Arsenal DEBATE: Is Saka WORLD CLASS? - Should Trossard be 1st choice now? FT @SheKnowsArsenal

I get pushed right back, Charlie, definitely. People deluded, I'm back again. Come on, Ian, man, come on. People deluded, we're back again. It's Arsenal talk. It's Arsenal back in full spirits after what? What was it? Just four wins from four, 12 points on the board. I had to bring SheKnowsArsenal. We just done a live stream with her. So make sure you're subscribing and watching that and whatnot. How you doing, man? It looks like the sun is shining at the Emirates. I'm feeling good. I've been able to re-watch games. I've been able to look at highlights. I've looked at all the content. I am ecstatic. I love an Arsenal winning because an Arsenal winning, I'm winning. So there you go. So we can kick this off in the best possible fashion. Obviously, you've seen our revitalization since the Dubai trip and obviously the points we've put on the board, beating West Ham, beating Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and obviously demolishing West Ham. What has changed for you since pre-Dubai and now post-Dubai? Beyond the obvious, what has changed? What do you pull it down to? Is it a tactical tweak? What is it for you? I just feel like we're playing faster. I feel like some players look a lot fresher. I think Saka looks more fresh. I think Ben White looks more fresh. Which is important to us. I feel like Arteta is getting like a little tactical tweaks there as well. Like our front line is swapping positions a lot more and we just look like we're very focused on what we're trying to do. The players look very locked into what needs to happen, no matter who's out there, whether it's Jeyzus and Sinchenko or Kivior and Trossard. It doesn't matter who's out there. The job description is the same. And so I just feel like there's a like almost like a renewed thing with Arsenal right now and it just feels it's it's less about like I know they're putting the ball in the back of the net but for me it's just more like you can tell that they're super focused and locked in where they almost looked like mentally tired before Dubai. So I think they just needed that refresher, you know, and a little bit of like a we can do this, you know, we're not quite out of it, you know, and I don't know how damaging December will end up being at the end of the season. But from now until the end of the season, I would love to see us right in the mix and ready to pounce on any slip-up just in case it happens. I think you're bang on the money. I think we probably will look back in May, same way we looked at how last two seasons kind of kind of we kind of failed at the end. We've had a bit of a failure mid-season. I think that would be the point, the period we look back and think that's where we need to get our points. I don't know. I'm going to ask you, but I don't know how I feel about winning a Premier League or Champions League. The Champions League is a separate entity, which we'll get into. Obviously, where the Premier League is concerned, you've got the super giants in City. Whatever people say about Liverpool, Klopp's leaving. That breeds togetherness. They've still only been defeated twice this season, also by us. So that's the six-pointer. It does feel for me, obviously, we're going to drop points same way everybody else is, but it is kind of getting out of our hands. If in an ideal world, we don't drop any points at least until the end of March where we're playing City at the Etihad. But with our change in form, has it given you renewed confidence where winning a Premier League or Champions League is concerned? I'm really excited to see how we perform in the Champions League because I think we are really, really good in the big games. When you look at the top six mini table, we're the best and it's not really that close either. So we know we can get up for the big games. I think we've struggled in the games where we play teams that we should be beating and we slipped up, you know, so it's going to be interesting to see how we do in the Champions League. I'm really excited to see that because we just we seem to have that ability to like get up for the big ones. In terms of the league, I have to be honest, I don't, I do think when you drop the points that we did against Fulham and West Ham, against a City, it's going to be really difficult. Yeah, I would need to, it depends, it kind of depends on what happens with City and Liverpool. I think they have to go to Anfield, City do. It depends on how we perform at the Etihad. I hope it's close. I think it will be close, but I think it's kind of slipped away from us just a little bit. It only takes one or two additional losses. I think we would have needed a buffer even to really, you know, make it count and we don't even have that we're chasing so it's going to be tough in the league, but I'm excited for the Champions League because even though City are in it and we know that they're probably favourites, I just am excited to see what kind of big games we come against and how we perform because we haven't been here in a while. I think the only things that cause, and this is kind of what we spoke about on your stream a few streams ago, in line with our project and what Mikel Arteta is doing. I love it. If the gloves kind of come off and we're talking about winning the Premier League, I'm not expecting my team to be perfect. I'm not expecting to get full points, but it's a hell of a fight. And this is where like we both mentioned and applauded our top six record. We dropped points from winning positions against Liverpool at Anfield. That was the only thing that could have been better about beating Liverpool at the Emirates was winning at Anfield. We shot ourselves in the foot there. We shot ourselves in the foot against Chelsea. We shot ourselves in the foot against Spurs. Obviously we were, in my opinion, we were the better teams against Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham, but all that matters is points on the board. We failed to kind of do that. So we have given ourselves a bit too much. And again, if we're chasing the pack, as we spoke about on your stream, check that out guys, that can also maybe be a big psychological boost. Not that we listen to outside noises, but no one expects us to win the league. We could probably try and try and do something there. But it's a big ask, man. And we don't know who's going to be fit, when they're going to be fit. That's the issues for me. In relation to the Champions League, I mean, I'm very pessimistic on both. I think there's more of a chance of winning the Premier League than the Champions League. I hear your point on big games and stuff, but if there was one major criticism of mine with Mikel Arteta, I think Europe post-group stages have been embarrassing. Sporting Lisbon lost between the two legs. I personally feel the last couple of times we've gone out in the Europa League, the damage has been done in the first leg, like that was the story. So I want to see how we go there. Obviously, we'll get on to West Ham. We battered them. But one talking point going into it was the fitness of the squad, something that I'm sure you've made many a video about. It's an issue. And when Mikel Arteta says things like, we need to be a team that gets 100 goals, what our star boys did last season was an anomaly, how we have one of the thinnest squads. I hear it and I think there's rhetoric and logic to it. But when it comes to winning a Prem or a major trophy, these things can't really wash. So we're going to have to take it from there, man. But I agree with you. I mean, we've just got to run it to the end and see where we did wrong and where we can improve. What have you made of, you know, because I don't think we spoke about the Liverpool game. Clearly, it was amazing. But what did you make of the West Ham game, like six of the best quality? What's all your thoughts in relation to that? We've spoken about it so much that Arsenal tend to score a couple of goals, maybe even just one goal, take their foot off the gas, but we didn't do that. We totally stomped them into the ground. We saw weakness and we just kept going at them. I loved how we were approached the game. I love the little tactical tweak with Ben White inverting. I just liked everything about the way that we played. We were patient. Obviously, our set pieces came up big again, but you know, you have to find a way to break through. West Ham are supposedly a good team on set pieces and we turned, like, flip the script on them. You know, we scored two off of set pieces with Saliba and Gabrielle, but Kyle Saka had his, like, redemption penalty. That was great. And then Trossard, fantastic goal. I loved everything about it. I only wish we could have gotten maybe one more goal, you know, just being a little, you know, extra there. It would have been lovely to have a Saka hat trick, man. I really thought it was going to do it. I would have loved that. Yeah, that would have been perfect. But we got Ethan Noeri coming in, you know, that was nice to see. It was a perfect, you know, Ben White, or not Ben White. It was nice to see Cedric. Oh God, please. Declan Rice. I mean, he scored a goal against his ex-team, which was great, you know. Many people accuse him of not turning up against West Ham. I hope they're loud enough. Listen, his worst game in an Arsenal shirt was West Ham at home. Like, it just was, like, and I was like, damn, you know, why is it that our players played poorly against their ex-teams, but anybody that leaves us scores against us? It's crazy. That's true. But he did, he did it. And I mean, he obviously celebrated in a classy way. We knew that he wasn't going to go out there and, like, Adebayoris or anything like that, but it was just, it was the perfect day. I didn't think Liverpool could get any better because I was like, Liverpool is one of our best performances under Mikel Arteta. West Ham, I think, trumped it just a little bit because it was away from home against a top-10 side, had it lost away from home in 10 games, or lost at home in 10 games. And so it was perfect. I disagree slightly. I think the Liverpool game was a better result for me beyond the obvious because I feel against the best, you have to bring your best, and that was more of a chess match. I don't think we should have conceded, so I can kind of lean into what you're saying. I think West Ham was more of a perfect performance because, as I said, you know, you look at the squad. We've got a number of injuries. We went out there. Nobody cares. It's irrelevant. I think, you know, our build-up play, David Rye was fantastic. Declan Rice, obviously, two assists and a goal. I think Saka was cooking. I think Martinelli had a bit of a slow day, but it's all right. Tross are amazing. Even the build-up for Saka's penalty, it's nice to know that we can be direct at times, and for me, smell blood. Like, we smelt blood. As you said, you know, we can go a couple of goals up and we take our foot off the gas. I think that was said against Brighton and Wolves. We smelt blood. Do you think it's a statement victory, though? Yeah, I do. It's not easy to score that many goals against a team in the top 10, and the way that we did it. I watched all the rivals, like, hate alongs. Just watching them have to watch us do that was so good. Like, I was like... We busted their bubbles, man. Yes, because before the game, there was all the... They're a bogey team for us. You know, they have Bowen and Kudus, and they're going to do this to our left side, and it's going to be this and that, and it just wasn't that at all. You know, so, to me, after all of the talk about the celebrations post-Liverpool, I think the overwhelming hope and expectation from everybody else outside of Arsenal was that we would win that game against Liverpool and then turn around and lose to our bogey team, you know? But I just, I feel like it was a statement because it was like, yeah, we were up for that Liverpool game. Yeah, we celebrated it, but we could come with cool heads against West Ham away from home and absolutely put them in a split, you know? And so, to me, it was a statement victory, I thought. And I also saw somebody was talking about how the psychological, you know, Arteta... I feel like Arteta clearly over-celebrates and under-celebrates certain performances for a specific reason, and Arteta is very, like, specific with everything that he does. He clearly over-celebrated and made a big deal about the Liverpool game because I feel like there was a big build-up to it, like, keep yourselves in the race, and then he didn't celebrate ---- against West Ham. Nothing. Not one of those goals did he really celebrate, and I feel like it was kind of like back-to-business as usual. I needed them up for the Liverpool game, now I need them back to an even against West Ham. And I just don't think people take into consideration that Arteta thinks through absolutely everything. He's not over-celebrating because he's just some arrogant guy, because he needed his team to know how big that game was, and then to calm them back down for West Ham. It was perfect. Both games were great. I mean, as you said, both games were perfect. Martin Odegaard was also amazing, I forgot to mention, as was Declan Rice. Kai Havertz wasn't bad, and in line to a good collective team performance, he did quite well. But it's another game where I'm not asking him to be Declan Rice, I'm not asking him to be Martin Odegaard, I'm not asking him to be Bukayo Saka, and as I said, he was not terrible. He had a good game, but it's one where, for me, you're left wanting more. It's like, if we just focus on the midfielders, it's like Odegaard and Declan Rice are performing up here, Havertz is there, and I still think there's a missing link to the three-man puzzle in midfield, but what did you make of Kai Havertz against West Ham? I actually think he played like what his version of good is, that's what he did, you know. I get what you're saying, that there's like another level that we could probably tap into if there was a different type of player, but we didn't leave the game feeling like Kai was a talking point for me at all. Like, he just did kind of like the grunt work and, you know, connected the play. I feel like one thing that a little bit is like a little bit, you know, I need Kai to like get better at is his weight of pass. Sometimes I think it's a little soft and it's either like behind someone or it doesn't quite get there, it's too heavy, whatever. I do think you could bring in another player and that would, that position would be different, but I didn't leave the game feeling like he was a talking point, if that made sense. He probably was just a little bit less influential than the other two players, like you said. What do you make of Havoc's striking performance against Liverpool and also Tross Arts? And do you feel like they're two options that should be ahead of Eddie Nketi or those are the two options with Gabriel Jesus being out, assuming he's out for anything longer than this Burnley game? I think Eddie is, in terms of quality, I think he's just below the, you know, I think he's just the lowest one of the striker options and that's going to sound really harsh, but I don't know if it should be at this point that like saying that Eddie is not, would not be my number one choice if Jesus is injured, like I feel like that's obvious. I think when it comes to our striker options, because none of them are particularly prolific, you have to look at it from a perspective of what are they going to give us outside of scoring goals. And I think Eddie gives you the least outside of not like when you're not talking about the goals, at least Havertz gives you somebody to hit, he can hold the ball up, you know, he's taller, he gives you more aerial threat, Trostar gives you more of that link play, you know, blah, blah, blah. Jesus gives you the, you know, he can, he can dribble and create whatever. I think Eddie gives you the least, you know, so I think it takes that into consideration, but I will always say that Trostar is our best option when Jesus is not fit. I think it's just, he just does all the, like he does all the Jesus-y things, not as good, but some of his passing against West Ham was really good. Passing was good. He obviously scored a goal, like he works hard too, like I just think Trostar is the best option, you know, and I've always felt that way. I don't think you're wrong. Yeah, last season, like when Jesus wasn't fit and then we had already gone through like our Eddie and Kedia phase and Eddie has started to be like a little bit less effective. Trostar came in and there were like four or five games in that span of time where he started from the beginning and he played amazing. And because he started off this season in poor form, people decided he was only like a guy that can come off of the bench and I've always maintained that he can start games for us. He wouldn't be the natural choice because if Jesus is fit, it's Jesus, but Trostar definitely can start games for Arsenal and he's our best option. You agree? Yeah, I mean Trostar's a good squad player for us, but he's a good rotational option. So and I think and I said it on your stream a few weeks ago. I think the way Mikel Ortetesori has played Martinelli and Trostar when he started them, when he's rested them has been superb. If Trostar's on our bench, our bench is stronger and he's also a good rotating option. I've said it before, but it's one way you wish you could play 12 players. Unfortunately, you can't. I think it's a weird one with our striking options because I feel it depends on what Mikel Ortetesori demands from a false nine and I think he's got it spot on when he's deployed Trostar. I also think the same with Kai Havertz as well. Obviously, Havertz is never going to be prolific, you know, he's going to miss some tap-ins, but generally he's going to give you other things. Sometimes I do think there is the least option, as you said, if you're not factoring in Havertz, Trostar and Jesus, I do think there's some games for Eddie, but fundamentally those are far in between and I think every year we get a customary purple patch where Eddie, rightly so, is playing out of his form and he's getting in the starting lineup. But if we want Austin to go where we need them to be, yeah, it can't really be a thing. It seems like he'll be someone to be moved on and should be moved on, but pick him up. Where are you at with Declan Rice? Because, you know, a lot of people sit here and say he's not progressive and this, that and the third. I don't know if at West Ham he was taking corners, but he's taking them well. He's obviously striking, you look at his forward passing metrics. They're all improving. Sorry for hitting the mic. I don't think he's ever going to be a Perla or Jorginho or anything like that, but it's definitely something in this game that's improving and I think next season you'll see even more of that from Declan Rice. But where are you at with this stuff? I, like, I've always said that I feel like people are making a mountain out of a molehill with the whole lack of progression bullshit because in the last 10 games in the Premier League, we've been top of the expected goals, expected open play goals. So, like, not just everything in open play, that is without Thomas Partey. The problem that we had was we were not putting the ball in the back of the net. It was not that we couldn't build up because we didn't need to build up. Everybody was just sitting in a low block. Like, there was no build up to be had. It was nothing, you know, we were just there in their final third already. So, I understand that, like, things don't look the same and they're not going to look the same because you have two completely different players in those positions, but we don't have a progression issue. We don't, like, in the last 10 games, we haven't had a chance creation issue. We haven't, like, it's fundamentally, like, that was just wrong. I feel like the problems that we were having at the very beginning of the season were so different than the problems that we were having in the last 10 games and people stopped, like, they were like, well, our problem at the beginning was just that we couldn't do this. Well, that's not the problem that we have anymore. And so, now that we're putting the ball in the back of the net, now people aren't talking about it as much because it's not, it wasn't really the issue. We create chances differently now. We create chances by winning the ball back up high and Declan Rice is a big part of that. Him and Havertz tend to win their duels and win the ball up high, you know, Jesus, Odegaard, they do a lot of pressing. So, it's different, you know, we don't have to build from the back all the time, but if we have to, we can do it, which we've seen against West Ham and Liverpool as well. So, I think Rice has added an element to our game. I feel like he's been unlucky not to maybe have the right partner all the time. I feel like having Jorginho sometimes, but that's not always the right choice or having Havertz some of the time is not usually the right choice. Like, I feel like that's been a hindrance to him and it's made people focus in on a player that definitely can make us better in a way that I don't feel like is fair. Yeah, so I think he's been fantastic. He's been one of our players of the season and I never really bought into the idea that we had a progression issue. I just thought people wanted to see Partey in there and you can't see somebody in there that's not fit. So, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I hope Thomas Partey can get back to fitness. Where were you at as well then? Because I mean, if there was one kind of negative spot in relation to Arsenal versus West Ham, it's actually something irrelevant from the game, you know, Smith-Rowe rolled his ankle, Jesus is out, Partey is out, Timber is out, Tommy Asu's out, Fabio Vieira is nearing fitness, but he's still out. Sinchenko's picked up a knock. Where you at with the injuries? Because Mikel Arteta said the other day, we're getting into that period where we need everybody fit. Now, under Mikel Arteta, I'm not going to lie, injuries can happen, but we've seen this story before. So, where you at with that, man? Especially the fixtures we've got coming up and the sheer pace of them. When Tommy wasn't on that team sheet, my heart was like, what? How is it possible that you were playing every game for Japan, but somehow between those games and now, you're not there? I was like, wow, like, this is ridiculous. Obviously, Kiviar had a good game, so it didn't really matter, but we are desperately going to need some of these guys to come back. So, I don't know what you got to do. I don't know what kind of magic dust you need to sprinkle on them. I don't know what you need to give them, but some of these guys need to come back and quick. You know, I heard that like Jesus is having his knee drained before games and stuff like that. That's not good. I mean, the Nottingham Forest game, you know, you wouldn't have known it with watching him play, but Arteta said it. We've been knowing Benjamin White carries injuries. That's actually what I think people fail to understand. I think there's very few players in the Premier League now that played the amount of games they've played in other competitions that aren't carrying something and I think there is a correlation with, I did a bi-trip, a bit of a rest, Benjamin White, Saka, everyone looks refreshed physically as well as mentally. So, it does scare me, man, because next season I do want to be in a scenario where obviously Benjamin White based on his current form and Saliba are going to play nine times out of ten, but there has been opportunities where we would have loved for them to have been pulled out and, you know, Bakayo, Saka, another one, and I think that's the issue with depth. I feel that's also what scares me as well as us kind of leaving ourselves a lot to have to do to win a league. It's the depth. I think we can cope with injuries. We've been dealing with them since August and I think we've kept relatively playing the same way. I think our issues, sometimes it's come down to personnel with what we have in a squad or maybe not having an organic striker, but it's all been mental. I do think he's gone under the radar a bit, even when we were in terrible form. I was telling people around the Liverpool game that Raya and Odegaard are actually playing quite well. Now, me and you are both, we don't agree on Smith-Rowe, but we do agree on Martin Odegaard that we can never talk about his praises enough. But I want to talk about Raya because he's gone under the radar, man. Huh? I said I want to talk about Raya. Yeah, man. Where you at with the Raya-Ramsdale debate? What have you made of Raya? Because for me with Raya, he's looking more confident. I mean, I'm not going to say he's had a game like Ramsdale last season at Liverpool, but his distribution and all of these kind of luxuries, if him and Ramsdale are kind of in the same bracket, you can see what he's brought in for and he looks more confident and settled with his teammates. What have you made of Raya or David Ryan? Where you at with the Raya-Ramsdale thing now? Listen, having big opinions comes with so much and like I have massive opinions and I went big on Raya. I went big on Raya. I did. I went big on Raya being better than Ramsdale and I stood 10 toes down on it. I doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down. Even when he was throwing the ball in the back of our net against Luton, I was like, he is better than Ramsdale and it will be very obvious why we have him in the goal. Once everybody gets off his freaking back and he actually gets to settle. I'm sorry, but like the way that he came in wasn't necessarily all on the fans. I do think the fans did a terrible job. Like this is somebody between the sticks for Arsenal in a very important season and you guys are making his job even more difficult by not really backing him the way that you probably should like even because I was talking to Harry about this. Harry was saying that like it was almost as if people were just waiting for him to make a mistake to get on his back. That was happening for both sides. That was happening for Ramsdale, people that hated Ramsdale. I don't, I don't understand it because I'm like at the end of the day. Tribalism, man. Ramsdale's a fan favorite and all of that. Another player who people weren't convinced of when he walked in the club. And that was my main point is that like we saw that like Ramsdale ended up being a good goalkeeper, but the way that he was introduced into the team and the way people just did not back him for me doesn't make any sense. Like you have to give players time to settle and I know it's hard. Yeah, we were from the minute the season started. It felt like we were under siege like in terms of like the stress and the like, oh my gosh, you have to win. You have to you have to win the league. You have to do this. You have to do that. So I understand why everybody was kind of like on edge, especially because of the way that the season ended. So all of the decisions that were made over the summer were under intense scrutiny by everyone, the media, the fans, everything. So the riot thing just did not go down well and I get it and some of that I blame on the manager and everybody that made the decision the way that they did because I felt like it was messy, but Raya was the fourth best keeper in the league last season at Brentford and I know that's at Brentford, but I don't think you become ---- overnight. I don't think anybody gave him enough time to really like bed in. I do think that people wanted him to fail because they love Ramsdale so much now that he's settled in. You can see why he's in the team. Is he like an infinitely better shot stopper than Ramsdale? No, he's not. But is he better at what Arteta wants the goalkeeper to do? Yeah, he is. Consistently playing those passes and that's something everybody can see from the start, you know, obviously he's Spanish, the way they look at goalkeeper. Yeah, he's been playing in England, but that was more aligned. His ability to stick to the script of what Mikel Arteta demands for me is what makes the difference and maybe that's had a good effect on Ramsdale because I still am a bit angry at Reece Nelson for not giving Ramsdale an assist against Liverpool. Yeah, I agree. So yeah, man. He's playing his passes too. Like, Raya has claimed 15, like 15% of the balls into the box where Ramsdale only claimed five, you know, 5%. So yeah, like Raya's had like some sticky moments, like he has, like I'm not going to say that he didn't, but there just wasn't enough time given before a judgment was made and now it's like super obvious, you know, and for a team that's only going to concede one chance a game, the most important thing you need from your goalkeeper is what they're going to do in possession. And I feel like that's the main difference between Raya and Ramsdale. Exactly. At the start of the season, really, you go back to the City game and I do agree with you. I agree with everything you're saying. I think, I think maybe Mikel Arteta, well, as a naive fan, maybe he understated how much of a circus Ramsdale versus Raya was going to become, especially when he was saying, yeah, especially when he's sitting there and saying, you know what, I was sub keepers. I do think Raya struggled a bit mentally more than anything. I think Raya is better at his progressive passes and all of that. I still think the jury's out as to who is levels above each other. I still think they're in the same bracket. I still haven't been wowed by his goalkeeping per se, but as I said, he was, for me, a somewhat bright spark in our terrible form because I think he came out of Anfield relatively high and I think he's been doing his thing in a nice way. I personally want this to continue with Raya. I don't want to have to see my keeper or him to pull off a save or look good in match of the day. I want him to be the lowest-paid player. So keep doing what you're doing. And for me, the most important thing is you look settled. You look settled with the two in front of you in the centre-halves and the right-back and left-back. So just keep doing, just keep doing your thing. I do want to ask you a question and we spoke on, we spoke on this and I've offered my thoughts on your stream. What do you define as world-class and do you think Mikael Saka is world-class? And if you don't, who in the Arsenal team is world-class? Yeah, I mean, during the COVID season, we did loads of these types of debates because there obviously wasn't any, you know, any football. So I had to like really think about what my definition was because I was on many shows where we had to do who's world-class, who's elite, who's a legend, who's this. So my definition, you know, is two or three seasons of being top three in your position. And the reason why I say that is because it takes out the circumstantial parts of who you play for. Because I think being world-class is more about your individual talent level than what you achieve with your team. Because you can be one of the best players in the world, but if your team doesn't win, that's not always because you weren't good enough or you're not world-class, whatever. So to take out the circumstantial aspects of it, I feel like that's the best way to define a world-class player. And that's, you know, it adds the consistency, the level of performance, all those types of things, being top three in your position. You know, so if you're a striker, you're top three for two, three seasons in a row, you know, whatever. And so that would be my definition. And by that definition, I feel like Saka is world-class. In order for him to be elite, legendary, all that other stuff, that's where, you know, the titles come in. And he'll get there for sure. But do I think on his own merit, his own talent level, he's best in his position or one of best in his position? Yes, I do. I think the only players that are really talking to him right now are like Salah and maybe Rodrigo. That's it. Like, I really don't think there's anybody else out there that can really be like, yeah, I've been consistent for two or three seasons and I'm doing it, you know. So Saka to me is world-class. I feel like because Saka plays for Arsenal, he's going... He's about to preach people. Yeah, because he plays for Arsenal, he's always going to have to do a lot more than anybody else to get any sort of recognition. It's for him to be considered world-class, he has to jump through hoops, but for anybody to be on his level or better, all they have to do is score one goal and do a step over and all of a sudden, they're just as good as Saka, if not better. And I just find it really laughable, you know, and I just... When we have debates like this, I would love... Like, I saw somebody... This is kind of like a sidebar, but like, I saw a combined 11 thing for Arsenal-West Ham and West Ham fans literally had Zouma and Egert in their starting 11. And they've conceded double the amount of goals as Arsenal. And this is my main point, is that like, Arsenal, no matter what it is, no matter who it is, there's just like this thing about like, you have to downplay our players. And I just, no matter what this... Where you're at in the table, no matter how much better we are than you, no matter how many times we beat you, no matter what, it's like, I am not going to give them credit. And Saka just does not get the level of respect that I feel like he deserves as a 22-year-old with a hundred goal involvements for Arsenal. Over 200 appearances or something now as well. People forget, like, obviously like you said, you know, no one does it alone, but he has carried this club on his shoulders and been consistent. For me, I think world-class is here, elite's there. I think Saka is at the elite standard. He's been doing it for three, two, three years. So I can't complain when people say he's world-class, nor when he's the best in his position. For me, I just don't think he's world-class yet. I know it when I see it, and I think he's on the right trajectory. He's on the right road. But my metrics are, are you one of the best in the world in your position? Are you at the level where, yeah, you know, Saka can play in a couple of roles, but you're that good. You play where you thrive the best, which he does. People really underestimate his consistency levels. Like, in the same way, I'm not comparing him to Foden, but, and again, it's mainly because City are doing things that Arsenal aren't. They've got more depth. But City are not living or dying by if Phil Foden makes the difference for them. Arsenal, literally, there's a correlation. If Saka turns up nine times out of ten, we go through. He turns up in all the big games. He's done it at the World Cup. And it just feels like they moved the goalposts. He's never going to be the first or the last player that they moved the goalposts about. They did it with Neymar. They did it with Messi. But, you know, the latest they're going for is, you know, he's not entertaining. Do I think Saka is, you know, like a prime Brazilian wing? A hundred percent. I don't think he's the most skillful player I've ever seen. But there's a luxury in simplicity. If you've got heart, if you've got less resources and you're maximizing them, you're better than dons that are going to do a thousand stepovers. He's shown he's one of the dangerous marksmen in his position. You know, he's scoring goals. He's making the difference. He's getting better and better. Like, we know he's good, but he's getting better and better. And people have said he's had a dead season and he's still putting up these numbers. So then where are you at with it? And if people don't rate Saka this much and really think he's not that good, why is any player that somewhat does all right out wide better than him? And I'm not saying these people are, but the Kuleshevskys, the Antonis, the Cole Palmers, the Rasfords, the Jadon Sanchos, the Liskak, the Bowens, the list goes on. If Saka isn't that good, why is he the benchmark? Why do you not have his name in your mouth? Even for some man on Valentine's Day where they could be doing other things, they're dedicating their time to Bukayo Saka. The beautiful thing is though, who cares about their opinions? I think generally at Arsenal, I don't think we have a world-class player yet. I think there's a couple in the making. I think Odegaard could get there. I think Saka could get there. I think Saliba is well on his way to get in there. Martinelli might have an outside chance. I actually think the person that's closest to being world-class would actually be Declan Rice, if I'm actually honest with you. He's becoming a more complete midfielder. He's made the sixes home. I'm not saying he's the best six in the world, but apart from Rodri, worldwide, who can you really take your hat off and say he's better than Declan Rice? And we owe West Ham fans an apology because they were saying this when he was at their club. But who cares? I mean, like you said on your stream, if our tether isn't this good of a manager, if the players are not world-class, then why are we consistently in title debates, even when, you know, in December when our form was on the floor and they were saying, what does that mean for the trophies? It feels like a bit of what you said. People like to have their cake and eat it. Don't get twisted. Arsenal fans are crazy. Some Arsenal fans say mad things. We're the poster boys of acting loony online. But I think that bias has now transpired into not rating the players that are good. Whatever people have to say about our players, you can't tell me Saka is not amazing. You can't tell me Saliba is not amazing and you can't tell me Declan Rice is not amazing. So we have to just let them talk, man. It is what it is. We know that. That's, that's really what it comes down to. I like, I like to add my little bit of two cents, but like at this, at the end of the day, like, I'm not going to lose sleep over Chelsea fan 84-59, not thinking that Saka is freaking world-class. Like, come on, like, let's be frail. You know, all I'm saying is that when you have debates like this and you want to talk about world-class, it is very subjective, but you have to also remember that, like, when you use logic, that's mostly just based to, like, downplay a player that can use, be used right back. And the goalposts just move for players you like, because some of the things they kill Saka with, they say it to praise other players. Exactly. How many things does he not walk into? I'm not saying he starts for every team, but there's not many in world football that he couldn't start for or get significant minutes. I said that, you know, obviously I think he'll, he, if he went to Man City, I felt like he would start. He'd definitely start in that seat. I think, you know, he, he wouldn't probably start at Liverpool because of Salah, but he could play for them, like. Could force him on the left-hand side. Yeah, exactly. And I said that he could, he could obviously be in the Real Madrid side and not look out of place. And somebody was like, of course he would look out of place, Jessica, like Rodrigo is there. And I'm like, no, he, he wouldn't. Like he wouldn't. If you said Saka, just go out and play. People think that Saka can't play like outside of the system. Of course he can. We've seen it. We have seen Saka say he's an effective player. That's the biggest nonsense I've heard. What is the problem with being effective? Because I see Saka in the same way I see Salah. Salah obviously has skill. He's a good player. We're both Arsenal fans. We've seen firsthand what Salah has done. But Pete, I find the same rhetoric that's said about Salah, about Saka, he's not entertaining. I hear it. You know, the footballers of today or the wide forwards of today are not necessarily the most entertaining really and truly, but it's about being effective. Numbers have never mattered more in football. And again, for me, the fact that Saka has two bad games, he's ultimately dying by the standards the man set. People just hating on the guy, but we know he's a quality player. So he really and truly cares, man. It's just a bit of what you said. I think that the one that annoys me the most is people can't, in fact, we were saying it off camera, people just can't say they got it wrong with Saka. You know, first it was, he's a left back. I remember arguing actually with Arsenal fans when he was playing on the left hand side, that he's a right winger. And they're like, oh, did you think you know everything? He's like, no. Watch this guy in the academy. The right wing is his. You just need to watch a 16 year old in the Czech with trade trophy. So no, I, um, but yeah, he's, he's, he's done really well Saka. And like, he's, he's one of the best in the world at his position. He'll continue to get better. And I'm sure that he's, he's unfazed by these conversations. He probably doesn't even know that they're happening or if he does, he doesn't give a ----. So, um, he'll just continue to do his thing. It is what it is. Like it really is like real Ferdinand. It's not the first time that he said something that doesn't really make sense. Let's be serious. Real Ferdinand thought that man's men United would be in a title race this season. I mean, real Ferdinand just saying stuff. I mean, he's got a great YouTube channel and stuff, but you know, chatting crap gets you engagement. I think if you ask him, you know, they even asked him, Oh, you know, about why Saka is at world-class. I mean, Saka over folding. And then he's named the strongest England 11 and it hasn't been Saka in, in there. Now I don't disagree with it because I think folding is a midfielder, but they're just two quality talents. I actually feel, feel folding is a world-class talent, not necessarily a world-class player at this moment, but he will be as will Saka, in my opinion. I mean, people are just going to have to get with it. He might not be entertaining. He might not be Jocko Benito. We might not be the glorious player in the world, but what you can't deny is this 22 year old greatness. The very fact of what he is doing is amazing. Like speaking of wingers, where are you at with Pedro Neto links as well, because we've been linked with the Pedro Nettles of this world, the killing and buffets allegedly were set to fight Liverpool and a man United for Pedro's Neto signature. Do you rate him? Do you have him? Yeah, I do rate him. I rate him highly. I think he's if like, I feel like he would alleviate the stress on Martinelli and Saka being available every single game. I think he could step straight into like, like a Trossard step straight into the 11 and it not look strange. You know, I think he's, he's very good and he adds something a little bit different because he is like a natural winger. Now I am concerned about the injuries because I because the thing is, is like and I'm consistent. I don't like injury prone players because I feel as though like as an Arsenal fan, we have relied upon injury prone players a lot and they've always let us down either the same story when they're back. He's going to be different exactly or they end up going to one of our biggest rivals and winning ---- with them for the first time that they're not injured, you know, so I don't like his name exactly. So I'm I'm very against it. I don't care who it is, you know, so listen, he would step straight into the team and he would not look out of place. And he's fantastic. My, my, my fear with this as well as like, I don't trust edu to get some of those, you know, some of the get the price down based on the fact that he's, he's injury prone, you know, I still feel like we'd end up paying the 60 million that they've always wanted. And you know, Pedro Neto as an injury, more injury prone players for 40 million versus 60 million is would make a difference. But if you're going to spend the premium and he's going to be injured, I just feel like I would maybe look at something else, but I know that the club is obsessed with this guy. I could just feel it in theory. Yeah. I know your thoughts. We need a strike and we spoke about it on your channel. I won't get into the strikers debate. Make sure you check that video out. But in theory, when you see the goals that were scoring and the goals being shared around, and if not goals, the luxury of have arts, he can maneuver all right as a false nine. Assuming Saka Martinelli trusts, I'll keep doing the business. Hey, Zeus, when fit brings in a certain amount of goals. And we were to bring in a Pedro Neto who obviously, you know, is more likely to get game time when Saka and Martinelli are not doing it or put pressure on their spots. Do you necessarily think we need another striker in that case? Cause it couldn't mimic Liverpool where they had money. Obviously Salah for menial was doing for menial stuff, but they weren't living or dying by him scoring goals. I feel like I feel like this season was really important to see whether or not we had the Salah money thing going on or if we needed the striker. I feel like this season proved that we need the striker. Um, because last season they were just over performing their XG like they were really where everything even said that actually a point. Yeah, everything, everything they touched went in the back of the net. It was perfect, you know, but now this season things have kind of went to the mean, they're still performing well, but we see that just with like one or two players off. It's been a little you know, so we need the striker. We're not going to be able to replicate this audio money Salah thing, but that doesn't mean that our wing boards won't score a lot of goals. Um, I think we need to attackers. I, I, our attack is the only portion of the pitch that we haven't really invested in. And I feel like it shows, um, we spent like what 25 million or something on Trossard and 45 million on Jesus and like, that's it. I feel like that shows, you know, and I think we've done well and we've been lucky that SACA was there from the Academy and we got Martinelli. I don't forget that guy ever existed, you know, like I forget he even existed. Like, you know, we're trying to avoid the IRS with that one. Yeah. I don't know what we were really doing. Like, I remember reading that it was supposed to like facilitate a relationship between us and who is it? Same scout that got us Runderson probably. Yeah. I was like, let's be serious, you know, but yeah, like I think it shows that we've only spent a little bit on the attack. And so I would love to see us get the striker and the winger and just kind of like finish things off, move some of our players on and just do the business. I think we need both, man. I'm in agreement with you, you know, like away from his injuries, if you was to bring in the profile of Pedro Neto or an awesome in a Tony or whatever, have you? I think those two areas are needed. I don't believe the club won't do it, but I also think there might be a reality if they sign a winger that they believe can get goals, they might say, oh, you know what? Bring him into the mix. We can do what we're doing. Or if we sign a striker, they might say, you know what? Hey, Zeus can facilitate as a, as a winger as well, dependent on what we're able to do. We've been linked with Nico Williams, which again we spoke about on Jessica's channel. So make sure you check that out. I'm all for that profile. As I say, you know, when we see the Douglas, Louise's, Zuberman, these Pedro Neto's, Tony's or Simmons, these profiles, I want all of them and many that I haven't said, but you know, if you can't get one, get the other, just make sure come the end of next summer, we've got everything we've needed, particularly in central midfield for me, which me and you have spoken about at length. Obviously, you know, a couple more of these before I let you go and back pay. Apparently once Arsenal transfer to become the next T area reads willing, he was willing to join Arsenal, but apparently long story short, we don't want to ruin our way structure. Do you think we should be ruining and breaking these structures for players like this? Would you like him to, you know, probably where the number 14 and whatnot, do you think it's possible? Or do you think this is just lies and gamesmanship as he probably completes a move to Real Madrid? I mean, he has to have places that he wants to go just in case he could not go to Real Madrid. So do I think that we're one of those places? Yeah, but do I think it's realistic? No, you know, I could. Yeah, I don't know. I am Papa is not coming to our store, you know, I don't know what to tell you, but I think that's time we could do those. Do you think it could happen? Do you think, do you think Eddie could play a blinder? Look, look, I don't believe I do could play a blinder, but I also feel like when you I mean, you're giving what Kai Havers 275,000 pounds per week. You know, when you do things like that, you make it next to impossible to maneuver things around to bring in players like this. So yeah, you would have needed not to do those types of things, you know, yeah, but I do like I would love for us to be in a position to do that, but we're just not, you know, so well, I mean, do you feel like that's something that we should be doing? Like we should be mortgaging everything to it's a weird one, just because obviously Ivan Glazed has told us we're moving to this place to do things like that. And obviously in theory, in terms of ability, who wouldn't want killing them? He's got the historical French ties. Closest thing there is to Thierry Henry. We could play him up front slash off the left. If we were to sign killing them, that tells everybody and every potential player to sign for a club. We're here to sit, stay and be serious. And you know, the amount of mid well striking trios we could put together would be great. I would like us to ruin our way structure for that. But at the same time, I'm bad pay. I'll beat you up myself. If you continue to act like how you're acting at PSG, I asked me if you do that at real Madrid, you're going to be in problems. I don't want to see any of that petulant child stuff. And our terror isn't going to go for that. We have to ruin our structure. And obviously it would have a knock on effect financially for other players. We bring in and stuff, but I would love killing him back. But I just agree with you. It's a hundred percent nonsense. I hope that we get clipped up and he actually signs for us, but I'm pretty sure we both agree. That's extremely unrealistic. A bit of a one in two, as I get to my last question for you. I mean, they, this article, whether it's true or not, I said, apparently Kai Havertz has reportedly exhausted the patients of our tech already, and is now more probable that our tech will decide to sell him. And obviously, apparently we're willing to sell Smith Rowe for pure profit as he has two years left on his deal. Where are you at with Kai Havertz potentially leaving in Smith Rowe? Again, I don't believe the Havertz one, but I'm asking you. Where is this coming from? Team, team talk.co.uk I get everyone's got to get engagement clicks. Okay. No, our title is stuck his neck out for Kai Havertz. He's going to make it work. Okay. So yeah, I don't see actually, I would imagine that our Ted is happy with Kai. I feel like he, I think he is happy with that and starts and again, you're right. Yeah. So I think maybe they may have been surprised at how hard it's been to get him to even look like this, like a decent player. So like maybe that has been a little bit of a shock. I mean, it's been a little bit shocking at how like much therapy he's needed to like get over the trauma. He's very broken. Yeah. What were they doing to you over there? Yeah, they had you locked up in a basement somewhere beating you. Still don't know your best position. Ironically, like I've just come to accept you're a multifunctional player who occasionally will score some last minute goals for us and in line of what Mikel Arteta wants from a game plan could obviously do it, but I don't think we can be surprised at what Kai Havertz is doing. If you know, Arteta, as you said on your stream, he doesn't make snap decisions. So he has to have exhausted himself researching Kai Havertz and how he can tie into stuff. I think he's fitted in, but it's about time to stand out, but it all depends on what you judge Kai Havertz on man, really. So it's a madness there. So it's fair to say you don't buy into that. No, not at all. Um, uh, freaking Emil. Yeah. Don't do it. We're at the end of the stream. Don't do it. Just give the man some praise. Like he's gone. Don't do it. It's not over till it's over, man. It's not over this relationship. Well, so you weren't rating as who did he start against? Was it for us? You're not rating him getting minutes. You know, he started against for us. I didn't even press. I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie. Like a millions in this fan base are so funny because that performance was like, it was all right. But we were like, do you see how different it was when Havertz is in there? You don't see these things. I was like, I don't think you do. And they got Havertz, but I don't think you do. I don't. There was nothing there. I mean, what do you see with Kai Havertz? I don't know. It's not that much different. Hey, I know what I know. Smith Rowe that looks caught quality in front of gold, man. I mean, if, if, if Smith Rowe gets been, he gets been, I'll have a tear and we move on with it. I'm going to, I'm going to have a bit of Hennessy for, for Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale when the time comes. I mean, would you be, would you like, would you just like, what would you prefer? Like if you had to sell a meal, if Chelsea offered 50 and like wolves offered 30, what would you rather sell them to? Would you rather sell them to rival for more or to a place that's not going to hurt us for less? Well, I'd rather sell him for 50 million, but I'm not going to do the Chelsea thing. I'll probably let him go towards an engineer, a buyback clause or a sell on clause. And that's the thing, man, with Smith Rowe, we know he's, you know, after blistering starts with his Arsenal career, he's been injured. His contract's running up. We're not going to get decent money for him. And I do think there's a reality. He gets some game time and I'm not saying we'll ever say it was a mistake to sell him, but I think he'll do all right. But before I let you get out of it, you know, give me a quick prediction for the Burnley game. What do you expect? And what would be your score prediction? I'm going with two nil Arsenal against Burnley. Burnley are so bad. Don't jinx us. They are, but we need to go out there and get the three points first. I'll be upset if we lose to companies, man. Don't get it twisted, but we need to go out there and do the job first. They are terrible though. A bit like when we play Sheffield United soon. We need to be taking four points. Three no fair enough. That's fairly confident. Then fair enough. I went with two. I just feel they'll it'll be a bit more difficult. I think it will be a bit of a sobering. I don't know. I just think it will be one of those games. But then again company is a bit naive with how he deploys himself. You never know 3 p.m. kickoffs that blockhead. I wish bad on him all the time because of what he said about Sandy. Yeah, you know what you're right. You know what I'm joining you for you know, I completely erase that from my mind next year to a cozy condos. He needs to hold lick. So yeah, I'm going free now. I'm going with trust soccer and Nelly on the school sheet. Assuming they will play. Let us let the people have never seen you before. What was your channel? Where can they find you? I can't imagine they don't know. But yeah, it's all going to be in the description of that. Yeah guys go on YouTube. She knows our snow pop up for my channel is more nonsense. I'm there now for it, you know, so you guys can find me there and then I'm on like Twitter and Instagram on at Jessica Black TV. You guys can see me there too. Yeah, make sure you follow her people because the minute Smith row shows some form and gets back this season. We're coming for her with everything. We've got what I've been right about almost everything this season. Okay, we'll see. All right. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see that beer is going to score a big goal for us. So there you go. Let's hope I hope that's in the Champions League because we got poor. Oh, that's his former club, but you know what to do follow. She knows Arsenal at the time of this video coming out. We actually did a stream on her channel and that's obviously well out before mine. So go and show that some love and hopefully the next time we speak the continued Arsenal form is alive and kicking and you know, we do as much as we can to salvage our season with silverware. But for now people join the discussion smash the like button follow on all the channels were out of it. I've got to run to another live stream. Peace.