Haaland humbled as Myles makes waves
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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. Er...

If you didn't know on Sunday, yesterday the Arsenal humbled Manchester City, thumping Pep Guardiola's side 5-1 at the Emirates. To reflect on the game, look at the Newcastle on Wednesday and possibly talk about any new signings. I'm joined by Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke. Good morning. Hello, hello. Happy Wednesday.

Happy, yes, a happy world. I also should say, listener, that, you know, normally we're quite brief. We're good at brevity on this pod, but this one might go on a bit, all right, is all I'm saying, because there's a fair bit to talk about. Anyone got any appointments they need to be at in the next day or two? Are we all right?

Yeah, okay. Anyway, obviously the songs, but listen, we'll talk about it again, but the songs play quite a big part as well. We all know that the Emirates DJ played Kendrick Lamar's Humble right on full time. Very funny. One nil to the DJ, I would say. There were also some songs from the crowd that were quite excellent. Now, at this point, I will say that there should be some sort of parental advice. We are going to bleep.

when we mention it. But Erling Haaland came in for a fair bit of stick. Stay humble, you **** was one. Haaland's a ****.

Olé Olé was another sung, by the way, by 60,000 people or 57,000 people to the world live on Sky Sports. I haven't seen the highlights, so I don't know how much it came out. Adrian, you said you were listening through headphones. You didn't quite pick up exactly. No, I didn't. Do you know what? I'm so concentrated on the game sometimes. I don't really hear everything and I certainly don't hear all the songs, but

yeah, I'm loving the sound of this. This is great.

I know. And there's really very, very little. I mean, normally if a player comes out with an expletive and then they'll say, we're sorry if you heard anything, but it was 60,000 people. There's very little. Somebody runs around from the TV company and just takes all the pitch side microphones away, starts shushing people. Any other songs that have hit hard in the past? Amy, well, I mean, there's been plenty over the years. Anything that has really sort of jumped at you in that way? I think, you know...

It was the fact that he had it coming that made those chants so sort of hilarious, really, on behalf of Arsenal supporters. But I suppose something similar was when Arsenal won the league at White Hart Lane in 2004. Just the way that the fans started singing 61, never again, and then it sort of sagged naturally into 71, 2004. Yeah.

was magical. Beautiful. At White Hart Lane. Well, an alien arriving there suddenly wouldn't have really understood the relevance of all those numbers. But if you had an inkling about your North London history, all of that was very overt and pointed and funny. So, you know, when you're jumping around having the best time, living your best life with your best team, and you know that people who would love to torment you

have just got to take it. And let's be honest, that's the position that Arsenal were in against Manchester City for a lot of the last decade. You've been tortured and you've had to take it. So to be able to kind of give a little back, I think, felt quite cathartic. Well, it did feel cathartic. It seemed to, for the players, it seemed to be quite a strong impulse in them to be able to kind of feel liberated from this sense of like,

We've had a lot of punishment from this team. We've not been able to lay a glove on them. Well, now the gloves are off.

Amy, how hard is it for you to sort of, when you're in the press box, not to join in? You can't control yourself. You should have seen her, Stoney. You should have seen Amy. She said that she embarrassed herself a couple of times in the press box. You just couldn't sit still, could you, Amy? You obviously, you couldn't, just couldn't stay in your seat. So you sort of stood in front of me for five minutes. Sorry about that. Actually, at halftime, he sent me a

he showed me a photograph of me having a chat with James McNicholas who was just on the other side of that aisle next to me and I was really blocking your sight of goals so apologies noted I will duck next time you politely stood behind me for most of the second half we had a few hugs it was fantastic around the goals but it must be hard for you not to start singing inside the press box yeah I think as I've got older I've become a much more

whatever about my behaviour. I think when I was younger, I felt I had to be more respectful of the etiquette of the press box, keep myself in check. But the other thing that's very different is that the way that we write nowadays in terms of our deadlines on The Athletic is, you know, if you're writing the match piece, it doesn't actually need to go in until sort of a couple of hours after the game. So that gives you

a good opportunity to watch the game properly, to digest it, to listen to the press conference. Oh, cheers. Yeah, not quite got time for that. But, you know, for 90% of my working life, if I've been covering a game, you are on a deadline, which means you're actually sending 850 words on the final whistle. So you're writing all the way through the game and you just can't,

be those two things at the same time, like working with that intensity and reacting emotionally as a fan. But because I've got this extra time on my hands, it kind of enables me to sit in the press box and feel like a fan, which is probably a really bad combination for the people around me. So yeah,

I'm quite, I will probably get kicked out at some point or someone will make a complaint and I'll have to accept that. Okay. Just one, one day, Adrian, when we see Amy dragged out the press box by a couple, a couple of angry stewards, isn't that Amy? We'll see you tomorrow in the pod. Bring it on. I won't let go of you, Amy. Adrian, in terms of songs, right? I mean, I also, by the way, 49, 49, Lewis Skelly, um,

I mean, my God. And as a player, right? Did you ever hear songs like that? And you think, that is a good one. That is really, that's class. It's so worse. To the point where I don't think he's going to change his number on his shirt. He might say to him, do you want another 10? He'll go, no, no, no. I'll keep this. He should. I mean, it's an absolute beaut, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, yes. The players love it. They love it when a song gets made up about them. And if it's a banger, yeah.

then it's an absolute bonus, isn't it? But yeah, the lads will be singing it in the dressing room on the coach trips home and stuff like that. So keep these brilliant songs coming because it does mean a lot to the players and it attaches them to this great club.

So, yeah, keep those songs coming. And one more thing on the songs, because I must say, when we beat Tottenham a few years ago at the Emirates and Harry Redknapp was in charge and 60,000 people singing, pays tax when he wants, pays tax when he wants. And Redknapp is basically sinking further and further into his managerial chair with all this abuse pouring down on him.

There's something about that. I just thought that might never be top, but yesterday was, I think, might even be better. And we are going to sing it at Erling Haaland. I was going to say two, but I think it's more at Erling Haaland.

for the next nine and a half years, because you've signed for a long time. And obviously, we're not going to play you in the league because you're going to get demoted. But when you come in the cup, you know, when you're a League Two team and you can bring 9,000, if you've got 9,000, then we're looking forward to giving you some more stick, mate. Arsenal 5, Manchester City. Honestly, Amy, you're looking... I'm serious. This was... No, no, I'm just thinking your next gig in Manchester is going to sell out super quick, Stoney. Yeah.

Mr. Popular. How? How?

how to endear yourself yeah yeah coming coming to the touring 2026 i will be arsenal five manchester city one or team that desperately needs a strike of five team with the most predatory striker on earth one uh just by the way i know we will get on to the whole transfer thing at some point but just to point out what actually happened at the emirates yesterday um

Why don't we start then? Clarkie, I mean, it's been this season, it does feel like it's gone on. January felt like it'd gone on forever, but what a week for this group. Walls and all the stuff that happened with Lewis Skelly on last Saturday and all that nonsense. And then, by the way, we get charged by the PGMOL for complaining about a decision that everyone said was ridiculous.

Anyway, and then Gunter Girona and the squad get a good run out and we get a very, very good win. And then this yesterday. I mean, as a whole, this is the spring ball to the second half of the season, isn't it?

Definitely. And I talked about it in my sort of rap yesterday, you know, after such an arduous month, such a tough, physically draining month, mentally draining, you know, things didn't all go our way earlier on in the month to sort of end that spell of games. We obviously we've got one more against Newcastle, but to bring it towards an end with that performance and that week,

He's so uplifting and it will energise the group, won't it? I'm sure of it. Between now and the end of the season, post-Newcastle, we get that break and we can come back and hopefully deliver what we delivered at the back end of last season. So, yeah, no, they've earned it. They've earned it through hard work, you know, through sort of biting down on their gum shields when things got tough.

And yeah, they absolutely deserve the glory and the joy of the game against Manchester City. So really happy for them. And what it will do is also give them belief now, like real belief that actually,

We can beat anyone and we can beat anyone well. So like the next time we play a real biggie, whether it's in the Champions League or in the Premier League, I think there will be extra confidence. There has to be. Because if you can beat, I know City aren't great at the moment, but if you can beat them 5-1 in the style that we did and probably miss out on three games,

extra goals. It could have been eight. You can go to Anford and win. That's what we need. We need the belief that we can go to Anford and win. And maybe just performance like that will give us that. I completely agree with you, Adrian, on the sort of psychological edge that comes from not just the result, but the way that it was delivered. But I'm really intrigued by...

How you reconcile the way Arsenal approached the first half with the second half, because if you only watch the first half and you were, say, scouting and that was all you saw of Arsenal, you'd probably think, you know, they're a bit cautious, that they were inhibited. They didn't quite look like they believed in having a go.

And the contrast with the second half performance, which was full of freedom, expression, conviction, aggression, desire, every positive emotion you could want to put into a football match. I'd be really fascinated about how when they have a really massive, particularly away game, you mentioned Anfield, there might be one in the Champions League, whatever,

How do you marry the fact that, you know, at times you do have to be cautious and sensible, but really this team's at its best now.

when they go for it, when they play with a bit of emotion. Yeah. It's about getting the balance right. And I think the game plan was, was to draw city onto us and well, to press really high when we had a chance, but in the main, and obviously that's how we got in front, but in the main, I think the game plan was to let them have it. We win it deep and we spring those fast breaks. And obviously we saw that in the second half and,

But what happened in the first half, you're right, it was just a little bit too tentative, too timid. And we gave up the initiative. We gave control to Manchester City. And that was problematic because it invited pressure. If they played the same way in the second half, this result doesn't happen. You know, it happened because Arsenal were a bit braver. Yeah, but you can't kind of go at it full pelt for 90. So sometimes you do have to have breaks in games. But I just think the balance of...

of our game plan was better in the second half. We still allowed them to come on to us. But when we won it, we were supercharged in the way that we went to hurt them. And that probably wasn't there in the first half. We have talked, by the way, in the past about how this team...

when it's at its best, is a mix of a George Graham team and an Arsene Wenger team. So we do know how to defend, but we also know how to attack with skill and verve and pace and all the rest of it. And this seemed to be the two sides of it because I actually thought we were doing all right at 1-0. We did give up a couple of chances.

By the way, Amy, somebody asked the question, does this rate as a f*** off win or a f*** you win? And it does it really because are Manchester City even a big rival at this point? To be honest. I mean, what do you think about that, by the way? Because I...

I would always say a fuck-off win is more of an away win, to be honest. I mean, that's always been, in my mind, the criteria, but I can totally get why. I don't know, maybe we need another, you know, a subsection of the fuck-off win for sort of similarly emphatic...

rousing performances at home. Yeah, but we don't get many rousing, emphatic performances at home against big rivals, do we? I mean, Chelsea last year... It really was a monstrous result. And there was a moment that I sat in the game and you're watching, you know, this kind of wave of joyousness and positivity and...

It was such a charge in the way that Arsenal were playing and the way that the players and supporters were living that moment together. My mind just went back to that game just before Arteta joined against Man City. It was bitterly cold there.

I think it might have been New Year's Day or... About 30,000 in the stadium. Or December or something. It was so cold, wasn't it? Honestly, it was one of those where they announced the crowd of being 60,000 and it was just so embarrassing because there was... I think the weather was awful and there was a lot of difficulty. There was a lot of games called off at that time. There was blizzards everywhere. And they were 3-0 up at half-time. They were 3-0 up at half-time and they may as well have been 100 up. I mean, the gap between the two teams was just unfathomable. Yeah. And...

And actually, the second half, they just eased off and it was almost out of pity and that felt even worse. And I just thought to swing that extremely from being absolutely pummeled by Manchester City as a matter of routine to then being able to really pummel them in return, it's quite remarkable. And I think for that reason...

it really did feel like a f*** off kind of a win. Albeit I have to have a, you know, suggestions welcome for a kind of alternative term for the home run. Somebody also did message me, which I really liked and said, was Mars Lewis Skelly's goal a f*** off goal? And I thought, yeah, that counts. That's good. Rice. And win!

Let's talk about him then. I mean, really, it's his... Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Waneary. I mean, what moments. But the Myles Lewis-Skelly moment, because, Adrian, because it felt like the match winner, really. 2-1 goal obviously got us back on the path and we were definitely on top from then on. But when Myles got that third, and then, of course, the celebration afterwards...

Well, Erling, you know he is now, don't you, mate? You definitely know he is now because you were asking the question and obviously you needed an answer. We're like, we'll come back to you, mate. Well, there he is. That's our fullback there turning inside on his wrong foot and burying one in the corner. I mean, Adrian, we talked so much about Ethan Wanaire on this podcast, but Myles Lewis-Skelly...

I mean, he's equally as good. It's absolutely incredible what he's doing at fullback. You know, no one, no one would have been concerned, will ever be concerned with Myles Lewis-Skelly being picked in that team ahead of a £42 million signing, by the way. Yeah, yeah. Iconic celebration, first of all. That goes down in Arsenal folklore. Just to have the presence in mind to stay calm and to do that, I just...

tells you everything you need to know about him. I mean, footballers always have long memories. And for him in that moment to revert straight to that and to go with that celebration, I thought was genius. Yeah, I just love the guy. I love the way he plays. Love his composure. Love his bravery. And by bravery, I'm talking about, you know, willing to take chances and back himself and go and dribble with the ball. So strong. I mean, Haaland bounced off him twice.

I mean, you only really seen him bounce off Saliba before, but in this game, he couldn't knock over Myles. No, it was a moment, I think, for him, for the club, for the supporters, but also for the academy. It was a great, great moment for the academy because it was, in effect, the winning goal. And it was...

I mean, it's a great little pass from Declan Rice, but it was the sheer will of the shot. The way he ducks inside, but he wanted it more than the keeper. And for me, it's almost like symbolic, the nature of the shot. It had so much power and spite on it.

so much determination on the strike that it was too much for the wrist of Ortega to keep out. It was a goal that said, you can't stop us. You can't stop me. And I loved it. Loved it so much. Also, Amy, I mean...

you know, he scored that goal. He also dribbled past Erling Haaland in the second half when he got the ball and you thought, just give it back to David Rowe. He's going, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to take it through. And he went past a couple of players, got fouled and went down. I mean, I don't see, I haven't seen that many 18 year olds with that sort of confidence. Obviously there's another one in the team who's a bit younger who we'll talk about in a minute. But,

But Miles Lewis-Skelly, and of course you wrote, we talked about the piece you wrote when you spoke to his mother and about the pathway through the academy. As Adrian said, the other academy kids who are sitting on the bench and are watching the game in the stands, they're going to see that and they're going to think, yeah, I want a bit of that as well. I also think it's interesting that it was really not very long ago that there was a lot of criticism about a supposed lack of pathway and lack of use of young players in the team.

And I don't think that it's been deliberate on the part of Mikel Arteta to not play academy kids or to progress these guys. It's just the way that the football cookie crumbles, essentially, that at a time of a bit of need, he's seen enough quality personally and technically from these boys to trust them. And not only that, he keeps saying that

that the players trust them. Yeah, yeah. He mentions that quite often. And that, I think, must be striking to him as a manager to see how, since they've come into the first team environment, and I think the same is going for Max Dowman a little bit further down the age ladder, is that you notice that when they're around the other players, that they are demanding of the ball. They are looking after the ball well.

They are competing on an equal footing in every way with all the top professionals at the club. And that's why they're playing and that's why they're trusted. And what's been amazing is that since these two boys have come into the team, they've pretty much been flawless, which is extraordinary really, because part of learning is that, you know, occasionally you try something, it might not work and you learn from it. But they seem to be learning in this incredibly positive way where they're

They're trying things and it's working and it's just reinforcing how much quality that they have and how much belief they have in their own ability. And what a lovely thing. We've been blessed to see it before with Saka and Smith Rowe kind of coming through as a pair. I think when you come in with your mate, when you've got someone else who you can look in their eyes and you know they know exactly how you feel, that's a real help. That can be really special because you're sharing an experience that,

most people in the world can't grasp. To be that age, to be in that kind of spotlight and under that kind of scrutiny and facing those challenges and look at someone else who's your mate and they know how you feel is amazing. You can't say the Oslo! You can't say the Oslo! You can't say the Oslo!

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What a hit! What a star! What a game! What a scoreline! Arsenal have ripped up the champions!

Amy, Ethan Waneri, I mean, my God, he comes on, basically he comes on, he makes things happen. Every time he gets the ball on the far side from where we were sitting, he skips, he puts it through the legs of the defender and he skips away and he starts an attack. He does another one where he beats a couple of players and he crosses and the ball's headed out for a corner.

And then he scores an absolutely outstanding goal from, by the way, a move that had 36 uninterrupted passes, lasted one minute and 54 seconds and ended up with the ball in the bottom corner. Yes, Amy. Did you see, there's a video I saw of just before he gets the ball, the way he's calling for it. He's got both his arms up. He's in bags of space. That's exactly what I mean. He's confident enough. Give me the ball to demand it. And the players are confident enough in him.

to make sure he gets it. They belong. They belong. Adrian, neither of these two are ever going to... They're not going to hide, are they? They're not. I mean, they're not. And you think so many times when you've seen Arsenal in the past...

And we have had players who you think, I'm not sure you really want the ball. These two boys are 17 and 18 and they want it all the time. The acceptance is a really big thing. And so I'm glad Amy brought that up. The acceptance by your teammates that you're good enough to be them. It makes such a difference to your confidence. Yeah.

The only thing that's on the horizon really is how you react to a setback. And Lewis Skelly has had a setback with that red card. It wasn't his fault. What a response to it. Ethan probably hasn't had one yet. He hasn't been punched in the face. But when it happens, I'm very confident that he'll bounce back and be just as brilliant the next time. Now, they're incredibly special talents. They're going to...

be very close, if not certainties for the World Cup squad. I think they're going to be seen by the country as a whole very shortly as very special talents. At the moment, they're ours. And they'll always be ours. But maybe the rest of the country don't realise how good these two are. And I think we're not far away from everybody else knowing. Yeah, that goal was great. And the hands in the air. He had his hands in the air. Yeah.

20, 30 seconds. Like he was really trying to catch the eye of Declan Rice. It was an amazing pass from Declan. I like the sound of it, by the way. The sound of it, because that was reasonably close to where we were and there was a doof that came off that boy. It really was. And yeah, look, the quality of the finish, you know, it's Saka-esque. It's what he does now. Waneri-esque, mate, is what it is. I mean, he has been doing that. I watched James...

Manicolas did is on the whistle and he talked about how he has been doing that through the academy for years that finish. This is not the first time. I mean, he knows exactly what he wants to do. Two in a week though in the Champions League and then against Manchester City. Go on Amy, sorry, you wanted to say something then as well. After Miles scored his goal and did the celebration, there was a really little interesting moment when Declan Rice went over to him and

Just reminded him to keep his head and just had a word with him, you know, concentrate, get back focused again. And those little touches are also indicative of what's going on in that dressing room. You know, the more experienced players who've been around the block and

want to help these boys and they want to help them because they believe in them. I mean, yes, Amy, you talk about debt and rice. You also mentioned to me, we had a little chat last night, which Amy was slightly upset that I curtailed it, but I only curtailed it to watch Match of the Day, all right? Which I think was a perfectly decent excuse.

But you also mentioned to me about Raheem Sterling and how he is doing a certain sort of looking after the two boys in the dressing room as well because he's been through it. And so he knows what it's about and he's talking to them and doing that father figure thing or sort of uncle, whatever you want to call it. But those things are so important. Yeah. And I mean, again, this is not to say...

It's a resounding success of a transfer because of his role within the dressing room. You know, we all want a great dressing room player and a great on the pitch player, obviously. And it's not quite worked out yet, but it is...

critical I think that he's come in and he has really taken on this role I like the uncle idea that you put in I think that really works you know he's a London boy like like Ethan and Miles you know he knows everything that they are probably likely to face in the coming years of their career and I think being a kind of encouraging worldly friendly guide

is part of what's going on and helping them. So everybody who's on side on that journey with them, I think they will be really grateful for. Let's talk briefly about a few of the other performances. Kai Havertz, well, that was a Kai Havertz performance, wasn't it, Adrian? Yeah.

This is a sitter and then buries that goal like a proper striker. I mean, I think that moment could be very important as well because he was definitely lacking a bit of confidence. Even with the goal that he set up for Odegaard, you thought, go on, why don't you shoot? But he went, no, no, no, I'm laying it off. And even with the chance he had, you never really fancied him. But in that second half when we're running right and Martinelli gives it to him, I thought, I think he's going to score this.

Well, look at the run he made, you know, he's run from inside his own half. He's run around, around the teammate. It was superb. Great goal. And he, it was a goal he needed. Definitely. Yeah. The miss in the first half, thank goodness it wasn't costly. Cause that would be the narrative today, wouldn't it? Yeah, of course. It absolutely would. And you know, he's, he has, he has a go at that a hundred times. He'd probably score 98. You know, it's, it's one of those, it's,

It's hard to explain how he missed it. The pass he gave to Erdogan, I have to say, was an absolute shocker. A really bobbly pass to Martin Erdogan. It was a difficult one for him to control, but thank goodness he did. But overall, it was trademarked, Kai, because the work rate was immense. No one made more pressures than him. He went and closed down amazingly well. He looked after the ball superbly. I don't know if you noticed this, but stats-wise...

I think he completed 26 of 28 passes, which for a striker, when you're up against big, big hulks of centre-halves, it's really hard to do. So he looked after the ball for the team. Yeah, I just really, really enjoyed that last goal, or the goal that he scored, the fourth goal rather. It was perfect. And let's hope he can kick on. His numbers are pretty good, you know, goals and assists. He's having a decent campaign, even though we all know it probably could have been better.

Anything to add to that, Amy, by the way, in terms of Kai? I mean, we can talk about everyone on the pitch, by the way, but I mean, I was just pleased for him. We know how hard Kai works and it's hard not to like him, but he is a little bit maddening sometimes when he misses the sort of chances he can miss. I think that after a day like that, you know, it's lovely to look back on things and not have any worries about things that didn't go in because they weren't remotely costly in the end.

I just feel that he carries such a burden. And, you know, we're sitting here talking just after half ten in the morning on transfer deadline day. And despite the obvious need for reinforcements up front, you know, to essentially go three months of the season, it will be more or less in the end without either Saka or Jesus, without two of the forwards that you'd be wanting to rely on during a season.

you know, it's a big risk to just go with what you have because he is really the, you know, the very obvious candidate to be playing up front and doing that dog work, leading the line and fighting against big defenders. But expecting him to do it every game and score goals and be nearly perfect is,

It is a niggling worry, let's be honest. Yeah, it is. It is. You know, you look at basically the front players who played yesterday and they all played their part. You know, the three starters, Havertz with Trossard and Martinelli, Ethan coming on. Brilliant, all of them. And then Sterling coming on very, very late for a tiny amount. That's it until Bukayo gets back.

For the moment, yeah. We are recording this in the morning, by the way. I mean, there are 12 hours to go. Maybe there are deals. We'll talk about that in a minute. Go on, Adrian, you want to say one thing? Just on that, because while we're still on that chance, I mean, let's talk about the press. You know, the Declan Rice part in creating that chance was just magnificent. And how...

how important it was that we beat off Manchester City to get the signature of Declan Rice. Because you look at their team, and their team can't run in central midfield. They just can't. If you can't run, you're not going to win trophies. You're not going to win stuff unless you can run. And obviously there's a lot more to Declan than running. But the difference between him and Kovacic and Bernardo in this game was fairly gargantuan, what he can offer. Yeah.

With and without the ball. And yeah, thank goodness we got him. I love that press. And I love the way for the first goal as well. And that moment with Kai. I'm going to talk about it in the Arsenal Analyze piece that I'm writing. We basically, City wanted to leave five up. So we had five back. So it was a five on five. But for both of those situations...

We cornered them and made it an overload, basically a four on three. And it's just intelligent. And it's really, really smart football. The way that we set up Manchester City, we lured them into the trap and then bang, Rice wins it. The first goal, Trossard wins it. I think the players deserve a lot of credit for following the instructions so brilliantly. Yeah, absolutely. I agree.

I personally love seeing fast breaks and I love seeing goals from turnovers through a press because it's all about energy and desire and real drive, both aspects of the game. And we were treated to that, weren't we, in this match? I think Arsenal were outstanding in both those departments. You know what? We need to work on our set pieces though. I mean, nothing from set pieces.

I think, I mean, I really think, you know, how many could we have had if Jovier was just doing his job? David Raya, by the way, two, one, just worldly, one outstanding save, both in the first half. And then the second half, he's basically playing as an extra centre half and just pinging the ball about.

Amy, I mentioned this to you yesterday. It is funny, isn't it? Uri and Timber was asked, who has the best left foot of the club? He said, Bukayo Saka. And then they said, who's got the best right foot? He said, David Rea. It's what he said. I mean, football's changed, isn't it? Yeah. Quacky. We were first watching. You could pass the ball back to a goalie and they could pick it up.

Pick it up. Jimmy Rimmer. Jimmy Rimmer never played with either feet, as far as I can tell. I don't think he kicked it, except out of his hand, to wallop it as far up the field as he possibly could. Look him up, if you don't know who I'm talking about. Two great saves, Amy. Again, David Rea. I mean, he's so important. There was a point in the second half where we were attacking. The ball broke down. It broke down. And it was passed back quite firmly from Thomas Partey.

And if he would have been back on the edge of his penalty area, it would have been a bit tight. Kevin De Bruyne was trying to close him down. But David Rea was 20 yards further up and he cleared it easily. He's so important to the way the team plays, isn't he? Yeah, I think it's just a reminder of, you know, as supporters or as media or observers outside the club, you know, we all...

have big opinions on things, and remember how mystifying it was when the manager chose to bring in David Raya and Ramsdale was there and was very popular and nobody saw it coming. And I think now it's fairly obvious why that ruthless-seeming decision at the time was made. And that's no disrespect on Aaron Ramsdale, who we all love.

But Raya is a different beast. He's a different goalkeeper. He plays the game in a different way and his ability to be a ball player

is a massive part of how Arsenal play football. Adrian, you're just nodding away there, isn't it? Yeah, it's been a brilliant signing. He's good in those clutch moments, isn't he? He will come up and help the team. He'll bail us out. Yeah, I thought both saves were fantastic. Big, big fan of his work. And he's sort of still an understated presence, isn't he, within the squad. He's not what you'd call a sort of out there character, but he just gets on with it. And he gets on with the business of

of you know saving our bacon when we need him to when we need him to on those odd moments that's what you keep us there to do but I also like his courage he's got great courage with the ball at his feet clearly very well coached and he's worked hard on his passing because he's got full belief that he can make the right pass at the right time it's great

Best right foot in the club. So, all right. I mean, look, we could spend another hour talking about the joyous thing we've witnessed yesterday. How is Bernardo Silva not booked, by the way? Horrible player. I think, do you know what? Fair enough. I think we can all agree there. Awful. I thought Thomas Partey deserves a mention as well. I think Rice was fantastic.

off the scale good but Partey wasn't far behind him great pass from Martinelli for the fourth goal fantastic great pass it's the way he dunks past De Bruyne as well makes De Bruyne look like an old man and then he releases the pass and then

You know, the way he intercepts it, sort of hiding behind the ref to intercept the Foden pass. And then we get a bit of luck. And I mean, it's one of the only real slices of good fortune I can kind of remember this season. And look what it triggered. So, you know, hopefully that goal, I mean, that goal was the turning point in this game. It could be that little bit of fortune. It could be that that goal is the turning point of our season. Yeah.

So, you know, let's wait and see. The other bit of luck I can remember was the corner that wasn't a corner against Tottenham. So that was fortunate. Of course. Of Porro. I still think Arsenal are due more in the luck scale to level things out. Massive. Massive deficit so far. We don't need to be worried about it.

Yeah. Well, compared to Liverpool, who, by the way, have been lucky all season, all season. I don't know how they won at Bournemouth. I don't know how they won against Southampton. There's been a number of results. So maybe the scales have tipped the other way now. We are six points behind them. They still have a game in hand. They've got Everton next in the Premier League, by the way. David Moyes, they've won three in a row.

So they've got more goals in the last 13 days than they did in five months or something under Sean Dyche. So that is a test for Liverpool and we can but hope. Meanwhile, we'll be sunning ourselves somewhere on a beach in Dubai or wherever they choose to go. After the break, we'll talk about Newcastle coming up in the Carabao Cup. This is Handbrake Off, the Arsenal podcast brought to you by The Athletic.

They get a handbrake off and you can see that they are more free to play. Ian Stone, Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke here on the Athletics Arsenal podcast handbrake off. Newcastle United up next in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night. We trailed 2-0. I have to say, before...

the last week, I thought this is over. There's just, I can't see how we can beat them. But Newcastle, Adrian, have lost their last two games at home. We've just come off an outstanding week. If we score the first goal there, remember they haven't reached a major final since about 1848 or something, right? If we score the first goal, er,

I think that crowd will s*** itself. It's what I genuinely do. And I think we've got a massive, massive chance. And also, by the way, the players know they can leave it all on the pitch. All of it. Because they're getting a break straight after. Yeah, it doesn't really matter whether the crowd s*** themselves. It's whether the players do. And they might. Because...

They've just been spanked 4-1 by Bournemouth, 2-1 by Fulham. So there's going to be a slight bit of apprehension there, especially if we do score that first goal. So, yeah, no, their belief has sunk since the first leg. There's no doubt about that. And our belief has soared. You know, I think we can back ourselves to score at least two at St. James'. The issue is the type of game it will be. And Eddie Howe, I have to say, Eddie Howe has...

He's probably one of the very few managers that I'd say is probably winning against Arteta. He's out-coached him a few times, hasn't he? Yeah, just in their head-to-heads, he's got the better of him. And he's made the matches the kind of matches that they want rather than the kind of matches that we want, particularly at St. James'. They'll make it horrible. They'll try and kill the game. It'll be stop-start, etc. You know, it's going to be like that.

How do we go about it? I think we have to, to do it to a degree, try and,

play a bit like we did against City at times. So obviously get in their faces and press the living daylights out of them because that's what Bournemouth did and that's how they won that game. But also we probably were, we're probably better off really letting them have a bit of the ball so that we can do what we did to City to them. Because if the pattern of this game becomes attack, free defence, they've ridden it out two or three times against us.

where we've had all the ball and we couldn't break them down. So what we've got to do is learn from the past issues we've had, I think, and make it a really different type of game. It's easy for me to say that and harder to execute, but I think that's the best way. Amy, it's a free hit, isn't it? Really? You know, we don't get many of them, but I think most people thought this game was over, but now they've got a chance. But, you know,

Also, the players will be thinking, you know what, we're going for bigger trophies as well. So let's just have a go, see what we can do and see what happens. Totally agree. I think free hit is a nice way to approach it. If it goes well, happy days. If not, you know, no one was really expecting after the first leg that Arsenal were going to realistically come back and turn this around again.

And the fact that the league form has taken a positive turn, the fact that everyone's on a high and the fact that they're almost mythical, these sunshine breaks to Dubai, but they haven't half had a positive impact. You know, what are they feeling over there? I don't know, but they always come back in good shape. It's stakes. It's stakes with salt dribbled down them off the elbow of some weird bloke. Well, whatever. If it works, whatever.

let's see the results. So yeah, I think in a way there's not that much pressure, which is great. It probably would have been a lot more pressurising to go up there even if the score was 0-0 or if we were 1-0 up. I think everyone would be, you know, there's expectancy. Whereas this way, it's quite nice to go and play in a relaxed way. Maybe that's a bit naive to take that view when you've got a cup final prospect at the end of it and a cup final would be very useful indeed. But yeah,

I think under the circumstances, it's good to just go and give it their best shot and see what happens. Either way, it's like last day at school before the school holidays, right? Go and have some fun. Leave it out there because like you say, they're going to put their feet up. They can just go for it. Aggression is the key again and that powerful running.

Yeah, for me, Declan is going to be huge again in the game. Well, we know the team, don't we? I mean, there's not many. I mean, there's going to be one or two changes. Ethan starts, do you think? Perhaps. I mean, I actually don't know, Adrian. Listen, whatever he does, he's only got so many cards he can play. Yeah, there's not many options. I think, obviously, at left-back, you've got a toss-up. You've got, yeah, Wan-Eri, a huge temptation there.

to start him. But who do you leave out? Because Trossard was brilliant in the game. Marcelli was so impactful. Also, we're going to have to find room for a couple of the strikers, the new strikers that come in in the next 12 hours. Where's Nico Williams going to play? Yeah, and all these other ones. Yeah. I mean, before I came on to this pod, I saw Nico Williams trending and then I was looking at it and, you know, I get sucked in.

We all get sucked in on the next 12 hours. Of course they will. Don't get too excited, people. No, I know. I understand you saying that and why would we? We are apparently going for Matthias Tell, this young forward. We're in competition with Manchester United at

But Amy, you're shaking your head. Have either of you heard anything, by the way? Oh, I haven't. I'm just saying, have you, Amy? I just think if we're going to have a discussion about possible transfer window activity in the last day, maybe this is the moment for producer Jay to just play some tumbleweed sounds.

Can you get the sounds of tumbleweeds? Isn't that nothing? That's like the sound of just wind whistling. Adrian, you're looking at your phone. No, I'm not. I thought you might have heard something. I was getting distracted. The tumbleweed. Yeah, you just need a bit of wind, don't you? That's all you need. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just a little. Yeah, but the point is, and you've said it many times, both of you,

We need a striker, don't we? I mean, it's all very well beat in Manchester City 5-1 when everything goes right. We can't.

surely go through the rest of the season with four strikers, one of whom is 17, by the way, as good as he is. Adrian? No, we can't. I mean, I've bored myself. But we probably will. I've bored myself saying it for months. Just think about last year with the Champions League at Bayern Munich. The one glaring thing that we had across that tie was the lack of a punch against the real top opponents. Have we got enough punch and clinical efficiency to

up top? And the answer then was no. And probably the answer now at the business end of the Champions League might still be no. So we've got to, and we just talked about not overburdening Kai Havertz. Well, he's going to be overburdened, isn't he? Unless we do bring in someone that can, you know, rotate with him. Because

You don't want to blunt a striker. A striker is all about edge and energy and explosiveness. And if you overplay them, first, they'll get injured. But secondly, they'll lose that edge, that little 2% that makes the difference between scoring and missing. So, yeah, I think it's absolutely imperative. But...

You know, I haven't spoken to Amy yesterday. She's not confident. It's rubbed off on me. Now I'm not confident. It's, you know, it's like I don't know how to feel because I want to be super happy because we just smashed City 5-1. But then that puts me in a bad mood again. Come on, Amy. How should Adrian feel? I mean, for goodness sake. Adrian, please don't take feelings advice from me.

No, you're all about the feelings, Amy. I follow you for the feelings. I live with my feelings. Trust me. I've got a wristband that says, what would Amy feel, right? WWAF. I wear that all the time. Oh, I did have a few. Talking of off-winds, a couple of people sent messages saying, is this an F-O-W? And I was like, well, I want that on a T-shirt. That's great. I think it could work out. Yeah.

Yeah, I think we can work out. But sorry, I have been, like most of everybody, wrestling over these last few weeks with this concept of the dilemma really is do you blow a bit of your budget on someone that you don't really want or do you save that budget for the guy who

who you think you can get in the summer. And it's a real horrible choice. And I've been kind of wriggling this way and that with it, trying to understand, trying to empathize with this complication. And on the one hand, I find myself thinking, don't tell me

that with all our experts in the recruitment team, there is not one human on the planet who is gettable, who can help if Arsenal need another forward player over the next few months. I guess I have to trust their judgment. And if they feel, because they're not stupid, they're not doing it, they're not not getting someone because they don't think Arsenal need someone. But what they don't want to do is...

dent the budget significantly on someone that they don't feel is necessarily going to help for whatever reason, and then find they haven't got the leverage to get the main man that they've got their eye on in the summer, which is future-proofing that position with the number one target for the next few years.

So it's a horrible decision to have to make. And I don't think I'd be capable of making it, to be honest. But, you know, they're paid the big bucks to make that judgment call. And I guess we have to go with it. What would you do, Adrian? You would buy someone. But there's also a thing, and I was talking to Amy last night in that little chat we had after the game, when I was saying about the mood at the club yesterday.

It seems to be, we are Vibes FC, we understand that, and we know how emotional and moody we can get. In this particular case, the mood is really, really good. Does bringing someone in, a stopgap guy, is there a possibility that we might upset that mood a little bit? No, I don't think we bring in a stopgap guy. I think we bring in, we'll only bring in someone really, really good. I don't think, you know, and if we can't get somebody really, really good, then...

We'll accept it and we'll move on. For me, it's all about now, but it's not my money. I see an opportunity to win the Champions League now. Yeah. And I see an opportunity to apply pressure to Liverpool and maybe catch them now this season. They might be looking at it and thinking Salah's off in the summer. Liverpool won't be as good. City have gone.

we're going to win it next year and let's make sure we get target A in the summer. But what I would say about that is how guaranteed is target A? How guaranteed is it that we win something next year? We've been saying this. I mean, I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying very, very much what the team are doing, but this is the chance. Seize the moment, right? I said to Amy yesterday that I would be staggered

Although I've said all along this month, I'll be staggered if we don't bring in someone a bit special this month. And here I am on the last day and, you know, prepared to be staggered. I do find it remarkable that we haven't been able to do something to this point. But, you know, let's see. All right, then. Let's see. There's still, by the way, I'll just say we're recording this. There are 12 hours or 11 hours, 59 minutes left.

Listen, I think we can all agree that if we suddenly need to do an emergency pod in the next 12 hours, let's do it. All right? Happy days. I think that's fair enough, actually. We might do an addendum later on, depending on what happens, you know.

If Alexander Isak is behind a curtain and lines up against Newcastle on Wednesday, that can't happen, actually. But you know what I mean. Anyway, shall we have a song to finish? I was searching about for songs about revenge and about humility. There's not a huge amount out there. And the truth is, the truth is, the DJ at Arsenal Stadium playing Humble by Kendrick Lamar. I'm not sure any of us will beat that. Be humble, be humble.

I'm certainly not even going to try, to be honest with you. I would say I could pick someone like Come On Feel The Noise by Slade because I also thought that the stadium, the noise in that stadium, when that third goal went in,

Maybe even the fifth as well from Ethan. I don't think I've heard that very, very often. And we do have to appreciate those moments. I know trophies, it would be great and hopefully it'll happen. But my God, we spanked Man City 5-1 and there was an unbelievable noise in the stadium. So I'd have that if I was going to. But I think the DJ topped it. Adrian, what have you got for us? Yeah, after Humble, maybe DJ Pete.

Could have played Everybody Get Up by Five. Everybody get up. Because that would have been a beauty. Obviously, it's all about five. We got it. Thank you. Thanks. A couple of others. Teenage Dirtbag came into my head from Wheatus because we've got two absolutely filthy teenagers.

in one area and Lewis Skelly. So that's quite a good one. Just, just to sum up how I felt yesterday and how I still feel really, um, you know, it's Pharrell Williams and it's happy, you know, I just, it's the kind of match that makes you feel happy. It's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a lot of very, very happy faces, uh, in the pub and, uh, uh,

and through the evening. Amy, what about you? What have you got for us? On a similar vein, the song that was in my head that also I think would have been lovely for DJ Pete who definitely redeemed himself with that song, got everybody going.

But I thought, oh, happy day by the Edwin Hawkins singers. It was just, oh, happy day. It was a beautiful day. However, that's not what I'm going for because I asked the WhatsApp group of mates. One of my friends was digging out some quite remarkable songs about Humble and the one that really cracked me up.

It's by a South African country singer called Tommy Dell. And it's called Oh Lord, It's Hard to Be Humble. Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. Honestly, it's just that it just fit the comedy element perfectly.

of all of that. The narrative was strong yesterday, wasn't it? I think we can say that. Anyway, that's it for this edition of Handbrake Off. Thanks to Amy. Thank you to Adrian. Thank you to Jay, our producer. And on we go, Gooners. It's February. We've got a big five months to come. We'll see you on Thursday after the Newcastle game. Ta-ra. ♪