Who needs a striker when you've got Merino?
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The Athletic FC Podcast Network. The only way to score is, of course, to play with a hand break off.

Hello, I'm Ian Stone. This is Handbrake Off, the Arsenal podcast brought to you by The Athletic. On Saturday, the Arsenal beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power to make it 15 Premier League games without defeat. To reflect on the game, I'm joined by Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke. Good morning. Hello. Morning. Morning, morning.

I should say, but it's my birthday today. You know that? Did you know that? Happy birthday, mate. Yes, I'm 108. Thanks for telling us, Stoney. Well, I'm telling you now. This is what I'm telling you. I thought it would be nice for the listeners to share in this glorious moment. So we just had a nice little pre-pod chat for about five minutes where you didn't mention anything until you pressed record. I was waiting for Adrian to say something.

I was waiting for Adrian and the listeners to come on. And then I thought I'd say to you, it is my birthday. So I've got a big day of celebrations planned. Can you imagine in your mind's eye all the listeners singing you happy birthday in chorus right now? I can. I am actually imagining it. Do you remember we used to sing happy birthday to players from the North Bank? No. That's great. Really? When it was someone's birthday on a match day. Yeah.

I do remember this, actually. That's so sweet. There would be a moment where, you know, before the match, when everyone was kind of just getting ready in the North Lake or wherever, we would sing happy birthday to that player. So in that spirit, happy birthday, Sammy. Oh, bless you. Thank you so much. It does feel like something from the past, doesn't it? That singing happy birthday to players. It's a bit like the police band, really.

marching up and down in front of the North Bank and dropping the baton on one magnificent occasion. Also, lots of celebrations. Mick Almerino said he's glad he scored because he forgot to get his wife a Valentine's present.

Stoney, now he's scoring important goals. Now he's a centre-forward. You've got to learn how to pronounce his name. I said Mourinho. You didn't. Yes, I did. You're saying I said Mourinho. I didn't say Mourinho. I didn't. I would know if I... Adrian, do you want to adjudicate? I wasn't concentrating. Oh, thanks, Adrian. I think I said Mourinho. VAR check. Mikko Mourinho. Yeah, he's just off, I think. Yeah, he's just off there. But anyway...

Is Marino like the wall as opposed to Marino like the ****? I think we understand. Anyway, Mika Marino got his, basically his wife's Valentine's present with two goals.

Against Leicester. I think that's a perfectly acceptable present, to be honest with you. Certainly from my point of view. I mean, the question is, what's the worst present you've ever got? That's not even close to the worst present I've ever got. But Adrian, what's the worst present you've ever got? Or given, by the way. You could do given as well. Well, that's what I thought it meant. That's what I thought it meant in terms of what's the worst present you've got for someone. Oh, yeah. Well, I asked my wife.

my wife this morning, I said, what's the worst present I've ever got you? I love this. Go on. She said, you'll like this because it's a little bit Valentine's related. It was our first Christmas and I was, I think we stayed over at her mum's house and so we did the presents in front of her mum. I bought her some quite racy lingerie. No, no, no, no.

It was her first Christmas. Oh, my God. That was a bit awkward. We have the club music. It is. It wasn't that bad. I mean, it was nice underwear, but it was, you know, it was, yeah, probably not parent appropriate, I suppose. But, yeah, there you go. And as it was happening, like when your missus said, should we open the presents up together? And I could just imagine you going, no.

As they start tearing at the wrapper. Oh, outstanding work, Adrian. Well done. Brilliant. Amy, what about you? God, it just feels like a scene in an episode of Curb. It does. It absolutely does. I'd love to see Larry David dealing with that situation in his own inimitable style. I don't know if I've gotten... I'd like to think I'm quite not a bad present buyer. I do try and give these things a bit of thought, but...

Probably one of the worst I've received was a signed photograph of Wales' Mickey Thomas just after he scored for Wrexham against Arsenal and a friend of mine had written to him pretending to be me. So this envelope arrived with a surprise present with a signed photo saying, to Amy, Wrexham 2, Arsenal 1.

Best wishes, Mickey Thomas. That's really funny, that, to be honest. No, it was. That's a thoughtful, thoughtful present. Yeah, I loved that. What you don't see, what you want to see, of course, is a film of you opening it and swearing, right, and like, you bastard, as you pull it out and you go, what is, oh, outstanding work. Does said person have a record of buying you, you know, questionable presents? To be fair, he was my Welsh flatmate

mate back in student days there were eight of us living in a house and he was one of them and normally you wouldn't have wanted presents chosen by him so yeah that was probably a good one fair play yeah I got my mum god rest her soul my mum bought me a clock like this clock she just gave it to me one Christmas and

It wasn't the greatest clock in the world, I would say. And it fell apart in the car on the way home. I'm not saying it was terrible from, you know, she loved me and all the rest of it. But honestly, crap clock. It's no getting away from it. Leicester 0. Leicester City 0. Arsenal 2. Well, Amy, you were in the way end. I know you were. Adrian, it's what? How far is it from your home, by the way, Leicester City?

15 minutes. 15 minutes in the car. But you had to record the commentary where? Emirates. Adrian at the drive. Please tell me you drove past the ground to get to the Arsenal. No, the worst thing was that my daughter plays in the Leicester Girls Academy and she had a match that...

would have finished at 11 so i could have gone to watch her literally walked to the ground from from where she was to watch the game in plenty of time so yeah so i missed a game and had to go all the way down to london it was it wound me up so much i just laugh as you see it sort of receding into the distance in your rearview mirror as you drive down the motorway you were there amy

And much fun was had, I'm sure. And when Mikel Moreno came on as our emergency number nine, were you feeling good? Because...

I have to say that I didn't see the game live. I was on the road and I was in the car when he scored. And I have to say, up to that point, there was a lot of moaning and grumbling. I stopped a couple of times. I was looking at social media and there didn't seem to be a lot of happiness from the Arsenal fans on social media. How was it in the ground? Moody? Well, I think for your birthday, to treat yourself, you should watch the first 70 minutes. Yeah.

In full. Do you think? Yeah. Okay. Is that good? All right, I'm going to go and do that now. Anyway, and then what we'll do is we'll stop the recording and then we'll come back to it. And you'll still have no questions. Yeah, I heard it was terrible. Yeah, it was. I think when Marino came on, it's interesting because there had been some speculation, you know, on social media that this was an option.

So there was actually people almost kind of calling for it before it happened. I did. You did, Adrian, yeah. Uninspiring was the fare that preceded his arrival. And I think it was just a bit of a worry because notwithstanding the problems with the attack...

People do think, okay, you've gone to Dubai and it does have this Macedonel effect of kind of pepping everybody up. Macedonel? Did you say? Did I? I would say medicinal. Did I say Macedonel? I told you about Monday mornings. Seeing as you're picking me up.

On my pronunciation. Well, I mean, you know, the thing is, I think we, getting ordinary words wrong, malaprisms are perfectly all right, but you've got to respect the names of the Arsenal players and not, you know, mix them up with... Oh, back at me. Anyway, it was a Macedon effect, was it? I think I prefer that anyway.

I do. But meanwhile, this sort of post-Dubai sort of injection of energy and zest was very much not evident. So I think there was a bit of a concern that there was just a bit of a flatness, a bit of a lack of inspiration. And people were rather hoping that all those other players playing would have come back with a bit more zip. But clearly, the strategy was a worry. I wasn't working.

And my most interesting post-match thought was to what extent Mikel has a look at everything and thinks we've got to be trying something different for these next few games. And if when it comes to the West Ham game, it's the same front three for selection in a conservative manner, that would be very strange. I'm sure we'll talk about the individual performances of those front three players in a bit.

But overall, it was just very lacking. The second half was better and it certainly took a big jump when Mourinho came on because there was a focal point. There was something different for Leicester's defence to think about. There was a presence and, you know, all of a sudden it just unlocked something, I think, in the whole team. Whether or not Mourinho was going to go on to score those goals, we found out to much joy. It was phenomenal.

But just even changing it up so that it felt like and looked like more of a threatening and balanced team was really helpful. Adrian, I mean, you used to play up front, you know, near attacking areas. And Mikel Marino's, I mean, the header was really good, but we know he's a good header of the ball. But the second one, the finish off his, I thought he should have taken off his right foot, but he's obviously much more comfortable off his left anyway. And, um,

That was a finish of a striker. Yeah, it was really accomplished, wasn't it? Yeah, he's a finisher. There's no doubt about that. He's built a reputation for crashing the box and scoring goals. He knows how to do it. He's a little bit like David Platt, I suppose, if you want to go for a player from the past that goes into the box and scores. There's a bit of Platt-y about him.

And, yeah, a little bit like David Platt, I think he had a few games up front in his career as well, kind of in that role. Yeah, I felt it was the obvious choice, to be honest, because Mikel likes a big man up front for a reason. You know, it's not just because he loves Kai Havertz, it's stylistically it works, right?

because he wants to lure teams on and he wants to go from back to front a little bit quicker often. He'd like to do it more often than we're allowed because most teams we play against just sit off and let us have it and do what Leicester did for 70 minutes. But the thing about having a big man that can hold the ball

and can be a target, is that it gives a platform for supporting runners. And we've got some brilliant supporting runners in Erdegaard, in Rice, in, you know, Calafuri, people like that, Waneri. These guys, they want space to run into and we're really good at it. And I think to facilitate that, you kind of need someone who can hold the ball up. So, yeah, I was really pleased to see him come on. Delighted he made that impact. And he has to play now. That's it for me. Until...

further notice I think he's our striker really wow yeah yeah I do can ask a question do you think that doing that from the start of a game is going to be different for coming on as an impact sub for him

And in terms of his effectiveness and the role he's got to do. Maybe. I mean, it helped that the game got a bit more stretched, I think. Yeah, it definitely helped. You think about that effort, the one area, I think he hit the post with it on the counter-attack. It was Urdegaard who've did clear. And who's there just to sort of back in, hold it up. It links it to Declan Rice. It's Mourinho. So, you know, those kind of instances are what Kai would do and what any sort of target man would do. Yeah, you can't imagine that first half.

that happening too often because Leicester sort of camped on their own box didn't they but I just think it helps full stop I do I do it

Yeah, he'll press as well. You know, like it's important that that guy works hard and closes down as well. I just don't think Trossard on his own in that position is very comfortable. And I think that he is, as we've seen in recent weeks against Tottenham in this game and others, he's dynamite driving down the left. Absolutely brilliant. So I just think it makes sense to go with Trossard left and Mourinho down the middle. It seemed really obvious as well that in

in that first part of the game that Declan Rice was sort of told to be a de facto striker whenever he could and get up and get close to Trossard and close to the box. I'm quite intrigued by the possibility of him still doing that but with Mourinho because actually I think that could be a handful for defenders. You've got to bear in mind as well that Leicester obviously had a game plan or whatever but they are

They are not the strongest defense out there and that we're going to face a lot tougher resistance than that. So there's still a huge amount of work to do where everybody's got to pull together and make sure they are as switched on as can be to be making things happen. REI Co-op presents a mini mindfulness break.

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The other issue, by the way, in all this is, yeah, sure, start Mikel Mourinho. That means that all we've got to come off the bench attacking-wise is Raheem Sterling. And, I mean, I've heard it said quite often with players, oh, he's gone. And I don't really like that.

To be honest, I don't know. How old is Raheem Sterling, by the way? I ask this regularly. I think it's because my eyes tell me he's about 45. I think he's 30. He's 30. Jay has just messaged. He's 30 years old. And I don't like to say, oh, he's gone, the legs are gone, what have you. But it certainly looks that way. I mean, it really does look that way. And Adrian, isn't that an issue? That if you start with Mikel Moreno and you have Tross on one side and one area on the other, that to me...

If Mourinho's going to pop up with a goal here and there, that's a decent attack, right? But you've got nothing to replace it if it doesn't work. Yeah, but how often does Kai come off? Never. Because he likes having the presence at the top end of the pitch. Even if Mikel Mourinho doesn't score again as a striker, I still think it's better for those around him

and better for the team as a whole to have him there. That's how I see it in terms of the structure of the team. You know, with Raheem, I think actually as an impact sub,

I would fancy him to be more impactful maybe than from the start. After 17 minutes when the opposition are a bit tired and he's got a bit more space. Exactly. That's how I would see it. Yeah, look, it was such a shame. It was one of the most difficult performances to watch, I think, this season from an Arsenal player. It was really hard.

just wasn't happening for him. No. And yeah, I just feel gutted for him because confidence can sap away from any player. It happened to me as well. It happened to me at times where you just think...

Goodness me, I used to play in the Arsenal first team and now look at me. I'm rubbish. You know, it can happen just like that. But it can come back as well, is what you're saying. It can absolutely come back from it. You know, it was only last year there were some clips going around this week on socials about what he was doing last season for Chelsea early on in the campaign. And, you know, he looked dynamite. So it's still there. It's pure...

purely confidence and yeah this was not a performance he'll want to look back on with any fondness no I think that yeah the only way he's up as far as he's concerned and

I'm not writing him off. I still believe he can have a moment or two for us between now and the end of the season. I do wonder whether the rest of the season I envisage various midfielders and defenders coming on as emergency strikers and scoring. And the only person who doesn't score is Raheem Sterling. But you know what? Hey, maybe it'll come good. Go on, Amy, you were going to say something, yeah? Yeah, I'm just going to agree with you. I think that Arsenal are going to make use of

particularly Kieran Tierney and Riccardo Calafiori as players of impact. Do you think we'll have enough at left-back just to cover them? And it's also hopefully only relatively short term because with a bit of luck, we're talking about another...

three weeks-ish, maybe more or less. And then if Saka and Martinelli are back, that transforms options. It still leaves the scenario of the big striker. There's a bit of Giroudism, I think, when you're looking at Mourinho playing there. And I think in some respects, when people think about Giroud, they massively still underrate

His qualities and effectiveness. I mean, you do not become top surfer France, who are a country with Thierry Henry and Platini and, you know, now Mbappe, you know, in their history, you know, by being nothing much. But however, there was that utterly surreal experience of him playing virtually every minute of the World Cup in 2018, which France won and not scoring a goal.

But what he did do was knit that team together. And who played with Giroud at Arsenal? Mikel Arteta did. Yeah. By the way, just sorry to interrupt, but I was on the Totally Show podcast last night and it was brought up that obviously he's taken influence from various places he's worked, but he obviously was at Everton where they had Fellaini.

And Tim Cahill, guys that, you know, weren't natural strikers that would play that auxiliary role on occasion and do it very effectively. So I think he likes it. I really do. I think he likes that. The point is we're going to have to be creative, aren't we? Well, it's the 17th of Feb, you know, and if you want to go through to mid-May, that's three months of...

of sort of must-win games, really. So, you know, to be able to deliver, you know, for such a long period of time over lots and lots of games, that's going to be the biggest worry because I think we all feel confident that there's enough greatness spread around the team to deal with a lot of stuff. But it's whether you can get through all the challenges that will be in your way between now and then. Yeah.

That's a massive ask. Well, one at a time, one at a time. Anyway, point is, signed as a number eight, struggles, goes to Dubai, comes back as a striker, starts scoring. Kai Havertz first, now Marino. So, well done for whoever worked that out. Nice work. And by the way, Amy, you saw a little lad in the away end with a Mick Amarino shirt, did you not? And you got a video of it as well. Bless him. I think his name was Ralphie. He was sat near us and...

Good, good.

And there was just all these tenor voices, let's say, of the majority of the crowd who were adults or blokes. And then there was this tiny little high soprano screaming his lungs out. It was brilliant. He was a sweet lad. And I said to him, how come you got Merino and you chose Merino for your shirt? Because it's not the most obvious choice. No.

And he just looked at me and went, I love him! Fair enough. Right. It was sort of food for the soul. It was heartwarming and lovely. It was enormous fun in that way. And we had a...

I was talking to producer Jay, who was also there, about the joys of going away. It's like an addiction. You feel like you need another fix of it. It's so much fun. That's why they keep going. It's so difficult. Yeah, but it's so difficult to get tickets to go away because it's the magic stuff, you know? Because people want to go. You could have heard that singing from your house, couldn't you? But there was... I found the whole experience quite amusing because...

The Leicester supporters had a few songs that they thought were going to really get under our skin and I didn't really understand some of their logic. The best one was Premier League champions more recent than you. And I was like, oh.

You know, they thought they were really getting under our skin. Should be recently, shouldn't it? Well, there was that. I mean, obviously, I did want to kind of pick them up. The grammar is wrong. I mean, excuse me. There's an issue around here, I've got to say. But the guy in front of me just turned around and held up five fingers. And he was around about my age at the same time. And he goes, mate, I've seen my team win the league five times. And they were like, yeah, but we've won it more recent.

And we were like, okay, all right, let's just talk this through, shall we? Yeah, yeah. And the other one was that they did a lot of second again, ole, ole, like, ah, you idiots, you're second again. And we were like, yeah, but you're 19th. You're 19th, you're going down. It was quite, it was, it was good. It was that good experience of like, you know, just having a bit of fun, doing fan stuff. And there was one thing I will mention just because,

It broke through that. So there was one lad in particular who, because I was on the edge seat right next to the little gap between the Arsenal and Leicester fans. So you really, you can look someone in the eye and it's like they're, you know, a couple of metres away from you. And we had a bit of fun. And when Airey had that right-footed blaster that went against the post, he

We caught each other's eye and he'd been trying to give me all this stick about that they'd run the league more recently for a while. And he just suddenly, his face changed and I looked at him and I went, he's 17. And the guy looked at me and sort of shrugged and went like, wow, he's brilliant. And it was just quite nice because it's that recognition that goes beyond just fan nonsense where it was like,

and acceptance that you're watching a special footballer and that they saw that they saw that as well as the Arsenal supporters which I thought was a touch we got a couple and we to be fair the two boys first of all Miles Lewis Skelly and that clearance Adrian that goes in I mean I don't think we're getting a win from that game it was a tremendous moment and um

I mean, he's, you know, the guy, the kid loves to defend, doesn't he? Yeah, I mean, he's probably been over-egged a little bit because he's just in the right place. And it was sort of, I don't know how much he knew about, like, the way that he diverted it behind for a corner. But he's just, he got himself in the right spot. And it was good, solid defending. It's what I'd expect, to be honest, from the left back. It was really bad play from Pate initially. Lost it and they counted on us, but...

every week he seems to contribute doesn't he Lewis Gilly big fan of

Just before the pod, I was in the car this morning and even Jamie O'Hara, he of Spurs sort of fame, was saying, they said, oh, what about Jed Spence for England? He's like, no. He said, I think Myles Lewis-Skelly is the one for England. Yeah, even he said it. If O'Hara's saying that, yeah, okay. For those listeners, Jamie O'Hara's a big ex-Tottenham. Do we actually want him to go off with England in next month though?

genuinely asking I want him to have the biggest career he can have yeah and I'm just talking about now I mean you know just like at this point no of course not you can't control it I mean what I want is really neither here nor there I want us to win the league that's what I want and the Champions League Eton Wennery 17 years old

Best player on the pitch, hit the post, hit the bar. That one where he came inside and hit the bar, what a talent he is. And then the cross for Marino's header. I mean, even when they come back, because Adrian, you were asking before, weren't you, when Martinelli and Saka comes back. But, Amy, you have to find a place for Ethan Waneri, don't you? I can't form a million percent. Yeah, yeah.

And Mikel said, you have to protect them as well. But as well, take the handbrake off. And if they're ready to go... Thank you, Mikel, by the way. Thank you. We appreciate that. I know you're an avid listener. You have to protect them, but as well, take the handbrake off. And if they're ready to go to that place, why would you stop them just because they are 17?

Well, Adrian used to play the game. Why would you stop them because they are 17? Because it's a bit of a load on the body, isn't it? I mean, Ethan, well, both of them actually, and Miles, they don't look like 17 and 18-year-olds. They look like grown-ups. But they are still growing, and the body can change, and it can be a bit much, especially at Premier League level. Yeah, I...

I would say less about the body, more about the mind, really, personally. Because I just think when you're that age, you can handle it. What I noticed about the Premier League, and it's even quicker now, is that the ball just never goes out of play. Obviously it does, but compared to other leagues...

The ball is alive and you get less breather. But the more you play, the more you just get used to that and you get used to that level. It's really about how technically good you are that you sort of stay there or not. No, I think it's more the mind side of it because, you know, they're both so young and it is a big old weight of responsibility, isn't it? And, you know, pressure can come.

can affect people in different ways at the moment. They're loving it. But there'll come a point where he maybe has a bad game, has a bad miss, misses an open goal or something. And that is the acid test, I think, for any young player. It's how do you bounce back from that, from the possible criticism. And that's still to come, isn't it? So we'll see. But I'm not worried. I think that these two are really special in this game.

Most shots, most chances created, most touches inside the box, most crosses, best passing accuracy, most successful dribbles, most duels won, most tackles won, all one area. Wow. He was brilliant. He was brilliant. Amy? I just, when you were saying there about, you know, when he has a, you know, makes a mistake or something, just, he obviously will, but the way he is at the moment, it just doesn't look like making a mistake. He has this,

incredible decision-making, I think. This maturity of decision-making where whatever he's choosing to do on the ball seems to be the right thing. I mean, it doesn't feel like he's given the ball away at all since he's been in the team, which is...

extraordinary Joe Cole likened him to Messi on BT on TNT Sport and you think calm down but and Alan Shearer actually on Match of the Day called him a potential superstar is what he called him and I think that that is that is the right way to talk about him right now we know we can see with our own eyes how good he is

but he's 17. I do think we have to just be mindful of the calendar recently. It's been a bit easier with, you know, a week in between games, the trip to Dubai, so on and so on since we've,

had a kind of chronic shortage of attackers. But when the Champions League comes back, if he's in a position of playing maybe 100 minutes plus stoppage time, if you're keeping him on all the time, twice a week, every three days, that is just a different kind of load, maybe. So I think we're all agreed that he will be playing a part in, we would hope,

pretty much every game from here on in. But it's maybe sometimes, especially when Saka and Martinelli are back, either coming on as a sub or doing a first hour or something and then taking a breather. We have got to be a little bit careful. But meanwhile, what an absolute blessing that he's here in red and white.

Adrian had a little smile on his face when you were talking about him then because it is something isn't it to get a kid I'd like to say I'd like to talk about him together really but when Airey is undoubtedly a special talent and when you see him emerge and listen he got on for the first team at 15 at Brentford he's off the charts good but he's yeah he does seem to be off the charts good he does he's just ridiculous so

But so Saka, you know, so it's really interesting to see what happens because I effectively think he's like the perfect blend between Saka and Erdogan. Yes. And actually, if you look at the positions where he does the beers, it's in the, I would say, it's equidistant between where Saka does his best bits and where Erdogan does his best bits. And you can't see all three really playing together, can you? So,

Yeah, who knows what's going to happen. I can at some point. I can. Detlef Rice behind Waneri and Erdegaard is exactly what I can see. It would be very attacking, wouldn't it? It would be a very attacking team, but it would be exciting. Great. That's what I want. But also, it's about, you know, addressing maybe bringing Martin into the conversation is an interesting point. You know, on form, maybe at the moment, you'd be picking Saka and Waneri because Erdegaard has been...

not at his best this season. You know, we can't hide from that. It's good in this game though. I liked him in that second goal, the way he brought the ball out and played it to Calafiore. But he seems to be playing so much deeper. I mean, in my mind's eye, the game...

I just seemed to keep noticing him around the halfway line. And when I think about, you know, the Odegaard of a couple of seasons ago when he was banging in goals and assists for fun, it felt like he was just doing most of his work 20, 30 yards up the pitch from that halfway line. Isn't that better though? In a way, like we want the pitch to be stretched. Sometimes, yeah, when there's a little scoopy pass, that scoopy pass he did to Trossard, you know, he's got that brilliance, but

Sometimes being deeper isn't necessarily a negative. That's all I'm saying. I think you see with Bruno Fernandes, and that's a bad example because United are so bad. But Bruno Fernandes can play now as a central midfielder. And I actually feel you're right, Stoney, when you said about that midfield makeup of Rice, Erdegaard and Waneri. It could work because Waneri and Erdegaard are so good without the ball as well. Like they wouldn't be loose cannons, would they? You could trust them.

So it's a possibility, definitely.

They get a humbric off and you can see that they are more free to play. Detlef Reiss in the second half, he was really leading by example, wasn't he? And he gets up and down. You could see his big smiley face congratulating Mourinho as well. He is back to his best, isn't he, Detlef, by the way? It's nice to see. Adrian, I mean, he can do it by himself, but maybe he needs some help for some of the bigger games.

Yeah, yeah. No, he's definitely, he's miles, miles better now, isn't he, than he was earlier on in the season, Declan. So yeah, no, he's loving it. And yeah, I do think ultimately he'll probably will go back into that six position. But it depends who we bring in, doesn't it? In the summer, there's the rumours about Zubamendi. And if that's the case, then you think, well, Rice has to be in the team. Maybe, you know, he has to be left eight. Yeah.

So I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen moving forward. But yeah, he had a great game. I do think Odegaard was understatedly good in the game. Brilliant for that second goal, like you said. I looked at the ground he covered. It was miles more than anyone else. And I just felt like he took responsibility in the second half, in particular Odegaard. He basically didn't stop running.

And that's what you want for your skipper, isn't it? They don't, though. Amy, they don't, though, do they? I mean, whatever else, you know, they did look a bit short in that first half, which I just watched for 70 minutes. I'll never get back again that time. But they're giving everything, aren't they? They are giving absolutely everything, this team. And I know the fans can moan and we moan, but my God, this team, they are going to push it to the line, aren't they? Let's hope.

By the way, if you're watching the TV coverage, Martin Keown and Ruvan Nisaroi were reunited. Martin actually apologized to him, which I was sort of annoyed about. Don't apologize to him. Don't.

Don't do that. Do you not remember what he did? Yeah, yeah. He cheated to get Patrick sent off. What are you saying sorry for? Yeah, yeah. I think it was the aftermath, to be honest with you. Even though Martin, I don't think Martin, even now maybe, doesn't quite realise what that felt like to Arsenal fans. He was shouting and roaring for all of us.

at Rude Van Nistelrooy. Anyway, it's all fine now, apparently, but I do hope... He is really nice. Underneath it all, Martin, he's a really nice person. So, you know, I think his natural inclination would be there to be nice to Rude, but yeah, I didn't want him to do it. I'm with Amy. Yeah. I think he's...

always felt slightly embarrassed about it like you know when the when the sort of heat died down

It was clearly an emotional, instant, spontaneous reaction. And it wasn't just him, let's be honest. It was half the team. We had about a collective 20-match band spread across five or six players after that incident. Yeah, Lowry wasn't looking particularly friendly, was he, at that point? Or Ray Parler. I don't know him, but you know...

Ruud van Nistelrooy is probably a charming fella as well underneath it all. You know, you just don't know, do you? But,

But there is something about particularly these high level elite competitors when they cross the line that you go through probably a necessary personality change. You know, there's your person that you are at home and every day and there's your person that you are when you're trying to win a football match that matters more than anything else in the world at that specific time. And that's probably the way it should be.

Did I ever tell you that when I did a radio show with Martin Keown and the host, Gabby Logan, asked him, what's it like preparing for a big game? And he was sat next to me, Martin Keown, and Martin starts describing the build-up of energy and how you sort of get yourself ready and the wave of energy coming off him. I could feel it. It was really hitting me quite hard. I thought, oh, my God. And that real competitor said,

Anyway, by the way, Arsenal women, five. Tottenham women, nil. 56,000 at the Emirates on a chilly Sunday to cheer on the team. Did any of you catch it? I saw highlights. Adrian, did you see any of it? I saw some of it live. I went out and watched the Leicester women, actually. But I did see it and I listened to some of it as well. And we were absolutely camped.

in the Spurs half we were absolutely all over them the whole game it was attack versus defence there were some good goals in there it was a really impressive performance they're playing well now aren't they and they're not going to win the title because Chelsea just don't stop winning could win the Champions League you know because you only have to win a one off match don't you if you can get to the final

And I wouldn't, I wouldn't rule that out completely, but, but yeah, Rene Slagos is, is, is doing a great job. And, um,

It was a blessing, really. I think, you know, that she was given it on a part-time basis and then proved herself. So, yeah, the girls clearly are giving more for her than they were for Jonas. It's as simple as that. And we did get a message from John. Great to see 56,000 gooners turn up on a cold Sunday to cheer on the team. Will they need to issue a refund given Tottenham didn't turn up? LAUGHTER

Great show. Keep up the good work. Thank you, John. Let's have a song to finish. Amy, what song have you got for us? I'm tempted to pick Wham and Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go just because it's...

We were leaving the away and a few people started up with, wake me up before you go, go. Who needs a striker when you've got Marino? I like it, by the way. Which was good. That's pretty good, you know, and it scans as well. But it was a bit, it was a bit late in the kind of, it didn't take off in the stands because it was, you know, everyone was already doing the other one. But yeah, that was good. But now I'm going to pick a song in honour of my mate Paddy Barkley.

Oh my God, bless him, Paddy. What a lovely, lovely man. Yeah, he was a phenomenal friend and a phenomenal writer. He, I don't know why, but he befriended me and encouraged me and pushed me to try and

get opportunities that I would never have even dreamed of as a young writer. He was a real mentor and supporter. And I used to think, why has he done that? And in time, I realised that he did that for lots of people. And that was him. It had nothing to do with me. That was him being an incredibly generous person who saw good in people and had a lot of fun with people.

And we didn't share the same music taste. We did a lot of travelling about together in the good old days. And I remember how much he absolutely loved Common People by The Pulp. He just thought it was great. So I'm going to choose that. And that's for Paddy till we meet again. I want to sleep with.

Yeah.

yeah full of admiration for his work Twinkly wasn't he yeah I wish I'd known him really I didn't really know him but yeah no he was one of the greats no doubt about that in our business yeah I've gone for on a slight different tone but I've gone for I wanted to do a song around Marino and I've gone with Plan B obviously an artist Plan B because he is our Plan B and

It's going to have to be. He's plan A at the moment, mate. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I'll level with you. I only really know one Plan B song. She said it's a pretty good song. Quite like it. So there you go. Plan B. She said I love you. She said I love you, baby. Oh, oh.

Oh, I've got two, by the way. One is just a pure pop song by a group, I wouldn't say a band, called Icona Pop, Emergency, because of Mikael being in Emergency. And the other one has nothing to do with anything. It's just my son was at a club dancing, you know, sort of house, I think it was, sort of house vibe. And then in the middle, they stopped playing house music and they played Whole Lotta Love. Oh, my God.

by Led Zeppelin right start to finish now I've asked my clubbing mates there's been a mixed reaction to a DJ doing something like that Alexander absolutely loved it and he said that John Bonham drumming coming out of big speakers is really something so yeah I'm having a whole lot of love also I do have a whole lot of love this weekend for Mick and Marina

That sounds amazing. I'm right up for that. I would have been up for it as well. I would absolutely love that had I been a bit like that. And I've had a bit of a deep dive into Led Zeppelin because of that, to be honest. But yeah, not everyone approved. Go on, Amy. Just before we go, I just want to shout out Oli, who I met on the train as he came stumbling through looking for the toilet on the way back to London after the Leicester game. And he was very cheerful and...

He was full of happy Arsenal vibes. And it was a very nice moment when he went, oh, I know that voice. And then went and rattled through his phone and got on his Spotify and went, handbrake. That was it. Because he couldn't remember. I wasn't sure how much he remembered generally, but I'm hopeful that he remembered those team weekend Marino goals and a really good day out. Sure he would. Well, while we're doing shout outs, by the way, Harry, who I did a gig with at the weekend in Lowestoft, which is,

if you honestly travel to lowest of it is you realize britain's quite a big country if you do it at ground level so um uh harry who is a fan of the pod and his dad's a fan of the pod as well as a young comic and uh going nicely and um we were working together so hello harry and thank you for listening

That's it for this edition of Home Break Off. Thanks to Adrian. Thanks to Amy. Thanks to Jay, our producer. We'll speak to some of you Thursday. Take it easy. Ta-ra.