Ødegaard Leads Arsenal to Comeback Victory

22:57So you go, OK, I'm going to buy a wing back. You look at Glasner, he is known for his system. The first thing he does, or one of his sign, he goes and buys Munoz from Crystal Palace. It's like, he's the one he brought to Palace. He knows what that role is. And there's very few players probably around who you think, he's a wing back. The game now is dominated, I think, by wingers. Every club has got four wingers on the books because of the nature of just, I just feel like wingers have just exploded right now where everyone has got them. and you need more players in your squad for them. So it'll be interesting going forward, the players, the recruiter knows whether they actually get out-and-out wing-backs.

23:32Let's put Alistair being right. Put Alistair being right. I think I'll do it for 50 million quid and we haven't seen him yet because he's come here with injury problems. Having said all of that, Chelsea almost nicked a point here. Stunning piece of play from Esteban.

23:44Ian Wright:Great play. Fantastic play. And like I said, he's come on and he's got something more. He's got something a little bit more extra. He wants to take people on. He's going at pace. And, you know, we thought that he just needed to start that a little bit more outside that post. He could bend it in. But it was a tremendous effort. He's somebody that I'm glad that he didn't come on any earlier. Because you like to feel that he probably would have created more opportunities for himself like that off for the team. But it was a super save. Magnificent. It was a wonderful save from David, right? But there's a little bit of a problem, isn't it?

24:14How do you get him in the starting 11 with the front three? Esteval. Yeah. Why, that's the problem.

24:19Daniel Sturridge:That's why I'm glad. Can he play wing back? Because, boy, I love him as a player, you know. And I think he's got so much ability, so much growth, so young. But you can clearly see that there's a comfortability with the front three there right now. And I think, look, this formation is going to involve. I don't think it's going to be, you know, it was a 4-2-3-1 today, but maybe defensively at times they were a 5. I think that things will evolve for this team. The manager over the coming weeks is going to, you know, have players coming back. Like we talked about Palestra, we talked about Casado, who's out today.

24:49Daniel Sturridge:So they're missing players who the manager knows, these are my men moving forward. But ultimately, I do love Esteval. I think he's a top, top player. He's young. He's finding his feet still. Last season was his first season. But this season now, we need to see him, I'm not going to say kick on, because, look, he's got Cole Palmer playing ahead of him. But I think when he gets his opportunities, keep doing what you're doing. You came on today. You showed your skills. You showed your stuff. You gave us some excitement. Keep going. Don't lose faith in your abilities. You might not get as many miniatures as you want, But we know the talent's there.

25:21Daniel Sturridge:We know you're a tough player. Just keep plugging away.

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26:18And this season, you could also watch vertical clips of the best Premier League action. Next, we're heading back to the studio for more from the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. And it is Arsenal who continue their 100 % winning start to the season, along with Manchester City searing off the challenge of Chelsea here this afternoon. Mikel Arteta now with Patrick Davison. Well, Mikel, worst possible start, but you must have been thrilled with the way your team came roaring back. Very disappointed. The way we conceded the first goal, and we talked about it, but it's as well credit to them and the finish that Morgan has, but the way we reacted and the way we played was a fascinating game.

27:05I think from start to finish, it was an absolute joy to watch our team play, compete, the composure, the personality, the threat that we generated. Some huge individual performance as well and the atmosphere in the stadium is just something great to witness. Football seems to do this all the time, but in those first couple of minutes when Morgan Rodgers scores the goal, having tried so hard to get him yourself, what are you thinking then? Game on. This is the quality that they have individually. You can tell that they can produce those magic moments. They've done it, but I'm interested in the way we reacted.

27:42The composure that we showed in that moment, it was just an avalanche. It was action after action and it was a joy to watch. It felt like maybe it was more relentless from your team than we might have seen last season. Maybe last season it might have been more controlled. Is that you adding a layer or am I completely getting that wrong? No, it was another layer. We demand another layer of dynamism, of threat, of intent, of aggression in the attacking phase. You can certainly see that today. So, I think you said in your press conference on Friday, we can get better in attack. And actually, if you look at the stats, Saka, Havertz and Odegaard, that's only the fourth Premier League game they've started together since January 25, I think I'm right in saying.

28:26So, is that what you're talking about? There's a, just internally, you can add loads with those three. A lot, Homan. We missed players for six months, five months. Martin, you know, Bukayo for three and a half months. Havertz seven months. That's a lot. and the team, the way they handled that last season, it was phenomenal. Make sure we have them on the pitch because so many great things will happen. Does it feel like a performance where you really put down a marker? Yeah, I really enjoyed it, honestly. It was a joy to stand there. It was an absolute joy to watch the team play and compete from the beginning to the end.

28:56Since I asked about Morgan Rodgers, what about the guy you have got down the left, Christos Soles? It was unreal, again. And he's been showing that, again, the level of threat, his word rate is just something else. but his decision-making, the way he handles the timing and the advantage that generates in the next teammate, it's just phenomenal to watch. And we saw at the end, when you needed him, David Raya remains the best, or certainly one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Yeah, they're safe that he mates with Steval on that individual action again. His presence, you know, you do have him there, the way he comes out and collects every cross, it's just so helpful.

29:34And I think you said before a ball was kicked this season, And we're not defending the title, we're attacking it. Was that an attack the title performance? It was attack the game. And that's what we have to do daily and try to improve daily and find a new version, a better version of ourselves every single day and push and inspire the players to try to get to those levels. Thank you, Mikel. Thank you. Big players stepping up for Arsenal today when they really needed them as well. Kai Havertz, last season, seven starts, two goals. This season, two goals already in three starts. And it's a similar story for Martin Odegaard.

30:0816 starts last season, one goal. He's already doubled that, two in three starts. You've hinted at it already, Ian, but there's all this talk about Arsenal needing a superstar to add to this attack. But was the answer right under their nose?

30:23Ian Wright:Oh, yeah, because if you're going to miss those three players, massive. Bukayo Saka as well. Massive in everything that Arsenal are doing. That's going to take something away from you. And obviously, we tried very hard to bring in another forward. In the end, we didn't. We actually got... We didn't add anything to the forward line, and it's something that we've wanted to do for a few years now. So when you're missing a Saka, Havertz, and an Erdogan, that's going to cause you even more problems. So what we've done last season without them coming towards the end and then getting right amongst it, because obviously Saka, with the injuries that he's had, You know, they've had to kind of like watch his minutes all the way through the season.

31:04Ian Wright:Same thing with the World Cup. You know, Havertz was out for seven months, whatever it was. You know, when you get players like that back, that's like a player. That's like a new player. That's like a new signing. Obviously, I hope that by the time January comes, I'm not sure what you can get in January. You still want that star strike. You just want the forward. Look how long we've been waiting. Well, you got Jokeres last year. What's wrong with him? Yeah, but I'm talking about another forward. Another, like, forward that's going to come in and really make a big difference. I know he made a difference, but the signing what all Arsenal fans were looking for was...

31:35Ian Wright:But it could have been Morgan Rodgers, couldn't it? It could have been Morgan Rodgers. Would you have liked him? I would have liked him. Gary's constantly going on about, oh, he wouldn't have liked him. But I would have loved Morgan Rodgers. I think he showed a little bit of his quality today. To displace Havette out there to you, you're talking about one of the best players in the world. That's what you have to get. It has to be an Ian Wright guaranteed 30 goals a season. Thierry Henry. Ray. Jokic has never taken Havertz's place, ever. Morgan Rodgers, I'm not sure as well. And it's not about how good they are just in attack.

32:04It's what they give you for the team. So one of the reasons why you can't break Arsenal down as a team is how well they press from the front. But then when the opposition get through that, they all get behind the ball. And Havertz is about 25, 30 yards from his goal. You go and ask a world-class striker to do that, and a guy who's obsessed with his numbers and his goals to come back and do that, he won't do that. When you see Havertz what he does in terms of both boxes, set piecewise as well. So, Javeta, we were talking before the game, weren't we, about Javeta's more a facilitator. He's not a great goal scorer.

32:34Can Saka or the wide players get more goals the way Salah and Mane used to with Bobby Firmino in that position? They're not both great goal scorers, but they bring an awful lot to the team. And as I said, this idea that you're going to bring someone in who's like, amazing, yes, I'm the one who said consistently they haven't got an absolute one of the best players in the world in the front four. but you better get someone at that level at that unbelievable level to take Haberts out of that team I tell you what Mikel Arteta the type of manager he is taking Haberts out that team and what he does for that team defensively and we talk about how strongly they are defensively no one can get a shot on target it's not just a goalkeeper in the back four that's the whole team so he'd be giving up on actually some of his team's defensive solidity to add a little bit more in the attack yeah that's the decision every manager has to take

33:25Daniel Sturridge:I don't know if it's necessary though. I agree with you. I don't think it's necessary because the team is predicated on good defence. That is why they've been successful. 27 goals conceded. Now we're talking about a team who's scored. I think they won the league with 71 goals, right? I think if they can get that to like 85, 55 to 60 from the attack and the number 10. You brought Bruno in nine Premier League goals last year. Solis was 17 in Belgium. So that's why I said before, can you bring 10 to the team? That's 20. Now you've got another 10 from Saka maybe. Havertz scores this season. Odegaard gives you 10.

34:02Daniel Sturridge:He's already got two. So what you're saying, no one's stopping them? I don't think, what I'm saying is, I don't know if they need that guy. But you know the thing is that, I think they might need it in the Champions League.

34:12Ian Wright:You know what it is, is that when the manager, I think when we lost against Bayern Munich last season, as well, the season before, and then we lost to PSG in the final, just the manager that's saying about he needs that player that player that can break the staleness of a game when you need you know when you want to get through you want to beat teams you want to like they got a penalty like PSG somebody that can make that difference I think we've got that in Saka if he's fit you know I think he's got that but because the manager has been saying that you know I mean we want another forward we want that one you know I want to build a legacy I want to build a dynasty and I want that calibre of player and they went obviously we went for Vinny It didn't happen.

34:51Ian Wright:But I totally understand what he's trying to do because he wants to get the top end of the pitch as solid as the defence is. People are not even getting shots. We've seen that defence at work again this season and you've all referenced that and we saw evidence of that again today. Chelsea did have 13 shots, only five of those inside the box. And this is the lowest XG figures against in the league this season and Arsenal have the three of the lowest four their games against Coventry, Villa and Chelsea, respectively, all under 0.36. Basically, teams are still not getting a chance. This is AC Malambar, AC Maldini stuff.

35:29Honestly, those numbers. So if you could have a dream pick, Daniel, if you were thinking that we talked a lot about the Chelsea front three, would any of them actually get in this Arsenal team?

35:39Daniel Sturridge:Yeah, they would. Cole Palmer, I think, would play. They'd find a position for him. I think Rodgers is the top. They were looking at him already. and I think Joao Pedro would add something to Arsenal as well. I don't think, I'm not looking at Chelsea's forward line going, oh, they're not as good as Arsenal. I don't think that's the case. I think it's different players for different systems. The game now is system football. It's no longer, oh, who's the best players? It's what is my system? Who fits into it? So Rodgers comes into Chelsea. Why? Because he runs in behind. He's got the running power.

36:10Daniel Sturridge:He's got something different to Cole Palmer's elegance on the ball, playing with it. For me, if I'm looking at Arsenal's forward line, it's always been the left side. It's always been, how can we get goals over here? It's been glaring. So, yeah. He's not a left winger. He's not a left winger. He's an inside forward, which is where he's playing. No, but when you're talking about it, and I think Daniel's got a great point, it's about, you've got to think of the manager. I think most people, every man on the street who's got no skin in the game, Arsenal or Chelsea fan, when you look at those players for Chelsea individually, you might say they're better individually than the Arsenal players but I don't think Mikel Arteta would swap them because of the manager Mikel Arteta is so Cole Palmer we know is a wonderful player but would he do enough for the team defensively now we might criticise Arteta for that at times but you look at those numbers defensively that's probably what's going to win them the league again now Jao Pedro Thierry Henry on Monday Night Football last week has shown clips of Jao Pedro some of the things he's doing run him at the ball hold the ball absolutely unbelievable probably a bit better than what Kai Havertz is but I'm talking about kind of heavy to get them back and get them back in the defence I'm not sure Gio Pedro would do that so I don't think Michal Arteta would swap as Ian Wright wouldn't swap No

37:20Ian Wright:Absolutely wouldn't swap Said that to Gary I wouldn't swap Arsenal are not back here for over a month now we'll just move this on which is an interesting quirk of this early stage of this season the next four games are all the way from home before the long looming international break and on paper they're potentially a little bit awkward but do you now knowing this Arsenal team knowing how strong they are, go into all of those games with confidence? They probably would do, yeah. Especially with the squad is in to know how the squad is going to rotate. People will get to play games. People will get the opportunity to show what they're capable of doing.

37:55Ian Wright:And again, you look at all of those games, regardless that they're away, and I would fancy Arsenal in all of those games, especially in the way that they are playing now and the confidence that they have in each other as we speak.

38:15Jamie Carragher. Busy. David Prutton. Busy. Gary Neville. Very busy. Micah Richards. Getting his hair cut. Of course he is. Kelly Cates. Oh, yeah. Oh, wait a minute. Now busy. So no one from Sky Sports can do this radio ad? Yeah, but have you seen how many matches they've got this season? They're all just too busy. Fine. I'll do it myself. Sky Sports have got 1 ,500 live matches this season. Search Get Sky Sports to find out more. That's not bad, you know. Do you reckon I could get on the telly? Don't push it. Well, there goes that dream. Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. It's time to get more analysis of today's match and head back to the studio.

38:54First defeat of the season for Chelsea and first defeat under their new manager, Xavi Alonso, as well. He's giving his reaction now to the 2-1 loss here at Arsenal with Patrick Davison. Xavi disappointed with the result, of course, but were you happy with the accountability of themselves? Well, it hurts. It hurts because at the field, the defeat has to hurt. It has been a very intense game with different moments for everything. We had chances to equalise in the first half as well. A couple of chances, so it was a tight game with details, but never happy if you lose. you made another great start to a Premier League game.

39:43That's obviously not a negative, but is the downside of it that it then creates a game state where you're forced back and there on top? Yeah, after we have scored, there were 15-20 minutes that we had to defend too much and we were struggling to get a little bit of control of the goal. I think that after 20 minutes, probably after the equaliser, we get back in the game. We have had better spells with the ball. We had the chance of Morgan, of Pedro as well. But overall it was a very tight, very intense game and luckily we could do better than the second goal to concede too early. But anyway, we were in the game, we fought till the end, so the guys gave everything, they tried everything, but it's the first defeat, we need to continue, but it has to hurt.

40:31Can you tell us a bit about the plan today? You've spoken a lot since you've been Chelsea manager about adapting. It looked to me like you adapted a bit today, went to a back four, but it also looked really fluid. And Pedro Neto's position almost was half full back, half winger. Yeah, it's about preparing the best possible way with our qualities, with our ideas, with our principles to compete the best possible way. And you know that Arsenal, they do very, very good things, very interesting things. And you need to control. They overload a lot on this right side with sometimes with five, six players.

41:03probably were too tired to concede after we had to run too much and that first goal we could have been a little bit more... It's part of the game to have these actions and we continue. It's game three and this is going to be a long, long rise. You did some interesting things today as well. Can you tell us about your approach to their corners and leaving, I think it was four players further forward. I think Chelsea did it back in February time in the games they played at the Emirates last season, but you seem to take that one step further. Well, you take decisions, you make approaches. We want to be active, we want to take initiative in some actions when we can do it.

41:48Sometimes with set pieces, sometimes pressing high, I'll do it lower. So that's, I think, what you need to do to compete in all the stages. Today we've come here to the Emirates trying to compete as well as possible and now we need to continue. Next one is Carabao and next one will be Hall at home. They're obviously years into a project and you're right at the start of one. What did you learn today about the gap between the teams? I learned about the game, about us, about what we are doing, what we are starting. The players, they have this attitude, this desire to compete better game by game, to try to create something that we believe in, to have this conviction of what we are doing.

42:38And so far I'm happy, knowing that it's going to be a long way, that it's a process, but we want to win games. This is the ultimate goal. I know you've said you don't feel you're short in midfield, but did you feel a bit short in midfield today? Full respect to Malo Agusta, who's a top Premier League player, but he comes on and you're without Caicedo, you're without Henderson. Until those guys are back, are you a bit short in that area? You need to deal with injuries. All the squads, for sure, they are missing the injured players, but with the ones we have, we go full gas with full belief and today they tried their best and they have given everything.

43:14Thank you. Thank you. Great to see you. How much of a worry Daniel is that the central midfield area well look

43:22Daniel Sturridge:they identified you know trying to bring a player in and it didn't happen sold Enzo for big money Santos leaves as well and Enzo was a big part early as well he left and Enzo was a big part of the success of the club you know and it was a big threat for opposition but look ultimately he's got to deal with what he's got now he's got a very experienced player in Henderson who's going to be coming back from his injury you've got you know Barco on the bench Gusto who he's trusting in the centre midfield, which, you know, I didn't know he could do that role, but the manager's working with the players and sees something in his game.

43:56Daniel Sturridge:And James and Lavia, who we've talked about the fitness side of things, but I think they're two very talented players. We saw that today. He's hit the nail on the head, really, in two ways, Xabi Alonso there, because there's two things going on here. There's the process. He's got to try and improve this team. He's got to try and make his completely fresh ideas work. He's the manager of Chelsea. He's got to win. Yeah. How do those two things marry up? He has won. Listen, Chelsea notoriously has always been a club built around, you have to win now. It's not about a project, it's not about the process, going back to Abramovich's days.

44:30And that worked really well for them. Hasn't worked so well with the new ownership. But they acquitted themselves a lot better than I thought they would today, to be honest. I haven't watched them in the first two games, even though they'd won and scored lots of goals. I worried for them defensively coming here today. And even though Arsenal were fantastic, they were still in the game for large parts of it. In terms of when we're talking about the short in midfield, yes, they were trying to get Alex Scott as well from Bournemouth, didn't they? Lamine Kamara from Monaco. And they'll try and address that in January, of course.

44:59But it won't be as painful for them as other clubs. They're not in Europe. So there's not as many games. Should be less injuries. So it's something that I think they can deal with between now and maybe January, whether that's the end of the season. It's not like other clubs are missing out on players and they're playing almost every week, three games a week. Chelsea aren't in that boat. so it should be a lot easier to deal with. Knowing how much work they've got to do, Ian, watching them today, do you see them as rivals for the title?

45:25Ian Wright:I think that their front three is going to cause a lot of people problems, but it's all going to come down to the midfield. I genuinely believe that they probably would have known that Enzo will definitely go. Santos, like we mentioned, went earlier and they tried to get him from, was it from Monaco? Lameen Gamari, yeah. Yeah, they tried to get him at the end. I think they could have done that earlier and just got him in because Enzo was going to go. I think that the only problem they'll have is the midfield and the problems that they may have with a couple of injury-prone players in their midfield.

45:55Ian Wright:But in respects of their team and the front guys, the guys they've got up front, I think they'll be able to beat a lot of teams in the league, and especially once they know exactly what he's doing. I'll go back to it again. Jamie mentioned at the start of the programme that when Javi Alonso finished at Leverkusen, he was in 61%, 62 % possession. So they're going to change. They're going to play in a different way. So I'm sure that things will change and they will get to be the team that will probably be challenging up there as well, alongside other people probably. What do you think, Daniel? Is this year going to be too soon?

46:27Daniel Sturridge:I mean, it is soon, but I'm leaning into the talent of the players. I'm leaning into the attack. And I do believe in the midfielders. I do believe the defenders can learn on the training field. I've been in that situation where you've got no European football and the expectations aren't that you are going to challenge. And ultimately we did. So I think they can do it. It's about the manager getting his messages across, the players taking that on board. And it's all about the mental fitness, ultimately. You know, can you absorb this information and then do it on the field? If you can do that quickly, you can compete.

47:05Daniel Sturridge:If they can't absorb the information, it's not going to happen. That's just the truth of it. I think it is too soon. and myself included we're talking about Chelsea not so much challenges but maybe being the closest team to Arsenal they're not going to challenge for the league the only reason is because they've got no European football you look at Manchester United last season they finished third on the back of the season before finishing was it 15th and the season before not finishing great they just had that advantage over the other you know big clubs you'd associate up there that's the only reason why I think people are maybe talking them up to be maybe the closest challengers to Arsenal and for me almost a guarantee of Champions League football because they just have less games and should be less injuries.

47:45All right, Jamie, Daniel, Ian, thank you very much. We'll see how this Chelsea project develops in coming weeks. It's going to be fascinating to find out, isn't it?

47:59Thanks for listening to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Make sure you give us a follow so you don't miss an episode. See you next time.

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