Sunday 13 December 2015 07:44, UK
Sky Sports' Patrick Davison catches up with Arsenal's Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin as they answer some fun questions. But their title ambitions are serious...
Monreal's favourite Christmas film is Home Alone. He can flick an orange up with his foot and land it in the bottom drawer of his fridge (check his Twitter).
Bellerin puts too much 'glue' in his hair. His favourite thing about Christmas is the homemade soup his Nan brings over from Spain.
We put Arsenal's Junior Gunners in charge of this weekend's Super Sunday interview - with young supporters sending in their questions for the club's first choice full-backs via social media. The result was a selection of questions you couldn't possibly have predicted.
Favourite Christmas film? Favourite Christmas food? How does Hector Bellerin keep his hair so perfect?
There were others. 'Best Arsenal lookalike, other than Nacho Monreal and Peter Crouch?' Bellerin went with Theo Walcott and Lewis Hamilton.
Santi Cazorla and Adam Sandler might have been another contender, unfortunately Monreal had no idea who the actor was. He did however accept that he looks like Crouch, apart from the striker being "a lot taller and skinnier".
'Most grumpy when they're injured?' "Mikel Arteta". 'Most vain?' Unanimous. "Olivier Giroud".
Ask almost any player and the main reason they'll give for not wanting to do interviews is that the questions are always the same. You certainly couldn't say that about this random selection - and the players seemed to enjoy the change.
There were some more football-related questions. 'Best advice?' That was an interesting one. Bellerin mentions Steve Bould, now Arsenal's assistant manager and the first coach he worked with when he arrived in this country as a 16-year-old winger from Barcelona.
"Steve taught me about body position, about when to stay and when to go. He helped me a lot," said the Spaniard.
We have a big chance and we have to push for it.
The advice has helped forge an increasingly dependable defender out of a player who - blessed with unbelievable pace - was already a real attacking threat.
A year ago Bellerin was hauled off at half-time in a defeat at Stoke, and was behind not only Mathieu Debuchy but also Calum Chambers in terms of the right-back pecking order.
Fast forward 12 months and he's now started 21 of Arsenal's last 23 Premier League games and there's talk of Debuchy leaving in January to find first-team football.
Monreal also credits advice, and a couple of months at centre-half during last season, for helping him overtake Kieran Gibbs as Arsene Wenger's first choice left-back.
"When I arrived and I wasn't playing it was really hard," says the Spain International, signed from Malaga in January 2013.
"My team-mates tried to help me, they told me, 'Nacho keep going'. Then Lolo (Laurent Koscielny) got injured and I had the opportunity to play centre-back.
"It was the first time in my life I played centre-back, I was completely scared but it was positive for me.
"When Lolo got back I moved to left-back and have kept playing ever since."
Then the big one. 'Do you think it's our season to win the league because it's so open?'
"We are in a good position with big confidence. It will be very difficult but we want to win the league and we will fight every day to do it," says Monreal, clear about the target and sure Arsenal can get there.
"Who would have said Leicester would be top? I think it's nice to see teams not usually at the top having a chance," says Bellerin, who believes the open race only adds to the excitement.
"I think it's something that makes the league even more beautiful and makes people want to watch even more.
"But we have put together a great team with great players, we have a big chance and we have to push for it."
And then it's back to the randomness.
'Who's the most fun in training?' "Santi, because he looks funny".
'What's your best memory at Arsenal?' "Celebrating and singing on the bus after winning the FA Cup. Nacho missed it because he was doing the anti-doping tests."
An unusual selection of questions. But I now feel like I know a lot more about two of the unsung heroes hoping to drive Arsenal to the title.
