Episode 877 - Ian Wright on the Champions

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0:55Okay, with me for a very special Arscast episode somebody who we've talked to many times over the last couple of years. And it's always been, I don't know, when timing hasn't been brilliant, when we've needed a little bit of an uplift. There's a man who can always do that for us. But I'm delighted to welcome the champion. The champion of champions, Mr. Ian Wright.

1:20Ian Wright: Hey, Andrew, one sec. Let me get my thing. I've just got some. One sec. Two seconds, Andrew. No problem. Please, listeners, just give me two seconds, because if someone just sent me something. okay this is an unusual start to a podcast but maybe we leave it in here we go

1:44okay look a little uh hang on let me put my headphones back on could you see it angela

1:52Ian Wright: a little premier trophy you know what they gave me this about a month ago oh wow yeah they gave it to me a month ago and they've got a champions league one as well obviously i'm not taking that out but this one can now go on the key ring absolutely absolutely oh very good feels good right you know what andrew oh gosh watching that bournemouth game my god and then and then what happened was i was watching it i said i'm going if bournemouth should have scored a couple more You know, I would have got there a lot earlier. But like when he was in the cab, then Erling Island scored. And I was like, I took my missus and my girls.

2:27Ian Wright: They were all doing their stuff. I said, get your gear on in the car. We're going to the Emirates. And honestly, Andrew, I just felt like I had to be there. Yeah. I remember Rocky telling me about 89 and coming back to London and they just all went out. And it was just, he said it was amazing. You know, and I just thought I had to be there. And you know what, Andrew, what I'm seeing a lot now on social media is the amount of respect our fans are getting for the way we turned up. No announcements, no nothing. Just like we won the league. That showed the size of this club. Oh, I spoke with Amy, Amy Lawrence, and I spoke with her yesterday and I sort of asked her, you know, somebody like you like me who's seen and witnessed arsenal title wins before you know and had those experiences and had those moments of joy and togetherness and celebration if she'd seen anything like this before and she said no like they're all special in their own way but i think this one in particular was was really something so i mean i've seen the pictures i've seen the videos i've seen you having a great time jumping around with all the fans but but you know what what did it feel like in that moment was it sort of like i don't know is it's it's like a it's like a congregation isn't it's like a church where everybody's sort of just together and singing the hymns and andrew you know you know what and it was um obviously 89 being a supporter obviously playing for palace at the time amazing the wait for that you know the wait for that wasn't an wasn't anticipated as this one because obviously george graham came we haven't won anything for a while George Graham changed everything.

4:13Ian Wright: And we started to win things. Then Arsene Wenger came. And then, you know, we started to get to a place where, right, now we're winning things. Obviously, the Invincibles done what they've done. But this team, I think it's the journey and the amount of times they've come close and how invested we all are because we want it to happen because, you know, simply because of who we are and where we expect to be. And what this team's been through in the last, with this season, this now, the fourth season, it feels, it feels different and more and and it feels special i don't know if it's because i was playing i was injured after that season i didn't have the same energy when when we won it obviously i was absolutely ecstatic but witnessing it as a fan and being amongst them with everything we've been through in the last 22 years to get to this point it feels more it feels special it feels a lot special a lot more special simply because we've come second so so many times we were so close the discourse on the Arsenal fans and whether we celebrate or whether we're whingy, whether we're weak, whether we're too strong, whatever it is, all the noise goes away now, Andrew.

5:15Ian Wright: But the thing with this team and what Mikel's built, what they've had to go through, I don't think any other Arsenal team has had to go through what they're going through, especially with social media. Yeah. Yeah. Andrew, it's an amazing achievement and everybody, everybody's got to take credit for it upstairs and everybody's got to get some credit for this. It sort of reminds me of when Thierry Henry was asked about his favourite Arsenal goal and he said the one that he scored against Leeds because he scored it as a fan. He experienced it as a fan. And listen, you know, it has been over the last three or four years, there have been difficult times and there have been periods where, you know, the external noise has been really deafening and really, really loud.

5:59And I think the last time we talked, you know, you were talking about how Arsenal fans needed to consolidate and get behind the team and try and block all that out as much as possible. It's not always easy because we're human and we experience things and we have those little periods in the season where things didn't go quite as well. But I think what we saw maybe around the Fulham game was that there was something kind of clicked, something went the other way, and it was evident in the Champions League semifinals. And listen, I don't know quite how to explain it because human nature, you know, singularly is a really difficult thing.

6:35How do you explain 60 ,000 people in unison? but you know is that the experience that you've had in these last weeks of the season where you felt that that has sort of come together yeah despite some some tricky moments you know you know

6:53Ian Wright: what would it have been the atletico madrid game where the fans just got there early and just made some noise and we saw the bus coming yeah it was that one yeah that i think that that's something they've set a precedent for me with that and I think seeing the amount of Arsenal fans that came out again no announcement no nothing just Arsenal fans knowing this is what we do we should we can do that every week can you imagine what our team would be like I think that we're a team we're going to go on now I think with Mikel and the owners and everything what they want to do we can dominate now when you look where where City are going to be what's going to happen with him with Pep what's going to happen with Liverpool you know Man United with Carrick I think we've got a window here and i think it's the players the manager everybody upstairs the fans to really dominate for a bit and i think that the fans with that what i saw outside atletico madrid it felt like we was watching a game in europe and those fans are just like going we've got the capability of doing that and it helped yeah it helped i can't even imagine what what it'd been like you know hopefully i'm going to get to speak to some of the players and i'm going to ask them what was it like when you're on the coach of atletico madrid when you saw that reception yeah because i'm guaranteed that they will say it was unbelievable if we can do that my god because they turned out and it was amazing the love honestly the love i was so emotional you know the tollenton saved me in the end because i had to go there for refuge because everybody you can't get that much love for someone who's actually not actually done it today the players but like the love I got from the Arsenal fans, the joy that we had.

8:33Ian Wright: Andrew, it's a moment, like I said, I just had to be there. You know, obviously, you know what I mean? I know I'm going to get Roy Keane, Roy Abroley, say, what were you doing there? I said, I'm invested, bro. I don't think you have to explain yourself to anybody. I don't think you have to justify your decision or your willingness to be there among the Arsenal fans to anybody at all, because I think everybody understands how close you are to the club and how close you are to the fans and how much it means to you. And if anyone's asking you, you know, why were you there? Well, why the fuck wouldn't you be there?

9:04You know, you had the ability to do it. You know, no, seriously, seriously.

9:08Ian Wright: And like, you know, Andrew, I actually felt for all the people who couldn't be there. Well, I was in London till I was in London till I left on Tuesday. I was there the whole weekend. We'd done, you know, I couldn't stay. I wish I could have. I couldn't. My daughter's home for the first time in three years. So, you know, I have to at least give some priority to my family. But I can't say that I wasn't a little bit jealous of everybody who had the ability to get there. You know what's beautiful as well, Ang, if you look on social media, because Arsenal fans, let me tell you something. If we don't do it ever again after this, get yourselves on the comments on social media now.

9:46Ian Wright: The humbling, the pie, the humble pie eating is beautiful. We're getting so much love. listen I saw I saw beautiful Mark Oldbridge Man United he said that is how a fan base celebrates I'm jealous of them you know I mean this is what they do this is what a fan base does and that's what they he's hoping that Man United will get back to doing because when you are a club of our size and our fans are so connected we're so interlinked we've been through so much fucking shit with everybody that this is the time to be joyous and this is why with that video Andrew I I said, I just said, is it okay to celebrate now?

10:26Ian Wright: Yes. For fuck's sake. I should have said for fuck's sake. But you know what? I just want Arsenal fans to really, all those, the last three seasons in this one, with everything we've been through, even at a stage of this season, we're not finishing games often. We're going through it. Let the joy out. Mm-hmm. No, I think it's the only way to experience it. And I think in the first couple of days, we're all going to be really, really happy. And I'm trying to enjoy this sort of, you know, on its own merits because of just how special and how big it is. But there is also that like, listen, I do what I do and you do what you do.

11:01And I'm not blind or deaf. I know what's being said about us. I know what's being said about our team and our manager and our fans. And look, you know, everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I respect opinions if they're made in good faith, right? Thank you. You know, I respect them if they're made in good faith. If they're not, if they're trolling adjacent, if they're on the windup, if it's sort of rooted in bands, if you're just saying that to try and get a rise out of me or you or any Arsenal fan, I think you can go fuck yourself now and you better be ready to get a bit back. And I think that's absolutely fair, right?

11:41And I'm sure, you know, you do what you do and you work with people who work at Vary or have played at various football clubs or fans of various football clubs. I am sure down the years, there've been some, you've got some stick, let me say. And I don't want you to go into specifics by any means. I wouldn't dare to ask that. But I'm hoping, you know, that some of those people will have heard from you over the last 48 hours.

12:08Ian Wright: Andrew, well, of course they have. And you know what's really good, Andrew? What's that? It's the silence I can do. I've got silence. Because I'm letting them stew in the silence, Andrew, because they don't know what's coming, but they know it's coming. Because what can they say? They can't say anything now. It's just, and this is what I'm saying with Arsenal fans, because it's not going to be too long, Andrew, before they start talking about, oh, next season. Oh, let's see what they do in the summer. Oh, let's see how they defend it. Oh, they're the worst defenders of the Premier League. I've ever seen.

12:39Ian Wright: Oh, that's coming. That's coming. So this is what I'm saying even at the moment. You can imagine the Champions League, the world of football, apart from Arsenal, probably want us to lose in the Champions League. But even that now, I've got extra springing my step over that because we've got a 90-minute game against a team that will fear us. They have got a good play. But we've done the hard work as far as I'm concerned. I'll take the Champions League this season, next season, season after. But we've done the job with the Premier League. Now it's time to be joyous and go to that Champions League with so much energy and love.

13:12Ian Wright: Yeah. We let them players feel that, right? Because we deserve it. We deserve it. I was going to ask you about the Champions League final and whether you think, I think you might agree or not, but I think our chances of winning that game are much better now than they would have been if things hadn't gone the way they'd gone. because I think there is a release, a burden. Like I feel lighter. You, I'm sure, feel lighter. And like there's pressure off and we've got nothing to do with it really, right? But I think for those players where that game, if it was an all or nothing game for your season, I think, you know, potentially it becomes kind of crippling or it could be.

13:59Whereas now they're like free as birds to go in.

14:03Ian Wright: You know what, Andrew? what I would say to Arsenal fans is right now just imagine Bournemouth don't do that City win, we're going to Palace on the last day, God forbid we don't win because if we don't win they would have won it on goal difference or something so think of that scenario and how it would have been going into this Palace game and then having the Champions League you know I think that this little break and getting it done enjoying um palace and a trophy lift and then just go just going fucking balls out for one more game with what you've been through in the last four seasons we want you to go balls out in this game and see if you can really put yourselves right up amongst the in the high echelons of arsenal football club yeah do you know talk to me about the character of some of these guys in the squad because you've played and to finish second three years in a row must be devastating it must be so frustrating and painful you know if it is for us as fans it is for them as players because they're so driven and ambitious and they want to win to do it so of course how hard is it to to pick yourself up like i spoke with james about this yesterday on the Arse Cast Extra where people were talking about that Declan Rice moment after Man City where he says it's not done and I saw it said that it could be like the Steven Gerrard we do not let this slip moment right yeah which is it is something that can come back to haunt you but uh as I said to James I think there was real conviction in what he said there was belief in not just himself but but his teammates and the manager and what they were capable of.

15:56Like, I think that is potentially down the line when the dust settles a bit. And when we've all, yeah, when we've all got, you know, hangover in a few days time, you know, this will, this will potentially be like one of those things that people talk about. They'll put it on t-shirts. It's not done. All of that.

16:14Ian Wright: I'm getting it done. Roscoe's on the move now. Yeah. My t-shirt done. That has to be. That's one of the, I think that's one of the seminal moments in Arsenal's history, especially when you look at this team, what they've been through. You know what you're saying about Andrew being a player and being in there? I don't think any Arsenal player down the years, whether it's Patrick and Thierry's team, whether it's Tony Adesia team, David Seaman, all of that, and before, no one's gone through what this squad has been through the second three times on the spin. So you can imagine, you're looking at players.

16:43Ian Wright: You know what, I'll pinpoint Ben White. What Ben White's done from the time he got here with the 50 million, And everybody went fucking nuts because we paid 50 million for him. Right. He's proven to be one of our greats in respects of the signings. And he's lasted for a lot of players that have fallen away. He's lasted. And that man has virtually given his body up for what he's, what he's 100%. Yeah. He has given his body to, to Arsenal football club. Right. And let me tell you, as somebody who's left there and you leave there, obviously my knees, fuck, now my ankle has been fused. for injections and stuff what I took to get through games.

17:25Ian Wright: And Andrew, I would do it again and I'm sure Ben White would do it again but that guy is nearly broken and you look at someone like, you look at Mikai Osaka from the time he got into the side and the amount of pressure that's been on him as the star boy coming out of Ayl End. You know what I mean? Him and that season where him and Emil Smith-Rowe literally propped up that fucking team, bro. And what he's been through, he's had an operation on his hamstring. his hamstring came off he had to have an operation and you have enough operation on your hamstring when it's leaving the bone or something that's a serious operation another player that how many times Andrew have me and you spoken about when are we going to fucking rest him when are England going to rest him when will he get any rest he knows all this and he still went through that that's just a couple of instances of players who have put themselves on the line to try and achieve this in the last three seasons they will look back and it will be worth it just like my ankle, my knee is sitting here.

18:22Ian Wright: It's worth it, Andrew. But because the love of the club, because of what the club means. And again, I go back to the fans coming, what they are about. Sure. Oh God, it's amazing, Andrew. I'm so pleased for them. This is why I said, I think it's quite controversial to a lot of people, maybe Arsenal fans, it kind of divided a lot. I said, this could go down as the great, I said team, I should have said squad really. This could go down if they finish the Champions League off as the greatest squad we've ever had. And I'm going to get, I'd probably give it to them over the Invincibles who were magnificent and really put Arsenal Football Club on the map globally.

19:01Ian Wright: But what this team's been through globally and maybe now could finish off one of the greatest seasons in Arsenal's history, Andrew, they will go down as the greatest squad for me, no doubt. Well, listen, let's have that debate when we get the far side of Budapest and hopefully we can have a good one. Let me not get ahead of myself. That's okay. We can all dream. And I think, you know, winning the championship, win the title, win the Premier League, lets you dream and lets you think bigger. I mean, I know you're in touch with some of the boys and I'm not asking you to betray any confidences or any specifics or anything like that because that would be wrong.

19:40I don't know if in the last few weeks you've been in close contact with some of them. You know, that period after Carabao Cup final, after Bournemouth, after the Man City game. That's when the Declan Rice, you know, it's not done thing comes from. Internally, despite whatever, let's say, doubts or worries that we had as fans at that time. Ken, do you know what the mood was like internally and how they were feeling about it? Because I think that's fascinating.

20:08Ian Wright: I'll just take you in. I'll take people into the dressing room. I've got a very, obviously, I'm not talking out of turn here or anything, but I have got a really good link with our captain, Martin Odegaard, through everything. I've always had a very tight kind of message link with him. And I think when you go back to when, I remember which season was it when Martin got injured and we were just like, we were finished. It was last season. That's how much we were depending on him. And even we rushed him back and he was injured and he kept in and out and in and out. All through those times, you speak to him.

20:37Ian Wright: He's a very, very positive guy. very fucking so much faith in what he's capable of doing and how he plays but the reason why i'm so happy for him is because the way he got through everything like that and then this season of you know the captain trying to finish this off the pressure that he gets the shit that he gets the discourse on him for him to be able to lift that andrew makes me i couldn't be any proud if it was one of my own kids mate i could not be any proud because i am so happy for him for everything he's been through as a captain of our club with a great player like Declan who plays a massive role in everything what we do to see him come through and lift it that's the picture I am gonna have hung up in my room my podcast room him lifting the trophy well I like it tell me about uh Ebreche Eiza because you were there you did the video with him when he arrived and it was like listen we had a good summer in the transfer market but there was something very special about him and the kind of not just the kind of player he is but the kind of journey he's been on I think you know you you you struggled in the beginning to to make your way in football and he was released by Arsenal at the age of 13 I think he went to Wickham and he was he went everywhere he went everywhere and and worked his way back to Arsenal I mean there's on top of everything else there's just something really really special about his story his journey the way his season is going to end particularly when you think of the final game of the season you know at crystal palace at tellhurst parker club you obviously know very well have a great deal of affection for and him too having won the fa cup there it's meant to be yeah it does feel like this it's meant to be doesn't it especially especially we're talking about people that are very we know there's a lot of religious players in our squad um and the way they believe that everything is ordained in respect of what they're doing they do the hard work and and everything what comes from that is from above and the thing with with ebbs is that it's always that message of positivity and and and and and and just like faith and everything that comes with that because remember we're talking about somebody who right at the 12th the 11th hour sorry he called mikhail so listen is is this is this it looks like I might be going to Tottenham.

22:51Ian Wright: Look at this. Look at this. Look what we've just achieved. And he's helped us to do it. He made the call. If he doesn't make that call, then Arsenal are not going to call him. They weren't going to call him because everybody's hearing that the deal with Tottenham's done. How unusual is that, by the way? You know, it's like, how unusual is it for a player to throw out that kind of a Hail Mary in respect of their own career when there's agents and managers and everybody else involved in those kinds of deals? Andrew can you imagine everybody knows that Eber Echeze from a youngster was an Arsenal fan can you imagine what the discourse on him would have been if people heard that he signed for Tottenham but right at the last minute he tried to phone Arsenal to see if they'd take him can you imagine what that would be like that's what he went through before probably making that call who would he have spoken to because that's balls because Mikel could have not answered the phone and he could have just, how dare you?

23:49Ian Wright: You know what I mean? How dare you say you want to come to my club? What makes you think I want you? All of these things you have to be thinking about before you make that call, Andrew. And he made the call and we signed him and it's one of the best signings we'll ever make. And you can imagine what it means to him. Because I've done his debut when he came to his announcement and it was pure joy and beauty and relief and just happiness. Yeah. You know, and then, you know, you could see it when he walked out the tunnel when we signed him. He couldn't believe it. And then he's gone on, scored a hat-trick against Tottenham, and he's done things that have already probably fulfilled his life.

24:30Ian Wright: When he was growing up, he would have done it. But now he is going to lift the trophy at Crystal Palace. Is that too much of a coincidence? How is that coincidence? You know, that's amazing. And again, my message is in and around when me and Ebbs are. It's just simple. It's just maybe a prayer, maybe just a quote, maybe something, just a heart, just a praying hands, you know, just to make people know through that time, bam, you know, and so that's my kind of connection with it. Sure. Listen, I know that you're a bit pressed for time, so I want to let you go, but I just want to ask you finally to sort of come back to the start, to where we were, to that experience with the fans.

25:13There's talk of it going again on Sunday. There's going to be a parade on Sunday 31st, regardless of what happens. Yes. Are you going to get stuck into all of that? Are you going to, can you get enough of what you get as an Arsenal fan from the other Arsenal fans in terms of just the ability to connect with them and celebrate with them and be part of this like joyous experience? Because, you know, it has been a long time coming and I think we've all waited for it, you know, for maybe a bit too long. But now that it's here, we've got to just cherish it and soak it up, right?

25:50Ian Wright: without a doubt andrew and really really um embrace what we've done because remember what what the discourse was on our journey how much but bottlers not aggressive not aggressive enough too aggressive set piece you know michael worst manager in the league can't stand your manager we've all that now becomes stories of of joy we could tell people that's what they were saying about us but like you know what andrew i'm gonna watch the um i'm gonna watch it now i've been i was amongst it because i just it was an impulse um and i went there i'm probably gonna go andrew but i wouldn't mind watching it from afar sure watching the vast numbers and that's what i want arsenal to come out and this is what i really feel and send pure love to the to our supporters around the world, Andrew, because they have to take just as much as anybody who can walk into the Emirates.

26:47Ian Wright: So I'm sorry that they can't be there, but I just want it to be one of those occasions where people around the world see Arsenal Football Club what we are, a fucking massive club. That's what I want people to see. And if I'm there, but I don't need to be there like I was the other day, Andrew. I got a little bit like mosh pitted, but it was all pure joy. I just want to see it. I want to see it happening, Andrew. Just floods of people. Well, look, you send the love to the Arsenal fans. I'm sure you know that the Arsenal fans send all that love back to you. So thank you for being here down the years, particularly over the last couple of years when we've had to talk each other off the ledge a little bit.

27:30I appreciate it a great deal, but we fucking did it at last. We fucking did it, Andrew.

27:35Ian Wright: And then, hey, we'll be back after the Champions League. Because, Andrew, as I sit here now, we are winning the Champions League. 90 minutes, one-off game. We have nothing to worry about. We are winning the Champions League. Your key ring is going to be just made. The two trophies clacking off each other as you go down the road. I know. I'm going to have to get it reinforced, my key ring, man, for the Champions League as well. I love you, Andrew. Love you too, man. Thanks so much. Bye, bye, bye.

28:16I'm out.

28:38Thank you.

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