Arsecast Extra Episode 712 - 14.09.2026

0:01Andrew Allen: During Lowe's Pro Savings Days, my Lowe's Pro Rewards members can save up to 20 % when they buy more job site materials. Save 20 % when you buy 30 or more select bats and rolls or fiberglass insulation. 24 more cartons or pails of joint compound, tape and bead. Or when you spend$200 or more on 3M painting and job site essentials. Members get more at Lowe's. Valid through 925, while supplies last. Selection varies by location. Program subject to terms and conditions. See Lowe's.com slash terms for details. Subject to change.

0:35B drew bare in bottom the snap does

0:42Andrew Allen: be is no

0:54Andrew Allen: could be the who could mark the Sunderland could not be another what a goal of Bruno Guimaraes what a barbarian

1:07what a goal what a goal what a goal what a goal

1:20Andrew Allen: Bruno Guimaraes Bruno Guimaraes Bruno Guimaraes Bruno Guimaraes What? What? What? Bruno! Goi! Goi! Goi! Goi! Bruno! This is Arsecast Extra. Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from Gunnar Block. James, a very goodly morning to you. Goodly morning, man. How are you doing? I'm doing okay. It's been quite the weekend of Premier League action, But, you know, Arsenal winning again keeps me on the straight and narrow, so to speak, you know. Yeah, yeah. Very, very, very welcome. I mean, what a win as well. That was a proper game and a proper win, I think. Yes. Another away game as well.

2:09We've had quite the start to the season in that regard, haven't we? You know, Villa away, Sunderland away. Two really difficult places to go in Premier League terms, you know. and then you have a Napoli away. Are we away at Brighton or at home to Brighton?

2:24Andrew Allen: We're actually away twice next week, Andrew. I sort of was looking at my season ticket thinking, when do I get to go to a game? Because I was away for Chelsea. Has the stadium been, you know, condemned or something? Are we not allowed to play there anymore? What's going on? I don't know. Maybe they're doing those much rumoured renovations, Andrew. Maybe we're all going to come back to it in mid-October. It's going to be 100 ,000 seater or something. I don't know. One of those amazing screens around. There's Wi-Fi everywhere. You know, it'd be amazing. Chance will be a fine thing. But yeah, Ipswich and Brighton away next week.

3:01So we're living on the road at the minute.

3:04Andrew Allen: We're living out of a suitcase as a team. Just one big suitcase? Do you not think they could do a deal? Could the commercial department not get them a suitcase each? I don't know, mate. Maybe. But they better not go over 22 kilograms, let me tell you. or they'll be held to pay. That's it. That's it. Cost cutting. That's what happens. All of a sudden your suitcase doesn't fit in the thing. It fit for all my previous flights and now it doesn't fit anymore. Have you made the thing smaller or has my suitcase somehow got bigger? I don't know what it is. I don't know. The Arsenal First and Squad just lining up to try and sort of force their suitcases into a little bucket.

3:43Andrew Allen: Anyway, yes, on the road, 8 p.m. Again? They say it's a hard place to go, but increasingly, Sunderland is very literally a hard place to go for our fans. We're making it tricky for them. But the ones who travelled were rewarded with a fantastic result. They were. I saw Tim Stillman was up and about early on Sunday covering the women's game for Arse Blog News. He did a sort of a pre-match video sort of talking about the game, etc., etc. and he'd obviously been in Sunderland and had a late night, you know, a long journey back home, but was up and about early commitment to the calls, all that kind of stuff.

4:25I hope you've hired a good makeup artist to cover the sins of the night before. I, I, I think tired eyes is, is where I would go with this. I've never seen tired or looking eyes.

4:38Andrew Allen: So I think the first football video presented by a panda. Yeah. Yeah, he should have had a pair of sunglasses on, to be fair. Maybe we need to do a deal, an arse blog deal with, well, who doesn't make pervert glasses these days? We'll do a deal with one of those guys. Get some sunglasses for Tim. I'm sure he woke up as the day went on, but I'd say that was a struggle to get back from Sunderland and get up and about and be at the Emirates Stadium for sort of midday there or thereabouts. But, you know, as you said, I'm sure it's the nice kind of tired struggle for Tim and everybody else who went up there because Arsenal came back with a very, very important and a very, very good three points from, as you say, a ground which is difficult to get to, difficult to get back from, but also difficult to experience because, well, Sunderland make the game a very certain way, which it served them very well last season.

5:36It was more of the same this time around. And I think we'll probably get into it when we get to the end of the chat about the game itself, but for Arsenal to acquit themselves as well as we did in a game like that, I think is just one of the more encouraging parts of everything apart from obviously the 2-0 win and the three points. I think so because, you know, you and I down the years,

6:00Andrew Allen: we've watched a lot of Arsenal teams who under that sort of pressure, that sort of physicality would wilt, I'm sorry to say, and not be able to stand up for it. but we were able to kind of go blow for blow with Sunderland, to match up to them, to withstand the physical onslaught that they provide. And, you know, everything was against us in some respects. You know, we'll talk about the penalty decision, the officiating throughout the game really at times. And yet, and yet we come away with three points. I mean, the TV commentary in Britain on TNT was not particularly glowing about Arsenal and pretty glowing about Sunderland, but they couldn't help but admit this is exactly what champions do.

6:50Andrew Allen: They go into these difficult territories and they come out on top and that was what we did. So fantastic. No, I agree. And I think your point about the commentary is it is what it is. You know, it's an underdog-ish side at home at eight o 'clock on a Saturday night. They're playing the champions. The TV script is better, right? If there's a bit of a shock, if there's a bit of drama. Look what Sunderland have done to Arsenal. So as annoying as it is, I kind of understand why the commentary is that way. It doesn't make it any less frustrating to listen to, particularly that guy on TNT Sports, Fletch, who is giving Jonathan Pierce a bit of a run for his money in terms of the most sanctimonious commentator around.

7:36But, you know, this is the challenge that we face. This is the challenge that we face, you know, not just from other teams, but from how we're portrayed in the media, because we are the Premier League champions. And we got there after a lot of doubt. I think it would have, I think a lot of people would have liked for us not to do it last season. So this is just part and parcel of what it is to be champions. And we're going to have to get used to it. And it might be frustrating. It might be annoying. But if we go and do what we did at Villa Park or go and do what we did at Sunderland, he who laughs last, et cetera, et cetera, I think is probably the right way of looking at it.

8:14And that's a nice place to be. So let's talk about the team. There were changes in midweek for the game against Napoli. There were changes again this time around. Califiori's in, Lewis Skelly back in, Solis back in, Kai Havertz up front. Changes, I think, that were probably easy to predict.

8:33Andrew Allen: I think so. The only one that I was a little bit unsure about was Myles in midfield. I just thought with Bruno coming back towards fitness, you know, sooner or later, it sort of feels inevitable that he'll take that starting spot in the Premier League. I've wondered if this might be the time. But I think it's good that Mikel stuck with Myles and it's just reward really for what he's produced so far this season. Other than that, yeah, I think it kind of picked itself, didn't it? Yeah, it did. And we could see pretty early on, I think, what kind of a game it was going to be, you know. Napoli did something similar in midweek where they sat deep or we forced them to sit deep.

9:14I think Sunderland were a bit more prepared to sit deep and then try and hit Arsenal on the break. The outball all the time was to Brian Brobby, who's a very physical, very strong centre forward. And that's who they looked for to try and give them that outlet. But it was early on you could see that's how they were going to play. And I think we found it a bit more difficult to break down Sunderland than we did Napoli.

9:37Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think so. And they do have that super physical approach. They also have a significant threat on set pieces. We know all about Dan Ballard, of course, and the problems he caused us last year. You know, even in the first 15 minutes or so, I think there was a brilliant free kick from Xhaka out on the left-hand side that Ballard nearly got onto. If they were going to score, it was going to be via that route or via Brobby, who, I must say, I quite enjoy watching Brian Brobby. There's something sort of very... He's a bit of a throwback, isn't he, as a centre-forward? but you know it does show that if you really apply yourself physically and throw your weight around you can be a nuisance for anybody even a back four as good and accomplished as Arsenal's I mean he definitely was a nuisance I do think to some extent the the the success of his battle with Esri Kansa and Gabriel was kind of over-egged a little bit by the commentary.

10:44Like, he is really strong. He is really difficult to play against. But you look at the stats and you look at the jewels won by Kansa and you look at the jewels won by Gabriel, you know, it really stacks up well. And he does hold it up well. And he is really strong. And he does bring others into play well. But at the same time, I thought our two central defenders dealt with him pretty well. you know, all things considered. And apart from that Ballard chance at the back post, which you mentioned, the threat from Sunderland wasn't really there in the final third. And I think Arsenal can look at a couple of moments in that first half and have a little bit of regret that we didn't make more of the opportunities that we created.

11:27They weren't as plentiful as in Napoli in midweek, but I still think there were a couple of really good chances. One was Declan Rice finding Bakayo Saka. The move, yeah, the move, the movement from Saka is really good because he sort of gestures to Rice to play the pass and then moves off the back of the defender. I think, and I've watched this back a few times, and I'm sort of convinced by the body shape of Saka. I think we have to accept it's not super simple because he is sort of jumping to try and get the ball as it's coming down. But I think what he's trying to do is just knock that ball with the outside of his foot over to Kai Havertz, who would have a tap in rather than score himself.

12:12Andrew Allen: Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't thought about it in that way. Because it looks like he's almost trying to, because he goes with the outside of his foot, it looks like he's almost trying to bring the ball. He's trying to knock the ball back in some way. You know what I mean? Like whether it's to Kai or whether it's like to then turn and volley it. it almost looked easier to just go for goal yeah yeah yeah I agree I agree just try and hit it first time I do think even then the ease of the chance is probably a bit exaggerated I still think it's you know it's it's airborne isn't it I think executing that I'm Robin Van Persie in his pomp you know obviously would have buried it but yeah volleying the ball like that I don't think it's the easiest thing in the world.

12:55Andrew Allen: But yeah, I think it was a really, really good chance. And you make a good point about Kai. He's stood like six yards to Saka's left with potentially an open goal. I just sent it to you there on WhatsApp. If you have a look at it, you can see the shape of Saka's body and the shape of his foot. He's not really trying to knock that past the goalkeeper. Oh no, he's definitely not shooting. No, no, no. He's trying to bring that ball down, which I think is, yeah, is maybe the error. Like I think, just go for it. there. But he is having a slightly odd time in front of goal. The encouraging thing is that he is getting into these positions.

13:30Andrew Allen: Yes, I agree. Look, you know, you mentioned the movement being good, but look where he is. He's between the width of the posts, six yards out from goal. If he keeps doing that, he's going to score plenty. I agree. I saw a lot of chat and there was a lot of discussion about Saka after this game and, you know, had a big discussion about on the Ars' yesterday on arseblog.com. And, you know, people were really concerned about him. And I think, you know, there's two things that I would say. One is that he's had a really poor week in front of goal in terms of his finishing, right? That we know that he is capable of better.

14:05And actually, you know, any player playing for Arsenal in those positions, a couple of the positions that he got into should be doing better in front of goal, right? So I think that's absolutely and unquestionably true. But at the same time, in two games away from home against Napoli and against Sunderland, he's had a total of 10 shots. So it's been a bad week. His finishing has been poor. But I can't not be encouraged by the fact that Bakayo Saka looks like he's getting into those positions in ways that he certainly wasn't last season. It's a bad four days for Bakayo Saka. It's not like a bad month.

14:41It's like two games in four days. He's had 10 shots over the course of those two games. He hasn't been good enough in front of goal. But the movement we just talked about, the movement off the back of the defender to get himself into that position from the rice pass is really good. And for me, that's what he wasn't doing last season or he wasn't capable of doing last season because of the injury he was carrying.

15:04Andrew Allen: I agree. I really do think it's as simple as keep getting in those areas and he'll score goals. And that's being borne out this season. so yeah there was a big chance to be honest with you I think the Kai one for me is as big a chance I agree the one set up by Martin Odegaard and Havertz sort of clipped it over the clipped it over the bar and there was another one that he had as well where he sort of performed a bit of acrobatics in the box it's one of those where you force the keeper into the save but I don't think the ball was going in the back of the net anyway. No, it looked like I was going over, but it was a much more difficult opportunity, the way he had to kind of hook the ball from behind him.

15:50Andrew Allen: But the one where Odegaard makes a really nice little diagonal run, gets him behind. The ball is a bit behind Havertz, but yeah, I think he knows he should hit the target there. You can see his reaction afterwards. He absolutely felt that. 100%. So we did have moments in that first half to kind of get ourselves in front, but didn't quite have the efficiency to capitalise, which I suppose was a bit of a theme on Wednesday night in Naples as well. I mean, there was a really sort of glossed over in the grand scheme of things. There was quite a good chance late on as well when Solis crossed to the back post and Bakayo Saka again is there to head it back across.

16:33And Granit Xhaka, there's Gabrielle and Kai Havertz are both there to apply the finish. and Granit Xhaka sort of sticks up his boot, sort of flicks it away, like flicks it from behind him. Almost Califuri-esque, wasn't it? Yes, exactly, I was going to say. So that was another half-decent chance where we could have perhaps gone ahead. And I think over the course of the first 45 minutes, we had the better of it. I think we were certainly the more threatening team. But there was an issue, wasn't there, at the end of the first half for Ben White, where he appeared to have a bit of a groin injury. Clearly, the universe never wants us to have Ben White and Jurian Timber fit at the same time ever again.

17:16It's just fucking crazy.

17:18Andrew Allen: It does seem mad, yeah. I mean, of course, there is a kind of logic to it, which is that one of these players is out and then an awful lot is asked of the other in their absence, and it seems to cause them issues. funnily enough the solution to one of them being injured all the time is having is the very thing we can't have which is both available so we're caught in this awful cycle of having one then losing one yeah I mean hopefully with White you know it's relatively minor and then what we've got this week is the game against Ipswich and then of course the game against Brighton and then we have this extended interlull So in an ideal world, Jurian Timber gets some important minutes over the next week, you know, to sort of get himself back towards proper match fitness after a long time out.

18:11And then both he and Ben White over the course of this international break are available then once the football resumes and Mikel Arteta can hopefully manage the minutes between them and keep them both fit.

18:25Andrew Allen: Yeah, it'd be interesting to see if Timber goes away with the Netherlands. I would imagine he will. Hope not. Yeah. I mean, who knows? They may deem it valuable to him to get those. Yeah, maybe so. If they can come to some sort of arrangement, you know, about how much he plays and how he's used. But that will be a fascinating one because obviously he's on the way back from surgery. He won't have played too much having missed the World Cup as well. So, yeah, they'll have a decision to make there, and I'm sure there'll be dialogue with the national set-up over how that might work. Yeah, so that was a change at halftime.

19:01Then there was another change at halftime as well with Bruno Gimaraes coming on for miles. I don't think miles, you know, had his best half. I don't think he was bad or anything like that, but clearly Mikel Arteta thought Bruno, former Newcastle man, former Newcastle captain, in a way to Sunderland, just added something to proceedings that he wanted. And ultimately, I think, you know, you couldn't really argue with the decision to do it. However, I do think in the opening sort of 10 minutes of the second half, Sunderland were probably the better team. And that, you know, that, I'm not going to say dominance, but, you know, they were busier than they were in the first half.

19:46They played the game a bit more in our half. And ultimately, what are we, about 10 minutes into the second half when that penalty is awarded?

19:53Andrew Allen: Yeah, they did start quite well. There was a little bit of a miscommunication at the back, wasn't there, between Gabriel and Ryer at one point, which I think maybe offered them a little bit of encouragement. So, yeah, that was their best spell. And then they, well, they got their reward, didn't they, through the penalty kick. I mean, I'd be interested to know, what was your reaction in real time? Real time, I felt like the referee must have seen something ironclad to give that decision because it was strange. Listen, I expected Ballard to be involved in that kind of thing because that's kind of the sort of player he is, right?

20:39He's a combative guy and he's in the box and he's battling against Konza and he's battling against Gabriel. you know the idea that you could go away to a place like Sunderland I think there's something sort of counterintuitive about the idea that you're going to go to Sunderland they're going to make the game really really physical and everybody goes yes we want to see a really physical game look at how strong Brian Brobby is but then as soon as there's a set piece or a corner or a long throw no touching please you're not allowed to do that it's it's weird like I get maybe it went a bit too far.

21:14I get maybe there was a bit too much wrestling and grappling and stuff like that. But the idea that now it becomes sort of like netball, you're not allowed touch, you're not allowed to, you know, it's, it's, I don't know. I think they've opened a can of worms here. And I think we saw when we saw the replays, what exactly is going on? And I'll, I'll expand on that in a minute, but what was your real time view of, of what happened in the award of the

21:37Andrew Allen: penalty um i think my feeling was that it was a little bit inevitable you know obviously i was wrong in that because it shouldn't have stood it shouldn't have been a penalty but there was a kind of developing sort of refereeing narrative in the game of those set pieces becoming increasingly fractious and you know and I don't think that our players were sort of entirely innocent in that you know they were they were definitely involved in some of the shenanigans and the games that were going on in those penalty boxes on on set pieces but it felt like the referee's interest in it was kind of ramping up do you know what I mean and it sort of reached a climax with the award of the penalty.

22:29Andrew Allen: Yeah, I kind of felt that there was sort of a, who were we talking about the other day with a referee, Solis at Villa Park, where it just felt like the referee sort of took an interest in him. Yeah, too much interest for no good reason. Yeah, and it feels like, obviously referees being human beings, that is something that can happen. And it felt like he got sort of, he was almost investigating every set piece situation by that point. And so when one resulted in a blown whistle, I was kind of like, okay, well, I could see that coming a mile off. Obviously then, you know, in real time, I couldn't see what happened.

23:06Andrew Allen: And even from some of the early angles, you see Konza's got his arms around Ballard and you're like, you know, that's not going to get overturned. But then it becomes clear from the reverse, you know, just how much Ballard is engaged with Konza. Well, that's it. And I think this is an unintended consequence of what they're trying to do. By eliminating grappling and wrestling and shirt pulling and holding and all that kind of stuff, inevitably, even with the best of intentions, there are consequences you don't necessarily consider. and what we saw here, and this is like, I'm not being critical in any way of Ballard, right?

23:48I think this is just what happens at top level sport and in football. When something like this is introduced, players and managers and coaches and analysts, they try and game the new system. And that's what Ballard did here. He knew that if he could make it look like Konza had fouled him with this new edict, chances are he would get a penalty. and that's exactly what he did he pulled concert down on top of him then threw himself forward and the referee bought it hook line and sinker and i don't blame the referee as much on this as i do the var because i think the var has to see what has gone on here because it is completely clear when you look at that reverse angle he has concert shirt as michael artetic called it afterwards.

24:38It's a judo role. He pulled him. He went down himself. He was looking for the contact. He was looking to make it look as if Kansa had sort of fallen on top of him. But the reality is when we look at those replays, we can absolutely see what it was. And that was Ballard trying to get one over on the referee, which ultimately he did.

25:00Andrew Allen: He did, yeah. And like you, I don't really have any grievances with Ballard or with Sunderland's approach you know they're going to do what they're going to do but the officials have the benefit of video replays um they should be able to identify well listen we'll see what happened on sunday i mean now we thought you know i didn't think i'd see a worse refereeing decision than this one um it was a real case of kind of hold my beer uh on uh pro ref's part um but yes it is an interesting aspects of the sort of increased focus on corners and set pieces and this grappling issue. I mean, our next Premier League game is Brighton.

25:44Andrew Allen: I think I'm right in saying that Fabian Herzl admitted he brought in an MMA fighter to training to improve his teams. Yeah, he said we brought him in because we spoke a lot about set pieces and blocking. So in the spring they brought in an MMA fighter as a kind of consultant so if we saw a judo role at Sunderland god only knows what kind of takedowns we might witness what the hell are we gonna see on Saturday yeah I don't know I mean yeah we might see some MMA on the touchline between Herzler and Arteta if it all kicks off yeah Gabrielle Ainsa will be in there as well yeah no love lost there no um So, yeah, I mean, it's...

26:27Mikel obviously spoke about it afterwards. What did you make of the way he dealt with that? Well, we have questions on that. So I might just keep the question about that. I mean, he was very, very strident. And I think it did stand out to me before we sort of deal with it more in part two with the questions. It certainly stood out to me that he was, yeah, he was making it very clear about, you know, how he felt about it in a way that I haven't really seen from him since the Disgracia game at Newcastle. You know, I think for the most part, he's been pretty measured when it comes to referees since then.

27:10And maybe it's because of what happened. Maybe it's because of how, you know, he was charged ultimately, wasn't he? And he didn't want a repeat of that. But I also think he's been quite careful not to say anything. I think he has this reputation among opposition fans and certainly some of the media and pundits where he's always complaining about all kinds of things. And I don't think that stacks up whatsoever when you look at what he says. But in this instance, he was very, very strong about it. and I think he was probably able to be strong about it because of the way the result ultimately panned out and because of, well, what David Raya produced when Enzo Lafay stepped up to take the penalty kick.

27:57Yeah, I mean, it's an incredible save this

28:00Andrew Allen: because there's not a lot wrong with that penalty kick. No, no. A lot of the time you see a penalty saved and you think, well, you know, credit to the keeper. He's guessed the right way or whatever. But ultimately a lot of that is on the forward or the player taking the kick because they've not put it right in the corner or they've hit it at a comfortable height. This is a decent penalty. And the fact that he gets there and keeps it out, I would say it's sort of stunning, but we're becoming very accustomed to these sorts of acts from David Raya whose level of consistency and level of performance over the last, I think particularly last 12 to 18 months or so has just been absolutely outstanding.

28:47No, I agree. It's a brilliant, brilliant save. And listen, you know, we've seen David Raya struggle from penalties before. You know, you think about that shootout with Manchester United in the FA Cup last season or the season before, whatever it was. And, you know, it maybe has colored the way people think about David Ryze's ability to save penalties. The other aspect, I suppose, is that we don't concede a lot of penalties. We didn't concede a penalty at all in the Premier League last season. But like you, I think this is actually a brilliant, brilliant save. I really, really do. It was like annoying when he made the save and they were immediately like, oh, has he come off his line too early?

29:26Vara checking if he's coming off his line too early. But I think you've got to be, you'd have to be the most pernickety little wanker in the world to deny David Raya that save, because it's just outstanding. It really is. The speed with which he gets across, the strength of the hand, which I think you could maybe look at the other penalty, we'll come to that. your strong hand pushed it onto the post and away we went. And it's, I don't think you could say that's anything but justice given the way that the penalty was awarded.

29:59Andrew Allen: No, I mean, and a huge moment in the game, underlined, of course, by what happens a couple of minutes later when we go up the other end. You know, it's a massive swing, isn't it? And goalkeepers don't, well, don't very often get the kind of acclaim that comes with scoring the winning goal in a game. But that, for me, can be defined as a match-winning save. Yes. Certainly one which would have made our lives more difficult had he not made it, you know. I don't think you can rule out the idea of Arsenal coming back and reacting because we've talked about the quality and the strength of character in this team.

30:34But it would, you know, with, what, half an hour to play, more or less, have made our lives much more difficult. And then, as you said, to go up the other end and do what we did, what, two minutes later. I think we did quite well to keep the ball alive here. I think Havertz does well. There's a sort of high-bouncing ball that he gets under control, plays it to Calafuri, to Gabriel, to Rice, and then to Bruno Gimaraes. When he hit this, I was sort of looking at it going, well, this is going to go miles over the bar because of the way he sort of, his body shape. But the way, despite the fact he was kind of leaning back a little bit, the way he angled this over the keeper, off the underside of the bar, and into the back of the net, I mean, that's why we bought Bruno Gimaraes, right?

31:28that that moment of extra quality in midfield, an area from which we probably don't score as many goals as we should, even if Martin Odegaard is stepping up this season, that's why you spend£75 million on Bruno Gimeraj. And obviously the fact that he did it at Sunderland, away from home, reminding them that they were small, I think is what he was trying to say. Is that what it was? I think so. I think so. I mean, his social media post afterwards where he said, they know what they are. Happy weekend from the fat rat. He hasn't quite shed the black and white of Newcastle yet. Nor should he, I guess, having spent so much time there.

32:16I guess it would be like a former Arsenal player going somewhere else and scoring against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. You'd enjoy it if they did what Bruno Gimaraes did.

32:28Andrew Allen: Yeah, and they gave him a pretty spicy reception when he came on at half-time and every time he touched the ball. So I'm sure that was in his mind. He was actually looking for the ball in this kind of area. In that first 10 minutes of the first half, I saw him sort of lurking on the edge of the box and calling for the ball. So clearly he was sort of determined to make that kind of impact. And it's a brilliant strike, this. I mean, you know, as good an individual moment really as that Raya save, just a moment of huge quality from a player who steps up and delivers in a critical moment. Yeah, fantastic.

33:06Andrew Allen: And there was something kind of almost Perezian about the way that ball kind of arced into the far top corner. Just a really, really lovely strike. And also it gives me such comfort watching this team now when they go in front. Like when we saw that swing of penalty save and then Bruno at the other end, I was like, well, that two minutes, that could be the game. Yeah. You know? Yeah, for sure. And it's interesting because like, I think it was the first real break in play. So Raya went over to the bench in the celebrations and kind of got his, well, A, his pats on the back and then B, his tactical instructions from Mikhail Arteta for what to do next.

33:52Andrew Allen: But yeah, it all happened so close together and it sort of broke Sunderland's hearts a little bit, I suspect. Yeah, maybe so. I mean, to be fair, they reacted the way you would expect them to react. I think the game got a bit more tetchy, didn't it? There was a sort of booking for Xhaka and then he roared into the face of the referee. You know, if he'd been in red and white, well, a different red and white, maybe that would have been another yellow on top of the yellow he got for the challenge on Bruno. But it got a bit tetchy, didn't it, between the players? There was a row. Konza and Xhaka rather got into it.

34:30But Arsenal had chances. Again, Arsenal really did have chances to score another goal. There was a moment when Kai Havertz went through and he tried to cut back. And I think he's got to have a shot from that angle. Solis did really well. And Odegaard set up Xhaka for a right-footed shot, which the keeper made a good save from. Ballard cleared a Havertz header off the line. So there was more threat again from Arsenal. It's just the finishing this week has not been where you would want it to be. But despite the fact that Sunderland were trying to react and trying to get back into it, Arsenal were making chances.

35:09Andrew Allen: They were. They were. And Saka had that right-footed one, which, yeah, as we said, his finishing's not quite been where he'd want this week. Sutherland had their moments as well. They seemed to mainly fall to Mukiali, who was kind of, yes, trying to sniff out a goal in those set-piece situations. Timber had one disallowed, obviously. Oh, yeah, of course. Great delivery, just margins in that. It was really fine. Odegaard, who I thought had another good game, delivering an excellent cross from the left-hand side. the really scary one was the one that david riah ended up uh so kind of palming away um that was with about four five six minutes left wasn't it right there thereabouts yeah it was a really good ball in from granite jack i think they had a corner which they took short and jacker then came out and delivered like we know he's got such a good left foot it's a fantastic ball in and it's one of those where on the stretch if he makes the right kind of contact with that I don't think Raya has any chance of making a save whatsoever I'm not playing down the save that he did make I just think that if the right contact is made that close to goal there's no way you can stop it.

36:32Andrew Allen: Agree agree I mean it was good reactions to get to it and and also get up again and challenge for the ball when it loops up in the air. But yeah, if Mukeli gets a proper toe on that, it's in the back of the net probably. So, you know, it was fine margins. I mean, I think I texted you after the game and said, probably the least comfortable 2-0 I've ever seen. But 2-0 it was, right? Because we deep, deep, deep in stoppage time were able to get that second goal. So we got the penalty. It's a foul by Reynaldo, who'd already been booked. He got himself a second yellow card. Felt a little bit harsh to give a second yellow that late in the game, to be honest.

37:15But I think it is a foul and it's sustained holding. Isn't that what they say? Yes. Penalty to Arsenal. But Kai Osaka stepped up and scored. But I do think the goalkeeper will have had some sleepless moments. anyway about that because he got across well. I think he got his hands up, but just slightly misjudged it. Not Saka's best penalty, but doesn't matter. They all count. Ended up in the back of the net. And yeah, that's secure the three points.

37:51Andrew Allen: And that's the difference, right? I mean, David Wright gets there and he's able to keep it out. And, you know, huge credit to him for that. I agree that having got there, Sunderland keep will feel he probably should have saved it. But Bakai Saka gets himself another goal. I think he would have felt quite relieved about that, maybe, given some of the chances that he'd had in the game. And yeah, makes it an even better result and an even happier journey home for the team and fans alike. A really, really... You know, I said this was sort of a massive three points and a few people come back to me and say, are any three points massive at this stage of the season?

38:31And I understand that objection, but I suspect if the season ends in glory again, I do think this is a game we might look back on and say, well, we really showed our mettle there because we had to. Yeah, we did. We did. And we're capable of it. And I think, you know, we went through last season and there were games that, despite the fact I thought, you know, we were always capable of winning the Premier League, right? There were games that chipped away at your confidence. And Sunderland away last season was one of those games. you know we had this tendency over the course of last season not just in the premier league by the way to concede late goals and i think when you go into a new season as champions you're looking at what did we do last season and what can we do better this season and you use games like that as a kind of marker right villa away we conceded a late goal and lost and it was sickening if you remember because I think you know it was a fairly even game not long maybe a minute or two before they actually scored the winner we had a decent chance to to score a goal ourselves I think it was a rice ball across the box and I don't think Yucca Rez or Madueke really attacked that ball as well as we could so Villa go up the other end they score a goal and it's 2-1 and it's sickening and And Sunderland away, it was a late goal.

40:07Was it Brian Brobby who scored the goal? It was kind of an acrobatic goal. And it came because we had a bit of a mix-up between Gabriel and David Raya. And that was sickening as well. So when you look at Villa Park this season, you look at the Stadium of Light this season, have we done better? Yes, we have. You know, we had no points from the game at Villa Park. We took three back to North London. We dropped two points away at the Stadium of Light. We've brought three points back to North London. And I think it is part of how you view or how you can assess the quality of this team. You know, every season is different.

40:48Every game is different. And every time you visit a particular stadium, it is different. But I think we know that Mikel Arteta puts quite a bit of stock in what happened last time or what has happened in the past, you know, against particular opposition. Have we suffered at the hands of this opposition? And if we have, we've got to try and put it right to sort of exercise the demons, exercise the ghosts, you know, and we've seen that time and time and time again. And for me, you know, you made the point early on about previous iterations of Arsenal. I think with opposition like that, with a referee like that, with an atmosphere like that, with a home crowd like that, who over the course of the 90 minutes got more and more behind their team, more emboldened by the idea that they could get something out of this game.

41:37And I understand why, you know, I think in, in seasons past, that's an Arsenal team that would have crumbled if not necessarily to defeat, we wouldn't have won that game. So I think, you know, with all those things, it was really, really, really pleasing to go and do what we did against Sunderland and to, to display the individual quality that we had from David Raya, from Bruno Gimaraes, you know, the chances that we did create, but didn't take. I think, you know, we sort of overlook those in the end, but I think there's something really positive about that as well. But it's then about what you can do off the ball.

42:15How do you deal with a game off the ball? And is there right now a better team off the ball than Arsenal? We're really, really, really fucking good on the ball, but off the ball, I don't think there's anybody better at this moment in time. And that's playing a part in the results that we're getting.

42:35Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think so. And I agree with you. The centre-halves were both very good. Timber came back in, looked like he hadn't missed a beat, frankly. And just on the sort of the type of fixture this is, you know, I know some of us may want to see, how can I put it, the officiating, you know, we might aspire for it to be not influenced by the crowd or totally objective, but the reality of winning a Premier League at this moment in time is that you are going to have games like this. You are going to have games where the crowd are up for it and they're on the official's back and it is exerting an influence on the way the game is managed and the decisions that are made.

43:24Andrew Allen: That is just the reality that you have to contend with if you want to win a Premier League title at this point in time. So the fact that we're able to go there to come through that and walk away with three points is so impressive, so impressive. And, you know, you mentioned the game last season between these two. This is an early indicator that we've taken a stride forward since last season, which is really, really exciting. Yeah, I agree. I agree. And I think another day with better finishing, this could be a game that Arsenal win more comprehensively. So it's not quite as tight and you're not necessarily focusing on the grind.

44:03But sometimes you've got to go and grind. You've got to be able to go and grind results. And we did that. And I think it was really, really pleasing. There are a few more questions about the game and maybe some individuals. And as we said earlier, Arteta's comments. and we will talk about the Manchester United Man City thing a little bit more later on in the 30 over on Patreon which is our Premier League review podcast but but you said you didn't think you would see a worse decision than the penalty given against Arsenal hold my beer pro ref pgmol whatever they're called now that was crazy yesterday at Old Trafford that the Manchester City goal was a loud stand.

44:46And, you know, we can talk about it from just the perspective of that decision as well. But I think as an Arsenal fan, you're looking at that and you're thinking, well, Manchester City are a team that we're probably going to be in a title race with. That decision didn't just impact Manchester United, although it, you know, obviously most materially impacted them in that game yesterday. And I think they have every right to be aggrieved because it's just so bad, but it could have consequences for the title race as well.

45:14Andrew Allen: Yeah, it absolutely could. I mean, Man City and Arsenal are now the two teams in the Premier League who've won four from four. And frankly, they already look like they're breaking away from the pack a little bit. And City are able to keep pace because of that decision, which, I mean, I'm still astonished by. yeah really astonished it's an extraordinary error and interesting we've already seen a statement from the refereeing body about that and I think the reason for that principally is that this error determined the result I think we just have to be grateful to our players that the error in our game was not defining in the same way we found a way to win regardless and and irrespective, but yeah, I mean, it's impossible.

46:10Andrew Allen: It's almost impossible to explain the mistake in, in, in the Manchester derby. I think it's just utterly bizarre. It's so weird because at first it just looked like, Oh, Holland's offside. And that's, you know, an issue of perspective, I think, you know, based on camera angles, but he did look offside. And then it turns out, you know, he was on, played on by Dorgou's foot, But it's sort of mad that I was sort of chatting on the Discord yesterday at the time that this was going on. And everybody was just talking about Enzo Fernandes in the middle, like regardless of whether Holland was on or not.

46:48Enzo Fernandes is offside, clearly, like there's no dispute about whether he was offside or not. And he attempts to play the ball. So if we're all sitting here looking at it and thinking, well, that's clearly offside because he is 100 % interfering with play, you know, with Lissandro Martinez and maybe the goalkeeper too. Like, how have they overlooked that? It's just unbelievable that that has, yeah, that it's been overlooked. I can't get my head around it, you know? Yeah.

47:21Andrew Allen: And I think the reason this one is particularly egregious as well is because the goal wasn't given. So VAR intervened to change the on-field decision to a goal based on a false premise, basically. So it's incredibly damaging. And I suspect the speed of Pro Ref's response suggests they know as much. But yeah, honestly, a really, really, really bizarre one that, and I guess we can talk maybe in part two about whether it's a good or a bad thing, that it will slightly take some of the focus away from the Arsenal situation. Yeah, maybe so. All right, well, why don't we do that? As I said, if you want more on the Man City-Manchester United game, not just the offside goal, but also the red card for Phil Foden, how United reacted to that, and all the rest of the Premier League action this weekend, you can join us on Patreon.com forward slash arseblog, and we'll review all that later on this afternoon.

48:25Myself and Lewis Ambrose will be doing the 30. Phil is away. For now, though, we'll take a little break. We will come back with your questions and more in part two right after this.

49:03We'll see you next time. and support when it's needed most. That's where Ethos comes in. Ethos makes getting life insurance fast and easy, and it's 100 % online. You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and even get same-day coverage. There's no medical exam. You just answer a few simple health questions online, and coverage options are flexible with up to$3 million available and some policies starting at around$30 a month. Ethos has also earned strong customer feedback, with a 4.9 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot based on more than 5 ,500 reviews as of August 2026. Help protect your family with life insurance through Ethos.

49:40Get your instant free quote at ethos.com. That's E-T-H-O-S dot com. Application times and rates may vary.

49:48Andrew Allen: Hi, Podfans. Max here. Barry's here too. Hello. And now the Premier League is back, Barry, meaning we'll be providing incredibly astute analysis three times a week wherever you get your podcasts. Barry, with the remaining 10 seconds of this advert, can you provide some astute analysis? I think Arsenal are going to win the Premier League. And there you are. For more hot takes like that, watch or listen to Football Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

50:32Andrew Allen: Follow through 925, while supplies last. Selection varies by location.

50:40Welcome 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. James, we do have a lot of questions about Mikel Arteta's comments around the penalty decision. So I'm going to read out a few of them because they're all sort of similar-ish. Should we read out what he said, basically, on TNT Sports? He said it's a huge win, but it could have been something very different. And the interviewer said, what do you mean by that?

51:20and he said you know in the way that the officials could have changed the game i'm so upset it's unacceptable at this level unacceptable this can change the course of a season the championship and it's not acceptable i've seen it 10 times to make sure because i watched it live and i said it's just not possible at this level that there's going to be a penalty because it's a judo role that's what it is it just cannot happen um moves equally strident in his post-match press conference talking about the decision and how unacceptable it was. So the questions are like this. Where are we? Wise Marklar.

51:59Has Arteta put himself an arsenal in the firing line after his multiple press conference outbursts? P. Moyles on Discord as well. Do you think Arteta's comments about the penalty decision will be portrayed differently in the media and carry more weight now that he is a Premier League winning manager compared to the reaction after the Newcastle-Discrassia game? And on Blue Sky, we had one from Lonan Hughes, who's at lonanhughes.bsky.social. Morning, aside from the obvious of the penalty decision being wrong, why do you think Arteta was so strong in his criticism of it? Is he trying to push back on a developing narrative, and is there a risk of pro-ref circling the wagons and targeting us more?

52:46Andrew Allen: It's an interesting one. I mean, why be so strong? I think partly because he was afforded the opportunity to be by the result. I think doing it from a position where you've won is very different. And yeah, I don't listen. I think if we had lost the game or drawn the game, we probably would still have talked about it. But I think it carries a different kind of weight when you've won a game 2-0, but your focus is still on that in your post-match interview. I think the referees or pro ref kind of did him a favor at Old Trafford in a way. A, because it means that Mikael's not going to be the kind of sole poster boy for this anger or frustration with the quality of the officiating.

53:39And B, because it sort of affirms his point to a certain extent.

53:47Andrew Allen: he's saying that these decisions, these wrong decisions can be defining. And we're talking about three points at Old Trafford that could have an impact in a potential title race. So I think it's probably a good thing for him that he's not necessarily as much in the spotlight. But I think it was the second question you mentioned asked, Will his comments be differently received now that he's a Premier League winning manager? You know, we've seen many, many years of people like Alex Ferguson or even more recently Pep Guardiola making comments about officials and refereeing and standards and demanding more and trying to, let's be honest, probably trying to influence outcome to a certain extent.

54:36And it sort of feels like when you're the big manager on campus,

54:41Andrew Allen: when you're the top dog, you have a bit of clout to carry that and to get away with it. Will that be the case for Mikel Arteta now, now that he's a title winner? I'm not so sure, but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out and how it impacts the refereeing of our games going forward. Yeah, I mean, I think it was... I, do I call it cynical or do I call it, how do I put this? I think if there was ever going to be a team that was penalized first with regard the new edict around grappling and holding, it was going to be us. Because I think we were the poster boys for that. rightly or wrongly and I think to some extent wrongly because we were not the only team involved in that I think our set piece prowess and our ability to score goals from set pieces people And people suggested, and I think wrongly, that this was because, you know, the corner would come in and Gabriel would just like pick up a couple of players and throw them away.

55:51And then he'd have a free run at goal, right? Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, oh, Ben White touched a goalkeeper's glove. So essentially Ben White has got the goalkeeper in a bear hug and all of a sudden Arsenal can score a goal and they're allowed to do whatever they want from set pieces, which is just not the case. this was a wider footballing issue right and I remember a game it could have been Everton against Manchester United last season where it was just ridiculous it was it was wrestling you know from every corner from every set piece from both sides we were not the only team that did this but because we scored so many goals it was made look like we were the ones who were benefiting most from this kind of stuff in the Premier League.

56:34So I felt like if there was going to be an incident regarding these new edicts and new rules, whatever they are, chances are we were going to be involved in it one way or the other, right? And I kind of had a guess which way it might be. So I think there was probably an element of Mikel Arteta, given the result, as you say, trying to push back on that perception that exists around Arsenal in the media among opposition fans you know within the pundit class and maybe within pgmol itself that like you can't give a penalty for that and I think he's right you can't you shouldn't if we had won a penalty like that could we sit here and say that's a penalty I don't think we we could and we try not to do that right The way we look at incidents like that, we try and be objective.

57:30And the thing about it is, is that you can talk about an incident like happened at the one that happened at Sunderland. And regardless of how objective you are, people will say, well, you're an Arsenal fan. You're going to be biased. And I think there's something to that. So I do think as poor as it is and as impactful as it might be in the title race, your point about what happening at Old Trafford doing Arteta a bit of a favor is absolutely right. because he complained about a bad decision. And it was a bad decision. And pretty much everybody I've seen, I watched Match of the Day the other night, Thomas Frank was on.

58:07I know he's a silver member. They had Ashley Williams on as well. And both of them were like, no, that can't be a penalty. It should not be a penalty, right? But that was a bad decision. What happened at Old Trafford was an outrageously bad decision. it was egregious. It was just so bad. And I think that will take some of the focus off what Arteta said while not diminishing the point that he made. Yeah.

58:36Andrew Allen: And I don't think that'll be a bad thing really. But yeah, I honestly, like the one in our game is bad. There's no getting away from that, but the one at Old Trafford, I think like if I was a United fan today, I just don't know how the hell I'd be able to talk about anything else. I must say, um, it's really one to, uh, feed the conspiracy theorists, I think, because it's such gross incompetence that that is difficult, that it's difficult to believe. It's difficult to believe someone could make that error. Um, but there you go. There you go. Um, Can I read this out before I let you do your question?

59:26Because it made me laugh. It's on Blue Sky. It comes from Hien Quynh or Hien Quynh. And they say, does Enzo Lafay sound like someone who would show up in your village while on holiday and solve a murder mystery? That made me laugh. Thank you. Yeah, he does.

59:45Andrew Allen: Or as was the case on Saturday night, not solve it. He's just added more layers to the complexity. I saw a bit of debate online about where David Raya ranks among kind of Arsenal goalkeepers. Chardesk on Discord said, goodly morning, gents. What does David Raya need to do to be considered Arsenal's greatest goalkeeper? Is it more trophies, longevity, or is he already there? I think it's longevity. I think it is longevity. You know, there's no question. Trophies is part of that as well, isn't it? Yes, of course. Yeah. You know, if you stay longer and you win more trophies,

1:00:30you obviously cement your place in history even further. I don't think there's any doubt right now that David Raya is probably the best goalkeeper in the world or certainly the most informed goalkeeper in the world and has been for the last 18 months, two years, right? I think it might also depend on your age and your era. Like there's going to be people, you know, younger people than I and younger than you even, if that's possible, you know, who are growing up with David Raya as their Arsenal goalkeeper in the way that, you know, people grew up with Bob Wilson as their Arsenal goalkeeper or Pat Jennings or David Seaman It was David Seaman for me, really.

1:01:18Andrew Allen: Yeah, exactly. The same for me, you know. Well, not exactly, but certainly he was fundamental to some of the best Arsenal teams that I've witnessed and experienced. And I think that's the only difference really with Raya in terms of the quality of his game, his shot stopping, his assurance, his handling, his distribution. He's one of the best I've ever seen at Arsenal. If not in terms of the overall package, the best. You know, the game has changed though. So you have to look at a player through the prism of the modern game, right? David Seaman was never asked to do the kinds of things that David Raya does in terms of how he distributes the ball or where he plays, right?

1:02:02He doesn't have to play as an auxiliary sweeper. Never did have to play that way because the game was different back then. So I think in terms of the number of strings to his bow, he's probably got more than any Arsenal goalkeeper that has come before him. But that's because of the way that the game has changed. But someone like Seaman, who was part of that famous defense, who was so calm, so assured, who gave real serenity to his defenders in front of him. And what a group of defenders, when you think about Adams and Bold and Keown and Dixon and Winterburn, all those guys, the amount of trophies that he won, the length of time that he stayed.

1:02:47So I really think that's all it is for David Raya. If he can continue this sort of level of performance and stay at Arsenal another five or six or seven years, which he's capable of doing given the age he is, there's no question in my mind that he will be winning more trophies. Arsenal will win more trophies with David Ryan goal. And then maybe you have that conversation about, is he the greatest ever goalkeeper? But, you know, it's such an interesting conversation because of how you have to judge goalkeepers differently these days from the goalkeepers that came in the past.

1:03:18Andrew Allen: Definitely. And because of the way the position has evolved, as you say, I think on a pure technical basis, he'll compare well with almost anybody. The range of attributes that he has, his ability on the ball, with the ball at his feet, for example, I think it's probably the best we've ever had. Equally, there are probably challenges to being a goalkeeper in the 70s, 80s, 90s that are different to what David Raya faces today. I mean, we've spent a lot of time today talking about physicality on set pieces, but I would venture that in the 80s, the 90s, there was a very different kind of physicality on set pieces that would have made life very difficult for a goalkeeper, especially in a game without any video technology.

1:04:08Andrew Allen: And in those situations, there are probably aspects of Raya's game or his height that might be a little more exposed. But there's no doubting his performance level. I think he's comfortably the best in the Premier League. I'd feel confident saying, like you, he's one of the very best in the world. I'll say it again. Unai Simon must be a simply extraordinary goalkeeper. I mean, this guy, we should be moving heaven and earth to sign Unai Simon, basically because he must be the greatest goalkeeper of all time as Spain's number one. But yeah, I do think longevity, I do think more trophies are the key.

1:04:55Andrew Allen: But if you are a younger fan and you're from a kind of, I suppose, a post-Seaman era, I can totally understand how you would reach that conclusion about Raya because goalkeeper has been a position that I think we've struggled to have that kind of continuity and consistency. And unfortunately, with many of the goalkeepers we've had, there are kind of high-profile errors or incidents that sort of blighted their time. So, yeah, he is performing at an extraordinary level. And if he continues to do that, he will rightfully be in those conversations. Yeah, I mean, maybe that, you know, in itself tells you how good he is.

1:05:40When you look at the names, you know, over the last number of years, Szczesny, really a very, very good international goalkeeper. Fabianski, yeah, didn't quite reach the potential that he had, but had a long, solid career.

1:05:57Andrew Allen: A long Premier League career, yeah. Yeah, Petr Cech, David Ospina, Bernd Leno, Aaron Ramsdale. You know, this is a tricky position to find exactly the right man for.

1:06:13So, yeah, I mean, when you put it in that context and the way we're talking about him, yeah, he's just outstanding. He really is. We had another question about, could I find it? I can't remember who it was, but it was something, I think it was on the Discord. It was about sliding doors moments with players and Raya almost signing with Tottenham, for example, where I think he'd agreed terms with Tottenham and it didn't go through. There's a sliding doors moment. Apologies to whoever it was on the Discord that asked that question. I can't find it, but yeah.

1:06:51Andrew Allen: And you look at the trouble they've had with goalkeepers since then. And I think they ended up moving for Vicario that summer, who was a bit of a disaster, despite having a good reputation coming in from Italy. They've then moved on to Kinski, who is talented, but already this season had some significant errors and obviously had that nightmare against Atletico Madrid. It is a perilous position and it doesn't take much for a player to lose form and confidence and lose their way. and David Roy came through that period at Arsenal. You know, he, when he first came in, he did have a little sticky period.

1:07:34Andrew Allen: I mean, it seems odd to think about it now, but I remember that game at Luton where, you know, he was coming for crosses and not getting there and he came through that and found a new gear, a new level. And he's one of the most important players in this team of that. There's no doubt. You know, I think he's, of all the first team, he may be, and touch wood, it doesn't happen, but he might be the one that it would hurt us most to lose because I just don't think we have another player who gets close to offering one. No, that's true. I found that it was from Engelhardt on the, on Blue Sky, by the way, engelhardt.bsky.social was talking about that sliding doors moment in the context of Mudrick and Trossard as well.

1:08:17So David Raya, yeah, I mean, what a guy. And yeah, long may it last. What about this one from Graham A1B2 on the Discord, who asks, is this the moment Bruno now comes into the starting 11 and Myles Lewis Skelly becomes the rotation option?

1:08:41Andrew Allen: Yeah, I mean, funnily enough, I think Myles will probably start on Tuesday night. so he's not going anywhere anytime soon. But I think Bruno has arrived, hasn't he, at Arsenal with this moment? And I suspect Mikel Arteta will take the opportunity to bring him in from the start for the Brighton game. I mean, what an incredible luxury he's had as well, that he's lost Bruno in this early period of the season and not had to rush him straight back into the XI because of the form of Miles Lewis-Skelly and what he's produced. I thought he had a patchy first half miles I mean he had one beautiful moment on the edge of his own box where he kind of span away from a marker and slid a pass between the lines to set Arsenal away on the counter-attack equally he did have a couple of passes in the left-hand channel that kind of overhit and didn't have their usual quality of weight on the ball but yeah I think we probably will see Bruno come in But I'm not sure midfield will ever feel quite as kind of defined as it has in previous seasons.

1:09:47Andrew Allen: I do think in the likes of Lewis Skelly, Marino, Zubomendi, we have really good alternatives in there. And I think across the Champions League and the Premier League, there probably will be some measure of rotation throughout. I think that looks to be the way it's headed. What about you? Yeah, no, I'd agree with that. I'd agree with that. But if, you know, it was Bruno against Brighton, I wouldn't be surprised. And I think, you know, there is a reason why we spend£75 million on a 28-year-old. I think he is going to start more games than Miles if he stays fit. But maybe part of keeping him fit and part of managing his minutes throughout the season means that Miles will start and Zubamendi will start and Marina will start, you know.

1:10:35And I think we'll see some rotation in midweek. By the way, the way that guy on TNT Sports says Zuby Mendy drives me out of my fucking mind. But that's another small complaint.

1:10:47Andrew Allen: You mentioned the price tag for Bruno and the age. And I do think this game was kind of some vindication, I suppose, for that transfer policy of going for Premier League proven, Premier League experienced players. I mean, Esri Konza, a lot of eyebrows were raised about maybe externally, you know, outside of the Arsenal ecosphere about that pursuit. But when you pay big money for a Premier League ready centre half, it's with games like this in mind. The fact that they can step straight in, slot straight in and sort of stand up to the atmosphere, the physicality, all those elements. You know, that's what you're paying for.

1:11:32Andrew Allen: Oh, sure. I am, you know, I think I said this on, I don't know if it was on the preview pod on Friday or on the Arscast, but I'm scoffing up the Azurikonza humble pie a little bit because it was one of those when we were first linked with him, I was like, really? That guy? Yeah. Particularly for the big price that was mooted for his transfer from Villa. But the more I looked at the player and you look at the analytics and you look at the kind of player that he is, and then you look at him on the pitch. Like, listen, I really like Christian Mosquera. I think there's a player of real talent and potential in there.

1:12:11I'm guessing, of course, but I think he would probably have found Brian Brobby more difficult to deal with than Ezri Kansa because of his inexperience, right? Because he's only 22 and because he hasn't had all these years in the Premier League. like Konza was absolutely fucking no nonsense the other day against Sunderland not just against Brian Brobby there was a bit with Xhaka as well wasn't there where they were going at each other and he was like taking none of Granit Xhaka's hard man stuff um we know Xhaka likes a bit of a brouhaha but Konza was like yeah fuck you bring it on I'll have whatever you're fucking having here pal you know and I think that only comes from being a 28 year old who's got years of experience in the Premier League.

1:12:58He, did we say plug and play with regards to him? I think we might have. Yeah, he's plugged in. He's ready to go. He's been fantastic. He really has been fantastic. And he's been, I know it's still early days, but just such an encouraging signing.

1:13:15Andrew Allen: I think so. I've been really impressed as well. What about this from Bergkamp Lover on Discord? They said, goodly morning, gents. Arteta has been criticized in the past for his sub-usage, but seems to be pulling all the right strings so far this season. Did he just need players he trusts all along?

1:13:37I mean, maybe so. I think that's probably true of every manager though, right? That you want players who you can rely on, who you feel are at the level, who are dependable. I don't think that's distinct to Mikel Arteta. I also think it's one of those things that because this was his first job, we saw a lot of learning on the go over the course of Mikel Arteta's tenure. And learning how to use subs and which players to use and when to use them is something that I think just takes a bit of experience. And maybe it's an idea that persists from the earlier stages of his Arsenal career. But I don't think over the last few years, it's been a weak point by any means.

1:14:24Was it last season that we scored more goals from substitutes than anybody else? Or certainly we were really high on the list of players who came off the bench and score goals, which suggests that Mikel Arteta gets his substitutions right more often than not these days. So I think that's sort of a bit of a legacy criticism of Arteta, if that makes sense.

1:14:50Andrew Allen: I think that's fair. I would also say, just to sort of play Del's advocate a little bit, it always feels a bit like he trusts them all in September, you know? Historically, however talented the group, it has kind of felt like by February, March, there is a very established hierarchy and there are players who kind of fall outside of that trusted group. And maybe that won't happen this year. Maybe he'll retain faith in everybody. But, you know, I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure. I think it's kind of in his nature that that group sort of distills as the season goes on. And there's a few names in the back of my mind that I'm thinking when it gets into the business end of the season, will he really have that belief in them?

1:15:46Andrew Allen: Let's wait and see. You want to give a note? No, no, no, I daren't. I daren't. Not on this happy day, Andrew. Write them down. I've written some names in some envelopes. Three names. I've written three names in an envelope and I will reveal those three names. It's a fun game for the listeners, actually. Maybe I will, actually. Hang on. I'm just going to get my phone out. I'm going to write in my notes file on my phone. Jokes aside, it would be quite interesting to see. Names in envelope. Okay. Well, definitely him. Yeah, I think he's on that list as well. So we know it's men.

1:16:31Andrew Allen: And who else?

1:16:35Andrew Allen: yeah third name oh i've actually got four oh wow okay okay yeah all we have all that i'm a bit worried about michael you know about how much michael will love them in in may but hopefully we'll come back and we'll all laugh at me well this is it you know what we have to do is somehow put in place a mechanism that reminds us to go back and look at those names because hopefully not because I might be wrong. Well, you could be wrong, but even so we could get to the end of the season and say, James, give us the names. Who did you think was going to be? You thought that guy? What do you know? Yeah.

1:17:16He scored 72 goals this season.

1:17:19Andrew Allen: Yeah. It was a bold take for James to write David Reyes' name down in an envelope the weekend he saved a penalty. But I guess he's always been a big believer in Kepa. So it makes sense. But anyway, yeah, so that is a little subplot to the season. I'm interested to see, like, does he keep the faith with the wider group? It is probably the best and deepest squad he's had, so there is a chance. But Mikel gone Mikel to a certain extent. He will. He'll always Mikel a little bit. Speaking of Mikel a little bit, what about this one from Peter Hust, who says, with his general attention to detail in mind, why do you think Arteta doesn't stay inside the technical area?

1:18:05It's such a basic thing and should be quite easy to do. And, you know, we should point out that he did get a yellow card on Saturday evening for encroachment. Do you encroach out of something? I thought you could only encroach into something. Yes, that's true. He stepped outside his technical area too often. escaped, he's technically eric. Escaped, exactly. He was bounding with gay abandon up and down the touchline and the fourth official said, no, have a yellow card.

1:18:39Andrew Allen: Yeah, it's a good, interesting question that, you know, someone with that much attention to detail. These are the margins and they are literally the margins. They're very obvious as well. They're in white paint right in front of you. Maybe he just doesn't want to get white paint on his shoes, you know. he'd rather be over the line than on it. I don't know. I think the truthful answer is that ultimately he doesn't deem it that significant, you know, that he feels it's more important to be in step with his team and close to his team emotionally and literally in those moments. and he deems it a risk worth taking to feel that he impacts the game, or he's just swept up in the adrenaline and the emotion and the moment and literally not able to contain himself.

1:19:35I think it's both. I think he sort of doesn't give a fuck and to some extent uses it as a way to challenge the officials. But also I think he does get carried away sometimes and, yeah, just sort of gets excited and wants to influence the game. And in doing so, steps a couple of yards outside his technical area and then, you know, gets hauled back in by Albert or Gabriel Lyons or whoever it might be is there to sort of bring him back in and calm him down a little bit. But, you know, I guess it depends on the fourth official as well. like to what extent is the fourth official going to be a real jobs worth in that regard because here's the other thing it's not just michael arteta he is not the only manager despite what richard keys would have you think he's not the only manager who goes outside his technical area they pretty much all do it they all do it but again it's one of those things like our set pieces Whereas Arteta is the only one who does this.

1:20:43So it depends on the fourth official and just sort of like, can you have a quiet word? Go, Mikel, just kind of watch where you're going there. Back in your box. Yeah, get back in your box. Or, you know, if he has that quiet word and he keeps doing it and he says, listen, you know, I've told you a couple of times, it's all very schoolyard bullshit, isn't it? You know, it feels kind of pathetic. you grown man you're not allowed to leave this six foot by six foot area or whatever it is eight foot by eight foot twelve foot by two whatever it is you may not cross that line at any point or else it's like i'm a fucking grown man i can go where i want you know um it does feel very sort of childish or something but the rules are the rules you just want to see them if they are going to be applied evenly across the board, which I think as we know with pro ref, that's something they're very, very big on, right?

1:21:43Andrew Allen: Well, yeah. Do we want to see that law actually applied consistently? Because if so, I think Miklatski will be suspended for every other game. So I don't know. But then all the managers will be. So yeah, they'll all just be set up in the stands. I did enjoy his kind of little box ticking mime after he got his yellow card. spent the summer at mime school yeah that's what i mean though it's like it's part of it's just like you fucking guys have you not got anything better to do really i know it's the equivalent of a yeah it's kind of a football parking ticket isn't it yeah yeah yeah yeah why was um gabrielle booked by the way that seemed a strange one you know he seemed to be trying to diffuse a situation Maybe the referee just thought, Gabriel, he's not going to defuse anything.

1:22:31He's in there stirring everything up, so I'll just book him. But like, to be fair.

1:22:34Andrew Allen: Yeah, because they have the power to review things of mistaken identity now, don't they? Yeah. So, yeah. Is that one that Arsenal should actually, can they appeal that yellow card? Are you allowed to appeal the yellow card? I don't know if they can post-Bocca. I'm not sure. Arsenal will contact pro ref today, I'm told, about the penalty. dear pro ref we think you're we think you're fucking useless yours arsenal yeah little love note here's a question Andrew okay I hope you've got your big mug of carabao on the go ahead of tomorrow night's game I have a goblet a goblet good good Spooks Davey says goodly morning chaps Can you talk through your choices in midfield for tomorrow night, given it is the Mickey Mouse Cup, but still an away game against Prem opponents?

1:23:34Andrew Allen: Who starts for you? So yes, Arsenal go to Ipswich tomorrow night. Yeah, we also had like a question from Apnea Man, who said, considering all the defensive injuries we have at the moment, kindly name your starting back four for the match against Ipswich. Well, let's do the whole play team, shall we? Well, I mean, it's going to be Kepa. Yeah. Arguably should be Melier, but it's going to be Kepa. I think Timber will start, but I do wonder if Timber might start at centre half. And do we give Marley Salmon a run at right back with Timber? And that way you can sort of timeshare Konza and Gabriel, perhaps for the other central defensive one, if Mosquera's not there, and in Kepiay.

1:24:24as the left back. Would that make sense to you?

1:24:27Andrew Allen: I mean, if Mascara's fit, you'd play him, wouldn't you? You would. I don't know what the story is, though. We'll find out tomorrow, but... Yes. I think Marley Salmon's a good shout. I think he... You know, these are exactly the sort of games that, you know, we could be looking to give him a game. Would you have an issue with that, though? Would you have an issue with... Like, I'm very conscious of the fact that for a 16-year-old, it's a lot to ask. I also think, and we've had this conversation before, that a 16-year-old attacker has a bit more grace, a bit more leeway to not be added as opposed to a 16-year-old defender, right?

1:25:07So there is that element of risk. Personally, I'm okay with it for this particular game and for this particular competition this season. I think this is exactly why we can give Marley Salmon a run. You know, we want to be there or thereabouts. Obviously, you know, come May in the Champions League and in the Premier League, this is a competition where I am prepared to be, you know, a little more flexible with my principles, if that's the right way of putting it. And in particular, you know, if we only have Konza and Gabriel available, if Muscara isn't available, then I do think we've got to consider the idea of using Salmon, you know, as part of the first team squad and part of the first team for this game.

1:25:53Andrew Allen: Yeah, and I quite like the idea of using him at right back, you know, where he might be a little more protected on the exterior of the team. I mean, I used the phrase Mikel gone Mikel earlier in the pod, And there is part of me that's sort of thinking he might just play Konza and Gabriel. Like he might not put that past him. No, but no, I think I would go some iteration of Timber salmon, maybe, maybe Esri Konza. I think I would do Konza over Gabriel. Yeah. And in Capier. Midfield. Are you looking at Zubimendi, Luis Scali Marino? That's pretty decent, isn't it? Yeah. And then a front three, you're looking at Eza, Jokeres, and Matueke, right?

1:26:46Andrew Allen: I think so. And obviously, like, Max Daumann will be the name that other people will be throwing into the mix, I'm sure, either for that number 10 spot or on the right-hand side. But I think those more senior players probably need the minutes. I think so, yeah. I think so. To stay sharp, to stay involved. I think on seniority, I think they'll get him. So I think Max Downman will begin on the bench. He played, I think, for the 21s at the weekend, as did Marley Salmon, in a defeat, unfortunately. Which is, you know, completely normal for two 16-year-olds. Well, this is it. You know, not for the under-18s who played the same day, but the 21s.

1:27:35Andrew Allen: Exactly. You know, we have to try and remember that context that, you know, for a 16-year-old to be playing for the under-21s would be out of the ordinary, generally. For two 16-year-olds to potentially be playing for the first team is, yeah, it's crazy. I mean, the only other option that Mikel's got, I suppose, is Zubimendi at right back. and he could then bring, you know, I guess, down or someone who played at Sunderland into the midfield, like Bruno, for example. I don't think he will, but he has got that option. Yeah. I'm not sure Zubimendi would like it too much. I think he would like to get a game in his normal position, right?

1:28:25Andrew Allen: Yeah, I agree. And listen, I think it'll be a strong squad. I think he'll take players that might be able to rescue him if the team need it. I think he'll bring the likes of Odegaard, Saka. Havertz and Rice. Havertz, exactly. I think he'll be ready to use those guys from the bench. But yeah, I certainly want to see the breadth of the squad used here. And I think he will. Yep, yep, yep. Yep. And it's one of those where, you know, I never want Arsenal to lose a game ever, ever, ever. But it's one of those where I think it will be a low stress watch, you know, because of the competition. Yeah. And we have a squad that's capable of competing on all fronts.

1:29:14Andrew Allen: But if Arsenal were unfortunate enough to go out away to Ipswich in this round, I'm not sure we'll be talking about it in May. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. So it's, yeah, it's odd to describe it this way, but it does almost feel like a free hit. It's like good opportunity for a game for some players. they should be bloody motivated because, you know, game time is hard to come by in this group. And people like Vixi Okarez and Nani Madueke and Ebreche Eze, they all have points to prove and places and opportunities to fight for. Agreed, agreed. Yeah, I'm hoping we see a really, really motivated Arsenal side on Tuesday night.

1:30:05All right, one final one to get us out, which I'm sure you've seen the video doing the rounds. of the throw-ins. Tim Furse, who's at TomForce13. That's very confusing, Tim, Tom. Are you Tom or are you Tim? I don't know. His handle is TomForce, but his name is Tim Furse. You need to sort this out, Tim, Tom. You sound like an Australian biscuit. Anyway, he says, why the hell do the new throw-in rules apply to regular throw-ins and not routine long throw setups? Why is the league trying to stamp out seven second throw-ins when teams are taking 30, 40, 50 seconds for a long throw?

1:30:45Andrew Allen: Agree. I think that's really weird. I guess the answer is because they've sort of determined that long throws – I mean, maybe there's a feeling that long throws add something to the spectacle of the game. You know, that they turn what would otherwise be a kind of non-incident into a potential goal-scoring opportunity. And so there's an element of drama there that makes the weight worthwhile. But it does seem contradictory, doesn't it? It's like you've got to take a throw within seven seconds or whatever it is. But you can, if you want, you can take 30 as long as you chuck it really far. Yeah. Hang on a second.

1:31:24Our big center half has got to amble all the way up the pitch from one side to the other, then get the ball and then you're not allowed to use towels anymore. So he's got to dry the ball on his shirt and he's got to stand there. and then people have got to get into position and he's got to hold it and then he's got to take his run up. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, no good explanation here other than maybe as you say, to the powers that be, it adds to the spectacle of the game and the drama of the game and therefore the rules don't seem to apply or shouldn't apply in the same way. All right, we'll leave it there.

1:32:01We'll get this podcast out to everybody. As I said earlier, We'll talk more Premier League over on Patreon, patreon.com forward slash arseblog. Please do join us for that. For now, though, folks, thank you very much indeed, as always, for being here and for listening. If you feel like giving us a review in your favorite podcasting app, whether it's Apple Podcasts or Cast Dildo, whatever it is, please, please do give us a review. We'd really welcome that. Not on Cast Dildo. Five dildos out of five. we would appreciate that and we appreciate you being here as always for now though take it easy and we will catch you on the next one

1:32:37Andrew Allen: bye bye

1:32:47Andrew Allen: hi I'm Max Rushton the host of the Guardian Football Weekly alongside me Barry Glendening my co-host hey Barry hello now although every American found us during the World Cup for the two that didn't what can they expect found us and fell in love with us, Max. They can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis covering the Premier League, Champions League and beyond. Football Weekly is back. Watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.