Arsenal_AM_Episode_22_Budapest bound and we have come together

A look back at the Arsenal At.Madrid semi-final the magic of the fans and the harmony that we have found over the years since Mikel Arteta took over and the distance we have come from finishing 8th to favourites for the league and in the champions league final. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Good morning. Arsenal now playing PSG for the Champions League. We owe them after last year. I think last year we'd have had a if we'd faced any other keeper other than Dunarama, we'd have beaten PSG. So I while they are a fantastic team, I don't think they should hold that much but in the way of fear for us. But again, let's let's wait and see. Um I didn't get to do much of a pod yesterday morning. My voice was very, very rough. And I blame the Arsenal players for making me want to shout a lot. Um so I actually met a number of uh people from the North Kerry Arsenal Supporters Club, and before the game I got some predictions off them. So let's have a look at how they thought the game was gonna play out before it played out.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Hello, how are you doing? Uh Shana Biscal here from the Arsenal Kerry Sporters Club. Um heading to the game today, so predicting an Arsenal win, hopefully 2-1, I think. Prediction, I'm gonna go with uh Arsenal to win an extra time.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

You want us to suffer, boy, you want us to suffer. You're looking for value for money, lads.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Um my prediction is I wouldn't be surprised if it's penalty show out. I'm gonna say two nils of the arsenal. Yeah, I'd actually predict penalty as well.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

I'm gonna go with uh either two nil or two two one Yakuray Saka.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So we had no no correct scores, but um you know there was cer certainly a good level of optimism that we get through and we did. I think having a look at the the lineup again, you know, we had very attacking lineup from Mikarla Teta. I think starting both White and Calafiori gave us attacking options from full back, probably made put a lot more pressure on Saliba and Gabrielle to defend as as a two as a duo rather than as the foresome, and you know they held up to that for sure. In midfield putting Miles Louis Skelly in there with Rice and Essa just in front of him. I think Miles Lewis Kelly is excellent for us on the mostly on the basis that he always is willing to receive the ball, even if there's a guy behind him that he's willing to take it and see you know, try and turn the man, maybe try and win a win a free kick. He's not afraid to get on the ball, and I think from time to time we will get caught with that, but in general I don't think you can fault fault him, and I just do love the attitude he comes comes with. Um he just can be very much in your face without being obnoxiously so you know I I I admire the confidence that that he has, so yeah, more of that please. Behind Yakra is he had Saka, Ezra and Trossard, and again probably are three most technical players for those spots. Some question about Odegaard. I probably think Odegaard might be might serve us better dropping into the midfield midfield too, either as a rice odegaard or Zuberman de Odegaard type again where where he fits in with Miles in that I don't think you could play Audegaard Miles in that in that duo. But I think if SA is fit and playing well, that might be something, but again, at the moment they're kind of managing minutes, managing injuries, so it's not a concern. Up front Yakras was immense. I think the running he did with off the ball to get to the ball, driving, you know, holding up the ball, being a constant outball for for us. Ray was putting the ball up and the ball was sticking and he was winning frees. All that was missing last night for him was a goal, but I don't think we can argue you know too much about that. He probably would have been my man of the match, but um yeah, they they don't pay me for any of that stuff, so Declan Rice got it. But again, right Rice was white Rice was brilliant and drove drove the team as well. Couple of times Rice was driving through the centre of the pitch, maybe could have had a shot, but may also have been feeling a bit tired having driven through the the centre of the pitch and covered a lot of ground. The Emirates itself was an absolute star last night or the night before, and what what the fans gave even pre-match with the red action meet meeting the team buses, I think was just a a different experience than most would have had around the Emirates or Highbury again, the Highbury Library jibe that is there. I think what we saw and witnessed was a very much a collective harmony that Arteta has looked for to create an atmosphere, uh a cauldron, and it probably was as close to that as it's ever been. So I have some footage of the Atletico team arriving, so I'll just play the sound from that. The fans got behind the team from the get-go providing um energy. And again, we've lacked energy and but I don't think we're kind of lack lack for energies now. Uh just have some footage now of the Arsenal team arriving so you can have have a quick listen to that. I felt that the renditions of North London forever were spectacularly delivered quite a high level of emotion around the place, was it? Um, and here's this uh clip from the end of the game. Which while it has been building steadily over the over the years, it took a long time because there was a lot of disharmony over over the years post-Fanger, even at the end of Wanger, which is which was horrible to see. But it certainly did reflect the sentiment at the time, and it a lot of people were didn't give the boss the backing that he has now. Again, winning the FA Cup and then being out of Europe and you know eighth place finishes and at times not playing very attractive football as he looked to reshape and rebuild the squad. I think we now have a a harmony that has come through the this the the team. You know, we don't don't hear any fighting, we don't have any of the the media leaks that we used to have and some of the issues that I suppose where there was cliques and disharmony that our team and our group do seem to be very much together and so do our fan base. It's you know we we're probably in a dangerous time when we're constantly finishing second over the last number of years, but we definitely have built and connected with something, and again we're just a matter of games, minutes away from something special, and last night or the the game against Athleti was certainly an embodiment of that. I think we also need to give Mikarl Atleta a lot of praise for where he's brought us in his time. Not to say it's not been without mistakes, you know we could have probably won another cup here or there. We were close close a number of times in the league and we dropped it. I think not having a a number nine last year hurt. Even if had we had our our number nine last year, I think the injuries probably would have had a toll. But being so close and or not last year, but being close to the year previous, I think everyone need felt we needed the number nine. And again, I think market dictated that there wasn't one for us. And I think Arteta has built a great squad, a great team harmony. Uh he's easy mill easily maligned by people outside, you know, oh he had the pickpockets in all that that stupid, you know, the they had the pen thing, they had the f the the fire thing, and people just sort of give it a bit of it's it's an opportunity to make fun because it's something different. And again, we we put that out there in the media ourselves, so we're kind of a little bit guilty of facilitating that, but again, the club have to generate content, we so we kind of put that that stuff out there and it's a different media environment to say George Graham, who probably did some elements that we're not aware of because of the time it was just to stimulate the players, you know Claudio Cudicini, not Kudicini, Renieri, when he was with Lester, there was a big deal over the him taking the the team, the Lester team for pizzas and things and it w it wasn't as ridiculous or it wasn't given the same sort of attention as Artet has got for some of the things. So I think he's done a remarkable job on for his first job, his first leader first time taking ownership or management. I think he we've had to witness some on-the-job learning, but I think he has done that. I think he's got the ownership to spend money, so he's clearly been able to manage up. He's got rid of all the cliques, he's got rid of all the the negative characters that we had when he took over. And just looking at the starting lineup that he had for his first game, we had Leno, Milton Niles, Socrates, David Louise, Saka at left back, Terrera, Ozil, Jack, Granitchaka, Obami Yang, Lacazette, and Nelson. Not one player in position. And there is you know, only one of eleven that has been any way really kind of present the whole way through. It's a huge amount of turnover that he's done and overseen. I don't think you can argue that any of those players would get into our present Arsenal Arsenal team. And I think many of whom have left have never achieved I think maybe that's a little unfair, haven't gone on to a level that has seen them uh be seen as a regret. I think Granite Jacca has done a great job with Sunderland and with Leverkusen beforehand. Uh Leno has been fine in for Fulham. And but uh other than that, I think everyone else has taken steps down. Uh so to oversee that the the players he's brought in, like Gabrielle, um I know Salibra wasn't one of his, but he's integrated Saliba. You know, we we had Ben White come in, we've really built with Rice and and Odegaard and Zugumendi, we've created a midfield that is probably one of the best midfields in the country. We'd certainly have the best defensive unit in I think in Europe, and we will certainly see a the best attack versus the best defence in the Champions League final. And again, while we have plenty of time to build up to that game, just looking back on last year's semi-final, we lost 3-1. We bet them in the league stage 3-0, so we bet them 4-3 on aggregate. Um nobody talks about that enough for for my liking. We were clearly the better team over the course of the full season. Um but I I think how we played in those games. My biggest regret from the games was that we gave up an early goal against PSG in the home leg. It absolutely killed us because the atmosphere of the ground was good to go, but we that hurt got to us and we weren't able to generate an atmosphere like was generated against Atleti. And again, having the games where Arsenal were away second leg with the squad limitations that we had, and I still think we we were close to getting results. We really pinned PSG back early in that in the second leg, and just the inability to score a goal early on cost us. But we're now facing a a PSG team that have climbed the mountain top with Kaviskelia, Dewey, Barcola, Dembele, Barcola all fearsome and fearsomely quick attackers. It will not be an easy day in Budapest, but I still don't think we we need fearsome. You know, they've they've got everything to lose as European champions. You know, they're gonna be favourites, the pressure's on them. For us it's I'm hoping that we have an elation going in the squad where we have won probably the most difficult domestic league in the world and then taking that energy, that positivity into PSG with an attitude of we don't we don't really have the expectation to win, but we can. And you know, I think whatever way we set up would be very interesting to see. But that's a question for about three weeks' time. In the meantime, let's go win the league.