Mailbag Request
International Break Blues: Hit us with your Arsenal Hot Takes!
International breaks are the absolute worst. If you have been around long enough, you know that Adam and I are not the biggest fans of the international game (USMNT apathy almost certainly plays a part in it) and these just drag on. For some of you where there are actually stakes to the matches for World Cup qualification it might be a bit different (congrats to Cape Verde and Norway) but that’s not where I am at.
It just feels like when the Premier League starts gaining some momentum at the start of the season it is broken up and the whole thing grinds to a halt. Players jet off to far-flung corners of the globe; we’re left half watching friendlies that feel like filler episodes and just hoping that the Arsenal players make it through without injury. It’s like someone hit pause on our favorite show right before the plot twist. Rant over.
But here’s the silver lining: with a few days to kill before the action resumes, Adam and I want to turn this relative dead zone into something fun. We’re crowdsourcing our very smart readers/listeners for our Wednesday podcast and probably a follow-up newsletter(s). Fire away with:
Your burning questions: What do you want to get us talking about
Hottest takes: With these make us take a spot having to agree or disagree with it and not take a middle ground
General wonderings: That random Arsenal thought experiment you’ve been mulling over.
Drop them in a reply to this email, hit us up on socials, or leave a comment here. We’ll pick the best for the pod and see about answering the rest into an additional newsletter for Friday. Let’s make this break feel a little less empty and a lot more electric.
What’ve you got? Let’s hear it.
Statistically, which team from the past 5–10 years is most comparable to this Arsenal side? What kind of team is best suited to overcome (outplay) Arsenal?
I guess my hot take is that I'm LESS optimistic about Ethan's development as a 10 than basically every other arsenal fan. I see that he has a lot of impressive qualities (great ball carrier, very secure on the ball, good in tight spaces, great shooter and great at getting shots for himself) but I can't help but notice that he doesn't create that many chances for an AM and he's not the most impressive passer (though he has a really nice cross in him). I wonder if that will prevent him from developing into a truly world-class AM, and if he might end like Smith-Rowe (a very good player with lots of abilities who maybe lacks the full package to be truly elite in the AM role). I don't know, maybe he can build a creative bag over time, but at the very least I really don't understand the people who say he's ready to regularly start in the PL/CL.