Episode 838 - Left Alone

0:23Hello and welcome to a brand new Arseblog Arsecast right here on Arseblog.com. How are you? Hope you're well. Thank you very much indeed, as always, for being here. Arsenal's tour of Singapore and Hong Kong is over. The team traveling back today, Friday. They'll probably get a few days off and then back to the grind on Monday into training, preparing for the last two games of preseason at the Emirates against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao. And then, before you know it, all eyes will be on Old Trafford for the opening day of the season. on our first game against Manchester United. The game yesterday against Spurs in Hong Kong, well, you know, there were a lot of opinions out there about the performance, about some of the things we saw, about the result itself.

1:13So that will form the basis of today's conversation. We'll be talking about that game, some of the things we saw, some of the issues which have cropped up. Of course, understanding that it is preseason, that you have to look at it through that lens. But there are a few interesting bits and pieces that we can get our teeth into in just a few moments time. Before that, I do just want to give you a heads up that our Fantasy Football League, which is available exclusively to our Patreon members, has launched today. Our new season of Fantasy Football is available right now with some great prizes. So if you want to join, you have to be a Patreon member.

1:49And you can do that at patreon.com forward slash arseblog. It is about$6 a month. And by the way, if you are going to sign up, please do not use the Patreon app on iOS because Apple apply a surcharge to every subscription that goes through their store. So you can sign up via the Patreon website. You can still use the iOS app, but don't sign up through the app because you'll have to pay a bit extra. And that is completely and utterly out of our hands. So we don't want anyone paying any more than they need to. Just sign up via the website, then you can use the app. That's the way to go. Anyway, first prize for our fantasy football league this season, a thousand euros in cash, proper currency.

2:36None of this crypto nonsense. Second prize is 500, third prize 250, and fourth prize gets our fourth place trophy. Very famous fourth place trophy and an Arsenal shirt. We also have a cup competition. The cup winner gets 250 euros and we'll have a prize for last place as well if you fancy doing that. So if you'd like to sign up for our fantasy football, as well as getting all the extra content that we provide during the season over on Patreon, it is patreon.com forward slash arse blog. Right. Let's get on with today's show and to talk about the game against Spurs and preseason more generally at the left hand side.

3:12Yes, there's a big discussion about that. I'm joined by Phil Costa. Good morning, Phil. Hello, Andrew. Happy first of the month. We're officially in August now, which means Barclays is back. It's around the corner. It's quite scary. Just a couple of weeks. Yeah, I know. Where did July go? What happened? Just flew by with all the fun we were having, you know? Well, all the fun you were having in Singapore, eating and drinking and meeting people and watching Arsenal. Sure. God. I know. I know. It's a tough old life, but somebody's got to do it. No, it was a fantastic trip out there. I will say that my gut instinct about Hong Kong was correct.

3:55And this is nothing to do with Hong Kong, the city or the people. And from what I saw, James did his on the whistle and he absolutely loved his time out there and loved the Arsenal fans and the passion of the fans out there. That was never in doubt for me. I'll make that very clear. What was an issue was watching Tottenham. And based on what I saw yesterday, I feel like I made the right decision coming home from Singapore rather than continuing the trip on to Hong Kong. I'm sure it would have been wonderful. I'm sure the people would have been fantastic. I'm sure the city's amazing to go and see.

4:34But would it be worth it if you have to also watch Tottenham? and I feel like I feel like I got it right. Not only did you not have to watch Tottenham, Andrew, but you missed the flag waving at the end of the game, which for some reason pissed me off. Even though I placed about zero interest in the result of this friendly and the outcome of this friendly, that really annoyed me. They had that little side stand, that corner of the stadium and I just, one Spurs fan is a Spurs fan too many. That's it. And I'm sorry, even if you're from Hong Kong, you can get it at this point. So I just don't like that.

5:18But yeah, I mean, you made a wise choice, I think. And also your body clock is back to normal now. You're doing the things at home. More or less. You didn't miss much. More or less. Yeah, I mean, the thing to say is I did watch the game though. I sat here in my office and I watched the game And look, I am not one of those people who can connect with the level of anger and frustration that I saw during the rounds yesterday after a preseason game, which ultimately does not matter one bit, right? But we're here to talk about football and we're here to talk about, you know, the things that have gone on.

5:56So let me just do this, right? Because I asked in our Discord for a little bit of some questions. And there was a question about this. And I saw, you know, people talking about it in the comments on Arseblog News and on the Arses and online further afield. Not in the bad, bad place because I don't look in there anymore for the sake of my own brain. But, you know, I could sense certainly that some people were concerned and anxious about what they saw from Arsenal in that game against Tottenham yesterday. So on the Discord, Ben Nugent says, I know this is just preseason, and the three primary new signings, Zubimendi, Jokerez, and Nani Madweke, were barely slash not involved.

6:38But yesterday had all the hallmarks of the worst parts of last year. Stagnant attack, right side reliance, left side totally ineffective, lack of central creativity, opposition scoring with their first shot on target, Raya being unconvincing. is there a worry that the team isn't going to tactically evolve and remain easy to play against it feels more like opposition teams are figuring us out now that is to my mind with all due respect to ben even though he acknowledges it is pre-season i feel like ben's glass is half empty is that fair do you can you understand why people will look at that yesterday and go oh that's all a bit familiar or do we really have to look at this in the context of it's pre-season this is the third game that we played in very trying conditions I think it was over 30 degrees again the humidity was something like 90 percent the pitch was bad I think I think the pitch in Singapore looked better than the the pitch in in Hong Kong yes it's the same pitch for both sides but this was our third game in a week in those kinds of conditions with a sort of mix and match approach to team selection to me that's the more um appropriate context let's say to look at it rather than fearing the worst parts of last season are just coming back to bite us again just that's my feeling yeah ben went strong there i think but the way i view pre-season is that you You over-index the good stuff and you completely ignore the bad stuff, more or less.

8:18I mean, obviously, I don't do that exactly, but I don't know if I can put too much stock into the performance. I definitely don't care about the result. But you can notice patterns. You can recognize patterns. And there was a slight sense of deja vu in how we played yesterday to a lot of the games we played last season. And it wasn't a good game, to be honest. I know it was an amazing experience for those fans in Hong Kong to be able to watch a North London derby. I think it was the first one ever outside of the UK, which is quite a momentous occasion if it didn't really mean that much. But like you said, the pitch, the conditions, even the referee made this a really boring, bitty watch.

9:03And we played our part in that, obviously, but it just wasn't fun. It wasn't a good watch. It wasn't entertaining. And I just feel like half of the games we played last season in that we huffed and puffed and couldn't blow the house down were basically what we saw yesterday. So I get the frustration and a bit of nervousness, but also there are enough mitigating factors around the game to make it easy for me to just kind of swat it aside and say, okay, I'd be a bit more worried if that continues against Villarreal and Athletic. whereas a friendly in Hong Kong I'm just happy to compartmentalize.

9:42Sure, sure. So maybe we'll try and take a couple of observations each from the game. Again, this is sort of surface level stuff because of the kind of game that it is. But for me, I feel like this early part of preseason, so much of it is about fitness and conditioning and people have asked, well, why didn't he play this player? Why was this player playing from the start? You know, this is about getting the players up to speed physically. And then I think when we look at the games coming this week, like you say, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao at home on a good pitch in more favorable weather. Forgiving weather.

10:23That's a good word. But weather that the players are more used to, you know, because it is very, very hot out there and very humid. And it does take a toll physically on you. and I think it is hard to find your best individually and collectively when you're not used to that kind of heat and those kinds of conditions. So this week is much more interesting for me, you know, to see what happens on Wednesday, to see what happens on Saturday against Athletic, to see what kind of team he picks, to see who plays where, who's starting, et cetera, et cetera, right? But there were and there are things I suppose we can chat about and talk about from this game.

11:01one aspect I think that stood out to me particularly in the first half was set pieces and we did not look at all comfortable from set pieces and that was a bit of a theme last season as well particularly after Gabriel got injured I don't think one man should be the glue to your defensive stability when it comes to set pieces and we talk about Gabriel so much with regard to set pieces at the other end the goal scoring prowess that he has that we've all seen I mean, no central defender has scored more goals than him in the last whatever many seasons in the Premier League, right? But I think there is a presence defensively that he gives us as well.

11:41Was that a worry for you yesterday? David Raya didn't look necessarily as convincing as he has done in the past. Again, he could be just having one of those days. You never know. But we were a bit wobbly from set pieces. For sure we were. And I think you're right to mention the influence of Gabriel, who is the organiser. He's very aggressive in the air. He can offer you a presence that you might not always get without him. And even though Kai Havertz was on the pitch, Christian Norgaard was on the pitch, we had more than enough capability in the air. But when you've got an organiser, a real presence in there, you do miss them, right?

12:19And I think what Spurs did was almost look at the Arsenal playbook. and they put Mickey van der Ven on David Raya. They made life uncomfortable for him. They made themselves a problem and nuisance in there, especially in the six-yard box. And I think we almost got a taste of our own medicine, which isn't entirely unusual when you remember who's in charge of Brentford and Thomas Frank, who is known, or Brentford are known, for maximizing set pieces. They look for the margins in places that you might not always look. And it showed that they did a bit of homework. So I think there was a bit of vulnerability there.

12:54Obviously, they ended up hitting the post twice. Richarlison somehow couldn't follow in that chance at the back post, which was strange as well. It was a handball as well, wasn't it? Yes, it kind of ricocheted back off the post, just a weird situation. But yeah, I'm not going to sit here and say we look comfortable because we didn't. And for someone who is so good at sort of being a magnet in terms of claiming the ball, catching the ball, recognizing the flight of a ball in David Raya. I think it's one of his superpowers as a goalkeeper and as a player. He did look a bit shaky yesterday and I know he's not the tallest.

13:33I'm not saying six foot is short by any means, but I think there are taller goalkeepers in the Premier League. So yeah, I think we did see a little bit of vulnerability there when it came to set pieces and Spurs, to their credit, did their best to maximize it. What about the goal we conceded? I don't think that goal would have stood in the Premier League simply because there was an obvious trip by Richarlison. He caught the ankles of Myles Lewis-Skelly. But people will look at this goal and say, hmm, did David Raya need to make that pass into Myles Lewis-Skelly? It could be a demonstration of the faith that he has in Myles Lewis-Skelly's ability to hold on to the ball in central areas and to do things with the ball in central areas because he picked up the ball and decided, I'm going to go for it.

14:20I'm going to burst forward, something we've seen him do to great effect many times. But in this circumstance, obviously, there was a foul. The ball broke. Was it Papisar who scored the goal? Yeah, Papisar. Papisar. Raya's off his line, right? And he's caught out. So where do you stand on that situation? Should he have been a bit more conservative with the pass that he made into Myles Lewis-Galley. Can we read too much into it because it ended up with a goal despite the fact it shouldn't have been a goal because it was a foul? What was your view on that? Well, it was definitely a foul. And I find it really strange that the referee was so whistle-happy throughout that first half and then somehow missed that.

15:03I didn't really understand it. Obviously, in real time, it can look different. Even my initial instinct was that Lewis-Galley had just overran the ball. but on the replays you could clearly see that it was a foul so I don't think that would have stood in any Premier League game of significance but yeah I am looking at David Raya a little bit there and it's not for the first time I'm doing so I think towards the end of last season there were a few passes that were you know not just misplaced but putting people in bad situations or positions kind of hospital balls where you think maybe you can just launch that one into the corner of the pitch and not put him under pressure on the edge of his own box with three players around him.

15:45And I think especially in the microcosm of yesterday with the bad pitch and how both teams were playing, I mean, Arsenal noticeably were going very long because they didn't fancy any one-touch football in midfield. The pitch was super dry and bubbly, so it made it very difficult for us to gain any sort of rhythm. So the fact that we'd committed to a longer game for the whole of that first half. And then Raya just decided to put Mars Lewis Skelly under pressure there in the center circle with three players around him felt a little bit strange. And I think in Lewis Skelly's case, he could do that a hundred times and be successful.

16:22And we think, oh, wow, he's so good at evading pressure. He's so good at taking the ball on the half turn and beating players with his first touch. All it takes is one mistake or one time to get it wrong and you're punished for it, which I, again, I have to give credit to Papsar for the finish because he struck it really well. There was a lovely trajectory on the strike and it was a mistake. But sometimes these things can happen. I'm not looking too much at Lewis Skelly in this particular case. I'm more looking at Raya to say, maybe just whack the ball into the corner and not put an 18-year-old inverted left-back under pressure in that scenario.

16:58Yeah, I mean, I think he had options outside him. It's not a case that he had to just launch it. I think he had Kivior and Saliba available to him as well, but he chose the more difficult pass. And maybe the more difficult pass is where we try and analyze the risk-reward element of football, right? Where you can play it safe to Kivior or Saliba, but you keep possession. You don't have a chance to get forward in the same way. Whereas if you give it to Lewis Kelly, let's say he doesn't get tripped by Richarlison. He bursts through and all of a sudden Arsenal have got Tottenham running back towards their own goal, right?

17:27The other aspect of this is I saw people talking about, well, Raya's going to get lobbed all the time. Why is he playing so high up the pitch, etc.? But that is what he's asked to do, right, in this team and in this setup, that he is asked to play a long way out of his goal. And if something goes wrong, then that is where you're going to get punished, right? Yeah. How many times have we seen this with City and Edison? when you think, oh God, where's he going? He's on the halfway line or he's taking a dodgy touch and he's dribbling the ball out of play. It's just what we ask him to do. And I think there might have been a little bit of over analysis in terms of, oh, now there's a goalkeeper in who can actually compete with him.

18:12And now he's nervous again. I've heard that take a couple of times. And I don't know if I can subscribe to that based on one pre-season friendly. And actually, to be honest, if you were going to make that comparison, And it should have been made towards the end of last season when Neto definitely wasn't an honest competition for him. So I don't know. I just think maybe he tried to be brave in that moment. It backfired. Would I like him to do that again? Probably not. Will he do it again at times? Yes. But I'd much rather we try and be a bit braver in terms of our midfield as opposed to our goalkeeper who's playing 35 yards out of his goal.

18:49I'd much rather he was a supporting presence as opposed to a playmaker in that sense. Sure. Okay. So that was the only goal of the game and really the goal shouldn't have stood. So essentially it was a nil-nil, you know, technically. That's what I took from it. Technically it was one nil. Morally, a nil-nil. And, you know, we can all take our solace from that. Was there anything else that stood out to you, either first half, second half, a piece of play, an individual, something about the way we played or they played or our ability or inability to deal with those things? Yeah, I mean, I kind of referenced it before, but I think generally across pre-season, we've been going long a lot more, looking for Saka down the right-hand side or aiming for Havertz through the middle and then squeezing the game in hope of winning the second balls.

19:39And I think you could see yesterday, we played quite an off-ball midfield with Norgard and Rice, tailor-made for that style of game. And I think Spurs kind of understood the assignment as well. And they were very off-ball as well. They were sitting deep looking to catch us in transition. I mean, it's no surprise that they looked better already with Thomas Frank in terms of their overall shape and structure. They were very disciplined. They made the spaces as small as possible. And I thought their fullbacks were actually very good in terms of their own individual battles. Pedro Porro got the better of Martinelli.

20:11And I think Jed Spence was more than level against Saka. So they looked to negate our play with a leggy, energetic team, and they basically did it. So we struggled again, because when the onus is on you to break teams down, it just felt like we lacked a little bit of natural ball progression that didn't come from William Saliba, basically. And I think there you saw the difference maybe between Norgaard and Zubimendi. I think Zubimendi is a lot more comfortable and natural in that sort of sense. But I didn't think Norgaard was bad by any means. We just picked a team for a certain style of game.

20:50Yeah. And then we couldn't really react to the game afterwards. So again, I don't know if there's so much I can take from it. Mostly I'd be concerned about the left-hand side. Okay. We'll get there. We'll get there. Yeah, that's where I'm looking. And I think it deserves a discussion because maybe it's becoming a bit more of a worry for fans. Sure. Especially over the preseason where I don't think we've been at our best on that side. Okay. Well, let's go there. I mean, I do think you're right about Thomas Frank and Spurs being more organized. I suppose it's not that difficult. What is the Danish for?

21:27It's just who we are, mate. I don't know. I'm sure we have some Danish. I don't even want to guess. I'm sure we've got some Danish listeners who could fill us in. Right. So I think what's an interesting launching point for this discussion is the fact that Leandro Trossard came on in the second half and then went off feeling something muscular, which is a bit of a worry. You know, you don't want to pick up any injuries in preseason. But I think it does put the spotlight on the left-hand side again. And I think after what we've done this summer, generally speaking, is give ourselves depth and quality and redundancy in pretty much every position.

22:09But the one that everyone I think is now a bit focused on, everyone's sort of gone from like, we must get a striker to we must get a left winger. That's the thing. That's the shift, right? The striker thing is done. Whether you wanted Sesko or Yucca, we have our man. It's Big Vic and he's in. And that clamor for that signing is gone now, right? And we hope, obviously, that he's going to come in and score a load of goals. Immediately, though, the focus is switched to the left-hand side. Trossard going off, I think, is a worry. You know, if you come on as a sub and you have to go off 15 minutes later with a muscular thing, it might be just something minor, of course.

22:48But it does make me a little bit concerned. Not to mention the fact that I think, again, Again, without reading too much or putting too much stock in preseason, Gabriele Martinelli has had an indifferent time on the tour. That would be the way that I would describe his performances. I never think with Martinelli there is a lack of effort or a lack of willingness or a lack of endeavor on his part, but he hasn't necessarily been effective from an attacking perspective during the preseason games. And I think yesterday was another one of those. Again, I'm going to say I think this week should be more informative.

23:33This week is where I think we can maybe put a little more stock in the performances, both individually and collectively. But you can understand why people are looking at the left-hand side now. We had a question. Did I have a question here? I think I did. It comes from AFC Jimbo. So maybe we'll talk more generally about the left-hand side, and then I'll ask you a question about Martinelli that's come from the Discord. Yeah, I mean, it's been a discussion within the fan base for a long time, and you don't need to be an elite-level analyst to know that we are right-side heavy. We play with a strong bias towards that right side because our best player is out there, and you want your best player on the ball as much as possible.

24:17But you could see it starting to happen last season where teams were doubling up or even tripling up on Saka because they feel safe and comfortable leaving our left winger alone, whether that's Martinelli or Trossard, because they don't carry the same level of threat individually or even collectively as a left-hand side. Whereas the right side with Erdegaard, with White, even Timber as well joining up looks a lot more cohesive and natural. And it's really strange to me because we've chopped and changed on that side with so many different options with different left backs different midfielders we've rotated our two wingers uh on almost a weekly basis at one point but i don't think we've managed to crack it since we had zinchenko granite shaka and martinelli all playing in that in that season the 22 23 season when some of our pre-world cup football in particular was some of the best attacking play i'd seen at arsenal for for years um i don't know why that is i don't know what could have caused that even i did some digging on the numbers yesterday and the the starting left side so that's miles luis skelly declan rice and gabriel martinelli they attempted 66 passes yesterday when they were playing as a trio and the right side attempted 114 so that's basically a 50 drop-off or difference um and that that shouldn't really surprise anybody because we know how we play and we've seen it a million times but I just think if you are going to isolate that left-hand side you need a bit more in terms of technical quality and the ability to beat a man than what we're seeing currently with with Gabriel Martinelli and I know we can get on to him later and it's it's probably a discussion we need to have as well because it feels important now that we're we're looking to level up we're looking to get over the line and I just think we took it as a given that Saka and Martinelli would sort of progress at the same rate and be able to contribute equally with goals and assists.

26:20But I think as each sort of month goes by, as each game goes by, we're starting to realise that that maybe isn't the case. But yeah, it's such a shame because I can really appreciate what Martinelli can offer us and what he has offered us, but it just feels like he's stagnated a little bit. And even when I look at Leandro Trossard, who I think has done an amazing job since coming into the club. I always feel that there's more or there could be a little bit more to come from that side that we don't really get the same level of output and danger and threat from them as we do from the right. I don't know if you feel the same or you're a bit more patient, if you feel different.

26:59I mean, I am, I have to say, you know, a little bit worried about Martinelli in the sense that I think there are aspects of his game that I would have liked to have seen improve or develop sometimes. And this is not a unique observation. Sometimes it feels like he's a bit head down. The decisiveness, the ability to. Look, he gets himself into good positions. He picks up the ball in good areas. It's not easy to beat fullbacks at Premier League level. You know, it really is tough, you know. But I just feel like sometimes the end product is not there. The decision-making is not there. I always go back to the goal he scored against Liverpool last season where he sort of drifted centrally and his movement was really, really smart and the finish was good, a headed finish against Liverpool.

27:51There's part of me that thinks he might actually be a bit more effective internally, but that's clearly not something Mikel Arteta is. is keen to try or certainly hasn't been keen to try. The question that we had from AFC Jimbo was, morning, Gents. Martinelli seems to get a lot of criticism for his performances, but do you think it's a little unfair when Saka has White and Odegaard on the right and Martinelli is often quite isolated on the left? He also works incredibly hard tracking back. I mean, is there something fundamentally... Well, there is something fundamentally different, isn't there, in the way we set up on that left-hand side?

28:29because we have our left back playing in that role that we see our left back play all the time. For my money, I think that might be a tactical innovation or a tactical shift that Mikel Arteta has to consider because it does make us not predictable, but everyone knows what we're going to do with our left back. We're going to place him internally. He's going to play as kind of an auxiliary six and be the link guy between that area of the pitch. Declan Rice in the so-called left eight position Martinelli on that left-hand side everyone kind of knows what we're going to do but I suppose the counterpoint to that is kind of everyone knows what we're going to do on the right-hand side as well which is that triangle between Odegaard White Saka Shuri and Timber when he's there of course as well so it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do everything completely differently but I think there is a difference between the way we do things on the right and a difference between the way we do things on the left to what extent do you think that that influences what we're seeing from Martinelli?

29:31Is it a case that if we bring somebody else in, we ask them to do exactly what he does, but maybe a bit of individual quality or whatever makes them more effective in that position? Or is there a need to maybe think about how we set up this team that changes the way our wingers operate, which in turn makes us a bit more unpredictable? Yeah, this is really interesting because I think it is absolutely by design that we isolate the left side, especially a player like Martinelli, who I wouldn't trust in all of our phases of buildup, for example. I think he's a much more inside forwardy player as opposed to Saka, who can do a lot more in terms of his off the ball running.

30:16I think he can combine with others. I think he can shoot. um whereas Martinelli the best football we've seen from him has been that kind of inside left channel between the the right back and the center back where he's running in off the flank and towards goal you know in that in that 15 goal season we saw him towards the the back post a lot more we saw him taking shots from the edge of the area a lot more and now I just feel like he's so isolated towards the touchline that if you are gonna ask that of him you need a player with with greater technical ability and also the ability to beat people and i don't know if martinelli has that natural winger style ability to beat people he can run by them he can run towards the byline um but let's say if we had a a vinicius junior style winger on that side who's a lot more comfortable on the dribble at being direct um i think that would suit the the position a lot more But I just feel in general, we do need to place a stronger emphasis on evolving tactically because teams have figured us out a little bit, I think.

31:23And especially when we get into these games where it's a low block and then all of a sudden our chance to do anything centrally is gone. So we look to the wide areas and then when it's in the wide areas, Saka could be double teamed, triple teamed. He's still going to find a cross to go somewhere. He's still going to find a one-two with Martin Odegaard that gets him towards the touchline. he can still cut in and shoot. Whereas I think when the onus is on Martinelli to create something from nothing, I think he can struggle. He's a lot more the final action guy, whereas I think Bakayo Saka can be the third action, second action, pre-assist, final action.

32:00I think there are a lot more gears and layers to his game. And I think that's being exposed a little bit. So again, it goes back to the the trajectory of development because we just maybe assumed oh Martinelli scored 15 goals this season he's been unbelievable that could be 20 next year or 25 and maybe it's starting to look more like an anomaly or an outlier as opposed to the to the norm which is a shame because we can all appreciate what he's done and what he's offered the team but I am looking around a bit and thinking can we not do more here and it's it's not I'm not saying that he's a bad player I'm just saying that the margins now are so fine to get us over the line I think getting from eighth to fourth to second is a lot easier than going from second to first and I think a couple of people have been a little bit exposed in terms of that like Zinchenko for example like Emil Smithrow like a Martinelli where you need real top players to be able to to get that last few meters done yeah so look we can talk about what Arsenal might do in terms of recruitment in a few minutes.

33:07But a couple of interesting things to consider as we think about maybe, I don't want to say unlocking our left-hand side, but making our left-hand side more effective. So also on the Discord, Bus Stop Rat Bag says, will Victor Jokere's tendency to drift into the left channel give Martinelli a bit of company on the pitch and help him out of his rut? I always thought we should hold on to Martinelli, but I feel like he's in the last chance saloon now. So this is another interesting thing to consider in that, you know, when he's scored a lot of goals at sporting, that run in that inside left channel is something that Victor Jokeres has been very, very good at and very effective.

33:50Arsenal have bought him in the full knowledge that this is part of his game. There's a very interesting piece in James' interview with Jokeres in The Athletic the other day. Arsenal are adapting their style to accommodate Jokeres. Now, listen, I'm not saying they're the same player or anything like that, right? But there was something quite similar with Manchester City when they bought Erling Haaland, right? Because he felt very much at odds with the way that Manchester City played, right? That he was a goal-scoring machine, but he was kind of a low-touch player, very physical, which demands a bit of a change from, like if you're going to put that guy up front and play him in every game, basically, then you can't ask him to do what your other forwards have done.

34:35You've got to play to his strengths to a certain extent. So our Arsenal, and this is obviously very early days because we saw 15 minutes of Victor Jokeres yesterday, the first time in an Arsenal shirt. It might be just a bit too early to make any conclusions at this point, right? But Arsenal are going to have to adapt. We are going to have to change the way we play to get the best out of Jokeres. I'm not saying we should completely focus on him and what he can do and how he does it. But if you're bringing in that kind of a player and you just sort of say, well, you come in and you fit what we do rather than we change a little bit to get the best out of you, that seems completely stupid and foolish.

35:16And I don't think that's what we're going to do anyway. So as a sort of consideration for that left-hand side, is that maybe a way of getting a little bit more out of those players? Yeah, maybe. I mean, it was good to see him yesterday. I was quite surprised that he did get off the bench because his minutes felt very singer wheeling out a special guest at a concert in the last five minutes and they can sing one song and then go sort of thing. You know, I'm amazed that after his week of traveling and integrating and everything, he even got off the bench. So there is that natural tendency for Giocares to go wide.

35:54And I think when I think of Martinelli and him playing his best football for Arsenal, it came with Gabriel Jesus, who also liked to go over to that left-hand side. So maybe that's potential for them to switch a bit positionally. I think Gabriel Jesus is much more comfortable in the wide areas than Giocares. I know he drifts wide, but I wouldn't want him playing on the touchline. Whereas I think Jesus is perfectly fine to be playing on the touchline because he's got such a high technical level. Havertz, I know he runs the channels and he's a big focal point, but he's a lot more central. And even when he does drift wide, it's usually to the right where he can help Saka.

36:33So again, I think there's been a breakdown of a relationship there. Again, it relates back to the isolation of Martinelli. but we would be stupid to buy Victor Jocares without thinking about how we can accommodate him. It would just be the dumbest thing in the world to bring him in and expect him to do Kai Havertz stuff because he's not Kai Havertz. You know, the whole point of buying Jocares is that he offers us something different. So, and I think this relates to a general point about how we're looking to improve our attack because beyond the injuries, beyond the suspensions and the stupid refereeing decisions last season, And what were the key issues in attack?

37:11What did we lack? And I think we didn't take enough shots. We weren't threatening enough in behind. We didn't maximize our high turnovers and we lacked ball carriers or the ability to beat people from a standing start. And how have we tried to address those issues? Well, we signed Jocheres, who is one of the most intense, relentless off-the-ball runners in Europe, who averaged 4.5 shots per 90 last season. You know, he brings a hunger, a relentlessness to score goals that we don't have in this squad. We've also signed Noddy Manueke, who has work to do in terms of convincing the fan base that he was the right buy and the right option for us.

37:49But statistically, he's one of the best ball carriers in the league. He's one of the most effective players at getting into the box from a carry and took more shots than any other winger last season. And who's the final piece of this puzzle? Could it be Inese, who is one of the most elegant ball carriers in England? He glides through the center of the pitch, quick feet. He's got a shift and shoot from the edge of the box. You know, he took three shots per 90 last year, which again was basically more than every other player at Arsenal apart from Saka. So it's clear that we need to refresh our options, but we had a sleepwalking Jokeres up front yesterday.

38:23Madueke wasn't there, who I think would have been helpful. And there's obviously no guarantee we sign Eze, but we are trying to fix those issues. Whether we can or not remains to be seen. but I'm not going to lean too much into a preseason defeat to Spurs. I mean, most of it is just anger that we lost to Spurs, by the way, not, not just the performance. One sec. I think we are. My doorbell's just gone. So one sec. Hang on. All good. Doorbell music.

39:17I'm back. Sorry for the interruption. You're back. You were just finishing your point about, yeah, I know what you were saying about sort of trying to address those issues. Before we get on to Eze, because he is a player that many people now are sort of viewing as the final piece of the puzzle. And he may well be, but you already mentioned Nani Madweke. So he hasn't been on tour, so he hasn't been to the forefront of anybody's mind. He's gone on his holidays. He's going to be back in training from Monday. You assume he's going to be involved to some extent in the games against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao.

39:55left-footed really quick skillful questions about the end product of course questions about decision making in the final third does he take a lot of shots because he loves to shoot because that's the best option is he a little bit greedy at times could he do a little bit more you don't want to over train or you don't want to train him the completely the other way right but as another option for the left-hand side we talked about him on the the new player podcast of course which is available for people on Patreon. But that idea of a left-footed winger on the left-hand side as a way of stretching teams, as a way of doing something different, as, you know, you've got Martinelli right-footed, Trossard right-footed.

40:37They're two different players, different skill sets. But a left-footed winger on the left-hand side might well be an option. I'm not saying he's the answer to the question, by the way, but I'm just thinking about what we have available to us right now ahead of any other signing that we might make. and I'm curious to see what happens with him this week and where Mikel Arteta really sees him as an option because I do think primarily he's not a backup, but they're keen to stress he's not a backup player for Bakayo Saka, but I think if Bakayo Saka doesn't play on the right, he's basically the next pick unless you're willing to go with Max Damman, which some people would be at this point because of what he's done on tour and in the games in Singapore and Hong Kong.

41:25But Madweke on the left, are we sleeping on that or are we just sort of not there yet because we haven't seen him? Yeah, I mean, honestly, I thought it would be a kind of he can play there if we need him to play there kind of situation. And I know he played there towards the end of the season for Chelsea. I think his last 10 or 11 games for the club were out on the left. He's played there for England. and he's played there for the England under-21s as well. So he's not entirely alien to the position, but I just thought he'd be playing there, break glass in case of emergencies, and he'd be coming into play primarily as a backup for Saka.

42:03But now I'm looking at the form of Martinelli, the potential future of Trossard. I mean, we don't know if he's injured. We don't know if he's going to leave. There has been some reports about him sort of being lined up by Borussia Dortmund and a couple of other Premier League clubs. So we're kind of in the air now. And I think when you look at Madweke, he just brings a level of directness, a level of speed and bravery and aggression on the ball. He can beat players from a standing start. He can come inside. And I think when you're right-footed on the left, you know, we've seen Martinelli go to the byline.

42:40We've seen Trossard go to the byline, but their natural instincts bring them inside. You know, when they can come in on their stronger foot and either cross the ball or take a shot or combine with others. And I think we've lacked that option a little bit at Arsenal over the years, especially because we don't have an overlapping fullback who can replace that lack of ability to go to the touchline. Maybe we're looking at Madueke and saying, can you do this for us? And I'm with you. There are concerns about the consistency and quality of his final ball. But if he does get onto the pitch against Villarreal and Athletic, I will be looking at him to say, there's a chance for you here to play at Old Trafford.

43:18And that's not me overanalyzing the form of Martinelli or what we think of Trossard. There's a genuine chance for him to come into this team very late on in pre-season and give us something we're missing that we don't have already. So I don't know. I mean, people have been talking about Rafael Liao as well, who I think is a really good player, maybe not going back towards his own goal, but going forward, I think he's a unique talent, a physical specimen, you know, such incredible running power. He can breeze past people. The way he just glides across the ground is something quite incredible to watch.

43:55But that doesn't feel realistic to me. And I think that the option is Eze, where we are chasing Eze. But just because we haven't seen Madueke doesn't mean we can't expect him to give us something extra. And I think he will feature in those games. and I really wouldn't be too dismissive of him starting on the left, not only at Old Trafford, but for us going forward, because I just think he offers something different. And maybe what we need at the moment is something different, because it has been a lot of the same with Martinelli and Trossard and the left side in general. Well, what about this question from Jacob FM?

44:33He says, if the Tottenham game was a futuristic glimpse into the 38 Premier League games to come, with Arsenal trying to break down stubborn defences, defense is how critical is it then to get sa in does as a solve like i love him i don't get me wrong i think he's a he's a great player but does he solve if you want to call the left-hand side a problem does he solve that problem or do you have a slightly similar issue in that you know he's not a typical winger i don't think i think he is better in central areas um where or how does he fix that problem if you're going to play him on the left-hand side, which I'm just not convinced about.

45:17I could be completely wrong. Maybe there is a plan to play him there. Maybe there's a plan to play, you know, shift the team positionally in ways we don't understand yet. But I don't see Arsenal signing Eber Echeze and playing him as a left winger for 38 Premier League games this season. I don't know about you. people out there could be shouting at me right now going you know you're an idiot why can't you see it I can see him doing things in central areas absolutely I can see him for example you know taking minutes off Martin Odegaard in a way but not as a left out an out left winger let me put it that way no and he shouldn't be coming into the team to do that because I think the whole point of signing Eze would be utilizing that ability and quality in central areas I don't doubt that he can play on the left or could play on the left.

46:07He's much more of a Trossard style left winger in terms of someone who can twist and turn. He can combine with others, but I don't think you're going to leave him on the halfway line and sort of rely on him to stretch the defenses in transition. And I'm not convinced that would be the best use of him either. I think he could certainly be a fix in a way, but he wouldn't be the entire single-handed solution. So I'm quite, I want to be careful about talking about Eze because I don't think he's the savior who's going to come in and fix everything for us, even though I think he's a wonderful player and someone I've admired for a long time.

46:47I think a lot of the issues we have currently, yes they can be attributed to to who we have in certain positions and there may be shortfalls in terms of what they can offer us in the positions they're playing in but I would like to see Arsenal improve collectively in terms of how quickly they move the ball who's willing to take what risks in in what areas I think we look for the easy option a little bit too much in terms of the horseshoe of death we're quite happy to fall into that pattern of the of the U shape and not really penetrate the central areas so i think there are things we can do tactically and collectively that would help us a lot more than just signing as a and being like okay you're going to help us in every area because i think that would just be wrong and also a bit ridiculous to think about it in that sense but if we do end up signing him i think he could give us a lot in those areas that we maybe lack and i'm looking here not just in in the central areas but wide as well but also he shoots he shoots and I think we how many times yesterday did you see us on the edge of the box and a shot was scuffed away to the side a cutback was missed it's just like we have an an allergy to striking the ball clearly in this team I don't know what it is why it happens Havertz again taking a shot from the edge of the box that just like dribbled through to the goalkeeper, Odegaard slicing a cut back towards the corner flag.

48:13Zubimendi had a good chance as well when Jokeres laid the ball back, scuffed again. I just think there are small things that if we can look to change, it would help us a huge amount. So I'm really not subscribing to this idea that players can come in and fix us immediately. It needs to be a, yes, we can improve the quality, but also are there things we can do as a team or generally that can, that can help us? And I think the answer to that is undoubtedly yes. Yes. I mean, the, the idea of someone like Eze coming in is, is, you know, to unlock the left-hand side a little bit more or to give us a different option down there or to get more out of the players that we already have in that position rather than like, do you think there's any world, for example, in which, you know, we are interested in Eze because he's such a good player, but out of the blue we get a kind of i don't know an andrea burta sporting director special where we bring in a player a bomba that nobody's really uh talked about nobody's really thought about you know somebody who is maybe quite different in terms of what we've already got in the squad whether it's um you know a left winger whether he's different from martinelli or Trossard in terms of how they play?

49:31Or is that a possibility, do you think, before the end of the window? I'm not saying as a smokescreen or anything like that. I just wonder if we are thinking about what we can do on the left-hand side. You know, there's a whole world of footballers out there. There's a lot of talent, not just in the Premier League. We know Mikel Arteta likes them Premier League ready and oven ready and wants his players ready to go. But there is talent elsewhere that might come in that might not cost a fortune. I think any kind of, in inverted commas, superstar option for that left-hand side comes with question marks.

50:09You know, whether it's Rodrigo because of the price, because of the wages, because of some of the other issues that he's had, whether it's Anthony Gordon because of his face. You know, there are these questions that exist. again he would be a very expensive signing if you could get him out of Newcastle I don't think you know really there's a world in which Newcastle this summer are going to sell Alexander Isaac and Anthony Gordon because you know if they sell Isaac they've got no need for money um so trying to look elsewhere or do something a little more creative I don't know why that wouldn't be something we're considering at least no I mean look things can happen in an instant for example palace could i know the the release clause expires today isn't it his 68 million pound release clause um so maybe they could just be like okay now we want 75 and then arsenal could be like okay no thank you and then all of a sudden rodrigo could come into play real madrid might be a bit more desperate for for money or willing to facilitate his exit and that that opens up one avenue again we don't know what's going to happen with isak maybe they keep isak and then sell antony gordon He's a strange one for me because every time there's an article in The Athletic, whether it's from David Ornstein or their transfer deal sheet, or even James has written something, his name always pops up.

51:33Well, you know, read between the lines there, I'd say. Yeah, I just think he wouldn't be in those pieces if there wasn't something happening. So Anthony Gordon could well be an option. Maybe there is going to be a sudden move for Rafael Leal. if they want to take advantage of Milan's position. Obviously, they're not in Europe this year. Could he be open to a new opportunity? He was happy to talk us up the other day, called us a top five club in the world. So I don't know. Things can happen very quickly in the transfer window. It could be reliant on other players moving elsewhere and a domino effect falling.

52:09So we need to be alert and alive to these situations. I'm sure they are. They'll have their lists in terms of priorities and first choice and second choice and third choice. I think it's clear that we are interested in Eze. Maybe we could even bring two players in. I don't know if a Trossard leaves, but a lot of people yesterday were talking about Martinelli leaving or us selling Martinelli and how we need to be ruthless because Liverpool have sold Luis Diaz and how sometimes you need to let your darlings leave and things like that. But there hasn't been a single club credited with any interest for Martinelli.

52:43I know there was a a vague Saudi thing at the start of the summer and by Munich, he was sort of listed in their options, although they've gone for Diaz now. There's nobody in for Martinelli and people are saying, we should sell him for 50 million and, you know, thanks very much. But who's going to spend 50 million on him now? There's nobody. So I think if there is an obvious departure, it's going to be Trossard. But even then you could argue that Trossard has been playing better than him and contributing more than him. I mean, he was our most capped player last year, Trossard. So yeah, made more appearances than anyone else.

53:19Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know if it's as obvious and as cut as dry in that. So yeah, it's a strange one. We're in a peculiar position because I think we know what we need and we know what we want. But is everything possible without sales? Obviously, we'll need to look at a few people like Reece Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Zinchenko, whether they can leave the club, Sambi. There's so many moving parts still that could influence who we go for, when we go for them, how much we can spend. But I think it's absolutely clear and obvious that we need to bring somebody in who has some capability of playing on that left-hand side.

53:59I think Eze would be a nice middle ground between the central areas and the capability of playing wide. But if he is not gettable and we go for someone a bit more specialist, I certainly wouldn't be upset with that either. All right. Well, look, that is going to be the focus for the rest of the window. There's just about a month to go. First of August, it closes on first of September, I think at seven in the evening. So there's a full month for the market to move and for some of those dominoes to fall into play. Dominoes don't fall into play, but you know what I mean? The domino effect of a player leaving here, then someone goes there, et cetera.

54:34I mean, they can. They can fall. They can fall. They do. Yeah. Yeah, talk to those guys who set up all the dominoes and then for those very impressive displays. God, that would drive me fucking insane having to do one of those. Anyway, that just occurred to me right there. Let's have a couple of quick questions to finish this off. King Thierry says, given the issues at Calafiore, do you imagine both Zinchenko and Kivior will now stay for one more year? Given the position the squad is now, it's seemingly two very good players in each position. Is any future business on a one-in-one-out basis? Well, let's maybe focus on that first one.

55:13Zinchenko and Kivior, both of whom played yesterday. Kivior started the game because Calafiori had picked up a little knock in the Newcastle game, wasn't risked. Gabriel, he wasn't risked in any of the games on the tour because he'd felt a little bit of a niggle after his hamstring surgery. Mikel Arteta was positive, by the way, on all three, on Calafiore, Gabriel and Timber saying, you know, they're being, essentially they're being cautious and they will be ready for the start of the season. But does, you know, Calafiore having a little issue in pre-season make you more predisposed to the idea of hanging on to Zinchenko and Kivior?

55:53One or both? Kivior, for sure. Zinchenko, I think we can afford to let go just because he's so out of the manager's thoughts at the moment. I think, I mean, with losses and we saw it, he just wasn't getting games or minutes. And then even when he was available, he was playing a half a football and then getting injured again. So those, those calves are his own worst enemy. And also we're in a difficult position with him because obviously on paper, he is a sellable asset, but you think of his wages, you think of him being happy in London, you think about him potentially moving abroad, but do teams want to play him in midfield as opposed to playing him at left back there's a lot to consider when it comes to zinchenko i think we're going to have to take a big loss on him if we are going to sell him i think it's going to be a 10 to 12 million job as opposed to a 18 to 20 million job which a lot of people would have been envisioning uh envisioning in their heads because he's a really good player um but i just think if if you consider his wages his injury history what his actual position is where teams would want to play him it's not the easiest fit for a lot of people so I think he can go regardless of Calafiore which is again a worry I think Zinchenko can go and we can rely on Kivior who's largely been fit and ready to step in whenever we've needed him to be I think he showed towards the end of last season that he's capable of doing more than just fitting in as well in the absence of others so Kivior for me is is absolutely worth keeping around for, for this season.

57:28But Zinchenko, I'd be okay with, with leaving either way. Yeah. I'm kind of with you on that. I do think there are players who, who can go and he is one of them. And you mentioned some of the others as well. This is another aspect of the final month of the, the window where I'm looking at Andrea Berta. You know, I'm not saying it's easy to go and spend money, but if you can just give a club what they want and get the player you want, it's not the most difficult thing it can be complicated as we saw with Joca Rez but that was you know multifaceted there were layers to that thing but ultimately if you give enough money to both the club and the player it's a relatively simple transaction the difficult part of being a sporting director is selling players you do not want and people will look at Zinchenko and think yeah he's a bit part player they'll look at Fabio Vieira and go where does he fit in this Arsenal team where does Albert Sambi-Lukonga fit?

58:22Where does Carl Hain fit? There are a couple of others as well who are probably expendable in that regard. How do you generate the revenue? That revenue could be, people say, ah, it doesn't matter. You know what you get, send them on loan, et cetera. But that revenue could help you buy an Eze or a player that can help you on the left-hand side. So I'm really interested to see what happens in that sense between now and the end of the window. So final one from Stoney Tark, who says, Arsene Wenger used to say too many changes to the squad could destabilize things. I'm not panicking with the result last night as overall patterns of play seem familiar.

59:00But do we run a risk of impacting consistency because of the amount of players that we've brought in, in particular if you bring in somebody else as well? I think it makes sense. The idea of too many changes can disrupt you makes sense. but I think they've changes or they were changes that we've needed to make. Especially in terms of our depth last season, we've signed Norgard to come in and be that depth in midfield. We've signed Mosquera to come in and be that defensive depth on the right-hand side. And more importantly to William Saliba, who I thought was really good in all three games. Obviously, Madueke is coming in to challenge Saka and also potentially start on the left.

59:42I don't know if we're making so many drastic changes, like five coming straight into the starting 11, where you're looking at changing a goalkeeper, a centre-back, a midfielder, a striker, and a winger, for example. We're not directly changing the spine of the team so greatly. I think a lot of the business we have done this year has been about supplementing our already very good options. So I don't know if this case particularly relates relates to the question on Discord, although I can completely understand why people might think that. I don't know. Do you feel any different? Do you think we've signed too many players or made too many changes?

1:00:22No, I don't think so. I mean, I think the one that we already talked about is Yaccaraz and how do we fit him into the team? And well, we know where he goes, but like, how do we adapt to him and how do we, or how does he adapt to us rather? I mean, someone like Zubimendi in the six, I don't think you're asking him to do anything massively different from what he's done at Real Sociedad. And I don't think you're asking him to play in a way that's massively different from the two players that we had in that position for the last couple of seasons. I think he can do things differently. And I think there are qualities that he brings.

1:00:55But, you know, it's not going to take a huge amount for the players to get used to him. Norgard is a backup guy. Kepa is a backup goalkeeper. Moscares backup central defender you know it's it's about where Madweke and Jokerez really fit in and anybody else that we might bring in so I don't think it's I don't think it's disruptive but I do think it might just take a little bit of time for some relationships to develop and to understand when we have the ball in this position what way is Victor Jokerez looking for it in a way that's different from Kai Havertz for example or Gabriel Jesus when he was there and And I think that might be the thing that players have got to get used to.

1:01:36You know, maybe just using the ball more quickly is part of what we're going to have to do. But I don't worry that the new signings have been disruptive. I think they give us the depth that we need. And that, for me, has been the most important thing. So we'll see how it goes. And I think the two games next week will be really, really interesting to see what teams Mikel Arteta picks and where he plays these players and how those players operate together. Right, we had better leave it there. Phil, as ever, thank you very much indeed. Nice one. Always fun, mate. Thank you very much indeed to Phil.

1:02:10You can find him on Blue Sky. He is at philcosta.bsky.social, at philcosta.bsky.social. People talk about Arsenal's right-sided bias, but you can be guaranteed that for the rest of August or until something happens, it's going to be a left-sided bias when it comes to conversation and discussion and debate about transfers and what else we might do. It'll all play out in time. Let's see what happens. But we better leave it there for this week's show. Thank you, as always, for being here. James and I will have an Arsecast Extra for you on Monday. He's due back in London over the weekend, and hopefully he's not feeling too jet-lagged for Monday.

1:02:50But we'll have an Arsecast Extra for you then. For now, take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Until then, cheers. Bye-bye.

1:03:11I'm out.

1:03:31you

1:04:01Join us as we take another enchanting adventure into the world of the Angriest Man on Blue Sky. Excuse me, Mr. Arteta. Me thinks that could have been a bit better. Next week, another madcap laugh-a-minute romp with the angriest man on Blue Sky. Everything is vaguely mediocre.

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