Episode 859 - End of year fun

0:27The last kick between these clubs was a decisive one for Ebi Buendia and Aston Villa. From the first kick here, what path will this game take us on in the Premier League game of snakes and ladders. Villa looking to go level with Arsenal tonight.

0:51Riel distorts the goalkeeper and gets it over the line. He made his presence felt in front of Ebi Martinez. Well, Martinez is mate. He's made for a whole new mess of this. Odegaard, putting it from Sancho. Brilliant ball through, Superman! Arsenal are flying now. Toss-out! Oh! A beautiful, clean strike that surely settles this match now. Trussard's made the run on ahead of him. Sucker on the far side, his callback for Jesus is just on. What an instant impact. Gabriel Jesus, two days short of a year since his last goal, comes on with a bang and makes it 4-0.

1:50Peace out, Russell! Wakey, wakey!

2:17after our 4-1 win yesterday evening over Unai Emery's Aston Villa, the team that had inflicted such cruel late pain on us just a few short weeks ago, the start of December. Man, that really did feel bad. It really did. But since then, Arsenal have played six games, won six games, and go into 2026, well and truly top of the Premier League. we brought Villa's unbeaten run to an end we put a little bit of pressure on Manchester City who play tomorrow night we're all looking to Granit Xhaka Sunderland to do us a favour in that one but it has been a great way to respond to that defeat at Villa Park and as well to sort of inflict a little bit of revenge on that team, on that manager, on a couple of the players can't really ask for too much more, can you?

3:10and there's a lot to unpack a lot to enjoy from this game and I'm just going to get straight into it. So with me this morning to relive and re-enjoy that 4-1 win over Aston Villa is Phil Costa. Good morning, Phil. Good morning, Andrew. How are we doing? Is it a goodly morning? Can we say that? I think we can co-opt. I think we can. I think we can co-opt that, even though James is with his other podcast family this morning. But yeah, we can use that. I think it was a goodly evening and a very goodly morning it is now. And everybody's feeling, you know, happy and well and excited and ready for New Year's Eve celebrations after what was a big, big win over Aston Villa last night.

3:55I sort of don't really know where to start with this one because there's such a lot to talk about. I suppose the thing we could do to start with is the team selection, who Mikel Arteta picked, Declan Rice not available, which, you know, was a big surprise to everybody when the team sheet came out. I was like, where's Declan Rice? I hadn't heard about this. But he wasn't there. So he played the Real Sociedad midfield of Mikel Moreno, Martin Zubomendi, Martin Odegaard, Juri and Timber back in. And he sort of stuck with the same front three of Leandro Trossard, Victor Yaccaraz and Bakayo Saka. Yeah.

4:31I mean, even with Rice and Calafuri out, my feeling was that this was a strong enough team to win the game and that there was plenty on the bench in terms of pace, craft goal scoring prowess to change things if we needed to so Villa were always going to be a difficult opponent they're the informed team in the league they always raise their levels against us there's the added bite when we play them because they have previous for pissing on our parade down the years and then it's the Emery stuff it's the Martinez stuff the fact that City are breathing down our necks again so there was a fair bit riding on this game and obviously when that news did come out a few hours beforehand about Rice not being in the squad.

5:14You know, people can get nervous. And I think there was an element of anxiety going throughout the fan base that seems to have just steadily increased over the month of December. But even though there was a lot going on beforehand, they were missing some key players as well. Matty Cash, Bubakar Kamara, Pau Torres, you know, they're big, big references in their side, which offered me some encouragement in any way that we could target certain areas. And again, looking at our team, especially with Timber and Gabriel back in the side, I felt confident that we could still get a win despite the injuries we'd suffered.

5:48Yeah, I didn't mention Gabriel. Obviously, he's a huge part of the equation and made the point on the preview pod with Lewis that when we went to Villa Park in early December, our central defensive partnership that day was Jurian Timber and Piero Incapier, two players who never played together in those positions before. So to have that security of Saliba and Gabriel was very welcome. And there was an early chance for Arsenal, Piero and Capier with a cross into the middle, Victor Jokeres heading over. I think he fluffed his lines there. You know, I'm not saying he absolutely should score, but I want my striker to get the ball on target.

6:30I was talking to James maybe about this. And, you know, in a title race, you're looking at moments and you're looking at players. And I realized this is a very, very high bar. And I'm not comparing one guy with the other guy. But that was the sort of moment where I looked at it and went, you know what, if that cross comes in and it's Erling Haaland, that ball is in the back of the net. Right. And that's what your mind goes to when you're in a title race with Manchester City. I'm not saying that Jokka Ress has to be Erling Haaland or will be Erling Haaland. I don't think that's possible. You know, it is a very high bar.

7:05But, you know, that moment early in the game, and then particularly what followed it, I think, was a weird, weird spell where it felt like we were in the 85th minute of a game because it got so open and stretched. And I couldn't help but think, you know what, we could have calmed the nerves with an early goal there. So what was your take on that chance and how the following few minutes played out? I think that's fair. Yeah. Look, he's never going to be a natural in the air. I know he scored some headers down the years, but it's not really his game. I don't think he approached the header with much confidence or conviction.

7:41Maybe he was just trying to get over it a little bit, but it sort of looped towards the far corner instead of getting a really nice contact on it. But Haaland has a few inches on him. Maybe a Kai Havertz or a Marino would have done as well. But I think generally Arsenal started quite well we took control of the ball very quickly we were pressing pushing Villa into corners forcing turnovers and it looked like we were building up for one of those typical big game fast starts under our tether which we sometimes get especially at home but the momentum shifted just as quickly and some of that was due to Villa settling down I think which is you know entirely fair play to them but more than anything I think it was down to us because we were really caught between two different tactical plans, which ended up giving us a whole lot of nothing, you know, where we know what Villa are good at.

8:34We know what they like to do. And even with their absences, you can see the running power of Amadou Anana, Morgan Rodgers, just tearing through open space, central space that we're not accustomed to seeing as Arsenal fans, because that's not what we do. So maybe the early chance would have sort of had a different impact on the game, but it was quite simple in my mind that as a team, we were caught between looking to press and squeeze the game and also taking control of possession and building in a slower, more measured way, which meant our distances were off. Some players were playing at a different pace to others.

9:08Others were more advanced. Just, it didn't feel right. It became way too disjointed. And then all of a sudden that they were just getting through with every, every pass, every run. And I thought, Oh, God, this is not what we're used to watching. No, not at all. I think what was interesting was the fact that Villa, you know, as we push forward, as you said, to try and win the ball high up the pitch and to squeeze them, Villa always left two men ahead of our attacking line and in front of the, what was left of the back four. And usually it was just two players, which is where they got some success.

9:39You know, the Onana one where he got into the box, then tried to buy a penalty. I think he really could have done better there. There was another one. There should have been a yellow card and a free kick, by the way. Yeah, not a corner. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I don't know how that was just overlooked. I don't think we can complain too much about the refereeing decisions. I was going to say. We'll come to that in a moment. There was the other one where Rodgers got through and I think it was in Cappier made a good tackle in the box and got the ball away. But we were stretched. We didn't help ourselves either.

10:07That moment when Jokarez was caught on the ball in midfield, Watkins had a great chance. That was a key chance. I was fully expecting Ollie Watkins to score there because that's sort of meat and drink for a striker of his quality and his experience. But he sort of miscued it and kicked it off the bottom of his foot, you know. But there, Jacarez, I mean, that's the basic thing that you expect from a player in that position. It's the sort of stuff you work on in training all day. It's like receive the ball. It's a wall pass back to the man. You know, you invite the guy to come and put some pressure on you, but you're secure in possession.

10:44You pass it back, and that's how you try and make space around the pitch. So that was a really poor moment. And I'm glad for Jokeres that it didn't result in a goal because I think there's a lot of pressure, a lot of spotlight on him. You know, he's not been scoring. And to be responsible in some way for a goal at the other end, at the wrong end, would have been, I think, quite tough for him in a moment where I suspect confidence is quite low. Yeah, it was a bit sloppy. I don't think he did anything majorly wrong. It was just the speed at which he did everything. I don't think he shielded the ball well enough as obviously Esri Conson needs to be in that position to follow him into the, into the Arsenal half.

11:22But, you know, we already have a few doubts about his technical quality and what he can offer this side in terms of that side of his game. It was just not a very good moment. He wasn't sharp enough. It's an easy ball back to the centre back. And, you know, he, he was at the centre of things yesterday. I mean, I think after 25 minutes he only had one touch which was the header that he put over so yeah um not great and we also disagreed a little bit last night chatting through the game on whatsapp about Mikel Moreno I thought he struggled in the first half not because he did anything majorly wrong on an individual level even though I thought he was a bit clunky in possession at times but mostly because he was standing in the wrong areas you know he was way too advanced he was looking to play close to Jokeres and counter press, which left way too much space in midfield.

12:12If he can snap into a challenge, great. But once he's bypassed, he can't cover that ground, you know, or close gaps quickly enough. And I think he was a major contributor into how that first half ended up playing out because then it trickled down to Timber, who was playing in the next line, too advanced. Odegaard, too advanced. Then it was just sort of Zubamendi on an island by himself and the two centre-backs. So, yeah, we really struggled to figure things out tactically in that first half. But if I was looking at a couple of players who maybe struggled, it would have been Marino and Jocherez.

12:48Again, not through anything major. Sure. Because their moments, few and far between, when they were in the game were not really at the level required. Well, I think, you know, I've gone back and re-watched bits of that this morning, and I think you're right. But I also think there was an adjustment on the part of Mikel Arterra and Mikel Moreno dropping him a little bit deeper. And that seemed to stem that tide of the ball coming through the middle. When Unano went down. Yeah, yeah, exactly. More or less. Yeah, it gave the manager a chance to sort of hand out some instructions on the sidelines.

13:24I'm sure people have seen the Gary Lineker stuff on Jokoraz this week as well, where he's talking about movement and the movement, for example, of Dominic Calvert-Lewin. When he scored a goal for Leeds at the weekend, he says, you know, he needs to see more of that from Victor Jokoraz. So I guess it's pleasing that we actually did see a bit of that from him with that second chance. It's a more difficult chance, I think, than it looks. just needed to be a slightly more finessed header inside the post. But I was encouraged by that moment where he did gamble on where the ball was going to go. He did make the movement across the defender and he did get there first.

14:03It wasn't too far wide as well. So that was a moment as well where I think having had that period to adjust and to sort of stem the tide and to let the game settle down again, that, you know, Jacarez did at least cause some danger in that sense. Yeah, that was a good bit of play. Sometimes you need to be proactive in the penalty box. Sometimes you need to keep defenders guessing, you know, and I think too often this season they've known where he's been. They've known what kind of movement he wants to make. He's been too easy to marshal away from goal, but that was sharp, proactive center forward play, right?

14:39Which is what we need from him, which is what we want from him. It's a difficult header to execute. but I liked that he gambled you know because Conte lost him in that moment as well which didn't happen much in the first half so yeah that was definitely an encouraging moment I just thought we lacked a lot of fluency and I will say they were allowed to run that game on their own terms taking an age from every free kick every stoppage throw-ins going down after challenges you may as will have given emmy martinez the whistle because darren england wasn't doing anything with his one it reminded me of newcastle coming to the emirates that time when the ball was in play for about two minutes and kieran trippier was was the one refereeing that day i mean turns out it was the same referee that day as it was last night darren england oh wow i think he might have some previous for that but again i won't complain too much because i think he did us a big favor in the second half although his moments to pick and choose dialogue with players there was one moment where he he sort of let a push from onana go and then he was speaking to arteta i don't know i just thought it was a really weird first half in in what he pulled up what he let go how happy he was to let villa sit on the ball for like minutes on end and the fact that there was only three minutes of injury time at the end of that first half was crazy that's mad because onana was sitting on the ground for about five minutes when he was getting treatment.

16:05So where it came from and then like, I don't mind if like if Villa or Villa or any team, if they want to take an age over goal kicks, I don't mind if the referee then says, well, listen, I'm just going to add that time on or at least a chunk of time, which demonstrates that I've been aware of your time wasting in this game if they added on at the end. And listen, it's like an irrelevance basically. But yeah, it's very strange or very difficult to square that kind of timekeeping with what we saw in that first half. And it was a weird kind of first half. Towards the end, there was a really important intervention from William Saliba to nick the ball away from Ollie Watkins at the back post.

16:45I know the flag went up, but I just think that might have been quite a nervy Vracek. It was very, very close. So Saliba, you know, it won't go down as an intervention that shows up on his stats, but I think as a piece of defending, that could prove to be really, really important because that's just before halftime. You can cede a goal to that Villa team just before halftime. Listen, you've got the chance to regroup and clearly the manager had plenty to say at the break, but that would absolutely take the wind out of yourselves. Oh, completely. It would have deflated the whole stadium because in initial, when I was watching it live, I thought, oh, he's miles off.

17:27You know, why is the lines were not flagged there? It seemed obvious to me, but then having watched it on the replay, I was looking along the line and I thought, oh, that could have gone either way. I think Saliba's playing him on. That really could have gone either way. I think it might have been just off, but I didn't want to take the risk. It's amazing defending because in those situations, how often do you see goalkeepers come out and clatter their defenders? The ball can bobble anywhere, but I think he took charge and just found an extra centimetre or two to flick that ball away from Watkins, who was already gearing up for the finish.

17:59You know, when you see it in slow motion, he's just there to side tap it in. But yeah, there were a few moments like that, to be honest. And I'm not saying Villa deserved to be ahead because it was fairly and relatively even. But in terms of the danger of their moments, they definitely created more than us. So it just needed a few tweaks, maybe get in at halftime, change a few things. He did. I don't know what he said. It wouldn't have surprised me if Arteta made a change because something needed to make a change. but the way we came out was very impressive. And I think we can't overlook the absence of Onana coming out for the second half.

18:36He obviously did something. I think it was a hamstring injury and he couldn't carry on. Obviously, McGinn, we know all about him, but just that level of presence and running power in midfield would have been difficult for them to match already without Bubakar Kamara. And I think the way we came out with more urgency, more conviction, more physicality, they couldn't live with it and we just sort of blew them away. Well, I mean, it was, I'm not going to say chalk and cheese, but it was a much improved Arsenal performance. And you can point to the withdrawal of Onana as a factor in that. But, you know, they're bringing on a guy who started every Premier League game for them this season, basically, until last night, John McGinn, who's been a very good player for Aston Villa.

19:14So it's not like a huge drop off in quality there. And I think Arsenal actually deserve the credit for really turning things around in the second half in terms of the performance, in terms of the intensity, in terms of, you know, how we, the mentality, whatever you want to call it. I think it was a nice little combination down the right, Saka Yacarez, Timber led to the corner. Not for the first time. A corner is what cracked this game open for Arsenal. it's made them more sweet by the fact that you know we had a helping hand from a certain man and what I love about this goal and maybe people won't have heard it but on the commentary on the TV footage you can hear Emi Martinez call for the ball just after it's kicked here's the little clip again Again, decisive goalkeeping from Emi Martinez.

20:15Oh, whoops. What's happened here? I mean, he's just soft. He goes to catch it. He doesn't. There's no foul from Gabriel. The ball rolls down Gabriel into the back of the net. Emi Martinez does the thing that every goalkeeper does in that situation and pretends like he's been fouled, but he hasn't been. Villa, appeal for a foul. There's no foul in there. It's just really, really soft goalkeeping. Yeah, completely. Why do all these giant goalkeepers have such an inferiority complex when they go for crosses in the box? Donnarumma does it. Emi Martinez does it. You can't claim a foul there. He's the one pulling Gabriel's shirt before the ball comes in.

20:55And, you know, there were all these screenshots going around today of Gabriel elbowing him in the face. It's nonsense. You've just caught a clip where you've timed it perfectly to catch his arm there. there's not there's not even any contact I'm sorry you are six foot five and you can use your hands that's just the biggest advantage you can get on the on a football pitch and he's blown it he tried to catch the ball just come and punch it clear me and the fact that he's on his haunches running to the referee not having any of it I'm sorry that's just embarrassing and not for the first time this season the Villa fans are not happy with him because it's happened away at Burnley.

21:33It's happened away at Leeds. It's happened now against Arsenal. So maybe this is a thing they need to fix or teams will target it more. And obviously we know that Gabriel is a unique set piece threat, right? I mean, can we just talk about him for a second? Because how much better do we all feel with this man back in the team? I mean, I certainly know how I feel safe, secure i'd like him tucking me into bed at night with a little kiss on the forehead because what we have in gabriel is priceless it's irreplaceable we've mixed and matched chopped and changed through this period where we've basically had a different back for each weekend others have come in done fine by all accounts but big gabby is big gabby right and the presence and physicality he offers in both boxes is totally unique the bravery the way he's willing to put his head in front of shots that are flying towards the top corner or next to boots flying in from crosses the way he unsettles defenses and goalkeepers from set pieces he's he's like got this iron robin-esque quality to him in that we all know it's going to happen but knowing about it and stopping it are two very different things and i just think his overall impact on the back line as its emotional leader its organizer are so important and to come straight back in into a game of this magnitude after six weeks out and 20 odd minutes against Brighton and to play like that I just think it's so silly yeah I mean six weeks out that Mikel Arteta said should have been eight weeks but he's back sooner and that's probably why he ended up sort of having a bit of cramp towards the end I mean I absolutely take your point I agree with you completely about Gabriel and the presence that he brings and you know I'm I'm reminded I think of how ever present he and William Saliba were in previous title challenges, right?

23:24Maybe not last season so much as the one before. And obviously he had the big injury last season as well. So he missed a huge chunk. But 23-24, I think they basically played every game together. They were so fundamental to this team and this defense and the way that it played. And I think we also have to recognize that while it's brilliant to have him back, and it absolutely is brilliant to have him back, and I think it's important that we get those two into a kind of groove together, We also have to recognize and give some credit to the sort of mix and match back fours that we've been putting together that have enabled us to win as many games as we have and to be top of the league.

24:02Like those players deserve a lot of credit. You know, Gabriel is like a totem. He absolutely is. He's a massive, massive presence and a big leader. And he's a first name on the team sheet kind of player. But I think when he comes back and he does that, you also have to step back a bit and say, hey, listen, it's not been easy for Piero Incappier coming in and playing at centre half when he's been mostly playing as sort of a left back or a left wing back. previously at Bayer Leverkusen, Christian Mosquera, who's come in. Sure. You know, Timber, White when he's played, Calafiori when he's played.

24:36You know, I think this group of players deal with adversity in a really positive way for the most part. It's not always easy for us to look at it, but I think they deserve some kudos as well. But yeah, having him back and opening the scoring and doing what he does, the inevitability of it as well. Love it. Absolutely love it. It's just such a strange phenomenon to watch him in those situations because there is a sense of inevitability to him. And I know there's been goal-scoring defenders in the past, Sergio Ramos, John Terry, try not to gag too much, but he does have an aura, a presence about him in either box.

25:22And I think, you know, having him standing alongside his mate Saliba on the halfway line just makes us all feel different. The fans, the team, the opposition, you know, to quote Kendrick Lamar, you can't fake influence and he's got it in abundance. But yeah, completely agree with your point. You know, there's been an irony about the squad that we've built this year because I think our injury situation has been worse than what we had to face last year. and it just feels so typical that we've managed to build this squad and we're having to deal with way more than what we had to deal with last season.

25:55But without these guys, we wouldn't still be first in the Premier League and first in the Champions League. So I absolutely take your point and agree that they've all played a big role in keeping us there for him to come back. So having seen Aston Villa go behind and come back to win quite often this season, I was quite anxious. Despite the fact we'd gone ahead, which was obviously great, I was really hoping that we might get another goal sooner rather than later. And it came quite soon, only four minutes, five minutes after the opening goal. Martin Odegaard had given the ball away. Villa got it back.

26:31But Odegaard won it back, drove through and played just the perfectly weighted Odegaard pass. That pass you know that he can produce and that we haven't maybe seen enough of from him in recent times. but I said this after, who did we play in the last game? Brighton, you know. Brighton. It looks to me like we're beginning to see Martin Odegaard find some form again, some fluency in his game, some rhythm in his game because he's been available and he's been playing. So it was really, really great to see him last night. Not put it on a plate for Martin Zubimendi because I think the finish is more difficult than it looks, but he took it very, very well.

27:16and it's just a great piece of play. It's a brilliant goal. Like you said, Sancho's sleeping, Erdegaard comes in and picks his pocket. And I think, have you ever played like score hero or jumpers for goalposts or something like that where you've got three options and the time slowing down and you need to choose which one's going to be the right one? I think he had Trossard to his left, Saka to his right, Jochores was somewhere in there as well. And time just slowed down and he found the timing of the pass perfectly, the weight of the pass perfectly. I loved the run as well from Zubimendi because I think he recognized in that moment that there was a gap to be filled.

27:52And I agree about Odegaard. He is starting to look like himself again. The recent discourse around him, for me, had ballooned into something ridiculous and had somehow gone from a sort of fair point about his return and role in the team, maybe his impact on our balance, to him suddenly being at fault for everything. that was bad about an injury hit Arsenal and it went way overboard and I just didn't like how he was sort of becoming the lightning rod for others performances that for example Jochores not not getting enough service him stepping on Zubimendi's toes I didn't understand it and in this particular game he was doing all the usual Odegaard stuff dropping deep to get the ball combining well with Saka neat little touches in midfield and flicks around the corner but what made me happy were the things returning to his game that we haven't seen in a little while his ability to orchestrate the press he looks confident in his body again he looks dangerous in central areas he took five shots yesterday all of which were struck with real force and intention behind them more conviction in his final ball of decisiveness there wasn't any spinning and turning into traffic taking extra touches that make you lose opportunities in the final third He was really decisive and it's been a tough year for him, right?

29:14He's been a single point of failure for most of his Arsenal career. And I think in his absence, others have stepped up as you would hope. Raya, Gabriel, Rice, Saka, maybe even Trossard, who we can touch on later. but there's no reason why he can't push himself into that bracket of players again and Brighton was a a nice reminder of what he can do last night was again another reminder of his quality and I thought in that second half we saw it in a microcosm in the lead up to the second goal there's so much quality in this player you know so just give him a chance to get back from injury he will find him at full speed and I thought it was interesting that there was no rice there yesterday and how he did enjoy stepping up in that second half.

29:56So yeah, really good. I'm happy that he's feeling more confident and decisive in those areas because we need him. So yeah. I can't disagree with anything you've said there about Martin Odegaard, that some players are given leeway when they return from injury and other players are expected to perform at their highest level when they return from injury. And it doesn't always make sense. And, you know, if Martin Odegaard returns to his best form, Arsenal have a much better chance of winning the Premier League this season. So let's hope that trajectory from him continues. Now, 2-0 up, everything's all right.

30:30Everything's looking good. Then there is a foul by Mikel Moreno in midfield, which I won't lie, had me clenching on my sofa watching this game. I think nine times out of 10, that's a yellow card. and given that he was already booked, it was a second, it would have been a second yellow card. So I think we kind of got away with one a bit there. Oh, no doubt in my mind. That is a second yellow for me. If that had happened to Arsenal. My WhatsApp, by the way, I was going to say my WhatsApp, you sent it and about four other people within 30 seconds had the exact same message, which was get Marino off now.

31:15Basically. Yeah, exactly. I think I just copied and pasted it across four different chats to try and help with my anxiety in that moment. Yeah, for me, he was a very lucky boy. And it's an incident, a moment in a game where if it happens to you at the other end, you're fuming about it. So I completely understand any frustration from Villa side of things. I understand any frustration from Morgan Rogers. I understand frustration from their fans because I I think he should have walked. And I was, to be honest, amazed and surprised that the referee didn't brandish a second yellow card for that incident.

31:54And absolutely my first thought in that moment was get him off, bring on uncle Norgaard, Norginio, as I like to call him now. He needed to come on in that moment and give us a bit more balance because even though Villa looked shell-shocked by that moment, all it takes is one moment like that. And 10 men with 20 odd minutes to go against a team who have a, you know, penchant for coming back from behind. Didn't want any of that. So, yeah, I think he should have come off ASAP. Well, I mean, yeah, they did get him off. And actually, I'm just thinking that there were, there were actually a couple of fouls by Bakayo Saka in the first half where there was one in particular.

32:35Oh, yeah, cynical trips. Like he just sort of stuck a leg out and tripped the guy up as Villa were going to break. and the ref gave a free kick, but like, again, I'd be, that's a yellow card. I don't want Bikai Osaka to get booked, but I was really surprised that he didn't get, he didn't get one because the second one was even more cynical than the first one. And maybe one you get away with, but the ref let him away with two there. Are we getting the Harry Kane treatment, Andrew? Maybe, I don't know about that, but what I will say is that enough has gone against us for me not to feel too unhappy that one or two decisions went our way in a game like this and at a moment in a game like this as well.

33:17But look, you know, I think Arsenal had other chances to score. Jurgen Timber, the ball broke to him from a corner. He just sort of stuck a foot out and it was probably more difficult to put it over the bar than it was to score in that moment. There was an Odegaard shot as well. Odegaard had a shot just wide. Martinez made a save. And then there was a break, wasn't there, where we played some nice football. Actually, I think probably lost in the anxiety of the last few weeks. Maybe the joy of last night and just simply winning 4-1 against a team like Villa is I'm seeing signs that are football, there are moves being created.

34:00There's a fluency, a little bit of attacking rhythm that hasn't been there as often as we would like this season. I think, you know, the move for Incapier where Odegaard plays it outside to him and he just sort of falls over. Sniper in the crowd. Yeah, sniper in the crowd. He just went over. I was like, oh, what the fuck? But, you know, that was a period of the game, I think, where Arsenal, again, were very dominant and could easily have scored before we got that third goal. Definitely. What I liked about the second half in particular was our ability to squeeze the pitch. You know, and I think everybody played their role in doing that, but particularly Gabriel and Incapier coming out of their positions, very aggressive, looking to win those second balls early.

34:46And it just pushes everybody five or 10 yards further forward. And then you're playing in areas where we feel more comfortable and Villa feel less comfortable. So as the time went on, you could see that Villa were making more mistakes. They didn't have the out balls that they had in the first half. They didn't have the space to run into that they had in the first half. And it was just, that's how you play a team like Villa, especially in a game where there's a bit of bite to it, a bit of needle. You need to be physical. And we just lacked a bit of that in the first half because our distances were so off.

35:17But I think it was almost like the snap of a finger. The distances, second half, straight away, distances, much better. We were much closer to them, snapping into tackles and challenges, not giving them time to settle. and in that period where maybe between the second and third goal, they were really sort of under pressure and shell-shocked and they didn't know what to do. So it could have been more before the third. To be honest, we didn't see any replays of it. I thought we should have had a penalty. That one on Jurian Timber looked like a penalty to me and we didn't see it. No, we didn't see because ultimately we sort of kept the ball moving and circulating and scored the goal.

35:58through Leandro Trossard. Like, I did wonder as they were going back through, well, it's not Saka offside. It's not Incapia offside. It's about eight passages of play. Yeah, it's like, how far are you going to go back? Do you think you could go back and have a look at that Jurian Timber moment? Because he did go down. I mean, he got up, but it's hard to see exactly whether there was sufficient contact there for a penalty. I suppose it's a moot point when Trossard cracks it into the back of the net from the edge of the box. Emi Martinez can't even move, just has to stand there and watch the ball go in and makes a very lovely sound when it hits the back of the net as well.

36:30Right in the corner, wasn't it? Yeah, that's a very Trossard goal. And we've done the narrative already this season. Are we at a point where we could move past Trossard? Eze came in, Madueke came in, Martinelli is the younger option that maybe we can persist with. We've tried to sell him in our minds to Turkey towards the end of the window. We weren't convinced about the pay rise. Not me, leave me out of this role. What's this wee business pale face? not you Andrew yeah but here we are in December heading in towards January talking about our most productive player of the year and the most productive Arsenal player since he joined the club two and a half years ago so it's been an unbelievable you know year two years and a bit for him at Arsenal he's had the most Premier League goal involve involvements at Arsenal in 2025 with 19, 10 goals, nine assists.

37:25Only Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Brian Umberma, Bruno Fernandes and Antoine Semenyo have produced more Premier League goal improvements in 2025. He really feels like a player in the peak of his career, enjoying some responsibility, adding gears to his game. And you can see when someone's enjoying their football, right? They seem to move a little bit quicker. Their first touch is smoother. The way they strike the ball is sweeter. And I think he's the best finisher at the club by some distance. You know, we're not blessed with natural goal scorers in this group. It's more of a collective effort.

38:04And yes, we have players who go through patches of form. Marino is an excellent finisher. Saka Kambi as well. Trossard streets ahead of everyone in that department. And when you need someone to just slow their heart rate down a bit, hit the ball cleanly off either foot, by the way, pick out the corners. He does it better than anyone, but I've been so impressed with his all round game since the turn of this or since the start of this season, not just his output, which has been so important, but I think his overall performance levels, tracking back, defending, you know, his creativity has gone up as well.

38:38His technical security has gone up. I just think he's playing at such a high level. And it's a credit to him because we were already, not all of us, we were ready to move past him, I think in some quarters. No, listen, I think what we're seeing is a really, really intelligent footballer who's taken a step forward in his career, in his level since he joined from Brighton. I think he's better than he was at Brighton. And I think he's sort of at the peak of his powers at 31 years of age. He's got loads of experience. I think it might have been James who made the point one time on the Arse Cast Extra that he is a guy who knows he's got limited time left to win the big things in his career.

39:20And maybe that's playing a part in this. You know, it's hard to come to grips with all the intangibles. Why is this player in such good form over such a period of time? But I think it just boils down to that. He's really talented. He's really smart. He's very effective. and I don't want to jinx him or anything. I'm going to touch all the wood here, but generally speaking, he's very available to Arsenal, you know? So he plays a lot and that really helps. And I think obviously that finish then for his goal was really good. They did try and find a billion offsides, but couldn't do it. So the goal stood.

39:58And then Mikel Arteta did make a couple of changes. Gabriel Jesus came on for Jokeres, Whereas Meisler-Skelion for Gabriel, who went down with what looked like cramp, probably not helped by the fact that Incapier stood on his hand while he was down. That was so funny, the replay. He just sort of looks up at him and is like, wow, what are you doing? And then within 60 seconds of Gabriel Jesus coming onto the pitch, he scores his first goal since last January. And I think we all understand what a huge moment that was for him because of the struggles that he's had with injury and the ACL and the trials and tribulations of, you know, surgery, not playing, recuperation, rehabilitation, then pushing yourself and pushing yourself to be able to come back and play at this level.

40:47and I think the fact that it capped off one of those moves that I just referenced where Arsenal, like Villa, this is what, the 77th minute, something like that. Villa really put together a very coordinated press in our half trying to win the ball back high up the pitch. Maybe a last gasp, you know, attempt to try and wrestle back the game and change the momentum of the game. But we played through it really, really well. Got down the left-hand side. Trossard looks up, finds Jesus. And listen, those are moments, I think, where in the past, maybe we've seen him not be clinical enough, not have enough conviction in the finish, but it sort of felt like it had to be the way that he hit that ball, you know, just curled it into the bottom corner.

41:36Absolutely great finish, a great move, and just a great moment for him. And you could see what it meant for him and obviously the teammates as well, you know who are delighted for that contribution. It was a lovely moment. And you're absolutely right to highlight the move that had gone before it because it was, you know, between David Raya, Louis Skelly and KPA, then Odegaard got it in midfield, Zubemendy down the left. So there was a real team element to this one, but the goal itself was all down to Jesus. I mean, it's a lovely moment. He's waited a long time for that goal, 363 days since he scored away at Brentford.

42:11and there's been a lot of pain in between. But all it took was 55 seconds and one beautifully sculpted kick of the ball for all that pain to be worth it. You know, have you seen that John Lewis advert? This year's John Lewis advert where the dad is transported back to his youth after getting a vinyl from his teenage son. This goal transported me back to those three beautiful pre-World Cup months where it felt like I was watching the reincarnation of R9. instead of Lacazette playing false defensive midfield. You know, it was just so beautiful. The confidence with which he approached that chance, the connection of the strike, an iconic celebration as well with the I belong to Jesus t-shirt.

42:55It's a little bit embarrassing that his mum still feels the need to label his clothes at 28 years of age, but there you go. I mean, I wonder if that's sewed into all his underwear at the training ground as well. But I mean, it's difficult because he's an obvious candidate it for a sale this summer in terms of his standing in the squad his wages his injury history and i think they will visit that when the time is right but for now he can absolutely contribute and if i'm arsenal i'm not entertaining any january no sale or loans or anything like that he is showing that maybe if he can't do 90s every week and lead the line and fight defenders all the time he can contribute and he's very secure on the ball he looks sharp he might have lost a yard but he looks very very comfortable in his body even just five goals between now and the end of the year could prove incredibly valuable and that was just an amazing moment for him for the stadium I love the reaction um there was a really nice moment with him and Jocheres and Havertz at full time as well I did like that yeah cuddles I did like that strikers union if you want to call it that And listen, we've talked about Jacarez a lot.

44:07And I think on a human level, he was obviously delighted for Jesus. Professional level, it might be difficult to see a guy come on and you've struggled to score a goal. He comes on, scores a goal inside 60 seconds. But I do like the way he reacted to Jesus in that moment. Havertz there as well, who didn't get off the bench, but great to see him back, by the way. And it does give Mikel Arteta plenty to think about, doesn't it, going forward? definitely good to see ben white back as well another one ahead of schedule um look we need options it's going to be a long hard season there's going to be games where we need to rotate there's going to be games on wednesday then on saturday then on tuesday then on sunday it's going to be non-stop we need these players fit and ready to go otherwise we're going to burn the people that we need into the ground and then it's going to be like last year again so even if they're not playing or scoring or at their fluent best all the time, having options to come on and change games like that is invaluable.

45:06So yeah, while they're here and while they're fit, happy to use them. They all offer us something different. And, you know, we often call it a headache for a manager. I think he loves it. I think Arteta loves being able to choose people. Yes, there's going to be a couple excluded from the Matchday squad. Maybe we'll have a chat about Ethan later on, but it's just something we're going to have to get used to. There will be casualties. We've still got Mosquera to come back as well. You know, this is a big bench, a big squad full of good players. So yeah, really happy to see him back in on the score sheet.

45:40So 4-0 and the game gets to 90 minutes and they put up eight minutes of injury time. I feel like there should be a mechanism when you're 4-0 down away from home that you should be able to, as the opposition manager, if you're 4-0 down, You should be able to just say, nah, let's throw in the towel. That's it. We don't need another eight minutes. Somebody might get an injury. Something crazy might happen. I mean, it kind of did. Villa had these incredible chances to score. There was one, obviously, from John McGinn after Ollie Watkins had hit the post from very close range, which produced, Phil, some very excellent commentary in Spanish, which we're going to play here.

46:21We'll explain a little bit afterwards for the non-Spanish speakers. El palo, raya, el palón de raya. No, no, no me lo creo, no me lo creo. Milagroso. No me lo creo. Es un santo y se llama David Raya. So the people might recognize it. They come up with a couple of gems on there, really. Those two are great. Yeah, people might recognize the voices because I use their commentary stuff quite often for the intros to the RS Cast Extra. But in that situation, the guy's going, I can't believe it, I can't believe it. And the other guy goes, it's a miracle. There's a saint and his name is David Raya. It was probably more of a bad miss from John McGinn than a brilliant save from David Raya.

47:03Nevertheless, Raya's collection of incredible saves this season gets another addition. Oh, yeah. Cat-like reflexes to get up because it's actually a really good header initially from Watkins sort of moving away from the goalkeeper onto the post. Like the one he scored against Chelsea the other day. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. But he has to get up very quickly. I agree. John McGinn, he's what, three yards in front of the goal? He has the whole goal to aim at, apart from the place where David Wright is standing and he kicks it straight at him. But look, fair play to get up and be ready for anything that comes at you again.

47:41Some great commentary. Another save for the highlight reel. There was one going around on socials this week and you see saves, you remember saves from various points of the season and you just think, God, he's been playing at such a good level. for a long time now. He doesn't get any credit for it. It's not that he doesn't get any credit. I think it's one of those things that people tend to talk about other positions and they'll talk about injuries and they'll talk about the striker situation and we've just sort of accepted that in David Raya we have an outstanding goalkeeper who's producing incredible saves.

48:16That video that you mentioned, by the way, there's just some unbelievable saves in there. Like I'd forgotten a few of them. The one against Olympiacos, I'd forgotten completely about. It was 1-0. Kevin Shada. Yeah, the Shada one. Yeah, you know, some really, really good saves. So maybe, yeah, we'll duff our caps a little bit to David Raya for that save more than criticize John McGinn. You know, when you're carrying an arse around that heavy, sometimes it's not easy to find your balance in front of goal. The hip mobility is not always there. Yeah, exactly. Nevertheless, they did get a goal. A bit fortunate, I guess.

48:52Saliba sort of gets a touch on the ball. I think we can probably defend that situation a little bit better. And Raya, I'm sure, delighted with the three points, probably just a little unhappy that we didn't get the clean sheet. But it's a very small blot on the copybook of last night. Yeah, he might have lost a few quids based on that goal, I think, in terms of clean sheet bonuses. But it's not a great one. I understand that your levels drop in injury time when you're 4-0 up. But the way Daniel Marlon just sort of wriggles through a little bit, Saliba gets a toe on the ball. It squeezes through Raya.

49:25Then Louis Skelly's falling a bit asleep at the back post. You know, it's just a collection of small things that ended up leading to the goal. I don't think there's anything egregious from anybody, but it's just, you know, 4-0 would have been much nicer than 4-1. But at the end of the day, the game was already done at that point. Half of their away end was empty. And look, we know Oli Watkins is an Arsenal fan. So he's allowed a birthday goal at Emirates Stadium. He was a bit crotchety last night, wasn't he? Like he seems like a nice guy. Yeah, he got into a few bits and pieces with Gabriel. There was one with Zubimendi as well.

50:01Didn't he get booked for dissent? He did. And who did I see? It could have been Orbinio. Let me just see. I think it was Orbinio. I'm just going to look it up. Yeah. Orbinio says, on Blue Sky, he says, I don't know if you could see it on TV, but from the Emirates West End, I spent much of the last 15 minutes watching Ollie Watkins constantly pinching in Capier on his arms and back every few seconds. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been doing that to Gabriel. What was wrong with him? It was his birthday. Maybe he didn't get a good gift on his birthday. That wasn't very birthday of you, Arsenal Football Club.

50:37Yeah, look, if he thinks a bit of pinching and kicking is going to bother someone who grew up in Ecuador, who's played in the Copa Libertadores. I've got something else for you, mate, because that won't have the slightest impact. Yeah, he did seem a bit on edge. To be honest, not unlike some of his other teammates or his manager. Oh, we're going there now, are we? Okay. Because there were some interesting scenes at full time. There were. Can we play the clip of... Let me play the clip of Unai Emery talking to Sky Sports and he was asked about the lack of a handshake between himself and Mikel Arteta.

51:19Yes, I was waiting for him, but he was with his coaches and always my routine is go with the first one with the opponent coach, shake hands and then go with inside or with my coaches. But firstly, always is to go with the opponent coach. If he's not doing the same rule, I can't wait. I can't wait because he was cold. He was too cold to wait. Listen, you know what? I think that sometimes the handshake between managers thing is completely overblown, completely overindexed. If a manager doesn't want to shake hands with another manager, that's fine. Who gives a fuck, really? But what I think is just weird and bizarre about this situation is that he says, I always go over to shake hands with the opposition coach.

52:16And the footage, my friend, tells a very different story. He turned, had a look and went straight down the tunnel. He did not wait at all. and I also think despite the fact that I do think the handshake thing is a bit overblown that if Mikel Arteta after we lost that game at Villa Park can adhere to that protocol if you want to call it that in a moment where you would have had you know it would have been easy for him to fuck off down the tunnel if Mikel Arteta can do it there in those circumstances I think it's really poor form from Emory not to do it last night. Not to mention as well, what you see from Mikel Arteta in those moments at the end of a game where we lost and we were away from home, he did take the time to shake the hand of Unai Emery, but also acknowledge the Arsenal fans who had traveled all the way to Villa Park.

53:13And Unai Emery pisses off down the tunnel after his team gets a spanking and doesn't have any moments for the fans as well. So I think it's pretty, pretty lame from Emery in that sense. Yeah, not a good look. And I think his head was gone in that moment. There were a few times the camera panned to him in the second half and he was just confused, shocked, disappointed about what he'd been watching. I think maybe in his head, he'd built this up as a night where he could really announce himself in terms of this title race and upset Arsenal again, come back to the ground that held, you know, some good memories, but also some bad memories.

53:53I think the excuse is pissy that it was cold and you couldn't wait three seconds. Come on, man. We can all see it. And generally, I think Arteta has been very respectful to him. They're Basque buddies. You know, he talks him up all the time. He's always very complimentary about what he's done and what he's been able to achieve in his career. So, yeah, the fact that he was sort of saying, what I do and what Mikel does is something very different. And it was just a bit, you know. Yeah, I mean, he was upset. You can be frustrated. But that's just the bare minimum. Of course. Exactly. Listen, if you don't want to shake hands as well, just say, I didn't feel like it.

54:33I just, you know, I was in a bad mood. At least own it. Exactly. Own it like a grown man. And don't try and point fingers at the other manager when, you know, you're on fucking 8K HD in every fucking angle where they can see that you just pissed off down the tunnel. You know, it's just strange, strange behavior. But then I think he is, it's fair to say, a little bit of a strange man. Not that that spoiled the enjoyment of anybody in that stadium last night. Emi Martinez, who had gone through, I'm sure people have seen the video, a very strange warm up in the tunnel. Rigorous. Yeah. Yeah. And just sort of, I don't know.

55:14He was on his haunches as all the subs and the staff were coming out. People were looking at him going like, what's this guy? Gets into a bit of a beef with the Arsenal fans coming off as well. I mean, you love to see it. These are the small things about football. Listen, we've talked about the last few weeks, right, not being that much fun from an Arsenal perspective. Like we're winning games, but it's been hard to sort of properly enjoy the wins because of how they've come about. Now, this last night was just like, we've all needed this. I certainly needed it. Not just a win, but a comfortable win over a rival, over a team that have caused us some problems.

55:59As you say, the Martinez element, the Unai Emery element, the fact that it puts a bit of pressure on Manchester City, Martinez beefing with fans as he goes off. This was all a lot of fun. And I'm here for that stuff because it doesn't happen every week. And when it does happen, you really do have to enjoy it to the maximum possible. That's football. That's football, man. I hate when people get prissy about stuff like this because it's what makes it an enjoyable sport. You know, we were due a spanking. They were due a spanking. It all sort of meshed together in one delightful spanking last night.

56:39And you have to enjoy these moments. You know, Gabrielle doing the three points in the pocket thing that Onana does as well. Great. I love it. He's always doing stuff like that. He's salty. That's great. That's what you want. You know, people are going to, why is he online looking at these things? They're young guys with a mobile phone. You know, that's what happens. They see things on social media. Tweets get posted in the dressing room. We know that from when it happened with Ivan Tony. So these guys are probably talking about it beforehand. You need to have this kind of competitive advantage over people because that's what makes it fun.

57:16That's what makes winning fun. And they made us feel shit about ourselves less than a month ago. So I think we're allowed to do it to them. Oh, absolutely. I think, yeah, you're right. The recency of it is what plays a part because it was so soon after that game at Villa Park, which was like, felt like a kick in the stomach, didn't it? and they enjoyed it and they had a great time and as they should have a great time and if they want to have a bit of a dig at Arsenal then you know that's fine as well but you've got to be able to take a bit back yeah always fair I it doesn't bother me when other teams do it because that's just what happens you've got to take it and then when you do it it's even more enjoyable so yeah people shouldn't get prissy about that stuff it's really weird um yeah I don't get it the tone policing of like, well, you shouldn't give Martinez a hard time.

58:06Come on. Why not? Why not? He's a former player. There's a bit of history. He was good for us. He helped us win an FA Cup. Thank you very much. And then since then, the relationship has gone in a different direction, right? That's what happens. That's life. And in 10 years time, when he's retired, it'll probably be a little more cam and people will, you know, or maybe he'll just be a, you know, a pantomime villain forever. Who knows? But, you know, there's no sort of like, there's no part of me that thinks, well, we need to be more respectful of Amy Martinez because of blah. Come on, get a grip.

58:39Get a grip. Three points, top of the table, extend the lead over Manchester City. That's what we were all looking for when we went into this game. That was sort of the bare minimum of what was required from last night. And we did far more than the bare minimum. I think, just sort of quickly to wrap us up here, the idea that Arsenal could win this game and make a statement in doing so was like, that's the gold standard of what last night could have been for us. And I think we basically achieved that because there have been questions. There have been questions about our performances and questions about our ability and questions about the players we have missing and questions about this, that and the other.

59:25and we spanked a team who had won 11 games in a row. We spanked them 4-1. Yeah, maybe I just refused to accept that one. 4-0, no, it's 4-1. But you know what I mean? I think there's, sometimes a game is just three points. Sometimes a game is a little bit more than three points. And I think last night was one of those games from an Arsenal perspective. For sure, for sure. I mean, what did we have to take after that late defeat at Villa Park? The emotional Arsenal that can't handle themselves in a title race, crumbling under pressure again. There was all that zooming in on the clip when Raya was smacking the ground and Capier, all of these sort of this armchair analysis came into question.

1:00:13Are they going to bottle it again? City are coming. Well, we've won every game since then. you know and the I just feel like there's going to be ups and downs in a season you need to you need to accept that there will be times where we lose there will be heartbreaking late defeats there will be injuries it's all about how you react and I think this Arsenal team have proven that they can react in a really impressive way we can cope with injuries we can cope with absences and and this is just what happens you know i think in terms of the the table we've put ourselves clear again we've knocked villa down we've now put the pressure on city to go to sunderland and get a result it's it's part and parcel of it next week it will be them doing it to us and then it will be us doing it to them again and blah blah blah so i was really impressed with the win we had to to manage a bit of injury uh induced anxiety again can i just talk about injuries because where i i think i've got a lot on my chest or i've got a lot to get off my chest about this because i can i can understand why people are frustrated because it feels like we're constantly firefighting and playing with our hands behind our backs this season you know one in one out we're taking this new rule to new levels but so much of the discourse and the analysis around our injury issues is baseless I mean you can look at patterns you can analyze what's in front of you and say should Ben White have started against Wolves after missing a year of football and playing 390s in a week probably not we had Lewis Skelly available maybe the best option on that day was to sit him down.

1:01:54Could we have used Norgard or Ethan Weneri a little bit more at various points during the season so far? Maybe. Have there been examples in the past where players have been visibly knackered and suffered from overplaying? I think of Havertz, Saka, definitely. But a million different things can cause injuries, freak incidents, collisions, the increasingly absurd schedule, domino effects of other injuries, which leads to overplaying in certain positions. Some players are just more injury prone than others. And I just feel like the narrative is always, ha, you think our injuries are bad luck? I pity you, small-minded individual, for not realizing the greater conspiracy that's at play here.

1:02:34And it's like, I get it. But also, why can nobody tell me what's going on when they don't believe it's just bad luck? If you don't think it's bad luck and I'm seemingly missing something obvious, why can nobody explain in great detail while we're failing here you know we've overhauled the medical team twice during our tetas six-year tenure at the club dr iqbal's come in as the new head of medicine we've got a new first team doctor there's a new nutritionist at the club a number of physios and doctors have left to pursue different opportunities across the league there is constant change happening so screaming overhaul the medical team into the abyss doesn't work for me we aren't privy to 1 % of the stuff that goes on at London Colney or what they know medically, physically, or mentally about these players.

1:03:25I don't get how people just hop onto the, well, it must be our fault or Arteta's fault or the medical team's fault. And I get the frustration because it really feels constant at this point. But, you know, I find it hard to believe that a multi-billion pound elite institution like Arsenal aren't doing everything they can to minimize these issues. Sorry, rant over. I mean, I probably went on for a little while there. I got a lot of stick yesterday for saying it was bad luck again. I think - And I don't understand how people can talk about it with so much conviction when they haven't got a clue. None of us have a clue.

1:04:06I think when you are searching for an answer, you're sort of, well, it can't be just bad luck. And I don't think it is just bad luck. I think there are things we could have done that might have mitigated injuries to one or two of the players this season. But for example, someone like Declan Rice, you know, I've heard people say, for example, why is Rice playing as much as he is? Well, because he's one of the fucking best players in the world. And what happens when you're one of the best players in the world and one of the best players at a club is that you play pretty much all the time. I don't know how you can say Arsenal aren't winning games convincingly enough and then at the same time say, well, maybe we should be resting Declan Rice, who's been instrumental in us winning some of those games by a really tight margin.

1:04:51You know, if a player gets a knock on the knee or a kick on the knee or, you know, someone stands on his hands and breaks his feet, you know, there's not a lot you can do about that. But I think what it is is the relentlessness of it is, and the sort of knowledge gap that exists, sort of, I don't want to say creates conspiracy because I don't think it's conspiracy, but you're so desperate for answers. You're looking at this guy, this guy, that guy, that guy. The reality is when you are asking human beings to undertake hugely exhausting physical behavior in a schedule that is pretty nonstop, there are going to be some casualties along the way.

1:05:43And I would say Arsenal, maybe I'm wrong to speak for Arsenal in any way, but they might say, actually, yeah, maybe there are things that we can do better, but it's not for the lack of trying. It's not for the lack of investment. And yeah, unless, as you say, somebody has that magic bullet, that solution, somebody just tomorrow some dude on Twitter is going to go actually the reason Arsenal are getting all these injuries is this oh great we'll fix that and everything will be amazing again but I think what it is it all is connected to that fear that we've talked about in the last couple of weeks that is pervasive about this season and about our desire for success and every time there's an injury you're like this just makes our life more difficult you know it's difficult enough as it is I think the the stuff around Declan Rice yesterday when James reported his absence and what I think was unacceptable reaction and abuse that he got for that, a reporter reporting news should not provoke that kind of reaction.

1:06:50People just want to hear, like, don't tell us that news, only tell us news we want to hear, you know? But what I think was a big part of it was the fact that it was Declan Rice. And it's like, oh, fuck, we've got this huge game against Aston Villa and our best player this season is going to be missing. And so that then feeds into that reaction. You know, just on that, by the way, I think it's quite funny that, like, the idea that Aston Villa knew four hours before kickoff made any difference to anything is just absurd to me. What did he think? They're in their team hotel. What's Unai Emery going to do, lads?

1:07:28Meet in the ballroom. we'll have a quick training session here to fucking, you know, figure out what to do without it. Like whether they knew four hours or two hours or an hour and 15 minutes before kickoff, they still had plenty of time to react to the absence of Declan Rice in a tactical way, you know? So it's just, yeah. It's just bullshit. Even looking at Rice, there was a week between us losing at Villa and the game we won against Wolves. Then there was another week between the game against Everton and us playing Wolves. He played four minutes against Palace in the Carabao Cup. And then he played 90 against Brighton where he obviously got the knock on his knee, but we didn't have anybody else.

1:08:05So he had to play. I don't think that's like gross mismanagement or anything. You know, and I really understand and get the frustration because I feel it too. It feels mentally draining. It's so constant. Every week there's something new. We're having to firefight all the time. And I said it earlier on this season. The only thing I'm worried about preventing us from achieving our goals this season is injuries. We can always scrutinize patterns and what we're seeing with team selections, how players are being managed with being, you know, with knocks or whatever. But I just, I find it so difficult to get behind the conviction people speak about these things without having a clue of what goes on behind the scenes.

1:08:47I think there's obviously more going on that we don't know about and they are trying to sort it. I think generally our injury management has been very good this year. We're not taking risks with anybody. I think in another season or another time, Declan Rice plays last night and potentially aggravates an issue. I think we've been very patient with people coming back in terms of managing their minutes. Others have come back ahead of schedule. so i don't know it's just something i feel like it's it's criticism that gets leveled at people that is that is not fair which is why it gets on my nerves but again i can understand where that comes from which is a desperation and an anxiety to win which is what we all have all right well look rant over from you glad yes glad sorry about that that's okay glad you got that off your chest i i do think it's an interesting talking point as well but we won't let it obscure what was a really good night for Arsenal, a really fun night for Arsenal, a really miserable night for Aston Villa, a really miserable night for Unai Emery, a miserable, miserable night for Emi Martinez.

1:09:50And those are things that we can take with us into 2026 in good spirits. So crack open the Cava tonight, Phil. I wish you and yours a very, very happy new year. And thank you for being with us. Thank you. Happy new year to you and to everyone listening. I hope I have a nice fizzy bottle of Emmy Martinez tears to pour into a glass later with a smoked salmon Bellini. But yeah, really good win. I think when Arsenal sort of get into flow state like that, it's a joy to watch. And like I said, we were due a win like that. So just enjoy it. And yeah, see you in the new year.

1:10:31Thank you very much indeed to Phil. You can find him on Blue Sky. He is at philcosta.bsky.social. That's at philcosta.bsky.social. So that, folks, is that for 2025. Not a bad way to end the year. Not a bad place to be at the end of the year. Top of the table and in pretty good shape overall, I think it's fair to say. If someone had offered you this back in August, a minimum, minimum two-point lead at the top of the table at the end of December. I think most people would have said, yeah, I quite fancy a bit of that. Second half of the season, it's going to get busy. It's going to get hectic. We've got so many games.

1:11:13January is mental with football. But I think we've shown that we can deal with adversity. And now it's a case of dealing with that fixture schedule, rotating the squad properly, getting minutes into everybody and hopefully raising the level of everybody for what is going to be a very, very important second half of the season. So look, don't forget later in the week, we'll have an episode of the 30 for you over on Patreon and a preview podcast for our game against Bournemouth. If you want to support what we do at Arseblog in 2026, you can do it at patreon.com forward slash Arseblog. It's just$6 a month and you get access to all of that stuff.

1:11:53And it helps power everything that we do and that we give away for free. the blog, Arseblog News, the Arsecast, Arsecast Extra, Arseal Women Arsecast, coverage of Arseal Women, all of that stuff is free to air. So if that's worth something to you and you want to get something else on top of that, with all that extra content, patreon.com forward slash Arseblog. It simply remains now for me to take a moment to thank you as ever for being here and for listening and for downloading, to wish you and yours, wherever you are in the world, a very happy and healthy and peaceful new year. I hope it brings you everything you want and I hope it brings you everything you deserve.

1:12:31And I hope as well that it brings us success collectively as a community, as Arsenal fans, when we get to May and we've got something big to celebrate. So let's keep fingers crossed for all of that. For now, though, folks, take it easy. Thanks as ever. And we will catch you on the next one. Until then, cheers. Bye-bye and happy new year.

1:13:02I'm out.

1:13:25you

1:14:15Welcome to Mastermind. The next contestant is Aston Villa Manager Unai Emery. And his specialized subject is songs about impatience from female vocalists in the 1980s. Your round begins now. Stevie Nicks had a number 16 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with which song in 1985? I Can't Wait. Correct. American band New Shoes reached number 2 also in 1985 with which hit? I Can't Wait. Correct. And that strangely appears to be the end of your round, as if somebody was stretching a gag a bit too far. Mr. Emery, how do you feel? Cool. I am sorry. The BBC budget no longer allows us to put the heating on.

1:15:00You may retake your seat. Next contestant, whose specialized subject is karma. It's Emmy Martinez.