The Pot Shot Podcast

The Gunners achieved 4 points from their two New Years' weekend games, beating Brighton at the AMEX before being held to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates by Newcastle. Collings and Towells are joined by Max Taylor of Top Bins Talk to discuss Arsenal's fortunes across the two games, before giving their thoughts on two rumoured transfer targets now that the window is open once more.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:03 - Brighton

24:07 - Newcastle

47:30 - Transfer rumours (Mudryk 47:30, Joao Felix 56:30)

1:02:57 - Towells' Trivia Book

1:04:07 - Outro

Thanks to Max for coming on the show - you can find his personal twitter @MTaylor1_ and his work @topbinstalk.

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

You can also find Towells and Collings on twitter - @alextowells and @alexfrco respectively.

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 6 weeks (and 45 minutes) off, Arsenal came back from behind to beat West Ham 3-1. Towells and Collings look back on the standout performances from the game, before a brief look forward to Brighton on Friday.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:32 - Martin Odegaard

09:02 - Eddie Nketiah

18:43 - Kieran Tierney

21:40 - The rest of the defensive line

28:04 - Brighton preview

31:16 - Trivia!

33:10 - Outro

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

You can also find Towells and Collings on twitter - @alextowells and @alexfrco respectively.

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The probability of Arsenal topping the Premier League table at Christmas is a statistical wonder, and yet - here we are.

With the return of club football just around the corner, Alexes Towells and Collings are joined by stats whiz Maram AlBaharna (@maramperninety) to discuss the stats behind Arsenal's storming pre-World Cup form, which left them top of the table going into the break.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:31 - Were pre-World Cup Arsenal "the Real Deal"?

07:45 - With Gabriel Jesus injured, what facet of his game will Arsenal miss the most?

14:56 - Who have been Arsenal's standout players in the stats this season?

20:47 - Do Arsenal press higher now than they have in previous seasons?

27:48 - Is there anything in Arsenal's statisical profile that worries you?

33:45 - What's your favourite Arsenal stat from this season so far?

35:53 - Outro

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

You can also find Towells and Collings on twitter - @alextowells and @alexfrco respectively.

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a while since Alex Collings has been on the pod, so we sit down to discuss the three Premier League games Arsenal have played in that time: Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea. In doing so, we discuss what it means to be "in control" of a game, and what Arsenal are doing this season to be just so gosh darn good at it.

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

Chelsea: 02:57

Our Rest Defense Is Pretty Good: 08:23

What do we mean when we say a team is "in control"? 12:08

Why did we struggle to control the Southampton game? 14:42

Gabriel Jesus Is Pretty Good: 18:09

Thoughts on Tomiyasu at LB: 21:44

Reiss Nelson! 33:11

Eddie Nketiah! 42:46

Jesus' goal drought: is it a problem? 48:05

Wolves Predictions: 52:08

Outro: 54:58

Towells' Twitter: https://twitter.com/alextowells

Collings' Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexfrco

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/potshotpod

Feel free to send us a DM if you have any questions!

Here's Towells' new thing, 1000 Hours: A Football Manager Podcast, if that sounds interesting to you: https://podfollow.com/1000-hours-a-football-manager-podcast

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alex Towells is joined by Ciaran (@xCiaran_) and Abdul (@Flaminiesta) to discuss the draw against Southampton & the win at home to PSV, in the absence of Alex Collings, who has a degree to do this week.

This podcast was recorded before Arsenal's 2-0 loss away to PSV, so we don't yet know we're destined to lose that game. You can tell.

Also there are some audio issues at times - we're aware of what the problem is, and will fix it for next week, but there's not much we can do about this week unfortunately.

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two Alexes, Towells (@alextowells) and Collings (@alexfrco), are joined by Ciaran (@xCiaran_) to discuss the Leeds game & our Europa League campaign, before discussing who we think have been Arsenal's best players after 10 Premier League games. We then talk about Cuco Martina for a couple minutes, for some reason.

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

The Leeds Game: 01:26

The Europa League campaign so far: 16:33

PSV Preview: 37:12

Arsenal's top performers from the season so far: 47:04

PSV & Southampton Score Predictions: 59:15

Outro: 1:05:20

Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us on the vast majority of good podcast platforms. I'll never say "all" in case we're missing one somehow. If you want to know exactly what podcast platforms we can be found on, you can do so at https://podfollow.com/the-pot-shot-podcast/view

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two Alexes, Towells (@alextowells) and Collings (@alexfrco) are joined by Jon Mackenzie (@Jon_Mackenzie) to discuss the Liverpool game, before widening their scope to look at how Arsenal have fared in big games so far this season and what we can learn from their performances, then finishing off with a quick preview of the Leeds game. We answer your questions throughout the podcast, including "What are Arsenal's weaknesses?", "What does Arteta want from his defensive midfielder?", and "Would Leeds present more of a difficulty to Arsenal this weekend if Jesse Marsch was replaced as managerial lever puller by a hippo in a hat?".

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

Jon's general Arsenal thoughts: 02:06

The Liverpool Game: 03:38

What do Arsenal need from their defensive midfielder?: 15:54

Comparing the Liverpool game to the Spurs & United games: 22:34

How can other teams get at Arsenal?: 32:48

What's changed in the last year to make Arsenal better? Is it the signings or something else? 38:41

Which addition has had the biggest impact, William Saliba or Gabriel Jesus? 45:45

Has Martinelli made "the leap"? 48:05

What makes Arsenal's out of possession play so good? 51:06

How might Arsenal approach the Manchester City & Chelsea games? 55:37

Leeds: 1:00:44

Would Leeds present more of a difficulty to Arsenal this weekend if Jesse Marsch was replaced as managerial lever puller by a hippo in a hat?: 1:06:36

Leeds score predictions: 1:07:49

If Jon was a cooked potato dish, what would he be?: 1:08:44

Outro: 1:10:41

We are now on Apple Podcasts! iOS users, rejoice! You can find us as The Pot Shot Podcast. Please subscribe!

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

The record scratch sound effect used is from sfxbuzz.com, and is under a Creative Commons license.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two Alexes, Towells (@alextowells) and Collings (@alexfrco) look back on a Spurs game that was a lot less nervy than anyone expected, then quickly look at the Bodo/Glimt game before being joined by Danny (@calcio_danny) to chat about what an underperforming Liverpool side might have in store for us ahead of the weekend.

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

NLD review: 00:50

Bodo/Glimt preview: 27:58

Liverpool preview with Danny: 31:10

Outro: 59:30

Here's Danny (& Rhys from Episode 6)'s podcast, Pure Fitbaw: https://pod.link/PureFitbaw/episode/9c70655dfe4e23f32b2758e0a9fe21bf

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two Alexes, Towells (@alextowells) and Collings (@alexfrco) are joined by Rhys (@RTJenky) to give an in-depth preview of the Spurs game and answer some of your questions going into the match, before answering some of your... less on-topic questions.

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

What can we expect from Spurs? 02:52

Answering your NLD questions: 22:12

• Should we play pragmatically, or stick to our principles? 22:12
• How might Arteta try to shut down the Spurs front three? 30:41
• Should we start Tierney or Zinchenko? 34:52
• How might Arsenal improve their record against the Big 6 sides? 38:57

Answering your off-topic questions: 48:07

• Yeah, I'm not listing these.

Outro: 56:12

All the data mentioned in the episode was sourced from fbref.com unless stated otherwise.

The twitter thread from Jon Mackenzie about the Chelsea v Spurs game: https://twitter.com/Jon_Mackenzie/status/1559133983312683008

The tweet with Statsbomb numbers about the shots Spurs concede: https://twitter.com/jair1970/status/1571452891679932416

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two Alexes, Towells (@alextowells) and Collings (@alexfrco) are joined by Abdul (@flaminiesta) to look back on the loss to Manchester United and win against Zurich, before looking ahead to the Brentford game this weekend.

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro: 00:00

United chat: 01:48

Zurich & squad depth: 30:14

Brentford Preview: 40:41

Outro: 51:34

We have a twitter account! Follow us @potshotpod to hear about all the latest episodes, and feel free to ping us a DM (or an email via [email protected]) if you have any questions!

All music included in the podcast is made by James Blake. He's on all sensible music platforms as JWBlake - you can find his Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XQQbNzsMSiESzHz0qA4r8?si=koS6oXNfSL6SJn3oIR1cxA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.