Arsecast Extra Episode 718 - 26.10.2026

0:00James McNicholas: Hey, it's Hannah Burner from Giggly Squad and the holidays are around the corner, which means I'm officially entering my hostess Hannah era with Arm & Hammer Hardball Cat Litter. You guys know I love cats and fostering, but when I'm hosting, I do not want my house smelling like cats. I want people focusing on my hosting skills. That's why I love Arm & Hammer Hardball Cat Litter. It delivers long-lasting odor control and forms compact clumps that make cleanup easy, so that's one less thing I need to worry about when people come over. Be guest ready with Arm & Hammer Cat Litter. Find it now at Walmart or Amazon.

0:46James McNicholas: Hello and welcome to another Arsecast Extra as always with James from GunnerBlog. James, a goodly morning to you. Goodly morning, Andrew. And how are you? I am okay. I'm okay, thank you. For people who are unaware, I spent a few days in hospital last week. I went in with some sort of acid reflux type symptoms that wouldn't go away. So they had a look, did some scans and stuff and saw something they didn't particularly like. so they uh they kept me in and did a whole range of tests and stuff you know mris and i've had needles stuck into me and deep inside my body um which isn't a lot of fun i have to say uh so we're sort of waiting now for results and and things like that but generally speaking i i'm okay and i just want to say thank you to everybody who has who noticed my absence obviously because we didn't have an arse cast after the the byron game and we didn't do our preview podcast on patreon lewis and andrew were filling in on the blog so you know people noticed i wasn't around and um i just want to say thank you to everybody who has been in touch and who's expressed um support and and hope that i'm doing okay which i am uh and there's uh like i say a bit of a waiting game we'll cross whatever bridge we have to cross when we come to it but for now I think I'm okay.

2:16James McNicholas: I don't recommend hospital at all, though. They're not fun places. Who knew?

2:23Andrew Allen: No, no. With the best will in the world, they're pretty hard going, aren't they? I mean, obviously it's the right place to be, and it's good that they did such thorough investigation, but it's no fun in there for a few days. So we're all glad to have you out. And I was using my season ticket at the weekend, and there were a lot of inquiries and well wishes. So, yeah, I'm just passing those along, really. So, yeah, great to have you back. Thank you. And have you here on the pod.

2:53James McNicholas: Yeah, there was a point where I wasn't really expecting to be here for a while, a bit longer, to be honest. So I'm very glad to be here as well, and I suppose I should as well. Not that any of them will be listening, but a big thank you to all the doctors and nurses in the hospital who looked after me with a great deal of care and professionalism. And in the times we live in, I think it's worth pointing out that these people who come from all over the world to work in the healthcare systems in Ireland, as they do in the UK, and as they do, I'm sure, all over Europe and all over the world, without them, it just wouldn't function.

3:34James McNicholas: So a big, big thank you to them. and we should remember what these people bring to our lives and our society that maybe you don't recognize until you absolutely need them. But when you need them, they are there. And that is something we should all be very, very thankful for. So there you go. There you go.

3:54Andrew Allen: So how did you watch the game, Andrew? You were out of hospital by that point.

3:58James McNicholas: Yeah, Friday evening, it was a bank holiday weekend here. So they'd done all the tests that they could by Friday evening and they were like, wow, we can't do anything more until we get results. And we've got another little appointment on Thursday for something. But they said, listen, you can go home. So I was very glad to get home. So the game was on TV here, thankfully, on Saturday afternoon. It was on the telly. So I was able to just sit down and get back into the kind of routine that I normally would have, which is sit on the sofa, get the laptop out, do the live blog, all that kind of stuff.

4:33James McNicholas: So it was a fairly normal experience for me on Saturday. And I was hoping that Arsenal wouldn't raise my stress levels or blood pressure levels in ways that you fear could happen when you're playing a pretty obstinate Everton team. You've just had a difficult away game against Bayern Munich. The ingredients were there for this maybe to be a bit more of a frustrating day than it actually was. So I'm grateful too for Arsenal for, if not necessarily a routine win, a game in which I think we were deservedly winners and by far the better side on the day.

5:13Andrew Allen: Yeah, and an Everton team, by the way, who'd had a pretty solid start to the Premier League season, clean sheets in four of their games, something like that, suffered their first defeat, I think, to Chelsea only a fortnight or so ago. So yeah, it could have been a frustrating afternoon, but I think we made pretty good work of it, to be honest. I think this was as close to a routine win as you tend to get in the Premier League these days.

5:40James McNicholas: Yeah, I think that's fair. And look, he did make changes. Mikel Arteta did make changes after the Bayern game. Ben White, Miles-Lewis Skelly, Mikel Marino, Eberache Ezeza and Victor Jokerez all coming into the starting line-up, which is what you have to do, I guess, is to keep people fresh. I know that obviously with the injury to Bikai Osaka in midweek, which we might talk about a bit later because we didn't really get a chance to speak about that on the podcast because, well, there wasn't one. You know, he had to bring Eze in on the left-hand side in the absence of Christos Solis, but you also have to shuffle your pack a bit, don't you?

6:14James McNicholas: When you're playing a game of the intensity with which we played against Bayern Munich, you can't just pick the same 11 going into the weekend. So good to see him shuffle the pack.

6:23Andrew Allen: Yeah, showed a bit of confidence, a bit of faith in the wider group. I think it was five changes all in all. Jocharez, White, Marino, Marzo Eskele and Eze, obviously, who played the majority of the game against Bayern. And yeah, I think it's a good indicator that at this stage of the season, Mikel feels able to do that really, to make that number of changes. Sure. And for the team to still perform, I think is really, really positive.

6:54James McNicholas: Can I ask you a question? Because it did occur to me that, you know, he had Piero Incappier on the bench. And Myles, for the most part, has been operating in midfield of late. He did play at left back, of course, when he was needed last week or the week before. But were you a little surprised that Incappier didn't get a start? Or do you think it's about the players who maybe have a little more fitness and rhythm like Myles?

7:19Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think so. I think he would have been kind of throwing Nkappie back in to an extent. I imagine he'll play maybe the Fleetwood game on Tuesday night and sort of ease himself in, hopefully, against them. But I think Myles as well has done really well this season, wherever he's played, midfield, left back. I actually didn't think this was his best game. His passing is usually so, so consistent, so reliable. There were just sort of three or four, like slightly off ones in this half. But I thought it was also a decision maybe with the fact in mind that Mikel anticipated that we would dominate and that we'd have plenty of possession.

7:58Andrew Allen: And maybe Myles is someone who can help us progress the ball through the midfield, maybe a little more so than Nick Capier does. So I wasn't too surprised about that one. The other thing to say, just sort of pre-kickoff, is obviously, I think everyone in the ground got a little bit of a shot in the arm from the result of Villa Park with Manchester City losing. It might be a sort of falsified position for City at the moment, but they are our kind of title rivals. It would seem for now anyway, with all the necessary caveats and asterisks around that. So to see them suffer their first defeat of the season, I think gave everybody a boost.

8:38Andrew Allen: and also should mention Arsenal women getting a much needed win in the North London derby.

8:43James McNicholas: Yes, absolutely. Conditions were not ideal. I think it's fair to say it looked like a miserable day there. It was a miserable day here. It was, you know, we had a couple of storms in this part of the world blow across Ireland and the UK. So, you know, I know the kind of weather that was there. There were certainly pockets of the stadium that were pretty drenched because of the spill-off and the rain and everything else. So it was a difficult day for fans to watch, but the team didn't really find themselves impacted by those conditions. And one of the things that we have spoken about this season is Arsenal being goal-shy in the first half in games.

9:26James McNicholas: So it was very, very pleasing to come out of the blocks quickly, to put pressure on Everton straight away, to play the game in their half, to force a couple of corners. I think there were two from the Declan Rice side. And then we got one from the other side. Martin Odegaard took it. Gabrielle flicked it on. I think Pickford got a hand on it. And before Everton could get the ball clear, Esri Konza is there at the near post to poke the ball home. 1-0, seven minutes in. And it's just what you need, isn't it? It was quite interesting to hear Mikel Arteta say afterwards that his big fear in this game, because of all the energy that was expended in midweek going to Bayern and coming from behind and getting a result there, his big fear was 60, 70 minutes in, it was nil-nil, or Everton had nicked a goal, and how is his team going to find the reserves to respond to that?

10:16James McNicholas: So to actually go ahead, the impact that had on the game itself, It meant that Everton, even if they were inclined to sit back and try and soak things up, they had to try and come out and play a bit. And it was very pleasing to get an early goal for once.

10:31Andrew Allen: Yeah, and we've talked about this, but that lack of first half goals, it has, well, coincided with that lack of set piece goals. You know, so often those have been the goals that allowed us to break open the game. And so it proved here. I was a little surprised to see Martin Odegaard take the corner from that side, only because Nani Maduweke has actually been pretty effective in his delivery from the right when he's played for us. He was kind of taking up a position, more kind of edge of the near post, looking for a potential short, maybe, I'm not sure. But yeah, decent delivery. And we really did threaten set pieces against Bayern.

11:09Andrew Allen: I can't remember if you saw that game or not. I think you didn't, right?

11:12James McNicholas: I didn't. I got the last 10 minutes. Right. I'd just sort of been brought from the A &E into a room, and there was a television, and it has sort of terrestrial TV, but the game was on RTE television. So I was able to catch the last 10 minutes, but I didn't really see much of what came before that. I saw a couple of highlights. I saw there was a chance for Bruno Gimeraj, and there was a say, wasn't there? But I saw Arteta reference the fact that he thought we should have scored a couple against Bayern from set pieces.

11:50Andrew Allen: Yeah, and from not too dissimilar situations to what Konza scored from here, we were kind of managing that back post overload and there's only a bit of bad fortune and some excellent goalkeeping that prevented us from scoring in those situations. So maybe no surprise that finally set pieces did pay dividends. all the coaching staff was straight over to Nicholas Jova. This next, the round is on you tonight, Nicholas. Exactly. You've got your goal bonus. Set piece goal bonus activated. And I think as well, like a really nice moment for Esri Conso, because I feel like over the last few pods, we've sort of snuck in references to him here and there, or as a little bit of an addendum almost, just talking about how good he's been, how composed, how quickly he's settled.

12:36Andrew Allen: but him scoring that goal enabled him to do something I think he doesn't naturally do, which is take the limelight and kind of be centre stage for a moment. And you could see how delighted the fans were and how delighted his teammates were for him as well.

12:52James McNicholas: For sure. I quite enjoyed, there was a little post-match interview with him on the television afterwards and he sort of said, paraphrasing here, he goes, I've been waiting a long time for my first Arsenal goal. it's like you only joined in the summer man and you're a defender there's no great expectation that you should be banging in the goals but I quite enjoyed that that for him this is what eight games into the Premier League season and he's got off the mark as a as an Arsenal player um yeah I enjoyed it I enjoyed it and he's been he's been great he's been a great signing a great addition he seems like on top of being a really good player and I think I said this last week the week before you know I when we were linked with him at first was a bit like I don't know but he's one of those players I think that once you start watching him you realize okay I see the quality here so I've completely lost my train of thought here to be honest but I was glad for him obviously to get that goal yeah and a couple of nice moments in the

13:55Andrew Allen: celebrations ever actually as a sort of having a little embrace with him they're good good friends and were before Konza came over to Arsenal. And then he had a little kind of secret handshake with Gabriel, which I think speaks to the partnership, the understanding they've developed. I mean, you know, Gabriel, we'll talk about him, no doubt. Obviously, he played a big role in this game, but he's really embraced Konza and I think recognised the importance of forming a partnership with him really, really quickly. And they have managed to do that. and what a brilliant foundation it's proven to be in this early period of the season.

14:33James McNicholas: Yeah, my point that I forgot there was, I was just going to say about his personality, his character. He just seems to absolutely fit, doesn't he? This team and this group of players.

14:42Andrew Allen: Yeah. Yeah, I think he does to a T. I mean, it's like, you say he felt like he'd been waiting a long time. Well, it feels like he's been here a long time, you know. Yeah, kind of. He's adapted so, so quickly and stylistically such a good fit for the way McLarteta wants to play and wants to defend. And he's a big bloke as well. So set pieces, I think he can certainly be a threat.

15:05James McNicholas: There was a small period after the goal where I think Everton enjoyed a bit of possession without causing too many problems. But then once we got to about 25, 26 minutes into the game, Arsenal really, really upped the ante in terms of dominating the ball, where we played, causing threat for Everton. There was a lovely pass from Declan Rice to Matueke, but he dragged his shot wide with his right foot. There was a nice move as well, sort of good interplay between a number of Arsenal players. It came to Eze, and I was wondering if he would shoot, but he decided to go for a bit of a pass into a dangerous area, and I think maybe that's one that Victor Jokeres might look at and think, oh, I should have attacked that.

15:54James McNicholas: It sort of ran just beyond the far post. And I think if he had decided to attack that, he has a tap in. Mattaweke, by the way, nearly produced one of the goals of the weekend, for sure, if not more, with that touch and turn and right-footed shot, which went just wide. And Pickford was just standing there. If that had been inside the post, it would have been just a spectacular goal.

16:17Andrew Allen: No, it would. It was a brilliant take, wasn't it? I mean, almost kind of Burkamp-Ess first touch, really. And there's no higher compliment than that. Actually, something I sort of observed in both Eze and Madueke was their willingness to use both feet to go on the inside as well as the outside. I thought they both carried quite a lot of threat in that first half. And I agree there was a period, I guess the second half of that opening 45 minutes where Arsenal felt pretty relentless and created a series of chances. Mikhail Tate will probably feel they should have scored from, you know, when you have a period of dominance like that, a period of pressure.

16:57Andrew Allen: And there were just a couple of reminders at the other end as well that Everton do carry a threat of their own. And even if their best chance of the half probably came from an Arsenal error, I'm thinking of that Ben White moment just before halftime.

17:13James McNicholas: Yeah, yeah, that was a little, he was unaware of Tierno Barry being there. But I do think that that last 15, 20 minutes of the first half, it was really good from Arsenal. There's no two ways about it. I think the conversation that we're probably going to have over the course of this season is about attacking efficiency or what we can actually produce in terms of end product when we have periods of domination like that. because I do think the way we played and the chances we created, we should have been at least 2-0 up at halftime. You know, the Matueke, when he dragged wide with his right foot, I think probably he'll think he should have hit the target there.

17:52James McNicholas: There was a Mikel Moreno header just before the break. Remember, there was a Declan Rice free kick and he clipped it in and Moreno flicked over. You know, Odegaard dancing through. There was just so much pressure from Arsenal that didn't result in an actual goal. And I'm buoyed, obviously, by the way that we played. And I think that's a really positive aspect of the performance. The worry, of course, is that you don't actually translate that dominance into goals. And I think that will be part of the experience of this season anyway.

18:27Andrew Allen: Absolutely. But for me, I was sort of maybe more encouraged than concerned by the kind of dynamism Arsenal was showing going forward. I think, you know, that's, I suppose that's what you open up by getting that early goal. You know, you create that bit more space, that bit more fluidity in the game. And we should have been probably more comfortably ahead by half-time. For sure.

18:54James McNicholas: Second half, there was a scare for Gabriel about 10 minutes in where he sort of jumped to make a clearance and he got the ball away with his left foot. landed weirdly on his knee and i was when he went down i was like oh fuck my first thought was hamstring then i thought acl then i thought he's probably broken his spine into you know it didn't look good for him and he did require some treatment and they were they were readying christian mascara on the on the sideline or christian mascara as they were calling him on Premier Sports, by the way. Lovely. Referring to Mikel Moreno all the way through the game.

19:38James McNicholas: But Mascara didn't come on in the end, and Gabriel returned to the action. What was your feeling when you saw him come back on? Because I do think it's fair to say that more than once we've seen an Arsenal player go down, suffer an injury, try and, I don't want to say be brave, but to sort of play through it or play through the pain to come back on. And it hasn't always been the best idea. So I was just a little bit worried when I saw Gabriel come back on. You know, to what extent do you think Arsenal are prepared to risk somebody like Gabriel or simply trust in his own self-assessment that he's actually okay and it was probably just a bit of a shock rather than a serious problem?

20:30Andrew Allen: Yeah, I was surprised simply because I saw the speed with which Mosquera was readied. I mean, the guy was absolutely primed to come on and it looked for all the world like that change was happening. He was being given tactical instructions, set piece instructions, and it just felt like, oh, well, Gabriel's going off. I think as well, a bit of kind of pessimism from me off the back of the Bukai Saka injury in midweek, just thinking, oh, here we go. We're headed into November. This is where players start dropping like flies. So a bit of fatalism, maybe. I was kind of expecting the worst for Gabriel.

21:05Andrew Allen: But I was really happy that he felt able to continue because I think he'd been excellent in the game up to that point. I mean, Barry is a handful. His movement is good. He's athletic. And I thought Gabriel marshaled him really, really well for the vast majority of the game and was winning so many of those duels on the ball, off the ball. So there's always that bit of concern when a player sort of wants to carry on. But I kind of reasoned that Arsenal were so prepared to bring Mosquera on. The fact that they didn't, they must have had some real reassurance.

21:41James McNicholas: Yeah. We, I think, were in control. But Mikel Arteta, not for the first time this season, went with a triple change. It's been kind of a feature of this season, hasn't it, the triple change? I need to look at this across our eight Premier League games so far. But it feels like maybe in half our games, this is the way that he's gone, that he has decided to make a triple change. And in this instance, it was Bruno Guimaraes, Ricardo Calafiori, and why is my brain not working? Kai Havertz, obviously, on for Jokarez, Marino, and Luis Skelly. That was the triple change that he made just before the Gabriel goal.

22:25Andrew Allen: Do you think, what do you think that's about? I mean, does that mean that these changes are kind of less about individual replacements and more about a significant, substantial injection of freshness and energy?

22:41James McNicholas: I think that's probably what it is, to be honest. Because, I mean, was it, which game was it where he was readying the triple sub and then we just scored? could it have been Sunderland? I can't remember. Yeah, I think it was a couple of weeks ago.

22:59Andrew Allen: What day is it? I think it was Leeds, maybe. Maybe Leeds, yeah. And he made the changes anyway, as I recall.

23:06James McNicholas: Yeah. Is that right? Yeah, I think he did. I think he did. But yeah, no, I agree with you, because I think in this instance, you know, Marino played well. Jocarez was better than he has been in previous games this season and some of his interchanges were good. And Lewis Skelly, I know you say he gave the ball away a couple of times, but I think he was solid at left back. So it wasn't that any of the players who came off were absolutely terrible and was like, right, we've got to change this guy because he's having a stinker. I don't think that's the thinking. I think it is about energy. I think it is about both fresh legs and slightly different dynamics, you know, because Jokeres and Havertz are not the same.

23:48James McNicholas: Kimmerich and Marino are not quite the same. Calafiori and Luis Skelly, probably a bit more alike, let's say, than Calafiori and Incappier in terms of the midfield positions that they take up. But obviously Calafiori and Luis Skelly are different because, well, the Italian just likes to get forward into the centre forward position, whereas Miles operates a little deeper. You know, you could see that straight away with Calafiori, the positions that he was taking up. So I do think it is about different dynamics more than sort of saying, well, we have to take him off because he isn't playing well.

24:24Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think so. You know, I've said a couple of times this season, it almost feels like you need to beat Arsenal twice. There's an Arsenal team that come out, start the game, and an Arsenal team that finish the game. And that language of finishes from Mikel Arteta is becoming much more noticeable, much more consistent. I do think he has a conception of the 90 minutes that involves the kind of changes on this scale. I think he almost thinks of it as a necessity. I need to make this many changes to enable us to play with the kind of physical dominance I want from the team. That's how it looks to me.

25:02Andrew Allen: And being withdrawn, it's kind of less a comment on your individual performance and more on the need to sort of refresh the pack.

25:12James McNicholas: Yeah. So the second goal came after a corner was cleared. We kept possession. You know, it's Ben White who plays it to Gimaraes, to Matuweke, back to Gimaraes, to Ben White again. It's a lovely touching cross from Ben White, by the way. He has to actually control the ball and get his foot around it to clip it to the back post. There was, you know, a VAR check for offside, but it looked well onside in real time to me. Gabriele is there at the back post. Thankfully, Kai Havertz doesn't distract him because he does go for it. He does try and jump and go for it, but Gabriel judges it perfectly. Head her inside the near post for 2-0 and, you know, both centre-halves getting the goal.

25:53James McNicholas: But it's a really good goal. I think just nicely worked open play goal again, even if, you know, the initial period was a set piece. I think the way we cut Everton apart there was really, really good.

26:06Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think Brudo had a nice little cameo in this game. He's sort of looking for those moments, really, to find the incisive pass. It's a nice ball on the outside for Ben White here. And, you know, we've got four, at least four, really talented fullbacks, five if you count miles. But I don't think any of them are as accomplished as Ben White is at what he produces here, that little touch and clip cross the back post. I really do think that is something he brings that's a little bit different. And a first goal of the season for Gabriel, which, you know, for a centre-half, we're talking about Konza, you know, Now that's not a big surprise and certainly no criticism, but he is probably one of our most important goal scorers.

26:50Andrew Allen: So I think him being off the mark is a good thing. And hopefully now we've broken our set piece duck. We'll see a few more from him between now and the end of the year.

27:00James McNicholas: Floodgates would be nice, you know, if this is what gets us going from a set piece perspective, that would be great. And the two centre halves, you know, formed a great partnership at the defensive end of the pitch. were the two who got the goals at the other end. There was a decent chance for Everton. I think Dewsbury Hall flicked a header just wide. But beyond that, they didn't really look like scoring. Martin Zubimendi came on and got a pointy elbow to the nose, didn't he? Looked a very, very sore one. It did. We might talk a little bit about him in a while, just in terms of Fleetwood and where we go from him.

27:38James McNicholas: What I thought was interesting in this game, was the fact that for a team that's often accused of being a bit shot shy, right? Martin Odegaard had five shots in this game. Mikel Marino had five shots in this game. And when you look at where those shots were taken from, I think at least five of them, if not six, were taken from outside the box. Do you think that was just, it's like just a weird anomaly? Or do you think that when we play a team like Everton, who are going to be difficult to break down, who we know are very well disciplined and organized under David Moyes, do you think there's an instruction that we be a bit more speculative if the space is there from outside the box to have a go?

28:29James McNicholas: I don't think any of these shots were particularly threatening, but we've discussed the idea that maybe you can take a shot and it takes a deflection and goes in or gets you a corner or whatever it might be. Sometimes we look for the Goldilocks opportunity, don't we? It's got to be just right. But in Marino and Odegaard, we had two players who were willing to just put their foot through the ball from positions which normally you wouldn't expect Arsenal to shoot from.

28:56Andrew Allen: yeah I mean it's almost feels like a reaction in part to that Nottingham Forest game doesn't it where we we really didn't create a great deal of shooting opportunities and then Noni Madureki comes off the bench cracks off a shot from kind of the edge of the box it deflects into the net and it's the winning goal and I think after that we spoke about can we create more shooting opportunities at the D at the edge of the box I wonder as well would it have been something that would have been flagged pre-game in terms of the conditions. You know, it was a horrible day to be a goalkeeper, a really horrible day to be a goalkeeper.

29:32Andrew Allen: Even David Rye's handling deserted him at one stage. I think there was a corner that he sort of didn't quite gather as comfortably as he usually does. And the shots, you know, was kind of skidding across the wet grass. It's harder to get a grip on a wet ball. I do wonder if maybe that was a note Miklothet threw in, you know, It might be a good day to test a keeper with a bouncing ball and see how they fare with it.

29:56James McNicholas: What did you think as well of the way Martin Odegaard was positioned in this game? Because I had to endure Gary Breen on Premier Sports talking about how you don't want Odegaard there, you don't want him picking the ball up off the centre-halves, et cetera, et cetera. And I think there are games where you obviously want him to be the furthest man forward in terms of creativity. I mean, he still obviously had those five shots. He still made two key passes in this game, but nobody had more touches than him. 116 touches of the football. The next best was Gabriel, 71, Ben White, 70. And it felt really deliberate to me that Arsenal were asking Odegaard to drop deep and to pick up the ball, and they were pushing Rice and Marino into these areas further forward.

30:50James McNicholas: Do you think that was maybe... Listen, you start Declan Rice in midweek against Bayern Munich. He has a monster game by all accounts. It's his energy that gets the equaliser. You know, it's a really, really good goal that, by the way. But, you know, the movement and the run that he has to make in the 81st minute of that game, on top of everything else he's had to do in that game, do you think there's maybe something... Is it structural or is it about, OK, if we ask Declan Rice to move a little further forward, maybe he doesn't have to cover as much ground in a game in terms of getting back, chasing back, having to be that sort of focal point of midfield.

31:28James McNicholas: Is there something to that? Or do you think it was just about tactically Odegaard was the best player to do that against this particular opposition?

31:36Andrew Allen: Yeah, I mean, look, I was behind one of the goals in one of the corners, so it's not exactly the best tactical cam view of the game. But what struck me about the midfield was the rotations and the way in which players didn't necessarily seem to have a fixed role within that three of Rice, Odegaard and Marino. You know, Odegaard was at times on the right side of the pitch, at times on the left, at times close to goal, at times deeper. I felt that there was a kind of balance and fluidity and unpredictability about the midfield shape. And I thought that was a really interesting development. You know, at times last season, there was a very kind of clear structure, which could almost be a little bit restrictive, I think, particularly for someone like Martin Odegaard.

32:25Andrew Allen: So I just saw this as him being granted more freedom in a game where always Arsenal were going to be likely to have quite a lot of the ball and he was going to be necessary to help them unpick what was in front of them.

32:38James McNicholas: Just looked at the distance stats.

32:40Andrew Allen: Yeah.

32:40James McNicholas: So after doing 11.8 kilometers in midweek, he did 9.5 in this game. And I know he came off after, what, 80 minutes, something like that. Odegaard did 12.5 in this game. So there's quite a difference there. So I do wonder if there is just something about the physical aspect of it. But look, Michelartelo will know. So, yeah. But look, overall, a really solid win, I think, for Arsenal. There's no question that we were, by some distance, the better team in this game and deserved all three points. You know, and I think probably the margin of victory could have been better, but 2-0. It's not to be sniffed at.

33:25James McNicholas: Clean sheet. You know, it's been a tricky enough week, hasn't it? You know, because there was a trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, then you're away at Bayern Munich on Wednesday and then home, I don't mean early on Saturday, but like a 3 p.m. kickoff on a Saturday. That's a lot of football in six days. You know, there's a lot asked of those players. And I think for the week we've had, we've come through it really, really well.

33:54Andrew Allen: Yeah, I think we're into that period of the season now where all the fixtures have to be assessed and analysed in context, you know, And off the back of two away trips and a really testing one, well, both were really testing, to be honest, but particularly testing it in going to the Allianz of Munich on Wednesday night. I just think this is a really, really solid, commendable result and performance. And, you know, we've spoken about this Arsenal team knowing what it takes to get results and win football matches. And they absolutely did that on Saturday.

34:27James McNicholas: Do you think it's sort of the sort of baseline champions kind of performance that like after a week where you have been tested, you know, with travel and physically, you know, Bayern are a really good team to sort of turn up, do it at home like that 2-0 without really any fuss is a measure of where this team is and what it's capable of?

34:52Andrew Allen: Absolutely. And it's another one just ticked off, isn't it? I think if we do win the league this year, there might be 10 games like this, you know, that aren't particularly eventful or memorable for any special reason where Arsenal will just turn up, are professional, are better and secure that three points. That is the business of winning a Premier League title. And we showed that we're very capable of doing that. And with five changes, as well which I think is probably the big outtake from the game yeah the fact that we could rotate

35:26James McNicholas: and still look so in control yeah I have to say I was quite encouraged by the performances of of the two wide players we talked about the Nani Madueke touch and turn on the edge of the box there was one from Eberache Ezeb by the way a long ball I can't remember who played it whether it was Raya or whether it was Declan Rice or somebody played a long ball from deep and he just controlled it in their box with a touch. It was fantastic. And I think, you know, with Saka sideline for a little while, and I want to ask you about him now in a second, we do need these guys to step up, right? We need them to be players who can deliver goals.

36:06James McNicholas: And Ezec got a great goal in midweek against Bayern Munich. And I think Matuweke's last few performances have been encouraging, haven't they? so in another aspect if we're looking at sort of the overall overall performance trying to sort of parse it down into the individual components is not always easy but I do think that the two wide players were really effective they were

36:30Andrew Allen: and it's interesting times for Noni Madueke because obviously he's had a bit of success on the left flank but with Bakayasaka being out he's probably going to get a lot of football on the right at this point in time Eberach Eze has kind of been in and out. But when you step back and you look at his last couple of weeks, I think there have been enough little flashes or signs of encouragement to maybe suggest that his season is starting to kick into gear now. So, yeah, I thought they were one of the big, big positives on the day. And actually, given the context, given Saka's absence, they needed to be.

37:06James McNicholas: So on Saka then, obviously I didn't see this in real time. My phone started pinging when I was sitting around in the hospital. I was like, oh God, this doesn't sound good. I saw the clip of it subsequently. It really doesn't look like a very clever injury for Bakayo Saka. And it's one of those where when it happens that early in the game, you know, after a proper warmup and you've trained all week and you've had the warmup for something like that to happen that early in the game really is a big worry, isn't it?

37:40Andrew Allen: It is, it is. and the initial fears are six to eight weeks out. I think Miklarteta said, look, we need to scan it again once it's had a week to settle and then we'll know a bit more. But that feels like a very plausible timeline for what looks like a significant muscular injury. I mean, the reaction of a player often tells you a lot. Saka looked absolutely gutted, didn't he? And seemed to know almost immediately that he was in some trouble. So it's a real shame, a real, real shame to lose him. I know there's been debate about his form this season, but I think one thing you can't question is that he was getting on the end of stuff.

38:23Andrew Allen: He was getting himself in some really dangerous positions and I think threatening to put together some decent output in terms of numbers. He's an important player for this team. He's a leader as well. I think we're just very blessed that we have such a great depth of squad that hopefully, hopefully we can withstand it.

38:45James McNicholas: Yeah, it's a big blow though. It is a big blow for Arsenal. You know, as promising as Matuake's performances have been, you know, there is a burden then on him. And there's maybe a question about how much do you use Max Dowman? And there were some questions about that maybe we'll deal with in part two. But yeah, fingers crossed it's not quite as serious as it looks and he can get back a little bit sooner. but it's a worry, you know, for him to sustain another injury like that.

39:12Andrew Allen: Yeah. I think it's a blow for Arsenal. I think it's a really big blow on an individual basis to Bakayosaka. Do you think... Sorry, go on. No, I was going to say, obviously, he's a player who's had a lot of injury issues and, you know, coming out of the summer, looked to be sharper, better. And now this has occurred, you know, It just feels like a big, big setback to him individually.

39:42James McNicholas: Do you think, and listen, this is not his responsibility solely because managers and coaches pick teams and that's true at club level and international level as well, but we know he went into the World Cup on the back of a problematic season with Arsenal in terms of injury, that he was carrying something. He wasn't 100 % fit in the Champions League final, right? We could see that. But he went to the World Cup. He was not used all the time. He was used sparingly. There were games where he didn't even get on. I think the game where England were, was it the game England were knocked out and he didn't get on the pitch at all?

40:22James McNicholas: Argentina, I think that is right, yeah. But then he came on, scored a hat-trick against France in that nothing game that really doesn't mean anything. But do you think between Mikel Arteta and Bakayo Saka and Thomas Tuchel that there needs to be an assessment of how he is used. Like, I know he scored a couple of goals for England during the interlal, the extended break, but we saw Declan Rice get three weeks off. It's really felt to me and to many people, and I'm sure you as well, that Bakayo Saka could also have done with that time off. You know, we're talking about a player now who's 25 years of age, who's played a lot, who had a big, big hamstring injury, which seems to have impacted him.

41:07James McNicholas: He's had this ongoing Achilles injury, tendinitis, whatever it is, and now looks to have suffered another serious injury, maybe not quite to the extent of the hamstring or let's say an Achilles injury, but I think it's a quad injury, right? He's torn his muscle. Muscle tears are never good, but not the most serious thing. But is there a need now to think about, right, you've got X amount of years which should be your prime years as a player we need to think very carefully about how much football you play and that's true not just of Arsenal but of England and maybe Bukayo Saka has to think about prioritizing certain periods of the season where you know did he have to play for England in those games I know it's difficult to turn down an international call-up he wants to play maybe he viewed those games as you know a way of getting properly match fit and up to speed and rhythm and all those kinds of things but you can you know hindsight being 2020 and all that you can look back and say was it wise for him to go and play in all those games for England you know after he hasn't really had that break that he needs now he gets a break it's an un you know an unwanted one but there I think there needs to be some joined up thinking here maybe but that's quite

42:34Andrew Allen: But Michel Asset is always very fond of saying, you know, the best players play lots of games.

42:39James McNicholas: He hasn't really said that a lot of late, though. He sort of rolled back on that a little bit, I think. You know, I know the point he was making. Basically, if you're good, you're going to play every week. If you're one of the best players, you're going to play every week. But also, you have to recognise that when a player has played every week and is now going through a period in their career where it looks like that amount of football is in some way culpable for a series of injuries, not just one injury. We've now had one, two, three injuries that have clearly, I think, impacted him. Is that not evidence that you need to sort of change your thinking about how this player is used?

43:22Andrew Allen: Maybe. I suppose all I would say is like, who are those players at the top level who are managed in that way. I don't know. Isn't this just the requirement now? Like we might be uncomfortable with it. We might say it's too much, but isn't that what top level football is? Isn't it 50, 60 game seasons?

43:43James McNicholas: Declan Rice just got three weeks off though. So, I mean, that's an example of a player who has played a huge amount for Arsenal and for England, but got those three weeks off. And maybe it was absolutely necessary for Declan Rice. Maybe there was more to that than we know, of course.

43:57Andrew Allen: Yeah.

43:58James McNicholas: You know, that maybe there was a decision made that like, okay, if he plays for England, like he's in real danger of fucking himself in a big way. And maybe that wasn't there for Saka. But I'm just saying that in the overall picture of what's happening to Bukayo, I think you have to assess that and think something needs to be a little bit different.

44:18Andrew Allen: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we'll never know what would have happened if he'd, let's say, not gone away with England. and would he have still sustained this muscle injury or not? I think my sort of nagging doubt is it just feels like, I don't know. I feel like these injuries are sort of accumulating in a really worrying trend for him at a tough time in his career. And there are players who have had to be managed in that way. I mean, an example that springs to mind is maybe Kevin De Bruyne at Man City, who had this big history of muscular problems. And then we started seeing this situation where he would almost be rested in the early months of the season or rotated heavily to see him come into his peak, you know, in kind of March, April, May at the business end.

45:23Andrew Allen: You know, are we in a position now where Bakayo Saka needs to be managed similarly? Quite possibly. But that is a big statement, you know, like externally as Arsenal fans look at De Bruyne, we really did look at him as a player who was undoubtedly talented, but had this huge injury problem that needed to be offset and attended to and managed. Maybe that is where we are with Saka now, but it feels like, yeah, it's tough to acknowledge, actually, I think.

45:55James McNicholas: Yeah, but look, it is something that many players have had to face in their careers, that they get a period where they have a lot of injuries. Sometimes it happens early in a player's career, right, where they get a lot of injuries early on, where perhaps they're not fully physically developed and the early part of their career is quite injury hit and they get a reputation for being injury prone, but then come through it and can play consistently. But there've also been players who in their mid-twenties have had to say, I need to do something differently. Like whether it's, I'm not saying it's anything to do with lifestyle or anything like that, but I just mean that you have to take stock when you're 25 years of age and you've had these injuries and you still have five or six years, hopefully more, at the top level available to you, you've seen players in the past maybe just change certain things or managers change how they're used or maybe they sort of change aspects of their game a little bit.

46:57James McNicholas: I don't know. I mean, I think the injury against Bayern, it just looked really unfortunate. Did he sort of kick fresh air? Something like that?

47:04Andrew Allen: it looked to me almost as he planted his foot i mean it was just kind of yeah but but but again it is unfortunate but when a player can suffer a significant muscle injury almost out of nothing i think that also tells its own story yeah um lifestyle wise i assume you mean he's got to lay off the peri peri sauce you know my feelings on nando's change let's not go there no i it's it's i mean i think a lot of the changes we've seen in him stylistically as a player and much of what we've seen this season is almost kind of trying to evolve him into that finisher figure, I think. I don't mean finisher in the substitute sense, in the goal scoring sense.

47:51Andrew Allen: That seems to me to be an adaptation that might be in part informed by some of his physical issues and limitations and injuries, old injuries, he might still be harboring or carrying in some fashion. But yeah, I just, I'm gutted that we're not going to see him for a few weeks. Hopefully we get Christos Solis back soon. That would ease things a little on the attacking front. And then of course, Max Downman who did come on against Everton and doubtless we'll talk about in part two with regards to Fleetwood.

48:24James McNicholas: Yeah. Well, let's take a little break then. We will deal with the questions and much more in part two. right after this.

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50:20James McNicholas: Welcome back to the Arsecast Extra. This is part two of the show where we answer the questions that you send to us on BlueSky at gunnerblog.bsky.social and at arseblog.com. Also on the Arseblog Discord chat server, which you get access to if you are an Arseblog member on Patreon. I had quite a number of emails and texts about the book, which is going to be launched on November 6th in London. We're going to give you details of where that launch is taking place. This week, so keep your ears and eyes peeled for that. It is going to be close to the Arsenal Stadium, very close to where the parade took place and some of the amazing pictures that are in the book were taken.

51:02James McNicholas: So stand by for that. We'll give you more details on the 22, which is what it's called a little bit later on this week. So can I go first on this question thing? Because I like this one from Ads87 on the Discord, who asks, this is the only question we need answering, which lets us off the hook a little bit for part two.

51:24Andrew Allen: Give me a short part two.

51:25James McNicholas: Yep. He says, who is the manager outside his technical area that Mikel Arteta has images of?

51:35Andrew Allen: Yeah, that was sort of peak Arteta to me. I came out of the stadium and I was doing my post-match video and obviously not seeing any of his comments. Then I hopped on the bus home, looked at my phone, and the first thing I saw was a quote saying, Mikel Arteta has revealed he has documents. He has a dossier full of images of...

51:58James McNicholas: That bit again, that would be great.

51:59Andrew Allen: Yeah, he has a dossier full of images of managers outside of their technical area. Yeah, of course he does. Of course he does.

52:09James McNicholas: Yeah, the quote is, there are managers that have the record in the league. 36 times in 10 minutes they leave the touchline. No yellows. I'm clipping all of that. I have a massive storage of images. I don't have the record yet. Let's see. Then it's 36 yellow cards in 10 minutes for managers. Where are we going to be then? 36 yellow cards in 10 minutes. You'd love to see it. He was booked for stepping outside his technical area, as I think was David Moyes. Yeah. It feels like the most ridiculous, pedantic, pernickety reason to book a manager. Like, I just genuinely don't care about a manager leaving his technical area, either like two inches or two feet or two meters, unless, you know, they're running up and down the touchline like Jose Mourinho, goading the crowd or whatever.

53:03James McNicholas: Just relax. It's not a big deal. I agree.

53:07Andrew Allen: If they're getting into kind of direct altercations with officials or substitutes or players on the pitch, then it's a problem. Otherwise, I just don't see it as a problem. I accept that the rules are the rules, but yeah, it does feel like something that's not uniformly policed, as Mikel was saying. Who it might be, my guess would be maybe someone like Anunay Emery. We know he's quite an energetic touchline presence, shall we say. Demonstrative.

53:38James McNicholas: He certainly had some unusual hand gestures this weekend, didn't he?

53:44Andrew Allen: The one-man meme machine that Izuna Emery. Double wank. Yeah. Does that find its way into Nicolás Teta's dossier? Who knows? I tell you who it's not.

53:57James McNicholas: I tell you who it's not. Michael Carrick. Oh. Because he just sort of stands there looking glum at his shoes going, I can't believe what I'm seeing here as we all break our fucking holes laughing.

54:15Andrew Allen: Absolutely. Yeah. By the way, speaking of things that are sort of finickety or enforced or not enforced, was this the first time we've seen Arsenal full foul of the goalkeeper holding onto the ball too long? Yeah.

54:32James McNicholas: corner awarded to Everton wasn't it yeah we had a question about that actually I think it was on Blue Sky so let me see if I can find it by the way speaking of Michael Carrick there's a we got a lot of requests for Carrick out yeah stuff so I actually went and had a look and there isn't really anything there that's particularly interesting or funny to read out no but there is a video of Michael Carrick going, whether it's the Stratford end or the other end of Old Trafford, which I don't know what it's called. But Michael Carrick is there in front of the United fans and he's sort of applauding them and they're applauding him.

55:11James McNicholas: They're applauding him. We all are because we think he's doing a fucking stand up job. But he sort of moves off to head down towards the tunnel and the players come over on mass and they just start booing all the players. It's fucking hilarious. Like Carrick, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the players come over there like, boo, you fucking reject. It's very, very funny to see where they think the problem lies. Obviously Carrick has a part in it. And I think he, in reality, as funny as it is to sort of blame it on the manager, the problems run a lot deeper than Michael Carrick at Manchester United.

55:50James McNicholas: But that's just a funny video.

55:52Andrew Allen: Yeah, no, we did get a few requests for Carrick out, but they quite like Carrick. They don't really hold him personally. You'd probably have more success with Ineos out or Glazers out. I did see that trending among United fans this morning was Eddie Howe out. So they're already protesting against a potential new manager, which I did enjoy.

56:16James McNicholas: Getting their shots in early, to be fair. We'll talk a bit more about Manchester United and where they are and what's happened this weekend in the Premier League a bit later on over on Patreon, by the way. We'll have an episode of The 30 recapping all the Premier League action from this week. And there's plenty, plenty to get into about what happened at Old Trafford and how funny it is and the wider repercussions of all of that. So join us on Patreon for that a bit later on. The question came from Harvest, by the way, harvesttime.bsky.social. can we talk about the awarding of a corner to Everton for Raya holding the ball for more than eight seconds?

56:51James McNicholas: From the stands, it didn't look like a long hold. There have been many longer holds where this happened. Analysis shows Raya to be one of the fastest at releasing in the league last season. Why Raya and why then? My guess is that it was just a little bit over the six seconds or whatever, six or eight seconds, whatever it's supposed to be. There was a moment where I think he could very easily have just bowled the ball out to Declan Rice and chose not to. And sort of, it looked like he was delaying things and he gave the corner to Everton. Thankfully, he didn't pay any dividends for them or didn't cost us anything.

57:27James McNicholas: But yeah, a bit of a strange one.

57:29Andrew Allen: Yeah, there's a bit of confusion in the North Bank around me about what exactly had gone on. I think a lot of people kind of turned away when Raya had possession of the ball and then suddenly it was a corner kick. And yeah, I think people were uncertain whether it was going to be an indirect free kick or how exactly it had come about. I think you're right. That momentary hesitation, that visible hesitation is probably what does for him. What do you actually make of the rule? It suddenly struck me that a corner does feel like quite a big win for a team. For a goalkeeper holding the ball, it's quite a harsh punishment.

58:07Andrew Allen: Like, by all means, give them the ball back or something. But a corner is a goal-scoring opportunity, you know?

58:15James McNicholas: No, it is. It is. I suppose it just makes it incumbent on the goalkeeper to be able to count to six or eight, which I'm not sure some of them in the Premier League this season can actually do. Yeah. But I think it puts the onus on them to get the play started quickly. And I don't mind it as a way of speeding the game up and everything else. When you're on the wrong end of it, it obviously doesn't feel particularly fair, but it's on the goalkeeper. The question, of course, is about consistency. Some goalkeepers clearly hold on to the ball for longer than... I should look this up. How long does goalkeeper...

58:55James McNicholas: I think it's eight, is it?

58:56Andrew Allen: But I'm not sure.

58:57James McNicholas: To release the ball. Eight seconds. Okay. The eight-second rule. I think it's clear that some goalkeepers are holding onto the ball a lot longer than eight seconds.

59:10Andrew Allen: Yeah. Some referees take longer to say Mississippi than others, you know?

59:16James McNicholas: The referee's spelling out Mississippi. Is it two S's? Is it two P's? How many S's in Mississippi? I don't know. Yeah, I think the consistency is what will drive people mad. But as a rule, I'm not that vexed by it as long as our goalkeeper releases the ball quickly enough. Yeah, yeah.

59:35Andrew Allen: It's just interesting. You know, I think it's the first time we've seen it this season and obviously not in our favour. When it goes for us, I'm sure I'll love the rule. But there you go.

59:45James McNicholas: Yeah.

59:47Andrew Allen: Here is a question which you alluded to in part one from Cheech. And Cheech says, are we losing Zubimendi as an integral part of the team? He was on course to be one of our players of the season last year and now can't start again. I think there is just a little bit of ill fortune with him because he would have started the Lille game, But he got that injury, didn't he, in the warm down after the Leeds game

1:00:21James McNicholas: when Incappier got injured and then he also took a knock. I think it was Mikel Moreno challenge that just sort of caught him on the ankle and kept him out of that Lille game. So I think he would have started that one. And then when he came on in the last 10 minutes for Declan Rice, and then did he suffer? Is it a broken nose? It looks like it could be a broken nose, doesn't it? Because he caught it right on the bridge of the nose. and there was a lot of blood, you're thinking, fuck, you know, we need this guy to start the game on Tuesday against Fleetwood. Not just for him, but obviously to keep Declan Rice away from the team and away from the squad.

1:01:00James McNicholas: Don't do it, Mikel. He does not need to play in this game. So I think there's just a touch of bad fortune with him. But clearly from a player who was starting every game at the start of last season to being peripheral so far this season is a difficult situation for him, right? It really is. I'm hoping that we just sort of stick a mask on him and play him against Fleetwood because I think he's still a very good player. I like him. He's a good player, but obviously things aren't going as well as he would have liked. But it can change quickly, can't it? It really can. It can change very quickly in football, that one day you're not playing a great deal, the next you're needed and necessary.

1:01:53James McNicholas: So I'm hoping that he plays on Tuesday and that he can remind people of what a good player he is.

1:02:00Andrew Allen: Yeah, I mean, Fleetwood next week, we're away at Slavia Prague, at home to Hull. Those are all games where he could get substantial minutes, potentially, and we could maybe consider resting. one or two of our automatic picks. So I hope that he will get those opportunities. But in the wider sense, the broader sense, is Zubomendi the same status within the squad he was 12 months ago? In my view, absolutely not. I mean, there's been a kind of movement away from him. The emergence of Myles Lewis Skelly as a serious option in midfield, the decision to sign Bruno Guimaraes. I think, although they're different players, Michael Ateta sees more on-field opportunities or uses for Mikel Moreno at this moment in time.

1:02:55Andrew Allen: So it's tough times for Zubomendi. And I did feel for him, you know, coming on in the rain and just getting absolutely clattered in the face.

1:03:02James McNicholas: Yeah, like within a minute of coming on or something, he just got smashed by the pointy elbow of Tiano Barry.

1:03:08Andrew Allen: Yeah, when it rains, it pours kind of thing. It is a bit like that, yeah. Like you, I hope they can patch him up and get him out there against Fleetwood because I think he needs it. I think he needs it.

1:03:20James McNicholas: What about this one? Seeing as we're on the subject, Sid Silk on Blue Sky asks, if you were making a list of players who should be nowhere near the team for the Fleetwood game, who would be second on the list after Declan Rice?

1:03:35Andrew Allen: Well, I was going to say Declan Rice. So who should be nowhere near it? I think probably Gabriel after his scare the other day as well.

1:03:51Andrew Allen: Odegaard? Odegaard probably. I mean, with Saka being out, I think there's a temptation to protect Noni Madueke as well, if you can.

1:04:07James McNicholas: It depends what you got, though, and it depends what you want to do with your midfield. Because if we remember the last EFL Cup game, it was Max Stammen who started in the Odegaard position. He started in a more central area rather than outright.

1:04:25Andrew Allen: Yeah, that's true. I mean, you could play, if Zubomendi's available to play, you could play, you know, Zubomendi, Luskele and Marino, for example. Or Zubomendi, Marino, Dalvin. You know, that would be another option. That would give both Rice and Odegaard some rest. Who do you play on the right then?

1:04:47James McNicholas: Are you playing Meduweke in this game?

1:04:49Andrew Allen: Yeah. Good question. Good question. I think Darwin might play from the right in this one. I agree. Yeah, yeah. Because you just look at who's available in the centre. You've got a lot more options there. You've got Bruno, who you could potentially draft in. And obviously with Solis out for now and with Saka out, we're a bit short on the wings. So I think Darwin will be used there. What did you make of his little cameo against Everton? Obviously, it was a big fixture for him last season, wasn't it?

1:05:22James McNicholas: Yeah, it was. I mean, there was a moment, I think, where he was penalised for making a foul after being fouled. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he was fine. The game was won at that point. Everton didn't look too dangerous, didn't look like they were going to get themselves back into it. I did have a question. It comes from Discord. Atx Bergkamp lover 69-69-420. Arteta waited 12 minutes after the second goal to sub on Downman. Does this show a reticence to use him in Premier League, even though Max proved himself in the same fixture last season? Or is this a blip and can we expect serious first team minutes with Saka?

1:06:01James McNicholas: I think it's a really interesting one because he was asked about Downman in his pre-Everton press conference because, look, what he did in the game last season lives long in the memory, of course. but he was talking about, you know, players of that age and how few of them make that kind of a breakthrough or play, uh, substantial minutes at such a young age in the premier league. Yeah. I think we forget, not that we forget, but I find it quite interesting that you hear a lot of like, well, it's down and time we've got to get max down and on it's, it's his time to shine now. from people who will also, let's say, express some concern that Bakayo Saka, from an early age, played a lot of minutes and maybe in their estimation, too many minutes.

1:06:55James McNicholas: And that's what has contributed to his injuries at this point in his career, yet at the same time are like, let's play this 16-year-old. You know, it's an interesting conversation.

1:07:09Andrew Allen: it is and personally I'm in no rush with Max I really am not you know I enjoy getting to see glimpses of him here and there and it's brilliant to watch his development and he's so exciting but we've got a very high level team uh and it's going to be difficult for him to play loads of Premier League minutes and I'm I'm totally fine with that I think as well you know it's only 10 minutes against Everton but although it was actually substantially longer because there There was a big old chunk of stoppage time on the end of this one. And maybe Arteta and his staff were mindful of that too. But they also know they're probably going to start him on Tuesday night.

1:07:48Andrew Allen: So there's a degree of management happening there in terms of sort of, you know, ensuring he's absolutely ready for that one. So yeah, no major concerns for me. I do think Saka's absence is going to mean more opportunities for him. And I think that's great. and absolutely right. But yeah, I'm excited to watch him on Tuesday night and see what he can deliver. Obviously, he was the star at Ipswich, was it, in our previous Carabao game. And you wouldn't bet against him being the star again at Fleetwood. Sure.

1:08:26James McNicholas: I have another question about the Fleetwood game. It comes from Tola on the Discord. What would your approach be to Jokeres' minutes in the Fleetwood match? I think the obvious choice is to start him, but I have genuine concerns that a failure to score after starting against such lower level opposition could increase criticism towards him in a big way. Given Marino started versus Everton, I might be inclined to give an academy striker the start.

1:08:53Andrew Allen: Yeah, interesting. I mean, there's plenty in the academy, by the way. We spent the summer signing a load of centre-forwards. So we've got options. Obviously, is Harriman the noose fit at the moment? He would be the most obvious one if he is. But, you know, there's Igor Tajon and certain others that we have recruited in that area. I would probably play Jokeres. I think he needs rhythm and he needs goals. He needs a goal, yeah, in a big way. Yeah, yeah. And I think this is another opportunity for him to do that. So, no, I wouldn't have no reservations about playing Victor in this game. And he had a really bad night at Ipswich in the previous round.

1:09:45Andrew Allen: And I think it's a good opportunity for him to kind of settle that score. and I think Kai Havertz will start on Sunday at Anfield.

1:09:56James McNicholas: Yeah.

1:09:58Andrew Allen: So I don't see him playing in this one. I think he might come on, but I think it's another Jokeres start for me. How about you?

1:10:06James McNicholas: I think he absolutely needs to start. He needs a goal. He needs whatever confidence that will give him, even with the caveat that it is against Fleetwood Town, a much lower level opposition. I think he, as a striker, will just want to put the ball in the back of the net at least once in this game. So, you know, for me, he has to start. Is there a wider conversation to be had if he doesn't score? I guess that depends on the match and the context of the match and how it all plays out. But, yeah, I'd be playing him from the start of this one. And I did want to ask, you know, do you think we are going to see a more youthful squad for this particular game than we might previously or might have expected if it was a different kind of opposition?

1:10:56James McNicholas: If it was Premier League opposition, I think we would see rotation, obviously. But do you think you might see someone like Cataconeal come into the team or, you know, there's what's the midfielder? Ifa Ibrahim, you know, who I think looks a really interesting player. Is there scope to fill out the bench with these younger players rather than bring senior players? Like, I don't want to see Declan Rice in the squad for this game. I think he needs a night off. Get your feet up. Watch the game on TV. And, you know, if you can't beat Fleetwood Town with the rest of your first team squad and a collection of young players, as well, you know, that's on you.

1:11:41James McNicholas: Would you like to see Mikel Arteta go that way a bit?

1:11:46Andrew Allen: Yeah, I would like to see a few names sprinkled in there from the academy, whether it's from the start or whether it's on the bench with the views coming on if and when the game is kind of secured and won. I mean, Fleetwood are in the bottom half of League Two. So I think pretty much any group we take, as long as there's a sizable contingent of senior players, should have enough to see us through. So yeah, I'd love to see some of those names involved and in the mix. And I'm trying to think back to the Ipswich game. Did a few guys get on for Arsenal in that one? I'm going to have a quick look now.

1:12:26Andrew Allen: Yeah. I'm trying to think what kind of level of academy involvement there was. Let me have a look here. So yeah, if Abraham came on. Theo Julien came on. Theo Julien came on, did quite well. Marley Salmon started, of course, in that one. And played very well, actually.

1:12:45James McNicholas: Yeah, he did very well.

1:12:47Andrew Allen: So, you know, those names could well be in the mix. I mean, it was a very experienced squad, but Mikhail Teta found time to give first team opportunities to some of those younger players. And I'd like to think we'll be in a position to do the same against Fleetwood.

1:13:05James McNicholas: Yeah, it's an opportunity for those young players as well. You know, you don't often get fixtures like this and it's not taking anything for granted, but like you say, they're in the bottom half of League Two. We have, I think it's fair to say, bigger fish to fry in terms of our priorities this season. There's a big game on Sunday at Anfield. Who are Liverpool playing this week in the Carabao Cup? I think it's Chelsea. So there's another slight, it is Chelsea, at home on Wednesday. So it's another slight advantage. We play on Tuesday. We're playing opposition that we would be expected to beat.

1:13:45James McNicholas: We have the opportunity to rest players. If you're playing Chelsea, it becomes a much more difficult prospect to rotate and rest players. So if we're talking about triple subs as a way of freshening things up or keeping players fresh this season, And this fixture on Tuesday gives Mikel Arteta quite an opportunity to do that. And I hope he does. And not to look past it, if you're talking about things I'd be hoping for from this season,

1:14:13Andrew Allen: beyond the obvious of kind of silverware and success, a win at Anfield would be a huge thing. You know, it's something that's long overdue. And if we could go and do that on Sunday, I think that'd be really, really fantastic. and mark a bit of a sea change, really, in terms of our results there. So, yeah, hopefully that can be advantageous.

1:14:40Andrew Allen: What have we got here? If I always jump in, I'm just scanning through a lot of the questions we've covered already.

1:14:49James McNicholas: Well, what about this one? WCampo33, does Saka's injury change what needs to be done in January?

1:15:02does it change what needs to be done

1:15:06Andrew Allen: I'm not sure to be honest because timeline wise I mean that might be the moment when we're getting him back I don't think it does materially change it I think come January we're still looking for what we were looking for on the final day of the transfer window which is a wide player with speed and goals. I do think that would be a focus for me in January. If that player is available, I think you go and get them. I don't, but I suppose what I'm saying is I thought that before and I still think it now. Do you think it changes the urgency for you?

1:15:52James McNicholas: Depends what you think we need in January. Right. You know, do we need a wide player? Do we need a center forward? Do we need a more versatile forward? I don't know. It might just depend on who else is performing or not performing as well, you know?

1:16:08Andrew Allen: Yeah.

1:16:09James McNicholas: It's really hard to predict. And as you say, if it's six or eight weeks, you know, eight weeks would take us to the end of 2026, at which point Saka would be back for the busy festive schedule, etc. and you'd be hoping that he can get himself back into form and into some rhythm. I don't know that you make a signing that, I don't want to say gets in his way, but it's impossible to think we sign another right-sided forward unless there's something more to sack his injury, which we all hope there isn't. So I think that the ongoing question is the left, but then we'll have to wait and see what Ezzer does and what Solis can do when he returns from injury as well.

1:16:52James McNicholas: So I don't think it does particularly, unless there's something else we have to deal with at that point in the season, you know?

1:16:59Andrew Allen: Yeah, quite agree. Quite agree. I do wonder as well if centre forward might be a bit of a conversation by January as well. You know, I think it's interesting. They're sort of, every time I speak to an Arsenal fan, I sort of get different views on that number nine position. You know, you get some people who are very pro-Khanavit, some who are a bit unconvinced. You get some who really like Victor Jokeres, some who aren't really having him. And I think the fact that there is that degree of debate, I mean, I suppose one thing it demonstrates is Arsenal have options, but neither is necessarily wholly convincing at this point in time.

1:17:41James McNicholas: Yeah, I do think that will be a conversation. Sorry to keep asking questions, but I had a couple here, which I think are quite interesting on the same topic. From James, jhomsey.bsky.social, is Bruno going to be best used as one of Arteta's finishers this season? His most effective performances have been as a sub, whereas he struggled to get into games, sometimes struggled to get into games from the start. And there was a similar question from a nightmare on Elneny Street, who's on the Discord. How do you feel about the start games that Bruno comes off the bench Every time he's come off the bench, he seems to have an instant impact, be it goals, assists, incisive passing, or just changing the mood in the team.

1:18:23James McNicholas: Is Bruno going to be our super sub?

1:18:27Andrew Allen: Well, that's a really interesting question, yeah, because obviously when he signed, I think everyone thought, well, that kind of outlay on a Premier League proven player, he goes straight into the starting XI. And obviously, it's been a bit more of an adaptation than that, partly because of injury, maybe mainly because of injury. but he's kind of found himself in and out and he has become a very effective substitute you know someone who is able to come into the game and and quite quickly not just find the tempo but sometimes pick up the tempo yeah um I still think Mikel Arteta's ambition will be to kind of work him into the starting 11 more regularly.

1:19:13Andrew Allen: I felt it was significant that he picked him at the Allianz against Bayern. You know, I think that was a big show of faith.

1:19:22James McNicholas: Can I ask you how you felt? Because I don't know really, and the days after the Bayern game kind of passed in a bit of a blur for me. So I obviously read the blog and read the reports and what have you, but how did you feel that that midfield functioned in a game like that away from home against opposition like that

1:19:45Andrew Allen: i thought it was okay i thought it was okay i still think there is a way to go on it i i don't think i you know i've said but i think i said last week on this that i sometimes feel more comfortable more balanced when i see miles lewis skelly in there at this moment in time and even michael marino i thought on on saturday was just very sort of positionally adept and intelligent in terms of sort of the areas he took up and the way he was able to kind of offset what Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard were doing at times. Bruno, I think, is a bit more of a maverick in the way that he expresses himself on the pitch.

1:20:24Andrew Allen: And I think that requires slightly more accommodation from those around him. And I think we're still developing that. But I think for the time being, It's a brilliant weapon to have to use him off the bench. But I think in the second half of the season, he'll be a more frequent fixture in the Starring XI. What do you think?

1:20:47James McNicholas: Yeah, I think he is just being brought up to speed. He is being eased into action. We forget, you know, there was an injury, obviously, at the start of his Arsenal career, which kept him out for a few games and the team has done well. But I also think it's the way we should be using him and we should be using many of our players that they don't have to start every game that that we have the quality and we have the depth to rotate and and he's evidence of that i just like the idea that we we now look at the bench and we see players who can come on and change a game as you say maybe up the ante change the rhythm dictate the tempo a little bit more play a little bit differently that there is variety as we go back to what we were talking about in the early part of the podcast that the changes aren't just about fresh legs but they're about variation I think that variation exists in you know most areas of of the pitch and most areas of the squad and

1:21:48Andrew Allen: that's what Mikel Arteta is doing yeah absolutely um just having a flick through all these questions There's a lot of Man United questions, but I feel like that's more for the 30, isn't it? A little bit. Have you got one you like? I mean, there's lots. I mean, Dondon's 14 says, how much are you enjoying how bad Man United are right now? I have had friends who have said in recent days they feel sorry for them now, but there is no limit for how much I'm enjoying, how bad they are. Long may it last.

1:22:24James McNicholas: Yeah, it's impossible not to love it and to feel heartened by what's going on, because it's not just that they have a toxic dressing room, which of course is, you know, quite interesting, given that the man who's running the club is one of the biggest polluters in the UK. you know the structures at the club from top to bottom appear to be terrible you know Sir Jimmy is a footballing idiot the guy who's their chief executive did you realize this? the guy who is the chief executive of Manchester United used to work for Manchester City and between the years of 2011 the years of 2011 and 2015, the titles that he held at Manchester City were Head of International Business Development and Director of Partnership Sales.

1:23:27James McNicholas: What an interesting timeline, given what we've learned. And he's now the chief executive of Man United. They all hate Jason Wilcox. They hate Bruno Fernandes. They hate Lissandro Martinez. They hate their players. It's fucking hilarious to all of us who have suffered at the hands of Manchester United down the years it is something to to relish and cherish and I can't get enough of it to be honest no

1:23:53Andrew Allen: you're probably there's probably plenty of Jason Wilcox out content out there on the oh maybe mainly from Lissandro Martinez actually this is very funny I don't know who they want Ian Stewart Ripley maybe Gary Flickcroft Paul Warhol

1:24:08James McNicholas: yeah

1:24:11Andrew Allen: Yeah, it is kind of incredible to behold. And a lot of people tipped United to have a good year this season. They finished strongly last season and spent lots of money, albeit, I think, questionably. But yeah, I mean, they're talking... I'm seeing content like, we're in a relegation battle now from United fans. That's the stuff I really love. You know, I live for it. Yeah.

1:24:40James McNicholas: Long may it last. Yeah.

1:24:42Andrew Allen: As someone who went through kind of adolescence in the heat of that rivalry with Alex Ferguson and United, this is particularly delicious. And long may it continue.

1:24:56James McNicholas: Yeah. High in Quinn on Blue Sky. What would you give? What would you give up for a Manchester derby in the championship?

1:25:07Andrew Allen: Wow. That would be superb, wouldn't it? Yeah. A Premier League without either of them. It really would. The dream may be within our grasp.

1:25:16James McNicholas: Yeah. There was another question I liked here as well from Joseph Nathan. He said, Did you notice when Ben White accidentally headed the ball into the path of Tearano Barry, he didn't even put his hand up for an apology? Classic shithouse, even to his own teammates.

1:25:33Andrew Allen: I think that's just he had such unwavering faith in David Raya

1:25:38James McNicholas: he thought David Raya was just having an easy afternoon he wanted to keep him on his toes it was kind of a prank he played on David Raya

1:25:46Andrew Allen: exactly yeah we absolutely got away with that and David Raya bailed Ben White out

1:25:54James McNicholas: last one before we go Paul Beskow.no on Blue Sky why do Spanish coaches that say, I am so happy, always sound the least happy in the world? Yeah, I don't know about that. I'm so happy.

1:26:12Andrew Allen: I'm so, so happy. I mean, nothing will top Pep in that regard. No, not at all. Who presumably is so, so happy right now that his legacy is about to be sort of permanently tarnished. Yeah, I don't know. They've mastered the art, haven't they?

1:26:31James McNicholas: of passive-aggressive Iberian happiness. Yeah, I like it.

1:26:37Andrew Allen: Yeah. Unai does a good line in it as well.

1:26:41James McNicholas: Yeah, there was a good clip of him doing the rounds this weekend as well, wasn't there, when he was asked about, like, what the Villa fans were singing about Manchester City fans. And he was asked about it and he went, football, I'm here for the football. And he made a good point about, like, I'm not listening to them, I'm focused on the game, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, it was quite funny.

1:27:03Andrew Allen: Some people throwing his hat in the ring for the Man United job I've seen.

1:27:07James McNicholas: I think that would be great because as we know, he is the perfect man to come into a club, which is reaching some kind of rock bottom. He's exactly who you need to drag you out of that. I mean, he's doing an amazing job at Villa, you know, doing very, very good work there. imagine giving it up to go into that absolute lunatic farm um i don't think even he's that

1:27:33Andrew Allen: mad is he i don't think so i think there are better jobs for him out there if he if he plays his cards right um you know there's been some talk about him potentially going to atleti when diego simeone uh eventually goes perhaps next summer um that feels to me like a more sensible move i think any manager should be cautious of getting involved with that dressing

1:28:00James McNicholas: room at old traffic oh for sure for sure and i can't wait to see which fucking idiot goes and does it all right i i think we'll leave it there for now um we will as i said have an episode of the 30 for you over on patreon it's patreon.com forward slash arseblog for instant access to that we'll have that for you a bit later on this afternoon again thank you to everybody who's been in touch. Really appreciate it. Hope you enjoyed the show. Thanks as always for listening and we will catch you on the next one.

1:28:30Andrew Allen: Bye bye.

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