Arsenal Win Big Over Sunderland but City Stay Close

31:09He's going to pull players with him. So in the Yachoresh scenario, he's going to make space for Yachoresh. He's going to partner with him. He's going to, if it's not Jokeres going through, it'll be Havertz going through. Like, if I'm Arteta, he has lots of options. There's lots of players he can play. I think he's going to start so many games by saying, where do I want Havertz on the pitch? And that's all down to Havertz's body and how quickly he gets to full fitness and how quickly he can get to two games a week. But, like, that just seems like a winning combination at the moment. I mean, we did finish the first half strongly.

31:50We scored the goal. Jesus had that nearly moment when he was offside. Havertz shot wide, but I actually thought we started the second half quite slowly. And Sunderland had a couple of moments without hugely threatening, but then we changed things. Look, Jesus worked hard, but it was a difficult day for him against two big center halves, right? And even Mukiyele was coming in to help out. So that's a hard day for a smaller striker. The same for Madueke. He always tries, but he just couldn't really get the better of Reynaldo. I don't think. So Jokeres and Martinelli came on and they both added some much needed verticality and running power to the team.

32:25And I did a terrible job of explaining this in the IR. But what I meant to say is, is that Arsenal have such an impressive knack of managing the games within games, right? They know when to power up. They know when to slow things down. They're happy with things being a fight. They can sense when the opposition legs are tiring. And I think what has been a huge difference maker in our season is quite simply the bench, our squad depth, you know, and these are Premier League stats only, but in the second halves this season, Arsenal have scored 31 goals more than any other team. And we've only conceded 11, which is fewer than any other team.

33:00So we've made this point a million times already. And Clive, you even mentioned it in the IR, but it's amazing what can happen when Jokarez, Martinelli and Eze are on your bench instead of Raheem Sterling, a 17-year-old Ethan Ranieri, and Nathan Butler-Odeji, you know, and that's not even mentioning some of the defensive and midfield options. So, Clive, I'll swing it back to you. A big squad can sometimes cause issues when you look to find the right balance between profiles and options. Maybe you can change things too much because you want to keep everyone fresh and involved. But on days like this, I think you can see the value of having that strength in depth, you know?

33:40Yeah, it's just where the game is going. you know I'm a big rugby fan and the bench is almost sometimes the best players are on the bench it sounds crazy but that's what they're doing because games are won in the last third so yeah it's just where the game is going it was really clear yesterday that how the bench was important but Arteta mentioned it and he's really key it's great having names on the bench they're going to come on and have a cigar and just not run about then it's not it doesn't matter who's there if they come on and they're totally bought into their role and they work hard I mean Martin Ely for example he's basically man of the match you know he was incredible he was there for half an hour I just saw on the app just now he completed the most dribbles he deserved a goal set up a goal defended brilliantly and was just a constant I just don't know where he was playing he was totally different and it's got me thinking about him in a different way because we've had him for six years and I think I've seen all the moves now.

34:46I've seen all the shots. I've seen all the crosses going in the car park. I've seen everything, right? So I haven't seen Mark nearly as part of a big squad. Mark nearly has been our first pick left wing for quite a long time until Trussellaga sort of moved him out recently. But I haven't seen him as part of a big squad where you can just deploy him for an hour here, late in Europe here, have a sit down. don't pull your hands on him, then come back in again. And he looks razor sharp. And I started to think about him differently. I started to say, well, hold on a minute here. I know there's lots of profit in him.

35:20If a team was coming by him for 50 mil, we're going to make a lot of money. We can go buy somebody else. Hold on, this kid is absolutely committed to the course in all areas of the game and all areas of the pitch. And he looks really good. And so, you know, sometimes even my own bias is, you know, hold a minute here, just think this through a little bit. You know, I thought he was really, really good. Jokre is the same. Eze looked really sharp when he came on. Really sharp. It's like, wow. So they really bought into it, you know, and so it works when you win and everyone comes on, does well, ends the game well and everyone claps the crowd and goes home.

35:59It's all great. The squad's great. The bench is great. I gave the bench my stock rising. The bench is great. And, um, but then, if they come on and stick the place out then we're going to say well hold on we should have brought this player on and the manager can't make a substitute and we can't it doesn't rotate enough he doesn't trust him he doesn't trust him they've got to buy into the role and that's what they've done and they did this really well in this game I mean let's stay with Martinelli because I'm really liking the utilisation of him this season I think it feels different to the last 18 months where we were sticking him out wide on the touchline with two defenders around him and nobody else in support and then he would just run the ball towards the corner flag we we'd either get a corner or lose a goal kick and then that was that the opposition knew that they could nullify him and that pushed all their focus over to the right they would double or triple up on saka and then that would kill us again but i i think i've been very consistent about this we were not getting our wingers into dangerous positions and for someone like martinelli especially whose game is centered around the quickest route to goal and threatening either in behind or in central spaces, something had to change.

37:08So when I see the goals like the Manchester City goal, or the one against Athletic in the Champions League, or the one against Bayern, this assist from yesterday, this feels like a much more sensible way to platform his directness and acceleration. And I think you said it before, many people will have had him as a candidate for sale last summer or either this summer. And I still think his numbers can improve in the league, but he's been a big weapon, especially in Europe, six goals in eight games and small changes like this little tactical tweaks can bring players back into the group. So Paul, I'll switch this over to you now.

37:42We may be suffered from a bit of Martinelli fatigue as a fan base, but Arteta has found a way to bring him back into the group in a slightly different role. He's playing on the right, he's playing on the left. He's even heading into the central spaces at times. Obviously, nobody wants to be reduced into that super sub role but he has been extremely effective coming on against tired defenses is that something we should lean into a little bit more yeah i mean the best martinelli you see is super sub martinelli he loves you could bring him on for a few reasons one of which is there's getting to be a little space in behind and he can get at them and you know we can kill a game off with him um he's funny his his direct running at defenses i mean it's just hilarious i still remember the one who is it he played where he's like beating them all he's running with the ball he's into the box everybody's behind him and he's celebrating and he hasn't even put the ball in the back of the net oh aston villa yeah aston villa yeah yeah just like the emmy Martinez uh own goal game yeah yeah that's the one he's just funny he's funny on those runs and so effective and you know he draws them all in and he slips it out to Yaka Resch who must be thinking oh oh shit he's he's gonna have a shot himself and I'm wide open I'm thinking Scott Willis will be on there with like some picture of should he have passed or should he have shot Well, guess what?

39:11He passed. And it was perfect. And even Victor Jokeres couldn't miss. That's a joke. It's a joke, guys. Don't look at me, guys. I didn't say it. Victor had a very good game when you put it all together. And, of course, he had two goals. But, you know, for the people out there who find that kind of thing vaguely, whatever. The other reason you bring on Martinelli is you need some serious defending done. And that can be left wing, right wing. He can get on for either of those. Or if you're going to put him on the left wing, have him with Jesus and a little kind of partnership and understanding. We've seen that side of Martinelli coming out in his game.

39:54So for me, it's not that he should never start on the left wing. But if you think it's going to be one of those where he's going to get camped, they're going to camp in and they're going to have two players marking him and he's not going to get much change out of them. And, you know, he's not going to star there. But those other circumstances off the bench when he can run at them or he can defend like a Trojan, or he gets the opportunity to partner somebody who comes into his space and make it all look very clever with Jesus. That's where I think he shines, and that's where he gets on the plane to Brazil in the summer.

40:31And the bench, the finishers thing, is making all these players feel much better about them. I'm sure Jokeres wanted to start, but he's going to come out of that game feeling way better about himself than he has from many other games. So coming off the bench as a starter will probably have made those three players feel much more positive about their contribution and the role in the team than if they'd been starters and been in a bit of a slugfest. And like Jesus had that duty, right? He had to get in there, slug it out with center backs, get taken off. And then when the game opens up and people can be heroes, the other guys come on.

41:14And that's what rotation's for and variety and give the opposition different looks. And yeah, it was Martinelli feeling pretty good about himself. I mean, we were playing a very physical, energetic team who had a week's rest. Arsenal did not have that luxury, but you still saw their physicality and running power kill Sunderland in that last third. And we spoke about Martinelli. Jokeres is the one who comes away with the two goals and things are looking pretty good for him at the moment. And I'm really pleased for him because it hasn't been easy. And I said on the IR that I'm owed some humble pie because he's proving me wrong.

41:52I went a bit hard on him after one of the goalless draws. It might have been Liverpool, but I was kind of ready to put him aside once Havertz came back. But that's six goals now in 2026, three in the league, one in the Champions League, one in the Caravan Cup. Only Igor Thiago can match that number in the Premier League, which is encouraging. And we're starting to see a player who has maybe lost some mental kilos, lost some physical kilos. And again, we can put him in that Martinelli bracket where the different game states and the different opposition are good for him. I mean, something has clicked since the turn of the year.

42:26I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to understand what that is because this uptick in form coincides with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz coming back into the team after injury. So now we can pick and choose where we play him. Again, specific opposition, the game states, we've got the ability to put Havertz alongside him, which looks promising as a big man, bigger man partnership. We can have him running at tired defenders and into spaces towards the end of game. So instead of attacks breaking down with him coming short, we're leaving him to the stuff that he does well uh which is running him behind and shooting basically he looks much more involved and active in front of the goal which is all we wanted um and clive arteta spoke about confidence being the magic word when it comes to yokarez's recent form and i think that's a big factor for strikers but what else do you think has changed for him if anything okay i am on holiday and i am away but you still get your brands you still find out about your brands.

43:24And before Clive tells you anything about Victor Yorkras, which he was about to do, I'm going to tell you about factor, factor meals. So for the longest time, I found it such a pain in the neck to figure out what to cook, what to make, where to buy groceries, how to cook healthy, you wind up ordering delivery that's not healthy, that doesn't fit your lifestyle, whether that's weight training, or you're on a GLP one, or you're just trying to be more cognizant of the lean proteins and good vegetables that you get factor is always healthy, good, fresh food. And it takes a couple of minutes and it's ready to go.

43:57If it's cold out, you don't want to leave the house or if you just don't have the time or you find it difficult to think about meals, well, then it's always fresh. It's never frozen. It's ready in about two minutes. There's no prep and no stress. So whatever your lifestyle, this is the way to eat right. Head to factor meals.com slash arsenalvision50off and use code arsenalvision50off to get 50 % off and free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor. New subscribers only varies by plan. One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active. Factormeals.com And NordVPN, it's funny, I'm on holiday and I was out and there's a big sporting event the night that I'm recording this, the Super Bowl.

44:39And people here were wondering how they could watch because we're somewhere where you can't watch your domestic TV plan. And I said, well, I'm just going to use a VPN. And they said, what VPN do you use? I said, Nord. And they're like, oh my gosh, I'm going to do that. So we gave them the promo code. They signed up and immediately like that was so easy to install and get using. So yes, people need it. People use it. It is extremely easy to do. You go to NordVPN.com slash Arsenal Vision. You get four bonus months for free. You get a great discount, by the way, off your Nord plan to begin with, which is awesome.

45:11and you are going to be able to browse wherever you want to browse and watch the things you want to watch without having to worry about being geolocked. Plus there's threat protection. So we love Nord. You're going to love Nord. Go to nordvpn.com slash our snow vision for bonus months on top of your hoots discount and a 30 day money back guarantee. And Shopify. If you want to start an e-commerce site, you need to know things like how do I sell on TikTok shop, on Facebook shop, on Instagram shop. I was listening to a speaker the other day talking about business. One of the things they said has changed the world of business forever is they call it the shopification shopify occasion of the industry because shopify has made it so easy for people who aren't fortune 500 companies to get their products out into the market to the people that want them and i think it really has democratized the ability to sell the things you want to sell and have the business you want to have so whether you make art or you make pottery or whatever it is you want to get your product in front of people and you don't want to have to develop a website you just put the price in the pictures the description it does the rest in 2026 stop waiting and start selling with shopify dot com go to shopify.com slash arsenal vision that's shopify.com slash arsenal vision shopify.com slash arsenal vision for your one dollar per month trial and start selling today shopify.com slash arsenal vision do it now clive you can now tell us what you were about to say about gilchrist but yeah I think it's a it's a style thing with Jocares it's very easy to fall into a everyone says he's rubbish so I'm going to say he's rubbish but with this player the reason why I sort of stayed with him is because I've seen him play really well I just if I hadn't got Lisbon last year I would maybe not have been so supportive you see what I mean but once you see something you have to be reminded well it's there and when he came to Arsenal he wasn't moving as I expected at all I've seen and I think there were phases in the season where we stopped playing direct the same for Martinelli the start of the year the biggest change to us this year is our want and the messaging to play against unsettled defences last year it's very much we will start to attack once we're comfortable with our rest defence then we go we go into wide areas We asked one man to beat three players and put it into a box.

47:33So everyone knows our patterns of play until we get stopped. And so now this year, we have far more help around the corner, go forward directly. Then we stopped doing that for a while. We started to play about for a bit. And we lost him. You know, and it's quite interesting to see that Martinelli and Jokeres have a decent season so far. And why is that? A common denominator is how we're playing and how we're deploying these players. So with Jokeres now, his best games came after rest. And as soon as he missed a game, then he would play well. Our two other forwards that are in the squad right now have been out for a calendar year each.

48:10And so this player has been critical. We wouldn't be anywhere near where we are in the league or Champions League without him. Regardless of his performance, he provides the team direction. And every team needs a place to go. All your play needs to end up somewhere. And it needs to go towards him. Now his touches don't validate that. But you don't have to even win the ball. You just need to go and put pressure on the ball. Look at the second goal against Sunderland. We gave the ball away in the corner flag. We pressure it. We get it back. Two passes into the box goal. And that's who we are. So you just need to play in territory, play in areas.

48:50And he provides a lot of direction for us. and I do think in his first season, he's starting to look lighter and I saw it yesterday. I don't mean that he was heavy, but I saw him yesterday warming up on the sideline and I sit in the corner flag in the North Bank area and the subs warm up in front of me and I barely recognised him in his full track suit on and all the gear. Who's that player? Oh, Chokeres. He looks fit. And it's taken him this long maybe from the second injury, you know, from the injury before at Burnley halftime. to get into shape. He looks fitter. He looks lighter. And the crowd love him.

49:28The crowd absolutely love him. I recognize him he's different to what we have. He's not going to win a skill school dribble competition. But he's got concrete in that right boot. He really has. And he hits that ball. He stays hit. And there's more to come. We haven't seen a lot of those cracking shots yet. But there is more to come. And I'm really, really pleased with him because we need this player. We need this player in our well I mean I was under no illusions that we needed him I just got dazzled by the the newly cut mullet into Kai Havertz and I was ready to put all my hopes and dreams into him so I just yeah I mean honestly I feel like the criticism of him at the time was justified I didn't think he was sharp or alert enough to get onto things in the box he was anonymous for for many games in terms of shots, shots on target, things like that.

50:19But Paul, maybe I was guilty of expecting him to do things and be things I knew he wasn't in the absence of others. Because we know that Jesus can do the linky stuff. We know that Havertz can do the linky stuff as well. And he sort of embarrasses everyone by being able to do everything. But now that we're able to simplify more of his core game, he looks more comfortable. So does that make sense? What's your take on Jokeres and how do you see his involvement moving forward? yes yes you were guilty of it um look for i'm not gonna let you off the hook um i mean he he's been okay-ish for a while and i think he started the season like this i mean that's basically where i fell into him he started this season slowish okay-ish you were squinting to see something there and he got better he got stronger he got a bit more integrated he started to look good and universally i think we all said oh okay hang on he he's starting to look good he's starting to be a bit of a force and he got injured and it feels like we were right back to where we were when he came back and so he's like a little heavy not not as heavy at the start of the season in terms of how he's running how he's carrying himself took a bit to get going and he's in a team in which we've lacked players who kind of like when you see him with Havertz you say you immediately say oh okay this makes sense now it's there's somebody else in the area somebody to add a little chaos a little physicality when he's there on his own against center backs it's not all his fault right we've created um a dynamic in which other teams are looking to sit in and stop us and slow us down and he gets to be the guy who stands near that and he's not great at dropping in and you know you he's not really the guy you want him to drop into the middle of the pitch and start picking up the ball as raya distributes down the middle i mean he's okay he's not it's not his forte and so he's clearly a player that if he's going to star and shine for us.

52:39It's because we have different tactical ways of playing and the opposition isn't set against it and you've got Havertz in his area and you've got maybe Eze in form, which he hasn't had either. So he's had to do a lot of waiting for Godot, waiting for Arsenal to be the kind of dynamic attack in which he can shine more. That's not an excuse for him. It's just a reality. We've been a bit static in the attack. It hasn't just been about him or because of him. And now that we're more dynamic, suddenly it starts to make sense. Now that you've got him and Martinelli's running out of defense because there's a bit of space behind us, suddenly it makes sense.

53:22Now you've got Havertz getting into interesting pockets and somebody can knock a ball in behind and just a bit of chaos. He starts to look like it makes more sense. and we've got other options to start and bring him off the bench, started to make a lot of sense. I mean, overall, this was a very mature and professional performance. Can I just hold you on that? Can I hold you on the clock? Yeah, sure. I think the key thing is proximity. Look at all his best games. He had a partner. And it's very simple. The Burnley game, he had Eze. The Newcastle game, he had Eze behind him. Recently, he's come into our minds.

54:01Why? Because he's got Havertz. he just needed proximity before that he had Marino yeah thank you Paul I wasn't sure I was looking for the game just now I couldn't see which one he just needs proximity to take and as soon as he has that he becomes a different player and so I think there were physical issues there were overplaying issues and he had to do things when other people weren't there but his best games have come normally away from home with proximity of another player around him what's really happened recently now he started to play well at home and have an impact at home, which is interesting because a lot of teams disappear.

54:36Okay, this game was slightly different in the game state. But proximity of that 9 and 10 role, I'm sorry to bang on about it, but I think it's critical for our season. I really do. And how we manipulate that. And for me, this is where we're evolving beautifully. And he's become a beneficiary of it. And I am gutted Mourinho's not here. Absolutely gutted. In fact, I think Mourinho would have started this game. Havers would have sat down. and Marino would have played in this game because he's better defensively and he's just as good in the air. Or a midfielder, second striker type thing. And we've got to look after Havertz, right?

55:10He's so important. So if Marino was fit, I think he sits this game. You know, and so that's it. But Jokeres, definitely, definitely, he's on his way. He's on his way. He scored the most goals this year, Phil. I read something. He scored the most goals in the league this year. Well, maybe goal involvement of anybody. Maybe, maybe Harland scored. so maybe that's changed but yeah it's really exciting to have this play and I sort of tweeted out yesterday we've we've finally found our Franny Jeffers right we've finally found him but but yeah I'm just so pleased please I mean I agree with you after the the goalless draws in January and the defeat to United I was ready to lean back into Marino and Eza being the the front two for example because Havertz wasn't quite there yet Jesus wasn't quite there yet so I was recognizing that we played better with someone closer to the center forward which we haven't needed to do in the past because Kai Havertz can do everything you know and I agree with you I think it's nice that we've managed to find a way to get him positive and in good areas and taking shots again because that's his USP I don't need him to be dropping and linking play anymore I need him to be in the box whacking shots so hopefully that this can be the the sort of line in the sand and the change moving forward.

56:28Like I said before, professional win against a relegated team. Sunderland will take points off people. They have taken points off people this year. You know, they gave us a good go in that first half, but we sort of flexed our muscles in the second. And just quickly before we move on, I think Trossard is worth a mention because I thought he was great in this game in a more creative role. He was starting from the left, but you could see very early on that he was given license to roam. He was drifting out to the right, dropping deep to pick up the ball in central areas. He was whacking Diags out to the left.

56:58And when he was on the left, he gave Mokiele and Hume a difficult game with those twisty turny runs that make life difficult for defenders, even without that raw pace to create separation. And just running through a few stats from the game, 70 touches, eight progressive carries, nine shot creating actions, four key passes, three shots. I mean, that's a hell of a sheet, right? And I think in the absence of Erdegaard, Saka and even Eze. He was our technical reference point in the final third. And I think he did a great job of bringing some edge to a more functional front line. Obviously, he played a big part in the second goal.

57:36And I just really hope this injury isn't too serious. We don't know much about it yet at the moment, whether it was cramp or an actual muscle issue. But I was really impressed with him and Paul. You know, there was an argument for him being our player of the first half of the season, but he hit a bit of a wall, came out of the team looked back to his best again yesterday is this what we need to do with him activate angry trossard leave him on the bench so he's miserable and then comes back with a massive i told you so on my forehead because that's when he seems to have the motivation to play really well and i just love how he's really stepping up not only in the final third but defensively his game has come on unbelievably well yeah well either it's angry trossard or it's They gave him a blank check to do what he wanted to do because 90 seconds into this game, he's in the right back spot creating.

58:26And like generally you'll see that our king for progressive passes and progressive carries is Rice. But this is the Trossard game. He's off the charts in, you know, chances, increasing probability of attacking chances. It's all trossard. He's all over the place, especially the first half where I think we needed to get things going. He's popping up on the right-hand side. He's on the right wing. I'm like, and I keep thinking, well, maybe it's because it was, you know, a set piece. that sometimes you'll see everybody swapped around their sides off a set piece or a corner or something like that. No, it was open play.

59:09He had license to roam. So probably what you need is Odegaard and Saka not on the pitch. And Arteta says, well, I need a joker in the pack. I need Trossard. Go do your thing. Go be where you need to be. What I love about him is his defense. He didn't get yanked off at like 70, 75 minutes because we need to defend. like he matches Martinelli these days in his defensive seriousness and intensity and the smallest guy on the pitch very often but low center gravity and he uses it really well to defend against attacking players pretty much nobody gets past him like you're not going to twist and turn trossard if if you're in our uh kind of back back corner near the the corner flag Like, you're not getting past him.

1:00:00You're not going to trick your way past the byline. He celebrates tackles he makes. That's the stuff that keeps you on the pitch. And obviously, it's something Eze is working on. But if you want a kind of a template for what you want to do if you're Eze, it's like, look at what Trossard did when he joined this team. He was the creative player you get off after 60, 70 minutes when he starts. Not anymore. you know okay if you can bring on hincapier and that's appropriate for that stage of the game because they're going to be floating in eyeballs but you might well just leave him on make a sub somewhere else where you feel a little more vulnerable um i he's so impressive and i didn't think his quiet spot recently like i certainly saw it talked about i just thought sometimes you get a run of games like that two or three where not really your time to shine i thought he was okay recently I didn't think I didn't wasn't looking at him thinking oh he's lost or his head's not there he's not focused or he's physical I just thought sometimes you get two or three games where you go from being the guy to not being the guy so much and this was a game where they gave him a blank check and and he spent it I mean I think they gave him a blank check in the summer as well which might have helped I mean Clive sometimes in football you need an adult in the room and I feel like he brought that sense of maturity and security in his game from the moment he stepped into the club how valuable are these types of players if you want to win things and I include Marino in this kind of bracket as well yeah the squad balance is lovely and in this game I have been a little bit the second side you know we all watched it we watched the players didn't we we all want them to be in great form all the time and he's just flat and just given some six and a half out of 10.

1:01:50No massive mistakes there anywhere, just a little bit flat. But yesterday I honestly feel from the first second that game whistle went he was different. And he was bouncing around and creating movements and he's got clear patterns of play. So he does the old spin long come short receive. He does the old spin short go long in behind. He's got loads of different shuffle moves. He's got the nutmeg pass inside so players know when he gets it out there they start to run off him now and they trust him to find him so he's got like 10 moves and he brings them out every single game you know it's brilliant to watch it's like um it's honestly it's brilliant to watch and he's just got a lovely little third man run past and Califiori or Reistie on the end of it Havertz got the end of one in this game obviously and he's just so so wise so wise and head up and he just looks a really good footballer And the Sunderland home game, one of my favourite goals, my favourite goal of last season was the Gabriel header at Spurs.

1:02:55My favourite goal of this season was to trust our short Sunderland. Because it's almost like we just sort of, we don't really do that. You know, roofing the net from outside the box. And I just thought it was brilliant. And he just, he's delivering. And when we come to pick our first 11s in the crunch games later in the season, that's what these players are playing for now. That's why the bench is springing around like two-year-olds. They're thinking, when it gets hot, I want to be in the team. I like this squad thing. I'm on the boat. I love it. But, mate, when it comes to the big ones, make sure you pick me.

1:03:32And that starts now. And Josh said, well, I'm not going to get left out. He's looking quite good. They say, I want to play. And he's running around, sprinting around, pressing the game. I hope this is going to lift our performance levels. and come Brentford on Thursday night, mate, we'll all be watching keenly, won't we? That this continues. Yeah, crunch time. Yeah, really good result. I thought we had a couple of really good individual performances. Jokeres with a brace, another clean sheet, which is important. That's two in a row now. So yeah, really, really good day at the office, I think, for the team, for the group.

1:04:07There's a good feeling around what we're doing at the moment after that little blip in January. Even though we're not playing until Thursday and the gap could be reduced to three points by then, because Manchester City play Fulham before us. Let's finish with a quick preview of the Brentford game because I think this could be a really tough night for Arsenal, actually. Obviously, we're in a great position. We've given ourselves maybe some leeway to have a bad day, but again, it's entirely dependent on that Man City result. But Brentford are actually in better form than us points-wise over the last six games, and we'll be looking to cause a big upset at home.

1:04:38I mean, I think they deserve so much credit as a club for how they've handled this season, having lost Thomas Frank. uh their captain christian norgaard and 39 league goals in the form of joan wisser and brian and burmo all in one summer so that's four key references and they were many people's favorites to go down with a set piece coach taking his first senior role in keith andrews but they're not only surviving but thriving um up in the table i mean i don't know if any of today's results impacted anything but they were seventh when i was looking yesterday um i'll have a quick look now and see where they are.

1:05:12Okay, they're still seventh. So it's gone like better than anyone could have imagined there. They've only lost twice at home all season. They beat Newcastle on Saturday. They came from behind to beat them as well. So it's difficult. This is a difficult league and the teams that you'd normally look at on the team sheet and say, oh, we should be able to beat them away from home. It's not so easy. They've beaten Villa, United, Liverpool and Newcastle at home this season. So we're going to have to have our wits about us. And I think Keith Andrews deserves credit too, because last year there were a back three team playing direct vertical football.

1:05:47They had the wing backs pushing forward. Obviously they were playing with, with Umbermo and Wisser who were looking to get in behind all the time. He's just tweaked things slightly. They're using a back four now. They, they use Igor Thiago as the reference point. And then, and then they've got the flyers either side, usually Kevin Sharda and, and Watara. Thankfully for us, Sharda is suspended. Um, but Clive, same rules apply. Saka is out. Odegaard is out where do you think Arteta goes with the team I'd be very surprised if it's not Jokeres and Havertz up front together again it'll be Jokeres and somebody we'll see what that second player looks like I think after the result Liverpool City result I think you want to make sure you do your job yeah and so and we've got Wigan on the Sunday I believe so there's going to be a lot of changes so there are some tanks that are going to get emptied and maybe we're a little bit fortunate having a Saturday to Thursday gap, so we can really get some rest in the people after the big Chelsea game, for example.

1:06:49And so we have a bit of a break, and we get a bit of a break of our cup draw, you know? We're going to fill out the lower tier, etc., but it's still a lower league team, so we get a bit of a break there, which we didn't get last season with Newcastle and Manchester United at this time of the year, sorry. And so, yeah, it's... Hey, look, we know this game was the one that was all in our minds. We had an inkling we'd probably be alright against Sunderland. We were quite low down the away form team, league table. But Brentford away on the Thursday night was always the one. And Brentford are a wonderful club, wonderful team, really smart thinking club, really forward thinking.

1:07:25And you just know that this is going to be a tough one. However, when we played them in the home game, we beat them sort of properly. You know, it was like, I could see that there was a gap there. And there was an acceptance from them, there's a gap. Their home crowd, night time, can be different. It's just, again, they've got nothing to lose. They're up there in the league, doing really, really well. But I think we're going to be focused. And I expect us to do it. I really do. And if we don't, oh dear. Oh no, don't say it, Clive. I expect us to do it. I saw a lovely focus in the game against Sunderland.

1:08:06I expect us to do it. I think the Manchester United game, the loss, you know, was sort of important. We could have drew against Manchester United and then drawn against Leeds. We'd have one point less than we'd have now. I think the loss has refocused people. It maybe took some of the tension away. I didn't feel the tension in the ground against London again. It wasn't the same. It was actually quite joyous. And I just think, you know, until, you know, I think that's going to continue. But let's see how we start. I think it's very important to start with our energy and impose ourselves on them.

1:08:44Really be physical, strong, knowing what they want to do, but really say no. If you're Arsenal and you've waited 22 years to get to a league title and you've got to go to Brentford away to really solidify your title charge, mate, just go and do it. Seriously, go and do it. I have no regrets. I think we'll do it. I think we'll be fine. I mean like Sunderland Brentford are a physical team as well you know I mentioned they've got Igor Thiago leading the line but Watara, pacey runner who likes to get in behind, Kayode really solid right back they've got Christopher Ayer at the back, Sepp Vandenberg so there's a lot of height in this team there's a lot of intensity Paul what kind of game are you expecting against Brentford and how do you think Arsenal will set up tactically considering we maybe expected Sunderland to be a bit different or play a bit differently than how they actually did are we just going to go in with our own plan or are we going to tailor things a little bit for them yeah i think uh sunderland will have been good practice it might although that was our home game there you know benford can sit in a bit they can they have a mid block they like to hit you with runners on the counter they like to hit the wings but we're kind of set up to handle counters and teams like to hit you on the break and like to hit the wings if Calafiore is fit Timber is fit um or two big lads down the middle would you play Calafiore or Incappy uh depends on what I think like I wouldn't play this weekend's Calafiore but I might play next Thursday we didn't talk about him but he had a bit of a shocker to be fair yeah he was just very rusty right so it depends it depends glive if i'm arteta and what i'm seeing on the practice pitch is oh he's back to his levels then i'd play that califiori um because you need that you know you need to be able to cover the left back spot but you also need to be able to have the joker in the pack effect that a fully fit and firing califiori gives you so you have that bit of devilment in your attack.

1:10:58But based on what we saw this weekend, yeah, you're probably right. You probably lean towards Hincapier and kind of make sure you got that covered, maybe give Timber a little bit more license to get forward. But, you know, with Havertz in the mix, I think we're going to do better against mid blocks. It's definitely going to be a game for patience. you could go the first half without us getting the goal we're looking for him but we've got to be patient we can handle them they like their set pieces too and the long froze so it could be a bit of a set piece duel it's not going to be an easy game

1:11:45is that good for me out? that's true I mean the reporting I read was that he's being readied for Spurs on the 22nd which is quite a way away but maybe you've heard something else in a WhatsApp I watched the press conferences and he said he's back very soon very very soon and with my bias and hope and optimism I'm thinking well that's Brentford so let's see I think I'm hoping he'll be back anyway I think we've got scope to change both the fullbacks to be honest I would be tempted to bring in in Capier and I would be tempted to play Ben White because with Sharder missing they've got Keane Lewis Potter out there who I don't think is as physical I don't think he's as pacey and I think we could use Ben White in the final third so I think we've got scope to to change both of the fullbacks up to be honest I don't know if you agree Clive or well I watched in Capier come on yesterday and Califuri lost his GPS mate I don't know where he was passing to, he lost it and then couldn't find anybody which is very unlike him because he can just pass the ball and move the ball and if he hasn't got a pass he just runs it there so giving the ball away is not really something that he does, it's actually quite surprising and when he got substituted he had the ump with himself and Cappy came on and just gave us loads of forward movement and thrust and sometimes the game suits you and he's really growing on me big time and And I'm not bothered.

1:13:11You know, I think with White Tire out there, I'm thinking the sharper player, you know, but that's just, it doesn't really matter because when he's on it, everyone's following him rather than following in the wing that sort of thing. So, but yeah, I was surprised Ben White didn't start yesterday. I would have preferred Timber to play this game. But Phil, I think you're right. I think Ben White, if everything's okay, because he hasn't had a second, if everything's okay, go with him. Was he on the bench the other day? He was, wasn't he? Yeah, so against Chelsea, he didn't come on because we didn't change anything against Chelsea in the back four.

1:13:45And so against Sunderland, I don't think he came on, did he? Unless I was in the toilet. No, he didn't. He was on the bench though. He's on the bench, yeah. I saw him warming up. So if he's all right, then it will be good to freshen that situation up and have a different face. Because I think Malewake may need a little bit of help. Malewake, what I've noticed from watching him, he's very young and he plays young super talented super physical super quick but he's quite young and inexperienced in those critical moments and so he's a little bit a little bit like that so having somebody that's right next to him that can go around him sort of sympathize it for him a little bit and so I quite like that partnership so Timber's a bit harder to read Timber and Saka are great together like twins they attack together they defend together and they share everything but the Malewake white thing I think that's got a bit more potential so I'm with you Phil we should change it there I mean I wouldn't be against it I think in terms of the opposition and who is available I think we've got scope to do it I would go again with Havertz and Jochores if Havertz is fit enough to be able to do it I just feel we've we've sort of struck gold a little bit now with this formation we've left some of the issues that were in that 4-3-3 we didn't quite have the balance right a couple of people didn't really know where to stand and where to receive the ball but now we've got complete clarity and I don't know if it's going to be our story for the rest of the season but it might just be our story for now so I think we should stick with that and otherwise I think look today was a blow right we all feel it I think it was really disappointing to see Liverpool lose that and more importantly to see City win it that's a big psychological boost for them because I think any even a draw today would have been a huge uphill battle for them eight points behind we gave ourselves a security blanket um so it's a blow right but we have to do our job Brentford away is going to be a difficult game let's be honest the gap is most likely going to be three points by the time we play on Thursday everyone's going to be watching us on Thursday night so can we go again can the group go again and I think we we've shown that we can we've shown that we bounce back from defeats very well this year.

1:15:57And I think, look, back-to-back clean sheets, back-to-back wins after the United defeat is very good. So yeah, just take a breath. Get this game out of your system. That feels like a good place to finish. As always, we'll have an instant reaction for you after the game on Thursday and some content, hopefully, to keep you ticking over before that. I'm not sure what that content is yet. Maybe an Elliot solo pod because he can't help himself or a One Club episode after the women's brilliant 1-0 win today against City. so congratulations to them so if you're not already signed up to the patreon try us out extra content is always good content um otherwise all that's left for me to do is thank the guys clive always a pleasure chatting thank you very much thanks paul from me and the dogs the double a double thank you and that's kicked everybody off my name is phil costa and thanks for putting up with me for this episode you'll probably be sick of me by the end of this week but don't worry Elliot will be back soon I don't have him tied up in my basement or anything and then everything will be back up to normal but otherwise thanks as always for listening we love you and we will talk to you after Arsenal 10 Brentford New

1:17:25The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.