Arsenal Show: Liverpool will drop points! | do we make signings in Jan? FT ‪@DiffKnock‬

I guess that's right, back charging definitely. I don't know, I don't know what for. OOHHHHH! I think I've been given, like... Me and the different knock, aka Alex. It's always a good one to be here with you. We say, my guy, I think we're gonna give Saka and Odakar the run for their money. Absolutely, bro. Can you hear me? Is my mic working? Yeah, I saw you playing with your mic. Yeah, you can have it. I'm good, man. How are you? Sorry I'm late. I'm good. You see, he said he's late. I always get the blame for once. It's all cool now, but I'm good, man. Obviously, Arsenal have been topsy-turvy. We got back to winning ways. That's why I want to start there, man. What are we saying for the Forest game? What did you feel about it? Let us have everything. Forest game. Yeah, I think I felt quite... I don't know. Maybe wrong word, vindicated. But I think I felt quite secure with that game. Because I sort of felt it was coming for a long time. And the thing is, as... I don't know. I guess as quite a naturally positive fan, you kind of get... I was getting a little bit doubtful over the international break and going like, are we a good team? There was a couple of moments where you're like, maybe I've just overrated us and we actually are this terrible team. But then, of course, you go back and see that performance. Every sort of thought goes through your head. Yeah, of course. And naturally, you doubt yourself. But that's kind of the fan's job, right? You just sort of have those periods of doubt. But I think it was a really nice vindication of like, no, no, no. This is a good team. We are still good. Our players are still good. We still have good ideas. We still know what we're doing. It's just a case of being patient. And I think that result had been coming for a while. And that performance had been coming for a while. People can say it's only Nottingham Forest. Fine. But we performed brilliantly against Inter. Didn't get the result. I felt on balance we should have got the result against Chelsea. I felt on balance we should have got the result against City. So I feel like finally the results caught up with the performances. And I felt, yeah, technically, tactically, physically, we looked back where we know we can be. So I was really pleased overall, 100%. I think you're bang on the money. Let's kind of break down that performance. The first person I want to ask you about, Mikel Moreno. Because for me, it seems like there's a lot of extreme opinions since this guy has signed for our club. And some fans were saying he played bad. I don't agree with that. I think he actually had a decent game. I just think he's been decent for us. What did you make of his performance against Forest? I really like Moreno. I understand why there's certain fans who maybe struggle with him a little bit more. What I would say is I think he, my approach to him is he's a rewatch player where I think you kind of don't, like, let's be real. I don't think about him during the game. I'm thinking about Odegaard, I'm thinking about Saka, I'm thinking about Salih, whatever. And I'm thinking about their performances and I'm noting them. Moreno, I don't think about during the game. And I don't want to. In the same way with like David Royer, you don't want to think about a goalkeeper. And I think in that position, it's sort of similar to the kind of the Xhaka role. I don't think we want to be thinking about him. But I think if you watch him back, I had this way of phrasing it, which is probably best to put it, which is essentially, I think if Arsenal win a turnover, he is involved. Nine times out of ten. Either in the first action where he wins the ball, the second action where it's the second ball, so someone else is on the ball and he moves it up, or that he's the third action where the ball goes out to him once we've regained the ball. To have that player who is that reliable in the duel, to have that player who is so reliable at winning the ball back, it underpins our entire game. The reason you see a Martin Odegaard comp, or you see a Bukayo Xhaka comp that look brilliant on the ball, is because we've got the ball. So he's one of the guys who can get it back. It's that basic. And also, I think another thing that I was struggling with for us the last couple of weeks was our kind of technical execution. I think something that kind of gets missed out a little bit in kind of an online fan debate, you kind of have the tactical guys, the guys who kind of make every game about the tactics. Then you have the guys who are, let's call it the reactionary guys, or whatever you want to call it. You sort of have these camps or whatever. I don't know where the technical guys are. I don't know where the guys are who are every game saying, we didn't execute today or we did execute today. It's so important. And you forget that these players, they're given a plan, they're given a way of thinking, okay, when he stands there, you do this. They work on something all week and then have to replicate on a match day. And they have to actually do it. It feels like we never talk about execution and just the things like touch and whether Raya's throws were accurate and those things. Those things, along with someone like a Marino just constantly hoovering up, underpin the performance. And then the tactics are allowed to thrive. Then the players are allowed to thrive. But without the execution, without the technical security, you don't have that. And I think Marino is one of those players who just keeps it so simple. Wins the ball back, plays it off. Doesn't miscontrol things. Doesn't, you know, whatever. Look, has he got a way to go? Of course he has. You know, I think there's some concerns I have when, especially when we're further up the pitch in terms of where he stands. I don't think he's quite got that rice thing where he knows he's got the dual responsibility and he jumps between the two. I think he could probably get more involved. I think there's more goals to come from him, et cetera. But he's been here, what, a couple of months and he's been injured most of the time. So I think I'm really pleased with him personally. You mentioned it there. I agree with generally what you said about sometimes with the exception of probably Bournemouth and Newcastle, the performances at times haven't been amazing, but they haven't been bad. And we haven't correlated that to a result. Against Nottingham Forest, going into the game, let's be honest, it's a game we're expected to win. But considering the context is, I'd still say we were the favourites, but it was a lot more rosier where Nottingham Forest are concerned than us. Why do you think there was, simply put the handbrake off? Because there was a lot of changes. We actually played very entertaining football. I mean, we scored three goals. Why do you think that was there? Look, some of this is going to be luck. Some of this is going to be... Having the captain back. Yeah, having the captain back. Basic stuff. Just having a break. Things like, you know, Erdogan and Saka not going away or internationals and those things. I think another part of the picture is I think the mix between physical power and technical power was right. I think in that team. For that day. And sometimes you're going to get it wrong. Sometimes you're going to get it right. I think it was right. What I mean by that is sometimes we have, you know, I think at a way, was it where Bournemouth had a rice pate? Marino? Marino. I think it was. Horrible. For me, balance wise, it is not right. You can't access the middle. And then also sort of further forward, if I look at that front line, Saka, Trossard and Jesus is probably a little bit over towards the technical side of things. But as a sort of a reference, Trossard out wide could just hold on to the ball. Trossard has issues. He can't create separation on the left. And I, yeah, I don't love a lot of his actions. But what he can do is when you give the ball in the same way that Saka does. If you look on FBF, I think he's like passes received or passes received or some kind of data. Trossard's right up there in terms of ability to hold on to the ball. Get out of tight spaces and recycle it. And that ability, if you can go left as a reference and push up as a team, know you'll get that ball back. It's really useful. I think Martinelli is someone who, you know, he's a different player. He does use the, he does lose the ball a bit more and he's probably better in open spaces. I just thought we got that balance right. I think Jesus for Havertz was another one of those decisions, even though his touch, I think was particularly good on the day. I think he was someone who was a different reference than Havertz in that space. Instead of a runner or a kind of someone you can go long to, he's someone you can go ball to feet to. So I just think the balance was, was, was better. And finally I'll come to Jorginho. I thought Jorginho had a, firstly had a brilliant game. And secondly, as someone who, I said this, but you'll hate this. I said this phrase on the Canada podcast about a pass palette. That's possibly the worst thing I've ever said. Where do you hear man? Where do you make these things up? I'm so sorry. But listen, the people loved it. His pass palette, and you can kill me. You know what? I must admit, that ain't the worst one. That's actually one of your better ones. I must admit, I can fuck with that one. There's been worse ones. His, his, his pass selection, his, his kind of, his, his taste for passing, I think is the most mature in the squad. In terms of, if you look at Rice and, and Partey, I think Partey is extreme. They're probably two ends of a spectrum. Partey is extremely progressive. Rice is a little bit more conservative, not as much as Havertz, but a little bit more conservative. I think Jorginho, no, feels like he just has a sense. He's got the blend of it. When to go forward, when to recycle, when the game needs a little bit of punch through the lines, and when the game just needs, okay, I'm just going to knock the ball back here. We don't need anything. And I'm sort of from a pro, an approach perspective, just, just finally, I was really pleased with that approach in terms of, because sometimes in these sorts of games, especially when you've been on a bad run, you can throw everything. You go, okay, well let's, let's just, Odegaard, Wan-Eri and, you know, Mourinho midfield, whatever it might be. And you just go, okay, just, just chill and allow someone like Jorginho to come in. I think that balance for me was, was better. You mentioned it there. Would you make it Ethan? Because I actually feel, I know there's a rush to want to play him by some fans and I understand it. I wanted him to get more football purely because of Odegaard being out and what we had available. But I think, isolated to Ethan, I think Mikel Arteta, bang on the money with what he's doing with his development, right? But I want to ask you about Ethan, big him up for the goal. Raheem Sterling, like, do you think he deserves more of a chance? Sometimes faces can say everything, right? I don't know. How do you feel about Sterling? Because you, I think I remember you in the summer, you were, you, you're a Sterling fan. This isn't me going, oh, you, I'm, I'm also, I don't see the Sterling that I know. You know what I mean? Yeah, bang on the money, Alex, like, clearly we don't like, obviously, the Raheem Sterling signing was done on deadline day. It wasn't planned. It was a relationship of convenience. You know, we, we did hide behind the whole Mikel Arteta knows him and whatnot. I think he's down on, I think he's down on his luck, but at the same time, I don't think he'll change our fortunes, but mainly because of Trostar and the injuries and just the climate we're in. I honestly feel, as much as I don't, I'm not necessarily pushing for him to start. It's like, if you don't give him a chance, how do we know? I'm not a fan of him on the right wing. I know he set up Ethan. I really just want to see him on the left. But yeah, I just, I can't see light at the end of the tunnel with Sterling if I'm honest with you. And it's a shame because I like the guy. I agree on wanting him on the left. I really do. Just trying to look up numbers, partly because, and I think I might have said this actually last time we were on. I think it might have been like, post-Preston? I can't remember anyway. When he receives on the right, Saka's ability to hold width. So like, say the, the, the touchline's there. Saka is often receiving it about here. And Sterling always receives just inside. And so he doesn't give himself the space to face his man up. And he's often either forced out wide or has to recycle. Cause Saka receives it. He's got a little bit of space to go, right, I'm going to, I'm going to face you up. I'm going to do that stutter stuff and then beat you and then come inside where it might be. He doesn't, doesn't have that. He's also obviously the, the wrong foot for our system on that side. How many minutes has he got this year? Let me just look that up. He's got two Champions League appearances. He's got five Premier League appearances, 130 minutes, 39 minutes in the Champions League, 171 in Ieva. Okay. So three, 340 minutes. That's not, that's not nothing. It isn't. But at the same time, like what can I, I mean, the only way you're going to get more first team football is if you kind of do what we used to see. Trust I'll do, whether you're playing 10 minutes, 20 minutes, five minutes impacting the game. But as we both know, and again, I'm not saying he needs to start. If you haven't been given a run of games, bearing in mind, technically you started on the back foot, cause you was kind of alienated as the season started. It's like, what can I really expect from you? I just think Arteta looks at it as, I trust him. I know him. He's a squad player. That's it really and truly. And when we go and beat Nottingham Forest 3-0, I can't really complain like, if I'm honest. But yeah, I do think he deserves a chance. Can I show my screen? Go on. How do you, how do we rock that? I think I can. Can you see that? There we go. So my, my issue, with Sterling, so yeah, the whole thing about him receiving on the right, it's, he's kind of receiving in these pockets, and Saka receives out here. Exactly. And Saka is left forward, so that touch is taking you inside. Exactly. He's coming inside. Exactly. So he's receiving it here, and then he either, cause he's right foot as you say, he's either forced back, or he can't quite create the separation to beat his man there. If you received it further out wide, and by the way, this side, and which is what we're saying, without the space. But actually, I think modern football, everyone's so good, that I think it becomes even more important to put people in positions, where they can do the thing, that no one else can. And Sterling, in this zone here, around here, in terms of carries. You just want carries, neat little one twos, and getting the final actions. Bro, that is where he cooks. And he is not enough in those positions. And me and, me and George on the cannon podcast, go back and forth about Martinelli, and constantly talking about, you know, is he being platformed? Is he being platformed? Or is Sterling being platformed? Is Sterling being given these zones? Because once he gets through here, I mean, his decision making once he passes about this zone is horrific. But if you, to get the ball up here, he's one of the best. Facts. What else have we got to speak about? Uh, what else did I want to ask you about? How big a blow is it to lose Benjamin White? And a bit of a double fold question. How big of a blow is it to lose Ben White for the rest of the year? Where are you at with Tommy Assi, man? You know, I love him, but it's the form and what you can do on a pitch. It's becoming irrelevant, Tommy. Yeah, there needs to be a line at some point. I don't know if we've crossed it because, the problem with injuries is, and similar with Ben White, and I get it. The club can't give us too much information, but you're working off very little information. So for example, with Ben White, if that was an injury, that he knew about in the summer, and sort of expected at some point he needed to get surgery on, I'm furious. Cause I'm like, you didn't go to the Euros, just get, get that done then. But I don't know that. So I'm angry at the clouds. I'm angry at the clouds. But if it's something he, they, he, not he, that's not fair. He, the club, the management, his team, whatever. If everyone knew about that, but was like, we think we can manage it. And then you get to sort of this, around this time, he just says, no, I can't manage it. Then it's just unfortunate. And he's got through. Possibly, possibly. So with Tommy Asu, I think he's been sent away now, a different environment. I also, I'm also really cautious around these things because, especially with a long-term injury like, like Tommy, there might be other stuff going on. And I don't know. That's not an excuse for Tommy Asu. And at some point, and there's a different conversation around what the club needs to do with him. And ultimately, if you can't rely on that player, you just have to move on. And probably this is, for me, he's last chance saloon. And by the way, if we do find someone in January who we think can do the same squad role and be more available and give us the same level of output for less wages, I'd do it a hundred percent. Of course I would. But for me, probably the size is the point where you, you change, but we don't know that. And this is the thing with injuries and, and always with fitness and stuff is it's not, it's not me absolving the club of any responsibility, but the amount of data they have on these guys, I look at someone like a Malasia, clearly something's gone on there. I don't know what's happened, but we all have difficulties in our lives. We all have periods of our lives that stuff's happened, legal trouble, things that we don't know about. And I'm not referring to what you think I'm referring to, you know, other, other things that's go here, other things that's going on off, off the pitch, you know, with relationships, whatever it might be. I don't know. Would I be surprised if that's what's happening with Tommy? To be clear, I don't know anything. Would I be surprised if that's what's going on with Tommy Asu? Honestly? No. And we obviously hope that that's not the case. It's just purely football injuries. I really hope it's just football. And if it is, then yeah, that's a concern. But at some point I have to start using my brain and going, Hmm. And also, then if you saw, Zinchenko said something on like, it's like pro direct soccer thing. He was basically asked about his teammates. And he was like, who never shuts up, does he really doesn't loves talking for no reason. I would, I would love to, but I don't think I'd be happy. But yeah, go on man. He'd incriminate himself. He'd do a Rams though. Literally. But yeah, he said something like in three years, he's never heard Tommy Asu open his mouth. And I'm like, okay. And I know you shouldn't read too much into that, but like just the fact he's very quiet guy, very shy, you know, there's a reason for those things. I'm not, I'm not. You get that vibe with Tommy. Like he's almost too humble. And I'll take the kind of echoes that impress conferences. Like he keeps saying like, you're so good with both feet. You need to believe in yourself a bit more. It's like, I do think it's one. That's one thing I like about kind of the Asian region countries and Japanese and stuff. They're very humble. There's a lot of humility and you get that from Tommy Asu. But the flip side is I don't think he knows how good he is. And that's why I'm kind of angry about the injuries because you look at Man City away, you look at Chelsea, you look at what we said with Benjamin White, Tommy Asu is the perfect player to have in the squad. Whether you've got tough games, whether you need to manage games. And I'm a bit like you that I have to give him the luxury of, I don't know what's going on, whether it's injuries or personal issues or setbacks, et cetera. But in the summer, they might have to be uncomfortable conversations. Me and you have spoken about it before to the point where when he signed his new deal, we both said on this platform, like, had he not had these injuries, he probably gets a longer deal. Oh, it's a weird one. And I was here a year ago. I don't know if you remember, like Tommy Asu was in the team. He was our left. He was basically our left back. A hundred percent, but for a period. So if you remember the severe game away last year, I remember Tommy Asu was left back. He was unbelievable. He was attacking the last line. He was, he was, he was great. He was really, really brilliant. And, you know, so he, you know, he, he could have met, we had those issues with the left back slot and everyone's saying, Oh, Arsenal's left back. That could have been Tommy Asu. So I don't want to just throw that away. And it's a shame. It really is a shame. Yeah. I look, I'm not trying to speculate. I don't know, but I'm, but that is my point. I don't know. So I don't want to spend too much time saying he, he, he's too injured all the time. It could be something else. I don't know. Does it, does it concern you or maybe concerns, not the right word, but does it make you a bit cautious? Cause obviously we're now in that period where the games are coming, thick and fast, what we've got sport in West Ham, the men United, obviously. And we kind of have to manage them. There's no Benjamin white. There's no Tommy. You're probably looking at party, having to put a shift in at right back. How does that make you feel going into this kind of condensed calendar? This, I think, yeah. I mean, yeah. Someone like us on me, I see it would be perfect in this role. I think we're okay. I do think we're okay as well, to be fair. Yeah. I think like there's enough combinations with, if I think about the right back slot, Timber part, a, I mean, you know, realistically, I think we're 31 games before the next international break. Tommy might be back first. Let's say 10 of them. So who knows? So is that, I think Saliba can play out there. I don't want it. I'm not saying he's going to play out there, but Saliba can play out there. Calafiori can play out there. Declan Rice can obviously shift back and move things around. We've got loads of cents by options. I think we're okay. I think my scaling as well. Lewis Kelly's or Josh Nichols as well. So I, yeah, I just, I think we'll be okay. It's just, it's obviously not ideal. And, you know, knowing us it's going to be the one position that hurts us because someone's going to get injured and whatever is the absolute classic. But I think like if, if the decision was Ben, Ben White play on risk injuring himself long, long, long term, or just get through this period, I think we have enough. We should have enough, but equally, you know, there's a month until the market opens. And if we, if we're interested in something, I, and, you know, we've had more injuries or it doesn't feel like someone's up to the job. Then, then why not? You know, I, I sometimes think, and this could be a conversation, maybe right. I do. I don't know. I sometimes think we're so project focused. And so like, is that a good contract for us? Not is that, but sometimes we never do. Well, no, So we never do those very short term. Like, you know, sometimes it works out sometimes they don't, but you know that the Jesse Lynn guards West ham at the end of the season type deals. It's just like, and then that also, that works out believably, but those types of deals where it's like, we just have a position we need to fill. We're just going to get that guy. And that's it. We don't need, I think we did that with Sterling different contexts, but I'd say that's the closest I've got to what you're saying. It's the closest we've got. And that feels like a, you know, kind of a plaster. So yeah, we've only basically, we've got a month to get through. And then I think we, I wouldn't be surprised if we at least looked, depending on how, but then also Ben White might be back by the end of January. So who knows? It's a weird one because I feel, I might be a conspiracy theorist, but I reckon Tommy Asu's had a setback. They knew Call of Fury would be back. They wanted to kind of, they've kind of known about this Ben White thing. They've kind of wanted to take over. And they said, you know what, you lot are coming back. Let's just bite the bullet now with Benjamin White. And then let's just see where it's going. And I think where I'm looking at it on a weird one is, in a good, and this, when I speak about Ben White, he's the perfect example when people say footballers don't care. He's known to, I don't want to say lie about injuries, but lie about being injured just so he can play. And obviously that could be at his detriment. So I do think Ben White's one of them. He will be pushing and quite frankly, annoying the team doctors to be back. But I think we, I think it's been coming, man. You know, for the last few years, we've kind of played him into the ground. I remember Rob Holden did an interview and spoke about, do you remember when we missed out to top four against Newcastle and Spurs? How he was playing? Yeah, like he was playing with a madness. Like, Ben White, I've got a lot of time for you. And it's a shame. Well, to be fair against Man United and Rashford, that's the only time I'm scared when you play, but yeah, I'm going to miss him. Do you think we need to act in the January market? Okay. So yeah, the right, right back to the thing, essentially. I think for me, next summer, there's, I don't think we have, so I had a discussion about this with, with George on, on the Canon. And George was sort of making the point that we have loads to do. And I was sort of saying, I actually don't think we do, but you can always give yourself a list. You can always say, well, we need to get rid of that. Well, you can, you can go, we need to find the Jorginho and Partey replacements, and we need a striker, and we need a new winger, and you could do all of that. We need a couple of goalies. You could say, we need a laundry list of players, or you can say, we only need maybe a backup goalkeeper and a striker. You could, you could, you could make the argument, keep trying. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it depends what you think you need to do. The, the one thing I would say is in January, there are a couple of kind of release clauses sniffing around in terms of, I think Seshko's got one. I think Jokerez has one. Jokerez, Seshko, technically. I don't know if you watch. Oh, this as well, allegedly. Oh, really? Yeah. Apparently they've all got release clauses. Yeah. So, and I don't know if you saw Mikel's, did you say apart from you? Did you say apart from me? No, no, no, no, no. I can't remember what I said about it. They've all got release clauses apart from me. I'm a free agent, man. I'll pay for all that for the club, mate. But Mikel was in a press conference yesterday. He talks about, well, he was asked about Jokerez and he was, I mean, normally he's just like, yeah, they're a good player, but he just refused to answer it. I found that really interesting. I'm not saying that's Jokerez, but I think he's aware. I get the sense he's aware there's a lot of conversation and he, you know, he's always being asked about it. So I, if we were going to go do something in the summer that we feel it lifts the team, I would, I wouldn't be against doing it in January. Again, coming back to this point of like, we have this thing of like, yeah, but you know, the market's better in the summer and you knew, but okay. You turn into diplomats, man. Let's be honest, Aston. We've become accountants and diplomats and transfer experts and all the rest of it. Absolutely. And if it can give us a boost in the middle of the season, I'm not against it. But also you might just need on balance, just say, actually, it's just not the right time. I don't think there's any glaring squad holes. I think there's always work to do. Always. You know, you can, you can look ahead and go literally every position and say, do we need this? Do we need that? Whatever. I think the basics and the fundamentals of the squad are there. But if we can do something in January to push that, especially in the forward areas, further forward, I, yeah, I'd be quite open to that. More open than I have been before, I think. I think you're bang on the money. And you said something interesting about release clauses. Cause again, I've never seen these players' contracts, but you hear that about Jokeres, you hear that about Cesco, you hear that about Zubimendi, you hear that about Kudus. There's a bunch of those players. Whether we activate them is another thing. And I'm with you in that. I wouldn't say I'd force it, but if there is a deal to be done, I would. And it's a bit of a weird one in that typically you think January is difficult to do business and we've not done anything really significant. But where you look at where we tried to get Kai Seder, where we tried to get Mudvik, I don't know how far we went, but we tried to get Blajovic. Now, obviously these things didn't work out, but it shows you that if a player makes sense, they will kind of force the ball out. So I do hope that's the case. What position, if you could only get one? Because, I mean, if we could get Izak in January, it'd be amazing, but I'm dreaming. I'd probably say a winger, you know, a versatile winger or the Tommy Asito. Yeah, I don't know. I think, yeah, maybe a wide forward. Yeah, I don't know. It's really hard to say. You can make an argument that our squad is full, as I say. So- Yeah, I think you can. I'm not saying I believe that, but you can make an argument. Let's hear this argument. Let's give the people the content. As in, for this season, on the left, you have Martinelli, Sterling, Jesus. You've seen Sterling on the left? Chossard. Well, no, but as in, you can make, my point is, my point is not that I believe this. My point is you can make that argument. On the right, you can play Saka. You can play Chossard there. We have played Chossard there. You can play Jesus there. I think even Ethan could play on the right. Ethan could play on the right. You can go through, my point is you can go through the squad and you can say we've got three, four, five options in it, basically every position. I then think you say, okay, then what are we missing? And that becomes a little bit harder to answer. And I think you, for me, I still feel we lack real explosive pace in the front line. I still think we lack transitional threat, which doesn't necessarily mean an attacker, by the way. I still think we lack a little bit of overlap quality on both sides in terms of a right and left back. And yeah, I don't know, but then that doesn't, for example, the transitional quality, that doesn't have to mean a striker. That could be a midfielder who is devastating on the transition of a De Bruyne type in terms of in that way, you know what I mean? So I really don't know. I don't have a particularly clear picture. I have skills that I think are missing from the team in terms of that transitional quality. In terms of that, say, Rafa Leal burst over five yards out wide. I don't think we have that. I still think we lack a little bit of something in terms of killers in the final third. But again, is that a forward or is that a out wide? I don't know. We can do it both ways, ideally. Well, but that's a dangerous one. I mean, not a dangerous one, but that's where I'm with you, that if you could do it in January, great. But I think that's kind of a summer thing or maybe something we should have done in the summer. But I'd love a central midfielder. I can't see it happening though. Yeah, I don't think it'll happen. Yeah, someone a little bit more kind of, someone that's different, like a younger kind of, someone that's more closely aligned to how's your Genio's on the ball, then a Declan Rice, a Mikel Moreno, I'm forgetting somebody, Thomas Partey. How can I forget him? He's been quite good this season. But then we've got a lot of the base in the midfield. And, you know, you could even argue that if you only have one pivot player and the fullback's coming in, like- That's a couple weeks to leave before you do that, in my opinion. Yeah. So it's hard to say. And also, if I'm looking at like a different type of midfielder, I then look at like Myles and Ethan and I'm like, am I kind of pulling you back a little bit? Because I genuinely think Ethan is like, could be in the first team within about six months. So like, I, it's possible. So someone who can receive in the block, someone who can turn first and goal, someone who in that sort of pocket on the right-hand side is just- He's got that nonchalant gimmick, as they say on social media as well. I've got a lot of doubt for Ethan. And Lewis Kelly. So yeah, you know, I'll repeat myself. I don't know. I think it's going to come back to the talent. It's going to come back to, is there a talent that we fall in love with that kind of fills the gap? I think you used to say a super player. Whether we're able to do that's another thing. And again, I don't know how we look at it because obviously Eddie's left in it. Like to a degree, I don't feel that should derail what the club is doing. It's like a thing where, of course, another sporting director might come in and Eddie was going to sign X player. He thinks that he's not good enough. But imagine he just picks up the slack. But then I look at it and say, with that kind of transitional period, is it the right time to make a signing? Which goes back to what you're saying. If there's kind of a deal to be done, the skills gap, kind of something, you know, the kind of way we kind of sign Trossarts, the Kiviels and them kind of players, I think we will do it. If not, I just think we'll get on with it. Would you make a Partey this year? Do you think he deserves a new deal? It's that typical case of a player playing out of their skin really in the last year they do. He's fit as well. Injury crisis, he's been fit. He is fit. Partey's been brilliant. You can make an argument he's been our best midfielder. I would argue because Rice has been in the wrong position. Erdegaard's been out and Mourinho's been out. Our people do it too much with Declan Rice, man. But that's for another stream now. It pisses me off. Like, of course, do I like Rice in the eight? No. For the traditional eight stuff in midfield, I don't like it. From what Arteta demands of the pressing and all that crap, 100%, you know, I like that. The man's a six. Like, the man's a six. You know, you saw it against Liverpool. The man's a six. I don't feel we've helped him since he's played for this club. He's had many different partners. I understand them lazy fans who go, oh, he's a hundred million. He's got to do this. He's got to do that. He's got to save world hunger. He's got to do everything. But we've got a lot of issues than Declan Rice, bro. And I'm not being funny. I know the price tag and all of these things, but he's in his mid-twenties. He's won a trophy with West Ham. He's been capped X amount of times for England, played X amount of times in the Premier League. While I like the fact that Mikel Arteta is teaching him new things, this is how, this is what he's been. I'm not even taking a piss out of Declan Rice, but you're a water carrier in a good way in midfield. Your job is to be a box-to-box man, win the ball back, give it to the more creative players. Anything you do beyond that is a bonus. You see him with the set pieces. It pees me off. It genuinely pees me off with the Declan Rice stuff. And the man's clearly been playing with knots. We've got bigger problems than Declan Rice, but I'm biased because he can do no wrong to me. I can't lie to you. But a bit what you said, he's in the wrong position. I broadly agree. I think he's in the wrong position. And I think, I understand why he's been played there, but I just can't, I can't. When he gets a run behind Mourinho and Odegaard, I think we'll see something. But he had the option on Saturday to do it. So yeah, I don't know. But yeah, with Partey, I think he's had a great season. He's been brilliant. I still think he's not suitable for all game states, but he's a brilliant player. I would probably give him like a plus one. Yeah. Maybe plus two. Fair, fair. He's nearly 32. 31 turning 32. So yeah, I'd probably give him a plus one or plus two. Look, you know, the conversation is there, isn't it? But I, just speaking on pure football, I think if I was just thinking it through that lens, I'd probably give him a plus one or two. Maybe one plus club option, if that makes sense. Because I think Jorginho probably will go, I think his contract ends next summer. I'm pretty sure. Same time as Partey. And that's why I asked you, because obviously Partey's form has made me change my mind and ask you that question. But when I looked at both of them, I probably would have leaned towards Thomas Partey because he plays a lot more than Jorginho. But at the same time, if I factor in things that really and truly I'm not seeing, like it seems like Jorginho's a big character. He's got coaching ambitions. You know, he's an extension like Odegaard on the coaching front on a match day. I thought Jorginho might stay because of that. But now I think he'll leave. There's a reality where both could stay, both could leave, one could stay. So there's a lot of planning to be done. It's like what you said in that, what you said earlier about, you don't always have a lot to do, but you can make a list. And well, I hope we've got a list really. I think about it. I mean, if Arsenal, one of the most stable squads in the world has loads to do, then I think we've got an issue. I think it's more about what you want to do and you can kind of create needs in your mind. Yeah, you could go for another season with a Jorginho and Partey. It just depends how good you think they are. I think Jorginho will go. I think Partey will stay. I think we'll sign probably a bit of a sort of a prospect and someone who is a bit more of a sort of metronomic. I don't know if you've ever seen that Redondo guy. There he goes with his words again. I don't get where he's going. That wasn't my, I didn't make that one up though. But yeah, there's that Redondo guy. I think I've seen him before. He looks pretty good. You know, like the sort of the player who is very, you see those comps and they're still in the same position doing all the biscuit stuff. I think that sort of player. Yeah, but I don't know. I think just speaking football, I think Partey will stay to be honest. How do you feel about the title race? I saw your tweet about, I don't want to take your words out of context, but not being convinced about Liverpool. Let us know. Well, the Liverpool fans got very touchy about that, didn't they? You should know better. You know that's going to happen. No, it's a game. It doesn't mean anything. I, yeah, I'm just not convinced by them. And I found it really interesting that they, that again, it's a small section of Liverpool fans, but there was a lot of them, a lot of online Liverpool fans and the sort of the big accounts that I'm aware of the Liverpool fans who went on it. And I just sort of think if you're convinced, if I think back to like our run in 23-24, the end of the season, or our run at the beginning of 22-23, I'm on that sort of run. I don't, personally, I don't care if someone's like, oh, I don't think Arsenal are very good. Okay, cool, all right. I know what we're going to do. I don't need to like prove it. You don't need validation from external sources, really. A hundred percent. They know they've had an easy run of fixtures. They know that. They know they're about to go into a difficult period. They know they have a 32-year-old Mohamed Salah, who's giving his third interview in seven years in the mix zone, talking about how he wants to potentially leave the club he's not had an offer, playing the game of chicken, where if Liverpool offer him a contract, he's going to turn it down because it's not 550,000 pounds a week. By the way, they shouldn't give him 550,000 pounds a week. So they're in a bit of a... Ultimately, he's getting his last contract. He's not going to do that at Liverpool. I'm sorry. He's not signing another contract at Liverpool because the numbers he wants, he's only getting at Saudi, a smart club like Liverpool, and they are smart, are not going to give him the numbers he wants. That's not happening. He's also, in the last four... I didn't tweet this out because I thought I might send a couple of people over the edge. The last four years, there's always been about a 10, 15 game sample where Salah goes quiet. He has this every single season. When is that? Because I can take him out of my FPL. I'm actually top of my league. So at the end of the season, you know when that period is. Go and look at Salah's numbers. Do you want me to show you? Yeah, man, go on. You look at Salah's numbers at the end of every season, he dips. And my point is not that Salah... Salah is an... Okay. Actually, Salah is an all-timer. Salah is an all-timer. He's one of the best ever to have played in the Premier League. But this idea that you can play the way they're playing, which, by the way, is not good. They did not break Southampton's press once. The goals they scored all came from Southampton mistakes. Southampton were playing through them. Southampton were creating... That first goal was horrible, man. Big up, Liverpool, but that first goal was horrible. You were worse keeper than Ramsdale. I don't have to be. If you think he can keep this up, then fair enough. This is why I'm not convinced. If you think he can at 32 years of age with no contract, then fair enough. Absolutely fine. But I'm telling you, I'm looking through the last few seasons. I'm going to 23, 24, and I'm seeing a 32-year-old who has an unbelievable bit at the start of the season, and then basically nothing towards the end. Damn. And that's the important running as well. That's the running, right? And then I'm going back to 20, I think it's maybe this season, where, again, he has a brilliant start to the campaign. He had this brilliant start to the campaign. He had loads of goals and assists. Ends the campaign, tails off. He does this basically every year. I think there's one season maybe, and you can go further back if you want, but I won't bore you with it, but he, so this is the, I think he had a bit of a bad season anyway. He never really got going. You could argue, yeah, the end of the season, but he never does what he does for the whole season. By the way, because he can't, because he's- It's really bloody difficult, right? So this idea, and this is why I think they are the way they are, because they know they rely on transition. They know they rely on their individuals. They know in the Nunes, Gakpo, whatever, they have a lot of runners and a lot of diversity in their attack, but they don't have, I would say, a settled way of doing things. I think McAllister's a weakness. I think- Damn! He's not been in great form, to be fair, McAllister. I think Canarsie and Van Dijk are lazy defenders, to be honest, and they rely on their natural ability. No, no, I'm being serious. In terms of pushing up, in terms of defending channels, I think Robertson's a weakness, bro, and they haven't had any injuries. They haven't had any serious fixtures. I'm this confident about Liverpool. Look, if at the end of the season, they go through the whole season, and they've done what they need to do, and they win the title, they will deserve it, and I will be wrong. Liverpool fans, I will be wrong. I will eat humble pie, but I'm saying, right now, I haven't been convinced, I'm more convinced by City, because all the fundaments, I don't look at their game model and go, I see a lot of weaknesses. I look at Liverpool and say, you're reliant on transition. You're reliant on a 32-year-old. I see how teams break through you easily, through your press. I see how you can't break teams down consistently. I see how you're relying on defenders who don't push up. I see how Robertson's fading. I see how Trent doesn't want to be there. I'm going through and I'm going, okay, okay, okay. I'm just not convinced. And then if they do it, then fair enough, but I'm not convinced. And the fact that you're out with so many people is interesting. So where are you at with City? Because you kind of said like, you're more convinced with City. That's a bit unfair, surely. I hear you and I think you've articulated them. For what it's worth, I think you could add a caveat of Liverpool could obviously get better. I think they're good. I just think 11, 12 games in, too many conclusions are being drawn. They obviously have weaknesses like everyone. Obviously they're in the driving seat. And as you said, if they go and win it, great. The one thing they have that we don't generally have is the vast majority of their players, whether they're past it or not, they've been there. I do think even if Liverpool win the league this year, next year in the summer, they really have to back on slot because they bought him a half-fit Chiesa. But then where are you at with City? City got smoked by Demlock down the lane. What's that? Four or five defeats in a row. Pep's new deal didn't do anything. So like, yeah, where are you at with City then? And then obviously piggy banking off that question, where are you at with, you said where are you at with Liverpool, where are you at with City? And what does that mean for Arsenal's title hopes to wrap this stream up? I think, look, City will always find a way back. They'll always, like, we're in the middle of- I'm starting not to believe it now, but you're right, you're right. Well, but they really aren't, and you can't count them out. You really can't count them out. Look, I think City's season will be much more defined by the charges and what happens there, to be honest. I think Pep, bro, we've got about a month and a half, I think, until the hearing's done, and we get our first sort of glimpse of what's going to happen. But Pep was talking about, I'll be here if we get relegated. And before, he's not going to entertain that. No, no, but he's not going to entertain that before. I think he knows, if I walk away at this point, I'm forever remembered as the mad City manager who walked away. If I stay, and Pep can do a rebuild, so I think he's fine. If I get them back to the top and then win another Prem and then go, which is probably what he thinks he- I'm the GOAT even more than people gave me credit for. I am the GOAT. Even when I win those titles, I go away, I come back, I win another title. Then he'll walk away happy and go get the Spain job in 2026. So I think that's basically what he wants. I think that's way more the- Look, they're going to get back to it. It's funny because the moment teams start losing, people are looking for fundamental flaws that explains this. I've seen age, composition of the squad. Okay, well, that wasn't a problem in the summer. You weren't talking about that in the summer. You weren't talking about how, you know, Gundogan's passed it and Kyle Walker's passed it and Bernardo Silva's passed it and De Bruyne's passed it. No one was saying that in the summer. Maybe there is an aspect of physical decline, but that's not causing them to lose five games in a row. I just wish there'd be dialogue about filfolding. I know Sacco is held to higher standards, but go on, I'm cutting you off. I just want to spread the agenda. No, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. If, sorry. And yeah, it's, I think on transfer marked, the valuation of filfolding is like 10 or 20 million higher than Sacco. How? Three international tournaments stunk up the place. Never really turns it on when it matters for City. Flat track bully. Generational talent not being held to generational standards, but that's just me. And he's a great player for what it's worth, but I'll show it. A hundred percent. If filfolding was on Sacco's level, he would be pulling City out of the dirt this season, but he's not, so. Exactly. So yeah, I don't worry. I worry more for City. I don't worry for City at all, but if I was to worry about City, it would be in January and in what happens then. So what does this, with what you said about Liverpool and City, what does that mean for Arsenal's title challenge? Like how bullish are you? Well, you said it earlier. You can't call anything at game week 13 or wherever we're at. And that's why I was saying earlier, but that, well, I was saying a couple of weeks ago when everyone was counting out Arsenal out, you can't conclude anything there. I'm not, I'm not saying, I'm not saying we're going to win. We're not going to win. I'm saying you can't conclude anything. And that is still the case. It's still November. I'm not going to change it because it's one game week later and we won a game. What I will say is I think by New Year's, we'll be surprised by how close we are with Liverpool. I wouldn't be surprised if we're a point off, maybe a point ahead, maybe a point apart. I think we'll be very close, but I think we'll pull ahead. They have a tough run of fixtures coming up. They've got to play City. Sunday, right? I could be wrong. They're going to be challenged. So I wouldn't be surprised if we're, if we're a lot closer to Liverpool than we think by New Year's day, and then it's a race to the end of the season. Do you think, last question for you then, do you think Odette has to win a trophy this year? I have to ask it. I have to. I think we spoke about this last time. Look, it's, yeah, it's, it's all, there's the overall, I'm doing a politician's answer, I will answer that. The, there is the overall, are we improving picture, which is always what I judge a manager by. But I think we are one, in my opinion, on our day, we are, I would say we're as good as City in certain areas, better than certain areas, and weaker than them in certain areas. I think we're on a level, we've literally seen it about four times now against City. We can match them. Certain things they're better than us at, certain things we're better than them at. So I think based on that, I think we're the two top coach teams and sort of profile teams in the country, in my opinion. And therefore you should be winning a trophy based off that, yeah. I mean, there you had it there, man. Alex, this has been amazing. Let people know where they can find you. And obviously people, before he says that, make sure you're following him on Twitter and go and check out his piece he did with the Metro, man. But yeah, let's hear it from the horse's mouth. Thanks, bro. Yeah, dude, check, I'm on Twitter, or xatam on football. Never call it that. Oh no, I'm never calling it that. And YouTube, you can search a different knock and mechanical cost. There you have it, man. Alex, it's always appreciated, man. You was late, but lateness is greatness. It's almost like a Bambi. And when your form drops off, there'll be issues. But for now, take care, bro. Hopefully the next time we do this, whether it's on your platform or mine, we're a lot more, well, we are quite positive, but we're a lot more positive. But yeah, people, smash the like button and all that good stuff. We're out. Peace. Let's go.