Preview Show: Hope is free

The thing about Arsenal is, our badge does not belong on the floor.

I'm Jim Campbell, and I'm Rory Evans.

On today's show, Athletico Reflections.

Arsenal aren't boys or waiters at the weekend

and Sky Show just how much they care about us, again.

Welcome to The Thing About Arsenal.

It's myself and Rory today.

I'm thrilled to have a section

in the running order called Athletico Reflections.

It sounds so grand.

I don't think we can keep it up in every show.

It makes us sound more posh than we are, I reckon.

I like it though.

Obviously, you and I have not had our say on the game.

How are you feeling about it now?

A few days after the event?

Good. I think this game actually suited us perfectly

in a weird way.

This kind of modern or most recent iteration of Arsenal

we've seen, which is kind of well-organised

and dogged and stubborn, but maybe a little bit blunt at times.

Going away to Athletico is actually,

well, but that is kind of the MO that required was perfect for us.

I think we did that very, very well.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think the penalty decision is a frustrating one.

Lots of people have had this say on whether it was a penalty

or some people think there's a dive.

I think personally, that's a foul anywhere else on the pitch.

It's one of those very frustrating.

A few days later, it's like, well, you know, it's happened now.

It's not happened now, so let's not dwell on it too much.

Yeah, I think the fact of that, like,

the goes and against it for me is we obviously got that soft one

on Madweke earlier in the competition,

which kind of makes me think either that set the precedent

of what should be given us, apparently,

or makes me think sometimes they go for you,

sometimes they go against you.

I mean, we've had a few this season, aren't we?

Everton and Brighton, I believe,

should both have had penalties against us.

Yeah.

According to PGMOL, they've also said that Gabrielle

should have been sent off against Man City.

So, you know what?

They'll take it.

They'll take it.

They'll take it.

We'll take it.

We'll take it.

We'll take it.

Fine.

We have to.

Yeah.

Still three won up.

So whatever.

Mick Alartetta was fuming with that decision post match,

he said, what I'm incredibly fuming with

is how the hell the penalty on EBS gets overturned

in the manner that happened when it's not actually

an obvious error.

This changes the cause of the game and at this level,

I'm sorry, but this cannot happen.

Declan Rice also said that the fans changed the referees.

Might have seen a lot of chat about that and about Simeone

kind of getting in everybody's face as we know

that he's going to do.

And I think personally that this is quite calculated

from Alartetta.

And he's trying to put this idea into the official's heads

ahead of the second leg because we all know the sort of antics

that I'd like to go get up to.

And the penalty was a great example of that.

The stuff that will come on too with a stepping on the back

as well as obviously just performative nonsense,

Simeone and the sun, teaming up on Ben White.

And I think at this stage,

you're just trying to get any advantage you can when you know

it's going to be a particularly fiery second leg.

No, I agree.

I think that's what Alartetta is doing.

What I'm more interested in is how do you feel about

I'm using the word fuming?

I love incredibly fuming.

I'm really happy with that as a phrase.

It just, in my, it doesn't really fit.

Like, if I was to kind of have to write a script

in Alartetta's voice,

fuming would not be the word I'd reach for.

Yeah, I mean, seeing it written down,

you can almost imagine it in the Hector Bellarine sort of,

kind of, like, Spockney accent that he put together.

What I'm incredibly fuming with is how the hell the penalty

on EBS gets overturned.

It's great.

But all the places that Alartetta has played as well,

I'm thinking sort of, you know, Liverpool, Glasgow, London.

Yeah.

Could be a confusing English sort of accent mix going on there.

It is a shame that he doesn't have that particular blend

because that would be absolutely all over the show.

That would be wonderful.

Yeah, I would, I would not be incredibly fuming to hear that.

I think I'd love it.

A bit like David Reyes voice, isn't it?

Yeah.

I mean, one of the great voices in football.

It is so good.

If anyone listening hasn't seen or heard David Reyes accent,

because he obviously doesn't get interviewed that much,

he, he moved to Blackburn Rovers when he was 15.

So he's got a bit of that in there.

He's like, hello, I am David from Spain.

Lovely to meet you.

It's fantastic.

I absolutely love it.

I am a sucker for an accent that is actually too accent.

Now, body language expert Darren Stanton, the man known

as the human lie detector, has claimed that

Alartetta's rage is having a destabilising influence

on the squad.

Now, after this game, he said,

Michael Alartetta often seems to become fixated on things

at the point of increasing his own stress levels.

He flashed a lot of frustration and anger

in what was really the most extreme I've seen from him

over the Eberichier as a penalty decision.

We even saw the vein in his neck pop out

as if his blood pressure was through the roof.

Like a cartoon.

Yeah, I know, yeah.

Very much so.

And these big emotional peaks and trusts will have effects

on someone's physiology.

And that has an effect upon the players too.

Alartetta is at the helm.

He sets the example and the example.

He is setting ramps up the pressure rather than easing it

in these crunch moments.

Now, I imagine that Darren, the human lie detector,

Stanton is obviously very skilled at what he does.

He turns off on lots of TV shows.

There's obviously something to it.

I think looking at this and saying that Alartetta

is stressed out, stressful to be around,

is a bit like hiring an art expert to ask

what colour the shirt is.

It's just very clear.

And he's clearly got a word countermeat, right?

There's a lot of flowery language juice in there.

I mean, this is great news for all the bots on Twitter

that like to push this forward.

But I don't think we should get too worried about this.

I think with this whole sort of arteta's

demeanor sort of conversation,

which I always kind of think is a little bit, I guess, overegged.

If I was to give it any sort of credence,

I think the only thing that would concern me slightly

is if almost the players are letting that affect them.

If you know what I mean, I think that ultimately

the most important thing I think a manager can give

players on the pitch is autonomy, right?

And give them freedom to go out and make their own decisions

and kind of act independently

of kind of what they think best in the certain situations.

So if they get into situations where basically

they don't have that confidence to act independently

so they're then getting influenced overly

by what Arteta's doing on the touch line,

that's when I think there should be a problem.

I think Arteta's actions in themselves

are kind of another here and not there.

Yeah, and also, I mean, this is a high-pressure situation.

Yeah.

There's no point in pretending that it isn't.

The player's challenge is how they deal with it.

It's not a case of not dealing with it.

Yeah.

In any situation, even if this was Arsenal's first title,

kind of challenge in a long time,

the pressure is still there.

Pressure is something they all have to deal with all the time.

I think this is just very much part of the situation

Arsenal have made for themselves, isn't it?

So how they deal with it is, again,

is part of this challenge.

I guess the other thing on that though,

the best managers and also the best players,

I guess they're able to thrive under that pressure

and deal with that pressure.

And maybe that is the thing that Arsenal have come a long way

to get to where we are now.

We've gone through a lot of different changes

and we've learnt a lot along the road.

Maybe that is the final thing to learn.

It's just that ability to really thrive under the pressure.

Yeah.

And I actually think this result kind of goes some way to

being a positive in that regard, actually.

Yeah.

Because of course, you know, a win would be better,

but it was a good performance against a very difficult team,

a very difficult circumstances.

I'm sure everybody's seen the footage of Athletico watering the pitch

that often we're defending in the second half

and not their own pitch.

So all those tricky little things.

And I did think they played well.

Yeah.

They got control towards the end of the game.

Obviously, I think, you know, Athletico

were very good in periods in that second half in particular

when Griesman hit the bar.

That's a fantastic moment.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't doubt it really.

Yeah, absolutely.

And that's a really big stage.

I largely agree.

I think that like,

it's a difficult challenge to go there.

And we dealt with it like,

pretty comfortably.

Obviously, there are moments.

It's always going to be moments.

And right now, it's going to make some saves,

but we dealt with it pretty comfortably.

And I think maybe that kind of,

to bring it back to the penalty thing,

which I probably didn't gloss over a little bit,

is that,

do I think that was a penalty?

My biggest surprise is that it was overturned, right?

Because I think it was probably one of those ones

I expected to go either way based on the decision on the pitch.

And I think maybe the crowd did a play part.

And I could believe that being a thing.

But I think the reason why I guess I'm not

allowed myself to worry as much as our terrorists, for example,

is because ultimately, I think,

it's just part of it, right?

Like, we still played well.

We still got a result that we can then take back to the Emirates.

I think dealing with,

this is all part of it, right?

Dealing with a crowd that could maybe have gotten to the ref's head.

Dealing with the watering on the pitch.

Dealing with all the antics.

Like, this is just part of what you've got to do going to a place

like a leko in the Champions League.

And I think ultimately,

we deserve credit for the way we did that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And those shenanigans didn't finish.

At the final whistle, as we referenced earlier,

when Ben White was walking off the pitch,

he walked over the Atlético Madrid badge and blazoned on the floor.

And both Simeonis confronted in there and then,

like a crime fighter and son.

And just don't have a badge on the floor,

if you don't want people to walk on it.

I know.

Do you think Ben White knew what it was?

Absolutely no chance.

Not a chance at all.

I think there isn't, supposedly, a little bit of an unwritten rule

in Spain isn't there that you don't do that.

You'll regret it.

Jude Bellingham's had some praise for giving me.

So I saw that I was going to, for me,

on my thought was this is all Jude Bellingham's fault.

You're saying he's being indoctrinated?

Yeah, I, yes, possibly.

Okay.

And I suppose Ben White is, therefore, supposed to know

that you don't walk on the badge.

He didn't walk on the bear.

There's got a little bear shaking a tree

or considering shaking a tree.

And he didn't walk on the bear.

If he was up in court,

I think that would be like his main defense.

Okay, I made a mistake, but I could have walked over the bear.

And I chose not to.

I think Ben White's main defense, if charged with this,

was like, sorry, what are the charges again?

I know they have been, I've been sent some stuff,

but I'll be honest, I've not read the email.

What's this about?

Yeah, I think you're probably right.

And not unreasonably.

No, no, quite.

Do you think all these antics,

I'm talking about, obviously, this, the watering of the pitch,

everything.

Is this just athletic coat being bitter

because we didn't give them showers

when they were training at the emerald?

Yeah, I mean, probably.

Yeah, it probably is that.

So actually, I've forgotten about that.

I'm glad you brought that up

because this is just tit for tat really.

Yeah, I heard you were saying.

Although, actually, I think even that was some shenanigans

from them, wasn't it?

Because I think they did get showers

and there was some...

The hot water turned on, but they left early

so they could shower at the hotel.

So therefore, they'd left for the time

the hot water had been turned on.

Right. Right.

Well, I'm all for the sort of screenery.

If Diego see me on, he's coming to town.

He's always going to do it.

So, you know, get some digs in yourself.

Just got a thing of what we're going to do next week, I think.

Yeah.

Well, absolutely.

We very much have to.

Now, in the post-match,

Diego see me only sort of alluded to

the difficulties we will face next week

when he said, as the game went on,

we noticed their fatigue

and the weight of going for the Premier League

trying to win the Champions League.

All of that accumulated and we picked up.

Now, again, that's a very clever mind game.

Yeah.

Because the whole narrative is about the pressure

and about the pressure of the Premier League,

the fatigue, the tiredness,

and I think it's a very smart thing of him

to try and heap that on us,

to kind of keep that idea in play.

And there is something to it.

Clearly, we can see that in the way the team are playing,

but there's again good reason for that

because no team has played more games in Arsenal

in Europe to top five leagues this season.

This was game number 57.

So, again, it is another challenge to manage.

I think there are certainly questions about

our squad management at this point,

when you look at Christian Norgard,

in particular, and how little he's played.

In some cases, we've had situations

where players have had to be overplayed

because their deputy isn't available

or the deputy is playing in place of the first team player

who isn't available,

so Ben might be a great example of that.

He's been quite unlucky in that.

It's very all-or-nothing with him,

and he's been out or timbers being out.

So, in that particular position,

one of them has had to be kind of run into the ground a bit.

I think, you know, Supermending and Rice have been overplayed

quite a lot.

One thing I thought was very, very interesting in this game

was Declan Rice playing a bit deeper,

and I really liked it.

I mean, you and I have spoken a lot

from our seats in the Emirates about Declan Rice as a six or an eight.

I mean, he sort of played more as a six in this game,

and I like it,

and I think it gives us a bit more security going forward.

I'd like to see a bit more of that.

How do you feel about it?

I think my problem with that is you need to be careful

to not, basically,

in getting the positives of Rice playing as a six,

you've got to be careful not to lose

what he brings going forward as an eight.

And I think particularly with, I guess,

our current situation of needing that impetus in the final third.

I know Declan Rice isn't maybe a sort of creative midfielder,

but he certainly starts a lot of attacks

with the way that he carries a lot of the pitch,

and he can drive,

and he can break into the box

and he can't be useful in those areas.

I definitely think that he's capable

and gives us some defensive stability,

but I guess my concern would be

what we might lose in sacrificing that.

I think for me, though, it's been interesting.

I've noticed very much in the last few games

that our midfielder have dropped deeper

when we've got the ball,

a lot more particularly Ode to guard.

Now, I noticed this has been an observation

about Ode to guard earlier in the season as well,

that he drops deeper than we remember him doing so.

But I think I've particularly noticed in the last few games,

I think it might be to try and overcome

what happened against City in the lead cup final.

Yes.

And that kind of sort of half press that teams are doing

and just blocking us in and keeping our centerbacks on the ball.

And I think our tech has gone well

if we can get some of our more creative players

or our midfielder on the ball,

they can then help us play through that.

And I quite like that as well when Ez is on the left

or wherever,

because then he can drift into the spaces

that Ode to guard's left.

So I've noticed that a little bit more,

but it's also partly wondering if like,

rice playing a bit deeper feeds into that narrative as well.

But particularly as actually, you know, in recent games,

we have been, we've looked a little bit lacking

in creativity in those areas.

So I think Shuffling about makes a lot of sense.

And I think we absolutely definitely need a tactical response

to this game plan of essentially,

as City did and as Bournemouth did,

of kind of not pressing the goalkeeper and the centerbacks

and then cutting off those passing lanes.

And I think you're right, actually.

I think that might be what Arthur has done

to try to combat that.

And I also think with Zupimendi,

like, I think Superman is a slightly different player

to what we all envision when he arrived.

I kind of think in my head

he was just going to sit in front of the back four.

And he has done a lot of that,

but there's also been points this season

where he can actually break forward

and actually can be pretty useful higher up the pitch.

So I don't really mind the words,

well, do I hear him and rice swap?

And I know they were doing this time

during the season or him and Odigard swap

and they're kind of,

it's a bit more fluid in there.

I think that makes it harder to pick up.

And I think that all of them are capable

of picking up different positions

with the pitch and being effective.

So I think that could actually maybe

get the best of all of them in the way.

Yeah, I remember early in the season as well,

a lot of the praise that we were having about Zupimendi

was how he was always looking to pass forward.

He was always a really positive figure.

And a lot of people are saying that

he's so knackered now,

but that's becoming a bit harder.

I'm not sure that's the entirety of the reason for that.

But yeah, I guess it would be mental fatigue

rather than physical fatigue, right?

But I think that coming back to what you're saying

about the tiniest, I think it's interesting

because a lot of made was made at the start of season

about how deep our squad is.

And I think that is true.

And we have seen that despite injuries,

we have fielded decent sides with players

that we think are good throughout the season.

But I guess what we've struggled with

and I think we're both in agreements

we don't want to say injuries of the problems

I don't think they are.

But I think what we have struggled with is

although the depth of squad has allowed us

to fill injured players with good players,

what the injuries have meant is that the players

who are fit have just had to play relentlessly.

And we've not been able to have that kind of rotation

that we would like to keep everyone fresh

coming into this stage of the season.

And now look, everyone's got to deal with the schedule.

I know we've played more games than anyone else

so we maybe feel it a little bit more.

But we also, in theory, should have a squad to deal with it.

This is partly what you've got to learn to manage

in modern football.

But it's definitely played a factor in a way

that I didn't expect it to start season.

Yeah, and also the lack of consistent lineups

as well.

There was a huge amount of different combinations

that have been using that front three,

which is an ideal.

But again, it's one of the challenges that you have to deal with.

You're going to be very, very lucky

if you have a perfect season

where everything goes your way.

In fact, actually, I don't think it's taking anything

away from Liverpool last season to suggest

that they had a bit of that.

They had a quite charmed season.

And obviously, you can see how effective that is.

Now, one of the big highlights of this game for me

was the return of that Athletico fan

making sandwiches during the game.

And having all the ingredients laid out in front of him

on the front row.

Now, I know we did this against Spurs,

but everyone's talking about PSGV Bayern.

Did you have a sandwich?

Yes.

No.

So that is the real football.

Get over yourself.

What I can't quite work out is he's making three sandwiches.

But there was only one person saying,

next to him.

The sandwich is quite small.

Yeah.

Maybe he's having two.

The guy next to him is having one.

Are they having one and a half each?

Like, how do you think this is working?

Can I get one?

There's no suggestion that they made to order.

Is there?

Who knows?

I wonder, actually, he's doing it for attention.

You know what?

I hadn't thought about that.

I had not thought about that as this stage.

But will he be at the Emirates making sandwiches?

It'll probably be there, aren't he?

Seems like one of those guys.

I hope we don't let him bring any sandwich-making material in.

Yeah.

Because, you know, this is a very serious, actually.

Also, might not get it through custom.

True.

He'll have to buy the ingredients here.

There are some good places on the Holloway Road provisions

in particular.

He can get some decent stuff, actually.

But he'll probably want it to be your favorite.

Do what is race across the world?

There's a moment in race across the world.

I think last night, or maybe last week,

where they were staying with a family in Turkey,

or Uzbekistan, and the dad of the family

just showed him a picture of a Tesco.

Like, oh, you're from the UK, you have Tesco.

So maybe he'll visit Tesco just to buy his ingredients.

That's like a cultural experience here at the UK.

Yeah.

If the Tesco propaganda has worked, then maybe he will.

So, yeah, let's be very sensible about that.

This is very serious.

So keep your sandwiches away from the Emirates, please.

Okay, we're going to go for a break.

After the break, it's time to tuck into our full-arm sandwich.

Let's go for a break.

April is over.

Thank God.

That's really good, based on the last four Aprils, at least.

Our win percentage for May is 73%, which is good.

But we do need it to be 100%.

Yes, yes.

That is my exact worry.

So, full-armers are up next.

They are just two points off Brighton in sixth.

European football is very possible for them.

That's huge for the club.

Huge for the future of Marco Silva, as well.

They obviously want to hang on to him.

And he's in that sort of zone of, you know, like, no, he's,

is he slightly too good for us?

Yeah.

You know, is he looking elsewhere all the time?

That is the thing with Marco Silva, isn't it?

So, full-armers are going to be highly, highly motivated in this game.

I think at this stage of the season, it's kind of more useful

to look at the form table than it is to look at the actual table.

Could you say two points off six, but that also means they're in tenth.

Which is interesting.

Which is very, very tight there at the moment.

A lot of these teams that have a lot to play for and are performing very well.

The middle class of the Premier League is very, very strong this season in particular, as we know.

So, they are ninth in the form table.

One place above us, because of the obviously, you know, the April jitters that we get every time.

Their away record is quite poor this season in general.

They're actually 17th in the league in terms of their away form.

So, all that tells me is that I don't know what's going to happen.

But that is the most full-armer thing.

Like, they are the most inconsistent team in the league.

I'm sure of it.

I know that there's something about being mid-table that you are going to be inconsistent

by the nature of what it means to be a big table.

But I think, I like big table.

I like the big, big table coming out of the stage.

I would love to be a big table.

But yeah, I think like, by their very nature, they're going to be inconsistent.

But even out of all their size, they feel like the most inconsistent.

And I think, I guess our problem is that it feels like they are the sort of team

that always get themselves up for the big team.

They love, you know, turning up against the better teams and, you know, leaving their mark.

What they struggle with is going against the teams they should be and not doing so.

But I also like that you started this by saying they'd be very motivated.

Because my hope is that a lot of those former entrepreneurs are not going to be very motivated.

Oh, I see.

I think I've been through all the agents.

So I won't be thinking about that.

But you can apparently face that.

Exactly.

I just think that these guys, they want us to win the league.

Surely they're going to do us a favor.

I really hope we don't have to rely on other teams throwing matches against us.

I'll take what I can get at this stage.

I mean, I'd take it.

I'd take it if I never knew it had happened.

I think it gets a bit couch-yoppily otherwise.

Yeah, true.

But I also, that is fair.

But I also feel like one of my deepest regrets will be as and when we win a title that Smith wrote

won't be there to enjoy it.

So maybe this can be him playing his part in some sort of way.

It feels dangerous to even say the name of an ex-player that is going to play against you.

I know, I mean, this type of context, does it?

And I'm going to make it worse.

And multiple throws featured in every league game for them this season by one.

But he's only got three goals.

Probably due one.

There are some threats in that team.

He is obviously one of them because we know his quality is despite those numbers we're in quite low.

Harry Wilson has been their player with a year, really 10 goals in the Premier League alone.

He's a great record player as well.

Jigways is really tricky, a handful of a player.

A little bit underrated, I think, actually.

Kevin and Ryan Sesson, you're on a both missing.

So they're going to have a little bit of...

That's good.

The former Spirits player not been there.

Yeah, that's a good point, actually.

Because he's one that really would want to win.

Sure.

That will lighten their depth on the wings, which is absolutely a good thing.

Obviously, there's a row.

Him and his narrative.

He got his head injury at the Emirates that time.

Obviously, narratives don't always score goals.

But sometimes things you look out for aren't they?

And they are one of those teams, I think, Fullham, who have a county manager with a lot of talented players.

Yeah.

And this is exactly really the problem we face against Bournemouth.

And I think Marco Silva probably isn't quite in the Iriola bracket, but he's a very, very good tactician.

I imagine he will try something similar.

And I keep going into games, particularly home games, thinking this will be the game surely,

where we realise that the best way to defend a lead is to make that lead as big as possible.

This is going to be great.

I'm going to have a lovely afternoon.

And it never seems to be that way.

I expect it will probably be another grind.

Yeah.

But I do feel, because we need this 100% win record, as you say, that is the only thing that we can keep in our hands now,

is trying to make sure that we win every remaining game.

At some point, I do feel that we need to be a bit more proactive in trying to dominate games,

and trying to make these games safe, even if it's just that you can get to a point where you're like,

you know what, we can take that kind of rice off for the last, even 20 minutes, or something like that.

I do feel, in the home games in particular, you've got to go out there and be proactive,

and you've got to go out there and kind of get into the habit of being ruthless, of being clinical.

And kind of taking some of the pressure off of yourself.

Definitely. And I think the goal difference thing is massive.

Like, it could so easily come down to goal difference, either because us and city win all our games,

or because ultimately what I think is going to be more likely, we both drop points at some stage

and still end up on the same goals.

The time for, I think, trying to, like, bludgeon your way to the title is kind of over.

Yes.

Like, as we've talked about before the Newcastle game, like, you have to go and win it,

and a big part about going and winning it now will be to go and score more goals we now end of the season

with a mind city will, which would be hard because mind city score a lot of goals, right?

That's how they play.

But I also think that we will, we are a better team when we do so,

and I think we saw flashes of this.

I do think that our TETA, despite all the criticism we've given him and other people have given him,

he is starting to come around this way of thinking.

And I think we're seeing it with the team selections of playing Ode to Garden as of the same time.

And I think we saw it with the way the game started against Newcastle.

I think what I got lost is that, that first 20 minutes, I thought we were pretty good,

and we definitely looked to try and be a little bit more positive.

So there was moments, I don't know, Ode to Garden, Christmas was back in Newcastle game.

There was moments in that first 20 minutes, so I was like, that looks like the moment Ode to Garden of Old.

And I actually think it was when Havots came off, they all changed and we went,

but ended up having that front three on that we all hate on it, kind of ended up being that gritty,

annoying game that we've seen a lot this season.

But I do think like, Ote to is trying to change that narrative of this.

Yes.

And I'm hopeful that we'll see a more attacking lineup.

I'm hopeful that we'll see, as if Ode to Garden's fit, obviously we've got to see what happens with there.

If Ode to Garden is fit, I hope that we'll see Ode to Garden and Ezra.

Also, I hope we may see 60 minutes from Sacka.

Might be too soon for him.

I'm intrigued by that as whether he'll be prioritised for this game or for the game on Wednesday.

Yes.

For me, I've been prioritising for this game personally, but I can see the arguments both for both.

But either way, I think if we can start to get some of these personnel back that

click a little bit more in the final thirds, I think I'm hopeful and I feel like I've been hopeful a lot.

So we'll see what happens.

I might get burned again.

You can be as hopeful as you like.

I'm as free.

Exactly.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

I'll take that one.

But yeah.

I've got a good feeling that we might see a bit more of a fluid performance, although you can.

Yeah.

I also think, you know, Ode to Garden not being available and sort of being in and out of the team

as he has been makes a massive difference for that fluency.

Yeah.

And I feel, again, maybe this is naive optimist in me.

Maybe this is the fan who wants to be entertained.

I do think that these players do need to find a way to remind themselves of what their top level is.

Yeah.

Because they don't really go into games looking like the agenda setting dominant team.

And that's why we're in this position because we spent most of the season being streets ahead of the opposition,

even in games where we were on them quite narrowly because of the platform that the defense gives them.

And there are going to be challenges.

There are always twists and turns this late in the season.

So what happens if we go one kneel down in a game.

And obviously we have to win every game now.

Even if it turns out that we don't have to win every game, it feels like that.

And you have to approach it like that.

We need to be in a situation where we are ready to just rally and battle.

And just kind of do the business at the top end of the pitch.

And I really hope we see a bit more proactive approach on that front.

I think you're right to mention the players coming back.

I'm really hoping that Ode to Garden will be available if we can get him sacked

and Ezra on the pitch.

That will be a massive boost.

A massive, it's a completely different position.

And also we're from Noni Maddo A.K.

Who I've thought had a really good game against.

That's a little bit of a dread.

So for him to come off the back of a positive performance is a really, really good thing

whether that's him starting or him coming on later in the game.

That is ideal.

So you are on something about the memory for these players.

Because I think like it's because the last few months have been such a grind.

It's like easy to think it's always been like this.

Yes.

And under our terror it's not always been like this.

And I think he's always, there's always been a slight degree that he maybe could have tried

to be more interested in attacking the fence.

But I think ultimately, as we've said before, he just wants to be really good at all of it.

Now the defense of the stuff he's got good, but the tax of stuff he's not always got right.

But there has been moments where it has been more fully throwing a bit of this season

but certainly in previous seasons.

And I just think ultimately if we can get back to that team that can just control with the ball

and just slowly amplify pressure until we break the petition down, which we have done our best,

we can easily go and put two, three pass fill them and have a nice day out.

Yeah, I would absolutely love that to be the case.

It does feel like just naive at this point.

I hope for that sort of performance.

I hope that we do see it.

Again, I kind of go back to the team from two seasons ago who scored so many goals.

Not like we haven't scored goals this season where we're two behind Man City.

The second top score is in the league.

It has been quite a low scoring season.

Our test has been saying this all season, isn't it, about how this league is very different

from the one of a couple of seasons ago.

It's a lot tighter, it's a lot more defensively based.

And that's possibly teams reacting to some of the football players themselves before it's better.

Even look at the bottom of the table.

The teams that are trying to stay up are teams that are better than the teams that have been relegated in previous seasons.

It's much more tricky, which I think has changed the way that people approach things as well.

Absolutely. So we haven't actually scored more than a goal in our last eight games.

My label cousin was the last time that we scored two.

So I would love to come away from Saturday with some faith that we kind of,

we've rediscovered our scoring touch a little bit.

We've been making chances.

Just need to be a little bit more clinical with them, I think.

Yeah.

And I think that's game.

Matt makes me think that maybe I'm naive to think that we could do something different

against them.

But I think you're right.

I think we've got to relearn that and it starts this weekend.

Yeah.

So after Kai Haverts' injury last weekend, the longest run of starts for an Arsenal front fall this season is still just three games.

Well, that doesn't help at all.

No, it doesn't help at all.

And that is something that we're going to probably have to just live with at this point.

But I do think that's important because I think I've said this before, but let me say again,

because I want to put some emphasis on it.

Like when you look at teams that win titles, you can normally rattle off their starting 11 with maybe three or four other players that are like a kind of a key part to the team.

We just haven't had that this season and I think that potentially there's,

there's a link between this lack of fluency or this slight perceived inconsistency with the fact that actually we have had quite inconsistent lineups.

Like that is definitely a factor.

It's been part of the reason that we've had to grind things out, I think, as well.

Yeah.

And I mean, those relationships on the pitch are so so important.

You know, we all remember Ben White, Martin Odiegaden and the Kai Sack has seen it.

It's a fantastic lineup down the right, but we've barely seen it.

Again, though, it's just part of the ups and downs and the challenges of a very, very long season with a lot of football in it.

Someone who didn't play a lot of football in his time at Arsenal was Graham Stack.

But he's back in the running order and very, he's very welcome back in the running order as far as I'm concerned,

because he's been telling more stories about fake Gucci.

Last week, the former Arsenal man was in the headlines because he recently revealed that he used to sell fake Gucci gear to other Arsenal players.

He said, we used to have a fella at our pub who would come in with belts, bags, wallets, fake Gucci, the lot.

I thought, there's a move here.

I was in the academy and was only 17 at the time. I went and filled the boot of my car up with a gear and drove to training.

I was taking orders from people. I used to basically go in, showcase what I had to take the orders, then go back, film a boot up and come in the next day.

He apparently, there was apparently a situation where the Christmas party was like a lot of the players, wives and girlfriends who had the same fake band.

All the players had the same fake wallet, which became really apparent.

He's having a great time, isn't he, on the sort of ex-player circuit.

How is he basically being at Arsenal, but he's essentially still the kid in school that would bring sweets and sell them in the playground?

That's what he is. It's an incredible work if you can get it.

It shows a lot of entrepreneurial spirit in a very inappropriate setting.

There is a very clear way to make a lot of money here.

It's to just do the job you're there to a high standard.

I know that footballers didn't earn as much as in the 90s they did now, but they didn't need to be doing it.

He wouldn't have been there.

It's such a reserve goalkeeper story this, though, isn't it?

The other one that came out in that same interview was that he drove the team roster training once.

Yes, and crashed it also.

While the actual driver was stood up, so the driver was flying apparently.

The stereotype is that keepers are mad.

All the evidence is there, right?

Absolutely.

I think that's often nonsense, isn't it?

Reserve?

Reserve seems to sort of fit that bill.

But then reserved to Jens Lehmann.

Is that the maddest goalie duo you've heard in any time?

It's not ideal.

Is it coming from the relative stability of David Seaman, one of the players he apparently mugged off with his fake Gucci?

I think they probably knew it was fake.

Which again, it's just confusing, isn't it?

I could make the effort to go into the shop.

Or I could just buy a fake one out of this Tino.

Just car boot.

Whatever.

Whatever.

You put it like that.

Bless him.

I'm sure we're going to hear more of him.

These stories are going to keep coming.

And I'm all for them.

Maybe we'll go back to selling Gucci again.

Maybe you will.

Maybe you will.

That'd be quite bold, wouldn't it?

It's just a market.

This is a little bit annoying.

I don't know how you feel about this.

I imagine you feel the same as I do.

The Burnley game has been rescheduled.

It's our final home game of the season.

We were due to face them at the Emirates on Sunday, the 17th of May.

Now, less than three weeks before the game, we find out there's an 8pm kickoff on Monday, the 18th of May.

And that's because Sky selected the game for coverage.

And as the Arsenal supporters trust pointed out, this will also mean that the traditional lap of appreciation

won't take place until 10pm at the earliest.

Now, we haven't played on on Monday night all this season.

It's particularly frustrating and irritating because not everybody's local.

People put flights.

They book hotels.

Some people are coming with kids.

And therefore, you know, can't really justify having them out that late, especially if they don't live locally.

You're going to lose money on hotels.

And in some cases, on travel in that case, people have work commitments.

There's all kinds of different reasons that this is really, really disruptive for people.

It's not the atmosphere you want.

At the final home game of the season as well.

And as the Arsenal supporters trust to point it out, that lap of appreciation is a big thing.

It's a big part of the season.

And you want people to be there for it.

You don't want them feeling anxious about getting home.

And it just feels like a really short-sighted decision that again just shows how people simply don't care

about the fangirling experience when it comes to the TV schedule.

Oh, yeah.

I think we've seen time and time again that match day going fans have absolutely no place in the thought of the TV schedule people.

And I think that this is a good example of that.

And I think it's a shame because ultimately what is probably going to happen is that the Arsenal players will do that lap of appreciation.

And it's going to be like a half-full ground.

Because there'll be so many people who rightly so just won't be able to stay.

Yes.

And I think that will look like a particular narrative as well.

Exactly. Well, yeah, there's that side of it.

But it's also the side of it that it's just like whatever happens like this team has put themselves through so much this season.

They've like played so many games.

It's been knackering.

It's been exhausting.

They've had to really put themselves on the line, hopefully to achieve something at the end of it.

But either way, I think they deserve that moment with the fans at the end of the season where you know they get to thank the fans,

the fans get to thank them.

And it's a genuinely a real nice thing, right?

It's a nice way to just sign off.

I mean, we've been lucky for the past two seasons that the home game has normally been on the last day of the season.

So this is a slight change from that.

But yeah, it's, it's just a bit crap.

It just feels again like priorities are in the wrong place kind of in this modern iteration of the Premier League.

Sure.

We've not played on Monday night or season.

Yeah.

I don't remember rightly.

We don't have a great record on Monday night.

No, I have real PTSD of Monday nights.

I definitely remember going to a palace game that we drew, like I said, it's got a late equalizer that dates it.

Also, I actually, the real memories I have is watching Arsenal away from home on a Monday night.

And Alan Smith commentating on it.

And it's just being bleak.

The football being bleak.

Alan Smith being bleak because the football's bleak.

It's just, it's triggered a memory in me that I just really don't want to have to relive particularly in such an important game.

Just Monday's a very bleak thing.

I think a lot of us can relate to it.

Yeah, that is fair.

That is fair.

So, Manchester City's games against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth have now been confirmed too.

This was spoken about on Monday.

Crystal Palace on Wednesday, May the 13th, before the FA Cup final.

And then Bournemouth on Tuesday, May the 19th.

And what will be, and don't eat, Ereola's last home game for Bournemouth.

That is good, isn't it?

Yeah.

You've got taken what you can get, right?

Yeah, it's been consistent.

So, they have a little bit of a sort of, of a fixture pile up that will hopefully be beneficial to us.

And they weren't happy about it.

They were trying to swap those fixtures, which is, yeah.

But I'd like, I'm trying not to worry too much about Man City.

I think my mental wellbeing is all over the place as much as it is just worrying about Arsenal.

I don't have to worry about another team as well.

Yeah, exactly.

But I think if I allow myself the two games that I'm most interested in,

is that every game on Monday night, and this Bournemouth game,

one because Bournemouth are one of the important teams in the Premier League at the moment,

and it's away from home after the FA Cup final.

There's like, there's a lot of chances for a slip-up there,

which ultimately means no CityLapoy win 3-0 and it'll be fine.

Yeah, absolutely.

You've got to find the hope where you can get it.

Absolutely.

Just, we need to put ourselves in a position where if they slip up once,

then they know it's a game over.

And you've got to think after all the sort of ups and downs on the turmoil of this season,

Arteta talking about the games from the Newcastle game on being a new league,

I'm really hoping that that messaging is getting through.

And again, tomorrow, against Fulham has to be the beginning of that.

Yeah, you're right.

And it's consistent.

Sorry, the part two of that.

Yeah, you're right.

It's consistent.

And I think that like,

I've kind of almost forgotten about that new league thing.

It kind of feels like already that the Newcastle game and then obviously that game was quite good,

but it's a grind, right?

The grind of the last two games has kind of just taken me back into it.

And it's like, no, like, this is a really important time of the season.

And it's really important that the players take that energy and that kind of fight

that we had Postman City into Newcastle,

at least in the conversation before the game,

it's so important that that carries on this weekend at home.

Like, no matter what the Bournemouth game aside,

I always back us to win at home.

I generally think we are pretty good at home.

And I generally back us to win well at home.

And I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be the case this weekend.

So they simply have to.

Right.

And that feels like a challenge that they should rise to rather than shirk away from.

On the subject of this second league,

if we do manage to get it over the line from here,

do you think that will be two league titles?

Does that count?

Will our set of be incredibly few,

if we only get to live one trophy?

Well, the last time we won a league, we got two trophies.

That's true.

So maybe now we'll only win the league when there's two trophies on the line.

I mean, if you have to manufacture that,

then I'm all for it.

If that works as motivation, it's good enough for me.

Now, thank you for joining us on this episode of the thing about Arsenal.

Rory and I are both back tomorrow.

We will be sat next to each other at the game.

We'll be reacting to it immediately after straight from the Emirates.

So let's hope we can do the business again.

Full and hit subscribe wherever you're watching and listening,

so that you don't miss it.

And we will see you later.

Rory, thank you very much for joining me.

Thank you very much.

We'll see you on Saturday.

And thanks to all of you for listening.

See you later.

Bye.

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