THE DUGOUT | IS FEAR COSTING ARSENAL? | JONNY DUTCH | AD-FREE
The dust has settled on the Manchester United defeat, but the questions are only getting louder. Jacob Hawley is joined by Johnny Dutch to move past the raw emotion of losing to a bitter rival and dissect the psychological state of the squad. They ask if the obsession with control has gone too far and if the ghosts of seasons past are haunting the tactical setup.
On the deck:
The £60m Dilemma: We drop a controversial take on Eberechi Eze’s future. Is he a “maverick” unsuited for a dominant system, and have we already seen enough to know he isn’t the answer?
PTSD Football: A deep dive into whether Mikel Arteta is “coaching by trauma”—designing a system so terrified of making mistakes that it has forgotten how to take risks.
The Captain’s Fade: Why Martin Odegaard has become the lightning rod for fan frustration. We debate if it’s a physical decline, a confidence crisis, or simply a player handcuffed by rigid instructions.
Stumbling Into Solutions: History shows Arteta often finds his best attacking setups by accident. We argue why it’s time to force the issue with Merino up top and bring Ben White back to unlock Saka.
The League of Margins: Why the Premier League has morphed into “90s Serie A” and why a data-driven, risk-averse approach might not be enough to get over the line.