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Unlimited slows. Hello

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and welcome to a brand new ARSE blog,

0:58

ARSCAST. ARSCAST right here on arseblog.com. How

1:00

are you? I hope you're well. Thank you

1:03

very much indeed, as always, for being here.

1:05

It has been a football packed few

1:07

days since Euro 2024 kicked off last week.

1:11

I've been enjoying it. I have

1:13

to say football without jeopardy,

1:15

without peril, without all the stress

1:17

and anxiety that comes with watching

1:19

Arsenal games. I have to say

1:21

it's been very enjoyable from that

1:23

perspective, but also it has for

1:25

the most part been a very, very enjoyable tournament. A

1:28

few games here and there, of course, which haven't

1:30

been great, but there's been a lot of action,

1:32

a lot of good goals, some

1:34

late drama, some underdog stuff. It's been

1:36

a lot of fun and hopefully there's

1:38

there's more to come. And let's not

1:40

forget as well that Copa America kicks

1:42

off today, tomorrow, tonight, depending whenever it

1:44

is that you're listening to this, it

1:47

may well have kicked off already. It

1:49

probably has. Two

1:51

Arsenal players involved there for

1:53

Brazil, Gabriel Martinelli and

1:55

Big Gabby as well at the back. So

1:58

we'll keep an eye on what they're doing. doing

2:00

over the coming days. If you want to

2:02

keep up with the Euros, we are doing

2:04

an almost daily podcast for you over on

2:06

Patreon. I think we have done one every

2:08

single day of the Euros so far. We'll

2:10

have to see how the weekend plays out,

2:12

but we'll do our best. And if

2:15

you'd like to sign up to get

2:17

access to that and all the other

2:19

stuff that we have for you on

2:22

Patreon, you can do it at patreon.com/arsplog.

2:24

That is patreon.com/ arsplog. Right.

2:26

Let's get on with today's show. We're going to

2:28

talk a little bit about the Premier League

2:31

fixtures that were released in

2:33

midweek and just have a quick chat

2:35

about those. But today's show is a

2:37

statement style podcast. And with me to

2:39

do that is Andrew Allen. Hello, Andrew.

2:41

Good morning. How are you doing? I'm

2:43

all right. Thank you. You enjoying the

2:45

Euros so far? Yeah, it's

2:47

been fun, hasn't it? Yeah. It's been some

2:50

real cracking games in there. A couple of

2:53

slightly boring ones, but yeah,

2:55

I've been doing my best to kind of

2:57

watch as much as possible without hogging the

2:59

TV to death and obviously some of the

3:01

games during work hours. It's like having them

3:03

on on the phone on the background and

3:05

stuff. No, your your priority and

3:07

your focus is work, of course.

3:09

Of course. Sorry, Nigel. Well

3:14

there's there's plenty more to come from that

3:16

tournament. I do want to start today by

3:19

just touching on the fixture list. The Premier

3:21

League fixtures were released during

3:23

the week and it's a pretty,

3:26

can we say interesting start for Arsenal? I

3:29

don't want to say it's difficult,

3:32

might look like it's difficult, but I'm you

3:34

know, you've got to accept the challenge of having

3:37

to play these teams at some point during the

3:39

season. It's a relatively friendly start for our first

3:41

game, taking nothing for granted, of course,

3:44

but we're at home against Wolves. That's

3:46

then followed by Aston Villa away,

3:48

Brighton at home. And after the

3:50

interlal, the first interlal of the

3:52

new season, we have a

3:54

North London Derby away from home, then Manchester

3:57

City away from home with a

3:59

Champions League. league game in the middle

4:01

of those and as yet we don't know if

4:03

that's going to be home or away either. So

4:06

like it's straight into the meat and

4:08

drink of it. There's no easing yourself into this

4:10

season, is there? No, I think

4:13

the moment I saw

4:15

the fixtures, my sort of heart rate went

4:17

up a little bit, kind of a reminder

4:19

of the tension to come. I

4:21

guess, you know, having experienced the

4:24

title challenges of the last two seasons

4:26

and knowing there's so little room

4:29

for error, that when

4:31

you see a start like that, you're

4:33

immediately nervous because you kind of feel

4:35

like, jeez, if it went

4:37

badly, you could actually be cut adrift quite early.

4:40

And I mean, I'm not saying that's going to

4:42

be the case. I feel quite confident that, you

4:44

know, we'll be ready for

4:47

the challenges ahead. I mean, I think that the mentality

4:49

of the squad these days is such that they know

4:51

that there's no room for error. So it

4:54

does, I guess, bring a slightly interesting

4:58

focus to the transfer window as well, I

5:00

guess, because you kind of want to have

5:02

a pretty settled understanding of what you've got

5:04

to play with before you hit some of

5:06

those massive games, right? Yeah, I

5:08

mean, that's true, but we are

5:11

in the middle of the Euros, the

5:13

Copa America is about to start the

5:15

transfer window really hasn't got going yet.

5:17

And, you know, at this point,

5:19

Arsenal don't know when all of their players are going to

5:21

be back from those international tournaments and who they're going to

5:23

have available for the start of the season. But I do

5:26

I do think you're right that perhaps

5:28

the the moves that

5:30

you can make in the transfer market, I

5:33

was going to say you could bring these players in and

5:35

they might be able to pick up some of the slack,

5:37

but maybe some of the players that you're looking at are

5:39

also involved in those European tournaments and have to go on

5:41

a bit of holiday after the after

5:43

their countries go out. So it is it

5:45

is a complicated one, isn't it? Yeah,

5:49

I mean, it's it's kind of mad thinking that

5:51

actually we'll have an interlal before we even get

5:53

to that Spurs away game as well. So, you

5:55

know, it is actually quite

5:57

a distance away. You know, it's what

6:00

September the 14th is two months after

6:02

the Euros finish. You'd

6:04

hope that players would be up and running by then, but

6:06

at the same time, you know, those

6:08

earlier games, the Wolves and Villa ones, yeah,

6:12

who knows? We'll see what happens. But it's

6:14

definitely tricky, you know, if you were going

6:16

to pick a start, you'd much prefer to

6:18

ease into things, I think, and sort

6:21

of scatter some of those fixtures, sort of

6:23

as and when over the course of the season. But

6:26

ultimately, you know, everyone has to play everyone. And

6:29

there are other periods of the season where

6:31

I guess on paper, it looks a little

6:33

bit more friendly compared to what we've had

6:35

before. Yeah. I mean, I found the run

6:37

in last season quite stressful because of the

6:39

quality of the teams that we were having

6:41

to play. Right. And it's not that we

6:44

don't have some some difficult games in the

6:46

run. And if you look at

6:48

the run from April 1st after we play

6:50

Chelsea in mid-March, there's another international break. But

6:52

then you've got Fulham at home, Everton

6:55

away, Brentford at home, Ipswich away,

6:58

Palace at home, Bournemouth at

7:00

home. Then you've got to go to

7:02

Anfield. You've got Newcastle at home and Southampton,

7:06

Southampton away as well. So, I mean, it's

7:08

not it could be worse

7:11

in terms of a run in the some difficult

7:13

games in there, but if you can be there

7:15

or thereabouts at the start of April, you can

7:17

be I think based on what

7:19

we've seen from this team, relatively confident that they

7:21

can put a run together in that

7:23

group of fixtures, which, you know, could

7:28

could get us over the line either. Yeah,

7:30

I mean, it's always interesting, isn't it? Because,

7:32

you know, playing a team in form can

7:35

be as difficult, you know, it can be difficult

7:37

whenever it is. I mean, last season when we

7:40

we played Villa away, they were on that ridiculous

7:42

run of sort of winning at home, weren't they?

7:44

And then when we played Newcastle away, they were also

7:46

kind of, you know, quite up for it and in

7:49

a decent patch of form. So it's

7:51

kind of you can look at

7:53

the fixture list and look at the teams and go by

7:55

reputation and obviously their previous league finishes and all the rest

7:57

of it. And I'm sure the supercomputer will be doing all

7:59

of that. it's mathematics and all the rest of it. But

8:02

you know, you can't really register the fact

8:04

that, you know, someone like Ipswich might be on a five

8:07

game winning run at the beginning of the season, because, you

8:09

know, for whatever reason, and, you know, they

8:11

suddenly become a much harder prospect on paper than you

8:13

thought. So we'll see.

8:15

I mean, it's exciting, isn't it? I mean, what

8:18

we have coming up is

8:20

a season full of expectation again, you know, we're

8:22

not dreading it. We're not worried about, you know,

8:25

dropping out of the top four or anything

8:27

like that. You know, we have a very good

8:29

squad. We proved over two years that we're

8:31

capable of going toe to toe with Man

8:33

City and Liverpool. And

8:35

we have a, you know, a very

8:37

good chance, I think this year of really pushing again.

8:40

And I mean, it's just one game

8:42

at a time, as Arteta would say. Well, that's it.

8:44

You know, I was thinking watching the Euros this week

8:46

and, you know, thinking about the, you know, the Copa

8:48

America and the players who are going to be away

8:50

for that kind of thing that that Michael

8:53

Arteta, when he comes back from whatever bit

8:55

of holidays he's had and obviously back to

8:57

the transfer war room with Airdo and like

9:00

he and his coaching staff are going to come

9:02

back absolutely refreshed

9:04

and ready to go and

9:07

full of enthusiasm for the

9:10

new season. And that will also be true of some

9:12

players who, who, you know,

9:15

haven't been involved in European competition. They will

9:17

have had a decent break and, you know,

9:20

Ben White's been away, Martin Odegard's been away,

9:22

you know, big players who

9:24

haven't been involved in

9:26

tournaments. But I do wonder, you

9:28

know, the challenge of not

9:31

just maintaining the level that we had last season,

9:33

but improving it. That's what the challenge is. Right.

9:35

I'm not saying that's necessarily what we

9:37

have to do, but I'm sure, you know,

9:40

every season you're looking for more, you're looking for

9:42

better, you're looking to improve and to

9:44

make your team stronger. The challenge

9:47

then for Michael Arteta in this summer with

9:49

so many players who are away at the

9:51

Euros, it will be

9:53

about how do you wipe

9:56

the slate clean for those guys when it feels

9:58

or might feel for many. of them like

10:00

they haven't had much of a break at all. Yeah,

10:03

that's a good point. I mean, these

10:06

guys are really being pushed to the limit physically

10:08

at the moment. And

10:10

when you look at how this calendar is going to

10:13

shape up, they really aren't going to have any mental

10:16

downtime at all in

10:18

the period between the first interlal

10:21

and Christmas. You know, they are going to be playing every

10:23

three, four days. I don't

10:27

know. I mean, I think after the

10:29

Euros, some will have played quite a lot. Some won't have

10:31

played nearly as much as others. I think

10:35

there is that real sense of a family

10:38

atmosphere at Arsenal at the moment.

10:40

And I do think that the players will be

10:42

excited to get back together. I think

10:44

it will be the job of obviously, I do in

10:46

the coaching staff, but also those players who haven't been

10:48

a way to get everybody up and motivated for things.

10:51

I think maybe the injection of a

10:53

couple of youngsters as well will be

10:55

interesting. And then obviously, they go off

10:58

to America. And I think the passion of the fans

11:00

when they get out there will lift them as

11:02

well. There's

11:05

plenty of ways that they can get them going

11:08

again. I mean, they're also very young. They're

11:10

not kind of lots of

11:12

aged legs, over 30s who are sort of struggling

11:14

to get out of bed in the morning. These

11:16

guys are right in the prime of their fitness.

11:19

I hope, maybe with a couple of new

11:22

signings in there as well, that we can get

11:24

everybody quite pumped up. I mean, there

11:27

are some fringe guys who I think are going

11:29

to start pre-season with us, who will probably be

11:31

wondering what their future holds. But

11:33

I guess, again, without some of the

11:35

big stars who are away at the

11:38

international tournaments, there

11:40

will be a kind of opportunity for them

11:42

to maybe stake an early claim to some

11:45

minutes in the pre-season games and

11:48

build some momentum. You're looking

11:50

at Fabio Vieira and Samuel Smith Rowe.

11:52

And yeah,

11:54

I think those guys in particular, who knows what's

11:56

going to happen with Reece and Eddie. But

12:00

Yeah, I think there's a maturing group there

12:02

who should be able to cope with all

12:05

of that. Okay, well,

12:07

we are going to do, in this particular

12:09

episode, as I said at the beginning, we're

12:11

going to do some statements. We took these

12:13

from our Discord members, so thank you very

12:15

much to everybody who contributed. Basically,

12:18

I give you a statement. You either

12:20

have to strongly agree, agree, disagree, or

12:22

strongly disagree with it. No

12:24

fencing. The man who sits on the fence sitting all the

12:26

time. This is it. Hey, listen, if

12:28

Clive can do this format, you can do

12:31

this format. No problem at all, right? So

12:33

let's kick off with a nice, easy one from Jmart91,

12:35

who says, we

12:38

won't be signing anyone until at

12:40

the earliest the Euros and

12:42

Copa America finish. Does

12:49

that mean that the end of the tournament,

12:52

so literally the final game has been? I

12:55

guess so. That's what finish means.

12:58

Well, disagree. I

13:00

don't think Spain are going to win the tournament,

13:02

and we have to buy David Ryer. So I

13:04

think that paperwork could be. Oh, look at you,

13:07

smart. I

13:10

think that deal will go through. If

13:12

it's not Ryer, no, I don't think we'll be

13:14

signing anyone who's not already played for the club.

13:17

I just can't see it happening. I think, you

13:20

know, there's a lot going on, a

13:23

lot of moving parts. I think there's probably a fair

13:25

amount of work to go on behind the scenes if

13:27

agents aren't picking up the phone at the moment. Yeah,

13:32

I don't see anyone but Ryer signing before

13:34

the end of the major European tournament. Right.

13:36

Interesting. I'm also going to disagree, but I

13:38

do think we might bring somebody in, apart

13:42

from David Ryer, the technicality

13:45

that you've exploited there so very well. But

13:48

I think we might, I think

13:50

we might, if I was to sort of flip

13:53

the question, do

13:55

you think we'll sell anyone before the end of

13:57

the Euros or the end of the Copa? America,

14:00

because there are some players in the

14:02

departure land, some players that we might

14:06

be willing to let go. Or does

14:08

this feel like Arsenal

14:10

aside, like it might be a

14:12

summer where because

14:14

of the international tournaments, because it might

14:16

take a while for things to get

14:18

moving, that this is

14:20

going to be a very August heavy

14:23

transfer window? I

14:27

mean, there are, there are people within the

14:29

squad that I think could go 100%

14:31

could go before preseason

14:33

starts. And that would be

14:36

lone guys like La Conga, Tavares,

14:40

I was going to say Tieni, but that looks increasingly

14:42

unlikely now. So

14:44

I would say those three absolute, you know, two

14:46

candidates there. I think the other guys, I think

14:49

they're going to hold on as long as possible.

14:51

I think they'll be with us through preseason. We're

14:53

going to be pretty light through preseason, especially

14:56

those early weeks. You

14:58

look at the goalkeeper situation. I mean, we're,

15:00

you know, I know James has reported that

15:02

Karl Heinz signing a new deal, but we

15:04

actually don't have any other goalkeepers, you know,

15:06

we've got to sign potentially a goalkeeper there.

15:09

I guess that actually could be an interesting one for you

15:11

for the previous part of the question, which is, you know,

15:13

could you see us signing someone? But

15:17

I think, I think the fringe guys,

15:19

Vieira and Ketia Nelson, I think they'll,

15:21

they'll hang on through preseason and then

15:23

there'll be some quite a lot of

15:25

late business this year. Yeah, I tend

15:27

to agree with that. Okay.

15:30

Mr. Snrub says

15:33

we will have a slow start to

15:35

the league and see

15:37

surprise choices in starting 11s

15:40

because of fatigue from last season

15:42

and the summer internationals. I

15:46

agree that we might have a slow

15:48

start. I don't think

15:50

we're going to win five or six on the

15:53

bounce, you know, you know, come

15:55

out the traps that quickly just because of the nature

15:57

of the opposition. I think I

15:59

could easily. see us being wolves. I think if

16:01

we got a drawer away at Villa, that would

16:03

be reasonable. Win against Brighton Spurs, you could draw

16:05

city, you could draw. I mean, I think it's

16:08

going to be hard to build momentum.

16:11

And I think actually coming through those games

16:13

unscathed is almost more important than necessarily putting

16:15

the pressure on that we have to have

16:17

to win every game. I mean, obviously, that's

16:20

going to be our tetters attitude. I don't

16:24

know about fatigue. I

16:26

mean, I think some of these guys

16:28

with three or four weeks break in a bit of preseason

16:30

in them. I

16:32

think they'll be okay. I don't think it's fatigue

16:34

necessarily that's going to be leading things. And I

16:37

still think that when we get to wolves, you'll

16:40

see a very strong side, even

16:42

if some of the guys go to the final. If

16:45

someone like Havarts went all the way to the final, you

16:48

still got exactly a month there.

16:51

I could see our tetter pushing him into

16:53

action if needs be. And

16:56

the same goes for some of the

16:58

other players. Yeah. I'm not I'm not

17:00

I'm not hugely concerned by. Has that

17:03

gone out the window these days, the idea

17:06

that, you know, if a player goes on

17:08

an international break, remember, Arsene Wenger used to

17:10

say he like any player that's

17:12

been away at an international tournament, he absolutely

17:14

needs three weeks holidays. I think that's what

17:16

he used to say. And there

17:18

were times where we would start a season and you

17:21

know, there will be players who've been away

17:23

who weren't involved, at least

17:25

definitely not starting games. But I do

17:27

wonder if as the

17:30

way players are managed physically these days

17:32

has altered that thinking. Yeah,

17:35

I mean, I don't expect Kai Havarts to

17:37

come back with love handles and, you know,

17:39

sort of beer poucher or something. He's going

17:41

to be in fine, fine fettle, I imagine.

17:43

Also, a lot of the guys

17:45

did actually get a couple of weeks break in

17:47

between the end of the season and those international

17:49

friendlies. You know, we saw Havarts and Erdegaard

17:52

kind of on a yacht together. So

17:56

they have had some breaks. There

17:59

will have been some And

20:00

he wasn't that presence. And the fact that

20:02

Artetor even looked at Ramster, who very good

20:04

at it and decided he needed an upgrade,

20:06

suggests to me that there was some weird

20:08

thinking going on behind that one. And

20:11

then if you're looking for

20:13

a number two now, look,

20:15

I know that Ramster-El-Raya situation

20:17

caused a lot of rutcheons

20:19

and angst and discussion, but

20:22

I think it's been settled now. Ramster

20:24

always the number two until he leaves, and

20:26

then we'll just find another number two now.

20:29

And that's fine. That's what other

20:31

clubs do. Yeah, I would strongly disagree

20:33

with that one as

20:35

well. The fact that

20:38

Arstle made some kind of profit on Matt

20:40

Turner, I think he went for 10 million,

20:42

which spent six or seven million, which again

20:44

seems very high for a goalkeeper coming from

20:46

MLS at his age

20:48

with the profile that he had. I think it was

20:50

the right decision to let him leave and to make

20:53

some money on him. And I think

20:56

who we bring in to be the number

20:58

two next season is going to be fascinating

21:01

because he

21:03

has to be able to at least

21:06

come close to replicating what David Raya

21:08

can do with the ball at his

21:10

feet. And I wonder, is there a

21:13

sort of baseline that you expect a

21:15

goalkeeper to have in terms of what they can

21:17

do with their hands? Can

21:20

they catch? Can they make saves? But

21:22

a key component of what

21:24

Arstle need to do in the transfer market this summer

21:26

is going to be what they

21:28

can do with the ball at their feet.

21:31

So I don't know who that's going to

21:34

be and who can you get, who's knocking

21:36

around. The Dutch guy is quite

21:39

similar to Raya in terms of his profile with

21:41

the ball at his feet, but he's

21:43

a bit, he's a

21:45

bit current tyranny when it comes to injuries.

21:48

He's made of biscuits basically by the looks

21:50

of him. I

21:52

mean, I'm genuinely fascinated by the prospect that, I

21:55

mean, I know Arstle were about to persuade Karl

21:57

Heim to leave, but I don't think that necessarily

21:59

means that. in

30:00

the officiating at this tournament

30:02

or far more

30:04

distrust of the officiating that we have

30:06

in England that has changed

30:08

it. But it feels efficient. I feel like the

30:11

efficiency of the decision making takes

30:13

away so much of what

30:15

could or couldn't be contentious. I

30:17

think Tim mentioned something

30:19

interesting on Twitter this morning,

30:21

I think, or it may have been yesterday, that

30:24

obviously what we have at these tournaments are

30:27

the cream of the crop from a refereeing

30:29

perspective. So you're getting the best referees from

30:31

Italy, the best referee from Spain.

30:34

And consequently, we're probably seeing a

30:36

reflection of the high quality of

30:39

the officials. Whereas on a weekly

30:41

basis, what we've got is the

30:43

top 12 officials or something

30:45

in action. And obviously some of them aren't as good

30:47

as others and there's a, you know, it

30:50

causes issues. So I think we're

30:52

definitely seeing the best officials and the

30:55

best refereeing and the most efficient use

30:57

of VAR. And consequently, you kind of

30:59

look at it and go, okay, this is what it

31:01

could be, but probably harder to implement on a week

31:03

by week basis. But still there are obvious improvements that

31:06

can be made. All right.

31:08

Cheesecake says Ethan

31:10

Wennary will start three or

31:13

more games next season in

31:15

all competitions. I

31:22

think, I think this year is going

31:24

to be the year that he starts

31:26

to get a bit more time. I think

31:29

it was really interesting last

31:31

season when the players were the ones who

31:33

were egging Arteta Ron to bring him on

31:35

against West Ham. I think George

31:38

was amongst that. Like I think once you've

31:40

earned the trust of your teammates, that's,

31:44

that's really something at that level. And look,

31:46

he's 17 going

31:48

to be turning 18. We've

31:50

seen players come through the ranks who have been

31:53

able to hold their own, you know,

31:55

obviously Sesk and Jack Will should come

31:57

to mind in that position in midfield.

32:00

Other clubs have youngsters coming through and I

32:02

think the League Cup, God, if

32:04

we could just get some Lucky

32:06

draws as well in the cup competitions, you know,

32:08

it'd be nice to have a bit of a

32:10

run in the FA Cup I definitely feel like

32:12

there's opportunities there for him There's

32:16

gonna be football every three days

32:18

with those Champions League matches between

32:20

September and you know, January So

32:22

again, there should be opportunities Obviously

32:25

starting games is a big call But

32:28

I think I could see him starting in the

32:31

cup games and coming off the bench potentially

32:33

You know, it's pretty obvious that he stands

32:35

out a long way above any of the

32:37

other Academy prospects at the moment He's been

32:39

pretty much the only one that art at

32:41

has looked at maybe Mars Lewis Skelly and

32:44

It's kind of been there and thereabouts and a couple

32:47

of the wingers Charles

32:49

Sago jr. And we'll see if

32:51

cosy a jubilee sticks around but Yeah,

32:54

I fancy and winnery to have a bit of

32:56

a breakthrough this year Yeah, I agree

32:58

I think I think

33:00

the space in the squad forum particularly if

33:03

a couple of players depart and we're looking at

33:05

the transfer window and the transfer

33:07

market as a way to replace

33:10

those but I think you also have to

33:12

create a pathway for a talent

33:15

when it is or Appears to

33:17

be of course, you know, we we we

33:19

can never really tell 100% if a player

33:22

is gonna fulfill the potential but certainly he

33:25

Looks like he's in that kind of bracket

33:27

where he's a little bit special and therefore

33:29

you have to give careful Consideration as to

33:31

how you bring him in and how you

33:33

develop him as a player So I would

33:35

be very surprised if he wasn't

33:37

involved in You

33:39

know League Cup games. I think you're right about the draw the

33:42

draw dictates so much

33:44

about what kind of a team a manager

33:46

can can put out like same with

33:48

the FA Cup, I know there's There's

33:51

disappointment about not doing enough

33:53

in the competitions last season But we had Liverpool in

33:55

the third round of the FA Cup and it was

33:57

a year before yeah, you know

36:00

promotion to the first team squad, I guess, in the

36:02

summer and goes on the preseason tour. He

36:04

didn't, I don't think he did last year, did he? I think it

36:06

was quite a, he had an issue

36:08

with quite a bloated squad and wanted to take

36:10

some of those senior guys like Cedric and, you

36:14

know, to the States. And I think we

36:16

maybe only had one in there, which might

36:18

be in rural waters or something like that.

36:20

So, yeah. So yeah, I think it

36:23

would be interesting to see who gets the nod

36:25

because there should be some space for them. Yeah. Yeah.

36:28

All right. Chris BK says,

36:30

there will be another gate crasher

36:33

in inverted commas, a non big

36:35

five and Tottenham team who makes

36:37

the top four this season. And

36:39

obviously that's in light

36:41

of Aston Villa doing it last season. Mm.

36:47

Disagree. I'd

36:50

say, I say disagree. I'd have

36:52

been, it would be a very confident disagree

36:55

if Pochettino had hung around at Chelsea,

36:58

because I feel like Chelsea, we're actually building the

37:00

level of momentum and cohesion

37:02

you need to actually potentially challenge for a

37:04

top four place again. But

37:07

obviously his, his untimely

37:09

exit throws all of that up in the air

37:11

again. I've got no idea what Maresca is going

37:13

to be like as a coach at Chelsea. I

37:16

mean, who have we got this? I

37:19

mean, it's hard to say what United will be like. Does

37:23

Newcastle count as an outsider having already qualified

37:26

for the Champions League? Potentially an outsider, but

37:28

I think they sort of did a Villa.

37:30

I think there was a bit more consistency

37:32

about Villa last season, the Newcastle, the season

37:35

they got into the top four. Well,

37:39

why don't I rule out clubs then?

37:41

So not Ipswich, not Wolves. Not

37:44

Everton. Not

37:46

Southampton, not Nottingham forest. You

37:49

know, maybe Bournemouth and Brighton would, but they

37:51

would have to really go some and not

37:54

lose players this summer. Can't

37:56

see West Ham. Brentford

37:58

can't see. or Palace, you

38:01

know, they so much depends

38:03

on as I Annaly say, exactly. And,

38:05

you know, they've had a nice little

38:07

kind of new manager bounce, but can

38:09

they continue that into the new season?

38:12

And then what is Lester and I

38:15

find it very hard to believe that it'll be a

38:17

non big 16 kind of

38:20

finishing. Yeah, that's one I strongly disagree with.

38:22

I think, I think the

38:26

top six and maybe

38:28

Villa are too strong. I,

38:30

you know, I know he did a great

38:32

job last season, but I have something

38:35

in the back of my mind about Aston Villa for

38:37

the season ahead. I do wonder if like

38:39

Newcastle, when

38:42

they qualify for the Champions League, they don't

38:45

necessarily have a squad that's completely

38:47

ready for it and whether they can

38:50

maintain European competition and

38:52

Premier League competition, I think

38:56

is open to question. I actually think that's

38:58

one of the things that doesn't get talked

39:00

about too much about Arsenal, Arsenal season last

39:02

time around was the fact that we

39:05

were competitive all the way to the end, we did

39:07

get to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. I know

39:09

we were out of the cup competitions, but

39:11

you know, I think we, we, we managed

39:13

those two competitions maybe a little bit better

39:16

than I was thinking we might. And obviously

39:18

we've got to improve again next season, but

39:20

that's why I have a slight reservation about, about

39:23

Villa. There

39:25

is a slight caveat. What's that?

39:27

Obviously, the Premier League could

39:29

have five teams in the Champions League if

39:31

the coefficient works out in their favor. Right.

39:33

Over the course of the season. Over the

39:35

course of the season. And Man

39:37

City might get relegated. So then there'll be like two

39:40

extra spaces. All right. Well, here's a,

39:42

here's another, here's another

39:44

one on that stickers says Man

39:46

City will receive some sort of

39:48

punishment before Pep fucks off. Disagree,

39:52

but only because I think Pep will fuck off

39:54

before the punishment comes in, but I think they

39:57

will get punished. Do you think you're comfortable? on,

42:00

because he will, like

42:03

a rat leaving a sinking ship, he'll fuck off

42:05

and then say, I

42:07

didn't know. And as soon as

42:09

I found out, I left because,

42:11

you know, I'm such a good

42:13

guy. So, so good.

42:16

If that happened, then I'd feel confident

42:18

that City were going to get done.

42:20

But that's just a hypothetical, I guess.

42:23

I have a question for you. Yeah. Will

42:27

your enthusiasm for

42:29

the season and the next few seasons

42:32

be affected if City

42:35

are found not guilty? So,

42:38

ultimately, the juggernaut goes on

42:42

unchecked. I mean, And Arsenal

42:44

have to go against this. I

42:48

mean, if,

42:52

I mean, are they found not guilty on the back

42:54

of the 115 charges or successful in

43:00

their attempt to do

43:02

away with these, these rules that they

43:04

claim are unfair rules that they're, you

43:06

know, completely aware

43:08

of. I think if

43:11

this hearing goes

43:14

in City's favor, I

43:18

would have some strong feelings about the

43:20

way football is going to go over

43:22

the next number of years.

43:24

And I know this is like

43:27

trying to put a genie back in the bottle,

43:29

but if City and

43:33

Newcastle and other

43:35

clubs can just spend limitless

43:39

amounts of money, which they would love to do,

43:41

I mean, that is the reality. They've, if

43:45

the charges against City are upheld, it's because

43:47

they have been trying to spend as much

43:50

money as possible to make themselves a dominant

43:52

force in English football, which of course they

43:54

have done. They're already the dominant force of

43:56

one five out of six, but if they

43:58

could do that on. whatever.

46:01

I mean there's always some but like...

46:03

Just the betting and the cryptocurrency. Just

46:07

those guys. The betting companies that

46:09

don't exist. Their

46:11

websites that don't exist. All those. They

46:13

can pour millions and billions into it.

46:17

Okay, let's do a few quick ones

46:19

to sort of finish us out here.

46:21

Jose, or Jose, I don't know if

46:23

it's Portuguese or Spanish. He

46:25

says Martinelli will have

46:27

an 18 plus goal assist

46:29

season next season. Agree.

46:35

Okay. Yeah, interesting interview

46:37

you did yesterday. Yeah. AS,

46:39

ahead of the copper America sounds really, really determined.

46:43

Very focused. Obviously he's not too dejected about the

46:45

fact that last season didn't quite go to plan

46:47

for him. But yeah, I

46:49

think so. Yeah, I see him being an integral

46:52

part. If we can settle down that left side,

46:54

you know, get the players around him who build

46:57

up the relationships he needs. I think there's

46:59

definitely, you know, you can't write off Martinelli after the

47:01

season. No. I mean, even with the season that he

47:03

had, which was underwhelming, he had

47:06

13 goals and assists

47:08

in all competitions. Not brilliant, but

47:10

he can clearly do an awful lot better. So I think 18 plus

47:14

goals and assists is, is

47:16

well within his wheelhouse. Here's one from

47:18

me. Kieran Tierney's injury of the Euro

47:21

should make Arcele think very carefully about

47:23

whether or not they should pursue a

47:25

move for Pedro Nadeau. I

47:29

think, yes, agree. You have to take into

47:32

account a player's injury history. I mean, it

47:34

would be ridiculous not to. There's

47:37

no reason to think that just because

47:39

you've joined another club, that your hamstrings are suddenly going

47:41

to magically become better. So

47:43

yeah, I'd be

47:45

genuinely consider if you can't rely on a player, it doesn't

47:48

matter how good they are. I mean, I think Kieran's a

47:50

very interesting proof of that. I think he had

47:53

a, every time he builds momentum

47:55

and even when he was associated this season, while

47:57

he was playing really well, if you're

47:59

suddenly out for three weeks. It really upsets

48:01

everything, doesn't it? Because as

48:04

we've seen just talking now about Martinelli, if you don't

48:06

have a settled team around certain other players, then it

48:08

can really upset the balance of a team on the

48:10

pitch on a week in, week out basis. So I

48:13

would be very wary despite

48:16

Neto's talent. Okay. Tudor

48:18

says Arsenal should never join in

48:20

on the multi-club ownership model,

48:24

selling property to themselves to work

48:27

around PSR, that kind of funny

48:29

business. I mean, we

48:32

kind of are in a multi-club model. I

48:34

mean, our owners own the Colorado Rapids and

48:36

the States. European,

48:39

he did say, in fairness. Okay. I

48:43

don't know. It's hard to say. If

48:47

it happened, I just go, yeah,

48:50

you know, like this is what everyone is doing now.

48:52

Again, it's kind of hard to shut it down, isn't

48:54

it? I don't know. Yeah,

48:58

it's difficult. But then if you see

49:00

other teams making, you know,

49:02

if it's an advantage for other teams,

49:04

like City obviously have Girona amongst their

49:07

kind of group,

49:10

and they've been able to bed in players

49:12

there and potentially bring them into their setup.

49:15

You know, if that ultimately,

49:17

if that helps you win, and this is what everyone else

49:19

is doing, it almost becomes ridiculous to just say, I'm not

49:21

going to do it. I mean, I

49:25

don't know that it's on the cronky radar. I

49:28

mean, it's quite a big thing to decide to

49:30

go and buy another club. I mean, it's not

49:32

just as simple as throwing a check at a

49:34

situation and saying we own you now. I mean,

49:37

there's a lot of time and effort that

49:39

has to go into integrating that and making

49:41

sure that it's running well in its own

49:43

entity. I don't think

49:45

we will, but I wouldn't, I

49:48

mean, it wouldn't be a kind of deal

49:50

breaker for me if they did. Right.

49:52

I would strongly disagree with it or

49:55

sorry, strongly agree with the idea that we shouldn't get

49:57

involved in that. Mostly because I

49:59

don't think. it's right anyway,

50:01

despite the fact people are doing it. I

50:03

think it's open to all kinds of corruption,

50:06

financial and otherwise, moving

50:10

assets and money

50:12

around between clubs just doesn't seem right

50:15

to me. The other thing I would say is

50:18

that I think, you know, it's taken KSC quite

50:20

a while to get it

50:22

right at Arsenal. The idea

50:24

that they would then stretch themselves to

50:26

buy another club. I mean,

50:29

people have often said, haven't they, about KSC

50:31

that they're more of

50:33

a real estate company than

50:35

a sporting franchise company, despite the

50:37

fact that they own, you know,

50:39

various outlets in the US.

50:41

So I don't know that the expertise

50:43

is there at the top of

50:46

KSC to stretch themselves and buy a club in

50:48

Spain or buy a club in France. And I

50:50

don't think they should do that anyway. I

50:54

mean, ultimately, if they're looking for a return

50:56

on investment, which they will do on Arsenal,

50:58

eventually, you know, the money is in the Premier League, you're

51:00

not going to buy some, you

51:02

know, second rate team in Austria or something.

51:04

Yes. Apologies to Austria. Of

51:09

course. That your doorbell? No, not a

51:11

doorbell. That was an alarm. That was

51:13

an alarm. Okay. No doorbell music for

51:16

you. Plastic No-No says, Arsenal will have

51:18

a 70 million plus signing this summer.

51:22

Disagree. I

51:25

think we're going to operate in a

51:27

lower tier this summer. I

51:30

just, I don't know why, but

51:32

I feel like if we were going to spend that kind of money

51:34

on a player, we'd have already

51:36

seen a proper link with

51:39

someone. And it doesn't feel

51:41

like we're operating at that level

51:43

this year. You know, I'm not

51:45

seeing, I mean, the only big name that's

51:47

100 million plus really is Osmond. And I

51:49

just don't, I just feel like we're not,

51:51

that's not us. No, that's not us. This,

51:54

this window for sure. I think we'll be more in the 50 to

51:56

60 region. Right. It's

52:00

still just below it. Yeah. Yeah.

52:03

It's still big money. It is just

52:05

below it. Wise Marklar says football is

52:07

an incredibly simple game that gets overblown

52:10

and overanalyzed. Agree,

52:14

says the two people on a podcast. 10

52:18

o'clock on a Thursday morning when there's no

52:21

football. Yeah, exactly. It's definitely overanalyzed. I

52:24

sort of agree, but at the same time, I

52:26

think it is increasingly a more,

52:28

I mean, the objective of

52:31

football is simple. How

52:33

you execute

52:37

that objective is increasingly more

52:39

complicated though. And the

52:42

more complicated it becomes, the more you

52:44

need to analyze it. And there is

52:46

a reason why, you know, there are

52:48

careers in football, people in football who

52:51

are statisticians, who are analysts, who

52:54

aren't necessarily, for want of

52:56

a better term, football people. Because

52:58

I just think the way the

53:00

game has gone is far more complicated than it was

53:02

even, you know, 15, 20 years ago. Of

53:06

course. I mean, you have to be a

53:08

financial expert, a data analyst. You have to

53:10

have a decent understanding of legal matters these

53:12

days just to be able to keep up

53:14

with half the stories that are in the

53:16

back pages of the newspapers. Yeah. I think

53:18

even in the time that I've been working

53:21

with you over the course of the last

53:23

12 years, the nature

53:25

and the quality of the analysis of

53:27

football is just extraordinary now. It

53:30

went from, you know, you

53:32

just sort of picked up on a few bits

53:34

and bobs of data that were available freely to

53:37

some of the intense scrutiny now. And I think,

53:41

while I don't always read all of the data stuff, just because I

53:43

don't have enough time, it's

53:46

an evolving market, isn't it?

53:48

I mean, they're still trying to hone some of

53:50

the algorithms that are able to better explain what

53:52

we see on the pitch. And one

53:55

year, the data

53:57

is used in one particular way. And another year, they find a

53:59

new way of explaining. things. So I think

54:01

it's really interesting looking at it, but it's

54:03

not the be all and end all for

54:05

me. Football is really about the emotion and

54:08

the people. Marshall L But

54:13

I think for football clubs though, they have to

54:16

have a more holistic view of

54:18

what's going on. You can't ignore the data. It

54:20

is about emotion. It is about

54:22

quality. It is about talent. But

54:25

all of the things that help you put

54:27

a team together that can be successful, you

54:29

know, you've got to, you can't ignore all

54:31

the stuff that's out there. You can't ignore

54:33

the data. You can't ignore what data might

54:35

tell you about a particular player. It could

54:37

be eye-catching, but whose, you know, whose statistics

54:39

maybe tell you there's a weakness there that

54:41

makes them unsuitable for transfer. All right, we're

54:43

going to leave it there. Continue to enjoy

54:45

the Euros. I know you'll be staying up

54:48

late to watch the Copa America and all

54:50

that as well. So, as ever,

54:52

thank you very much. Marshall L No

54:54

sleep already with this summer. Thank you, Andrew. Andrew N. Brown

54:56

Thank you very much. Narrator

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