Arsecast Extra Episode 698 - 08.06.2026

0:00So Eminem All steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez. Gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World Cup meal. Ronaldinho sees Son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henri, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. At participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies last. All rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.

0:45Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra. As always, we're James from Gunner Vlog. James, good afternoon to you. Good afternoon. Well, good morning. Well, it's good morning for me, Andrew. Good morning to you from a good afternoon here, I guess. It is, yes, exactly. How are you doing today? I'm okay. I'm okay, you know, just settling into the post-season stuff. Not sure how it's all playing out yet, you know, but I'm getting on by, hanging on in there, I think, you know. Nice. I'm settling into my new life as an American. I'm afraid of Americans. I know, and justifiably so. I'm joking. We love our Americans.

1:30friends? I'm still in Chicago. Yeah. I will be here for the duration of the summer pretty much. Are you eating a deep dish pizza every morning for breakfast? Trying not to. Right. Temptation is there, of course. Yeah. I don't want to return as the super-sized version of myself. Have you had a deep dish pizza? Because it always looks to me like it would scald your mouth because it's basically a load of hot tomato on top of hot cheese. Yeah, I've not had one yet. Right. I've got a birthday coming up and I've earmarked potentially that might be the day to broach the deep-pizza. Although a few things people have said about it have slightly put me off, I must admit.

2:16Not just the sort of the scalding implications, but it was described to me as more like a pie, like almost more like a short crust situation. Have you had one? I mean, listen, I've never had a deep dish pizza in Chicago, but for a time in Dublin in the 80s or 90s, there was a restaurant. I'm pretty sure there must have been one in London as well called the Chicago Pizza Pie Factory. And you could get these pizzas there. You could get them in the supermarket, I remember. They were frozen. so presumably they were handcrafted here in Chicago yes packaged up and then cryogenically frozen to be sold distributed in Iceland stores in the UK I imagine that was the definite process that they followed I was trying to figure out like why the pizzas would go from Chicago to Iceland then to the UK it's a downhill journey you see for those who don't know we had a store in the UK I still have it called Iceland, which sells frozen goods.

3:29But, you know, it is confusingly named after a country. Anyway, I'm here in Chicago. Yeah. And I mentioned I have a birthday coming up, a significant birthday. Yes. And I think, well, I'm going to be 40 in about a week's time. And I think last night, my midlife crisis may have arrived at new depths as I, on a whim, went on my own to an EDM festival here in Chicago. I mean, to be honest, I'm doing almost everything here in Chicago on my own. The phrase on my own could be applied to pretty much anything that I'm currently doing. You know, I go for a walk on my own. Andrew this is this is like for me this is really valuable company this is the most companionship you've been getting exactly right that's not strictly true I do have some colleagues out here but you know everything you're doing is soundtracked to the classic Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle song on my own exactly yeah so last night yesterday that makes me a bit sad actually just sort of James traipsing around Chicago I go, I feel like I'm in a movie.

4:50But anyway, I was working yesterday on Sunday doing a lot of football stuff. And it got to about 5 p.m., maybe 4, 5 p.m. And I was like, what am I going to do? Like, I finished work. It's the weekend. Where shall I go? And the answer was an EDM festival on my own. How did you come to that decision? Because there must be, you know, a million things to do in Chicago. You could have gone to, I don't know, one of the Chicago places. The tall one. I could have eaten a deep dish pizza. You could have seen a game of baseball with the chaps. The Chicago Bear Fighting Championships. That's it. um i this i just said dear chat gpt i'm having a midlife crisis what's my next course of action okay well the seed of the idea was planted the day before because i was at soldier field which is one of the most american names for a stadium I can imagine watching a friendly between a soccer friendly, no less between the USA and Germany.

6:10And as I was leaving the stadium, I saw all these people with Hawaiian shirts and glitter on their face. And I thought, these aren't soccer fans. Some of them are, but the rest of them, where are they going? And I ascertained they were attending this festival called Beyond Wonderland, an Alice in Wonderland themed EDM festival. And I guess at some point over the 24 hours, a plan formulated in my mind that Gunnerblog would attend Beyond Wonderland. And so I did. I actually had a very fun time. I am a fan of doing things on my own. I don't know about you, Andrew, but I find it quite exhilarating to sort of be in a crowd of people.

7:04And just like, for example, it got to about 10 p.m. and I was like, I'm just going to go. Yeah. There was no brokering. There was no, you know, negotiation with Camille or anyone else. I could just walk out of there into the night. That music accompanying me again as I disappeared into the darkness. You're free and easy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I do like that as well. I do like that. The sort of complete control over, you know, what you're doing and when you're doing it. You do it when you feel like it. I'm going to go have a drink or I'm going to just sit over here for a bit. Yeah, lovely. I did text you, send you a video because some DJ, he'll have to forgive me, I didn't know who anybody was because I'm 40, was doing a remix of, who's that Scottish fella?

8:00Lewis Capaldi. Lewis. Yeah. If you can imagine. That one, but to a proper house beat. Yeah. Maybe I can drop it. Maybe sample that and you'll get much the same effect.

8:32I mean, that must have been the highlight of the night. Was that the point at which you said, this can't get any better? I think yeah that's the bit where I was like I don't think my life peaks after this um and also I saw a DJ set from Rebecca Black are you aware of who Rebecca Black is she did the did she do the Friday song she was the high school girl who who's I believe the story was that her parents effectively sort of paid for her to make a little single that went viral and she sort of became an accidental viral star, but she has reclaimed that identity. She's gone through that fire. And I believe she is now sort of a fairly well-respected, I mean, slightly kitschy and trading on that reputation.

9:22Sure, why not? A DJ now. She did play Friday, of course, to close her set. How could she not, Andrew? Or even though it was Sunday, she still played Friday. There's the irony, you know? It's classic, classic stuff. So that's what I've been up to. I suppose I should talk about the football match I went to see, maybe more than the EDM festival. Maybe. I mean, was it more interesting? It was Germany against the USA. I suppose there was some Arsenal involvement, obviously, with Kai Havertz opening the scoring very early on. Waka waka, Kai Havertz scores early again. Not too early this time. No, not too early.

10:00Five minutes into the, was it five minutes into the Champions League final? It was two minutes into this game.

10:09He rose highest to nod home a free kick. And he then set up Verts, I think, for the winner. I think it was Leroy Sané, was it? Oh, yes. I think that's what I read. I think you're right. I don't know where I've got Verts from. You know where I've got Verts from? is that USA 1 Germany 2. I saw somebody... Who looks just like him at the EDM festival. He was a DJ. No? Yeah. It was Sarno. You're right. Forgive me. Sorry about that, Leroy.

10:53And they don't look particularly like Burtz and Sarno. I don't really know how I've done that. As I said, it was a big night on my own at the EDM festival. But there was quite a lot of Arsenal interest in the game. So obviously Kai Havertz started. Nathaniel Brown, the Frankfurt left back that we're supposedly tracking, who looks destined for Bayern Munich, I think, started for Germany.

11:23Trying to think, there was a bit of... Austin Trustee came on. No way. Oh, yeah. way. Wow. You're living the dream. Gedeon Zellelm is the manager of the USA now. Good old Gedeon. Danny Carbassioun is his assistant. Frankie Simek. Frankie Simek. Frankie Simek is the guy. Frankie Simek played up front. No, actually, Flo Balogun played up front. That was another point of Arsenal. Of course. Relevance. And Anthony Robinson scored an absolutely incredible goal. One of the best goals I've ever seen in the flesh. Have you seen it? Yeah, I saw the clip of it. He absolutely smashes that ball, doesn't he, into the, I don't know, it's not top corner.

12:14It's sort of right there. It's not quite corner, is it? It's just top. Yeah, it's a bit like, ooh, the goal Thierry Henry scored against Manchester United when they had that guy in goal, whose face I did not care for. I think he was from Northern Ireland. Roy Carroll. Roy Carroll. Roy Carroll. Yeah. And I think in the words of Martin Tyler, I think he says, it flashes in. That is a good description because it's sort of, yeah, it's a crazy goal that. The ball moves a fair bit. That's when Jose Reyes, God rest his soul, went for a little cuddle with Thierry. Do you remember? Yeah. Did he get the shrug off?

12:59Thierry gave him the little brush off. Oh. There was a lot of analysis about that brush off. Mm. I mean, that was pre-social media really as well, wasn't it? Imagine what it would have been like these days. It would have been huge, Andrew. Can you imagine? We would have had to do a special podcast about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there we go. I watched that and it was good to see Kai, although chatting to the German media before the game, they, A, they're very unenthused about their chances at this World Cup. Generally. Generally. I think because they're on, they're sort of on schedule to face France in the quarterfinals.

13:38And I think it's sort of seen as kind of a pointless exercise because they think they'll go out against France, whatever happens. Which seems a bit defeatist, you know. The French do love an implosion and the Germans are the Germans. So I have more faith in them than they do. That is top-tier World Cup analysis. Thanks. That's what they pay me the big bucks for. But the nation is not, I think, united in their admiration for Kai as the starting nine. I think... What do they want? Sort of full Krug? Undav is the new full Krug, I believe. everyone's always looking for the new full Krug you see that's the problem exactly it's tricky for Kai isn't it I do feel that maybe until sort of quite recently at Arsenal he's one of those players who there is always that sort of discussion around him everywhere he's been I feel like there's almost always been that ever since he left Leverkusen been that discussion of like, yeah, he's good, but is he the guy?

14:57Is he as good as Fulcrog? Is he? Yeah, exactly. The grass is always greener when it's growing on Fulcrog. I mean, didn't that Undav guy used to play for Brighton? Am I right? Dennis Undav. Feel like he did. Yes, he did, mate. Right. There you go. Now he's at Stuttgart. I remember him being pretty bad at Brighton, to be honest. Me too. Me too. I remember him coming on in a game against us. He sort of got that look of that guy who's like, yeah, you were the best striker in your school, but now you're just one of those guys. You're like mega full-krog. I don't know. He scored when they beat us 3-0 at the Emirates.

15:47Oh, God. Yeah. So anyway, Havertz is winning that battle seemingly. Who else do they got? They got Volta Madder, I guess. Is he in the squad? He's had quite a weird season too. He is in the squad, yeah. But he kind of finished the season playing in midfield, didn't he? Do you remember he came on a midfield against us and set up that chance which got over the bar? Vaguely. Remember that guy, the guy they bought from Brentford and he should have scored. Oh, Wissa. John Wissa, yeah. We'd have to think about that again now. No, no, no, no. It's already gone. Already gone from my mind. I also, I met Mauricio Pochettino.

16:32I see. And how did that go? Well, I told, so the reason I met him. I told him.

16:45I was walking past. I was in a mall. I'm using all the words, Andrew. Yeah. Did you go on the sidewalk? I went on the sidewalk, yeah. I took an elevator. I did all the things. I ate some eggplant. For me, that is the weirdest one. Eggplant. Eggplant is aubergine. Or coriander's mental as well. Yeah. What's it called? I can't remember. Coriander in American. Google translate translate English to American please. Cilantro. Cilantro. Yeah. Yeah. That's just mad. Anyway, I was walking past a Hugo Boss store and there was a queue outside of about six people. That many. And I was like, why are they queuing for Hugo Boss?

17:39And then I looked on the door and it was like, Mauricio Pochettino appears here in like eight minutes and so being the intrepid journalist that I am I followed this cue into Hugo Boss and watched Mauricio Pochettino give like a very strange kind of press conference about how it's important to look good as well as play good fulfilling his commercial obligations shall we say so you went in One suit, please, and a quick word with Maurizio Pochettino. Would that be okay? Basically, there was some sort of absurd deal where if you spent$350, you got a football signed by Maurizio Pochettino. But I don't think any of these people in that queue were spending$350 in Hugo Boss.

18:32For starters, they were all wearing football kits. Right. Right. And yes, so anyway, then he sort of did the rounds a bit at this thing. There was free food, free drink. That bit was good. And I did meet him. I told him I was from London. And he went, Spurs fan? I said, no. No, thank you. He went, Chelsea? I went, absolutely not. And then I informed him that I was an Arsenal fan. And consequently, even though I have no ill will to his nation that he is coaching in this tournament necessarily, I cannot wish him all the very best. And then we parted. And I left once again to my backing track of lonely man wandering the streets of Chicago.

19:23Let me ask you this. Go on. Did he not, when you said you were an Arsenal fan, was he not very pleased for his big friend Mikel Arteta? That's true, actually. He didn't mention that. Maybe they've had a falling out. Maybe. I mean, famously, Pochettino wanted Mikel to go and work for him, didn't he? At Spurs at the time. How different things might have been. But Mikel did not do that. But yeah, I believe they are good powers. He looks good, Poch. I'd say head to toe in Hugo Boss, of course. From his hat to his shoes. also this was the night before the game and his coaching staff were with him at this party and i was like surely you've got better things to be doing surely they could be reviewing set pieces you know in case you concede from one two minutes into the game tomorrow that's right that's that kind of nonsense preparation is not for for maurizzo pochettino No part of that.

20:30He did attract sort of controversy for getting his laptop out during a water break. Did you see this? No. No. So you know they've got these sort of official water breaks for the World Cup. Get your$20 waters. Yes, exactly. And let me tell you, they are massively Americanized. the one they had during the friendly, like as soon as it happens, big pop music over the PA. Do you know what I mean? Not just a break. It's a small party, a small EDM festival. Exactly that. Rebecca Black on the decks in every stadium. And yes, it's like an official timeout, I guess, to use the local terminology. And Pochettino in the US is friendly against Senegal.

21:25during such a break, got out a laptop and was sharing clips and analysis with his team on a laptop. And that's provoked a debate about whether that is within the rules. And FIFA have said, well, there's no rule against it. So for now, laptops at the ready. I mean, that would be an interesting development. This is, I presume, stuff that happened in the game, not just random clips. He's not sort of showing. I think it was like cat memes mainly.

22:00Just funny stuff he'd seen. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. And then I did watch another couple of games yesterday just on the TV. I watched Martin Odegaard score for Norway. Did he? Yes, he did. I sort of yesterday passed me by a little bit, so I'm not aware of this. I did see a picture of Odegaard doing the rounds on Blue Sky. And I was slightly worried that he was... Was it a picture of him just lying down in the sun? No. It was... He was... He was sort of training. He had the ball at his feet. And his leg muscles were very, very well defined, but maybe too well defined.

22:47Yes. Have you seen that one? I've not seen that. I will have a look. Let me send it to you now. Send it to you now. minus 3 % body fat at this point. Yes, his muscles are eating all the no fat he has. Right. Yeah, I mean, that has been, it is quite striking actually because there have been some clips during the rounds of socials since the title win of All or Nothing. And when you look at Martin Odegaard's, the difference in his physicality, even in his face, from then to now. I mean, All or Nothing may well be the name of the diet plan he's been on. With emphasis on the nothing. Yeah. It is a striking transformation.

23:34Is that real or is it one of those kind of, I don't know, has it been slightly doctored? I don't know. This picture you're showing me. Wow, yeah. Yeah. There's some muscle definition there. That's interesting. So just for the listener, what I'm seeing is, well, Martin Odegaard's insides effectively. It's like, you know, that the drawing of the man who hasn't got any skin, you know, you see all the sinews and the muscles and the connective tissues. I feel like I'm looking into Martin Odegaard, not from the angle I would choose. so yeah anyway there was also part of the reason i the pictures i thought you're referring to i think the norway international squad were pictured yes um acclimatizing to the heat especially just a series of photos of them seemingly just passed out on the ground okay yeah i did like their uh their viking pick uh their pre that was very good that was very good I also very much enjoyed the France players taking the mick out of Shirky.

24:47Have you seen that one? No, I've not seen that. So you know the way they did their team photo, and he was kind of standing awkwardly at the front in a kind of weird pose, and then all the France players had a picture taken. Here it is. I'll send it to you. Also good. I should remember to try and put these into the post, into the show notes, so people can see what the hell it is we're talking about. Podcasting being a very visual medium as well. So you can have a look at that one. So you can see Shirky at the top there, and he's sort of scrunched in, and then all the France flares. That's very, very, very funny.

25:31That is good. I mean, it is hard to know what to do with your hands sometimes. But Cherky's choice there, disastrous. Yeah, not good. Never live it down. Speaking of... Odegaard scored against Morocco in New Jersey. And it was a very Odegaard-y goal. A pullback from Oscar Bob. One of the more satisfying names in football, Oscar Bob. and yeah, kind of arrived onto it and finished into the far corner. So yeah, that was nice to see. Nice to see him. Nice to see him. Yeah. Still doing his thing, but it is sort of surreal and mad that all these players are about to embark on an expanded World Cup after such a draining season.

26:23Yes. It does feel bonkers. It does a bit. I'm just looking at the goal here. Okay. Oh, left foot, near post. Nice finish. I like it. Could you use a few more of those for us, please, Martin, if you wouldn't mind? Well, this is it. It's kind of what we used to say, a sort of typical Odegaard goal. I've not seen too many of those recently. We need more. We need more. I was saying, speaking of France, I believe we're signing the next William Saliba from PSG. Were you aware of this? Of course you're aware of this. You're the transfer guy. You know everything about transfers. Who? The boy Mbemba? Mbemba.

27:02Emmanuel Mbemba. Has there been any more news on that today? No, I don't think so. But apparently he is the next William Saliba. And I know this is a dangerous road to go, Dan, because, you know, we spent many years going after the next Patrick Vieira, never really succeeding until maybe Declan Rice. But I'm on board with that as a concept, you know, Because I think the current William Saliba is really, really excellent. Yeah. And therefore, if you can get the next one and the one after that, and then all William Salibas in perpetuity, I think that's pretty good strategic planning from Arsenal.

27:42When it comes to William Salibas, more is more. Yeah, you need all of them. Yeah, exactly. And I like the idea, how many can we get? How far can we take this? yeah we'd be like the old uh you know the when they used to give out about the eec um before it was called the european union the butter mountains and all those kinds of things we'll just have a stockpile of salibas in warehouses uh all across all across europe you know might be easy save on jet fuel you know you're going to play in france just rock up at the the saliba depot in paris you know saliba depot in milan wherever it might be just pluck out your Saliba and off you go.

28:23Absolutely. I think, yeah, I mean, there is a bit of interest there. I don't know if it will happen, but he's certainly a player Arsenal know and quite like. Seemingly, I saw Phil Costa saying that he thinks he'll end up as a left back. Well, there, that's exactly what I mean. Then it's definitely happening. Then it's a done deal. Done deal, yeah. How could it not happen? But out of contract as well, so. I think can be signed for a minimal fee. But yeah, other than that, transfer talk. It's quiet. You'd expect it to be quiet though, wouldn't you? At this point in the summer with the World Cup coming, you know, starting on Friday, it is going to be, I think, maybe weirdly quiet.

29:13I guess whatever deals you might do are for non-World Cup players, right? Yes, and we've heard about Mbemba, we've heard about Jeremy Monger of Leicester. What do we sort of know about that or make of that? Like if we maybe tie those two things together, is there something? Maybe we had a question about this. I think we might have, but I can't. Yeah, we had a question from Luca Skywalker who says, lots of bits and bobs surrounding youth recruitment. Is this a major focus for the club this summer? And are incomings in the youth team a separate agenda from what the plan is regarding the first team?

29:56For example, is Manga an option on the left or just layering underneath the first team? And I suppose the other way maybe just to think about it or to try and put it in context is the departure of Per Mertesacker means that, you know, things have changed at academy level. and there may well be some focus on that and a new way of doing things slightly. Yeah, I think that these kinds of players, which are generally termed sort of emerging talent signings, they sort of sit almost between the academy and the first team. And I think the expectation is that they are potential first team players or if not, players who perhaps will generate revenue through transfers in future.

30:50If they don't make the grade at Arsenal, they should retain a certain degree of value or increase in value to the point where Arsenal can make a bit of money out of them. And this process has been ongoing for a little while now. We've seen Arsenal sign a lad from Ireland, from Shamrock Rovers, Victor Oshinvuna, for an Irish record fee. We've seen Arsenal sign the Quintero twins from Ecuador, who I think are probably the most highly thought of so far in terms of their ceiling and their potential ability. And I think Munger and Mbemba would be filed in that same category. so I think in terms of what would their immediate role with the team be I think it would probably be fringes of the first team you know probably they're the sort of level of player that could and would train quite regularly with the first team but I wouldn't necessarily expect them to be making a ton of appearances quickly but I think that's part of it the idea that yes they would strengthen our under 21s for example Champions League level but they'd also be part of the wider first team group that Mikhail Teta works with day to day.

32:07What do we know, if anything, about who is going to replace Per Mertesacker? Is that an ongoing process? Is there something close? You know, is it an internal appointment or are they looking for somebody external? Do we know anything at all? Yeah, I think we're waiting on that. I mean, quick Per Mertesacker story as an aside, which is that obviously he's left the club now but on the night arsenal won the league uh what a lovely thing to say um when bournemouth hosted man city there was obviously a kind of pilgrimage to the outside of the stadium and big party that night in town i ended up there myself but i'm assured that uh as people kind of cavorted and danced on the concourse around the stadium.

33:03Per Mertesacker, at one point, appeared in the window of the Emirates, along with Ray Parler, kind of reveling in the celebrations. Why they were inside the Emirates Stadium that night, I do not know. That is the most random duo possible, isn't it? Per Mertesacker, Ray Parler. It makes me think it must have been some sort of corporate event or staff event. I don't know. Perhaps they're in some kind of ambassadorial role. But yeah, I'm assured. And to be fair, I don't think people would mistake the figure of Permo Zaka. No. There aren't too many six foot six Germans wandering around Islington. But in terms of what happens next, I don't know.

33:48I think there's been a reshuffle, hasn't there? James Ellis, who was the technical director, he was kind of leading the appointment for a new academy director. He's now gone, not been replaced. So there's been a restructure. The new academy director will now report into Andrea Berta. Andrea Berta is actually leading the recruitment on a lot of these emerging talent signings. He just wants to sign players as small as he is. Yeah. Sick of signing these giant guys. Full stop, it seems. So, yeah, we're waiting for news on that. And I've seen a bit of speculation that it might drag on. It may be a little while before it's resolved.

34:37But it's sort of the big kind of executive appointment in the club that is absent at this point in time. So, yeah, I think we'll have to wait and see on that. We'll wait and see. The England lads will be hooking up properly with the England squad this week. I think Maduweke, Rice and Saka were given a bit of time to just sort of decompress a little bit after the season. And after the Champions League final, they weren't involved in England's win over New Zealand. New Zealand, yeah. And Eze as well. Oh, of course. I gather Eze and Maduweke, footballers are mad. I mean, they were given like three days off.

35:19and I think Eze and Madueke have been doing like some training together do you know what I mean? I think they might be the one-on-one coach that Madueke uses but they've been doing a load of sessions in their time off so there you go not even sure how much rest they necessarily had but they're back with the England group now as is Ethan Ranieri by the way yeah he was on the bench didn't get off the bench the other night But does he, do they just sort of say, go home now to him when Saka and the boys arrive? Or does he just kind of stick it out as part of the experience? Hell of an experience, isn't it?

36:03You know, like, I'm sure maybe he'd rather be doing something else for this summer. But, you know, going to a World Cup and being part of that sort of big England squad might be interesting in terms of his own professional development. I think so, yeah. And I think it's a reminder of sort of the esteem in which he's held. I mean, they took three or four young players who are all meant to be big prospects. One of them actually made their debut in the New Zealand game, Rio Ngoma, is it? Ngoma, yeah. Ngoma, yeah. And he, yeah, Ethan, I imagine he gets released at this point in time to enjoy his summer.

36:45but probably worse things you could be doing than being around the England camp ahead of a World Cup. And yeah, they presumably have another friendly in a few days' time, England, but I don't know. Don't know quite who it is. When do England play their first game? Their first group game is the 17th and that's Croatia. Right. It's always Croatia, isn't it? It's always Croatia. and then final friendly is a week before that June 10th they play Costa Rica Joel Campbell Joel Campbell is Joel Campbell in the squad I don't know if he is get out while you can Joel well yeah and then June 23rd England-Ghana okay bit of a reunion there with a familiar face so interesting times But in Arsenal terms, the only other thing I thought I might mention is to ask what you made of the reported Real Madrid interest in Ricciardo Calafuri.

37:53Well, you know, it made me a little bit sad, I have to say, because I do really like him as a player. Absolutely. I think he's a fantastic player. it's one of those where I think you know if I try and step back and look at it from an objective point of view do Arsenal have to consider the injury record or the fitness issues that he has if the offer is right from Real Madrid I think if he's if he's a guy who's fit for 35, 36 Premier League games a season you don't let him go. But he hasn't really been that guy. You know, his first season was quite punctuated by injury. Second season was very good in the first half, and then there were some issues in the second half.

38:49It's one of those where I would be sad to see him go because he's just such a likable character and a likable footballer as well. But I sort of recognize that Arsenal might think, okay, if we can get some money for Riccardo Calafiore and maybe make a bit of profit on Ricardo Calafiore, it's something we have to consider, not to mention the fact that it will, you know, allow Mikel Arteta to do his favorite thing, which is to buy a left back. That is true. I don't know. That is true. I mean, are we aware of how real or otherwise the interest is from the Madrid side of things? Because you always take transfer stories with a pinch of salt, right?

39:32But, yeah, if there's legs to it from the other side, you know. Yeah, that's kind of on my list for today, actually, because the Athletic are doing their sort of weekly deal sheet tomorrow, and I'd like to speak with a bit more of authority on that. But my early inquiry suggests there has been at least a tentative expression of interest. I mean, at the time, Madrid still had an election going, which, you know, is... Is that over now? I think that is now over. Did the man win again? Florentino and Jose, of course, were successful.

40:15So I know when Arsenal signed Califuri, they believed that they were at risk of being kind of beaten to the punch by Real Madrid when they closed the deal. I don't know if you remember, but they sort of, they closed it quite hurriedly and I think they accelerated it because they heard the footsteps of Madrid behind them. So I think there is a bit of longevity to the interest. I am really torn about Ricky, to be honest with you, because I like so much about him, as you've just outlined. I think he's a unique player. I think he seems like a top guy. There's brilliant, very many excellent clips of him reveling in the celebrations, by the way.

41:04I love the picture. It's a still of the video. I think it's Sophie Ellis-Bexter doing the song and he's just sort of looking at her in that moment. It's classic Calafiore. Classic. Yeah, there's a good one of him and Declan Rice singing Adele as well. Less said the better.

41:29And yeah, but I just thought the whole, like the bus, everything. I just thought he was like right up for it. And but equally, he's made 33 Premier League starts in two seasons, which. It's not terrible, but I understand. This is where I understand why Arsenal might be swayed if the offer was good enough. It looks like Perez is going to throw some money around because he won the election against somebody called Enrique Raquelme. Yes, who had been linked with Mikel Arteta. I don't know if you followed that at all. No, I hadn't noticed that. Raquelme, the story was sort of bouncing around a bit in Spain that Raquelme had Arteta in his sights for the managerial post.

42:22again I can't speak to his credibility but yeah and Florentino's been sort of playing guess who hasn't he with his transfer targets yeah he's saying he's going to make a bid of at least 150 million euros on Tuesday which is tomorrow for a particular player and it's believed that player is Michael Alise yeah so you know if he's ready to throw 150 million at Michael Alise you know Is there a number for Calafuri? I think we paid about 40 million, didn't we? Something like that. Yeah, I mean, if you're making a profit, I don't know, if you're making 55, 60. Yeah, someone comes in at 60. I think that might be where Arsenal give it real consideration, as much as we'd all be loath to lose the Italian stallion.

43:12You could understand why they might give that a bit of thought. Well, we're spending a big chunk of change on Pierre and Capier this summer. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's true. 50 million euros or something like that. So, yeah, it's a really, it's sort of one of those stories that like, you can't just dismiss it and say, no chance, you know. It's one where like, if the offer was right, I could see the club taking it into quite careful consideration. So let's wait and see if one develops. The only other little bits I've seen of transfer gossip are Martinelli and Bayern Munich. I saw that mentioned, but beyond that, there's not really a great deal going on inward or outward at this point.

44:06Well, I was going to say, if they have got 150 million burning a hole in their back pocket, but it's kind of the wrong flank for Martinelli, isn't it? Yeah. And does he want to go there now to play on the left? I mean, I think Luis Diaz has been pretty good for them. Lennart Karl, who sadly will miss the World Cup with injury, but I think... Isn't it brilliant that they have a player called Lenny and Karl? It is nice, yeah. I love that. Like, were the parents just like, yeah, we're really like the Simpsons, So surname's Carl. We'll call him the German equivalent of Lenny. Lenny and Carl. I know.

44:47So, yeah, I think he can play off the left a bit too. So I don't know. I don't know. Again, Martinelli's one where you'd say if a good offer came in, I certainly think the club would consider it. But I have to wait and see if it happens. All right. Well, why don't we take a little break here? Yeah, we must because I need to find my charger, Andrew. Okay. Because this laptop is going to die. Okay. Well, in that case, we will take a break and we will come back with some of your questions in part two right after this.

45:27Welcome 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. World Cup is in the, I was going to say horizon. Is that right? Yes. It's on the horizon. It's on the horizon. I was thinking of the rear view mirror, through which you can also see the horizon. Yeah, just in the other direction, I guess. Which way you're facing. Anyway, the World Cup is coming up. That's a good point.

46:06Yeah. I enjoyed this from Cesc Flabbergas, who said, I got Italy in my works World Cup sweepstakes. How do you rate my chances? not strong no I think you think you got fucked over there buddy big time I got New Zealand in mind and I believe they are the lowest ranked right

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47:1333 days, 33 episodes, no off switch. From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup, if you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been overanalyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament. Can England end 60 years of hurt, or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch full episodes on YouTube. Who knew Walmart business could help a thriving office motivate their employees? Pamela knew.

47:43She uses Walmart business to get the assortment of items her team needs at the prices she loves. As the office manager, it's my job to make sure my team stays on top of their game. I can get the basics like cleaning supplies and paper towels. But what they really care about, snacks. And she can get everything they need when they need it. Greg loves wheat crackers, Brenda Crave sour candy, and Max, oh boy. He needs protein bars and milk and applesauce and jerky. Built for your business. Who knew?

48:12okay not the best i didn't do one no i mean the problem there was discussion in my family of should we do a world cup sweepstake and then someone said the trouble is probably only about six teams can actually win you know what i mean so it feels less exciting yeah you also need a fucking enormous family to be able to do a world cup sweepstakes yeah i've got one of those don't worry about that yeah okay that's fine 68 93 teams whatever it is it's a lot of teams it is a lot of teams there's a lot of teams can i can i start you off with this one because there's been a lot of talk about this player in arsenal and stewart on blue sky who's uh at stewart 91.bsky.social says, do you want to sign Morgan Rodgers?

49:04And if so, where do you want him to play?

49:11I think I do want us to sign him, but almost more than I know where I want him to play. Like there is a kind of, there is something that doesn't quite add up about what I've just said. And it does give me a pause for thought on the signing. So I really, really like the player and I really enjoy watching Morgan Rodgers and I think he can be a match winner. But equally, I do slightly struggle to see the fit. And I slightly worry that last summer we bought a player in Ezzet sort of thinking we could use him off the left and then ultimately kind of deciding we couldn't really. And I slightly worry we might make a similar mistake with Rodgers.

50:09Mistake is doing some heavy lifting there. Well, yeah, true. I mean the mistake of sort of thinking he's something he's not that's what I mean or deciding that he is not something that many people think he is even with that sort of incident if you call it that at Villa Park like a lot of people have advocated throughout the season for Eberachie Eza to play off the left which he did a couple of times towards the end of the season as well he did very well I know but we have to always sort of see these signings through the prism of our manager and his proclivities and, you know, preferences. And I, but, but I do really like Morgan Rodgers.

50:55I mean, I would be excited about it, but I can't necessarily write down the team now and tell you where he goes in it. I mean, maybe, maybe, maybe it means as they're going back to the left, Like maybe that would be one of the possible iterations of lineups we could field to have Rodgers through the middle and as out wide rather than the other way around. What do you think about that? Yeah, I kind of think he's got the ability to play centrally. I know there's a lot of people looking at him on the left as well, but I think he's just got this incredible ability around the box. I find his finishing or his, you know, what he can produce in the opposition box and maybe just outside the opposition box as well.

51:48Very tempting, I have to say, because we don't have too many players like that. Maybe Ezzet is the one, you know, Ezzet is the one who can hit it from outside the box. He'll score the goals or, you know, he'll pop up inside the box. Some of the goals Morgan Rodgers has scored for Aston Villa are absolutely ridiculous. Ridiculous. Yeah. So I'm on board with it from that perspective, you know, to bring that bit of extra threat, that bit of individualism that we've often talked about. But like you, I can't sit here now and say this is where absolutely he should play. I think he might play sometimes from the left.

52:23He might play sometimes, you know, as one of the, either the left eight or the right eight, depending on what way we set up our midfield. You know, I think he's got that ability. Yeah, and I think especially as our midfield has kind of evolved in shape over the course of the season at different times, it's sort of been almost like we've had a number 10 really in that position. You know, when he's played there, he's played much closer to the striker. And I think really that's what Rodgers does and would do. He's a player I love. So, yeah, of course I would be excited about it. And he fits a lot of Mikhail Tate's kind of criteria in terms of the physicality, the athleticism, Premier League experience as well.

53:10Right kind of age, I think, to come in and make an impact. Well, can I follow up on that then? Because I think that's an interesting aspect of what you just said, the Premier League experience. and doozy123 on the Discord said, reading about Rodgers and Eli Jr. Kruppi, something struck me. Under Arteta, the team seems to favor buying attackers from Premier League teams. Eze, Trossard, Jesus, Havertz, Madueke. On the other hand, the team's often gone to continental teams for midfielders and defenders like Timbers, Ubumendi, Marino, Calafuri, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. A few exceptions, obviously, like Rice and Jokarez.

53:51and he asks, what could explain those trends? And do you think it is something as simple as Mikel Arteta looking at a player who has done it in the Premier League, demonstrated that they're able to do it in the Premier League and he puts a really high value on that because lots of players look good in other leagues and struggle a bit when they get to England? Yes, I think that's true. And to be honest, I think that's more true than the kind of positional delineation. You know, you look at players like Rice and Chenko, you know, less successful signings as well. Raya, of course. Ramsdale was a Premier League signing.

54:40Ben White is a Premier League signing. Cedric Suarez was a Premier League signing. you know so I think he just has a preference for signing players who demonstrate their capabilities of doing it in England front to back front to back okay and I I expect that to be a factor this summer as well and it's why you know why a player like Declan Rice he went above and beyond he's but I think he's arguably overpaid at different points for Premier League players not so much rice. I mean, you know, as we all know, that was half price. But Ben White, 50 million quid at that time, was a lot of money. It was.

55:20I don't think you can say now we overpaid, but I understand, you know, around that time, there was a lot of debate about the fee and how high it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that you, yeah, I think there's a premium on Premier League or maybe even more so English talent. And I think Arteta has shown himself to be willing to pay that. Well, speaking of English talent, I did see this rogue question. I feel like we get it every summer, Andrew. But AskFan15 said, should Marcus Rashford be considered as a potential option? How old is Marcus Rashford now? He's 46 years old. No, he's now 28. He'll be 29 in October.

56:10But until then, he remains 28. Because that's how it works. Hmm. We'll never stop doing that, the 28-29 thing. I think we could be 88 and 89, and we'll still be doing the 28-29. We don't know what else to do. It's Arsenal Heritage.

56:34I'm going to say no, because look, he had a really good season at Barcelona, didn't he? Won the league there, scored some goals. I do remember, was it last January and we were all like, hey, we've got to do something. We've got to get an attacker in. Do you remember? we kept our powder dry and at the start of that transfer window I think we were we were asked similar question about Marcus Rashford and I was like nah we shouldn't do that by the end of January I was like yeah yeah we definitely should just get that Marcus Rashford straight on in here because who knows you know what a difference he might have made in those six months because he did quite well for Villa and then got injured I think I think he's a good player Marcus Rashford but I don't know I think we've kind of got to look in a different direction.

57:32I don't know really that we should be signing a 28-year-old who's going to be 29 in October. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. No, I don't think I can be convinced on this one. What about you? No. No, I don't think so. I mean, his career's in a weird kind of limbo, isn't it? because he's had two loan spells now, Villa and Barcelona. Neither have been converted. Do you think he might have a role still to play at United? Because it felt like it was Ruben Amorim that he fell out with more than anything else. And now that it's all Michael Carrick, former teammate maybe? Yeah, I wondered that.

58:21But there's a lot of talk about Bayern Munich potentially coming in for him. listen I think he's a good player I think I think he's been judged quite harshly at times I think expectations on him have been I don't think he's quite the player he was built up to be by Gabriel Paralista yeah exactly but he's still very decent I just think the salary and the age is not a good combination it wouldn't be a smart thing to do It might be fun for a year, but I don't think it would be wise business. Yeah, it feels like the kind of deal we used to do and maybe, you know, when you're trying to build something, you can get away with moves like that a little bit more.

59:12But when you've built something and now you're looking to sort of augment it in a really interesting and strategic way, I don't think Marcus Rashford fits into that. No, I think that's fair. Right. We had a couple of questions about Ethan. We already mentioned him. Gala7 said on the Discord, do you think this season's results would have been vastly different if we gave all the Maduweke minutes to Waneri? It feels to me like Ethan was probably good enough to take those minutes and at least match Nani's contribution. whereas wise Marc Lar is a little more circumspect and says, is one area classic case of a player becoming world-class when they're not playing?

59:50He's only ever shown glimpses and can't even get into Marseille's first 11. In my opinion, he's always looked and sounded a little disinterested and carries himself with a bit of an ego for someone with so much still to prove. I'm not sure that's the kind of character Arteta wants around the squad. Would it surprise you to see him leave this summer even for a fee lower than we're all thinking?

1:00:16It wouldn't surprise me. No, I think we've talked about that already, haven't we? Like in the run up to the window that he's a player who might go. I'm not sure I fully agree on the sort of attitude or personality analysis there. I think Ethan, I think he's just a bit more shy and withdrawn than someone like Myles, for example. There are different kinds of confidence and his is more of a quiet confidence. And I think that's okay. My questions are more around kind of opportunity and his role in the squad. The first question about the minutes given to Madueke, I think is a really fascinating one because clearly there was kind of a technical decision within the club that Ethan would be a central player and whatever minutes he got would be in that role.

1:01:18But he was pretty good on the right. It's a bit of an Eze one, isn't it? Where it's like, we kind of discarded that quite quickly, I think. And I'm not sure, I'm not 100 % sure that was the right call. I don't think he has Madueke's explosiveness. He's a very different player. I'm not sure he has the acceleration and the dribbling ability to get in front of Mendes, for example, in the Champions League final in the incident that might have got us a penalty. equally his delivery his finishing his shooting for promising positions on that side of the pitch I would back to be more consistent than Maduweke I mean Maduweke season this season Maduweke is 24 years of age with loads of loads of experience at Premier League level and also abroad obviously 43 appearances 8 goals 4 assists in all competitions uh Ethan Wuneri in his first full season where he really only started to make his breakthrough I think you know in the in the second half of the season played 37 games scored nine goals and got two assists in all competitions at a much much much younger age and certainly much less developed physically and professionally than the Nani Matawake I'm a you know I remember we talked about this and I remember you saying they don't really see him as somebody who is a right winger and I kind of get it from the point of view that he's not classically a right winger but you don't get too many players who come into a team at 17 18 years of age and score nearly get into double figures in their first season which shows an ability I think to get into positions from the right where he can be really effective and score goals.

1:03:18So I was a, you know, a bit like you, a little surprised that they not gave up on it, but made that decision. Um, because he does feel like Maduaki feels more like a, a winger winger, right? Whereas Saka is more of a, I don't know. How would you say it? Just more of a footballer, right? Uh, yeah. Do you know what the distinction I'm trying to make here? like there's a well yes it's like an arson wenger winger you know obviously he had his theo walcots but he also had his kind of wide tens as it were well yeah he's a sack is more of a perez yeah and madweke is more of a walcott right your perez is your nazarees your arshavin do you know what i mean like these players you ostensibly started wide but were really number and sort of kind of creative number 10s.

1:04:09And yeah, Ranieri's more in that mould for sure.

1:04:16Yeah, I think he's such a fascinating one. Again, one of the questions mentioned he's only shone in glimpses, but for me that's kind of, in some respects, the beauty of the player is he only needs a glimpse. You know, he only needs a moment and he can finish. He can really finish. And that's something that I don't think, I don't think, it is, presumably it is coachable. It is teachable, but it also, for the best goal scorers, it's natural. Like, and he seems to have it, that composure in those situations. We talked about him having like a trademark finish, didn't we? And after it's like his third Arsenal goal, you're going, oh, there's a very Ethan Wineri goal.

1:04:55And that's rare. That's rare. Yeah, I think back to that brilliant goal he scored against Man City when we hammered them 5-1, was it? Yeah. I really do think there is a player there. We also have to say that this is the first time in 22 years that Arsenal are title winners and consequently making the cut or making the breakthrough to that team is probably the most difficult it's been for more than two decades. So it's no great failure on Ethan's part if he is sold. It's just sort of a reality of the situation. But yeah, I would feel sorry to see him go. Definitely. I still think there's a lot of untapped potential there.

1:05:43Yeah, I agree.

1:05:50This is a question from Cosmo Kramer who says, looking back at our season, do you blame our attack faltering mostly due to a lack of chemistry, due to injuries, or due to a fundamentally imbalanced squad? Oh, I mean, a lack of chemistry could also be highly informed by the injuries, right? I agree, yeah. So I think that certainly has played a part.

1:06:26Then it becomes this sort of question of like, is that something Mikel Arteta really wants? Does he want a blistering attack? Is that the focus of his football? For me, that's the option that's missing there, is kind of managerial emphasis. That's where I think there was a conscious decision made this year, this season, to be as obdurate and as strong as we could possibly be defensively. The one thing I will say, like people talk all the time about, well, Arteta is just a defensive manager and that's what he wants. I cannot be convinced that he is happy when we win. Of course he's happy when we win.

1:07:13but I cannot be convinced that he goes one nil is enough or two, one is enough. That just doesn't tally at all with anything we ever hear from him in terms of how he wants to dominate, which is a word he uses quite a lot, right? And it's not just about having possession. I think when he talks about domination, he talks about like just completely dominating every aspect of the game, whether it's set pieces or whether it's possession or whether it's goals. So I think there is something that he will try and correct in terms of the course of this season, where those 1 -0 games that gave us all heart attacks, you're always going to get those in the season, but maybe not quite as many.

1:08:05Maybe not every game has to be a one goal win, you know? And it's easy to forget, I suppose, that there was, you know, the season 23-24 where we scored more goals than the Invincibles. We went on this sort of mad run. Do you remember? We scored like six away at Sheffield United, six away at West Ham. You know, we could really put teams to, like, game over. Like, game over. And we all had a great time and relaxed. so I do think it is something he is more inclined towards than people think but I think this season it was more a conscious effort because of the injuries we had, you know, Saka was out injured, Odegaard like most of the season in and out injured, Havertz out and as we see, as we saw rather I think Havertz was his first choice striker and I think that probably changes the way he sets his team up in certain areas as well.

1:09:04So, yeah, I think it's a combination of those things. But I don't think it's just the case that Mikel Arteta is like, I just want to grind out a load of one nils and that'll be fine. Yeah. I think the injuries definitely are a big factor in terms of sort of fluency and relationships. And I completely agree with you that the chemistry kind of comes from that. but yeah I think kind of tactical emphasis and ideology is a big part of it as well and I'm curious to see the next evolution of this team because you know Mikel does like to tighten the screws and shift things season to season so I'm very intrigued to see where he goes next Rexblog.bsky.social says, would you take this transfer window?

1:10:01And this is what he has posited as a transfer window to be accepted or not. In Morgan Rogers for 80 million. In Sandro Tonali for 65 million. Out Gabrielle Martinelli for 45 million. Out Ethan Warneri for 40 million. and out Christian Norgard for a whopping 5 million. Give me that again, Andrew. So in Rodgers, in Tonali. And out Martinelli, Warneri and Norgard.

1:10:42Yeah, it feels a little... A little light. Light, doesn't it? Yeah. But then I guess he's keeping a lot of players there that we're sort of expecting to go. you know like Gabriel Jesus for example yeah he's gotta go he's gonna go I think yeah I don't know if I would take that I think that there I think we might need a little bit more fresh blood than that I agree I'm not saying we need eight signings like we got last summer. But I do think we want to be in the kind of three or four space to feel like we've really freshened up the group and the squad, which I think might be necessary because bear in mind, last season's title is the culmination for many of these players of like a three or four year fight.

1:11:43You know what I mean? I think we need just a little bit of refreshing. No, it is important, isn't it? You know, to acknowledge the guys that have got you this far and then to sort of challenge them again, you know, and say, hey, look, you know, you did brilliant, but we need to sort of change the dynamic a bit like he did last season when he brought in a lunatic to the coaching staff. you know something like that on the pitch wouldn't be a bad thing at all I mean that's way too light for me I think we need to we probably need to shift a couple more players than that and then we need to add a more than Rodgers and certainly more than Tonali who I he's good but I don't know I don't know I like Tonali I do like him I do like him I just I don't know there's just something about something about him when I see him play I don't get the this is a player that Mikel Arteta will connect strongly to vibes I could be wrong could be wrong but just a few Newcastle games I watched and thought oh you know Arteta would not like that in terms of you know a bit of not chasing back but certainly your defensive work but then maybe you know we need to let the rear view handbrake go in a different mirror.

1:13:12I think he will move this summer to Nali. And I think it will be within the Premier League. Will Arsenal be there? I don't know. There was all that hoo-ha in January when they were sort of theoretically or supposedly offered the player. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By an intermediary, I think, rather than Newcastle themselves. else we shall see we shall see i think he's a good player i think he's a good compliment to what we've got but um yeah who knows um bum bum bum bum bum have you got one to hand yeah i mean i think we we sort of need to get out of here and and um put this one out but i enjoyed this one we mentioned it earlier the real madrid presidential election and figgy stein.bsky.social says, hey guys, let's say we lived in a world where the Arsenal had a presidential election at Real Madrid and both of you were fighting each other for the role.

1:14:13What would be your three promises going from this season to make your candidacy the best? Wow. So I guess we got to go one at a time. Okay. And I will, you know, being the kind-hearted gentleman that I am, allow you to go first. so your first promise to the Arsenal fans to win them over so they can vote James

1:14:45to win them over see you're not very convincing here you know you wouldn't be good in politics you need to be up there now giving it the old this is what I'm going to do for you if you vote for James this is my promise to you exactly Galacticos whatever I think my sort of big player promise would be Kvaric Skellar. Oh, okay. You get a lot of votes for that. You would get a lot of votes. I think I'm putting him on my posters. You know what I mean? Yeah. On my leaflets. Fuck. That was a good one. That was a good one. When I go out shaking babies and holding hands, I've got leaflets with Kvaric Skellar on them.

1:15:29Okay. Fuck. Misspell every single time in a different way. Yeah, of course. My first promise is more parades. Okay. What, parading last season's title again? No, I mean, just it's, you know, I'm implying that we're going to win loads of stuff. Therefore, we'll have the parades. We'll have a parade for each of the trophies we win. Not one big parade. We'll do our Carabao Cup parade in February and have the FA Cup parade. Then the lads will be like, oh, we've got to go on our holidays. I'm like, no, you don't. We've got our Premier League parade next week. And the week after that, it's the Champions League parade.

1:16:18Parades galore. So there you go. Nice. My second sort of policy that I would run on would be...

1:16:37Oh, it's tough, that. I think stadium expansion. Okay. Yeah, stadium expansion. Because more fans want to get in that ground. That's true. If it's all possible. That's true. My second one was also stadium related. I would just make sure that everyone could get a signal inside the stadium, expanded or otherwise. That's good. Just get a phone signal inside the stadium. I think my third one is also stadium related. It may surprise some people, but I experienced something the other day in the US which blew my mind. It was a toilet.

1:17:23which has over the toilet seat like a kind of cellophane plastic wrapping and what you do before you or i guess after you have sat on the toilet you press a button and the cellophane sort of disappears into the toilet and is replaced with new clean cellophane. So essentially you're sitting on a clean surface every single time. My pledge to you is that I will install that at the Emirates Stadium in every toilet. Okay. We might have to sell a few players to meet the cost. We may suffer for it on the pitch. but by goodness if you need to sit down in the stadium you'll have a hygienic experience let's be honest as it is currently i would rather shit myself than sit on one of those no i agree i agree yeah if you could even get in there you never can i've never tried all those lads uh hovering and around the laboratories for some reason.

1:18:40Excitable young lads. But let's just say you could get in there. It is, I mean, you'd be better off going in the sink. I got to say, like, of all the places to choose to do that particular business, a football stadium is really about the last place. No, I know, but what happens if you're in that situation and then you want to know that you're sitting on a clean surface. And with my technology, which I've stolen from the US, we could achieve that. All right. My third pledge is that every week, Gunnersaurus will be a former Arsenal player. Nice. Will we ever know who? Maybe towards the end of the season, we'll have a guessing game.

1:19:31If someone guesses, they can kick the ball into the goal from halfway and they win a million dollars. I think I've been infected by it. That sounds good. Yeah, I think I've been infected by your US stadium experience. My World Cup fever. I was thinking about Sausage Dog Lady as manager of the women's team, but I'm not sure that would work. Academy manager? We need an academy manager. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure she'd do a great job. She would do a great job. So what is your plan today? What are you going to do on your own today, James? Great question. I'm going to tidy my apartment on my own. Okay.

1:20:12And then I'm going to find somewhere to watch the third game of the NBA Finals. That's sort of my, that's the bit of American culture that's most infected me, is my sort of interest in the NBA Finals. Because, you know, the Knicks are kind of, I guess they're kind of the arsenal of the NBA in that they've had like a 40-year drought. Oh, and they're playing Spurs, aren't they? I don't know anything really about basketball. And there's the kind of, you know, there's the Mamdani connection, right? So I'm rooting for the Knicks, I'm afraid. Okay, well, you can't root for a team called Spurs. There's no way.

1:20:51It's just not possible. even though one of the Knicks players called out a guy in a press conference for wearing some Arsenal merch did you see this? no I didn't his name is Josh Hart and he yeah he like in a recent press conference spotted a guy after the Champions League final wearing some Arsenal merch a reporter and was like haha you lost London is blue I don't like Josh Hart okay but the other The other Knickers guys. The other four guys, whatever it is. Okay. So, yeah, the Knickers. I'm watching the New York Knickers tonight. Against the San Antonio Spurs. Yeah. What are you going to do, Andrew?

1:21:35What am I going to do? I think I'm going to – I think I'm just going to lie down and go to sleep as soon as this podcast is done. Yes, you've been under the weather. A little bit under the weather. Still remain quite under the weather. So I think I'll – I might just have a bowl of soup and then go to sleep. Which is the most old man thing I think I've ever said in my entire life. But I will be the better for it. I promise you that. All right. Well, look, you go about your day to the Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle soundtrack. That is so stirring. Thank you, as always, everybody, for being here and for listening and for downloading and subscribing.

1:22:12We really do appreciate it, as always. We'll have something for you a bit later in the week ahead of the World Cup. Maybe we'll have a bit of a World Cup preview pod. Who knows? We'll find out whatever there is to talk about in an Arsecast later in the week. For now, though, take it easy, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.

1:22:50He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. At participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies last, all rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.