Gabi's inspire the Gunners on New Year's Day
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The only way to score is, of course, to play with a hand-break-off. Hello, I'm Ian Stone. This is Hand-Break-Off, the Arsenal podcast brought to you by The Athletic. Happy New Year, everyone. Yesterday, tea time, Arsenal came from 1-0 down to win 3-1 at the G-Tech in Brentford. A great way to start 2025.

To talk about that, the January transfer window, have a quick look ahead to Brighton this weekend. I'm joined by James McNicholas and Art de Rocher. Happy New Year, guys. Happy New Year. Happy New Year, Ian. Happy New Year. We just had five minutes moaning about Jules Holland's hooter nanny, so we won't bore you with that. But I can't imagine you actually watched that, Art, to be honest with you. No, the whole time you two were going on about it, I was like...

What is this? But I apologise. You know all the artists you really like, right? You know all the artists you really like now? Imagine them in 60 years. They'll be making their 40th appearance on Jules Holland's Hootenanny in a row, right? And they won't be able to sing and some of them won't even be able to stand up unaided. But they'll be on there anyway. Anyway, let's not do that again. I'll save that for January the 31st, 2025. Anyway.

Got any New Year's resolutions? James, got any New Year's resolutions? Arsenal-related New Year's resolutions, obviously. Because the regular ones, I'm never eating wholemeal bagels again. I just think that is an aberration. But you know what? I'm not going to go into that now. What about you, James? Personally, I probably need to eat a few less bagels and things like that. Less bread, probably. But for Arsenal...

My resolution is simple. Buy more attackers. Be it in January, be it in the summer. A few less fullbacks and a few more attackers. That would be my resolution.

I like it. Art, what about you? Mine's quite simple as well. Stop getting injured. Yeah, I've gone along similar lines. Give the medical staff more time off. Maybe they'll get a couple of weeks in Dubai just to recharge. They must be stressed as well. It's like a revolving door. Yeah, same, really. Less injuries, more strikers, less defenders. I think, I mean, yeah. To be honest...

I think that's pretty much what everyone's Arsenal's resolutions. More silverware. That's a good one, isn't it? Yeah, that's a good one. Some silverware would be nice. Good start, though. Brentford 1, Arsenal 3. Comeback. A bit of a sickness bug in the camp. James, I mean, I've been thinking about this team. Obviously, I spend most of my life thinking about this team, really. Yeah.

But I've been thinking about this team and what I liked about yesterday was how calm they all were. And by the way, I've been feeling that for a couple of weeks now. I watched Mikel when he was interviewed after the Ipswich game. And this is just before Bukayo Saka is about to announce that he's not going to play again for two months. And Mikel's on the telly and he's smiling and he's laughing and he looks really chilled out. And it was the same vibe yesterday. There is a real sense of calm going through the club at the moment.

There is actually. I was really struck by that when the Saka injury happened in the days following that. You know, if you're looking at it online or amongst the fan base, there was really a powerful sense of panic. But Mikel, when he spoke about it, was incredibly...

reasoned, rational and behind the scenes as well. You know, speaking to contacts within the club, there was this incredible sense of calm. Even when it came to kind of January and the implications, there was this idea, well, we've got a plan. We don't want to panic.

And I think that's really impressive, actually, to sustain such a body blow as losing Saka for a few months and maintain composure. I'm sure from Mikel's perspective, it's also about sending a message to his players, right? He doesn't want them... He can't sit there in a press conference and say, well, I imagine that's us done for. He has to fulfil them with the confidence that they can step up and they can take over the mantle and...

This win at Brentford, I think, was a really strong step in that direction. I mean, a really tough place to go.

A brilliant win. And I think, yeah, composure, maturity, all those things were evident in the way Arsenal won this game from a really tough situation coming from behind as well. I think it was a really good start to the year. Yeah. I mean, Mikel said when you go a goal down early in the game, it becomes a mountain to climb. But the team remained patient. We had to manage the situation emotionally. I mean, there was a little 10, 15 minute gap.

wasn't there after the goal because we had been basically completely on top. It was so Fulham, wasn't it, really? We have the ball for about 95% of the time and then they go down the other end and score and you think, not again. But,

But the difference yesterday, I suppose, was getting the equaliser in the first half and then being able to kick on from there. Yeah, I was sat in the stadium and you felt the dynamic shift in that 10-15 minute spell. I think there were a few moments where... I think Arsenal did well to ride out the storm. Brentford kind of threw at them after the goal. Yeah, and then... Yeah, very much so. And I think when the game started to get a bit too transitional, that's when you saw...

and Waniere actually slow it down a bit, which worked well for Arsenal. And I think one thing that needs to be mentioned as well is Brentford going into that game had the joint best home record in the league. So I think it was 22 points they've taken at home. Yeah, same with Liverpool.

Which is, yeah, same as Liverpool. So to go behind against them and then come back, I think it's a great sign for 2025, hopefully. And as you say, good stuff to weather that storm and then come out on top. Yeah, and I saw somebody saying, well, tougher tests to come. And I thought, not much, to be honest with you. GTEC is a real fortress. And I thought what was interesting, actually, was the second half.

I mean, you could hear the players shouting at each other. It was so quiet in there. And that was down the way the Arsenal closed the game out. And we'll talk about that. Let's talk about Gabriel Jesus. Um,

good timing art for his uh him to come into form and he does look there's even walking off the pitch yesterday with his shirt all torn looking cool as anything there was a swagger about him and we haven't seen that in a while yeah very good time and i think um when he first came into the club i know michael ateta at the time said he's changed arsenal's world but

I don't think that was an overstatement. Jay Zeus was really transformational. And I think in the last few weeks, we've seen, as you say, the flair, the swagger that hasn't really been there for about 18 months. And it's really good to see because you can see he's confident. He's up for a fight as well, which is nice. And I think what was really...

telling to me about the goal was obviously he's aware enough to stay onside but in the build up rather than being content with passing around the box Partey just shoots he just goes for it and I don't think Arsenal have done that enough

in recent weeks like the Everton game I thought they were too content to just pass it around the box and look for the perfect opening but that changed the picture I think and thankfully Jesus was there to head in and James everyone was talking about yesterday poachers goal I mean is he a goal scorer isn't he a goal scorer because at the moment he is by

But, you know, if he's doing that, if he's anticipating before any defenders, that's exactly what goal scorers do, right? Yeah, I was talking to someone earlier today and I said it was Ian Wright-esque, the anticipation. Is that what you said? Yeah, I think, I mean, it was. Wrighty would have loved a goal like that, I think. Does he do it all the time? Probably not. I think what you would say, is he a goal scorer? I think if you look at his career...

he's been a bit of a streaky striker. He's a guy who has periods when he's hot and then unfortunately will also have periods where he's not hot. Even at Manchester City, I think there were two quite protracted sort of droughts, which were offset by some other spells where he'd come into the team and suddenly get a flurry of goals. I think actually over the pattern of his career, that's who he is. What that means is when he is in that rich vein of form, when the confidence is up, when he is scoring goals, he's,

you've got to maximise it. You've got to capitalise and you've got to use him. And Mikel Arteta is leaning into that at the moment. Yeah, quite. Gabby Martinelli got a beautiful goal as well. Um,

James, he didn't try too hard there, did he? He didn't try and wallop it. He just put it back into that space. And when you see it done like that, it looked like an easy finish, but it was not an easy finish, was it? No, I suppose they do when they sort of nestle in the far corner that beautifully. He made it look simple, but the touch and the hit is anything but. And...

I don't know. Art may correct me here because he's got a better memory than me. But I think... I can't remember the last time I saw Martinelli finish quite that convincingly and emphatically. You know, I feel like he's had moments where he scored goals, but they've been in situations where you'd probably expect it. Or he's had chances occasionally that you might have thought he'd done better with. This was a situation where...

He makes it look straightforward, but it's a half chance, a best. The height the ball comes in, the time he's got to get that shot away. And he absolutely maximises it. And I'm so pleased for him. I think he needed not just a goal, but maybe a goal like that to give him a bit of a lift. Because with Sakharov, I think he, above all else, is the player that we are looking to. We could talk about transfers. We could talk about...

You know, Trost Sabic talked about Jesus. If there's someone who can offer us speed, goals, assists within this squad, it is Gabriel Martinelli. And I think we all see that there is room for his performances to improve, to upturn. There's potential there that's not being fulfilled. I think if we want to hit our targets this season...

There's a big responsibility on him to step up and help fill that gap that Saka's left. And this was a really good start, you know, part of a good start, really. You know, if you go back to the Palace game as well, he was good in that game. It's encouraging. Hopefully he can take that step forward.

As he mentioned, as James mentioned, when was the last time I was actually starting to go through Gabby Martinelli goals in my head and it's been ages since I've seen a finish like that. Yeah, it's a slightly different finish but the ones that came to mind were actually this time last year against Crystal Palace, kind of into the far corner. Convincing finishes but very different types. And I think the big thing for him is just playing off instinct. There's been moments where...

Throughout this season and last where he gets into good positions, but you can just see there's too much thought going on in those split seconds. And hopefully this could be something that accelerates that, I guess, thought process to the point where he doesn't need to take those extra seconds to have a thought about what he's going to do. And yeah, really encouraging performance as he grew into the game. Hopefully he can take that into the second half of the season.

Let's talk about Ethan Waneri. We're going to be talking about him quite a bit, I imagine, on this pod over the next... God, well, he could be there for another 20 years, to be honest. It's an absolutely insane amount of time. If I'm not dead, we can still be talking about this in 20 years' time. 92% pass completion. Only two misplaced passes...

on his first Premier League start for the Arsenal. You wrote in the piece on The Athletic, you saw him practising crosses in the warm-up. He was taking set pieces, one of which we scored from. The third youngest player ever to start a Premier League game for Arsenal after Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott. Got a standing ovation from the away end.

I mean, how much is there to come from this kid? He's 17 at the moment. There was a nice symmetry about the fact that he made his debut at Bournemouth when he was 15. Sorry, at Brentford, thank you, when he was 15. And back he is again. I think Mikel Arteta liked the symmetry of that.

But he looked excellent. So now we found two players who could possibly replace Bukayo for the next couple of months, haven't we? Because we know Gabby Martinelli can and now Ethan can as well. Yeah, so Mikel did say afterwards that he did think about that story of returning to the G-Tech team.

where I think two and a half years ago, he had the gut feeling to give Ethan his debut. And I thought he was really impressive, even in the first half when things got difficult. He was the one who was...

on the right wing going on the outside trying to get crosses in then there was that moment where in that 10-15 minute period where it was quite sticky and tough for Arsenal he actually held onto the ball really well and changed the direction of the game I felt and as the game went on I think you could see

like Saka, who he was replacing for this game, he could still decide a game, even though he's still only 17. I think that side of his game has been there throughout the age groups, and it's nice to see on his first start in the Premier League, he was able to provide that as well. In terms of him playing off the right, I think Saka

So I asked Arteta basically why was today the right context? Because I think that's something we've debated on here quite often. Well, when we played some of the teams like Ipswich and Southampton and Leicester and Wyes and he started in those games, what did he say? And he basically said today I felt Ethan was the best player to start in that position. He said it wasn't because of the bug. And I know some people might say...

How honest is he being there? But I don't know. I felt like he was being quite honest in the moment. And you could see what Waniere offers from there, which is very different to what Martinelli did. And I think when I think James asked him a few weeks back about what he's going to do there, he spoke about being creative. And this is definitely a way.

of doing that. Yeah. I mean, I personally, James, I like the little nutmeg he did in the second half and then he ran through and then he lost the ball, right? It was quite an easy pass to give it to Erdogan. But, you know, I thought he's only 17, but the nutmeg, the confidence that he shows. Do you think he's the number one option at the moment between him and Gabriel Martinelli or do you think it's going to chop and change? Do you think maybe Raheem Sterling will come in? Maybe Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trostler, they can all play over there.

I've got to say, I think, you know, I do prefer Martinelli on the left. And it was really good in this game to see the left-hand side sort of joined up all together. The summer signings in there, Calafuri, Marino ahead of him, supporting Martinelli. I think he's been a bit unfortunate, Martinelli, in that he's not really had that consistency of selection behind him. I know others like Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly have done well in those positions, but I think it brings a different balance to have Calafuri and Marino in there.

I think Ranieri will play plenty of games on the right. I think he announced himself in some ways yesterday. He showed that he's a serious option at Premier League level. But I also think we're in a period of the season where there's going to be rotation, where there's going to be

you know, two or three changes, I think, game to game, just because you've got so many games. And as a 17-year-old, I think he's probably vulnerable to being part of that rotation. So I think we'll see a variety of options used, but he's definitely put himself in contention. And, you know, that third goal that we got yesterday, that little step inside, cross the far post, the same thing Art saw in practicing the warm-up, it's Saka all over, right? And having that kind of...

continuity in our build up and how we create chances I think it's going to be really valuable and just to have academy products coming through and playing in the first team like him and Miles Lewis Skelly it's just really exciting set piece FC set piece again ole ole um

And by the way, this is without Detlef Reiss and Makaia Saka taking the corners. Oh, actually, on that. So when he was coming off the bench, Waniere, in the games earlier on in the season, there was almost no debate about who was taking the corners. It was him. Even when Arsenal were 2-0 down against Bournemouth, when they were...

playing against Liverpool at the Emirates. He just kind of assumed that responsibility. I know Saka was off at the time, but there were times where I think Urdegaard... No, Urdegaard was injured. The only other...

time someone took a corner off that side was Leandro Trossard and I remember at the time thinking that was quite telling of just how much trust he had from his teammates but also I guess the coaching staff Mikau Arteta and Nicolas Jové included for him to kind of assume that responsibility as a teenager I just thought that was quite interesting

Yeah, James, if we're going to spend all this time practising them, we have to have someone who can put it in exactly the spot. And he can. And, you know, I mean, God, over the last 10, 15 years, watching Arsenal take corners and the number of times, you know, we've mockingly, if you could possibly get it over the first man, that'd be great. We don't really have those conversations anymore. They're on the spot, aren't they? No, the delivery's excellent. And interesting, Mikel Moreno's the guy who's there to poke the ball back into the net and...

I think he's got real penalty box presence. Arteta spoke about that afterwards, the threat level that he can provide. It's interesting, when Declan Rice plays that position as the kind of left day, either he's taking the corners or usually he's outside the box. He's not even... Despite being quite a tall bloke, he's not someone that we tend to throw forward into the penalty area in those situations. Marino comes in and he's straight there in the six-yard box because he's such a handful. And I'd back him to get a few goals like that over the course of the season. He's very...

physical, he's tall, he's got a nose for goal as well and I think that's one of the things Arteta really likes about him. A couple of sort of wobbly moments. James, I'm

Marino and Pato I thought were both slow to get back for the Brentford goal. I mean, obviously it broke down pretty quickly, but I didn't see either of them busting a gut. Because if they had, then Mbweno has to go on the outside. I mean, there's not a lot Calafiori can do. And while we're on the subject, do you think that David Raya was in any way at fault for that? I don't, by the way, but I'm just asking the question.

Yeah, I don't either, really. There's that sort of old, you know, phrase you hear, oh, you should never be beaten at your near post. But I think you speak to any goalkeeper...

And they tell you that's not quite right. It's through his legs as well, wasn't it? Yeah. I mean, Calafiori actually, when he goes for the block, he kind of goes to block with his left foot, which I think might have been a bit of an error in that it creates sort of the gap between his legs for the shot to go through. He sort of slightly turns on it. But David Rye is very unsighted and I don't think that was a mistake. Obviously, the chance that follows it where the shot effectively goes through his hands...

I don't think he'll be too pleased with that moment, but he certainly made up for it with a really important intervention. Because if that ball hits the back of the net and it's 2-0...

We're in a very different mood, I think, this morning. Do you think there was a bit of nervousness on the part of Raya? His first time back at the G-Tech as an Arsenal player. I guess the crowd were giving him a bit of stick. And that was a terrible error, but he more than made up for it. A minute later, we're down the other end and it's 1-1. Fine margins. Yeah, I definitely think there probably was an element of nervousness. You could tell, even in the warm-ups, I think...

he knew he was back at Brentford. Like, speaking to a lot of the Brentford staff on the touchline around the tunnel before the game and after the game too, all of it respectful, of course, but I think you could tell the occasion he knew where he was. Maybe he was a bit too present, but even with that, as James said, a really massive claw, um,

to keep Arsenal in the game. And even in the first minutes, I think there was a moment where he made a really important claim from a low cross to stop Mbwemo. So he's going to have moments like that. But thankfully this year, I mean, I actually can't remember the last time he's had...

a moment like that so I'm fine with taking that one that one for the season and leaving it there I've just realised where I read the tougher testers to come is in the document that was sent to us by Jesse our producer I mean we have got some tough games to come one more word on Thomas Partey James should we renew his contract I mean

He's been one of Arsenal's best players this season. I mean, he's been fit, which is great, but he's been playing very well. And, you know, with Jürgen Timber getting his yellow card and he's out of the Brighton game, we'll miss him in the centre and midfield.

Yeah, because it'll almost certainly play right back, won't it? I think still no Ben White, still no Tommy Asu. So that's the obvious change. Fortunately, we have a player who was on the bench at Brentford in Declan Rice, who's not too bad either. So I think that, you know, there could be worse situations, but yeah,

When it comes to the contract, I don't know. I agree with you. I thought it was really good yesterday. I thought that moment where he didn't particularly get back well for the goal was isolated in the game. I thought he was instrumental in how Arsenal came back into it, particularly in the second half of the first half. I really felt that there was kind of an impetus and a drive in his game that's not always present. He played like a leader, actually, in moments there. Do you renew the contract? I don't know. I think a lot of it will come down to what Thomas Partey wants.

Bear in mind, he is now 31. He'll be 32 next summer during the transfer window. He's probably in a position where he's looking for a bit of security in his next contract. Would he accept a one-year deal? He wouldn't imagine so. Ideally, he'd like three, maybe do two. And also, is he prepared to...

sacrifice a little bit in terms of salary? Because he's one of the better paid players at Arsenal. Is he going to have that sort of importance to the team for the remainder of this contract? I think it's a really interesting decision and as good as he's been this season, I wouldn't be adverse to Arsenal saying...

he's not the man for the future. We're going to move on and reallocate that salary elsewhere in the squad. But it'll be a big decision for Mikel Arteta and whoever our sporting director is come that point towards the end of this season. Art, briefly, what do you think about that? Yeah, I think one of the thoughts I've had over the past few years is how Arsenal succession plan in that area. And with Jorginho as well, he's coming up to his...

contract in this end of the summer I guess do you go for one and not the other and then look at how you want that kind of six role to develop I know Mars Lewis Skelly's a left back at the minute but who's to say he can't move into that no that six role come to summer when he's got a bit more experience and there's a natural kind of possibility

or progression route into that position. So it is a really interesting one. I think there's a few different ways Arsenal can kind of play it. But yeah, I'm not sure how I'd kind of go with it just yet. No. Okay. Well, time will tell. This is Hand Break Off with me in stone, James McNicholas and Art de Roche. Set me safe game! Set me safe game! Set me safe game! Hey!

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And break off the Athletics Arsenal podcast. Briefly talk about Ipswich on a Friday. James, I know you were talking on the Askast about how you think there are essentially two types of Arsenal performance this season. What are they, first of all?

And which one was the Ipswich game for you? Because a lot of people were moaning after Ipswich, but we should say that Ipswich beat Chelsea the other day. A Chelsea team that had been flying recently and Ipswich looked really, really good. So I say, what are they? And which one was that one for you? Well, like a lot of football analysis, it's an oversimplification, but Ipswich

It does sometimes feel like there are two types of Arsenal game. There's one where Arsenal get themselves an early goal and the opponent's forced to come out and the game breaks open a bit and Arsenal are able to create chances and win often pretty comfortably. There's another where that early goal doesn't come, opponent digs in,

something to fight for the longer the game goes on and it turns into these very very grindy games attack versus defence that we've seen a few of you know maybe the home game against Everton being the prime example but

The funny thing about this Ipswich game, and I think it sort of shows that theory up a little bit, is that it was kind of neither of those things. Arsenal got the goal that in theory should have unlocked the game for them. But Ipswich didn't come out. Ipswich didn't come out. Yeah. So it was a very odd match. And I have to be honest and say...

you know I was there in a professional capacity but even it was not a thriller was it it was quite a dull game in some respects yeah yeah I think I think we can agree on that by the way the game yesterday the Brentford game wasn't that a third type of game where we I said it was an oversimplification Ian I think we'll leave it at that yeah okay fair enough um

Kai got a goal. Gabriel missed a great chance. I mean, I don't think anyone in the stadium could believe, including him, could believe. I should say also, we got an email after the Ipswich game from Kevin in Dubai, who said...

I mean, surely that...

really if we play two attackers in midfield we sacrifice a bit of control for a bit more attacking flair I mean there must be these conversations going on quite regularly yeah I mean that's the theory but still even in practice with Havertz and Jesus both playing against Ipswich the rhythm of the game became attack versus defence and I think the positive thing for Arsenal was for Havertz's goal but

both Jesus and Havertz were actually making runs into the six yard box so Trossard had two options to aim for Ips which had another body to deal with that they couldn't in the end so there's a way it worked and also I think Gabriel Jesus was quite unlucky that he he ran maybe half a second to

too early for the goal that he scored that was actually offside which again people will probably forget by now because it was offside but it was a very good finish as well such a tight angle very tight yeah so I think that's where you've already seen Arteta tinker with that a little bit as you say those conversations probably do need to be had

But also the one thing I would say as a caveat is Mikel Arteta is a guy who wants to control every single kind of second of a football match. Is that actually possible? It's not. I mean, is it actually? It's not, but I'm just saying that's what he wants. Yeah. So even when Arsenal, when James was at Selhurst Park and Arsenal scored five,

Mikel Arteta then was talking about how the Ipswich game was almost more gratifying for him because Ipswich didn't have a shot on target. It's such a weird situation because he talks about this balance, but how do you actually find it and make everyone happy? You can't really.

Well, I mean, also the paying public, by the way, because Palace was a lot more fun to watch than Ipswich was. If you want to get in touch, by the way, thank you, Kevin, for the email. You can send us an email at handbrake at theathletic.com. Handbrake at theathletic.com. The January transfer window is open. We talked about this. It slams shut, but I think they open it quite quietly, basically.

I mean, I'm sort of feeling, James, and I don't know what you think, I don't think anyone's coming in January. And I don't want to upset people with that. I just sort of feel from the look, the way that Mikkel's talking, and how often do we get good signings in January? I mean, I don't know. There's probably a whole list of excellent signings. But I can't remember that many. And it's where the people become available and they're in the right price range and everything.

And also, by the way, and I think you talked about this on the whistles, that if you buy someone to go in on the right to cover for Bukayo Saka, that means that Ethan Waneri's not playing yesterday. So he has to think about pathways as well. Do you think anyone's coming in?

I think up with you actually, Ian. I think Arsenal will try. I think they'll explore the opportunities that are out there. But I think they will prioritise their kind of longer-term squad planning over all else. And I think that's understandable to a certain extent. Look, a deal may present itself and I wouldn't say no. Don't get me wrong. I'd love another attacker in the squad. You all heard my New Year's resolution at the top of the show, but...

But certainly nothing appears imminent. And I'm a little dubious as to whether the right player at the right price is going to present itself in the next few weeks. And by the way, we'd really want one today, wouldn't we? Because we've got about eight games coming up in January. It's all very well getting some amazing striker in.

You know, we need cover now. Well, certainly in some people's opinion. Oh, I've just realised, Jesse, what I should probably do is read the whole document and then I would know what I was talking about. But anyway, in the document, Jesse, our producer, said we signed Trossard, Jorginho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January. Plus Martin Erdogan came on loan. And we've also signed Cedric Suarez-Gilbert.

Dennis Suarez, different spelling, and Austin Trusty in January as well. What do you think? Art, do you think anyone's coming in? Yeah, my expectations aren't that high, if I'm being honest. I think one thing I've got in my mind is Arsenal have behaved in two different ways in recent January, so...

They've had the January of 2022 when everybody wanted them to sign a striker. They were linked with Izak and Vladovic and they decided not to do anything. They wanted midfield cover then as well. They decided not to.

They waited till the summer to sign Gabriel Jesus. So that's them doing what James said in terms of thinking of the long-term planning and going for their target in the summer. Then you have the other side of it, which is the Jorginho and Trossard window where they had plan A's, couldn't get them and pivoted to plan B's. I think it'd probably be...

more likely to be a 2022-esque January but if worse comes to worse hopefully 2023 January is the one we end up seeing. They get a hand-wreck off and you can see that they are more free to play.

Ian Stone, James McNicholas and Art de Rocher on the Athletics Arsenal podcast handbrake off. Brighton away at the weekend. This is mainly, this is what's the tougher test to come. Also a very, very hard place to go. They drew 2-1 with Villa on Monday. Very dangerous. 10th in the table but they're a good team. Art, I mean we talked about Uri and Timber being out. They're a good team.

So you're thinking Thomas Partey up against Mitoma. A bit concerned about the pace? My instinct is to say yes. And then with that, I would say it depends how much support Thomas Partey gets at right back from whoever starts on the right wing. I guess that could mean it makes more sense for Martinelli to come in because we all know how,

how good he is at that job that defensive job and also with the kind of discussion about space I think Brighton's probably a team who will give you that space so Martinelli on the right it may be better for him to

get those crosses in without having to cut back onto his stronger foot like he does on the left so I think that could be maybe an interesting dynamic to look at ahead of the game but yeah that pace along with the overlaps from Estupanian

it's a bit scary yeah this is obviously the return fixture James after what was it the one all draw earlier in the season when Declan Rice got sent off for possibly the worst offence ever in football kicking the ball away at least 10 millimetres

We should have won that game. Even with 10 men, we had a great chance to win that game at the end. I mean, I think... I always watch Brighton. I always think they play quite an open game and they're good to play against. We found it difficult sometimes, but recently, not so much. No, I mean...

I feel better about this one now off the back of Brentford. I mean, this was always a tough week, I think. Away to Brentford, away to Brighton. They're two of the harder Premier League games you'll get. I think it will be a test. I think we certainly owe them one after that one all. You know, those were two precious points that we dropped that day. If we can get three on the south coast, then it's a pretty good return from the two Brighton games overall. And, you know, we're just in that position where we're behind Liverpool, we're chasing...

Mikel Arteta keeps saying, you know, I think he said the other day, if they win every game, which no one has ever done, then fair play. But if not, we'll be there. And I thought, well, yeah, but for us to be there, we basically need to win every game as well. Yeah. So it's tricky. Last season, last 18 games, we won 16, drew one and lost one.

Well, if we do that, if we can do that, we'll be in with a very good chance. Yeah, quite. We have got an unbelievable January. We all know that. It's a game every three and a half days. After Brighton, we play Newcastle in the Carabao, Manchester United in the FA Cup. Obviously, we can rest most of the team for them. They're absolute shit, aren't they? It's brilliant to watch. Long may that continue.

Do we think they'll get relegated? I don't think so, but their manager's talking about it. I think even he's thinking, oh my God, I didn't realise it was this bad. What do you reckon, James? Possible? It's not impossible. I mean, I think fortunately for them, there are three sort of quite clear relegation favourites within the league. I suppose what would be best really is that they survive relegation by a point and then are this bad again next season. I want to see them in the league. I want to see them losing close hand, you know? LAUGHTER

Well, hopefully FA Cup next weekend after next. This run, I mean, it's a game at a time, James, right? In the end and the rotation, I know that people saw the team and obviously there was a bug going around and possibly even some of the players on the pitch.

But we're going to have to rotate, aren't we? Because, you know, Newcastle, Manchester United, then Spurs at home, then Villa at home, Zagreb in the Champions League, Wolves away, Girona away. This is all in January before we play Manchester City at home at the start of February. I mean, it couldn't really be much tougher and we have to use the whole squad. We do. And like I said, I think there's going to be changes every single game. Could be three or four, you know, and I think there's been a bit of a sickness bug as well this week, which...

who knows that might continue to impact the squad. So Arteta's got to really show good, sensible, intelligent management in his, his use of the players. Um,

And I'm intrigued to see how he does that and how he achieves the right balance. And can he keep the emphasis equally on all the competitions? You know, I'm not so sure. I don't know. I honestly don't know where he might... Sacrifice is the wrong word, but where he might be prepared to go with weaker XI's. Will it be in those domestic cup games? You know, Newcastle looks a tough tie now. I mean, they've really found some form.

So, yeah, maybe that home game against United, I mean, you were sort of half joking here, but maybe that is the one where you can rest a few legs. I wasn't, really. I mean, I genuinely think they're so terrible. We just need some legs in midfield. If he's going to play Casemiro and Eriksen together, I could play in there. It wouldn't be too bad. We await the call-up.

Always ready. I can still get up and down. I know five-a-side with a load of old Jewish men on a Monday is not the same level of pressure, but, you know, my joke. You know what? I couldn't score. We were discussing the various...

terms, couldn't it a cow's arse with a banjo was the one that we particularly enjoy. I love the visuals. Anyway, let's have a song to finish. Art, anything you particularly liked in the past year that you want to give us? To be fair, so when Miles had his first start in the league, I went for a song that was from 2006.

So I'm going to do the same with Ethan Moniero, but from 2007. So I'll just go with Flashing Lights by Kanye West. Hopefully that's all right. Hopefully that's all right with you guys. I'm not judging. I'm not judging. Yeah, it's absolutely fine. Yeah. What about you, James? Yeah, I had a look at like the biggest hits of...

A lot of them were quite sort of melancholic and quite sad. The biggest track of 2024 was Stick Season, I think, by Noah Kahn. Is that his name? And I was like, this doesn't feel right. So I'm just going to pick a random song that I saw. We spoke about Jools Holland. Our American listeners will be absolutely baffled by what on earth Jools Holland's Hootenanny is.

Not only that. Not only American listeners. Also, anyone under 40. Yeah, you're right. Every New Year's Eve, right? Every New Year's Eve, the telly... It used to be, 50 years ago, by the way, if you wanted telly on New Year's Eve, it was something Scottish-based, right? It was a guy called Andy Stewart, another bloke called Kenneth McKellar, and a woman called Moira Anderson. And they used to give us a sort of Scottish vibe, because that's what the Scots do New Year's Eve very, very well. Yeah.

20 years ago Jools Holland who used to be in a band called Squeeze

got the Hootenanny, which is a New Year's Eve celebration, even though they film it in October or something. And that's the thing, isn't it? The Hootenanny. So anyway, continue with your amusing story. Well, anyway, it was quite an underwhelming evening, all told. It was. Even, you know, sat half cut on my sofa. But the highlight, I thought, were Jungle, who were on and were great. And I'm going to pick their track now.

back on 74 because that closed 2024 for me in a good way. They're really, really good. Saw them at Glastow earlier this year and they were fantastic. I've gone for something from about a thousand years ago. For Ethan, of course, who I just think there's so much more to come. So I found this old tune, Batman Turner Overdrive.

Anyone? Again, Art, the look of puzzlement on your face. What band is even called Batman, Turner, Overdrive? I think they were Canadian, maybe American. They did a song called You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. It's a rock classic. Oh, that's a classic, yeah. Ba-ba-ba-baby. You just ain't seen nothing.

You ain't seen nothing yet. And I think for Ethan, I don't believe we have because that kid could be a superstar. That's it for this happy edition, I think, of Hand Break Off. Happy New Year. We said at the start, May 2025, bring you...

World peace, health and happiness, and obviously silverware for the Arsenal. And I'm even saying in that order, by the way, because I'm a grown-up, okay? Thanks to Art de Rocher, thanks to James McNicholas, and thanks to Jesse, our producer, and we'll speak to you after Brighton. ♪