Headlines, Stock Rising and Stock Falling From the Season So Far

38:25And then the squad moved around a little bit. Alex Owobe moved out. Things changed. And he got in at a winger. And the rest is history. Miles is already way ahead for his age. You look at someone like Rico Lewis as lauded as being an incredible player for Manchester City. And Miles had more minutes than him last season and has roughly, I think, more minutes in all comps this season than Rico Lewis. Just for comparison, I think someone in a group chat had mentioned that to me. So I think Miles is ahead of schedule. I don't know that even Miles would have thought, I'm going to be a star player and an England starter at 18.

38:57So he is now resetting the timing and resetting the expectations a little bit and relearning, but he is learning inside of the best club in the world at present in my mind to be doing that where the best interests of him in his career are being carefully guarded and where I do confess that maybe I'm being a bit of a Pollyanna is that in Capier coming in means that there are now three options for left back and it is my belief that that signing more than any maybe signals that left back is not necessarily what Mikel wants for Miles long-term regularly, although I could be wrong. But I would simply say that he is ahead of schedule developmentally in terms of where our expectations for this player might have been just 12 months ago, including himself, right?

39:45Including where his expectations might have been for him. And so he's made huge leaps. He's burst onto the global scene. He's burst onto the club scene. He's burst onto his national team scene. And now he's going to take some time to develop and improve. And he's going to play and he's going to play in key situations. but where his future goes from here will almost certainly be positive based on his talent. At the same time, Paul, where I will agree with you is a 19-year-old who's breaking out needs one thing more than anything, minutes. They need minutes, no matter how great it is to train with the best players in the world.

40:20This is the time of your career where nothing is as valuable as minutes at the top level. And if you can't get access to minutes, then all the great things that happened last season might be undone by not being able to develop. So Arsenal Football Club's job is not to develop Myles Lewis Skelly, it's to win trophies. But for Myles Lewis Skelly's development, minutes are going to be crucial. And this is where I think you're correct, is that his path to minutes looks a lot more complicated at this point in time. Yeah. So as you say that, I'd say it's still their job to give him time, to give him minutes.

40:53But to your point, maybe Mikel Arteta is not going to play you because you're young he's going to play you because you're the best player available at that particular moment in a game or for the next game coming up or because he needs to rotate and he needs players of high level so nobody's getting a freebie because they're young and we want to develop you so I think that's exactly right and again to underline the fact that this is not about form he's still in form last season was not an aberration We've seen it when he's played this season. That dribble against Atletico Madrid, which basically, you know, that was the dagger through the heart for them.

41:33That was the point at which they knew they were cooked. He was literally running up the pitch with the chef's hat on, carrying a big pot like Ratatouille, cooking them. I mean, it was just an unbelievable moment. He's got it. He's still got really clever passes in the attacking line where you're like, oh wow he actually can do all of that uh the califiori stuff he can he runs in behind he'll run in on goal and threaten the goal like he needs to do more of it but he's got it it's not like he's a guy who can defend and he do a bit of midfield he's not you know he's not zinchenko is just good at the midfield bit he's got all three phases of the game but he needs maturity presence he needs to bring it more like nobody can deny califiori comes with presence in every game so it's just he's done phenomenal for a guy his age so i i fully agree with your assessment that like his best times in years are ahead of him and will be at arsenal football club yeah and and so i'm i'm being a little bit uh argumentative for the sake of the conversation but to be fair paul of course his stock is falling in the sense that his circumstance is less advantageous than it was last season but i think we both agree that on talent there and on age there's still a lot of time which is why like the ben white thing for me i'm not going to pick him but i would simply say ben white's in the absolute prime of his career and he should just be somewhere where he's the first choice option because he's that good now you could say the future of football is shifting such that the best players will be content to be squad players at the big clubs versus starters at the smaller clubs it may shift that way because there's so many minutes to share around um but i thought it was noteworthy that ben white did not get the slavia prog game um that was that was weird to me because it just feels like timber's a player who could have used arrest ben white is more than good enough for that game and the fact that he didn't get that game it didn't even get on that early in that game was was noteworthy and then didn't get on in the sunderland game when maybe you could have said well let's bring him on for sack or something and reinforce the wings.

43:44Doesn't it make you think that there's something around niggles or full fitness? He's fit enough to be on the bench. He's fit enough to play, but he's not right where he would want to be fitness-wise or they would want to be. Let's never forget, yeah, that Ben White played through injury for the better part of a season and damaged himself in so doing, and I just sort of wonder if he's ever gotten fully right. That is a fair question. I hate to speculate on it because it could be viewed as a convenient excuse, but it's certainly a fair question. And we've seen flashes of brilliance from him again this season in small amounts, but we've also seen the physical pop you see, the difference when Timber's on versus when White's on.

44:23Because the thing he had to his rep was his relationship with Odegaard and Saka. So maybe when they're back and you see a little bit more of his – I still don't think that makes him better than Timber on the pitch, but it may draw him up to a level where there are games where you say, okay, this is a Ben White game. We've got Saka, we've got Odegaard. We want to do that thing over on the right-hand side. We get Ben White in. He's got his physical levels up. He's kind of right there, nip and tuck with Timber. It's hard to see him pushing past Timber at this stage, but he could get to where it's more parity because Odegaard and Saka are back.

44:58We'll see it when we see it. Maybe Timber's got that too because that was the knock against Timber was he didn't have that same attacking understanding or maybe even capability, and i think we've changed i've changed my mind on that i always thought actually i always thought that was coming you could see it building with him and now i think it's there but he's not going to have that same kind of chemistry with odegaard and sack and maybe he just develops a different chemistry with them yeah yeah all right so i owe a stock falling before we shift to the clive conversation it's always dangerous when you step outside of talking about your own club on these podcasts because we don't watch others as closely but i don't have other than the kind of cluster that you mentioned i don't really have one other than arna slott's liverpool project i mean it is the clearest stock falling of the season in my view i mean to have a losing streak like he's had with that team after winning the title last season the amount of discontent that you see there in terms of his type of football.

46:07Clearly, he kept a steady hand on the wheel last season and has decided he wants to change what Liverpool is this season. And that transition is going about as poorly as it can go. A 3-0 loss to City was pretty embarrassing, but they have been 96-minute winners away from being much further down the table. They are level on points with Manchester United. They're, what, two points or three points up on Everton. There's no way to know how many points up there on Everton. So we'll just have to speculate because I'm not going to open a window to actually look at the table. The pursuit of Izak following the signing of Eketike is hard to understand.

46:45To go past 100 million pounds on a player who was in a contentious situation with Newcastle, who has had fitness issues, who is clearly an extraordinarily talented player, when you are staring down the barrel of a center back crisis and you don't have the solidity in midfield, when you've gone for wingbacks as fullbacks as your signings, and you've lost one of the most unique talismanic players in the league's history in Trent. The whole project, the way Trent has been received, the booing of him when he came back, slot going on the losing streaks, Ezek not making an impact in their season yet, Vert's not working out.

47:22And sometimes you can look really dumb, but everybody who questioned Liverpool's squad building has looked smart. The fullbacks don't seem to make a lot of sense. The midfield doesn't seem to have a lot of solidity. They're relying on aging center backs, and they don't have much behind it. And all of those things have proven to be a problem for them. Kanate looks done. I mean, it sounds crazy to say, but he's just, he's a shell of himself. They didn't get Gehi. They may have to go again in January, but is FSG going to go big again? That's not traditionally been how they do it. Now, you could say, no, no, no, no, no, you're thinking about this wrong.

47:53The season was always going to be bumpy. They won a title last season. What they're thinking is Salah is going to go. Van Dijk is going to go. and they're going to be a back three team with Karakaz and Frimpong, you know, steaming up the wings as wingbacks and Ekotike and Izak playing up front in a two. And maybe that's the future and maybe that future is a path to green. But football doesn't wait for anyone. And if they have a massively disappointing season this season, which they're already on pace to do, I don't think that there's going to be a lot of forgiveness for that. So this is the season I think everybody outside of Liverpool is going to look at slot and say, all right, now we're really going to find out what you're about and what your project is about.

48:29And so far, Paul, it's not been a positive reflection on him. And I have to say, I have time for slot. I like the way he talks about football in general. And I think he's potentially too honest. Sometimes I think he talks about football in a very clear and open way and sometimes says things maybe you shouldn't say just because of the way the narrative can be spun. But what do you think of the idea that Liverpool's project is a clear stock falling because they They took a very unique and aggressive stance on how to build for the future. And right now it looks like it's not panning. Yeah. I mean, come on.

49:06They were dominant for most of last year. They were able to coast in, take the foot off the gas. They spent a absolute shitload. They broke your heart by getting rid of Trent. You seem more upset than the Liverpool. Well, I mean, they're quite upset given that they're defacing murals and booing him when he comes back, which is absolutely insane. I won't be surprised to see pictures of you out there with them. And, yeah, it's a massive fall off. They've completely flubbed the defensive line. I can't believe how they've left themselves vulnerable there. And, yeah, they've – look, Slott seems totally rattled at the moment.

49:48Generally, I've liked him as a coach, you know, trying to be as fair to him as I can be. I think he's smart. clever blah blah blah but he seems totally rattled and suddenly you know that's what i expected to see a bit more of last year and he's sometimes it's the sequencing and uh you know had last year been this year and vice versa you'd say oh yeah that makes sense but uh they got it the wrong way around so they're pretty flustered uh look they'll probably get their shit together in the second half of the season to some degree but it's a massive fall off from what was expected i mean they should have been the favorites coming into this season there's no reason they wouldn't shouldn't have been um and now they're only three points ahead of it ahead of everton i looked it up they um how did you find that information uh they lost nine times last season in all comps and you could say that some of that was during the period where to your point they had their foot off the gas i'm going to come back to that in a moment they've already lost seven times in all comps this season and eight if you count the loss to crystal palace which was another lead thrown away in the league cup um and it is definitely the sign of a team that is not performing the way you'd expect but i would argue i think the narrative that they quote took their foot off the gas at the end of last season is nonsense i think some of the cracks were starting to show.

51:15I think the fatigue of senior players, the loss of form, the defensive vulnerabilities were starting to show as the Klopp era waned, as the slot era rose, as the ages started to take their toll. And I think this season is more a continuation of that than it is a change from that. So look, no one's going to take an Arsenal podcast view on Liverpool seriously, but given what they spent and the very specific viewpoint they had in the market of how to get better, it doesn't look like it's bearing fruit. They took big stances on big spend on big players in positions where you could argue they're already strong.

51:56Luis Diaz has gone and he's become a massive figure for Bayern who look like the best team in the world if it's not Arsenal. Wurtz has come in and it hasn't worked, right? I mean, obviously we cannot talk about Liverpool without mentioning the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, which is a horrific and devastating impact on a club and certainly impacts how they're performing on the pitch at some level in their squad building. But despite that, I still think the flaws are real and long may it continue. That's all I can say. So I think we can leave it there for our instant reaction to this part of the season.

52:28You get more of this fantastic analysis after every single match over on the Patreon. We're going to go to the Clive and Elliott section now. But before we do that, I think it is absolutely paramount that I tell you that if you are hiring or want to hire, you should be using Indeed. And it's really this simple. There may be no experience on the planet today that is worse than the hiring experience, both for the candidate and for the company. The company can't find the right candidates. The candidate can't get themselves noticed for jobs where they should be noticed. Indeed helps you stop struggling to get your post seen on other sites.

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53:58Hiring Indeed's all you need, Paul. Is that enough of that? Indeed. Okay, and now I'm going to throw it to me and Clive, and here's what you're going to hear. You're going to hear the Friday Night Clive intro music because I used it for this chat, and it's so good, and you never get to hear it unless you're over there, and I think it is some of the best stuff. It's kind of a takeoff of a Saturday night show of a similar kind, and so you can see and hear that now. So here is me and Clive, and we love you, and enjoy this chat. Coming to you live from studios in Minneapolis, USA in London, England, it's Friday Night Clive.

54:41Starring Clive Palmer.

54:51and your host elliot smith

54:59it's not friday night clive but when you've got music that good it's just a pain in the ass not to use it more so i used it this is the arsenal vision postmatch podcast my name is i love that I love it. I love that intro. I think it's great and it doesn't get enough attention and it needs more. So I'm using it. I'm using it now. Clive. I could play the Clive video too, if you want.

55:24Elliot:No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. Okay. See what you wish for. Um, how are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm not bad. Actually. We had like an hour long chat leading up to this. So it's going to feel like you're talking to me. Yeah. Yeah. anybody wants i've been doing lots of training now i'm trying to get fit i'm trying to get more like muscle fit you know like stability and core and what's the workout well i'm in the gym i'm doing a bit you know what blokes are like we tend to do stuff we like doing so my chest press is quite good whereas other things that i need to do around hip flexors and and glutes i'm not so good at squatting and things like that so i gotta work i got i'm gonna balance it out you know so um my wife is now flex trainer and trust me she's ready to get me into shape i am my roommate new york accused me of only working out the muscles you can see in the mirror he's like your back your glutes he's like no no muscle there my back's a trampoline mate so yeah i'm working on it i'm working on it during covid when everybody was buying fitness equipment we picked up a rowing machine and so i row every day and i like that because i feel like i get a cardio workout but i get a little bit of you know core strength from it too so that's good that's good yeah you're good you're better than me well it doesn't take up much room that's the nice thing you don't have to have like a whole room day you know if you have a treadmill saying that could take up a lot of room these rowing machines are they're pretty small yeah i've got one i've got everything i've got all the gear mate i've got a row machine i've got what bike all in the garage sitting there great to hang clothes on unbelievable yeah we have a bike that has one pedal missing and has basically since the day we got it never even attached that pedal that one was not a good decision I don't like the bike anyway hello patrons by the way love you for being here thanks for being here we're going to do a second half rewatch of the Sunderland game before we do that not a lot of bits and bobs going on Clive a couple of little bits and pieces I guess we could talk about Sky wanted to report that clubs are sniffing around for Miles Lewis Skelly.

57:27I mean, it's weird, right? Because that doesn't strike me as real. And I know Hand of Arsenal had gone on socials and said, this is nonsense. I do think the Miles Lewis Skelly situation is at least one worth keeping an eye on in terms of trajectory, just because he now has two young, talented, senior professionals potentially ahead of him, depending on how you see the hierarchy at left back. He was brought up as a midfielder. Outside of Zubomendi, Our other quote-unquote six is, you know, a guy who isn't long for the club. So do you think there could be a positional change to find him more opportunities?

58:00What do you think his path to playing time looks like?

58:03Elliot:See, on the Arsenal Vision podcast, we tend to think more deeply, don't we, Elliot? Some people on the Arsenal Vision podcast tend to think more deeply. So let's think this through together, right? So if you're – I think it's quite clear to me. I don't care what Man City do. We have the best squad and we are tooled up to have a really good go at the title this year. and if anything we need to be destabilized so how what are the ways to destabilize us that are unique to us we haven't won a title since island afro 21 years right so basically we're in a situation where the mentality when it comes to winning time is going to be tested right we have the deepest squad we've ever had it's not super deep compared to what man city have had in the past what Chelsea have right now but due to the success of our bodies and how they've integrated on top of the youth talent that we have on top of the group that we had last season we have real quality depth you know quality depth and everyone can see it and we have a framework and a style of play which suits the players we have we're not doing Liverpool trying to integrate children into into their fullback areas and into the number 10 position and getting pushed all over the pitch we haven't got that problem you know the league style is coming towards us rather than going away from us so we haven't got that problem so the problem is you're going to destabilize our soul one stay close test the mentality two attack their players try to buy their players because see if we can test dressing room happiness let's test it out right because at the moment we're winning everything's good when we're losing and people are not playing then what's it going to be like right so the test is to come and it's all going to be emotional tests and mentality tests before you can get to individual cases of a 19 year old that's played for england score for england that a year and a half ago none of us could see him in our first team let alone england's world cup squad you know so things move very fast in football as for Ethan, superstar, started at 15, 17, playing regular due to injury.

1:00:14Elliot:Now we have injuries in forward areas, Elliot, and Ethan is still on reduced minutes. So these are the challenges of football. About two years ago, mate, Zinchenko was one of my most favorite players. I'm thinking, well, you've transformed us. I could never see you being out of this team. I watched him play for Forest the other day. He didn't last the game, injured again. And I realized how much we've moved forward. We were carrying that resource in our club and expecting to win the league. That's how fast things change. So things will change back for those young players. They just need to relax, take their time, and maybe slow down and develop.

1:00:58The thing that happens, I think, when a young player breaks into the team at a young age, that sets the bar of expectation for how much they'll play where they are in their development and any kind of reset of expectations feels like a demotion or a disappointment right but at 18 or 19 years old when you're at a club that's competing for the champions league and the premier league it's okay to have a thousand minute season you know what i mean it's okay to to to be in and out but you're training with the best players in the world you're developing your skill set do you i guess one angle of this reporting though is that thomas tuchel has owned some responsibility for unsettling a 19 year old kid at the club that raised him by sort of saying he needs to play more if he wants to be in the england squad and this that and the other thing and i look i get the england manager is responsible for england not for arsenal but it may not be the best look i wonder if you think he should be rethinking how he speaks about this in light of the fact that it's a young player at the club that raised him yeah well

1:01:58Elliot:Tushel is a very good manager, but he can be clumsy with his words. Look what he said about Jude Bellingham a few months ago, saying his behaviour was, paraphrasing, disgusting, blah, blah, blah. He had to retract that. But he's setting up his selection criteria, which is his right as a manager. Now, Nico O 'Reilly's come in. He's a good player. Personally, I'm not sure if he's left back. He was number 10 playing for Man City, much like Miles was a six-stroke eight playing left back. so we can't say too much there he's a bit taller but i trust me let's see how this one develops shall we in that position um but yeah miles is not getting the same as nico i think he started the last seven or eight games right so so he's ahead if that's tushel's selection criteria then absolutely fine from our perspective now from a mild perspective he he needs to hold hold station and be really robust to the messages and the noise that's out there.

1:02:59Elliot:When he came into the team, there was all the red card stuff, the attitude stuff. He managed to go through that. He then plays for England, delivers. Then suddenly, the summer comes along, and I also find a checkbook, and they've got, and Califiori finds a calf. And suddenly, we're in a, he's thinking, hold on, things have changed very much for me now. because of the nature of Sparta Prague and Cappy played that game. Absolutely the right decision in my opinion. Now people say he's third choice. Well, who's going to play second centre-back when Gabriel eventually doesn't play a game? So he's in that group of four left footers for the left half of our defence.

1:03:40Elliot:And he, shock horror, is the one that's probably last. And shock horror, he's the youngest, most least experienced. Yeah. in the most elite environment you can possibly get, you know, within with a group of other clubs in Europe. Yeah. I think sometimes you forget how far you've come and where you are. And we just need to chill. I think there's an interesting tension that's going to develop. This is not related to miles. This is more broadly in football at the big clubs. The only way you're going to win things in the modern football environment with the fixture list that's piling up is to have a deep squad.

1:04:18it's the only way you're going to win yeah and deep good squad right a deep good well yes a deep good squad traditionally players have not wanted to be second or heaven forbid third choice so i think there's going to be an interesting tension clive and this might bring parity into football in some ways which is the best biggest clubs will need to be two and three deep at some positions to survive the fixture list that they have and players are going to have to decide if 1500 minutes at madrid or arsenal or city or bayern munich is what they want on a top club wage or if they'd rather get 3 000 minutes at bournemouth and like that is going to change because realistically especially if the club world cup is gonna as i'm sure it will become an every summer thing and you know internationals aren't going to go away and we've got nations league here to stay.

1:05:14And then the clubs want to play league cup, FA cup champions league and, and, and league Clive, as long as that stays the situation, the kind of squad arsenal built is the kind of squad you're going to need. I mean, shit, look at the squad we built and we're still struggling to get the right number of players on the, on the pitch available for games. So how do, how do you think this will balance players expectation for playing time balanced against the fact that the biggest clubs are going to start to demand to be two and three deep at key positions i think it's something that culture is going to

1:05:46Elliot:have to change in sport you know um squads and starting and finishing games i mean you know i'm gonna you know i love my rugby right so the england rugby team was announced today for new zealand at the weekend and basically there's a player called tom curry he's a back row forward we say and basically he's up for world player a year he's fantastic player plays for lions a lot he's on the bench he's on the bench because last autumn they lost three games in the last 25 minutes of those games by about one score so this autumn they've kept a strong bench and they've won their game so far so there's a complete different strategy now that's rugby it's different but they have seven or eight south coming but now and they they really are focusing on finishing finishing with strength and power for it's coming to football it really is but every single one of those players in our squad have been defining themselves on starting 11s and minutes played minutes played at the end of the game at this moment in time don't feel as good as minutes played at the start of a game yeah that needs to change because where the game is going it's becoming you use a great word every day you was better than words than me attritional the game is becoming so attritional we have to be ahead of it and i think we are we have to go again we have to go again and say to people you're a really good player but i need to fight with them for the first half of this game and i want you to come on miles and pick their pockets do you mean can he accept that you know can because you can't make yourself six foot three to defend a six foot five center for center forward but you can come on once we've seen him off to pick their pockets is that acceptable you know and i think this is where we have to go culturally as football players and football people when we don't see someone not start we our twitter phone our phones go mad didn't they you know so um we're not there yet are we no we're we're definitely not and it the the irony is the the case study the test subject might be arsenal because arsenal are the team in world football right now that are two and three deep at every position with players that would have every right to expect to start at most clubs and it's going to be a test case to see if those players remain happy on their excellent top club wage in their role as a member of the squad versus first name on the team sheet and liverpool by the way developing a little of that with like the eka tk isak thing there's already been weird noises there but with kai and york rest we're going to see there will be interest in germany for a kai if he can stay fit there will be interest in miles as there should be one of the most talented young players in world football like these scenarios, Nani Maduike, we love him.

1:08:35We're excited for him. We haven't seen as much as we might like, but is Nani going to be comfortable being behind Leo and Eze or behind Saka? We will be the test case for this over the next couple of seasons.

1:08:47Elliot:We will, but I think it's part of our improved squad management and improved efficiency in the market. For example, we've had a deep squad, but if you've got Tomiyasu in your squad, your squad's not deep. do you see what I mean if you've got Sinchenko with paper cards your squad's not deep you know this is the thing we've so we've now replaced Tomiyasu with up to now robust Mosquera and suddenly everyone's going whoa look at Arsenal's defense because they've seen Mosquera play they're thinking flipping hell I've even I said to you what I'm one IR I didn't know he came on in one game because he looks like he came on at halftime and it took like 10 minutes to notice Well, I just come back from the bar and I went, hold on, where's Saliba?

1:09:30Elliot:I mean, literally, I didn't notice. He looks so, his stature looks so good. I didn't see Elliot. I didn't see. And that tells you where we are. You know, you can come on at Anfield and do what he did. It's quality of depth. I had a comment say to me, Clive, deep squads is nothing new. Do you know that? And I said, yeah, but deep, having a Mosquera and a Saliba for right centre-half, that's new. Yeah. 121, 124. Both contractually signed up for five years. That's scary. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially one last thing before we get into the Sunderland game. There's a report that Martin Odegaard is going to Norway to be with his national team, which he's obviously an important figure for.

1:10:16And they have important games.

1:10:18Elliot:Yeah. But obviously not playing. He will continue his rehab there. Yeah. I guess I have a two part question. One is, do you have any issue with him doing this? Two is, does the fact that he's doing this suggest to you he might be further away in his return than we might otherwise think? I don't think he's back for the Spurs game. Yeah, I agree. I also think sometimes you've got to say to yourself, you know what, this is very important for Norway. They haven't qualified for tournament for a while. He's their David Beckham. He's their skipper. He's their golden boy. And for him to be there is really important for them, the players and obviously for him if they do qualify then suddenly maybe next april international break you know i mean lads can we keep him because we're trying to win the champions league and the premier league for the first time in 22 years can we keep him and i don't think there'll be much issue do you see what i mean and that's how you that's how you work it you know i'm sure they've got physios out there and they get training plans are exchanged etc etc I think it's been very important for his mentality.

1:11:26Elliot:And I hope to see that favor return when we're trying to win the big ones. That actually raises a question. Do you worry at all, let's say we're four points clear in April or two points clear in April at the top of the table and in the late rounds of the Champions League and that World Cup is coming. And suddenly a couple of these players who have been fine being a part of the Arsenal group start to worry about their World Cup dreams slipping and they're starting to get anxious about that. Could the World Cup, could the impending World Cup play a role, if not at Arsenal, at other clubs as well, just in terms of those last couple months of the season as players' minds start to wander towards, you know, the biggest footballing tournament that exists?

1:12:05Elliot:I think if the mentality you said are side of things I've already spoken to, and that's one aspect of it, I do think the World Cup will play a part, but i also concerned about not concerned we've often spoken about our selling strategy haven't we and i feel this buying strategy is the first stage of our selling strategy because we'll soon find out who's comfortable within the environment we'll soon find out who's comfortable with their minutes our play style may have changed moved away from certain players and towards other players and some players may feel as though they don't fit any longer they used to fit now and suddenly i I'll just give an example.

1:12:48Elliot:Say Ben White, for example. We all love Ben White. He's contractually signed up. He will kill for us. He'll kill for us. You know when he's out on that pitch? He may say, you know what? I'm not playing as much as I want to. And I'm going to give an example. Don't bite my head off. But Manchester United could do with a versatile, multifunctional defender that can play right back, but could also play in the centre-back in the three or two. And they're going to offer me the same money and a five-year contract. and I'm going to play this single week. What does he do? Yeah. What does he do? Now, we're not going to give him away for a set of track suits and a set of balls.

1:13:25Elliot:So what does he do? And this is where we're going. Now, Timber's ascension will drive our selling strategy. Do you know what I mean? And there's a couple of young defenders in France, who I've seen, that could stand in that position, no problem at all. So this is part of the evolution of the game. It's a much easier decision to make if he's got men in his back pocket. But I think it's just something that happens. You know what can happen? Suddenly we just change our style slightly. Odegaard comes back in and we like the Odegaard-Ben White-Saka thing and suddenly we move away. Anything can happen in football.

1:14:00Elliot:Anything can happen. So it's about being ready for the opportunity, taking it. I thought his last performance was better, the best one I'd seen. He looked better in himself. He needs more time on the pitch to really establish himself. So, but yeah, these things change very, very quickly. Yeah. I'd be wanting to keep an eye on obviously a long way off so we can worry about that at the time. And I mean, as much as I understand how I framed it to, I think, make for the best conversation, but I think the more likely outcome is that by April we're already champions. So we don't have to worry about any of this.

1:14:32Are you worried about city? Am I worried about city? I mean, look.

1:14:39Elliot:You are about everything. I'm worried. Yeah. I'm worried about Fulham. I'm worried about all of them. I'm worried if we'll make the Europa Conference League next season. No, I mean, I would say this. Yes, City are a good side that have the best player in the world, and Holland is certainly capable of doing something for them like what Salah did for Liverpool last season, which is cover up the warts they do have enough that they're able to win games. I mean, at the end of the day, if you start every game one goal to the good, you're going to win a lot of football matches. And Holland right now means that City start every game one goal to the good, basically.

1:15:13but they are more flawed than we are would be my take on it right i we are ahead of them and we are in my view so far better than them i'll say this though and this is where i i really believe this don't let the deep squad stuff fool you you don't win shit without your best players and if we keep having to play long stretches of the season without our best players available we will not win anything you know i love mikhail marino and i love christian norgaard and i love you know nani madueke or or you know players like that i i love eza if we don't have odegaard if we don't have saka if we don't have saliba and gabby if we don't have you know kai or gilchrist one of them like then then unfortunately i got bad news for you we won't win stuff because a deep squad helps you get through those rocky periods and in this last period has managed has very very much done that but over the course of a season you have to have your best players on the pitch more often than not so that that would be my only comment but right now i see us as the best team and i see us as the best team that is already in the lead so that's a good place okay that's going to do it a little bit of a weird episode but hopefully an enjoyable episode during a time when it's kind of hard to come up with too much stuff to talk about and you can wind up getting stuck into things that really don't need the attention or you can wind up talking about nonsense so we may be erring on the side of nonsense more than anything but that's okay hopefully you'll join us over on patreon or or Apple subscriptions for the Adam Cleary podcast tomorrow, which is super exciting.

1:16:41I think you'll love that. We got more of the Cup Winners Cup content coming. So lots of stuff to keep you going over there, over here, just wherever you are. As always, we love you. We're so glad you're here. Now we keep our fingers crossed for everybody on international duty. You know, and I'm sure that'll go just fine. Thanks. Okay, let's leave it there. Back with the main pod Monday, Adam Cleary tomorrow. We love you. And we will talk to you after Arsenal 10 Spurs know.

1:17:08Take care.