- 11/03/2024
The Chris Wheatley Show is a brand new weekly series talking all things Arsenal and the Premier League. This week, Chris Wheatley and host Jason Jones reveal all about Arsenal's internal striker solution, the win over Brentford and look ahead towards the Champions League game against Porto.
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00:00 they still managed to come out of it. And I think that's one thing that he really does
00:03 deserve credit for. Mikkel Arteta, he always does seem to find a way at the moment. It's
00:08 eight consecutive Premier League games won for the first time since April 2015 under Arsene Wenger,
00:15 almost a decade since they've won eight games in a row. This Arsenal team does look really special.
00:20 It does look like it can win the league. I don't think it's too premature to say it now. I think
00:27 10 games to go, they are really looking like favourites. And if they can keep a fully fit
00:32 squad, who knows what can happen. But yeah, it's looking positive. It's looking good. And I think
00:38 right now, Mikkel Arteta is certainly confident going into that game against FC Porto in the
00:43 Champions League. Hello, welcome to another episode of the Chris Wheatley Show. Shots TV's
00:51 one-stop shop to keep you in the know on all things Arsenal. I'm your host, Jason Jones. I'm
00:56 joined as always by Chris Wheatley. This week, we'll be talking about another emphatic win for
01:01 Arsenal on Saturday afternoon, the Gunners goalkeeping situation. And as always, we'll
01:05 be putting the answers to the questions to Chris as well. So without further ado, Chris, we were
01:10 just saying before we started recording, it's rinse and repeat, isn't it? Another win for
01:15 Arsenal, eight in a row now in the Premier League, one that moved them to the top of the Premier
01:19 League table as well. A 2-1 victory over Brentford, but they left it late, didn't they?
01:26 Yeah, and because of that, we're going to play an episode of last week's show. So thanks for...
01:31 I'm joking. Yeah, it is another case of rinse and repeat. I think
01:36 Arsenal were superb again. I could pretty much repeat what I said last weekend because Kai
01:43 Havert scored the winner, a really good goal from him. Declan Rice, superb again. Yeah,
01:49 I mean, it is a case of, at the moment, Arsenal doing everything right on the pitch. And yeah,
01:56 the Arsenal fans singing 60 million down the drain, Kai Havert scores again. I mean,
02:01 it's an ironic chant and he is really living up to that price tag now. A few months ago,
02:06 we were talking about how he is failing to deliver, he's not scoring, he's not getting any assists,
02:12 he's losing the ball, he's misplacing passes. He's doing the complete opposite now and
02:19 Arsenal are top of the league after that draw yesterday. Man City and Liverpool drew, of course,
02:24 Anfield. Top of the league, it's looking very good. It's looking rosy again. Ten games to go,
02:31 can you believe it, Jason? I don't know how many episodes we've done of this show, but it feels
02:35 like we've been doing it a while. And yeah, it will be interesting to see in a couple of months
02:42 time whether Arsenal have won the league or not. But at the moment, it's looking very, very positive
02:47 indeed. You say, Chris, that the season really is flying over at this point, isn't it? But just on
02:53 Kai Havert, I mean, it really emphasises sometimes the need to just show some patience with these new
02:59 signings. You know, like, they just take time to settle and I think that Havert is a prime example
03:04 of what they can produce when they are fully embedded into a team. Yeah, and I think a lot
03:10 of people were questioning Mikel Arteta's recruitment as well as Edu, but I think he's
03:17 got a pretty good track record since joining Arsenal of identifying players who are going to
03:21 fit into his style of playing. Kai Havert is certainly one of those players. He's now scored
03:26 in four consecutive Premier League games. It's the best run of his career in the competition,
03:32 netting as many goals in this run as his previous 32 league matches beforehand.
03:38 He was pretty decent at Chelsea. I know a lot of Chelsea fans were thinking that he
03:41 wasn't going to hit the ground running at Arsenal. I guess he didn't really,
03:46 because it's taken him a while to get going. But he did score in the Champions League final,
03:51 of course, for Chelsea and Arsenal will be hoping he can do the same or get Arsenal to the latter
03:56 stages of the Champions League. But I think the thing that's really impressing people about Havert
04:02 is just his ability to play in a number of positions. Although I did notice when he was
04:06 asked about it in his post-match interview, Jamie Redknapp asked about Havert playing in multiple
04:13 positions and how he manages that. Havert was really fed up with that question. He said,
04:18 "I've answered this question so many times." So clearly, I think that's another thing that a lot
04:24 of fans like about Havert. He's pretty blunt. He's pretty straightforward, honest on the pitch
04:30 and off the pitch. I say honest on the pitch. Thomas Frank wasn't happy after the game. He
04:35 accused Havert of actually diving. Thomas Frank mentioned that Kai Havert should have been sent
04:41 off. But you could argue as well that Bredfield had had their own luck in previous games. They
04:47 scored a goal against Nottingham Forest, which shouldn't have stood when Ivan Toni moved the
04:51 phone for his free kick. So we've seen that quite a few times this season. I think Arsenal
04:57 deserved the win in the end. They got the win. They were a bit lucky though. Of course, Aaron
05:04 Ramsdale making a big mistake, which I'm sure we're going to speak about in a second.
05:09 One man who certainly has hit the ground running at the Emirates is Declan Rice. He's had a really
05:16 good season so far since joining the club from West Ham over the summer. He scored again at the
05:21 weekend. It's really quite impressive, isn't it, to see him bring more of that aspect into his game
05:27 since joining the Gunners? Yeah, it really is. He's scored in back-to-back games, as you said,
05:33 Jason. I think seven Premier League goals this season and four assists in 2024. That's as many
05:42 as he had in the whole of 2023. So he's really pushed on and shown his class this season. I
05:47 think he's clearly playing in a better team than West Ham and he's really showing it at the moment.
05:53 I think similar to Havertz, a lot of people may be questioning whether the fee paid was a bit too
05:58 much. £100 million, a record fee for Arsenal. He is really living up to all of that hype and
06:05 the price tag. It is a lot of money, it's a lot of pressure to deliver, but he is delivering and
06:12 you've got to give credit to him for doing that. I think he's really looking comfortable. He's
06:16 really enjoying life at Arsenal. Everyone we speak to at the club says that he's really settled in.
06:22 He's a leader as well on and off the pitch, in the dressing room, has the respect of all
06:27 of the players. That's one thing I noticed as well, just changing topics slightly,
06:32 is when the Arsenal players were lining up in the tunnel against Brentford,
06:36 they really did look intimidating compared to their counterparts. I noticed Ben White was really
06:41 looking at them in an intimidating way. It reminded me of those old school Arsenal
06:47 Man United games. I think that's something that Arsenal have certainly lacked over the past
06:54 decade or so, especially under Arsene Wenger where they had quite small players,
06:59 diminutive players, the likes of Thomas Rzecinski, Alexander Klepp, those kind of players who were
07:04 really technically good but not that big in stature. Now Arsenal have giants at the back,
07:10 Gabriel and William Saliba, and they really do look intimidating. I think other teams probably
07:14 coming up against them are going to be, as I say, intimidating. I think that's something that
07:19 they really do have now in their locker. So that's certainly a bonus. I think that's
07:24 Mikkel Arteta, you've got to give credit again to him for bringing those players in.
07:28 Finally, Chris, I saw Mikkel Arteta questioned after the match about the nature of the win.
07:34 Now, so many weeks, the past few weeks, we've spoken about Arsenal putting four goals, five
07:39 goals past their opponents and really strawling the victory. Saturday wasn't necessarily like
07:43 that. They had to work for it. They had to rely on the late goal. But in some respects, is that
07:48 just as pleasing to see, to know that this Arsenal side can drag themselves through those difficult
07:52 situations and potentially show the hallmarks of champions? Yeah, I think it is. I think it's a
07:59 really good sign that Arsenal can just win regardless of the circumstances. As I said
08:06 earlier, they were a bit fortunate because Aaron Ramsdale really made one of the worst errors of
08:11 his career. I don't think he'll be wanting to look back on that, but they still managed to come out
08:17 of it. I think that's one thing that he really does deserve credit for. Mikkel Arteta, he always
08:22 does seem to find a way at the moment. It's eight consecutive Premier League games won for the first
08:28 time since April 2015 under Arsene Wenger, almost a decade since they've won eight games in a row.
08:34 This Arsenal team does look really special. It does look like it can win the league. I don't
08:41 think it's too premature to say it now. I think 10 games to go. They are really looking like favourites
08:46 and if they can keep a fully fit squad, who knows what can happen. But yeah, it's looking positive,
08:52 it's looking good. I think right now, Mikkel Arteta is certainly confident going into that
08:58 game against FC Porto in the Champions League. Now, we've mentioned him a couple of times already,
09:07 Chris. Obviously, Aaron Ramsdale coming in to start XI Saturday, a dab of dry up, unable to play
09:13 against his parent club, Brentford. A bit of a mixed afternoon for Arsenal's deputy goalkeeper.
09:18 I think it's fair to say, obviously, as you've already mentioned, a really big error that led
09:22 to Brentford's equaliser just before half-time. But then a couple of really decent saves I felt
09:28 to redeem himself as well. How would you assess Ramsdale's performance of the weekend?
09:33 So, it's a tough one. I think Aaron Ramsdale made up for his error in the first half because
09:43 he made a string of saves to prevent Brentford from going 2-1 up, 3-1 up. And yeah, he did really
09:51 well in the second half. But that mistake in the first half was perhaps a sign that he's a bit
09:57 rusty, lack of concentration as well. I think Thomas Frank was really complimentary actually
10:04 after the game. He said that he doesn't deserve to be criticised for the mistake because it's
10:09 unbelievable pressure from Wisse. He said it could have happened to David Ryer.
10:15 I'm not so sure I agree with that. I think it was a case of Aaron Ramsdale being a bit rusty.
10:21 He hasn't played a lot of football, hasn't played a lot of minutes. There was a lot of pressure on
10:25 him actually going into this game because everyone knew that it was pretty much his last chance to
10:31 really show his class in goal because David Ryer is going to play most likely the rest of the games
10:36 this season. Aaron Ramsdale only played this match because David Ryer was ineligible because of
10:45 course he's technically on loan from Brentford. So yeah, it was a really poor mistake and Aaron
10:53 Ramsdale was kind of cupping his ears at the end to the Brentford fans who were giving him a lot of
10:58 stick. But I don't know, I think it was a mistake which really will live long in the memory for him
11:06 and a lot of Arsenal fans. If it is his last game for the club, I think it's just such a disappointing
11:12 way to go out because he will be remembered for that mistake rather than the saves he made in the
11:19 second half. Maybe it's just the case as well of being low on confidence because when you don't
11:23 play, when you don't get games, you're of course going to be low on confidence and morale. So
11:28 yeah, I don't know about you, Jase, if you saw the mistake but it was a bit of a howler.
11:35 For someone who wants to get into that England squad, I think if Gareth Southgate was watching,
11:39 well hopefully he wasn't watching at least.
11:42 Join us again on the Chris Wheatley Shore after these adverts.
12:05 Welcome back to the Chris Wheatley Shore on Shots TV.
12:07 Yeah, I mean I don't know about you, Chris, but I kind of felt as if it was a mistake that was
12:16 almost emblematic of the reasons as to why Michael Arteta felt the need to go out and get David
12:21 Riyad in the first place. It wasn't necessarily anything to do with his goalkeeping ability,
12:27 more so to do with his ability to play the ball out from the back. There was that moment of
12:32 hesitation. He took the touch which was slightly heavy, slightly awkward and then almost stuttered
12:37 and that allows Vissa to get to him and to make the block that ultimately leads to the goal.
12:41 Do you think that is the case? Do you think that Michael Arteta is probably looking at that and
12:47 almost seeing it in part as a vindication as to the reasons that he's trusted Riyad this season?
12:51 Yeah, it's a really good point. I think as well, it's the Premier League, isn't it? I think the
12:57 tempo is so fast, players are so quick in terms of reactions and in terms of reaction time as well.
13:05 Maybe if it was in a different league or even in a lower league, Ramsdell might have got away with
13:10 that touch. But because it's the Premier League, the players are at such an elite level in terms
13:15 of fitness, in terms of their reaction time. I think Ramsdell didn't really have much of a chance.
13:21 I think David Riyad, I'm not convinced he would have made that mistake as I said. I think he
13:27 would have just cleared it out. He would have took a touch. He's quicker on his feet, he's quicker on
13:31 the ball, doesn't make as many mistakes as Aaron Ramsdell. Unfortunately for Ramsdell, I do think
13:37 that that is probably, unless an injury happens, his last game for the club. I wouldn't expect him
13:43 to be in the Arsenal XI again, as I say, unless there's an injury or another reason for him to
13:50 come in. So it's unfortunate for him. But yeah, I think Jason, you put it brilliantly there that
13:57 that's the reason that David Riyad was signed, purely for those kind of mistakes that Ramsdell
14:03 does have a tendency to make. But as I said, we saw his shot-stopping ability in the second half.
14:08 He was really, really good. He certainly made up at least for the error, but can't be making those
14:14 kind of mistakes in such an important game. And if that cost Arsenal points, it could have
14:21 potentially cost them the league title. I don't think that would have gone down too well with
14:25 Nicolo Teta, who, to be fair to him, was very nice about Ramsdell in his comments after the game,
14:31 saying he showed great personality, great character. But I'm not sure he would have said
14:35 the same if that cost Arsenal the game. And as we sort of said, David Riyad almost certainly
14:42 expected to come back into the start in XI against FC Porto in the Champions League. Arsenal obviously
14:47 looking to overturn a one goal deficit in that game. I mean, how do you assess the chances of
14:53 doing that? I think they've got a really good chance. I think as well they've got the fans on
14:58 their side. Teta said in his post-match press conference that everyone is going to be behind
15:04 the team. It's going to be a big atmosphere for that game. And I think they're going to need it.
15:10 They're going to need their fans on side. They're going to need a lot of support. I think Arsenal
15:15 will make it through. I think they've got the squad, they've got the players and they've
15:18 certainly got the ability. It's only a one goal deficit. So I think they do have a great chance of
15:24 making it through. And yeah, I think Ramsdale obviously is not going to play. Rye will be
15:30 back in goal. Maybe a couple of changes. We know that Thomas Partey is now looking fit again.
15:36 Perhaps he can make his way back into the starting line-up. Maybe Arteta will freshen things up a
15:41 little bit. But yeah, it's looking good ahead of that game. And I think Arsenal do have a really
15:46 good chance of progressing.
15:50 As always, Chris, I need to listen to questions to get through as well. We're going to start with one from Garish,
15:56 who's asking about Arsenal's striker situation. See if we get one every week about the striker
16:01 situation at Arsenal. And Garish is asking that after the Gunners' recent goal scoring exploit,
16:06 whether you think that they still need to go out and sign another nine for summer? Obviously,
16:10 as we've mentioned, Kai Havert in fantastic form. We've got Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah to consider
16:15 as well. Do you still think that Michael Arteta will be looking at that summer window as a good
16:20 time to bring in the centre forward that they've been linked with for such a long time?
16:23 Yeah, it's a great question from Garish. In fact, we've put two of his questions in because
16:30 they are really, really thoughtful questions. I think Mika Bireth is a really interesting
16:38 option that Arsenal have. He's currently out on loan. His loan spell at Motherwell in Scotland
16:43 was cut short and then he joined Sturm Graz in January on loan for the rest of the season.
16:50 Austrian side, they've previously had players like Arthur Aconquo, the goalkeeper on loan.
16:55 And Bireth is doing really well. He's scored five goals in nine games, a few goals in the Europa
17:04 Conference League. He's looking really good and he's a player that Arsenal do have high hopes for.
17:12 I think he might get looked at in pre-season actually because he is a player who has a lot
17:16 of talent. He's done well in the under-23s. I think there is potential there. I don't think
17:22 it does affect Arsenal's summer spending. I think they're still going to go for a striker.
17:26 They need that goalscorer. We know they're going to go for a player like that this summer.
17:32 Ivan Toni, not quite sure it's going to be him. I don't know if you saw after the Brentford game,
17:36 but Michael Arteta didn't really seem to be too keen on having a conversation with him.
17:41 I think a lot of the Arsenal players weren't too friendly or chatty with him. I think there's a
17:46 feeling around the club that they're probably going to go for someone else rather than Ivan Toni.
17:51 And as I said before, his goalscoring is impressive, but a lot of his goals are
17:56 either in the box or non-penalty goals.
18:00 As you said, Chris, we've got another question from Girish as well, who is asking about Jorginho
18:06 and whether you think that Arsenal should be looking to tie him down a new contract.
18:10 We've mentioned him a few times in recent weeks, really been a good run of form,
18:14 the Italian midfielder. I mean, is he a player who, even though he's maybe not the youngest,
18:18 Arsenal should perhaps be thinking about trying to return for a while long?
18:21 Yeah, I think that's another great question. I think Jorginho is someone who's attracting a lot
18:29 of interest, especially from Italy. I think there's the potential that he could go back there
18:33 in the summer. There's certainly talks taking place with the agent. The agent has already
18:39 spoken publicly that there's a lot of interest, but I think Arsenal do have that kind of first
18:44 priority on extending his contract. Another year certainly wouldn't be too bad for us.
18:51 I think he's done really well since he joined the club. He adds a lot to the dressing room
18:55 in terms of leadership qualities and he still can do a really good job on the pitch as well.
18:59 So yeah, I think a one-year extension would be good business for everyone concerned and
19:05 certainly possible. But as I said, there's a lot of interest for Jorginho back in Italy
19:10 and I'm sure there'll be a few offers this summer if he continues his fine form in midfield.
19:16 And perhaps someone who, you know, we've talked about Declan Ryson, his sort of newfound
19:22 attacking capabilities. I mean, Jorginho certainly gives him more license to roam further forward,
19:27 doesn't he?
19:29 He does and I think it's just another example of the amount of options that Arsenal have in
19:34 midfield. They've got, as you say, Jorginho, Declan Ryson, then Thomas Partey coming back
19:38 in as well. There's quite a few players who can fill in that position. And yeah,
19:44 so it's a really good sign going into this crunch part of the season that Arsenal have
19:49 experienced options, whereas maybe in the past they didn't have those players who were going
19:55 into their 30s or in their 30s who have a lot of top level experience in the Champions League,
20:01 in European competitions like Jorginho. And now they do have that. So yeah, it's a really
20:06 positive sign. And yeah, I think Jorginho certainly get a few more minutes in these
20:12 games coming up, especially in Europe.
20:15 I've got a question here from Sarkid who's asking about Marcelo Flores and where he is currently.
20:23 Yeah, I just added this question in because it was an interesting one. Flores actually left
20:31 the club last summer. He went back to Mexico on a permanent transfer last summer. So yeah,
20:37 pretty easy question for me to answer because I could just Google it. I just reminded myself
20:42 that he did leave the club last summer. Yeah, really actually, really highly rated player.
20:49 He's in the Mexican national team, could have played for Canada as well. He's illegible. But
20:54 yeah, that's what happened to him last summer.
20:59 Not much else to say on that one.
21:02 No, not much else to say.
21:04 Opening clause, opening clause. And finally, Chris, we have a question from Eric who's
21:10 asking about Gabriel Martinelli and his injury status at the moment.
21:13 So according to a couple of reports, Gabriel Martinelli was pictured on crutches. We know
21:21 that he has a cut to his foot, I believe. We don't know too much more other than that he'll
21:28 be hopeful of being fit for that Porto game. Crutches is never a particularly good sign,
21:33 but sometimes it can just be a precaution. And I think Gabriel Martinelli will be really
21:39 fighting to be fit for that game against Porto. But yeah, we don't have any more update than
21:45 that. I'm sure we're going to get more from Mikkel Arteta in his pre-match press conference
21:50 tomorrow. And yeah, hopefully Gabriel Martinelli is not too injured. Of course, it didn't look
21:58 too serious when he came off. Mikkel Arteta as well said it was just a cut, doesn't look
22:03 too serious. So we're waiting to hear from his update ahead of that Porto game coming up this
22:11 week. I mean, it would be a real boost to Arsenal if they could get him back on the
22:17 side for that match. I mean, it's something we've sort of spoken about before, but the
22:21 Gunners may be not blessed with the most depth in wide areas at the moment.
22:25 They're not. And I think Martinelli is a player who's been in fine form since this
22:32 in this recent period, past few games, he's looked really good. And I think he's a player
22:37 that they really do need as well. He's someone that offers a different kind of attacking threat
22:42 on the left hand side. And yeah, he's come up with quite a few goals recently as well. So
22:47 yeah, I think they do need him. I think he's a player who, as I say, will be hoping to be
22:52 fit for that game against Porto. But they do have options there, Arsenal, which is
22:56 at least a positive. But yeah, as I say, we'll be hoping to hear a bit more from
23:02 Mikkel Arteta in his pre-match press conference where he's going to speak about injuries.
23:06 I'm sure. Usually remains a bit coy, though, of course, doesn't actually tell you too much. But
23:12 I'm sure he'll give an update in due course.
23:14 That's all we've got time for in this week's show. Join us again next week when we'll be
23:22 discussing all of the latest Arsenal news and developments. In the meantime,
23:25 follow all the latest sports news at www.shots.tv.com. Check us out on Freeview channel 276.
23:32 Thanks to Chris, thanks to you for listening. This show is produced by Mark Wilson.
23:41 [Music]
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