Handbrake Off: The Athletic FC's Arsenal show

Joining Ian Stone to discuss Arsenal's FA Cup win over Oxford United are Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke. Whilst the result eventually looked good on paper, the match showed that Arsenal seriously lack squad depth as Arteta was forced into starting the first choice front three (Saka, Nketiah, and Martinelli) and needed Xhaka and Zinchenko to make sure the Gunners were on the winning side. So what d...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Art De Roche to reflect on Arsenal's 0-0 draw with Newcastle at the emirates, and what they can learn from the game. After a tense and emotional night at The Emirates, Newcastle's impressive defense came out on top, despite 17 shots and 67% possession from Arsenal. The panel discuss how the need for attacking depth was clear in this game, and...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's James McNicholas and Adrian Clarke to reflect on Arsenal's 4-2 New Years Eve win over Brighton at the Amex. Brighton have been something of a 'bogey side' for Arsenal in recent times having won just one of their previous 5 visits, but goals from Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli were enough to seal the 3 points. The panel also...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's James McNicholas and Adrian Clarke to reflect on Arsenal's 3-1 Boxing Day win over West Ham, with former manager Arsene Wenger in attendance at the Emirates, which Amy Lawrence shares her thoughts on too. The Frenchman was back at the club for the first time since leaving in 2018, with Eddie Nketiah amongst the goalscorers as he deputised for Gabriel Jesus for...

Handbrake Off is back following the World Cup in Qatar, as Ian Stone is joined by James McNicholas and Art De Roche to get into the latest Arsenal talking points. Fresh off the back of the World Cup, the panel discuss and dissect the Arsenal players' involvement out in Qatar including the likes of William Saliba, Bukayo Saka - who was named in L'Equipe's Team of the Tournament - as well as Gabriel...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke for the final Handbrake Off ahead of the break for the World Cup. With the Gunners sitting five points clear at the top of the Premier League the panel analyse Arsenal's start to the campaign under Mikel Arteta. Tifo's Seb Stafford-Bloor also drops in to discuss their new book How To Watch Football: 52 Rules for Understanding the...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's James McNicholas and Art De Roche following Arsenal's Carabao Cup elimination at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. The panel analyse the convenience of being knocked out of the competition prior to the visit to Wolves in the final Premier League game before the World Cup break. With the World Cup on the horizon, they also discuss the Arsenal contingent...

Ian Stone is joined by the Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke following Arsenal's convincing 1-0 away win over Chelsea to retain their position at the top of the Premier League. The manner of the performance is reviewed, with a number of standout individual showings from the likes of Thomas Partey, William Saliba and, of course, Granit Xhaka. Having passed the latest test as league leaders...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's James McNicholas and Adrian Clarke ahead of Arsenal's Premier League visit to Chelsea. Fresh from topping the group in the Europa League, courtesy of a 1-0 win over FC Zurich, the panel also analyse Kieran Tierney's performance, injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu and what that could mean for the Scot's chances of starting at Stamford Bridge. Plus with Josh Kroenke in...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke as Arsenal put five past Nottingham Forest at the Emirates. Reiss Nelson replaced Bukayo Saka to come on and score twice for Arsenal with the panel assessing his performance and opportunity to live up to his potential at the Emirates. Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey's showings in midfield are also praised before looking ahead at w...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's James McNicholas as well as special guest Adrian Dunbar, who plays Ted Hastings in the BBC series Line of Duty, to analyse Arsenal's defeat to PSV Eindhoven. Fresh from returning from Eindhoven, James shares his view on Arsenal's performance and the trend that has been setting in over recent games. The panel discuss the need to respond quickly as well as shari...

Ian Stone is joined by Art De Roche and Adrian Clarke to look back on Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Southampton at St Mary's. The panel debate Arsenal's contrasting performances in either half on the south coast with the Gunners playing in their seventh game of nine in October on Sunday afternoon. There's also analysis of Granit Xhaka scoring his second goal in as many games as well as Ben White's no-no...

Joining Ian Stone today it's Art de Roche and James McNicholas as Arsenal football club celebrate not one, but two big victories in European competition. First up it's the men who defeated PSV on Thursday night with a dominant display. The pod gives the biggest shout out to Bukayo Saka who once again starred for the team, but note that the game changed when Odegaard and Partey were introduced. Plu...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Michael Cox as Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to their best-ever Premier League start at a powercut-hit Elland Road. Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game to see off Leeds United with Arsenal extending their lead to four points at the top of the table, making it nine wins from 10 at the start of the new season. As well as the win at Leeds,...

Ian Stone is joined by the returning James McNicholas for his first Handbrake Off outing of the new season to talk Europa League, Arsenal's Gabis as well as preview Sunday's trip to Elland Road. Fresh from the Gunners' 1-0 win away to Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League Sambi Lokonga's performance is analysed with a number of squad players given an opportunity in Norway. Given the impact of Arsenal's...

Ian Stone is joined by the Athletic's Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke as we react to Arsenal's scintillating 3-2 win over Liverpool at the Emirates. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are both singled out for praise following the explosive attacking performance to see off Jurgen Klopp's side. Looking at the defence, both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White's performances are analysed with the Gunners r...

Ian Stone is joined by The Athletic's Art De Roche and Adrian Clarke to look a second successive huge weekend of action at the Emirates as Liverpool head to North London. Eddie Nketiah's performance in the Gunners' 3-0 win over Bodø/Glimt is analysed as Reiss Nelson also made his first Arsenal appearance in 14 months. Plus, there's the latest on the contract front with speculation increasing over...

Ian Stone is joined by Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke as they bask in the glorious glow of Arsenal defeating their bitter rivals in quite brilliant fashion. Listen as we try to bring you the feel of the Emirates from that Saturday early kick off as the hottest ticket in town lit up the weekend. And as we discuss which previous iteration of Arsenal this team most feels like. We talk in depth on Wil...

Ian Stone is joined by Amy Lawrence, Adrian Clarke and Arsenal legend Paul Davis to discuss his book 'Arsenal And After' before looking ahead to Saturday's North London Derby at the Emirates. Paul opens up on his experiences with racism, winning the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup in Copenhagen as well as his relationship with Terry Neill and George Graham. We also look ahead to the North London Derby with...

Ian Stone is joined this week by Art De Roche and Tim Stillman to talk all things Arsenal Women ahead of this weekend's (hopefully) record breaking North London Derby. We begin by asking everyone for their All Time Arsenal Women 5-a-side teams, who makes yours? We get the big lowdown ahead of the North London Derby at the Emirates, who should we watch out for, how's it going to sound, and where do...

Joining Ian Stone this week is Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke after a weekend that saw seven goals, two table toppers, and a Premier League record broken across Arsenal Football Club. First up we relish a near perfect Arsenal performance after their 3-0 win over the Bees which saw goals for Saliba, Jesus, and Vieira. One member of the team suggests that from minute two they knew this would be a wi...

Ian Stone, Amy Lawrence, Adrian Clarke and Art De Roché are back to ask the big questions. Is Gabriel Jesus being targeted for unfair treatment? Would you have Ivan Toney at Arsenal? Can the Gunners win the WSL? What are your favourite 15 minutes of Arsenal? And how good was Stoney in his dreams? RUNNING ORDER :  • PART 1: The best 15 minutes of Arsenal (01.00) • PART 2: Brentford v Arsenal previe...

Adrian Clarke, Amy Lawrence and Michael Cox discuss the 3-1 defeat to Man United. Plus, a look ahead to the trip to Zurich - the home of Dadaism and muesli, no less - and we wonder which Arsenal players past and present would make up the staff room at Gooner High? PART 1a: Fast Times at Gooner High (01m 30s) PART 1b: United 3 - 1 Arsenal (05m 30s) PART 2a: Zurich in the Europa League preview (22m...

Amy Lawrence and Adrian Clarke join Ian Stone for a look back at the transfer window deadline day and sum up whether it's really as bad as some people close to keyboards are making it out to be. The team go into the reasons why things didn't work out, why Arsenal's outgoings aren't as good as other clubs' and how the team might set up if and when other injuries occur. And why it might be a good th...

Art de Roche and Adrian Clarke join Ian Stone for a dive into the latest Arsenal news, tactics and matches. Today: we answer the question of what Arteta can do in midfield if Elneny is out with a long term injury - is it Zinchenko? Could the solution be Ben White? We praise the connection between the fans and the club, and question whether the noise for Gabriel's winner was really the loudest we'v...