Odegaard Imperious in Comfortable Champions League Win

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1:36It's Rice, what a goal! Declan Rice with an absolute rocket with a free kick! Arsenal lead 1-0! He's cut inside, Saka! Sublime finish! He's back with a bang with Bukaiusaka 1-0. Unbelievable. If the opposition were scared of us before, I wonder what they're thinking now that our captain is back. This is the Arsenal Vision Post-Match Podcast. My name's Alex Bukai. You brought me on Twitter at Yankee Gunner. Yeah, I think this Olympiacos game may not be remembered for much. As Tim has pointed out, there have been plenty of games in Champions League table and group phases down the years that we won in sort of ho-hum fashion and weren't remembered and weren't talked about.

2:15and this may wind up falling into that category, except that it might just be the Martin Odegaard game. And we're going to spend some time talking about that because he looked real good. And a real good Martin Odegaard, I think just adds a dimension, adds a layer to the onion that already was very oniony, if you know what I'm saying. I don't know what I'm saying. So just so we're clear, it's not entirely clear what I'm saying. But what I will say to you is that we did a rewatch of the Newcastle game. Over on Patreon, we did an episode that I thought was super fun because we did a piece on Howard Webb and his gaslighting on Sky.

2:50Then we did a bit on Trouble in Paradise at Liverpool. And then we did the Newcastle rewatch. Obviously, Clive was involved in this endeavor and it was brilliant. But tomorrow we have something even more special. Friday night, Clive will be preempted because I'm going to Chicago to see Paul and see the Chicago Gooners at Goonerpalooza. And if you are going to be in Chicago, come out to the globe. We posted information all over the place. But if you need to look it up, you can find the Chicago Gooners information and see us for a Q &A podcast type thing. And then there'll be celebratory partying and all kinds of good stuff for the West Ham game because West Ham at home, when has that ever gone wrong?

3:23The less said about that, the better. So tomorrow, John McKenzie, the tactical guru and Clive Palmer, also tactical guru, will be on a podcast hosted by me, not a tactical guru, to talk tactics. So I will say things like, John, your thoughts? And Clive, what would you say about that? It's gonna be great. Come join us. AVP50 is a code. You get it for a couple of quid. You can see what you think. But if you don't want to do that, just stay here. We've got great stuff for you all the way through the season, including the impending international break next week. So let's go out in style this weekend.

3:54Hope to see you in Chicago. Hope to see you over at Patreon. Happy to see you here and here now. He's Paul. Hello, Paul. Woo-hoo! How are you, man? I'm doing great. Great. This old, old school. Before we even met Tim and Clive, when it would just be you and me shouting at each other while you tried to gaslight me into thinking that francis cocklin was a great midfielder do you remember those good old days yeah though not to get into an argument with you my point was that santi cazorla plus plus francis cocklin was a great midfield it's just it's just impossible for me to disagree about anything that has a valence uh of of praise for santi cazorla so i I will simply lay down my weapon.

4:36You know the gif of Michael Jackson taking the gun tip down, just taking it down. I'm going to set down my gun on the Santee Cazorla, Francis Coughlin midfield issue because it feels less pertinent now somehow. Yeah, yeah, it does. Though maybe the more important part of your comment was back in the day when it was you and me, I always had this idea that like you were Len and I was McCartney and that we were forming the best little rock and roll band in in on the planet that was what we're trying to do with the podcast and uh we get in ringo and we get in uh george harrison and and build up our little our little pod and unfortunately over time i became george harrison and then i dropped down to ringo so i think well i mean yeah i was gonna say you and i are ringo and harrison tim or lennon and mccartney but you know honestly they all did okay well not in the end some of them but i'm not even the best drummer in the band that's my problem we've all got problems to work through um okay so so uh with that nonsense out of the way look we can see we can do waffle it's not just let's waffle some more you don't put layers on an onion that's the whole point of an onion is you peel the layers off yeah well to be fair injuries have been peeling layers off our onion but now we are getting back to full fitness i really enjoyed fucking huge onion sorry that sure uh i really enjoyed the moment uh during the game last night when they pan to the bench and it's saka and it's timber right and it's declan rice and you just see the volume of talent that they're panning across on this bench and it's like and then they pan to the tunnel and it's kai havertz right and it's it's uh hink capier and it's gabriel jesus and it's um feel the depth yeah yeah just real real good players still to to come back and join us so uh really good really good um okay let's do this though before we get into our game let's rewind a bit we're not going to do the howard webb complaining thing i we do enough of that i think it can get tedious but if you want to hear uh thoughts on the gaslighting clive and i did that uh but yeah he's just an inept fool anyway let's look around the Champions League because before we played there were a few games played on Tuesday that were kind of interesting and some games that were played the night we played that were interesting but on Tuesday Liverpool lose uh Mamedashvili gets injured I believe Eketike is injured although I don't know how bad and with international break coming up uh pardon me Mamedashvili didn't get injured Allison got injured Mamedashvili obviously came in and played uh Eketike injured they lose in turkey and just sort of surveying the scenes around them you know uh slot has been a little a little bit russell uh rattled i would say just a little bit with some of his comments and their fans seem a little annoyed i think they're they're catching on to the idea that they've been getting away with it and there seems to be a little concern there so any thoughts on Liverpool losing and directionally where they're headed at the moment?

7:49It does feel like there's been a mean reversion in some of the stuff going on. But a bit of recency bias. I mean, the penalty against them with Galatasaray, it's pretty early in the game. They had a lot of game to play and did not score a goal in the hole. It's not like you can say, oh, they got super, super unlucky. and I do say this about Arsenal when we don't score you got to score one goal no matter what you think was going to happen in that game you got to be able to play score one goal and yeah I kind of feel a bit of mean reversion might be a little shock to their system to the invulnerability they had it last year where they were winning and they weren't good but they kept winning all the time this season they've been good but patchy or good but vulnerable and winning um and like last minute goals and stuff and like they've lost that over the last couple of games and we've gained it so i think and when you just listen to the narrative that we've said don't listen to narratives except for when it's good and they're saying good things about you now you listen to the narrative and it's all uh you know arsenal are back in this arsenal are favorites arsenal are so yeah they'll have heard all that we'll see how they respond i'm sure they'll respond but like i think psychologically we're in a good spot right it's uh uh nothing's achieved here but i think psychologically we're in a good spot a bit between our teeth uh they'll probably be hoping for an interlull and they're about to get one to do the old reset well i think it's i think we'd be very happy where things are and they have been reminded that they are human, mortal, vulnerable, that not all the things are going to go their way and that maybe not just mean reversion over a couple of games, but maybe it might be mean reversion for them over a couple of seasons.

9:47Yeah. Yeah, I mean, look, and you might say, why focus on the Liverpool of this? I still think this is a season that's going to come down to our ability to win the title being somewhat tied to the performance of Manchester City and Liverpool. I still think City are in that group. even if some people think they're more distant. But when I look at Liverpool, again, it was 1.7 to 1.7 XG. Now a big chunk of that for Galatasaray came on the penalty that they were awarded. But you could see them running through them at times. And I think if you look at the hypothesis about Liverpool going into this season, they're losing one of the great ball progressors in history in Trent.

10:24They're integrating a lot of new attacking pieces, but had largely left the midfield the same, which I thought looked just a little bit light and they were changing their approach to the edges of their defense the flanks and the caracus thing hasn't really worked out frimpong started as a right wing right-sided attacker instead of salah with sobaslai playing fullback sobaslai has been their best fullback but starting to get found out maybe a little bit because as much as i think he is a sensational player he's not really a fullback look we tried the shaka at fullback thing right and it worked at times because he was really good but it can only work at times.

11:00It can't work all the time. And so at least until January, fullback looks like an issue. Kanate looks like, you know, he's spending too much time on Duolingo instead of the training ground. And they have the attacking prowess and I think they will score a lot of goals that that will happen for them. But all the theories of the case of where they could be vulnerable look like they're coming at least, not to full fruition, because they're still very good. Look, they're top of the table. They're going to be fine. They're going to be good. But I think there's vulnerability there that should give us encouragement that if we just focus on ourselves, there's a lot there for us.

11:32In terms of another result, Manchester City were pegged back. And this is just the thing with them is that they have not been able to close the back door for quite a while now. And it's so interesting to see a Manchester City team that can't just control a game. They wind up drawing 2-2 to Monaco, 1.4 to 1.4 on XG in that one. Any thoughts on City? because now as we look at the Champions League table, Arsenal in fifth, one of six unbeaten teams, a number of them the ones you'd expect, Bayern, Real, PSG, Inter, and of course, Carriabag. We are one of two teams along with Inter that have not conceded a goal through two games.

12:11But as you scroll down, City in eighth with a win and a draw, Spurs in ninth with a win and a draw, Newcastle a win and a loss, a big big win over um gal uh gal was what's what's it called am i thinking of a cigarette i think i've just named a french they play gitan i don't i don't think that's right i'm pretty sure that's not right it's union sg sang sang was i think but anyway um so apologies on that but then you scroll down it's chelsea in 18th with a win and a loss and it's liverpool in 17th uh so look it's through two games i expect they get through comfortably but any other thoughts then around the champions league maybe the performance of city or chelsea or any of the other teams that we might consider relevant um well like the city one i like because here here they have the hottest property the most on fire striker on the planet another two goals in this game yeah all their goals just a couple of touches fantastic stats they should be screaming away through it and uh yeah it's like they just they're very very good at passages of football but there's ever so vulnerable and i like that it seems very slightly parody-esque uh guardiola this version of his team um where he's throwing a lot more stuff at the wall.

13:40Guardiola-type clever players. And a lot of them may be the original kind of Barcelona build and lightness and stuff. So they've got lots of good players. They're going to have some good results. But they just don't look built for seasons, right? They don't look built for the Premier League. They don't look... I mean, if they fall away on the Premier League, I guess they can start to focus on the Champions Leagues. But at the moment, at least, I don't... I find them interesting. slightly comedic um and um interesting that they can set up a team such that they get the best striker on the planet who's in tremendous form and like it's it's helping them but it's not it's not changing the world for them it's nuts erling holland in the premier league is averaging 1.34 expected goals per 90 now that's through six games but that's nonsense like that that is just complete nonsense.

14:39We've never seen anything like it. He's got eight goals through six games in the Premier League, three goals in two games in the Champions League. By the way, I think it goes without saying that if he were to miss any time, City could then look very, very pedestrian, very ordinary. But at the end of the day, I mean, we'll get to the Arsenal stuff now. But to me, Paul, what I see is an Arsenal team that is rounding into the kind of form where we just look like a very balanced, stable team. The attack looks a little more attacky. The defense continues to look pretty good, even though we had some vulnerable moments maybe against Olympiacos that we'll get to.

15:17But overall, the balance and the depth of the team is playing out the way we hoped. We just look really solid game in, game out, while the teams that we will presumably be up against for things like the Premier League title have clear weaknesses that they don't seem to have fully addressed. So far, hypothesis checking out a little bit and that's encouraging so let's get to the arsenal game against Olympiacos uh this is one of those games that can be a little tricky you're coming off a really emotional physical big energy exertion win at the weekend and you've got to round up the focus to do it again and I think that's where the manager has the benefit of being able to just shuffle the deck a little bit shuffle the pack change up the lineup and get some players in there that are still hungry i'm curious what you thought of the lineup you picked and maybe some of the players that weren't included uh yeah very interesting lineup you could i think going back a couple of weeks ago you might say this is our b lineup for the wingers but is it really or is it of course sack is always going to start but it just feels i think arteta's got the team uh the the club the squad and the supporters and even the pundits all on board with the you know it's a big squad and we're playing players horses for courses players in this game you don't you don't look at the moment i don't think so much at the teams we put out and say oh it's the b team oh he's heavily wrote you know he's heavily rotated there's two ways to rotate oh it's a heavy rotation for that no he's rotating for games now part of it's uh put upon us but the the teams are playing well certainly lately where whatever way you come about it you're kind of happy with who goes out on the pitch and and and what that combination is so for me when you know where's my eye go to on this game we rotated wingers you might say we rotated full backs and we bring in ben white miles lewis skelly uh i'm sure we talk about ben like he's he's obviously still coming up the curve in terms of fitness and sharpness miles lewis skelly was in i thought that was maybe fantastic is slightly too strong a word but no i i think that's right yeah especially when you haven't seen him for a little while this was one of his he was good going both ways and he just popped because you're like you haven't seen him for a little while he was great and you felt he you lost nothing without cali no you always lose something without cali if you worry but you it felt like you lost nothing his his attacking prowess his crosses uh where he played on the pitch like if you look at the touch map the the right full backs were kind of in the car door along the right but mazuzkeli's doing the thing in the midfield moving around it's a shame his cross for Martinelli wasn't tucked away with that header because it's just perfect.

18:20It's just absolutely perfect and unfortunately Martinelli gets the timing just wrong. I think it goes off his shoulder a bit and still just wide of the post. It's a teeny bit behind him. Of course he should bury it. He's got all that gold to hit. Headers are hard, but yeah, I mean, he's got a lot of room to pick it out. I mean, the funny thing is he could probably even bring it down. It's so much time in the box there. It's such poor defending and I have to say that I was going to say, can I say something on it because the problem with that particular movement is we then that becomes what that whole uh that whole moment was about but obviously this happens in the first like 90 seconds or something we start really hot it's a fantastic section of play it's it's almost emblematic of large chunks of this game the best parts of this game we're moving it from right to left up down around uh martinelli's run itself is of interest because I like Martinelli when he has the license or the opportunity to get central to be a second striker or the striker make the run in behind and that's what this was like he's he's on Jokeresh's show it's coming up the left hand side beautiful bit of play as we spin it across the pitch back forward Myles Lewis Skelly has a little bit of space heads up picks out the ball it's perfect and me but maybe it wasn't perfect maybe he was he was aiming for jacoresh and it just overshoots a little bit and that's the beauty of martinelli getting in there from the right hand side we've seen him do it from the left too but i do like from the right how often he got central as a second striker and what better than to have two targets to hit rather than one it's one of the things you like about martinelli um i much prefer when we get martinelli off the wing because people seem to have figured that out but what they haven't figured out is those runs i mean he he's straight line aggressive fast and you know he calls for it too so maybe miles was skill he was trying to do exactly that because um martinelli sticks the arm up to say hit me he hits him unfortunately it hits his shoulder but like that whole passage of play is emblematic of what we did in the best parts of this game lovely football free-flowing um and like it's a shame we'll keep talking about how Martinelli missed a nailed on sitter which it mostly was yeah I think because this game was one nil for so long and there were a couple nervy moments late it would be easy to misinterpret it this is 2.7 to 0.5 expected goals this was a game that should have been out of sight much, much earlier.

20:59And, you know, and Mikel Arteta made that point in his post-match comments. You know, he said, I think we started the game really well. I think we looked a real threat, really dynamic, really playing forward around a lot of threats, generally to the goal, another two or three big chances, and we don't put them away in this competition. You have to be careful. The first arrival of David had to make an incredible save to deny the goal, which you need in this competition as well. And after that, we had moments of a lot of dominance, as you said, and some others that without control and dominating in direct play, we got a little bit deeper.

21:32And every time they put balls into the box with crosses, it's a team that is very, very dangerous. Yeah, to me, it's just a case of not taking our chances. I want to talk about some of the big moments and the goal itself, but I think the best way to approach this game, because I don't know how difficult a competition this was really. It seemed like after we got the goal, we kind of went into comfort mode. But the most important takeaway from this game for me, Paul, is Martin Odegaard's form. You know, he didn't have the season he wanted last season. He had the big injury. He came back. He never really hit full form.

22:10And while I don't want to overdo it with a performance against Olympiacos, this is Martin Odegaard as we need him to be. all over the pitch with that little bit of extra quality to create chances. The ball he plays that curls into Yoko Ress' path is stunning. The pass he plays to Saka for the second goal is sort of reminiscent of the one he played to Miles Lewis-Skelly against Newcastle. He's got that ability to just spot that run and play the ball between fullback and center back so beautifully. He's been given license, it seems, to drift across the midfield areas. He's not just staying to the right side and ironically sack was on the left side so it was just a beautiful all-encompassing performance from Odegaard he also he went down hard on the shoulder once he had some kicks on the ankle and I think part of getting back to your full fitness when you've been out a lot is trusting that you can go down or get kicked and be okay just trusting your body but but to me Paul this was this was Odegaard's night this was a night for Martin Odegaard to really get that form back that we've been missing for so long.

23:14Yeah, it was great. It's a continuation of what he did at the end of the Newcastle game as he dominated. He dominated this game all over the pitch, moving to wherever he needed to go, kind of a bit Bernardo Silva vibes in his game and just super clever. um apologies to the listeners to the instant reaction but i can't get out of my head the idea that he looks like the haircut is everything he looks that's the analysis they come for yeah yeah the short hard harsh haircut he looks mean he looks angry he looks pissed off he looks like we just picked him up from outside a prison uh after 12 years hard time for a crime he did not commit and he's there to make up lost time i do think he feels like he's there to make up lost time i think last season stings him a bit where he couldn't get to the levels for whatever reason and he's a ultra consistent player like i don't think he's particularly a form player a bit like saka like give him a game or two and they're there but that didn't happen last season It must have been extremely frustrating for him that he never really got back to his level.

24:29So definitely think he had physical issues. He was working through the whole season. And now he just looks mean, angry and ready. And he's making teams pay for it. He was great. The passing, everything, just the right choices all the time. And it looked like a simpler pass than it was, I think. He sets up Saka at the end of the game for the second goal that makes this all feel very comfortable at 2-0. It wasn't particularly comfortable, I don't think. We started great. We had periods of greatness, but they were pretty good. Maybe we talked about them a little bit. But at the end, Odegaard's looking around at various different things, and suddenly Saka picks him out for a 1-2.

25:15So, like, actually, if you look at him, Odegaard's not expecting to get that ball, And yet he sizes up immediately this angle pass straight back to Saka. Perfect pace puts it right where Saka wants it. And there will be those who will say that Saka, you know, there was a bit of luck. I mean, there was, there's always a bit of luck in, in terms of the finish, but I think he absolutely meant that. I think he looked at going either side and thought, hang on, I'm going to blast it between his legs. Cause that often works. so i you know i heard a lot of commentary from the pundits we hate the pundits um saying that um you know lucky did that like no i don't think so i think that was a calculated uh here's a really good spot that goals often come from i'm going to put it right where the keeper does not want it low hard and fast i thought it was beautiful little bit of play between the two of them understanding and again we're seeing saka moving to the left hand side and my overriding feeling of the last couple of games is it's almost wenger-esque in that could it be 4-2-3-1 it often feels like that a lot of the time uh the way we're playing the last few games and maybe that's just what free-flowing football looks like at the moment um we don't have a handbrake we threw it out the window and um it's been a very enjoyable period of play so it'll be interesting i i find of fascinating at the moment because i don't really know if this is just a couple of games a small sample size is because of i don't know where we're at or the narrative but like i i'm really enjoying the free flowingness of it at the end of the day i don't really care i want us to win this season so it may just be we're going to see very structured games when that's what's right for it and when the players available fit into that or the managers just kind of letting it flow a little bit more or with Heinze, his assistant manager in, they've kind of had a little bit of a rethink and kind of, I don't know.

27:21I'm obviously really enjoying the fact that we're playing great football and we're scoring goals and we're right up there. Yeah. It's an interesting one for me because obviously I've been pretty clear on this podcast in the past that I think the way you get really good is you have sort of a settled best 11 that you lean into when they learn each other and they develop these automatisms and maybe i've just got that totally wrong mikhail seems prepared to really use the group he showed that by starting mascara over saliva uh in newcastle and then willing to take mascara off at halftime and bring saliva on he showed in this game i'm going to give an hour to certain guys and then i'm i'm you know 58 minutes they're coming off and i'm bringing on different guys and if we're able to win this way i mean obviously it makes us so much stronger because it means that in any situation, whichever players you put out there, feel really ready to contribute.

28:11And I think it's important not just to manage the squad in terms of everybody feeling engaged and a part of the team. We'll talk about some players that haven't been as engaged as they might want to be. But in terms of them all just being in form so they can come in and play at their best, it's just a massive, massive night for Odegaard. And I do think that we'll talk about the goal, but I do think that one of the things we really want to develop is his relationship with Jokeresh, and you saw that starting to really percolate in this game, much the way Saka's relationship with him did against Newcastle, I thought.

28:42So Mikel spoke on Odegaard's performance, obviously. He said, quote, he's got all the license in the world to go forward, Martin, and to play with that freedom and to play with that level of threat, especially not only with the passes, but the way he was taking the ball, carrying the ball, making runs, and arriving in really dangerous areas. I think he put three people through today to score a goal. He should have scored a goal as well. So great to have him back. He played some very good minutes in Newcastle to help us win the game. And I think today he was phenomenal. And since I'm not Tim, I won't remember it, but there was a moment when Nani Meduake got to the byline once this season and cut it back and it just rolled right through the penalty box and no Arsenal player was there.

29:18And in this game, Saka got to the byline, cut it back and there's Odegaard. Boom, arriving, great shot, well saved, follow up, well blocked, unlucky not to get his goal, but that that's the stuff when we get to the byline that that's his remit get get onto those cutbacks and score from them also play Jokres in play the runners in he did all that not to mention all the running we're just so used to him doing so it was really beautiful Paul let's just stay on the midfield for a minute though because the dynamic is a really interesting one we saw sort of a box midfield against Newcastle with Rice and Zuby at the base and Eze and Leo further ahead and in this game, it's a little bit of an interesting one because I think Leo is being used more as a midfielder, dropping deep, floating inside.

30:05But instead of having Calafiore holding the width, Miles was really in the midfield as well. And I wonder if this is just to give Marino license to kind of go wherever he needs to to win duels and try to get up and support the attack. Zubomendi, maybe a step off the pace a little bit in this game, but that's a lot of central controlling kind of players between miles and leo and odegaard and zubamendi and marino so any thoughts just on the dynamic of how they were all interacting with one another and the midfield construction in general yeah like i don't think uh for leo this was quite as an extreme example of him like in the newcastle game all his touches were central like central central um this one And, you know, it's kind of a slightly freer role off the left, but it's still all those touches are along that side.

31:00And really the midfield, and he's definitely, to your point, popping in where required, but he's not living there where he kind of did against Newcastle. This was the Real Sociedad midfield, even if Martin Odegaard didn't really play with Zubimendi for more than a minute or two. and it was pretty free-flowing, trusting. I think we've all noted and I continue to enjoy and be surprised when I see Zubimendi in any pocket of the pitch, including the attacking line ahead of the striker at times. Like he's absolutely, his mantra, his creed is, if there's a pocket of space that somebody needs to move into to make a pass no matter how far up the pitch or how wide somebody should step into that and that's me and um with the way Odegaard moves around Zubimendi moves around and uh you know the opinions on Marino will vary but I think he's at the bare minimum he's intelligent and and just moves to those spaces um and this was a again and you know the other interesting aspect of the lineup was just this midfield and the way they play and they don't get to play very often so um i i'm liking what i'm seeing it may be a function of who the team was i don't know if that works quite as well in the premier league if it's a bigger beefier midfield with a deeper defense and you're kind of having to do a little bit more work to the game itself kind of created chances for both sides it was an open game you didn't need i don't think you needed huge x's and o's on a board you just need to play better at basketball than they did to some degree we we played open flowing football they had a back line that seemed to be i don't know anything about their play that their their center backs but it felt like they were midfielders playing in the back line for good and bad from attacking standpoint i think it it definitely meant we had spaces to run into players we could physically challenge um on the other hand it meant they were very good at football over the pitch and they were and so i i think you know how much you read into this game it was a challenging game a good game an exciting game i don't know how transferable it is to other games coming forward especially the Premier League in terms of that midfield but look it it worked really well and those guys have a really strong understanding at the same time we went up a gear when we brought on Declan Rice there's no way for of getting away from that but then you always would so interesting selections around the pitch but that was definitely the one of the features of this game Supermendi and Odegaard's understanding of each other and movement and yeah really good yeah i i think we should probably just take a moment i don't want to make a big thing about it because it's just not very interesting to say goalkeeper was great great saves but it because goalkeeper chat sometimes isn't that interesting you can overlook it and i look at some of the other big clubs that don't get good goalkeeper performances and and what that means to them.

34:30You know, we have a keeper who is so important with his distribution. Some of his throws are brilliant. His timing of when to go versus when to hold it up. His long distribution is good. He plays with the ball at his feet. He cleans up the counterattacks. But these are the kind of games where you're winning one nil and you've kind of taken your foot off the gas a little bit because the opposition aren't at your level. And then, oops, we're one one. And now you've got to do it all over again. And you've got to rescue it. And there's nerves and you've, you've thrown away points because your keeper wasn't totally switched on because it's easy to lose your focus, but he didn't.

35:05He made an incredible save on Daniel Podence, who was fantastic, by the way, and kudos to him for what I thought was a really strong game across the board, gave us a lot of problems and his delivery was excellent. But that save along with a couple others, he made really, really important just to ensure that you don't have a bit of an accident, right? In a game that you, you should be comfortably ahead in so do you have anything you want to add on david raya or just sort of a pat on the back for him in a game where you could have forgiven mckell if he said i got to give this one to keppa and not to say that keppa wouldn't necessarily have made that but he didn't give it to keppa he gave it to raya and i think raya played a big role in this one yeah i wouldn't make like keppa may well have saved it but like even raya on this on that save there he just it's a phenomenal save el gato uh the cat right uh his his reactions are phenomenal but even with all of that he just about gets it over the bar like you see it from various angles it's in like he's just about got enough you have to not just have the reactions do all the right things it's almost perfection that he gets enough on the ball to lift it over um i think tim made the point i was listening to the arse cast a little earlier and uh you know one of the things you look for a couple of things from a top class keeper when you're arsenal because they may not get worked that up that much or that often for saves um and one of them is being very involved in the game uh for a guy like if you're only doing the stopper part of it but that's not who rye is right he's he's playing all over the the back end of the pitch he's if he's not on the ball he's looking to get on the ball so he's continually part of our back line in fact he's just an extension of so that keeps you engaged all the time like mind wise whether he's got the ball at his feet or not he's like there's the two center backs in him it's a triangle and he's moving all the time he's up the pitch back the pitch mate like often he might be out of camera shot because we're attacking but he might be standing on the halfway line so he has to be absolutely engaged switched on all the time and And, you know, it does him a service, but it certainly does us a service.

37:21He obviously has focused professionalism and he's like one of the top keepers on the planet. I don't know on the brilliance curve, but on the consistent, you know, near brilliance, always consistent, all-round game, distribution, cleverness, decision-making. Well, that's the thing. finding a keeper who can be extremely reliable as a shot stopper and extremely reliable as essentially an extra outfield player that's really hard and you look at like a Manchester City that has to totally rework their buildup and how they play for a keeper that's not comfortable with the ball at his feet changes everything so yeah we're really lucky to have him I want to talk about Yorkers's performance and what Mikel said about him some of the players that came on late and some of the players that didn't I think Ben White's worth the mention so we'll talk about that a bit.

38:12And then I do want to do a West Ham preview. So let's take a bit of a breath for brands because, you know, who doesn't want to do that? And then we'll carry on with some Yolk talk. Hey, World Cup fans. If you want proper analysis, honest opinions, and plenty of laughs along the way, give the rest is football a listen. Gary Lineker is joined by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards throughout the tournament as they break down all the big games, the biggest moments, and everything happening on and off the pitch. They'll also be chatting with some brilliant guests along the way. Whether you've watched soccer your whole life or you're just getting into it, they'll help make sense of the drama, the tactics, the joy, and the heartbreak of the World Cup.

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39:43Take your daily ritual with you. Go to cachava.com and use code SPORTS for 15 % off your first order. That's cachava, spelled K-A-C-H-A-V-A dot com and code SPORTS. On the under$3 menu at McDonald's, the sausage burrito is$2. So dip, drizzle, or douse to your heart's desire. Because no matter how you sauce your sausage burrito, it's still just$2 with McValue. Limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery. Okay, good enough. Paul, Victor Yorchores not scoring could lead people to, I think, just start to get antsy about him scoring goals. I feel the opposite.

40:26I feel better about this player over the last week or so than I did when he scored those couple of goals against Leeds and against Forest. On his performance, Mikel had some things to say. And let me read you out a couple of that. On Yoko's chasing his next goal, what I sense is that he's doing better and better things every game. And today, he was denied a few times on one of the blocks, and then he hit the post. But I think overall, his performance was exceptional. Again, his work was really good. And yeah, we want him to be scoring goals. But if he doesn't do that, at least do everything he's doing for the team because he's helping the team a lot.

41:06And on whether the floodgates will open once he scores again, I don't know, but hopefully yes, and hopefully it will be on Saturday. The thing with Jokers, there's a couple of things. First of all, I think we're starting to see the all-around performance that there was worry we wouldn't see. I think the hold-up play is good. Physically, he's not getting moved. He's holding players off and he's laying the ball on well. The timing of the runs and the understanding with his teammates is getting better. We're finding him in behind. I think he had one selfish moment where he could have played Martinelli in 2v1.

41:38But to be fair, Martinelli had a moment where he had a bad touch and really missed the chance to play Jokras in 2v1. He does hit the post for the goal. It's a beautiful run, well found by Odegaard. So there's that. And then the one where he doesn't play in Nelly, he was played in beautifully again by Odegaard got him behind his man again there was the one where Leo played it to him and he cuts inside and he goes for the curler and he just lifts it a little too high I think maybe a little too eager to score there but these are all really nice moments from him um you know and the goal is obviously just about his goal Martinelli I think does well by the way not to overrun it or you know just to be cool with the last touch to tap it in But I'm just increasingly encouraged, Paul, by how threatening he looks, which there were games that I think were passing him by, but they're not passing him by.