After Shaky Start, Arsenal Humiliate Villa

28:54Elliot:It's all about working as a group to get around the ball. I think there are so many layers to pressing now compared to what it was, Elliot, in the Odegaard 4-4-2 pressing days. You see what I mean? Yeah, I do. Tim, do you want to add anything to that or should we move on? Let's move on.

29:12Okay. There were a couple of moments I just wanted to ask you about, Tim, and maybe just the reaction in the ground. So I mentioned the big Watkins chance. It comes from Gabby playing what should be probably a pretty straightforward pass into the center forward, back to goal, pin the man, keep the ball, wall pass. I don't know that the pass is very accurate, though, candidly. And I think there's been some criticism about Jokras not collecting that ball when I think it's pretty wide of his frame. but I'm curious if you just have a thought on that because I know that's been highlighted. That's what leads to the Watkins' chances.

29:42We had consecutive bad turnovers from bad passes, one from Gabriel and one from Saliba, which is obviously very uncharacteristic. But it does feel like when Arsenal have struggled recently, it has been just really sloppy giveaways at the back that allow teams to come on to us very quickly. So do you have a thought on that particular turnover there in the passing? Yeah, I think, first of all, that plays right into Villa's hands. I could see it unfolding. I could see the pass was so telegraphed. It's exactly what Villa want you to do. Clive described it quite well there. We exited quite wide, generally, like on the corners of the penalty area into the more fullback areas, pushed our fullbacks up.

30:25Again, look at the average position map. I think Timber is the furthest player forward in our average position map that I saw. and actually Ben White when he came on made like a centre forwards run it was really weird but you know we tried to exit quite wide because Villa they just they put so many bodies central and it was one of those where the second the ball left Gabriel's foot you go oh no I can see where this is going and Jocarez at the moment is just not good enough in that situation I mean to be fair to him i think in maybe in another couple of months he'll you know the muscle memory will be premier league defender will be in my shorts imminent imminently and i'm quite a big guy and i should be able to hold him off but i don't think that's there yet um so it wasn't great hold up play but like villa set traps and that was that that was a bit like watching scooby-doo or something and it's like no don't go into the abandoned amusement park you idiot that's kind of what it felt like.

31:32Don't go to the shed filled with axes hanging from the ceiling. That's not the place to go. I guess on the flip side of that, there was a chance for Yoko Res, and again, you talk about dividing opinion. I take notes as I watch because my memory is just notoriously crap. So if I don't take notes, I forget everything. Leo, who we'll come on to, curled in an in-swinger for Yoko Ress whose diving header was wide. I had this as a really good job by him to get across his man, make that move across the face of goal. And for a guy who was not known for his heading, did he score a headed goal for Sporting?

32:09It was like one or two. Wasn't it something stupid? One, yeah, something like that out of his 400 goals. But he did get across his man. He did get good contact. The header is just wide and just over. The reverse view of it, you see it just go past the angle of post, in bar so I don't I don't think it's a bad header but I know some people feel that you know a striker should have that finish in their arsenal so what did you make of that no for me but both his headers actually for me and again maybe you know this is like damning with faint praise and all of that it probably is that I think that's kind of where we are and actually I don't think there's a big problem with that when a player's trying to build up confidence for me there were two headers in the first half and I was I wasn't delighted but I was happy with that he's getting chances like he's posting up in the area and he's getting headers on goal I'm with you the one that that goes a bit closer I'm with you he's really good to get across his man it's quite unfortunate but like what what on earth else do you want him to do maybe the first one yeah maybe I can see Erling Haaland sticking that way no problems um but for me i was like okay this yes like yokra is getting shots that's i i never had the impression that his all-round game would be brilliant but it's like get shots get shots in the area you know i always said and i got a lot of flack of this for this because it was it was clipped up but i said i i saw him as a like a tool in the toolbox right I didn't think he had the all-round game to become the Arsenal striker, but it's a profile we don't have.

33:47It's qualities we don't have that we will be able to use at certain times. And for me, that's like get in the box, be a pain in the ass, get shots. And so the fact that he had two decent headers in the first half, I was happy. I was like, keep doing that and you will score. You will score goals because he can finish. We know he can finish. and I was like, if you get two good shots, a half, you will be absolutely fine. And so I was happy with that aspect of it, definitely. Yeah, everybody's desperate to have a conclusion about Victor Jokras right now. He's very much under the microscope. I don't know that Victor Jokras is a big talking point in this game, frankly.

34:29Certainly not negatively and maybe not even positively. This game was about other things. I was just going to say, I'm definitely with you, but Gabi Jesus scoring with his first touch. The guy I was sitting with went, I bet Jocarez is like kind of not physically, but like mentally, his face has just fallen into his lap and gone, oh, for God's sake. Yeah, look, we're going to have a big conversation about Stryker because Kai is back. He didn't play in this game, but he's back and it was great to see him on the bench and Jesus scores that beautiful goal after having had a couple of really encouraging chances recently that just didn't quite finish.

35:07Um, so, so it is going to be a big talking point and I don't want to get bogged down here, Clive, but when I know you want to, when I know you want to talk on a topic, don't far be it for me to stop you, mate.

35:18Elliot:So, well, yeah. So I agree to him completely that this guy was needed. We need his profile in, in our squad. I've said it totally. He was never going to be our Harland in my opinion, because we have, I have us who I thought was our best center forward. I can say that loud now and don't get sticked because he's got better every time, every month he doesn't play. but let's be honest right he's barely played this season i'd say the second squad he's been in and gabriel jesus has scored his first goal in nearly a calendar year so we needed a center forward because the others haven't been here and so do we take the risk on a young player or do we take the risk on an adult we took a risk on an adult who can be part of this group now we have a couple of 26 and 27 year olds and 28 year olds and they're not gonna all stay but that's the truth of it right so if we were able to build a squad with normal fitness we'd have bought that kid from porto samu you know and and nurtured a young player in behind two players jesus and have us because they're fit and ready and available and scoring goals but they weren't scoring goals missing chances and injured so we've got a center forward who had attributes so the other center the forwards don't have if you look at this player in that regard we all want him to do better by the way he looks heavy-footed at the moment out there on occasions but he's starting to move across people now that he did in those two headers in the second half we don't get that corner without him holding that ball up and he's starting to have value now you can quite correct you can say i'm squinting and maybe I am but I know we've got two others that are pretty good that know the Arsenal system in the background this problem is far smaller than it was six weeks ago when Jesus was nowhere near the pitch and Kyle Habits was nowhere near the pitch they're both now in the squad we don't have a problem the only problem we have is choosing the right one for the right day and you know what when they're done after 65 minutes we're big on another one we're in a really good position.

37:23Elliot:We should look at it a bit more positively that way, in my opinion. Well, and where I was going with this is, I don't... Centre-forward is a weird position because there's one really good one in the league right now. Erling Haaland. And I'm not sure there's another good one anywhere. Mateta's fallen off a bit. I'm not sure we have an elite centre-forward among any of the group that we have. Who's an elite centre-forward? Erling Haaland. That's about it. Globally, who's an elite centre-forward? Even then. Liverpool have them both, don't they? I mean, and I think it's like, and I think it's like, yeah, one's on the treatment table for months.

37:56Elliot:And one's young, right? He's having a good period at the moment, but he's doing well, but he's very young. And Liverpool are 13 points off the top. So kudos to them for their fantastic summer that they won the window. But to me, the game is about wide players right now. It's why Manchester City are about to sign Antoine Semenyo. And it's why we hang so much hope on Bakayo Saka. What's interesting about this, Tim, is it was not the Bakayo Saka game. It was the Leo Troussard game. And I do think, as much as I believe in Bakaio Saka and I believe in his stardom, I believe that a team needs to be able to win games and win games emphatically if that player is somewhat off their best.

38:33And this game, in the first half, was much more left-sided than you ever usually see it. And Leo responded. I think he was our best player in the first half in many ways, created some dangerous moves. You could see him starting to fizzle and pop a little bit. And then in the second half, he just went from strength to strength. He was key. He scored a gorgeous goal. He provided the assist to Jesus for his goal with a lovely run down the wing. And I have to say, I think of Martinelli as our sprinter, right? Because he is. But Leo has enough acceleration. You know what I mean? You don't have to be blazing.

39:09You just can't be slow. And he can run hard enough, fast enough in a straight line to maintain his edge. uh but but bogard what's the name of their player oh god yeah bogard thank you i mean come on um he had him on toast at times he has a little bit of trickery leo plays angry like he's got a chip on his shoulder and you know he he's just really in great form and i i i think it's so great when you see a meritocracy in football because we got a lot of guys that would think i have a chance to play off the left. Martinelli has been in really good form lately, looked really sharp. Ebrecha Eze was expensively acquired, and he was one of the players of the season in the league last season.

39:51Those guys want to play off the left. Nani Meduake probably thinks, hey, I did great in the Champions League. Can I get a chance off the left? Leo has made that shirt his. So in a game where it wasn't Bakayo Saka lifting us, how important was it that we got this Leo performance to really maybe replace a little bit of what we missed in Saka? Yeah, definitely. I think with Trossard, I think there's an element to which probably the competition has fired him a little bit. Like you said, he kind of plays angry. I think he's really the type of person. Again, I always go back to that Ramsdale interview just after he signed.

40:25And he said, I know people are looking at Trossard as a good depth signing. That is not how Trossard views himself. He's come here to take a shirt. I think you make a good point there about, so Villa and Matty Cash is suspended for this game. and they don't really have another right back. They have a right back who's a kid who hasn't played yet this season and they've got a midfielder who can play at right back and they play the midfielder who can play at right back. So obviously we focus on that side. In the ordinary run of things, if we rewind to August and you tell me all of Arsenal's wide players are fit and we're going to play an Aston Villa team who don't have their first choice right back and we're going to aim for that right back, I'm thinking Madueke's playing because he's a take on Demon.

41:09Ezra's playing because he'll roast him alive Martinelli's playing because he'll run him the great thing about Trossard that I think you've just kind of described there he does everything and that is it's kind of funny when we bought him we were told he was a versatile player and he is he is the most versatile footballer I've ever seen but we think of versatility in terms of positions and at Brighton he played a bit up front he played both sides he played wing back for Brighton under Graham Potter for Arsenal he's pretty much always on the left but how he does that changes and it's because he can do all of those things technically he's very good he can get the beating of a full back because he's so two-footed he can dummy a full back because he'll switch back onto his left foot and you know the the full back isn't thinking oh he's not going to cross on his left foot is he because he will and he's he's fast enough go and look at a goal he scores I think two seasons ago at home to Liverpool.

42:09I think he came on as a sub and it's a Martinelli style goal. He just burns down the left and smashes it in. He does everything, basically. And I think he's such a survivor in this team for that reason, that whatever the game plan is, whatever the opponent is, whoever Arsenal are missing, whatever Arsenal need in an attacking sense, Trossard can provide it. Whereas I think maybe our other profiles of attackers all have a specialism, if you know what I mean and I do worry a little bit about that and I've said this before about like the big swings the big divergences between our players um in attack it's a luxury problem but it it can be a problem the thing with Trossard is he does it all and I think that's why he's such a survivor um in this team like what would you say his specialism is I mean probably finishing He strikes a ball very well, but he just does everything very, very well, basically.

43:08Took the left-sided corners too, which I'm sure in Mikel's mind was something he wanted to think about. Our set pieces are important, as we'll talk about momentarily. So that's important. And I think kudos to Mikel Arteta, by the way. When we kept Granite Shaka one more season, there were a lot of idiots like me that was like, that's a mistake. We need to move him on. We need to keep going forward. That extra Granite Shaka season propelled us to be title contenders sooner than anyone expected, and he was brilliant. Mikel Arteta, this summer, what would I have thought? It's time to move Leo on.

43:36Let's really go for a left winger. You know, this is our chance to move him. Don't want to lose him for free. What did we do instead? We gave him a raise. Didn't have to. Could have just kept him. Didn't just keep him. Gave him a raise. And what did we get out of him? We got out of him a performance that says, I'm going to make this shirt mine and is a critical piece of a season that has his top of two tables. So sometimes man management isn't just about what the money ball approach says is the right way to build a squad. It's about understanding what you have and the players you have and what you think you can still get out of them.

44:07And I think he's been very, very good at understanding that. So kudos to Leo. Kudos to Mikel. And look, it was a quiet SACA game. You don't notice those as much when other players step up, like Martin Odegaard, who we'll come on to in a moment. Before we come on to Martin Odegaard, just very quickly on this, Clive, having Gabby back is so important in so many ways but we used to say the thing that made Bukayo special not used to say we still say but the thing that makes Bukayo special is he'd do the first thing that got us that opening goal Paul's been talking a lot lately about the importance of first goals and our record when we do score the first goal and it is so important for so many reasons tactically and psychologically but Gabby has become one of those guys too and I mean you could see it our set pieces with him our set pieces without him he's just impossible to handle.

44:54And this is the quintessential example of being too brave, too big, too strong. He just stands there. He's getting his shirt pulled. He's getting harried and harassed. He could have turned around and mixed it up. He could have thrown himself to the floor. He could have done any number of things. He obviously swung a vicious elbow. Emi's lucky to be alive. But he doesn't do any of those things. And Emi winds up looking like a moron. Saka puts in a good delivery and it's an opening goal. So thoughts on having Gabby back and that immediate psychological warfare of having this player in the box for set pieces that you just simply cannot

45:23Elliot:deal with yeah just quickly on trussage um i think the wage the wage increase has maybe given him a level of psychological importance in the dressing room because he is a talker now he's a talker he's a leader he's a tactical leader in the team and he feels like on a par rather than a broken soldier coming from brighton on after he's falling out with the club we nick him on a bargain and put him on a low wage lower than reese nelson now he's getting an adult's wage and basically he's playing like one and again the biggest surprise of the season for me because i was if he'd have gone in the summer i wasn't worried you know and actually without him i say it a million times where'd we be but where'd we be about big gabby right and so we're talking and like you know this set piece thing i'm telling you mate it's sustainable it is sustainable one thing i can see from my seat is i see it right over the corner flag and i can see the quality of these deliveries and this is sustainable because deliveries are top class from multiple players Odegaard, Trossard, Maddowek is taking corners now, Saka's taking corners, he went to Anthor, he didn't have a left-footed corner because Saka was out and Declan Rice is just he's going to score soon any minute you know and I thought the Brighton goal did go directly in for my seat so it's going to happen really really quickly and Big Gabby's on the end of them and the other teams are just petrified.

46:52Elliot:You know, just petrified of him. And that's in the English Premier League. When we go into Europe, they've got no chance of stopping him. Absolutely no chance because they've got no one like him in their leagues. So we've got a real, real joker card here in this set piece thing. The only one who can stop him is in Cappier who tried to step on his hand and break it. I did see that clip actually. And so, yeah, I said last night in the IR, his position now, I mean, when he was playing against Watkins who did really well he was fighting him he was pushing him off the ball he was stepping over him while he's on the floor he's knocking him in his back he's an absolute warrior you know if it's a set piece of stuff what you see on the camera but when he's trying to dominate his man remember the old Harlan scraps he used to have that were caught on camera he was having that with Watkins last night as well and that sort of presence you know you've got the best fighter in your team on the pitch there's a scrap he's going to win it you know i think it makes such a psychological difference to everybody else and puts fear into the opposition and um yeah i think jamie carrigan said he's the most influential player in the league a few weeks ago until he got injured and it i think he's right it hurt us more you said it earlier our defensive identity is through him and i think i think you're right mate i've got a saying i think so i want to ask you about this because it's just there's something that you just feel so in the 75th minute clive we're up 3-0 we'll go back to the goals go back to odegaard go back to jesus all that in 75th minute we're up 3-0 and gabby blocks a morgan rogers shot over and he turns around he gives two fists to the crowd and really like lets out a primal yeah yeah yeah um he just relishes defending and i do think that when he's out and granted it's easy to draw narratives and correlations and causation.

48:47And when you're playing in Cappie at center back and white and timber, and it's all switched all the time, I get it. But we seem to have an enthusiasm for defending when he's there versus a fear of defending when he's not there. I do want to give Saliba credit, by the way. I know it would have been offside, but that ball he takes off the toe of Morgan Rogers, he takes that ball. So again, it would have been offside, but it's that enthusiasm for defending and the energy for defending. I think Gabby, we often talk about keepers, how keepers can transmit something to the defenders in front of them and create a sense of calm versus the keepers that make you feel like everything's going to fly in your net, like Manuel Munea, for example.

49:23But I think Gabby does that too. I think Gabby gives his defensive partners that excitement to defend and that confidence to defend that makes the whole defensive unit better.

49:37Elliot:Yeah, you're absolutely right, Elliot. I think no player can play every game three times a week. So for me, my head always goes straight away to, if Gabby and Sliber are there every game, we're going to be fine. But they're not. We've seen this year, both of them have been out at critical times, sometimes on real short notice that really surprise us. Villa Park away, for example. So what do you do when you're trying to replace people like that? I think you need to have a sense of aura. And this is my big thing. you've got young Mosquera who's got a bit of physical aura about him but he's new to the league Califuri's next man up on after Gabriel's a centre-back he has the aura he has the size he has the presence he can start our attacks in cap is much more of an aggressive tracking defender that's quite front-footed he can obviously play centre-back looks like a wide centre-back to me but he for me he's an excellent fullback so I'd switch that profile around so we always have that aura and we have to protect Big Gabby because in that Sunderland game he was flagging and he got injured thereafter and we've got to see this coming Saka's had a couple of flagging games we've got to predict it and sit them because we have to squad don't have to play people when they're flagging get them sat down so they don't get injured and we can go from there so I'd like to see that change happen in our in our team because Big Gabby can't play with me and we need him for when it counts yeah yeah what what a player um he just has a joy for doing what he does that transmits to everybody i love watching him i i think he has such a special talent but such a likable character in our team um i think it's time to talk about the opposition no not by the opposition not at all emmy martinez i'm not mad please don't put the paper that i got mad let's uh let's talk about some brands and then let's talk about martin odegaard today's show is sponsored by strawberry.me let me ask you something do you think championship athletes got to the top by guessing no they had coaching every elite athlete has a coach watching their form calling the plays and spotting the blind spots they can't see themselves that's how championships are won so why are you trying to win in your career without a coach You're grinding, hoping for the promotion, trying to read the politics, guessing your next move.

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52:41Elliot:Do you communicate or acquire information with, you know, language? Hey, us too. So join us on Lexicon Valley to chew over the history, culture, and many mysteries of English, plus some life cracks. Find us on one of those apps where people listen to podcasts.

53:05Okay. Clive, I'll stay with you just for a second. Martin Odegaard, it's so hard. You know, my headline, The Instant Reaction, was about having patience. Patience is a virtue, but it's hard to have, right? Because we're so desperate to win the title and we're so desperate to reach conclusions very, very quickly. But unfortunately in football, sometimes you need time to see how things play out. And I think Martin Odegaard has started to get back to the kind of fitness where he's not just bringing the ball up in midfield, he's making challenges, he's winning the ball high up the pitch, he's then showing the same energy to have the output in the final third that he has to bring the ball up in the middle third.

53:45and the quintessential moment in this game for me with Martin Odegaard is very simple. It's the Zubamendi goal. Because he wins the ball back. He carries the ball through the middle. He makes that pass that I don't think we've seen that from him for a while. That pass that only he can see, that only he can play, and Zubamendi's finish is beautiful. And the midfield in the second half really, really came to the fore. Both Zubamendi and Odegaard were sensational in the second half. But I want to talk Martin Odegaard because this is the level that we know he has. And if he can stay at this level, boy, oh boy, are we going to be very tough to beat because he was incredible.

54:22Elliot:Yeah, he was peerless. So when he first came back, I was critical of him because I felt he stood on Saka's toes for the entire game and we got run through the middle. And I thought, we don't need to do this anymore. We've got other people that can do this. In the last two games in particular, he's been a lot more central. And he's been a lot more left and right. He's been an all-phase midfielder. he put in left foot crosses he's tackling and Elliot I tell you now he's starting to sprint to the ball win races and win duels and this is like he's taking he's doing everything he's completely all round he started again a little bit lower went higher still effective left foot crossing to the box I think led to the one of the goals once it bounced down um I just thought he was absolutely excellent he's added he's almost him and supermandy almost became like a pair you know and uh and that to me was exactly what they weren't a villa away supermandy got substituted because they couldn't blend and so here we are a few weeks later if i if i made a mistake and i'll put my hands out the critique if the criticism is loud the apology should be just as loud we assume that martin odegaard will just come back in form and we do not give him any time to get back to form.

55:37Elliot:And in the last two games, his hit form, the sound of his foot on the ball when he's taking his shots is powerful again. His crosses are not going to near post, they're going to the back post. He's switching his crosses. You know that little dinky cross he does? He's now, the one he did to Trossard in the first half, phases it out there. So he's putting pace on his crosses. It's like he's read every single tweet in the world and changed everything. You know, literally, he's putting, he just got the bounce back earlier. So yeah, his power's back. This is pre-ankle injury Odegaard. That's the word, by the way, power.

56:12I think the word power is the one word, you nailed it for me, that is back in his game in a really substantial way. It's the power.

56:19Elliot:And so he struggled with that ankle injury, and we lost him power-wise, you know, completely. He was there as a comfort, but the power in his game now, the running has more zest to it. You can't miss it. honestly you got you if you're not seeing it and you're so he holds on to a ball song honestly rubbish you got to see the beneath there and all the movements are back all the mechanics are back the power's back you just need to see him rice and supermendy play they can find a role for each other then um wow we're gonna have something really really special yeah it's just like all of a sudden he's rediscovered the I want to be careful I say this because I don't want to just fall into narrative.

57:04It's so easy to use the word confidence and the word confidence is often used as a replacement for having any actual observation on what changed. But there is an urgency to his final third play rather than just wanting to keep possession and keep it ticking over. There is an urgency about what he's doing. There was even a pass, I mean, right at the beginning of the game. The first thing that happens, two minutes in, we're set across their back five. Our players are all right on the shoulder of the last defender, and Leo is leaning. And what does he do? He hits a ball firmly over the back line to Leo.

57:38It's too hard to hit, and it goes begging. But it's not a recycled pass out to here and out to here. It is an urgency to create that final moment. He had a toe poke in the box from a high turnover. Zubomendi wins the ball. It's worked to Odegaard. He's inside the box, and he toe pokes it and nearly finds the corner. He was pulling out all the little tricks and flicks. He had a powerful curled shot from the right channel that just went over. There's an urgency to make it happen. He did have one of the funniest moments of the game where he's on the counter again, feeds it to Incappier, and Incappier just falls down.

58:10It was like you hit the wrong combination of buttons in FIFA. It's like a FIFA glitch, and he just fell over. I felt bad for him in that moment. But it was such a well-rounded performance. And I mean, I joked, I joked really, because everybody was melting down over the Rice News pre-match, melting down. And okay, you know what? I get it. We need a big win. It's a big game we want to win and our best player is out. So I posted, this was right before kickoff. I said, we're only about three hours away from the was Rice holding Arsenal back think pieces. So journalists out there, if you want a think piece, there you go.

58:48But really the understanding between Norgard and Odegaard in this game, I don't know Odegaard, I'll come to him in a moment, but Zubamendi and Odegaard in this game, Tim, was also especially brilliant to see. And the license to drop and go and the way they interacted with each other for the goal is sensational. It's a beautiful finish from Zubamendi, but I really think Zubamendi's superpower is knowing when to go and when not to. He really gets it. He doesn't rely on his athleticism. He relies on his intellect to know when to press up and he's really good at that. And then he knows when not to win And he and Odegaard had a great understanding of that in the second half.

59:22That goal is picture book stuff. It's perfect. Yeah, absolutely. You could see this coming from Odegaard. You can see that the neurons are firing again. I think we really saw it, started to see it at Everton and Brighton. And a friend of mine actually kind of commandeered me in the concourse at Everton away, Lee. And he said, tell Clive to lay off Odegaard. Tell him to lay off Odegaard. So he's going to be delighted with that section. But... I'll just say what I see, Tim. I'm going to stop you for one second because I'm just going to say this. We do six pods a week. Yeah, yeah. We talk about what we see with Arsenal.

1:00:00And the one thing I want to be clear about is we don't talk about Arsenal to be right. We talk about Arsenal to try to have good, thoughtful conversations and analyze what we're seeing. Sometimes things are going to change that are going to update our priors and update our analysis. Sometimes the things we say are just going to prove wrong. For example, I don't think this was a good sack a game. It happens. if he scores a hat trick in the next game i'll be delighted does that mean i'm in the mud ha ha ha you got it wrong no well i don't think it was a good sack again i'm telling you what i see he can turn it around and improve from there so i i don't love the idea that conversations about arsenal should be should be built on whether the thing you said proves right or wrong i think it should be about was the analysis thoughtful and insightful and did we have a good conversation that everybody can interact with so i take your point tim but i did just want to get that out there because we're all emotional and we're all prone to wanting everyone to say exactly what we think.

1:00:53But I think that we've seen an evolution and it's important to go on the journey of that evolution and understand how things have up. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think the thing is with Edgar, we've had conversations about, should he just stay forward a little bit more, try and make the difference on the edge of the area? And I've kind of said that myself as well, But I think increasingly one of the things I learn about football is you've got to let players be themselves. Like you can't make a player be someone else. And I don't think Erdegaard does that. I'm the six, I'm the eight and I'm the ten.

1:01:29Because like he hasn't historically trusted on midfield or anything like that. I just think that's who he is. And I think maybe that's one of the things Real Madrid misunderstood about him. maybe they thought he was Urza or they thought he was Kaka you know just like I mean Kaka was a bit more but you know like play the play the through ball you know try and slip our striker and actually Odegaard's kind of all and none of those things at the same time and in this game like he's just absolutely everywhere like against Everton for example you've got more of a choice between him and Eza and it's like the game plan today is hold on to the ball at all costs 300 ,000 passes so of course you play erdegaard but then in this game you're really you're getting that but you're getting the high risk stuff as well you're getting the pressing he's another one a little bit like leo trossard i think there's just a lot of things he does very very well and even you know there's i think understandably there's people talking about like ezzer hasn't played in three games now got hooked against wolves and i don't doubt he's got stuff to learn about you know uh out of possession play it maybe reminds me a bit of when City picked up Jack Grealish and it took him a year to learn to play in a Pep Guardiola team and not play hero football for Aston Villa um and that will either sort itself out or it won't I tend to think it probably will but like I think the simpler the the TLDR of Eze not getting on is Erdogan's playing too well and he's playing so well that we don't even want to sub him you know like that like he's he's not even coming off like Zubimendi doesn't come off in this game.

1:03:06Now, we were slightly restricted subs-wise because, like, Gabriel, they clearly wanted to get him off at 3-0. Timber went down. He clearly needed to come off. Marino could have been sent off, let's face it. Probably should have been, so he had to come off. Yeah, he should have been. There's stuff that was restricted, but, like, Erdogan's playing every minute. And that is, I've always said it, that is the only language that matters. Like, if you want to know what a manager thinks of a player and a player's current form look at the minutes played and Odegaard's playing every minute again, even though there's other people dying to take that shirt off him, which wasn't the case a year or two ago.

1:03:44Yeah, and it's so interesting how this evolved in the second half, Clive, because as good as Odegaard was, I thought Zubamendi was as good. But we found another string to our bow in this game because Norgard came on and Zubamendi moved to the eight, or what we nominally would consider the eight. Norgard sat a little deeper. Zubamendi was playing on the piston, as you would say, in more of a Rice-type role closer to Odegaard. And he was brilliant there. And I think finding Norgard in that way and having confidence to use Norgard in that way really gives us a lot more opportunity to see the full expression of what this midfield can be and maybe a little more confidence not to have to play Rice 90 minutes every game.

1:04:26So for me, Zubamendi is maybe not as big a star of this performance as Odegaard, who was at his pre-injury best. But he was because he was so influential in us getting our, I think, our hands around what wasn't working in the first half, preventing Villa from having the same kind of success. And I do know that Onana going off and McGinn coming on was contributory to that. So I want to at least acknowledge that. But what do you think about that? The Zubomendi dynamic and the way it may be changed with and without Norgard on the pitch.

1:04:58Elliot:Yeah, well, I think Norgard's been, that's been one player, I think has been underused. I think we can see a lot of goals late in games. I think he's excellent at knowing where to stand. Simple as that. I think he's got natural awareness of knowing when to press in, when to drop in. And he's a really good go-to-ground tackler. I think he's been underused in certain phases of the game. We've overplayed other players who are flagging late in games we conceded goals. That's on us. In this game, actually, because Norgard showed a bit of form recently, I wasn't against Norgard starting with Zouk Mendy and Odegaard because I was worried.

1:05:34Elliot:I mean, Tim's done a bit of Villa research like I have. We know where the danger's coming. He's coming down the middle, mate. Do you know what I mean? And so who's going to be there to stop it? And so we gambled by playing Mourinho higher. But I think Mourinho's showing signs of fatigue in the last couple of games. You know, when we played Villa away, he played centre-four because he was the most formed player in our team. He's hit a flat spot. You know, I think he's on the edge at the moment. And so, again, you've got to recognize this and go another way. I think your view of Zubimendi, Elliot, to be honest, he's always been a 6 '8", an all-round midfielder.

1:06:06Elliot:And that's who he is. And that's why I love the double pivot of him and Rice because they're both 6 '8". That can really affect all phases of the game, all different areas. They can defend in their box, look at his aerial jewels, look at his defensive numbers. But they can also score goals. They've both scored goals this year. so he's not he's not an a true standstill six like what maybe nor guard is he's far more multi-phase left foot cross away in europe was it who's it against again in europe the left foot cross no matter where can you do bruge back post by the corner flag on his wrong foot didn't tip to the far post what number six is doing that well ahead and go against forest what about this game driving up the left side for jesus's goal he's driving up the left side to give it to leo after having an amazing ball recovery deep.

1:06:53Then he gets to the left and he drives up the left side.

1:06:55Elliot:Mate, this is one of, I said it when we scouted him, this could be the most important signing Arteta's made. You know, I really feel that. He's 26. That's an old man position. I think his brain is massive. He sees the game, feels the game. My worry was I don't want that to be restricted. And it's not being, because they're finding a way to click. And it's really, really good. And so, yeah, don't see him as just a six, standing there with people running around him and then criticising when he can't get to a tackle. That for me should never be how we play, regardless of who's standing there, because I don't like that vulnerability.

1:07:30Elliot:But as soon as he's got people around him, as soon as he can go and feel the game, I think his brain is huge. And that goal he scored, if he had the Spain top on, it's exactly the same thing he's doing for Spain. He's in the box and scoring. So yeah, top player, top. It was the La Real midfield. And they all delivered. on martin zubomendi mikhail said i've mentioned a lot of times that it's a position that is very very difficult to make an impact and in the manner he's done so early so credit to him credit to his teammates as well and how easy they make it for him today he's done something that in my opinion he has the ability to do he's arrived in the right moment attacking the box and finalizing actions and he did it with such composure worth noting he nearly did it against was it brighton where he hit the post i think so right um yeah now on odegaard by the way just so that you know that Mikel is aligned with what Clive and I have both said, because I think that's important.

1:08:23On Odegaard, Mikel said he needed some consistency in some games. Obviously, he had two times the shoulder injury, then he had a big knee injury, and that takes a little bit of time. Now you can see that it's flowing. Here's what Mikel called out. One, that his energy level is back to where it is. Then two, he's taking risks. He's affecting the game in a great way. Those are the two things. The energy level, right, which we discussed as power in his game, and taking risks, an urgency to influence the game in the right way in the final third. I do think that when you don't trust your body and when you're still coming back into the game, it's easier to slide the ball to Bakayo Saka and keep possession or slide the ball back to Declan Rice and keep possession.

1:09:05What's harder is taking a risk that might lose possession or that might need that perfect little moment of quality, and he dripped that quality on the ball all second half. And I think, you know, that's what Big Gabby gave us too, because you saw how our tails were up once we got that goal. We went from, oh no, they could hurt us, to we've got them. We've got them. And the fear of being cut apart, the fear of being hurt went away. And instead there was an enthusiasm to batter them. And boy, oh boy, you know, for the people that say confidence isn't a thing, when that first goal goes in, it was like Villa shrank three inches and we grew three inches.

1:09:39It was a totally different game. And Mikel, he wouldn't say what his adjustments were at halftime, but he made the point. We talked about them, but it's another thing to go do them. Mikel, whatever you said, absolute kudos to you because the team got it completely, completely right. And so good to see. I think, Tim, if you said to me to make a prediction preseason that I'd be absolutely 1 ,000 % confident about, I'd have some positive ones, of course. But if you said make a negative prediction that you're confident about, I think one of my negative predictions would have been that Gabriel Jesus will not play for Arsenal this season, or if he does, it'll be in a cup tied and he won't have an influence.

1:10:21Gabriel Jesus is a supremely talented footballer who battles his ass off through terrible injuries to become important to this team again. And I think it is fair to say he is now important to this team again. And I do like the idea that he had a shirt on that said he belongs to himself. That's good to have. There were some jokes about how long has he been wearing that shirt since he's been back, but what a wonderful moment for him. It is a beautiful bit of play. The Zubamendi recovery, the pass out back to Zubamendi from Odegaard, Zubamendi to Leo, Leo up the side, gives it to Jesus, and the finish is what makes him special.

1:10:57Because whether he is not an elite finisher, but technically he has everything you need to be an elite footballer. And he pulls out the perfect finish there. He wheels away, he takes his shirt off. I mean, I'm a crier, so I had a tear in my eye. I felt so good for him. What do you think of that goal and of the sort of incredible story of Gabriel Jesus being important for Arsenal? Yeah, I mean, in a weird way, though, one of my biggest disappointments of the season is that that injury time goal against Wolves was an own goal. When I found out about that about 45 minutes after the game, I was like, no, don't tell me that, because that felt like the really kind of cathartic moment.

1:11:36but this was a really, really lovely moment. On his finishing, everything about his game, his mentality, his finishing is winger because that's what he was until he was 19. So there was a goal he scored in the Champions League. I think it might have been in Seville a couple of seasons ago where he cuts him from the left. They're winger finishes, they're winger goals. Get him attacking a cross in the six-yard box or a cutback, that's kind of where his finishing falls down quite a lot. But this one, the second he opened his body out, you knew it was going in. And Martinez, he's not a great goalkeeper, Emi Martinez.

1:12:15I really think he's actually quite bad. But he's got an enormous reach. And so to steer it beyond him, you could feel everything was flowing in that moment as well, that everyone was just nice and relaxed, shoulders dropped. And it is a great moment for him because I'm with you. My thinking at the beginning of this season, and right up until he came back actually, was anything we get out of him is a bonus. Anything at all, because my expectations are basically nothing. And maybe that's helped him as well. Maybe there's a few things in the squad dynamics going on here. Maybe Erdegaard is playing better because he knows that if he has one bad game, everyone's going to scream for Eza to play.

1:12:57And justifiably so. and Trossard knows that like there's Martinelli Madueca and like you know there's there's so many players and Eza like vying for his position and and maybe for Jesus there's a little bit of that but we've got enough like we've got three centre forwards now so it's not all on him it's not all on him like Gabriel Jesus you must fire us to the title it's it's kind of a bit like if you get between five and ten we're golden basically and maybe that slight drop in expectation both makes you view him through a different lens um through a more generous lens and maybe that helps him as well and maybe one of the other things that helps him is this might change when kai havertz is fit again and we remember what he is and what he gives us but at the moment no one's got that spot nailed so it's like it's actually a bit of a sweet spot i think for gabriel jesus no one like he could start against Bournemouth easily like Ezra's not going to start against Bournemouth because Odegaard's playing too well and and that's kind of just the reality of it Jesus doesn't have such an obstacle in front of him that it's like you can't move him you can't play but at the same time there's two other strikers there who we can play so that we can manage him um a little bit and And it is great.

1:14:21Like nothing, few things would gladden my heart more than to see, you know, Gabriel Jesus lift the Premier League title with this team. He deserved it more probably two years ago than he kind of does now, if that makes sense. But he deserves it in a big way. Yeah, just a positive story for a player that's been through so much and is so talented. And I think almost became a little bit of a joke, and that's not fair. It's not fair to a player who did nothing wrong. He went to play for his country in a mid-season World Cup, which never happened before. Having had his chance to be the star striker for Arsenal, firing us to a title challenge, lost the rest of that season.

1:15:02As a result of that injury, I think lost most of the next season as well. And the next season after that. Make no mistake, getting to this World Cup will be not in the back of his mind at the absolute forefront might not be best for him again. And it might mean he gets lost or whatever. If indeed that does happen, he will do everything he can to get to that World Cup. Yeah. So look, we battered them. We really, really battered them. Leo's goal was beautiful. Zubamendi's goal was beautiful. Jesus' goal was beautiful. We had other chances to score other goals that we didn't take. We were able to make some substitutions.

1:15:42And then the really weirdness, the ridiculousness at the end. Let me give you the data because I think it's worth it. We outshot them 22 to 11 in fullness of the match. But at 90 plus two, the XG of this game was 2.73 for Arsenal to 0.67 for Villa at 90 plus two. That's paddling. At full time, the XG of this game was 3.05 to 2.59. Now, the Watkins goal is a little fluky the way it rebounds and sneaks through Raya's leg. Raya will be frustrated with himself there, but it's very fluky and Watkins is there with a 0.99 XG shot, whatever, fine. I don't know that I love the way we finished this match.

1:16:31It doesn't matter. Of course it doesn't matter. Please don't take me as saying that it really matters. But Clive, I think it'll matter to Mikel. And I think there were some players out there. Nani, maybe Miles, whose cameos will not have left Mikel feeling super upbeat. They're good. I mean, does Mikel strike you as the kind of guy who says, I have 4-0, I don't care how the game finishes. He doesn't strike me as that kind of guy. so do you have any thoughts on losing the clean sheet which is a little annoying, would have gone level with City on goal difference by the way losing our XG allowed numbers which nerds like me care about but anything about the last few minutes of that game and some of the sub cameos that you think have any value in discussing or does it not matter when you have a 4-0 leader?

1:17:15Elliot:I think the big thing is that Big Gabby wasn't on the pitch and that's it right, he's the defensive leader I think and whoever we put there is not going to be quite as strong in the same way. I think we start to track people differently. I think we become full-back defenders rather than central defenders. And things happen from there. On that goal, he got a bit lucky actually because Stiebel tackled him and it sort of deflected and it goes through Reyes' legs and then it goes in. And it wasn't great. And Miles on the back post having a cigarette when he should have been maybe inside a little bit more.

1:17:53Elliot:You know, you think someone's going to get it. You think goalkeeper's going to pick it up. So you stand still. Next to me, it bounces to your man. You think, oh, bloody hell. Do you know what I mean? It just happens in football. And when you're falling out, that concentration goes a little bit. I don't want to look too deeply into that. I think Madaweke played very well in Belgium. Looked like our best player in that game. You know, and some of these players, they want to play. And when they don't play, sometimes you get an indifferent performance. but they have to learn we're trying to push each other to something really, really big and I think they are.

1:18:27Elliot:I think, I keep looking at the players, I keep looking for people being angry Elliot, do you know what I mean? Let's see if there's something happening. Jokeres and Havertz and Jesus hugging each other after the game. You know, they're completely together. There's no dramas there. Do you know what I mean? There's just no drama. So I don't think I should be looking any harder than that if they can manage it. All we care about is can we get enough energetic players on the pitch focused for long enough? And let's not have podcasts about overplaying people to injury, you know? Can we be brave? You know, because there are people talking about Declan Rice was showing injuries in recent games and then we played him because we had to play him at right back because of other injuries.

1:19:12Elliot:And then he's got a swollen knee. We don't want to lose that player. No chance. That can't happen, you know? So I think that's where I am with it. Just you have to roll with the fact we're going to see a lot of people playing, hopefully 15 players every game, hopefully. And we're lucky enough that we've got a quality that we can do that. Yeah. And look, I think there are, for maybe like a Friday Night Clive episode or a midweek nothing's happening episode, some conversations about some players around the fringes of this squad that might be interesting. But for right now, that's just not a priority.

1:19:53What I will say, and we talked about this before we even started recording, it is going to get interesting. We presume that we're always going to have injuries because we've become quite fatalistic about that. And we may. But we also may not. There was no room for Ethan Winary in the squad in this game. Declan Rice is supposedly in contention to be back for Bournemouth. and assuming nothing else changes, that means one more player who was on the bench in this game will not make the squad. You're looking at a Miles or an Orgard or an Eza who currently isn't getting any minutes, not being in the squad.

1:20:29And then there's other players to come back. And pretty soon, players who regard themselves as significant first-team players who are acquired expensively and paid handsomely, not making the squad. So I think what we can say is that the squad is in a position right now where go in the league and the Champions League this season because I don't know that this size of squad is sustainable. Now, you can say it's sustainable if you're constantly suffering mega injury crises. Sure, that's possible. I will note that McKellen, his pre-match press conference, basically said, we're Arsenal. We have to be looking in the market in January.

1:20:59For me, that's the only answer he can give. I don't think it's true. I really don't think it's true. No matter how much you love transfers and you think it would be great to get a transfer, where the hell are you putting them? There's a chance you buy a player in January that literally doesn't make match day squads, right? Or you're suddenly putting 68 million pound Ebrecha as a out of the squad on match day. So I don't, I think the inn is full. I know we're fatalistic about injuries, but let's not be. Let's accept that maybe the team can get relatively fit. And suddenly the biggest problem we have is deciding who gets in the squad.

1:21:32Because that's what we need. I mean, ultimately teams that are injury struck constantly don't win things. So let's not be that team. That would be my solution. Tim, I think is a final thing here. we're not gonna by the way we're not gonna preview the bournemouth game really so uh we'll probably do a friday night clive this week and and talk about that clive didn't know that um we're doing it um so come join us rice 50 is the code half off the first month um tim it's a weird league and i think sometimes the way we think about title races and we think about leagues is outdated because it takes time for us to update our priors on what the league is and what the league has become but currently in this league the 16th place team is Leeds they are closer to Liverpool in fourth than Liverpool are to us at the top so Arsenal have 45 points City have 40 and Villa have 39 you then go to teams like Liverpool Chelsea I mean Manchester United stink they just drew it home to Wolves in a game where they lost the XG battle at home to Wolves they have 30 points they're and sixth tied fifth with Chelsea.

1:22:42They're basically tied for a Champions League place as bad as they've been. Sunderland, Everton, Brentford. A few changes in results this week, they can all swap places with each other. Palace, who feel like they've been sliding. Newcastle haven't been good. They're a couple results away from being in the Champions League as are Brighton. All the way down to Leeds, again, you're talking about teams that could qualify for Europe. Do you have any thoughts just on Chelsea's title bid? I'm curious to get your updates on that because it feels like it's not going great but I you know I could be wrong there but just the way this league is shaping up and how we maybe have to accept that the Premier League isn't entering a new era where it's not 97 and 96 point teams winning it and big six teams that are 20 points clear of everybody else but everybody just taking points off everybody yeah definitely I you know Chelsea since their 1-1 victory against Arsenal it really just hasn't gone well for them um you know they've they've capitulated since then.

1:23:37Do you want to know the actual results for them? Because it is quite funny. So they had the 1-1 victory against us. They then lost to Leeds, drew to Bournemouth, lost to Atalanta, beat Everton. So kudos to them on that. Drew to Newcastle, lost to Villa, drew to Bournemouth. Yeah, but Cole Palmer scored a penalty again last night. So Ballon d 'Or for him for that. Yeah, of course. Yeah, no, I was thinking about this actually last night as well, because I kept thinking about, and I think there is like an element of support of fatalism. But like, remember when we had that, you know, at the beginning of the season where it's like Man United away, Liverpool away, Newcastle away, Man City.

1:24:20And you're like, oh God, this is, what a run of fixtures this is. But then like the run of like, quote unquote, easy fixtures kind of doesn't exist because now it's like, God, we've got Villa and we've got Brighton and then we've got Bournemouth away and we've got Liverpool. And what you start to realize is that everybody is reasonably good and everybody, nearly everybody has players that can hurt you, basically. So you can run it like Bournemouth are the most mid-table team, which is massively punching above their weight, by the way. But Bournemouth, they're basically like they win five in a row, they lose five in a row.

1:25:01Their delta between home and away is wild, like absolutely wild. But you get them on a day when Semenyo's on it, they continue. And pretty much every team can do that. and I was thinking to myself, what are these easy fixtures? Well, we just had one of them two weeks ago and it wasn't easy and it was one of the most traumatising days of the season when we got Wolves at home and probably West Ham at home and we've had that one as well. So as much as a big part of my brain is like, we've got a lot of the really tough away games out of the way, but then I was like, what are the easy away games? because, and again, it might just be because I'm emotionally involved, but I look at the fixture list.

1:25:46I'm not looking at Bournemouth and going, that'll be easy. I think, God, that's going to be like, there's no fixture coming up I'm looking at and go, like Nottingham Forest away. I'm not looking at that thinking, oh, that'll be, you know, that'll be a piece of piss. Like, it won't be. So there is, like, I think you're right. I think the quality of the league is probably congesting a little bit. I think that's probably a good kind of outcome for PSR as well, as much as people kind of complain about it. It means that someone like Newcastle just haven't been able to run away and be the new man's city.

1:26:22I think Villa have been helped by PSR because I think they make loads of stupid vanity signings. I think Emery is very bad in the transfer market. I think he's a good coach, bad in the market. And this summer they couldn't buy anyone because of PSR. I think it's massively benefited them because he's just gone back to being a coach. And so I think there's little bits and pieces. And you look back on the review of the year, you know, Crystal Palace won the FA Cup. Even Spurs won something this year. Like, that's kind of how crazy things have gotten. So it does feel like, you know, the Premier League is kind of equalising quite a lot around the middle.

1:27:01And I do think a lot of that is because nearly every team has a player that if we didn't have 500 players, I'd take, you know, like I kind of don't want anyone because I think we're overstocked. But like I could go through every Premier League team, maybe other than Wolves. And I could say I'd take that player if we needed a player. Well, yeah, yeah, of course. If we needed a player in that position, I'd take that player. and I think that's been really good for the league. So obviously they've now changed the financial rules again because we can't have that and we can't have Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup and stuff like that.

1:27:41Yeah, it's such an interesting table if you really sit and look at it because as bad as Spurs have been if they beat Brentford, they're two points off the Champions League. I laughed at Clive, which I almost never do, but I allow it every once in a while when he predicted Manchester United to finish fourth. And I was thinking the other day, I'm like, man, Manchester United are really bad. That's a funny prediction. And I looked and they are two points off fourth. It is a wild league right now. So that does, I think, force us. That's Clive's reaction to me laughing at him about anything. He just hit his microphone stand in rage.

1:28:17He's got a gong now. That's how far he's been going. I'm off the stage. It's the gong show. I will say this. Our next game, of course, is Bournemouth. And as I said, we're not going to do a preview of it right now, but I do just want to say one thing about the Bournemouth game because Bournemouth have maybe not looked very good, and you'd be correct in thinking they've not looked very good. But let me tell you something that is absolutely staggering. Bournemouth have played 10 matches away from home. Are you guys ready for this? Because this is completely insane. They have played 10 matches away from home.

1:28:53They've won one, drawn four, lost five. They have 18 goals for and 29 conceded minus 11. 18 goals scored and 29 conceded in their 10 games away. They have played nine games at home. 11 goals scored, six conceded. they've scored more goals on their travel than every single goal scored at their ground this season 11 goals for at home and six conceded you know who's conceded six goals at home this season Arsenal conceded five and City have conceded six they have the joint second best home defensive record in the Premier League. And lest you think that that is a statistical anomaly that isn't backed by the underlyings, you ready for this?

1:29:51Because this is even crazier. They have the single best expected goals allowed of any team in the league at home. Better than Arsenal. Now, I want to caveat, that's because we just shipped almost three expected goals in stoppage time against Villa, which really screws those numbers up and I hate it. But so Clive, it's a very weird one because I look at Bournemouth, they haven't necessarily looked very good, but then you look at them at home and they've been incredibly difficult to score against at home and that isn't always our strong suit. So any quick thoughts on that?

1:30:26Elliot:yeah well we've now got the boost of a of a statement win against Aston Villa at home right where people have now got a little bit more trust and belief in us and we have to just keep rolling on I think I think I think we could be due a little bit of rotation you know I'd like to see it you know maybe Tim's got Eze and Odegaard sort of comparing each other but I don't mind seeing Odegaard sorry Eze off the left just give Trashard a break who's been unbelievable. I didn't think he had 90 minutes in him after the Brighton game where he got booted about. Do you know what I mean? And was it the Brighton or Palace game?

1:31:03Elliot:I can't remember which one it was now where he got booted about. I thought he hasn't got any more in him and he's gone out and done 9 and it was even better. You know, so I looked at the fixed list just now between January the 3rd and February the 3rd we have 10 games including Liverpool, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Chelsea twice. So when we talk about squads some people not in squad. Let's see how we go, shall we? Let's see how we go. That's a lot of football. And we're lucky we've got a Carrot Almighty in there and a Portsmouth in there. We've got where we can do some really big changes and really give people breaks.

1:31:39Elliot:This is going to be the month of rotation, rest and picking the right team for the right occasion. You know, and we've got a great chance and we are set up for it more than anybody else. You know, there's no one that can do what we can do squad-wise. We've got to make the most use of it. And that is, something I think we're going to talk about for the next four or five weeks. And if some listener, sorry, I was just going to say on Bournemouth as well, I think one of the reasons they're so good at home, I know this kind of tight pitch thing is a bit of a myth because the pitch is all pretty much the same size.

1:32:09It does look tight though, doesn't it? Yeah, well, because Bournemouth, what they do is they play second ball football and they do it brilliantly. They go long and they get after you and it's going to be a lot of game of like second balls. And I really hope Declan Rice is back for that one. And if not, if you see Mourinho in midfield again, I'd say don't panic too much because that's what Bournemouth do. They're very kind of, when I say physical, I don't mean industrial. I mean, and that's kind of why they can't maintain for a whole season because they're super, super intense. Bournemouth's pitch is identical in size to Arsenal's, just as a heads up.

1:32:46If a listener doesn't cut up Clive calling them Carrot Almighty and come up with a shield for Carrot Almighty, then we're not doing our jobs here. Carrot almighty. I love it. And I will just mention, 2XG against Everton, 3XG against Brighton, 3XG against Villa, and the goals finally poured in and maybe just maybe that side of our play, which has been searching around a little bit. We did get over 3XG against Bayern. Coming into shape, there's players back. I think the hardest thing for Mikel at this moment is just deciding who to give games to. I mean, that's it. and that's a good problem for a manager to have.

1:33:24And you look at benches, by the way. We've gone from having kids I've never heard of on benches to players who were expensively acquired on benches. And we're going to have the ability to not only win games early, but change games to win them late. That's exactly why we built this squad the way we did. And now we're in a position to do it. So we're going to leave it there. Tim, thank you very much. My pleasure as always. Sorry, I was a little bit far away from the new year. Clive, thanks. Thank you very much. My name's Elliot Smith. We love you. Happy New Year. and we'll talk to you after Arsenal 10, Bournemouth Milk.

1:34:16This is Mike Bolo of Lexicon Valley. And I'm Bob Garfield. Are you one of those people who sometimes uses words?

1:34:24Elliot:Do you communicate or acquire information with, you know, language? Hey, us too. So join us on Lexicon Valley to chew over the history, culture, and many mysteries of English. Plus some wisecracks. Find us on one of those apps where people listen to podcasts.