And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. My name is Darren. And what
I want to do today is not go through... Actually,
sorry, sorry, sorry. How are you? Yeah, we're
just jumping straight into it now, right? Yeah,
sorry. I didn't... I don't know. I was just like
so keen, so eager. I was just like... January's
over. Jumping in a pool. I guess we're back in
hustle mode now, so... No, no, no, no. I'm sorry.
How are you? I'm good, I'm good. I mean, I could
be better, but I'm feeling a little bit sick.
But I'm okay. How are you? How's everything on
your end? Still just, as I've mentioned these
past couple of weeks, just stressed by work.
Just if I'm not doing this podcast, I'm working.
I mean, it's the same for me. One or the other.
But anyway, nevertheless, like I said, this podcast
and football brings me calm. Football should
bring everyone calm. Yeah. Not Liverpool, but
I mean, other teams. Some people prefer cricket.
All right. So what I want to do today is not
go through individual matches, but talk about
stories surrounding the results. The reason being
I don't want to spend too much time on teams
that have no story. For example, Arsenal. They
won with no fuss last night and are going through.
There's nothing to really speak about. Yeah,
we can speak about the goals. Did you watch the
game? I mean, I watched the first half. goals
you want to talk about nothing it was like you
said just a normal performance I thought Arsenal
played well if there's anything that did stand
out it's probably just the dynamics look a lot
better in terms of creating chances with Havertz
and the team But I guess that's just the Arsenal
thing. Nothing important really from the game.
Similarly, I think Bayern, Liverpool, Spurs,
there's not really a big story around them. So
we don't need to get into their results. And
also for the teams at the bottom, like Villarreal.
Was Karabag always in the qualifying spots? I'm
just curious. Yes, because they lost and they
still came through. So yes, they were quite high
in the standings before. They've been in the
Champions League for quite a few years now. Yeah,
and now they're finally kicking on. It's good
to see. It's good to see. Yes. So, yeah. The
only thing we can really say to those teams that
went through is congratulations. The teams that
didn't go through, oh, shame. Congrats to 24
teams, I believe. Yeah. Well, I'm saying the
top eight. The rest of them... They haven't gone
through yet. No congratulations for them. Nothing.
You get nothing. Anyway. So, the first story
I want to bring up is On A Slot. You've been
waiting for this. Not wait, like, okay. Waiting
24 hours. I've been telling everyone who wants
to listen to me how pissed off I am, but now
it's time to bring it to the podcast. Is this
where the On Slot agenda, well, I guess you could
say it began last week? Is it an agenda if he's
doing bad things? No, not necessarily. An agenda
is if he's doing something good and I still find
the bad in it. He's doing bad things. I get you.
So in his pre -match conference, so last week,
he said the Liverpool fans were questioning whether
he could be successful in the future. And he
said, I don't know why a club like that would
question me when they've only won two titles
in 30 years. Highly disrespectful. Highly disrespectful.
I mentioned this last week. I was extremely just
pissed off. Maybe he's holding the fans to a
higher standard. That's not what he's doing.
But all right. So in his pre -match conference,
he brings up two title wins in 30 years again.
right just totally disrespecting the fans again
he then goes on to say that the only reason we
won the league last year is because psg knocked
us out so we could concentrate on the league
did you see these no i didn't he said the only
reason we won the league that's ridiculous did
you really say that is because week to week we
weren't focused on champions league we were focused
on the league and that's why we won now i don't
know if he hit his head or anything but i for
context on that we were 15 points clear after
being knocked out by PSG, right? Five games.
Five games. And it was like February, right?
So, yeah. Then in his post -match comments after
the game versus Karabag, if you want to... Oh,
we will get to that just now. He said he was
glad we made it to the last 16 because two years
ago, we were in the Europa League getting knocked
out by Atalanta, which, once again, disrespecting
the fans. The more of these silly comments that
he makes, the crazier he looks and the more that
fans want him out. Results aside, why would you
say this to us? What is his thinking? I'm guessing
he's trying to lower expectations, right? I think
he's just hurt. He's hurt that the media is speculating
about his job, that Chubby Alonso is waiting
in the wings so apparently that all the fans
are very frustrated with him. I think the pressure
is building on him, and he's just saying, rubbish.
He's just like, you know, like when you're floundering,
you're just grasping for something to hold on
to. Oh, he's clutching at straws. Clutching at
straws. That's exactly the phrase that I was
thinking of. Yes, that's what he's doing. He's
clutching at straws. He's making excuses. Is
that what you think? I think so. So, yeah, we
won 6 -0. But you have to look at the opposition.
We played Karabag, who are very poor. We could
have won that match with some junior players.
And he refused to rotate once again. I cannot
believe this. You know, last week we were speaking
and I was like... He never rotates. He never
rotates. We're playing Karabag. Excuse me. In
the 70th minute, he brings on Trey Neone and
Rion Gamow, our two youth players, to get some
exposure. 20 minutes. That's a... That's a waste,
I guess. Well, not a waste, but... Okay, it's
good that they're getting experience, but 20
minutes, that's a joke. It's... Especially when
the game's already dead, right? By the way, he
arrested Eka TK on the weekend to play him against
Karabag. Right? Now, I understand in hindsight
everything looks... It's easy. It's easy to speak
in hindsight, right? But Karabag, we banged them
6 -0 and Bournemouth, we lost 3 -2. It would
have made a lot more sense to bench him against
or manage his minutes against Karabag, I feel.
And in fact, I said that before. So, it's not
in hindsight, is it? Yeah, I mean, I agree. If
he needed rest, did he actually... That's what
slot... told us before the Bournemouth game that
the reason he didn't play or he didn't start
him is because he's managing his minutes. Do
you think his minutes need to be managed right
now? Yes, because we don't have Isaac. We don't
have quality backup options. So if he gets injured,
we're in a bit of a pickle. We have to play Federico
Chiesa up front, which I would love, but apparently
he's not good enough. According to slot, according
to a lot of fans. He's definitely good enough.
You know, my opinion doesn't count for anything,
but I rate Chiesa. And he scored last night.
Very happy for him. Very happy for him. Our next
story is about Sporting Lisbon. I have not watched
a sporting game in several years, so I don't
know anything about their current team. But based
on the fact that they're from a non -top five
league, I feel that they've done phenomenally
well to finish in the top eight. So they beat
PSG last week, and they scored a last minute
this week against Athletic Bilbao to secure automatic
entry into the round of 16. Seems like anyone
who gets rid of Amorim gets better. That's okay,
you're not being fair. Well, they actually second
in the league. But Porto, like, having a 99 %
record this season. Yes, I did a quick Google
while I was writing this up and I was like, you
know, it's not bad. Benfica, one point behind
them, though. Sporting, I mean. Any attackers
you sign from those teams will flop. Yes, so,
I don't know. Okay, we said we're not going to
speak about Arsenal, but do you have something
you want to say about your careers? You seem...
No, I mean, I'm just... I don't have much to
say about him. I like that he gives us another
option, but at the same time, he's extremely
frustrating. So why did you make that comment?
Oh, because it's a league that's like... Why
doesn't it translate? You have so much hate,
so much... I don't know what to call it, but
you can't let a feel -good story about Sporting
Lisbon go by without hammering them with the
jokers. I can't exceptionalize the club that
produced Cristiano Ronaldo. All right. I don't
know what that means. I've never heard the word
exceptionalized before in my life. Well, it's
to put on a pedestal. Put them on a pedestal.
I can't look at them positively. I see. I'm kidding.
But yeah, just take my hats off to them. That's
an extremely powerful achievement. Yeah, it is
very difficult. Finishing ahead of the likes
of PSG, Newcastle, Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund,
Inter. Maybe Benfica go on to win it. No, we're
talking about Sporting Nusby. I'm saying four.
Yeah, we'll get there. We'll get to them. We'll
get to them. The third story and the big talking
point of the week is that Real Madrid lost to
Benfica 4 -2. And we'll have to go through a
playoff to make it to the next round. I was watching
the Liverpool game. After the Liverpool game
ended, coverage went over to this game and the
score was 3 -2. We'll speak about it from Benfica's
point of view just now. But in terms of Real
Madrid... Raul Asensio does an extremely petulant
tackle and gets a second yellow. And then one
minute later, Rodrigo gets a second yellow for
descent. Both of them extremely unprofessional
and childish straight cards, in my opinion. I
mean, it's seeming that Javier Alonso was right.
Whether his tactics were right or not, it's a
different question. But at least on the squad
dynamics. Again, I haven't watched this game
and I haven't watched any of the previous games.
Albaloa has taken charge of. But from what I've
heard, he kind of allows them to do whatever
they want. You know what Ancelotti used to do?
Just put them all in their best position and
kind of let them do what they're best at. I guess
it's worked for them. It's worked for maybe other
clubs. It's hard to think in the modern era that
they can compete that way for me, though. I do
expect them to... How long can you give players
the authority in a dressing room before they
clash with each other? I think the old squad,
it worked because there was maybe one guy who
stood out as the main star. I would say there
were more predefined roles. Yeah, exactly. Like
Ramos is a leader. Ronaldo is a leader. Let me
not say that. There's a hierarchy to things.
And the Madrid team understood that at the time.
Currently, everyone thinks that they're the biggest
star. And, I mean, the players list, it's not
the same level of quality, especially in midfield.
I mean, Kroos and Modric, practically irreplaceable.
Yes, practically. Then Benfica get a free kick.
So now Madrid are two men down when defending,
and they concede. I really feel if both of them
had kept their heads, Madrid could have maybe
tied it up 3 -3 and gone through automatically.
I also think this reflects extremely poorly on
their mentality. I think this shows that this
is not the Madrid of old who were like a real
team. And this is just like a group of talented
individuals who, you know. They're all fighting
for who wants to be number one, I guess. Yeah,
like stardom instead of like trophies. Like you
get stardom from trophies, not the other way
around. You're not a star and then trophies come
along. I mean yeah I guess it's like this whole
thing of like DNA what is a club's DNA and I
mean I guess with Real Madrid they've succeeded
that way for so long maybe they do still win
that way but it's hard for me to see right now
that they especially because I think Barcelona
are so good right now and I think they'll always
be a proxy oh my god this guy he's out of Barcelona
are one point ahead of Madrid in the league Yeah,
but I'm saying in terms of where they're positioned
for the future, I see Barcelona as being one
of the best positioned clubs in terms of their
squad. They have a few things to do. They're
already one of the top teams in the world. They
have one of the best coaches. And I think two
or three more signings and Barcelona will dominate
La Liga again like they have for the last 10
years. All right. That's your point of view.
All right. Now, on the flip side of the coin,
we have Benfica. So they are currently managed
by Jose Mourinho. The special one. The special
one. When he took over, they won zero points
in the Champions League. Right? They beat Napoli,
Ajax, and were leading Real Madrid 3 -2, and
they got to nine points. Still undefeated in
the league as well. Yeah. I have no idea about...
I read that as well, but I have no idea. Yeah,
they are. Okay. But they were still going out
on goal difference. They get a free kick and
Mourinho motions for the keeper to go up. And,
well, the keeper scores to make it 4 -2 and sends
Benfica through to the playoffs. One of the craziest
things I've ever seen. But if you take it into
context, first of all, the referee was totally
on Benfica's side throughout the game. I know
this is not popular to say, but Madrid were really...
Not treated very nicely by the referee. Including
the free kick that they scored from. The fourth
goal. Was not a free kick. Bellingham got the
ball. It's karma. Bellingham got the ball. And
the ref gave the free kick the other way. It's
karma for the three -peat. The second thing is.
Like I just mentioned. Rodrigo and Asensio were
off. So they were defending with nine men. But
then. Wait, who's the chap from Morocco who missed
the... Brahim. Brahim, Mbappe and Vinicius all
weren't defending. So they were defending with
six men. I mean, excluding the keeper, five men.
So Benfica had eight versus five in the box.
On the last kick of the game. On the last kick
of the game. So of course... Again, what is the
thinking behind those players staying up? I assume
they thought Courtauld will run out, catch it,
throw it up the field, three of them, one of
them will score a score. But, you know, I guess
there's no difference between losing 3 -2 and
4 -2 to them, right? So it makes sense from a
certain point of view. From Madrid's point of
view, yeah. Yeah, if you're trying to win or
you're trying to salvage a draw... It doesn't
matter if you concede another, you know, you're
going to do all you can to score. Yeah, I mean,
it makes sense. And I mean, kind of given who
they are, Madrid is always going to play to win,
right? On the, I already said the flip side of
the coin. So the other flip side, in fact, let's
get another coin in, right? And the team that
were knocked out because Benfica came through
was Marseille. And Marseille, managed by my beloved
Roberto de Zerbi, my favorite coach in the world,
extremely naive and got knocked out because of
that. It's a damn shame. I wish he was at a club
with a good defense so he could focus on the
attack and really tear some people apart. I would
really love that. But it's a damn shame that
the conditions aren't right for him. Anyway,
you were going to say something? Was I? No, I
don't know. You looked like you were going to...
No, I mean, I was just like, yeah, I was going
to say the same problems repeating themselves
from Deserby, but you said it, so... Yeah. Do
you have anything to say about Madrid, Benfica,
Marseille? I mean, I'm just excited to see more
of Jose Mourinho. I've missed him in terms of,
like, since he left the Premier League and La
Liga, I haven't really... been able to watch
much of his games. We literally spoke about this
last week and I was saying we need him back.
Yeah, we do need him back. He's a character.
We need characters. We can't have these bland
LinkedIn managers anymore. We need like... I
would love for him to find a way to adapt his
philosophy to the modern game just to have him
back. I heard and I think I mentioned this last
week that Perez is looking into him to be the
new Madrid manager. It could work. I mean...
What do you think? Do you think he could manage
that squad? No. This is looking like they might
have to get Ancelotti back. Mourinho works with
real men. Yeah, he likes workman -like players.
Yeah, these Prima Donna guys that throw hissy
fits and want to be the superstar. doesn't track
back, he hates those types of players, and every
single Madrid player is that. So, maybe not every
single, but you get what I'm saying, most of
them. I mean, and he was the one who kind of
assembled the successful squad. Did he? Did he?
Well, I mean, whoever assembled it, the DNA was
laid during his time. I think they give too much
credit to him, but whatever the case is, even
Valverde. I heard, you would think Valverde is
the most like, Mr. Real Madrid, I'll do whatever
for the shirt, etc. Right? He was complaining
that he has to play right back. Because both
Trent and Carvajal are injured. So he's been
the one that's... That's filling in. That's filling
in. I mean, he's played right back quite a lot.
Yeah, but he threw a hissy fit and said, I want
to play in midfield. And that's part of the reason
Alonso got sacked, apparently. This is just what
I've read. Players shouldn't have that much control
in a dressing room. If I tell you play right
back, you're playing right back. If I tell you
you're not playing at all, you're not playing
at all. I'm in charge. You're not in charge.
I mean, it doesn't make sense if players like
Messi and Ronaldo could recognize that the coach's
authority mattered. There were many times I'm
sure Messi or Ronaldo didn't agree with their
coaches. They play to the best of their ability
within the system. This is the thing. This new
age group of players, they're just not the same
anymore. The mentality is not the same. The mentality
is not the same. The professionalism is not the
same. Even like 10 years ago, I would say. But
I guess 10 years ago, people would say the same
thing about the previous generation. But I do
think there was an acknowledgement that football
was advancing. rapidly at one point, especially
during the Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp rivalry.
And then it just shut down. So I think a lot
of it is due to maybe like an over and like giving
players, maybe not just players, but personalities,
big personalities, too much power within the
game. Because even if you look at refereeing
committees, I think, look at the Premier League
refereeing committee, how much... of attention
do they try to bring to themselves through their
like media statements through campaigns and i'm
like there's no there's no need for a refereeing
organization to be doing that that's true our
next story is psg psg drew 1 -1 with newcastle
and finished outside of the automatic round of
16 spots so my question is are we overrating
louis henrique and psg it's hard to say like
i mean to The only parameter you can really judge
PSG on is winning the Champions League, and I
guess he did that last season. There's always
generally a drop -off the season after you win
the Champions League. Maybe Real Madrid would
be the exception. So it's hard to say. I've always
thought they were slightly overrated as a team,
but I don't think Luis Enrique is overrated as
a coach. He got the dynamics out of them that
were required to win. In my opinion, I think
it's a bit of both, but I don't think Luis Enrique
is overrated. However, I think the achievement
of their treble is not the best treble I've seen.
I wouldn't compare it to Man City before them
or Barcelona or Inter Milan. I mention this because
the trophy kind of covers everything up, right?
But last season, PSG kind of... Just got by.
They stumbled through the group stage. Yes, that
first of all. They didn't make it the top eight
last year as well. They had to go through a playoff
as well. Newcastle also hammered them last season
in the group stage, right? I cannot recall. I
think there was a 4 -0. Possibly. So they just
kind of... They just made it out of the playoffs.
And then in the playoffs, the round of 16 and
so on, they... Just made it past Liverpool. It
was 1 -1 and they got passes and penalties. Curtis
Jones and Dawa Nunes missing penalties. Arsenal,
I'm led to believe it was quite close. Yeah,
and Aston Villa. Aston Villa, extremely close
as well. The only thing is the final. The final
was a blowout. But that was just a very disappointing
final. People remember the final. They don't
remember the road to the final. And that's why
I'm wondering, is PSG overrated? Last week, or
was it two weeks ago, I came on this podcast
and I said, when Anastat gets sacked, I want
Luis Enrique. I don't want Xabi Alonso. And I've
been thinking about that and I'm not 100 % sure
that I feel that way anymore. All I want is an
experienced coach. That's all I'm trying to get
at when I say he needs to be replaced. Yeah,
I mean, it would all depend. Either way, I think...
A large part of the reason that PSG did win the
Champions League was management coaching. Because
I think, especially with regards to man management,
if you look at your guys' squad, I think you
guys have a lot of top talents. The recruitment
around it, probably midfield recruitment, he's
one of the best in the world. It would still
make sense maybe to get him because I think a
lot of the moments, like you said, the games
were on a knife's edge. His substitutions were
better than the opposition's. Whether he had
more options or not, it's debatable because he's
also coming from a league where he doesn't play
at the same intensity every week. So he has to
get his team to raise their level every game.
Hilariously, sorry to interrupt you, but last
year, Arnold Slott said that's a huge advantage
that you can rest your... You know, you're starting
11. The week before they played us, that weekend,
they played an entirely changed first 11. And
then, you know, their first 11 against us. So
don't you think... Yeah, it could be argued either
way. You could argue either way that, oh, it's
not competitive and that's what's keeping them
uncompetitive. Or you could say, because it's
uncompetitive, they can rest players during the
league and be more focused on the Champions League.
Yeah, I think it works both ways, but they're
so dominant in their league, so it's hard to
judge, like, is that treble, like, are they the
best team in the world? When Man City won the
treble, they were unquestionably the best team
in the world. I would say no, because the best
team in the world is Chelsea. They beat them
at the Club World Cup, don't they? No, but...
Realistically speaking. No, I'm being realistic.
They beat them at the club World Cup. I don't
think Chelsea are the best team in the world,
but okay. In terms of... Okay, where's your trophy
that says that they're not the best team? Because
they have a trophy that says they are. Okay,
I don't know. That's what you think. I don't
think that they have a trophy that says best
in the world. Yeah, that says they're the Club
World Cup champions. If that makes them the best
in the world, then that's your decision too.
It's the Champions League winners of the past
couple of years. Look, I don't need to justify
the Club World Cup. That's a prestigious tournament.
I don't know why you're coming down on it like
this. Chelsea are not the best team. They're
not even the best team in the Premier League.
The league's not over. We don't know how things
are going to go. Liam Razen, your title charge
coming up? Never. But either way, I could say
they were the best team in the world last season,
but throughout the season, I thought you guys
were. For the first six months, I thought you
guys were comfortably the best team in the world.
With Man City's treble, they were the best team
in the world from start to finish. With Barcelona's
treble... Bayern Munich's treble they were the
best team in the world throughout the whole entire
season so in that sense I think PSG are slightly
overrated yes alright and then our next story
Napoli lose to Chelsea 3 -2 and are knocked out
of the Champions League completely Antonio Conte
I was going to say what is the problem with Conte
in cup situations this is what I don't understand
because at first I would have I used to think
that it's hard to do anything with a back three
beyond a certain point in the Champions League.
Excuse me, so he plays with a back three at Napoli?
Yes, from what I've seen, yeah, he still plays
with a back three. I'm asking a question, I have
no idea. Oh yeah, he does. Conte and his back
three, I don't think he shifts from that very
much. Didn't he play with a back four initially
at... At Chelsea. No, no, no, at Juventus, like
when he first signed. Oh, maybe, maybe those
days. And then he transitioned into a back three.
I think when he found the back three, he's never
turned. But don't quote me on that. But he had
a small period in Chelsea where he managed with
a back four. And I think when he started at Napoli,
he also managed with a back four to keep the
dynamics from the previous coach going. But he
switched it to a back three. And you're saying
the back three is the problem then? I thought
that. But Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League
so brilliantly, I was shocked. So there's been
managers influenced by Conte and Zaghi last season.
that are very directly influenced by Conte who've
done better than him in the Champions League.
So I don't know why he can't translate his philosophy
into the Champions League. Could just be a mentality
thing. In the big games, he can't get the team
up for it. Maybe it's something related to his
personality, right? A number of things could
be the case. I didn't watch this and for some
reason there's no highlights available. Well,
one for the Madrid game. two for the Napoli game
I did find highlights for the PSG game so it
really depends on the club certain clubs release
highlights and certain clubs don't and I just
don't understand why it might be the agreements
they have with broadcasting people not even it
could be that's almost certainly the case but
yeah so Chelsea were leading 2 -1 And Napoli
were leading 2 -1 and Chelsea had to come back
3 -2. So it was quite the comeback from Liam
Rosinho, who hasn't put a foot wrong yet, I don't
think. I mean, he lost to Arsenal. That's a foot
wrong? No, no. Well, we'll see. They're the best
team in the league. That's in your opinion. No,
I'm saying Arsenal are the best team in the league.
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, in my opinion. So losing
to Arsenal then, is that such a big... No, but
it's still a foot wrong. In your first or second
game, you know, losing to Arsenal, is that a
foot wrong or is that just you came into a wrong
situation? Yeah, it's not. I mean, it depends
how you interpret it. But if you're judging it
by victories... then it's a loss. Okay. Because
I don't think they've played... Well, my friend
is a big Chelsea fan, and he says they haven't
particularly played well. They've just been playing
games. So, yeah, I guess this podcast needs to
watch more Chelsea games. Yeah, I mean, the one
thing I'll be interested to watch, because I
guess I'll give Liam credit for this. It was
always something that I struggled to imagine
how... someone could do because of the way Maresca
played, I guess. And I still rate Maresca very
highly. But he managed to apparently squeeze
Cole Palmer and Esteval into the same team and
the dynamics were off the charts. I didn't watch
it, so I still need to see that. But the thought
of it excites me as a football fan to watch those
two play together. All right. Lastly, Bodo Glimt
and Katterbag made it into the next round of
playoffs. And I... You know, I could point out
many teams, but I think the two of them are...
I don't want to be rude, but they're small teams,
smaller teams. The Minnows. I didn't say that.
He said that. They're smaller teams, so them
getting through, I think, is a fantastic achievement.
Same as Sporting. Sporting is more... It's a
high profile. Yeah, Sporting is more like...
Impressive because it's the top eight, but still,
to make it to the playoffs, I think is a just
fantastic achievement. Bodo Glimp doing it by
beating Man City last week. And what did they
do this week? It was a win against somebody.
They beat Atletico Madrid 2 -1. So, you know,
hats off to them. Karabag lost 6 -0 to us, but
still made it through. I think it's time we did
speak about Lopo versus Karabag. I just, just
some random thoughts I had. Okay, yeah. I mean,
a vent. It's not a vent. It's just, I wanted
to say, we scored another free kick goal with
a guy doing a backheel. Or, you know, like a...
A layoff. A layoff, yes. But this time, Sebastian
laid it off and Salah scored the goal. Okay.
Ekotike, we've been struggling to get goals on
the counter. There's a lot of goals. I've been
noticing that everybody is selfish. Gakpo, selfish.
Ekotike, selfish. Salah, selfish. Salah is a
little bit less selfish, but still, if we had
to put them on a selfish scale, all of them would
be in the top 5%. Very highly selfish players.
Extremely selfish. I love Ekotike, though. The
thing is, he's the one that's allowed to be selfish
because he's a striker. And he makes things happen
almost every time he gets the ball. So, yes,
we... I hate to say it, but it reminds me of
Thierry Henry every time I watch it. I don't
know. Arsenal fans are acting like a certain
country that feels like they have a 3 ,000 -year
-old... What's the word? Claim on Nekotike because
Henry played for their club. No, no, no. I'm
not talking about you. I'm talking about Arsenal
fans. Arsenal fans have just been thirsting over
Eketika and we wish he was our player. Because
he does look so much similar to Henry. It's almost
like if Arsenal were to sign a player that reminded
you of your favourite Liverpool player, would
you be... Well, again, I have to just mention
what Arsenal fans have been telling me. They're
telling me Declan Rice is better than Gerrard.
Shouldn't I be looking at Declan Rice that way?
I just want to know which Arsenal fans you've
been talking to. No, just on the internet. I
don't think that... I have never seen that much.
No, I've actually never seen a single person
on my timeline. Alright, well, I'll get a collage
together. print it out and give it to you alright
that's all I really wanted to talk about that
one free kick I was really enticed by it and
also we scored another set piece goal which after
177 quarters without one we've scored two in
two games I've seen a lot of football coaches
actually meeting in pre -season. I don't know
if it's connected, just something I've noticed,
meeting with American football and basketball
managers. Coaches, I don't know if that could
be related to set pieces coming into the game
more. I think, obviously, Arsenal's now the main
example of it, using it as a tactic. But I think,
from the facts I've seen, it's been increasing
for the last five seasons, teams using set plays
generally. I think it was just Arsenal and Brentford
who were... Arsenal, Brentford and Aston Villa
all had set -piece coaches, I believe, and the
rest of the league didn't. No, but I saw some
stats the other day that said even throughout
Europe... Prior to that. Throughout Europe, in
the last five years, it's like close to 35 %
or 45 % up set -piece goals. Oh, that's incredible.
I didn't know about that. I'll have to think
about that. I think Bayern Munich, Real Madrid,
a lot of teams have scored more set pieces than
ever. I think the game is becoming more and more
tactical. Alright, that's all I wanted to talk
about today. Do you have anything you want to
bring up before we close up here? Nothing specific.
Just excited about the draw. Let's see who plays
who in the playoffs. Hopefully... There's a couple
of surprises. Hopefully one of the big teams
gets eliminated. Oh, yes. I meant to come back
to this, but Benfica, one of their potential
opponents are Arsenal. And I would love it. Love
it if Mourinho took out Arsenal. It would be
incredible. I mean, they have to get through
another tie first. So, let's see. We'll see.
I would love to get Benfica, though. Definitely.
The special one. special one teaching Arteta
a lesson. I would love it. Love it. I mean, he's
taught Arteta a lesson, so it wouldn't be new.
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