Episode 862 - Oh hi, Kai!

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. We're talking Champions League today. A 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan at the Emirates last night. A game that Arsenal were fully expected to win, did win, probably should have won by... Probably should have won. Let me do my English gooder. Probably should have won by a bigger margin because we had chances. Boy, oh boy, did we have chances. But they got a late goal, which I don't know. Did it blot our copybook in the grand scheme of things?

1:05I mean, this is a game, obviously. I'm not saying it didn't matter because, you know, every game matters in its own way. But there's a sliding scale of matter, matter, mattering, matterization, matterificness. You know what I mean? This was low down on that particular scale. So we will have to look at this game through that particular prism, right? How much did this matter in the grand scheme of things? Were there things we should take positives from? If we can, are there things that we can analyze and not be critical of, but maybe discuss to see if we can do some of those things better? I think that's fair.

1:40I think that's all right. Ultimately, though, Arsenal have made eight wins from eight in the Champions League, finishing top of the table. That brings with it some benefits with regards our knockout games and whether we're playing at home first or second. That's all done dusted in the bag. We'll also talk about the potential teams that we can face in the first knockout round of the Champions League when the draw is made. And look, the other thing to say is that we have avoided, by finishing top or in the top eight, having to play another round of games, which I think is basically the last thing that this team needs right now.

2:15The schedule has been hectic enough so we can let the other teams in the Champions League who have to play that extra game, go head to head, tire each other out, kick the shit out of each other. And hopefully we can reap the benefits when the round of 16 takes place. So let's talk about the game and let's talk about the good, the bad, the indifferent and everything in between. With me to do that this morning is Charles Watts. Good morning, Charles. Good morning, Andrew. How are you, mate? I'm all right. Thank you very much. Eight wins from eight in the Champions League. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad.

2:46You're certainly taking that at the start, wouldn't you? Absolutely. It's kind of not flown under the radar a little bit before we get into the nuts and bolts of the game. But, you know, Arsenal's efficiency in the Champions League since we returned to the tournament a couple of seasons ago has probably been... Listen, there's so much scrutiny on everything that Arsenal do, but this sort of goes without too much mention. There might be a case, you know, maybe they need a season or two to get up to speed, but that hasn't been the case at all. No, it hasn't, especially in the sort of, well, I don't know, it's the league phase now, isn't it?

3:21But when you go back to the first year in the regular old group stage, they were very, very good. They were good in the league phase last season and, you know, immaculate this time around. So it's been really, really strong. There's been no, like, getting up to speed, adjusting to life back in the Champions League for them. They've been on it from the start, which is good. Obviously, we kind of progressed each season at the moment, last season's semi-final. So, you know, hopefully if we continue on that trajectory, we've got a lot to celebrate come the end of this season. Well, fingers crossed.

3:51That is a bridge maybe we'll cross when we come to it. Last night was the final group game. It was against the team that prop up the Champions League table. They had a long journey from Kazakhstan. I think they'd only like four or five outfield players on the bench. They're in the middle of their, not pre-season, but their off-season, basically. Their league finished, or it doesn't start again until February or March, I don't think, and they finished in October, something like that. So, you know, this opposition kind of has to be put in that context a little bit, right? And the context of, you know, Arsenal already finishing top of the table.

4:28So it allowed Mikel Arteta to make some changes and bring some players in. We had a return for Ricardo Calafiori at centre-half rather than left-back, I should say. And we saw the return of Kai Havertz. And the question maybe before the game was, well, who's going to start up front? Will it be Jochrez? Will it be Jesus? Will he play Kai Havertz up front? And I think probably looking at this game, he thought this could be a good game for Victor Jochrez to get a couple of goals and boost his confidence in front of goal. You know, strikers, as we know, thrive off end product. So given the opposition, I can understand why he played Jokeres up there and decided then to play Kai Havertz in midfield, which is something he's talked about a little bit over the last couple of weeks when Havertz has been mentioned about where he might play and has spoken about him as somebody who can play in various positions.

5:18So that decision was interesting, but great to see Kai Havertz back. And obviously he made a very, very quick impact. Yeah, brilliant seeing back. We were in the press room before the game and we sort of got word that Havertz was starting, I don't know, 20 or so minutes before the team line-up came out. And we all just presumed, oh, so he's going to be up front then. And then when the team came out, we were all pretty surprised to see Jokeres in there as well. And Havertz was playing a little bit deeper. But he's such a clever player, Havertz. He seems to have this sort of tag with him. I think basically from his first few months with the team that he can't play in that midfield role.

5:56because, you know, he did struggle obviously early on in that role. I don't think that's the case. He's such a clever player. He's such a good player. He can play that role. And he's played it very well at times as well. But everyone seems to still remember those early struggles and kind of paint, you know, the Aston Villa game when we basically ended up losing the title and he dropped into midfield in that game. And people always point to that as well. But he actually played really well in that game. It wasn't his fault. So he can play there and he showed it yesterday. You know, it was really, really encouraging.

6:23And, you know, I've been waiting a long time. We all have. But I just think he's such a good player at Haberts and Arsenal have missed him massively. Albeit against the opposition Arsenal were up against last night, as you said, that has to be taken into account. Just showed signs in those first 45 minutes of exactly what he's going to bring, what he can bring and exactly what Arsenal will be missing. He was very, very good and undoubtedly for me the star of the show in that first half. For sure. I mean, it's such an interesting discussion because we might circle around to Marnotegaard, who might circle around to Eberachie Eze.

6:56And the sort of troubles or struggles that Arsenal have had in those midfield areas this season to find the craft. Two minutes in, he plays a ball for Victor Jokeres. I think there's a touch of good fortune because that first touch is not clean. I think it's fair to say, but it worked out for him. Took it on, spanked it in the bottom corner and there's 1-0 to Arsenal in the second minute. And immediately Havertz has had an impact. Jokeres has had an impact. and that would be like, if Arteta could have written the script, I think that's pretty close to what he would have come up with. Yeah, absolutely.

7:30It was a very Victor Jokre's first touch, wasn't it? It really, really was. But he did get it out of his feet and he took it very well when he got there. But yeah, the ball from Havertz was lovely. He dropped into that space, into that pocket. As I sort of said at the start, he's such a clever player, Havertz. And he does have that in him. He can find a pass. He's not just about sort of scoring goals. He can absolutely pick that pass. And he just picks up very, very clever positions. and he did that with that goal. I thought the two of them actually linked up very well all night. I thought the runs were good.

7:58Havertz just looked like he was on a very similar wavelength to Jochores at times. And I think that will really encourage Mikel Arteta. And it was a good goal. It was a perfect start, as you said, within two minutes for your two front players to combine in the way they did. And Jochores to get his goal and Havertz said it was a perfect start for Arsenal, for Arteta. And obviously, 15 minutes later, it was Havertz himself on the score sheet. So it doesn't really get much better than that. No, not really. But there was obviously a little blip, a little blot on the copybook, so to speak, which was Riccardo Calafiori conceding a penalty, which the referee didn't see in real time.

8:32The VAR had a look. When you see the replay, there's a tug. It's a definite penalty. It's a definite penalty. Yeah. I mean, you can't get away with that in this era, can you? uh, Jorginho, not that one, not that Jorginho, a different Jorginho stepped up, rolled it into the bottom corner. So five minutes in, it's one, one kind of set the tone for what I think, generally speaking, was a really fun first half, a really enjoyable first half of football, because everything has been so fraught and everything has been so stressful and high stakes and tense, uh, you know, in the premier league that this, was kind of like a palate cleanser in a way, wasn't it?

9:17You know, the team was different. There were different combinations going on. The opposition weren't great. So obviously we had the opportunity to make chances and score goals. I have to say, I really liked the second goal. Calafiori, who, listen, gave away the penalty. I thought he made up for it with some really nifty footwork in a deep area to keep the ball alive. We get it to Ben White. Ben White plays it down to Havertz. I enjoyed Jokerez's NFL blocking maneuver here because he just sort of eased that Kairat defender out of the way. Havertz takes it on, finishes very well. And again, this is the perfect script for Mikel Arteta where Havertz has come back after so long out and so many questions about what he might be capable of.

10:04An assist and a goal in the first 15, 16 minutes is perfect. Yeah, and he took it very well. I'm not quite sure what the goalkeeper was doing. there I think goalkeeping coach who might be having a little bit of words with him after that he sort of dived I think he was expecting Havertz to really pick out the corner didn't he he went early and just too early but it was a really nice run from Havertz again it was kind of Jokic kind of made that run as well it was the two of them on the same wavelength expecting the pass from White it was a good early ball from White and Havertz showed good pace to get down there took it in nice finish and like I said it was a perfect so I agree with you I thought it was a really enjoyable first half at half time I was talking and in the press room with a few of the other guys.

10:42And I mean, I've heard you and James been speaking in the last couple of weeks about the sort of tension around the Premier League games. And I think you really do, you really feel it. And I feel it, even when I go to work, I feel completely different in these cup competitions. When I go and I'm watching these games, you can just kind of breathe a little bit easier. Even the Stamford Bridge a few weeks ago, and that's a big game, you know, it's the Caravelle Cup semi-final. It's a big game away at, you know, one of your big rivals. And even then, there was just the tension. It just kind of dissipates when you go for these games.

11:13And then when you go to the Premier League, it just comes back. And I really felt that again last night. And it was just nice to sort of take in 45 minutes when the team were playing well. They were creating chances. I mean, well, we'll talk about the rest of the half in a minute, I'm sure. But quite how Arsenal only scored three goals when they went in at halftime, I have absolutely no idea. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. It's like how this is only three at halftime. And how it only ended with three as well might be a point of discussion for the second half. But look, there were so many chances, weren't there?

11:44Listen, I think with Jokeres, if you're looking for the positive outlook on this performance, it's that often we haven't got him into positions where the ball has been for him to have an attempt on goal. Or if he has been in that position, the ball hasn't arrived to him. He was in those positions. I thought he did make good runs, actually. There was one, I think, when Matueke had played a decently weighted pass to him. He was easily through on goal, but Matueke didn't play a decently weighted pass all night, barely. He missed some chances. There was a period of about 10 minutes where he put that one over the bar from Lewis Skelly's cross from the left.

12:28There was another one where I think it came to him near post. He put it wide. There were a couple of other moments where the ball just didn't get out from under his feet. So the encouraging thing is that he was sort of there or thereabouts, but there was still an element of not quite when it came to his finishing. And I suppose the one I'd really look at is that cross from the left from Lewis Skelly, where if you're a striker and you're in that position and you're in the box, you know, he'll be if we're if we're critical or whatever. I'm sure he'll be just as critical or ultra critical when he went home last night.

13:05He would have been thinking, how have I not scored more than one goal in this game? Yeah, there's no way he went home not disappointed last night. Jokic, he had a real opportunity to kind of stat pad yesterday, I thought, against a team who was there for the taking. And, you know, he's really struggled physically against the defenders in the Premier League this season. That's been pretty clear. Whereas in Portugal last year, he had it pretty much his own way against the majority of defences he came up against. he could bully and get themselves into good chance into good positions and take those chances he hasn't been able to do that in the premier league because the players are so physically strong that he comes up against but yesterday he did have a huge physical advantage over those defenders you saw it straight away he could bully them and get themselves into positions to score goals um and he just didn't take advantage i i thought the luis skeleon was it was tougher than it looks because he does fizz that in you know it is a case of just kind of throwing yourself throwing your foot out there and hoping you get a good connection and it goes in and you know his body shape was it was so leaning back it was very hard i think to control that you should score obviously but i don't think it was an i actually thought the near post one was a better opportunity right you know he had a bit more time on that to to put it in himself than he than just sort of throwing himself in front of the lewis skelly one but he will be disappointed there's no doubt about he knows for where he could have you know i think he's on nine now did that take him to nine yesterday that goal for the season in all competitions, he could have easily been well into double figures on the back of that.

14:26And he'll be a little bit frustrated, I'm sure. He did speak in the mix zone afterwards and he admitted he needed to take a few more of those chances. But I'm sure he'd have been disappointed at the end of it because it was an opportunity, like I said. It felt like, you know, all those compilations you used to watch of him in Portugal last season and the way he would sort of muscle his way past defenders and get shooting opportunity. That first half really felt very similar to that. probably for the first time this season, and he didn't quite take advantage of it. No, I think you're right to say he will be disappointed.

14:57He's actually in double figures now. That was 10 last night. So it's five in the Premier League, four in the Champions League, and one in the EFL Cup. I mean, it's a quirk of the stats that he gets an assist for the third goal scored by Gabriel Martinelli, which, I don't know, it doesn't do him a disservice, but maybe a disservice to Kai Havertz, whose movement was really good. And Christian Norgard, whose flick to send Kai Havertz in behind was excellent. It really was. Jokeres got there. I don't know if it's going in, but Martinelli made sure he was just following in. I think it more or less kind of hits him and goes in.

15:36It's not like he's trying to nick the goal off Jokeres or anything. But is that another moment, let's say, where Jokeres in that position should absolutely just score that and not give Martinelli the chance? He probably should. Not that it makes a big difference, but it is one of those moments, again, when he's reflecting on his own opportunities last night. He'll think, God, those two from like three yards out and just didn't make the right connection. Yeah, I thought Havertz's pass was a little bit in front of him. I'm not sure Havertz picked it out absolutely perfectly, but yeah, you get a better connection on that.

16:09That's the goal. I don't know. I mean, you were watching that on TV, weren't you? Because they did the long VAR check. And did they check the second one? You know, they must have done. From Jochrez's touch, Martinelli was, because it looked to me like Martinelli was ahead of Jochrez. I was surprised because we only saw the lines being drawn for the initial flick from Norgard to Havertz. We showed Havertz was onside, but they didn't show the lines for the second one because I thought that looked more offside than the original pass. Really good from Norgard, like you said. Very, very good. I thought he had a good game, actually, Norgard.

16:37He created that opportunity for Jesus in the second half as well that he put wide. So there were some good moments from Norgard. and that flick was very, very nice. It was another good team goal. And again, Havertz heavily involved in it and all three goals in that first half, which was really, really positive. You know, Mikel spoke in the press conference afterwards about his ability to sort of connect play and I think we saw that a lot in the first half. He just, he connects things very, very well. He's so smart and his movement's so good. So yeah, lovely goal, but again, there's no way. I mean, Martinelli was almost apologetic to Jokic at the end when he was waiting for the VAR check and then when it was given, and he sort of looked at him and was like, yeah, sorry about that, mate.

17:14I think it was going in. I think it was just about edging in, but it wasn't the cleanest of contact. Yeah, I'm just looking at the replay here and I've paused it and I think Martinelli is just behind the ball when Jacarese touches it. I think it is probably going in, yeah. But look, you've got to make sure, right? You've got to make sure of those chances. And there were other moments, I think, in that first half as well. Martinelli had a good shot, didn't he, that he curled over not long before the halftime whistle. there was one from Jokeres off the line, but I think the referee, he'd given a free kick.

17:47He brought it back for a free kick, didn't he? There was the one I think, was it Eze's ball over the top and Jokeres again sort of bundled through and the keeper came out. He didn't really get a clean connection and smothered it in front of him. Yeah, so moments where Arsenal really could have turned the screw, but 3-1 at halftime is, you know, is fine. And you're looking maybe for a second half where you can build on that and score some more goals. There were two changes at the break, obviously. Martin Odegaard came on for Kai Havertz. Havertz only doing 45 minutes, which I think tallies with what Arteta has been saying about how they're going to ease him back in.

18:22Because he was sort of saying, look, the big issue when a player has been out that long is the next six or eight weeks when they make their comeback, that if you increase the load too heavily, they're more susceptible to a muscular injury or something like that. So we're in a fortunate position where we don't have to place a huge burden on Kai Havertz. I'm guessing Calafiore again, because he's been out for a while, that and the combination of the yellow card meant that he came off at halftime as well. Listen, again, I want to say I think this was a very low stakes game. I don't think it's really one where you can point loads of fingers or, you know, go to town on this guy, that guy or the overall performance.

19:11But I was a little disappointed maybe that certain players or the team didn't quite click the way they did in the second half. Because it felt to me, or maybe it does to you too, that we have three or four, maybe five players at this moment in time, a couple of whom maybe didn't play last night, who could really do with a goal or an assist or a couple of goals and a couple of assists and what that might mean for their own confidence and what that might mean for their own form. So, you know, were you, how did you view that second half then? You know, the game was won. You can understand why Arsenal weren't like playing at 100 miles an hour.

19:54They didn't need to. You don't need to overstress yourself. There's a long way to go this season. Do you feel like maybe we missed out on something or does it really matter? Or, you know, how do you try and analyze that? Because I think you can say, if there are things that we can be really positive about from last night or take those positives, It's not unreasonable to say there are a couple of things that we could have done better. I think we definitely could have done things better in that second half. I think Mikel, and I was listening to him in the press conference afterwards and looking at his facial expressions, I think he was disappointed in how that game paned out.

20:25I think he knows that the team and some players, as you said, sort of missed the opportunity in that second half to really lift the mood and lift the momentum because there was opportunities to win that. They could have easily gone on four, five, six, seven, even, and suddenly it's just a really nice momentum builder ahead of Ellen Road. And I think they just lost a bit of momentum in that second half. And to concede as well right at the end of it is basically the last kick again. It just, I don't know if sending everyone home on a bit of a downer is the right way to phrase it because like you said, it was a win.

20:57But just even watching the fans sort of stream past me at the end out of the stadium, you know, having seen that goal conceding and no goals in the second half and conceding one to Kyra. You know, it just sucked the life out of it a little bit at the end. And I think Mikel will be a touch, not even a touch disappointing. I think he'll be very disappointed with how that second half panned out. They created chances, plenty of chances. It wasn't that the chances and the chance creation completely dried up in that second half, but the pace did drop a lot. I think Kyra were in sort of damage limitation mode in that second half more than they were in the first half.

21:30They definitely kept things tighter, I thought, and sat deeper than they had in the first half. The space wasn't there as much, but there was a real chance. You know, Odegaard coming on at halftime, who clearly is struggling a little bit, I think, for form and confidence at the moment, had a real opportunity to kind of take that game by the scruff of the neck. I was certainly hoping I was going to see that from him. Didn't really happen. You know, Madaweke, it was the most Madaweke night I think you've kind of ever seen, really. There were some really good moments in the first half when he had the ball at his feet.

22:02He was getting the fans excited as he danced into the penalty area. And then suddenly the end product was just lacking so much, whether it be the final pass, which was constantly being overhit, whether it would be the shooting, which I mean, the one at the end of that second half, which basically cleared the stadium, just kind of slummed it up. And so there was just a sense of frustration, I thought, in the way that that second half, they didn't build on what they'd done in the first half because the opportunities were there. And especially for a few players, you know, to really make their mark and find themselves some form.

22:32And they didn't quite take that. I mean, listen, I was going to ask you a bit later about Martin Odegaard, but you've mentioned him already. So I have to say, listen, I think in this day and age, analysis of individuals can get a bit extreme. Like if you don't have a good game, you're terrible. And if you have a good game of the best in the world until you don't have a good game and then you're terrible again. But, you know, I have to admit, and I'm a big, big fan of Martin Odegaard. I think what he's done in an Arsenal shirt for the most part has been excellent. But like you, I looked at that second half yesterday and I thought, you know what?

23:09Here's a guy who hasn't really found his form this season, hasn't really found any rhythm. Is this the perfect 45 minutes of football ahead of a difficult away game at the weekend to really influence a game? And he had a couple of chances. He had a couple of headed chances. Martinelli, I think, delivered both of them. like Martinelli I think for me was the only one in the front three who really played with with the kind of endeavor to try and make something definitely happen in that in that second half but I don't necessarily judge Martin Odegaard on whether or not he can finish a headed chance from 12 yards out in the opposition box right if he gets them to feet and he doesn't finish maybe that's a different conversation but i have to say i'm worried about martin odegaard and i'm worried about his form and i'm worried about that he just hasn't quite been himself since he picked up that injury last season playing for norway the ankle injury is it something physical is it something mental psychological he doesn't look quite the same to me and i do wonder how do we get him back?

24:24Or can we get him back at this stage? Or what does Mikel Arteta do to try and relight the fire that Martin Odegaard can bring to this Arsenal team? Because, listen, he's very well respected by his teammates. I don't think we need to have the captaincy decision because you hear the teammates talk about Martin Odegaard and what influence he has in the dressing room and the kind of character he is. I don't think there's any questions about that for me. but certainly when it comes to his form this season, apart from a couple of games here or there, he hasn't found it consistently. And I think it's a long enough sample size at this moment in time for us to be a bit concerned.

25:02Yeah, no, I think you're right. I think Mikel's got quite a big decision, certainly looming when it comes to Odegaard. Like you, I was really hoping to just see him sort of spark himself into life in that second half. It was a good opportunity and he just didn't quite, he just didn't quite do it. and agree. You don't sort of judge him on a couple of headed chances. It was more his sort of all-round play when he's on the ball and making things happen that just wasn't really there and hasn't been there for a fair while now. I mean, it's frustrating because at the start of the month, you sort of go back to it and you had that little period of games when you had the Brighton game on the 27th of December, Villa on the 30th and then you had Bournemouth away on the third and he had three really good performances in those games and you're like, oh, here we go.

25:39He's finding his form. He's getting himself back to full fitness and looking good and then it's just tailed off. He hasn't been able to sort of continue with that consistency. And I think the last few games has been, it's been a real, real struggle for him. And, you know, can you continue, if you're Mikel Arteta, can you continue with that? Or do you need to take him out of the fire? And I feel like people are really getting on his back as well, which I'm sure he doesn't sit there reading social media, but it's probably still pretty hard to ignore. And whether that's having a bit of an impact on him as well, you can kind of hear the groans in the stadiums at time when he's trying another one of those flicked passes over the top of the defence or something like that, or pre-cycling the ball backwards rather than going forward.

26:21So I'm sure he knows it. He's well aware that there's a lot of focus on him from the fan base as well at the moment. Do you think that's... Listen, there is a... Again, I think it's too simplistic to say Odegaard coming on at halftime was the reason Arsenal didn't play as well in the second half as the first half. I think that's far too simplistic. do you think he's becoming something of a lightning rod for the issues that maybe the team has which are more general i think there are more collective it's not just down to one guy yes i want to see martin odegaard get the ball forward more quickly i want to see him higher up the pitch i don't want to see those scoopy passes because they're easy to defend unless they're absolutely perfect and and the defenses aren't expecting them i think it's right to expect more from Martin Odegaard as an individual.

27:12And you can say as captain, he's got a bit more responsibility if you want, right? But I think maybe the idea that it's solely down to Martin Odegaard doesn't really ring true for me because I think the issues that we have with not playing forward quickly enough, recycling possession, which I'm sure is an instruction to all of the players, you know, if you don't see the opportunity, come back, start again. It's, you know part and parcel of football but i feel like now he is so strongly associated with the with the flaws that exist across elements of the team that it's it's it's i'm not saying it's unfair because he's got he's got to play better there's no question but i don't think it's just down to martin odegaard but he is seen now as as kind of that guy and and the fault lies right here no you but you're absolutely right calling him the lightning rod i think that's absolutely correct Like, you just notice it on anything you sort of put out now.

28:08Even yesterday, like, the first goal was scored, and instead of sort of celebrating Havertz's pass or Jokovic's run, you see so many comments underneath it are, Havertz showing Odegaard what you should do. You know, Odegaard's not even on the pitch, and yet he's sort of, he's taking flack. And I think he is seen as, by a lot of people, as the kind of reason for Arsenal's struggles creative-wise. And it's not just down to him. I mean, strangely, even in the United game at a weekend, I actually didn't think he played that badly. at all for the first sort of half an hour when Arsenal were pretty good.

28:38They were on top. And I thought Odegaard played quite a big part in Arsenal being very good in that first half an hour. He played his part in the goal. There was a couple of nice little sort of flicks to get Arsenal going in the transition. The chance that Saliba got down the right-hand side and cut it back for Rice, I think Odegaard was kind of involved in that. There was another really nice quick pass across to set Arsenal going down the left as well from him. And yet he kind of got so much of the blame for that afterwards as well. I just don't know if that's entirely fair. It does feel like he is that lightning rod at the moment and seems to be taking the flack for the team's wider struggles.

29:13But you're right, we do want to see Martin Odegaard play. But I was listening to you and James earlier, I think it was this week's Ask Us, and James was talking about it and said, I don't quite understand what's being asked of Odegaard in this team at the moment. And I do think that plays a part in it as well. You know, I'm not entirely sure exactly what Arteta is asking from him because he does drop so deep now at times. He's not playing as that out and out kind of right eight or ten, whatever you want to call him. And that has to be coming from the manager sort of tactically as well. And, you know, why exactly is he being asked to do that?

29:48Why not focus on what he's very, very good at? You know, when you've got a Zubomendi and you've got Rice, who's kind of playing deeper this season anyway, do you need Odegaard drifting into those deeper positions? Probably not. So can we not tell him to stay higher up the pitch so you can influence a game where we know you can influence it? We've seen you before. You can score from the edge of the box. You can set players up with your link up playing, those little sort of passes through the lines. So I do feel like he kind of looks a bit like a confused player at the moment in terms of exactly what his role in this team is.

30:16But I feel like Mikel's got a decision to make on him because I'm not sure he's doing enough to justify his place in the team. I'm sure we'll get onto this in a minute. I actually quite liked Eze's performance yesterday. It wasn't spectacular by any means, but I liked it. And I think he did a lot of things well. And when you sort of really took your time afterwards again to look back at what Eze did in some of the periods of the game, it was good. It was quick. It was incisive. It was forward thinking. And I just feel at the moment, with the way things are going on in the league, Arsenal do feel like they need a bit of a change and a bit of a shake up just to try and get them going again.

30:53And for me, I really think Eze needs to be involved more than he has been. and I thought we saw some good stuff from him yesterday and personally for me, he'd be starting it and I don't think he will. I think Odegaard will keep his place in the team but I'd be getting Eze in the team for Ellen Road at the weekend. I'd be certainly tempted by that, I have to say. I see a lot of discussion about maybe using Eze from the left. I think maybe after the Aston Villa game, that's not something Mikel Arteta necessarily wants to do. Can you really bin off that whole idea just on one poor 45 minutes? Listen, maybe it was something he had in his mind anyway.

31:28You know, I remember... It feels so definite. After just, you know, one... Yes, he didn't track Matty Cash back for the goal. But to kind of seemingly bin off the whole idea of Ezzer off the left, which is a role we know he can do. He does it for England at times. He's done it at Crystal Palace, albeit in a slightly different system. To completely just shut down that idea, which seemingly Arteta has done since that game, it feels very, very... It does a bit. I mean, I suppose you could say that in mitigation, Trossard was playing really well out there at the time. And therefore, it wasn't so much about Eze not tracking Matty Cash in that moment as Trossard playing well and not wanting to change that.

32:10But Trossard, you know, hasn't been quite at the races like many of our attacking players of late. He hasn't quite been delivering the way you would like. So I see that about Eze on the left. I'm with you. I thought like first half, this was another one where I was like, I want to see a little bit more from him. But when you look at it in the end, he ends up with two big chances created, six key passes in the game. I thought he grew into it as the game went on. I liked, like you, quite a bit of what he did in that second half against Kairat. I wonder if it is sort of touch and go between him and Odegaard for the game on Saturday at Elland Road.

32:52I suppose the thing that you would look at in that game is it's likely to be a hard-running game, isn't it, you know? So is that more of an Odegaard out-of-form game or an Eze in-form game? I don't know. It's a tough decision to make, but, you know, there was enough, I think, from Eze last night to give Mikel Arteta some pause for thought when it comes to his team for Saturday. He's clearly thinking it with Odegaard. He was off before the hour mark against Manchester United. It wasn't far off that against Nottingham Forest as well, was it, that he's been hauled off. So, you know, Arteta's clearly got his eye on Odegaard.

33:26He's not oblivious to his struggles. He's replacing him early. And it must be at the forefront of his mind because he would have looked at the last three league games and he'll know, like we all know, you can see it in performances that at times during a season, the team just needs a bit of a shake-up, a little bit of a lift. And it really does feel like that with Arsenal at the moment. And when you look at the areas where you can change it, that is just one that seems to be screaming out at the moment to do something different. Whether it is Eze on the left and, you know, you can keep Odegaard in the team and have them, you know, playing sort of together at times as well.

33:58Maybe it's something, you know, you can do something like that because Trossard's not been pulling up any trees lately and his goal record has certainly dropped off from that excellent start to the season he's had. But I just look at Eze and I look at what he can bring to this team and I just feel like we need to get him a little bit involved more to get him up to speed, to get the confidence flowing a little bit and I just think we saw enough in that game, albeit against very limited opponents yesterday, to suggest to me that he could be a way to get Arsenal firing again because I feel like he's been underused.

34:30I agree. I do agree. I think they're... Don't get me wrong, he's not been great. He's not played very well, so he's not been banging the door down. But I do feel like he maybe hasn't been given the opportunities at times to be able to bang the door down. And I think that's what he, I think he deserves. Now, the team has been struggling of late and that gives people an opportunity to really sort of try and get themselves back in the side. And I think we need to see that. Yeah, I mean, some people might say that he's not necessarily your classic Mikel Arteta player, right? But I think that's also true of Matueke.

35:04And I think it's true of Victor Yaccaras to an extent, you know, that we signed these players this summer who have a different profile, who have the ability to maybe give the team something a little bit different, you know, whether it's more chaos in Matueke, whether it's more bull in a china shot kind of stuff from Jokeres. But I think with Eze, you know, that ability to get shots off from the edge of the box, which is something that Arsenal don't do anywhere near enough, in my opinion. You know, when we're struggling for goals, when we're struggling for form, and we're struggling for sort of authority, if you like, in the Premier League.

35:41And when goals, at this moment in time, you know, we could sit here in a month's time and feel very differently about everything. But right now, goals in the Premier League feel kind of hard to come by. You know, this is where I think you've got the ability to use someone like Eze to do something A, different with your team, and B, give the opposition something different to think about. Because again, I'm not saying Arsenal are completely predictable, but I think we all know how Arsenal are going to play with certain combinations on the pitch. And if we have different combinations or players in different positions or drifting into different positions, like for example, I want to see Odegaard where William Saliba pops up and Christian Mosquera was popping up there last night, right?

36:22So it's a deliberate thing where our right centre-back is pushing so far forward, they're picking up the ball on the corner of the opposition box. I want to see an Odegaard there or an Eze there. I want to see Eze or somebody else in those inside forward positions, not necessarily whoever's playing at left back. And that's not to take anything away from Calafuri or Timber or Lewis Skelly or whoever it is. But surely your chances of scoring a goal are increased by having creative players and attacking players and flair players in those positions rather than fullbacks or defenders. Yeah, absolutely.

36:57I agree 100%. I mean, you look at the goals Man United scored against Arsenal, albeit one of them was from a kind of fullback, if you want to call Dogway a fullback. But it's someone getting into those sort of areas with the ability to actually get shots away and score. You know, Kunja especially. As a player like that, we saw it was the goals he scored against Spurs. We saw it was the goals he scored last season with Crystal Palace. When he gets in and around the penalty area, he can be ruthless, he can be clinical. And I just feel like we haven't used that enough this season. Again, I go back to it.

37:26he hasn't been banging Mikel's door down to try and do it. But he's there. And when you look at the numbers of all the forwards, you know, Saka, what, no goal in 13. Trossard, I think one goal in 12, whatever it is. Martinelli, one Premier League goal all season. Jokeres, we all know about. It's not like the others are keeping him out of the side for their good form and the fact they are scoring goals. They're not. And so you can't keep trying the same things over and over again and expect things to suddenly change. You've got to change something yourself. And it feels like he's the one player for me where he can do that.

37:55He can bring that unpredictability. Maybe you do have to lose a little bit of control, but is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think it is at the moment because... Me either. You can see it with Arsenal at the moment. They are struggling a little bit. So maybe it is a case of losing that control a little bit, and that will open the spaces up for Arsenal to be able to exploit and do some damage because we see when they do have some space, they do can cause damage. Look at the way they played at San Siro against Inter Milan. Again, as he was involved in that game, and he hit forward pass that led to the Gabriel Jesus goal.

38:24It wasn't, again, a game where he sort of screamed, you have to play me on the back of this performance, but there was enough in it to suggest, you know what, maybe we need to get him on the pitch more. There's a risk-reward balance, isn't there? Absolutely. There's no reward with no risk either. So that's kind of where I am with that. But again, you know, just sort of generally speaking about the second half, you know, I like Dezio, as I said, but maybe could have got a bit more, could have got a bit more from Modegaard, could have got a bit more from Madueke when it came to the final action, which was pretty much always bad, apart from like one great pass that he played into a 17-year-old debutant, Brando Bailey-Joseph.

39:02He just couldn't quite get the ball under control. That would have been a great moment for him, but that was about the best we got from Matueke. Gabriel Jesus came on. I know he had one disallowed for offside, but it was offside. There were another couple of chances there where, you know, one, he just side-footed wide, didn't get any curl on it. I think you need or expect him to hit the target there. There was another one where I think he could have squared it to Matuweke, where it might have ended up if he did. I don't know, but he took it on and the keeper made a save. So, you know, it's one of those where I think Arteta would have been looking for a bit more from those forwards and those moments were there, but we weren't just quite decisive enough.

39:42No, absolutely. It was the story of the game. The fact from the moment Arsenal scored that third goal in that next 60 minutes or whatever it was that they were outscored one to one to none by car out it's just unbelievable i saw a stat at the end of the game i hadn't noticed as well that the arsenal in the united game and last night they've conceded a combined five shots on target they conceded a goal to every single one of those shots which is jesus it is just absolutely mad really it was very comical when they scored that goal at the end it was good i mean i was in the press press box surrounded by i think they were they were journalists but none of them had their laptops out and were doing any work for our entire game and they're all wearing Kyraq colours as well but I think they I mean they must have been they must have been journalists who traveled over for for the game but yeah I mean they were you could see what it meant to them it was a huge a huge moment and they all celebrated the goal when it went in at the end so it's a big moment for them um and for the traveling fans who were great throughout as well but but yeah I mean it was just a big missed opportunity for Arsenal to really to really it could have been a cricket so it should have been a cricket should have been James actually did an On The Whistle video.

40:47I think he's doing a piece for The Athletic, but he spent the game with the Kairat fans. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, so some nice stuff in there. And listen, a nice moment for them. But I want to come back to that late goal because it plays into something else that I want to ask you about. The big positive, obviously, Kai Havertz. Great 45 minutes from him. Arsenal have made it eight from eight. They finished top of the Champions League table. it means that we're at home in the second leg of every knockout round or every game that we play in. It means also we don't have to play in that extra game, which I think is more or less the last thing that we need at this moment in time.

41:26So, you know, I think, you know, stepping back more broadly, you can reflect on the league phase of the Champions League as pretty damn successful from an Arsenal perspective. And I think it does speak to the progression we've made as a team and maybe the perception of Arsenal as a team in Europe. And listen, you can talk about Kairat being lowly opposition, but Arsenal have beaten Bayern Munich. They've beaten Atletico Madrid. They've beaten Inter Milan away from home. Some big, big games and big confidence boosting performances in Europe this season. So I think the team deserves, at this moment in time, again, when everything is so hyper focused on the Premier League, A lot of credit for what they've done in the Champions League this season.

42:10We know that the potential draw could put us up against Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen or Olympiacos. Will you join me, Charles, in a silent moment of prayer to whoever it is you believe in or if you don't believe in anyone, just please not fucking Olympiacos again. I mean, we can do it. but we know it's not going to work because you just know exactly who Arsenal are going to get yeah Olympiacos nailed on 100 % it will be Arsenal versus Olympiacos not a bad draw though you know generally um you know some good options there you take nothing for granted in in the Champions League but like it could easily have been a lot worse yeah well and that's a that's the the benefit of finishing top I suppose on it I mean I I agree with you it's not a bad draw but have you looked a little bit further ahead in terms of...

43:07I've seen people talking about Manchester City a lot. Yes. At the moment, quite likely that it would be an Arsenal-Manchester City quarterfinal, two-legged quarterfinal around the same time as a league game and right around the same time as a Carabao Cup final as well, which could mean there would be four games almost back-to-back against Manchester City, which the thought of which terrifies me to my very soul of just in terms of how energy sapping and what that would do mentally as well to everyone just absolutely terrifies me. But obviously let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There's a lot of football still to be played between now and then.

43:47But it's a nice round of 16 potential opponents. I think there's no one to really sort of strike fear into Arsenal. There'll still be difficult games, but yeah, there's no one to really, you would expect Arsenal and hope that Arsenal would get through that. Yes. Well, you would hope so. And listen, it was a dramatic night, wasn't it, in the Champions League with... Was it really, though? Well, I mean, in one game it was. It was at Benfica, Real Madrid, it was. Because it was all very hyped up as this amazing ending to the Champions League. But I really think that the Champions League, that format was very much saved by...

44:21That game? ...what happened at Benfica, to be fair, which was an amazing, you know, football heritage moment. You know, you love that sort of thing. But had that not happened, I don't think it was an absolute thriller that UEFA and people were kind of billing it was going to be. I mean, how do you reflect on this format now after two seasons? I don't know. I still I think people are looking at it. You know, I see so much. This is brilliant. I'm so, you know, the group stage was it was absolutely dead. And I think it probably is a bit of an improvement. We are still getting used to it. But I don't I'm not sure I buy into the fact that it is miles better than what it was.

44:58I just don't, you still kind of just progress through each game like a little bit meh of, okay, what does it, I mean, so many teams qualified with nine points this season, I think, for the playoffs. I'm not firmly on the boat that this is a massive improvement and the huge, dramatic shift that we're seeing in games now that UEFA kind of want it to be. It was brilliant last night, don't get me wrong. It was fantastic. I was sitting in the press box, actually, and it was on the screens above me and I was typing away so I wasn't actually watching and I just suddenly heard everyone around me going absolutely nuts and I sort of looked up and I didn't see all the celebrations so I actually missed it in real time but it was a brilliant moment brilliant moment I think what UEFA essentially wanted was just more games you know I don't think it's necessarily about yeah and that's what they've got and they had a very dramatic moment last night obviously when the Benfica goalkeeper scored against nine men Real Madrid which meant that they overtook Marseille.

45:59Bad night for Marseille, bad night for Roberto Deservi, and an unfortunate night for Ethan Wannery, who thought he might be playing Champions League football during his loan spell at Marseille. That's not going to be the case now. No, that is a shame. That is a shame. Did that as well, did that put Man City into the top eight? Would they have missed out on the top eight had that not happened? I think so, yeah. So that's given Man City two less games as well. Or maybe not, no, because they were losing anyway, weren't they? They were losing 3-2 Real Madrid. So it was Benfica who needed the extra goal, but Real Madrid would have ended on 15 points anyway.

46:34So if Madrid had got something from that game, I think their goal difference was better than Man City. So they would have finished in the top eight had they got a draw, but, you know, two men sent off kind of foolishly. I think it was Rodrigo sent off second yellow for dissent. What did you make of the Mbappe disallowed goal where he sort of kicked it out of the goalkeeper's hands as he was taking a goal kick. Do you remember Thierry Henry? No, I haven't seen it. Was that a Thierry Henry type moment? It was a Thierry Henry. Henry loved doing that, didn't he? The goalkeeper threw it up and he sort of kicked the ball while it was in the air.

47:05It didn't touch the goalkeeper and the referee disallowed it. And I think that's why Rodrigo got a second yellow card for something he said to the referee. I saw the goalkeeper's guy. I haven't seen the full highlights of that one. Yeah, but yeah, that's a classic Thierry Henry moment, isn't it? I think, was it Graham Pohl or someone? I remember him doing it. Maybe it was Aston Villa away. Could have been probably Graham Paul. Graham Paul, Jesus. Right, before we go, I did want to just sort of circle back around to some of Mikel Arteta's comments pre-game, following the Manchester United game, following the discourse or fallout or whatever it is.

47:45Listen, you go to his press conferences a lot. You know that there are days where he's trying very hard not to say anything. Right. Sometimes he might give a message about, you know, an incident. You feel like maybe he's speaking to sections of the media specifically. Sometimes you feel like maybe he's speaking to his players here. That's a message for his players publicly, which is often the case when he talks about how, you know, how much I love these players. You've got to show them. Sometimes he's speaking to the fans. And I think he obviously had a bit of time to think after the Manchester United game.

48:24He was asked to reflect on that. In no way is he not speaking to the fans in this moment. I just want to play it in case people haven't heard it. You'll have heard it because you were probably there. But this is what he had to say when asked to reflect on the Manchester United defeat. The reaction has been excellent. We took a moment to bring the temperature down, to pause and to reflect. and ask two questions. One is how do we feel and how do I feel myself? And then how are we going to live the next four months? And it was so encouraging and beautiful because what came out of that is very simple.

49:07We have ended the right to be in a great position in four competitions. And in the next four months, we're going to live and play with enjoyment, with a lot of courage and with the conviction that we're going to win it. And this is going to be the mindset and where we're going to put the energy. And I'm just hoping that everybody that is related to this club, especially our supporters, jump on that boat because this is the way that we're going to live the next four months because we deserve to live like this. It is a message to the fans, right? Where, you know, nobody likes losing. Everybody hates losing to Manchester United.

49:46Everybody hates losing in the manner in which we lost. And, you know, I don't want to rehash that whole discussion about how people should react or how people should feel or anything like it, because I think everyone is entitled to feel exactly how they want to feel about all of this, because it is tense and it is nervous. And I think we talked a couple of weeks ago just on WhatsApp about like, holy fuck, like this feels so acute in many ways that, you know, we've seen Arsenal win things before. We've seen Arsenal lose things before, but experiencing this season is something different, I think.

50:23And there are various reasons for that. But do you feel it was like, okay, for the team, they have to regroup and perform better and play better and all that kind of stuff. And I don't doubt for any second that there's any lack of motivation or anything like that within the team or a willingness to go again and improve and play better next time around. But that message to the fans is like, is very considered, very measured. He's talking about getting on the boat. He said at one point a bit later, it's going to be fun. So it's going to be the love boat. Who knows? But, you know, it was a very deliberate message, wasn't it?

51:00to sort of say, hey, look, we understand this is hard going at times, but we need you certainly within the stadium as well. We need those fans to sort of circle the wagons a little bit, if that's the right way of putting it. Yeah, it was very, very measured and considered. He does this a few times, Mikel, when he comes to these press conferences. Like you said, sometimes he'll give his first answer and you're like, oh, this is going to be awful. He's not going to go anywhere here. He's not in the mood for it. but other times he rocks up like he did then with a message that he'd clearly thought about that he wanted to send out.

51:35And I thought he delivered it very well. And I thought it was kind of needed because it comes at a point in the season when things have been going well. It's not been that much of an enjoyable ride for fans, I don't think, but things have been going well. And this is a point of a season. I think if Arsenal can sort of get through it and we go on to do what we hope that they're going to do that we look back on like there was a point where we sorted ourselves out and we got over that little bump in the road and we sort of moved on and we got the job done. And it feels like that's exactly where Arsenal are in the season now.

52:08So I'm not surprised Arteta did what he did for this game because he would have felt it. He would have heard it in the crowd at the Man United game that everyone kind of needed a bit of a pep talk, not just the players, but everyone needed a bit of a pep talk in terms of, look, we're doing well here. Let's not forget that it's been a struggle where we've been a bad run of form we've dropped some points we've we've not taken advantage of some situations we probably should have taken advantage of but we're still in a very very good position i think he wanted to make sure he got that point across and i thought he delivered it well um but i think it just paints a wider picture almost of of this season like you said while we were chatting on whatsapp it is this is the strangest season i can remember i think as a as a sort of fan when i go something that a nice position where I go as a fan a lot, but I also go in the press box a lot.

52:53And it doesn't matter whether I'm as a fan or whether I'm working. When I walk into a stadium in a Premier League game, it feels exactly the same to me. It's just I immediately just get this sense of fear, of pressure, and everything just takes over me. And when I walk into a cup game, it's a completely different feeling. And I'm sure the players feel that, and I'm sure the majority of fans feel it because we all want it so much. And you're right, it's impossible to tell fans how they should approach it. I'm trying to take a very personal view of this season. I've taken a decision from after games.

53:28If things don't go well, I'm really trying to stay away from the computer and social media. And it's tough because of what I do. I need to be involved in it. I've got a Discord like yourself for my channel and got a great community on there. We love chatting all things Arsenal. But as soon as the result goes up against us, I feel like I need to take a step back this season because I just want to try and enjoy it the way I can and get through it the way I can. And it's easy to get sort of lost in a bit of a sea of negativity. And I think it is just really important to take a step back at times and think, you know, we are doing well.

54:02It's not maybe, I think the football, and I heard you and James talking about this as well. I do think the football and the style of football sort of plays a part in this as well. If it's been really enjoyable games and we've been scoring lots of goals, it would kind of be easier to get through these tricky periods that it is now. But I do think the style of football is playing a bit of a part in how people are viewing the season as well. And so when Alcetta talks about that in that speech, you know, we're going to enjoy the next three or four months. I know what he's saying, but I'm not sure.

54:31I'm not exactly sure that he's going to be right. No, I know what you mean. I think, you know, there's a couple of things. One is that, you know, we're not getting enough from our forward players. And people might think that's a structural issue, a systemic issue, a tactical issue, whatever it is, right? But I think what's happened is the sort of poor run, if you want to call it that, or the unconvincing form has come at a time when those players have all been kind of out of form at the same time. And listen, some will say it's not a coincidence that they're all out of form at the same time. It's got to be something that the manager has to do and has to put right.

55:10And I can see that point of view. Excuse me. The other thing that I, you know, that occurred to me the other day, and we've talked about it, about waiting over 20 years for a title and finishing second three times in a row. And that sort of playing into the anxiety that we all feel. I think there's something from this season as well. we saw it last night we conceded a late goal we conceded a late goal to lose against Liverpool we conceded a late goal to lose against Aston Villa we conceded a late goal Sunderland away we conceded a late goal to Manchester United at home we conceded that late goal last night and I think that sort of slightly undermines confidence in a team which isn't able to score as many goals as you want You can concede a late goal if you're 4-0 up.

56:03It doesn't matter a fuck. But when the games are so tight, I think that's another aspect of this anxiety level that many of us are feeling. And I can't speak for anyone else, but, you know, you've laid bare how you feel. And I feel I can recognize how good we are and how well we've done. But I also feel this anxiety. The two things can exist side by side for me. But I think that tendency we've had to concede late goals, for me anyway, plays a part in sort of how I experience a game when we've got, let's say, a one goal lead. Or if we're drawing, it's sort of in the back of my mind that, oh, fuck, you know, we could let another late one in here.

56:41That'd be a bummer, you know? Yeah. And I think that's all sort of linked with the struggles in attack as well. Because if you have scored two or three goals and you've got yourself a command in position, it doesn't matter so much. But it seems to be such a struggle for us to have those games. It's interesting in this little sticky spell we've had, though, when you go in the cup competitions, what, four goals against Pompey, three goals away at Stamford Bridge, three goals at San Siro, even three last night. Yeah. And this is in a time when in the league games we are struggling and the football's not exactly free-flowing, we're struggling to score goals.

57:08Yet in the cup competitions, there's a little bit more freedom for them to play in and maybe they're expressing themselves. And that, again, is just down to the different competitions and the lowest stress levels when it comes to cups versus the Premier League at the moment. But you're right. There's been a lot of late goals. Even Wolves go back to the Wolves game. They managed to salvage the win after that, but they had conceded the last-minute equaliser against Wolves. They conceded even in the 4-0 against Aston Villa, the last-minute Oli Watkins' goal as well. So it is something. I mean, I think four games in January have finished 3-2 as well.

57:40So our biggest strength is undoubtedly defensively. We're very, very strong defensively and defensively, really. but even there of late we've started to concede a few goals and really sort of silly goals that we weren't conceding at the uh sort of early stages of the season um and so that i think sort of increases the anxiety levels as well because the one thing you could always rely on with us at the moment we're not really able to rely on that as much as well so yeah it all just sort of adds up to a very stressful next few months andrea unfortunately yeah i would love us to sort of click into gear and you may have been two years ago although we didn't get the job done this time of year we we sort of went to west ham smashed them for six and then suddenly it was just yeah and again chef united six of burnley and we did the goals just started coming i would love for that to happen right now i don't feel like it's going to but it would be so nice just to to have a bit of enjoyment i i'm i'm strangely optimistic about leads at the weekend i i kind of i like that fixture for some reason this weekend i prefer to be away from home i feel like leeds they're in a good run of form at the moment they're going to be obviously it's going to be very loud there at any road anyone who's been and watched football there knows that and that's going to push leeds forward a little bit i do feel like there might be some space in that game for arsenal to exploit i hope i'm not going to have real sort of egg on my face after it but i feel like it could be the sort of game that arsenal need to get themselves out of this slump um so fingers crossed we can go there and get the job done there and then can kick ourselves back into gear yeah and get out this many times because it is a you know we are in a fantastic position andrew we've just gone eight wins from eight in the champions league with four points clear um in the premier league so we are in a good position it's just about sort of maintaining that now and stretching it again and just not letting this little slump which we are in this little slump sort of extend further and become become sort of anything yeah anything bigger 100 and i think you know just to finish your point on what you said about that run we went on a couple of years ago.

59:43Like, before we did it, it was like, where are the goals going to come from? How are we going to do it? It felt like we were never going to score again and then all of a sudden the floodgates opened. So hopefully, you know, without taking anything for granted, a clean sheet and some goals at Ellen Road might just be the fire we need to get our season going again. But look, we better leave it there as ever, Charles. Thank you very much indeed and we'll chat soon. Thanks, Andrew.

1:00:08Thank you very much indeed to Charles. You can find him in all the usual social media places. And of course, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel. You will find a link to that in the show notes. So that's just about that. There is, of course, a big game coming up on Saturday afternoon. We're away to Leeds. It's going to be tough. We need to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. And we'll talk about how that might happen, what kind of a team we might pick, and lots more besides when we analyze and preview the game in our preview podcast over on Patreon, which you can join for just$6 a month plus sales tax, if that is applicable in your jurisdiction.

1:00:45Nothing we can do about that, unfortunately, but you can join at patreon.com forward slash arseblog. For now, though, folks, take it easy. Thanks so much, as always, for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being part of this community. Look after each other out there. It's a crazy, weird, fucked up world we're living in right now, and I'm not just talking about the football. So it's on us to put a little good out there as and when we can do that. So mind your friends and your family and your neighbours and yourselves. Of course, look after yourself. Hopefully the arse will give us something to celebrate at the weekend.

1:01:18For now, though, take it easy, folks, and we will catch you on the next one. Until then, cheers. Bye-bye.

1:01:42I'm out.

1:02:05Thank you.

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