Awesome Odegaard sinks Napoli + Arteta's delight & Arsenal player ratings

0:00Hello everyone, Charles, what's here? Welcome back to Inside Arsenal. It is Thursday. I hope the Dad's gone well wherever you're watching or listening to this around the world. There's always thank you very much for joining me here on the channel, the home, of course. The Premier League champions who last night got their Champions League campaign underway in winning style over in Naples, one to win against Napoli, one that will win that certainly should have been a much, much greater scoreline. But a win is a win. It's three very, very handy points to start the Champions League campaign. And what was a tough away game, one of the toughest away games I'll have in the league phase anyway. So we'll talk about that. Today's show going with the big talking points from the game. I'm going to talk a lot about my nodigad because I love talking about my nodigad. And when he plays like that, then why not? So we'll talk about him, just brilliant performance from the captain, match with him,

1:00performance from the captain, obviously getting a winning goal. I'll go through my player ratings. I didn't do that in the live stream. I did after full time whistle yesterday. Loads of you have been sending in your thoughts as always. Thank you very much for that. So I will go through some of those at the end of the show as well. We are recording inside Arsenal extra time a little bit later on today, myself and James Benj as usual. So if you've got any questions for us to discuss in extra time, then get down below in the comments, start it as always with extra time. Give us your thoughts, your opinions, your question, and we'll pull some of those together and get those included in the show a little bit later on before I do anything else today. I just wanted to say a big happy birthday to John Lennahan over in the United States in Boston. I know you're a big fan of the show in your watch and listen every single day. I just wanted to say thank you very much for the support and a big, big happy birthday as well. I hope you have a fantastic birthday over there. In Boston, rights, let's get started then, shall we? We'll talk about that win last night. Really important when

2:02for Arsenal to get underway in the Champions League with three points away from home. Obviously the big, big thing. They did it the hard way, but missing a load of chances and putting us through it. We had to wait until the 75th minute to finally get the goal that we absolutely certainly deserved with a brilliant goal when it did come. It was just a really good win for Arsenal. We did it last season in the league phase going away to Bill Bough on that opening day, which was tough, really tough, real raucous atmosphere in Bill Bough. Got the win there, ground it out. It was a very different game last night. We were completely not really dominant, created a chance after chance and just had to wait until the 75th minute there to wait and be patient. Eventually the goal did come and it was an absolute real top quality goal when it did arrive from the skipper who has started the season in fantastic, fantastic form. It was a strange game to really look back on because if Arsenal hadn't managed to find that goal, if Ode to God hadn't managed to crack that one in with his left foot with 15 minutes to go, we'd have been sitting here so frustrated this morning at such a missed opportunity because you're looking out on paper. This was a top, top class

3:07away European performance from Arsenal. They went to a really difficult ground against a decent team, a good manager and they just tore them to shreds, really. Just constantly, constantly got through them, created so many big openings, but just couldn't score. They just could not score. It was, at the longer it went on, you're like, this is unbelievable. You think of the quality of chances. They created in the first half the Marino header, which you should have done better with Ben White when through put it straight to keep her saccharate, that sort of miscued volley after bursting in the subox. He then had the absolute shocker of a miss from that Ode to God pass when he, I thought it must have bubbled off the turf or something the way he sort of ballooned it high and wide when you just had to side foot it into the far corner on his left foot and you put that one wide when sac is missing a chance like that, you know, you certainly start to fear it's going to be one of those days and immediately after half time he can cap you somehow puts one over from two yards in the center of the goal with an open goal and it was just chance after chance going begging and the clock was slowly ticking towards the 90 and it did

4:09make you think we're going to live to regret one of these. Napoli are either going to score on their basically only venture into the Arsenal penalty area in the first half or we're going to have to settle for a nil, nil draw but eventually, eventually the goal did come and it was a top quality goal. I talk about being patient and that's what Arsenal were in lose their heads as a second half war on as the game as a chance is continue to go begging. Sometimes you can then start to panic a little bit and you lose, you stop doing all the good things you've been doing in the game up to that point but Arsenal didn't do that, they carried on going, they carried on probing, they carried on sort of pulling Napoli apart, moving a ball from side to side and then the goal came and Arsenal made some subs at that point, Solis had come on and we know what Solis does, he just creates goals, he creates opportunities and he did that nice little bit of play down the right side as usual from Arsenal. I think it might have been Havots who has involved on the right side but certainly the ball got sort of worked into Ode to guard, he took it on, laid it off to Solis, Solis worked himself a little position in around the penalty area, laid it

5:10back to Ode to guard and it was a brilliant left foot finish from Ode to guard. I think what I loved about that goal, the most of that finishes, the most is just how he struck that ball. For a time, basically a couple of seasons, last season but even the season before that, it felt like Ode to guard in front of goal, didn't have the confidence to put his foot through your ball anymore. You think back to that season when he scored what, 15 goals in a Premier League, whatever it was, all open play goals as well and he just had that finish on the edge of the box where you just knew if the ball weren't back to him, he was going to find the corner, he was going to hit it so well and he was going to find the corner. For a couple of years, it felt like he's lost that, whether that's down to sort of the injury issues, the issue we had with his ankle that he kind of lost confidence in really, I don't know if it's a strikeable, but the amount of times the ball would get played to him and it'd miss Q or it just, it'd kind of sigh for it and there wasn't any conviction in his finish. But what we saw, we sort of gave Chelsea the way he finished that one past Martin Ezra, we can't know what we saw yesterday where he struck that ball. You know, that's a player full of confidence, confidence in his ability at the moment, but also confidence in his body more importantly. And I'm not sure he's had that for a while.

6:12When I look at the start, the season Ode to guard some joy, I think that's going to be a big part of it. I'm going to talk about him a little bit more in a minute. As we did see the game after that, it wasn't the case of just seeing out, they had other opportunities, obviously, I think it created their five efforts on goal between the time they scored and full time, should have scored again. Madaway came through lack of conviction from him with his finish, just wanted to work it onto his left foot, just used his right foot non-linear. That's it. I mean, I know it's, everyone's got a stronger foot, but in that opportunity, the way he goes through, I just think you side-footed that with your right foot into the bottom corner rather than trying to sort of twist your body and get it on as he left for him and put it into the far corner. Solis's follow-up was then blocked on the line. Solis had another shot that was saved and then Havott's turned in the rebound when he was offside. So they were just creating loads and loads of chances. Now, I believe to be fair right at the end, had that one opportunity when the Brewery and a fountain space in the box and didn't shoot, decided to square it. Fortunately, there was no one there because that would have been an absolute suck-up punch if asked or somehow failed to win that game. But they held on. They won. These 15 wins in a

7:13row now in league phase in the Champions League, which is an incredible, incredible record that they've got in this league phase. And you look at the numbers behind the win, just staggering. You just don't see that in a European away game, especially a European way game at a ground like the Diego Maradona stadium in a way at Napoli. 4.05XG away from home. Napoli just had 0.22. 26 shots to 25. 8 shots on target for Arsenal, just a three dominant in possession as well. I mean, those are staggering numbers that you see there. You see this from up to the shot locations that Arsenal had as well. And that's XG from Open Place, 3.8XG from Open Play. That was the most, I think, anyone has got away from home in the Champions League since the 21-22 season. So to go to a ground like Napoli and do that, really impressive from Arsenal. For Australia, obviously, we didn't take advantage of it. Hopefully we've got some goals saved up in the bank after that. But I would much

8:13rather see a game like this in some of the games last season when we just didn't create. I think that's where the real worry is. When you're not creating chances, you're not sort of doing the type of play that you need to do to stretch teams and pull teams apart. This was the lowest of low blocks I've seen for a long time, arguably, from Napoli. It was proper and leg-grible. They sat so, so deep right on the edge of their penalty area. And we saw last season how much Arsenal struggled to deal with that at times. But this wasn't one of those occasions. They faced a real proper Italian low block last night. And yet they still created that amount of good opportunities. So for me, that's a promise of side. I'd much rather that than what we saw last season when they just struggled to even create any chances out of it. Mkehlar Tetel was understandably, you know, very, very happy with the results just by what happened in front of goal. This is what you had to say afterwards. So I'm very, very happy, a really tough place to come and play in a really different environment. A beautiful one, by the way, against a really good team. I love the way we attack the game,

9:15the way we competed, the hunger that we showed the desire to dominate, to come here, to own the pitch and the quality that we showed against the team. That is so difficult to create chances. Again, as we created a huge amount of them, and the result doesn't reflect what we saw on the pitch, to play as a remence, to play with that personality, with that conviction, and with that quality in the Champions League away from home, it's something to be extremely pleased about. And it is, you know, I was watching that game yesterday and just thinking, now this is a top quality Arsenal side. I mean, we know that in a way, but a Premier League Champions. But, you know, when you go away in Europe in a Champions League and you put on a performance like that and you dominate in a way, ground like that, and the way Mkehlar talks about it there, you know, really wanting to dominate the pitch. You know, they did that. It's just there, you're just looking at a real top quality outfit out there who've grown so much in this competition. You know, they beat and find this last season, obviously. And just to get to the Champions League final is it takes an awful lot. And I think you can see that these guys know from what's gone on in the last couple of seasons in Europe, how they've done. They know they're a top quality team. And to go there and be able to produce that type of performance, I think it's

10:19really, really impressive. So all in all, it was a good day for us, nor even if we did misaffair a few chances. I'm just going to talk about the captain now, who's just had a brilliant brilliant start to the season. Now, I talk about the way he struck that ball for his goal yesterday as such a promising sign. You can just see the confidence is oozing out of him. I think the World Cup was massive for my know to God. After such a frustrating season, our season with injuries and just not being able to get any sort of rhythm at all. I think the World Cup and sort of having the World Cup that Norway had and feeling that sort of love that I think he and the rest of the team got from the Norway supporters. I don't know if it just rejuvenated him. I think it just sort of washed away the difficulties that he faced last season. And I think he's come back just looking totally refreshed in a different sort of player. Totally ease with himself, confident, healthy, more importantly, you know, fit, strong. And he just owned that pitch yesterday. You know,

11:20it was an absolute world class performance from my know to God yesterday in that position. I mean, you look at the numbers there from Soferscore, players with 70 plus accurate passes in the final third of the pitch in a single Champions League match since 2003 to 2004. So that's since the invincible season. Shavvy five times in the Esther Tony Cruz. And they might know you know, that's it. The only players who have done that before him last night were two who you would absolutely expect in Shavvy and in the Esther. You obviously just did that week and week out for Barcelona. It felt like anyway. And then Tony Cruz, unfortunately against Arsenal in 2014. And that's it. And then might know the guys joined that list. You know, that's how effective he was. That's how dominant he was in that game last night. He ran it. He absolutely ran it. And yeah, it's a joy to watch. Yeah, when I think he's making a lot of people eat a lot of humble pie, I think from what they were saying last season, you know, Arsenal fans included. I think it's so easy to write players off really, really quickly. And look, Ode to God wasn't great

12:24last season, but there was context behind it, which I always tried to explain when talking about Ode to God last season. Now he himself admits the last two seasons. He hasn't been good enough. And he's got to, you know, you take criticism for that and you hold your hands up. Say, I haven't been good enough. There has been reasons for it though when it comes to Ode to God. But now you're seeing a player who is absolutely put, don't touch wood, who's put those injuries behind him. You don't lose what might, you know, we know how good might know to God was you don't lose that. You don't lose it in a couple of seasons. You just got to try and find it again. And he's found it again. So many people were willing to write him off and just wanted to sell him. And I just didn't understand that mindset. It's like, you've got to talk quality player here. And we're seeing it, which is great, absolutely great. And yeah, long way that continued. He looked absolutely naked at the end of the game yesterday. It was really brutal out there. You know, 30 odd degrees down the pitside at far speaking to someone or reporters who are up in the press box. And they said it was hard enough just sitting in the press box. And he looked at Ode to God when he got that player of the match trophy that you're seeing on screen there. He was asked, what about you came off as I, how do you feel? You know, you're

13:26happy. He was like, I'm tired. So tired. He said it was so, so tough out there. You sort of collapsed at full time. You just lay on the turf for a bit. Marino when he came off looked absolutely done. He looked like he just run through a swimming pool. If you can't run through a swimming pool, you know what I mean? He dived into a swimming pool. He was just absolutely drenched through the humidity of it all. So hopefully I haven't taken too much of a toll because it's a short turn around from that game against to that game on Sunday, on Saturday night. But yeah, I'm really talk quality performance from Martin Ode to God. Brilliant. See the skipper playing like that. Michele, when he was asked about Ode to God, said that's what we need players in that mindset to decide the game and play with that personality that an action might not happen. It's the next one. The next one keep insisting. Keep taking chances and risks. He's getting in so physicians much more now than you feel that he has the emotional state that he knows that the ball can go in. He's got an incredible bill. And he did. And when he talks about there, when he talks about that action might not happen. It's all about the next one, the next one. And that's what made us, but they were so dominant yesterday because they just kept going. They didn't panic when

14:28the chances of missing you. It was just constantly like, okay, fine. And the next one, get the ball back, go again, go again. They just didn't stop. They didn't stop last night. They did not let Nathalie get into the game. And I think that's one of the most promising thing. They were relentless yesterday. And yeah, fingers crossed that can continue. Right. Player ratings wise, this is what I've gone for from last night's game. Riot gets a six. Made a couple of say sort of spilled one in the first half from I think was the Brewerner spilled it a bit in the first half. And then often see that as you usually so secure in his handling. Fortunately, there was no Nathalie player sort of learned enough to take advantage of it. But on the whole, it was a pretty, it was a pretty what do you expect from David Rire in a game where he wasn't really tested, gave him six. Ben White was okay. I thought he's misplaced a few passes. Ben, I didn't think he was absolutely at his best, but he was fine. I gave him a six. Did go off looking according to Sam Dean over in the press box, walked off very gingerly and sort of grimacing a little bit. Ben White and seemed to limp down the tunnel. Obviously a very short turnaround before Sunderland on Saturday nights. And

15:33that is a little bit of a concern, especially with Timber, although he did travel yesterday, as part of the squad, didn't actually make the play in the squad. He was a player who's left off that. So he's clearly still not deemed ready enough yet. So Arsenal might have to get a bit creative when it comes to the right back situation for the game against Sunderland on Saturday night. Ezri Conzer, I suppose, is an option to go that I thought he was brilliant last night though. Ezri Conzer, when I talk about people eating humble pie, you know, when I first, when this first started coming out, Arsenal's interest in Conzer, I was a bit, I wasn't sure about it. It's like to be really spend that sort of money on, on Ezri Conzer at his age, but the way he's played, the way he's slotted into this Arsenal team, just like he's been here for years. And I said it on the stream last night, the biggest compliment you can play as Reconzer right now, it doesn't look like Arsenal missing Williams-Aliber. And when you know how good Williams-Aliber is, it's worn a hell of a compliment. He was so strong yesterday, he's smooth. I think he's misplaced two passes. In his first two games, he made over 100 passes and he's misplaced two. So he's so strong in possession. Couple of brilliant tackles again last night. He reads the game really well. I thought

16:36he was exceptional. Ezri Conzer, so I gave him an A. Gabrielle in Capia, I gave a seven. Each deck from RICE, I gave a seven. Marino gave a six. Saka six. Ezri six. Yoko Ez six. And Oda Garda gave a nine. He was my man of the match. The attack, the sort of Ezri, I just didn't feel like Ezri took full advantage of the opportunity. I think he seemed to play things a little bit safe, I thought. I didn't think he was particularly bad or anything. I just thought he, there was opportunities there for him to really sort of try and take a man on or do something, but he seemed like he was just playing. I mean, his first start, the season, everything. So he's trying to play himself into some sort of form, but just felt like he was a little bit too safe for me. Saka was a was a threat, but unfortunately, we got himself in some good positions. He didn't take advantage of that. So I gave him a six. Yoko Ez, I felt a bit sorry for in terms of the sort of the way the game panned out and how deep napely were. There was just very little for him and it's weird because you see, I also have 26 shots and Yoko Ez didn't have a single one of them. He had less touches. It was on the pitch for 75 minutes and he had less touches, no 75 minutes and Kai Havers did.

17:39He came on for the final 15, but I just don't think I look at that game and I just think that is not a victory. Yoko Ez game. I'm not sure I'll tetra expected Napoli to play as deep as they did at home, but when they did do that, you know, Yoko Ez was there was no opportunities for him to sort of get his head up and run, find, you know, try and work himself some space. It was so crowded in around the penalty area that for the striker, I felt like he was, I felt like he was unlucky that the game just didn't suit him until he did create a couple of chances for some players, putting a good cross the outside for Saka for that overhead kick that was saved. Had another one that he teed up. I think it was Ez. He teed up as well. So he created a few opportunities with a very sort of limited amount of time he got on the ball. Your credit, it just didn't feel like it was a game that was anywhere close to suing his qualities. In terms of the subs, another assist for Solis brilliant from him just make things happen when he's on the pitch had a couple of shots as well. Real live were give him a seven. Havards to seven was really involved in the short space. He was on the pitch. Havards made away. K gave a six.

18:42I thought he played a K, made away K when he came on. He just missed that big, big opportunity, but he was a threat when he came on Bruno. Did a K give him a six? I won't give mine to Mindy A. Mark, but mine, oh, to God, undoubtedly, Arsenal's man of the match last night. Right, we're going to move on to some comments and questions now. Got quite a few of these to go through. Thank you very much for sending them in as always. Goode Greg says, what a game by the guard. It looks really big rated and team is really perin. Thanks to him. I didn't think that starting to feel work right seemed to be isolated as both Marino and Oedoghaw got forward. This seemed a good spot for Zubemendi to get to start. Any idea why our Teteroni seems to trust him coming on for very brief appearances. I was surprised. I did not think Marino would start that game. I thought it would be it would be supermendi. I agree. If you're playing someone, if you're playing a sort of pairing, like he kind of did yesterday. If Oedoghaw was playing in that, if it was more of a 4-3-3, like we saw yesterday, we're Bryson, Marino a little bit closer together at times. I thought that would be Mars more suited to Zubemendi with Oedoghaw in the 10 position. So I was surprised. I don't know why we're only seeing fleet in appearances for him.

19:45At the moment, he's going to play a lot of football this season and no doubt about that. I think in every time he's been on the pitch, he's been good. But I agree. I was a bit surprised. I thought it should have been Zubemendi, rather than Marino. Yesterday, DJ says, good result after a hard fought game, but in typical fashion, I'm focusing on their negative. Come on, DJ, why are you doing that? Given that it looks like our attacking players improved stylistically so far this season, do you think we've progressed past Vick? I know it's a small sample size, but he looked out of his depth so far when he's played nine touches last night and the space is finally open and throw to God for the minutes of Coyentron the pitch. Do you think, given his lack of technique and position, or IQ, he will hinder us more than help us this season? PS, I'd like to publicly apologize to Mike, no God, good to have you back, Capitano. Do I think he'll hinder us more than help us? No, I don't think he'll hinder us more than help us. Do we think we've progressed past Vick? I don't know if we've progressed past Vick. I just think the thing with Vick when he's on the

20:45pitch is he's just a, I feel like he's just such a step below in terms of technical ability. Certainly, you have a, you know, you compare him to because that's the same position. And I just think you see Arsenal playing a different sort of fashion, but when Havoc is on the pitch and we saw that just in the 15 or so minutes that he was on it last night, you know, so a lot more intricate up and around that final third. And Havoc is just always always involved in the play because he drifts out to get near the ball. Yokores doesn't do that, and I'm not sure we need Yokores to do that because I don't think that's his particular strength. So I don't think it's a case where we progress past Vick. I just think we look like it. I just think he's very, very different to kind of have us, but I don't think he's going to hinder us because we're going to need him. We do absolutely need him. And I didn't, again, I, I fell a bit sorry for me, I said because I just didn't think that was his, his sort of game, the way it panned out, the way Napoli played. And to be fair to him, when the few touches he did get on the ball, he made a couple of things happen as well. So now I don't think he'll hinder us more than help us. I think we absolutely need, need him this season. Northbank man says great performance

21:49last night except for the ball in was nice to see the changes run and thought they all played their part. Do you feel as a fan base with far too down on Yokores? He's a huge reason we want the title and ended up in the Champions League final yet every single action or mistake is jumped on like you as a fan of a certain generation. If we'd had a player coming in 90s from another league club square and 21 goals in his first season to get us our first title and 20 years to years that be stitched into folklore. I don't feel half the criticism he gets is warranted. He's made out of some Sunday player which he obviously isn't. Are we as a fan base to down? Well, I think Yokores has got a lot of fans in the fan base. You just say that when you say anything negative about on social media, you get absolutely jumped on. So I just think he's a bit of a marmite player. I think some people really, really like him and a desperate for him to do well. And I think other people have sort of looked to what they've seen from him so far and just don't believe he's as a standard that Arsenal need. I think I'm more in that second category. I do think that what I've seen from Yokores at the moment as much as I think he deserves a lot of praise for what he did last season

22:53and will always be in my mind. You know, an absolute key part of that title, title team. Do I think he's, you know, I said yesterday if you're off from here replace it, if you're sending a swap in January, his algorithm swap in for Yokores. I'll take it in an instant. And that's not me to just say no because he's a rubbish player or anything. I just don't think he's I don't think he's perfectly suited to this Arsenal team. I think he could go somewhere else and he could do very well as he did at sport. I'm not sure he's perfectly suited to this Arsenal team in a way we play. I think we're a much better, better team when you got kind of at some front. But it is what it is. He's playing for Arsenal. You're always going to get people who criticize. So I think he's just going to have to take it. Pat says, hi, Charles. Great result. Pat, you were there last night actually, weren't you? I think I saw that you'd gone. So I hope the the travel home has been all right. Today he says, great result. We were so dominant and Cino DeGuardian gets Napoli completely running the show. My prediction, Odegaard's get 15, Premier League goals, 20 in all comps. That would be nice. Gave on, says he looked miserable when Italy the players were drenched. He looked muggy, still overall great performance, felt in control,

23:55but we lacked in a tack against the low block. I have my concerns. Glad we have more depth this year to hopefully mitigate the injuries. I don't know. I thought we I didn't think we did lack against the low block. Yes, I think that was the first time in a fair while certainly better last season where we didn't. We created so much against the low block. Yes, I felt that was a positive to take. George says, I'd take that game every day of the week. I think that was one of the most dominating away performances ever. Champions League game, Andrew says, hi, Charles, good rotational performance. Good to see the effectiveness of the bench. This should be our tetas MO for the season and give critical players rest. Love it. North Tank pod says, third toughest game after buying a Madrid to come. If so, great win. Mr D Mark V6 says such a dominant win. Only worry is with an XG of over four. Only one Nilsacker still really poor. Miss two sitters. He really needs to step up. Can't help thinking the attack will cost us in some big games. This season rights. That is it from me today. Everyone, thank you very much for sending your thoughts. Appreciate it.

24:55As always, I will be out later on today with James Benchrin, side Arsenal, extra time to get your comments and questions in for that. But until then, have a good one. Again, John Over in Boston, have a great birthday mate. If you're still listening, thank you for tuning in every single day. I appreciate that. Have a fantastic birthday. And to everyone, enjoy the day. Speak to you soon. Bye bye.