing, and he's gone on to be one of the most important pieces of this group. So just a reminder to be able to have that that bigger picture which is a little hard to do and You don't need much of a big picture though Tim for the player that you're going to select because He's the envy of the world when it comes to the midfield. Yeah, I've gone for Christian Norgaard because

26:39James McNicholas: He's he's played about the same amount of football as Bruno Fernandes this season

26:47James McNicholas: No, I've gone for Declan Rice because

26:54James McNicholas: because we're an Irish website is that it for a year I get to make that joke I've gone for Ireland's Declan Rice no I've gone for Declan Rice because probably like a lot of you I'm a very anxious football watcher I get very very anxious about watching Arsenal and let's face it they haven't done a lot to dispel our anxiety watching them this season and so you know my eyes go to when we're in trouble when the game's tight when the game's in the balance which is every single second of every single fucking game and it's and it's where where do my eyes go and i remember you know in the days of the invincibles it was always viera it was always like viera was like the the father figure to me like he'll fix it he'll sort it out i think the same about declan rice that's where my eyes go it's like I need someone to sort this out and my eyes go to Declan Rice I think he's just our fixer

27:58James McNicholas: I can't put it any more kind of intellectually than he does a lot of stuff all the time and I think he's amazing does it very well he does it very well um it's weird because I think when we discussed this backstage I'd initially picked another defender I'll let you guess who that might be take your pick but it just seemed wrong to me that we didn't mention Eberachie Eze in this conversation in this section of the show that I think you know when you you know when your team as Elliot said is a bit more focused on the collective and when maybe you're lacking sometimes a little bit of panache where you feel like an industrial grinding machine that's how you win games and how you beat down opposition to have a player like Eze who can do things on the ball that few other players in this squad can do and bring you those moments of joy when he sort of drifts past a player or does a turn in midfield or you know scores a hat-trick against Spurs whatever it might be I you know I think we all love to watch footballers like that it's a bit like that uh arson wenger quote about thomas rosicky like if you love football you love thomas rosicky and i feel kind of like if you love football you love watching ever at jayza and uh when we think about what we saved him from as well i think he deserves a mention uh this season and hopefully now that he's properly settled in it can go you know to a different level clive i got to bring you in on this just a bit because i want to hear your journey with this player.

29:35Obviously, I was going on and on about him for a while. It's the first name and number I put on the back of a shirt in years at my advanced age, but you want to talk a little bit about the journey you've gone on learning about this player?

29:46James McNicholas: Well, you've been going on about it for about three years, doing my head in, and I'm thinking, I'm not sure about him. I'm not sure he finishes well enough. I'm not sure he's athletic enough. But when he arrived, you realize that it's a big part of it. It's football, but it's a big part of how a player makes you feel about your team. and I think he brings joy to the club. He brings smiles to the club. His character inside of the club has really permeated to a high level. I mean, look at the kit release. Who was the star of the kit release? And that sort of tells you how he's grown. He's come at the right time, maybe one year too late maybe, but he's come at the right time.

30:21James McNicholas: He can absorb the move. And I think he's turning into an on-pitch leader and an off-pitch leader. And he doesn't carry the scars of previous years. So when that ball's there, right foot, left foot, laces, goal. And he doesn't really care. And I think we need some of that because we've all got scars, haven't we? We've all got scars. And I think he doesn't have any. So now I'm more on the ASE boat than you are. Right? So we need him a few more games, just three more, right? I'm going to pick mine. Okay. And I'm going to define shameless because I'm picking Victor Jokeres.

31:02There's such a hurry to understand a player, to define them, to sum them up, and then have your decision about them quickly. And admittedly, when you talk about football every day and you have to have an opinion, that can be exaggerated. But this is a player that we've kind of had to go on a journey with, right, in terms of what we first thought we were signing. And then squinting to see it, is he what we thought? And then just realizing, for me, over the course of this season, and especially through the Atleti tie. As players fell away, as players were fatigued, as players picked up injuries, this guy just kept showing up and running and going shoulder to shoulder and getting up and not getting calls and going again and getting up and running.

31:40And little by little, you know, like the ocean lapping up against the shore, just grinding down the opposition, he started to show that this is what we got. We didn't get a twinkle-toed striker, we got a warrior. And this team probably needed a bit of a warrior, a person like Ezzel who doesn't care who will get up and go again. So maybe it took a little adjustment for me personally to understand what we brought in in Victory Oak Rest, but what he's been for us down the stretch through his availability and his hard work is worth every penny, and he's definitely a hero of the season for me.

32:20So you want to move on to the moments of the season?

32:22James McNicholas: Sure, I thought Clive had something on Yucca Res. Yeah, yeah, Clive's right. Oh, no, I mean, you have been on a journey with him, mate, I tell you. I mean, he'd been killing me for six months about it. So, yeah, I think you have to realize what we bought here. We bought a leader of the line, and everyone thought we were buying a centre forward to be the answer. We just bought a centre forward who was an answer. And once you worked that out, I worked out that 55 million quid is just an average Premier League cost, and that's it. as soon as you get that context in place and you allow him time to arrive into the team I think his biggest issue was not him so much but Kai Havers getting injured and overplaying so once he's had his chance he's getting fitter and fitter and fitter since 2026 started his numbers look really really good we just need to find a bit more from him but at this moment in time he looks like the leader of the front line and that was not the case six months ago so fair play to him I was always a fan

33:27I have some what's apps from Tim I want to read to you now

33:31James McNicholas: are they all pictures of wardrobes? unrelated we're going to do moment of the season and I love the one that Paul picked because when we said moment of the season every single one of us picked a different one just from the West Ham game it's easy to have short memories but Paul I love that you went back a little bit because this season isn't just what happened in the last week, even if it feels like it is. So you want to go with yours? Yeah. So take yourselves back to the first Man City game. We had high hopes. They came up to our place, played coward ball. Hit us on the counter one time, got their goal, kind of sat in.

34:11James McNicholas: Now go and look at our goal. 92nd minute of the game. They are sitting, falling back into a deep block. The ball comes out to the left wing and at left back is Bukaya Saka because we're mixing things up. He spins it inside to Calafiore who basically steps over it, leaves it to Eze who has a little look around, kind of lazy, kind of relaxed when everybody else is shitting themselves. Martinelli makes this absolutely fantastic, no margin for error run from right wing. into the center of the pitch, and Eze just floats this thing straight up the pitch. Perfect. I thought we were going to be getting that all season, by the way.

35:01James McNicholas: You know, little hit and miss. Absolutely perfect moment. What does that mean to our season? We didn't know then, and maybe it would have played out differently, but those points are absolutely essential. Sometimes the classic Wenger, if you can't win, don't lose. And at that particular moment, that was don't lose. It was a magic moment. He lifts it over Donnaroma, who's scrambling, catches the inside of the net. It's absolutely delicious goal, vital, and kind of the world didn't get it. They didn't understand where they were watching in terms of who we were playing, where we were at, who was fit at that time.

35:43James McNicholas: I don't think we were well understood as a team. We're still not well understood. But, you know, fuck them. They're going to learn who we are.

35:58We are going to fast forward now a bit. James, you want to go with, I think, not just a moment, but a day that every aspect of it is one worth remembering.

36:07James McNicholas: Yeah, I wanted to pick something from the Champions League campaign. And I have to say, the home semifinal against Atletico Madrid, I think, was the best atmosphere I've ever experienced at the Emirates Stadium. And you say the whole day, I mean, it really was that. From 5pm, there were people, you know, on that roundabout on Hordensie Road outside the armory. Last time I saw that many people around that roundabout was probably Cronkian, we care to you, 2019. And the transformation since then in feeling around the club is extraordinary. I mean, obviously, we all hope that Mikau and the team crown this period with the silverware they deserve.

36:59James McNicholas: But irrespective of that, I think the kind of fire that they have lit inside that stadium would be an incredible legacy in its own right. I mean, it's 20 years since our last Champions League final, but it's also 20 years of the Emirates Stadium. And I think only in the last few has it really started to feel like home. The atmosphere that was generated for that semifinal was really, really special. Really, really special. And I think there are a lot of people who deserve a lot of credit. Mikel has obviously driven a lot of it, but there are support groups, individual fans, who have worked and lobbied and pushed and asked and wanted this for years, right?

37:46James McNicholas: Things like that, TIFO. These ideas have been around for a long, long time, and it's taken great, great persistence on the behalf of fans to make it happen. It's taken cooperation from the club as well. And I'm really glad that we've arrived at that place where, on such a big occasion, our home stadium feels like a fortress. Awesome. Yeah.

38:16James McNicholas: Can I add just one more thing from that day and from that game, when towards the end it was all getting a little bit tetchy and fractious on the sideline and Andrea Berta decided that he was scrappy-doo and wanted to fight Diego Simeone. I think that really deserves a mention as well.

38:40I have to say when you said the home Champions League I thought the next thing you were going to say was Kairat Almaty but I guess distant second or Kairat Almaty, Clive. Clive, you want to go with yours?

38:53James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah. And just to sort of add on James' point around the connection between the fans and the club growing, one of the things that really does add to that connection is when a 16-year-old runs through the team and scores his first goal. Right?

39:14James McNicholas: And for those who were at that game, we played quite well in that game, but we scored two late goals. But that second goal, going for a moment of tension again, that one nil there in the corner, and we spring out. I was there with my son that day, and we were in the boxes, and when Max came on, I could look to our right, I could see some people quite excited. I thought, it's all right, just come on. But it happened to be his parents were right next to us. So they had the moment of their lives, seeing him come on in that game and then seeing him run through and do that. We all know what's coming, don't we, with him.

39:46James McNicholas: right and um we're in this moment right now with two trophies but that moment was a massive connection moment and maybe the start of something that's going to be very very special in our history yep and and i think if we're talking about exciting academy players for the future andrew there's exciting academy players for now one who maybe it felt like was drifting from the story but your moment relates to that player coming back to the forefront yeah i think it's just such a big moment for the player but I think it's a big moment for the manager as well when we played Myles Lewis-Gelley in midfield against Fulham and then not only did that work really well the manager was had enough faith to do it again in you know potentially the biggest game of the season a Champions League semi-final against a really really difficult team to play against and I like that the door is opened again for miles I like that there is you know the possibility because you know as Clive said about Max and we've seen young players break through there is something very special to all of us when a player comes from Hale End and makes their way to the first team I know that's probably true for for every club for their academy players there's something a bit special but I think with Arsenal we have such a history of brilliant players coming from Hale End and being really important for us.

41:13James McNicholas: So I thought that was just a huge moment for Miles, who had been on the fringes. And I like the fact that the manager, someone who is seen as a bit intransigent at times and stuck to particular ideas, was brave enough to do something different, and it paid off. And hopefully it's not the last time we see that, but I think it was a really positive development for the player and for the team. yep and and i mean this is why again your judgments have to be loosely held because zubomendi might have been one of the players brought up as a player of the season if you asked us in december it's been a tough old time in the premier league and it hasn't gone the way he might have hoped in the second half of the season and in steps miles when he's needed much like the tail end of last season at fullback and he may be the reason we're able to get it over the line so i think just a beautiful story of the group stepping up and supporting one another.

42:04Tim, there are going to be a lot of new tattoos after this season. One of them may start after review. West Ham, number 19. After review. Commits a foul on the goalkeeper. Final decision. Direct free kick.

42:21James McNicholas: Yeah, forgive me for picking this moment, but it feels, because obviously it's still very recent, and it still feels like I experienced a significant trauma and I need to talk about it. Otherwise it's just going to become a brain tumour. Yeah, I've gone with the VAR check last weekend at West Ham where I think I might have medically died for four and a half minutes with the rest of you. In all my years going to Arsenal, I've never experienced a moment. It wasn't a moment. It was an eternity. It felt like purgatory, really. But I've never experienced anything like that. And it's funny what you do under stress sometimes.

43:13James McNicholas: I suddenly realised about halfway through the check that I had my face in my jumper and I couldn't see the pitch and I couldn't see what was going on. And I was so hyper-conscious about all of these fans that Sky have suddenly started to coincidentally find in stadiums. and I was thinking, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be that guy that's nearly in tears on Sky Sports. And, yeah, it really felt like we went through something. And I think when those sweet words were kind of not whispered but said into a microphone, I didn't even have the energy to celebrate. And I was trying to talk to the guys next to me, and my mouth was so dry that my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.

44:01James McNicholas: and I couldn't talk. And I think afterwards, a friend kind of said to me in the pub afterwards, like, how are you feeling? And I was like, I feel like I've had triple heart bypass and the doctors kind of said, you're going to be okay. So like, I don't feel good, but I feel like I've survived. And I think we will all talk about that period for a long time to come.

44:36The really good news is the next couple of weeks are going to go exactly according to plan with no hiccups. So no more problems, okay? For my moment, I'll do it quickly, but it's just I think sometimes what I love about football is if you presented the story to a script writer, they'd say, nah, no one's going to believe that. That's stupid. If you said the player who was always in love with Arsenal Football Club was moments away from signing with their hated rival, and then he was rescued at the last moment as the Spurs YouTubers melt down and that song Let It All Work Out comes out and you fast forward to the first North London derby and what does he go and do?

45:11He scores a hat trick. And he's laughing at Tottenham.

45:21James McNicholas: To be fair, I reckon I might get a hat trick against Tottenham this season. That's fair. It may be damning with faint praise, but I enjoyed the heck out of it. Just the five goals against them. We should say we can't smile without them. They took five points from City, no points from Arsenal. Thank you for your service. Now they can go fucking down.

45:45We are going to wrap up this section with a couple of quick favorite moments that aren't related to Arsenal. Before we do that, I think we should at least acknowledge the people we've lost this season. I'm going to do that quickly. If we just want to say farewell to Ruben Amorim, to Enzo Maresca, to Liam Resignier, to Thomas Frank, to Igor Tudor, to Arnest Slott.

46:10I'm not dead yet! I'm getting better! And in November of 2026, Shabby Alonso.

46:22James McNicholas: So, can I say I think Thomas Frank deserves an extra round of applause.

46:31James McNicholas: He's a gooner. And James... Are we idiots for not getting everybody a tiny little coffee cup tonight? Fuck the stickers. We should have all got them a tiny little cup. James, you want to hit us with your favourite little Schadenfreude moment of the season? Yeah, it's got to be the tiny little coffee cup. I mean, incredible. How do you not see it? I just hope Thomas Frank got his Champions League final ticket. I mean, it's going to be tough for him as a silver member. I don't think it went down to silver members. He's on standby. Paul, what about you? Shadden Floyd a moment? Yeah. Is this a thing?

47:12James McNicholas: Are we doing a... Do you have one? Not really. I want everybody... Unfortunately, they all fucking hate us, but I want everybody to get along. Wait for that. I don't hate them. I don't understand it. We're the good guys. We wear the white hats. We played the good football They still don't fucking like us. So back to my earlier point. Fuck them fair enough. All right. Well If you know anything about me I can always tease a schadenfreude out of Clive even though it's not So come on I haven't got one. I haven't got one honestly. I haven't got one. Have I got one? No, I'm going Yeah, you've got one Elliot.

47:49I've got seven but yeah exactly but i will just say that we are going to at the end we like to make this a community style thing so we're going to put a ball down in the middle we want you to all respect the ball oh yeah that's good around it together please respect the respect the ball that's going to be

48:04James McNicholas: very important well you know it is really important to respect the ball when you've got a first touch like liam ross senior i mean he's too busy aging men to know how to kick a football um anybody anybody ever sat in the rain watching football and just thought if only i had my magnetic tactics board with me these are all great moments but maybe maybe maybe we should let people go yeah a drink that's what we're going to do now we've got the uh the interval but in part two we want to get some questions from you guys there's a mechanism for you to do that you go to arsenalvisionpodcast.com slash uc2026 so arsenalvisionpodcast.com forward slash uc2026 there's a little form in there you can put your question in put your name in and uh we'll be back in i think about 30 20 20 30 minutes you guys go get a drink we'll be back in part two right after this thank you

49:15Forever, whatever the weather, these streets are old. And my house will lead to heaven.

49:52Wow.

50:03James McNicholas: Imagine what that song is gonna sound like after that 1-0 win in extra time in Budapest ball

50:14James McNicholas: So this is a part two obviously it follows part one we can count and It's where we're gonna answer some of the questions that you've been very kind to send to us Is Elliot there? Oh, he is. That's good. I wasn't sure. I'm not that small You were just hiding behind Tim. One thing we did just sort of want to say was that over the last couple of years, we've been very fortunate to have a special guest on the evening. We were of a mind to try and make something happen this year, but because of, well, the fact everything is still up in the air, there's still so much to play for, we can't pull people away from more important things.

50:57James McNicholas: So you're stuck with us. We're just sorry to say that, but...

51:08James McNicholas: we asked Thomas Frank obviously

51:14James McNicholas: he's actually at home he said he's busy refreshing the ticket exchange trying to get into the Burnley game so Chris Sutton was on the list too also after this is done we want to get pictures and say hello and spend time together so we will be meeting you up in the bar for a drink to say hello to spend some time so if you have the time please stick around and meet us up there after the show we'd love to spend some time getting to know you and saying i don't usually drink by the way but he's making a special exemption for you guys here tonight just to sort of push the boat out my gift to you andrew you're the you're the expert here am i supposed to say now is part two where we answer the questions you sent you sent to us on that thing that we don't know the name of blue sky or whatever the thing that is on Elliot's phone whoa whoa whoa oh yeah sorry we're not going to ask about that I said I wouldn't say anything and I've just put my big foot in it again alright so we did get a lot of great questions and thanks we're going to try to answer a bunch of them one wasn't really a question but it was just a comment to sort of say thanks to and recognize the contribution of other people that do a lot of good stuff for the pod obviously Phil I know I believe Phil Custis here.

52:31Phil's going through a pretty hard time. We love you.

52:41James McNicholas: And he's not able to make himself known. He isn't, but obviously we wish Phil a speedy recovery. And there's too many people involved in your operation, Andrew, to thank everybody individually. Well, yeah. Well, listen, if we're thanking people, we should thank everyone here for being part of the community. And also, I think I said this on the pod a couple of weeks ago, that there are wives and husbands and girlfriends and boyfriends and partners who, by extension, have gone through what we've gone through this season. If it's been tough to endure at times, they're the ones sort of sitting in a room going, oh, Jesus, please let Arsenal win.

53:16James McNicholas: Please just let them win. So thank you for being there with us, and hopefully the last couple of weeks of this season will be a lot less stressful for them and more importantly for us. And I'm sure that'll be the case. All right, some questions. And Dan asked this one, and I think it's an interesting one for anyone who watched Back to the Future. Clive, I know you don't watch movies or TV. Nope. Just to plug yourself into the mainframe and pull all the football knowledge you can. But in that movie, there's a guy who travels through the future. He has the sports almanac, so he knows what's going to happen.

53:52And this is an interesting question. Paul immediately suggested he would look and place a wager on everything that happened But that's not really the point of the question It's if you could look and see what would happen in the next three games ball aside from placing wagers on it Would you look or would you go on the ride? No, I'd look

54:13James McNicholas: Like I'd see that we win all three games

54:20James McNicholas: Let's go jinxing isn't a thing it really isn't i mean you just have to think about it what what i say affects the outcome of the union i mean it has several times this year and many times in the past yeah people do hate me for it but like it can't it just can't so yeah i'd look i'd still be nervous like what if it was what if the guy was talking shit and like the results weren't like i'm still going to be crapping myself even though i know the results because what if it dozen so yeah like what if he just knew you were getting the book and he put in wrong results yeah misprint so yeah i gotta look how are you not gonna and i am going to bet i mean okay uh on more serious topics there's two league fixtures remaining and obviously smooth sailing there but there's a small matter of a champions league final andrew who is your starting 11 in budapest who um well i mean obviously uh to keep up with tradition it'd be keppa in golf yeah for the cops yeah sorry had to um are we making an assumption that we have players fit and available and everybody's available you can pick from all of them all of them i mean you can't pick like dembele and firet's kelly they play for psg or ben white unfortunately unfortunately poor Ben can't play.

55:41James McNicholas: I mean, I think if there is a chance for Jury and Timber to be available, I would be, I'd push him as hard as I could to play this game. I don't know how feasible that is. Center halves pick themselves. I think I'd do Calafuri at left back. I mean, this is a game you don't get to play very often, and I think it's one of those where you kind of need to feel like no regrets in terms of how we set up so again fitness permitting i would be quite happy to see rice odegaard as in midfield i know uh it's going to be trossard saka and i think because of the way the last few weeks have gone for him victor jacquard is up front to sort of like just bull in a china shot through that psg defense to set it up for michael marino off the bench to score the winner in the 118th minute well there you go uh by the way i someone gave me this book earlier i had all the results in so i'm sounding wise now but uh well clive i do know that first 11s are sacred to you, so do you want to weigh in on yours?

57:02James McNicholas: Two million number 10s in your name, Andrew. I would go, obviously the back five is exactly the same for me, but I would go Rice and Myles Lewis-Ghedy in the field. And I would make a decision, I would go Eze as a third midfielder, Trossard, Saka, and I would go Jokeres. And the reason for my thinking is I don't think we're going to have the ball in the early stages, so we need to be able to spring out. So it's more of an off-the-ball kind of attacking team, and I like those guys. And I think later in the game, depending on how it goes, we can make changes. And I think our ability to make changes is our number one strength, so that's what I would do.

57:47Yeah, I'm just glad none of us have to make this call. It's going to be really tricky.

57:52James McNicholas: Does anyone else have any other suggestions or ideas? Tim, James? I don't know. No, I mean, The team Clive's just picked, I think, is what I would go for. Miles and Dec, Eze as well. The left back, I think, is an interesting one. It's a choice, isn't it? They're so different stylistically, and I think they'll definitely both play probably within the 90, and it's who you start with. I would probably just err on the side of Calafiore, but I think that one is very, very close. I just think, look, when you look at PSG, there's no denying the talent they have, and you have to feel for them with the 800 or 900 minutes they've all played this season.

58:33You just hope that they feel rested and ready. But I do think the strength of our squad, if we have the kind of fitness we have now, can win out. So maybe it's a case of survive the first 50 minutes, an hour, grind that out, watch them have to look at their bench where they have fewer options than we do. And I think maybe players, you know, you look at what Odegaard did in the West Ham game, right? a player we were like is he gonna get it done at the important part of the season and he comes and he has that performance maybe there's a place for a Kai Havertz right to come in and deliver something big in a big moment um I think the bench could be a big difference um that's why I don't really think about first 11s uh James as an avid fan of Scottish football what do you think of Chris Sutton's commentary today oh no yeah I don't know how much he policed Celtic celebrations I'm not so

59:20James McNicholas: sure you know on this by the way obviously I'm in press rooms and I'm in media lounges and yeah thank you and he's about Chris he's about and honestly constantly I've currently got people coming up to me being like you know he's all right you know you know you know he's a good guy and um I don't give a fuck really

59:54I'm gonna go up and down the the table for this because I think we can all do this one and and I'll start with you Tim Pick one player to score the winner in the hundred and twenty first minute of the Champions League final and One person to start your defibrillator

1:00:12James McNicholas: Well David riah to score the goal I don't know why he'd go up at nil-nil, but why the fuck not? No, if I could choose, I think I'd choose Paikai Osaka just because...

1:00:30James McNicholas: He's all of our son, isn't he, really? We all just have a small parental share of this footballer, and he should be scoring the winner in the Champions League final for Arsenal. My only comment to that is I would be thrilled if he's able to play 121 minutes in the Champions League final, So let's hope that he's feeling up to it. Clive, what about you? Yeah, I like your shout on Havertz, funny enough. I think if it went that long, I think about the players that have been there in the new Arsenal, like the Ben Whites, the Havertz, the group that came along together, Rice, Timber. When it all started for me, it was that sort of group.

1:01:06James McNicholas: So I think he's got the minerals to do something later in the game. So he'd be my pick. James? He scored a Champions League final winner before as well, Clive Habits. The less said about that. Yeah, I think so. I like the shout of Kai. I like the shout of Kai. I mean, Trossard, I think he had his big moment against West Ham. I think there was always going to be a Trossard goal in this running. And I'm glad we got it in the London Derby at West Ham. Yeah, it's hard to look past Saka. You know, when he scored against Atleti, it felt perfect, didn't it? And it would be a great end to the story for him to score in Budapest.

1:01:44None of you have gotten it yet, but we'll see if you do. What about you, Paul?

1:01:47James McNicholas: Gabrielle Magalich. Closer. Closer. Corner. So that all of Europe learns to hate us, too. Andrew? I mean, I think after the season he's had where I'm not sure he's quite delivered in terms of goals, what I think he's actually capable of. Declan Rice. Declan Rice popping up on the edge of the box or a free kick or something like that I mean, I think he is capable of scoring more goals than he has scored this season So hopefully he's saving them up for Budapest You guys all did a great job and Paul was closest The correct answer, of course, is own goal from a set piece

1:02:34James McNicholas: That gets VA out for four minutes The connoisseur's choice Well, the PSG leadership are furiously running down to the ballroom with brown envelopes, but they're just too late, just too late. They wouldn't do that. Nah. With Andrea Berta body tackling them. All right. Goal of the season. We did moment of the season, but actually only one of them was a goal, which maybe tells you a little bit of something. But we did score some. Hey. you're all gonna love that 10-0 on Monday though aren't you Andrew, goal of the season please ask somebody else, I've forgotten what it was that I chose Tim's got his lined up, I know that one yeah I've got mine lined up, obviously it's a goal from a set piece because those are the end goals we ever score when I was younger I bust my jaw and occasionally it locks and occasionally when we score a really really big goal it really locks and I'm in some trouble and that happened to me at St James' Park when Gabrielle scored a 93rd minute header.

1:03:44James McNicholas: I've seen some painful defeats there in the last couple of years and the Newcastle fans haven't enamoured themselves with us. So I was sat quite near them and I let them fucking know about it. With my locked jaw. Clive, goal of the season? Yeah, goal of the season. well, maybe not the best goal, but a goal that meant a lot. We just played Wolves, and we just drew 2-2, and it was pretty low, you know, 2-0 up against a team in the bottom of the league like 20 minutes ago, and we had Spurs the next game. And 1-1 at halftime, and Victor Jokeres scored that goal after halftime, and it just meant a lot to me.

1:04:21James McNicholas: I thought the quality of that goal was really, really high, and particularly we hadn't seen that from him yet. So that, to me, was the goal of the season, but maybe where it fell in the season. what happened against Wolves. What about you? I've got to say, actually, I loved Jokeres' second goal in that game as well. I thought it was like a proper striker's goal, the way he held the defender off and finished. My favourite goal, Eze against Leverkusen.

1:04:53James McNicholas: I mean, to be fair, he's kind of had his own private goal of the season competition at times, but for me, that is the pick of the bunch. Yeah, I was going to say, I remembered it. Ezra versus Spurs. All of them. All five. They're all good choices. I'm somewhat partial to his goal against Crystal Palace, and I would gladly take another one in two weeks' time, or however long it is. Okay. Hang on, hang on. Yeah, Paul has to get a go. Yeah. I thought... No, no. Go for it, Paul. Max Downman. I mean, come on, guys. this is easy what a fucking moment that was it you're watching it it's like it's not in slow motion it doesn't need to be he's got the whole pitch to run uh he's got uh gabrielle martinelli uh running uh offense for him buzzing around the place it's just it's just fantastic yeah the flick on from martinelli uh down and rounding the guy putting him on his ass flicking to the other side and they're running towards gold, celebrating.

1:06:04James McNicholas: Yeah, it's great. What a moment. It was sensational. I'll stay with you for this one, Paul. Since you've got the almanac, do City drop points against Bournemouth? We don't care.

1:06:18Good answer. We're going to win both our games. Good fucking answer.

1:06:27Okay, Tim, we've got a couple of transfer questions here and so I'll let you answer this one who is the realistic dream signing for Arsenal women this summer

1:06:38James McNicholas: yeah I think Man City are about to sign a left back called Katie McCabe no

1:06:49James McNicholas: really really difficult to answer but we need a centre back there's a Brazilian centre back at Leon called Tarsiani who doesn't play brazilian center back left-sided center back need some of that i think so yeah yeah and transfers uh are something that have a mild interest for people we can stay there i'll go down the table for everyone real quick andrew your number one ideal signing for arsenal men next season i i think it's got to be maybe somebody for the left hand side i don't know who but i think that you know strikes me as the area where there is that room for improvement this season um you know i was i was quite happy with leandro trossard staying last summer um i think at a good first half to the season hopefully he finishes the season with a flourish martinelli apart from paul's goal uh against man said he hasn't really done it in the premier league but it's been great in europe scored a lot of goals in europe so i do think there's room there that's where i would really like to see somebody come in and add something different a little dynamic Change there on that left-hand side do you think Martin million and trust art will go?

1:07:57James McNicholas: I think one will I don't know who yet Yeah, well they'll leave as double winners so to be fine. Um Paul top signing I I genuinely have no idea But as you know, I do study the Eastern European leagues and the Slaberdan Golobinovich Okay Would be my topic who's good at left back That's my question like we've only got three of them surely we need a left back. Yeah, he is I don't know I can say the same the name the same way twice, but I would I would prefer you don't Lobber down the lob and up the niche is a left back Okay, that was a strong segment for us when I heard Slavadan I got really worried I'm not gonna lie to you but I'm glad it got worse from there James your number one signing for the summer I do think it's got to be on that left side I think that is the spot I'll take any of PSG's guys you know if we could pack one of them up as well as the trophy on the way home that'd be nice by the way this is why Andrea Berta gets paid to do this because we've had three people answer and come up with no names except a made-up one.

1:09:16What about you, Clive? Are you going to hit us with an actual player?

1:09:19James McNicholas: I've got names. So I'll give you three. So Bradley Barkela, I like him for left-hand side. I think he's gettable. I think he's quick. We have a creator on the right, so he's a sprinter on the left, so I quite like that. The player that's impressed me the most at the Emirates this season was Julian Alvarez when he came in, and I think where the modern game is going, I think he suits that and I think we're going to see maybe in a change what we think a number 10 is it's more of a second striker role which Eze really does well I think he can do that as well and be a 9 and I have to say I really love the kid at West Ham in centre midfield Fernandes, Matias Fernandes we all love him after the other day

1:10:06James McNicholas: and again looking at midfielders now whether they're 6s, 8s or 10s the ones we have can play all three and he can play all three and I think he's going to be a top player at 21 I'll go for him. Tim? I'm going to copy Clive's homework here and say Morgan Rodgers just because I thought you were going to say that I was going to go there I forgot, damn it I mean I think it'd be a great signing I can tell you right now I'm strongly working myself up the best I can to get excited for Anthony Gordon, but I find myself struggling to get too connected to that one, so I've got some other ideas in mind myself for that side.

1:10:48I do think it'd be interesting to go and see what's happening in Real Madrid. They're imploding a little bit. They've got some good, talented players in midfield. Chiuameni, talented player. Valverde, talented player. You know, they're at war with each other. Is there an opportunity? They have a French striker there who really just thrives and creates a positive environment wherever he goes. Really feels like a Mikel signing there, so maybe we could go.

1:11:09James McNicholas: Takes a good punch, that Valverde lad. You know, he'll just knock him down, he'll get back up again. There's a song about that. Okay, this is kind of an interesting one because I think there's a lot of different ways it can go and Matt submitted this one and said, who in the squad do you see having the biggest increase in impact from this season to next? And Clive, it's interesting, right? Because it could go either with players who are up and coming or players who just haven't had the season you might have expected from them. Yeah, I suppose there's a couple of obvious names. For me, it might be Miles, actually.

1:11:41James McNicholas: I think it might be him. I think he's undiscovered as a midfielder. He's only had two or three games in there. He's only had 190 minutes. But I just think he looks natural, and I think what he offers is something that the others don't. And I think, obviously, there's going to be a group thing going on in there. But I think, given the fact he's had so many low minutes this year in the Premier League, his scope for improvement is massive, and I think he could be the one. Yeah, I mean, that's an easy one to see and there's a question about that that I'll come to in a minute. But Andrew, I mean, what about Pakaio Saka?

1:12:15Do you see him returning to fitness and maybe having the season next season we might have expected?

1:12:19James McNicholas: I hope so, I hope so, because I don't think we've seen the best of Pakaio. I think generally speaking, when you look at the squad with one or two exceptions, I think most of them have delivered at a fairly high level. So you're not going to really, because we're top of the league, and we're in the Champions League final, so that makes a bit of sense. So I don't think there's too many that can really push too much further, but I think you can get more out of certain players. When I talk about Declan Rice and maybe scoring a few more goals, I think Pakai Osaka, the injury problems have certainly hampered him.

1:12:53James McNicholas: There's another young player who plays off the right who will probably by default have more of an impact next season because of the way he's going to emerge as well. Yeah, I think that's a good shout as well. This one comes from Jacob. Arsenal already has win the dog. What should our next club animal be, and why should it be called set piece? Anybody have a shout here for a good club animal? Because I... A dolphin? A dolphin. Well, Andrew would boycott. Where do we keep this dolphin? I'm not going to go with this story. I don't think it makes it past the censors. Probably not. If that's your instinct, trust it.

1:13:40Yes, even my censors.

1:13:42James McNicholas: Believe me, as someone who heard Paul's dolphin story before tonight's show, you don't need to hear it. Ignorance is bliss. I think set piece the skunk, and we just put it in the press box. and then when Skye says stuff we don't like, the skunk just releases his noxious gas and they have to sit with it. There's going to be some collateral damage there, I think, along the way, but what about poor James if he's in there? How's your sense of smell, James? It's okay. Well, then I take it back. I mentioned that there was another question related somewhat to Miles' emergence in midfield, and Lee asks with the emergence of Max and Louis Skelly in midfield, what role do you see from Warneri now coming back from his loan spell with Marseille?

1:14:32And there were quite a few Ethan questions, just kind of wondering about his future. And I do think in general, this is the hardest part of being one of the best teams in the world. The competition is intense. We want to see our academy kids come through and succeed. But if you are going to build a squad that can win on multiple fronts, you are inevitably going to have the kind of intense competition that some people just can't get through. And I believe in Ethan's talent immensely. I do see a very difficult path for him now. And the Marseille loan is certainly not gone how you'd want. So, Tim, I'll start with you here.

1:15:06Do you think that Ethan has a chance to come back and make a role for himself?

1:15:10James McNicholas: I hope so. I'm not ready to give up on that player yet. I just think there's so, so much there. And I think he's got a lot that we don't have in the squad. I think he's got potentially a bit of that as a clutch gene in there, like that shot from the edge of the area. I think a lot of it will depend, talking about buying a left-sided player, I'm also not ready to give up on Eza as the left-wing option. And if that happens, then I think Ethan and Erdegaard, you probably get a bit of a relationship like the one we have between Erdegaard and Eza. So I think it's contingent on Eza, really. Clive? Yeah, tough one, right?

1:15:50James McNicholas: Because we all like the player, but the accountants like the player as well, right? And if you look at this from a revenue point of view, how are Arsenal going to increase their revenues beyond this year? They can't get any more prize money. They're at the top of everything in Champions League finals. So if you're trying to project forward without expanding the stadium, you look at your academy and getting poorer profit from them. It's not an answer anyone wants to hear, but if I'm in those mahogany rooms, that's what I'm thinking. Miles has maybe saved himself, and I think one of them was due to go, maybe both.

1:16:24James McNicholas: And right now, I think Ethan is two to one favourite to go somewhere. It's a bit of a shame, but that's just the way it is. I agree rationally with that, but I have to say that it does, the whole thing just feels very Serge Gnabry to me. Like, I really think he's a special player, potentially. I haven't seen anyone at such a young age be so clinical in those situations around the box. and I'd actually be more looking at other players in the squad and thinking, how do we make space for Ethan? Because I think if we let him go, we may come to regret it. But, I mean, James, sorry, Clive. I was just going to ask James, as someone who covers the transfers, to what extent the bookkeeping element will play a part this season because of how it works when it's an academy player that you sell?

1:17:18James McNicholas: Yeah, I mean, you book it as profit, totally. And I think Ethan's a player who would command a pretty healthy transfer fee. A bit like Clive. I sort of think Myles was headed for the door, to be honest. I don't think we get that much for Clive, to be honest. To me, he's priceless. So, yeah, and player trading is definitely going to be a focus for Arsenal in this transfer window. they're pretty clear that they can't have a summer like they did last year in terms of massive expenditure without bringing significant sums in so players are going to leave they're going to need to leave so I can see the appeal of Ethan on that front I just what can I say, I really really like the player I like the player too but to get the players you want sometimes, say for example we are going to go for Morgan Rodgers how does it be afforded?

1:18:14James McNicholas: You've got to make a choice. Man City sold James McAtee to get Semenyo, and he scored like 10 goals from him in no time. So it's hard sometimes, but we're at the top table now, and that's where we are. We all want this again next year, don't we? How are we going to do that? I think we've got enough young players coming through in two. We may have to lose one. I'm not trying to do it, by the way. There's an offer for a Martindelli or a Jesus or a Trussard. There are players there that are far, I'd like to see go before he goes, but I can see the attraction from an accountant point of view. Well, then I guess I'll ask this one from Johnny, because I think the whole group has sort of, people have started to warm to this whole group and the journey that they're on together.

1:18:56But if there remains one player that from the feedback that I hear in the chats and the people that I talk to continues to confound, I think, a little bit, it's Nani Medueke. And Johnny asks, successful signing, useful squad guy, or maybe missed opportunity with that spending. And I certainly think what we saw from Ethan off the right last season had people thinking, could he have fulfilled that role? And I think if you ask everybody in here, you'd get slightly different opinions on Nani Madweke. So, Andrew, how do you think about that signing in reflection? Obviously, with Saka's injuries, that may influence how you think about the wisdom of bringing that player in.

1:19:31James McNicholas: Yeah, I think it was maybe the first time for a while where we had like that definite alternative to Bakayo Saka the guy who was going to take minutes that Saka didn't need to play, but Saka got injured and we needed Nani Matueke to play. I mean, I think it was James who mentioned on the Arscast Extra last year that the club internally didn't really see Ethan as somebody who was going to develop on the right-hand side. They saw him more as a central player, despite the fact he did, I think, really quite well out there and scored a lot of goals. I mean he's a frustrating player I think you know that the decision making isn't quite what it should be at times the output hasn't been quite where we would want it to be and then you look at a like the goal he scored against Bruges that we were talking about backstage and you're sort of like well if you can do that you know can we not get a bit more consistency from that player I mean I mean, I think because of how much Saka has been out this season, without him, we would have been in a bit of a bind, you know, in terms of who was gonna play there and what kind of impact they were gonna have.

1:20:45James McNicholas: But I also think it's probably fair to expect a little bit more in terms of goals and assists from a player who may have been the going right in the market, but, you know, still quite an expensive player and quite an expensive acquisition. Yeah, I think he can certainly change all of our opinions the next two weeks. So we won't close the book on that. Tim, this is one. I'll start with you. And then Paul, I know you want to get a go at this. Mohamed said, what are your thoughts on Odegaard as a leader for the team, considering his stop-start season with injuries? In the end, he delivered when it mattered.

1:21:19And I feel really happy for him that he had that West Ham moment, because it certainly must be a very frustrating season for him not being able to be out there on the pitch. And to be called on in that moment with everything on the line and deliver, I think was great for him. How do you think about his leadership role moving forward from the stop-start season he's had?

1:21:38James McNicholas: Yeah, it's a really interesting question. I think you saw from his celebration of the Trossard goal, it meant a lot to him as well, that particular moment. And that might just be about the moment itself, which was very, very significant, but probably a little bit about his journey as well. I think as a leader, he's fantastic, but I think every good team has multiple leaders and he's kind of one of them. and maybe status-wise he has fallen a little bit into that, like he's not the guy that plays every minute of every game anymore, but we've got this kind of dynamic with Ezra and Erdogan where they're completely opposite players who do completely different things and we call on them at different times.

1:22:16James McNicholas: And that is a bit of a drop-in status for him, whereas, for example, like Declan Rice is not in that kind of bracket, is he? Or Bakayo Saka, like they just play all the time. So I don't think his leadership of the group is in question, but maybe his status in the team has relatively dipped a little bit. It's interesting to think about who the players are, that their name is written in ink on that team sheet. And Odegaard would have been one of those top two or three. That's evolving. So Paul, I know you wanted to speak about this. What are your thoughts about Odegaard's position in the leadership group moving forward?

1:22:52James McNicholas: Yeah, look, you don't know, and it can go that way and that way. I'm kind of the this way. This is the good way. Okay, okay, the good way. Can you elucidate what the good way is? Yeah. The good way involves him getting fit, staying fit. You start to see the real Odegaard. Then you have different conversations. I mean, Bakaya Saka, there's two Bakaya Sakas too. This was not the season he wanted to have. He's been a shadow of himself in the second half. It doesn't matter who the player is. We know we quickly lose a grasp of who a player is when they're worn down. And I think that's where we are with Odegaard.

1:23:38James McNicholas: And it feels a little ominous where he's at at the moment. And, like, maybe he can't stay fit. But I just think it's pretty binary. If he gets and stays fit, you see a better player, a happier player. The squad's happier with him. The manager's happy. A little fitness, a little consistency in fitness solves almost all your problems. We don't really get rid of players who are quality and talented. I know we're talking about what needs to be done this summer, but it's been so long since we had to and then went and sell players. I just personally can't connect to it yet. I'm like, I believe we really have to sell players when we start selling players.

1:24:21Yeah, well, maybe that's something we have to learn to start to do. Andrew?

1:24:24James McNicholas: Yeah, I just think, you know, again, we're all looking forward to, you know, what lies ahead for this season. But I think over the course of the season, there have been discussions about how we play and the kind of football we play and the style of football we play. And for me, you know, we have the best defensive lineup in Europe, probably. You know, we're talking about the best goalkeeper. We're talking about the two best central defenders. We're talking about some of the best fullbacks when they're fit. And I feel like this is an Arsenal team that needs players like Odegaard in terms of their creativity and their craft, and we need more of that.

1:25:01James McNicholas: And I do wonder if some of the tight games that we experienced this year wouldn't have been quite as tight if we had that, as Paul said, a fit, informed, fluent Martin Odegaard who could then come off after 60 minutes and you play Eza and you rotate it around. I think sometimes we look at a player and we think, okay, well, maybe it's time to move on, but then you have to replace that skill set in your team. You've got to bring that level of creativity because without it, games become a struggle and then we end up bald. There was a question who would win a 3v3 of the bald versus non-bald people on this stage.

1:25:45I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind about who's winning that.

1:25:49James McNicholas: No, the hairy guys are going to win. We're putting you in goal, Elliot. I'm going to be with the tactics board on the bench. With the little magnets, you can go play. I think I'm getting to the stage where I'm going to transfer to the bald guys. Come join us. Well, I would just say, as a last point on the Odegaard thing, this is one thing we probably all have to consider, which is how long can we extend this winning window? How long can we be a force? And what you don't want to do is find yourself in three seasons where Rice and Odegaard and Kai and Leo and all these guys are still around and everybody's there and they're all 30, 31, 32, 33, and now the entire squad has to turn over at once.

1:26:33You cannot stay relevant that way. Look at what Liverpool have done, and Giggle if you must, but Salah's going for nothing. Van Dijk's been played beyond really the end for him. Kanate's not really useful anymore, right? Trent went for free. They find themselves trying to take a golden era and fully rebuild it instead of having done it in stages. And so it may mean that we let a player, maybe it's a Martin Odegaard, maybe it's someone else, move on so that we start to rebuild within the group that we have rather than waiting for an entire squad. achieved a lot to turn over at once and we could find ourselves very much struggling to stay at the top but maybe there's a

1:27:09James McNicholas: You know, there's a line through the Ethan future and the Odegaard future. I don't know that Absolutely could be Andrew while I have you Jamie would like to know who would win a game of 11 Declan Rice's versus 11 Califiori's

1:27:28James McNicholas: Sorry just dreaming of Califiori or a little bit. This is football not a photo shoot just sure Everyone's now picturing 11 Califuris And the room's gone silent I have to say it would be a hell of a game Wouldn't it? It'd be a really really good game I'm gonna go with Rice's Fitness Because at least three of the Califuris Are get fucked

1:28:00There are some people here who would like to be responsible for that happening, if you know what I mean.

1:28:10Anyone else? Okay. How about this? What opinion or prediction from the start of the year or season are you surprised that you've been wrong about? What's something you were wrong about, Tim, to start the season or prediction? I just want to be clear, and I think this is worth bringing up. We do predictions at the start of every season, and they're on the website, and you can check them out. They're hilarious. They're terrible. Tim predicted us to hit 85 points and finish first, which is precisely what we would need to win the league. So kudos to Tim. But any opinion you've been wrong about?

1:28:43James McNicholas: This is a really difficult question because, one, I have a terrible memory, so I've got no idea what I predicted. Except for every goal we've ever scored in any moment of any game. Well, yeah, so that doesn't leave room in my brain for the other stuff. And secondly, because it's really difficult, it's especially difficult to remember things I've been wrong about. How much is something that surprised you that going into the season you might have thought that just did not turn out how you thought? It's all gone to plan? Yeah, pretty much. Fair enough. Fair enough. Clive, anything? I mean, I know you don't get things wrong, but could you pretend there was and then tell us about it?

1:29:16James McNicholas: No, I can't pretend. I'm thinking about the Odegaard conversation you had. Come back in. All right. I think this is an important one, discussion. I think we are here because of one reason, and the depth of our squad and how people are adapting to that change and how maybe their changing role is a key part of what we do and how we can stay aligned as a squad while people are taking your shirt. And you can see that together as in the group. I think my other guys is a top player. The fact this question is probably the most asked question, Elliot, tells you his form is not where it should be because this would not have been a question two years ago.

1:29:56James McNicholas: And how he has adapted to that and how we need to adapt to his reduced role has been a big reason why we've done so well. The question about Nonny earlier, when Bakaya went down in the Leeds warm-up a year ago, that's a problem. In that game, we won four, and Nonny was probably mad at the match in that game. And this is a change. We are here because of the squad. If we win something this season, it'll be done because of what we've done before the transfer window was closed. And they're all part of it. So we have to change our minds about their primary role. James? I think that's a great point, by the way.

1:30:33And I understand the conversation around Nonny

1:30:38James McNicholas: and how frustrating he can be. But you've got to remember that 12 months prior, the player we had in that position was Raheem Sterling. I think we can all agree he's made a substantially greater contribution than Raheem did in his time at Arsenal. He told us we would see the best of him. Do you feel that we did see the best of him? We're still waiting, aren't we? we're still waiting on that one. Things I've been wrong about. Very many.

1:31:06James McNicholas: I think actually the two Academy boys, Miles and Ethan, in both cases, on Ethan I really wanted him to go on loan. I thought it would be great for him and it's been a bit of a disaster. So I feel bad for him on that one. It's not worked out as anyone hoped. And on Miles, I probably kept it to myself a little bit but when on transfer deadline day Arsenal kind of moved heaven and earth and created this quite complex deal to ensure they landed Piero and Capier to add to Riccardo Calafuri. I think I thought, well, that's the writing on the wall for Myles. And maybe in some respects that was right because I think Myles' left-back career at Arsenal is probably over.

1:31:52James McNicholas: But thankfully he's had this reprieve and Myles Lewis-Gellie, the midfielder, may have a much brighter future. So very happy to be wrong about that. I've actually thought of one I was wrong about. I did think that Kepa should stop the Carabao Cup final. Yeah. That's for which I'm really, really sorry. Yeah, you were wrong. Yeah. I'll just say one for me, and I think it's an important lesson for me. I thought Liverpool would be probably the favourite or right there with us to win the league this season. I really looked at what they had added in attack, and I was willing to look past a little bit of not adding in midfield and fullbacks who can't defend.

1:32:31And I think the thing that just reminds you is that the transfer window is fun to talk about, but winning the window isn't the same as winning the league. And Arsenal took a very different approach to how we built our squad, but fundamentally what we have that they don't is Mikel Arteta. And through all of this season and through the injuries and the challenges and the trials and tribulations, it hasn't been perfect, but he's managed to guide the ship between the rocks and through the narrows and to this point where we're in a position to do it. and I think you have to have all of the pieces. And while it's very fun to see your team sign the likes of Florian Burtz and Izak and Eketike, fundamentally you have to build a squad that can run the course.

1:33:03And so good lesson about the conclusions you draw based on transfers versus what you see during a season.

1:33:10James McNicholas: And if all else fails, just play 11 Ricardo Califuris. Or Declan Reis's. Okay, real quick, guys, each of us. Andrew, are Spurs going down? Oh, I fucking hope so.

1:33:26James McNicholas: West Ham are going to play Newcastle. Is that right? Yep. And then Spurs are playing who? Chelsea. Tuesday, I think it is. Okay. With a big point to prove, I think it's fair to say. And who Spurs got in the final day? Everton. Everton, yeah. Uncle Grandpa Moisey could do us a favor again. Our old friend. Our old friend.

1:33:53James McNicholas: Yeah, why not?

1:33:59James McNicholas: If you dream it, it will happen. Is that a Kevin Costner movie? It's kind of crazy if you think about it, that Spurs are this close to the drop, and we've got such big things to worry about. It hardly seems like it matters to us, but it could be a heck of a lot of fun. I think we should probably get to a point where we can all go have a drink. So do you want to just kind of go down the table and have a final comment about what we have ahead in the next two weeks? How's that sound that sounds good that sounds good all you want to lead us off

1:34:29He's still trying to think of something he's been wrong about I've got a list if you need

1:34:33James McNicholas: Well, I was wrong on Martin super many very different player to the player. I thought he was going to be I still don't know what he is It'll be interesting to see what he is next And see I'm working through the buffer what we were talking about spurs. I was going it's Sad, so sad. It's a sad, sad situation. Spursy seems to be the saddest word. That's what I was thinking about while you were asking me a question. Good for you. I cannot believe in all the years that we've been doing this, he got to sing before you did. And it's killing me. I know that. I know that. And there's only room for one.

1:35:15James McNicholas: James, final thought. You know what? We do this every year, and there's normally a ton of transfer questions. And I've usually already decided who I want and who I think we're going to get. And I think it's because, usually by this point, we're thinking about next season. And what's so exciting to me is that I can't think about next season now, being honest with you. because there's 14 days coming up that just could be maybe they could be the biggest in the history of this football club and i just think wow what what an amazing exciting place to be in and i can't wait i love this guy down here he's just got his head in his head he's like i can't i can't 14 days what are you talking about he's going i thought it was going to be over in three when Bournemouth beat City.

1:36:05James McNicholas: 14. Someone get this gentleman a brown paper bag. No, you just line up over there and everyone will come along and slap you. We'll let Elliot off the hook. Kyle? Yeah, it's an exciting time. I can't go over it. It feels really tough. It feels like a really tough time at the moment. To see all your faces actually has really cheered me up because it's been... It's really hard. and the West Ham game took me to a dark, dark, dark place. I mean, just a dark place, you know. I can't express it. I can't express it. I've been around. I've seen a few things, but that was really tough. So right now I'm just counting the hours down to Burnley.

1:36:52James McNicholas: I just want it done, out of the way, bosh. And then I go to the next one. and when it's done, you're going to see me you're going to see me in the streets just lying there I think there might be a few hundred thousand people on those streets with you if it happens when it happens yeah, you'll have plenty of people to hold you up, don't worry I hope so Tim? yeah, I can't wait because if you want to win big things you've got to go through the terrifying stuff right, the, like, winning cups is great, but then you forget you have to go through the actual cup final which is a horrible experience, but I can't wait, because basically there's an alternative to this, and it's having nothing to play for, or it's being eighth, or Unai Emery is your manager and you wake up sweating in the middle of the night and crying and crying, yeah so I just can't wait.

1:37:55James McNicholas: I think it's amazing. Yeah. I'm a hugger. So I'll give you a hug if you want one after this, but I want us to all be hugging each other in a couple weeks. I want this so bad for all of us. I think the degree of gratitude and love I feel for you to accept me and to let me come here and speak to you and be a part of this. I pinch myself every day I get to do this and to be part of this community means more than I can articulate. So I just want to say thank you. I hope you get this. I hope we have this together. I love you guys so much. Thank you.

1:38:32James McNicholas: what can I say Andrew could I just make the point Andrew and I are Irish we don't really like people hugging us so that's your end of the table down there when we go for drinks a good manly handshake would be fine no I mean what can I say other than to echo exactly what Elliot has said that for all of us after so long, after this season, after fucking last week felt so long. It would be amazing, I think, for this team as well, for the club, for everybody involved, the manager, the players, whatever else you might think. We've all seen Arsenal teams and Arsenal players who don't leave it out there in the way that we as fans would like.

1:39:16James McNicholas: You hear about people not representing the shirt or the badge or whatever. the one thing you can almost you can always say about this team is that they give everything they've got for this club and to represent what it means to all of us and hopefully they can do that in these last few games so yeah I just can echo what Elliot said it's a

1:39:43James McNicholas: it's a it's a real privilege for all of us to be here and to sit in front of you guys and for you to be part of this with us so we want to thank you again for coming along and hopefully when we see you next year we'll have some replica inflatable trophies along the front there. I think we can do that. As Elliot said we're going to be upstairs in a little while so if you want to come up and share a beer and say hi that would be great but for now. Thank you very much indeed folks. We love you. Cheers. Bye bye.

1:40:48Thank you.

1:41:18James McNicholas: a whole new world of comfort, visit a Sleep Number store or go to sleepnumber.com. Sleep Number, to a good life's sleep.