Stateside Gooners: An Arsenal FC Show

We mixed it up a little by starting with the Preview of the Carabao Cup and then covering the recap of the Round of 16 win against Leverkusen.

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Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

On this Stateside Gooners Arsenal Women’s podcast, Matt is flying solo and he recaps the WSL match against London City on a bumpy pitch and windy stadium. We catch you up on all that happened since our last episode from winning the two-legged tie against OH Lueven, to International breaks. There is a review of the table as it currently stands - can Arsenal catch Manchester City? Last, I cover the Asia Cup, not only the results, but also the impacts of this in-season international tournament on the teams in the WSL to include Arsenal. 

As always we’d love to hear your comments to the episode, fan origin stories, and questions you may have for us. You can leave your comments on Substack or via DM to Eric and Matt on the Bluesky app on @StatesideGooners 

There are two things that I will personally remember from this game. In no particular order. This is just the order in which these events occurred in my life.

Dowman sends a perfect cross to Hincapie who used himself as a human cushion so that the ball would land at the feet of Gyokeres, making it nigh impossible for him to give Arsenal the lead. The question from my beloved? "How many balls are allowed on the field at one time?"

If dry humor isn't the best humor, I guess my bawdy 13 year old boy humor is a close second. In that moment, all I could think was, "Yes! I love you so much. Thank you for making my world a joy."

Later when Max Dowman scored his goal she had a second thought. "He actually slowed down there at the end. Cheeky."

Indeed, my love. Indeed. And why not. He did 75 yards of work and had Martinelli to block off any chance that racing Hill-Dick (... inson fella) defender had, which was slim. Or none.

Leverkusen are up next. Again. At home this time. the Emirates will be rocking. At least that what's expected. The game on the weekend is for a trophy. Yes. This game, however, is the NEXT game. And we need this one to get to the next round, so I think that Arteta will be well-prepared and drilled.

I put a special surprise from our childhood at the end. A show everyone from our area used to watch. I guess it was similar to one you probably know. Share your local favorite in the comments or on our BlueSky or Substack.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

This game didn’t rate well on Sour Apples. Too many people were looking for an open game. That’s not who Arsenal are and it’s not who Bayer are either.

The ref wasn’t great, nor was he awful. What he WAS is inconsistent.

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Go look up Oliver Kay’s article about whether Arsenal is respected or hated by opponents (when they aren’t outed and their identity is kept secret). You’ll have to read the article to get the full report, but I’ll give you a feel for the shock quotes Oli collected.

Up next is the Prem’s 3rd stingiest defense. With 55 goals conceded in 61 games between Everton and Arsenal, we shouldn’t expect a goal-a-thon. Our predicted scores (?), well, you’ll have to pay attention to whether we believe the hype or that it will buck the trend

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

The Stateside Gooners are back, and our blood pressure is only just starting to drop! Join us as we recap a chaotic 2-1 FA Cup survival mission against Mansfield Town.

The first eight subscribers to our Substack win Premium Access to The Gooner Hub app through the Apple Store.

We break down a match that saw Mikel Arteta lean into his “Youth Project,” handing historic debuts to 16-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon, while Noni Madueke and super-sub Eberechi Eze provided the magic needed to avoid ‘FA Cup magic’ and a legit giant killing at Field Mill.

But the win may have come at a cost. We discuss injury concerns for Trossard and Riccy and what their absence means for the upcoming schedule.

Then, we shift our focus to Germany. With a massive Champions League Round of 16 clash against Bayer Leverkusen on the horizon, we analyze how the Gunners can survive the “BayArena pressure cooker.” From Kasper Hjulmand’s tactical tweaks to exploiting Leverkusen’s injury-hit defense, we’ve got the full roadmap for a vital away result.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

Nothing to say about the game. Saka scored, Team 115 dropped two points.

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1-nil to the Arsenal. The post game scenes were reminiscent of the Season 1 Finale of Ted Lasso, lots of cheering and singing as the news of the 2-2 draw with Forest came in.

The 5th Round of the FA Cup sends the Gunners on the road to the Midlands. Even the Stags manager thinks it’ll be a blowout.

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Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

As an Arsenal Fan I do really love the color red. I'm happy to say that it quite apparent that Chelsea do, too.

Yet, somehow, we contrived to concede MORE possession of the ball to them AFTER Neto earns his YYR and Chelsea are reduced to 10 men. How's that happen?

There's something to be learned from this, but for now, the 3 points earned are the value we can take from it now.

Brighton up next. This is one of the two trips that remain for Arsenal outside London in the League. We've been to Wolves, we've got this short jaunt to the south coast, and then the trip up north to face Team 115 at the Etihad.

One game at a time... but I'm not sad they have a tougher final 10 games than we do, and that they'll be doing more traveling.

Maybe Pep will add whining about our 'travel schedule' along with having to play Real Madrid again to his growing list of grievances. Very un-Pep-like.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

NLDs bring up a lot of stress for me so I couldn't do a prediction this week. A confident Matt almost nailed the result with his prediction.

I'm pleased to be past this week, especially since the rebound from dropping points to the 20th placed team after being two goals up sucked life out of me.

Chelsea (and Rosenior, who I'm starting to wonder if Chelsea give the boot and bring in ANOTHER head coach before the end of the year) are up next.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe and share. We love doing this and your support helps to keep us motivated. Thank you.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

It's hard to be angry at something you love as much as I love Arsenal.

That said, it's also a bit (or a lot) less so when they're up 2-0 against the team that's bottom of the table, and they draw from a late own goal.

I can say very honestly that I thought that guy Owen Goal played only for us. To see him score for the other team broke my heart.

Can't change the past. Up next is a club and team of players that want nothing more than to deny us the title in a season where that's, realistically, the only trophy available to them. The 'won the NLD at home' trophy is their biggest achievement left to accomplish this season. We have to deny them this marginal trophy on the way to our redemption title.

No reasons. No excuses. Go win the game.

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(PS-Don't forget our friends at The District Gooner Pod. We have a special place in our hearts for KP & Stephen.)

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

"No need to be hasty," Treebeard. Matt did want 2 goals in the first 10', and was 7/10 annoyed when it was just about one, and only at 10'.

By the half hour mark when ex-Arsenal Academy player Matt Smith entered the game, his first and only (for now) at the Emirates, the score was a healthy 4-0 and Matt was expectedly a 1/10 annoyed and 10/10 happy.

Up next: "The Wolverhampton Wandering Wolves," Ted Lasso.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.