Squad Players Make Their Case & Kai Returns In FA Cup Victory

39:02It is. All the metrics are down, by the way. Goals are down. XG is down. Ball and play time is down. And I think the reason is teams are better coached. They have better talent. They have better defenders. the days of semi-professional level players being in the Premier League with semi-professional level coaches and the elite teams taking them out just isn't there. Once upon a time, you know, Manchester United, Chelsea, City, or not even City back then, but, you know, Arsenal, you know, they just wouldn't lose to the bottom half teams at all, home or away. Now everybody takes points off everybody.

39:31So it is the case that you need to be better on the details. We are good on the details, and I still think that this is going to be a critical part of us winning things because I believe we have the best defense in world football. I do. But I don't think we will ever have the best attack. I don't think we'll have the best attack in the Premier League. I think we'll have a very, very good one. But we will need this set-piece dominance to be the finishing touch on a team that wins big things. So it's just a question of, I think, adopting it as our identity instead of criticizing it as our identity.

40:02And maybe that's more of a narrative debate than it is a footballing debate, but it is really repeatable. I think there was a point in time when we viewed it and we're like, this is luck. See, that's what's changed, right? When it first started and we were first good at corners, there might've been a sense of, well, this is fluky. They're getting them off corners. I tell you now, we have proven it's not fluky. When you look at the quality of the delivery, the quality of the plays we run and the quality of the players who get on the end of this stuff, it's not fluky. And to Tim's point, when he said, well, there was this period where we didn't score any set piece goals.

40:34You know why? Gabriam Magalias was out. So we have players similar to Erling Haaland who are good at things, and when they're there, we're better at things. So I think it's just time to accept that this is repeatable, and it is a critical part of how we win stuff. I do want to talk about Ethan, Kai, and Chelsea. Before I do that, Tim, super quick, I know we are going to talk charity with Mike at the end of the pod, but there's a women's team player whose mother is suffering from cancer and struggling to get the resources necessary for treatment. And if you just could spend a quick minute updating people on that, I think it'd be good to cast a light on that too.

41:12And I realize these can be hard times for people, so we want to be cautious about not asking people to constantly be giving. But if people have means, there's a lot of good causes, and this is certainly one of them. Yeah, definitely. So Kyra Cooney Cross's mother, Jess, unfortunately got a terminal cancer diagnosis. Jess is only 45 years old as well. and Kyra has sisters and everything back in Australia. Needless to say, women's players are not paid what men's players are paid. So the family's set up a GoFundMe link to help with medical bills and other things that obviously come into focus when this happens.

41:48I've put them kind of on my socials quite a lot on the Arsenal Women Ask Cast and our Match Day vlog and everything like that, Jess Cooney. Yeah, and it's a real shame that someone from the Arsenal family, as it were, who was incidentally given this news, but who'd just come into the team and was playing really well as well. But she's back in Australia with her family at the moment. Yeah, yeah, I hate to hear that. And it all ties in, right, a cancer diagnosis there. Mike doing what he's doing for cancer because it devastates families in so many ways. So a couple of not so uplifting stories, but a couple of causes that are certainly worth your time.

42:25I will put both links in the show notes today. Okay, let's hear from some brands, and then we will talk Ethan, Kai, Chelsea, and more.

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44:14Okay, enough of that. Paul, Ethan Winery is a player that I think we all feel has immense talent, the kind of talent that can go to the top of the game. We saw what he could do from the right wing last season. This season, it's been a conversion to midfield, and that's been a tricky job for him because not only is it a harder position, I think, in many ways, and one that maybe takes more time to develop into, but also it's a crowded field, and he hasn't had as much opportunity as he would like. This was an opportunity for him to play, and I thought, unsurprisingly, started a little bit slow. But once he started to really feel confident on the ball, you saw what makes him a fairly unique midfielder for us because of his carrying ability and his dribbling ability.

44:55You have to be willing to take risk there because obviously those are areas where if you lose the ball, it can be quite dangerous. But when he does really feel confident in his ability to beat a man and carry through midfield, that's when you see some really special things from Ethan and some of that precocious talent come through. So while I wouldn't say this was a star turn for him, I thought the way he grew into the game was really encouraging. What about you? Yeah. So I watched this one again because I guess I came in with my priors and i i felt he didn't bring it the last few times he had minutes for the arsenal and yeah he had a slow first couple of few minutes plus the team was a bit discombobulated and like in my mind that continued but actually very quickly he gets into it he was great he was when i went when i really had a good look at him he was up for it he was on it he was aggressive in his passing aggressive in his runs he was doing both sides of the game he was getting back sliding into tackles which like i think we think he's he's uh you know not committed to the other side of the game i don't know that positionally he always knows exactly in an odegaard way where to be in the rest defense or uh in our out of possession shape but like that's i don't think that's ever going to be due to lack of application so he i think he's going to nail that he's clearly a smart guy so i think he's going to get the out of possession part of it uh that when his time arrives at arsenal um i don't think he'll be a player that arteta is thinking oh okay we're in good shape here let's get him off to protect elite i think he does that work naturally uh because he snaps into when we lose the ball he's sharp he he makes a decisive run backwards when a player who's a little bit ahead of him is carrying the ball.

46:48He will run him down and make his presence felt. But his on-the-ball game, it was great. Everything he did pretty much was clever, moved us up a line, accelerated us. Now he's going to get running through the crappatron. He's going to get a little more space in this game. This should be the kind of game on paper where he can show off his stuff. He does. I thought he really just, there's two players who leap out to me in this game watching it again. This is Marino's masterpiece. Yeah. Everything he does is like, I expected a few blips going back to it. I knew he'd had a good game. I went back. He's brilliant.

47:34Ethan is brilliant. This is, Marino should hang this in the louver, right? only Ethan probably wants to grab it and hang it in the there go our French listeners

47:50Louvre there you go they are now okay your mind automatically goes to well it's Portsmouth but there's more to it than that I mean it might have been the license it gave them but they got into a groove that even when they were pressed those two connected found each other it was great if anybody's got 90 minutes that they don't know what to do with. Go back and look at those two players. It will light you up. Both of them are just on it. There's a whole section to be done on Marino and what he does without the ball, playing as a DM, progressive passing. Ethan matches that with a hell of a lot less minutes coming into it.

48:32I'd been a little concerned that Ethan needed a loan. Apparently, he doesn't want a loan. and I'm like, well, is he going to get... This was his chance and I think he really took it. He came with a decisiveness I haven't seen in recent times. It's a run for him to show the manager he's more ready for midfield because you can certainly make an argument for him playing the League Cup semifinal. Even if you regard that as a very big, important tie, there's going to be some rotation for it. I'm just telling you that now. So he could be in line for that. Inter and Kairat, the significance of those games is much lower given where we are on the table and where the competition is.

49:09I think we'll probably go full strength for Inter. Kyrat, we certainly won't need to, especially if we get a result in Inter. So there's some opportunity for him here to put himself in the frame for minutes in games where the jeopardy is higher. And we'll just see if that happens. He's still very, very young, especially by the standards of a central midfielder. So we'll see. But I think it's a good sign. The thing that is hard, of course, and this is why I'm not going to do a big segment on Marino looking brilliant. He was brilliant. A player of that caliber at that stage of his career should look brilliant against bottom of the championship opposition.

49:40And you know what? He did. But should he? Yes, he should. Christian Norgard started in central defense and looked great. You should look great at that level. But no one thinks Christian Norgard should start in defense against Chelsea or Forrest. I think it's really hard to look brilliant. We're going to move on. We're going to move on. Tim, Myles Lewis-Skelly, if I'm going to sit here and say, you should look great against this level of opposition, then I think it's fair to say Miles continues to be going through some bumps in the road at fullback. Once again, though, quick thinking on the free kick, plays it to Jesus, Jesus' sensational cross to Martinelli.

50:17That's a brilliant goal. And it comes from those midfielder instincts from Miles. And in fact, Miles' best moment against Liverpool came when he turned a man, drove forward, and played a perfect slide rule pass between center back and fullback against Liverpool for one of our few decent moves in the game. It is when he's isolated against an attacker where you're seeing him struggle to rediscover his identity as a defender. And I diagnose a little of this as when he uses physicality, when he's quick and he's early and he slams into a guy and he's front footed in his defending, he can win because he's got so much lower body strength.

50:50What you're seeing is he does not have the acceleration running back towards his goal. He just can't keep up and he's dropped away a little bit. And I think players know that they can get him if there's distance between the two of them that they can beat him for pace and you know that obviously happened against Al Frimpong and it happened again in this game so going through it a bit would you say Tim in terms of his his evolution at that position if that is indeed a position for him for the future yeah definitely I think the other thing is as well compared to the other guys who play there like in Capier and Calafuri the ball over his head is on more than it is for those players.

51:28And there's nothing he can do about that. You know, he can't... It's a bit like that Simpsons episode where Bart has to grow like four inches to be considered for the role of fallout boy. And he turns up like the next day with his hair extra spiked up and big platform shoes on. Maybe that's an option for Lewis Skelly. But yeah, definitely. He's one of those guys. He needs to be able to get his body between the man and the ball. and when he can't do that, he's kind of in trouble. And we did see that a bit last season. He had that PSV game where he had to come off. We saw him get sent off against West Ham, was it?

52:05Where, you know, he kind of got caught on the ball and he went for the shirt pull. So definitely an area of development if indeed left back is where he is seen in the long term. And I still think there is a question about that. I do think what I would say is that if we're looking to the positives, he did grow into this game. Now, it could just be that the whole team grew into the game. Sorry, excuse me. One second, I need... Yeah, well, and I will say, since you're going to take the moment to cough, that I think there was probably a rollicking at halftime too, if I had to guess, because they came out of the second half with a different level of focus.

52:43So you're right, they all grew into the game, and I'm sure Mikel helped them grow into the game to put it gently. And also, I think we saw him, I think you alluded to this on the IR yesterday, He did pop up slightly more centrally. He was playing much more inverted left back than left back. And that was probably because we were dominating the ball and controlling the space far better. So yeah, definitely. I think there is a decision to make there about whether that is his long-term position. And ultimately, I imagine that Arteta, because he's not playing regularly, right? And that's not going to help because he's not going to get into a flow but at the same time I just don't believe that Arsenal would have bought Hincapier well they've loaned him and they're going to buy him but I don't believe Hincapier would have come in if like Arteta was totally and utterly sold that like Luis Skellis' guy at left back type thing so I think there's there's still a question mark there about whether he ends up in midfield and, you know, maybe like, maybe the space happens there earlier because Marino's 30, 31, Norgard's in his 30, you know, like potentially a space of some, some description.

54:00I mean, I don't think he's going to be getting in the team out of Rice or Zubemendy, but you know, he could, he could get closer to the pecking order maybe in, in midfield in, in a year or two. I do want to say to him, because it's important and it's Arsenal heritage. Mikel Marino is 29 until he's 30. That's how this works. I swear he's been 29 forever. He's 29 the way I'm 38, maybe. It's just how this works. Paul, what I want to talk to you about is whether Mikel Marino impressing against Portsmouth matters or not, given their quality level. It's something I've been thinking about. I'm kidding.

54:35I don't want to do that. We need to move on. Thank you. Yeah. and look, by the way, there are some other performances here, like I said, Norgaard played center back he was fine, Ben White, you know good run around, he was fine Kepa, eh, you know, I think we're seeing why he's not first choice, the Eza thing on another day, maybe there'd be an Eza conversation I think there's more interesting things to talk about the only thing I'll say on Eza is like he had that one moment where he got at the top of the box and got a great shot away and I just can't help but thinking, if we could get Eberach as a 10 shots around the box pardon, 10 shots would be amazing 10 touches around the box we we'd have a sensational attack because when he touches the ball around the edge of the box i feel like he just finds a way to make things happen but we really seem to struggle or he struggles or everybody struggles for that for that to happen in games and i'd love it if we could find a way to do it more because when he does it as we saw in the in the derby and in this game he he pulls something out that can be that can be really impactful um so Well, let's talk about Kai Havertz.

55:41I think that's the next logical place to go here. Paul, it is the case, I think people are so desperate to have an opinion about Victor Jokras that they have stopped having the ability to analyze or discuss Kai Havertz just as his own player. It has to be through the lens of how he compares to Victor Yokras. And I totally get that. But they are such different players who will do such different things that I'd love to just try to do that just talking about Kai Havertz, the player. Him being back is obviously very important. I do have a suspicion that his absence has enhanced his reputation, burnished his reputation to some extent, that we've now elevated him to be something he's not.

56:26I think there will still be frustrating moments. I think there will still be misses, but there is certainly so much in his game that we need and that he can do that we cannot do with the players that we have available in that position currently. Mikel Arteta said, quote, the last few minutes I was just watching him move and his awareness, the way he needs to move, when he needs to move, in relation to where he moves. It's just a joy to watch. We've missed him big time. He's back with us. And now we need to maintain him on the field because he's a very important player for us. Paul, I just said it's important not to look at Kai Havertz through the lens of Victor Yokoress and I feel like Mikel Arteta just told me to go f myself because the the number of times he says the word movement and where he moves and when he moves like I can't help but feel like these are pointed comments even if it's not intended that way so what do you make of Kai's cameo and Mikel making what feels like very pointed uh comments about about the way Kai played yeah like I still think that's because we even you, all of us, look at it through the Yaceres prism, and Arteta doesn't.

57:34He's thinking, like, I think, here's my bet,

57:42my contrarian take. Kai Havertz unlocks Victor Yaceres. I think we're going to be much happier with Victor Yaceres in the second half of the season for a few different reasons. Tactical flexibility. there'll be times they play together there'll be games Kai obviously starts and maybe Yaceresh doesn't and that might be good for Yaceresh too and I just think Arteta's rubbing his hands at tactical flexibility talks a lot about wanting to be unpredictable to surprise the opponent etc and it's his most rotatey season so far from Arteta, partly injuries, but good benches and options, and he's going to love having this option.

58:30Havertz looked like he'd never been away, that old cliche. His movement, he was on it, that run he makes that we find. Is it the one where he plays Nani in behind? because he gets one between the lines in the right half space, and he plays a ball inside the fullback that Nani runs onto. It's just sensational combination play. Yeah, and when you see it, you're saying, well, nobody we currently have does that. Now, there are things he doesn't do, and he can miss a shot in front of goal. He can air shot, but by the volume of situations he gets into, He's about around his XG, so he misses some. He gets some, like many.

59:17I don't think he's the most brilliant clinical finisher on the planet, but he does it in volume, and his averages smooth out. He's got the height we like. He's an aerial threat that Victor isn't. I know we're not going to do it all in the Victor comparisons, but he doesn't bang up against center backs the way Victor does. You can like that in some games and not want it in others. You can like it for the first 60 minutes and then bring on or switch Kai on because Victor has been wearing down the center backs if you value that kind of thing. Some people do. And they'll mix it up. And if you are the opponent preparing for a game, you're not quite sure what you're going to face.

1:00:01and I bet Victor Jokeres is a better player for us in the second half of this season. And it'll partly because he has competition, but he also has variation of ways we can attack. I think against Liverpool, not to do a bit of a downer, they so had Victor Jokeres, who didn't have it. It wasn't his worst game. He didn't do that much for us, but he did a lot without the ball. classic did it without the ball but like their center back so had him where they wanted him um and they didn't move and they just locked up that center and you don't have with that with kai havertz because he's not going to stand between van dyke and canada and like it'll just be a different look and i suspect kai would have started that game but other games victor will look really good and they'll mix it around and they'll play together and yeah i think it's i think we will unlock Victor.

1:00:59That's my sneaky suspicion of what comes from Kai Havertz. It's not one or the other. Yeah. They will unlock each other. The one thing that's clear is having him back is massive. And keeping him fit is obviously just as important. I mean, whatever you want to say about Victor Jokras, the fact that he stays fit and he's been available most of the season has been really, really important. And I think now with Jesus and Jokras and Havertz, what's exciting is we have very different profiles and players who can add very different things. but Kai's probably the best of them and you know Mikel seemed to feel that way with his comments so Tim your thought on on those comments and the brief cameo we saw yeah I mean there was a touch he takes on the center circle with his back to goal and you're a bit like ah that's what that looks like yeah I forgot what that looked like I think by some distance Kai Havertz is still Arsenal's best striker he's certainly I think Arsenal's most all-weather striker I think Gabriel Jesus very very useful I do wonder physically still what he's really capable of over long to medium term you know he has good hold up play and everything like that but I still see him as a bit of a bit part player which is largely for fitness reasons and he may never be able to progress beyond that I also think he's not longed for this Arsenal world like I don't think he's going to get another contract is he can't have that is is Jokre's going to get another contract not this stage is jesus no havertz will um and unless there is physical evidence not to and he's almost all weather striker that's the thing but the reason he's our number one striker i think as well as just being really good is the only flaw for him as a striker is he's not an absolute dead killer in front of goal well guess what neither of the other guys neither of the other guys solve that problem gabriel jesus doesn't have a shot in this game does a lot of good stuff he does gabriel jesus in this game does what i would like jokeres to do you know that kind of all right you didn't get a shot you didn't look that dangerous fair enough but you took some hits you held the ball up you won some free kicks etc etc like he did the target man stuff whereas jokeres sometimes struggles to do that havertz can do all of that he's got lovely soft feet he He can turn.

1:03:16He hasn't got the dribbling of Jesus, and that's the thing that Jesus has, that we want to change things up. You go, okay, actually someone who can really twist and turn in those small spaces, but I think Havertz is just one of those players that no matter where he plays, I think Mikel Arteta just always, always wants him in the team, and I fully understand why. Yeah, and I think we're all excited to see what he can do. Back in the team, I mean, one of the things I think is interesting is Victor Jokras is averaging more touches in the attacking penalty area this season than Kai Havertz has for us.

1:03:54But he's turning it into fewer shots. And that's really the thing. I think we'd be much more comfortable with Victor Jokras' profile if he was getting his shots away. And I think we'd be seeing what we acquired him for more. It just has been the case that, you know. Yeah, that's also because Havertz does come away from the front line and he goes to those places. and that enables other players to move around him. Whereas at the moment, it kind of feels like Jokeres stands there, for want of a better phrase. And it's a bit like, can you vary it up? Can you go out to the wing and let someone run inside you?

1:04:30Can you come short a little bit? It kind of feels like he marks himself between the centre-backs. Havertz doesn't do that. Yeah. Yeah, well, look, I think it's fair to keep an open mind on the quality of the players that we have at the position, but to acknowledge that Kai is probably, based on what we've seen, the best of the bunch and the one who gives us the most things that he can do and the most ways he can impact a game. And now the key is just working him back in such a way that he can stay fit. I think the club have been really sensible, though, because it was rumored he was going to be back a while ago.

1:05:08Maybe he was having setbacks. Maybe he was having knocks. But here's what I will say. He's come back at a time when he can play Pompey in the FA Cup with a big lead. We could throw him into some League Cup ties. And I'm not suggesting those League Cup ties aren't important, but it's not the existential crisis of the Premier League. We could throw him in a game against Inter or Kyrad Almaty at the Emirates games. And again, the jeopardy is lower. There's some opportunities to integrate him before all of a sudden he's starting against Manchester United in the Premier League in a game we must win.

1:05:38But that's out there. And that's a reasonable timeline to get him from this appearance to that. And there's ways to get him there. And that's really encouraging too. And in the meantime, we've been winning games with what we have available. So it's a very, very good place for us to be. You know, and you look at it and there's, I think, sort of whispers that Mascara is not far from being back. Hopefully the Incappier injury isn't too bad. and like right now things are at least a little bit better than they have been in a while and that's a good place for us to be. Let's finish the pot off though with a look ahead to Chelsea on Wednesday.

1:06:10We don't have the manager's comments yet. He'll have his press conference on Tuesday. We're recording this too early for the FA Cup draw by the way as well, so we don't have news on that. But Paul, setting aside my disdain for the League Cup, once you're in the semifinal and you have to play the two legs, you might as well go and win the thing, right? I mean, that's how I feel about it. We're in it now. Let's win it. Let's win the quad. let's win everything. The worst case scenario from a fixture congestion standpoint is we add one more game, right? So it just is the case that we should go for this.

1:06:39And the way these games have fallen on the calendar, we get to play this game after having rotated pretty heavily. Forest, okay, that's a really important game. Then we get another game that comes up where we have kind of an opening. Again, and the fixtures aren't that painful where we have to really make decisions. So I expect Mikel will go very, very strong, but that it won't be what we may have recognized as our first choice team. What's your thought on how we should be approaching this and how Mikel might think about setting the team out? Yeah, so the one thing you'd say about the Carabao Cup, even when you take it seriously, is it's a cup thing.

1:07:22FA Cup, Carabao Cup, late rounds. You still get to do something a bit different. and you can try things out it doesn't mean you're it might be every bit as strong aside but you can be a little creative in how you go the other thing you can do is just play players who are the most ready and the most fit it's not so much oh i got to protect my stars as who's furthest away from the red line who's right in the green zone and if that happens to be bukaya saka and deck and rice you don't play players who are a little more revved up and tired now, you know, Matuweki or maybe at left eight. Marino aren't necessarily in the red zone either.

1:08:06But I think the manager can look at it and just say, well, pretty much everybody's rested. I can go strong, but I can also try a few things. So I don't know what he'll do. But he doesn't have to put out the Premier League starting 11, as we might see it right this moment just to go strong in this game which is the beauty of it he can try something a little different and and a carabao cup semi-final cam because there's two legs you can go for it and you can be more creative and less like the last thing we want to do is drag the premier league the you know the uh 1984 it's gray this trudge to to try and hold on to this trophy that we haven't been awarded oh the yanks so like let's fucking go and have some fun and i think the manager will want to have a different vibe to the premier league and he'll want fun attack he won't want to replay forget the result he won't want to replay of the last visit to stamford bridge he'll want to go out there and play football and have a ding dong game and have these players express themselves yeah it's interesting because obviously that last game was very ill-tempered.

1:09:18There's probably a lot of bad feeling from it, but there's been a manager change. Liam Rosignor, who, I'll be honest, gives off some Brent vibes to me a little bit with some of his sayings and behaviors, but a very different manager, may have a very different mindset, may want them to approach the game in a different way, whether that intense physicality is still in their game or some would say over-the-line physicality. We'll have to see. I think Caicedo, once again, is banned for a game, so he will not be available for the first leg. I don't know what Resignier's approach to this will be, but my instinct is, I mean, he gets launched into the job and he's got three games to win a trophy in his first couple of months being in the job.

1:09:58So this for him should be priority one because who knows what he can achieve in the league as he's trying to institute a new system and new approach. Who knows what he can do in Europe, but he's three games away from having a trophy that he can lift. And that makes his start to life at Chelsea a lot easier if he can do that. So I think he will be prioritizing this massively. Not that we won't be, but it's even, I think, more important in context for him than for us. So Tim, I agree with Paul. I don't think it'll necessarily be the Premier League first choice 11 that we're familiar with. One of the issues, of course, is due to injuries at the back line, we may have few choices in terms of who we can rest or who we can leave in.

1:10:39I think Gabby will have to start with no incapier, with no mascara. um miles will likely have to start as well i guess we could do timber and white um but there there are limited choices back there the more interesting choices are around the rest of the pitch so how um how quote unquote first choice i hear clive cringing do you expect this to be and and just sort of how do you think about this tie in terms of its significance uh for our season overall yeah so um i think that there are patterns in who wasn't used um on saturday like trossard doesn't come on sack doesn't come on rice doesn't come on i think that tells you all three of them probably gonna start um on wednesday i personally i would still go a little bit mix and match and by that i mean i would play like you know the the squad players who are the squad players but you know what i mean like i'd play marino i'd play as a But again, with Madueke, it's slightly different, isn't it?

1:11:42Because it's going back to Stamford Bridge, and I don't know whether that gives it an extra emotional dimension. I'm not in a position to work out whether that means anything or not. What I will say is when he came on in the league game, it did seem to affect him, to be honest. Maybe it wouldn't this time. I would play Jokeres in this game as well. And again, he wasn't used, so I think he will, because that's another one you can easily change on 60 minutes. because the last time we played Chelsea in the semi-final, we beat them in 2018. The way we did it, it was the same way round as well. We did the first leg at Stamford Bridge.

1:12:17We actually went kind of second string and we drew nil-nil and we turned the second leg into a one-off game and then we went strong for the second game. And I wonder if we can do something a little bit similar to that because you've got a second leg and you've got a load of substitutions. If you find yourself like 2-0 down after 60 minutes, there's still like two hours of football left. You can get your subs on, you can go, right, let's send for the cavalry, see if we can get one back or something like that. And, you know, the second game, I think, is a week after the last Champions League group game, which we should rotate heavily for anyway.

1:12:57so you know maybe we'll be in a more of a position to rotate off the back of leads away which you know will be a tough game but essentially we should have the midweek off before that in a first team sense so I wonder if we try and box clever maybe we do that and it blows up in our faces but maybe box clever a little bit for me this is less about who we leave out and there are just some players like Mourinho like as I kind of look at and think I don't think that weakens our team having those guys in there so could we spare one of Rice or Zubemendy this game maybe Rice because he's had that knee injury could we play Mourinho and Zubemendy and you know be okay I think so um could we play Ezza again and maybe just give Odegaard the last half an hour again I think we could like I'd mix and match it like that I'd play Kepa in goal I think you have to give him these games it's a it's a really good second choice goalkeeper to have and to some extent that's a sweet deal and you should try and keep it sweet obviously again it has some significance for him going back to Chelsea but I'd mix and match it a little bit I'd love to be able to find a way maybe to not play Gabriel, to say, actually, Gabriel played the Portsmouth game, so Saliba, you have this game, and Gabriel kind of...

1:14:26But only if Califuri's back, for example, at that point, can we play Califuri centre-back and have Gabriel on the bench? And then you've kind of saved both your centre-halves over the week. I'd like to see kind of that level of pragmatism. I also think Portsmouth would have been a useful exercise for guys like Maduweke and Eza who've struggled for minutes. And I kind of think there'd be some use in giving them the game as well. Yeah, I mean, we played Liverpool on the 8th of January. We play Forest on the 17th of January. There is a huge benefit if you can find a little winter break in a season.

1:15:08A huge benefit. something that big clubs just don't get. And the really critical winning time is coming. We have the second leg at home. So even if this doesn't go our way, I don't think there's anything Chelsea are going to do to us in the first leg that we can't come back and overturn in the second leg. I would say, yep. I was going to say, sorry, to your point there, in the Invincible season, we did exactly that with Henri. We drew Middlesbrough in the FA Cup and we had them in the League Cup semifinal. And those games took place back to back over 10 days. and Arsene Wenger sent Thierry Henry, well, I say sent him to, he said go on holiday and Thierry Henry went to New York for a week and he was like, we'll handle these games without you.

1:15:47We lost the League Cup semi-final. Who remembers that other than me? And we won the FA Cup game without him, but we gave him 10 days off. And then when it came to Liverpool on Good Friday and we have to win, he scores a hat-trick. And that's, you know, my mind is still there, Elliot. I want to win the Carabao Cup. I think it'd be useful. It's a trophy. I think it'd be useful for this team. I think it'd be useful for the belief for the rest of the season. I'm not completely dismissing it, but my mind is still, I want the good players to be available in April. Yeah, and by the way, this is the whole reason we have a big squad.

1:16:27So I'm not saying play Marley Salmon at striker, right, and bring in Josh Nichols to play midfield. I'm saying use Eprecha Ezzet, right? Use Nani Madweke. Use, you know, you could say use Victor Yolkres if you think he's not going to be that position. Use Mikel Marino, right? Use Christian Norgard. Use those players because this is your chance to get a nice, clean break for some of the key. Declan Rice has had a knee injury issue that he's managing, right? Don't bring Calafiore back sooner than you need. Bakayo Saka, Mikel literally just talked about his minutes and took him off in the late stages of a Liverpool game.

1:17:04We don't want to be taking Bakayo Saka off in the winning stages of games down the stretch this season. So we need to make sure he's protected. This is a chance to get him 10 days in the middle of the season, which big clubs just don't get the opportunity to do. Not to mention, he could probably rest him for Kyrat, right? So there's some little windows here. And I don't think Chelsea are so good that if we put out Ezza and Marino and Yokores and Ethan, if we want to use him, they're going to turn us over and we can't recover it at the Emirates. so I would again I'm not saying I don't want to win this and I'm not saying it's not important I'm saying if you have a big squad and you spent your money not on one or two elite talents but on filling out the squad then this is proof of concept that that was the right way to go can you stay in a semi-final against Chelsea with some of the players who aren't maybe first choice we'll find that out there's going to be an instant reaction for that we've got our midseason data review tomorrow we've got the interview with Mike for Gunners vs.

1:18:00Cancer coming up now it's about 10 minutes to hear a really important cause. I hope you will stay with us to just hear why he's supporting cancer charities and about this walk that's happening, this 50 mile walk in London. Tim, thank you very much. My pleasure as always. Paul, thanks. My name is Elliot Smith. And now I will turn it over to Elliot Smith and Mike from Gooners vs. Cancer. Okay, and now Mike from Gooners vs. Cancer is on the podcast, which is always a pleasure. We don't do it frequently enough. But when we do it is usually for a very good reason, and this is no exception. We're going to be talking about a really important event coming up to help raise money for important cancer charities and in coordination with Gunners vs.

1:18:40Cancer. So Mike, as always, not just a pleasure to have you on the pod, but just a pleasure to see and chat with you. Thanks, Elliot. It's been a while. Good to see you again. And hello to your wonderful audience as well. Yeah, thanks. I got a chance to see you in Kansas City, obviously, for a live event we did out there, which is great. You know, it is just the case that we're very lucky to have a big community of wonderful people. And it's easy sometimes when you just engage in digital spaces, whether that's WhatsApp chats or on social media or whatever, to really forget how much it means to be together.

1:19:12But I do just want to say from the bottom of my heart, how much I enjoyed spending time with you this summer, or I guess this late summer, early fall was great to see. It was a great weekend and nice to have Gabby Martinelli save the weekend from being forgettable in that last minute. And, you know, I was able to get that advance notice of the goal so that I could be the one on the NBC camera just lifting my arm up about two minutes before he scored. Maybe not two minutes, but. It was really nice of the club to tell you they were planning that. Why they didn't plan a winner, I'll never know. But a draw was fine in that instance.

1:19:44Sometimes they're not the best at long-range planning, but, you know, it was good. Yeah, it's fine. Let's get on to some serious business here, which is what you do for Good News vs. Cancer. And real quick, before we get to the specific ask and the specific event that you got coming up, why don't you just refresh people's memories for anyone who hasn't met you or heard from you before on Guners vs. Cancer generally, why this is important to you and what you do there. Yeah, thanks. And Guners vs. Cancer is a charity. It's now a full-on registered charity here in the U.S. We raise funds for a variety of different cancer charities using the, as you just mentioned, the amazing community that we have of Gooners all around the world.

1:20:26And obviously everybody, just about everybody that you know, has been affected in some way by some sort of cancer. My personal story is that unfortunately I lost my dad about, hard to believe, almost 16 years ago due to leukemia. He battled it. He had family rallying around him, but ultimately the disease affected us in a way that I never could have imagined happening. And a few years later, when opportunities arose for me to be able to associate with people, not just here in my local area, but nationally, internationally, who are also Arsenal fans, it occurred to me that there was some good that could be done.

1:21:10And since 2017, we've been raising funds for all sorts of cancer charities, starting with blood cancer, because that was the one that obviously affected me the most. But now we raise funds that provide grants for every type of cancer that you can imagine that really touches just about everybody around the globe. And we run live events similar to the one that we were at in Kansas City, similar to when the club came here in the U.S. We've done live events in the U.K., like an art show highlighting all of Arsenal's amazing entrepreneurial artists like North Banksy and Beck and otherwise. And it's just been a very, very wonderful experience seeing the generosity and the way that this has caught on.

1:22:00And you, of course, have always been very, very supportive. Your fundraising abilities are also known to be amazing, but you've been very, very generous to us as well. And so we continue at GunersVCancer.com to run campaigns throughout the year that help to raise awareness and funds, of course, because awareness is great, but funds are ultimately what helps support families and provide for the research to try to end these cancers. I would love to be able to end this charity. But of course, that's going to take a pretty big lift from the research community. And that's what we're hoping will happen.

1:22:38Sooner, the better. Yeah, well, firstly, obviously, I didn't know your father. But I'm sure he would be immensely proud that you've taken the hardship that you suffered and that your family suffered at the hands of the disease and turned that into the most positive experience you could by wanting to give back and help others. So I think that takes immense character. and courage. And so I certainly thank you for doing that. I think that's something you can be immensely proud of. I know you spend a lot of time in London. I know you spend a lot of time in and around Arsenal. And it's worth saying that you've been indefatigable, not only in your efforts to raise money for goodness versus cancer, but in your support of local artists and members of the community that do things in support of Arsenal.

1:23:20So another thing. I've been lifted up in my life from others doing nice things and introducing me to people and just essentially making my life more enriched. And there's nothing more that you can do that makes you happier than to do the same thing in return. I'm a big believer in that movie, Pay It Forward. And I think if we all did that a little bit more than we already do, the world would be a better place. So appreciate that. That's a great reflection on your integrity. And so we'll get to the actual specifics now, which is what I want to make sure everybody zeroes in on because there is an event coming up.

1:23:55There is a chance to donate in support of that event. There's a chance to win some cool stuff by donating and also make a big difference in the lives of people that are suffering with cancer and their families. So Mike, first of all, let's talk about this 50 mile walk. It's in London. I have to admit that were this not such a serious topic, I would have a good chuckle at the idea of you taking on 50 miles and I'm inclined to want to be there to see how you handle it, but why don't you tell me what this is all about? I want people not only to pay to support me to complete this walk, I want people to pay and donate because they want to laugh at me if I can't complete this walk.

1:24:32Skepticism is as good a reason as any to donate. Yeah, the first five minutes of this is about how rational and good of a person I am. And I'm not saying that about myself. It's all lauding. And now we get to talk about how stupid I am for taking us on. Well, tell us about it. It's a great event. It's something that I set my sights on last year. To roll back just a moment, I met a gentleman back during one of the Arsenal tours in New York City. I think it was 2022, who does amazing fundraising work on his own. His name is Adrian Conoboy. He's based out of London. He's an Arsenal fan. He lives in New York City now and started an organization called We Can Kick It, both in the States and in the UK, which helps to empower and uplift families who are dealing with cancers very much like I was with my father 15 years ago.

1:25:27You know, it affects kids. Kids get sick. Kids have parents who are sick. And I can tell you, it just drives the family into a world where cancer is everything. Every morning, every day, every night is about cancer. And we want that to not be the case to the extent that's possible. And so they raise funds and they put on soccer clinics, football clinics, camps, tournaments, all of those sorts of things to kind of uplift and support families who are dealing with these diseases. And for a couple of years now, they have been doing a walk. It started, I think, at 40 miles. This year, it's going to be 50 miles to and from all of the football stadiums in the top two tiers in London, or at least most of them, 10 of them, starting at Brentford, going through West London to South London to Palace, to East London to West Ham, all the way up to, yes, that lot up the road and finishing at Emirates Stadium on World Games.

1:26:27It's okay to visit an NFL stadium on your walk. That's fine. Yeah. I mean, you know, but we'll probably be about 46 miles in by the time we get to Tottenham Stadium. So, you know, I may not have anything left to expectorate onto the grounds there. But, um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's an ambitious thing. Um, I have been training for a month and a half now, uh, including when I was in London a couple of weeks ago, which was amazing. I just, I walked from, from Highbury to Dial Square, um, which was about 18 miles, uh, a couple of weeks ago and ended up with the Pine of Guinness at Dial Square pub where the club was founded.

1:27:06It's just, you know, it's all in my feels right now. And I am destined, I am determined to do this, even if my leg and my arm fall off. Well, you'll have a lot of support along the way and people will make sure you get to that finish line. I have no doubt. So let's get to the ask here, which is to go to gunnersvcancer.com. The link will be in the show notes, gunnersvcancer.com. This event is on February 4th, which is World Cancer Day. It is a 50-mile walk visiting 10 different London grounds, so it's going to be a really exciting opportunity for people to show their commitment and for you to support them in showing their commitment, doing something that really makes a difference.

1:27:42Obviously, the respite that families need, there's a foundation here in Minneapolis called Angel Fund, an angel foundation, and very simple kind of similar thing, right? You don't think about this, but a lot of cancer families, unfortunately, especially here in the United States where being sick can be ruinous financially, they're not just sick with cancer, they can't make their rent or they can't make their car payment, right? And so helping them out with the day-to-day necessities so that they are not dealing with the anxiety of cancer and the anxiety of potentially being evicted or losing their vehicle, but they can focus on their attempt to beat the disease.

1:28:14So I think things like We Can Kick It that tries to especially help young people, but help families to take the load off, to find a respite, to find a way to escape from the all-consuming nature of this illness and the way that it can impact those families, right, is a wonderful and ambitious project and one that makes a palpable difference. Don't get me wrong, giving money to scientific efforts to eliminate the disease is critical. But there is sometimes just that need to say, okay, that's ambitious and that's grand and that may take years and may take billions of dollars or billions of pounds, but every pound can help one family who's under the fist of this disease and it's just pounding them relentlessly.

1:28:59And if we can help lift that off of them, they can find a little respite in their life and maybe have more energy to devote to beating the disease. So I think it's a wonderful cause. I feel very strongly about these kinds of causes where there's a direct impact on lives, much like what we support with the Zattery Refugee Camp, seeing the individual children who are helped. and I think this is of a piece with that. So if people go to gunnersvcancer.com and give and give generously, they're not only helping support these people who need it, they're not only sponsoring you in this ambitious 50-mile walk, but they do get entered to win some stuff.

1:29:33So let's just quickly touch on that. Yeah, as always, and this is the cheesiest thing ever, but I like to put the fund in fundraising, or no, sorry, the fund in fundraising. And what's more fun? The other people put the funds in it. You put the fun in it. They put the funds in it. I'll walk 50 miles. They don't have to walk 50 miles. We're not asking for them to come along with me just to support or laugh at me. And you can win one of 12 different prizes. You can see all of that on the website. It includes signed shirts from First Team, from Lee Dixon, Alan Smith, the folks who have always been so generous with Gunners vs.

1:30:13Cancer with their time. and a lot of other things. Ruth Beckard, I mentioned her before. There's some giveaways there. So if you go to gunnersvcancer.com, you can learn about the event. You can learn about Gunners vs. Cancer. You can learn about We Can Kick It. And of course, most importantly, you can donate in any denomination. It will all convert over to the default denomination. And you'll be entered in a prize where we will be drawing all of the prizes the evening of February 8th, a couple of days after the race, because I'm going to need a few days to probably reattach my limbs and get a heart transplant.

1:30:51Well, firstly, I hope that doesn't happen. I don't think it will happen, but if it does happen, you'll have done a bit of good for the world along the way. So please, look, I know we ask you to give and give generously every April, and we will be doing that again. I'm very cognizant of not taking on too many fundraising requests throughout the year because we don't want to ask too much of people. And I am aware of that. I will say that there are so many people whose lives have been touched by cancer that it's very, very easy, nearly impossible, I would say, to not know someone, if that isn't yourself, whose lives have been affected by this.

1:31:28So a wonderful cause, a chance to win, a chance to support the people going on this walk, and a chance to help people who really need it. So it's gunersvcancer.com. Gunersvcancer.com. V as in victory. Victory for Arsenal, victory over cancer. Gunersvcancer.com. Head there now, check out the information. And if you would give generously, it would be hugely appreciated. Remember the event is February 4th on World Cancer Day. Mike, I hope to have you on again soon to chat all things Arsenal, maybe some things fundraising, but also just to chat with you because you're a lovely person. And I miss you and hope you're doing well.

1:32:02Anytime. I hope to see you soon. and thanks to you and to your crew and to, of course, your amazing listeners and viewers. You've built an amazing community yourself here and the good that you do is incredible. So thank you for just including me in a small piece of that. Yeah, absolutely thrilled to have you here. Thanks, Mike. Okay, that'll do it for now. More coming up after this. Okay, links to donate are in the show notes. Hope you enjoyed this episode. We'll have our big mid-season data review tomorrow over on Patreon. Instant reaction on Wednesday, main pod on Thursday as ever and on and on it goes.

1:32:36Thanks everybody for being here. I hope you're doing well. We love you and we will talk after Arsenal 10. Chelsea Nill.

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