And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. I'm Darren. And, well, how
are you doing? I'm good. How are you? I mean,
well, I'm good, like, on my own personal terms.
Not good on footballing terms, but how about
you? I see. I'm stressed from work stuff, but,
you know, football brings me calm. Calm. Yeah.
Not Liverpool, though. Not Liverpool, though.
Other matches, yes. That being said, we are starting
with Bournemouth versus Liverpool. And this is
the first episode where we did some predictions
last week that I put out. Yeah, I think I probably
got everyone wrong. Yes, nearly. You said Liverpool
would win 3 -1. And I said it would be a 3 -3
draw. So both of us had it quite high scoring.
So in that sense, we were right, right? Bournemouth
set up in a 4 -2 -3 -1. But instead of talking
about the players that are playing, I want to
talk about who's missing. So Bournemouth sold
their goalkeeper, left back, two centre -backs,
and now their left wing, who are all top players.
They also have eight players injured, including
their best remaining attackers, Kluivert and
Tavernier, and their captain, Tyler Adams, who's
a CDM. So we set up in the same way as we did
against Marseille with a 4 -2 -2 -2. And the
fullbacks pushed all the way up. Extremely unfortunately,
Konate's father passed away. So Gomez played
instead of him. Oh damn, I didn't know about
that. Yes, he also missed the Marseille game.
Condolences to him. Yes. Up front, Slot dropped
Ekotike for Gakpo. Slot said that this was due
to managing Ekotike's minutes, but... On its
face, this looked like a mistake because Ekotike
is playing so well and Gakpo is playing like
dogshit. And the match proved that it was a mistake.
But obviously, we speak in hindsight. At the
time, I can understand the thinking. We knew
that this game would be played mostly in transition.
So it would benefit us to have two wingers because
usually wingers are faster than strikers. I could
understand that from that point of view. But
just thinking about it in terms of form, definitely
a critique would have been better. Yeah, I mean,
I think even as a winger, if he had to function
there, I think a lot of his traits are better
than Gakpo's. He can go either side, I think.
Maybe he's still working on some of his passing,
but I think... In any system, he would have made
more sense than Gakpo right now, to me at least.
Yes, to everyone at least. But also, our next
game is Karabag, right? Karabag are fucking awful.
Gakpo can play against Karabag. It doesn't matter,
right? He's probably going to bang a hat -trick.
It's not even a must -win game. Like, we could
draw and make it through to the next round of
the Champions League. But whatever. So he's managing
Ekotiki's minutes for that. Yeah, so in terms
of general play, it did play out exactly like
we thought. It was mainly in transition, very
much like a basketball game. It was just a case
of who took their chances. Yeah, I mean, I thought
Trist, you guys would end up winning it. That
was just what my prediction was based on. I thought
you guys were picking up some momentum and Bournemouth
were conceding a lot of goals. Well, I did say
after the Marseille game, we can't draw any big
conclusions out of it because Marseille were
awful. So, you know, you draw conclusions when
the other team were good. That's what I think.
But, yeah, in terms of Bournemouth's attacking
play, if you recall, I said Liverpool's full
-backs were pushed all the way up. So Bournemouth
got their best chances from attacking the space
that was vacated by the full -backs. But if you're
new to football, this is what I'm going to refer
to as the channel, right? So most especially
on Liverpool's left -hand side. Van Dijk struggled
on his own, and I also blame McAllister or Gravenberg
for not tracking back and covering that space.
Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think maybe some of
it was them following instructions, though. Like,
I think a lot of the times when players don't
drop off, because it's not like Gravenberg's
had a problem with that liticism or dropping
off before, so I think generally it might have
been a specific way they were trying to set up,
maybe related for that. Maybe not Gravenberg,
but McAllister is extremely lazy. He may have
been told to drop off, but he just wasn't doing
it because, you know, he was tired. Yeah, no,
I mean, but he's always kind of... had that problem
out of position. Okay, but yes. And this is in
fact how Bournemouth's first goal came about.
Senesi hit it into the channel and Van Dijk made
a mistake. This unfortunate event also injured
Gomez, which leaves us with only one fit centre
-back in Van Dijk. Not looking good. But before
the season started, people were saying, look,
we're light in centre -back. We need a new centre
-back. Gomez is not good enough. Canarte has
a mistake in him. And Van Dijk is getting older.
We need to do succession planning, right? So,
Leone was a good signing, but Leone got injured
for the season. Now, we definitely need to make
a move right now. Otherwise, we're in big shit.
And, I mean, you guys pushed a bit for Mark Gray,
but... I guess no. It was overruled by Glassman
at the last moment, who himself is leaving the
club. So it doesn't, I mean, it benefited Man
City. Yes, it benefited Man City and no one else.
Anyway, in the time that Gomez was injured, it
took us over five minutes to get Endo on to replace
him. And in that time, Bournemouth scored again.
Some people are choosing to focus on us not having
11 men on the field, but I absolutely blame the
players for it. Scott was shouting for them to
kick it out, and he shouted multiple times for
them to kick it out. So they just didn't do it.
They just ignored him. And yeah, the goal itself,
Bournemouth used the exact same tactic of hitting
it in the channel. But this time, Kirkez is to
blame because he allowed the man far too much
space. Van Dijk is also to blame because he didn't
maintain the line and that's why Bournemouth
attacker was onside. There was a lot of space
for him to attack. Yes, so again, two player
mistakes. Yeah, I mean, individual errors are
kind of the most frustrating way to lose a game,
right? Exactly. Liverpool then scored two goals
from set -pieces. There's nothing we can analyse
or speak deeper about it, I don't think. Except
that we fired our set -piece coach a few weeks
ago and got somebody new in. So, good decision.
Yes, because we've been conceding a lot and we
haven't conceded a lot from set -pieces and we
haven't scored any set -pieces. When we have
two giant centre -backs who scored lots in the
past. Yes, I mean, it was good to see Van Dijk
on the score sheet. Yeah, how is it possible
that, like, they just stop scoring? It has to
be a, like, system thing, you know? It can't
just be Van Dijk and Konate forgot how to stop,
how to score, you know? Yeah, I mean, well, I
guess, suppose, like, what, three free kicks
this season? Well, would you count this as a
free kick? I mean, not really, but... Because
Salah passed it first. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I
remember the roll -on, but it still technically
counts as a free kick, right? No, it doesn't.
It's only a free kick if you hit it directly
from the... Well, either way, it was... Two free
kicks. It was a good set play. Two free kicks
this season, one against you guys and one against
Marseille. That's as good as a free kick, though.
Look, what I don't understand is why people don't
do it more often. You know, the roll -on to change
the angle. Yeah, it should be done more. Because
this happened years ago, like under Klopp, where
Liverpool did a routine. They changed the angle
and you just see how much space opened up. And
I thought, why doesn't more teams do this? I
mean, generally, it used to be a feature in maybe
the early 2000s. I remember us and Wenger's teams
initially doing them a lot as well. Very strange
that it hasn't... Sometimes I guess teams don't
go direct as much, or if they do go direct, it's
usually on the player. One player ball striking,
I guess. Also, it can go wrong if the person
backhills it too far. Yeah, it could be minimizing
risk. Yeah, the backheel needs to be spot on
and at the right pace for the guy to run onto
it and hit it. So yeah, there's positives and
negatives you can say about it. But yeah, then
Bournemouth score the winner from a long throw.
Again, another individual error from Van Dijk.
He misses the header and they score. Not much
to say. Yeah, not much to say. I don't know.
Yeah. After the match, Slot blames tiredness
for the performance because we played in Europe
just a few days ago. But in my opinion, that's
bullshit. I mean, I guess when managers are on
a bad run, they generally clutch at straws. Well,
he's correct that nobody else played Champions
League on the day we played and then... Again
on Saturday. And then again on Saturday. We played
on Wednesday and then Saturday. Saturday, yeah.
Whereas, like, Arsenal played on Tuesday and
Sunday. Yeah. But... In terms of that, he has
a point, but I still think that's bullshit because
he doesn't ever rotate. You know, Endo, Chiesa,
Rio, a lot of guys, Trey Nioni, a lot of people
aren't getting a lot of chances because he refuses
to rotate. He plays everyone into the ground
and then complains about it. So, yeah. What do
you think his thinking is behind it? Maybe he's
just searching for some consistency because...
Did he rotate a lot last season? No. I mean,
but in general, it could be like... Bruh, in
the cups, he doesn't rotate. He'll play a full
strength team in the cups. Yeah, I mean... There's
something wrong with him. It's... I don't know.
Maybe it's a Dutch thing. I remember Louis van
Gaal used to also play a full strength team in
all competitions. Yeah. Whatever the case, Bournemouth
outscored us on XG 2 .3 to 0 .83, meaning they
created quality chances and finished them off,
and we were clinical but didn't create enough
chances. So, taking all that into consideration,
I blame Slot for this match. Again? What do you
mean again? The other day I didn't. The last
defeat, though, you said you've joined the Slot
Out Brigade. Not because of performance. because
of the comments he made about us. But in this
game, even though there were three individual
errors, it was Slott's tactics which left the
fullbacks up, which left the space exposed. So
Van Dijk getting caught is a runoff of that tactic.
So it's a combination of Van Dijk's fault and
Slott's fault, I feel. for the first goal. Kirkees'
fault and Slot's fault for the second goal. Van
Dijk's fault, I guess Van Dijk's fault is 100
% for the third goal. But in terms of going forward,
we didn't have like patterns. We just looked
out of ideas. It was down to Wurz and Frimpong
to make something happen. And the system should
be the one creating the chances, not... down
to individual quality. That's a bad sign. But
I mean, a lot of people have been saying that
individual quality is like fading out of the
game. What do you think about that? That's a
totally different conversation. No, but I'm saying,
do you think it's okay? I remember when Pep Guardiola
was at Barcelona and he first came to Manchester
City, he was very big on giving players freedom.
beyond a certain point and not really I mean
in the he had to train to win the treble they
became a lot more structured but it's a give
and take maybe slot is a bit more let the players
figure it out type of coach Darren I think that's
a very noob take that you said because you watch
football right yeah you know that two guys if
Guardiola trusts you he'll let you do whatever
the fuck you want Two guys. KDB and Messi. At
no point had he ever put any restriction on either
of them. Yeah, so Dani Alves didn't have much
restriction. Neither did Busquets, Iniesta or
Xavi. If he has, like, he can trust you, he lets
you do whatever you want. I don't know. Guys
like Grealish should be, you know, have discipline
beaten into them. Yeah, but I don't think, I
think, generally, I think that's probably...
You're speaking as someone who probably has just
watched Pep Guardiola recently, maybe. But his
boss and Bayern teams, I think, when he first
got to Man City, he allowed players a lot more
freedom. Yeah, but that's my point. There's so
much... I think he's trying to channel the play
more to an ideology he can control. There's only
two managers in this league that do that, who
strangle the individuality out of players. And
that's Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. most other
players managers allow their players to you know
give that creativity and you know shine yeah
so I'm saying what do you think in general I
think they should you should be reliant on the
system like isn't slot kind of maybe I mean he
won the league last season not that it makes
an excuse but What did, like, Pep Guardiola's
gone through seasons where he was off form as
well. So what would you say is the difference
from, let's say, this to when you guys finished
fourth or fifth on the club? A change of tactics.
We've gotten much more position -based this year.
And it's clear that we're either still in transition
to becoming a fully -based position side. or
slot dozen out to manage a possession -based
side. That's what's clear to me. But, I mean,
the Dutch league is pretty easy. I don't know
much about it, but I know the general consensus
is that what he did there was very difficult
to overthrow the Ajax and PSV duopoly on the
league with Feyenoord. I think in the long term,
he could have a vision that does focus on dominating,
but I do think it could be transitionary. So
it's like, how much time do you give him? Does
he have all the players he wants as well? All
I can judge is based on what I'm watching in
front of me. Right? Do you disagree? Yeah, but
I'm saying he's won the league last season, and
then he's had a bad season this season. Does
it make sense to sack him now? Would Manchester
City have sacked Pep Guardiola last season? And
if they don't win anything this season, it would
be two bad seasons in a row for him. So should
they sack him? It depends. What do we put down
last season to? Is it down to Salah? Is it down
to Klopp's tactics that the team was like, what's
it called? You know, like when your body just
reacts. Muscle memory. Oh, muscle memory, yeah.
Muscle memory from Klopp. The league being weak.
You know, there's many things we can say that
aren't the case this year. And I think the squad
composition is worse this year without Luis Diaz.
Not Luis Diaz the player, Luis Diaz the profile.
We could have sold Luis Diaz and bought somebody
who fits his profile, but we didn't do that.
We chose to go with Gakbo as the starting left
wing. We chose to not reinforce our midfield.
I really think we need a defensive midfielder,
especially for the big games. Gravenberg is good
turning out of small spaces, but he can do that
at eight. He doesn't necessarily need to be the
six. Yeah, I get what you're saying. But again,
the point I was trying to make before this was
Wurz and Frimpong, all the creative duties are
on them. And if they can't get something going,
then the whole team falls apart. And that should
not be the case. The system, there should be
patterns of play. They should be attacking, you
know, what we call it. Slots should be generating
the chances, right? And individual moments of
brilliance should take us to the next level in
big games. That's how it should work for me.
Individual moments should not be coming in smaller
games. That's what I feel. Okay, I get you. Sorry,
a bit of a rant I went off on. Any other points
you want to make about Bournemouth -Liverpool?
I mean, no, I did expect it to be a chaotic game
in terms of... I thought both defences were...
unreliable I guess so yes inconsistent as well
it is a problem I guess I didn't you don't first
realize when when what Andoni Areola first came
like I guess everyone was blown away with the
football he was playing like similar to the Zerbi
you know it was it was very entertaining it was
like a new A new, I guess what's the word, swashbuckling
brand of football that came to the Premier League.
But I guess he has the same problems that De
Zerbi has with regards to defensive discipline.
Too open. Yeah. We'll have to see if his philosophy
can translate to an elite club. But I would hope
he gets a chance, maybe at a Tottenham or something.
I feel like Spurs could hire so many people.
They could either choose somebody really sick
like Xabi Alonso or like somebody really awful
like, I don't know, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Like,
that's how Spurs' appointments go. They're like
either like somebody really slick that they don't
give time or somebody awful. But anyway, do you
want anything to round off the Bournemouth -Liverpool
segment? No, that's all. I mean, as long as you've
said your piece. Alright, so let's move on to
the Arsenal vs Man Utd game. So you said Arsenal
would win 3 -1. Now I said Man Utd would win
2 -0. Damn, I guess you got the result right.
So another game that played out just as I suspected,
Carrick set up this exact same way as last weekend,
got the same result. I mean, yeah, not the same
scoreline, but same result. They started with
a 4 -4 -2 mid -block and absorbed a lot of pressure
and then tried to counter. Yeah, I mean, I think
also from Arsenal's perspective, it wasn't a
bad start. I think we controlled them well as
well. The main problem where we lost control
of the game for me was the Zubamendi mistake.
After that we started making a lot of petulant
mistakes. I guess Man United themselves, they
left a lot of space vacated in midfield which
I don't think Arsenal used. Which I guess that
would come back to probably Arteta more than
anyone because I think there was an over -reliance
on pushing the ball wide and trying to get it
in. But I think Manchester United kind of expected
that. We had a lot of space we could have utilised
in the middle. I think Eze maybe could have played
on the left if you were going to go with the
idea of getting creativity from wide. And maybe
Trossard could have gone central because he's
a better ball striker, a better finisher than
most of the people in Arsenal. But yeah, I guess
everything's easy in hindsight. I think we haven't
had very many losses, so it's hard to say anything.
Generally, we didn't give away much. I thought
they played well. We must give them credit as
well. Their goals were sensational as well. I
mean, the second and third ones. But I think...
We made a lot of errors, especially in defence,
which was very uncharacteristic, and in pressing,
which was also very uncharacteristic. I'm hoping
it's just one of those performances, but I still
feel good about the rest of the league season,
at least. I disagree. I think this is the beginning
of the end. Yeah, you said that for a while.
No, I haven't. No, I haven't. That's a lie. That's
a straight -up lie. You always said we were going
to fall apart, so nothing's changed. Okay, but
this is the weekend that it starts. We'll see.
I'm just saying, everyone sees now that Arsenal
have a soft underbelly, so everyone realizes
that if they really get at Arsenal and attack,
attack, attack, They're open to it. But they
didn't get much, though. They scored two wonder
goals and one was a horrible mistake. I knew
you were going to say that, right? Yeah, it's
the truth, though. It's because Arsenal gave
them the space to shoot from that place. I mean,
it could be argued, but that's the only game
we've really done that this season. Manchester
City, Michael Carrick himself said, was a far
easier game that they dominated from start to
finish. So you're saying Arsenal were bad, not
that... Yeah, I think we were poor. I think that
was our worst performance of the season. I think
that was the average Arsenal performance. It's
just... Yeah, I think you're watching... You're
not really understanding the way we play. That's
a newbie take. Oh. I see. Anyway, I have another
point about Carrick. And it's his pressing system.
I thought their pressing was abysmal. the Man
United press. And that's why Carrick shouldn't
get the job in the future because he had individual
players going after individual players. Pressing
is supposed to be done as a team. They're supposed
to move in unison and then trap the player and
then use the numbers to overwhelm them and get
the ball back. Yeah. Arsenal opened the scoring
from a well -worked ball finished off by either
Martinez or own goal by either Martinez own goal
or by timber so the replays were yeah the replays
were unclear to me so yeah either or I believe
they gave it to Martinez in fantasy which is
good for me because my brother has timber so
yeah then Zubamendi gifted a goal to Brian Mbwemo
against a run of play but you know like you mentioned
that's uh arsenal becomes shaky after that and
a lot of uh nervousness starts to creep in uh
for man united's second goal uh there was a lot
of like 1v1 okay so for united's second goal
there was a bunch of interplay in midfield and
then dogu with the wonder strike Yeah, I mean,
so we have to mention Bruno Fernandes again.
Best player on the pitch, I thought. Said the
same thing last week and through again this week.
Now that he's been unleashed from the crook Amarim.
He's kind of a maverick player. Selects his best
performances in the big games. But I guess whether
his career path was the right choice or not,
we'll see. What's this? I missed Arsenal's second
goal. Marino, if you could explain what happened
there. It was a set play, of course. But yeah,
typical great delivery from Saka. United's keeper
comes, his name is Lemmens, right? He misses
it and just a bit of sloppy play from Manchester
United. I think it deflects off, I don't know
if it's an Arsenal defender or an Arsenal attacker
or a Manchester United defender, falls at Mourinho's
feet. It looks, from some angles, like I think
one of the Manchester United defenders clears
it off the line, but then the rest watch buzzes
and the goal is given. I mean, we had a lot of
momentum at that time. Coming into that goal,
we were coming back into the game. Or leading
up to that goal, we were coming back into the
game. And then once they got the third, which
was a sensational goal, they kind of shut us
out. They played really well for the rest of
the game. They dominated the ball. We struggled
to get it back after that. But again, I haven't
seen that in many games this season. I'm not
too worried. I think we've done that in games
to Manchester City and they've gone on to win
the league. Let's see what happens. I also thought
the crowd was very... I hate our crowd. I hate
our fans, literally. That's rude. But I noticed
the same thing when Liverpool played at the Emirates.
About the 70th minute mark, it gets like a bit
nervous. It's toxic. That's the most thing. It's
not like an easy atmosphere to play in for the
players because... I think like... Like, they're
not singing the whole game. It's very much like
an away atmosphere the minute something starts
going against you. Like, the fans are very critical
of the players to a point where it's like, okay,
you can criticize a player after the game, but
in the game you can't shout or do or criticize
every touch. I mean, maybe it works for Real
Madrid and Barcelona. Yeah, I was going to say
Real Madrid do that all the time. But I think
it's part of Spanish footballing culture. It
happens at every team. players grow up like that
in England it's different so a lot of the players
I think they they struggle with it psychologically
like I think you have players like Saka and Rice
who carry the team in those moments I still think
we're too over reliant on them too in particular
so if they don't play well the rest of the team
doesn't play well as well so but sounds like
a poorly coached team That sounds like a poorly
coached team. In your idea, yes. If only two
players don't show up then. But again, I said
Arsenal are more defensively focused and we don't,
in every single game this season, we've given
away less than we've created. So even if I think
we do have open play creativity issues, which
could be a coaching problem, it could be a selection
issue. I would say choosing Odegaard over Eze.
But I don't think Eze is a 10. I don't think
he's better as a 10. I see what you're saying.
Eze should have played on the left. Yes, that's
what I'm saying. Yes. I think we have an open
play creativity issue. And if he's going to create
from wide, like Guardiola used to, he has to
get the player most like KDB, which would be
Eze, into the half spaces. I think that you can
be critical of. But again... It's hard to be
critical of him if in every game you create conditions
where your team creates more than the opposition
so far. So I don't think coaching -wise, I think
he has a few flaws. I really thought he was too
cautious. Again, the same thing against Liverpool.
He was just like, why don't they attack? Yeah,
I think it's the way he coaches. It's very much
like a Simeone team. Simeone is one of my favourite
coaches. in the world. I really like Simeone.
I think what he's done to take two titles off
Messi and Ronaldo is incredible. It's really
not the best watch for everyone, but I think
you have to respect it for what it is. No, you
don't. You don't have to, yes, but at the end
of the day... I don't want to watch defensive
football. Yeah, that's fine. Fuck Simeone. That's
your idea, but Antonio Conte, Rafa Benitez won
you guys the Champions League that way. Yes,
I was a child. Did you expect me as a child to
be like, oh, this guy's not playing fluid football,
get out of here. Some of the best players are
also... I didn't understand at the time that...
But some of the best players are also developed
in defensive systems, like... I think the reason
a player like Steven Gerrard for example was
able to become complete was because of the responsibility
he undertook in the defensive system. Same thing
with Frank Lampard. For example if you put Didier
Drogba in a system where he gets the ball all
the time. He's not going to look like a top -class
player, honestly. Well, you know you always take
these snide little remarks at Rugby. No, he's
one of the best players. He's a maverick player.
I'm just saying that his talent is also kept
up by a defensive system. You saw it every coast
when they tried to play attacking football. As
soon as he left, they won. I see. I see. Are
you happy? Yes. Oh, my God. This guy. And what
about Henri? I'd say Henri is probably an elite
talent, but I don't say he has the maverick qualities
of Drogba. But I've always admitted that he's
not as much of a maverick player as Drogba. In
terms of expected goals, Arsenal had 1 .58 to
United 0 .98, which indicates Arsenal were in
line with XG, but United were extremely clinical
in their finishing. That's the thing. I don't
think the two of the games we've lost this season
have had two wonder goals in them. That doesn't
happen every week. I understand what you're saying,
but follow this logic, right? Elite finishers
who are clinical are going to score against Arsenal.
Yeah, I don't think that's... Even if you make
that argument, we've lost less than any team.
These clinical finishers, they come up in the
big games, right? Yeah, and we've only lost one
big game. You lost two. Okay, against you guys.
But you guys are not a big game right now. United
aren't a big game. And you lost to them. Well,
they're on a good run. I'm kidding. Okay, we've
lost two big games. It's normal. I'm just saying,
I don't think this is sustainable for Champions
League and, you know. I don't think we were expected
to win the Champions League this season. Why?
What is this false... Well, not from my perspective.
I still see Barcelona as being better than us.
Every team should be going for every competition
they can. That's how I feel. Yeah, I think we
still have time to improve. If we win the Premier
League, that's good enough this season. Go for
the Champions League next season. Arteta has
so low expectations of him. He has the best squad
and you just want the Premier League when you
should be going for a quad. No, you don't need
to go for it. We don't have the best squad and
this is not a squad that's comparable to Man
City's treble winning squad. Why do you say that?
Because I don't think we have the same type of
options. It doesn't necessarily have to be the
same quality because the seasons are different,
right? The quality of teams around City a couple
of years ago could have been higher and the quality...
of the teams that are on Arsenal now could be
lower. They weren't, though. No, but I'm saying
you don't have to be the same quality as that
City team to win four trophies. You don't. I
think you do, though. Well, I think the quality
of football is just as high now. Hansi Flick's
Barcelona, Luis Enrique's PSG. That's one trophy.
What about the other three? Yeah, I think we
can. We're probably going to get to the final
of the Carabao Cup. Well, we'll see about that.
We'll probably win the Premier League. We'll
see about that. We'll see. Okay, all of this
is hypothetical, but if at the end of the season
we win one of the three trophies, that's fine
for me. Caribou. I would say... Oh, shit. What
did you mention just now? The four -point gap.
It's a four -point gap. Aren't you, you know,
feeling the hot breath down your neck? Man City
played Tottenham this weekend. We all know how
that ends. I don't know what conclusion I'm supposed
to draw. This is not the Spurs of old. This is
Thomas Frank Spurs. Didn't they beat them 4 -1
last season? This is Thomas Frank Spurs. This
is not... And Pastor Coghlu Spurs. And Pastor
Coghlu won the Europa League. That's much more
than Arteta. Okay. Okay. Any other points you
want to make before we end the Arsenal vs Man
United segment? Yeah, I think people just need
to calm down. It's not as bad of a result as
people think it is. We've still comfortably been
the best team in the league, so I don't think
we'll throw it away. And I think the exact opposite.
I think this is as bad as you think it is. You
should panic. Arsenal are throwing it away. The
only question is, will it be Villa or City that
capitalize on this? Both of them are only four
points behind. Is that what you think? It's not
what I think. They're four points behind. That's
a fact. I'm saying if you think they're going
to capitalize on it, I respect your opinion.
All right. I'm just thinking, I look at Arsenal's
fixtures, you know, it's getting, it's looking
spooky. That's all I'm saying. We'll see. Now
on to the miscellaneous section. Some hot quick
hits. Ah, whoosh. Ah, so quick. Ah, hot. I didn't
watch any other games. We just watched the highlights
now. Yes. So we're just going to go through the
other games quickly. Just a couple of quick points.
A couple of just what did you think on his face?
Boom. Right? So I did actually watch his game.
West Ham 3, Sunderland 1. It was the early kickoff
on Saturday. No, I didn't watch that. I was at
work. So in the first half, Jared Bowen with
the goal and assist. Listeners, Darren hates
Jared Bowen. He thinks he's a bum. In my opinion,
Jared Bowen is one of the greatest right -wings
in the league. He should have replaced Salah
about four years ago. But our owners are cowards
and the fans wouldn't have liked it. But that's
the truth. That's the truth on what should have
happened. Anyway, Jared Bowen with a goal and
assist. He now is the all -time... goal contribution
provider for West Ham in the Premier League.
Highest ever. 104. So, you know. Wonderful. Yeah.
Anyway. Congratulations. For the assist, he put
in an all -right cross, but Somerville's leap
and header was what made the goal special. He
really powered that header home. Then West Ham
were awarded a bullshit penalty because their
player's skulls clearly dived. It was a... You
know like when the player jumps into the other
person and gets a penalty? Oh, and then they
get the contact. Yes. It was really... The referee
had the wool pulled over their eyes. Right? Nevertheless,
Bowen converted very powerfully. And... I don't
know why you're laughing. He did. He did. No,
just... You had to... The way you described it.
Mateus Fernandes scored a wonder goal. He really
powered that one home. So it was 3 -0 to West
Ham. In the second half, Mukheili does a really
good run and puts in an excellent cross which
Brian Brobbey powered home with a header. Mukheili,
I'm very impressed with him. He played for Leipzig,
I believe. Either Leipzig or Salzburg. I think
it was Leipzig. Whatever the case is, he was
like a big name. I don't know how, but Sunderland
signed like five Europa League players like under
everyone's noses. I don't know what the backstory
is. Does Sunderland have money or something?
Or they're just like super smart at scouting
and like... I mean, I saw Grindr Tracker go in
a fight with a fan. Yes. It was so funny. It
wasn't him. It was some other person came off,
right? And the fan was abusing that guy. Not
abusing as in like, you know, like they were
just making fun of them. So Grata Jacka starts,
you know, stepping up on behalf of that person
and starts arguing with the person. Then they
called the fourth official over. Then they called
the referee and the referee stops the game so
that they could deal with that. And then the
stewards came and took the fan away. But yeah.
I'm glad they sorted it out. Yeah, so I was saying,
Mukheili, I wouldn't mind us signing him. He
looks very good, attacking -wise and defensively.
I really rate him. He plays right back, but I
believe he played centre -back when he was in
Germany. So, you know, what's the word? A person
who can cover multiple... Or a utility player.
He's a utility player, so I would really not
mind signing him. Then we get to Fulham 2, Brighton
1. And based on the highlights, Brighton absolutely
gave them a hiding. But Fulham were just more
clinical. So every highlight was Brighton going
in on goal and then missing or something. But
they did have a goal ruled out. Danny Welbeck's
shoulder was offside. And that looked like bullshit
to me, honestly. It's right on his... Oh yeah,
yeah, I saw that in the highlights we were watching.
Yes, it was so like... It was so marginal. They
told us that if it's on your arm, it's not offside
anymore. It has to be like, you know, the joint
between your arm and the body. That's where offside,
because you can't score with your arm. What do
you think about Arsene Wenger's offside proposal?
uh to move it so that uh if any any part of you
is behind the line i supposedly give the the
a benefit to attackers and i like that idea do
that attackers would you know benefit from it
benefit from it but at the same time uh tactics
would evolve to combat that we'd stop playing
with a high line um i don't necessarily think
that because i think uh Maybe the Lions could
come higher. I think someone like Hansi Flick
is not really going to drop his line low at all.
And then you'll suffer for it. You've seen him,
like, heedless believes he can outscore anyone.
That's his principle, you know. So the answer
is I don't know. If it benefits attackers, then
I agree to it. If it changes the game and makes
it less attacking, I disagree with it. It's hard
to say. Yeah, it's hard to say from... the outside
looking in, so that's why I don't want to really...
I think it would just make it easier to, like,
not have to talk about marginal decisions for,
like, But I think there would still be marginal
decisions based on that, just the point of contact
would be the last part of the body, not the first
part of the body. Yeah, I guess so, but, okay,
yeah, I mean, I guess if they're ahead of the
play, but, I mean, yeah. Yeah, but... Fulham,
okay, so the Brighton goal was kind of a wonder
strike from Ayari. You joked while we were watching
that, sell him 400 million after that goal. It
was really such a good goal. Fulham, one ball
over the top to Kwasi's end and scores. Just
really, not a tactical thing, just Brighton were
just piss poor at defending. Then we spoke about
the goal that should have stood for well back.
And then... Fulham score an incredible free kick
from Harry Wilson, who was having an unbelievable
season. With the wonder goals. Yes. He's in my
fantasy team, just holding everybody up. He's
like Atlas at the bottom, holding up the world.
He is doing incredible things. Yeah. Burnley
2, Tottenham 2. Damn. I'm still like... like
shocked that Not shocked, but I'm still like
quite surprised that how badly it's turned out
for Thomas Frank. I really thought he was gonna
go in there and be like someone who brought them
at least to like a competitive level again, you
know, I I was really impressed when I used to
watch him at Brentford. They were the team that
used to give us, probably outside of you guys
in Manchester City, the most difficult time,
even once we became competitive. I think he beat
us twice in one season, the season before he
joined Tottenham or the season before that. Those
games I watched, I was really... I don't know
what's gone wrong. I haven't watched much of
Tottenham. Well, I'm kind of coming to this conclusion
that there's small club managers and big club
managers. And there's nothing you can do to kind
of change between one of them. Yeah. Like, you
can just handle egos and, you know, make the
big decisions or you can't. That's what I feel
at this moment now. And I don't think Thomas
Frank is that guy right now. And I think this
also kind of fucks up Oliver Glasner's push to
become a top coach because people are going to
look at him and, I think, compare him to Thomas
Frank. And it's unfair, and people shouldn't
do that, but it's the same thing that happened
with Nunes and Jokers, and that turned out to
be right. So, yeah. Speaking about Burnley 2,
Tottenham 2, There's really nothing to be said.
Spurs scored two goals from set pieces. Burnley
scored two goals on the counter. Nothing we can
analyze or sink our teeth into this, so I'm just
going to move on. Man City 2, Wolves 0. Thoughts?
I think I was also working during this game,
but I saw the highlights. Good first goal by
Omar Mahmoud. A lot of the chatter online is
that they were so happy that City have a striker
who will run in front of the play instead of
Haaland who backs off the play. When there's
a ball in behind. It's good to have the option
of both because I guess they could go for either.
And then I guess you have Semenya who can kind
of do everything in the front line. it's a it's
a i mean yeah sorry before we speak about the
game well we already started speaking about the
game but holland and foden bench yeah i mean
i think that was coming given recent performances
so it it worked out in the end i mean i guess
the controversy the main talking point was the
The handball, whether it was or wasn't a handball.
Yes, that's the next thing. That City were robbed
of a penalty, in my opinion. They were robbed
of a penalty. Yeah, definitely. So, this was
the referee's first game, I'm led to believe.
His first ever game? I think so. I had no idea.
Either it's his first game or he's very, very
new. Well, hopefully he doesn't get a second.
I'm kidding. So, this guy... He gave it as a
non -penalty. VAR said, hey, go have a second
look. He went over and he kept it with his decision.
He backed his decision. Which is a very... Oh,
I thought I'd never seen this riff before. I
was like, who's this guy? It's a very kind of
powerful thing to do because it's almost certainly
that if VAR is telling you to go have a look,
you've made a mistake. You've made a mistake.
So, you know, backing yourself in that situation,
I rate it. He was wrong. I admire the confidence,
but you were wrong. Yeah. Are we done with that?
Any other talking points you want to mention?
Nothing I could think of from what I could see
was just the dominant Man City performance. Alright.
Crystal Palace won Chelsea 3. I did watch a bit
of this game, I think. I don't remember where
I was, but I did watch like... I was watching
it in and out. I mean, I don't know. I don't
know what to make of it. It's still early days
for Liam Rossini. They look so far very similar
to Mariska's Chelsea, so I don't know if he's
working with what the squad is familiar with
for now. I mean, from what I've read, ideologically,
they're similar. I've very highly rated Mariska.
If he can hit that level, then good for Chelsea,
I guess. But some of the individual play as well
was really good. I mean, Estovale scored a goal
that almost looked like a traditional Willian
goal for Chelsea. I mean, from the way he ran
with the ball to the way he finished it. Some
days he's unplayable, like in this game, and
other days he disappears, so I still don't really
know what to feel on him. I would still want
him at Arsenal, though, if I could have him.
Well, I would say that the Palace keeper had
a nightmare. The first two goals were directly
at him, and he just fluffed his lines in this
corner. The third goal, Enzo scored a penalty
that was, you know... Powerfully put away. No,
it was alright. It was fine. Yes, the keeper
didn't move. The keeper assumed that he would
like Panenka or get it straight down the middle
or something like that. And Enzo just slotted
it to the right. Yeah, then Palace had a... What's
it called? Concession goal? What? Consolation.
Consolation, yes. Concession goal. Concessions
are like... Every goal is a concession goal.
What? Because you conceded. No, concessions are
like popcorn and like... That's a stand, but
I mean, concession is also conceding. I don't
know. Anyway, yeah, the palace keeper went straight
at me. Just made a mistake. I didn't see the
lineups. So I don't know if that was Dean Henderson
or not. But yeah, that was very poor. What I
will say is in our last game that we covered,
we also saw that Chelsea were very clinical.
So clinical is the word I'm putting around the
Liam Rosenior tenure so far. Because that's all
we've seen. Clinical, extremely clinical goals.
And yeah. Then... Well, we're done here. We move
on to Aston Villa 2, Newcastle 0. I didn't watch
this game. Well, I only watched the two highlight
games. None of these I watched. I also watched
the highlights. Yeah, I did see the highlights.
It seemed like a dominant performance from Aston
Villa. It did. Which is strange because Newcastle
are not too bad at home. They usually are able
to make games tricky. It seemed like it was a
bit of a... So we spoke about this last week,
but just to reiterate, Newcastle look tired.
That's the number one talking point I saw online
after this game, that Eddie Howe's style of play
is not... It's relentless running. Yes, it's
not sustainable, and they're trying to compete
on four fronts, and it's just not working out.
Therefore, either they need to change tactics
or change managers. I mean, in a lot of ways,
I think he's like... He tries to play in a similar
way to how you guys played under Klopp, but I
think he tries to cover up the gaps in technicality
with intensity, which doesn't always work. So
the players just have to be more and more and
more intense, which I guess... So my thing with
him when he was at Bournemouth was that... And
at the early days of Newcastle, he would just
kind of outwork teams. Eddie Howe's teams, right?
He would just have them really fit, really, you
know. But in the big, like, tactical games, he
can't keep up with, like, elite managers. And
he's very open as well, hey? Yes. So that's why,
like, I also predicted Asin Valatuno in this
game and it came right because... Yeah, I just
think Newcastle in the really big games get just
outfoxed. There's nothing to be said about it,
you know. Eddie Howe just isn't that guy. Sorry
to say if you're Eddie Howe backer. Yeah. Lastly,
we have Brentford. Sorry, I didn't even ask you
what your thoughts. No, I don't have anything
to say. Just good goal by Buendia. Yes, very
good goal. A knuckleball. It's good that all
the Argentina players are coming in form in time
for the World Cup. Hopefully Messi can get number
two. Yes. 100 % backing him for number two. Well,
South Africa versus Argentina final. In that
case, I'll support South Africa. I'll still support
Argentina. Yeah, I know. You're not a patriot.
But yeah, what about the other Aston Villa goal?
Reminded me of the second goal. Oli Watkins.
I like Oli Watkins. I wish we'd completed the
signing last January, but things didn't work
out. I guess he was a bit slow to start the season.
I'm glad he's back on track now. I like watching
him. I like watching Tielemans. And then last
of all, we have Brentford 0, Nottingham Forest
2. What did I even predict this game as? I don't
remember. I cannot recall either. But yes, I
said Brentford won, Nottingham Forest, no. So
I got this totally wrong. How many did you get
right? I don't know, like four, five? I was probably
like one. But yes, so I thought this game was
the exact same as Fulham v Brighton. Brentford
had all the chances. Like, in the highlights
package, it was just Brentford chance, Brentford
chance, Brentford chance. And Nottingham Forest
had two chances and they scored both. And, yeah,
just extremely clinical display from them. Nothing
else to say. Yeah, nothing else to say. I mean,
I guess Brentford could have been more clinical.
That's it. Any other points you want to make
about this weekend's football before we close
it off? Because I think we're done here. Nothing
really. It was a good weekend. I mean a good
weekend from a footballing standpoint I guess.
Everything is more open now so hopefully it's
a good end. Lost the final quarter to the season.
Thank you guys for tuning in. Subscribe, like,
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