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S1-E12: Crossover Thursday! Arsenal VS Aston Villa!
25 Plays10 months ago
It's crossover Thursday and Josh and Esmonde have made the journey over to the Daily Villa Podcast to discuss the upcoming weekend fixture, expect deep analysis, Villa aspirations and insane shouts from one of the Arsenal boys... i wander which one?
Host : Nick Sanders
Guests : Craig Birtwistle
Special Guests : Esmonde Cole, Josh Vince
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
wow
Introduction and Episode Format
00:00:10
Speaker
hello and welcome to the global sports podcast network and this is the crossover episode between the daily villa and the daily arsenal i'm your host for today my name is nick sanders proudly representing the daily villa and i'm joined by my colleague the stateside villain craig burke whistle how are you craig doing very good mate looking forward to the episode Yeah, equally as important as well on a scale of 10 to 10. How excited are you with football coming back to the pre Premier League football coming back to Villa Park this weekend? Out of 10, probably about a 15. So i'm like I'm really looking forward to this weekend.
00:00:41
Speaker
ah Sounds about right mate. It's been long awaited. I can't wait to get back to my ah seat on the front row of the whole. It's been been a while. The summer months are always a bit difficult when that comes around, but soon be back. Of course, as it is a crossover episode, I need to introduce our friends over at the Daily Arsenal. So a warm welcome to both Esman Cole and Josh Vince. How are you both? Feeling like a 20 out of 20 mate. Oh yeah. Ready to dull some revenge.
00:01:04
Speaker
Oh yeah, sweet to be honest. It started early, it started early. That's what we like though, we like it. is it The banter's the best part of it mate, I'm looking forward to it. um So very quickly before we do start, I've got to ask you both, obviously I know Craig quite well now. um It's been a pleasure getting to know him and the Villa boys, but how did you both become fans of Arsenal?
00:01:22
Speaker
Uh, well for me, it was actually, I was quite young and I remember watching Arsenal vs Man United and I think Arsenal lost the game and I was like, I kind of like these plucky underdogs. I'm a, I'm a take him. So I actually could have ended up being a United fan, but because I just enjoy pain, I chose Arsenal. Um, ah but then that pain subsided because then we became invincible. Um, and here we are.
00:01:48
Speaker
looking to push for the title and enact some revenge on some ah true, true villains. So yeah, that's that's that's my villain story. How about yours, Josh? For me, it was very much based. I was quite a late bloomer into football and I started witnessing the invincible season as it was happening just at the time when my uncle started talking more and more to me about football. So Arsenal became the natural progression. ah My dad was a Liverpool fan and said that you're never going to experience anything but pain.
00:02:16
Speaker
just gonna experience loss sadness and suffering and you're gonna go sleep in the shed if you don't become a Liverpool fan so I slept in the shed for a week and um and yeah have suffered greatly for my choice but suffered with suffered with a smile that's the way the Arsenal way has been and now now we're ready to ah really push on and really really damage some other teams and Craig, I've got to say to you right away, just listening to the comments from both Asman and Josh there, they don't know what pain is, do they? I don't know. until you've gone to Robberham on a Friday night, I tell you.
00:02:54
Speaker
ah we got that You've got a couple of those loads to enjoy the highs, mate. It's the and joy being it's the villa way, isn't it? It's always up and down. so For everyone listening or maybe even watching, this is your first experience of a crossover episode and you missed out on last week on what turned out to be two strong starts for both Aston Villa and Arsenal. The crossover is a shared podcast hosted by the home team for the subsequent upcoming fixture.
Arsenal's Season Challenges and Expectations
00:03:15
Speaker
We're going to be bouncing thoughts, predictions, and as you've already heard, some much welcome banter between the two sets of hosts.
00:03:20
Speaker
when the two teams meet again which in the case of Aston Villa and Arsenal that's scheduled to be I believe the 18th of January so the daily Arsenal will be given the reins to lead the crossover and hopefully we'll be able to give some banter back. So on to Saturday under the likes of Villa Park this will be the 204th meeting of Aston Villa and Arsenal in all competitions and in the last 10 meetings all being Premier League fixtures it's a case of five wins for Villa and five wins for Arsenal with a surprising double last season with a 1-0 and a 2-0 win for the Villa respectively.
00:03:48
Speaker
So, Esman, starting off with you, a new season underway. How are your initial feelings about the game on Saturday? you know I think it's it's one of those where like you look in the running and you're like, damn, and there's no easy games, and this is another one. When I say running, the running for us, I mean, like the first five games, those are quite tricky. But with like we were kind of talking about this in the other podcast.
00:04:09
Speaker
with our tater, there's been a thing, a constant thing where he's been able to break hoodoos. So when it comes to like, you know, not being able to beat top six sides, like my United's and Chelsea's for years under Vengo, we just hadn't been able to do it properly. And then with our tater, we've been able to do that. And then some with, you know, challenging for the title. So I think when it comes to stuff like this, where like, you know, you guys have been our bogey. Well, you were our bogey team last year, for sure.
00:04:32
Speaker
I think there's going to be, you know, now some retribution and that that that team talk is going to be crazy from Artetto. So um I'm feeling slightly confident, but I don't think it's going to be an easy game at all. I think it's gonna if we are going to win it, it's going to be a very, very tight game. And how about yourself, Josh?
00:04:48
Speaker
um I do actually entirely have to agree with Esmond. I was saying ah just before we got started, I'm over the moon that a trip to Villa Park is second on the card. So we can just get it over and done with like it's one of Villa is one of the fixtures that scares the living daylights out of me. It has been for some years. So I'm nervous. I'm not going to lie. I'm very nervous about going into it, but you know, it's Arsenal. We got to be hopeful. We're pushing for a title.
00:05:17
Speaker
So I'm afraid we have to win lads. And Craig, from a Villa perspective, surely you've got to be up for this one. Well, this ah this podcast will air on a Thursday and I can tell you already, I'm nervous.
00:05:30
Speaker
I don't know what it is about the fact that like, I usually talk about it 24-7 even before the podcast, but like I'm talking about it even more than I usually do. ah So i'm I'm super excited for this. I would love to say come Sunday morning that we still, Emery still has our tetta in his back pocket, but we'll soon see.
00:05:52
Speaker
I'm looking forward to that debate later on. I'm sure that will be one of the key topics that we discuss. I for one can't wait for it. This will be my 30 second season in a row now on the front row of the hole. And after today, I know Craig will be well aware of this. I was up there today when Amy Martinez announced live in the club shop that he was signing on for another couple of years as Villa goalkeeper and my six year old son was absolutely buzzing. So a little bit tired after the two and a half hour wait for a photo with him. But we go again.
00:06:17
Speaker
So right now we're going to be taking an early break and when we return we're going to be shining the spotlight and Aston Villa, how Craig and I think we may line up, who will be the focal players and where we feel Arsenal will cause us most trouble. We'll be right back after the short message courtesy of Zencaster.
00:06:31
Speaker
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00:06:47
Speaker
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00:07:16
Speaker
Welcome back to the Global Sports Podcast Network crossover episode between the Daily Villa and the Daily Arsenal, head of this Saturday's Premier League clash
Aston Villa's Tactical Preparations
00:07:22
Speaker
at Villa Park. And I've got no hesitation in saying, I'm sure you'll all agree, it's easily the biggest game of all 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend. In this section, we're going to be focusing on Unai Emery's men. So to start with Craig, we've discussed over the last few days a review of the West Ham win, which was a sort of pleasant surprise for us. First game of the season's to notoriously ah usually bad in the history of Villa's case. but coming away with three points from London and the performances of the squad selected last week. So to start off with how pleased were you with the team selection itself from last weekend and is it a case of starting with the same team when we go into the Arsenal game on Saturday? Yeah going into the game I was a little disappointed that we didn't go straight away with Mattson at left back.
00:08:00
Speaker
and that fact that we went with Dean instead but I think Dean actually proved me wrong during that game. I think he he played fantastic and we spoke about briefly how um we didn't think Bailey and Watkins were both on form in that game. It was kind of nitpicking because eat the others um for example did so well um but I don't see any need to change anything from this team this weekend. I feel we deserve the same players to go out. I know Watkins is lacking match fitness at the moment but I do think Duran is better coming off the bench.
00:08:37
Speaker
i think he's kind of that sort of oigundous soulhar sort of mix where it doesn't matter about start and can just get on and mix it about with it and so yeah i I wouldn't change a single thing going into this game and I think as long as we're on form we can give anyone a game.
00:08:56
Speaker
I think the only sort of change I can see sort of happening myself is potentially the right back position. So injury-wise, there's a few sort of concerns around Matty Cash. um Had to come off in the West Ham game, replaced by Kost and Ned Elkovic. I'm amazed I've managed to pronounce that perfectly this time. I know, mate. I know, mate. Thank you, mate. I'm going to big myself up for that one. um A lot of potential links still to Lutsa Al-Gatruda from Fire and Order as well. and So right back is an area that we've highlighted day after day as being a bit of a sort of issue for Villa. How do you see the back line lining up on Saturday?
00:09:26
Speaker
I don't see there being a change barring Cash's fitness. In the event that Cash isn't fit, I do think because of such an important game, I think Kanza will drift outright and Carlos will come in. And Josh, asking, I've got a wealth of attacking players, so should we have an issue right back going into the weekend?
Arsenal's Attacking Threats for the Match
00:09:45
Speaker
Who do you see starting for yourselves out of potentially would be Gabriel Martinelli again, or maybe Leandro Trossard being a focal point on your left-hand side of attack?
00:09:53
Speaker
um For me, it's gotta be Martinelli starting on the left side. He is, out of the two, he's the more explosive, more dangerous player. And to be honest, when it comes to impacting off the bench, Trossard has a much better sort of stat range when he comes in as an impact sub than Martinelli does. ah Especially if there's going to be a potential issue at right back, then that is exactly the sort of thing that Arteta will be looking to really, really exploit.
00:10:18
Speaker
So, it's got to be the Brazilian Wonderboy. It's got to be. I mean, who's the backup right back for you guys? At the moment, it's a young lad called Kostan and Okovic. A lot of people wouldn't have heard of, but if anything we've seen of him in pre-season comes to the fore, and when he came on against West Ham, only 18 years old, the size of the lad for an 18-year-old. I don't know if he sleeps in a grow bag, but you'll see what I mean at the weekend. But at the same time, the pace of the guy is absolutely phenomenal. He's come with a super reputation in terms of strength, ability, confidence, but it's a huge test for him to go into a game like this. I think the only other way I can see it being shifted around is if he was to play cons or a right back, but right now with sort of centre backs being another issue that we've got in terms of our backup players, I don't really want to see cons being shifted across the right back.
00:11:07
Speaker
and Esmond Albert yourself, you think it's going to be Martinelli as well? Just a quick question on that, do because you said you mentioned his pace, do you think he's a pacey enough to deal with a Martinelli if he is brought in? I genuinely think he's it out of him in cash. If you're going on ah on a running battle, I'd go with Costa. He's quicker than cash.
00:11:24
Speaker
o like serendipitous It's going to be an interesting one. I think they say it's it's a huge test for him if he gets thrown in straight away. That's the only reason that I think there may be a bit of a shift around at the back. But then, as Craig will probably allude to in a minute, in terms of the centre half position, it's who we go with over playing cons. They're in there. Diego Carlos has been a bit out of favour in terms of pre-season links to be moving to Fulham. So ah I don't really know how he's going to go with it. I do think he will have to end up going with Costa, though, right back. What do you think, Craig? Yeah, Saragon.
00:11:57
Speaker
Yeah, I i agree. um I think the the young lad came on. um He did a good game. um I honestly thought it was a like-for-like substitution the way he played against West Ham. That's to give him as much credit as possible that he came in representing just what Cash did. I felt Cash struggled at times. um Remind me against the left-winger for West Ham. Can't remember his name.
00:12:22
Speaker
I think Cuddus was playing against him for Massey. He was running at him quite a bit and Cash was struggling. um I don't know if that was injury beside or just the actual ability. I think, as you said, he has the pace to be able to deal with it, but does he have the tactical smarts in order to play against such a good left-winger? So for me, I think it's too much of a risk um that Emory would make for that game. I see him playing more and against teams like your Fulhams, your Crystal Palaces, and stuff like that. But those top six teams, I think it just needs a more experienced head. And the fact that we don't usually tack as much out of the right as we do out at the left,
00:13:01
Speaker
I think he'll pick Kanza and play him with an inverted fallback and have him tucking in towards making more of a back three in transition. Yeah it's certainly been a big debate around the sort of Villa camp over the course of the week and I think after seeing Anana's performance last week as well he's added that extra sort of line in front of the back of the two centre halves which has just sort of shooed us up a little bit. I don't expect us to see like the amount of time that you had on the ball at West Ham which I think I've already alluded to this week was a bit of a shock, really, that they didn't really react to it in the second half. I was expecting people to be closing down a little bit more. He seemed to have the freedom of London Stadium, which I'm sure the Arsenal team will be sort of set up to cramp the style a little bit, stopping getting as much time on the ball as he did. And we've we've sort of mentioned his stats this week as well.
00:13:43
Speaker
96.8% passing rate, getting shots away, perfect passing left and right hand side in terms of pass percentage, interceptions galore. So somebody I would have thought would be put on him from the start of the game in terms of the Arsenal camp, which we'll touch upon later on. You've already mentioned Ollie Watkins. He looked as if he was lacking a little bit of sharpness, which I kind of feel like we expected a little bit.
00:14:03
Speaker
seen as he didn't really play during pre-season and didn't really get a lot of time in the England squad and there's been a lot of rumours up this way that there was a slight knock or an injury and he has got a phenomenal record against Arsenal with five goals in li in eight league games against them so if he's still lacking match fitness I've got to bring up the man at the moment be it positive or negative depending on how you see him in John Duran. When you say you see him sort of featuring at the weekend judging on how well he did when he came on there hasn't even been some clamour from some courts for him to start this weekend until Watkins is fit. What are your thoughts on that?
00:14:34
Speaker
I think it's a case of Watkins is not going to get fit without game time. And I think the next two or three games will be pre-season. And I do think though, if we can get 60 to 70 minutes out of him and have him being effective, I would take that and have Duran come on for him. I'm a big fan of Duran, but I do think it's it's more of a better idea to start Watkins to begin with.
00:15:03
Speaker
yeah i think I think we've just got to keep that going and we've just got to hope that sort of again, the match fitness is only going to come from playing in these games and we know what threat we've got there. Hopefully the record continues, but we'll see how we go. So, Esman, how do you see Aston Villa as an opposition fan in terms of where do you see the dangers and the threats going into this game? Yeah, I mean, I mean i think it's your wingers. You've got such great wingers in terms of like not only work great, but pace. So, Bailey is just absolutely electric i mean like on his day. i mean when he went through and slalom through and hit the post against, um, against West Ham, I was like, he's done literally everything right. Bar like the finish. and I don't know if that's maybe a contentious thing for you guys as he maybe he needs to add that to his game in terms of finishing, but he's a brilliant player. Um, again, I mentioned him in our, in our podcast that if, if he's, if he's on fire, cause obviously, you know, captain fantastic, if he's on fire, he can drive that team to, to, to a win, especially if you know, all your Watkins is struggling a bit. He's the one for me that can.
00:16:00
Speaker
I can do bits, but if you're talking about also signings of the season, you got to, you know, if you're talking maybe like top five or nine is probably going to be there coming into the season already proving his worth. And obviously we were linked with them as well. So it's a bit frustrating that we didn't go for him, but in our tester we trust. So I'm sure there was a reason for it. But yeah, I mean, I think your, your, your wingers for now are definitely probably like and my main concern because obviously Watkins is lacking in a bit of March match a sharpness for, um,
00:16:30
Speaker
So yeah, those wingers are going to be going to be a bit of a problem for us for sure.
Player Performance and Form Analysis
00:16:33
Speaker
And I think, Craig, you'll probably vouch for this one for me. I think for me, the the one player that, again, stood out last week without getting a lot of sort of mentions other than Tillamans and Anana, Morgan Rogers just seems to be going from strength to strength. I know I'm a massive fan boy because I've said before, I teach his younger brother. But at the same time, I think we've got somebody there that just seems to be adding to his game week by week. Pace last week looked a completely different level to last season.
00:16:55
Speaker
I agree. I feel that the Fenders were backing off. I'm absolutely with pure fear yeah last week in the West Ham game. I feel he drifted out of the game toward in the middle part of the game. But when he was running that plays, he looked super effective.
00:17:11
Speaker
Craig, I'm going to give you the chance to be taking over the role now of Arsenal's best-ever manager after Arsene Wenger in Unai Emery, and give me your 11 for the game on Saturday. You're really trying to wind these guys up, aren't you? It's working. It's not a good evening. I'm going to go along the lines of saying that cash is out for the game, so I would go Martinet in goal, back four of Kunza, Carlos, Torres and Dean.
00:17:41
Speaker
midfield of Onana, Tealumans and McGinn and Bailey on the right, Rogers on the left and Watkins on top. Yeah, I think I tend to agree. I think they the one player I think you'll see getting back into that first team in the next couple of weeks, I think is Jacob Ramsey. I think he looked back to close to what we know Jacob Ramsey has against West Ham after the amount of injuries he had last year. So that's the only change I can see coming soon. But yeah, I tend to agree with you in terms of the lineup. That finishes the focus on Aston Villa. We'll be back following this short message from the Global Sports Podcasting Network.
00:18:11
Speaker
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00:18:40
Speaker
And welcome back to the final section of this Global Sports Podcast Network crossover episode featuring the Daily Villa and the Daily Arsenal. We've already heard all things Aston Villa, so it's now time for Esman and Josh to step into the weigh-in and flex their Gooners muscles. In regards to your starting lineup, I want to start off by just asking, how do you feel in terms of how you played against Wolves last week? um Where can you see there being any changes, if possible?
00:19:03
Speaker
So in terms of how we played last week, I think it was a really solid performance. there was There was a couple of little moments at the back where there was clearly a little bit of a lack of match sharpness. ah Oddly from William Saliba, which we actually spoke about on Monday, he kind of almost gave the ball away in a very... Well, no, he did give the ball away in a very, very tricky situation.
00:19:24
Speaker
and there is a player that we're a little bit worried about coming up against you guys who will probably get to ah in our left back position. The only change which is I can really potentially see happening is Declan Bryce because he did he did get a bit of cramp in the game. However, he has been pictured in training and while the likes of Jorginho and Kettier Nelson haven't been. So he's probably likely to play. And if he's not, I'd see Haverts dropping in and Gabrielle Jesus starting up front. What about you, Esman?
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, like I'm sure Rice will play because he's he's an absolute tank. like is His appearance record, him and Odegard, has been crazy over the last few seasons. And that's what we kind of had with Jaco as well, in terms of that was almost a talent in itself just to be available. um But yeah, man, i think I think in terms of the lineup, I think it's going to be pretty much the same bar bar one.
00:20:15
Speaker
um I think that's good kind of an obvious one as well. And that's David Ray. I know I'm joking. Unbelievable performance. um But yeah, I don't know if we're going to get to that later. But yeah, I think it's pretty much going to be the same sidebar one in the back.
00:20:31
Speaker
yeah I've got to ask as well, I was listening to your crossover with with the yeah Wolves guys last week. I just want to see if you've sort of changed any opinion at all. Kai Havertz, how do you see him going this season? and King Kai. It's not us who have the problem with Kai, it's the other Josh.
00:20:48
Speaker
you've You've missed Josh, this guy. he's the He's different, Josh. How dare you? I am the chi-loving Josh. I will back that man to the hill. um I think, honestly, the way he holds up play and he's a really intelligent footballer, he's not the most you know technically superb player in the world. Sure. He's pretty technical, possibly. He is pretty technical.
00:21:12
Speaker
But he's so smart, he's so smart and the way he drags players and he opens up space, he's quality, he's quality and he's going to absolutely mug you guys off on Saturday. I've just got a feeling. it's not i'm scar i'm scar I I You can tell though he's really settled in in terms of the chemistry wise. I mean there was a little moment ago with the back heel to Kai and it set him through on goal. There's definitely now chemistry there. So like there is more of a chance this season that he'll be more effective against you guys than he was last season.
00:21:41
Speaker
I genuinely feel, and I said this when you signed him, I genuinely think you've got a good player there, and I think it's just a case of confidence and consistency. and what We say it in terms of Watkins, when he has a sort of dodgy spell, he can go four, five, maybe even six, seven games with without scoring, but when he's on it...
00:21:58
Speaker
Confidence-wise, there's no better player. So, you know, if you can get him firing, I think our sort of outside look, and I'm sure Craig will lead to the same thing. I think the question that everybody brings up with Arsenal is, is the issue that there's not an out and out centre forward, so there is that opportunity for him to sort of stake a claim for that. um You said about the left-back position then, so what do you see in terms of happening this weekend, and is it such a huge issue? Is Califiori likely to be fit to start?
00:22:25
Speaker
I don't, I don't know if kind of your will be used. I think, I think it's going to be, uh, the substitute who came on in the game for, for, uh, Zinchenko and that's timber. I think timber is going to come on. Cause like he's, he's got all the attributes in terms of like, he pretty much is in Cenco, but could just, but can just defend. So, and he can probably go, you know, up against the likes of the begins and especially Bailey. So I think it's probably, I think it's probably going to be timber in the back. Uh, and then the rest of the same because.
00:22:50
Speaker
he He is electric and he is everything we need in in that position, I believe. He's a phenomenal left back, centre back, left back, whatever you want to call him. but My main concern is that Zinchenko has been played the most in pre-season and obviously played the last game. And Leon Bailey has a bit of a track record against making Zinchenko look like a bit of a fool. And he terrifies me. He terrifies me, does Bailey.
00:23:18
Speaker
yeah home i'm dropping him that be great but yeah i was go to say i'm hoping I'm hoping that Bayley comes back in to form this weekend because again I know people say pre-season is nothing to go by, but as Craig alluded to earlier, pre-season very up and down. Last week I wasn't too impressed with him. It's the one player that I highlighted as not really having a great game in terms of playing over the hour mark.
00:23:38
Speaker
And I think when Philagene Badeis came on, he actually looked more of a threat and he was more direct. So he's one that really needs sort of sucks up a bit this weekend. So Craig, obviously Arsenal is going to be a big test for us as well so early in the season. and um Where do you see Arsenal potentially hurting Aston Villa? And who would you say the standout players are for you?
00:23:54
Speaker
oh man So there's two areas that concerns me the most when playing Arsenal this weekend. I feel that and every Villa fan will allure to this is we've always got a mistake in us when playing out from the back and I expect against an Arsenal high press that that could be an issue. um Especially if the cash doesn't play and we do the movements that I said with Carlos coming at centre back, left footed player under pressure playing as a right centre back and can also always lead to errors.
00:24:24
Speaker
So that does concern me. The other one that concerns me is the fact that as you as you've probably seen from Villa, we often ah are enough balanced formation where we attack more down the left as opposed to the right. So I i would fear that Saka going into the pocket behind Dean and Torres and really dominating in that area. So I think that's one area that Emery's gonna have to address in training, building into the game.
00:24:53
Speaker
Right, so, Josh Nesman, you get the chance to play the role of the yeah the light bulb merchant that is Michael Artece at the tetta. Who starts for you? Who starts for you on Saturday?
Projected Starting Lineups and Player Impact
00:25:03
Speaker
mean These are the standards. but need to understand These are the standards. yellow the standards understand If the light ball's not clicking for you, then you don't know the standards. um Who's starting? Josh, ah I'll let you go first. I'll let you show the standards, bro. Well, I think Ray is a raise ah it's it's a nailed on thing. Ray is going to be in gold. I mean, it looks like Ramsdale's going
00:25:26
Speaker
probably in the next week, he's probably going to be on his way out. I'd say the back line, realistically, the starting Ben White, who I think picking up on your point, Craig, in terms of your fear down the right hand, ah the right hand side, him overlapping with Saka as well, which he loves to do. That could be a real problem for Villa. I reckon that can be a real danger point. ah The back to choose themselves. Saliba Gabriel, the best back to in world football. Who knows?
00:25:52
Speaker
and left back I'll say Zinchenko starts probably what about you Esman for the rest? ah I would say timber will probably start but in terms of the rest um yeah pretty much same midfield Odegard the Maestro party will probably continue to play unless there's any injuries because you know how he is like but Even when he's fit, it's still it' still a question mark. um And then, ah yeah, obviously, I think Rice rice will will overcome the late ah fitness test, but seeing him in training today, I'm pretty sure he'll be there. um How about you for the front line?
00:26:26
Speaker
um Again, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli, simple, easy. Boom, boom. And that is our light ball Ted Talk. Thank you.
00:26:38
Speaker
Our Light bulbs are flickering a bit I best get them, checked. But for me, I was going to say, yeah um I'm so excited about Saturday. Genuinely, it's first game of the season at home. It's a big game. It's a late game. So we get the whole day of being in Birmingham and just dragging it out as long as possible. And going back to telling the missus that the game's gone to extra time and penalties so I can stay up for another couple of hours after. I cannot wait. Cannot wait.
Managers: Arteta vs. Emery
00:27:01
Speaker
Before we get your match predictions and first goal scorers, I have to bring up the tale of the tape between Unai Emery and Michael Arter. It's been doing the rounds all over.
00:27:08
Speaker
Social media this week both Arsenal fan TV even Man United podcasts have been discussing it. They've obviously got nothing to talk about their own club um So I'm gonna put you all on the spot now I'm gonna give you each 30 seconds only and 30 seconds only means 30 seconds to argue Why your manager is better than the other so we're gonna go we'll go Josh then we'll go Craig then we'll go Esman So Josh why is (Mikel) Arteta better than Emery off you go?
00:27:31
Speaker
Okay, Emery's shown his credentials in European competitions and at clubs that aren't petition particularly in the upper echelons of, let's say, the football pedigree of the club they're in. I mean, don't get me wrong, Villa have an amazing history, but a PSG wasn't great. A Arsenal was swamped by the size of the club. Arteta, first club, stamped his authority, turns things around so quickly, makes an impact and challenges for a title. Arteta is the man, he is the light bulb merchant. Boom, there you go.
00:28:00
Speaker
And that's bang on 30 seconds. Beautifully done. You've but you've you've been practicing that, haven't you? Crying. Just a little bit. dinner watch theooops like I I don't need 30 seconds. It's as simple as he he's won more. And and he has a better record against Arteta I think it's three wins, one draw and a loss.
00:28:23
Speaker
So have me time there as much as fascinating stuff. That's fascinating stuff. But, you know, when it comes to big clubs, like when ah put in the same position, Emory could not win a title for us. Arteta did first season f FA Cup. But, you know, these are the standards when it comes to the big pressure. I think I think Arteta eventually will prove it and will eventually show his ceiling to be higher than Unai Emory, who I agree is a great manager. But when it comes to clearly the big honchos at the PSG and the arsenals, you can't hack it.
00:28:52
Speaker
And that's my reason. With Emery Arsenal, do you think it was just the hangover of Wenger? From what I've heard, it's more so he couldn't communicate his ideas, which I don't i don't understand because like clearly he can, and he's doing it at Villa, and he's he's done it at you know the the other clubs as well, um that he's won titles at. so I don't know if it was the hangover. I'll be honest with you because i they obviously, you know, scouted him out, did their due diligence and thought this could be our man to step in. So maybe it was a bit of a resistance from the players or maybe it was a mixture between, you know, his inability to communicate. But I don't know if it was the hangover. How about you, Josh? Do you think do you think it was the hangover from Renga?
00:29:35
Speaker
I mean, i I did. I do remember reading reports of sort of like and an element of stubbornness, ah especially, like you say, over the communication side, because you really struggled with the language at Arsenal as well. And I think that held him back a lot at the time. Obviously, he's come on in huge swathes now and can yeah communicate the singing of anything. But I think I don't think it was as much the hangover as a lot of people would have expected. It was also a rubbish squad. he inherit Oh, yeah, terrible squad squad. So I'd say Arteta is just better.
00:30:05
Speaker
you guys probably have more school now than we had when money took over fight i yeah mo pensing quickly I think you've made the key point there, Esman, that he's got the ability to do it. I think if we have this argument two, three years down the line, it'd be interesting to see how much the dynamic shifts. I think right now for me, you've got somebody that's learned from the top manager in Guardiola. He's learning on the job still a little bit and developing things, working with players week in, week out. And I think in two, three years' time, you could have that person there. But right now for me, I just think
00:30:37
Speaker
you put Arteta in the role that Emery's had, I don't think he could do what he's done with Villa. I think when you go back to PSG, I think it's quite harsh actually. A lot of people pick on the time when he was at PSG and you think you've won a league there, he won two French cups, two French super cups and he actually had the highest win percentage of any manager in PSG's history. So, you know, for somebody that hasn't done very well there, he's actually done all right and it's notoriously a club that difficult manager managers find difficult to sort of manage big players. So it's a fascinating debate and I'm sure it'll be all over the sky this weekend. look be It's how it is the heavyweight battle going into the match itself.
Match Predictions and Final Thoughts
00:31:11
Speaker
So I've got to finish off with a bit that everybody sort of dreads the most because they're sort of showing up for it a week or so later. Match prediction. So I want to score and a goal scorer. We'll start with you, Esmond. It's going to be a tricky game. It's going to be a tight game, but just kiss the badge. We'll do this. Kai Habertz, 1-0 to the answer. Craig?
00:31:32
Speaker
I do think it's going to be a tough game. I think we'll be in it all the way. um I do think they have the edge to beat us, though, unfortunately. So I'm going to go 2-1 with Watkins breaking his dock. And Josh. Do you know what? You got the meal pumped up now. Arsenal 3-1, Martinelli, first goalscorer. You've gone rogue! you You've got a script, mate! I thought you'd been digging today! Jeez Louise!
00:31:59
Speaker
Give us some positivity, Nick. I'm going to bring it back down to be on the fence at Mike McPhaid. I think after the West Ham game, if you'd have said to me before the first two games of the season coming off the pre-season with Ad and Sal in Louise, I would have been quite happy with two or three points max out the first two games just to get back in the the flow of things. The win at West Ham is, for me, one of the best of the wide wins I've seen us have in an opening day for God knows how long. So I've come out of it with a lot of positivity. We haven't won at West Ham since 2011. So I'm going to go 1-1 and I'm going to go with Anana again.
00:32:28
Speaker
just because he's already become a little bit of a favorite of mine after his performance last week. That brings about the final whistle on today's Global Sports Podcast Network crossover episode. A huge thank you to both Esman Cole and Josh Vince from the Daily Arsenal for giving up their time and joining us today. And yet another thank you to one of my fellow second strikers in Craig Burt Whistle from the Daily Villa. Join both teams tomorrow for their final thoughts ahead of the big game on Saturday evening. and My name is Nick Sanders. Thank you for listening. Make sure you subscribe to both channels and to the Global Sports Podcasting Network. Goodbye.