Makeshift forward Merino sinks Chelsea
44:29 Share

As you've probably heard by now, we've teamed up with BetMGM this season. We'll be using BetMGM lines to make all of our picks, and we'll have special offers for our listeners each week. If you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code THEATHLETIC, and you'll get a one-year subscription to The Athletic, plus up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. Here's how it works.

Download the BetMGM app and sign up using bonus code THEATHLETIC. Make your first deposit of at least $10, place your first bet on any game, and claim your voucher for a one-year subscription to The Athletic. See BetMGM.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C., Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Available in the U.S. Call 877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY-467-7000.

Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code THEATHLETIC and you'll get a one-year subscription to The Athletic, plus up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager.

When we're up out of here...

See how you can save on wireless and streaming versus the other big guys at T-Mobile.com slash switch. Apple intelligence requires iOS 18.1 or later.

Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you know, to check the Jumbotron first before attempting to eat a stack of Supreme Nachos in one bite. Now you're just a meme that everyone shares on game day. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

The only way to score is, of course, to play with a handbrake off.

I'm joined by Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke. We'll talk about that and we'll talk about other stuff. Morning. Morning. Top of the morning to you. Top of the morning. Top of the morning. By the way, the reason that Adrian said that is not because he's massively culturally insensitive, but because it is, in fact, St. Patrick's Day today. It's also, by the way, Pat Rice's birthday. Amy told me.

We won't ask how old he is. He's getting on a bit, though. I think that's fair to say. Also Lee Dixon, by the way, but that's not no particular Irish connection. Favourite Patrick's? I mean, you said, Amy, there were pictures of Patrick Vieira going around. Not strictly Irish.

Yes, but I think that there is a strain of Arsenal supporter that likes to recognise St Paddy's Day with a picture of arguably the greatest Patrick in the history of the football club. We have a long connection with Irish players. When I was first watching the team, or not first watching the team, but certainly through the 70s, I mean, we had six Irish boys in the team. I mean, Adrian, you must have shared a dressing room with many of the Irish players.

Yeah, yeah, no doubt about that. When I first went there, obviously people like Niall Queen were there, weren't they? Yeah.

Northern Irish, Steve Morrow stands out, you know. But yeah, there was tons. And in the school holidays, when I used to go up, because we didn't used to, we used to train once a week, you know, when we were going through what's now known as the academy. Once a week? I know, I know. We had it easy. But the school holidays were obviously a big deal. So you sort of spend your mostly school holidays. But I also would always fly in, you know, a dozen Irish lads.

you know and it was great and we'd often hang out with them all week it was really really good fun and yeah a lot of them got signed up so now we've got a long history of going for Irish players and

It makes me think because at the moment you obviously can't sign players that don't live locally, can you? You know, you've got to go within an hour and a half, I think. It just makes me wonder, you know, these clubs, there must be some real talent still over there in Ireland. Whether we, you know, we want to set up any satellite centres and whatnot. I think that's a link up that maybe will happen in the future. I think there are a few youngsters that have been coming over from Ireland recently.

sort of reviving that tradition lately so good you know it has been a bit quieter those kind of routes let's just say my son my seven-year-old son Ted he's he's at Leicester City at the moment and training yeah he's very new to football but he's there and he's doing all right but they had a match last Saturday against Shamrock Rovers yeah

So there you go. I wasn't there to see it, unfortunately. But Shamrock sent a team over of seven-year-olds to play in this game. It's amazing, isn't it, what goes on? Wow. You talk about the hour and a half radius. I mean, it's not a long flight between Dublin and London. I don't think they're talking about flying time, to be honest with you. But I get the point. Do you know that, by the way, I was talking to my Irish mate the weekend, I'll gig with him.

They have an Icelandic dentist is in charge of the national team, by the way. Heimar Halgrimson. Yeah, he was very involved when Iceland, I think he was the assistant manager when Iceland beat England in the Euros in France. I'll do the clap. Very, very nice chap. I remember chatting to him, actually, and...

Yeah, full of admiration. My dad was a dentist by trade. So, you know, I was very impressed with this guy combining dentistry and football. Good combo. Nice work. And a word for Pat Rice, Amy. I mean, serve the club seriously.

So well for so long. I mean, he was there when I first turned up, basically, as a young kid. 56 years, you said to me earlier. 56 years, yeah. And just thinking about that great cultural sort of mash-up, you know, you have Paddy Vieira, but some people used to call Pat Rice Patrice when Arsenal was very French. But, you know, here was a guy who was a youth player,

He was someone who came through and had a very long career in first team, including captain inside to FA Cup win in 79. Very famous victory. And he then became youth team coach for

where he brought through a lot of phenomenal talent, Roe Castle, Thomas, that generation, they would have had contact. Yes, indeed. A lot of contact with him. And one of the things that was a speciality, I think, was he made it his business to make people understand that they weren't just a footballer, but they were Arsenal footballer and what that meant. He carried that flame quite strongly. And, uh,

He then, of course, was interim manager or whatever they called it. It wasn't interim in those days. When Arsene was appointed and Arsene kept him. And he was Arsene's assistant for a long time. And I always remember how Arsene said, and I think it was maybe one of his first press conferences or interviews, he said, I wanted Pat Rice, I wanted an Arsenal guy. And I think, you know, he's absolutely an Arsenal guy. And one of the things I love about Pat as well is he...

I've never known him knowingly mention the local rivals by name. So, of course, the missive that went out recently about what you were supposed to call them would be, yeah, he'd literally call them that them lot down the road, that lot down the road.

which was great. He would, yeah. Big ups, happy birthday, Pat. Absolute legend. Adrian, you came through, he was there. I mean, you obviously know the guy. Yeah, I know him so well. Yeah, he's so much less scary now than he used to be. Yeah. When I was in the U.T., we were all scared of Pat. I mean, I'm looking at the age. He's 76 now. When I first joined...

when I left school, he was only 42, which is sort of eight years younger than me. I can't believe it. You know, when I think about that, but he was a brilliant, yeah, he was a brilliant coach and very strict, very big on discipline and,

completely as Amy said you know the values of Arsenal just run through him and he imprinted that on the players and I think he made us love Arsenal as much as as much as he did you know he was very very good and I bump into him at the odd game now and he's so friendly and very you know we always have a nice little catch up so yeah big up Pat Rice Happy birthday obviously if there was someone at Chelsea to teach them the values of the club it would be about whining and petulance and generally just

moaning through a game, cheating and all the rest of it. Arsenal won Chelsea 0, by the way, not the prettiest game. Jay has just actually mentioned to me right away, Chelsea 11 yesterday cost £537 million. The Arsenal 11, £362 million. Money isn't everything, kids.

Some of the most expensive signings weren't there, by the way. The hilarious thing is that most of them are on contracts that mean they'll still be paying them when, you know, when Pat Rice comes around to about his 84th birthday. Joke club. Joke club. You know what? Horrible fans. Horrible fans. Horrible everything. But nice eating outlets if you go to Stamford Bridge. I will say that. But anyway, we've beaten 1-0. Not the prettiest. We haven't lost to Chelsea in our last seven Premier League games, by the way. Adrian...

We kept to my arm's length, didn't we? I was sat with Jay yesterday during the game, and I didn't want to say during the game, but the fact is...

The only time they even got close was when David Rea spilled it and it went across the goal and that was a bit of a worrying moment. But other than that, they didn't really have a shot. They didn't have any chances. They didn't do anything, did they? It was pretty pitiful, I thought, from a Chelsea end. You know, if I was a Chelsea fan, I'd have been fuming. It was almost like the manager thought that you got a goal for every 100 passes, you know,

They just knocked it around, didn't they? On the halfway line for most of the game. You could have said that about Arsenal and various times through the years. Yeah, at times. But this was like, they didn't really make any runs in behind. They didn't really try and hurt us. They didn't change anything. It was their lowest expected goals tally under Enzo Maresca. It was only that. It would have been a fluke that...

that worried David Raya. That was the only effort of any kind of note, wasn't it? So no, we kept them at arm's length. It was as easy a 1-0 win as you could ever wish to see. In that first half hour, I thought we were brilliant. I think Chelsea tried to go man-to-man and

particularly in midfield. But I think over most of the pitch and we sussed it out very early on and Declan Rice was dragging Rhys James here, there and everywhere. And so was Skelly, was doing the same with Sancho. And we just completely confused them. And particularly down that right side, I thought we were electric with Odegaard and Martinelli and Timber in that first 30. We should have had.

Three goals, really. The fact that we didn't made it a little bit of a sweat, didn't it, for the rest of the game? But yeah, it was a comfy 1-0 win. Amy, it was interesting. Did you feel comfortable sitting there watching it? Because I was thinking the players looked fairly comfortable, but it's obviously, it's only 1-0, you know, and it...

Funny, George Graham was there yesterday, wasn't he? And I was thinking about the 1-0 to the Arsenal. But was it a fairly comfortable afternoon for the boys? That's a good question, really. I mean, certainly for the first half now, it was so comfortable. You found yourself quite naturally thinking that if Arsenal were a bit more ruthless or had a bit more zest about their finishing, this could be, you know, another one that comes close to the 5-0 from Arsenal.

a year ago, it seemed like there was a gulf between the two teams. But then when they, you know, then when Arsenal sort of backed off and let Chelsea sort of have the ball, it was a little bit confusing, I felt, because, you know, from being very dominant, they sort of handed over a bit of initiative. Luckily, Chelsea weren't good enough to do anything with it. But I think there's always that sense that, you know, an error, a moment of magic, you know, something out of nothing. And I think it would have been

chronically wasteful if Arsenal didn't get the three points. But I suppose you put it on that perspective of three games without a win in the Prem. Sometimes when you're on that kind of run, you just need the win and actually the gloss that comes from a good win is helpful, but not the be all and end all. So I think Arsenal were so superior generally, but didn't quite exert enough authority in

To show that in the scoreline, it would have been nice to see maybe a couple more goals, but can't have any complaints. It's been a big schedule lately with a lot going on. International break around the corner, or now, and then reconvening for the last couple of months of season, which the Champions League games feel massive about.

King Shaw of second and getting as close as possible to Liverpool for all that that represents in terms of the ambition that you want to show as a club to existing players who you want to stay and to new prospects who you want to sign. Let's make Arsenal look like a place to be with a bit of feel good and see what happens in Europe along the side. I was pleased Martinelli brought something and he just...

Makes the mouth water thinking that Saka is hopefully soon back too. Quite, quite. There was a moment there where I thought you were going to say, let's make Arsenal great again. But you know what? Luckily, you didn't go down that road. Uri and Timber. We don't talk about Uri and Timber that much. So reliable, Adrian. So strong. Lots of good stats about him. Most duels won. Most possessions won. Most aerial duels won. Most interceptions. I mean...

We really missed him last year and he stepped in and he's been so reliable, hasn't he? Yeah, he's a really good player. He's a really good defender. Sort of understated. He's not flashy, is he? But he's just tough. Pat Rice-esque, almost. Yeah, he's tough and technically good as well. And in that first half, because he was pushing on so much...

it allowed Martinelli to come inside as a second centre forward and he spent a lot of that first half in the box waiting for crosses to come in rather than always being the one that delivers them and I think that's the right thing to do if you're going to use Martinelli wide but yeah no it was a really good performance I mean Christopher Nkunku what did he do in the game?

He did nothing. Yeah. And that's because he was up against Timber. So, yeah, no, good stuff from him. Martin Odegaard had a, certainly in the first half, he looked a bit more himself. I still think he's coming a bit deep, but he just wants the ball at the moment, doesn't he? And there was a couple of little flicks. There's one round the corner where he ran onto it himself, a bit like Dennis Holt.

Bergkamp when he scored against Newcastle. There was something so beautiful about it. His awareness, his pitch, his space awareness on the pitch is lovely to watch, isn't he? He tailed off a bit in the second half, but I thought he looked good. Sorry, is that a statement or a question? It was both. It was both, Amy. I thought he looked good, didn't he, Amy? Thanks, Ian. It's all right. Yeah, I mean, I also thought scoring from a corner from...

his corner was really helpful. Did he aim it in that spot do you think? I mean Mick Elmore has a great I don't know but a lot of the corner deliveries have been a bit lately so it was nice to see one that from him that came off and I was also absolutely intrigued by the set piece in the second half when they spent about two and a half years trying to set it up with the ball

and what was going on. And I just found myself, especially after the pod last week, Adrian, going, come on, it's Declan's turn. It's Declan's turn. Let Declan take one. Let Declan take one. And I'm like, this sense of, you know, what's the right word? Anticipation. Who was going to take it? Would Martin take it again? Would he let Declan have a go? And Declan did have a go and it didn't quite come off, but it was quite good to see a little bit of variation. I think...

Arsenal just need to experiment, use all their weapons that they've got and refine things as much as humanly possible and get as focused and as on form as they can so that post-international break, they're ready to tackle this really exciting thing in front of us. You know you can't see!

How can you grow your business from idea to industry leader? Bring your vision to life with smart business buying tools and technology from Amazon Business. From fast, free shipping to in-depth buying insights and automated purchase approvals, we deliver everything you need to achieve your goals. It's not easy to stand out from the crowd. Simplify how you stock up to get ahead. Go to amazonbusiness.com for support. "'Eczema' isn't always obvious, but it's real."

And so is the relief from Ebbgliss. After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about 4 in 10 people taking Ebbgliss achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin. And most of those people maintained skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. Ebbgliss, Libricizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection is a

Prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema. Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. Ebglus can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Ebglus. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems.

I was never really a runner.

The way I see running is a gift, especially when you have stage four cancer. I'm Anne. I'm running the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America. I run for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to give people like me a chance to thrive in life, even with cancer. Join Bank of America in helping Anne's cause. Give if you can at bfa.com slash support Anne. What would you like the power to do? References to charitable organizations is not an endorsement by Bank of America Corporation. Copyright 2025.

Mikel Arteta said afterwards, Chelsea are the best attacking team in the Premier League and by a mile, right? I mean, certainly I would say they didn't look that way. But he obviously is a manager. He knows a lot of stuff that we don't know. But, I mean, first of all, is that... That's one way of putting it. Well, he does, doesn't he? I mean, it is. Of course he does. I'm not saying he doesn't. I'm not saying he doesn't for a second. But is that...

You know what? I've written bigging up here, but I hate using that phrase. But is he basically saying how well we defended? And also, is it how we're going to play against Madrid? We had 41% possession. You've got to figure that Madrid will also have the ball for quite a long period of time. Was it almost like a practice game? Yeah.

It could have been, yeah. I hadn't really thought about that. But yeah, yeah, I could see that. Can I say it was my missus who came up with that idea and she said it to me and I said, from the mouths of babes, right? And she wasn't upset at all. But I thought I'd actually say, I thought that was a really interesting call. I don't know. I mean,

When we were at our best in this game, we had all the ball in the first half an hour. I think we had 65% of it in that first 25 minutes or so. So I think we were always better when we got the ball. And we can definitely do that against Real Madrid, particularly at home. Because we certainly want to take it to them. We want to create... I think the game plan against Real Madrid will be blistering start. You know, give them hell.

get an early goal and yeah, maybe then, you know, we might go a little bit safer like we did in this game. Yeah, I can see the pattern of that, of it being like that. Just on that set piece, by the way, just to expand on it. I mean, how brainless for Chelsea? Because later on in the game, they went zonal marking. But for that, I think we sensed that they were going to go man to man. So we just dragged them all into one mahoosive cluster. Yeah.

And, you know, that cluster basically blocks in the keeper, doesn't it? He can't go anywhere, Robert Sanchez. And the rest of the box is empty, barring a 1v1 with Marino and Rhys James.

I think it's really clever. It's a really clever corner. Perfectly executed. But I don't really know what Chelsea were thinking. Just putting everyone basically in front of their own goalkeeper. It was brainless, really. Well, Chelsea were concentrating on the whining and moaning, weren't they, really? They seem to have got that.

down quite well. Enzo Fernandes and Neto. Oh my God, awful. And Amy, we were just talking about this, all this making a meal out of every single challenge and you said you saw a game at the weekend, like a regular Sunday league game and the blokes are doing it there as well. Yeah, it is. I was really thinking about it. It was Saturday afternoon. I was down at Hackney Marshes to watch an Essex Alliance game

I don't know, kickabout. I'm not quite sure quite what the right word is. Sounds like fight is what the word you're looking for. I don't think they would refer to it as a kick around if it was the Essex Alliance. Come on. All right, okay. Anyway, a match, men's football on one side and a bunch of under 18s on the other. And it just... I looked at the ref who was...

handling the game pretty well from what I could tell. And every single minute anything happened, they were all squealing to the ref and appealing things that were like, so obviously nothing, you know, somebody kicks the ball out and you're appealing for it to be your throw. And it's just not in it. It's like, ref, ref, ref, for God's sake. You know, and every single tackle that anybody has,

You don't see people just get up and carry on anymore. Everyone's rolling around and going straight to the ref asking for, you know, trouble and for someone. And it was exhausting. And it wasn't, it was a bit of a nothing encounter, really. It wasn't full of controversy. But I said to the ref at the end, like, how do you, how on earth do you manage this? And he's like, well, you get used to it. But,

It just felt to me like something, there's a direct line between what you're seeing and it goes right from the top, right the way through grassroots football and right the way down to kids football, where people are imitating and taking the baton, taking their example.

And grown-ass men, you know, on an afternoon in front of not even, you know, two men and a dog are rolling around when nothing's happened and squealing. And I think it's a shame. I feel for the refs. I really do. You know, because even the ref yesterday and Chris Cavanaugh is not, sorry, yeah, it was yesterday. Cavanaugh, yeah. Chris Cavanaugh is not everybody's favourite, let's be honest. Yeah.

Do we have a favourite? Right. There were several moments where he could have done things differently and we all know that. But I do think that it's quite hard to officiate certain, you know, particularly those kind of tackles where there's maybe, and both teams did it, where two players are going for the ball and one's maybe very marginally later than the other and catches the other one and there's always a...

It's always such a meal. What do you think, Adrian? No, I just think Chelsea just knew they weren't at the same level as Arsenal. So it was in their interest to make it a really sort of fragmented game, you know, a moany, whingy game. It was just that that worked for them because, you know, when the game was flowing, when we had lots of the ball, we carved them open for fun, didn't we? We did. Is it quite hard to rise above that? You know, I mean, because you do feel that you get sucked in sometimes, don't you? You can't help it. And you saw, I mean, particularly...

Declan Rice, who I thought had a great game again. He wasn't happy with Fofana, was he? But, you know, something like that happens. Yeah, I think it just makes you more determined, I think. I think it used to make me more determined to sort of just out-football them and just beat them with the football. Yeah. Declan Rice, by the way, the only player who had fewer touches that started the game than Declan Rice was Mikel Moreno.

he was a very low touch game from Declan Rice, but he still had a very good game. Yeah. And it's because he dragged, he dragged Rhys James all over that pitch, which created space for other people. And sometimes he got on the end of it himself, but...

But it was a very unselfish performance, I thought, from Declan Rice. I like that he's making runs as well. He's making runs forward. I mean, he's often quite the furthest forward. Liverpool are having a bit of a wobble. Adrian, I'll ask you this. Uh...

We've put the pressure on now. The gap's only 12 points. They can see us coming. Mo Salah's not scoring. He hasn't scored for two. He's on. This is not really a question. I'm just saying, by the way. It's more of a statement, yes, seeing as I'd like to make clear what I'm doing at the end of every sentence. But...

All we can do, we'll try and beat Fulham when we come back and then narrow the gap and then see if they wobble. Because they were bossed yesterday at Wembley, by the way. I mean, that Newcastle team absolutely crushed them and deservedly so. Yeah, I did it on the radio, so I didn't see it or I've not seen it yet. But yeah, it sounded like Newcastle completely dominated the game and that they knackered Liverpool. So yeah, it's a really good sign for us.

Yeah, who knows? The issue is they've got a lot of games at Anfield, winnable games at Anfield. So it feels highly unlikely that they will drop enough points. But I do think that they will drop points because I think the fatigue factor is real with them, as is a sort of slight dip in confidence. Yeah,

Yeah, we've just got to keep winning, win every game and hope for the best. But I don't think anyone's expecting it, are they? I don't think they are, no. And Spurs have had 15 defeats in the Premier League this season. So that's just them lot up the road. 15? Sorry, Mr Rice, them lot up the road. 15 defeats, I know, it's absolutely terrible. Amy, you've just got a smile on your face. It's nice to listen to that, isn't it?

I'm trying to get my head around the number, really. It's enormous. 15 is enormous, yeah. Yeah, for a club of that size, yeah. But before we move on, just a quick word on Mourinho. I thought his work rate was great yesterday. He chugs away, doesn't he? He chugs away. He's a chugger. He is a chugger. He is a chugger. I do have some numbers that I'll put in the Arsenal Analyze piece. But basically, he pressurised opponents.

more than double the next guy. You know, he basically in every area of the pitch, he just was charging at people, you know, putting them off, closing them down, putting them under pressure. I thought, you know, he covered more distance than anyone else by far, made more intensive runs than anyone else. You,

Yeah, he's a grafter, Mikel Moreno. So I was pleased for him that he got the goal. And another goal and a really good effort as well. A really lovely volley that was well saved by the goalkeeper. Yeah, I thought he took that really well. Yeah, so, you know, just keep doing what you're doing, Mikel. I mean, I think it must have been a shock for him when they said, look, you're playing centre forward and this is how hard...

Kai Havertz was working because, you know, there was a reason he was crawling off the pitch at the end. But good on him. He's never played there before, as Mikel Arteta said, and he's doing a really good job. Yeah. Whenever I played up front, and it wasn't that often, but I was a winger really, but I could play centre mid, I could play number 10. We didn't really used to do that very often. But when they put me up front,

it was much harder, much harder work because everything is explosive. That's the thing. You have to make a lot of runs to basically show for a pass for people as well that, that never come into you, but you have to do it. You have to take defenders with you. So there's a lot of work there that, that people don't realize. Yes, it's the glory position, but it,

it's also rock hard physically to play that role so yeah fair play to Marina because in central midfield you're kind of just non-stop running but it's all at a similar pace yeah but in up front you sort of stop every now and again but then you have to explode and then stop and explode again and that does take its toll well we appreciate the effort he's making this is Hand Break Off the Arsenal podcast brought to you by The Athletic

Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company, seniority, skills.

Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at linkedin.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

Are you still quoting 30-year-old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now. It pays to discover. Learn more at discover.com slash credit card. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen Report.

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. International break week, 15 days now without a game. I'm not really ready for that, to be honest with you. I mean, it's just, it feels like we had one a few weeks ago. But one excellent bit of news, Myles Lewis-Skelly called up to the England squad today

I mean, Amy, I was watching him yesterday. There was one moment when he almost got caught. But I just love his confidence. I love his swagger. He's such a wonderful young player and his attitude is obviously great and

It's so impressive. And he said, I'm just so grateful to the team for entrusting me and the boss entrusting me and I can repay them and be the best version of myself. He said, I'm buzzing to be called up by England. You know, honestly, I was just elated. I was shouting around my house. I mean, he's 18, Amy, and what an amazing, amazing year for him. I just love that best version of myself. I think that is such a great motto to live by, you know.

Things are going to be thrown at you in everyday life that are going to be challenging or worse. It's not straight line. And all you can do is try and be the best that you can be. And I think he has been doing that all through the academy. And it's just incredible to think what a whirlwind it's been for him because six months ago, I'm not even sure he'd played in the first team. And then, you know, he goes from,

League Cup to Premier League debut to Champions League debut to scoring goals to having a real regular run to the difficult bits with the cards and so on are now being called up by England it's just been a kind of torrent of new experiences

And the way he takes it all by trying to be his best version of himself is quality. It is. Adrian, 18 years old, first team debut, as Amy said, Champions League debut. Incredible, incredible talent. And,

And we know how good he is. And I loved him wandering into midfield because it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing there. He feels perfectly comfortable there. It's more about trying to take people on when he's back in defence. That slightly worries me on occasion. But young players are going to have those moments. You know, he's had the sendings off and I'm sure there's chats have been had with him. But

there's a lot of trust in him and it's understandable isn't it? Yeah, it's been a dream season for him. What I admire as well is the way he's bounced back from those setbacks because when you're a kid and everything's going great everything feels easy doesn't it? But then he had the one unjust sending off and then he had the one that he deserved and

and, you know, got dragged before halftime in another game because he was on a yellow and it was all looking a little bit precarious. But, you know, so those chats have been happening. He's been under the spotlight. He knows people have been critical of him for some of the decisions he's made. He's been able to brush it off and just be himself and play like he always seems to. You know, he's got a lot of

He's going to make mistakes because he's the sort of player that wants to feel contact and wriggle away from them and burst free. So every now and again, he will lose it and it might cost us the odd goal. But what he brings to the team is...

He's huge, I think. He's such a good ball carrier. And I think in this Arsenal team, we need as many good ball carriers as possible because most of the opponents, not all, but most, are going to be defensive. They're going to be really, really negative against us. And I always think the best way to beat a team that's negative is to dribble past them and to break the lines in that way. And he's someone that

absolutely does it better than almost anyone else in the squad so yeah yeah well done to him I think he'll probably play I think he will get capped by England here in the week and I'll back him to to be a success do you think he'll play against Real Madrid Adrian because that's a really interesting thing for me uh assuming that I do and why Calafuri and Timber may be available do we think he'll get that nod

So that'll be an unbelievable show of faith. At the moment, I think a lot can change in that time. What is it? I don't know how far away it is. Three weeks. A lot can change, but he's got a bit more speed, hasn't he, than Calafuri. And Real Madrid have got quite a few fast players, I don't know if you realise. So I think,

That might tip it in his favour. But yeah, it's not going to be an easy call. He could easily go with Calafuri, couldn't he? Because Calafuri's played at the Euros, hasn't he? He's played in big events. But I don't think he'll have any hesitation playing him. I don't see a scenario where it's White right back and Timber at left back at the moment because I don't think White's quite there yet. So yeah, he might be by then, but I'd be happy with Miles' place.

Adrian, I'm going like way off topic here. I just had a moment where my mind was wandering and I was just looking at your picture behind you with your framed shirt from when you played as you were chatting. Clark 29. And have you got a number thing? I know a lot of players are funny about that. For example, do you...

Do you have a sort of special thing, a connection or whatever with Kai Havertz? Because he was 29. I'm not being facetious. I'm being genuine. I know that numbers are important to people sometimes. Definitely, because I was one of the first. Because obviously names and numbers weren't really a thing even when I came through. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't know if there was a 29 before me. I think there probably was one. I was 30 actually, initially, and then I got bumped up to 29. Up? I suppose up, yeah. I've got some 30 shirts in the loft somewhere. But yeah, no, definitely. Yeah, I've always watched it because it's my shirt. And then it's like it gets passed on, doesn't it? Yeah, no, I've always kept a lookout and I've always wanted good players to have it. And a good player definitely has it at the moment. Thank you.

Quite. Also, by the way, while we're talking about amazing young talent, although he seems quite venerable compared to Miles Lewis-Skelly, Mikel was asked about Bukayo Saka's potential return after the break and responded saying he's got a good chance.

Well, I mean, we've talked about this, Amy. No rush, right? No rush, but wouldn't it be great to see him at some point against Real Madrid? I'm hoping by then that he's absolutely flying and ready to start. I'm not sure about this no rush stuff. I think he's Arsenal's best player and, you know, that's Arsenal's biggest game in a really long time and...

Let's hope he's absolutely on top form by then. Quite. OK, let's have a song to finish. Amy, what have you got for us? Well, I'm not going to choose this, but it is worthy of a mention. I noticed that the DJ chose the UB40 song Kingston Town at the end of the game because it's the Mikel Marino tune. But really, he should have gone for Red Red Wine.

In honour of Chelsea's... Whining. Yeah, whining. Whining, yes. However, I'm going to go with a song by The Cure. And at the start of the game, Arsenal were banging away at the door without kind of making that breakthrough. And it was a slight worry that, you know, was it going to be one of those days?

I'm going to go for The Head on the Door, which is one of my favourite Cure tunes. OK. Adrian, what about you? In honour of Wesley Fafana, who...

Should have had five yellow cards yesterday. Definitely. I mean, during my commentary, I was totting them up. And it's like, five yellow cards, you get a ban. If it happens before Christmas or something. You know, he really should have had it. Did he get a yellow card at all, by the way? He did. For throwing the ball on the pitch. But it was absolutely ridiculous, I felt, that he didn't get one.

before that or after that and and the the var incident if it wasn't a red it was definitely a yellow so yeah in honor of that i'm going to go with the verve lucky man because he was sensationally lucky yesterday could have been sent off twice i said or twice and got a bookie on top of that yes um i'm having uh this is for uh martha iskelly i've gone for mad about the boy

I'm mad about the boy. Diana Washington, because he is still a boy, isn't he? He's 18, for goodness sake. So, so impressive and so happy for him. That's it for this edition of Handbrake Off. Thank you to Amy and Adrian. Thanks to Jay, our producer. Thank you for listening and...

Lord knows what we're going to talk about for the next week and a half, but I'm sure something will pop up. And we'll see you Thursday. Ta-ra.

What up, y'all? Zena Kata here with a huge announcement. We're dropping a new show. No off-season, the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. Same place, same time, but we're bringing the heat with some brand new energy. Join myself, Ben, Chantel, and Sabrina as we give you an inside look at the game with candid conversations, in-depth analysis, and taking on the hottest topics around women's basketball. Plus, we're bringing in the big

the biggest names in the game to weigh in on all the action. So mark your calendars because no off season. The athletic women's basketball show is launching Monday, March 17th with fresh episodes every Tuesday and Friday. You can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.