Arsenal Women Arsecast Episode 178: Birmingham draw gives Arsenal the Blues (again)

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0:32Hello and welcome to the Ask and Women Ask, Cast and Askblog.com with me your host Tim Stillman looking back at yet another poor result and yet another poor performance and if you're still with us for these episodes at the moment you're either very committed and loyal or you're a bit of a sadist because once again this is going to be there's going to be some big talk in this episode there's going to be some big conversations and I don't think there's tactically very much interesting to say about this game. Nevertheless, we are here. As ever, we are joined by our co-host Jamie Spanger. Jamie, how are you doing?

1:09What time was kickoff for you on Saturday?

1:13Jamie: It wasn't too bad this week, Tim. It was 10.30. But you know what the issue about the earlier but not too early games are is I watch them and I've had a couple beers and then I have to go and re-watch the entire game the next day. And it's the exact same. I finished the second re-watch and I'm like, I didn't need to do that. I just put myself through two hours of pain. But I'm okay, Tim. I didn't think we would be here after the international break. Can I be honest? No. I didn't think this was the conversation we were going to be having after how well some of our players perform. But let's do it anyway.

1:44Yeah, yeah. I've actually, I was in Nottingham yesterday for the men's game. I haven't had a chance to watch the game back. I'm going to be honest with you. Don't think I'm going to. Maybe I will at some point. I don't know. but I probably won't get time in Munich this week as well and actually what you've said there Jamie kind of segues into my first question like I say there's a little bit of stuff I think we can talk about with like selection and all of that tactics I don't think we can really talk about that because I don't really know what they are and I wrote in my kind of opinion piece after the game I haven't done like a tactical analysis piece since the Palace game and the reason for that is I just genuinely can't find anything interesting to pick out of the games but you kind of referenced it there what was your feeling coming into this game because I'll tell you what my feeling was for a start I felt really positive we were going to win this game I didn't think it would necessarily be like a you know world-class performance or anything I completely understand you know a lot of fans who are like well what's the point because the title was gone and all of that.

2:52So I understand why, you know, there wasn't like loads of excitement or enthusiasm for that. But I really did think it was an international break with the players going away, lots of them scoring, you know, filling their boots a little bit. Let's face it, there were a lot of mismatched international games, you know, Caitlin scoring against Haiti, Steiner scoring against Lithuania, Leti and Georgia Stanway scoring against Greece. It was like a perfect international break, really, for them to go away. and even with the Mariana injury I was like okay I think we're gonna get our foot back on the ladder here and just an uneventful 2-0 win was what I wanted and what I thought would happen so I was reasonably it's too much to say positive but I felt like okay I said before the game it felt like the start of the season again to me and I mean you've just said it there I didn't expect to be having this conversation again.

3:48What was your feeling coming into this game?

3:51Jamie: Yeah, I was very pleasantly comfortable. Like you said, I wasn't overly excited and totally confident, like shouting from the rooftops. But I thought like it's a strong international break where players low on confidence. And that's what the last block was. It was players that had lost their confidence and lost their way a little bit. They're scoring goals. Olivia Smith was finally getting some minutes and she was playing well. And I thought, you know what? This is a performance that is three points. And it felt like although the football gods hated us in the last block because I think my one silver line, it wasn't a silver lining, it was an excuse, it was a caveat, was saying we had a really hard run there with the Chelsea and the City game, United as well, and then obviously the start of the Champions League.

4:27Jamie: So I thought like we've been gifted a Birmingham City game at home at the Emirates after the international break and our players have finally gotten minutes and put the ball in the back of the net. So I was comfortable. And the other thing I was really comfortable about, and I was talking about it before the game, was Birmingham City have one threat this season and they have. She was the top scorer heading into this game. and I thought at least it's very, very, like there's a diagnosis for how we break down this team. And I thought we just stop her. I think this is going to be a really enjoyable day at the Emirates.

4:55Jamie: So some really unfortunate foreshadowing there, maybe Tim. Yeah, yeah. No, that's what I thought. I just thought this has to be like, you know, the first day of the rest of our lives type thing. And it wasn't that. Now the lineup dropped and I was having a conversation with someone before the game, probably about an hour and a half, hour and 40 minutes before the game. And I was like, you know, something I really want to see in this block. I really want to see that Smith-Russo-Balm frontline. That's clearly what they think the kind of the future of the frontline is. That's where they've invested.

5:30I think it's really time we see that now and we see it for a few games in a row. And the individual said to me, I think Steena might start up front today. And I was like, no, I don't think she will. and it soon occurred to me that that individual knew and had seen the lineup and just said I think we're going to see Steiner up front today at which point I was like oh you know you've seen the team sheets I mean I kind of have a rule Jamie about not getting angry about the lineup until I see what happened because I see it all the time like why is this player playing why is this player playing and then like the game starts you see the game plan and you're like oh that's why they're playing there's a specific plan around this but it wasn't just because I want to see that front three get going I just nothing convinced me that this was going to be a Steiner game at all and I was you know I had the silent alarm when I saw that that Russo was back in the 10 Steiner up front.

6:35I didn't like the smell of that from the start. What about you?

6:38Jamie: No, it's like the scene in Interstellar when Matthew McConaughey is watching himself and he's like banging on the window. That's what it's like watching Arsenal women try to play Steiner and Russo against the low block. Like it's failed so many times and that's frustrating. The one thing I will say is the Smiller-Holmberg change it right back for Emily Fox. I thought immediately like we're crossing the ball in. It just has to be, we're putting the ball in the box. That's all we're doing in this game. And immediately that is exactly what we're trying to do. But then I think it's a bigger problem where you look at that and you say, okay, Stina is tall and Russo is tall.

7:09Jamie: Neither of them are aerially dominant players. And this kind of still brings us to this massive wide discussion that we're going to talk about for the next hour is like Renee Slagas doesn't have the players that she wants, but she doesn't know what to do with the players she has. And just because Stina is tall, she's not good in the air. So that game plan automatically doesn't work. Then you're wasting a fullback who's putting crosses in and they're falling to absolutely no one. The runs are going nowhere. So I understand the game plan, You don't have the players for that. You can't just put one player on and think, oh, suddenly our strikers are going to be really, really good in the air.

7:38Jamie: That's not the kind of football that we can play. So immediately I was frustrated. I was Matthew McConaughey and I thought, we can't do this again. I'm sick of watching that against a low block. It's like playing with 10 players. And it's, yeah, it was hard to not be frustrated. Yeah. And I think the other thing, it's not just that, you know, Birmingham was never going to be a high line. It's that like Steiner's hold up play has improved a lot. the ball doesn't like bounce off her and go out for a throne anymore like her touch is much tighter however when she does hold it's still not her game like when she does hold the ball up it takes several touches you know it's like three four touches to you know i'm going to make a film reference here like um austin powers there's a scene where he's in a very narrow corridor in like one of those golf buggy carts and he's trying to do a three-point turn and there's not enough space and it's it's just like Steen has gotten better at that and Steen definitely has her qualities as we've seen many many times but that's just not it and in a scenario where one of Arsenal's big problems is they don't move the ball quickly enough like having a striker who requires three or four touches before they're going to get the pass off I just don't see it and whereas Russo is so sharp and so quick at that.

8:58And you've got two wingers who are looking to go beyond. And we won't talk about Reuteler because there are questions about that in the second half. But, you know, Friedem Ornum's injured. That's another quad injury. Kim Little was unwell. Obviously, Mariana's not there. That's three number 10s injured and Geraldine Reuteler. Again, not only can't start, but doesn't even come on until like the 76th minute. That must be the latest we've ever made a first sub under Rene. So, unfortunately, this is all part of the frustration at the moment is that we're seeing the same players do the same things and come up short and the new players that were brought in those positions not be used.

9:42I mean, the first half, Jamie, 76 % possession. Arsenal have not a great surprise. Eight shots, only one on target from Kyra. Russo hits the post and that's unlucky and that's one of the few times we get like a first time cross from Leo Williamson and Russo good yeah you know it's I think it's unfortunate when you hit the inside of the post I think it's kind of unfortunate but I mean the first half it it didn't feel like anything had improved really to me what about you no it was absolutely frustrating it was like

10:15Jamie: watching the exact same game we've watched since the start of the season Tim the biggest thing for me was like you said the ball movement was slow but it was also so sloppy like our midfielders and our center backs are giving up possession all the time and I just I don't understand and I know people come to this podcast for answers but I don't really understand because watching England during the international break and granted there's a big difference in in the teams that they played and the quality that the Lionesses have but Georgia Stanway looks sharp for England she's moving the ball around really well and again I don't think she's one of our biggest problems but so many times she turns and she scans and she runs into a player or she she misses a pass in this game the biggest thing that annoyed me was there's a couple times when I think it was Stanway recycles possession back to either the goalkeeper or on a batch here or lots of Wobbenmoy and lots of Wobbenmoy goes to switch it three times on separate occasions to Leah Williamson and Leah Williamson is standing with her back to the open part of the pitch and just goes immediately back into the danger like she's not scanning she's not opening up and Smilla Holmberg's in acres of space like she's got the whole wing to herself and we're just going back into trouble every single time so it's like these players aren't switched on right now and I think we're going to come on to like what Renee said after the game and the attitude towards the playing group and how that may have altered this weekend but it's really like not only a tactical issue right now because there isn't a tactic to kind of dissect but there's none like it's horrible what what we're trying to play with but the players are so switched off and it's like their football IQs are really, really low.

11:45And someone like Leah Williamson is, I think, one of the best players in the team in terms of

11:49Jamie: picking apart the crosses and knowing when to switch the ball. And when she's your kind of leader and she's not the issue in this game, like there is a lot of issues in this game. But I think when you've got someone like that taking the easy way out and kind of shifting the burden of responsibility, it just says a lot about the squad. And that happens for 45 minutes. I think Alessio Russo was the only player and maybe Kyra on a couple of occasions that looked like playing the ball forward it was yeah it was recycle play backward and just let Birmingham City take a deep breath yeah yeah like I got frustrated with Georgia just committing a lot of fouls as well like losing the ball and it's like don't give them that don't let them slow the game down and yeah there was there was quite a lot of that this is what Rene had to say about the first half in the first half it's hard for us to build momentum because I think the tempo needed to needed to be higher the basics in everything and the duelling positional detail all the ball basics we turn it over at times and we lose momentum and that takes energy from the team physically and mentally and yes that's right but it's very very familiar at this stage I was thinking to myself at halftime have I seen a one-two in this game have I seen like a passing triangle have I seen a passing behind it's like watching table football and like don't get me wrong low blocks are hard and sometimes when you're struggling with them you can overlook that that it's it's really difficult um it's very similar for the men's team yesterday there's a lot of like why do we struggle so much and it's like it is just hard when there are 10 players in the area but there was very it was very like side to side everyone's set everyone's in the same position doing the same thing not much imagination and movement I mean the second half it's difficult to tell whether there was much of an improvement we had Smilla-Holmberg it feels at the moment Jamie and we'll come on to this with the goal like it's all individual stuff basically so the Russo chance that's a Leo-Williamson cross which is similar to how Smilla-Holmberg equalises against Manchester United I don't think that's a worked move I don't think that's something they, in training, they were like, we'll get Leah Williamson's cross it to the back post.

14:03It's kind of a random event. And then Smiller has a decent chance where she should probably pull it back. But I won't have a go at her, considering she carried the ball forward a good 30 yards. And often I think a player's mind is made up when they start making that run. But it feels like individual moments, that's what the equaliser was. And I don't know. It didn't feel like an improvement, but at the same time, going 1-0 behind again in very familiar circumstances. Amy Merricks, the Birmingham manager, said afterwards they moved, this is going to challenge my pronunciation, I should have looked this up, Hertra to the right wing where she's been playing on the left wing all season and she's top scorer in the WSL.

14:48The goal she scores here is very similar to the one she scores against Everton a couple of weeks ago, but that's from the left. and Amy Merrick said they moved her to the right wing because they knew Arsenal were susceptible on their left. We saw it on the opening day. I asked the Brighton manager about Kiko Seike and again, I've forgotten his name. It's Arturo. I've forgotten his name, sorry. But, you know, he's managed in Spain and he was like, oh yeah, like I've coached against Onabache a few times and we felt we could. That was in the first game of the season and we got another game here where, you know, the pass, Lotta's got to eat that.

15:26I'm afraid that's a big mistake, not intercepting that. You know, I think she should be a lot firmer in that action and then someone running away from Onabarchie. Very familiar goal to concede.

15:41Jamie: Certainly. Everything's wrong with this goal. Everything's wrong. It really frustrated me and I think we talk about, you mentioned the triangles and the way that we move the ball. I think when you bring out Fox, Little and Mariona from this team, like those are the three players that are doing the triangles every single game and obviously I understand the Holmberg change but there's no creativity but what you also lose without Kim and Mariona unfortunately something that we probably should have found a solution for was defensive solidity like in the counter-attack it's not there in the midfield Kyra is the only one there and she backs away from the player instead of advancing onto her and that's like a I think there's a lot of positives in Kyra's game and there has been in the last couple games but that's an issue and there's no one else around her at this point in time because Alessia Russo is obviously playing in the 10 even though she's a world-class nine and I'm going to put my head through the wall in front of me in a second but our midfield's nowhere to be found and then not only that we've got an absolute acre of space between Leah Williams and a lot of Wobbenmoy and that's happened countless times this season and we've been lucky that the strikers have not been as high and advanced as that because I think we're probably having a couple more goals scored against us obviously Bunny Shaw missed that sitter against us as well and that was the same thing there's too much space between the center backs they're not communicating well but then you bring in Steph Catley and it's like okay you still lose space there like sorry pace there you still there's still issues in that central defensive area but on a batch here I've seen this too many times this season I think when you give up Katie McCabe and the biggest thing with Katie McCabe was okay we're moving her on now we're bringing in a younger player we're lowering the age profile because she's kind of lost a little bit of her pace she's still faster and it's it's unfortunate that you kind of see that transpire week in and week out and that vulnerability is there the center backs have to cover that but at the end of the day the left back's not quick enough and that player gets in behind it's a great finish mind you she's going to be at a big club I reckon come January like that's a fantastic player but yeah this is frustrating across all areas of the pitch I'm not faulting the goalkeeper because it's an unbelievable finish but yeah there's so many issues in this goal that we have seen week in and week out Tim yeah and that that just doesn't feel that fixable with the players we have to be honest like the the you know we've been screaming for that kind of maybe unicorn left center back but um like you say I'm not in the age Steph Cattley's at now I'm not sure like her recovery pace is not gonna bail Ana Bache out at this stage and again sorry to go back to the men's team again but like the left back in the men's team usually Calafuri can go everywhere and the reason he can go everywhere is because they've got Gabriel there and they trust him to fill that space and that's just not a situation we have and we don't have it with the personnel either unless I mean Elisa Gialmeda came on as a left back at the end which I I suspect was more about her attacking crosses at the back post that that's the one area of the game Arsenal have a bit of joy like Russo has the header it hits the post I think Lotta and Lisa Baum have headers at the back post so that's like pretty much all our best chances come in that fashion so I imagine that's why they played Elisa Giammeda there no idea if they consider her someone who can play there I don't know we haven't seen enough of her yet but we do get the equaliser Olivia Smith again it's a great individual action but I don't know it's difficult when you feel bad about a team everything feels like an indictment So even when someone smashes one in the top corner, you go, yeah, but we didn't really break them down.

19:13It's just we've got a brilliant player that can do that. But then all big teams have that. That's why they're big teams. They have those talents. But that goal from Olivia Smith felt to me like a shot in anger, a shot in frustration, which is all good with me.

19:31Jamie: Yeah, it was actually quite funny. I was at the pub when I first watched this game. and my friend Brad, he's from the north of England, big Liverpool fan, big Liverpool men's fan. And we were kind of watching it and he knows his stuff about women's football, I actually found out on the weekend. He's, you know, your Georgia Stanways and your Alessia Russos. But when Liv Smith hits that galazo into the top corner, he's like, that's the player you stole from us. And that kind of like reminded me, that's the star. That was the star signing. And we spoke in the preseason, Tim, before the start of the season, this is her year.

20:01Jamie: Like she's had her kind of warm-up year. She's being able to find herself into the team. She's been given a role. It seemed like that role was clear. And then she got edged out. And I don't want to say this with confidence, but I do think if Mariona's fit for this game, she doesn't start. Olivia Smith doesn't start. And she does in this game. And this is exactly it. It's like, that's the moments player. And every team has that player. She is that player that can turn it on when she needs to. Even when she's out of form, when she's not starting, that is the X factor player. But then on the other side of that, I completely agree.

20:30Jamie: It's so frustrating because that is the only way Arsenal are scoring right now. Like every single goal that we've scored, granted there are very few to pick from, have been in these scenarios. And that is the only way I felt like this goal was going to happen. And Olivia Smith keeps trying for the rest of the second half to smash it into the back of the net. And sometimes she can probably take a breath and compose herself. But you can see why she's doing that because the ball's not being played to the strikers, to the wingers, the midfielders aren't combining. The line is never being broken. That last line of defense is not being broken.

20:58So it's frustrating.

21:00Jamie: It's like in any other situation, you're celebrating that goal and you're thinking, what a player. but then you're also thinking this is a player that still doesn't really have a role all 11 players on the pitch are confused right now and the only way we're equalizing against Birmingham City is is by hitting one into the top right corner yeah and Renee had said in the pre-match press conference she was a little bit more forthcoming about certain injuries we reported on the Mariana one last week so she didn't have much choice but to tell us that was eight to ten weeks um the selena churchy one i heard that she'd had a bit of cleanup um surgery on the cartilage um and again i went into the press conference with that information so there was no point in withholding what happens there um but she mentioned that that live smith had been carrying something i believe it's a back issue she'd been carrying um and you know she was very effusive and said you know she's pain-free now like she's over that but um i think in isolation not a weird comment per se but very un-rené where it was tom actually who asked a question about olivia smith and kind of invited renee to like wax lyrical about her which she did a bit but she tempered it and said um she she scores a fantastic goal and she can do those moments for us but she also needs to be consistent in the basics there's still a lot of growth areas for her which she knows about so she needs to continue to work hard but the talent she has like I said a couple of days ago it's the best I've probably seen in women's football I mean in isolation that's not an unfair comment this is a 21 year old player of course there's like growth in in basics and all of that but Renee never does this Jamie she never gives you anything like that and even after the Paris game I asked Renee like what was it that made you angry about the Paris game like we heard you were too angry was it the players was it the referee and she said no never the players never the players that that's her public stance always but on this occasion in this post-match press conference she expressed some frustration she talked about the goal and said this is the only player we had to stop and we didn't do it and then there was a real hint of frustration in her answer about olivia smith she was i'd say animated by her standards in the post match press conference like if you watch it um i believe haters um usually record them like she is clear she's very animated like she's speaking very very quickly which again she never normally does and and again in isolation in and of itself don't have a problem with that but usually Jamie when managers start doing that it's not because of one game or one moment or one thing it's dark matter that's built up and built up and it it adds to the feeling to me that that something is just broken here and I don't think this manager can fix it I am certainly concerned um I'll give you the floor to talk about the piece that you wrote from the emirates because i think there's so much to say about what you mentioned about what joe montemiro said against city so that's all on you i'm not going to quote tim stillman there but the mask is is slipping and it's it's concerning because you're right and the start of the renee slager's tenure and what was so inspiring about it was it was it felt as if she was a part of the playing group and it really felt like there was such unison between the manager and the playing group she's a young manager she played with a couple of the players, but it always felt like the burden of responsibility.

24:42Jamie: She was holding that and she was putting that on her shoulders through bad performances, through lackluster performances, through the good performances. It was always praise for the players, but she was always taking every sort of inch of blame when it came to those, those grayer moments. And in this game, it felt as if, yes, it's a cocktail of, of disappointment. Like everything in this game is wrong because you can look at the manager. And I think after the palace game, we spoke a lot and said the manager coached a winning game the players didn't execute it and then we kind of looked at the games later and we said we don't know what the tactics were it feels like the players aren't being given a lot to work with but in this game it felt like everything was wrong and it was like the final nail in the coffin where the players aren't hitting 10 yard passes they're not tracking back the silly fouls being committed but also the starting 11 makes no sense the personnel is completely baffling considering we've the writing has been on the wall for a lot of these positional changes for months, even since the start of René's tenure, we've known that Steiner shouldn't play against a low block, little things like that.

25:40Jamie: Even on a Batchier, like this season, there has been so many moments repeated. So you look at this then and you think nothing is right. Everything's wrong. There is not like one kind of little bit of blame. And then you look at the back room and you look at the recruitment and everything feels like an issue. And I feel like the manager now is like faced with this situation where she has to take the blame but also the second she starts chipping away at the players it does look like the mask is slipping and I don't think when you're making those comments and like you said they weren't particularly aggressive it's not like she came in there and slandered the team but it really feels like now there's a problem and one thing you said before the international break was if she has the players then we can't really do a lot about it right now until she loses the playing group and it's not to say she has lost the playing group but losing faith in your players when they're kind of saving you olivia smith saved her that wasn't a that wasn't a renee slaggers tactic goal that was an olivia smith moment of brilliance had we lost that game it's a completely different outlook so that's not a good look for the manager it's not a good look for the playing group but i don't think there's a lot you can salvage when when that's your situation no no it's definitely not the the comment jamie is referring to they're after man city away in joe's last season um man City score a stoppage time winner.

26:58They've been battering Arsenal all half. It's the last second of the game. The ball drops to Daniela Vanderdonk on the edge of the area. And what she should do is boot it clear and the final whistle goes, but she takes a touch, loses it. And Caroline Weir scores. And afterwards, Joe said, I can't go on the pitch and kick the ball for them. These are players who played World Cup finals, massive games. What else can I say? And at that point, I was like, yeah, this is broken because Joe did not do that. He never did that. And it's like, that's a lot of frustration built up. And that's the same feeling I have here is that there's like, there's real frustration built up and Rene's been shielding and shielding and shielding.

27:39And I think when the mask starts slipping like that, to be honest, the writing's on the wall and I'm getting really bored of going into these press conferences and having to ask big, heavy questions. it's not very nice to be honest particularly like when you see the human side of it and you know you see the person and speak to the person and like the person it's not very nice but I asked her you know is this fixable can you fix this and her answer was yes of course I'm sitting here now straight after the game has the game just been played I need to process and there's emotions but I think so it would be a bigger issue if we don't play the Arsenal way and we don't get control of games and we can't dominate the way we want to dominate.

28:23We've done that in all the games. We aren't defensively solid enough at the moment and that's giving us a hard time. It's about the boxes and we have a hard time putting the ball in the net and everything in between is good and there's a lot of good things happening as well. If that's not the case, then we would have more concerns. But at the moment, I see the perspective and it's about those two areas. The brutal facts are we need to be better in both boxes. I have to be honest Jamie I don't think there is a lot of good stuff happening between the boxes either there is nothing kind of yeah and the kind of we're dominating games well yeah of course you are because Birmingham put nine players in their penalty area I think it's it's a given that you dominate the ball in that situation the other team is let is lying down and letting you do it so So I don't really see this kind of, oh, it's just if we can finish and we can stop.

29:17We talk about losing the players. And I think sometimes losing the players can be misinterpreted as they're all shouting at each other. And maybe it is that. I don't know. I don't think it is that. I think it's like a quieter, like everyone looks lost. That's what it looks like to me. The players look lost. The staff look a bit lost. And it doesn't have to be that everyone's screaming at each other and everyone hates the manager and blah, blah, blah. It just looks bereft to me. And I don't see this great stuff that's happening between the boxes either, if I'm honest.

29:56Jamie: Could not agree more. There is like nothing to look at this game, I don't think, and say, oh, that's the positive. I think you can still look at like moments of brightness and you can identify players. And obviously Olivia Smith and Smilla Holmberg, they're your players. But even then there's things that aren't working. Like there's this direction they're not being given, there's mistakes they're making. And you look at the young players for, let's say, Chelsea, and you look at Lexi Potter and someone like that, and you're thinking that's, she's just gotten a Lionesses call up and she looks brilliant and she's got her role.

30:24Jamie: Sonia Bonpastor has given her a role in 100 % backing from the manager to backing this young player for a world-class football team that are playing Champions League football. And for our manager, it's your player saves you and they're still not doing the right thing completely. So it's frustrating because the moments of brightness of players and individuals and it's their potential. It's not necessarily what they're actually doing on the pitch. It's kind of, oh, but we still have these profiles to look forward to and that's not enough right now because, like you said, there's no quality going on on the pitch right now.

30:55Jamie: Yes, we're dominating possession. We're doing nothing with it. We're losing the ball. And then Birmingham City are looking up and saying, we have no one. They're giving up possession again and we're winning it back. It's not like our press is good and we look really, really organized and teams can't break us down. And no, teams don't want to have the ball against us. And every team now, and this is my biggest concern going forward, has a formula on how to beat Arsenal. And these are every team, like bottom to top of the table right now because Chelsea and City did it their way and they dominated.

31:23Jamie: And then your teams like United and Birmingham City and Crystal Palace, they've done it a completely different way and it still worked. So that's frustrating because not only do we not know who we are, but apparently everyone else does. And that's a little bit scary heading into the rest of the season and heading into a season where the clubs aren't the same as the last campaign. And I think that's something maybe Rene Segers has struggled with is every team looks different. Even City looks different in their personnel and Chelsea look a little bit different in the way that they're playing as well.

31:52Jamie: And they've made some big signings. But then your Birmingham cities and your Crystal Palaces are playing like Crystal Palace don't look the same as they did when they came up two seasons ago. They're not great, but they look different. Your Villa looks completely different. Liverpool have a lot more going on and Spurs obviously are really dreading this weekend. I'm sure we'll come on to that later. But it's like Renee Sleggers is not doing match analysis heading into these games. Not just her, it's the whole coaching team. But we don't know the opposition, but the opposition knows us. and that is, yeah, that's frightening heading into the rest of the campaign.

32:23Yeah, the risk of being uncharitable. I don't think Birmingham were amazing here. No. I don't think this is a, oh my God, but like, and in terms of like our XG, I think it's 2.7 from this game. But a lot of that, when you look at the individual chances, it's, I think there are like 27 shots or something, 2.7 XG. that's not great from that number of shots or that amount of possession. It's not like we're battering the door down and creating loads of chances. I don't think it is just a conversion issue. I think it's a creation issue and that's generally more worrying to me. On Lexi Potter, by the way, someone I know from men's games is friends with her parents and he said to me about five years ago, he's like, yeah, my mate's daughter, Lexi Potter, she's going to play for England before she's 20.

33:15and i was like i've heard this before and uh there we are um so yeah um anyway um that'll do for part one i think um so why don't we take a break there and we will be back shortly for part two with your questions submitted on blue sky right after this

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36:02Okay, welcome back to the Arsenal Women Ask Cast and AskBlog.com with Tim Stillman and Jamie Spanger with the template episode by now. You probably haven't even noticed this is just the same episode as the Crystal Palace game and the Manchester United game, which has put it out for a third time. But the first question, Jamie, is from at Captain Joseph. Probably one to address first, as my first question is this. do you really want to do another half of podcast answering our questions while we're playing like this the answer is no we'll understand if you end the recording here um we're not going to do that no um but uh i'll ask the first one here um obviously a lot of people a lot of coaches unfortunately noticing that arsenal are vulnerable down their left hand side and this one's from at Howes 517.

36:55Do you think our vulnerability on the left is down to individuals, individual mistakes or structure and positioning being asked of the players and how would you try to fix it?

37:06Jamie: I think it's down to so many things and you can probably just like replay what I said about the goal that we conceded because I do think it's so many issues. I don't think we have enough defensive comprehension in the midfield. I think they're too easy to run through. That was our problem when we had someone like Victoria Pilova in the midfield. That's kind of ironic now because she scored more goals than we have um as a club um but oh my god it's so bad it's so bad anyway i digress we're in hell this is not real i think we're living in a simulation i'm gonna wake up tomorrow and everything's gonna be back to normal it's gonna be match day one anyway um yeah defensively i think without that kim little and mariona partnership in the in the eight which is something we all kind of said this is great we should probably move on from it now though.

37:52Jamie: We don't look good in the midfield and that is a problem in counterattacking games because we kind of get a little bit too excited when we have possession and suddenly our midfield really floats forward and then bam, just right through the center of the area. But in terms of going down the left side, I think they're always going to target that because of the fact that we do not have a good left center back. And I think it comes down to individuals and I'm going to come on to Onabachie because I think that's a big issue. But our left center back problem is bad. Lota Wobben-Moy is not a left centre-back.

38:20Jamie: Her and Leah Williamson don't play well together. I think we've probably said that for a long time now. They're too similar in the way that they play and therefore we lose so much coming out from the back. She's not fast enough. And then Steph Catley is at the end of her career now. Yes, she's better in the build-up and maybe in a game like this that would have helped because we have a lot of the ball. However, I still think the goal goes in. The only chance it doesn't go in is if Steph Catley puts her foot in front of it like Lota should have. But both our centre-backs are great players, but they're not working in the system right now.

38:51Jamie: And that's unfortunate. Ona Badje is not fast enough, but she's also a world-class right-back playing at left-back. And that's frustrating because a player when they're on – this is the same for every single sport. If they're not on their dominant foot or they're not on their dominant side, they're always going to be turning the wrong way. They're going to be on the back foot and just too slow to get off the mark. And that's happening so much because she's quite fast to him when she's going forward with the ball, but she doesn't know which way to turn. She's always going outside instead of inside.

39:19Jamie: And then she's losing a player almost immediately. But to go back to what you said in the first half, like that doesn't happen with a left centre-back. And I think the way I fix it is you upgrade your centre-back, you buy one immediately as soon as you can in January if you can find anyone. There's a couple in the NWSL I would look at, like consider it and the season's going to end. I think there's a few really good ones in there. But that needs to happen. Immediately I would try Emily Fox at left-back. Like I would just give it a go for a game, maybe play on a Badget on the right. But something has to be shaken up because that's an area of vulnerability.

39:53Jamie: And at least then if you play Fox against Tottenham, Tottenham are expecting Badget. And then there's maybe a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah, I think I know that Hal will agree with you on the Emily Fox left back thing. I think she's been on that train for a little while. I think there's a lot about midfield structure as well. I think you're right about all of those things. And I do think we probably underrate a lot of the security Kim Little gives us as a number six. We kind of look at our team as a six-list team, and I don't think we quite are. It's been Kim who's been playing there, and she's got that kind of organisation.

40:29She's still got an awful lot of recovery pace as well. And, yeah, I do think that, like, kind of ripping up that midfield structure, which I do think we had to do. It had to happen at some stage. So I don't think Rene or anyone was incorrect to do that or bring a player like Georgia in or whatever. But that's, I think, causing a lot of teething issues and either there wasn't a clear idea or else the idea they had didn't work and isn't working. And I feel for Kyra a bit because that's not her natural game. And it feels a bit back to the future. I think if we had a Kim Marri on a base, do you remember at the end of Rene's first season, we were getting run through all the time and there were like five twos.

41:18I think we won three games, 4-3, lost one, 4-2, lost one, 5-2. And then we kind of fixed that. And now we've kind of ripped up that midfield base, which wasn't perfect, by the way. I'm not saying that that was an absolutely perfect, but it was good. and yeah, I think we've just lost quite a lot of stability there, and a prime Leo Valti would be very, very welcome there, but we don't really have that at the moment, and I think we're kind of asking Kyra to do something that isn't really her skill set. Like Kyra, I think, needs to sit next to someone who does that kind of organizational piece so she can be a bit freer.

42:04I had a nibble on that one, so I'm going to ask another one here, it and I think this is something we have to get to from at lot to AWFC how can three number tens be injured and yet Geraldine Reuteler still can't start Steena in the nine against low box doesn't work her touches with her back to goal not a strong suit no space in behind I mean the Geraldine Reuteler thing not only not starting but it took till the 75th or 76th minute for her to even come on I mean I don't know about you Jamie I think I have arrived at that stage now where I just think we've wasted her time um by buying her and she's probably in a situation now where maybe privately she's thinking I just need this manager to go um so that another manager things might change with another manager because I don't understand this at this stage yeah I feel for her Jen and

43:00Jamie: I swung her, Katrine Kuhl, they were patient zero. They're probably like watching this right now and thinking we could have warned you. We really could have warned you. And I feel for her because this is something that happened under Jonas and it's something that's happening under Renee and whether it's recruitment. And I think there's so much that we can say, and I have been the leader. I've been flying this flag of saying the recruitment and the backroom isn't good enough, but the manager needs to, that's, that's your problem too. That is your problem too. If you are signing off on these players and saying, yeah, that's the player I want to execute my playing style.

43:34Jamie: It's insane to me. And I really feel for the human being, not just the player. I feel for the human being. This is a player that had a fantastic summer at a home Euros in Switzerland, obviously finished off the season for Frankfurt. And then she was probably destined for one last massive move. She's only 26, 27, but a big move to a big club in Europe. And that was going to happen as she's entering her prime of her football. And she's probably wasted six months. there's a World Cup next year. I don't know what she's doing. I just want to also say, we're talking about the left-back thing. Taylor Hines is another one, same situation.

44:05Jamie: Like that's frustrating. She was in the England squad six months ago and now she's not. So it's really frustrating to watch these players being wasted and their potential being wasted because it's a problem where the manager just needs to say, that's not the playing profile I want. Why are we buying Selena Cersei and Geraldine Reuteler? Spend that money on one player that you really want or just don't sign anyone. There's no point in using the squad depth for that. so that's frustrating for the person I will also say I think a lot of this is the fact that Renee Sagers doesn't know how to play a team without Alessia Russo and that's fair enough she's probably our best player like there's argument for others but I think she's our most consistent and most important player and it's kind of just put Russo anywhere so that she can fix the problem like the midfield's not working there's not a creative outlet in the 10 Mariona's injured Alessia Russo she's our fail safe and I think we saw that last season and I know we talk about the Steiner is the nine.

44:56Jamie: I don't think that's a tactical thing. I just think Rene is looking at like, get as many attackers on the pitch as we can. And Alessia Russo needs to fit in that lineup. And not only is that frustrating for Roy to learn, it's frustrating for players around them. It's frustrating for Steiner because she's a good player that's not being given any chance to impact games in the way that we're approaching them. But you're wasting a world-class number nine again and again and again. And then we're looking at her stat sheet and we're saying she's not scoring enough goals. She's had a bad season. She's playing in the 10.

45:22Jamie: She's one of the best strikers in the world it's so frustrating so as much as it's like a compliment to the player it's also you're not getting the best out of anyone in that situation not just the unused subs not just the players that are getting 10 minutes a game but your best players are not reaching their full potential so there's so many problems there in terms of the 10 same for freedom morning she wasn't seeing the pitch either it was a less serious zone the 10 so you move on these players you don't sign these players and you find someone that you really want to play because yeah it's a terrible way to run a football club.

45:53Jamie: It's never going to work. You're not winning trophies without philosophy. Yeah, and I think it has a longer-term concern as well. There are a lot of big teams out there that pay well. You've got to have an edge in the market. And I think if Arsenal keep signing players and wasting their time, players aren't going to want to come basically as well. Do you have a question for me? I do. This is along a similar vein, but maybe just more holistically. This is from at scotlandgooner15. Uh, pull over looks like a different player at Spurs. Mead is playing more centrally at city. Is this reflective of the manager who cannot get the best out of players?

46:28Jamie: I fear we've lost some direction and Renee is not the manager to steer the ship much longer. Yeah. So the pull over thing. Yes. I never really understood how it, it petered out so badly for her arsenal. Like I just didn't buy that was because of the injury. To be honest, It just looked like, you know, because Pilova before that injury was such an important player. And it's like, ah, this is like this long term. I know when I say the Kim replacement, that's a very loaded term because no one's going to replace Kim Little. But it's like this is the player who could really help us to kind of define what our new midfield looks like.

47:13and then under Rene there's just she just doesn't seem to be able to use her or platform her and one of the things I'm becoming concerned about is our midfield just feels like such a complicated place for a player to play and it's like because there's so many players that are failing there and I don't believe they're all just bad players it's like it feels like Mariana and Kim are the only two players who've been able to play in central midfield for Arsenal and perform and it's like you know Leo Valti couldn't get in Victoria Pilova couldn't get in Kyra really struggled for a long time to get in Frieda's not really playing Geraldine Reutel is not really playing it's like that's that five six midfielders I've just named there and it's like sooner or later it's like then the problem has to be what's being asked of midfielders in this team because if all those big international players can't do it, then it's too complicated and it's too, or else it's not clear enough.

48:18One of the two, it just feels like the Arsenal midfield is like, you have to be a genius to be able to work it out. It's really difficult. And then, yeah, you see Pilova go to Tottenham and it's no problem for her. And no, her knee injury hasn't changed her as a player or anything like that. the Beth one I'm kind of calmer about just because of the time it is of her career and it was just time to turn this group over a little bit and so I do think that was a bit more of a potentially necessary one well necessary is probably too strong a term for it but I'm more relaxed about that like it's more like we we have to find a way to move on and play without Beth Mead and bring newer players through and I'm looking at Lisa Baum and Olivia Smith and I'm thinking yes that that's who we should invest in is the future of the kind of of the wide positions um and you know arguably there are players we've kept that we shouldn't have um arguably this group should have turned over even more to be honest so I don't fixate on that as much but the pullover thing is more like god what do you have to do to be able to play arsenal midfield and is it because we don't really play with you know with certain profiles or i don't know it just it feels to me like what's being asked must be the problem because there's too many individuals that haven't been able to do it at this stage um how about this one uh it's from at uh ndmw while usually ball dominant we're rarely seeing rewards for slow patient build-up and the memorable moments of threat against Birmingham came from rare instances of quick often first time passes into the final third is speed of play an issue with the philosophy or execution of the Arsenal way it's another thing that Rene said in that quote that troubled me a little bit you know we're playing the Arsenal way and it's a bit like are we that doesn't feel great and this is something I wrote in my match piece I don't know what that is like I like if you were explaining this team tactically to someone who hadn't watched us before how would you explain it like I think I'd struggle but yeah I get the question there is is the slow build-up play is that is that an issue with philosophy or execution in your eyes the Arsenal way is the friends that

50:50Jamie: we made along the way that's not a thing that exists that's okay that's gone that's she's gone with the wind and that's okay and that is that is the that that's the issue here because the players aren't being asked to do anything and if Rene truly believes there's an Arsenal way the writing is on the wall man like there is no there's no way forward there because if you have a philosophy and you think that it's there and you think that the players are being brought the messaging to perform every week and get the three points and you really believe the philosophy is being built there that is a problem because as fans as journalists the players have no idea anyone watching that game would have no idea what Arsenal were trying to do.

51:27Jamie: So that is the biggest issue. If you're taking one message away from this pod, it is the end of the world. There's no way forward. It's all over. But in terms of its playing style, that's not there. The execution is horrible because the players aren't fit enough. They're not, I don't know if it's even that though, because you watch them at the international break and they look lively. So ball pace is the biggest one for me. I think that they're not moving the ball quick enough. There's no merit to having possession if you're not moving the ball quick enough. I've said this a million times on the podcast, but the players, the mindset's not there because they're not meeting the ball first.

52:04Jamie: Georgia Stanway is sliding in, causing a foul. There was three in the second half where she didn't need to do it because she's not first to the ball. That happens if your players are awake, if they're motivated to get to the ball. Sometimes runs aren't happening up the left. It happened in the last 10 minutes or so because we had to spam crosses in, but there was no intensity or motivation to move the ball forward. Like Kyra Kunicross and Alessio Russo were the only ones making forward passes or forward carries in the first half. Olivia Smith made a couple, but they amounted to nothing because no one was around her in the area.

52:34Jamie: It's the same as like Steen and Blaxinius. If you're playing against a low block and there's no room in behind for you, you're a striker and you've been a striker for long enough there that you need to make a run to the front post and be there. or you need to drop back into the edge of the area. The players aren't doing the second action. They're not problem solving by themselves. They don't know where they need to be. So as much as we can say the philosophy is not there, the urgency is the biggest problem in my eyes because whether that's because the manager's lost the playing group, the players are confused, professional athletes should have the urgency, especially when you're in such a bad patch and you've come back from the international break, this is your clean slate and it's not there.

53:10Jamie: So to answer the question, all of those things are a problem. obviously but yeah it's hard and this I think was the the clearest example of the players don't have fight anymore and that is a disaster class to watch yeah I I mean I think it has to be down to the philosophy at this stage like if it was down to the if we created loads of chances I'd say it was down to the execution but we haven't like so I think it is the philosophy and I think from what I'm seeing I don't think the players know what it is I don't know what it is at this stage. Do you have a question for me? I do. At this stage, you may as well go in the dugout.

53:52Jamie: Anyone with an Arsenal polo can do it this weekend because we've got no idea where we're going. But this one's from at Alex Lodge. Arsenal have a full week of training before the North London derby. First time they've had that since the United game. What tactical changes should they prioritize working on to turn things around? In context, Spurs have eaten 12 goals in the last two games. Yeah, Dr. Arsenal will see you now.

54:19Yeah, I mean, look, it's going to be, last season they held us to a 0-0 draw away from home and they deserved to do that. We couldn't break them down. Feels very familiar, but that was on a smaller, tighter pitch at Brisbane Road. Not a great pitch. This is going to be the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It's a bigger playing surface. It's a better playing surface, so there should be more space for us. it'll be interesting to see how Spurs approach it because they've been very uh I was going to say gun-ho and um just as I was saying it I realized that their manager's called Martin Ho but they have by far the highest number of shots taken in the league so they've been very front footed which you know potentially should give us some space but it will be really interesting to see whether they continue with that, particularly because, as you said, they've conceded six in each of their last two games.

55:14That bit doesn't feel great to me because that's kind of what happened to Man United when they came to the Emirates. And usually when that happens to teams, particularly because Tottenham have a week to prepare as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they moderated, if they said, we know Arsenal can't really deal with low blocks at the moment. We've conceded 12 in the last two games we need to change this we need to get like our mojo back a little bit and they've got a points gap to us so a draw is a decent result for them to keep us at arm's length a little bit it's very depressing to talk about that but that's the reality of where we are so i wouldn't be surprised to see them be a bit more circumspect what we really have to prioritize i think is not is being more secure in those transitions.

56:05Tottenham are good in transitions. They create a lot of threat. We have to shut that down because if we go 1-0 down again, like we did against Man United, like we do in this game, you just don't have any confidence that we're going to be able to score two goals. And the Birmingham game, if we don't concede that goal, I think just like Man United, we probably squeeze out a 1-0, which we just about deserve. I'm not saying that's amazing. I'm not saying that means everything would be fine. But in both the United game and the Birmingham game, if we don't concede a stupid goal, we'd probably just win them both 1-0 and they're a bit unspectacular.

56:46But then we're in a very different position and the confidence is very different. So I think we've really got to prioritise not going 1-0 down in this game. so we really got to secure those transitions I'm hoping Kim will be available again I think she should be she just had illness so really sitting Kim in that position as a six as well is something I'd very much prioritise and kind of go from there but I'll repeat myself I really want to see that Russo-Smith-Balm front three they've stabilised the midfield selection as much as they can in the last four games or so, and that's very deliberate.

57:29I'd like to stabilize that front three as well. And let's have like Russo dropping deep, Smith and Baum attacking in behind. Let's see Geraldine Reutiller as well, box crashing in behind. Attacking-wise, I just want us to try something different, to be honest. I don't want to see the same players doing the same things with the same results, to be honest. So I really want to see Geraldine Reutel start this game, not because, you know, that thing happens, right? When a player's not playing, they become the best player in the world. But I haven't seen enough of this player yet. I don't know how good they are, but I can see that vision of a front four, of Russo with Reutel crashing in behind, Smith and Bett.

58:14Like, I can see that in theory and on paper, and I don't understand why we haven't seen it yet. so yeah get Kim to secure the base of the midfield a bit more let's get Roy Tiller as like a proper 10 let's see what she can do there because nobody else has made that position their own let's try something different there and give Tottenham something different to think about let's not you know play table football again where we're passing slowly side to side and look maybe in isolation don't get me wrong I think we're well past caveating and explaining everything but in isolation you can say they only had two training sessions before this Birmingham game you know it's a 12 45 kickoff on the back of an international break and all of that um and they've got a bit of time to prepare for this um but I just I'd like to see them do something different Jamie and don't get done on the break I think it's kind of that simple um how about let's let's do a couple more um this one from at Cooney Cross bro um we've gone through and look we we get these kind of questions all the time and I think understandably we've gone through almost three managers now since we last won the league at what point do we start looking at the higher ups in the club this can't just be a players and coach issue when the same

59:30Jamie: cycle repeats over and over again agreed go look yeah I look back at every every episode we've recorded this uh season because I think I've said plenty on that and just there's there's a bigger problem at the club recruitment direction I thought there'd be a lot salvaged or not salvaged but maybe solved with the extra support added with Jodie Taylor's new role doesn't seem really to be the case I don't know what's happening in the in the behind the scenes obviously there's more support there which is good but recruitment is the exact same if not worse I would maybe add like we've made a big signing in Olivia Smith the rest of our signings that have been impressive or on free transfers or they're not playing at all.

1:00:11Jamie: So I completely think there is a bigger higher up and we're seeing the same pattern where it's a really brilliant start from an exciting manager and then everything is kind of falling apart at the end of the tenure. And look, that happens in football and I think it's so easy when we look at Arsenal, we're Arsenal fans, we're looking at our club in isolation and we're saying, oh, this is happening because it's so easy to kind of just tunnel vision onto the club. Chelsea are an exception in the WSL. Like that's a powerhouse. And I think there's actually a question. I've lost it now, so I'm sorry to whoever asked it, but like the great and successful clubs have been forged by a massive like head and Paul Green was that for Chelsea.

1:00:51Jamie: And I think you can look at that and say, where's our Paul Green or where's the person kind of at the helm that has the philosophy because it starts from the top? And maybe that is a really big concern and I think it is. I don't think that Claire Wheatley has done anything particularly amazing in terms of directing the team on the pitch. The club's done great. We've got bums in seats, but we're not winning trophies. And I think had that Champions League win not happened, then we're looking at the last 10 years and thinking, oh, my God, like this is a fall of a really, really big titan in women's football.

1:01:23Jamie: So, yeah, there's issues in the back room because the same thing happens all the time. It does happen. City have struggled since their last title win. they've kind of come at the end of that and hopefully our time is soon as well so it happens to a lot of clubs that's my only kind of I'm breathing through that but yeah it's a cycle that keeps repeating itself and at the at the end of the day I think the the problem is the fact that we've got no direction in the back room yeah I there's a couple of things I think about this I think obviously we focus in on recruitment because it's the thing we can see and we don't need to repeat ourselves happening too often that players are being bought in that the manager clearly doesn't really want and that's it's a really poor situation to be in and I think there are many authors of that failure Renee herself as well you've either got to say I don't want this player don't sign them or else you've got to use them what you're given you can't have it both ways so that's a failure for her but it's obviously also a recruitment failure um I mean when I ask those questions about like you know the top of the club and all of that I don't honestly get loads of oh it's it's a complete shit show like I don't I don't honestly get a lot of that feedback and so there is a big part of me that thinks ultimately football's a game of talent and I've seen this before on the men's side like everyone hated the Cronkies until we won the league and I don't think the Cronkies won Arsenal men the Premier League I think they got probably the best manager in the world and they got a load of good players and then all of a sudden all the stuff I'm not saying the stuff behind the scenes doesn't matter it does but ultimately you know are Man City fundamentally better run than Arsenal maybe they are they've got um I've forgotten the name of their um their director of football who I believe is Norwegian um I'm forgetting everyone's names this morning um and they've got Charlotte O 'Neill there and Chelsea had Paul Green but at the same time there's a big part of me that's like but Man City have got Bunny Shaw and that solves like and they might be completely dysfunctional behind the scenes but they've got Bunny Shaw and she scores loads of goals and they win loads of games and so that stuff just like melts away and um it's it's very much the same like with chelsea like yeah paul green i think right set clearly set like a really good direction for the club and all of that but they also had sam kerr for five years who scored a shitload of goals and they won a load of trophies and i think ultimately that solves everything having like a world-class manager or like a world-class player or world-class players that stick the ball in the net for you when things are going a bit sticky you know i you said it yourself like earlier that olivia smith goal is that because of renee slager's coaching or is that because olivia smith is amazing i think we all know the answer to that and so like talent talent wins ultimately you've got to the the backroom stuff is about putting it together correctly i think it's fair to say arsenal haven't done that um and aren't doing that and but i also think if we got a unicorn world-class manager tomorrow i think we'd all stop talking about who's the head of women's football and who's the director of football and who does this and who does that i do think sometimes we look at those issues because we're really like we're looking for what's wrong which is a completely understandable thing to do and we also don't have a lot of clarity.

1:05:05No one has clarity about what happens with boards and stuff like that and direction and strategy. And so I always find it really difficult to pass that. If Arsenal change all of that tomorrow, fair enough. I don't think any of the people involved could complain, but I still ultimately think if Rene went tomorrow and they got a manager who was really, really good and it really worked, That would solve everything. Scoring goals and winning games solves everything. So I'm not against the idea of changing all that. I don't really know. But ultimately, talent wins, I think. Let's finish on this one, Jamie, just as a bit of a waterbreaker.

1:05:55From at Annie-25, I'm tired of asking about the poor performances. So what's your go-to activity after these games to calm down? Personally, can recommend long walks in nature.

1:06:09Jamie: This is what I did, Annie. I had several pints at the pub with my good friends who just kind of calmed my soul about it. And they do really care, which is very nice. So I had a few pints and I thought, this doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, guys. It's just a game. It doesn't matter. Why are we investing our lives into this? I woke up the next morning and I still thought, it doesn't matter. Guys, it doesn't matter. I went and got my arm in flat white and I read my book at the cafe for like two hours and I thought there's bigger things to football. I walked down to the cinema,$8 a day. I went and watched Sense and Sensibility.

1:06:46Jamie: Brilliant film. Brilliant. It was actually a great adaptation. So go invest your time into that. And I thought everything's going to be okay. I then had to rewatch the game. So you guys don't have to do that though. That's the beauty of not being me and Tim. You don't have to watch the game. So I think hug a loved one. Maybe I'm not promoting drinking, but if you're around your friends, maybe a couple of pints and then take a day in the sun to just do some deep breathing. And remember there's more to life than football. And don't re-watch the game. Don't ever do that, ever. Even if we win, it's not worth it.

1:07:19Yeah, I mean, for me, I went, you know, I started writing these kind of opinion pieces after the match this season And I just did that with a pint in the Wetherspoons next to Highbury and Islington station. Obviously, writing about it is very therapeutic as well, because you get some things off your chest. You close your laptop, go home, earphones in, listen to some music. And the kind of advantage of the lunchtime kickoff, like my daughter's still around and kicking when I come home. So, you know, got home for some family time, which was very, very valuable indeed, not least because I was in Nottingham on Sunday.

1:07:56um but yeah i i stopped at one pint i was tempted um to go on a solo binge drink but i didn't do that uh wrote my piece one pint home and yeah forget about it basically um but to your point being surrounded by loved ones that's you know that's that's the way um thank you for being our loved ones who are surrounding us with this episode um i hesitate to say this but come hell or high water we will be back next week with an episode after the north london derby um where there's only really going to be two emotions after that and i think it's high time jamie we were able to do a celebratory pod um of some sort and listen i know the law of averages is uh an intellectual fallacy but it's got to happen at some point even if even if by accident it has to happen at some point so Jamie thanks as ever thank you very much good luck everyone enjoy your week remember more to life than football more to life than football yes indeed so we will be back uh probably next Monday um or so we might might be able to record on Sunday actually um since the very clever broadcasters have made the North London derby clash with both the Arsenal and Spurs men's teams brilliant well done everyone fantastic uh really pleased with that um way to knock several thousand off the gate as well great thinking um but i will be there uh and doing the stuff that we always do um probably andrew allen will have to cover the pre-match press conference for us because i'll be in munich uh watching the men's team on thursday so um but we'll have all the coverage which we usually do for you on Ask Blog News.

1:09:45And thanks for sticking with us. And we will speak to you after the North London derby when hopefully the world will look a little bit brighter.

1:10:10ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show we recommend.

1:10:15Jamie: Hi, I'm Molly Graham, host of Work Life, a podcast from TED. The most important lessons about work usually aren't the ones anyone teaches you. They come from experience, from uncertainty, from figuring things out as you go. On this show, my expert guests and I explore how careers really unfold. Through change, through doubt, through the decisions that shape who we become over time. Because those moments aren't the exception. They are the work. Listen to Work Life wherever you get your podcasts.