THE ARSENAL OPINION - BY LE GROVE

The one Johnny’s been building towards all year. Every number, every game, every player — compiled into one spectacular mosaic. This is the hallmark of the AOP calendar. We are giving you a little taster of what you get by being a member of the AOP.

Here’s what’s inside:

🏆 Player of the Year — Timber wins it for the second year running. Johnny makes the case that the most consistent player at Arsenal this season doesn’t court attention, doesn’t grab headlines, just quietly dominates every single week. The numbers back him up completely

🥈 Joint Second — Gabriel and Declan Rice share the spot. The King of Brazil as a Tony Adams-level beast. Big Deck Energy as the heir apparent to Vieira. Both had monster seasons. Johnny breaks down exactly why

🧤 Raya — So Close — a phenomenal year, but the nature of a defence so good means a goalkeeper has a soft ceiling on how high his ratings can go. Johnny explains the logic and it’s hard to argue with

📊 The Spreadsheet — Johnny has been building this all season. The defence is green. The attack is red and orange. The story of how Arsenal won the league is hiding in plain sight in the colour coding

😬 Martinelli — A Cautionary Tale — a real falling off in the second half of the season that the numbers make undeniable. And a midfielder’s late-season surge that saved the title

🌟 Max Dowman — Special Mention — not enough games to qualify for the main list, but Johnny is not letting this season go by without putting on record exactly what that kid did

Subscribe at patreon.com/theArsenalOpinion for ad-free episodes and support the show. And for the best Arsenal writing on the internet, sign up to the newsletter at le-grove.co.uk.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jacob is joined by Tim Stillman — of Arsenal Vision and Arseblog fame, and the most thorough writer covering the Arsenal women's team — for a Dugout that goes deep on the season just gone and the summer ahead.

Here's what's inside:

🔥 Hottest of Takes — Tim opens with a claim that will provoke debate: Myles Lewis-Skelly starts in central midfield next season. Permanently. And Zubimendi quietly finds himself in a Jorginho role. Jacob asks whether we might be watching a repeat of Ben White at right back — accidental permanence

💸 The Transfer Market Is Broken — Jacob's hot take: there are no players worth a hundred million pounds, which means every player costs a hundred million pounds. Tim has a lot of sympathy for what Berta is trying to do this summer and explains why in a way that makes you feel slightly better about everything

⚽ Gyökeres — The Honest Assessment — Tim fell on Pete's side. And then Gyökeres just quietly got on with it. No side changing the outcome of the argument, but undeniably no title without him. Where does he fit next year?

🌟 Max Dowman — The Fabregas Comparison — Tim goes there. Carefully. Jacob talks about a World Cup preseason and what happened to a certain Spanish teenager in the summer of 2004

🔴 What Does Arsenal Actually Need This Summer? — the left wing spot, the striker question, and why Tim thinks Arteta might have to sacrifice one of his principles to find the attacker that changes everything

🌱 Calafiori — Keep Him — Tim's horse-without-a-jockey analogy will become the definitive description of watching Calafiori run at full pelt down the right wing having started at left back. The lads agree: don't sell this man

Subscribe at patreon.com/theArsenalOpinion for ad-free episodes and support the show. And for the best Arsenal writing on the internet, sign up to the newsletter at le-grove.co.uk.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pete and Matt. Post-season, pre-window. The football's gone and they don't know what to do with themselves — except talk about transfers. Which is exactly what they do.

Here's what's inside:

🔥 Hottest of Takes — Matt makes the case for selling Ethan Nwaneri this summer and using him to fund the hot boy window. Pete's take is that we do one more year with Gyökeres — but he's getting relegated to third choice striker next season

😤 Arsenal Derangement Syndrome — The Telegraph. The Athletic's alternate table. Paul Scholes picking Man United to win the league. Pete and Matt go through every piece of nonsense still being thrown at the champions and explain why they actually want it to continue

😬 Saliba's Back Injury — the most worrying piece of news to emerge from the final. Pete and Matt try not to catastrophise and settle on a silver lining involving Mosquera

🌟 Calafiori — Don't You Dare Sell Him — Juventus and Roma are sniffing. Matt and Pete make the case for keeping a total unicorn. Arteta used the phrase "individual action" after the final. They both think they know who he means

🕵️ The Southampton Spying Scandal — Tonda Ecker caught cheating, keeps his job, delivers an 8-minute-43-second apology that makes things considerably worse. Pete and Matt on what it does to a dressing room when the gaffer gets caught

📺 16.2 Million Illegal Streams — Keir Starmer asked TNT to make the final free to air. TNT said no. Pete and Matt have a lot of feelings about how football fans get treated

Subscribe at patreon.com/theArsenalOpinion for ad-free episodes and support the show. And for the best Arsenal writing on the internet, sign up to the newsletter at le-grove.co.uk.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Johnny's at the parade, voice destroyed, heart full. Pete's at home, processing. Arsenal are Premier League champions. They were Champions League finalists. And there is a lot to say.

Here's what's inside:

🔥 Hottest of Takes — Johnny holds two things at once: enormous pride in what this team achieved, and real hunger for what comes next. Pete's take cuts straight to the summer — the attack needs addressing, and he's not being gentle about it

💔 The Champions League Final — Honest Debrief — Kai's goal was a worldie. Mosquera was brave. The penalty decisions were shocking. Johnny goes through what he liked, what he didn't, and is honest about the moments that cost us

🟥 The Referee — Pete and Johnny have a lot of feelings. The Noni penalty. The corner at the end of the first half. The yellow for Saka. Johnny chooses his words very carefully. Pete does not

💸 The Summer Window — Kruppi, Morgan Rogers, Alex Isak, and a Bellingham question that has Johnny very excited. Why Premier League-proven players are the only names Pete wants to hear this summer

😤 Everybody Hates Arsenal — Chelsea's trophy post. Nottingham Forest. Jed Spence. Johnny and Pete on why rival clubs need to have a serious word with themselves

🚀 This Feels Like The Beginning — 2006 felt like the end of an era. This feels like the start of one. Declan Rice after the game said we'll be back. Pete and Johnny believe him

Subscribe at patreon.com/theArsenalOpinion for ad-free episodes and support the show. And for the best Arsenal writing on the internet, sign up to the newsletter at le-grove.co.uk.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pete and Jacob. 48 hours to Budapest. Jacob's hotel canceled on him. He needs this. Two lads trying not to lose their minds before the biggest game of their lives.

Here's what's inside:

🔥 Hottest of Takes — Jacob goes full conviction on the team sheet. Pete's take is about a game plan that will shock everyone expecting Arsenal to sit deep

📊 Are We Sleeping On Noni? — gradient data that will make you reconsider. Where Madüeke ranks in the Champions League for on-ball attacking is genuinely surprising

💸 The Summer Window Opens Early — Rogers, Alvarez, Kruppi, Barcola, Jesus, Martinelli, Ethan to Chelsea. Pete and Jacob go through every name with data

🤔 Alvarez vs Kruppi — Pete puts Jacob on the spot. Proven Premier League winner or elite 19-year-old with frightening shooting numbers? Jacob makes his call

😬 Ethan Nwaneri — the Marseille loan has quietly told Arteta everything he needed to know. Jacob thinks it's over

Subscribe at patreon.com/theArsenalOpinion for ad-free episodes and support the show. And for the best Arsenal writing on the internet, sign up to the newsletter at le-grove.co.uk.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices