Premier League dream over? | Isak Arsenal's TOP Target! FT ‪@Cecil_Jee‬ (AFTV)

International break or not, the show must go on. He's part of the furniture here. He's doing his thing on AFTV and all the other platforms. Cecil, as usual, big love for tuning in. What are you saying, my guy? All good, bro. All good. All good. Happy to be here. Welcome back. It's the international break, so get a bit of time. So yeah, man, it's good to be back on the channel. I mean, I appreciate it for you tuning in, obviously, for context people. I gave this guy little to no time to ask if he could do a vid, and as usual, he's shown up, man. Hopefully our boys show up after the international break. That's actually right on brand, bro. How are you feeling about Arsenal at the moment, man? Four games, not been good. Yeah, we haven't won, I don't think, since our international break. The last international break, that is. How am I feeling? Obviously, a bit deflated. I mean, man had to travel to... Granted, it was Preston. We won that game at Preston, then to Newcastle, then to Milan. Obviously, it's all a blessing and whatnot, then Chelsea. But it was a lot of miles, a lot of hours, a lot of travelling to see some average performances, if I'm being real. Chelsea was a bit better. Preston, don't really need to include, but the Newcastle game wasn't great. It's been a bit frustrating. The mood right now, I think, amongst the fans as well, isn't in the best place. I think there's a lot of division between the fans, whether it's like, our Teta are in, our Teta are out, and he's under a lot of pressure. The performances, they've kind of picked up a little bit, but again, the results aren't what I think Arsenal fans are wanting, especially myself. I want to see us winning games. I think we put ourselves under massive pressure now until the next international break, which I believe is in the new year. It'll be in the new year, maybe March, I think. March, yeah, long way away. But I just think you have to... I said the thing in the last stream we did, that you kind of got to do it in chunks and look at it between each international break, and then if not, you go from this one to the end of the year. And I think now he's under a lot of pressure to win a lot of those games and not drop any points, if I'm being real. Maybe some draws, but definitely not any losses. But I'm okay. I'm not... To round off the question for the answer, it's just like, I'm not where some fans are, where their heads are completely gone, and it's like, get him out, and we're not going to win nothing this season. And I'm not at a stupid, optimistic, delusional state where it's like, oh no, we're 100% still going to... I still think we're going to win the league, but I just don't... I'm not going to be the one that's going, oh, everything's rosy at Arsenal because, you know, Edu, Edu going... There's so many things that I'm like, oh, what's happening here? Yeah, Edu's leaving, obviously that was a shock. And then the performances, obviously injuries and suspensions, all that comes with football. But there's a few things I'm like, oh, how do we get a grip of what's happening? So that's kind of where I'm at. I'm in the middle, I'm in middle ground, which people will say fence-sitting or whatever I'll call it. That's where I'm at. I don't think you can be anything other than a fence-sitter. Granted, you know, if you are providing balance, but you're still optimistic, you're choosing to, you know, comment on the negatives, but focus on the positives. And if you're choosing to acknowledge there's some positives, but focusing on the negatives, that's fair enough. Naturally, as you know, football's an emotional sport. In your line of work, you interview fans and you're on shows week in, week out. You've seen the hyper-opinions. Really, it is, whether you're positive or negative or neutral, it's all emotional. We love this football club. There's certain men that will leave their girlfriends and cheat on their wives before they ever dare to not watch Arsenal Football Club again. So naturally, football's illogical. But you mentioned that there, about you still think we win the league, you know, what makes you think that? Because we're kind of on the verge of a three-horse race. Do you know what it is? Obviously, I'm doing one of the things I hate when fans do, like, I've made an opinion at the start of the season and said, this will be our year. I'm kind of sticking to it. It may be a bit naive, but I just think there's still, do you know what it is, I just still think there's a long way to go. There is, 27 games. Yeah, exactly. There's a lot of games going on and I get it. People go, this time, in this era of football, you can't drop this many points in this amount of games and all that and win the league. OK, I hear that, but I know how early on it is. To be fair, if we lost to Chelsea, my whole mood would be different. I even said this. I said, if we win, we're still in it. If we draw, I'm indifferent. I don't really know. If we lose, we're out of it, even though it is very early on. But right now, we drew. I'm indifferent. I'm just going to stick to my original opinion of when I was at the start of the season, Arsenal can go on and still can win this league. And the reason why, because being indifferent, I'm not going to go to the negative side and say it's all done. I'm going to lean towards what I think is hope. It's copedism or whatever people say. I'm going with that because I'm a fan of going week in, week out. I want to believe. I want to be able to have some sort of faith. So I'm still holding on. Like I said, early on is the main thing. I think, depending on what happens in this next period, we can really decide whether you're really going to be in the conversation, because Liverpool's doing tremendous things. And I've given them so much credit online already. Man City aren't doing great, but they're still in it. And we know what City can do. So I just think until I see this next period of games and fixtures up until, I'm going to say the new year. A lot of people always go to January window. They say, well, let's see what we do in January window. But I'm going to go to the new year and then kind of see where we're at. But for me, it's not over, man. Again, I see the hyperbolic fans. I see, I see different. I see the, you know, the small, the micro fans that, you know, that kind of are all the way the other way. Like, no, we're still, we can still win the league. It's comfortable for us. We can still win, potentially win the Champions League and all those things. I speak to those fans as well, but I'm kind of just in the middle ground of, yeah, being the presenter of just, I'm still believing, but I'm very aware that this could go left very quickly. We're not far from the point where I'm like, I'll never be the one screaming Arteta out the loudest, but I can see where some of them are coming from and the mistakes he's made, whether it's the transfer window, which I still don't think there's, apart from a striker, I'm still not, again, one side completely in the fact that, oh, he really messed up in the transfer window. I think we needed a striker. I think every fan can agree to that. But some people are saying a little bit more than that. I'm kind of, I'm not on that side as much as the striker. That was an issue for me. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see, I can see the other side and what the questions they're asking to make Arteta, can he get over the line? You know, what's going on with the style of play? I don't recognise this Arsenal player to last season. There's so many things I can kind of align myself with, but I'm not the one going to be screaming Arteta out right now because there's still a long way to go. I think it's a bit crazy. I think in May, there'll have to be some uncomfortable conversations, but do you really, I mentioned it earlier, do you really think there's pressure on Arteta? Because obviously, fans, we want to win. We've been bigged up. We've been bigging up the team. Obviously, we've kissed the Premier League success twice, but not actually got over the line. Before the season started, he got a new deal. Some would say, yes, on one hand, it gives Arteta and the club clarity, you know, the manager's going to be here. Some would say, obviously, with what we've been facing in the job, maybe that tells you, you know, where the ownership are at and whether we achieve what we want or not is kind of, not irrelevant, but it's not, they're not as hungry as us. Do you really think he's under pressure? The new deal is a good thing to point at, if I'm being real, isn't it? It's an extension. But when it comes to managers, I'll be real, extension is whatever, it doesn't really mean anything. If things go really bad and people want you out, you go out regardless, you get out regardless of the contract. But for me, under pressure, yes, but it depends from who, that's where, it depends who's pointing the pressure. You think there's external pressure, not necessarily internal. Yeah, I think the fans, for a man to say there's a five-year process and all this and we're in his fifth year, four year, I think, and he's openly said that this club deserves to be winning trophies. We deserve success. That's where... Kind of last day of the season, last year, what he said. Exactly. Exactly. He's the final talk to the fans. Like he said, I don't want you to be, I don't expect you to be, you know, happy and expect this to be a success as a C, as a success, because it's not, but, you know, we know where we need to be and we'll be there. Hopefully we're supposed to be this season. So I think you put your pressure on yourself. I think you've said it from, like I said, five years. So he has to be under pressure. That's why it's the fact that... The nature of the job. Yeah. I've screamed. Like I said, I won't scream my tether out because I'm a big fan of him and I think he's a genius in some senses, but you've also said things that I also believe in and you've said yourself. So I have to hold you to your own level of expectation and standards. So yeah, he's under pressure. And I think right now, because I feel it, like I said, at the Chelsea game, the fans were coming out of the game, speaking to me like, oh, he's done. Someone's basically what I'm saying here, it's still early, blah, blah, blah. But I'm telling you, if we lost that game, because there's a majority of fans that are in the exact same position I am. It's too early to really say anything. I don't really know where I'm at with the manager. It's not terrible, but it's not amazing. Results dictate the narrative, 100%. Exactly. So I think if the result went a different way at Chelsea, I think those our tether outers that are a minority for now, I'd say, are quite loud. We've got even more louder and that's the correct English, even louder, sorry, not even more louder, even louder. So I think, yeah, he's under pressure, especially when it comes towards, like you said, in May, there'll be big questions. I even think, you know what, January, there'll be questions. Because if you go into a January window where you think you can get by, by just not making any signings and expect Arsenal to go on and win the Premier League title, I promise you there'll be fans in uproar. Because when you haven't addressed the striker, don't get me twisted, it's not just this summer. He hasn't addressed the striker situation from way back. He hasn't really signed attackers like that. And when he has, they ain't really banged in comparison to the defenders and whatnot. Even Gabriel Jesus, if I'm being real, no one saw Gabriel Jesus signing as a bags man. They never said, right, yes, we're getting that striker. We're giving him a platform, let's see what he can do. Exactly. We never saw him as that striker. So even that was a bit underwhelming. At the time, fair enough, he'd done well. He was playing with the Force 9 and whatnot. It worked. We came second in the end. We didn't win, obviously, the Premier League, but it worked in a sense that it pushed us back up there. But now we are really looking for someone who can bring us the trophy. It's not even about make a difference, get us back playing properly, whatnot. It's nothing about, we're at that stage already. We've got back to playing where we need. We need silverware. We need the big game player. So I think January, there'll be pressure on him as well. I think, wait until May, we'll obviously give maybe the final nail in the coffin. But if you don't do the right business in January, especially when you haven't got your sporting director there and a guy who was involved massively in bringing players in, you better bring a replacement in and make sure he's getting it right as well, because you're going to need to. You're going to need to. And the thing with me, Arteta speaks so much about fans and energy and transmitting and all that. It comes from you. It comes from what decisions you make. You give a fan to believe it. So we have to, like you said, we have to hold you to the same standard you set. And for me, if we, like you kind of said, I think there's some people that are just too far right with the Mikel Arteta thing and do a bit too much. I think on the left, there's some people that move like everything he touched turns to gold. Now, me, I think there's pretty concerns. I think, you know, there's a bigger question to ask as a club, whether we want to win stuff, but isolated to what Mikel Arteta can control. There's been a lot of L's, I mean, a lot of W's, but there's also been a lot of self-inflicted L's. Let's be brutally honest, like you can't big up the man, say he's innovative, like you said, and I agree. I think he is in many ways, maybe not so much now, but a tactical genius. You can see he's going to be a good coach. But if I rate you that much and believe in you, whether you succeed at Arsenal or not, I have to hold you to them standards. I'm sure, obviously he's not Pep, but I'm sure City are asking Pep what's going on right now because they haven't won in four or the same with Klopp. So it's a techie one. You mentioned it there. Yeah. Do you think we need to boost something in January and do you think we will? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have to, we have to, we have to. Do you know what it is? I've been doing a lot of, obviously, this is my job, documenting and covering Arsenal. I've been doing a lot of like just, I've had some bit of time off actually, funnily enough, and just doing some deep research on, I don't know, loads of videos, TIFO, all those little things that talk about the style of play at Arsenal, doing what not, and how we've, it's hard to, I don't want to say regress. What is regression? From last season when we were slapping teams, after that Dubai trip, fives, fours, six nils, right? I was looking at like the free-flowing football we were playing at a conference we had in the team. So what we do now when it's like Havertz drifts to the right we haven't obviously had Martin Odegaard. So the glue or the cog in that middle to link... The nucleus of our team, Odegaard. Yeah, exactly. Because that's gone. I was thinking, okay, cool. We don't look as attractive. He's strengthening defence. So he's looking, he's more concerned about, you know, losing goals and not, well, yeah, losing... If we can't score, don't concede kind of thing. Yeah. Basically not losing, yeah, losing points, but not winning games, right? So he's like, let's just show up in defence. So that makes you more defensive team. I know he's been criticised by Paella Pulis and all them stupid stuff. One minute it was Klopp and then it, sorry, it was Pepper. Now it's Jose and yeah, the goalposts. And people love to make narratives because like sometimes, I'm sorry, I'm darting between points here. No, go ahead, man. This is why you're here, man. I want to hear everything. Trust me, like the dark arts and how people got annoyed at that. But one, there was years where it was too soft and we had no cojones and now we do dark arts and we're quite an imposing team. We're a massive six foot and people want to make criticisms about that. Then like last season, again, we're battering teams. Everyone thinks, oh my God, Arsenal are back, they're going to win it. And then now we're playing defence football to kind of show out games and whatnot. And people are getting annoyed at that because we're not playing free-flowing football, the Arsenal football that we know. But I actually honed in on that because for me as an Arsenal fan, I take pride in the way we play. Honestly, I love when we play free-flowing football. So I looked at it and I said like, going forward, there is an issue. It might just be Martin Odegaard not being there. That might be it. I don't know yet until we see. Nah man, because when he was here, we were still struggling. I think Arteta has gone the other way. A bit like what you said in that they criticised us for being soft. I think we need a balance. I wouldn't say last season we was playing amazing football, but I think there was kind of a balance. And as you know, football is a trade-off. If you want to be a bit better defensively, you're going to lose some percentages in the attacking third. And for me personally, I hear it with Arteta, but I think the better we've got in terms of fighting for a title, you've kind of focused a bit too much on that. I don't want to be naive, but it's like, we're not putting our best foot forward in the final third. Like you know yourself, you know probably the best attacking position, give or take maybe Odegaard, for Arsenal at the moment, and I think Aubameyang said it, it's on the wings. That's where you get the freedom. Havertz is a facilitator. Whether we can score or not, we're not creating chances. And I don't know how you feel or anyone feels. I'm not saying our attackers are the best thing since sliced bread, but you could argue when you've got Martin Odegaard, Saka, Jesus, Trosser, the rest of them, we should be doing a bit better in the final third, man. It's almost like there's been times, don't get twisted, where we've defended, we might have four shots for me, one on target, and we've scored, and those margins have gone for us. But I do think there's issues with the way Arteta's playing. Do you think he's focused a bit too much on the defensive aspect? And that's kind of harmed us. 100%. That's kind of what I was getting to, the fact that he's very systematic, which is fine, because systems nowadays is part of football, as I see it in every team. But we are, yeah, I think we've gone so heavily defensive, even with the side, Emeka Moreno, who, yeah, he scored a header and he wins balls, and yeah, it's very defensive-minded, in a sense. Yeah, wins good draws high up the pitch. It's all about, you know, getting a possession and kind of keeping the ball. And I see it watching Arsenal. We keep the ball, we go side to side quite a lot. We're not really, the impetus isn't as forward as much as it needs to be. But I think there is a space for it. From what I've sat down to research, there's a space for it, but it does need a new signing. And then, aye, aye, aye, Martinelli's not the Martinelli of old right now. So I think there's, listen, habits we're going to get onto as well, because I also think that's a... Take us away, man. Yeah, I'm not even going to say these are problems, because they've done well, but I'm saying we need to upgrade if we really want to really kick on and win this title. Because the reason why I say it is because I think we keep the ball well, but when it comes to in-behind runs or speed going down the wings, from recently, Martinelli hasn't had what the impact he used to have. Decision-making is horrible. Yeah, he doesn't step in and beat his man for pace anymore, in my opinion. I've seen it many times where I've seen him do the one-on-one runs. He doesn't get the goal from it when he's going on against the keeper. He's not clinical enough. And then also, when he's being run out, he's not always winning the race, which I used to see he always does. And then the players we've brought in to kind of replace that, Trostad has no speed. So, not no speed, that's harsh. He's not as quick, he's not a winger. He doesn't have the speed to... He's not as rapid. He's not a tenner, according to some fans. He struggled there as well recently, even from Belgium the other day. I think he's quite a good finisher. I think he can be an intelligent, he's an intelligent player. But when it comes to getting the ball in behind and breaking out, maybe counterattacking, or when we're keeping the ball really well, we need to find that option over the top. He's not the one for that. And then Sterling as well, I haven't seen enough of him to really make a decision of... Yeah, carry on with what you're saying, but I want to ask you as well as what you're going to say, what have you made of the Sterling thing? Because we ain't seen much. Yeah, I'm disappointed, if I'm being real. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed, one, in Mikko Arteta, because you've signed him and you didn't use him at all before the international break. So we didn't really see him. We didn't see him in the Champions League game at all, which would have been, in my opinion, would have been smart to use him, because you aren't going to see him play against Chelsea. So I was surprised I didn't use him at all. And then, when I have seen him, I've openly said this on AFCV and I made it very clear, he doesn't do the defensive work. And it's very clear, Arteta doesn't like that. Very clear. Because, for example, against Bournemouth, he came on, right? Obviously, he got taken off the red card. What I analysed him, because I'm going to be biased, Jamaican man, hold tight. Hundred percent. I knew he was going to get here. I wanted to do well. There is Jamaica tax, I'll be real. So I watched him against Bournemouth. And what happened was, he was used as the outlet. And at times, going forward, pretty well. But coming back, I saw Ben White go mad at him. No way. I don't think it would have picked up on camera because it wouldn't have. It was when the ball was, it was after Ben White recovered back and won the ball back and went to the other side of the pitch. He's shouting at Sterling like, brother, I need you to get. And I get that because Saka does it. Martinelli does it amazingly well. I commend him for his defensive work. Saka also does it. Sterling, I can see. And maybe that's just because, you know, he's an experienced player now. He's won it all, whatever call. He doesn't do the going back, as well as the other players. And I think for Arteta's system and for what Arteta needs in this team, you need to be able to defend as well as going forward. And do you know what? I know this for a fact, because Bakaya Saka on CBS, when he was talking to Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry said, I think I don't know if I mentioned this on our last stream. He said about, oh, you know, you work hard coming back and blah, blah. You do more than, you know, back in the day, we didn't have to do it as much. You guys really do. And he's like, thank you for bringing this up because Arteta demands this of us, that we have to work as hard going forward as we do going back. So I know for a fact that is something that Sterling hasn't got right now from what I've seen in Arsenal. So I can see why Arteta hasn't been playing him. But then again, I don't know. Sometimes you still need to use him to potentially get the attack in. You bought the guy, man. So you should have known what he's about in terms of that, if I'm honest. Or you got him on loan bit, yeah? Yeah, got him on loan. And to be fair, it was last minute. And I think, I don't know. I think they can probably coach into him. Maybe they can. It's still long. Listen, it's still a season to go. It's still early days. And maybe Arteta's working on his defensive attributes more. But I know for a fact, Arteta's very stubborn when it comes to, listen, I need you to do the same amount of work going back as forward. That's why he has these young players. That's why they all kind of believe in it. So I just think Sterling might be a mental place where he's like, yeah, I will half-heartedly. But I can actually see that when he's on the pitch. So that's one thing. That's the thing on Sterling. And also going forward, like I mentioned, I think that left side, we all look at a striker. If we can get a speed demon to relieve pressure or when we're on the counter, getting behind defences, I promise you, that's where, for me, is where Arsenal can win games. Because I see us keep the ball in the middle of the pitch and on the right side, we keep it so well. We suffocate teams from possession. We press them high. But it's that little change of gameplay, which he's actually done quite a lot this season. Just that final action. Exactly. If we can get someone who's quicker than, sadly, what Martin Elijus is now, then I promise you that'll be an improvement and will get us over the line in certain aspects. And also, yeah, we need a striker. But everyone's talking about it, so there's not really much for me to keep going on about. We need a striker. Listen, Havertz has done well. He can still find a place in this team. I just don't think he should be a number one. I think he can be a really good number two for Arsenal in the number nine position. So, yeah, I think that has to be looked at. But the main key for me is that left side. I saw them being linked to Sane this week and Arsenal being linked to Sane and all that. Was it Kudos as well? I'm having that. And Kudos as well, yes. You see, I'm glad they're looking at wingers. I know priority... We always hear this, bro, man. I know, I know, I know. But I just think nowadays, I don't know, we're so reliant on Saka. The most sellers of this world are, yes, they're anomalies, but they're wingers. But they contribute so much. They're the big players for these teams. And they had Mane as well when they were doing their thing. That's another way to get around not having a prolific bagsman if you are going to persist with Havertz up front. This is what I'm saying. And the reason why I think I'm leaning more to wingers as well, I think the system just screams out for it. I think the striker position gets nullified. And maybe the reason why I'm also leaning towards wingers is because I've seen Havertz of late, he doesn't play in the number nine. He doesn't play between the defenders as a natural striker. He drifts over to the right. You don't create chances. Even if we got Jokerez and these men, they weren't necessarily going to be bagsmen based on what I'm seeing. Exactly, Delude. Artek would have to change his system to benefit those players. There you go. So the system I think Artek has currently benefits the wide players. But right now, sadly, I don't think they're at the level we need them to be. They need to be at a higher level. Smart Nelly's key for that. Saka's still at quite a good level. But if I take it back to the season where I've seen them both thrive in the 15-16 goals, Smart Nelly got 16. Yeah, crazy. We need that sort of level. We get that. I think we're in a very good position. Right now, the way we're playing, hi, chai. You're right, man. I agree with you with Kai Havertz. And I think Kai Havertz might become a conundrum. Because for me, I don't know how you feel, but I want to upgrade. But I think Havertz has shown me enough that you can be part of this squad. Of course, if you sign Jokerez, Izak, whatever have you, naturally, they're going to be the number one. But from what I've seen, what Havertz is doing, I think you could do your thing in terms of fighting for that spot. The issue with Havertz is naturally, you might think, if you've got a striker that's playing week in, week out, he might go back into midfield, which me and you have spoken about. Exactly. We don't really want to go back through there, innit? And I agree with what you're saying about the winger in that, in an ideal world, you want Kai there doing his thing. You want a bad boy striker. You want Saka doing what he's doing. You obviously want someone that's putting up Saka numbers and maybe some people off the bench, if not at least one of the two, which I agree with you. Because I think the wide men, I think that's where it is. I think if anybody's got some sort of freedom, it's the wide men. I don't really think Martinelli's got as much freedom as Saka because he has to hold the whip now. I love Martinelli, as you know, but I am actually at that point where, yes, you might not have left backs and central midfielders and all of that jazz, but bro, it's your decision-making, because it's you. It's you now, lad. Even in the Chelsea game, I don't want to be harsh because you scored, but you had another chance. On the topic of summer signings, because we've talked about it, we've indirectly talked about it. I want to ask you on Mikel Moreno, because I must admit, for me, I think there's too much extremes. I agree with what you're saying in that. He's a good profile to have as a squad, but not a difference-maker per se. I think he was good against Chelsea. I think people gassed him and said, you're a Xhaka replacement, and then you're onto him. And then I just don't think people have been fair. I think the only times I think he's been poor is when the whole team's been poor. But where are you at with Moreno? Because we actually look like we might score when he came on against Chelsea, I'll be real. 100%. 100%. I mean, I can't give you any difference in the argument you just kind of said. I think there's too many extremes. I think he had a bad game. I don't know if he started, he came on against Bournemouth, and fans were just like, yeah, he started at Bournemouth, and he said, yeah, I saw fans going mad. He turns like a double-decker bus. What is lower than granite? And all of this stuff. I was like, man, the man's just landed. He just reached. And I'm not saying he just reached, like, oh, he's unreal. Like, give him... I'm like, bro, let man fucking bend in a little piece. Like... Give him a chance. And do you know what it is, yeah? It's funny because obviously I watch a lot of football podcasts, and people talk about, they spoke about other players, like, who are they talking about? I think maybe Gravenberch, and how he needed time to bed into Liverpool, and now look at him. Look at him now. Exactly. And I was like, cool, look at him now. Then people will be like, okay, but Caicedo, when he came to Chelsea, he didn't hit the ground running. And I was like, yeah, but then they went to price tag, which is a big factor. 100 million for Caicedo, you expect to hit the ground running. I was like, is that fair to say? Yes. Declan Rice, when he came to Arsenal for a record fee, there wasn't time for man to bed in. I'll be real. And I think that's fair. Like, I had to say to him, we had to say, look, brother, get going. And he did. He did. Fair play to Declan Rice. When you get that price tag, get that much pressure, you have to, and you're known as an elite midfielder. You've got to kind of hit the ground running. Mikel Mourinho, fair enough. He's a Euro winner. And I'll be honest, the fee weren't massive, but give him a bit of time. There's qualities there. I've seen enough to say he can be a player in this midfield. He's not a bad player. I think what it is, fans, like you said, aligned him with Granit Xhaka. And then they also said, look, especially the fans I spoke. Remember, I think I said this on this pod before as well. When in our strongest midfield, all the fans were saying Mikel Mourinho places part A. Like, there was no conversation. As soon as he's fit and ready, that was a straight swap. And I was like, I remember saying, like, I don't know. I don't know about that, actually. But they were like, nope, trust me. I remember Turkish, James, everyone. Actually, not even just them. Everyone I spoke was like, as soon as he's fit, he'll be the starting midfielder. Now, party's on good form. He's been really well. He had a good run of games. And people aren't screaming for Mikel Mourinho to start. But I think he will eventually take that place, because he has got the qualities. I've seen him, especially at Newcastle, he in tight areas. One of our better players in another crap day, if I'm honest. He keeps the ball well, scored a header not too long ago as well. Obviously, he is an aerial threat. I just think, like you said, you used, you honestly spot on with what you said. People just went a bit too far one way, and a bit too far the other. I'm happy with him. Obviously, the jury's still out. I still need to see more, but I'm happy. I'm not, he's not a problem for me, right? There's a lot of problems. He's not one of them, if I'm honest. He's not someone I point the finger at and say, you're the reason why this thing ain't working. No way, no way, no way, no way. And do you know what? I've been a player like, it does take time to come into a, you're coming from a different league, just to bed in a little bit. And yes, there'll be examples where players do just drop in straight away. But give him a bit, give him a little bit of time. Just give him a little bit. And even if you are giving him a little bit of time, see what you've seen so far and say, ooh, are you really the issue here? Because I promise you, he shouldn't be. He shouldn't be. Everyone you look at in that team, and you look at Arsenal, you shouldn't be putting your finger at him and saying, this is the reason why, we're not what we're doing last season, or we're not winning games. So yeah, I'm all right. I think you're banging on the money, bro. I think you're banging on the money. Obviously, defence wins titles, goals score, goals win games, but it's the midfield. I think the wider discussion is how Arteta has assembled the midfield. I like Arteta. I like the fact that he's almost, it's like an 11 players, but there's a mini team and they all interject. You know, as you mentioned earlier, Havertz is pulling out to the right, dropping inside. The wingers are putting in a defensive shift. Where you look at what Mikel Arteta has done in midfield, obviously there's no contingency plan for Martin Odegaard in a creative and defensive kind of aspect. He's not blooding Ethan. I think it's got nothing to do with Ethan. I think it's because Mikel Arteta is not looking for creativity first, or you would play Ethan. It's all the other aspects. And I think where you look at the midfield, I'm not saying don't make, don't change rice, don't develop rice, don't do all of that because he's improved. But for devil's advocate's sake, you've taken a top class, world class, household name, number six. You're making him at eight. You're making part A, who's doing quite well, but it's evidence falling off physically. You're making him play right back in central midfield. And even part A is kind of the linchpin of our midfield. You're taking him out. You're making Moreno. Like you mentioned the Bournemouth game. When I watched it again, one minute he's the lot, he's the deepest six. Then he's joining the press. I think the wider discussion is how Arteta at this moment is assembling the midfield. And for me, it's the profile. I like Moreno and what he can bring to the table. I think you're a level raiser, not necessarily a regular starter and whatnot. Obviously form dictates it. You've got an ageing party. You've got rice who's at eight or a six. I think we're missing that Santi Cazorla, that Cesc Fabregas, that line breaker, but it's neither here nor there kind of thing, if I'm honest with you. I wanted to ask you, cause we've indirectly been going over it here. You see if Liverpool on the onslaught wins the title, how do you look at Arteta? Cause I'm sure you've been asked that because all the stuff about processes and you need time. And while I don't want to draw too many conclusions on Liverpool, I don't want to say they're perfect, but at the end of the day, they're putting in performances. So it's like a lot of the arguments that are asked are redundant, bro. If he wins that. This question has slapped me in the face so many times this week. This question has literally RKO'd me out because firstly, firstly, yeah. If he does do that, huge achievement, brother. Like, like, I don't know if it is an anomaly, potentially. I think back in the, he's won it in the first season of the Premier League. No, he didn't. Sure. Yeah. Someone has done it. Someone's done it. Cause I remember, I think I did some research on this as well. But anyway, first it's a huge achievement. One, if City don't get charged and whatnot and he does it with them still being who they are. Massive. Beats us to it as well. Which we will be mad. Less money spent as well. They only got Chiesa. Who's not been in it yet, really. Most of the time. If that happens, bro. Yes. Like it's peak. It's peak for a lot of teams. It will be mainly us. Mainly us will be, we'll be getting the point in the finger out. Of course, of course. Cause we're, we're going to get, we'll get absolutely obliterated by rival fans. Rightly so, if I'm honest. Yeah. And like I said, credit to him because that'll be the biggest, it'll be huge achievement. Huge achievement. So, but yeah, I would be questioning a lot of things. I'll be annoyed. Very annoyed. I'll be like, how can man just roll in and do this? Granted the Liverpool team is still a good team, but I honestly thought there'll be a drop off. A massive one. So I'd have to just take my hat off and say fair. I'll have to hold a lot of smoke. We would have to hold a lot of smoke. And rightly so. Would I question Mkhitaryan? Of course I'd have to. You're talking about five year plans and processes. The man comes in and just does that. However, and I'm not going to, I'm not going to, you know, back Mkhitaryan too much if it does happen. But I just, I also do think where he brought Arsenal to where it is now, I will also say well done and thank you to Arteta for that. How far does that go though, bro? Because I'm like you, and I have to check myself when I say that. I'm like, because a lot of fans do say that. Like, you have taken us from the trenches, which is great and I applaud you, you know. There's a heartbeat in the team and, you know, I know people post fun at Mkhitaryan for the dog called win and all them kind of stuff. You've developed a winning culture, but you haven't won. Now the conversation is getting into the club. We've got ready. We've put on our nice cologne. We've driven to the dance. If the Premier League was the rave, we need to get in. Have you got your ID? Have you, can you get in VIP? Can you be like Lord Cecil? Can we get Q-Jump? Can you win it now? Yeah, yeah. Well, that'll be the, that'll be the, listen, love for, like I said, I wouldn't, if Arnie sort of won in the first season, I'd say, okay, Arteta, it might be time for you to potentially look. Is he the guy that's fixed it up for another manager to do? This is what I'm getting on to. I would still be respectful though. Cause I think fans, if that happens, yeah, because of the smoke Liverpool fans and other fans will give us, I think it'd be very toxic around us with the fans be going in and out. I won't be doing that. I'll be saying, listen, brother, respectfully, I am very great, bro. He gave me some, like the love back. In the same way you rubbed out Tini, Ramsdale, Smith-Rowe, maybe you've taken us as far as you can. And even still like a bit of it, this is a bit of a mad statement, but Klopp might've done that for slot. Obviously not intentionally, but like he's got them to, he's got an amazing team there. Let's be real. He had an amazing team there. I think that's the problem with the contracts, if anything, exactly. So really he got, he got the final bit of juice out of that Liverpool team at the right time. Granted because of last season, in my opinion, Liverpool fell off. That's why I was like, Klopp's left at the right time. He's kind of thrown the slot underneath the bus by going in at this time. There's a rebuild job without a doubt at Liverpool. There you go. But however, it might've been a really good time now because he's kept on to hold of those players. You might get this season out of them. Then next season, once all the contracts, once the players, I'll be honest, once they start to leave and that, then you will see what this Arnie slot season should have been their first season compared to what we're seeing now. But yeah, like I said, I'm happy for Arteo for what he's done, but if Arnie slot wins in this first season, absolute mockery and embarrassment. But I also want to caveat it by saying, man, we've been there. Yeah. We've been top of the Premier League at this stage. 200 odd days. Thank you very much. 248. We've been comfy there. Yeah. On top of that as well, because I saw this on my Facebook memories, was also top of the Champions League. It was group stages at the time, but top of our Champions League group stage group as well. So we've been in this, because Liverpool, I don't think they're top actually now of Champions. I think they started, I think, give me one second, I'll check this. Do you think, man? I don't know if they were, I know they're on top of the Champions League group as well as the, yeah, they are. So the top of both, right? So we've been, granted it's not the full Champions League group, but it was part of our group stages. We were top of that group stage and the Premier League. And I'm going to be like top of two trees around the Christmas period as well. Top of the table, top of the two trees. Yeah. So we've been there and we hadn't won both of them. So context, take time. It's a long season. However, if he does it, he wins the Premier League. Boy, I actually might have to hibernate and I don't normally hide from nothing, but fuck, you know. I'd have to applaud Liverpool, man. I don't think they've been amazing for 11 games. I actually feel when you go into the game against Arsenal, if you flip the context is around how, you know, Arsenal had injuries, we was there for the taking. If we say that was Liverpool, I think the talking points would have been very different. I don't think they're perfect. I don't think they're as amazing as everyone's talking about, but I don't expect them to. Arsenal's coming, you know yourself as a manager, you can't come in and change everything. So he's obviously taking the clock ting, like you said, put his own little work in practices and he's running with it. And I think they're doing quite well and they deserve to be where they are. And, you know, I don't know if they sat there in August and said, we're going to win the league, but either way, the results dictate the narrative. They've got themselves in a conversation, a bit like us in the first year where we fought for the league. Where my issue with Arsenal and, well, specifically Arteta, because I'm not sure Liverpool fans necessarily believe in those above and think they're doing what they need to do to get them back. Why I would get at Arteta is because Arsenal has taken advantage of the situation. Granted, as you said, which is very valid, there's a rebuild, players are getting on, players could leave, all of that stuff. But they've had an opportunity, they've taken it. And I actually feel Arsenal, we've had a sweet spot in these last two years. Granted, this is the first year City have kind of had a proper wobble. We're not doing anything like that, but they've taken advantage. Exactly like we could have had, maybe I'm, you know, I would have loved one, but if I'm harsh, we could have had two Premier League trophies, or definitely one last year, missed out by two points. Whatever happens in the future, it is what it is, but we would have taken advantage of such. So that's where my issue with Arteta controlling certain variables. And when you look at Arsenal, I'm sure he's won the Dutch League or certain things. So as much as I think experience is overrated, I do wonder, you know, him having some experiences prior to Arsenal, it makes a difference. I want to talk about Edu with you, bro. Like, what did you make of him leaving? What do you think the fallout is? If you know, who do you think replaces him? And also, this is just me here, but as we both said, we do consider Mikel Arteta a tactical genius. There's many things to like about him, and there's many things to improve, right? But, and I'm not comparing Mikel Arteta to Arsene Wenger, but if we assume he's Wenger, we need, I think we need a David Deane. I think you look at the Kai Havertz thing he's done all right. Could, if you had that David Deane, could he have went, yeah, Havertz could be good, but maybe that money could go towards this sort of striker. And we're not having certain conversations we've had in this 36 odd minutes. Yeah, I just, this one toughened me. By the way, it was Jose Mourinho, I think he won it in his first season. Oh yeah, yeah, Jose as well. Yeah, yeah. So I just checked that because I was, I remember, I knew, I thought it was. Anyway, the Edu thing, it caught me by surprise, but actually that one was. Caught everyone by surprise. Yeah, that one went a bit left field. I know Robbie mentioned about, you know, that link to, what club is he going to? The Nottingham Forest, and the multiclub model. Yeah, the multiclub model that he's taken over was rumoured in the summer, and they turned it down. But I don't know, the next person, I've seen some names floating around. There was a whole host of names, man, Leverkusen, West Ham guys. Yeah, there was a Spanish guy. The Monaco gun, the Saucerdad brother. Yeah, he signed Mikel Otero. He signed Mikel Otero as a player at the time, and there's a lot of links to this player, this guy who seems like the perfect fit. But if I'm being real, sporting directors, clearly, well, listen, I spoke to Edu, he's like, it's us together that make the decision. So it needs to be someone who's fully involved and gets it very progressive. But I think Otero's quite a strong character as well. And let's be honest, he gets his own way in that structure, man. I very much doubt where we, you know, Raya's worked out, but when we were going for Raya off the back of Ramsdale's form, I was happy with Calafuri, but we had Bayer left back. Obviously, Kai Havertz for 65 million. When you've got Declan Raya, I think everyone unanimously agrees that takes us to the next level. I'm talking specifically the boardroom, right? I think the other players I mentioned, there had to have been some that are for it, some are against it. And as you see, when you read the athletic, Otero has pushed it. So it's like, as much as I get at Edu, how much of your job can you really do? Because I think when it comes to it, Otero is the one that gets his way and you could argue he shouldn't, the gaffer. He gets his way. He definitely gets his way because, listen, you need to go back to Amazon documentary, Aubameyang. Edu was actually, he was against him saying, shut him out. Don't want to see him. I don't want to talk to him. Edu was like, I've got to try and make this work. And then Otero was like, he's not having it. And in the end, we saw what happened. He was gone. He was done. So Otero definitely gets his way. There's no doubt about that. As much as Edu, he said to me personally, he's like, we as a group, we decide, but I can see when Otero has a certain opinion or something he wants, he gets it. So interesting. The person that comes in, I think it's Olay, I forgot how you pronounce his name, but he's the guy. Olay, yeah. He's the one that. If Otero gets his man, you see the cultures, obviously, right? If he gets him, boy, he's the one. He's the one. I think that that is the most likely. I just think, again, I don't want no, like I heard Rziski was being mentioned. And yeah, I mean, I'm a motorcycle moving loud, loud manager stuff, man. All that blood. I'm sorry. Big up you as players, but listen, haven't become Otero enough. And that's not even in a negative way, bro. He's doing well. There's too much romance around it. I had someone in my chat said, get Omri. And I was like, I love Omri, but what credentials? I'm just a sporting director, bro. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I don't want to, I don't, I don't want to ruin no, no, no, not saying some of the other players have like huge legacies compared to Sierra and Rui, but I don't want to ruin anyone else's. Yeah, man. Just think you're being a fan, Thierry. Exactly. So, yeah, I don't want any of that. And again, yeah, they don't want a romantic, romantic stories of, yeah, the player, the ex-players coming back because Arteta, I believe actually pushes that to the players anyway. I've heard that he's got all the, he's got all the sayings, all the old winners on the walls that David Seaman spoke about. He goes, every time I'm at the training ground, like we, it's very evident. It's very evident that, you know, we've had success in the past and there's a thing that says, it's now your time to create history and all these things. So we don't need any of that. They gather enough of that around the ground. We don't need ex-players anymore. So, yeah, I just think the sporting director just needs to be someone that supports it. But again, yeah, it can be, do you want someone to challenge Arteta? That's the question. Or do you want- Yes and no. Because I'm not going to be naive. I do think Edu and Arteta, naturally, not when I say buttheads, it don't mean RG Barge. It's like me and you, if we went through the players, for instance, I might say something like, I don't rate Kivi or you might, but we can come to some sort of middle ground. So I do think that's going on, but I do think there needs to, I do think Arteta is getting a bit too much power. I can't really comment on what I don't see, but, you know, you've, if I'm honest, you know, you've come into this in some regard. You've been allowed to fail where certain people wasn't. You've been allowed to make certain signings and they've not worked out and then sign again. I think isolated to how we've controlled the budget or certain positions, you haven't, in the last couple of years or the last two summers, you haven't necessarily did everything that, sometimes just do conventional things to get us to win the Prem. As much as I like that he's reinventing the wheel, not all the time do you need to do that. And it's like, if you keep getting your way in this modern structure, then we're going to live or die by your successes. And obviously, the more he gets his way, the more influence, the harder it is to get rid of someone if you're not doing your job. If I'm honest, like how much can he take on as a novice manager? Do you think the board or the owners had any influence in him not getting say that strike? But do you think he got fully backed? Or do you think, because I think he probably did. I'm trying to, when we go to America, we speak to cronkies, they say like they fully back him and they give him what he needs. I'm just trying to just be like, I'm trying to think because again, yeah, you're right. There must be someone in the director, in the sporting director who comes in and says, bro, this team clearly needs a striker. So, yeah, but I don't know. I don't know if that's because the board haven't backed him getting a striker or not, but I'm assuming they must have though. Rightly or wrongly to answer your question, Cecil, like obviously, we spent money in the summer, right? And I think when you look beyond this, when you look coming out of that summer, yeah, we've got some good individuals, but it wasn't inspiring to think, you know, we've got them extra percentages to fight City. I do think rightly or wrongly, though, in that where you look at the cronkies, they get the people in place, they kind of leave you to their own devices, and they're like a fly on the wall listening to stuff. I personally think they said, I'm not going to lie, Arteta, I hear you, but you have spent some money. You haven't really got the best in terms of outgoings and all of that. I genuinely think they've said this is what you have to work with. You don't need to work on sales because you have swindled the peas where you look at the Kongers and Fabio Vieiras. And, you know, there's been a lot of shift now. I don't think it's necessarily Arteta or Arteta's fault that Gabriel Jesus and Tchenko haven't banged. I think the system just left them. But they could argue you haven't got too much bang for your buck out of that. We brought Tommy Ass, you couldn't stay fit. You've got Kibio, you're telling us about another defender in Califuri. I just think they haven't made... I think they just haven't... I think Edu and Arteta haven't managed the budget correctly, if I'm honest. That's how I would look at it. But then you can argue the caveat of the cronkies, like, do you not want to be winners then? Are you just happy to be in the champs? Because you could argue, bro, since we've had these last two years or three, well, yeah, no, two years in the Champions League, I think the cronkies maybe taking their foot off the gas. I don't think Arteta has. I only question how Arteta is going about winning the title. But it feels like we're getting into that scenario of Champions League football, we're kind of complacent. Yeah, no, I hear you. I hear you. And I think both arguments are right, what you're saying. I think, yeah, he's still... He seems like he's still keen to obviously get success for the club. That's all he talks about. But yeah, he has spent money at the end of the day and some things haven't worked. I think the sales thing was definitely spot on what you said there. They definitely had an emphasis on getting players that are rotting away in the club, get them out, find a way, find a fee, get them on loan, whatever. That was a clear, clear priority, this last window that's just gone. But yeah, going forward, you need to push. And as Sporting Director, that if I'm being real, I don't know, because all the signings we make, all the players, every player mentions how well Arteta speaks. And as soon as you sit in a room with him, you buy into what he's telling you. Yeah, I kept press conference, bro. I don't think it's lip service because I've been at Arteta conference and he does have that aura where you kind of want to listen to him and he seems like a very interesting person. Facts, facts, facts. And you can believe and you can buy into what he's saying. So that is key. The reason I brought it up is because I want to know, I'm trying to think, does Edu and that, is that a big part to why players sign? I think Edu obviously scouts or finds the players and then Arteta will see and if he agrees with the client. Edu's just dotting I's and cropping T's, bro, if I'm honest with you. Maybe if it's a Brazilian, you might be able to add to it, but I hear you, I hear you. That's the thing. I don't know if, I don't think he's the one doing the whole getting the player really to put the pen to paper because Declan Weiss always talks about how, yes, and once I spoke about Arteta, I knew this is where I wanted to be. All of them, like you said. Yeah, literally, he's like, he sold me the dream and that. So, so, yeah. So I don't know, the spawn directive if I'm honest doesn't have, he's not, he's going to have obviously an impact, but I'm not, I'm not fixated really on who we bring in as long as it's not a dunce, if I'm going to say that. But if I'm being real, I think Arteta won't allow it to be. It won't be no one that, that doesn't, that's going to basically fold. Should he have that much of a say though? Because like you just said, Mikel Arteta wouldn't allow, wouldn't allow it to be. It's where we are. Shouldn't he have a say like that? It's where we are. And the reason why I say it is because the Cronkies really, they really buy in to Arteta. Brother, every time I speak to them, they're like, whatever Arteta. They're very much like, because I feel like, not that they, not that he saved them, but well, well, well, he, Arteta was a big part of what... There's been no protests since Arteta has been the gaffer. He definitely saved some of it. And as much as they will never admit that, I think they really appreciate that. So, so whatever he wants, I feel like they're kind of like, just do it because listen, look what he's done for us so far. I know we haven't won anything, but from an Arsenal fan and being inside the nucleus, you know that like, they are just going to do whatever he wants. And you're right. Should he have that much power? That's another conversation. Well, we haven't won anything. If you're winning constantly and getting success, yes. But he hasn't got that now. So, potentially, this is why it gets to a point where you get to a stage where it's like, brother, we've, you've had everything. Everyone trusts you. You have to deliver. So if you don't understand, the only way really is to go. So, and I've actually kind of come to terms with that on this video. It's a big up. Yeah, I think that's how it is in the club. I think they very much trust in the owners. So he gets what he wants and that's fine. All well and good. But you have to bring success with that. So this is probably the final year. Maybe not for the, I'll be honest, maybe not for the Cronkies. They might not. They're definitely not. They've shown that they won't listen and make some of the work coming. Exactly. So I think it'll be a very long time until they really are convinced to get rid of him. But yeah, I think he has got a lot of power. That could be actually a detriment if I'm being real. But I don't know yet until this end of season. I, I, I, I need to see. There's no, for me, you have to seal Silverware this season. Even though the goalposts will move with the Silverware, but you need to get Silverware, whether it's the League Cup, FA Cup, by God's grace, Premier League champs, you have to. I'm not even being that, that, that obnoxious has to be the two majors, brother, Silverware. Your name or Arsenal's name needs to be there. Because people can say you've got the same legacy as Ten Hag or Ten Hag's won more trophies. And I hear that. That is a factual argument, even though the club was in the, they're in completely different places and I'd rather be where we are as fans. I'm telling you, none of the narratives run until the end of the season. If we don't, if we're not lifting, I'm not seeing armpits from players, brother, because, hey, there's going to be some, there'll be some, even from me, not as, again, I will never be the, the crate of, but no, no, t-shirts and all that, banners and all that. But I'll be definitely asking questions and rightly so, because you have everything, brother. You have all the power. Even in press conferences, I even hear, you don't even really talk about, I haven't had this back end or we've had three struggled years, all about, you know, whether it's the referees or situations. And he keeps, I know it's lip service, but he keeps saying the cronkies are back me. So I know it's lip service. You're not going to get your employers, but you're saying it. Then if you're saying it, bro, we've got to go from your words. So yeah, it's on you, brother. And I think he knows that, but then understand the pressure and the consequences. All right. You have to, you have to, you have to understand that. And it aligns with, when we're at the stadiums and sometimes the teams start flat at home and or way even away. And he's like, oh, the energy from the fans. He doesn't always seem, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't complain about them, but they all say like when, when they're loud and it transmits and all that, it all comes from what you, what you guys do. We all react from what you guys do. You're the guys that are kind of the leaders of this team. You lot paint the narrative, man. There you go. So there's a lot of pressure on that because that's what, that's your job to do it. And we follow. So yeah, man. Wow. I've actually come to terms with a lot of things in this, in this life, but boy. It's good. Now you're banging on the money, and to relate it to people who don't know what we're going to. It's like, obviously Cecil works with Robbie, right? Is if, if, if Cecil goes to Robbie, I need this camera. I need this mic. You know, I need these tickets. I want to interview this. I want creative control of that. Let me do this. Let me do that. Robbie might say, you know what? You're talented at what you do Cecil. Do your thing. But if you don't deliver, if the interviews are rubbish, if you're not asking the right questions, if one day you're at it and then you're not naturally, yo Cecil, you might have to go. It's as simple as that. Like this is, this is what comes with it. It's a great way to look at it. If I get backed, yeah, if I've got a full back in and I don't provide, it's only right you get questions asked. And it's, and if anything, you have to sometimes go, especially if you really take the, take the, take the piece. So as in take the piece. So yeah, man, that's a good, that's a very good way to look at it. A very good way to look at it. And that even gives me more clarity on the whole situation, bro. When, when the higher ups are giving you the backing, you've got to provide them. And yes, you're very good at what you do. We're aware of that. And we commend you for that. But then when you get more and more trust and more backing from everyone and you've got it all, you have to deliver. Because what other excuse could you have? You can't, it's you. So this is us, Jaren. Obviously, I know you're pressed for 10 minutes. I've got a last couple of things for you here. I can't not have you here with one minute. You know, Ben White was out for four to six weeks. Apparently he's out for 10 to 12 weeks now where you're relying on Califuri and Timber. We've had their issues now. And these are the games, you know, Forest Sporting, West Ham, United, Fulham, Monaco, Everton, a doubleheader against Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Brentford, Brighton, Spurs, Villa, Dynamo, Wolves, Girona and City. This is the prospect of what Benjamin White's missing out. How do you feel about that? And obviously we got, well, it's gone now, but Declan Rice was, you know, broken toe playing with issues against Chelsea. What have you made of the injury kind of outlook on our team? We can't pay players to stay fit now, man. No, you can't. It happens. It's football. Being very aware of it. I think Ben White was pushed, pushed to, yeah. They've known about that, man. They've known he's needed to have surgery. So I'm just trying to, I'm trying to think how to work. I think he was pushed to take time to go, to go and get this surgery. Because again, the reason why I believe, again, I'm no ITK, I have no inside information, but it was early, it was quicker return time because I think they were going to just manage it. But now they're like, because he openly admits he plays for injury. All the, well, other players. Lies about being in, not being injured so he can play as well. The man's a Spartan. So what I think is, I think it's a long-term injury that he just was just managing. And then they're just like, look, let's just get it fixed. Take the time out. Just go and, go and rest. Go and, go and take, do the surgery and recover properly instead of just managing it, playing for injury loud out. So I think they waited. I actually think they waited until Califuri was back as well. I think, I think it was all, especially just, this is just for Ben White, by the way. He needs, yeah, we need him to stay fit or else we're screwed. But I think they'll just, again, it's because this is all allegedly, but I think they're just waiting for him to Califuri to be available and back from his injury so they can get Ben White going, actually have full surgery. I believe that Declan Rice, the broken toe, I spoke about this before, but I played with a broken toe. It's not, like, even when I was at a club, like, it depends what toe, if it's a big toe, it's different. If it's like, I don't know, a pink or middle, one of the middle toes, you can play through a broken, you just strap them together. You can play for a broken toe. It's not that deep. If I'm making him take dead balls, and then set pieces still though, he's killing his toe, man. I'm saying, bro, but I'll be real, like, you can play, it's not that, it's not that deep, playing with a broken toe. Again, depending on what toe it is, it's not a deep playing for a broken toe. The only thing is, it can't get time to heal if you're constantly playing. So I don't know how they manage that. Obviously, it's an international break right now and he's got a week off. It might give a bit more time to, because again, I don't think, I don't know what the procedure, I don't think for a broken toe, depending on what toe, the procedure is only just rest, leave it ice, let the swelling go down, and let it kind of naturally fix itself. So from what, from my knowledge, when I had my broken toe, so yeah, I mean, that's standard, that's standard. He'll be back and he'll be fine. And the same for Kudus and Izak, man. We've been linked with both of them. Yeah, they're both my dream. Do you know what? I just read the title of this video. Izak, Arsenal's top target. That's what, oh, well, I removed it, but that's, again, I don't want to endorse or condemn the ITKs because we've heard, whether it's the ITKs or, you know, the Daily Mail, we've been hearing this. We want these players and all these things. Whether you sign them in January or the summer, I don't know, but we're in November. They can't help us in what's left of this year. But I think, I think you want Izak. I think you're cool with Kudus as well. These, I'll be honest, they don't look glamorous, but to me, these are dream signs. I want Izak over everyone. People, this is on record everywhere. Absolutely. Even for the Newcastle game, I said he's auditioning for Arsenal. For me. He scored ahead, also. Yeah, I'll be sure. And I got, I got caned by Matty Renson, the Newcastle fan, by saying, oh, how did the audition go? I said, yeah, fucking smashed the audition. He done well, but it's just a giant that came at our expense. Don't forget Rice auditioned against us when they, I'm sure they beat us a couple of years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the audition. Yeah, fact. So Izak, for me, is my number one target. People say Gokerez. They'll say a load of other strikers. For me, Izak, just, he just seems like an arsehole player to me. Again, though, and no, do you know why? And also because you won't have to change too much of the system and style of play for him to bed into this team. I think if we go for an out and out Gokerez sort of striker, you have to kind of accommodate to that and change a little bit. I think Arteta can get Izak in this team and not have to manipulate too much of the way we're playing. Yes, Izak might have to occupy the middle of the pitch instead of drift over to the right side and help out the wingers. However, he does that very well, going to drifting out and helping why I play. So for me, he's prime target. Kudos as well. James bangs on about him and says he's a no, he should be our number one target. Should have got him when he was at Ajax, I'll be honest. A hundred percent. He's a quality player. My kind of knowledge that I can add to this stream that people may not know, when we went to Ghana, obviously we met with one of his, I'll be honest, it's a guy that represents him, shall we say, Kudos, him and Thomas Partey. We spoke, I spoke to him in Ghana. He's also likes Arsenal, Kudos as well. You won't have to come out of London bro, come and train us, call Declan Rice, invite Arteta over, let's make it happen. Exactly. So really it's kind of on, if I'm honest, from where I'm standing right now, and from what I think about it, yeah, all it really is on is the clubs letting these players go and how much money you can front. So it's more, I think it's more in our shoes rather than, you know, them staying. I think it's more on what we do to get those sort of players. And if we do, I'd be extremely happy, extremely happy. Bang on the money Cecil man. And obviously I know you're pressed for time, you've got a meeting. So I think that was the best way to wrap this up as usual. It's always fun talking about Arsenal. I've got a lot more from what you said to ponder about Arsenal. And I think I'm more in a decent headspace. I don't know if that's going to persist with Nottingham Forest, but yeah, let people know they can find you. Not that you need that, but go on. Yeah, no, you're right. I'm in a pretty good headspace, probably because I've actually got a bit of time to have a bit of a break, you know, today I'm back to back on meetings. But yeah, well said, after this live, I feel like I've just kind of spoken out what was kind of in my mind and I feel better. Let's just hope, like you said, this could change in an instance as soon as we're back, but we'll see. Cecil underscore G, J double E, that is, and then Cecil C, C-I-L, you know what it is. If you see me, you see me, you know how it goes. But yeah, love everyone. Again, always love to people listen and follow. Make sure you subscribe and like and hit up Deluded all the time, man, he does great content. So thank you, bro. Come on, my guy. It's always lovely to be here with you, Cecil. Tell Robbie to answer his phone. I've been pestering him. I need to make my return to AFTV. We're letting the fans know we're putting Robbie on blast, yeah. Enjoy your meeting, my guy. Don't forget to follow people. And yeah, man. Bless, man. Hopefully Forrest, we got three points, lad, man. In a bit. Loved.