Episode 865 - Statements (Tim Stillman)

0:23Tim Stillman: Hello 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. Hope you've had a good week basking in the glow of the North London Derby and not being stressed out and freaked out and worried and anything else by the midweek football, because there hasn't been any midweek football for the first time in quite a long time. And I have to say it's been it's been good. It's been good. There's been so much football, so much talking, so much analysis, so much to debate and discuss. To have a week of nothing has been quite pleasant indeed, because I don't think, apart from the interlal, which is, why am I speaking like this?

1:10Tim Stillman: I have no idea. I just meant to say which is, which is. The interlal, which is taking place in March, is probably the last time we'll get to just decompress, because all going well. and hopefully all does go well,

1:25Arseblog: it's going to be mad after that.

1:26Tim Stillman: Mad. Just the run-in to May to the end of the Premier League season with the FA Cup still running. And of course, the interlal begins after the Carabao Cup final. So we could go into that one feeling pretty damn good or, you know, not. But I don't really want to consider that alternative at this moment in time. Anyway, I do hope you've had a good, nice, quiet week recharging the batteries for the weekend and beyond. And for today's show, we're going to cover a lot of topics delivered to us in the form of statements. It's our statements format podcast, which my guest has to either strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with the statements that I'm going to put to them.

2:08Tim Stillman: And with me to do that this morning is Tim Stillman. Good morning, Tim. Good morning. How are you feeling this week? It's kind of quiet, isn't it? Because it's unusually quiet. When you do what we're lucky enough to be able to do, it's been pretty hectic. So to have like a quiet week, particularly after a great result, is nice. It's welcome.

2:30Arseblog: It's really nice. Yeah, actually, it reminds me of that tweet from that, is it that kind of centrist journalists in the UK when Keir Starmer's Labour came into power and he tweeted something like, it's nice, isn't it, the quiet? Which has been somewhat pilloried ever since, it must be said.

2:47Tim Stillman: Well, those are some famous last words.

2:49Arseblog: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, absolutely. Like, you know, writing the weekly column on a Thursday, I say it's so much more difficult, but there is a midweek game every single midweek. So I am usually scrambling to write it on a Thursday morning because it has to be dictated by events. Last week, I couldn't write something before the Wolves game because obviously the Wolves game becomes very, very important. Whereas this week, I think I wrote it on Monday, which is lovely but yeah it's been a nice kind of week of basking really and in fact in some ways I feel like it's almost been too quiet I've got that kind of fear that anxiety that we're beginning to take walloping Tottenham for granted and perhaps shouldn't do that.

3:36Tim Stillman: Okay well that brings us nicely to our first statement which have been provided by our wonderful Patreon members on Patreon and also on the Discord. And the first one, and just remember, these aren't necessarily firmly held beliefs. They're statements to spark discussion and debate between the two of us, and maybe in the comments section as well. But Kirk Wynn Stanley says, we, Arsenal fans, are over-indexing the North London Derby win, which had margins that went our way and was against a world-class piece of shite.

4:16Arseblog: I, so, um, what, what are the, the potential answers? It's like strongly agree, agree, disagree.

4:24Tim Stillman: Strongly disagree.

4:25Arseblog: No, there's no middle option. There's no fence sitting here.

4:27Tim Stillman: I had to get rid of that because I, you know, Clive would always pick that one when he came up.

4:30Arseblog: Yeah. Yeah. And actually that's what you should do in surveys. You should have four options, not five because people go for the middle one. Um, this is one I can't answer at the moment. I I think so often in a season you get results where you don't quite know for a few games, like you don't know whether you've turned a corner for better or for worse, or whether it was just like a one-off game or some circumstances that happened in a game. And actually that brings me to what I've written about in the column this week, which is basically kind of saying this has to be one of those results you get in a title winning season that just picks everything up a little bit.

5:09Arseblog: So I think I would say tactically, shall we say, I agree, close to strongly agree, because I think Tottenham, what on earth they were doing, I don't know, because they just played in exactly the same way that they played in the game in November. In the first one, yeah. I do not, and I'm glad they did, but I do not understand why they did that at all. They got a new manager and it was like, yeah, I've watched the first North London derby back. Should we do that again?

5:38Tim Stillman: Did he watch it though? I mean, that's the question I might have is, did he actually watch that? Because if he did and he did that, then... They're in some trouble. Yeah. If Spurs fans are worried already, they're even more so.

5:51Arseblog: So tactically, I think that's true. I don't think this game is likely to repeat. I think you get teams at good times and bad times sometimes. Manchester United, for example, we got them at the worst time at home. We'd played them a month earlier under Ruben Amirim. I'm convinced we win two or three now. So, yeah, and, you know, as if the Premier League needed it, even if Igor Tudor didn't watch, I think a lot of Premier League managers will be watching and saying, don't do this, guys, whatever you do. But I think the win has to have some psychological value. It has to have something beyond the three points on the board.

6:32Arseblog: And time will tell whether that's the case. I mean, I think every team and every Arsenal team I can remember that has won the league has had what you might call like a blip or a run of games which haven't been optimal in terms of

6:49Tim Stillman: results. You mentioned the Man United game we lost in January and then we haven't lost a game since. But at times it's felt like the sky has been falling, hasn't it?

7:01Arseblog: Well, this is something I put in the column this week, actually, is weirdly this season's been defined by a response to defeats. So after Liverpool, we didn't lose for 12 games, I think. After Villa, we won five in a row. And that's quite a peculiar thing for a title-challenging team to do. Usually it's like, ah, there's a big victory. Like I think Newcastle away, right, in September. That to me felt like a big boost of victory that gave us some confidence and set us on our way for five or six games. Whereas actually a lot of this season's felt more like response to defeat. Whereas what this has to be for me, this has to be right.

7:40Arseblog: Okay. We've had our wobble. We've had, you know, we've had the nerves and the fear and all of that. Like that, that's got to be consigned to the past now.

7:48Tim Stillman: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, three defeats all season. That's the thing, you know? And I think it was actually seven in a row. If you include the Crystal Palace win in the Carabao Cup, it was seven wins in a row in all competitions after that defeat to Villa in December. So what I'm trying to say in a half-arsed way is that the blips that we've had this season have been probably less blippy than in other seasons. They've been blippier blips, if that's the right way to put it. But with regards to the Spurs game, I completely get where that's coming from because they were terrible and they are terrible and they're potentially so terrible they could get relegated, which is obviously hilarious.

8:31Tim Stillman: Very funny. Yeah, very, very funny and would be very, very funny. And I don't, you know, as we said in the Arscast Extra the other day, I wouldn't miss them at all if they went down because they'll be back at some point. But, you know, just to see them endure that would be glorious.

8:44Arseblog: I actually listened to A View from the Lane for the first and I'm sure only time ever, which is the Athletics Tottenham podcast. and it was such great listening. At the end, they had an earnest discussion because they've announced their season ticket prices for next season and they've frozen them. And they had like a very earnest discussion about what happens if we get relegated. They can't charge those prices. Like, how are they going to deal with that? And it was, I thoroughly recommended listening. Easy listening.

9:16Tim Stillman: All right. If anyone wants to put themselves through that, it comes to Tim's recommendation. All right, this one comes from, okay, I think it's Petey on the Discord, I think. And they say, new signings like Yacarez and Eze are gelling into the team and hitting form at a normal pace. Zubimendi's immediate impact on form is the exception, not the rule.

9:43Arseblog: I slightly disagree there. It's different for everyone. So I'm thinking about like a Mikel Arteta signing so far. So Raya, yeah, maybe that took a few months. Havertz, yeah, maybe that took a few months, but then I look at like Ben White, Declan Rice, Trossard, you know, players like that. Gabriel, Saliba. I mean, I know Saliba went on loan for a couple of years. Yeah, there was a process, yeah. When he came back in, you know, I'm looking at a lot of things those guys and I'm thinking they hit the ground running pretty much straight away. But then I look at someone like Hincapier, I wasn't, not that I was unimpressed, but I was kind of thinking, is this worth spending loads of money on?

10:32Arseblog: Last couple of games, that's begun to change. I think he's beginning to settle in. So obviously it's different for different players. I think it's different for attackers as well, because there's more change there. I think it's kind of somehow easier to come into the back half of the team, particularly when it's as good as Arsenal's. So I slightly disagree. I also think with Eza and Jocharez, I go back to the first question on that. I think there's still, we go so from game to game, don't we? Because Jocharez, away at Wolves and away at Brentford, I couldn't find him. He needed high viz or something because I didn't see him in those games.

11:16Arseblog: I think he was genuinely pretty awful. But then he was amazing against Spurs. And again, I feel like I need to wait for a few games before definitely proclaiming that Jokeres has got it. Same with Eza. Like, Eza now, the question is, can you perform against someone other than Tottenham? And I'm not rushing to judgment on those things yet. So I'm not quite there yet with Eza and Jokeres, that they're definitely a success now. but I think it's fair enough to say there is evidence of signings that take roughly this long to settle into the team particularly in a team like Arsenal where now we have so many attackers and they're swapping so often that it probably is going to take a little bit longer

12:01Tim Stillman: Yeah, I think I would slightly disagree with this as well because another aspect of it is maybe the age of these players that they're bought as oven-ready players right, Eberici has plenty of experience in the Premier League 27 years of age when he arrives. Victor Jokeres, perhaps part of the reason we went for him over Benjamin Sesko is the fact that he was 27. He had that experience. He played in the Champions League with sporting and this idea that Arsenal needed players who are ready for now, I think is part of why we signed them. And I do think it's perfectly normal for players to take some time to adapt to a team.

12:39Tim Stillman: I suppose the thing you'd say about Jokeres, and I agree with you, You know, there have been games where he just hasn't been there, but he's also got 10 goals in his last 12 games, which is very decent going. You know, so if you're looking at it with your glass half full, you're saying, okay, he's finding his stride more often than not, but there are games. I think the thing with Jokeres is that when he's bad, he's like really quite bad or invisible or just not involved enough. But then he scores the goals and he does what he does against Tottenham, which was obviously really, really impressive.

13:07Tim Stillman: And the two goals he scored against Tottenham were really encouraging, right? about that's kind of what you were expecting from Jokeres from day one.

13:16Arseblog: There's one thing he does well, basically. Yeah, that's it. And it's the most important thing. I think also, I think what's interesting with the conversation about Jokeres is I think there's an extent to which a lot of people, a lot of commentators got something a bit wrong in terms of Arsenal just need a striker to score goals. And I understand that. I understand that sentiment. But then to dismiss all the other stuff that the striker needs to do, At the same time, I think it's, I just don't think the idea is right that you need a guy up front who does nothing but score goals. I think how the centre forward plays is still pretty influential and pretty important.

13:55Arseblog: And so what we've got here, I think, is Jokeres doesn't, how can I put this delicately? He's not a great footballer, but he's really good at smashing the ball into the net. so like his performances usually are not that great but i can't think of many sitters he's missed like when he does get in front of goal he's he looks very clinical like he's got that kind of um harry kane thing i think where it's like when the ball's on my right foot i'm smashing it into the corner and there's nothing you can do about it so you know yeah i think there's there's our expectations were maybe a little bit out of whack for what this player needed to be.

14:40Tim Stillman: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think maybe another aspect of his performance against Spurs that was encouraging was the fact that his all-round game was better than in probably any other game that he's played. I mean, just while we're on him, there are loads of questions about, or statements, I should say, about Jokeres. Quasiland says, Jokeres gets more than 25 goals this season. Dirty Verdi, Jokic will finish with 25 plus goals in all competitions. He's currently on 15. He could. He could.

15:10Arseblog: I don't, he'll probably get into that ballpark if he stays fit, to be absolutely fair to him. I'd maybe predict something like 22, 23. So I'd go with a slightly disagree. However, it wouldn't massively surprise me if he did, particularly if Arsenal start to get a few penalties as well. and I imagine well indeed but I kind of fancy him as our penalty taker really to be honest like if if he was on the pitch and one was given I think I'd want it I'd want him to take it so yeah he very very well could do I think what we're kind of discovering about this player and what Arteta started to discover is we need to get bodies around him a bit more and that that's where we've quote unquote failed him maybe and where he started to play well started to score more first of all when Havertz was near him and you know when Ezzer's been near him and next to him I think we saw that away at Newcastle as well earlier in the season Ezzer played that position and they both played really well in that game and I think that's probably what the managers discovered is that we need we can't leave him on his own and you know because sometimes as well his touch is occasionally genuinely awful but um that that's almost like you can almost make a counter pressure out of that like if the ball bounces off him a bit if there's someone five yards away from him they can pick it up and there can be like a little bit of chaos there so um one thing's for sure we need this player we need this player yeah and he's going to be important whatever whatever our eyes or our aesthetics tell us.

16:52Tim Stillman: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think we can see that Gabriel Jesus is capable of contributing, but probably impacted by the injury, the big injury that he actually did. I mean, listen, you've got to go back to 2022, to that first knee injury where he hasn't really been right since, has he? You know, he never, never recaptured that kind of form and fluency and Kai Havertz, we don't quite know what sort of a role he's capable of playing. So he is a very, very important player in what remains of this season, Victor Jokerez. Okay, Snooner Gunner on the Discord says, the Carabao Cup final is the most important game in the run-in.

17:36Arseblog: I'm going to slightly disagree there. I know where that's coming from, and I definitely agree that that's going to be an important game. in the title race whatever happens in the carabao cup final will be framed around arsenal and its impact on arsenal no i mean nobody really cares what man city do anyway um but nobody's going to care if man city win the carabao cup probably least of all man city themselves like look at their reaction to winning the semi-final pep went into the press conference he complained about how far they had to travel to play in it and he complained about one of his players being cup tied Like, it's really semi-relevant to them at most.

18:18Arseblog: It's like another notch on the bedpost.

18:20Tim Stillman: And also where the final was going to be played, or we have to travel to London to play in the final.

18:23Arseblog: It's like, what the, come on.

18:26Tim Stillman: Everyone knows Wembley is where it is.

18:28Arseblog: Yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, whatever the fallout, it will be about what it means for Arsenal, for better or for worse. But I can't agree just because there is the game at the Etihad, which has actual league points riding on it. And I was thinking about this earlier and I was thinking like, obviously we don't know what position Arsenal are going to be in when I get there, when we get there rather. I really hope that it's almost a mathematical irrelevance. But my feeling now is if we don't lose that game, we'll win the league. Just on the pure mathematics of it, not even on the psychological aspect.

19:08Arseblog: Sure. I kind of feel like unless bad stuff happens between now and then, which it could, I just feel like Man City have to win that game. And therefore, for me, that makes that probably the most important game.

19:23Tim Stillman: No, I know where the statement is coming from, but clearly for me, it is the league game at the Etihad. And I'm so curious, I know we're getting ahead of ourselves, but I'm so curious as to Arteta's approach. which, you know, if it is a game that City have to win, how do we approach it? Do we make sure we don't lose? Does the fact that they have to win suit us in terms of how they might play and what kind of space they might leave and all that kind of stuff? So we're overdue a win there anyway. So I think it'll happen. So we'll wait and see. Okay, what about this one from Hallelujah Boy? And they say, Odegaard's role in the run-in will mainly be as a last 20-minute sub.

20:12Arseblog: I disagree on that. I still think he's an incredibly important player for Arteta and Arsenal. I still think if the Champions League final was happening tomorrow and everyone was fit, I think Odegaard would start. Yeah, I agree. Absolutely, no doubt, ahead of Eza. what I would say is I hope we're getting to a kind of stage I'm assuming for this season at least that Ezra is just not considered an option for the left flank and I think it's reasonable to question that and everything but that just looks like what it's like and therefore we've essentially got a choice between Ezra and Erdegaard and I hope what we see is a much clearer idea of which player suits which game so Tottenham where they give you loads of space on the edge of the area Ezra and Jokerez absolutely but then I go back to a game like Everton away before Christmas where the tactic was basically to have like 70 % possession no turnovers no cheap free kicks no throw-ins just keep the ball keep the ball on the floor and keep it away from Everton you have to play Odegaard when it's like that I definitely understand where the question where the statement rather is coming from in terms of i think erdegaard will play that role in some games in the running um you know i think about wolves for example and you know oh my god it's gone to 2-1 we just need to shut this game down by playing 300 000 passes keeping the ball yeah then yeah definitely i do also think there's maybe a question about can as a can do playmakers like Eza influence games from the bench or do they have to be on for the whole, for longer to really get the feel and the rhythm and the flow of the game?

21:59Arseblog: I'm not sure I've seen Eza be a convincing sub yet. But no, I still see Odegaard, if he's fit, starting the majority of games in that position. Have you been, maybe surprise is not the right word,

22:14Tim Stillman: but the discourse around Martin Odegaard this season, I think has been interesting. You know, I don't think he's been anywhere near his best. I don't think he's really performed consistently since the big injury last season. I think there were reasons in the second half of last season why he wasn't as effective, because for a long time we didn't have any attackers, really. You know, we had Marino up front and, you know, Saka was out for a long time, etc., etc. So I think as a creative player, if you miss a proper striker, that has an impact. But this season, obviously impacted by injury again, the couple of shoulder injuries, the knee injury he just had, the other injury he got the other day, which I think are reasonable explanations as to why his game is not quite at its fluent best.

23:06Tim Stillman: But it's also felt to me like the frustration of how we play has centered around him more than any other player, even when we've played in a way that people might associate as frustrating when Odegaard is in the team. We've played that way without him in the team as well, that it's not just, well, when Odegaard's there, we're this, and when he's not there, we're this, different thing. You know, it's not unusual, I guess, for a player to become something of a lightning rod for fans, not just Arsenal fans. I think it happens with every team. But I mean, how have you viewed that discourse around him?

23:48Tim Stillman: And, you know, what are you looking for from him in this final part of the season? Fingers crossed he can stay fit, you know, as a way of not changing people's minds, but reminding people that, you know, he is a really, really, really good player who's not playing at his best, but, you know, I think deserves, for me anyway, a little more grace than he gets from certain quarters.

24:08Arseblog: Yeah, definitely. It's absolutely a worthwhile discussion. We've all got eyes. we can all see that he's not where he was perhaps in like 23, 24. Personally, I think there are quite a few things going on. I looked at it, I think him and Saka have started together four times this season or something like that. Like that has an impact. That's one of like the best partnerships, right? That's got a bit of, I'm not equating it with this, but that's got a bit of Perez Henry about it, you know, like you give those two a ball and you just let them get on with it kind of thing. Does he have as good a relationship with Uri and Timber as he did with Ben White?

24:46Arseblog: Not sure. The striker changes quite a lot. So we've got this kind of, sometimes it's Jokeres, sometimes it's Jesus. They do totally and utterly different things. I think that's one of my reservations about our attack is the divergence in profiles. Like Ezra and Odegaard, like the completely opposite players that completely change what you're doing. Same with the striker. three good striker options but all totally and utterly different and i think there's just been a lot of disruption in that area of the team but at the same time like that is not to completely remove odegaard's quote-unquote responsibility i do think he has been very in and out he's had to come off in quite a lot of games so i i think he's lacked rhythm and i'm seeing it elsewhere in the forward line so i wrote about saka last week same deal like in and out of the team quite lot they're clearly looking after him they're clearly being super cautious any like a muscle twitches and they take him out and i kind of think it's similar with erdegaard i think they're being really cautious and careful with him and i think we see this a lot with arteta almost like an over correction you know it's like something goes wrong in one season and the next season we go right to the other extreme.

26:03Arseblog: Sure. And so I think there's a fair bit of that going on. I think if Odegaard started eight games in a row and Saka started eight games in a row next to him, I think you'd probably, and we had, you know, let's say I think Havertz is still Arsenal's best striker option, personally. If you got those three together for seven or eight games in a row, I think you'd start to see 23, 24, Martin Odegaard again. And I don't think we'll get that though, necessarily. So it remains a kind of a bit of an open question.

26:39Tim Stillman: Yeah. Well, fingers crossed. I suppose the other thing to say as well is that because he has the captain's arm and there is that extra bit of spotlight on him, which, you know, I'm sure he's aware of and fully accepts as well.

26:52Arseblog: Piers Moyles says... Oh, you nearly said something. I really didn't want to hear that. I know.

26:56Tim Stillman: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

26:57Arseblog: The last syllable saved that one. Yeah, don't worry.

27:00Tim Stillman: We wouldn't debase ourselves in that way on this podcast. Anyway, they say Arsenal's drop points this season have been down to unfortunate mistakes and once-in-a-lifetime goals rather than any psychological frailties.

27:18Arseblog: Disagree. I think those things are connected. I just think they've happened so many times. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean every single time it's happened it's been psychological frailty. but those two things have just happened so many times. I kind of think at some point you can't say it's unfortunate anymore. I think maybe we've got in an otherwise brilliant goalkeeper, we've perhaps got an issue of nature. His arms aren't long enough sometimes. Like you try and beat Raya from three or four yards, that's much harder than beating him from 30 yards, I think. So I think there is an element and there's an element to which probably teams have worked that out.

28:00Arseblog: And there's also an element to which we don't really give up the penalty area because we're so good defensively. So teams kind of have to take shots from long range. And I do think, by the way, that is something we're going to see more and more in the Premier League. I think that's going to be the next like trend, as it were. Shots from distance, from outside the area. Yeah, a bit like set pieces because people talk about set pieces as a trend in the Premier League. And to me, that's a response to another trend, which is mid and low blocks are just so good now. And teams are very well organized.

28:33Arseblog: Teams have got a lot of talent and they stack it up behind the ball. And teams are very difficult to break down. And everyone is finding that across the league. So set pieces have become more prominent as a means of breaking games open. I think we'll see more shooting from range as well as part of that. so there's an element to which there probably is a little bit of misfortune but no I just think what's interesting when you look at the goals even we've scored we've conceded in the last let's say two months how many of those have been flowing moves where we've been ripped open they're almost all bozo errors or long shots I can't think of a team that properly breaks us down you know but at the same time i think a lot of teams have started to say and i think tottenham were trying this on sunday kind of and chelsea tried it i think in the carabao cup semi-final second leg they tried to do this kind of let's just not concede anything and you know um maybe yeah go on yeah he's get ready everyone he's about to do something stupid you know just wait for the nerves to kick in and they'll give you something which i think is very different to what we saw a few months ago where teams i had a really interesting experience at fulham away because i watched it in the home end okay it was so interesting being sat around fulham fans watching us defend a one goal lead at that point they were all like this is over we've got no chance unless someone unless someone smashes it in from 30 yards yeah which interestingly fulham then did a couple of months later against Liverpool.

30:11Arseblog: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

30:12Tim Stillman: That late goal, the whatever, can't remember the guy's name, but yeah.

30:16Arseblog: Yeah, exactly. So like, you know, I think teams are starting to kind of work out that that's probably the best way you're going to get to score against Arsenal. So no, I don't think it's unfortunate.

30:28Tim Stillman: Is that a trend then that Arsenal need to take part in? Because it does feel, and I don't have the stats in front of me and somebody could disprove this. it feels to me like we don't really take those shots as often as other teams. We don't score from outside the box. I can think of a couple, maybe Trossard against Sunderland. Zubamendi. Zubamendi, yeah. Sunderland as well. You know, where we don't really pull the trigger from distance, that there's always the attempt or the thought to try and find somebody in a better position or work the ball into a better position. like if set pieces are chaos, is there a need to maybe cause chaos with shots from distance?

31:14Tim Stillman: Like I get like the whole, people will say, well, you know, this is a response. I remember, I think I was talking to Orbinio about this on a podcast a while back and it was in relation to how when stats in basketball came in and all of a sudden three-pointers started becoming more rare And then it was a case of with football, okay, you know, if you're going to hit it from outside the D, the XG on this is 0.003. So we're going to try and fashion a greater XG chance. And the influence of statistics on the way teams play might have been, I don't know if that's, if it properly stacks up or not. But I also wonder if you are playing against low blocks a lot, is there an opportunity in, you know, not going full Frank Lampard and deflecting it off eight legs on the way through?

32:09Tim Stillman: But that fucking worked all right for him. You know, and Chelsea were at that point a really dominant team against whom a lot of teams played quite defensively because of the attacking threat they had.

32:21Arseblog: Yeah. And, you know, I don't watch as much NBA as I used to. But from what I understand, three pointers are back, you know, that they're actually happening a lot. And this is the great thing about football. It's got a great way of self-correcting. So any kind of trend that comes up, someone comes up with something and then everyone copies it. And it's the same with set pieces. Like I look at set pieces, we're seen as the progenitor of that. I see Brentford as the real progenitor of that. And I think we kind of copied Brentford a little bit.

32:54Tim Stillman: Do you think that opening day of the season, remember when we had a load of players out with COVID and it was Ben White's debut? And I can't remember who started up front. It could have been Balagoon or somebody. Yeah, Balagoon started up front because half the team were out with COVID. And it was the Carraher and Neville dancing around on the pitch with the fans thing. I think it was Brentford's first game in the Premier League. I draw a direct line between that. The fact that we've hired a load of fucking guys who were at Brentford from the coaching staff there and our focus on maximizing set pieces, not just becoming a set piece team.

33:32Tim Stillman: But I think that was a sort of like, oh, we have to be as good as we can be at everything because, you know, this is how every other team is going to go. Like we spotted it early, I guess you'd say.

33:44Arseblog: Yeah, I think that might have been Berne Leno's last start before Ramsdale was signed as well. um yeah it's so interesting because you know a lot of this kind of comes from stats bomb for example i remember uh ted knutzen talking about this on twitter years ago talking about like why aren't teams maximizing set pieces and the analogy he used was like how much would you pay for a midfielder that gets 10 to 15 goals a season like you can do that through being good at corners and stuff like that so um but but with the kind of the long shots thing like i i think you're right that data and statistics will have had an impact there and and i think that's we shouldn't dismiss that that's kind of right but at the same time there are unquantifiable aspects about taking shots from range do you and again shot selection you can't just spam you can't do a felipe coutinho and just sure smash it from 35 yards every time you get it you've got to pick your moments but if teams become aware that you are willing to do that does it change the way they play a little bit?

34:49Arseblog: Does it just show a little bit of variety in the way that you attack? And those things are kind of unquantifiable probably by data, certainly on publicly available data. So,

35:00Tim Stillman: yeah.

35:00Arseblog: And it's interesting. I think Art de Rocher asked Arteta about that in a press conference before that Sunderland home game. And then we opened the scoring with Zubimendi shooting from the edge of the box. And we've got guys that can do it. I look at someone like Ezzer, we're talking about is there a way we can make him a more prominent player other than when we're playing Spurs I mean he's someone I'd back um from 20-25 yards Rice Saka definitely yeah Odegaard you know

35:27Tim Stillman: we've seen those players score those goals uh before so yeah exactly the one on the casing off the ball he's great at striking the shot yeah yeah um well something for uh the manager to Consider, I'm sure, that it's not something that he's unaware of at this point. Just while we're on this, Tom says, Arsenal should look to recruit a long thrower as a top priority in the summer.

35:55Arseblog: I disagree as a top priority. I agree if we can find that player who is not like Rory De Lape, like total zero in possession. like we just hide him and only want him for long throws like has to be like a good player as well I have to say I think that's reasonably rare yeah that you find someone who's I've forgotten the name of the guy at Brentford who's Coyote Michael Coyote that's it yeah and actually Spurs have a guy as well who's injured at the moment um I can't remember his name no me neither I don't and I don't care it's Tottenham that's not information I need in my brain but the thing is like long throws are such an amazing weapon like when they're good when they're rubbish like the ones that we occasionally do and thankfully I kind of think we stopped doing particularly because you stop the game for such a long time I don't think it benefits I don't think Arsenal's long throws are good enough to justify stopping a game for a minute um so that we get like a really loopy throw that just about hits the 18 yard area like rubbish don't do that if you've got someone who's got like a Rory Dillap style throw or um for those of you haven't seen her uh look up on YouTube she's just retired uh Irish international called Megan Campbell in women's football who I promise you throws it further and harder than Rory Dillap it's like it's incredible like she can go halfway line to six yard line um with that really flat trajectory And actually she got a couple of contracts on that basis, really, when perhaps, you know, as an outfield player, her value wasn't quite as high.

37:35Arseblog: So, you know, imagine being able to turn how many throw-ins there are a game and being able to turn any throw-in within 40 yards of the goal into a goal opportunity. Like, look at how we conceded at Brentford. I'm not sure we'd have conceded any other way. but and not only that you can and I think Arsenal do this a bit with corners you can dock to the way you play a little bit as well to say all right we'll go on the outside and we'll keep getting throw-ins perhaps we don't invert our wingers perhaps we play like I don't know Maduaki on the left wing and he takes his guy on and we keep getting thrown and you know you can you can do stuff like that I'm just dubious about that that kind of Goldilocks player who is both really good and has an amazing long throw that we can fit into our team really exists yeah i think it's a

38:26Tim Stillman: it's really like an added bonus to a player if you find a good player who's who's a good footballer who fits the position and fits the style of your team and they also have the ability to throw the ball really long then that's just sort of a bit of a icing on the cake when it comes to that player but i don't think you go out and you scout that player and you say well he's not quite there in defensively doesn't quite have the pace, doesn't quite have the technique, but he offsets that with a long throw. I don't know that that's the way you recruit. Yes.

38:55Arseblog: One thing you could look at is, could that be like a squad player? Could that be, in fact, Christian Norgard has quite a good long throw. And does that come into your calculus if you need a goal with 10 minutes to go? Do you perhaps bring on, do you perhaps do something like, look, we're a goal down, there's 10 minutes to go. We've got the team pinned back. let's put Christian Norgal on for, like, I don't know, at centre-back or at right-back or something. Or for Zubimendi even, you know.

39:21Tim Stillman: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

39:22Arseblog: And just use him for his long throws as like an attacking weapon. I mean, our squad is so big, and I think we have some, like, redundancy in there that we could perhaps go full NFL and have a squad player who sits on the bench and, you know, that's part of his role.

39:40Tim Stillman: I mean, how do you view the sort of, again, it's a bit of a trend, And as you say, I think football corrects itself and things, you know, don't always remain as effective as they were. But there'll be people who balk at the idea that long throws are part and parcel of the game, like the beautiful game should be played on the pitch. You know, what did, was it Brian Clough who said, if God wanted the football to be played in the area to put grass in the sky, something like that, some crazy fucking thing, anything like that. But I think for those who love the aesthetics of football, long throws are seen as a kind of industrial, Pulisian way of approaching the game, for want of a better term.

40:25Tim Stillman: But, you know, as Brentford have shown and as other teams have shown, if you're not trying to maximise every aspect of how the game can be played, you're diminishing your chances of getting results.

40:37Arseblog: Yeah, I don't understand the purity argument over this at all. the only way i understand it is yeah they do hold the game up a bit you know um and and and we do this from corners as well like again rory de lapp the the real kind of poster boy of all of this every throw in took like a minute and and a lot of that's deliberate as well a lot of that is like again we do this from turn it into an event get into the opposition's head so i i get it from a stoppage point of view from a purity point of view i don't understand it at all like i don't understand how any throw-in a throw-in the most mundane thing that happened boring thing that happens in a football match where ostensibly you watch a guy with his hands over his head for 20 seconds going uh he's marked he's marked he's marked all to like progress the ball maybe five yards or get another throw it like throwing is the most boring part of the game so taking that and saying actually any throw-in we get 40 50 yards from goal we can turn into a goal scoring opportunity i think that's really exciting objectively speaking i think roy delapsed long throws a amazing athletic feat don't like giving that credit to a stoke player but genuinely incredible i'd say the same about megan campbell in women's football as well but like it's horrible when it's your team under it but there's a reason it's horrible it's kind of exciting as well so like for me turning a throw in from something that doesn't really achieve a lot into i'm launching this into the six yard area i think that's very exciting i think that's good

42:15Tim Stillman: for the game personally all right um america arsenal america arsenal um says winning a title with pep coaching in the league would would mean more than winning a title without pep coaching in

42:28Arseblog: the league i'm gonna slightly agree here i think i think it's got a marginal kind of difference to it ultimately bottom line i don't care and i don't think like i don't i don't think let's say let's say the worst happens we don't do it this season pep goes we do it next season when city are in transition and they've definitely definitely finally been punished and have like a 60 point deduction or whatever which will definitely all happen you know i'm not i'm not gonna when i'm in the middle of toasting that victory i'm not gonna go ah it just doesn't mean as much without pep i i i do think though it's it's got like a little bit like for example i was i was for my sins i was listening to a podcast about jose marino yesterday and you know they were talking about the season and he actually won the league with Real Madrid.

43:25Arseblog: And that was against Pep, peak Pep's Barca. And, you know, they were saying that's got to be like, maybe even privately, like the crowning moment of his career, that he would have got an awful lot of satisfaction over beating that team to a league title. You know, particularly someone like Mourinho, who defines himself by grievance anyway. Yeah. I'm sure privately Arteta would see a little bit more value in it, but ultimately I'm not sure anyone really cares that much basically. No, I mean, look,

44:03Tim Stillman: the achievement would stand on its own one way or the other for me. I think there is probably something though, if you are Arteta, if you are the players, you know, even I will say from my own perspective, Do you see that stat going around during the week about how long Arsenal have spent top of the table in the last four years? I'm going to find it here. Andrew Allen sent it to me the other day. Since Arteta became Arsenal manager in December 2019, days top of the table. Mikel Arteta, 481. Pep Guardiola, 453. League titles, four for Pep and none for Mikel Arteta. I do think you know if we do go the distance this season and if we do win it there is just that like fuck at last fuck you at last go fuck yourself fuck you kind of element to it you know and there's the whole master and pupil dynamic between Arteta and Guardiola as well which I think is there you know if somebody if somebody sort of beats you around the head time and time and time again and you eventually land a knockout blow you're going to enjoy that a little bit more I think yeah and I and I don't

45:20Arseblog: think either on certainly not on Arteta's part and even on Arsenal fans part I don't think that's like a grievance thing either that's not like a Ferguson Mourinho like I hate you and want to beat you I don't get the impression that you know Arsenal fans I don't feel that much like animosity towards Pep. Part of that is because I acknowledge how brilliant he is. And obviously that's what this feels like. It's like Pep is a brilliant, brilliant manager. And obviously Man City have got resources that no one else has. And, you know, they use them in certain ways, redacted, redacted. But like this, and also because again, no one really cares about Man City.

46:08Arseblog: He's not managing Chelsea, Man United, Tottenham. He's managing a team that's we don't really care about that much. So it feels like a purely sporting thing. And I think there's definitely merit in that. And I definitely think I would give this team an enormous pat on the back. I think in all the kind of narrative around Arsenal have to win it. If they don't win it, they're the biggest bunch of bottlers ever. I think we do sometimes lose sight of what we're competing against and i saw um tom canton tweeted out yesterday now that the financial results have been released he said that man city have spent over 800 million pounds more on wages than arsenal in the last 10 years and i do think we are quite quick to dismiss who and what we're actually

46:58Tim Stillman: competing against that's true and i think you know whatever bad transfer spend i think the the The studies show that it's really about what you spend on wages that correlates to your final league position. The team that spends the most on wages tends to be the team that finishes towards the top of the table. Stephen Payne says there are too many statements and you won't read them all. Strongly disagree. There were too many. Not too many. There were loads. And we thank you for all of them. And I did read them all, but I'm just trying to find a nice balance between all of these. Boom shakalaka. Myles Lewis-Gelley will go on loan next season.

47:36Arseblog: Yeah, I agree with this. I think he probably should, assuming that we sign Hincapier, which I think we might even be obliged to, per the terms of the deal. I don't get the impression we're slowing down, like that we've got a Harvey Elliott situation where we don't want to play him and trigger any kind of agreement. So I think he probably will. I think he should. I've said many times, I think the squad this season is probably a little bit too big. And we will see that rectify a little bit over the summer. And that's one of the areas where it's too big. I don't think we need three left backs, to be quite honest.

48:16Arseblog: And I don't even think there's really a route for Myles as a midfielder yet. Maybe if someone like Christian Norgaard goes, but then you look at Christian Norgaard. He's played 35 Premier League minutes this season. That's not how a 19-year-old is going to develop either. I have to say I'm getting a touch of the Smith Rose about Lewis Skelly. It kind of feels like it's going in that direction. For me, I just don't think you sign another left back if your manager really truly in his heart believes that this is the guy. So I hope he goes on loan as well, because I think that would be best for him.

48:54Arseblog: And then probably at the end of that, you know, we assess how he does, because he might go somewhere and do absolutely brilliant. And we think, do you know what? No, we need this player. But it feels like it might be about building value. So, yeah, I think we have a bit of redundancy in our squad. That's one of the areas. I hope he stays. Well, obviously he has to stay this season, but I hope he gets a Premier League winner's medal. And then next season he goes out on loan somewhere

49:22Tim Stillman: in the Premier League and kills it.

49:25Arseblog: And then whatever happens from there, whether it's with Arsenal or elsewhere, where I think this guy's got a great career ahead of him. Yeah, for sure.

49:31Tim Stillman: I mean, look, he could go out on loan and come back and still be only 21 years of age, which, you know, when you look at some of the players when they first came to Arsenal, you know, Gabriel was 22, Odegaard was 21, 22. You know, there's loads of time there for him, but I do think, yeah, it does speak maybe to a slight, not lack of trust, but maybe personal preference on the part of the manager as regards what kind of profile of player he wants in those positions. Speaking of fullbacks, Kenyon Fjordkarst says, and I'm trying not to cry here, Ben White will be sold in the summer.

50:14Arseblog: I agree. I think this might happen.

50:23Arseblog: Again, some of it will depend on the market, I think, because I think a lot of people are going to know if Arsenal are open to letting Ben White leave, they're going to know why, basically. It's not going to be about the quality of the player. It's going to be about the fitness of the player. I think we've seen recently as well, I've seen a lot of like, why aren't we playing Ben White ahead of Timber? And it's a bit like, I think that's a fitness thing. Of course. And, you know, like when he does play at the moment, and I really feel for him on this, and not having a go at him, it feels like he was mega durable and now all of a sudden he's a player that once he pushes past that 70-minute mark, the cramp sets in, the hamstrings tighten.

51:11Arseblog: And I especially feel for him because I think that's probably a result of the fact that we had to overplay him because Timber got injured. And what we should have had was a really nice harmonious relationship between two amazing right backs. And instead, what we've kind of had is we kind of had to play them both into the ground at various points because of the fitness of the other. And I kind of, I look at Mascara being able to play right back pretty well. and Mascara's got a big Tomiyasu vibe to me where he feels like the next man up in maybe three positions now in defence. And that might be because he's young and he kind of needs to develop and he's going to need some game time.

51:53Arseblog: And maybe that's a way of saying, actually, you're not past Gabriel and Saliba because that's a very difficult thing to do. But you're first man up for left centre-back, right centre-back and right-back. We've also got Marley Salmon coming through as well. and he looks like a real talent as well. Obviously, he's only 16, but the way people are talking about him is that under-21 football is not good enough for him. And it's also complicated to send a 16 or 17-year-old on loan as well for myriad reasons around their education and things like that. And it's probably too early to be thinking about leaving home and stuff like that.

52:33Arseblog: So, you know, I think a mixture of mascara and salmon might mean that I don't think Arsenal would openly tout Ben White. But if a good offer came in, I could see them doing it, yeah.

52:47Tim Stillman: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing with Ben White is the fitness thing you mentioned. There's a sort of match fitness element because he hasn't really been able to play on a consistent basis. I think when he has been on the bench and not used, people have raised eyebrows and said, well, why isn't he playing a bit more? But the fact that maybe he isn't playing a bit more, when everyone can see Timber's been fatigued or certainly looking a little bit leggy, probably tells you that there is an issue there, a fitness issue. Like, I don't believe for a second that Mikel Arteta doesn't trust Ben White, the footballer, but does he trust the body of Ben White?

53:23Tim Stillman: And ultimately, for me, it just comes down to the fact, I remember that interview Rob Holding did, where he said, that game against Newcastle, I remember that horrible game towards the end of that season where we got beaten and we didn't get top four and it was all very disheartening. And we had no players. We had fucking nobody left, basically. And Ben White, was that the game? Did Cedric get sent off in that game? That was against Spurs. That was against Spurs.

53:49Arseblog: So he was suspended. That's how bad it was.

53:53Tim Stillman: So we had nobody. And Rob Holding said Ben White played against Newcastle with like grade two hamstring tear or strain. and on the one hand you're going fuck like fair play you know we needed you you put yourself out there I remember maybe the second goal was it Newcastle won 1-0 or 2-0

54:13Arseblog: I can't remember if it was an own goal or whether he just missed the ball stretching for it I think it was

54:17Tim Stillman: I kind of blanked it yeah I'm trying not to but you could see he couldn't properly run like he was not at his best and on the one hand you're like well this is a guy who's putting his body on the line for Arsenal but then you also have to ask the question like what are the long-term consequences of that? And I think what we've seen in recent times is Ben White is paying the price for his commitment to Arsenal and his commitment to the team and his desire to go out there and do a job if the manager asks him to do it. Like, it'd be a sad day because I think he's been, going back to that game against Brentford, you know, and he'd signed from Brighton and Arsenal were a bit of a mess that day.

54:55Tim Stillman: And there was a lot of focus on Ben White. Like, oh, they've wasted 50 million quid on this guy. like he looks terrible I was like hang on a minute he proved everybody wrong he became basically the best right back in the Premier League certainly defensively that combination you could maybe talk about Trent Alexander-Arnold as an attacking force but certainly the combination of being able to defend and attack and you know if we could have that the halcyon days of Odegaard, White and Saka for this run-in we'd all love that wouldn't we but that's not possible

55:27Arseblog: He can do things as well that Timber can't I think still, I think for me in an ideal world, that would still be a pretty 50, 50 relationship, um, between the two. Um, but also, you know, his, his kind of Instagram thing where he's like, I'm not injured. I'm not injured. Like he strikes me as that type of character, you know, that it's like, I might actually be injured, but I'm going to tell you I'm not injured because, and that, and that's like a big testament to his character. Maybe someone needs to have a word in his ear and just be like, look, if your hamstring's tight, like, don't, like, don't do it.

56:03Arseblog: I'd broach one more thing as well quickly. Cause I hadn't seen you mentioned this on the blog. He did an Insta video for Arsenal, right? About a month ago about his dogs,

56:13Tim Stillman: about how much he loves dogs and he has German shepherds.

56:16Arseblog: And like, were you behind that content? Like if it had a David Bowie soundtrack,

56:21Tim Stillman: it would be like the most you coded piece of content I've ever seen. It was just coincidence. I promise. I promise. It was like when Clive got to interview Martin Odegaard for the new contract. Remember that? I was like, I feel like they missed the trick here. They could have had me going on a walk with Ben White and German Shepherds. It would have been perfect. Anyway, listen, let's hope that Ben White can play a part between now and the end of the season. Let's do a few quick ones before we go. John Cross. I don't think it's that one. Particularly as this is his statement, punditry is ruining football.

56:58Arseblog: disagree it it's probably making it a bit more stressful and it's difficult to escape that ecosystem i would say if you're still on twitter for example just don't go on the for you tab for example and just try and ignore it i know it's difficult but i wouldn't say it's it's it's annoying undeniably it's undeniably making things noisier and more stressful however i'd say there is quite a lot of choice out there there's lots of good punditry there's lots of good but there's more than i can listen to like good football podcasts and things like that out there so i'd say it will ruin it if you let it but sure i mean maybe that's more uh aligned with

57:41Tim Stillman: sort of match day punditry right so what you're being given by tnt or sky sports versus if you actually want to go out there and listen to good stuff like you know good analysis um good tactical breakdowns, you know, like we do on Arseblog, but also somebody like Adrian Clark, who's got his YouTube channel now, which I think is really, really good. You know, that is good punditry. It's out there. But of course, when you're inflicted with Gary Neville, every fucking game, you know, I understand why people get a bit frustrated by that. Jamie Phillips, Max Downman will score his first Premier League goal this season.

58:22Arseblog: Disagree. I just think our attack's so stacked I just, I can't unless there's a massive injury crisis and whenever, when has that ever happened to Arsenal? I don't see, I think he's capable I think if he gets 30 or 40 minutes of football I think he probably will I'm just dubious that he will get that because the attack's so stacked and obviously we're coming into a part of the season where that, you know

58:50Tim Stillman: It's very difficult to rely on a 16 year old, isn't it?

58:53Arseblog: Yeah, yeah. So I don't see it and I kind of hope I don't see it because I think, you know, the treatment room would be very busy if that's happened.

59:01Tim Stillman: I agree. I would say potentially, potentially he's more likely to score a Champions League goal than a Premier League goal because we can have more players on the bench and he's going to be part of those squads. And there's a kind of like, well, Hail Mary, we need to do something a little bit different than the opposition don't expect. Maybe there's more room for Max Downman there. But I think you're right. Like if things go the way we want in the Premier League, I suppose the thing you might say is that if things do go the way we want in the Premier League, there might be a couple of games at the end of the season, you know, where it's like Max Downman and Marley Salmon combining for a winning goal, you know, that helps.

59:43Arseblog: That's a lot of talk, yeah.

59:44Tim Stillman: Yeah, that helps send, or maybe even against West Ham, yeah, to send Tottenham down. Let me just do this one because I thought it was quite an interesting one to consider. Lockie, they say the 2006 World Cup in Canada, United States and Mexico. They use a slightly unfortunate acronym for that, which I don't need to go into. They say that World Cup will have the worst vibes in World Cup history. Strongly agree.

1:00:16Arseblog: Strongly agree. Potentially it could be crazy. I think guitar had quite bad vibes because of the conversation around it. I think the conversation around this will be similar. And I think the thing that's kind of different about this World Cup is from the USA perspective, who are doing most of the hosting, their politics, their government aren't trying to hide things, maybe. they're not well in fact i kind of think they are trying to put on a show to the world but i think it kind of is going to be a bit yeah all the stuff you've been reading about is is kind of true like i think that's what makes this one unique perhaps from a geopolitical perspective um that you know the the person in charge of the country either doesn't care or will actually see it as an opportunity to as shall we say a show of strength um so i i think that will make it um don't get me wrong i do think the vast majority of people when it comes around will sit and watch football i think i probably won't that much and i think the time zone thing helps that i don't see myself getting up at two o 'clock in the morning um that often um and there'll be a lot of dead rubber games as well in the group stage and therefore some of the stuff around the tournament shall we say will kind of be the only real talking point it will probably vanish a bit when we get into the the final stages i dread to think like the final and the bloody trophy presentation like thinking about like how infantino might debase himself get joe rogan on the pitch to fucking present the trophy or something you know i i i think it's all on the table um you know so yeah i i i think it could be but then i wasn't around for stuff like argentina 78 yeah i was too young i mean i was too young to understand what was going on there it's kind of

1:02:15Tim Stillman: been a theme a running theme through many world cups you know and olympics there is a theme because

1:02:20Arseblog: a lot of these countries tend to want to host things for those kind of soft power reasons as well and generally sport will take the money and and do it and i think this fifa president in particular like it it's it's really taken something to be worse than sepp blatter but i

1:02:42Tim Stillman: think this guy's managed oh absolutely like sepp blatter was corrupt as hell and fifa has been corrupt as hell for a long time but this you know infantino's taken it to a new level i think he's actively a harmful presence to football and to the world in general, to be honest. So I think that is part of the backdrop of this World Cup. Anyway, to take us out on a more upbeat note, Simon King, and this is the one that I think, you know, everybody's talking about, says, David Raya's true endgame is the return of the moustache-ponytail combo that underpinned Arsenal's late 90s dominance.

1:03:21Arseblog: Strongly agree. Strongly agree. Come on, David. Yeah, definitely. Like, I imagine, you know, that guy could grow a hell of a moustache, I think. And I think he owes us that, to see that. There's something, I think it might be a little bit generative AI, so I don't know how much I should enjoy or plug it. But like, someone has been posting these, like, you know, Arsenal players as if they were like mid-80s. oh yes yeah yeah i've seen a couple of those you know like saka with an afro and and there's like declan rice with like a little kind of pencil mustache and a mullet and all of that i i think that has to be the culmination of us retaining the title next year david ryer long flowing rock locks big old mustache declan rice mullet so when when declan's hair grows out a little bit i want that i want those sides shaved off you know get rid of those sideburns type haircut.

1:04:19Arseblog: Yeah, let's really lean into the kind of 80s vibe.

1:04:24Tim Stillman: Yeah, just looking for Raya to come out starting next season in one of those just gigantic, big, puffy goalkeeper shirts that David Seaman used to wear. I was going to call him David Seaman, but that sounds wrong on many levels, right? Listen, we better leave it there. Tim, thank you very much indeed. As always, great to talk to you and we'll chat again soon. Yeah, my pleasure as always. Thanks.

1:04:57Tim Stillman: Thank you very much indeed to Tim. You can find him in all the usual social media places. And, of course, here on ArseBlog.com, his new column drops today at 1 p.m. Irish time. So that means by the time many of you listen to this, it will be out now. So go read it on ArseBlog.com. There's also a brand new Arsenal Women Arsecast. Tim and Jamie taking your questions in a mailbag edition. That is also out now and in all the usual podcast places. So that's about that for today's show. Obviously, there is a big, big game at the weekend. We're taking on Chelsea, looking for another three points in a London derby as we continue our title challenge.

1:05:37Tim Stillman: Fingers crossed there. But we'll talk about that game in a bit more detail tomorrow or maybe Saturday morning. I'm not quite sure which yet over on Patreon, as we always do. We'll have a Premier League preview podcast for you. That, among all the other stuff that we do on Patreon, will set you back$6 a month plus VAT or sales tax, if that is applicable where you happen to be. But you get access to everything that we do on Patreon for, well, less than the price of a pint at this point. The pint has got more expensive. The Patreon subscription has not. So, you know, I'll leave it up to you guys.

1:06:11Tim Stillman: Do you want the pint or do you want the Patreon? You can have both if you want. Anyway, patreon.com forward slash arseblog is where you go to sign up for that. As ever, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing and downloading and sharing and all those things. It's always a pleasure to be here with you every week. For now, though, take it easy and we will catch you on the next one. Until then, cheers. Bye-bye.

1:06:49I'm out.

1:07:16Thank you.