Arsecast Extra Episode 662 - 12.10.2025

0:10Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from Gunnerblog James good afternoon to you Good afternoon, Andrew. How you doing? I'm all right. I have a yellow arm. Go on. I feel like that requires further explanation. So in the sitting room, we have a table beside the sofa on which I sit. And there are flowers in there. The flowers have opened up, they've bloomed. And the inside of the flowers, what do you call it? Like the pollen? Is that what it is? Yeah, I think it is. So all the pollen of these lilies got all over my arm as I was sort of reaching back and forward for my glass of wine last night while I was watching a movie with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman.

1:05That was nice. What, next to you on the sofa? They were both there, yeah. Yeah. What movie did you watch? Crimson Tide. Correct. Crimson Tide. poor Gene couldn't be there unfortunately but Denzel was there he's a good house guest what can I tell you but anyway Lily pollen isn't that poisonous I think it is to dogs right is that am I cats for sure beware cats and lilies I don't know it's probably not great for dogs yeah dogs will eat any old thing though you know so that's the trouble um well that's good i'm glad when you said your arm was yellow i feared it was kind of the latter stages of some some bad bruising no no no no thankfully nothing as as serious as that i just look like 14 percent like i'm in the simpsons because i've tried like really hard to scrub it off you know in the shower and i've you know it's not as yellow as it was but it's still more yellow than i would like okay yeah maybe it's permanent who knows who knows who knows uh but apart from that i'm i'm pretty much okay how's how's everything your end how's your weekend been it's good i've just returned from um a pumpkin patch oh uh a farm where you can pick and purchase pumpkins okay two-year-old son is to be honest sort of absolutely obsessed with fruits and vegetables to like a quite a mad degree okay um i mean can he differentiate does he say this is uh this is not a pumpkin this is a butternut squash for example he knows that he knows them all wow he knows them all he's very this morning he was walking around the house holding a quince and shouting i've got a quince um at nursery the other day he asked them at lunchtime for pak choy it's it's it's an obsession it's a true obsession fair play though fair play it's it's it can often be a bit of a trial a tribulation to get kids to eat vegetables in any way and if he's already there then you're way ahead of the curve sometimes he doesn't want to eat them some because it sort of reach the point where where they're like kind of toys or like teddies to him almost.

3:34Right. He's going to bed clutching an onion, stuff like that. Yeah. I can't eat my favourite celeriac. Yeah, sometimes he will eat them, but like occasionally you'll skin the wrong apple and all hell breaks loose. Simon, no! Yeah, exactly that. He's invested them with life. Okay. But yeah, anyway, so with Halloween coming up, it's pumpkin season. Halloween is big here now, like way bigger than it ever was when I was growing up. Same here. Same here. I mean, houses get decorated in the way that they would typically only get decorated at Christmas. And you will see, you know, fake webs and monsters and things hanging out the windows and stuff.

4:24There's one house up the road from us, which they put a load of sort of zombies in the front garden. And I can remember years ago when Archer was just actually a puppy and going for a walk with him and walking past this house. And it's just sort of from one gatepost to the next. And he jumped about six feet in the air because there's like six or seven zombies. Half of them are sort of coming out of the garden and out of the ground and stuff like that. So people put a lot of effort into it these days. Speaking of zombies and Halloween, a quick glance at the fixture list tells me that our Halloween weekend fixture is Burnley away.

5:04Oh. She can sometimes feel like you're in a horror movie of some description. Yeah. I mean, it's probably less horrific now that Sean Dyche is not there. Is Scott Parker? I think he is less horrific than Sean Dyche. Sean Dyche linked with a return to the Premier League. Have you seen that? Nottingham Forest, is it? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what the fuck are they doing there? Seriously. Seriously, guys, what do Edu do? What do Edu do? I mean, they had a great thing going on last season with Nuno, and now it's sort of, well, the other way. Just make Jirap Chin the manager. It feels like the inevitable.

5:47Careful, you might get a phone call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, no, that's a terrible state of affairs. Imagine if Edu goes from kind of collaborating with Mikel Arteta to, in the space of a few months, Sean Dyche. Advocating for Sean Dyche, obviously, as well. Unless it's Maranakis, sort of, you know, he likes a huskier guy. You know, that could have been why he's gone for Ange, you know? Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the common threat. Sean Dyche, you know, he's a burly kind of chap, I suppose, you know, sort of barrel-shaped, a bit like Maranakis himself. He's about four barrels. If that is the work they make, that is proper chaos, isn't it?

6:33Because apart from their gravelly voices, you couldn't really find two managers ideologically further apart than Dyche and Postacoglu. It sort of suggests they don't really know what the fuck they're doing. It really does. It really does. Yeah, it's an interesting one, that. I mean, because Edu was, I think certainly at Arsenal or within Arsenal, his departure was seen as a big loss and a bit of a blow to Mikel Arteta, albeit a blow that the club would determine to sort of turn into a positive by leading a big recruitment process and getting fresh blood and fresh ideas and fresh impetus. but yeah you have to look at sort of what's going on at forest and and wonder about you know edu's decision and you know thought making process and also being completely transparent also makes you reflect on like his time with us slightly differently as well you're like well you know did he i don't know like it you know it's been so bizarre since he went there and looked like such a mess that it certainly does give you sort of cause for a bit of reflection and consideration.

7:49Yeah, I mean, it wasn't a mess until they made it one, you know. They had a great season last season, and Nuno had done really well there, and they were in Europe, and it was all set up for him to continue the good work that he had done, you know, because there's no question they were punching above their weight last season, right? So they sort of reverted to the mean a little bit, and then, you know, they sort of diddled Crystal Palace out of the Europa League place, didn't they? They were a bit snitchy, Nottingham Forest. So maybe they deserve what they're getting right now for being snitches.

8:18It's karma for grassing on Palace. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But they did then appoint Ange Postakoglu as well, which, you know, it's difficult to justify. Yeah. But enough of them. Yes. How across the international fixtures have you been sitting down, I'm sure, with your notepad, taking notes on everything that all the Arsenal players have been doing? Ask me about fruits and vegetables and I can give you some pretty detailed answers. Okay. You know, the other day he came home with something called a mangosteen, I think it was called. A what? Mangosteen, mangosteen, that was it. Is that like a cross between a mango and a langoustine?

9:07Is this like the shellfish of the bush? What do they grow on, bush? Yeah, it's like a sort of plum. Anyway, what I'm saying is that stuff I'm across, the international break, slightly lesser. Okay. Did you see Bakayo Saka scoring a very good goal for England? I did, yes. That was a wonderful goal. I guess it was sort of a classic sack of go in some respects, wasn't it? You know, tuck in from the right onto the left foot, bends it top corner. I was kind of amazed by the stat that he's now our highest scoring England international ever. I think that's impressive. I saw James Olley tweet that. 13, I think it is.

10:02I did wonder about maybe some other players. Could you include Raheem Sterling in that? Because, I mean, he did play for us. Well, I think it's the amount of goals he scored while still an Arsenal player, presumably, or like while at Arsenal. Yeah, I guess so. Because Danny Welbeck has 16 England goals, for example. So does Tony Woodcock, you know, of the, well, quite distant past but not all of those goals would have been scored while he was an Arsenal player yeah only the nine England goals free and right he didn't get picked enough that was the problem yeah the majority of which I would think while he was at Arsenal Paul Merson England goals I don't know don't know let's have a look Paul Merson just three wow that's quite surprising

11:02England had a lot of forwards in that period a lot of good forward players they did so yeah I think he beats Cliff Bastin who was the previous record Arsenal slash England goal scorer you got to go back some some time for the Cliff Bastin era to be fair I don't remember it well no not even I in my venerable age me neither I remember Cliff Bastin. But I remember Bastin. I remember, like, Cliff Bastin was a name you heard a lot if you were following Arsenal in the 90s because of Ian Wright's pursuit of his records. Which ultimately he broke, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Which had stood for such a long time.

11:49Was it the 30s in which Bastin was playing? 20s or 30s, I think. I wasn't alive, James. Yeah. It's before even our time. I feel obliged to actually answer that question now. Tim Stillman would know. It was the 30s predominantly. He was there well into the 40s as well. Okay. No wonder he scored so many goals. He retired at 73 years of age. Basically, yeah. Sort of like Cristiano Ronaldo, just sort of refusing to go.

12:26But yes, he... So yeah, Saka was a great goal. Miles Lewis-Skelly came on, I believe. Declan Rice was captain. Yeah. I mean, if you can have a German manager, you can have an Irish captain. Yeah, quite right. And they must play again. They are. They're playing Latvia, is it, I think? Okay, but not till Tuesday. Yeah, because the game against Wales was just friendly. But they're away, England, away to Latvia on Tuesday. Yeah, I'm just looking at who played left back instead of miles. It was Jed Spence who started in that position. Yeah, interesting full-back selections, actually. Jed Spence played left back and Esri Konza played at right back.

13:24So there was a bit of rotation there. I don't think it's quite panic stations for miles in that respect. Not yet. Apart from that, the players have been playing. Timber played for the Netherlands. Zubimendi and Marino played. Yeah, they played yesterday. Victor Jokeres played. Sweden lost 2-0 to Granit Xhaka, Switzerland. That's a very good result. Jokeres and Alexander Izak started together up top and they fell to score Sweden bottom of their group. He was presented with an award, Jokeres. I did see that for being perhaps the top scorer in the Nations League or something like that. Another prestigious one, I guess.

14:13Yeah, exactly. Saliba played for France. Trossard played for Belgium. They drew Brazil. What an interloude travel journey they're on. Away to South Korea, they won 5-0 Brazil. Gabriel played the full game there. Gabriel Martinelli did not play. Then they're going to play Japan on Tuesday. I mean, that's something for Mikel Arteta to think about before Fulham, isn't it? You know, the minutes that Martinelli and Gabrielle will have spent traveling over the course of this international break. I guess so. Yeah. Especially if Gabrielle, as you would imagine, sort of plays 90 minutes in that second game.

15:00Yeah. Could well do, right? To do that and then spend 14 hours or whatever it is getting home. It's not ideal preparation. Yeah, I think they do get premium economy, though. They get premium economy. Premium economy, yeah. So what do they get for that? They get a free couple of glasses of wine. That's it. Plain wine is the worst wine in the history of wine. The finest wine in the world. The finest wine is found thousands of miles above land. On planes. On planes. Yeah, it's not the best, is it? No. I like that you get the little bottle sometimes and it makes you feel like a giant. I like that aspect.

15:50I've never thought about it in that way. I'll drink anything on a plane, Andrew. That's how I survive planes. No, that's fine. I get that. But I'd never thought about it from the perspective of, ha-ha, I'm a giant. Look at my tiny bottle. Oh, I love that. The whole Gulliver's Travels thing going on for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. wonderful feeling i love i that's the same reason i love canapes that are like tiny food you know why don't they just give you like really really small sandwiches to go with your small wine like a bag of crisps that's almost too small to open because in comparison relative to the tiny bottle of wine the bag of crisps is going to be minuscule that would be hilarious i'd be i'd like that if everything was just a scale.

16:40Yeah. Something for them to think about, perhaps. Ethan Wannery played. Ethan Wannery played, yeah. For England under 21s. They beat Moldova 4-0. He got two assists. I think one of the assists was one of those where he played a pass and some lad fucking spanked it into the bottom corner from, you know, 25 yards. Right. So it's a, you know, a generous assist. But, you know, they all count. They all count. statistically they do yeah Jamie Gittins played Rico Lewis somebody called Divin Mubama scored twice and I listen I confess I don't know who that is I don't either he is a Manchester City forward on loan at Stoke wow well fuck that guy then wow what a toxic combination but yeah it's been a pretty I don't know maybe it's just me Andrew maybe I've not got my it's the ground enough but in terms of sort of international football it's pretty dry yeah yeah I know there's you know this mix of friendlies and world cup qualifiers and and all that kind of stuff um but you know it's that thing isn't it when we've gone into the interlal in the position that we're in on the top of the table where you're sort of like just get this out of the way get it out of the way so we can get back going and winning games again scoring goals and all that kind of stuff so i mean the exciting thing to tell you is there's another one in november um yeah there's been a bit of arsenal news nevertheless um all the stadium business the story in the telegraph yeah possible stadium plans um david ryers pay rise yeah sort of discussed all of that on friday in the arse cast so what am i supposed to do i don't know i mean vegetable quiz so clive had stuff to talk about did he what about me what about you yeah sorry i should have saved some should have kept something in reserve well what about martin zubimendi then did you read the interview with martin zubimendi in the whole thing i read the clips i read the excerpts that you shared on your blog actually okay okay um go on tell me about it i just sidlow yeah with sidlow as always uh who does great stuff and he doesn't have his dog with him he's come from san sebastian the Scotland of Spain to London and his dog is not yet living with him not yet over from Spain I don't know if that's a paperwork thing you know you've got to do the old um quarantine yeah you you don't have to do quarantine if you get because I remember doing this when we came back from Spain with our pets with our cats and an opus the basset hand yeah we have the same sort of strict quarantine anti-rabies thing um here that you do over there but there is a way of doing it where you don't have to put the dog in quarantine for six months because is it that you have to um zip them up inside a suitcase you've got a yeah you've got a vacuum pack the dog um we're just a little little please don't pack your dogs listeners i'm sure they I'm sure they will.

20:09I'm sure they will. But you've got to start the process like six months in advance and they've got to get a, you know, a shot, anti-rabies shot and then some other one. And then you've got to get a pet passport, basically. And then when they get here, I think they have to stay in for like a day and then they were free to go, you know. So I don't know what the holdup here is with him. He's got no excuse, really, because it's not as if he didn't know this transfer was happening. Well, that's true. That's true. The world and his figurative wife was aware for a very long time. Yeah. It's probably something to do with Brexit, is it?

20:49I don't know. Probably. But, yeah, I mean, the bits and pieces I've seen, I've just been having to flick through as well now. I do like the cut of his jib. I like the way Zurbendi speaks in Spanish, in the little bits of English that he's done as well. I think he seems like a guy who's really got his head screwed on. Even when he talks about how the transfer came about. Yes. His loyalty to La Real, his reluctance in some ways to leave unless it was absolutely the right project. he said you know about because he'd obviously been lined up by Liverpool he said it was not the right time to leave Real Sociedad and then he said I'd watched Arsenal I liked everything I saw in terms of passion, youth, the feeling you get when you watch them and then Mikel Arteta called me, well if you've ever spoken to him you'll know he can be very convincing and very is in italics so that means very very very very convincing yeah muy muy muy convincing he's not the first person to say that is he observe that no I mean I think he's been excellent since coming in really excellent and

22:26I'm delighted delighted by his impact in the team. I think he's an upgrade on what we had before in that position. And he's selling brilliantly. He speaks a bit in the interview about kind of the physicality and how pronounced it is as compared to Spain, the amount of transitions, the intensity of the duels. And I suppose that's where you would have maybe queried him or questioned him or wondered, whether he'd be able to hit the ground running. But I think maybe with the possible exception of the opening weekend against Manchester United, I think he's largely been very, very... No, I think what we saw against Nottingham Forest is a better indication of what we're going to get from this player.

23:17You know, when he came... Nottingham Forest? West Ham, rather, sorry. You know, when he came on against West Ham and sort of ran the show, really, I think that is the best glimpse of what we're going to get from Martin Zubimendi, which I think is very, very exciting at Augur as well. It's only seven games into a new Premier League season. I think you're right, though, you know, about how grounded he is. He's 26, plenty of experience, you know, at club and international level, was ready to make the move. What did you make of what he called the worst thing in football? Did you see that? No, what was that?

23:51What do you think he thinks the worst thing in football is?

23:59The worst thing. I don't know. Diving? No. Think about a player going to a new club and what the worst thing might be. Oh, initiation. Yes. Yes. He said, it's the worst thing in football. I had to sing. I did La Bachata by Manuel Turizo. Yeah. And he said it was horrible, horrible. I went and looked up that song. We can't play it on the podcast because they've done a thing now with any clip of music. They'll just sort of take the episode down because of copyright and stuff like that. Really? Even if it's like really short? Yeah, even a real tiny snippet. there's new rules and I've had emails from Spotify about old episodes and all kinds of things so I've been like fuck off Spotify but I have had to do some editing but I did look up that song it's not an easy song to sing it really doesn't seem easy at all like I feel like there's probably easier songs you could sing what would it be like if you're a new player at a club and you they said right do your initiation song and you're just saying happy birthday or something yeah it's over quickly everyone knows the words they'll all join in and it's over in like 20 seconds that's what you want sing along you know what i mean i'm always struck like a lot of time these kids will you know get promoted to the first team for their uh first major call up and they get there initiation song and they go for like a really like uh recent or niche song where which none of the senior pros will ever have heard of and i think you're making life half yourself yeah so you need to do come on eileen something like that yeah say you're signed by arsel tomorrow and you've got to do your song what what song are you doing yeah come on eileen i think right okay and i want everyone in on the to lure i yes even martin's of mending i totally get that by the way like i um singing in like a public setting like karaoke for me is a real no-go oh i know there's elliot's tried to lure me to karaoke booth he tries to lure everyone to do karaoke and let me tell you it ain't happening I have resisted thus far that's weird because I am a performer in some parts of my life yes singing in public is the the most scary thing you can do I think it makes you real it's a pretty vulnerable place to be yeah um so yeah not for me and I and I so I hear you Martin on that one yeah he didn't like it um but he's 26 like he you know he's a he's a grown-up He's a grown-up.

27:05He can handle it. Yeah. Yeah. What was I going to say next? What else is happening? Nothing.

27:18Well, it's, you know, is it Fulham this weekend? Next weekend. Next weekend. Do we say this weekend? This weekend is this weekend. Well, I don't know when they're listening to this, you know. Today? But today might not be today. If they listen to it today, I think it's next weekend. Right. But if they're listening tomorrow, I think it's this weekend. This coming weekend. I guess it would. Yeah. This weekend coming. Yeah. It's the big Cronkies versus Karns showdown. Are you aware of this? No. So we are at Fulham, which is KSE versus Shahid and Tony Karn, who own Fulham. And then on Sunday, the following day in London, I believe the LA Rams take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

28:13Ah, okay. I did not, I just looked up the Fulham owners. I didn't know they were also NFL owners. Yeah, yeah. They've got a few properties, as it were. That dude's got a hell of a mustache, doesn't he? yeah that's what the showdown is really about it's stan versus that guy stan needs to sit at the bar like um what's his name from the big lebowski you know he's got the hat and the mustache sam oh yes uh he's called sam elliot sam elliot and he's got the big tash you know sitting there that's a hell of a look yeah but Shahid Khan he's got something going on on that top lip something that's difficult to rival it's sort of like it's like a sort of I don't know if you were going to buy a costume moustache that's what it would look like they were all based on his I mean I'm impressed I'm not being in any way critical or taking the makeup.

29:28I'm impressed. That's a hell of a mustache. Well, you're a man with a mustache yourself. That's true. That's true. But I feel hugely inadequate all of a sudden. I know. What am I doing? Well, these billionaires. See, they got... They invest a lot of time and money in their mustache. He went to Turkey and he got a fucking mustache transplant. I've thought about doing that. Getting a mustache transplant. basically i i grow facial hair in quite a sort of i don't know how to describe it there is sort of there are gaps right gaps and one of them is is in my is it called a philtrum the bit like where your lips between your lips and your nose that sounds like a vegetable yeah it usually is actually at the moment with me um so yeah i was i've it's sort of frustrating because i can't really i don't have the complete tash i it's very important that i stay away from craven cottage this weekend right because i'll be swallowed up by the feelings of inferiority but yes i i'm expecting a significant cronkey led delegation um at craven At Craven Cottage.

30:48Oh, yeah, I suppose they would probably both be there, won't they? If Stan is over for the LA Rams, where are they playing? Are they playing it in the bad place? I suspect so. Right. I suspect so. Oh, it's Wembley. Okay. Is it Wembley? I don't know. Let's have a look. NFL. It's Wembley. Right. That's better. he probably had to say listen if we're bringing the la rams i can't play at the tottenham stadium yeah i mean he would have had to say that right uh yeah i'm sure i mean i think they have before have they i don't know i don't know don't i don't follow nfl sorry guys but i'm expecting yeah a bit of a delegation i don't know if stan will be here uh i think there's a chance Certainly I would expect Josh to be.

31:44I would imagine some of our shiny new board members will be in attendance. And there'll be a KSE hoedown on Saturday night and a moustache competition. Line dancing their way to hopefully, you know, celebrating the three points at Craven Cottage. There is a Champions League game in midweek as well, isn't there, on the Tuesday. So they could hang around for that. Big one, by the way, Atletico Madrid. Yeah, that's a pretty tasty game. Pretty tasty game. We had a question about the games. I might throw it in, Andrew. Yeah, come on. Let's do it. It's from Ranbo. And it says, Arsenal's next games before the November Interlust.

32:36Fulham away. Atletico home. Palace home. Brighton at home in the EFL Cup, Burnley away, Slavia Prague away, Sunderland away. It looks like a kind run of games, especially in the Premier League. How many points do you realistically think we should be taking from these games? So in the league, it's Fulham, Palace, Burnley, Sunderland. Why do people keep asking us to predict things? When we have shown. We have demonstrated over a long period of time, since day one, that we are absolutely useless at this kind of stuff. But I think that, to be honest, I think that's what keeps people coming back. One of two things.

33:23Either it's very satisfying to listen to because you get to play along at home and be like, these guys are so wrong. You know what I mean? and they can make their own predictions and feel validated when they are right and we are ultimately sure correct well maybe that's it or it's like they've come so far they just feel like they need to hang on to see if we ever get something right they're invested in the miracle happening lightning striking one day and we're actually correct about something exactly right exactly that i think it's Probably the former, to be honest.

34:05Or their podcast apps are just broken. And, you know, every time they put their footage in. I keep trying to unsubscribe. It won't let me. They're desperate to unsubscribe. Just like auto-plays every time. I mean, look, those are games, what, one, two, yeah, two games in London. Burnley away is, you know, going to be tricky enough. Sunderland away, tricky because they've played. I mean, you're looking at two newly promoted sides. So I think if you're talking about expectations for a side that is expected to challenge for the title, I think you've got to say those two games are looking at six points, right?

34:46And I'm not taking that for granted, but I think if we're just trying to do predictions on paper, then that's what you would have to say. Fulham away. I would put Fulham away in the same bracket as West Ham at home and Newcastle away. like a thing that we've got to do better a game we've got to do better in yeah there's a bit of history there isn't there I mean last season it was one of those where we we absolutely dominated that game and then there was a goal ruled out for a really really marginal offside and that's sort of like a stooping header from Martinelli's cross I remember it was a lovely goal yeah so that's sort of the fine margin there Maybe the season before did we win there?

35:29I can't quite remember, but we have an all - No, the season before, we were beat. Was that? Oh, that was the - Back of West Ham, weren't we? Was that the early goal? No, that was the one last season. Yeah, I'm sure that's the game where we got beat home to West Ham. We were like, well, we'll put it right against Fulham. And then it was New Year's Eve. Oh, and we lost 2-1. The last day of 2023. We lost 2-1. ahead after five minutes from Bakayi Saka but lost to goals from Raul Jimenez and Bobby de Cordova-Reed and it was bleak yeah that was not great it was the end of a three game winless run do you remember that was the time where it was like will Arsenal ever score again ever score and then we scored and we still lost that was in the midst of like the the XG underperformance era.

36:26It was only three games, though. It just seemed to stretch for a really long time. It was that West Ham game. It just felt forever. Yeah, and there was a cup game against Liverpool, wasn't there? We lost late against Liverpool, I think. Okay, so listen, I'll stand by that then. That's a game where I think we've got to give Fulham a bit back, having lost there or not won there for a little while. I think we need to go and win at Craven Cottage. So I'm taking three points on Saturday against Fulham. Palace at home, again, home game. Palace are good though, aren't they? But Palace are good. You know, they're very, very good.

37:03Where are Palace at the moment? I think they lost their last game just before the break. Premier League table, they're in sixth. Sixth currently. Yeah. They lost at Everton. But they beat Liverpool, as we know. So you take nothing for granted against Crystal Palace. They were on like an 18-19 game on beaten run, which was incredible form. What can happen though a couple of times, you know, a bit when a team is on one of those runs and then they lose, it can take a little while just to sort of get back on track. So maybe that'll be the case with Palace, but I don't know. I mean, it's one of those where it's a home game.

37:42You want to win it. You expect to win it. But I don't know. Is 10 points from 12 enough? Am I being greedy enough there? Would you be happy with 10 points from 12? Yes, I would. I think 12 is possible.

38:03But... What are the away trips? Fulham, Sunderland. Palace at home. Oh, you're away at Burnley as well. Listen, I think... I actually think as a fan base, we'll be disappointed if we fail to win any of those games. Like on an individual basis, you know, if we drop two points to Burnley or Sunderland or I think even Palace, there'll be a degree of kind of introspection and concern. but if at the end of it that's all we've done and it's 10 from 12 I think in in full context we'll be like sure it's not a bad stint um yeah and also I think it might depend what happens around it in the other competitions you know you've got two Champions League games there one a bit of a sort of plum draw really a big game home to Atleti yeah and you've got the EFL Cup, which again, it's a home draw, which you'll be happy with, but it's not an easy draw.

39:16No, no, no. They're a good team and they've got lots of good players and probably will I'm not going to say they'll take it more seriously than we will, but we do have the squad to rotate and keep things. I kind of feel like we need I know that people sort of really there's no love for the Carabao Cup at this stage but I kind of feel like for those squad players it's potentially quite important there are certain players who need those minutes in that competition sure so yeah I think but there's no doubt that the other two competitions will be prioritised in terms of selection yeah it's a tricky run isn't it Fulham away Atletico Madrid at home, Palace at home, Brighton at home, Burnley away, Slavia Prague away and Sunderland away.

40:12So a little... They're three sizable trips, aren't they? In succession at the end. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Especially for the away fans, by the way, that Sunderland one is a nightmare. No trains at all. Oh, it's a half five kickoff. It's a half five on a Saturday, and I think there are longstanding engineering works taking place. So a train to Sunderland is completely out of the question. And there's only two hotels in the entire city of Sunderland, and they're probably all booked out. There's a premiere in and a Four Seasons, and that's it. Something for everyone. I think a lot of people are flying to Newcastle.

40:56the club are laying on private jets individual private jets for every travelling supporter no I think there's some coach travel potentially subsidised I'm not sure I've huge respect for anybody who can sit on a coach from Sunderland to London after a game of football you've got to really want to pay respects to Granit Xhaka

41:24coaches subsidised by the club at 26 pounds return. I think that's a decent price, but it is probably what, about six hours? Is it that long? I think that would be, given that presumably they'll be stopping and stuff, I think that'd be a good run. Stop off like at a service station for a quick wimpy, whatever it is. Yeah. Wimpy not included. Buy your own wimpy. Yeah. I mean, hats off. You know, and there will be people who will do Burnley. Prague. Absolutely. Sunderland. But yeah, big week for, especially for those traveling fans. All right. Well, look, why don't we take a little bit of a break here?

42:06We do have questions, so we can get into the questions, I think, in part two, because I think that's probably just as much as I think we can garner out of a Sunday afternoon in an interloude where there's not much going on. Oh, we did have a question. Did you see we were given a suspended£500 ,000 fine? Yes. Elizabeth said, can you talk about Arsenal being sanctioned by the FA for half a million pounds? But it wasn't actually half a million. It's suspended, suspended sentence, if you like. It's basically like, if you do it again. And the offence is not giving United the full allocation for the cup time.

42:51That's right. They should have got 15 % of the available tickets, which is up to around 9 ,000. But they got fewer than 8 ,000. How did that work out for us in the end? The game? The game, yeah. Well, I'm looking at the piece that Andrew Allen wrote for Arseblog News. And the final line is, an utterly dog shit 10 man Man United side somehow won the tie on penalties after 120 minutes of painfully disjointed Arsenal attacking just thinking about it still makes us angry so I don't think Andrew's over that one yet so I think most of us are with him to be honest alright yeah so I would say I'd say if you're going to get that fine you might as well get it for like a funny reason like give them like four tickets you know

43:44I think if anything, we sort of undershot it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, listen, we know what to do if you want to do a funny thing in the season ahead. And we have a spare 500 grand hanging around. Yeah, exactly. It's not like we spent any money this summer. So there's plenty in the coffers, I think. So it should all be good. All right, let's take a little break. We'll come back with some of your questions and more in part two right after this.

44:18Welcome back to the Arsecast Extra. This is part two of the show where we answer the questions that you send to us on bluesky at gunnerblog.bsky.social, also at arseblog.com. And on the Arseblog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an Arseblog member on Patreon. I have a little question for you first before we get into the questions questions. So this occurred. Yeah, well, I mean, I want to ask you something. I don't know if you have the answer or not, but a couple of weeks ago, I was foostering around on YouTube and a video from The Overlap popped up, you know, the podcast with Ian Wright and Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Jamie Carer and Jill Scott.

45:01So I looked at it for a bit and then was like, I'll turn that off. And then might've been the next day or the day after, I'm looking at Sky Sports and Roy Keane, who in this overlap video appeared to be completely clean-shaven, was on Sky Sports with what looked like it just was a big beard. How does that man go from clean-shaven to massive beard in... How does he do it so quickly? I don't know. It is weird. We need to get down to Craven Cottage this weekend. He can engage in the competition. Yeah. the full fucking captain haddock beard he has you know i get some of his face follicles transplanted onto me onto you yeah yeah yeah that's the into my you know like i keep saying i think it's my philtrum or something yeah but i i'm now getting like a massive terror that that's like some some abstract some like very like secret part of my bum or something and it's like why do you know that word james you know what i mean philtrum the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the border of the upper lip thank god you're thinking of perineum yeah yeah but i i had sudden podcaster's panic that i'd been talking about my perineum all over the interwebs no thankfully not thankfully what would happen though it'd be given that you know we're getting close to halloween and pumpkins and all that kind of stuff If you got like some of Roy Keane's hair transplanted onto your top lip to give you a Stan Kroenke, Sam Elliott kind of mustache.

46:40But in a twist, it also made you slightly evil. Yeah. Like Roy Keane. Like people's legs and say, that's people's job. Yeah. It's your job. And have a cork accent. Yeah.

46:55That's a good movie. Hmm. I'd watch it. Okay, well, good. Someone write the script. We'll star in that. Okay, here is a question. It comes from Andrew on the Discord. Not me, a different Andrew. He says... Andrew Allen. It's not even Andrew Allen. It's just plain old Andrew. I don't know. The actor Andrew Garfield. That's it. We know he's a big listener, loves lasagna. um is he an Arsenal fan I got no idea no idea I'll tell you what you know actually oh is it well a quick google produces a picture of him in an in some Arsenal merchandise okay so Andrew Garfield Anne Hathaway and Mark Strong this is where we are yeah okay so good when we make Arseblog the movie the cast Daniel Kalua yeah anyway we could play this game all day right anyway Andrew says you have often he says postulated I think he means postulate again that's an example of what I'm talking about postulate is something quite different sort of Freudian slip but anyway he says you've quite often postulated that Arteta learns or addresses lessons from the previous season in the summer transfer market what do you think the biggest lesson he learnt so far this season is?

48:28Listen, I'm wary sometimes that we kind of apply narrative over footballing events like it's Lerpac. You know what I mean? Like we lay our own stories onto events that may not be connected in reality. But I can't help but feel that when the story of this season is written the half time double change at home to Man City will be a kind of significant plot point. It's kind of the bridge between Act 1 and Act 2, I think. Where and and Nicola Theta would probably object to this phrasing, but where the handbrake maybe comes off. He would definitely object. I think, yeah, I think there's, I think that has been the lesson really.

49:41Even in these early weeks, I think there has been a bit of a shift to a slightly more, adventurous approach. And I think it really is just a case of leaning into the strengths of the players that are now in the squad. Sure. But yeah, that, that feels like the sort of potential turning point for me. What about you? I think that's a good one. I was actually struggling with that question. So that's why I asked you. Oh, great. Yeah. I'm glad I could help out. Yeah. I mean, how that relates to sort of next summer. That means that like next summer he'll be like persuading Ronaldinho to come out of retirement.

50:22Do you know what I mean? Yeah. One of those mad things. I signed Lee Trundle. He played with Ronaldinho though. Arteta played with Ronaldinho. He did, yeah. He speaks very highly of him. Yeah. I think he was asked like who's the most skillful player you played with. I think he was torn between Ronaldinho and Okoccia, which was remarkable because they played in the same PSG team. Maybe that's why he's so reluctant to play with two number eights or number tens. It's trauma from being the number six with those two in front of you. I'm just imagining Lee Carsley sitting at home then going, oh, not me.

51:06I was better than people thought, you know. I mean, that was some PSG team. Yeah. So there you go. But yeah, I think, like I say, like I do wonder if Mikel would kind of push back at this idea, you know, that he's this sort of utilitarian, you know, structural coach. And in the last three weeks, he suddenly became more creative or attacking. And I think, you know, clearly it is an oversimplification. Yeah. But equally, I do look at the selections. I look at those halftime changes. I look at the fact that Eze played at Newcastle the following week, that Eze and Odegaard were picked together the week after that.

51:50There is a pattern there. There is some sort of correlation, I think. Sure. So let's see where it goes from here. Okay.

52:02Oh, we've got some interesting questions here. Let me have a look. Okay. Did the fixtures one? Oh, I thought this was interesting. Father Nono of Temple Man Thigh said, with Hincapié soon-ish to return to action, do you think we'll eventually see the full transition of Mars Lewis-Gelly to midfield? If not, what do you think the plan is carrying three left-backs, although two can play centre-back as well? Great question. Not sure I have the answer. Yeah, curious, isn't it? And because we've seen, what, about 30 seconds of Incapié? Yeah, in Bilbao, that was it. Yeah, about four or five minutes. It sort of feels like a question we really have no idea as to the answers of at this point in time.

52:51Yeah. He does feel to me like a massive...

53:01What did you think I was going to say? I could just hear you say the word. I could hear you'd say a word there that just would have been very funny. That was a bad word. You know, we don't need to. No, no, no. What I was going to say is that when I heard about it happening, and indeed when it happened subsequently, and to this day, I know that it was a replacement for Jakob Kivior, and it was kind of one in, one out. It still feels to me like a pretty luxurious signing. Like, I've always looked at the sort of complexion of the squad and thought, you know, I think we probably had enough at the back.

53:41Maybe, obviously, you know, crises happen and things change and wow, what an insurance policy. But there is still part of me, and I know we're having to get used to Arsenal being more aggressive in the market and maybe more aggressive this summer than they have ever been in my memory. but I still am a bit like surprised and sort of amazed really that a that that well just that that deal happened I'm very curious to see what what happens yeah same same I mean we I did chat with Clive about this a bit on Friday and and what the longer term issue or or plan might be for Myles Lewis-Gelly if the Incapie deal, for example, is made permanent.

54:27He is still on loan, but it could well be like the David Raya one. It is, from what I hear. Basically, both clubs have to not want it to be permanent. Right. I think that's sort of a formality. I fully, fully expect him to be an Arsenal player. So, yeah, I think it is part of the lesson that Arteta learned from last season, though. yes to go back to that question you just cannot be short anywhere don't take chance can't run the risk of of you know not having cover in positions key positions particularly defensive positions you know as we know Arteta I think it has built his team on a really solid defensive platform which is why I think at times you know that that um you know it looks as if he is primarily a defensive manager and I don't really agree with that I think it is a lot more nuanced than that but I do think he absolutely values a defensive platform so yeah I think it's just complete insurance I think I think um from what from the bits and pieces I've heard like I think he is seen more as a left back than a center back um that's certainly someone who could do both jobs but But, you know, we spoke on here before about the fact he's played wingback for Leverkusen.

55:57And, you know, he's a bit more of a natural overlapper, perhaps, than, I don't know, a Lewis Skelly. And that might be complimentary for somebody like Eze. But, yeah, I'm really curious to see how he fits in. And I guess this block of games is when we might start to get an answer because there are multiple competitions, multiple fronts to fight on. And Mikel Arteta said just before the break, he expects him to be fit. Yeah, I wasn't aware when he signed that he'd had a surgery during the summer. Yeah. So that I think the little groin strain he has is a bit of a consequence of that or connected to that in some way.

56:42So hopefully, hopefully he can come in. And listen, the ideal, of course, is that we're all sitting here going, right, we're really comfortable with whatever team Mikel Arteta picks. Whether it's Myles Lewis-Galli at left back or Riccardo Calafiore at left back or Piero Incapia at left back. I enjoyed the observation Lewis made. It was in the blog today. Calafiore playing for Italy against Estonia. Carl Hain in goal for Estonia. And Lewis says, Riccardo Calafiore has had four shots so far tonight. none with his left foot. He's got like a bet on somebody. He's got a bet on with Lucas Packeta. Well, on the subject of, I hope not, on the subject of Incapier, we've been asked for another prediction by cartoon Steve Bold on Blue Sky, who said, afternoon, how many minutes do you guys expect Christian Norgard and Piero Incapier to get between now and Christmas?

57:44I think, let's say, in the Premier League. I don't know how many games that is, frankly. Yeah, probably seven, eight, nine games. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I think Norgard is obviously going to be a fringe-ish kind of player, isn't he? Because of, you know, what he's got ahead of him in Martin Zubomendi. Be looking for Norgard to play in that EFL Cup game, for example. The question really is, can Zubimendi or should Zubimendi play 90 minutes against Fulham, 90 minutes against Atletico, 90 minutes against Crystal Palace in the next game? It wouldn't surprise me if Norgard started against Fulham.

58:35You know? It would surprise me. It would surprise me. I'll tell you why. Because I think Norgard's problem is not just Martin Zubemendi. I think it's also Mikel Moreno. And I think that Mikel Arteta would sooner drop Rice into the holding field position and play Moreno than he would. Just swap Norgard straight in for Zubemendi. Maybe, maybe. But, you know. I don't know. obviously, but that's my assessment at the moment. Listen, Rice went down in the West Ham game with a back problem and had to come off. Then he's gone away with England. He's played for England the other day and he's going to play for England on Tuesday.

59:23I know he is a bit of a physical machine, but I also think you can't expect him, like Zubimendi, to do 90-90-90 in those games. I think there is a question of management, even if Norgaard doesn't start against Fulham. And I do maybe retract that a little bit. I think it would be a bit surprising, given our record there. But maybe the plan might be for Norgard to come on for Zubamendi with 20 minutes to go if the game is in a good enough state, you know. But I think he's got to get minutes. He does have to start to get minutes to be useful because he has to, I mean, part of his job is to provide cover, but part of his job is also to help us keep Zubamendi fresh.

1:00:04I think that's what, you know, this big squad is about. So I don't know how many minutes these guys are going to get. I really don't. I can't predict.

1:00:18But I think they'll play. I'll make a little prediction. I'll make a little prediction, which is that I don't think Norgaard will start a Premier League game in that period. Okay. That feels bold, doesn't it? Not really. But I think he'll play in the other competitions. I think he'll play, he'll start the Carabao game. He might start the Prague game, maybe. He might start one in the league. Burnley away. Is that a Norgard start game? It's interesting, isn't it? Because he had a good pre-season. I think people were generally quite impressed with him. He's clearly a solid pro and pretty reliable.

1:00:59He obviously had that injury that sort of hindered him early on. I do look at it and think, I think Zubomendi's made himself so important so quickly that I think he'll play a lot of football. But that's not unexpected, is it? You know, he's a big, high-profile signing. I know it sort of went, we talked about this, about how it sort of went under the radar a little bit in terms of people's excitement because it had been in the post for so long. when it happened. It was just like, okay, it's happened now. Thank fuck. But, you know, for me, it was always a really, really important, a really pivotal signing, you know, for what we needed to do with the team and the way we needed to develop the team.

1:01:44So I don't think that's a surprise. It's then about how do you manage that guy and his importance and how can you cope, let's say, if he's not starting a game. He didn't start against West Ham, remember? So he came off the bench. I think Norgard was Norgard on the bench? I think he was. Yeah, so yeah. Yeah, I think by the way, on the similar predictions I can't remember obviously exactly what pod it was on or what the precise question was but we were asked for takes at some point in the summer and one of my takes was that Zubimendi would you know, it was at a time when all the talk was about Yoko Rez and number nine and everything.

1:02:31And I think I said something to the effect of, by the end of the season, we'll see Zybermendi as the most important signing of the summer. And I'd say, you know, who knows? Long way to go. And anything could happen, but there's a chance I may finally be right about something. Right. Well, let's hope so. Or I've just completely cursed him, of course. Well, if you had to put some money on it, I know which way I go. Go on, ask me a question. Okay, we've got a couple here about Gabriel Jesus. Hayland Hurula says, Gabriel Jesus should be reaching full fitness fairly soon. What role will he have in the team?

1:03:19Do you foresee him getting significant minutes, particularly since Havertz will be back next month and Maduweke the month after? And Edzo Froma also on the Discord. What is the latest on Gabriel Jesus' injury? I'm reading there's some interest in him from Brazilian teams and also Everton. Will he leave in the January window? Does he have a part to play in this current Arsenal squad? Loads of us wanted Trossard to leave this summer. He stayed and has proven of value. Can Jesus do the same? Well, I'll kind of set my heart to one side and answer first with my head. And that would be to say that if somebody wants to buy Gabriel Jesus from you in January, I absolutely think you should sell him.

1:04:04I think if someone is willing to put money down, that means you recoup some cash on the player and take a sizable salary for a player who is not first choice off your wage bill. I think Arsenal should jump at the opportunity, to be honest with you. There was talk about him being sold in the summer, which didn't make a lot of sense to me, given the seriousness of the injury he sustained in January. So there was no chance he was going to be fit enough for any team to sign him in the summer. I have been a bit surprised at how he is a bit behind the mean in terms of his return. Like he wasn't included in the Champions League squad.

1:04:58And that was a bit of an alarm bell. And we had the space as well. Yeah, we did. And I was surprised by that because I think it was kind of a curious thing where I think the squad selection came about a week or so after Gabriel Jesus had posted to his social media, maybe about being back out on the grass. Yeah. There'd been a bit of buzz and excitement of like, oh, right, when will he be back? And I think generally when it's an ACL, people tend to think nine months-ish and he did it mid-Jan. So that's a month ago. So, yeah, I mean, I had heard more recently that, you know, December, January is a more realistic timeframe, which would explain his omission from the Champions League squad.

1:05:56And actually I asked the club about it and they were like, we don't, you know, he's not expected to be fit to play a significant part in the group stage. Maybe it was, you know, a little bit more than an ACL, you know, because he is it the same knee that he had the well he's got he's got a history of knee problems hasn't he so but the one he got at the world cup that kept him out remember he went into the world cup he was carrying an injury and i you know what's that meniscus but but basically that obviously the more trauma the more scar tissue the more complicated the procedure is the more complicated the recovery maybe um i mean look gabrie jesus is a player who when he's at his very best or hesitate to say it but when he was at his very best there aren't many more fun players to watch you know he was electric when he arrived at Arsenal and transformed the team changed our world to quote Mikel Arteta and he showed in that little stint prior to picking up the injury.

1:07:10There was that week where he scored about 14 goals. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right. You know, he showed he still has something to offer. And if he doesn't leave in January and stays around the club as the sort of third choice, centre-forward, joker in the pack, you won't hear me complaining. Like, what a great option to have. But I don't really feel I can expect his contribution to be more than that at this stage. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. Like if you're going into the second half of the season and Gabriel Jesus is still part of the squad, I think he's out of contract in the summer.

1:07:55Is that right? Honest answer is I don't know. I will tell you what the often reliable transfer marks say.

1:08:07they say 27 okay all right so he's got two which makes sense he signed 22 five years i mean to me it would genuinely make more sense unless there was a like ridiculous offer financially ridiculous offer it would make more sense to hang on to him as insurance for the center forward position You know, we've plenty in the wide areas, but as we've seen already, Saka's had an injury this season. Madueke is out injured. Kai Havertz has had an injury. We've got loads of depth, but we also have to expect players to be out. So unless there is a really, really good offer, I'd hang on to him. I just wonder maybe, you know, what we think, and then a club does something that doesn't make a lot of sense to us, you know, with regards to a player who you think, oh, that guy could have been quite useful actually, but they let him go or let him go on loan or something because, you know, he needs to play.

1:09:08I suppose imagine the fallout if we sell him January 1st and January 10th, you know. Yeah. It doesn't happen, but a striker picks up an injury. Yeah, I mean, I don't know as well what sort of financial imperatives might be in play for Arsenal in January. Like, we've spoken about how aggressive the summer window was.

1:09:37will Arsenal be in a position where they have to sell a player I honestly don't know only they have access to those kinds of numbers and know exactly where they're at with FFP but I'd have to say based on the estimates that we've made that it's not impossible that's not inconceivable that they may be under a bit of pressure to sell somebody. But whether they could, again, like muddle through to the end of the season. Because you might also rehabilitate Jesus a little bit in that time. You know, if he comes back, stays fit for six months, scores a couple of goals, you might stand a better chance of...

1:10:25Getting a few quid in the summer, yeah. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. I mean, he's 28, he'll be 29 in April. until then though I mean it's a hell of a punt for any club to go for him and he's got big money at Arsenal I imagine that would have to change I don't know Northern Forest have done some weird things they have alright maybe they'd do another weird one do us a favour I don't know we'll see I mean while we're on the subject of this Solaris on the Discord asks, with Kai and Gabriel Jesus out for the foreseeable, how do you see us balancing Victor Yaccaraz's workload with two games a week until the next break in a month?

1:11:13Like there's a player, when we've talked about left-back or centre-half or midfield, you know, we've talked about the options that we have there. How do we do it with Yaccaraz? And by the way, I'm hoping, it'd be interesting to see the timelines comparatively of like when we get Havertz back and when we get Jesus back I think Havertz might be just ahead but we shall see

1:11:45how do we do that? yeah good question he's played so many minutes I think he's going to have to continue to play a lot whatever happens in terms of alternatives at centre forward we've seen Trossard have little stints there. We've seen, I believe we've seen Martinelli have stints there. Mikel Marino. Have we seen Martinelli have a stint at centre forward? I'm not sure we have. Maybe not. But do you know what I'm thinking of? I'm thinking of the Man City game. Yeah. He scored from a centre forward position. Yeah. Whether that was his actual sort of, you know, position on the pitch at the time. Don't think so.

1:12:27because he came on on the right, didn't he? Yeah, he did. You're right. So, I mean, I wouldn't be 100 % opposed to Martinelli having, if you can call it a stint, but, you know, having a go in that position. No, I like that. In certain games where I think, okay, you're looking at, you know, how do we give Jokic a rest? How do we not place too much of a burden on him, you know, given he is the only striker that we have? So he seems, they're very different, obviously, but in terms of like the way that you might play with Jochrez and Martinelli in the team are kind of similar. You know, you're not going to ask Martinelli to do a lot of holding the ball up with his back to goal, which we're asking Jochrez to do quite a bit more than I expected, to be honest.

1:13:19But then he's a big guy and he should be able to deal with that. But I think if you're looking at playing a striker in behind, like the discussion always is about Jokeres, I think that's equally applicable to Gabriel Martinelli. Well, and he's been superb, you know, at doing that off the bench in the early period of the season. There are certainly people at Arsenal or who've been at Arsenal across the last few seasons who have maybe petitioned is too strong, but kind of argued for Martinelli as a central option. But ultimately, I think the manager has not been convinced or persuaded that that's the way to go.

1:14:06I'm with you. I like the idea. And listen, I still think, I also quite like Mikel Marino in certain situations. You know, if it's a game where, you know, you're looking for a winner and you're lobbing balls in the box, I think Mikel Moreno is as good as anybody attacking them. Does he offer you the same sort of threat in behind or the speed of Ayokeres? Certainly not. But I think he's got a part to play up front. Trossard can do it and, you know, I think is trusted there by Arteta. He just feels like it's just such a different, it's such a contrast in styles to jacquez isn't it that it almost it's for it's for a totally different game you know it's for it's it's like something we might deploy tactically um for a specific opponent but it's nothing close to a light for light change so look let's say we've got a game uh where we have to give jacquez a rest who would be your first choice out of the players that we have available to us right now to start up front?

1:15:22That's a really good question. I guess it might depend on the opposition. It depends on the opponent. Yeah. You know, like, let's say it's Atletico in the Champions League. And I think we might have a fair bit of the ball. You know, it might be quite congested. We might be looking to deliver balls from wide areas. and given his pedigree in the competition, I think I'd probably go Mikel Moreno. He didn't do too bad at home to a Madrid side in the Champions League last season. If it was, you know, a different type of game, I would love to see the Martinelli thing. I'd be really curious about it.

1:16:06I don't think Atleti would be the right opponent, but there are opponents where I think he could really, offer something and you know it's been years really since we saw it with any yeah consistency and so maybe it's a bit of a mirage in our minds you know maybe we'd all see it and be like to be honest that doesn't work at all we've all barked up the wrong tree michael knows best but yeah yeah i am curious what about you what would yours be um is there anybody else like you know would you consider a Saka or a Nguaneri? Hmm.

1:16:48Probably not. Like, I don't think Nguaneri is ready to do that. I mean, as a guy, I'd love to, you know, get into the sort of shooting positions around the box. And Mikel certainly believes or has believed it may be in his future somewhere. Yeah. I thought that was interesting. I'm not sure how much I believe him. Nor me. But, you know, I'll eat that humble pie. He was a great answer to a question. Yeah, it was. It felt like the sort of thing Wenger would say, you know. One day he could be a right back, you know. And we'd all be like, wow. Wow, what's he doing here? People would be picking 11s with him in that position, you know, from that point onward.

1:17:35but yeah I I don't think I know that Sakawon sounds insane but there is a trajectory that attackers tend to follow you know like a lot of guys who start as goal scoring wide men effectively end up or used to end up anyway as kind of centre forwards whether that trend is being slightly bucked now you know Salah kind of he almost did it for a time and then has ended up back in a slightly wider area. But no, yeah, I think, especially with Maduweke out, he's going to be needed, isn't he? Yeah, on that right-hand side, for sure. Let's see, what else have we got? There's a lot of questions about predictions.

1:18:22Wait, so who was your pick? Who was your pick?

1:18:27I feel like it's Martinelli. I think that's what I would probably go for, yeah, would be Martinelli, regardless of the opposition. Okay. But yeah, that's probably why I'm just doing a podcast on a Sunday afternoon.

1:18:47Let's see, what else have we got? Okay, here's one from jmart91. He said, if you could just get one of the current Arsenal players on the podcast for an interview this season, who would it be? Gosh, that is a really good question.

1:19:08For me, it's about thinking who would be, because obviously you want a big name. Sure. You want the kudos of that, but you also want someone who's going to be. Entertaining. Yeah. And interesting and open.

1:19:32I know who I would pick. I think I know who I would pick as well. I wonder if it's the same person. Well, I'll allow you to go first. I've got two. Okay. But I will... I'm going to say Declan Rice. Okay, that's interesting. Yeah. That wasn't who I was going to pick. I just think he's a brilliant talker. Like, I think he is very open in the right setting. and very engaging. I think as well on a podcast, you're looking for someone who's sort of got a good balance of insight and personality. We dream of having either of those qualities, of course. But I think he combines those things really well.

1:20:23I think he's entertaining, but I think he also sort of has, I guess, a football fan's instinct for the factual information that people enjoy. Right. And like, I think he knows. I think he's a really good interview, basically. Yeah, I can see that, actually. Yeah. But anyway, who would your pick be? I had two as well. I would go, I think, for Eber Echeza. That was my other one. Yeah. Yeah. I just think you could, you know, again, in the right setting, as we saw with Ian Wright, I think what you would get is probably something closer, not 100 % that way, but closer to a fan conversation with somebody who has been a fan since he was a kid.

1:21:17You know, and has obviously had this incredible career and made his way back to the club, having been released as a 13-year-old. I just think that connection that you might have with a player who has experienced some of the things that you've experienced as a fan, you know, albeit through a very different prism, you know, playing elsewhere and, you know, working hard and developing his career. I just think you know if you got into a comfortable zone with him you could probably get a really fun interview not just about him but you know about stuff that the club has done been through you know stuff we've won stuff we haven't won all that kind of stuff I feel like that would be a good one my other one that would be a great one and also like I was thinking cynically like you know if the interview's right now there's a value in a new signing sure do you know what I mean yeah yeah has that um excitement around him i would that would also be great ask ask cast issue come and get me please to decklars and who is your other one ben white ben white yeah of course again well just because i think he's i do think he's an interesting guy when you see him interviewed and when you see him talk about you know the game and this whole thing about like ben white doesn't watch football which you know we believe is true it's his job it's his work but you you don't get to where he is without being really serious about that so you might be able to elicit something on that level from him as well so yeah i would certainly have that aspiration and like it makes me laugh that like and we're guilty of it as well i guess to extend it be like you know he's he's unusual he's got these idiosyncrasies and really like all it is is he doesn't sound like every other footballer you know it's like yeah that's exactly there's nothing more normal than that in a way yeah um but my worry with him would be whether like the extent to which he feels kind of slightly burned by some of his experiences with the media like i i think you would have to i've i've never interviewed ben white but if i was to interview him and i would really love to because he's a player a person i you know have a lot of time for uh my feeling going in would be is this an uphill battle because sure he has certain attitudes and beliefs about the media which may to be honest be well founded i'm not you know yes for sure his mind on that one's bitten twice shy and all that kind of stuff yeah exactly it's like is he gonna enjoy it i think if you could get him to enjoy it it'd be a great interview just you know bring a load of dogs he loves his dogs i love my dogs you love dogs place in a tanning salon um which is right beside a dog park it's incredible we've designed the location specifically yeah um now i do think he would be fascinating and like i think he's a smart guy and smart footballer um i mean i think that's you know quite true of many of our players that they're they're you know they're pretty smart and they speak well but you can see that some of them are very very media trained and they don't really want to say a lot outside the sort of confines of what you're expected to say as a footballer you know how did you how did you enjoy that game oh it was great yeah great performance yeah we're really good worked very hard blah blah You know, some players just do not want to exist outside of that sphere, which I understand.

1:25:05It probably makes their life a lot less complicated. I think Gallifiori would be good as well. Well, that's another one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, he's kind of a bit of a man of the moment currently. And I think, yeah, he's very expressive on the pitch. But I think that comes from, you know, we spoke. I enjoyed your tennis player comparison. There is a kind of an individual, what's the word? Individuality? Yeah. Yeah, there's a personality at the heart of everything that he does. Exactly, yeah. I don't think he, he doesn't seem like a man like encumbered by the need to conform, you know? True.

1:25:46And why would he? And why would he? Look at him. Look at him. Carl Fiori. Listen, I think we should probably leave it there. for this. Are we going to be able to squeeze in a waffle for our Patreon members? We're certainly going to try. It might have to be an evening. Okay, we can make that. We'll get our best shot. So if you want to get on board with that, even more than this particular episode, a waffle for our Patreon members is a podcast in which James and I talk about anything and everything except for Arsenal. So you can join us for that on Patreon a bit later this week, patreon.com forward slash arseblog.

1:26:24And of course, we'll look ahead to the mustache war at the weekend a little bit later on in the week with a regular arsecast and all the rest. But for now, thank you for being here on this interlull Sunday. Let's keep fingers crossed for all of our boys who are out there playing, that they come home unscathed and fit and ready to go. For now, though, take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.

1:26:52We'll be right back.