The Pot Shot Podcast

The Arsenal have won the Community Shield for the 17th time, and in doing so have beaten Manchester City after 8 straight defeats to Pep's side. Join Towells, Manas & Seb as they dive into everybody's favourite good use of time: trying to make meaningful conclusions from a pre season game. We discuss how Arsenal's three new signings fared on their debuts, how we can get the best output from Sa...

In the first podcast of the 2023/24 season, we welcome two new faces to the Pot Shot Crew - Manas & Lorcan - as well as running through our opinions on Arsenal's summer business and our pre-season predictions. Timestamps: Intro & welcome new members!: 0:00 Summer signings & potential for more: 04:08 Pre season predictions part 1: 24:31 Pre season predictions part 2 (under/overs): 46:28...

In our final pre-season podcast, Alex is joined by Lorcan ( @LxWrites1 ) to discuss how Arsenal's preseason games have gone, and what they can tell us about how the team might play going into the 2023/24 season. Thanks to Lorcan for coming on! You can find him on twitter @LxWrites1 . You can also find Alex twitter @alexfrco . Please subscribe to the pod to never miss an episode - you can find us o...

In a very different kind of podcast, Towells is joined by Sam ( @AGenuineOutlaw ) and Cian ( @bootcutgenes ) to discuss the (Emirates-era) Arsenal players that YOU, yes you, were completely wrong about. Tune in for a discussion of names you know, names you'd forgotten, and names you didn't realise were still only 36. No Timestamps for this one, because it'd be spoilers! Thanks to Sam & Cian fo...

Alex is joined by Jack Elderton, Editor of Analytics United and West Ham fan, to find out more about new Arsenal man Declan Rice. Timestamps: Intro: 0:00-1:48 Rice's breakthrough & development at West Ham: 1:48-12:21 What kind of player is Declan Rice now? 12:21-24:14 What role(s) can Rice fulfil at Arsenal? 24:14-36:28 Outro: 36:28-38:58 Thanks to Jack for joining us! You can find him on twit...

Towells is joined by Kees van Hemmen, co-host of the Devils in the Details podcast & fan of the Dutch national team, to discuss Arsenal's latest signing: Jurrien Timber. Timestamps: Intro: 0:00-0:59 Who is Jurrien Timber? 0:59-2:20 Ability in possession: 2:20-5:40 Role at Ajax & aggressive defensive style: 5:40-12:07 Aerial weakness: 12:07-14:25 What is Timber's ideal role? 14:25-16:06 Can...

Welcome to the first in a new miniseries on Pot Shot, where we take a quick look at Arsenal's new signings as they happen. These will be released around our usual output as and when we make signings, so shouldn't interrupt our usual episode schedule. In this first episode, Seb is joined by Orlando Valman ( @0rland1nho ) to discuss Kai Havertz - how he fared at Chelsea, how he may fit in at Arsenal...

On our first pre-season podcast, Alex is joined by Lorcan ( @LxWrites1 ) & Manas ( @WatmanAFC ) to have a look at the major transfer rumours circling around Arsenal at the moment, and think about what they tell us about how Arteta wants to re-shape the side ahead of next season. Timeline: Intro: 0:00-3:55 Recap of last season's structure & potential outgoings: 4:34-13:17 Declan Rice: 13:17...

In part two of the squad review, Alex, Seb & Towells look over the midfielders & forwards currently under contract at Arsenal, rate their season, and decide whether they should be kept, sold, or loaned out this summer. We're supporting Scouted Football during their crowdfunding campaign for the new edition of their print magazine! Scouted is a highly collectable, beautifully designed footb...

In part one of the squad review, Alex, Seb & Towells look over the goalkeepers & defenders currently under contract at Arsenal, rate their season, and decide whether they should be kept, sold, or loaned out this summer. We're supporting Scouted Football during their crowdfunding campaign for the new edition of their print magazine! Scouted is a highly collectable, beautifully designed foot...

Towells, Alex & Seb are joined by Lorcan ( @LxWrites1 ) for a brief look at the Wolves game, before a review of the season that was, and the inaugural Pot Shot Awards, where we'll give out awards as illustrious as Best Newcomer, Best Player and Moment of the Season. Timeline: Intro: 0:00-3:35 Part 1: Wolves 3:35-17:00 Part 2: Season Review 17:00-48:08 If you were told at the start of the seaso...

On the penultimate pot-shot episode of the 2022/23 season, Towells, Alex & Seb assess the 1-0 loss to Forest (and decide whether or not we care), before answering your questions about our drop-off in form, how we should ideally be looking to build a squad & beans. Yes, beans. Thank you to everyone who asked a question - apologies if we didn't get around to yours this week, but keep an ear...

After a 0-3 home loss to Brighton put the final nail in our title charge (barring an absolute all-timer of a collapse from City), Towells, Seb & Max ( @assna_maz ) sit down to discuss a fascinating tactical battle, discuss what we want to see from the remainder of the season, and attempt the nigh impossible: having an interesting and nuanced discussion about whether Arsenal have "bottled it"....

Collings & Seb welcome Manas ( @WatmanAFC ) to the show to discuss our two wins against Newcastle and Chelsea & the changes made to facilitate those victories, potential midfield transfers, and a quick look ahead to Brighton. Timeline: Intro: 0:00 Newcastle & Chelsea games: 01:11-36:53 Why did Kiwior & Jorginho coming in make us better? 4:25-25:25 Odegaard's good form: 25:25-36:53...

In the wake of a thorough battering by Manchester City, a very sad Towells, Collings & Seb are joined by Cian ( @bootcutgenes ) to discuss what we got right, what we got wrong and what we need to do to pick up the pieces and put together a strong end to the season. Thanks to Cian for coming on the show! You can find him on twitter @bootcutgenes . Thanks to Ninad Barbadikar for editing this epi...

Towells, Collings & Seb welcome Lorcan Rees ( @LxWrites1 ) to the show to go in-depth on the reasons behind our recent struggles and any potential solutions we could use against Manchester City. Timeline: Intro: 0:00 Southampton: 01:16-28:04 General Overview: 01:16-10:37 How Saliba's absence affects our ability to build out from the back: 10:37-19:50 Fabio Viera & why he played ahead of Sm...

Towells is joined by the podcast's first new permanent member, Seb Hund, to discuss a second game in a row where Arsenal go 2-0 up early in the first half, only to concede once just before half time and then an equalizer in the second half. We discuss how our injury issues have led to our struggles to control games, how we then made that worse through silly mistakes, and if there's anything we can...

Towells and Collings once again welcome Seb Hund to the show to discuss our 2-2 draw with Liverpool - a result we definitely would have taken before the game, but leaves a bitter taste in the mouth afterwards. Topics include The Xhaka (non-)Incident, how we ceded control to Liverpool in the second half, and why bringing on an extra centre back seemed to make us less defensively solid, not more. Ti...

In their first podcast together for quite a while, after absences & the international break, Towells & Collings briefly discuss the Leeds game & how the changes from our ideal lineup affected how we played, before answering some of your questions ahead of the end of the season. If you have any questions for our next Q&A (or whenever), send them to us on twitter - you can find us @p...

Towells is joined by Seb ( @Eulenberg_ ), not Collings, for a chat about the loss to Sporting and the win against Palace and, with just 10 games between now and the end of the season, we take a look at the journey ahead & identify potential pitfalls. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:06 - Sporting & Europa League Exit 14:28 - Crystal Palace 34:20 - The Run-In 54:57 - Towells' Trivia Book & Ou...

No Towells on this episode of Pot Shot, as Collings is joined by the wonderful Sebastian Hund ( @Eulenberg_ ) to discuss our dismantling of Fulham, the wealth of options now available in our forward line & what we've learned from the first leg against Sporting. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:16 - Fulham 18:49 - Our forward options 42:02- Have we gotten worse defensively since the World Cup? 49:09...

This week, we talk about how the premier league scriptwriters have put the Arsenal at the centre of the narrative, and how much fun it is to have all of the best players in the world coming through Hale End. Also, the Bournemouth and Everton results, and a discussion of how much we should rest players (if at all) against Sporting in midweek. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:55 - Bournemouth 16:51 - Tros...

NOTE: Towells couldn't use his usual mic this episode, so his audio sounds rubbish. We tried to fix it in the edit, but we couldn't. Sorry about that. Towells & Collings discuss the most 1-0 game of all time in Arsenal v Leicester. We discuss why we struggled to break down Leicester, how playing Trossard through the middle affected our attacking line, and why the Jorginho playing for us seems...

Arsenal's title charge has taken a stumble over the last week and a bit, with just one point from three games against Everton, Manchester City & Brentford. However, we showed some signs of getting back on track with a 4-2 win over Aston Villa at the weekend. Towells and Collings discuss if Arsenal are becoming too predictable in how they play and compare the merits & deficiencies of Jorgin...

The inevitable happened, as Arsenal lost 1-0 away to Everton in classic "new manager bounce" fashion. Towells & Collings take some time to appreciate just how well Dyche has the Toffees playing in just over a week as well as discussing what we could have improved about our own performance. We then have a quick discussion of the Brentford and Manchester City games, which somehow seem to have be...