0:01 God, [snorts] this discourse today about Arsenal is nuts, isn't it? It's absolutely wild. Now, look, being stylish, it's great. But sometimes you have to be prepared to be the stylish kids in the riot. Sometimes you have to be the stylish kids in the riot. And that is exactly what Arsenal are. They are stylish. They are capable of playing sexy football. They are capable of playing Job Bonito football. But occasionally they will get you round the throat. Occasionally they will win ugly and that's exactly what Arsenal are and that's exactly what Arsenal should be and everyone's moaning about them. I don't really get it. Look, I don't want Arsenal to win the league desperately. I would love almost anyone to win the league ahead of Arsenal. But you have to combat them in a proper way. You have to
0:46 find an answer. You can't simply moan about the way that they're going about their business and expect them to what? Stop. You have to find a solution. You have to come up with something that is better than them. You can't just go, "Oh, I don't like what they're doing. Isn't it ugly? Isn't it pathetic? Aren't they boring? It's like, no, they are top of the league. They are top of the league for a reason. And the reason that they are the best side in the country and the reason that they are clearly I mean going to retain the Premier League title, it's there for all to see. Now, it's layered. It's layered as to why they are the best team in the country. And I think that we could all probably offer a theory and one quite accurate concise reason as to why they are currently the team to beat. I think if you have to boil it down right, try and distill it, try and almost
1:32 oversimplify football. Why are Arsenal the best team in the country? Answer that question right now. I think the answer I think it's their versatility. I think that what that's what sets them apart more so than anyone else in the league is their versatility. They have, you know, find you a guy that can do both. They are the both. They are the team capable of being both. They are the team that can do it both ways. And that versatility is what sets them apart. And that versatility is what makes them currently the best team in the country. They are capable of doing it both ways. They are capable of playing beautiful football. They are capable of playing sexy football and aggressive football. They are capable of sexiness and aggression. They are capable of playing some of the most intricate patterns of
2:18 play that you will see in the Premier League, but they can also be hateful. Now, when I say a word like hateful, I mean it. I mean hateful. I mean ugly. I mean I mean annoying and incredibly incredibly like atrocious in the truest sense of the word. But we're not talking about being in a school playground here. We're talking about professional football, professional competitive sport, where you should be a bully. Words like hatefulness and being bullies, right? It has negative connotations. Everyone's like, "Oh, that's not very nice." No, no, it's not nice. It's professional sport, though, you big baby. It's not supposed to be nice. You're not supposed to do it fair and square. You're supposed to win. And everybody being so precious. I don't know what's happened. I don't know
3:04 what's happened to society. I don't know why people think that for some reason Arsenal Arsenal have to play in a very particular way. If they don't play in the very particular way that you deem to be the very particular way that they should play in, then you are right and everyone else is wrong. Arsenal don't play football in the true spirit of the game. Therefore, I am superior. Therefore, I am better. Oh, you don't understand it. What? You think Arsenal are good? Yeah, you don't see football in the same way that I do. I'm so much better than you. It's like shut up you like you know these people that sort of the hipster brigade with the mad tashes and the like beanie hats and the statement socks and that it's like oh I don't really like the way that Arsenal play football. It's like shut up you pillock. Arsenal doing exactly what they should do and everyone else needs to elevate. Everyone else needs to find a way like
3:49 do you know how happy I would be if Chelsea under Zabonzo decide to be as ugly as Arsenal? Uglier. Beat him up. assemble a team of absolute boys like governors who go to the Emirates and win and we bully them off the park in the way that we did a couple of decades ago. Go there, bully them off the park. Go there, show them who's boss. Go there, get rid them round the throat. Go there and prove that you are the best team in the country and ultimately pip Arsenal to a league title by playing incredibly negative, boring, atrocious football. I would absolutely love it. And anyone who doesn't support Arsenal that doesn't like the idea of playing ugly football to beat them, I mean, I don't think that you really
4:34 understand the game anymore. Like, if you want to play football against Arsenal, this is where that versatility, that versatility comes in. If you want to play football against them, do you know what they're really good at football? They're really good at football. Do you know how you know they're really good at football? Because England's best midfielder plays for them. Brazil's best midfielder plays for them. They have England's best midfielder in the same starting lineup as Brazil's best midfielder. So yeah, they're really good at football. If they want, they can play expansive, open, tick tacker, pass and move football if they want, but equally occasionally in football, it isn't only about that. It isn't only about being aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes in football, you just have to get the result. And the way that you get the result is by doing whatever is necessary in those moments.
5:21 So when you go away to Anfield, a stadium that has been historically really unkind to you, a stadium where you have suffered some humiliations recently. I remember Minamino scoring in a 4-0 right then didn't Firmino score a hat-tick in a 5-1 like they have been absolutely battered at that stadium. Battered black and blue humiliated embarrassed 20 what 12. Mik Arteta their current manager was in the starting lineup. It's Santi Kazora. Feels like a lifetime ago. I didn't have any children then, right? It was it was a complete lifetime ago. They haven't won there since then. Arsenal fans travel very well. Time and time again, Arsenal fans have driven M1, M6, M62 into Liverpool. Time and time again, they've driven home. M62 M6 M1 back. Zero points in the bag. They
6:07 drive up there again next season. M1 M6 M62. Zero points in the bag. They drive back. M62 M6 M1. No points in the bag. Time and time again. Time and time again. Time and time again. Time and time again. Now they're driving back with the points. And for some reason they should be ashamed. For some reason they should be embarrassed. For some reason they didn't win in the right way. And I just don't get it. I really don't. You find a way to combat that. You don't moan about it. Like also this this is kind of being positioned that Arsenal can only play one way. And I kind of wish that were true because if they could only play one way and they didn't have this pragmatism, they didn't have this versatility, they wouldn't win the league. But they've beaten us already
6:52 this season. Kaio, right? They scored a goal that day where every player touched the ball before the ball hit the back of the net. Look at the quality of play that we saw in the way that they opened up Napoli. Look at the quality of goals that they scored in the Alians. that they are capable of playing an expansive game of football, but they are also capable of what is considered I don't see it this way, but what is considered to be ugly. And do you know what? When you talk like that, all you're really doing is giving them the biggest compliment that you could possibly give them. When we were good, really good retaining league titles, right? We would play you off the park if you wanted to play football. So sometimes Arsenal would come to Stanford Bridge under Mourinho, right? In either spell, right? You're looking at 6-0 on Venus for thousandth game, right? If
7:40 they want to play football, we can play football. You know, we can give the ball to Arjent Robin. We beat them in fact. We beat them in fact at Hibbury. We beat them 2-0. We bullied them as such. Right. Soul Campbell didn't know what he was doing. And the two goal scorers that day was two of the most beautiful footballers that the Premier League has ever seen. Two of the most graceful footballers I've ever had the privilege of watching play football. Our two goal scorers that day, Arjun Robin, Joe Cole. So we were a team that had a a spine of physicality, right? We had Lampard, right? We had Lampard, we had we had Mlesian, right? We had Claio, we had John Obi Mikuel, we had John Terry, we had Ricardo Carvalo, we had Dier Drogba, a spine of physicality. Czech Terry Lampard Drogba spine of physicality. And
8:25 if you want to fight us, Michael Balac will beat you up. If you want to fight us, John Terry will beat you up. If you want to fight us, Frank Lampard will beat you up. If you want to fight us, Ddier Dball will beat you up. But if you want to play football, Frank Lampard will play an assist that you can't live with. If you want to play football against us, Joe Cole will do a trick that your defender has never seen before. If you want to play football against us, Arjun Robin will twine you up and you won't know what day it is. You can do both. Manchester United, the great Manchester United teams of a bygone era. Of course they would beat you up. You don't think VidC would get you around the throat. You don't think the generation before, you don't think Paul Lynch gets you around the throat. But if you want to play football, Wayne Rooney, the kind of player that do
9:12 both in the way that Lampard would do both for us, they will give the ball to Ronaldo and Rooney and some of the most poetic and beautiful footballers. Footballers who would dance with the ball. Footballers who would do magic. But this I mean boring boring insistence on discussing the physicality of Arsenal, the ugliness of Arsenal. No team has ever won the league without the physicality. Even those great Arsenal teams, Terry Enri beats you up. You know that. Terry Henry in a straightener batters you. Dennis Burk in a straightener batters you. He's a graceful footballer, an elegant footballer, a dreamlike ballet dancer of a footballer. be Chinju and I don't understand why we aren't
9:58 sort of complimenting it. I don't think that it is I don't think that it has to be this this there's only one way to play football and unless you play football in a way that maybe Pep Guardiola would sign sign his name to Pep Guardiola would give the seal of approval to then it's not good enough. You do both and there isn't only one way to win games. I thought it was pathetic. Back in the day when Arson Wenger used to moan about Sam Alladise teams, I used to think it was pathetic. Arsenal would go up to the Rebok and they get beat because Sam Alladise found a way to get at certain Arsenal teams. Arsenal are now finding a way to get at certain other teams. And if you are mocking it or angered by it, I don't think you truly understand what football is supposed to be. Football is supposed
10:44 to be about winning. The entertainment comes from winning. You know, I've seen something go mad on Twitter, which I said yesterday, which I didn't understand it. You know, this constant conversation about being entertained. They're not entertaining enough. For who? For you. Ask any Arsenal fan in that away Anfield if they were entertained. Ask any any Arsenal fan who who probably got home at if they were lucky 10, 11:00, were they entertained yesterday? Cuz I guarantee you they were. Ask any Arsenal fan around the world. There's that pub, whatever it's called in New York City, right, which is kind of dedicated to Arsenal. Forget what it's called now. Go there, ask them, did they enjoy it? Were they entertained yesterday? Right? Go to Indonesia. Arsenal have a massive support out there. Ask any of them. Were they entertained? Guarantee you the answer is in the affirmative. And this
11:31 belief that everyone has a god-given right to be entertained by Arsenal. M. They're not they're not a performing seal. They are a footballing institution trying to retain a league title and they will do that in any way they please. And the way that you stop them is by finding an answer because what they are doing is setting themselves apart. They've moved nine points clear of Liverpool. Job done. And it's working. Everything that they're doing is working. I mean, I saw the stat, right? In four of their five away matches this season, Arsenal have bettered their result from the equivalent fixture last season. So on their way to winning the league, right, they they obviously they obviously dropped points to to Sunderland last year, dropped points to Villa last year,
12:17 dropped points to Liverpool, dropped points to Forest. This season they've taken 12 points from those fixtures and people think that they should change their approach. You're mad. It's up to the rest of the managers to find a way around it. Solve the problem. Enzo Moresca, he needs to solve the problem. And you could solve it in multiple ways, right? You could combat them physically, build a more physical team, build a more robust team, or you combat them by playing a more beautiful game, but you're responsible for stopping them. And instead of instead of like moaning and telling the world that they're boring, just beat them. Just beat them. Create a footballing side that can handle them or beat them up. But currently, nobody can do either. and
13:05 that is a major problem. Thank you so much for watching. Really appreciate your time. I would love to know what you think about this video. So, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. If you've enjoyed it, please give it a like. It really does help me out. And make sure that you click subscribe. I hope you have a wonderful evening. And remember, always go easy, step lightly, stay free. Tada.
