Arsecast Extra Episode 675 - 09.01.2025

0:12Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from Gunnerblog. James good Good morning to you. Good morning, Andrew. How's it going? Going okay. Going okay. We discussed doing an extra Arscast Extra this week because I think it was like a level of expectation about this game. It was a big game. Turned out it was going to be a big opportunity for Arsenal to extend the lead at the top of the table. I mean, we did do that, but it wasn't quite as extendy as people might like. And there was a sort of an air of real expectation about this game, I think. And it's turned out to be a bit anticlimactic, a bit of a damp squib, perhaps.

0:53Yeah, because we don't normally do an extra on a Friday. No. But I think I said to you after our recording on Monday, I was like, I think there'll be an expectation. Because after the night that we'll have had against Liverpool, I think I sort of imagined I'd have the trophy with me. You know what I mean? Having slept with it in my bed overnight. Yeah. So, yeah, I guess it might be my fault, guys. I got ahead of myself. I don't really think that's fair to blame you completely for this one, maybe only marginally. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen, we should have known. It was kind of – there was a pathetic fallacy, wasn't there, with the weather in London yesterday.

1:37It was not the dream night I had envisaged from about 4 p.m. I just started chucking it down. Yeah. I knew maybe it wasn't going to be quite the glamour evening I'd hoped when I arrived at the Emirates Stadium and went through the media entrance into the gents to the men's lose. And I saw the remarkable sight of Freddie Unberg having taken his shoes off, holding his leg in the air, trying to dry his socks under the hand dryer. poor freddy yeah this this might not be the night i had kind of hoped for freddy jumberg's soggy socks were a portent of an omen doom yeah bloody hell omen um but yeah i mean listen it was uh i i think it's definitely i was going to say it was an interesting game that that may be an exaggeration but it's certainly a game i think that will uh prompts a lot of discussion yeah i think it's an interesting game and maybe as ever the reaction around the game and the result in the performance i think is quite interesting to uh to talk about the game itself not great really as a spectacle you always know it's a bit iffy when at half time the commentator on Sky says, well, it's been an intriguing tactical battle in the first 45 minutes, which is essentially code for fuck all happened.

3:19And this is not what we were all expecting when Liverpool came to play Arsenal with, you know, again, so much hype around this game, so much expectation, so much belief, I think as well within the Arsenal fan base that given the absences Liverpool had with no Mo Salah, Alexander Izak, Hugo Eketike didn't make it, Liverpool diminished from an offensive perspective that the ingredients were there. I mean, they were saying on Sky, you know, beforehand or just in the very moments before the game started, yeah, this is going to be a very, very tough one for Liverpool, you know, maybe they can hang on in there, etc, etc.

4:01As if this was a game that Arsenal should simply have turned up and turned over the league champions, albeit, you know, not at their strongest. But I do think the way the game was set up in a way, and I'm not trying to excuse the way we played or didn't play things we didn't do well. But I think it was set up in a way that we could only fail if we didn't win the game. Do you know what I mean? Maybe. I mean, what were your expectations? I thought we had a good chance of winning. But at the same time, you know, my brother texted me as a Liverpool fan and he texted me something around two o 'clock in the afternoon.

4:43He said, congrats on your very comprehensive victory later on. And I was like, yeah, you know, I'm not really as convinced that it's going to be the sort of walk in the park that many people thought it was going to be. like I accept Liverpool have not been in great form recently but I think there's something extra about big games you know big opposition Liverpool were the champions there was that whole thing wasn't there before the game when Dominic Sabaslai a question was put to him on Sky Sports and it was like do you think you're going to be playing the champions tonight bit of a cheeky question and he said well listen you know Arsenal have been very good but we're not playing the champions.

5:26They're playing the champions, which is exactly right. And I do wonder if that maybe as well fed into Liverpool's determination to make sure that they didn't get beaten by Arsenal on a night which would have completely obliterated any vague hope they have of being involved in anything close to a title race, which I think is completely out of the question anyway. But I think there is an element of we've had an underwhelming season, but we are the champions and we've got a, you know, pride to play for. We've got to turn up. So I was hopeful and confident that we could, if we played well, win the game.

6:02But I didn't think for any single second that it was going to be easy or that Liverpool were going to be a walkover. And maybe a few too many people did. Yeah, yeah. And I think, listen, I never envisaged it would be a walkover, but I was very confident going in. I thought this is a game that Arsenal would win.

6:25Um, and Tim Stillman made a good point. Um, I thought heading into the game about Liverpool having drawn, I think it was five of their last nine games, something like that. Uh, you know, they have, um, become a little bit more difficult to beat and they have somewhat, I think, curtailed their playing style to ensure that. And there's a degree to which maybe we should have accounted more for sort of their mentality coming in and how they would set up, how they would approach it. Because it was a really, you know, for them, it's a good point, I think, a really good point in the context of their season.

7:07But I think, you know, I still think this game was there to be won for Arsenal. I think we did not play to our best. And had we done, I think we are the superior team to Liverpool this season. I think we have been. I think certainly when you look at the starting lineups, we look the strongest. Certainly when you look at the substitutes bench, we definitely were the stronger. 100%. I mean, I think that was a point I made pre-game in our preview podcast, was that if it doesn't work with the starting XI, There's so much on the bench that we could use to change the game. And as it turned out, that didn't really pan out because the second half, I think, from an Arsenal perspective was really poor.

7:53But we'll get there and let's maybe talk about the first half, which I think Arsenal basically controlled. Liverpool, I think cognizant of the fact they're playing a very good team in decent form who are top of the table and confident and at home, came with a sort of cautious approach that I expected, to be honest. I didn't think they were going to come and do the Liverpool thing of, right, well, we're here, we're going to have a go at you. It doesn't matter what you are or where you are. We're Liverpool, we're going to have a go. I think there was a more realistic approach to their current situation and maybe to the quality and the strength of Arsenal.

8:37And I do think in that first half, we did control the game. We did cause more threat without being overly threatening. The best chance of the first half was a mistake between William Saliba and David Raya. Connor Bradley hit the bar, but that was basically all Liverpool had to offer from an attacking perspective in that first half. And there were just moments, I think, within that first half where we had the opportunity perhaps to cause Liverpool problems from wide areas, which I think we did. Our best moments seemed to come from wide areas, whether it was Trossard, there was a great rice cross from the left, there were some Saka moments from the right-hand side.

9:16It was when the ball got into the middle or when we had the opportunity to get the ball into the middle that we weren't quite on our toes or in the right shape. Yeah, I thought there were some promising moments in that first 45 minutes. I thought Saka had the beating of Kerkhez and I thought both he and Timber actually on the overlap outside him got into some promising areas. But the kind of coordination of, you know, the cutback, the cross and the movement was not there. I'll ask you about a couple of moments, actually, because with the TV pictures, you would have had a better view than me. One was quite early on, about 15 minutes into the game where Kross found Juri and Timber at the far post.

9:58and I couldn't really work out what had gone wrong there with his header in terms of sort of what he was looking to do. So if you can fill me in, that would help me out because I remember thinking that looked like a chance for him to either go at goal or certainly knock it down to another Arsenal player. Yeah, I mean, I think he just headed it first time across the goal. I'll look at it again here just to see what's going on. Just let me get the right file open here. Sure. There were a couple of moments like that, crosses that sort of flashed through the box.

10:35For me, Jokeres was on his heels too often in those situations. Doubtless he'll be a bit of a discussion topic this morning. And interestingly, despite Arsenal's control, it was Liverpool who came the closest really with that Connor Bradley shot that hit the bar. Yeah. An uncharacteristic error at the back between Saliba and Raya, but, you know, we had one of those at Bournemouth as well. Yeah. The timber one you're talking about, is that the rice cross to the back post? I think so, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm just going to see if I can find it here because there was a Saka run and chance just after that.

11:19So, yeah, there's the rice cross. I mean, I think when you look at it again, it's a good cross from Rice to Timber at the back post. Potentially, he could go for goal, but the angle is quite tight. And I think what he's trying to do is just nod it back into a dangerous area. But Victor Jokeres has made a run to the back post. So I don't know if he's expecting Timber to head that sort of back across goal. Just think like if your Yucca is there. I mean, you're running behind the defender. You're not trying to get in front of a defender in that moment. There were moments, there weren't really any clear cut chances in the game.

12:08No. And, you know, if you're looking at the positives from an Arsenal perspective, if you would say, well, Liverpool were largely at arm's length, particularly in that first half. It was interesting because I thought the first half was quite, I thought it was a controlled performance from Arsenal, but I almost went into it thinking, well, we've had this recent knack, haven't we, of coming out after the break and really going up a gear or solving problems that we've encountered on the pitch. and I was hoping that Mikel and the players would be able to do that again but it was kind of the inverse I thought where Liverpool came out and looked much more comfortable than they had and much more confident than they had and in that first 15 minutes they really kind of managed to put their foot down in the game and sort of yeah, get a foothold Yes, I agree with that I just want to touch on a couple of moments that came just before the end of the first half there was a great cross in from Declan Rice and we had three men in the box where I think it was Jokeres at the front post in Capier and Gabriel and Rice put in a really good ball and I do think this is, you know, maybe there'll be a bit more discussion on Jokeres a bit later but it's not the first time where he's been on his heels in a situation like that.

13:30There was a game, wasn't there? It was the Villa game actually against

13:36at Villa Park where I think there was a similar ball from a similar position from Declan Rice and Jokic was sort of on his heels, just sort of watching. He doesn't quite react quickly enough in those moments. And then there was, I think, a timber cross, which resulted in a shot from Declan Rice towards the end, but it was a relatively easy save for Alisson. But yeah, like you, I wasn't too unhappy at halftime at 0-0. I thought we could be better. I thought there was room for Arsenal to improve. but what we saw in the second half is is kind of hard to explain because we had a lot of questions about like well what happened in the second half how do you explain the difference in performance in the second half from the first half um i mean i think without having the luxury of being able to watch it all again i do wonder if there was some kind of tactical tweak from arna slot after the break but when it boils right down to it michael arteta said we were imprecise with the ball the first half arsenal had 60 possession to liverpool's 40 our past success rate in the first half was 90 to liverpool's 86 second half arsenal possession 35 to liverpool 65 5%.

14:54Arsenal's past success rate, 78%. Liverpool's past success rate, 91%. So we had less possession. Our past success rate dropped. Liverpool's possession increased and their past success rate increased. So I think boiling it down to the very basics is they had more of the ball and they were better on the ball than we were and we could not find a way to sort of shift that momentum back which I think is is quite interesting because you expect Liverpool to have a period in a game right over 90 minutes you expect them to have 15 minutes 20 minutes maybe where they're the team that's a little more on top yeah absolutely you don't expect them to have 45 minutes of that so this was where i i don't did you see arteta's post-game interview on on sky no i saw his press conference but not sky right so on the sky interview um he pre-game he was asked about like what did he think of liverpool and the way they were going to play and he said there are things that we expect them to do based on the players that they have selected, right?

16:12And afterwards he was asked, well, did they do what you expected? And he said, yes. He said, I knew they were going to put a lot of midfielders in. I knew they were not going to be very aggressive in the high press. I thought they were going to start to drop everybody. So basically what he was saying was Liverpool, rather than play with a centre forward, brought an extra man into midfield, which meant we were outnumbered in there, which meant they could keep possession. So he identified the issue, I think, the key issue of that second half, but we weren't able to react to that or change the game in a way that countered what Liverpool were doing.

16:52No, I mean, as I was watching this kind of second half unfold, and I have to say, actually, I was pretty impressed with the level of sort of composure that Liverpool showed in those circumstances. I haven't seen a team, certainly in the Premier League, come to the Emirates Stadium and knock the ball around like that and do that to us for quite a while. But I was sat next to Amy Lawrence and she said, it almost feels like they've got the extra man. And I suppose the sort of tactical reality is they almost did, right? By virtue of the fact they were dropping in to create an overloaded midfield, playing that kind of false nine system.

17:30but yeah I suppose I would expect actually a manager of Michael Arteta's tactical acumen to sort of find a route around that find a solve but when you're not being efficient and clean in possession I think no amount of sort of tactical tinkering is necessarily going to turn that tide I think your performance level has to be there and I'm not sure it was on the night it wasn't I mean I think the the the other part of this is that Arsenal just played badly in that second half you know Liverpool were better they improved they were very secure in possession they pushed higher up the pitch and when we did get the ball we gave it away too often or we went long too often or we didn't have an outlet you know which is something you need in games like this when the the the balance has shifted having somebody or some players who can keep the ball and hold possession and bring others into play is fundamental to changing that and we just did not have that in any area of the pitch at all you know which is unusual for us um I I strongly feel that I mean I think you know when you're I don't know if on the back foot is is is too much really But, you know, when you're losing ground possession territory, I think that's when you want your centre forward, ideally, to be someone who you can look for and play into and play off and can gain you ground, can get you up the pitch, can hold the ball, can bring others into play.

19:11And we didn't have that last night. You know, Victor Jokeres had eight touches. I think it was one in the second half.

19:22And, listen, on a night where I don't think many Arsenal players emerged with much credit, I think the general performance level was low. I thought that his performance at number nine was sort of problematic, actually. I thought it was one of his most difficult nights since he's come to the club. I agree. I agree. I do, you know, I find it hard to square the circle of what Mikel Arteta demands from his players with what we're seeing from Victor Jokeres. You know, I think there was a period in the second half where, or in the first half rather, where we went basically 20, 25 minutes without a touch or making a pass.

20:06And listen, you can say we've got to give him the supply. That's probably true. Drew, I just think any player in that position for Arsenal has to give the team more than he gave the team last night. And I think we've seen this season where a player who's not naturally, let's say, a number nine in Mikel Marino, who isn't perfect there, who perhaps drops a little too deep at times for people's liking when he does play at number nine, still has a way of combining with his teammates and helping the team structurally in a way that Jacarez just doesn't. I mean, he looks lost to me. He looks like a guy, when we have the ball, who doesn't quite know where he needs to be.

20:56And when we don't have the ball, I'm not sure he provides the sort of the point of the press in the same way that someone like Kai Havertz does, right? where I think he drops too deep. So we're essentially like a horizontal line across the front where I think you need somebody just a little bit ahead to put a bit more pressure on the central defenders. I don't think what he's giving the team right now or not giving the team right now is sustainable. And I find it hard to think that this isn't something that Mikel Arteta isn't worried about himself. and has to do some serious thinking about, you know, because, listen, I'm not saying people go overboard.

21:45Arsenal are playing with 10 men with Jokoraz up front. That's not it, you know. That's not the right way to analyse stuff like this. But I do think that there is significant room for improvement from him. And so far, despite having plenty of chances, we're not really seeing it. No, this is it. And I think the relatively few amount of touches in isolation, you know, it's not inherently a bad thing. I mean, there have been many great goal scorers down the years who've been low touch players. But it doesn't matter if you put the ball in the net. I mean, Ian Wright was doing some TV analysis last night.

22:26And I think he said, you know, there was a game this season where Haaland had about 11 touches, but he scored a hat trick. and if you do that then nobody queries it I think the problem Victor has is he's not scoring goals he's very much not scoring goals I think it's one in 10 games since he came back from injury and that being penalty at Everton and is he contributing enough in other facets of the game because when you are not on that score sheet you need to be doing other things to justify and earn your place and I don't think he is at this point in time um i think that i mean i you know i haven't exactly what am i trying to say he's not my favorite um forward to watch i would say and and it's not actually it's not just the aesthetics like early on there was a lot of commentary of like it's quite rough around the edges you know he's a bit sort of unsophisticated in his style, you know.

23:30But that's fine. Like, to me, not every striker has to be Thierry Henry. Do you know what I mean? Sure. Not everyone has to play with grace and have an immaculate first touch. I mean, there have been many, many great strikers who've been bulldozers. But if you aren't that, then you better offset it with some physical dynamism. And what concerns me with the Okere's at the moment is that I just don't see that. Like, I don't see the burst, the separation. I don't see the desire to make himself available. It feels like he's always wrestling somebody when it's like, you need to create some space. And yeah, that is a worry.

24:24I think it's a consequence of two things. I think it's the fact that he can't physically dominate defenders in the way that he did in Portugal. But I also think last night, to me, he looked like a player incredibly low on confidence who has stopped gambling, really, on where the ball's going to be, where the ball's going to drop. But that's kind of half my issue with him is that he doesn't gamble on where the ball is going to be. He sort of puts himself in a position and waits for the ball to come to him. And I think, you know, the other thing, he's a big guy. He's, what, six foot two. He's really strong.

25:01Well, it looks very strong, but I think at the heart of it, really, there's a technical issue as well, that I think there's a technical level that isn't really aligned with the rest of the team. No player has miscontrolled the ball more when trying to receive possession than Victor Jokerez this season. 49 times across the Premier League games he's appeared in. The next is Bakayo Saka on 35 and then you've got Trossard, Rice, Martinelli all on 25. five so i think there's a sort of technical deficiency there as well like he's there but sort of not there at the same time you know what i mean and i don't i don't yeah i mean i saw somebody last night compare it to like the the big kid in the playground who sort of just waits for the for the ball to arrive um and i and i felt there was a bit of truth in that The thing is, I don't wish to dismiss what he has achieved in football.

26:10And there is no getting away from that goal record at Sporting Lisbon. It is outstanding. And, you know, to an extent, he replicated that in some big European games. So my overriding feeling at the moment is just one of it's a poor fit. like stylistically what we demand or maybe more specifically what Mikel Arteta demands from a centre forward is a very different skill set from what Victor Jokeres has been doing in Sporting Lisbon and you know having watched Arsenal for the last few years but certainly this season in recent months it feels like what what are um the things we need from a center forward well i think the primary thing is in penalty box movement like we create so many situations with bukayo saka uh on the right hand side you know cutting in swinging across the far post or you know declan rice doing that from the left or fullback overlapping and tucking it back so we're dealing with crowded penalty areas often against opponents sitting deep six, seven, eight, sometimes eight defenders in the box.

27:30Primarily what we require is somebody with real electric movement in those situations to get in front of their man, to get across their man, to get on the end of stuff. Victor Jokeres is a player who scored two headers in his time in Portugal and the vast majority of his goals were, you know, one-on-one situations running through on goal. So is that his skillset? Is that his natural game? I'm not sure. And then further up the pitch, we're talking about needing to be an outlet, needing to hold the ball. Again, that feels like a different player profile. So sort of my overriding feeling this morning is I'm sort of scratching my head, thinking, knowing our needs, knowing our style, how did we land on this choice?

28:22And I suppose in the summer, I remember writing saying Arsenal intend to make kind of stylistic adaptations to suit Victor. I would have to say those haven't happened. So either we haven't really enforced that or pursued it or opponents don't permit it. It's like asking us to do something that there's not space to do in our games. So, yeah, I am finding it a bit of an odd one. But even so, I was frustrated last night because I felt like whatever stylistic quibbles or clashes there may be, I think on an individual basis, he needs to and ought to be able to do more. Yeah, he has to offer more in his all-round game.

29:16And I think if he does that, then a consequence of that would probably be more chances and greater influence on games. I don't think he's ever going to be a guy who's going to take a game by the scruff of the neck and score a couple of goals, etc., etc. But I just find him very passive, you know, for a big strapping center forward who I think part of the discussion around him was like, is he physically going to be able to cope with the change from the Portuguese league to the Premier League? And he has the ingredients, he has the tools, he has the body, he has the experience, but we're not seeing it.

29:59And maybe it'll come in the second half of the season, but I think we're at a point now where the manager has to give some serious consideration as to who starts up front. You know, if he's not scoring goals and if he's not getting involved, then yeah, it's an issue and it's a problem, I think, at this point that he has to solve. But I think as well, it is worth pointing out, you already did this, that he's far from the only player who didn't really deliver last night. Certainly in the second half, the drop-off was considerable from an Arsenal perspective. What I would say, though, is that despite Liverpool's domination, the only slightly dangerous moments they had were free kicks, a couple of free kicks from Dominic Sabaslay, which, you know, lightning striking twice, all that kind of stuff.

30:47I did have a slight bit of fear when a couple of those were given to them. He didn't make the most of them. One went just over. The other one was like miles away. But that was kind of it, you know, for all the possession, for all of the territory that Liverpool had. They didn't make David Raya make a save. I mean, I think the stats are kind of pathetic in the second half. 0.29 xG for Arsenal, 0.21 xG for Liverpool. I think Frimpong had his moments, didn't he? Well, yeah. I mean, I think if his decision-making had been better, we could have found ourselves in more trouble. But he didn't seem decisive or confident in himself to take on a couple of the chances where I think, you know, if I'm running through on goal there, I'm going to pull the trigger.

31:45You know, and a couple of times he decided to make a pass, which we got back and snuffed out the danger. But certainly he gave Myles Lewis-Gelley a pretty torrid time when he came on down Liverpool's right hand side. So I think, yeah, that's a fair point that they could have caused more danger if Frimpong had made better decisions. But when it comes down to it, they just didn't really have the shots that were going to win them the game. Yeah, I mean, I think he showed in those moments why principally he is a defender, right? A right back or a right wing back. He's got extraordinary pace. And certainly when Myles came on, he gave him a torrid time.

32:25I suppose in Capier, you know, he knows Frimpong incredibly well. They were part of the same Bayer Leverkusen team. So to the extent to which he's been able to use his experience, he's trained against him many times. But yeah, Miles, it looked a mismatch on that side. And there's always space behind Miles because of the way that he sort of naturally inverts. So we played a slightly dangerous game there. fortunately their execution was was off in those situations too I do think Gabriel made a couple of big blocks in the penalty box I don't know how goal bound or not those shots were but a couple of times he really he's got great blocking technique yeah the way he hangs a leg out behind him yeah it's probably not talked about enough really but the way he sort of turns his body into a sort of one man wall it's quite impressive and that protected David Ryan.

33:25I mean, there were a couple of moments from an Arsenal perspective. There was a great ball from Zubimendi to Timber. Timber played Matueke. And listen, if we're talking about gambling on movement and gambling on where the ball is going to go, Matueke does everything he can in that position, gets to the byline, pulls it back. I think Martinelli makes the wrong decision there. He can run off the back of Connor Bradley and probably might have a chance at goal. that was another moment we didn't really make the most of Gabriel Jesus had a header on target it was quite interesting as well that there was a point where Liverpool you could almost see it in the game where they said right it's nil-nil we're happy with nil-nil and they ceded possession to Arsenal because actually up until the last six or seven minutes of the game Liverpool's possession stat was closer to 70 % rather than 65 % and we enjoyed a bit more possession in the final few minutes because Liverpool basically said, right, that's it.

34:20We'll take a point here. We're not going to risk the point by, you know, going all out to win it and leaving ourselves exposed on the break. So there was a Gabriel Jesus header on target, wasn't there? That one I mentioned, the Matawake pullback. But again, nothing really clear cut from an Arsenal perspective. Bar, maybe the corner right at the end, which... The moments were really in stoppage time. There was the Jesus header, then Martinelli had one which went straight into the keeper's hands. I mean, that ball was a good idea, you know, but just sort of whipping it in there, just hoping that somebody might just stick a toe on it, you know?

35:03Yeah. And then, yeah, obviously Arsenal get a corner, the last kick of the game, essentially, and Nani Maduweke trots over to take it. And I sort of think to myself, if we score here, our name really is on it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, it would have been such a kind of smash or grab in some respects to win it like that. But I think it was a chance because, listen, Gabriel is there. You very, very, very rarely see him miss the ball completely. And I think he's sort of either obstructed slightly or distracted slightly by Gabriel Jesus, who I don't think, listen, you've got to attack the ball, et cetera, et cetera.

35:47But if you see Gabriel there, get out of the way. Get out of the way. Leave it to the big guy. Leave it to the big guy. Just hit the deck, just do anything to clear a path for him. It's interesting because I didn't watch the TV pre-match analysis, but I imagine there was a bit of chat about set pieces because Liverpool have had a poor record at those. and Arsenal have obviously been very good or certainly in the early part of the season were exceptional in those situations. But we didn't have a great many opportunities and I do wonder how much of Liverpool's game plan was like, well, look, let's keep the ball and let's keep it away from areas where Arsenal can win corners, win free kicks.

36:27There was one moment in the first half where I think it was Kerkhez gave away a free kick in a sort of promising area for Bukayo Saka or Declan Rice to swing the ball in. And Arnest Slott in front of us was apoplectic. He was like, you know, it clearly was something they had spoken about, avoiding. And I think we only had three corners in the game. So Liverpool denied us the opportunity to sort of really test them on those set pieces. I think if we had, you know, if this had been a 12-corner game, maybe we get something. Well, I mean, again, that could be smart play from Liverpool, you know. You've got to sometimes, you can say you played poorly, but you can also acknowledge that the opposition had a game plan and probably executed that game plan in the second half as well as they could possibly have hoped.

37:16But it was frustrating, wasn't it? Disappointing not to perform, particularly in the second half, as we said, where Arsenal have typically been very good and scored most of our goals this season in the second half too. I do wonder if maybe there was just an element of the schedule catching up with us a little bit a lot of players out there have played a lot which might lead to some questions about squad rotation and keeping fresher legs etc etc but I don't know I I've seen a lot of reaction online and people saying you know that we're afraid and things like that which I don't really buy into I don't agree with that.

37:56I just think it was a moment, an opportunity that we had in this game. We didn't take that opportunity, but at the end of the day, we kept a clean sheet. We got a point. Our lead at the top was extended. I know it's only six points rather than eight, but it's still a pretty good place to be. I just think some of the angst is, as we've discussed in recent weeks, it is because of this sort of low level anxiety that we're low or high level or mid level, depending on your point of view, that is sort of there. You know, we're sort of floating on a sea of anxiety all the way through this season. And I do think that sometimes that informs the reaction to certain performances and certain results.

38:45And listen, I'm not here to tell anybody that a draw with Liverpool is a bad result or that Arsenal are in a vulnerable position or anything like it. We're in a really super strong position in the league. We've extended that lead over the course of this game week.

39:05Equally, and maybe this is my emotion getting the better of me, but I can't help but feel like last night was a bit of an opportunity miss. Oh, I agree, yeah. Like I watched the second half of City's game in midweek and I was really struck by how kind of listless they looked at times. The stadium was so flat, like lots of empty seats. It was quiet there. And they looked and felt like a team that sort of, I don't know. You know, I'm not going to say they'd given up, but they knew their title challenge was really on the ropes at that point in time. And I think if we had gone and beaten Liverpool, I just think it, I'm not saying it would have been over or anything like it, but it would have dealt a massive, massive, massive psychological blow.

40:00Yeah, I think you're right there, yeah. Yeah, and I felt that it was within our power to do it. I felt that we were capable if we performed to our best. So, you know, when you arrive at that stadium, and they've got the big build-up, they've got the fire before the game and light show and all those things, I sort of thought we might be on for something really special here. It didn't happen. It didn't happen. And that is the Premier League and you're playing against, you know, still very, very good opposition despite the season that they've had. And so, yeah, we go forward. But, yeah, I do feel like the mood would have been absolutely jubilant had we won that one.

40:41So I think it's just, I think a lot of that thwarted excitement, you know, leads to people being a bit downcast this morning. A bit maybe glass half empty when it really ought to be, if you look at the bigger picture, glass half full. Sure. I mean, listen, we've taken 16 points from 18 over the Christmas period since we lost to Aston Villa. So, you know, it's a really good return. It really is, particularly, you know, when we looked at some of those fixtures and thought, wow, they're going to be really tricky. You know, if there is one game on the calendar where you think, well, maybe three points is going to be a bit difficult, it is Liverpool because they are a good team.

41:27And I know they're missing players, but I think people, well, there was a sort of sense that without the attacking players they had, that it was going to be easy. and again the expectation and the hope and like you say I think Wednesday night in the Premier League was kind of mad it sort of created this mad energy this mad like oh my god look at what can happen anything can happen in the Premier League and sort of anything happened to us by not much happening does that make sense yeah I mean it was kind it was sort of extraordinary the the results that came in and to be fair the last few weeks have been generally a pretty good time to be an Arsenal fan, particularly if you're on hate watch duties.

42:10And yeah, I mean, like I think I said to Amy before the game, it just feels like everything's coming up Arsenal. So, you know, it was easy to get swept up in that and a sort of sense of inevitability about how Thursday night might go. But it was, Mikhail Teta afterwards, I thought, in his press conference, gave a sort of very measured appreciation of the situation where he spoke about how every point, not just against against Liverpool, but every single week is so hard fought and hard won. And it's been the case since August. I think if some supporters, perhaps myself included, had been guilty of taking the result for granted against Liverpool, I certainly don't think Mikel Arteta is in that camp.

42:53And another positive to take from the night is that, you know, I've seen people say this was our worst performance for a while or, you know, really disappointing display. well, we barely gave up a chance and we didn't lose. And there is something to be said for that as well, I think. I agree. I think that is sort of an underlying consideration of this season that I find encouraging. I think we've said a few times, like I think there is real room for improvement from this Arsenal team. I really do. I think there's big room for improvement. And I'm saying that while we're sitting six points clear at the top of the table.

43:36And I think we've said maybe more than once this season, you know what, maybe last year that's a game we don't win. Or that's a game we lose, rather, I should say. And this time around, even when it's not going well, even when we play poorly, we don't look like a team that's going to lose too many games. And I think if we can maintain that and then find that bit of improvement, which I think has to come from the attacking third in the attacking end of the pitch to find something that works on a consistent basis. If we can do that, then I think we're still in great shape, you know. You don't win the title in January.

44:18It would be much better, obviously, to be eight points clear than six points clear. But I don't think six points clear is any kind of a disaster at all. not at all. As I say, we're in a super strong position and it's sort of interesting few weeks now, a lot of games, um, some other competitions as well coming into play. I've got some questions about that. I think in, okay, well, maybe we'll chat about that. Yeah. Uh, there is obviously another, uh, big incident in the game that we haven't touched on, but I did want to leave that for part two, the Gabrielle Martinelli, Connor Bradley thing, but we'll leave that for part two.

44:51So why don't we take a little break here? We'll come back with your questions in part two, right after this.

45:06Welcome back to the Extra Arse Cast Extra. This is part two of the show where we answer the questions that you sent to us on... Oh, I forgot to do Blue Sky, didn't I? Fuck. Sorry about that, folks. We still got some questions on Blue Sky. Oh, did we? Okay. All right. Well, thank you to those who recognize the fact that I am, yeah, my brain is a bit addled at this moment in time and forgot to do that. But we also take questions from our Discord channel, which you get, or Discord server, which you get access to if you are an R-Spug member on Patreon. Before we get into those, though, I didn't mention the incident involving Gabrielle Martinelli and Connor Bradley late on, which I think, you know, if this had been a different game, it would have been like a tiny sidebar to, let's say, a famous Arsenal victory, right?

45:55If it had gone the way we'd all hoped and this had happened, I don't think too many people would have been talking about it in the way that they are now. But because it was sort of like the only thing that really happened in the second half, it's sort of become a very significant storm in a teacup kind of situation. so what did you make of how it went down? Bradley and Martinelli chasing for the ball Bradley, you can see the video it's terrible actually the way his knee twists and he goes down Martinelli I think doesn't realise that he's as injured as he is Bradley sort of rolls back onto the pitch a little bit of sort of writhing around Martinelli pushes him off etc etc and then it all goes from there well i think my view of it in real time was sort of skewed um or colored by the fact that i knew it was a bad one straight away like that was uh my side of the pitch and i saw the way that bradley's leg kind of uh contorted under his his weight in that situation and I was immediately like, oh, that's nasty.

47:10So I have to be totally honest and say, when I saw Gabrielle Martinelli, you know, go over to him and give him that little shove, I was like, that's not a great look. No. And actually, like, it's sort of not a great look anyway. Like, I know subsequently there's been sort of explanations and apologies. But I don't think, you know, that's what I want to see from an Arsenal player. And I understand the emotion and the adrenaline. And I'm not saying I would be a better man in those situations. But I think that it's fair for him to receive some criticism for that. But I must say, I was incredibly, I went to the post-match press conference.

48:02I was incredibly impressed by Arne Slott's answer. You know, he's also in a kind of adrenaline-fuelled situation and an emotional situation. And I thought the dispassionate way in which he was able to kind of analyse what had happened was really helpful. I think if he'd gone into that press conference and said, Martinelli's way out of line, you know, they should throw the book at him. I think it'd be on every back page this morning. And he went a long way towards defusing it. Sure. And I'm really glad that Gabriel Martinelli did the right thing and apologised. And to be honest, I expected it of him because it is out of character.

48:50He clearly, I think, was unaware quite how bad it was. and he is really, really well known to be a very, very good guy. So it's no surprise to me that he would take that step. That's it. You know, there are players who you would not put it past, even if they knew the guy was seriously injured, to just shove them off the pitch. That's not who Martinelli is. I think anybody who's watched him and seen him grow up at Arsenal understands that that's not the kind of guy that he is. I'm with you. I didn't like it at the time. I don't think he should have done it. I think it was right that he was booked for it.

49:28But what I think it was was just a rush of adrenaline in the last couple of minutes of a game, desperate to try and find a winning goal, like competitive spirit. That's kind of what you want from players.

49:47I think the way Slott talked about it where he basically said there's so much time wasting in the final stages of games you can understand why a player might think that this is somebody just trying to waste time and see out the clock which is sort of what he said about Martinelli I think that's fine where I think I have a bigger issue with all of this and I'm cognizant of the fact that you were not watching on TV was the way this was reacted to on TV, particularly by Gary Neville in the commentary. I'm just going to play a little clip here of what he had to say on Sky towards the end of the incident after he'd already said, oh, you can't do this, you can't do that.

50:30And it's sort of gone in on Martinelli a little bit. Conor Bradley's been taken off on a stretcher and Gary Neville says this. I'm actually fuming with Martinelli, honestly. I don't know how Liverpool players didn't go over and absolutely whack him, to be honest with you. And took a red card. Absolutely disgraceful, that. I mean, listen, I think Martinelli was in the wrong. I think you're right to say he did the right thing by apologising. We can hope and send best wishes to Conor Bradley because it looks like it's going to be a pretty significant injury. Probably an ACL is what it looked like, right?

51:02So everybody, I think, from an Arsenal perspective, can have sympathy for a player. You know, we've experienced so many injuries in recent times. to be able to connect with that and not wish anything but the best for Connor Bradley in that situation. But where I think it's hugely irresponsible is for Gary Neville, who is the senior co-commentator, if you like, on Sky Sports, to sort of say something as idiotic as that, to advocate for another player to commit an act of violence on the pitch. I mean, it's so stupid. Like, he wants a Liverpool player to go over and whack Martinelli, so Liverpool play out the game with 10 men and then lose that player for at least three games because it would be violent conduct.

51:47And in that situation, it would be even more sort of premeditated rather than a bad tackle or whatever. You know, you can't accept that. You should not accept that from Sky Sports, from Gary Neville. I think there's a level of responsibility required there. Roy Keane in the studio as well. I mean, talk about people in glass houses, you know, going in on Martinelli. I think it was wrong, but it was trifling compared to some of the things that Roy Keane has done on the pitch and some of the things that Gary Neville, if we remember how he and his brother went to town on Jose Antonio Reyes, rest his soul.

52:28You know, it's quite hypocritical, I think. And I think Sky need to have a serious think or have a word with Gary Neville about the way that he reacted to that incident. You can take exception to it, but there's a line you don't cross, I think. And he crossed that line for me last night. I think that's totally right. I mean, listen, if Conor Bradley was my teammate, would I have reacted to it in a big way? Very possibly. But, and if Conor Bradley had been an Arsenal player, given a shot by a Liverpool player, I want to see the Arsenal players react accordingly. And we would be as outraged as the Liverpool fans were about the way Martinelli behaved.

53:09I think, you know, so I think you have to, you have to recognize that as well. But, but, uh, I think you're right to say that there's a kind of editorial degree of responsibility that, that Sky and Gary Neville have in that situation. Um, you know, we often talk about like, oh, a young kid's emulating, uh, what they see on the pitch. Are they always following the best behavioral examples and things like that? It's like, well, we don't need it from the commentators as well. Yeah, exactly. It's such an anachronistic throwback to a sort of an age where, listen, you've got to stand up for yourself and you've got to be tough on a football pitch and you've got to protect yourself and, you know, be ready to, I hate to use the phrase, man up.

53:53You know, that's not what I mean, but you have to be ready for physical confrontation at Premier League level. Not just at Premier League level, wherever you play football, Sunday league, holy shit, it's even worse at times, you know? But when you are like the key broadcaster for the Premier League, to sort of just throw it out there casually, like a Liverpool player should go and whack Martinelli, that's bullshit. Yeah, what are we advocating for then? You know, an eye for an ACL makes the whole world injured, Andrew. Well, that's it. And what would Gary Neville have said if a Liverpool player had done exactly that?

54:28Would he have said, yeah, that's what you should do? Or would he have said, he's also been an idiot? that's exactly what he would have said you know so it's just mouth from Gary Neville that makes no sense on any level and I do hope actually that somebody at Sky has a word with him about that you know very possibly I mean yeah I think I think the good news is that sort of hopefully the news cycle will move on from it quite quickly I think I think Martinelli can be grateful I think to Slott for how responsibly he handled it and I think he as I said the player himself has done the right thing and you know from what he tells us is also exchange messages with Conor Bradley so I imagine there's quite a I imagine everyone sort of understands now and is happy to move forward I mean listen all the best Conor Bradley look like serious injury hope's all right I still think he knew what he was doing getting back on the pitch and I'm not saying that justifies anything but if Martin Ely didn't know how injured he was then I could understand the source of his irritation as Slott says we're in a league where time wasting and gamesmanship is everywhere so it's an understandable mistake to make Sure I think that's as much as we need to say about it Yeah Right Right, let's go back to slagging off Vicky Jokeres.

56:04No, listen, we won't, but there were a lot of questions about the upfront situation. I mean, I thought this one was interesting from Tola on the Discord. He said, morning, gents. Would you start Jokeres up front against Portsmouth in the hope that he might get a couple of confidence-boosting goals? Or is it more important to give Jesus a start, potentially for similar reasons, and let Jokeres have a little rest? I saw this question. And I'm sort of, I don't quite know how to think about it, to be honest, because I can see that point of view. Like, if he needs the confidence boost of goals, playing against a championship team might well be the thing to do that.

56:52At the same time, though, if he scores against a championship team in the FA Cup, people will say, well it's just goals against the championship team and the FA Cup will they make that much difference? I think if it were me I'd be I'm at the point where I'd go a different direction and I think what I would look for from Victor Jokeres is to respond to a challenge from elsewhere to respond to being put on the bench for a few games. Because I don't think you can sort of baby a player through a season, particularly not a player of his experience and his age. And I think why not give Jesus a go up front?

57:44You can bring Jacarese on for 20 minutes. He could still get a couple of goals, which could boost his confidence. But I think we haven't seen enough for him to be given another start or enough from him to be given another start. In my opinion, that's kind of where I am with him right now. And if he sits on the bench for a couple of games and doesn't start a couple of games and it lights a fire under his arse, then it's a piece of great man management. But if he starts another game and doesn't score against the championship team in the FA Cup, it just sort of heightens the problem a bit. So I'd be inclined to sort of take him out of the firing line a bit.

58:20Yeah, I mean, I think, I think Jesus needs the minutes that's the thing I think he he needs the game time to get up to speed and I think at this point that's probably the more valuable investment is like can we get Jesus up to speed would be my thinking on it Is there potentially an opportunity to give Kai Havertz minutes in this game I'm not saying obviously not start him because we're coming up on a year, basically, since Kai Havertz has started a game for Arsenal. So there's no way that he can start a game straight away, even if it is, you know, so-called lesser opposition. No, no. But is that 20-minute, like if you give Jesus 70 minutes, is it more valuable to your season and what lies ahead to give those 20 minutes to Kai Havertz if he's able to be involved on Sunday?

59:23Yes, potentially. I hope that can happen. Obviously, Kai wasn't on the bench again yesterday, but perhaps they've earmarked that Portsmouth game as one where it could be good for him to make his return. I don't think it will be from the start for all the reasons you've outlined. I mean, you say it might be the right time to take Victor out of the starting line-up. arguably it's kind of the first time in a long time where we've really had the options you know we've not long had Jesus back Kai's on the way back so maybe the timing will be good in that respect I also think that Mikel has protected Victor a lot this season and I think in a way he's protected again over the next couple of games by the fact that it's two cup fixtures and people are anticipating rotation.

1:00:17So I think leaving him out, it's not exactly, you know, you're not going to see Yokeres dropped headlines the following day. Yeah, that's true. So it's sort of, you know, the timing might be quite fortunate in some respects. I mean, I suppose I'll take this opportunity to sort of like trot out my little hobby horse, really, which is sort of a, that I, I would not have discarded the Mikel Moreno option as quickly as it was. I still think our best performances this season have been with him in the number nine. And I know he had that poor half against Villa, but have been surprised by how seemingly reticent we've been to go back to it since then.

1:01:09Do you think it is perhaps a, how will I put this? It's a deliberate choice, not necessarily about what Mikel Moreno brings or doesn't bring to the centre forward position, but more about what it could say to your centre forwards if you have them fit and you still start Mikel Moreno in that position. Or is that sort of a level of ruthlessness that we should just expect from Mikel Arteta? Yeah, I think it is. And honestly, I know Mourinho is not a centre forward traditionally. And I know there are things he doesn't have in his game. But when I spoke in part one about what I feel is required of a centre forward in this system, I do think he has a lot of those attributes.

1:02:03And we've seen that in his performances. You know, he can be dominant in the penalty box. His movement is actually very good in those situations. But he also can drop in and combine. And listen, if you've got a fully fit Kai Havertz and a fully fit Gabriel Jesus, you're probably not using Mikel Moreno to centre forward. And I completely understand that. But if we are in a situation in the coming weeks where, for whatever reason, we are struggling to get Jesus or Kai up to speed, match fit, ready to start games, ready to play 90 minutes, if that remains the case, I strongly feel Mikel Moreno should come back into contention for that Senate forward spot.

1:02:47and listen I don't know whether Mikel would do it but I actually think we had a pretty good thing going there and sometimes teams evolve in unexpected ways this team has evolved in unexpected ways at times nobody necessarily foresaw Ben White becoming a right back and then we tried it and it worked and we stuck with it and yeah I think Mourinho remains an option But it is interesting, isn't it, that we're sort of halfway through what we would all say is like on course to potentially be a very successful campaign. It's going really well. We're winning loads of football matches. We're scoring enough goals.

1:03:29But it is a sort of oddity that the centre forward position, which has been subject to so much scrutiny and debate, Arsenal, over the last few years, it remains kind of unsolved. Certainly in my eyes. Yeah, I mean, we had a question. We had a question and I think this is quite interesting, not just to apply to this season, but maybe to apply to Nicolarteta's tenure at Arsenal. um Sinsku on the quad bike on the discord said um and we don't have to like discuss it necessarily in terms of Jokeres because we've said enough about him I think but he says is the primary issue the system or the player when it comes to Jokeres like is it a difficult position to play for Mikel Arteta yeah is it a difficult position to play in the Premier League I think so I think I think it's really tough I think there's a reason that you know the most gifted players often end up becoming strikers I think because the challenge is so enormous and technically physically I think it's hugely demanding I think that what Mikel Arteta asks of his centre forward is a lot I think that it involves a lot of sacrifice um i think that it's very specific and that's why that's why i do find the the yoko resigning a as i say a little bit perplexing just because michael has always been so big on specificity on having the person with like the right attributes for the role and i i think there is a bit of disparity there um i think yeah i think it's it's bloody hard and some really good players you know people always say if you say oh our centre forwards have never really thrived under Arteta people always say Oba but he didn't play centre forward very much no not often no like he played off the left and actually like you know that is a bit of an evolution of the game in a lot of systems as well is that you know there's there's a lot of sacrifice on behalf the centre forward and the wide forwards sometimes profit from that and I guess to an extent that is what's happening at Arsenal.

1:05:46I mean, the player you would say who probably clicked best at centre forward for Arsenal was Kai Havertz in the second half of the 23-24 season. Yeah, probably in the 2024 calendar year. Yeah. You know, he had a very strong 12 months. And I think prior to his injury last season might well have been on course for, you know, a 20-25 goal campaign if he maintained his level. and Kai is not everyone's idea of a striker and he's maybe not the finisher that Jokeres is or has proven himself to be but he does tick a lot of those boxes that Mikel Arteta is looking for I agree and I think it sort of says something about the whole striker situation listen we can have those three months of Gabriel Jesus when he first signed as well which were really quite something and very, very promising.

1:06:40And unfortunately, injury paid to those. But, you know, it is the idea that Havertz, who, you know, I don't think they ever completely ruled out the idea of him playing as a striker for Arsenal, but certainly the idea was when he arrived was for him to be that left eight, right? To replace Granit Xhaka. And then, as you said, teams evolve in ways you don't necessarily expect. And he was played up front and really clicked, as you said over the period of those 12 months and certainly in that second half of that season where we came so close to winning the title. And I'm not saying it's like, well, that happened by accident because you have to make decisions about that and the player has to be able to do it, but he did it.

1:07:22And maybe it says something about the centre forward position at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta that the best guy to do it for a short period of time is a guy we didn't really buy to do that in the first place. Yeah. And look at Mikel Marino as well, who you'd have to file in that bracket. Yeah, maybe it tells you something about the centre-forward position at Arsenal, that the players who've most recently done well in it were both bought to be midfielders. Yeah. I don't know, but I did find myself wondering last night, like, has a team, when in history has a team won a league without a centre-forward playing well?

1:08:05I mean, there have been teams like the Man City of a few years ago who sort of didn't necessarily play with the centre-forward, or there's been the Liverpool team with Bobby Firmino, who's a very different type of centre-forward, again, would sort of almost fit that midfielder mould. But then you had Salah scoring 30 goals from the wide areas. Yeah. I'm not saying that to induce worry. I think Arsenal are clearly... It's kind of extraordinary what Arsenal are doing, I think, given that thus far to my mind their big centre forward signing has not worked yeah there is a there is a deficiency up front for Arsenal this season and you know it's not dependent on any one guy but you know there are there is as I said in the first half there is room for improvement that is an area where there's clearly clearly clearly room for improvement and there's room for experimentation as well now that's the thing you know we are getting options back We have got these, not just the domestic cup games, but there's, you know, for example, the Kyra game in the Champions League a couple of weeks away.

1:09:10There are real opportunities, I think, to try different things. And I think at this point in the season, that is worth pursuing. And I'm not saying jettison Jokeres, don't use Jokeres, because I would be wary of sort of diminishing a player's already low confidence in those situations. But yeah, I think something has to change. And I also think, I mean, we had a question from Paul who sort of said, if he is going to stay in the team, how do we get more out of him? I think I mean I can't imagine they're not working on it but for me there's got to be a coaching emphasis on that you know Arsenal have not just a manager who's a great coach but they have you know an attacking phase coach as well what's his name Issa Hussain who has been credited by the likes of Gabriel Jesus with helping him work on his movement his finishing in the box that's what they have to be doing.

1:10:19Correct. You know, there are raw ingredients there but this is a problem and that's the job of the coaching staff to try and resolve. Absolutely. There are things that Yacarez can do better in the penalty box. And if it's not natural to him it has to be taught or it has to be coached as you say. Let's hope they can do that. What about this one? We'll do a quick couple just to get us out of here. Where was it? Simon King. He says, my biggest concern last night was how Miles Lewis Skelly looked. He looked physically way off his best. Has his lack of game time and place in the pecking order had a physical effect as well as knocking his confidence?

1:11:02yeah I mean he struggled I thought when he came on look I don't think too many players would fare well in a foot race with Jeremy Frimpong and I think it was as I say it was a bit of a mismatch I think there's a I don't think he is the ideal fullback to be defending against that player I think their styles sort of clash but equally there's no getting away from the fact that Miles has struggled to find the level he did in his first season. There used to be that sort of cliche phenomenon, didn't there? Second season syndrome. And I think it's kind of a truism. I think there was something to that.

1:11:46And I think maybe we're seeing that little bit with Myles right now. And I think he's sort of coming in and out of the team sort of relatively sporadically without necessarily, you know, the question alluded to sort of fitness. Yeah, maybe that's part of it, but I think it's probably much more likely to sort of rhythm and game time and confidence and all those things that come with playing week in, week out that he doesn't have at this point in time. Equally, I don't think Arsenal, you know, we speak about Ethan sometimes and we say, oh, can he go out on loan? I just think with the injuries Arsenal suffered at the bat, and another one for Pierre-Eincapier who had come off yesterday.

1:12:27I just think there's absolutely no chance of that. We need him. I think he'll probably start at Portsmouth. Yep. And I think it's a start that he needs. I think, yeah, we need to try and get him up to speed because we might really need him in the coming weeks. Yeah. What's your view? Listen, I think it's hard when you don't play often. it takes a little bit of time to find some rhythm and find your best form. And he's been in and out of the team, hasn't really started too many games, hasn't played a lot of minutes. So I understand him being a little bit rusty. He's young though. And I think, you know, this is a, I've said this before, I think to you, that I think part of the way Lewis Skelly and Ethan Weneri are being managed this season is quite deliberate.

1:13:21or I think there is an element of, this is the big leagues now, guys. You were great for us last season. We needed you. You stepped up. You contributed. Thank you. We rewarded you with new contracts, lucrative new contracts.

1:13:40But you're really going to have to rise to every challenge that comes to you, you know? So I think if he plays a few games, we'll wait and see what Incappier is like in terms of his injury. but if he plays a few games, I think, you know, hopefully we can see him a little bit back to his best. But it was worrying a bit last night, particularly the first 10 minutes or so after he came on, he just could not cope with Frimpong. And I think despite the difference in pace, there are things you can do as a player to minimise the impact the opposition winger has in situations like that, you know? Yeah, totally, totally.

1:14:16Yeah, it was worrying and if Frimpong had executed better, I think he couldn't decide. I've one more to go which I just thought was quite an interesting one from King Thierry on the Discord and they say it seems like we've 24 squad players with two players for every position now however it seems every sub we make is like for like Madueke for Saka, Martinelli for Trosser Jesus for Yaccaras Odegaard for Eze and so on do you think there are other things Mikel Arteta can do which aren't like for like subs based on a player's position which could make us more unpredictable. Yeah, I do actually. I was thinking about that last night, you know, in terms of how do we counter what Liverpool are doing in this second half?

1:15:00Are there things we can do? Like, I know it's not completely out of his wheelhouse, but I did wonder if Ezza on the left, rather than Martinelli, might have been a way to, listen, he wasn't particularly impactful when he came on, Ezza, but I just thought that maybe doing something that wasn't quite what Liverpool expected could have been an interesting way to approach it. Yeah. What did you think of Saka coming off? Were you like, did that surprise you at all? No. I mean, I think Saka was our best player in the first half by some distance. Yeah. By far our best player. I think in the second half, he, like Kerkhez had the measure of him in the second half.

1:15:42I think he was quite lucky actually not to get a yellow card for a foul on Kerkhez at one point. but Kerkhez seemed to manage him in a way that he wasn't able to do in the first half. So in that sense, I don't mind the like for like, you know, last 20 minutes, 15, 20 minutes, put on fresh legs. Matuweke had that moment that we talked about, so I don't think it was a big deal, to be honest. But yeah, like everybody, I think he had a much worse second half than a first half. Yeah. I think that's, and that's true. I think as a team, we're obviously much poorer. I don't mind Saka coming off. I think Madueke was bright even when he came on and had that one very good moment and almost delivered a decent corner to the back post for Gabriel.

1:16:31But I did find myself wondering, like, is there a way of keeping Saka on the pitch but taking him off the right? Like, I noticed in the second half when we were really struggling, there were moments where he drifted quite in field and over to the left and he was trying to make himself available, trying to get on the ball. And I just thought, he's so wedded to that right flank at times. I wondered, like, could we flip him to the left or, I don't know, could we put him in the central area at times? I do think that we have a lot of options at our disposal now and we don't always have to follow the sort of cookie cutter tactical template.

1:17:07But, and this is something we did have kind of questions about, I do think that Mikel Arteta, he knew he didn't want to lose this game. So I think there's a degree to which, you know, when we talk about experimentation and Portsmouth and maybe even Chelsea, yeah, there's room to experiment there. I don't think he deemed nil-nil at home to a Liverpool who are on top, playing well, dominating the ball as the right time to experiment. I think that's absolutely right. I think that tallies with pretty much everything that we know about Michel Arteta. You know, if we absolutely needed to win that game, I think he approaches that second half a little bit differently.

1:17:54He would be rolling more dice. Yeah, 100%. And I'm not saying, oh, he's too conservative. You know, he bottled it, you know, he settled. I'm not saying that. I just think he was cognizant of, given the sort of narrative of the title race and, you know, the expectation around the game. I think on, like, I watched him on the touchline in, like, deep conversations with Gabriel Aintz, say, and with Albert Steubenberg. And I think the subtext in those conversations would have been an acknowledgement. While it would be absolutely fantastic to win this game, I actually think to lose it would have been really damaging as well.

1:18:34Despite the lead we would still have had. I think the sort of the flip of expectations from, oh, we might go eight clear to how we've actually lost, I think could be quite destabilised. And I think he was right to be cognizant of that. Yeah, I think, could we have done better in the second half? Absolutely, that's what we said. But I think sometimes you have to look at the game and how it's panned out and what is actually realistic based on the way you're playing and the way you're performing and the way the opposition are performing as well. Yeah. Like, do you absolutely need to roll the dice in January at home to Liverpool?

1:19:15No. if you get to April you know it's a much tighter situation then it's a different matter I think and the games get managed a little bit differently so there we go alright listen we've got to get out of here because you've got a busy day and I've got a busy day but we will have a post FA Cup Ars Cast Extra for you as normal on Monday we'll probably have a little bit of a preview podcast for you tomorrow Saturday on Patreon so you can join us for that patreon.com forward slash arseblog. For now, though, take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.