Arsecast Extra Episode 713 - 20.09.2026

0:00Hi, I'm Max Rushton, the host of The Guardian Football Weekly, alongside me, Barry Glenn Denning, my co-host. Hey, Barry. Hello. Oh, 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.

0:39hello and welcome to another arse cast extra as always with james from gunner blog james good morning to you good morning a solemn good morning good morning take a breath i mean it feels like it's been you know 2026 has been certainly of late full of goodly morning sure Sure. We can't complain. We had a good run. We had a good run. It's over now. Guess we just pack up and go home. But this, Andrew, this is the dispiriting away defeat. This is where we cut our teeth. This is it. This is where we honed our craft years in the game. This is arguably where we're most comfortable as podcasters. That is a fair point.

1:28Well made, I have to say. We've got plenty of experience of this. if not of late, but certainly throughout the tenure of this particular show, we've dealt with this kind of situation more than once, I would say. We're back, Andrew. We are so back. We've never been so back. Thank you to Mikel Arteta and to Arsul for playing like twats. You've given us exactly what we wanted after such a long time. Oh, man. Yeah, this was a bad one. It was. Yeah. Surprisingly bad. It is. That's the thing. It was surprisingly bad. There was a lot that I didn't expect from Arsenal because, you know, you go into a game away from home and I think everyone recognizes Brighton away is a very tricky game.

2:10It has been a difficult one for us in the past. It's a difficult one for many teams in the Premier League. But you go into it after seven straight wins. There's talk of equaling records that have stood since 1903 or whatever it was. and I think you're right to feel like this is going to be difficult, but we are well-equipped to go and do what we need to do to come away with a result, if not necessarily a win, but certainly you could come back with a point. A point away from home is not bad, but I did not expect Arsenal to be as bad as we were yesterday, and I think that's what happened. We were bad, they were good, and we just did not cope whatsoever with the way the game played out.

2:59I think that's all bang on. I was texting somebody before, sort of chatting back and forth about the game, and I was like, yeah, draw's not a bad result here. Draw's not a bad result. I was prepared to make that concession, but 3-0 defeat was absolutely not on my bingo card. And, you know, as we said, it's been a long time since we've seen Arsenal heavily beaten like this. Whether or not you think it was quite a 3-0 game, you know, I don't think there can be any doubt that we were second best and Brighton were good value for the win. Does that mean you think maybe 3-0 was a bit flattering to Brighton?

3:45Because I think we were quite lucky for it to be only 3-0. I'm inclined to agree. I mean, sort of the XG gods, blah, blah, blah. I'm just going to make it indiscriminate. I don't mind using XG, but there are certain times when I think XG is just like, blah, blah. Yeah, sure. So I'm making that. That's my anti-XG noise. Of course, Brighton's first two goals were from like 0.00005XG or something like that. However, when I look at this game, I also think about that O 'Reilly chance that Ryan makes the save from that really, I mean, is an absolutely golden opportunity. There was a collision in the box that I never saw a replay of, but I've certainly seen penalties given in that kind of situation.

4:34So, yeah, in terms of sort of the scoreline, I understand what you're saying. I mean, it might have been worse. Particularly late on. I guess we'll come to that because there were some chances of late in the second half where I think Brighton really could have made this something of a massacre. Another one off a corner wasn't there. Yeah. Yeah, go on. I suppose when people talk about maybe it could have been closer, they're probably thinking of the chances we missed or chances that we didn't take or didn't really convert into chances by maximising the opportunity. But yeah, I mean, it was a wholly uncharacteristic performance in some respects from Arsenal.

5:20And Miklartek said it afterwards. We didn't respect the principles of play. The fundamentals that this team has been built on just weren't really in place. And he said he knew from the first throw-in that something was wrong. Well, that leads to big questions for me, you know? If you could see from the first throw-in that things weren't right, and I think that might be just something he said in the press conference to sort of hammer home the point that he kind of recognized his team weren't at it from the start. But if it was a case that from the first throw and he didn't or he saw something wrong with his team and it took him to the 60 odd minute and we're three nil down to change anything, then that is a big question for him, right?

6:03If there's what did he say at the end? We've got to learn a lesson or is a big lesson learned here. Maybe the lesson is you've got to change things more quickly. You've got to be able to adjust more quickly. But I think he's right. You could see straight away that there was something not right with the way we were playing. Early on, there were a couple of passes from David Raya, which he got wrong. He put a couple out for throw-ins. And I think that maybe, I mean, it's too easy perhaps to say that transmitted itself to the players in front of him. But I think when somebody as assured as David Raya and as good on the ball and as calm, you know, and he is this sort of calming presence to the team, when he's getting things wrong straight away, then, you know, you have to recognize that something hasn't played out the way you expect, right?

6:55yeah that was kind of the canary in the coal mine for the performance wasn't it because David Raya has been so consistent imperious really and then in those first few moments looked a bit flustered but I think what's interesting about that is to interrogate why and I think we have to give credit to Brighton I think their press gave us problems sure playing out from the back and Raya could not find those passing lanes that ordinarily he can so well and so efficiently. And, you know, there was a moment four minutes or so into the game where Timber makes a really good tackle and it ends up going out for a corner.

7:35And on the one hand, I was like, that's a great challenge. On the other hand, I was like, it's quite a desperate challenge this early in a game. You know, it just sort of said to me, the fact that we were having to like be lunging in and making diving tackles inside the first five minutes, It just said, like, we just don't have the same composure and structure and solidity that I'm used to seeing in an Arsenal team. And it was surprising because it was such a strong 11. I mean, when the team was announced, all the commentary online from Arsenal fans was like, well, bar William Saliba, this is it.

8:07This is our team. These are our guys. And yet we looked a bit rocked in those first few minutes. How do you try and understand that? Because, I mean, we talked about this on the preview podcast, myself and Lewis, we talked about what we were going to expect from Brighton and we talked about how they were going to press high, they were going to press hard. And there's a risk-reward element, right, where if you can play through the press, all of a sudden you've got big areas of the pitch in which you can make strides. That's the balance that you have to take into account when it comes to a team like Brighton who are going to press you really high.

8:46So it can't have been something that was unexpected from the point of view of Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff as they prepared this game. If we knew, they knew they were going to press high. Then it became a question of, right, if you can't do it, what is your alternative here? Why do you keep trying to do it? Is it trying to stick with those basic fundamentals, the principles of play that Mikel Arteta talks about? We want to play out from the back, and we will try and do it. And if it doesn't work, we'll trust ourselves to keep doing it. But is there an argument to be made that you need to mix it up a little more?

9:19That when it becomes obvious that you're struggling to play through the press, do you not have to try and add a little variety to your play, if that makes sense, to go long a little bit longer? I mean, I think what was, I suppose, striking to me about our performance was that even when we did try and go long, which maybe wasn't long enough, we were not winning second balls either. that we didn't pass it well enough, but nor did we compete well enough when we did try go long, try go to Havertz. The central defenders would head it forward, but in those midfield battles in the area where you can try and pick up the second ball, we lost out pretty much every time to Brighton.

10:03Yeah, when Mikel speaks about the principles of play, you can read it one of two ways. One could be the kind of tactical principles of the structure, the way we play out from the back, the patterns that we coach and train and then try to execute in game. But I also think there's the sort of fundamental principles that allow you to compete, like winning first and second balls. And that, for me, is where we really, really fell short. You can encounter a good press, and that can give you technical issues. But in terms of our physicality, our willingness to compete, we were also second best. And I think to Mikel Arteta, that will have been particularly unacceptable.

10:49As we all know, when he loses a duel, he is upset. And he would have been very upset, I think, with what he saw yesterday. And in terms of explaining it and why it happened, without necessarily wanting to go macro before micro, I do think we encountered a Brighton side at a bad time. You know, we spoke about playing Aston Villa at a good time. This was Brighton at a bad time. This is a Brighton who are in form, flying, coming off a big comeback win in the week, who look really, really strong right now. And for us, what was it, a fourth away game in succession? I just wonder if a bit of legginess maybe was a factor in this performance as well.

11:40But clearly, you know, from the outset, this looked like a tough game and a game where we were going to have issues. And, you know, the stats from Brighton's side in terms of like high turnovers, they did a little feature on it, match of the day. No side has successfully regained possession of us in our half like that for some time. Yes. Well, I didn't see Match of the Day, but that is a feature of their play. Again, that was something we talked about on the preview podcast, so it can't be something Mikel Arteta was not aware of, you know. But I think what you're saying there is probably right in that we had a really bad day and Brighton had a very good day.

12:19and how you parse that, how you, you know, does Brighton being very good make us bad? Did they make us play badly or did we play badly and they took advantage of that? I don't suppose it really matters at this point, but there's no question that we just did not really play the way you would expect this Arsenal team to play based on what you've seen from us this season, regardless of how informed Brighton are or anything else, you know? I just think it was there from the start. There were moments, I think, where Arsenal probably could have done a little better. But generally speaking, I didn't feel like we were threatening Brighton at all.

13:01One other thing, Andrew. I mentioned the line-up and everyone's saying, oh, barring Saliba, barring Saliba, barring Saliba. How big is that? I know it's tempting when any player is absent to look at that absence and think, well, how much of a factor was that? But, you know, when it comes to sort of composure under a press, being able to, you know, keep your cool, keep the ball, there are few better than William Saliba. Plus, obviously, his defensive assets as well. Obviously, Esri Conz is a really accomplished defender. We spent a lot of money on him. But do you think that that one absentee could have been could have been decisive for Arsenal on this day?

13:46No, I don't think so. I mean, maybe the argument could be that, because I think Gabriel had a really poor game and we'll get into that in a moment. I think maybe you could look at the relationship might be a bit more solid between Gabriel and Saliba than Gabriel and Kansa for obvious reasons. They haven't really played together that much. But I did wonder about that because I think the difficulty that Brighton pose you when they do press high is ball retention and what you do with the ball, right? So I thought, okay, I'll go have a look at the passing stats and see how the players fared in that regard.

14:24And Esri Kansa was somebody who I was looking at in particular thinking, right, could we have missed Saliba's passing? 98.5 % pass completion, 66 of 67 passes completed from Esri Kansa. So I don't think it was that. I really don't think it was that. I just think there was a shakiness to the performance overall. We lacked, as we said, the ability to compete in key areas. We gave Brighton too much time and too much space outside of our box because there was a couple of moments early on. There was a shot from Costoulas. There was another shot in maybe about the third or fourth minute where they fired over the bar.

15:04It could have been Cattyoglu fired over the bar. We were giving them this space, and I think Brighton recognized that and took advantage of that. But I don't really think it was a lack of saliva that would explain the collective performance. Because I think it just really wasn't there at all. I think people were talking about the first half and looking at XG and looking at the stats and all that kind of stuff and saying, well, it's not that big a discrepancy. But for me, it felt like, I know the scoreline obviously reflected that in the end, but let's say, you know, going in at halftime 1-0, which could easily have happened.

15:42It could have been 1-1, obviously. But if you were to go in at halftime 1-0 and say, this is a relatively even game, I still would have said no. that I felt like, you know, what my eyes told me was that Brighton were by far the better team and the more dangerous team. As it was, it turned out to be 2-0 at halftime. And for me, that did not feel necessarily like an unfair reflection of the way the two teams played, even if you're looking at it from a statistical point of view and saying, well, in terms of chances, in terms of XG, in terms of this, that, and the other, you could say it was more even than the scoreline suggested but I just you know the momentum of the game always felt like it was with Brighton yeah I mean for me I was less struck by the disparity between Arsenal and Brighton and more so by the disparity between this Arsenal performance and much of what we've seen this season it was just very clear to me that we were some way off our best um and yeah I mean it's interesting obviously the win at Sunderland was a fantastic result uh and I think I alluded to this last week but I think a potentially flattering scoreline in terms of sort of the comfort of that um but yeah I agree with you that although a lot of the key stats suggested this was relatively close the eye test was telling you Brighton are at it and Arsenal are some way below their usual level yes so let's talk about the goals then that we conceded the first goal to Pascal Gross it is a really good finish but I think this is one where I'm looking at Gabriel and I'm thinking he needs to get out and he needs to block that shot because there is a runner and he gestures to Calafiore to track the runner and then sort of takes a step backwards, which gives a player of the quality of Pascal Gross, you know, it's like, okay, have a go.

17:43I'm giving you the green light to have a shot from here because, you know, your chances of scoring are, you know, slimmer or relatively slim, but like we back off him too easily. I think I'm looking at David Rye a little bit as well. I don't think he gets down. It's not like way beyond his arm, if you know what I mean. it sort of goes under his arm. So two players who typically are really, really solid in that kind of situation. Gabriel gives him too much time and space. And I don't think the goalkeeper covers himself in glory for this at all. Yeah, I'm a little more forgiving of Raya just because I think, I mean, I've got to give Gross real credit.

18:24There's basically a postage stamp area of the goal that he can hit here and he manages to do it. I'm totally bemused by what Gabriel's up to. I just sort of can't really make sense of it, especially given that he kind of indicates for Calafiore to track the runner. There's absolutely no need for him to step off in the fashion that he does. And we give a really proficient, talented player a chance to shoot on goal at the edge of the box. It's sort of, again, we speak about this as a normalist Arsenal performance and an atypical one. And yeah, we give them a great deal of space there in a fashion that is unlike us and unfamiliar.

19:05And it wasn't a one-off in this game either. I mean, there were two goals as a consequence of our tendency to grant them a bit too much space in those areas. So hard to understand, I must say. Yeah, just poor defending, I think. Poor defending. And listen, maybe I'm being a little bit harsh on Ryan. It goes in off the bottom of the post, but it's... I can see why you're saying it. I mean, maybe you're right. If you freeze frame the ball as it goes past him, it's just kind of under his arm. It's not so much that it goes around him. Exactly, yeah. That was my point. I think if you ask David Rye, he'll probably be a little bit disappointed.

19:45Maybe he's unsighted a bit because of the curl on the ball because it goes outside Gabriel. But I think it might be one of those that he himself will look at and think, you know, I wasn't beaten to my left. I was beaten by either the pace of the ball or, you know, the fact that he didn't get down quite quickly enough. There was another one as well, Kostoulas, about five minutes later, Kostoulas shot over the bar. But again, it was one of those where we just gave him way too much time, way too much space to shoot. Between the lines of our defence and our midfield, There was this kind of no man's land where Brighton were picking up dangerous positions.

20:27Yeah. And when we spoke about the defence, but I really felt a key in this first half was Arsenal central midfield, I think was some way off where you would want them to be. The performance levels of both Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes, I think, were less than we would have hoped for. And Brighton were capitalising on that. Yeah, they did. There was a moment then, wasn't there, for Arsenal just before the second goal where they had a corner, I think. Yes. It was end-to-end-to-end stuff. Kind of, yeah. Kind of. What's your thought on this as a chance for Bakayo Saka? Because I've seen criticism of him and I think, you know, I understand that.

21:17He is slightly off balance. I don't think it's a tap-in, right? I don't think it's a tap-in. He is slightly off balance. He does have to readjust slightly. I do think he could probably do better. But as I was watching this passage of play, I was looking for Martin Odegaard to play that pass with his right foot when Saka had a lot more time and a lot more space in the middle. There's a moment where if you sort of freeze-frame it, and I know it's, you know, freeze frame doesn't always tell you the story, but Odegaard could easily play this with his right foot and Saka's free in the box. It's quite a nice break, you know, Havertz to Solis, Havertz on to Saka, Calafuri then to Odegaard.

22:05And then as that ball comes to Odegaard, if he plays it first time with his right foot around the central defender, then Saka's on his own in the box. As it is, he comes back, takes a touch and Brighton get men back and Saka has to readjust. This is one of those where I think, you know, if you're going to micro-analyze something, if you're looking at ways in which Arsenal can be more efficient in the final third, we can criticise missing the chance that was presented to him. But I think we also have to look at the fact that we could have given him a better chance to score. Totally agree. I think in Mikhail Teta's PowerPoint presentation following this game.

22:44I imagine there'll be a freeze frame of that moment of Martin Odegaard going through with Bukayo Saka to his left. I agree, actually. There's been justifiable criticism of our play in transition, but this was, for the most part, a really nice break. You know, a lot of good stuff from Havertz, from Solis. I love that there are three Arsenal players sprinting forward, and one of them is Riccardo Calafuri, of course, because why wouldn't it be? His ball into Odegaard is well-weighted, is really nice. I mean I'm looking at it now Odegaard can kind of open his body and play that right footed across the box for Saka there is a chance that a central defender cuts it out before it reaches Saka or Verbruggen sprints out and gets there I still think that is the right move I still think because even if he plays it and Verbruggen charges out maybe you get a penalty out of that you don't know So I think that would have been the right thing to do.

23:42But Odegaard's on a decent run of form. Maybe he fancies chances. He takes it back onto his left foot, has a shot that's blocked. Then it comes to Saka. I don't think that's a great chance. I think he's off balance on his weak foot. I can't be too critical of him for failing to turn that one into the net. I think by that point, it's quite a difficult opportunity. Yeah. Is that too kind, do you think? No, I don't think so. I don't think so. My feeling is we didn't give him the right chance. Like, he could do better. And if you want to be critical of Saka there, by all means. But I don't think that's a tap-in or anything else.

24:32But obviously... It's a big moment in the game, though. Yeah, well, that's what I mean. I think, you know, if what happens next doesn't happen next, we probably don't put as much weight on that sack and miss. But obviously then Brighton go upfield and score the second goal. And again, there's just too much space. There's too much time. It's a really good hit from Costoulas. But I do not understand what our two central defenders are doing in that situation. Someone's got to take charge there. Somebody has got to go out and block that shot rather than both of them stepping backwards. It's just poor defending.

25:10Again, I mean, the guy hits it really well. It's a really good finish. You've got to give him credit for that. But I think if you're looking at it from an Arsenal perspective, you're looking at two really experienced defenders, neither of whom took charge in that moment to block the shot. it's interesting as well isn't it because this is a moment where the game really opens up becomes transitional i mentioned california being amongst those arsenal players sprinting trying to get that equalizing goal but there were four or five and bakai saka ends up you know in a heap in the penalty box he's out the game and realistically several of those players are out the game at that point.

25:52Brighton, they left four up, be that by design or just because they were slow getting back themselves. And they find themselves in, I think it's like a four on five situation. But it looks very odd, this goal. You know, Declan Rice is close to the player, doesn't close him down. The centre-halves again step off. It's really, really poor from Arsenal defensively and it's shocking really because we're just not accustomed to seeing that from this team um credit to Costoulas great finish again um would you look at the goalkeeper here at all in terms of getting down to it quickly or not as much as the first one I mean I think what we what we sort of don't see on the television pictures is how quickly Brighton get the ball forward after that second miss.

26:47I mean, that one less than the first one for me, because I just think it's a really, really, really good hit. And yeah, I don't know. I mean, we can, I really think it's more about the defending, you know, Gabriel is sort of there throwing his arms around a little bit going like, what's going on here? Why didn't somebody do anything? And actually that was, you know, that's your job, buddy. I wonder on that one, by the way, In some ways, Gabriel's indecision or panic is a little more understandable because of that Califuri element of him being way out in position. It's Solis who's in the left back position when Brighton break forward.

27:26And maybe he's in two minds about a need to cover that. But yeah, from an experienced defender and such a good defender, I think it's perfectly right to expect better. and we are really, really punished for that little lapse in concentration. But, you know, that can happen in the Premier League. Yeah. So halftime 2-0, you're thinking, oh, that's not great. There were no changes at the break. I've seen people ask a question as to why there might not have been a change at the break. Do you think it was a case that Mikel Arteta, you know, recognizing that the performance was not good and below the standards that he would expect and we've all come to expect of the team so far this season.

28:17Do you think it was a case that he just sort of said, right, that's an aberration, that first half is not where we thought it was going to be, but I trust these players, because of what they've done in the previous games, to turn it around and do better. Do you think that's probably the rationale as to why he didn't change anything at the break? Yeah, maybe. I mean, I mentioned the notorious all or nothing halftime talk. And I wonder if he probably let him have it in similar fashion. He can't have been happy at all with what he saw. And maybe he felt it was prudent or appropriate to give those players an opportunity to respond.

28:54I must say, I was a little surprised he didn't change at halftime because he's not been shy about doing that. What would you have potentially changed? because there's one change that springs to mind. It was a change that didn't happen at all, but I did wonder. I was going to say maybe miles, to be honest. That was my thinking as well, that Lewis Skelly for, for Bruno Gimaraes, who had a really poor first half. I think he gave the ball away a lot and didn't seem to have the, the legs to get back as quickly as you would like. There was one Brighton shot, I think where he gave the ball away and they had a shot that went just wide.

29:32You know, I was thinking miles for Bruno, but I do wonder, you know, about the optics of taking off your£75 million summer signing for, you know, a 19-year-old as good as I think miles is. I do wonder if that might have been part of it. Or again, if it was about, right, we've done well with these players this season. Let them sort it out. And, you know, if nothing happens in the opening 10, 15 minutes of the half, then I can make changes. Yeah, we've done well this season, but Myles has been integral to that, hasn't he? And I found myself thinking, if Myles had had that first half, he'd be bowled off, I suspect, you know?

30:16I suppose in Mikel's defence, in a game where you need two goals, Louis Skelly for Guy Marez, is that an offensive change? Is that an attacking change? Maybe not on paper, But I do think Myles' press resistance, ability to receive the ball and beat a man and help us escape the press would have been very valuable. So I was a bit surprised. A little bit. Well, I was a bit surprised that change wasn't made then. I was quite surprised it wasn't made at any stage as well. But yeah, if Mikel was hoping for a big response from his players, I don't think he got it. And Brighton, you know, there was no let-up, really.

31:04I mean, their level of physical intensity throughout the 90 minutes was incredibly impressive, I thought. Yeah, I mean, that chance I mentioned where Bruno gave it away and Kostoulas shot wide, I think that was second half. But it was about 10 minutes into the second half. We're sloppy in our own defensive third. Kai Havertz gave the ball away. To be fair, he did, you know, work to get it back, but in doing so conceded a corner and Jova out. I don't know. I mean, this was just really, really poor from Arsenal from a defensive point of view. All three goals, you're looking at Arsenal being either not active enough or kind of weak defensively.

31:46And I think this was just a really poor goal to give away. Header at the back post, easy peasy for the big lad. What's his name? Chema. Chema he's got on his shirt. Chema Andres. Yeah. I mean, he won't score an easier header in his life, I don't think. No. And Raya sort of appealed as a bit of an afterthought, didn't he? But I mean, there was absolutely, God love him, but there was nothing there. It's actually quite instructive because if you watch the replays, the first thing Raya does is throw up his arms at his defenders and his teammates. And then he thinks, I suppose I better have a go at the referee and see if we can possibly escape this.

32:33But even Ryer himself, you know, he gets a bit pinned far too easily, I think, and ends up sort of not really being a factor in the set piece where he's usually so strong. That's exactly it, though. You saw what he did last week at Sunderland. Every time there was a corner, every time there was a cross, he was there, you know, either to punch it away or to catch it and get us going. And I think, you know, there are days where it doesn't happen for you collectively. There are days when individuals are below their best. I think that was true yesterday, collectively, individually, you know, below par.

33:07And I think that was an aspect of Ryan's game yesterday where typically I would expect him to be more dominant from those corners. Yeah, I'm just watching it back now. I mean, it's sort of breathtakingly simple. is actually a little bit reminiscent of an Arsenal corner from our set-piece heyday of last season where they've loaded, what is it, five of their tallest players at the back post. And yeah, we just don't seem to react or deal with that. You know, we've got three or four defenders committed at the near post where there are absolutely no Brighton players. It's a decent delivery. It's a good climb.

33:45I mean, Timber, if you look at it, And as the ball comes in, Timber gets distracted. He's got this guy. He's on this guy who scores the goal. But just as the corner comes in, he sort of looks behind him and notices a free man, sees a free man at the back, and watch, he lets him go, and there he is with a free header. That's, you know, poor organisation, I think. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And just watching, yeah, Gabriel, again, is rooted to the ground. It's just incredibly straightforward for Brighton. And at that point, realistically, it's game over, I think. You know, I mean, at 2-0, I was thinking it's going to be tough.

34:34At 3, I did not see a way back from us. No, me neither. But then we did make changes. What did you make of the, I mean, listen, Timber coming off after an hour on his first start at 3-0 down after whatever, six months, his first Premier League start since March. I get that. That's, I think, a sensible sub. It's probably a sub you have to make. but Zubamendi and Moreno on Bruno Gimaraes and Jurian Timber off Rice went to right back for a little bit before we decided that we were then going to use Zubamendi at right back it felt a bit muddled didn't it it didn't really feel cohesive I wasn't I wasn't sure what Mikel Arteta was trying to do with these two subs Nor I.

35:25I must say I was squinting at my laptop picture at that moment because, look, Martin Zubemendi and Mikel Moreno, we both know they're players of quality who can certainly contribute. But three goals down, sort of chasing a game, I didn't really see the value in those changes. changes. Look, Timber maybe had an hour in him and Zubemendy's the closest thing we've got to a replacement at this point in time. I can understand that. But when you've got a bench with, you know, Eze, Jocherez, Madueke, even Max Dowman, I feel like there were maybe more aggressive, more attacking changes to make. I didn't feel like Marino for Guimarez in midfield was really going to change anything, to be honest.

36:20No, me neither. Me neither. I don't mean this to be dismissive of those players, but they felt like substitutions that weren't really going to have a massive impact on the game, other than to keep it as, you know, the way it was. Substitutions for the status quo, if you like, rather than trying to make us more threatening, which, you know, ultimately didn't really happen apart from a couple of late chances. I mean, do you think Mikel Arteta knew the game was up at that point in time? Like maybe they weren't changes to turn it around and score three goals. I mean, I find that hard to accept, to be honest.

36:54Like he's got to go for it, you know? Yeah. But the substitutions didn't feel like a man going for it, if that makes sense. No, they didn't. I mean, Eza and Jokerez, if they come on at the period when Zubamendi and Marino would come on, then you're sort of looking at, okay, well, look, we're 3-0 down. He's putting on two attacking players, slightly changing the way the team is set up to try and get us the goals to get back into the game. But those two coming first felt really strange. But is that, you know, we spoke last week about Mikel Arteta's faith in his squad and his group and how that sustains.

37:29I mean, Eze and Jokeres, they're the obvious changes. If you want to freshen up the attack and add more threat, maybe. but does Mikel Arteta right now have the same degree of trust in them as he does, you know, a Kai Havertz or a Solis or even a Mikel Marina? I don't know. I'm just throwing that out there. But if they were like really in form, maybe he would have felt more confident, more comfortable to introduce them earlier. But they're not right now. No, I guess not. But sample size this season, I suppose, is a bit small. For sure. I mean, the first thing that Marino did when he came on was get robbed of the ball, you know, and that was sort of symptomatic of the game in general.

38:20He did eventually put Ezer and Jokerez on. There was a good chance for Saka. It's a really nice pass from Esri Kansa, by the way. Put Saka in behind, and he wasn't really decisive, I think, with the finish with his right foot. and then there was the chance for Kai Havertz, which is set up by a very smart pass from Victor Jokeres over the top. Havertz takes it on. This is another one where I think the decision-making is poor from Havertz. It feels like he just rushes it. I think he's got time there to get that ball onto his left foot and pass the ball home. Instead, he takes it with his right foot, kind of shins it into the foot of the goalkeeper.

39:06but that's a really good chance. It is. Great ball from your careers. I mean, little deaths knock over the top. Havertz runs onto it. And yeah, you want to see a centre-forward score in that situation. What's that about? 75 minutes, something thereabouts? Yeah. Maybe a little later. Slightly later, I think. The Saka chance was 75 minutes and the Havertz chance was 78 minutes. So, you know, you make 3-1 with 15, 20 minutes to go. There was six minutes of injury time as well. You know, all of a sudden it does get a little bit jittery there, regardless of how poor we've been and how good they've been.

39:46I think you get one back and it does kind of change the dynamic of the game. I'm not saying we score that and we go on to get a draw or whatever, but I think those are two chances that Arsenal should do better with. No, I think you're right. You can introduce some jeopardy. I mean, earlier in the day, I thoroughly enjoyed Aston Villa taking a 3-0 lead away to Tottenham. But you get one back and suddenly you don't quite know. And, you know, Spurs ended up getting second. And I wouldn't say they made a game of it, but they showed you that it's possible to kind of reel people back in. So, yeah, I think those were big moments.

40:25You've got to score that. I think if you're an Arsenal striker, whether you're Kai Havertz or Victor Jokerez or, you know, Yaya Sunogo, if you get put through on goal like that in a Premier League game with that much time and space, the expectation is that you score that goal. It's a bad miss from Havertz, really bad miss. Totally fair. Totally fair. I agree with that. Meanwhile, Brighton were having chances at the other end. I mean, it was, is his name Strouk, the guy they signed from Leeds? Oh, yeah. Just wide. Just wide on a corner. Jorginho Rutter had a volley. just after that Havertz chance that went over.

41:00There was one where a cross came in from the Brighton left and Gabriel flicked the ball onto O 'Reilly, who was coming in, and just thankfully for us, it was straight at David Raya. Sort of hit him in the face, didn't it? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it was a great cross, actually, a teasing cross from the left-hand side that he couldn't quite handle. Then there was that one with, was it O 'Reilly again, where he's just sort of completely free in the middle of our penalty area, his finish is really poor. It's really tame. It's a good save from Raya, but I think if you turn that around and there's an Arsenal player who's got a chance to beat the goalkeeper from eight yards out and he fails to do so, you're looking at it as a bad miss.

41:43And these are the moments I'm talking about where it really could have been a bigger scoreline for Brighton. And if that game had finished 4-0 or 5-0, I genuinely don't think, despite the fact we missed the chances that we've talked about, I don't think we could complain because those chances for Brighton were really, really good. And it was just a measure of how poor we were defensively all day. And it's not just the defenders. It's the fact that Brighton had the time and the space to fashion those opportunities, to have those chances. You know, the first line of defenses is up front, right, from an Arsenal perspective.

42:20and that's the way we operate. But we were disorganised. We were too easy to get at. There was just too much space. Maybe it's a consequence. Some of those late chances were a consequence of us trying to get back into the game and trying to get a goal. So the game opens up a bit, but really, you know, 3-0. I'm not saying I'm happy to lose 3-0, but I'm glad it was only 3-0. There was one other change from Arsenal with 10 minutes to go. Max Dowman came on for Bakayi Saka. I just wondered sort of what you made of that change in the circumstances and what you think that was about.

42:59I wasn't mad for it, I have to say. I feel like 3-0 down away from home in a game where you're playing really badly is not the right time to put a 16-year-old on. And particularly when, listen, whether you are a fan of Nani Matuweka or not, that felt more like the change that we should have made. I think it's just too much to ask of a 16-year-old to come on in those circumstances. I'm not saying it's particularly harmful or anything for Dowman. Maybe there'll be useful minutes in the end, but I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve there other than to maybe send a message to Bakayo Saka. I'm not sure.

43:42I don't think that's what it was. I think it was just a little bit of a Hail Mary. It's something Arteta's tried a few times before with Max. But I wasn't mad for it. What about you? I mean, to be honest, in my mind, the game was kind of over at that point in time. And I think I sort of see it as a bit of a reward for what Max produced in midweek. as much as he would have been delighted by that Carabao Cup exploits, he'll be looking at his Premier League game time and his Premier League minutes. And I think at the end of the season, he'll want to have seen development and advance there. And maybe Mikel just thought this is an opportunity to give him some of that experience.

44:30Yes, the circumstances are far from ideal, but these are valuable minutes to him. Maybe. But yeah, I mean, tough. To be honest, I think it would have been kinder to Max almost to kind of bring him on at halftime. Do you know what I mean? Like at 2-0 when there's more of a game, like Max was so good in midweek. I would understand that more maybe than just kind of chucking him on for the final 10. Because it's sort of, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, it's a bit of a head scratcher. But can I make a final point before we go into, or maybe ask a question of you, right? Okay, yeah. Before we go into the break, one thing that struck me yesterday was that I wondered if Brighton were able to or felt like they could really commit to that high press because they knew that this is an Arsenal team without any real pace.

45:31And to what extent you think that is or was a problem yesterday and might well be a problem in other games this season because, you know, Gabriel Martinelli is gone. We don't need to relitigate that whole thing. But it was certainly a concern to me that when we let Martinelli go, that this was a team, apart from Nani Matawake, who the manager doesn't seem that willing to use in a Premier League game because he put a 16-year-old on and didn't try and put Maduweke on at any point yesterday in a game where we were chasing. If you're Nani Maduweke, that's not good news. No, I don't think so. I don't think so.

46:13But he is quick, right? We can say that at the very least about Nani Maduweke, that he is quick. But I wondered, you know, how much of what Brighton did yesterday was informed by the fact that this is an Arsenal team that is pretty one-paced, that doesn't have any kind of outlet in a game away from home because listen if you're expecting a team to press high which we would have been yesterday what is a way that you can you know try and exploit that when they're pushing people high high up the pitch if you've got quick players who can burst if you do play through the press and you've got quick players who can then get in behind that is a real weapon and I think that does impact the way an opposition team will set up against you if you feel really comfortable that even if you get bypassed in the press, this is an Arsenal team that you can chase back.

47:06Yeah, I mean, again, not to really litigate the Gabriel Martinelli thing, but when he was at his best, when he was really in form, you know, we're probably looking a couple of seasons ago, really, in terms of that. But you'll remember those, David Rairo may even have been Aaron Ramsdale at that time, playing those big diagonals out to the left-hand side to offer Arsenal an outlet at times. we don't have that to the same extent I mean, you know, Christos Solis made a really, really strong start but I thought there were a couple of moments in this game where he was released into space and wasn't able to get away from his man he's quite quick with the ball because he's a good dribbler but without it, you know, respectfully he's not a super sprinter, is he?

47:52No That's not his game But Kai Osaka, I think, with the injuries he's sustained, I think it's understandable that he seems to have lost a little bit of that explosiveness. He was never a real sprinter, though, anyway. I mean, he was quick, but he was never like sort of a Martinelli or a Maduike in that sense. I think that's totally fair. And that's not really what Kai Havertz's game has ever been about. So I think that is definitely something we lack in the squad and something I think the club should actively be looking at. I mean, we were talking about it on transfer deadline day and prior to that, but it's clearly something that needs to be addressed.

48:39Max Dowman is quick enough and is developing. And there's probably hope that he will add some of that explosiveness as he matures into his body. But that's going to take time. And in the interim, I think we need something other than Madueke to offer us that option. And interesting that Nonny wasn't used. I mean, I thought Nonny did well in the week. I agree, yeah. he came through that game with his stock enhanced, I think, and then to find himself unused at Brighton. Slightly surprising. All right. Well, look, I think we'll take a little break here because there's questions from our listeners that we're going to get into.

49:24So bear with us. We'll be right back in part two right after this. James, can you give me five minutes?

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51:21Welcome 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 would you like to go first or would you like me to go first uh i'll go first this is not so much a question but um a message on blue sky from henry moulin who says i have a confession i think i enjoyed chelsea and spurs's defeats too much the weekend was starting so well at times my laugh turned into a cackle. I'm sorry.

51:58I will do 21 days and 21 nights in the international break desert as a penance. Wish me luck. Well, that's a little harsh. I think it's only right and proper to enjoy the defeats of other teams. But yeah. It did seem like it was going to be such a great weekend. I suppose I'll have a question. Okay. My question to you, Andrew, based off the back of that. Right. Referencing Chelsea's defeat and ours is to what extent do you believe the Brightons and the Brentfords of this world are sort of the real deal? Like, do you think we're going to see them taking points and beating the big clubs pretty regularly?

52:43Do you think those clubs, those super smart data-led clubs are now at the point where they can really capitalise on their structure and continuity and become, I don't know, consistent European teams? I mean I don't think there's any doubt they're really good Brighton are a very good team Have been for a while Brentford a bit of a surprise package Last season under Keith Andrews Yeah But again You know he's done a fantastic job there And continues to do a really good job there You know sometimes I think we You know I remember last season we drew there Didn't we 1-1 against Brentford And I know it was a bit in the sort of the heat of the title race.

53:29It sort of goes down or people think that's a bad result because, well, we should be beating Brentford because we're Arsenal. But I remember thinking during the game yesterday, or maybe it was before the game, I can't remember. Like, it wasn't that long ago that I remember not being confident about Arsenal beating anyone. you know there were games where you know or periods where you just couldn't say yeah this is a team that we can beat is it a team we should beat probably but is it a team we actually can beat i'm not sure and that sort of was the the reality we lived in i think you have to respect the way that those clubs have been consistently effective in Premier League terms, you know?

54:24Yeah. I mean, there was another one here. Wild West Arsenal says, is the real Bermuda Triangle the area between Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford? Teams which give us plenty to think about, but not just us, you know? Yeah. So I don't know. I mean, I think maybe there's a question. Did we have a question? I'm not sure if I had one or if it was just something I saw. But like, have Brighton sort of found a blueprint for other teams to set up against Arsenal? Yes, yes. I've got questions to that fact. Yeah. Have you got one there? Yeah, Charlie J said, Carabao Cup final, Bournemouth home yesterday.

55:13Does every other team have the blueprint to beat us now? Be brave, defend with a high line because we have no pace in attack and press our defence high. This, not low blocks, is our new kryptonite. And Oliver Adams, similar theme. Was yesterday one of those days or are you concerned we've seen this before where a pattern is emerging where we struggle against ultra-high presses and cites the same games, the home match against Bournemouth and the Carabao Cup final against Man City. I mean, yes. I mean, not every team can do that effectively. That's true. And Arsenal typically, I think we have to say, are better able to deal with it than we were yesterday.

55:59You know, it's not like this is new and it's not like it was something we didn't expect. But we just weren't able to deal with it yesterday for whatever reason, whether that was, you know, the individual or collective issues that we had. I do think that issue of... pace or our ability to transition well is part of why teams might feel a bit more comfortable to play like that against us. I really do I mean even that that break that we talked about the one where Odegaard should have passed with his right foot that would have been like a one touch from Havertz to I think it was was it to Solis I can't remember but Havertz played it forward to Califuri Califuri to Odegaard if we continue that as a one touch movie you'd be talking about that as a brilliant piece of counter-attacking play, but we do tend to come back.

57:03You know, we do tend to check back too often that we don't make the most of those transition opportunities. We're not quick enough on the ball. And you can talk about maybe lacking pace, and I think that's absolutely fair. I think it's true. But I also think you can offset some of that by how quickly you move the ball rather than how quickly your legs work. You know what I mean? so I think there's something to be learned from that but I do think it's part of why teams can set up against us in the way that they do like if you're terrified of an Arsenal attack that has like let's say two of your front three are really really quick players who can shift up the pitch and catch your defence out I do think that plays into the way you approach your press or how quickly you know when you do have the ball or when you allow Arsenal to have the ball, how high up the pitch you press them because then you're completely stretched, you know?

58:00Yeah, yeah. I think it's definitely something other teams are going to look at. I think when you think about those teams who've executed it, Bournemouth, Brighton City, you know, they're all very adept at that kind of thing. I don't think it's something all 20 teams in the Premier League are going to be able to effectively reproduce. But it is something Mikel Arteta is going to have to think about and deal with, I think, moving forward. Yeah. What about this? A couple of people asking this one on the Discord. A couple of guys, GrahamA1B2. What's happened to our set-piece threat? We're seven games into the season and have failed to score a goal from a set-piece, penalties aside.

58:4232 % of our goals last season came from set-pieces and the eye test says we don't look as dangerous. Is this a result of the new rules around grappling or have our competitors worked us out? And a nightmare on El Neni Street says, we've not scored a goal from a set piece this season. We seem to have lost a bit of our aura at corners. Is it the new rules? Are we overthinking it? Or is the delay tactic that we can no longer use making it less daunting for our opponents? Too reliant on open play goals. I've always said it, Andrew. yeah I saw a number of questions like this very interesting I do wonder if the whatever conversations that have happened between pro ref and the clubs over the summer I think I think Michael Arteta we know how attentive he is to to detail to the parameters that the rules afford and maybe maybe there's been a bit of an overcorrection in our, in the way we approach these set pieces.

59:50I mean, we've certainly been going short more frequently than we did last season. That is a clear pattern that I've observed. I mean, in the first half of this game, I don't think we had a corner. No. Which is interesting. I just don't think we're, we were dominant enough to win the corners that we got last season.

1:00:14but yeah I'm finding it hard to explain I must say maybe it's just a pattern and it will even itself out you know it's kind of law of averages thing but yeah maybe as well we've overcorrected in terms of the rules and regulations do you have any observations about it at this point? I mean I'm sure there were periods last season where we went a few games without scoring from a corner there definitely were but to not score any or not even really threaten that much from a corner at all so far this season does feel a little bit strange. I think that point about losing the aura is quite interesting because maybe that's it.

1:00:49Maybe if Arsenal are kept at bay for, you know, six, seven, eight games, teams don't fear us as much. I do wonder if we need to push the boundaries a little bit of what these new rules are in terms of grappling and wrestling. I think it's been slightly over-egged, you know, that idea that Arsenal only score goals from corners because we sort of wrestle people out of the way and throw them on the ground. And then, you know, I do think that's wrong because, you know, we have seen goals disallowed for that kind of thing before. And we know that VAR will look at any available opportunity to disallow a goal, right?

1:01:26But I think where we've been so strong is quality of delivery and the timing of our attacking players. the way they attack the ball when it comes in. So maybe we're just a bit off in terms of the delivery. Maybe we're not attacking them as strongly or as viciously as we should be. I don't quite know. Still early days, but I do think, yeah, we don't look quite as threatening. Like when we got those corners yesterday, I was hopeful rather than expectant. Whereas last season, there was a bit more like, okay, here we go. So, like, did the Arsenal fans, I don't think they sang set-piece again, ole, ole, when we got a corner.

1:02:123-0 down, I suppose you're not in any mood to sing anything at all, really. But, you know what I mean? It doesn't feel like we're as threatening as we were. No, I think that's absolutely right. And there was that sense of inevitability last season, wasn't there? It wasn't just the chance of set-piece again, ole, ole. It was the fact that every corner we got, every fan in the stadium would be up off their seat. And, you know, there'd be a whole constellation of phones out filming it because it felt like we were going to score. And opposition teams felt that too. An Arsenal set piece or an Arsenal corner induced a bit of panic in the opposition.

1:02:52Maybe there is a degree to which we've slightly lost that sense of mystique and aura and threat. But yeah, it's a shame. I think it will come back. Personally, I think our delivery is so good from Rice, from Stacker. I think Gabriel remains, you know, the dominant penalty box player in terms of getting on the end of stuff. So I think it's a matter of time. But yeah, let's see. I mean, we nearly scored. Was it against Sunderland? Timber had a goal ruled out for... That was a free kick, yeah. That was a free kick. and maybe Calafuri in the game before had one from a set-piece that was ruled out.

1:03:34So there have been some tight margins, I would say, as well, which are always going to be significant in these set-piece situations. Yeah, against Chelsea that was Calafuri, wasn't it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a set-piece situation. Here is a question from Rattan Postwala on Blue Sky. And they asked, given how good and thorough Arteta is, why is he unable to coach timber to attack like ben white it's clear that we attack better with white on the outside can't those moves and patterns be coached i saw this question and i thought that is a really good question because i don't think that that's something Jurian Timber is incapable of.

1:04:24Like, he's such a good player. I know players are different and they have their own styles and everything else. But I remember, we talked about this last year. There was a period where Timber was sort of playing like an inside right, an old-fashioned inside right, that when we were attacking, quite often he was the guy in a position where you would want an attacking player to be, right? Whether it was Bakayo Saka or a center forward or a more attack-minded midfielder, maybe even someone like Martin Odegaard. Timber was in those positions. I don't know the answer to this. I don't know why if part of what makes us so effective down the right, and we've seen it this season, the White-Saka-Odegaard triangle, which we talk about, and White's overlapping ability is in part due to the way that, you know, he plays the game and his willingness to run and to make those runs over and over.

1:05:24Sometimes he gets the ball, sometimes he doesn't. But when he gets the ball, it puts him in decent positions to get it into the box. It also takes players away from Saka. It takes players away from Odegaard as well. But Timber never really seems to play like that. Like his instructions appear to be, we don't know, but like appear to be different from Ben White. so that right side doesn't function the same way and i'm not saying they have to be exactly the same but i just i don't really understand why timber doesn't do that more maybe he does and we just don't see it i don't know but but white overlapping is something you notice a lot timber tends to play more inside of bakai usaka sort of that that corner of the box the right hand corner between there and the D is where he seems to operate more often than not when we have the ball in the final third.

1:06:23Yeah, agree. He's much more on the sort of interior of the team, popping up in those almost number 10 spots at times. Can it be coached? I think my answer is yes, it can to an extent, but I do think there is something about White on that right-hand side that is kind of uncoachable. I do think that the chemistry he has with Saka, with Odegaard, I'm not sure that is replicable. I do think there is something, without wishing to be, without wishing to be, I can't think of the word. I do think there is some, you know, when we talk about chemistry, I don't think that's something that's easily explained or transmitted.

1:07:15I think that so much of it is instinctive. And I do think some players have those instincts more inherently. I don't disagree with that at all. I think the length of time they play together and the relationships that they have, and it's something Arteta talks about a lot. It was something he talked about in terms of midfield, right, when he was asked to analyse the sort of Bruno-Rice partnership. and he's said, well, look, you know, it'll come in time. They haven't really had a great deal of time together. And I think that's fair, right? I do think there is something important about the relationships that you have on the pitch.

1:07:50I would put that aspect, though, in terms of the question that was asked, I would say that's more of a technical issue than a chemistry issue. Do not think that you can acknowledge that white Odegaard, Saka have a better chemistry than white Timber and Saka. But does that mean that you can't work on things on the training ground where Timber, perhaps a bit more often than he does now, overlaps on the outside rather than plays on the inside? Because it is a really effective tool for Arsenal and has been this season and previous seasons as well. And it's not to take anything away from Timber because I think in the final third, he's quite a dangerous player and has scored plenty of goals.

1:08:41But I do think, you know, a little more variety in terms of what he does when we have the ball in the final third wouldn't go amiss. And I think that's more technical than chemical. Yeah, I think that's totally fair. And a coach like Oteta, with his level of attention to detail, as the question referenced, you'd expect that to be something he can address. I do think, however, that there is a fundamental stylistic difference between White and Timber. I just think White is a more natural attacker than Timber is, for me. I just think his instincts about playing those one-twos and how to run in behind and when to run in behind, I think inherently he is better at that than Jürgen Timber.

1:09:29Fair. but you know there are many things several things that during timber i think is superior to ben white at um you know i think he's a more natural marker and probably as a pure defender more able so in theory what a wonderful luxury to have both but unfortunately the reality is we never have both available at one time. So, you know, yesterday was a game where if Timber's only got 60 minutes, you'd love to have Ben White to bring on and augment your right-hand side. But we never seem to fucking have it, do we? No. It's a bit of a problem. Yeah, it is a little bit. What about this one? This is quite an interesting one.

1:10:14It comes from Jan or Jen on the Discord. David Roy has conceded the second highest proportion of his goals from outside the box in Arsenal's Premier League history. And he quotes an Opta stat, 20.6 % among goalkeepers that have conceded 100 plus goals in the Premier League, only Hans Sagers at 22 % has conceded a higher proportion from outside the penalty area than David Raya. And Jan's question is, what do you make of that mad statistic? And does it suggest to you that standing off attackers is a tactical error? And maybe part of it is because of Raya's high positioning. Or is this Raya's Achilles heel or Achilles wrist, maybe?

1:11:03Yes, it's a very striking stat. And I think that the most simple explanation is simply that we defend our penalty box as a rule incredibly well. You know, we don't give up a lot of high value chances inside our own 18 yard area. so a lot of the goals we concede almost you know by by logic are going to be from outside the box is it a bit of a weakness in raya's game

1:11:37i mean it feels harsh to say because he's obviously performed in such exemplary fashion but um maybe is let me ask you this he's not the biggest goalkeeper in the world No. Is it tied to his lack of size to an extent? I mean, it could be. You know, if you have a really good precision shot from outside the box and you're, as a goalkeeper, on the stretch, if you're a six-foot goalkeeper versus a six-foot-five, six-foot-six goalkeeper, you're going to find it a little more difficult with those shots. And again, it's not to take anything away from Raya because he's been brilliant. And we said this week, you know, he's probably one of the best goalkeepers, if not the best goalkeeper in the world at this moment in time.

1:12:21But everybody has their strengths and weaknesses. And maybe this is in some small part down to the fact that he's not the biggest goalkeeper in the world. Yes, I think there may be something to that, for sure. I mean, you know, those are kind of the numbers when you put them in context are fascinating, I think. There's a couple of bits of mitigation. One is that, you know, Raya's starting position, if you look at sort of the history of the goalkeeping position, is unusual. And that has led to him being caught on a couple of occasions where he's been beaten from range. I can think of Charleston.

1:13:00I can think of Matata, maybe, where he's had that very high starting position and that's left the goal exposed. So that can happen. And another piece of the mitigation, I think, is the ball. I'm told this new Premier League ball flies absolutely all over the place and we are, I think, seeing a few more goals from range as a consequence so that could be a factor too but yeah, I think if you're going to have a weakness as a goalkeeper I suppose it's maybe one of the more acceptable ones because it still needs to be a quality strike to beat you from that sort of distance I'd much rather have a goalkeeper like Raya who's so preventative in terms of what he does.

1:13:44You know, he helps you stop any sort of chances being fashioned by coming off his line and sweeping up and claiming stuff and retaining possession. But yeah, it seems that if you can hit the corners from 30 yards or so, yeah, maybe you've got a better chance of beating Raya than you would a goalkeeper who's six foot four, six foot five. I think that's logical, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. Maybe it's just the trade-off, though. You're playing the odds a little bit there because, you know, as you pointed out, despite the fact that I made my XG noise, they are, you know, low, not low quality chances.

1:14:20But, you know, typically players are not going to do that, you know, hit it with such precision and power. When they do, you get caught out. But more often than not, those shots do not end up in the back of the net, you know. So they're just sort of playing the odds. Yeah, and I always look back on not the summer just gone, but the one before where, you know, Arsenal were seriously looking at bringing in the fellow who ended up at Barcelona. What was his name? Joanne Garcia. Joanne Garcia, exactly. For big money, you know, there was a drive from the coaching staff to sign him at kind of, you know, between 20 and 30 million euros and ultimately it didn't end up happening.

1:15:02and we ended up with Neto on loan, of all people. But they weren't going to spend that sort of money for this guy to just sit on the bench forever. There was a feeling at that time that... It seems absurd now because David Ryder's the best goalkeeper in the league, by some distance probably. But I think there was a view that Arsenal could benefit from a goalkeeper who had a bit more stature. So, yeah, I think if he has a weakness, that may well be it Isn't Neto the worst case of goalkeeper nominative determinism that you've ever heard? Yes Yeah it's not the best is it? Sort of a weird time in all our lives Neto turning out and transferred or whatever it was But listen we touched on this briefly in part one but I think it is does warrant a bit further discussion AJ Byrne said how much do you think the performance against Brighton was a product of an unlucky run of fixture draws away games in the Champions League and League Cup resulted in four tough away games on the bounce that feels uncommon was this a case of one too many games away from the Emirates I mean I don't think you can rule it out as a factor but I don't think it was the biggest issue really the end of the day you're stepping onto a football pitch you know regardless of where it is the game is the game you know and if Arteta is saying we didn't do the basics, didn't do the fundamentals it's quite possible that performance could have happened at home as well you know I just think really it was a an off day a really off day from Arsenal and we haven't had too many of those of late maybe it is that confluence of factors the fact we weren't playing at 8 o 'clock at night you know didn't know what time it was playing in the afternoon what's this crazy bullshit but you know a confluence of things away from home you know it's been a busy schedule Arteta referenced the post World Cup didn't he that first part of the season where you know typically you expect things to be a little inconsistent.

1:17:26And for the most part, we've been really consistent, you know, with those seven wins out of seven. And then, you know, the wheels came off a bit yesterday. I just think it was one of those days. You know, Brighton were really good. We were bad. They smelt blood. They went for it. They were rewarded for it. We just played poorly and lost. I think the thing is to make sure that it is just an aberration, just a one-off, that that's not truly representative of who we are and what we do. And I think the unfortunate part is that this defeat comes right before a three-week interval where all we can do is sit and stew and mull over what went wrong.

1:18:14You know, I think that's, you know, the lot of a football fan where you can be brilliant and you can go a long time without losing. But as soon as you lose, your mind goes to dark places. Right. You know, it's like, oh, God, is that who we are now? Is every game going to be like that now? Are all these weaknesses that we've had or that we saw on display? Is that what we're going to see now in the next game and the next game and the next game? And in reality, we'd won seven out of seven and been, you know, really good and really impressive. which is the bigger takeaway from this first chunk of the season for me than yesterday right but I do understand why when you you know fall off the horse you want to get back on the horse pretty quickly um we have to wait three weeks before we can do that and thankfully it's a home game and I think that's useful for us um but yeah I I didn't really put the awayness as a factor that heavily in what happened yesterday do you think i mean michael tech was obviously really disappointed in the performance but in terms of sort of when it's happened at this point in the season it's horrible for us because we have to stew on it over the course of the international break but do you think that how do you think he'll view it kind of in context do you think that there's any way in which he might think well this isn't necessarily the worst thing to sort of sharpen a few minds and And, you know, serve a reminder to everyone of the importance of maintaining those standards that are so high.

1:19:47Maybe so. Maybe for him as well. Maybe for him, you know, to think about how he gets the best out of his squad and gets the best out of his players in games like this. Like, I think we talked about it in part one, you know, how can he change a game? How can he adjust within a game when it's not going the way we want it to? Were we too slow? Was he too slow yesterday to try and address some of the issues? You know, I don't think it can be just the players. I think if there's going to be introspection or if he wants to remind people that standards have to be high, I think that's absolutely fair.

1:20:28You know, we've said collectively we weren't good enough. Individually, you know, certain players were well below the standards that we expect. But I think for him as well, he's got to think about, okay, this was a difficult first half. Could I have done more? Could I have done something differently at halftime? Could I have changed the team? Could I have changed the way we play to offset some of the way Brighton were threatening us? And yeah, listen, losing is never nice, but there's always things you can learn from a defeat, right? You know, what not to do? What can you do better? Yeah, listen, I think the fact that this is the exception rather than the rule for Arsenal makes it easier to compartmentalize a defeat.

1:21:13You know? Do you not think? Just like I looked at Arsenal yesterday and that was not what I expected. I was surprised at how bad we were. But I think that in turn tells you something about where we are as a team and what we've been doing and the consistency with which we've been performing and getting results over the last, I'm not even going to say this season, but generally speaking, this is a really consistent Arsenal team. Yeah, I agree with that. I was concerned here, but I don't have sort of fundamental worries about what this will mean for our campaign. I really think that we've shown as a group that we are strong enough to respond to this.

1:21:54And I think the players are a really responsible group who will feel, who will know they let themselves down yesterday. I mean, we didn't touch on it, but that little moment with Declan Rice just before full time, they were the actions of a very frustrated man, weren't they? Yeah, for sure. For sure. I mean, listen, the guy leaves a bit on him, but he kicks out and potentially, potentially, you know, that might not have been just a yellow. Yeah, yeah. I've seen, you know, I can think of circumstances where a referee might have treated that with more seriousness. By the way, did you think Brighton should have maybe gone down to 10 for Cadioglu's dive in the box?

1:22:39A second booking, potentially. God, I don't even remember. Oh, really? I don't even remember that. When did that happen? I was in the second half. Let me have a look. And he'd been booked. He'd been booked, I believe, and then went to ground very, very easily. and to be fair did not appeal but um when you saw a replay of it i thought it was pretty theatrical i genuinely i can't remember just after halftime it was just after two minutes i mean if i don't even remember it no yeah maybe it wasn't anything i just wondered just after halftime let me go and see if i can have a look and see if

1:23:28do you have the minute or I think it was 52 52 okay hang on let me have a look I'm whizzing forward here boom boom there's a Costula shot just after that I believe okay yeah

1:23:49oh yeah the one with Calafuri of course yeah yeah I mean I mean look I don't want to see players sent off you know softly you know but nah I don't think that's I don't think that's anything you know he's sort of half anticipating a bit of contact let he who is without sin etc etc you know it's not like that's something our players don't do and haven't done in the past so there's no way I think we should be focusing on that at all let me see have we got any other questions um uh we had a question about pace but i feel like we sort of did we sort of dealt with that one didn't we um what about this one it's um from we had dennis b 75.bsky.social bruno gimarash physical concerns or tactical concerns yeah i was disappointed in bruno i must say, because he made such a great impact at Sunderland and scored that brilliant goal and was very excited to see what he would do from the start.

1:24:58But it was a poor first half from him. And I was a little bit surprised he came out for the second half. I mean, the physical side was a concern for Arsenal some time ago with Bruno when he was at Lyon. I think that's where our reservations were. I think he's come into the Premier League and sort of disproved a lot of that and shown that he can cope. But he's always been surrounded by leggier players, whether that was Jolinton at Newcastle or indeed Declan Rice. Someone like Declan Rice is a good compliment to him in that respect. I'm sort of hoping this was just kind of teething problems and not quite having that chemistry and that relationship built up with other players as you referenced.

1:25:42I think there have been enough encouraging signs from Bruno in his cameos thus far. But yeah, I think it was a bad day at the office for him yesterday. What do you think? Physical? Tactical? Like he's never going to be the quickest, you know, getting back. But I think your point about like who is playing with him is a good one. I think Rice covered a lot of ground yesterday. I'm meant to actually have a look at the distance stats to see because it did feel like, you know, even though he didn't play particularly well or nobody played particularly well, that he did cover a lot of ground. He was doing that sort of chasing back and mopping up kind of stuff.

1:26:32Let me see distances. They had them there. Why don't they have them there? Oh, that's the Ipswich game. That's why they don't have the distances. It's the Brighton game. I want to look at distances.

1:26:49Rice, 11.4 kilometers yesterday. More than anyone else. 11.2 Califiori was the next most. Well, no, Kai Havertz did 11.9. Bruno, 8.5. Of course, he did come off. I think it's probably more tactical. I think it might be just about their relationships and about, you know, working out those distances when those three in particular are playing together. There was a lot, I was watching the game. I don't know what stream you got yesterday, but it was on TV here in Ireland. We had Premier Sports.

1:27:28And Kenny Cunningham was the co-commentator and he was really critical of Martin Odegaard dropping deep because he said he wanted Odegaard to operate higher up the pitch. and I was like, what game are you watching here? We have to try and get some control on the ball. We have to try and, you know, deal with this Brighton press and Odegaard technically is one of those players. Do you think that was an issue yesterday, how deep Odegaard was dropping? And is that midfield trio one that, you know, needs to play a bit more together in order to sort of be cohesive as a unit? Because it didn't really feel like a unit yesterday.

1:28:07Yeah, I think that's an interesting decision Mikel Arteta has ahead of him and something to ruminate on over this international break. When Arsenal come back to face Leeds, does he bring Myles Lewis Scully back in or does he give what we envisage as first choice trio a bit more time to mesh and build that understanding? Because inevitably it will take a little bit of time. There is an adaptation. there is a process of sort of getting to know each other um i mean brazil have some crazy fucking travel do they they're going to australia to play two games in australia and a game in india as well so they're doing fucking circumnavigate uh circumnavigating the globe basically wow um well they're going one way and then coming back obviously that's not circumnavigating they're not I didn't have your commentary team.

1:29:04I had, my co-commentator was former Scotland international, Chris Iwilumo. Right. Who, interestingly, as a little side note, had a very, a journeyman career really, played for 20-odd clubs in the Football League in Scotland and I think in Scandinavia as well. But in 2002, I bought him from Stoke on Championship Manager for Arsenal. And he led the line with Thierry Henry. He was kind of, you know, the hold-up man for Thierry. And had a glorious and successful career with Arsenal. So it was nice to be reminded of his existence during the game yesterday. Bit of a throwback then, I guess. For me, for me personally, I was like, it was sort of a full circle moment to have him commentating on the game.

1:29:58Well, at least there was something good that came of yesterday in the end. All right. What about this one? Just to finish us off, Nathan Phillips on Blue Sky, nathanphillips.bsky.social. With the extended interlal coming up, will you and Gunnar Blug do an extended waffle episode or two waffle episodes? Good question. We owe the people a waffle. We certainly do. That much is certain. So maybe we will try and do an extended one. Yeah. I think an extended one. Yeah. One extended one would be good, better than two waffles. So we'll get that for you at some point. Exactly. I've got a week off from filming coming up.

1:30:37So I'm sure we'll try and get one in. We'll figure it all out. Okay. Well, look, we'll leave it there for today and we'll get this podcast out to everybody. For a bit more on the Premier League, you can join us tomorrow for an episode of The 30 over on Patreon. We'll talk about all the weekend's games. Patreon.com forward slash arsebog if you would like to join us over there. For now, though, folks, thanks so much as always for being with us. Hope you enjoyed the show, despite the fact it was not a goodly morning. For now, take it easy, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye-bye.

1:31:13Hi, 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.