Arsecast Extra Episode 667 - 17.11.2025

0:13Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from Gunnerblog. James, it's a goodly morning. I have to give you a goodly morning today. On behalf of your nation. Yeah, mad. Insane stuff. Incredible stuff. Troy Parrott. Yeah, formerly of, you know, that lot. I know. But, you know, as soon as he left, he started scoring goals, so... Makes you think. Yeah, I didn't really know. I'll confess. I didn't really know what Troy Parrott was up to these days. I can't say I've been... career that closely either to be honest but but he had a loan spell with uh excelsior rotterdam in 2023-24 okay which he impressed i think he scored 17 goals and then earned himself a permanent transfer about 18 months ago to az alkma and now as far as i understand it he's the new patron saint of Ireland?

1:22Yep. President, Taoiseach, Tornishta, the whole lot. What a week. Five goals. Did you watch much of it? Yeah, I was in the pub having some lunch yesterday. I was in a bar having some lunch. So I watched the first half in the bar. It was quite funny because my wife said to me, who's the manager of Ireland these days? And I was like, well, it's a dentist. From Iceland. And she went, why can you never give me a serious answer about anything? You always have to make some stuff up. And, you know, I'm the fool then when I believe you. I'm going, no, seriously. It's a dentist from Iceland. And, well, show her the proof.

2:08And obviously, watched the first half. And then second half was on the way home. It was 2-1 to Hungary. I sort of was like, that feels par for the course. So near yet, so far. Then I went to 2-2 and I was looking at live score on my phone. I went to 2-2 and then turned on for the last few minutes. And then obviously the finale, the last kick of the game to score. Absolutely extraordinary. Extraordinary. Like Ireland beat Portugal, then Hungary inside a week. because that's not normal for Ireland, for Irish football, you know. It's just amazing, amazing. It is amazing. And they made Cristiano Ronaldo very sad.

2:55They made Dominic Zobers-Lie a bit sad, which I think we owed him after Anfield earlier this season. I don't know exactly who it was in the RTE studio, but there was a video doing the rounds of the presenters and whoever it is inside the RTE studio, I think it's RTE anyway, and somebody looks at the screen after about 20 seconds of celebrating this and says, ah, fuck, stick that up, fucking stick that up your arse, sobs a lie, you liverpool cunt. And then goes, ooh, sorry about that. This was all fair, by the way. So yeah, I mean, it's been a hell of a week. Ronaldo, you know, the red card, the crying and the gestures and all that kind of stuff.

3:39I mean, that's just pure entertainment as it is. And then to follow it up with that kind of a win, you know? I'm sure you've seen some of the videos and the video of, like, the people watching in Dublin Airport just all going absolutely mental. I'd say there are some very, very, very sore heads in this land this morning. Oh, good. I'm glad. And through to the playoffs, the playoffs beckon. Yeah, they're in the playoffs, yeah. Yeah, very emotional scenes and like, you know, Seamus Coleman. A lot of the commentators kept saying, look at Seamus Coleman. You know, it's like he's played for Arsenal, played for Ireland for about, I don't know, 40 years?

4:23Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah. You could see what it meant. So, yeah, incredible. And like as last gasp goals go, it was a really celebratable one. I mean, like even the way it happened, like the way he kind of snatches it away from the goalkeeper. Just gets there in time. I know we've probably got some listeners in Hungary, but, you know, the difference, you know, the Hungary players slump to the floor. The Ireland players are going absolutely crazy. it's just I mean he said in his interview afterwards you know this is why we love football because things like this can happen you know and and I'm sure as we go on in this podcast and we discuss some of the things that have happened during the international break there is this idea that internationals what a load of shit etc etc and look you know I've been on record many times as saying I'm not the biggest fan of international football but it's impossible not to get caught up in those moments and not to enjoy the emotion of them.

5:30Obviously, if you're an Irishman and not a Hungarian man or woman. But, you know, the way we sometimes think about international football as fans, and maybe it's something that's also, well, I guess inevitably, it's going to be fans of the big clubs because they have the best players, etc. You know, that what we think as fans is very far removed from the way that the players themselves think about international games and international commitments. We'd rather they didn't have them. They love them. They absolutely adore playing for their countries, and that's a balance we kind of have to find with stuff like this.

6:14Yeah, and even among the supporters as well. We're here recording an Arsenal-specific podcast. You're listening to an Arsenal-specific podcast. We are all, whether we like to admit it or not, we are firmly at one end of the sort of club v country spectrum. But there's a lot of people, a lot of fans who are like much more casual, to whom international football, I think, is a much bigger deal. And it is nice, I always find, to have those moments where it cuts across club loyalties in that way. You know, everyone in that airport is just losing their minds together. Do you think there's something, you know, in the modern world of football where there is so much cognitive dissonance required and so much compromise required about all kinds of things, you know, ownership and sponsors and players and all of these things that we have to sort of try and compartmentalize to the best of our ability that actually international football really just does kind of come down to the badge on the shirt?

7:23and there's something a bit more pure, if that's the right way of putting it, about the international game, particularly when you get moments like this, you know, that it isn't quite as, I mean, I could be completely wrong because we're talking about stuff that's organized by FIFA, but it just sort of feels a bit that way, you know? Yeah, yeah. Where, yeah. I hear you, I hear you. I was, while you were talking, just sort of picturing like Infantino, know you know just clasping his hands together in today today i feel like an irish man fuck off you baldy ghoul yeah and listen of course like in england i think like something that's sort of uh and probably in other countries as well is that that sort of national team support is kind of like very muddied and muddled with feelings around nationalism and some of the dangers associated with that.

8:21So pure, I don't know, but I also know exactly what you mean. There's something, you know, despite FIFA's best efforts, it remains relatively uncommercial in some respects. The players aren't there for the money. You know what I mean? Sure. That alone gives it, so that's my phone going, but that alone gives it something a little bit different. Yeah, I actually am like, I mean I hesitate to say this in an international break where Arsenal appear to have sustained an important injury which we'll get on to but you know I I do love an international tournament I really really do I I'm sort of loathe to be patient with all the qualifiers and the Nations League and the friendlies and all those things but a World Cup or a Euros can make a summer for me.

9:18I think they're fantastic. So it's a big prize Ireland are playing for. And yeah, given, well, given both my friendship with you and my small genetic inheritance, I hope they make it. I will, if they get there, Andrew, I will dress as a parrot for the entirety of the World Cup. I will arrive on the shores of the US in full parrot regalia. Big green parrot. Answering only to Polly and eating only crackers. Yeah. I mean, along with the rest of the Irish people. By the way, Troy Parrott, obviously, as we say, new patron saint of Ireland. We have a new national hero of our own here in England. I believe the statues are being built.

10:07I think he's going to be named in the New Year's Honours list as well. arise sir Phil Foden I don't know if you're aware but he he played a five yard pass to Eberichi Eze he did all the hard work he did all the hard work and as a nation we sort of fall at his feet really I've got my tattoo booked this afternoon I'm getting his name and number just across not my back actually but my face i'm gonna get the name on my forehead and then the number just on the sort of lower parts of my face the tip of your nose yeah um it's extraordinary i mean yeah i have to ask you i've got to ask you about that because i feel like you know it's um i'm sort of removed from it but i did see the clip of of Eberachieza being asked by the interview, is it fair to say that the pass from Phil Foden did all the hard work, something like that?

11:19And I hadn't seen the goal at that point. I saw the clip and I was going, oh, wow, I wonder what Phil Foden did here. It must have been something extraordinary. Remember that pass that Dennis Bergkamp played to Patrick Vieira at Stamford Bridge? Do you remember that one with the outside of his foot? And Vieira scored the goal and the Stamford Bridge net rattle, which is one of the greatest sounds in the world when you score there. What an extraordinary pass that was. And I thought he must have done something like that. And then I saw it and I saw the finish. and I was like, I feel like maybe the focus is a little bit wrong here because one of those things was extraordinarily difficult to do and the other thing, while fine, was something you would expect from any basic competent footballer in that position.

12:20So, I mean, what did you make of that? Well, it was pretty extraordinary. It was quite a, how can I put it? They had it covered off on all angles. I mean, the TV commentary went really big on Foden's contribution to the goal. The interview after the game with Eze was all about, you know, the pass makes the goal for you. Even the England official X account, when it posted about the goal, use the phrase Foden put it on a plate for Eberichet Eze. Sorry, but what the fuck is that? Put it on a plate. I don't know, man. Like, from a sort of technical perspective, I do think the pass contributes to the finish because actually I don't think it's a brilliant pass.

13:18That's the irony of ironies. Like, it's a bit bobbly. And I think that's what enables Eze to, or gives him the idea maybe to sort of hit it so early and it gives it a little bit of lift into that top corner. But that's not because it's a great pass. It's a bang average pass that turns into something fantastic. I really think that we as a nation have a bit of a, there's a Gascoigne complex, I think. And I think Phil Foden is the sort of latest symptom of that. There have been many, I suppose notably Wayne Rooney. But, you know, I even remember similar debates around kind of Matt Letizia and other sort of seemingly individualistic talents.

14:13and I think a lot of pundits and commentators went very hard on Phil Foden as sort of Gaza incarnate quite early on in his career and I do think there is a kind of palpable desperation to see that come to fruition and for that kind of prophecy to be realized I think that is a big component in it there might be other kind of socio-political dynamics there as well about our expectations and our attitudes around certain players or players from different backgrounds or I don't know it's like the willingness to embrace certain players over others that you could draw inferences from as well it was very very very very odd and i i still am kind of flabbergasted really at how that played out yeah i mean some people you know to bring it down to brass tacks will say that they're um you know over indexing the contribution of the white guy and under indexing what the black guy to review that isn't it i mean absolutely yeah you know that is what it looks like frankly I think that in mitigation I think that Gaza complex is real and I think but you know Phil Foden as far as I can see has never really produced for England in any meaningful way and there's always every year, every tournament there's this big debate about how do we get Phil Foden in, where's Phil Foden going to play?

16:05And I can answer that question very quickly. If everyone's fit, he won't. Yeah. I mean, you know, Saka will play from the right. As he should. Pardon? As he should. As he should, yeah. And he scored, by the way, in that game. Yeah. In the break, a bit of a shin, but a really good take, I thought. The left is kind of open to debate. And then the 10, I mean, you know, they said, will it be Morgan Rodgers? Will it be Jude Bellingham? If Cole Palmer is fit and in form, it'll probably be Cole Palmer, to be honest. So, yeah. Well, look, I'd have any of those three. Bellingham, Rodgers, Palmer. They'd probably all be ahead of Foden for me in my England selection.

16:52Yeah. So it's very, very odd. And as a, you know, it's a beautiful, brilliant finish. I mean, the real shame of it is that he's not sort of had the credit and the flowers that he deserves. Of course, yeah. a beautiful finish but he is something that like yeah you on the one hand you sort of roll your eyes at it on the other hand you're like what what is this illustrative of it feels quite uh pernicious really yeah it was yeah i mean i think you're right to say that that ezra deserves the flowers and applaud it's for what was an absolutely brilliant goal um so he can get some of those here because you know that's the kind of thing we want to see from him in uh in an arsenal sure it's the kind of thing we know he's capable of and look the two arsenal uh lads made a good contribution to england over the course of this international break england qualified for the world cup um unbeaten or did they win all their games am i right in saying that i think they won all their games through it yeah i don't i don't know the ins and outs but they look very strong um harry Kane, who our old friend Harry Kane, who we'll see at the Emirates shortly, just over a week's time, he's not in bad form.

18:06No. So, yeah, I think England look really, really good. Yeah, played 8-1-8, by the way. Say that again. Played 8-1-8, scored 22, conceded 0. Yeah. I mean, they've not been hugely tested, but and it's been a slow burn with Tuchel. Like I think some of the early games are quite uninspiring, but, and I don't think they're ever going to be particularly inspiring. I don't think England are going to go and take the World Cup by storm with a sort of breathtaking brand of attacking football. But they, you know, they are a bit of a machine to use a term that we've applied to Arsenal and they're very strong structure.

18:52They have Declan Rice and we know what that can do for a team. I mean, in midfield, they gobble up all those. But it's hungry hippos in there. Hungry hippos? Hungry hippos. Hungry hippos, yeah. Declan Rice obviously looking on yesterday with tears in his eyes, wishing he could be part of that Ireland team. So, yeah, I mean, they look strong and I was pleased for Saka and these fans. The first game, I had my heart in my mouth a bit because Saka was having words with the touchline, wasn't he? And commentators were saying, is he moving freely? It turned out he wanted to change his boots, basically.

19:36But it gave me enough of a scare. Not as much of a scare as Brazil have given me, of course. Yeah. That's the big Arsenal news, really, isn't it? It is, yeah. Yeah, the injury to Gabrielle. I mean, I don't quite know what it is. Carlo Ancelotti said it's an adductor. There's some talk about it being a thigh issue. I saw mention of a knee problem as well. So there's a lot of info out there without a lot of clarity. But what is clear is that he had to come off in the game. and given the schedule, given the games, the caliber of opposition that we've got to face over the next little while, it's a big, big blow.

20:22And listen, he's been one of our best players so far this season, you know? I think there's a sort of a handful of players who you could say, right, they're all pretty much playing at the top of their game, you know? Jurian Timber, Declan Rice, probably Leander Trossard as well when it comes to end product. But Gabriel in particular, I think, is somebody who I think we said and you've heard it said that he's maybe in the best form of his Arsenal career. So to pick up an injury while playing friendly for Brazil is, you know, is a real blow and will be a concern for Mikel Arteta. what's your you know based on what we've said about international football and the way players think about it versus the way fans think about it you know i saw a lot of people saying well gabrielle should be refusing to play in games like this it's just a friendly what's he doing etc etc but i think it is all part of of the same thing isn't it that you know managers need time with their players because international managers don't get a lot of time to to work on things so So using your best players makes sense, even if it is a friendly.

21:35Could they have been a bit more cautious with him? Could Gabriel have said, I can only play a half? You know, I don't know where I stand on this particularly. I just think it's unfortunate more than anything else. I think trying to point fingers at the frailty of the human body, you're never going to win really, are you? no I mean I can understand people's frustration sure me too yeah it hasn't happened on Arsenal's time as it were I mean this was never again Gabriel was always going to play this playing for the Brazilian national team in a world cup season at his home ground the Emirates stadium um I think his leg would have had to come off basically to not be involved you know and I do think that we as a fan base i think as club fans generally we do underestimate what it means to players to represent their country and maybe maybe brazilians more than most like they are one of those nations who there is such an intense focus and scrutiny on the national team um i think i've heard tim stillman talk about this before you know it's such a goal for every brazilian footballer and such an honor for them to be involved in it that i just don't think it's realistic um to expect him to kind of step aside and i actually think the world cup year is kind of an interesting element in the season you know it does for a club manager uh it's potentially a kind of challenge to be overcome you know in other international years you might be able to persuade a player that going off to join up with the national team is not ideal but I just think they're all going to be well the nations that are in with a chance of being there the Irish for example are all going to be so desperate to be involved that you know you're fighting a losing battle basically as a club manager yeah i mean it's a bit it's a bit ironic in the sense that the last international break brazil traveled to i think i know south korea and japan so yeah around the world yeah halfway around the world the world lots of travel um time zone differences climate differences all those kinds of things it's a bit like jacores getting the week off before the game against whoever it was.

24:14Who was it? Burnley away? Yeah. Yeah. Burnley away, he got injured. Was that the one at halftime? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So he'd had the week off or, you know, didn't play in midweek. Didn't play in the Carabao game. Exactly. And everyone's going, that's great. We've rested him. And now he's going to be fit and ready for the weekend. And then he picks up a hamstring strain. And with Gabriel, like he did all that travel with Brazil for the previous games, came through on scathe. I think he played one of the games. I'm not sure he played both. But, you know, this is a game taking place at the stadium he plays in every week, every other week.

24:51You know, it's just I think it is more than anything just unfortunate and one of those things. Is it any more or less of a blow if he gets injured in training? if he gets injured in training and is missing for a few weeks it's still the same absence you still have the same problem to solve it's just that you don't get the the anger because it feels like something that was out of our control I guess there would be anger if he got injured in training for Arsenal people would be saying what are we doing in training well you know what's what's he got them doing that's got players getting injured etc so So I don't think you're ever going to placate the angriest of angry people, the angriest man on Twitter and all that, right?

25:37But it is a problem now for Mikel Arteta to come up with a solution for. I think, you know, the thing to say is that this is bad. It's bad to lose Gabrielle. There's no sugarcoating that, I don't think. But it could be worse because we have options available to us that maybe in the past we haven't had. You know, certainly a variety of options. It's not even a case that right now, like let's say last season, Gabriel gets injured. You're like, what do we do? It's Jakob Kivior. Kivior came in, did really well when Gabriel was out last season. But this time around, the manager has got some thinking to do about how he solves that particular problem.

26:18Yeah, it's interesting because occasionally we get asked on the podcast, in fact, I think somebody asked us this week, if you could protect an Arsenal player from injury, who right now, who would it be? And I don't mind saying this now. I'm glad I'm saying this now after the fact. If I'd said it before, the amount of hate I'd be getting online for jinxing it would be intolerable. But I think at the moment, Gabriel kind of would be mine in that I just think he's been so massive for us in both boxes. He's been really decisive in key moments in games. So it's undoubtedly a blow. But as you say, we don't know the extent of it yet, but we also have options.

27:07I mean, the extent to which Riccardo Calafuri is an option is, again, somewhat interesting. He hasn't played for Italy during this international break. Certainly, if you speak to people around him, the suggestion is that he's okay. There's not a specific injury there. It's just sort of load and pain management at a time where Italy, I think I'm right in saying Italy couldn't qualify after the first game. Is that right? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I presume they're going to be in the playoffs. They got beaten 4-1 by Norway, who have had an incredible qualifying campaign, by the way. Just looking at the table here, Italy in second.

27:56Yeah, so they sort of couldn't be anywhere other than second, is the right thing. Yeah. Which may have played in the decision to allow him to return to Arsenal. I mean, you know, that's what I've heard, that it's sort of load management and nothing too serious. But when it's a player with that kind of injury history, you can't help but sort of be, you know, have a nagging worry there as well. Yeah, sure. But yeah, I mean, those are the options. We did have questions. Let me see if I can find one here. Although I did like this from Boston Gooner77 on the Discord. He said, with all three Gabriels now injured, is there an available Gabriel without a team we can sign quickly so our Gabriel equilibrium is restored.

28:45That's true. We're low on Gabby's. We had all the Gabby's. You know, presumably edging closer, having been back in some form of group training before the break. And we don't know about Gabriel Martinelli. You know, the Spurs game was a target for him. I think there was a bit of a feeling that maybe it might be a fraction too soon, that maybe like Bayern might be more realistic. I guess we won't find out when we have Mikel Arteta's press conference. No, we won't. We won't. I don't know. I have a Martinelli goal versus Spurs in my mind. I can envisage that. I don't know why, but let's see what happens there.

29:35but back to sort of big Gabby and what we do in his absence the purple onion on the discord said hello gents with Gabriel probably out for a while would you rather see Mosquera step in or try and get one of our left backs into centre back for a consistent run so the options you know as we see them are Christian Mosquera or he could play Piero Incappier in there or indeed he could play Riccardo Calafuri in there where he does play for Italy but hasn't played a great deal for Arsenal since his arrival. So, you know, there are good options there for Arteta. It's just about who he feels is the right one for the kind of games that we've got coming up.

30:17Yeah, really interesting. Especially, yeah. I mean, obviously, Calafuri, as I say, we can't be 100%, but I suppose if we take it that he is going to be available, you're looking for a direct replacement at the left centre-back. I mean, until now in this season, it has been Christian Mascara, right? When a centre-half's not been available, he has stepped in and he hasn't really put a foot wrong. The only thing that slightly changes things is, A, it's Gabriel missing now, not Saliba. So it means playing on the left side rather than right. I'm sure he's perfectly capable of doing it, but it is a slightly different dynamic.

31:03And the other factor I think is the availability now of Hincapié, who is not just fit, but has had some game time, has played during the international break, and I think comes into strong consideration. Yeah, I mean, I think you mentioned a couple of weeks ago on here that the signing of Hincapié was more about left-back than centre-back, but he certainly does fit the profile. typically I think he has played centrally, in inverted commas, as part of a three rather than part of a two. So I don't really know his track record as a sort of left-sided centre-half on his own. But he certainly is somebody who could slot in there profile-wise in terms of physicality and also the fact he is a left-footed player, whereas Mosquera is right-footed.

31:58And typically Arteta does like that balance of a right foot and left foot center half combo. That is a good point. That is a good point. Yeah. So I think I would probably pick Mosquera. I just think he hasn't put a foot wrong. He retains some of Gabriel's height and physicality. and I think he deserves the start, actually. I think that he has shown that he's able to kind of step into the breach there. So I think that's kind of where I would be. My gut is telling me that Arteta will pick Hincapié. Right. Just on the balance of, like, experience And from hearing the way Arteta talks about him, you know, describing him as a warrior and that sort of force of personality that I think he'll be keen to replace if we lose Gabriel.

33:07You know, Gabriel is a leadership figure in this team too. And I just wonder, like, does he see in Capier's experience and presence as being a closer fit? and aggression maybe i think that's yeah you know just yeah that's the that's the other thing i i sort of agree with you here that i think i'd be quite happy with mascara i feel like he's been more earmarked for right-sided deployment if you like because he played it right back and he played for saliba you know obviously came on at anfield and did really really well there i think he could do the job but if you have in capier and you are missing like you say the leadership of gabriel the sort of physical power of Gabriel as well, and you want to maintain that left foot, right foot balance, then I think Incappier is the guy who might just get the run.

34:02And the fact that before the break, they were keen to give him minutes to get him up to speed just maybe suggests to me that that might be the way he goes. But, you know, we'll wait and see. We could be wrong. If Calafuri is okay and is available, would you give consideration to playing him at centre-half and then putting, I don't know, Incappier or Marles as a left-back? I mean, you definitely could do that. I do wonder if it might be better to keep Calafuri at left-back in the position that he's done very, very well in so far this season, particularly when it comes to the games in question. it's two changes rather than one isn't it that's the thing and I also think if you're asking me to name games where I thought we might want a centre half who is prone to sort of disappearing up the pitch and getting involved with the attack and you know vacating that space I probably wouldn't choose the North London derby by Munich at home and Chelsea away no necessarily as like Calafuri at centre-half games.

35:15Yeah, well, I mean, I think the instructions to Calafuri would probably be, you know, be a bit more disciplined in terms of your positioning. You're playing at centre-half and you don't have that freedom to do what he does. But I think the natural instincts he has to try and contribute further forward may come into play. I don't know. I mean, I think if you're told, look, this is your job, this is your job. But listen. I mean, you could do it because I suppose, let's say you picked Nkappie left-back. and Calafuri is your left-sided centre-half, maybe you still give Calafuri that licence and you just say to Incaffier, when he goes, you tuck in with Saliba and Timber and that's your back three unit, right?

35:57Yeah. But again, you're changing quite a lot structurally there to make that happen. Sure. There was a really good interview with Christian Mosquera, Sid Lowe in The Guardian, who always does such good pieces, did a fantastic interview with Mosquera, who's away with Spain's under-21s. They're playing tomorrow night. He didn't play in their game the other night, but did you get a chance to read that? Yeah, I saw he was talking about, you know, his longstanding admiration for Arsenal, which I enjoyed. I mean, which version of Arsenal do you think he was watching at that time, you know? yeah true yeah uh maybe we should question his taste depending on the version but um glutton for punishment maybe who knows yeah i know he i mean listen obviously it's a great interviewer and and uh i thought it was a really good good chat actually like for a young man i thought he spoke really well and he was really open and interesting and he's a player i really really like i mean i you know we spent a lot of money this summer and had many many different signings um but in terms of sort of the expectation versus what they've delivered sure he's right up there oh absolutely absolutely it's a great i mean it really is a great interview if you haven't read it i'll put a link to it in the show notes it's worth your time you know and i think as well there was stuff in there about the journey that he's been on and his family has been on you know the his parents came to spain from colombia and made a new life there and he's talking about you know his dad would do whatever he could in terms of work you know working on building sites one one month and then washing dishes in a restaurant and his mother would clean houses and he left home at 12 to join the valencia academy which is an incredible thing to do.

38:00You know, we've often talked about Max Daumann, right? And how remarkable it is that he is doing what he's doing at 15. But Max Daumann has got his family all around him. And this is not a criticism or anything like that. He's got his family around him. He's at home. You know, he's used to where he is. He's got those support mechanisms around him. Christian Mosquera leaves home at 12 to join the Valencia Academy, not knowing, you know, am I going to make it or not? How hard is this going to be? I just think right now in the sort of times in which we live, in which, you know, people like Christian Muscara's parents are routinely sort of demonized in the press because they are people who want to go somewhere and make a new life and a better life for themselves and a better life for their kids and to have a better future.

38:54You know, I think that is an illustration of, you know, what most people want when it comes to their own lives, when it comes to emigration or immigration or however you want to put it, it is about opportunity and about making sure that you can give your kids a better life. And he's followed on, you know, I'm sure it wasn't easy to move from Colombia to Spain. And here he is, this kid of Colombian descent who is representing Spain at under 21 level who's now living in England playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world you know it's an aspirational story I think for many yeah it is and and huge sacrifices um made by his family and by himself to get him to that point yeah and what will happen probably he'll he'll bend one in the top corner for Spain in the World up one day, but the guy who gives him a three-yard pass will take all the credit.

39:50You fear. Speaking of Spain and goal scorers, Martin Zubimendi was on the score sheet for Spain. They beat Georgia 4-0. He played the full game. Nice goal. Don't know why he's sort of popping up in that area, but fair play. He's sort of centre-forward and finishing very nicely from close range. He played the full 90. Mikel Moreno started and got a yellow card. Didn't score So, you know, it's all over for Mikel Moreno. Finished, yeah. It is interesting about Zubmendi. I mean, I always remember when he came over, apologies because I have said this once or twice before, but I remember chatting to someone who knew him well and they were saying, like, there is an attacking dimension to his game that he has not exhibited really thus far because of the role he's been playing at Sociedad, Real Sociedad.

40:47and we have seen a little bit more of it at Arsenal. Obviously, he scored the other day for Spain, scored a brace for us earlier in the season, even in the last game before the break. Very particular match scenario, I suppose, with us being behind against the Sunderland team who were inclined to sit deep, but he struck the bar. He nearly got on the end of that pass from Trossard. He was making those runs from deep into the penalty box time after time after time. So I do wonder if, you know, we've spoken a lot about Declan Rice, his role shift in this season to drop in a little bit deeper next to Martin Zubemendi.

41:20But I do wonder as well, if that's giving him maybe more license than he's accustomed to, to get forward. And that, that might be a sort of another string to his bow. Yeah. I mean, people talked, you know, when he came in, is he going to be able to do what the previous incumbents in that number six position did? Can he defend? Can he dictate play? Can he control the tempo of the play? but I don't think anyone was really expecting the effectiveness in the final third maybe because we didn't watch enough of Real Sociedad down the years and this might not be news to seasoned Zubimendi watchers but certainly it's an aspect of his game that I wasn't necessarily expecting to come to the fore quite as quickly I thought maybe when he settled in because of the the technical quality he has that that was always going to be something he could do you know contribute with some goals and assists, et cetera, et cetera.

42:12But the willingness to get forward, and I guess when you've got that defensive cover behind you, it also gives you more license to get forward if you're Martin Zubomendi, when you know you've got this brilliant defense behind you too. Yeah, and I think even if you are ostensibly a number six, a player who's discussed maybe as a sort of defense-minded midfielder, I don't think that's enough really anymore if you want to be right at the top, top, top level we know Declan Rice whatever position he plays whether it's at the very base of the midfield or slightly higher up he has aspirations and ability to influence games by making goals, getting goals I mean who is the best number six in the world?

43:00Well we'll see when he comes back from his injury but potentially Rodri and he has been a match winner on many an occasion for Man City. He's found a way to be a threat in that final third and I think probably, I mean, Martin Zubmendi is in the same national squad as him. He probably looks at someone like Rodri and thinks, if I want to be regarded at that absolutely elite level, I need to have every aspect of my game and that is one of them. So I think that's sort of an interesting little development angle to watch with him over the course of the season. But yeah, I'm glad Mikel Moreno started saving up all his goals for Arsenal.

43:41Yes, yes. Hopefully in the North London derby, a couple would be good. Before we go into the break, the only other bit of news that came to fore in the international break was Declan Rice being nominated for the Puskas Award. his second free kick against Real Madrid is up there one of the contenders for the I guess it's the goal of the year or the goal of the season award so listen we've spoken about this before I'm very much a sort of first free kick truther but I recognise the quality of this second one yeah for me I'm more in the camp of the second one the first free kick is great don't get me wrong but I think the second is just a level up but yeah good luck to him and I'm pleased to see it recognized.

44:28He's probably juiced another one, isn't he? How about Sunday against Spurs? Absolutely. I think he'd prefer that than some award from FIFA, which I feel might well be undermined by other awards they could be giving out in the not-too-distant future. So, all right, we'll wait and see what happens with that one. Okay, we'll take a little break here. We will come back with some of your questions and more in part two right after this.

45:04Welcome 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 and at arseblog.com. Also on the Arseblog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an Arseblog member on Patreon. I'm going to go first, if that's all right. And this one comes from Dr. Ozzy on the Discord. And he says, as an American fan who also loves the NFL, I'm curious how you guys feel about injury reporting in football. In the NFL, they're required to report every injury, who practices and for how much every practice. And they give designations for who's out the day before the game.

45:48do you like the fact that football doesn't have any regulation or requirements for injury as a way to play the dark arts or do you wish there were more standards

46:01well my answer might differ on if you're asking me as a reporter or as a fan um i yeah it's a really interesting question that and i must admit i'm not au fait with sort of the nfl's sort of mechanisms around this. You know, I don't follow the NFL closely. So you'll have to forgive my slight naivety on that front. I think I don't really have an issue with clubs keeping that information in-house. If anything, I think it kind of adds a bit of drama or suspense to proceedings that I think is kind of worth our uncertainty. You know, I think the ability to kind of spring a surprise and bring a player back ahead of time or what have you, I think is always quite exciting when it happens.

46:55So it's very difficult to do, though. I mean, as much as they don't have daily bulletins or anything like that, they are being repeatedly asked in press conferences. And there are pitches frequently from training sessions, which people are doing their own detective work on. So I think keeping that sort of layer of secrecy is difficult. But yeah, I understand why fans want to know. And these days, a lot of fans want to know because they've got fantasy teams. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. That's a big driver. But really, I'm like, do we need to know? Do you know what I mean? Like, I sort of think that's the club's prerogative.

47:37And I understand Mikhail Arteta's instinct to kind of be protective of that, even if I do occasionally as a reporter find it frustrating. Sure. What do you think? I'm like that. I would love to know, but I don't feel like I have any right to know. Especially medical information. I mean, like. Well, there is a privacy element there too. Yeah. Yeah. And that's always actually something when you're reporting around injuries or absences, you have to be mindful of or careful of. I mean, like the media run relatively roughshod over those regulations. But, you know, it is a factor in those conversations.

48:18I mean, the players theoretically are entitled to their privacy with their medical records. So, yeah, I'm nosy and it's my job to find out and to know, but equally I don't begrudge the club wanting to sort of keep it. No. I mean, there was a time where we sort of did that. I think it was under the – it was when Unai Emery was the head coach and they would do every week like a medical bulletin. This is the latest from the medical team. X player is out for three weeks. X player is out for blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. I never really saw what the benefit of that was for the club itself. Like for us, you know, it's great to have that info.

49:09And if you're picking your fantasy football team, it's fantastic to have that info because you can say, well, that guy's injured and that means this guy's probably going to play, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I never understood what the benefit was for the club to be that transparent about injuries. It always felt counterproductive in a way because you're tipping your hat or tipping your hand to the opposition before you play a game. And I completely understand why Arteta is reluctant in any way to give information about players. Like sometimes you'll say in a press conference, well, you know, we'll assess them in the morning and see how they are.

49:48And this is a guy you won't see for like five weeks or something, but he won't categorically say, well, no, he's not going to play. I think he just wants to leave it as a possibility in the mind of the opposition coach or analysts or whoever it is. I don't know how much difference that actually makes really in the grand scheme of things. But I think if I were a manager, if I was in charge of Arsenal Football Club, heaven help everybody involved if that was the case. But if I was in that job tomorrow morning, that is what I would do. I would be exactly the same. I give nothing away. And I would, as Arteta has done since he arrived, ensure that sort of leaks and moles were rooted out and sent to an island to live there forever.

50:41Yeah, I suspect that... there is actually a sort of espionage element to first team preparations. Like I, as much as Arteta might try to deflect and not answer questions, I think a Premier League club with the resources and network they have at their disposal, they probably can get pretty close to knowing what a team is planning, I suspect. And I think Mikel Arteta is so thorough. I have no information to support this, but I bet it's somebody in the coaching staff's job or some analyst to literally go and find out who they're going to play. You know what I mean? I think that's – was it Bielsa who got caught spying on a training ground?

51:36Yeah, yeah, yeah. When was that? I can't remember who it was. But I think much more subtle versions of that presumably presumably are going on all the time, right? You know, a coaching staff asking one player who asks another player, you know what I mean? Like a kind of an espionage network to kind of find out information. I'm sure that's happening. But Marcelo Bielsa has admitted Leeds United have spied on all their opponents this season, but remains adamant. No specific rules were broken and believes he is guilty of stupidity rather than cheating. Yeah. So, I mean, listen, I think I'd like to think Arsenal and Michel Arteta's methods are probably a bit more subtle than that one.

52:20Is there a man in a long trench coat standing behind a tree and then standing behind an even thinner tree looking at the training of other teams? Exactly that. as for like why we published that information at the time my memory might fail me slightly but I seem to recall that that was coming after a period where Arsenal had been sort of heavily criticized for being injury prone or suffering a lot of injuries I mean it's a recurrent theme but I think one thing I think probably the people who get frustrated by the sort of fog of war or the lack of clarity or information are probably actually medical departments themselves because especially if they're getting a bit of a kicking on social media or in public from people saying you know why haven't we got clear recovery timelines or dates that we're getting people back why so and so still injured And invariably, medical professionals are kind of following the science and the guidelines and doing the right thing.

53:38But when that information is not in the public domain, there's kind of a gap there which people can project incompetence into. So it wouldn't surprise me if kind of the drive to share that information more widely, more publicly, maybe came from those medical departments, medical professionals. I think you're probably right. You know, that there was a lot of scrutiny on the physios, on the medical team, you know, the headlines. Is Gary O'Driscoll, Harold Shipman? Those kinds of things. Yeah, yeah, that kind of narrative. And I think sort of being transparent is a way of sort of pushing back against that and showing you are doing everything right.

54:21So my guess would be that that would be where that emanated from. But you can still ask, as you just did, is that in the club's interests? It might be in the interests of that department or those professionals. But does it help the manager do his job? Not particularly, I would say. And any disguise, any fog of war that can be created, I think we know Mikel Arteta is going to leverage that. So we joked about it earlier about Riccardo Calafuri, but I think I'm going to the press conference on Friday or maybe I think actually Art's going. I don't expect him to return with any real knowledge of who's going to play against Spurs on Sunday.

55:08You know, Arteta's like hinted or suggested they could have a few players back in contention who've been out injured. I would be really surprised if he's any more specific than that. Yeah, I mean, he might say that, you know, one or two players are back in full training. and we'll assess them in the morning after training to see if they can be involved. You know, it'll be something like that. There might be some scant info, but no, definite. Well, Martin Odegaard is 100 % fit, and he'll be starting this game. You know, there's not that sort of stuff at all. No, no, no. And actually, coming off an interlal and coming off a period where a number of players have been out, he's probably got a bit more disguise than normal.

55:47I think this is one of those occasions where it would be very hard to accurately predict the starting line-up for Spurs on Sunday. But yeah, I mean, look, I get it. As fans, we all want to know who's going to play. And I do think fantasy football has really lit a fire under the kind of hunger for team news, hasn't it? For sure. It's more in demand than ever. not my thing but you know lots of people do you're going for bottom of the league again right that's the i gave up after like three weeks you're too good a couple of seasons ago i was really trying to finish bottom of our league because we have fantasy football for our patreon members so i was trying really really hard you know making loads of transfers every week and then somebody beat me i was like i can't even finish last what's the fucking point of this so i think I've picked a team at the start of the season and I've got no idea how it's doing right now.

56:54Nice. How about this? Master John Bury on the Discord said, how different do you think the rhythm of the season would be without international breaks? I actually sometimes welcome the chance to have a quick reprieve and change of pace from the Premier League grind. Do you think the players feel similarly? And who do you think these interruptions tend to benefit? I think we have over the last little while said this international break has kind of come at a good time. I remember having that discussion a couple of times of late. There are other times where you're sort of motoring along and you're thinking, okay, I wish we weren't going to get interrupted here.

57:36And then the international break comes along. I mean, so the rhythm of the season, if there weren't internationals, I think there just wouldn't be these breaks. I think they would just spread the games out a little bit more. For some of the players, you know, the international break is like two weeks off. Off, in inverted commas, because, you know, they're going to be training and what have you. But two weeks without playing a competitive game, I just think that it would be easier to squeeze all the other football in. Maybe the schedule, the Premier League schedule gets elongated. Maybe you do get a chance if you don't have the internationals to do like a winter break.

58:22Remember where there was like two weeks, a couple of seasons, they did that, where there was two weeks without a game. So sort of half the teams would play one week, half the teams would play the following week. and it meant everybody got a two-week break one way or the other. That's sort of gone by the wayside because of the way the schedule operates now. There's just no room for that. So I don't know. I mean, I really can't answer that from the perspective of a player, though. Would they be happy? There must be times where they sort of do eight, nine games in a row and then there's a little bit of a break.

58:53And maybe even psychologically, the international break or playing for your country is sort of like a way of not switching off from club stuff, but sort of a change of scenery. You know what I mean? Yeah. Change as good as a rest, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, I mean, this is sort of anecdotal experience, you know, rather than I ain't been out and surveyed the players, but I think they do appreciate it. And I think they do enjoy a bit of respite from the Premier League. I mean, if you're not called up, as you say, it means two weeks. Yes, well, you're going into work and you're training, but you're not travelling to games.

59:41You're probably spending more time at home than you do at any other point in the season and spending time with family, etc. And that's probably appreciated. if you are called up if you are a foreign player in the Premier League it may well mean going home it may well mean seeing family and friends and people who you've left behind sure you know even if briefly they you know they family if you're an international player for Spain or Germany family's probably come to the game you hang out around the match hang out after And I'm sure that that's important to players. And I think even just being around 25 other lads who speak your language and are from your culture, as much as I'm sure they will get on at Arsenal and it's clear that it's a really positive atmosphere, I think there is something to be said for feeling like you're home, right?

1:00:47And I think that's really beneficial. I always say this, as much as club fans might scoff at international football, you can't discount how much it does mean and how much players typically enjoy their involvement with the national teams. I think where it gets tricky is sort of, there's two things that jump out at me from a player perspective one is when they have crazy travel so you know we spoke about the brazil trip to asia for example as much as they're excited to be with the selex out and representing their country and seeing their friends and all those things i can't imagine they or the certainly the club are thrilled about the travel involved no Nobody likes a 12-hour or 14-hour flight, even if you are in the comfort of first class or business class or whatever way they travel on these planes.

1:01:51I think things are a lot better than they were, and it's a lot more comfortable, a lot less trying on the players. But still, you have to sit 14 hours in a plane. Nobody likes that. Yeah, there's a physiological impact to that, right? And then the other thing is the timing of the break. So I actually think at this stage of the season, and the players, I would imagine they're sort of okay with it. I think it's the March one, particularly. It just feels to me like that is the business end of the season and a lot of players there are focused on the club outcome and you always see the kind of withdrawal rate from international squads go up at that time.

1:02:34Maybe less so in a World Cup year, but typically when those squads are named, there's like immediately half a dozen players who pull out with like spurious concerns and i think it's because when you're at that business end when you are approaching the run-in i think at that point it does start to feel like a bit of an unwelcome distraction yeah maybe so um so that's always the one that sort of i think jars most as a fan we kind of lament the breaks but then we you and i have a professional interest as well where to be honest the break probably helps us a little bit too i i'll speak for myself i won't speak for you but sort of the the grind of games and covering games and everything that's involved around that having a you know a little fortnight away from that i i do appreciate time to time well yeah i mean lucky you i just keep doing the blog every day and the podcast the way we do them so it does make it a little bit more challenging but then that in itself can be quite fun you know to try and think of things to talk about or write about or whatever it is so it's a yeah it's easier you know when the games it's like game pre-game post-game game pre-game post-game that that makes life a lot easier but it's a content plan in itself yes yes um is it oh do you want to move on from this or have you got something else i think yeah listen we've talked about internationals enough okay On the Discord, Sammy Mockbell in disguise.

1:04:12Welcome, Sammy, to the Discord. He says, I think our improvement in discipline so far this season has been massively overlooked. This time last season, reds and penalties have cost us countless points. This season, we are top slash bottom of the fair play table by a country mile with no penalties conceded either. Given the tight margins in some of our games, I feel like this is underappreciated as a contribution to our position this season. To what extent do you think this is a product of Arteta's focus on correcting the prior season's mistakes versus a natural outcome of being on top for more games?

1:04:47Well, I wrote about this, Andrew. We spoke about it on here. I think we sort of, we looked up the fair play table live and saw that we were top slash bottom. and so naturally the Athletic followed up with a deep dive but it was quite shocking I think this was written just before the Sundler game so some of these numbers will be out of date but yeah after 10 games of last season's Premier League we'd had 24 yellow cards and 3 red and after 10 games of this season's Premier League 10 yellow cards 0 red After 11 games, I can tell you it's 11 yellow cards. Martins of Amendi. Yeah. But yeah, it is a dramatic change.

1:05:41Now, a fair point that many have made is, is it just referees not being dickheads? Because those three red cards, most listeners won't need me to remind them. two were for a second yellow delay and a restart Rice and Trossard and the third was William Saliba at Bournemouth which was kind of debatable I think too it was one of those wasn't it where it was sort of like well if they all get given fair enough I suppose but then there was one in the was it the Chelsea game the very next day and it was only a yellow card in that game so everyone was understandably a little bit unhappy about that. But when you do look into it deeper, I think there is kind of logic around why this is happening.

1:06:39So Arsenal, they are giving away less fouls than they were last season. They're giving away fouls in different areas of the pitch. In fact, if you compare Arsenal to the rest of the Premier League, and there was quite a nice graphic in the piece about this, and you look at where they give fouls away, it's sort of predominantly in the opposition half. Arsenal are playing, as a rule, higher up the pitch this season than they were last season. And a really interesting thing is Arsenal make more fouls per card than almost any other team in the league. So, Arsenal make the second most fouls per card given.

1:07:18They make just over 10 fouls per yellow card given, which is second in the Premier League. It won't surprise you, Andrew, to learn that the most fouls per yellow card, that honour belongs to Newcastle. How did they do it? Yeah. Now, I don't know what that means. Does that mean that Arsenal are, you know, giving away a lot of low-value fouls, basically? So the fouls we're making are, you know, not in dangerous areas where referees are more inclined to make a booking. Are we making very discreet, intelligent fouls that aren't getting picked up? But we are, not only are we making less fouls, we are also getting away with more fouls.

1:08:05It has felt for years like we are more likely to get a yellow card than other teams for similar kinds of fouls. And listen, we had the whole, if that was Granit Xhaka thing, for years and years and years. I do wonder if there is an element of either maturity or a very, very considered deliberate plan from Mikel Arteta. You know, like what they say about referees, you know, good referee is the referee you don't notice. Like maybe there's an element of that with Arsenal this season. Like I can't think of somebody who's made a really bad foul. I can't think of like a lunging tackle where it's been mistimed.

1:08:46and, you know, there might be something to that idea. Go on. I can think of one. It's not a bad foul, but I remember, do you know why it stands out? Because it was really uncharacteristic and it was Gabrielle at Burnley in the 93rd minute sliding in on the edge of the box. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, the freaking award that led to them hitting the post. And it was one of the only moments, it was because it was the 94th minute And I think he and the team were like, they're not going to have a shot on target in this game. They're certainly not going to score. And it was one of the only sort of rash, sort of lunging challenges.

1:09:28It was one of the only occasions this season that I've seen Arsenal's defence look stretched or panicked. And I think that is sort of the secret, right? is that we're so structurally strong that when do bookings happen? Like when we were getting loads of settings off under Arteta, who were they for? They were for your Shakers or your David Luiz. And it was in situations where they were massively stretched and exposed. And I think we have a team structure now that doesn't really place individuals in those positions of maximum exposure. I think that's absolutely right. But I also think we've got a bigger squad.

1:10:11So when a player's on a booking, we can take them off, which is something I think Mikel Arteta has learned. It's really interesting because if you go back about a year ago when William Saliba was sent off, Arteta said in his press conference afterwards, you know, he had his issues with the red card itself. But he then said, we cannot continue to play with 10 men at this level. We need to eradicate that. It's clear. the reasons how it doesn't matter we have to focus um now we did get a further three red cards well one of them was overturned yeah one was overturned and our disciplinary record did improve in the second half of the season and it does seem like this season that focus that he called for is there and i i think you're right i think it does speak to a maturity and a recognition that whatever we were doing whether it was right whether it's wrong whether the referees were fair or unfair it was unsustainable yeah i think there's been a very conscious decision as much as possible you know within the the sort of parameters of a high level high octane sport not to give referees the opportunity to punish us for anything, right?

1:11:31And I think that's evident in the way that we behave on the pitch too. You know, there isn't a lot of back chat to referees. You know, I can't think of a situation where the Arsenal players have gone crazy at the ref or, you know, just small things within games that, like it or not, human nature being what it is, if you're a referee and you're surrounded by players from one particular team, every time you give a decision, I think it does have an impact on how you referee the game, rightly or wrongly. It's just human nature, I think. But we've been very careful not to get dragged into situations where we're allowing our behavior to color the influence or the, what's the word I'm looking for here?

1:12:20to basically turn the referees against us. To engender any bias, yeah. I think, you know, let's not be the villains in the story from the referee's perspective. You know, I think you're right. I think Arsenal players basically are getting their heads down and staying out of trouble. I think it's as simple as that, but I think it is really important. And I think there's a clear, clear benefit. I mean, we were losing, you know, we were playing with two men, 10 men, sorry, far too frequently to win a Premier League. So, but yeah, it's an interesting piece, actually. I mean, I've read you most of it just now.

1:12:59Yeah. So if you want a little bit more, go and have a look. All right, I'll read it to you. Here's a question.

1:13:09Okay, yeah, King Thierry. Will requesting the Everton game being brought forward come back to bite us. I feel as if we rotate the majority of the XI anyway, so the additional day's rest doesn't make much difference. Whereas Palace will probably rest players in the Conference League and go strong in the League Cup. So their starters will get an additional 24 hours rest. I mean, do Palace have the ability to rest all their first-team players? In the Conference League? in the conference. I mean, they haven't done brilliantly. No, I think if they win, because bear in mind, they only have to qualify, right?

1:13:52It's like the Champions League, is it? It's a big group table. So they only have to be in the top... 92. I mean, they're ninth currently. Right. So if they win their next game, I was speaking to a Palace correspondent and they go to Strasbourg, I think, next week. And they were saying if they win that, they might be able to not quite chuck their final game, but heavily rotate. I mean, I've got to be honest and say it's kind of much of a muchness. I think Arsenal and Arteta will be much more concerned and focused on where they can rest players than what Palace are doing. Absolutely. I think, you know, when you heard Arteta speak about the Everton game and how they wanted it moved, it was really about us, not so much about Palace.

1:14:55I mean, Palace are going to play on Thursday, then they're going to play Saturday evening again when they play Leeds. I think what struck me most about this fixture change is that if you're a team that's involved in the relegation fight and leads who I think might be one of those clubs this season who are involved in that get to play crystal palace two days after a conference league game do you feel a little aggrieved by that that it sort of hands leads a bit of an advantage because they're playing a team that's had to play twice in 48 hours, whereas I think Arsenal, before we play Everton, have like six days between those games.

1:15:43And probably the other relegation clubs, if you want to call them that, will have had a good week between the games. That was the one thing that stood out to me for this. Maybe it comes down to three points in the end and leads. if they get three points because they played a Palace side that were knackered or whatever it might be. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. You can definitely imagine that being raised in a few press conferences towards the end of the season, can't you? And in a few boardrooms, potentially. But, yeah, I mean, my main thought, actually, about the change is that I do feel for our travelling fans, like 8pm in Liverpool on Saturday night.

1:16:25Not ideal. Yeah, that's the second time this game has been moved and lots of fans would have booked their train tickets and everything else. And the reason it's at 8 p.m. on a Saturday evening is because it's for Sky. They have a broadcast slot there. So listen, I know this is above Arteta's pay grade, but this was a decision that maybe in the fullness of time, if you're an away fan and come the end of the season, And, you know, resting or getting another day's rest for this game ends up with us winning the title. It's something you can say, OK, they did that for the benefit of the team. And ultimately, you know, we're happy because we've won the league, et cetera, et cetera.

1:17:09But if you're a couple hundred quid out, train tickets are not cheap in England, are they, these days? And then, of course, because it's an eight o 'clock game on Saturday, there's no trains back at that point. So you either get the coach, I think the club are laying on coaches, but like how long is a coach from Liverpool to North London? Four hours? Minimum? Minimum? And then where? Do you get dropped off? It's not going to drop you at your front door. It's a long old bit of travel, or you've got to pay for overnight accommodation in Liverpool that night. So it's a difficult one for those away fans who go every week, And I think when they talk about, well, we've got to take the supporters into account here, it's a good thing to say, but it doesn't happen in practicality, does it?

1:17:58No, I remember Mikel saying there were kind of two priorities, first player welfare and then fans. And I think the player welfare point has been respected here and I understand that, but yeah, it's not great for fans at all. So there we go. But as you rightly point out, if Arsenal win the Carabao Cup and the Premier League, then I don't think there'll be too many complaints. All right, what about this one? Barino 7 on the Discord. Hello, gents. After France beat Ukraine 4-0, the French site SoFoot gave the following comment on William Saliba's performance. They say he is the guy in PE who can't run, but is somehow faster than everybody else.

1:18:45What do you make of this? Does he have a weird running style or does he look a bit clumsy at times? This is totally new to me. Yeah. I don't think of him as clumsy, I must say. I feel like when we speak about him here, we talk about his kind of grace, right? Elegance. Elegance, exactly that. and I must say he's not a player who you know we speak about Arsenal's structure and formation and shape meaning players aren't stretched I don't remember too many occasions this season where I've seen him in a full sprint really you know I always remember when he was perhaps it was in a loan spell one of his loan spells in France.

1:19:36I can't remember which one. There was that great clip of him herring back against Kylian Mbappe. Do you remember the one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Making a tackle. Making a last-ditch tackle. And it was a really impressive feat to kind of keep pace with, you know, one of the most explosive strikers in world football. So he is quick. But I think the way Arsenal play, and because his anticipation and his positioning is generally very good as well, he's not called upon to use it too much but I'll have to be keeping an eye out now I do think generally in France seems to me that the perception of Saliba is not quite what it is in England like I think he's maybe one of those players who slightly despite having played in Ligue 1 quite considerably slightly suffers from being abroad you know and you've seen that you know maybe in most recent international tournament with selection and things like that, I think he's not quite on the pedestal that he is in this country.

1:20:42Because they're probably, because they're not watching him week in, week out and seeing how imperious he can be. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. What did they say? The kid in PE. The guy in PE who can't run, but is somehow faster than everybody else. I mean, I've never seen that guy in PE. Yeah, who is that guy? There was always the guy who was faster than everybody else, but that's because he was the fastest runner guy. He was really good at running. Well, the rest of us chug along. It's not a good line. He's like the guy in PE who could run. Yeah. If I'd written the player ratings, that would have been my kind of phrase.

1:21:19Speaking of player ratings. Yes. Critical T. He's back. He's back. He's back, Andrew. And he said, here is the latest edition of the player ratings game. This time we're looking at the season so far. Good luck. So no excuses here, really, Andrew. The season so far is it's not. It's only November. We should have a chance. Okay, rating one. Okay. Seven and a half out of ten. In the first half, he had a goal disallowed and more shots than any other Arsenal player. Also defensively, very solid again. Okay, I think that is Riccardo Calafiori. So do I. what game did he have a goal disallowed in? It was quite recently.

1:22:06It was a brilliant finish. Was it Trossard just touched it into him? Mm-hmm. And he was just offside. I can see the goal, but for the life of me, I can't see the opposition.

1:22:22Is it Fulham away? I think it might be. I was going to say Burnley, but I think it might be Fulham. Let's have a look. It is Ricciardo Calafuri. It is Fulham away. Okay, maximum points from the first one. Great start. Front runners. It's ours to lose. Mm-hmm. Okay. And we can do it. Don't worry. One of us gets injured. It all unravels. Okay. Racing two, nine out of ten. A fine riposte to all those who've written him off. Was on the pitch for 36 seconds when he found the net, following a solo counterattack that saw him carry the ball half the length of the pitch with three touches. Full of confidence, he then produced a nifty assist for teammate after taking on his marker.

1:23:09Very pleased for him. I think I know that one. I think I know who it is. I think it's Gabriel Martinelli. Yes. Is it Atletico Madrid? I think, Andrew, you were there. I was? you were in a city in the Basque region yes of course in Bilbao, Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club that was the start of the Martinelli aissance I like that yeah you can have that you'll be seeing that on mugs soon Okay. Racing three. You're flying here, Andrew. Okay. 6.5 out of 10. Only William Saliba made more clearances for Arsenal today, which tells you something about how hard he worked, but also a lot about the overall performance today.

1:24:19Hmm. So it's going to be a player who isn't a defender, who made a lot of clearances. Yeah. Is it Zubimendi? Could be Zubimendi. I haven't clicked yet. I think it might be Declan Rice. Okay. But let's see. Andrew, we're both wrong. Okay. Who is it? It's Martin Odegaard. Martin Odegaard. What game was that then? What game could that be? Because he's hardly played at all. What game? Presumably an away game Hmm But when he What games has he played? A game where we're on the back foot Right? Was it Newcastle? Let's find out Let's find out Er Oh We should have figured that out You know maybe It was Old Trafford on the opening day Ah Okay Okay It was a long time ago now Well, we're throwing it away here.

1:25:26We're throwing it away. Rating four out of ten. Oh, no, sorry, sorry. Rating four, eight out of ten. Eight out of ten. There we go. I was going to say, we're not having many four out of ten performances this season. Poor for their goal. Even a cursory challenge would have likely made it more difficult for opposition player to head that well. But boy, did he make up for it. Three tackles, three interceptions, nine clearances, and one goal to break their scabby little hearts. I know this one. This is Gabrielle against Newcastle. It is. Yeah, I remember that. Okay, rating five, six out of ten. Could he have gotten his shot away quicker from that Dowman pass?

1:26:12Nobody knows. That's the beauty of football. What the fuck? I actually think I know that. So when did Downman pass? Came in the Carabao Cup. The Carabao Cup? Against Preston, I believe it was. Okay, so Downman came on as a sub in that game. So did this player. So then I'm thinking Victor Yuccarus. he's got it. Come on. I put that on a plate for you, Andrew. Thank you, Sir Phil of Foden. Yeah. Andrew, your performance in the player ratings game, a lot to James there. Absolutely. It's all about the pass. All about the pass. It's all about the assist. Listen, I beat six players, put it in the top corner from 45 yards with a Rabona.

1:27:15But you know, it was all about the pass. yeah quite right um is that our lot Andrew? I think that is our lot for today we might as well get this out yeah the next one is a biggie oh it is as well isn't it because next Sunday is the North London Derby so yes let's hope next Monday morning is a very goodly morning as well so look we will leave it there thank you to everybody thank you by the way to everybody who gave us a vote for the FSA Awards. I think the voting closed or closes at midday today at the time of recording. But by the time this comes out, the voting will be closed. So if you did take the time to give us a vote for that, we do really, really appreciate it.

1:28:01Stick with us. We'll have more later in the week, a regular Arsecast as well. And of course, we'll look forward to the North London Derby over on Patreon with a preview podcast on Friday as well. For now, though, take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Oh, you're gone. Okay, hang on. Let me just refresh this and I think you're back. Yeah, I did my bit and I was waiting for a bye-bye and it never came. Oh, and you know what? I thought it was a really good bye-bye and it's lost now. See if you can replicate it. Okay, ready? Yeah. Are we going to keep this bit in? Yeah. Okay. All right.

1:28:40I think I need the cue. I think I need the feed line, Andrew. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. catch you on the next one. Until then, cheers. Bye-bye. You're right, that was a good one. There you go.