Down but not out as PSG lead at half-time
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Hello, I'm Ian Stone. This is Handbrake Off, the Arsenal podcast brought to you by The Athletic. Last night, the Arsenal lost 1-0 to PSG in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Emirates. To reflect on the evening, I'm joined by Amy Lawrence and James McNicholas. Good morning. Morning. Morning, mate.

Morning, and I actually paused for a second there as I told the guys, because some lorry came past from a DIY warehouse, a number are available, saying you can do it, alright, and I just thought maybe that's a sign, okay, as we're starting the podcast. We'll take it, we've got to take what we can get Ian I think today. Ha ha ha ha.

Okay. I need another one saying bigger energy for the second leg. Actually, you know what? We'll get into that in a minute. Have you seen the Ian Wright travel agent ad, by the way? Have you seen the Ian Wright travel agent ad? Indeed. If you haven't seen it, he books travel for Miles Lewis Kelly, Urien Timber and Gabby Martinelli to go to Paris. And if Ian Wright was your travel agent...

Where would you get him to book your trip to, Amy? Imagine such a scenario. If I was to once again use a travel agent, I would love that travel agent to be Ian Wright. Well, wouldn't it be great? He was dynamite. It was a fantastic performance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'd go anywhere he told you to go. Yeah, it's true. Baku, back to Baku. I might draw the line now.

I would ask if I could book a one-way ticket on behalf of someone else to Georgia. Maybe send Kvaroskelia, but it's homeland for a couple of weeks.

Am I allowed to do that? You know what? In this scenario, I think you're allowed to do whatever you want because it's all made up anyway. All right? I can't imagine an occasion when Ian Wright would actually be your travel agent. So that, why not? Why not? James, when was the last time you used a travel agent, James? I mean, I was thinking it's years ago since I used one. Yeah, I don't, I can't remember, honestly.

I think it might have been when I was a student, to be honest. So we could be talking 20 years. Yeah. It takes the fun out of it a bit for me. I'm one of those people, I like to sort of do endless research myself, you know, and figure out how I could save a few quid or find a hotel off the beaten track. But if Ian Wright was in front of me,

Where would I want to go? Maybe Lisbon, you know. Go out for a weekend. Women's Champions League final. Beautiful city. Yeah. I quite fancy that. And we haven't spoken about how good were the women, by the way. And we've got to take inspiration from the women. After what they did, they went out to France having lost the first leg. And a stellar, stellar performance. If Righty was my travel agent, again, I'm with Amy. Wherever Righty wants to go, I'm happy to follow, really. That's my genuine feeling about that.

Arsenal 0, PSG 1. I messaged Robbie, our producer at the end, Amy. I said I was frustrated but not devastated after that performance. Is that the sort of general feeling that's pervading the fan base right now, do you think? I'd hesitate to speak for the fan base as an entire whole of lots of different feelings. But I think that's very fair, yeah.

I think frustration was reasonable and not devastated is also entirely reasonable. I think it's possible to feel lots of different things after that game. I had a message from my friend, I'll leave out the swear word, who I've been watching Arsenal with for a long time. He doesn't live in London anymore, but he was with us when we went to Paris in 94 and 95 and 2006.

And he said, might I be the first to suggest we all stop feeling sorry for ourselves? Paris are hopefully feeling very satisfied. It's not yet over. I thought that was a good message as well. I think they're excellent. It's the first thing I'd say. And seeing them up close, they're really, really terrific side. They have a totally different vibe to when they came to the Emirates in the group stages. And I think that they had...

A little bit of that thing where it's all going for them, that maybe Arsenal felt a little bit of a taste of against Madrid. When you've got the wind at your backs and you feel good about yourselves and everything's going to plan and things kind of fall well.

To turn up with not a single player unavailable at a Champions League semi-final in April at this stage of the season is remarkable. I don't know how often that would have happened to anyone in the last 15, 20 years. And when you compare that to Arsenal having to fill holes in difficult ways, which affected lots of departments of the team, that's probably the biggest frustration. I think that and maybe...

Well, from maybe half-time onwards, but increasingly as the second half went on, was looking for what Arsenal could do to shift it up a gear, to change it, to change things around. And it was very evident from the substitutions or lack of that Mikel Arteta didn't feel that he could. And I'm curious about that, whether there was a part of him that was thinking, you know, stay in the tie. 1-0 defeat is not catastrophic.

rather than going for broke and trying all sorts of like, let's do this, let's do that, let's bring on so-and-so, let's move so-and-so. Evidently not being able to play the formula that worked so well against Madrid. This nagged at me from the moment that party suspension made me realise that the team that played was probably going to be the team. Just felt like such a bummer to have...

two of the best performers in the ties against Madrid in Mourinho and Rice having to play deeper than and I think that just affected the whole flow James I mean Amy made a number of points there as always sorry none of it's okay but on the point about you know Mikel Arteta thinking actually 1-0 is not the worst result I know that

that you thought that, you know, a second goal would have been an absolute disaster and really possibly put the tie out of reach. And they were very close to getting one. And there was a point about 10 minutes from the end when you felt like, you know what? Maybe one deal's not the worst result in the world and we should just not push too hard for the equaliser. Do you think Mikel Arteta had that in his mind as well? Probably. Probably.

I mean, his first words when he walks into his press conference where it's half time, you know, he has to try and take a wider view of this and see it as two legs. Certainly that was an anxiety I had. I just felt a second goal for Paris probably would kill the tie. And they absolutely had the capacity to do that and the threat on the break. And, you know, but for a better finish from Barcola, they would have done that.

Yeah, and on Amy's other point about Thomas Partey getting suspended and how that felt. I mean, I didn't want to express too much annoyance on a night like, you know, when we've just won at the Bernabeu, right? And it felt like we've just got to enjoy ourselves a little bit. But at the same time, what Amy said was right, that Thomas Partey being missing means that we're losing one player and also two other players who are key to how we play, Detlef Rice and...

and Mikel Moreno are having to shift positions as well. And it means we've got essentially not a lot on the bench because Leo Trossard is starting and therefore we can't bring him on. Yeah, and you know, I'm sure Thomas Partey and Arsenal will reflect on that as a pretty silly booking. I mean, Declan Rice let him know at the time, but it might prove to be a really costly one. Equally, I have to say, as well as Thomas Partey, it's played of late. The fact that

his absence has such a kind of domino effect on the squad I think tells you we don't quite have enough you know and I felt that as soon as I arrived at the ground I looked at the team sheet I sort of just thought there's nothing not really no I don't mean that to be disrespectful there's obviously Ethan Raniere we love and Kieran Tierney's a good player but we had a few kids in there who've like

barely kicked a ball in first team football. And the fact that we waited until the last 10 minutes to see a change and it was Ben White coming on at right back in a game where ostensibly we needed a goal. I thought that was indicative of the lack of options. Yeah, absolutely. Injuries are a factor. We saw three players stood in the tunnel just before full time. Calafuri, Partey, Havertz would have helped to have those guys out there. But I also just think our squad is not as...

He's not constructed with as many layers as some, and perhaps even as peers choose. No, quite. And like you say, it's a choice between a right-back, two left-backs, and an 18-year-old. You know that you're not quite at the level. I might have given the 18-year-old a few more minutes, though. I must say. Oh, I think everyone went, what's he going to do in three minutes? What can he possibly do? But...

Sorry, Amy, you were going to say something there. I think when James was talking about, you know, how the squad is constructed, I think that's a really good point. And Paris Saint-Germain did go out and buy a player of Kvartos Gelië's quality in January. He was there. Just that fact.

is relevant when you're talking about the evolution of the two teams since they played last time. Arsenal have had to play the same set of players kind of that they can play constantly and shuffle around where they can. In many ways, it always did feel slightly miraculous for this slightly makeshift kind of, this is probably not Mikel Arteta's best Arsenal team, let's be honest. Would you agree with that, guys, compared to the last couple of years?

Just the way that things have fallen, you know, the way that the chips have fallen this season, you know, the absences and not having Gabi Magalhaes, that's no reflection on how Kivu played, you know, not having...

A striker. I mean, you know, and if you think about it, we're lamenting Mourinho not being able to play as that false nine. And we're lamenting Kai Havertz as well, by the way. If you really track back, when Arsenal first were presented with this problem of like, oh, we've actually completely run out of forwards, Trossard started that game at Leicester as the false nine with Sterling on one side and Manieri on the other, if my memory serves. Yes.

And it was so ineffective, he was the obvious choice to do so, that Mourinho became, right, okay, we're going to try this, even though you haven't done it before. And it's worked out amazingly well. So if you actually go through the numbers of if everybody was fully available, who's playing centre forward for Arsenal last night?

Okay, Pabbott's presumably first choice, maybe Jaysus. Am I missing others that might be playing there? No. Then maybe Marina. Trossard is arguably the fourth choice player to play in that position for people who are saying the biggest game at the Emirates possibly ever. You know, and you look at Paris Saint-Germain.

And they're a really, really fantastic team. And you look at their front line or their attacking group and say, how many of them would you have in Arsenal's team at the moment? And then flip it and say, how many of Arsenal's front players from the night would Paris Saint-Germain be taking? And it's only 1-0.

And Arsenal still made chances and Donnarumma still pulled off some excellent saves. Yeah. So somehow, psychologically, if you can flip it, stop being so pessimistic. It wasn't what everybody dreamed of. We all know that. But there is a way of looking at this that actually...

Strange things happen in football. I don't really know what I'm saying. I'm still quite tired and emotional. James, on that question that Amy asked about is this not the best team that Mikel Arteta's had, I think there was an argument to say that really, Detlam Rice is probably better than he was, than he's possibly ever been at this point. And he showed glimpses of that in the second half. But as for the rest of the team, they're not quite maybe playing at the level I...

I think it's a complex question, is, I suppose, the point. What do you think? Yeah, there's not really been any point this year where you could justifiably say, well, it feels like the year we're destined to win the Champions League. It's not 2004, is it? No. It's not, I think of the last three seasons...

that Arteta's had, probably this is, has been the trickiest season for him and the one where he's found it most difficult to sort of generate momentum. At the same time, it's a cup competition and anything can happen. 2006 was very much not that year and then we ended up in the final. It's such fine margins. It's so tempting to kind of

draw these kind of grand narrative conclusions out of it. But I think it's impossible to at this stage. I think it would be wrong to partly because we're still only at halftime. But I do think that listening to you guys talking and talking to other Arsenal fans, you know,

We know our football and I think we all recognise a really good team came to the Emirates Stadium yesterday. And I think that's a big part of why people are sort of relatively philosophical about events on the night and maybe even the tie itself because...

Almost a little bit like when Bayern Munich came and when we played them at the Allianz. We've just had that reminder of sort of what the top level of this competition actually looks like and feels like. And I'm not sure for all the kind of, you know, pageantry of Real Madrid.

They certainly never provided us the kind of on-field test that PSG did in that first half an hour last night. I think collectively, you know, there's been a lot of talk about atmosphere and, you know, was the atmosphere what it might have been? I mean, I think in that first half hour, there was probably a lot of people turning around and saying to each other, like, cool, this lot are all right. You know, I think we collect, I haven't seen a team do that to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last night.

you know, probably since Man City in their pump, you know, and we're talking a couple of years ago when we were not competitive in that way. So I think there's a kind of healthy realism about the scale of the challenge and the fact that,

we, in terms of this competition, are a baby. Like PSG are knocking on the door of the final for the umpteenth time. This has been a seven, eight year process of them getting to this point to try and take that further step. I think if we do it in Paris, which we absolutely can, we'll be ahead of schedule. Come see us go! Come see us go! You know you can't see.

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Do you think we were nervous in the first 20 minutes as well, Amy? I mean, I know the fans were. Maybe the expectations had been raised a little bit. Or do you think it was just that PSG press? It is ferocious. How do you feel about the way that we started that game? Obviously, we let it go in the first four or five minutes. And there was certainly a point where we were thinking, oh my God, this could get ugly. But do you think we started a bit nervously because...

It all felt very real, as opposed to when we played Madrid, when it was just like, wow, this is amazing. Whereas now we're thinking, now we've got a chance of winning this. Do you think there was a bit of that feeling? What, from the part of the players or the fans? Both.

Well, I think the early goal was pivotal to everybody's emotional state and probably the team's sort of strategic state as well. You know, I think if that doesn't happen somehow, I don't know, it maybe gives us a bit more time to settle. But I also think that

without wanting to bang on about it too much, but that sort of readjustment because of Partey's absence, you know, it was a shift for the team that they needed to get used to against absolutely elite opposition. Yes, it's not helpful, is it? They're not playing Ipswich, sorry. You know, this is, you know, and a few people around me in the North Bank were saying, would Partey have stopped that goal?

I'm not sure he would, but I mean, there was definitely a big space for Ousmane Dembele to exploit. I think we were maybe a little bit slow to react to the space Arasgelia had as well. But I just think the kind of emotional impact of conceding so early when it's a game that there was so much pre-match puff and hype and excitement.

and anticipation that it had a really big impact on kind of proper slap around the chops, kicking the guts, however you want to describe it. And that took some recovering from. And maybe for 15, 20 minutes after that goal, Arsenal did look a little bit shell-shocked, a little bit lost. Yeah. And not being able to get a foothold until much later in the first half.

Yeah, made it very nerve-wracking. I think those nerves were very evident in the stands. And I think Arsenal were just trying to find a way to feel more comfortable in the game. And that took a little bit of time. And once they'd done that, I think...

it all felt like more of an even contest and yes you were aware that they were terrifying on the break but also that Arsenal could dig something out of it right let's talk about some of the performances um

David Ryer last night, James, he made a couple of outstanding saves. He was obviously on the ball loads and his passing was in the main excellent as usual. The save he made when it went back to their plan, it was offside. I mean, I think he's kept us in the tie really. Big hand, wasn't it? Really strong hand. That's a save goalies work on.

a lot you know when the players come in inside and sometimes you're a bit unsighted can you get down low to that near post I think that was a really really big moment for Davi Raya in a season of some really really big moments so yeah I think he emerges with credit but it's been interesting I mean there's been a lot of discourse around Martin Odegaard I have to say my you know I logged on social media after the game and again this morning and was he getting some abuse

I wouldn't say abuse, but certainly a lot of pointed criticism. And valid to a certain extent, isn't it? I mean, he's not playing well. No. But it's just interesting, you know, I think it's our nature as football fans. When a team loses a game, we kind of look for the sort of, you know, the causality. Like, where's it come from? Is it Partey's absence? Is it because this player didn't turn up? And I do think Odegaard...

Seems to be taking the brunt of that from what I've seen. I'd be curious as to what you guys thought. I mean, I didn't think he was at his best, but I suppose I didn't necessarily see...

dramatic difference in his performance from what he's generally produced over the last few months when I think he has looked a bit out of sorts. Amy, you're nodding there. I mean, that's pretty much what it is, isn't it, really? It's how he's played for the last few months. It is. And I think, you know, these big games come along and people look at him before the game and go, come on, Martin, is this the one where you, you know... The armband's part of that as well, isn't it, I think? Yeah, absolutely. But it's like he needs to go into the phone box and spin around and come back out with...

the magic cape on and it's not happened for pretty much the entirety of 2025. What's hard to reconcile I suppose is that we all have quite fresh memories of Erdegaard being a game changer for Arsenal, being someone who orchestrated in a very influential way. So instead of just making the turn and playing a sideways pass or someone else to take the responsibility,

We don't have to go too far in our memory banks to remember him being the man that did some outrageous footwork and created something invariably an assist or a goal. His productivity is so down on that, that it's...

It's difficult because in these big games, you're looking for difference makers. You're looking for who are the people who are going to rise up and be the superheroes of the day. And if you look back at Madrid, it was Declan Rice on the free kicks and then Mourinho with that wonderful finish. And out in Madrid, it was Bukayo with his wonderful goal and then Martinelli with the winner at the end. And

It's people seizing the day. It's people seizing the moment. It's where's your hero going to come from? And your hero sometimes comes from a place you don't expect. There was a moment when Jakob Kivio got the ball about 25 yards out and for a half second you think, go on then. Could this be an El Neni moment where you score a wonder goal against the big team? But the wait for Martin to be magical, as his song goes,

I think, again, of course there's emphasis on your leaders and your big players and your proven magical players to turn up in big games. I remember sometimes in Europe, Dennis Bergkamp, who obviously held at least that kind of sense of responsibility and burden, there was always so much emphasis on Dennis. I used to watch him. I used to sort of find myself, my eyes drawn to him when we were playing European matches because he didn't fly and there was that extra layer of

kind of complicated, flawed genius stuff going on with him. And when he used to sometimes attend matches...

That he would travel separately from the team, not on a plane and go over land, which he did sometimes. Didn't you take him? Well, I took a cardboard cut out of him to Kiev, but he was supposed to go and he backed out at the last minute. I have no idea why. But sometimes I always felt that pressure of sort of being the man that people look to in these big European countries.

got inside his head a little bit too much. I remember in 2000 playing the final against Galatasaray in Copenhagen and he drove to Denmark. He joined the rest of the team there and he had a bit of a stinker in the game and he was, you know, he was Dennis Bergkamp and he was very much at the peak of his powers at that time and there was something about that particular pressure. I don't know if it's relevant but it looks like

Martin is trying. Martin Odegaard is clearly trying. He's running around like, you know, with lots of energy and intention. And he's leading the press as well, remember. But what he's not doing is... Creating. Is turning games. No. Which is what Arsenal need him to do.

particularly with all these strikers not being there. I don't want to be too downbeat after last night because we're still in this tie and there were some positives. We should have scored, I thought, particularly that one

Gabby Martinelli when he's put through by Myles Lewis-Skelly. And by the way, James, Myles Lewis-Skelly at 18, doing what he does. I mean, we talk about him on this pod fairly regularly. We have done for the last, I don't know, 10, 12 weeks when he's been playing professional football at this level. But again, last night, when he turned in that midfield, he ran through about three of them and he put Gabby Martinelli in with a perfect pass, with a perfect pass.

And you saw, suddenly you thought, oh yeah, he could play in midfield. And I think if Riccardo Calafiori was fit, I think Mikel Arteta would have certainly considered putting him in there. You know, the boy has no fear whatsoever. And if we have that attitude from everyone in the second leg, we've got a big chance. Yeah, I thought it was excellent. And up against the lot over on that flank, you know, you had the wingers rotating and then

behind who's pretty rapid himself and a real threat on the overlap. Myles Lewis-Skelly coped with that brilliantly, created the best chance the first half for Martinelli. I thought it was interesting actually that you think of Arsenal's side with a big emphasis on the right-hand side, their chances in this game predominantly came down the left. Even that moment when Bukayo Saka went over to the left-hand side and lifted that cross to the far post which Martinelli was stretching out for almost got on to

You know, Martinelli had that one-on-one, Trossard had that one-on-one. Maybe that space in behind Hakimi is something Arsenal will be looking at ahead of the second leg. Oh, yes. And thinking, you know, we could get at them there. But Myles Lewis-Skelly was excellent. I thought that after a slightly shaky start, I thought William Saliba had a really good second half, made one superb tackle to prevent a second goal, which I think, you know, was probably matched only by...

Neves, who in a similar spot in the first half produced a vital, vital challenge. You are thinking gold as it goes back to Mourinho, aren't you? You really are. You really are. And that's the thing about this tyre. You know, when we talk about it, it's big moments at either end. And actually, you know, in his press conference, Arteta spoke about Donnarumma and Luis Enrique spoke about him as well. I mean...

He's obviously a big player for PSG in every sense. Huge, imposing figure, but also a guy who can step up and have these big moments in big games. And I think he did. I think Martinelli, you'd like to see him go maybe a bit more outside the goalkeeper, a little bit more craft in the finish. I think Trossard,

Pretty much did everything right, actually. Hit that shot. He hit it well enough, didn't he? Low and hard. It was just a great save. I just think that is a superb save in a big moment. And those moments can be decisive in these kinds of times. I wonder what else to talk about, really. I mean...

Amy, we're really good. And when we get players, when we get Thomas Partey back and Detlef Reiss. Oh, Detlef Reiss. Can I just ask you about Detlef Reiss a little bit? We saw glimpses of what he did in those games against Madrid in the second half yesterday, particularly when he ran through three players and put Leo Trossard in for that chance that James was just talking about. We have to get him further up the pitch, don't we? Because I think Detlef is now starting to realise that

how good he actually is. And I know it's ridiculous to say that. He's got such humility and he's such a selfless guy and he's such a team player. But he was man of the match in both games against Madrid. And with that, you go, hang on a minute, I'm possibly even better than I realised. And I think he's starting to realise that. And I think his best position may well be further forward. May well be. I mean, you know, it's just...

Lovely to see, I think, him playing with this enjoyment and freedom and responsibility. Because I think the first half of the season, he was a little bit below his best, which was quite possibly just a consequence of...

You know, the demands that we put on our top players, particularly when they have international tournaments as well. The football is relentless. And I think a lot of stuff may be caught up with him at the beginning of the season. But yeah, when he's at his absolute best, it's a joy to watch. I also think a player that hasn't been mentioned yet but deserves a million percent of a mention is Jurrien Timber.

who was also outstanding. He was up against a serious player, wasn't he? That is a horrible assignment, that flank as well, because also Mendes behind him is a massive player. So I thought he was maybe in that first goal. I don't know whether he might be wondering if he could have done something more to prevent the cross so early on. I don't know. But he handled that assignment with real intensity and aplomb. I thought he was great.

Yeah, I think there were a number of players who played really, really well. But against that quality of team in the form that they're in, absolutely every player needs to be as top as they can be. Yeah, yeah. And that's what needs to happen over there. Mika Marino, by the way, one more, Mika Marino. I mean, James, we all had doubts, didn't we? When he came in, what's he do? But I thought he was...

one of our best players on the pitch last night, really calm, bringing it down in very dangerous areas, controlling the flow of the play. I can see, I mean, forget the goals and all the rest of it and how insane what's happened to him this season is, but you can see the money seems well spent now, doesn't it? He's had a really strong second half of the season, hasn't he? And strangely enough, moving into that centre-forward position,

which felt like a bit of an imposition, has actually really helped him. We've seen his confidence grow. I think he's gained a better understanding of what he can bring to the team. But for a few inches...

He would have had an equaliser last night. Millimetres is what Mikel Arteta said, but they've always had the metric system, haven't they? Yeah, Marino said centimetres, so he was a little bit more generous in terms of the amount of space given. It took a while, by the way, didn't it? But anyway. It did, it did. But equally, I do think watching that PSG midfield, I mean, it's Land of the Giants with Arsenal, isn't it, with Marino and Rice in there, but seeing Vitinha,

who couldn't get a kick at Wolves and is now, you know, absolutely incredible. He was running the game, isn't he? Yeah, Jao Neves, again, a really, you know, sort of diminutive midfield player, but very intelligent use of the ball. I did think it was sort of, it sort of reminded you of, it's kind of a European archetype, isn't it, really? The kind of more technical midfield who are able to really control the game. Luis Enrique, no, I mean, he's played for Barcelona. He knows how that works. Absolutely. But, you know,

So has our manager. He's come through there. And I do wonder if sort of thinking about the Champions League and maybe even the Premier League to an extent, I know there's been such a huge emphasis on physicality and rightfully so and justifiably so. But I do wonder maybe with the arrival of Zubin Mendy or, you know, I don't know, but could that be another evolution in the Arsenal midfield? Maybe, you know, that we might have to sacrifice a little bit of that kind of size and power to have some of that,

technical security that just enables you to play through the pockets and take the pace out of a game take the sting out of a game that's always been such a big part of the Champions League and yeah I was just really impressed by that from a PhD perspective and wondered if that's

we could yet add to our bow. They're quite mesmerising, aren't they, the times when they've got the ball? They are. Yeah, they're good to watch. They're really, really good to watch. But you know what? So are we. And we've got a second leg to come, which we'll talk about as well as Bournemouth after the break. Ian Stone, Amy Lawrence and James McNicholas here on the Athletics Arsenal podcast handbrake off. Oh,

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Talking about PSG last night. Let's talk about PSG next week. I mean, we've said it already, Amy. The tie is far from over. And, you know, when Thomas Partey, assuming that he does come back in and it shifts Marino's position and it shifts Declan Wright's position. I mean, you said it. And you said it to me a number of times through the week. No, you did. And you were right to say it to me. Scratch record. No, but...

But I think we could all see that last night. And it really does give me hope for the second leg, that we are essentially assuming that nobody gets injured against Bournemouth, which is a big game, by the way, that we have to get a result from at the weekend. And we'll come to that. With Thomas Partney coming back and allowing the others to move into their

more natural positions. I'm saying that thinking Mikel Mourinho up front. But anyway, you know what I mean. This will be a different team going out to Paris in a week's time. Well, a bit different. I mean, not like radically different. No, not radically different. But if you have three players, one coming in and two more playing in a different position, you're

You know, that does make a difference all over the pitch, does it not? It means we can receive the ball a bit easier out of defence. It puts less pressure on the centre-halves, having Thomas Partey there. It means we've got one of, possibly one of the great midfielders now with Declan Rice running forward in a way that he wasn't allowed to do. It

means that we've got a bit of height up front and we can play a long ball a bit more and beat the press. There are a number of differences that we can impose on PSG with those players in those positions. Yeah, I mean, we all know that because we watch the Real Madrid game. I just feel like something needs to happen to change the temperature of the tie. And that's what interests me most. I'm kind of thinking, after all the Real Madrid-Ramon Tardy

I was going to use a different word there. Wouldn't it be kind of ironic if the people who achieved the Raman Tartarus let go of Arsenal? Well, I like what you're saying. That's what Arsenal have to do. They have to turn it around. They have to impose a different ruthlessness on this PSG team. But it'll be a moment over there, probably in the first half hour, that'll give us all a pretty big clue

where this is going. It's not beyond the realms of possibility, that's for sure. Turn it around. I've got to give credit to Miguel Delaney, fellow journalist at The Independent, because he's dug out a stat that in the first 64 years of the Champions League or European Cup, there were only six occasions where a team lost the first leg at home but managed to go through in the second. But

In the last six years, it's happened five times and PSG have been involved in three of those. So maybe some room for hope there. Good stat. Really good. And also positive. Yeah, we'll take it. We like that one.

All right. And also, by the way, Dembele limped off with what looked like possibly a hamstring injury and he will be monitored in the coming days. And that will make a difference to them as well because he looks so dangerous. Bournemouth are home first on Saturday, 5.30 at the Emirates. We lost 2-0. The game at the...

Vitality, James. That was the first inkling we got that things might not be plain sailing this year. We got really well beaten there, didn't we? And, well, yes, William Saliba was sent off as well in that game. Yeah, when he tackled someone on the halfway line and it was a clear goal-scoring opportunity. It was that one, wasn't it, really? Yeah.

But it's a tricky time for a game. I mean, I would like them to have another seven days off and get into it, but that's not the way it works. And we need a result from this game at the weekend. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I did see one media report saying, oh, off the back of last night is Arsenal's place in the top five, you know, going to come under threat, went under some jeopardy. And I thought, that seems a bit of a reach for me. Blimey. I think, yeah, listen, it's a home game. I think we should win it because...

We should want to win it because it just gives us that bit of comfort. We have got some more challenging games ahead. You know, Bournemouth, I think, have dropped off a bit from the side they looked to be at the end of the season. Just looking at their last five games, they've only won one, two defeats, a few draws in there as well recently. So,

It's a big game, but I have to be honest, Ian. I mean, I'm covering the game. I'm working there. Do you not want to be? Wow. I'll be somewhere else in my head, I think. I really do. I mean, I sort of apologise for that, but I think it's almost impossible to analyse the game through any other prison than through that of the second leg. I just think it feels...

It's about trying to get a result, but also managing the squad. And I think, you know, Mikel Arteta needs to be judicious in his selection. And I think one or two, maybe more than one or two, maybe two or three or four players being totally fresh to go to Paris in midweek could be really important. Genuine question, James. Do you think he'll start Raheem Sterling? LAUGHTER

He didn't get on last night, did he? He could have warmed up for a week last night and not got on. I mean, he started the... Palace, was it? Yeah. Was it Palace? I think very possibly, Amy, to be honest with you. It was not massively helpful. Painful. Sorry, William. It was painful, Amy, is what you're trying to say, to watch him. I mean, Mikel, he's a big rhythm guy, isn't he? He likes to have momentum. He likes players to be confident. He likes players to have...

to be winning. So he'll probably go stronger than I or anyone predict or anticipate. Yeah, I just wonder, like, do you take a case like Odegaard? He had a really difficult night. Would he benefit more from a game to find some rhythm, to find some continuity? Or do you take him out of the firing line and say, put your feet up, Martin. You know, you've got to have the game of your life on Wednesday night. What would you do, James, in that particular case? I think I'd play him, actually.

I think I would play him. I just think he looks like a player who's not confident. And I think the only way to find that really is on the field. So I think I'd play him, hope he has a good hour and get him out of there. But I don't know. What about you, Amy? I'm just racking my brains here to sort of think about whether there's something. I'm sure they've thought of everything a million times and analysed it to death. But is there something that Arsenal could do to try and

free him up a bit try and liberate him or unblock him yeah like even flip him to the left side rather than the right i was gonna say is there an argument to give him a little bit of a run out in a slightly different position yeah or ask him to do some different things or almost just take him out of that sense of like you're on the hamster wheel just going round and round and round trying to get yourself out of your funk and trying to find your mojo again

And maybe sometimes just doing something completely different, it takes you out of that zone and it can be a bit liberating. I don't know. Overlapping fallback.

Go on, mate. See how much effort that takes. Now stop moaning and do what you're paid to do type thing. I mean, you might be right, Amy. There is definitely something in his head where he's just feeling the pressure. Look at how it worked for Marino. Look at how it worked for Marino. He has been liberated, hasn't he? To be fair. Okay. I mean, listen, we don't have to talk about that very much. In the end, a win, however we get it with no injuries.

It's basically exactly the same that you said last week, Amy, when we were talking about Palace. But that's what it is. It's a win with no injuries. No more injuries because it's been ridiculous this season. And let's go and give ourselves a proper chance in Paris. Yeah, we'll talk more about the top four, five after we've got this second leg out of the way. Let's have a song to finish. Amy? I'm going for a song by Saint-Germain.

called Sure Thing. Saint-Germain. Nice. Because I think it's got some great John Lee Hooker with a bit of kind of French house vibe. It's a fantastic song. But I think that they think it's a sure thing and therefore let's go to Paris ready to show that it isn't.

James? I've gone for something, I reckon we must have had it on the show before because it's got so many potential football applications. But I've gone for Grace, not over yet. Not over yet. It isn't over yet. I've gone for So It Goes by Nick Lowe. It's sort of quite philosophical, really. And that's sort of how I feel. So it goes. So it goes. So it goes. So it goes.

Yeah, another league to come. And let's face it, we want to be here, right? It's the semi-final of the Champions League, so where do we want to be? That's it for this edition of Hand Break Off. Thanks for listening. Thanks to Amy and James. Thanks to Robbie, our producer. And some of us will speak to you after the weekend.