And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. And this week we have a special
guest because Darren is unavailable. It's my
cousin. I'll allow him to introduce himself.
Hello. My name is Arnav. I'm very grateful to
be on. And we had a very eventful Game Week 25.
Yeah. Do you want to mention who you support?
I support Man United. All right. So how are you
doing just in general? I'm feeling very positive.
Carrick Ball has changed my life. Weren't you
pro -Emerim? No, no. Me, I wanted him gone after
the Grimsby game. But four games back -to -back
now. Four games on the bounce. We've delivered
three points, gotten all 12. I'm really happy
with that. All right, we'll get to United. But
the first game of the game week was Leeds versus
Nottingham Forest. It was the Friday night game.
uh did you watch this i did not okay so i would
say that uh in terms of patterns okay no no before
that in terms of like changes to the the teams
i didn't uh watch previous leads and forest games
so i can't say oh this guy's playing instead
of this guy but you know the teams just looked
how i expect them to look and yeah getting into
the game itself leads kind of abandoned the midfield
All their play was down the wings and, you know,
attacking down the wings. They just kind of,
there were three Nottingham Forest players in
the middle mocking nobody. They were just in
space doing nothing. And I thought, all right,
guys, can't we, isn't, something should be clicking
that there's something wrong here, right? So
a little bit later in the second half, Forest
finally get the ball. They get a little bit of
control on the ball. They get some possession,
but they can't make use of it. Who I was really
impressed with is the Leeds left back. His name
is Goodmanson. He was getting in behind a couple
of times, really attacking them and getting very
directly in behind. And I like that. The guy
who didn't impress me is Morgan Gibbs -White
for Nottingham Forest. What do you think of him?
Sorry, I'm just going to interrupt. What was
the score? The score, it was 3 -1. Leeds are
in a relegation fight, eh? No, they're not. Forest
are in a relegation fight. Leeds are fine. Okay.
Let me do a check really quickly. But anyway,
I think, did you say who is Calvert -Lewin? No,
Morgan Gibbs -White. Gibbs -White. How do you
feel about Morgan Gibbs -White? He's a great
footballer. I added him to my FPL. He's very
consistent in this Nottingham Forest side because
I think it's suited to him. He has a great finish
on him, but I think he should move up to a bigger
club soon. Maybe this summer. All right. I would
point out that he was going to move to Spurs
last summer, but he signed a new extension. Yeah,
I said it was 3 -1. It was 3 -1. Yeah. And like,
you didn't check the table, but Leeds are six
points clear. Forrest are three points clear
of West Ham. So Forrest signed a relegation battle.
Leeds have a little bit of leeway for them. And
so, yeah, I just feel like Morgan Gibbs... has
mastered the art of looking busy while not doing
anything. He looks really silky on the ball.
He dribbles well. He, like, drives forward well.
And, like, you know, when he gets that first
touch, when somebody passes him that first touch,
sometimes he'll pirouette, sometimes he'll Cruyff
turn. He looks really good. But what about...
you know incisive passing what about breaking
the lines what about putting in an excellent
cross he doesn't have that i know you were just
saying he's consistent in terms of returns for
uh fantasy but i just don't think in the big
games he like does anything really he just looks
busy like i said uh yeah and not just him it
just was forest just overall look too casual
they don't have enough urgency in the game and
that's why leeds won Leeds were, I mean, Forest
were just coming off quite a nice run where they
were delivering points. They just beat West Ham,
they drew to Arsenal, they beat Brentford, and
then they drew to Palace, and then this is their
first loss in five against Leeds. Not bad, then.
Not bad at all. Not bad. I hear what you're saying.
So, in terms of the goals, individual moments,
there was, for the Leeds goal, it was just literally
one ball over the top and Leeds scored. That
was their first goal. It was very... I don't
want to say silly, but it just was silly. Just
really poor. I don't know. I think the center
back should have gone forward and headed the
ball out. But yeah, one ball over the top lead
score. For the second goal, just awful marking.
I can't remember who, but somebody just drifts
into the area and puts in a cross. And it was
very shambolic defending. And that's not what
we would associate with the Sean Dyche team,
is it? Sean Dyche is like, you know, his... Entire
game is built on defensive solidity. And to see
a Sean Dice team be so naive, so poorly defensive.
Lackadaisical. Lackadaisical. It was, you know,
shocking to see, actually. Then it was a really
clever finish from Calvert -Lewin for the third
goal. Somebody else was taking a shot and he
kind of just, what's the word, like aimed it
towards the goal. There was already enough power
on the ball. He just kind of directed it. Placed
it. Placed it in the proper place and really
good. He's having a very great season, Calvert
-Lewin. He is. Equal goals to Ekotike. And you
could say, oh, Ekotike just joined a new club.
Calvert -Lewin joined a new club this summer.
And he's playing for a much worse team. So, yeah,
big ups to Calvert -Lewin. Especially because
a lot of people said he was finished. Actually,
a lot of people don't like him because, you know,
I don't remember the brand, but he did an ad
for somebody and he wore like, I don't want to
say girls clothes, but very feminine stuff. So
a lot of people kind of hate on that and they
have that image of him in their head. So they
they upset with him because of that. But yeah,
I big fan of Calvert -Lewin, especially this
coming back from the dead. I think he's had a
great season so far. I'm not sure about all that,
but as a footballer, he's had quite a nice season
so far. So let's hope he can add to his tally.
Because he's in your fantasy team. Yeah. So it
was 3 -1. The last consolation goal just came
from across and a nice finish by the Forest Substitutes.
Again, cannot remember their names. It was like,
oh, the coach did something here when like two
substitutes combined for a goal. So thought I'd
mention that. 3 -1 and yeah, that's the end of
our Leeds versus Nottingham Forest segment. Our
next segment is Man United versus Spurs. And
I'm going to need you to kind of carry this conversation.
I've seen the highlights so I can, you know,
opine about certain things, but I was sick. Lots
to talk about in this game. I would say it was
a lot more entertaining than the City -Liverpool
game, just in terms of quality of goals, as well
as just patterns of play. There was a lot of
talk before the game that Spurs were going to
wipe the floor or show up. Wait, who said that?
Just a lot of online fans. All right. Just because
they... I think the overwhelming feeling, okay,
just from my point of view, the overwhelming
feeling was that United were going to win. Oh
yeah, definitely. I think the form United were
in going into this game was a lot more... deadly
yeah and a lot more lethal and we have a lot
more firepower up front that has a lot more yeah
because so Darren and I both do predictions before
game week starts and we both predict a united
win so I just don't see how people online were
like oh Spurs are gonna do this do that or well
I don't know what corners of the internet you
are on well they were calling us they were calling
us their dogs because they beat us in that Europa
League final So they deserve it, is what you're
saying? Definitely. All right. Okay, so do you
want to start with any changes that Carrick made
to the team? Or is it the same team? Carrick
went to the same lineup. He had Mainu and Casemiro
in that midfield, which completely revolutionized
how we're playing. He started Konya over Dogu
because Dogu's injured. So we were a lot more
pacier on the wings. We had a lot more control.
And in terms of the actual game, Romero had a
red card, so he got sent off. Shock horror. A
really nice moment in the post -match conference
when Thomas Frank was speaking to the media and
he said, you know, he got a red card and I think
he's unfairly targeted because, you know, if
you look at his record, it's not that bad. And
the journalist says, actually, since he's been
here, he's got the most red cards in the league.
And Thomas Frank was like, oh, I didn't know
that. Imagine you're just talking bullshit and
you get called out like immediately. That's great.
Yeah, sorry, you were saying? So he's now banned
for four games, but even before the... Isn't
it three? No, it's four games because this is
his second red card now. Oh, okay. Straight red
card. So in terms of the actual game, even before
the red card, United were having more chances
than Spurs, even though the game did look more
equal. Spurs looked like they were in it, but
United were having more of the better chances
and the clear card chances. And when the sending
off did happen, it just gave the ball to United
and they controlled the game just from that red
card all the way to the full -time whistle. And
United were having so much fun on the ball. Spurs
didn't even actually have a chance to run at
United players because we were moving the ball
too fast and we were using our passing or the
Spurs players were just dropping back too deep.
So they went from sitting back and playing negative
to almost going even double. negative, which
doesn't make really much sense, but they've got
even further back and laid down. So that's how
Spurs performed. But in terms of, I would think
the result has given them, closed the door on
any sort of Europe now. And they're actually
in a relegation fight, I would say. Six points
off bottom. You never know what Jared Bowen might
do. As for United, we're definitely in a top
four race. But for me, I'm saying number 21 is
coming home because that's the whole point of
belief. So, yeah, that was basically the United
game. I like that mentality. Thank you. Not to
diss Darren, especially because he's not here,
but he's like competing. That's what's important.
I'm like, no, winning is important. What the
hell? But, yeah, again, that's not a diss. That's
just repeating what he has said himself. So,
yeah. On the goals, the first goal, Brian Mbomo,
what a season he is having. It came off a corner.
Set -piece FC, they call us now. But we have
ethical set -pieces. Bruno to Menuhin, Menuhin
outside the box. Mbomo, bottom corner, passes
it in. Vicario, no chance. And then for the second
goal, Deleuze puts in a cross. Comes off Cesco's
forehead, might have just missed Cesco and Bruno
just gets the tap in there. Vicario has no other
chance either. Definitely didn't touch Cesco.
Bruno wheels away in his celebration as we went
2 -0. Any other thoughts about the United game?
I think in terms of managers, Thomas Frank's
CV has taken a massive blow now. This Spurs side
was capable of beating United when it really
mattered and to not be able to deliver when you
need three points will be a very harsh thing.
And as for Carrick, this is another tick in the
box going in the right direction to possibly
give him the job. For me personally, I would
have already given him the job because I've seen
enough as in terms of his previous stint before
Ten Hag and now this stint here. We've just looked
a lot more fluid, a lot more... We've just looked
a lot more likely to score. And we've actually
scored a lot more goals in these last four games
than we did under Amarum. So that makes me a
lot more happier. Okay, I think you're getting
carried away. Carried away. First of all, I've
heard that the actual mastermind of these four
wins has been Steve Holland, Carrick's assistant,
or one of the assistants. I don't know how true
that is or, you know, but apparently he's the
one who's organized the defense in such a way
that they become impenetrable. I know. I don't
know about all that, but I know the set piece
came from Johnny Evans. That is a that's a fact.
All right. But in terms of the defense, I think
we've always been as we've had the potential
to be strong, especially because we still have
to let to come back. But I think the way we set
up tactically was because of. Carrick because
he's actually placed Casemiro in front of the
back line and he's made Mainu transition from
a defense to attack moving the ball and creating
those patterns and those shapes so that we can
break teams down because it's not just been like
what we've played one way in these last four
games we've played several different types of
ways and we've gotten results okay but is four
games a big enough sample size for you to judge
somebody It's not just those four games. He also
beat Arteta in an FA Cup as well. So I think...
You're saying five games then? There was other
games as well. What is your threshold for? I
think there's a lot of questions around managers
nowadays. I think you need to see for your own
eyes, with your own eyes, what your team is actually
accomplishing with the manager that is in charge.
For example, like Enrique. We had no clue who
was going to get it together and win the Champions
League, but they ended up playing some of the
best football. What do you mean we had no clue?
They were mid -table or not even looking. Okay,
okay, okay. They weren't in the top eight. Yeah,
and then they got through and then they started.
They peaked at the right time. Yeah, basically.
You know Enrique won a treble before the said
Barcelona, right? I'm just pointing out that
he has a reputation. It's not as if this is some
nobody that just turned up at PSG. I'm not saying
it's a nobody. I'm saying there is a point where
everything will just start to click and then
the manager will end up taking credit for the
good results because he himself has now picked
a team. He's made the tactics. And when you look
at how we've played... It's not just like a tactical
masterclass. We've looked like a more gelled
together team as opposed to before when we were
just grinding up results. We didn't look... Everybody
were playing as individuals. And this time we're
playing as... I still think you're getting carried
away because what you're doing is comparing Carrick
to Amarum. What you should be doing is comparing
Carrick to like Guardiola. Okay, maybe not Guardiola.
Like Arteta to like Klopp. you know, the challenges
to the, even a slot to the, you know, as challenges
to the title. You shouldn't be comparing him
to Amarim, who was an abject failure and a loser,
right? But also, I would like to add, Casemiro
has been revolutionary, like, to our midfield.
He has made our midfield tick so beautifully
because, I don't know if you watched the game,
but he had a no -look pass to Kunja against Fulham.
And Kunya banged it top corner, top end. So I
know that's just one pass, but my point is Kunya,
Casemiro has been quite the player. And even
though he's leaving in 13 games, he's been really,
really quality in these last few games. So I
also don't think it's Carrick, all due to Carrick.
I also think these players are more committed
to the system that fits the players that Carrick's
brought in. So do you think they down tools for
MRM? Definitely. What makes you think they're
not going to down tools again if Carrick does
something they don't like? I think, again, after
that Europa League final, for me, these players,
these crop of players didn't, I wanted most of
them gone. So for them to be pitching up and
showing up for Carrick shows that they are light
switch FC where they show up when they want to.
But for me, if they down tools for Carrick, it
would have to be because Carrick has tactically
or done something with the formation. or made
somebody in the squad unhappy like Bruno. Okay.
But I'm saying, so if you're a top manager, you
don't care if you upset somebody, right? Definitely.
They get into line because you're the one in
charge. 100%. If Carrick is tailoring his coaching
to keep the players happy, do you think, I don't
think that's the best way to move forward. I
100 % agree, but it was also what we did under
Solskjaer too. We just made the players happy
and then they ended up getting results. Yes,
but... I know obviously this is not how... How
many trophies did you win using the Solskjaer
method? That's irrelevant. I'm just pointing
out, I feel like Carrick is Solskjaer 2 .0 and
Solskjaer was Frank Lampard 2 .0 because... I
feel like just hiring a former player because
they used to be good at playing for your club
to be the manager is just nepotism. Okay, maybe
nepotism is not the right word, but there's just
a favoritism towards a certain person because
they linked to your club. Arteta, Frank Lampard.
Who else did it? Xavi. Xavi. Andre Pirlo. Xavi
Alonso. well I guess Xabi Alonso won the title
in Germany so he's not as what's the word like
green behind the ears as the rest of them the
rest of them got that like it's Arteta's first
ever job as a manager and he became Arsenal manager
that's such a for whatever reason Arsenal fans
are okay with it but that just doesn't sit right
with me you need to have a CV I agree with you
you need to have a background in in the game
but on that Carrick even though it looks like
Carrick's first interim he has just even before
that he after he managed Middlesbrough yeah and
he got sacked from Middlesbrough I think yeah
so he at least he had some stuff on his CV before
he got the United job unlike Arteta who just
was given it yeah but I'm just I still think
that's too shallow even Liam Rosin yeah And Enzo
Maresca. The thing is, he didn't play for Chelsea,
though. Yeah, but I'm saying you need to... Enzo
Maresca won the championship with Leeds. Not
Leeds, Leicester. He brought them up from the...
That's why. So, that's more of a CV than just
being Pep Guardiola's assistant. And when Maresca
was at Chelsea, he won the Conference League
and he won the Club World Cup. Yeah, yeah. Okay,
well, we're just listing achievements now. All
in all, do you want to wrap up this game? I think
it's pretty much wrapped up in terms of what
I've said. But I think it's... As a United fan,
I'm very happy with the way we're progressing.
And a week of rest means we get a fully fresh
Casemiro for our next Premier League games. And
as for Spurs, I don't know what's going to happen
to them. If they continue this run of form, it's
very likely they could go down. I would love
it and I think I deserve it. But yeah, that's
about it for the United game. All right. Let's
move on to the Arsenal versus Sunderland game.
This was the, what do you want to call it? The
four o 'clock game? The late kickoff, yeah. Not
the late kickoff. This was like, there were three
time slots. The early kickoff, the mid kickoff,
and the late kickoff. So this was the mid kickoff.
The United game was the early one. Yeah, Newcastle
-Brentford was the... Yes, so Arsenal and a bunch
of other games were on at the same time. But
this is the one I happened to watch. So, like
I was saying, in terms of starting line -up,
for Arsenal, the keepers swapped again. Raya
came back in for Kepa from the... So, they played
Chelsea in the League Cup last week. So, this
is the changes from that. Calafiori came in for
Hinkapie. Havertz in for Eze. Trossard in for
Martinelli and Jesus for Jokeres. So the number
one thing I realized was that Sunderland were
running all over them in midfield. And they had
no control, especially because, not especially,
but due to there not being any Odegaard. Odegaard
is the one that holds on to the ball, especially
if things are too chaotic. He's the one who will
hold on to the ball and frustrate opponents.
not frustrate them just recycle possession yeah
instead of like like somebody who lets it go
silly uh lets it go away from them is very silly
uh he holds on to the ball very well right i
thought uh calafiori looked suspect in a lot
of moments during the game but that's partly
because uh he was injured uh he's only just come
back so when you just come back from injury i'm
not i'm a little bit like more lenient lenient
towards you because i don't believe like you're
fully up to speed yet so califuri that's fine
um brian brobby gave saliba a lot of problems
probably saliba got a yellow card and i thought
oh saliba's in trouble here uh because it was
quite early on it was in the first half and i
thought okay probably has to leave on the on
the strings and for the rest of the game saliba
had him had him checked and i was like wow that's
a a really good comeback from being in a bad
situation. So in the first half, Sunderland looked
good, but they didn't really convert that possession
into attacking moments. They would just win the
ball, then pass it to the wing, then the wing
couldn't do anything, and they would recycle
possession, and so forth. They couldn't really
get down the line, they had to just move it.
They moved it side to side, yes, that's the problem.
So in the second half, Sunderland come out attacking
and they don't... Could you just do me a favour?
Could you just actually check what the score
was? I didn't write it down again. I can't remember.
I believe it was like 3 -0, right? I'm going
to check now. It was 3 -0, yes. Yes, so the first
goal comes from Zubamendi. A really excellent
finish. Off the post -bottom corner. Because
they show like... the back what's like the camera
from behind him and he's not even aiming at the
goal he just whacks it and it goes like around
it does like a nice like whoop motion and gets
into like an inch perfect off the post goal he
hit it first time and I just again just had no
idea what he was aiming at it was so just an
incredible finish right his Also, his celebration
was a Marino tribute because Marino... He's injured.
Injured. Broke his foot or something like that.
Something really hectic like that. So, hopefully
Marino gets back soon. Fair play to Zubimendi.
Yeah. Then, like I said, in the second half,
Sunderland came out attacking and they had the
most control. But there was a really silly mistake
from Alderete and Jokre scored against the run
of play. because Alderete, instead of clearing
the ball, was like kind of playing around with
it in his back, you know, like under pressure
from Arsenal players. So when he does clear it,
it goes to an Arsenal player and they've turned
it up high. Joachim scores. Very, what's the
word when you get avoidable goal. Then, for the
last goal, Martinelli is on the counter. He just
lays it off to Jock Reyes and scores again. Nothing
to... He slips and falls as well. And he did
the celebration on the floor. Nothing really
too much to talk about with that. Yeah, your
thoughts? In terms of Sunderland's away on the
road... They're not really as good as they are
at home. They aren't beaten at home. So for me
to be beaten 3 -0 is kind of a statement. It's
land in the sand for Arsenal where this is now.
They're committed to winning the league now.
Three points on the board. It's Sunderland. It's
Sunderland, man. The way you're talking about
it, it's like they beat us. They aren't beaten
at home. Yeah, I know, but Sunderland are very
bad on the road. When we were doing our predictions,
both Darren and I said, Sunderland are going
to lose because Sunderland on the road don't
travel well. You know, they drew with us. I guess
I just wasn't expecting three, no. Okay, fair
enough. You can argue that, right? On to our
next match, Newcastle versus Brentford. This
was the late kickoff on Saturday and not really
a lot of notes on this to speak about, but I
just want to say this was a really high energy,
high intensity, fun match. Both teams came out
to play. They didn't come for like a nervy, nil
-nil draw, come out and, you know, play cowardly
football. This was an amazing game. They sent
it 3 -2 to Brentford at St. James Park. Yes.
Great game. So, yeah, that's the, again, I don't
know much about the teams, so I can't say, okay,
this player came in for that player, but that
was the general consensus. No, no, no. Play pattern.
You know, Newcastle attacked, Brentford attacked.
Newcastle attacked, Brentford attacked. Kind
of like a basketball game. Both teams coming
to attack. Both teams coming to score. So Newcastle
score from the corner technique that Arsenal
use, which is place a man directly on top of
the keeper. If the keeper can't run out and grab
the ball, it's much easier for the... the attacker
to score more likely yeah more likely right so
i think that's unethical and uh we should do
away with the that type of court uh keeper blocking
but uh you know what can you do about it it's
effective arsenal top of the league because of
it so yes can't uh uh kind of again i don't want
to say against the the run of play but uh because
like i said it was attack attack attack attack
Dango, I don't know what to call him. I used
to call him Odango because on his shirt it says
Odango, but everyone calls him Utara, which is
his first name. So I'm just going to call him
Odango. Odango puts in a delicious cross and
Janelt towers over the defender to score. That
was a really good goal. You know, top marks for
me. Jacob Murphy concedes a penalty. I didn't
think that this was a penalty. It does hit his
arm. I'm not disputing that. But it's kicked
directly. The ball is blasted at his hand. He
has no time to react, to move, whatever. But
it is what it is. Igor Thiago converts. It's
2 -1 to Brentford. He's having a great season
too. He has 17 goals. Very good. But a lot of
them are penalties. Yeah. What's the word? I
appreciate scoring goals, but you have to recognize
when it's mainly penalties, right? Where are
we now? Michael Coyote also concedes a penalty.
And I think the referee was far too lenient,
right? He concedes a penalty, but he doesn't
even get a yellow card for it. What happens is
Coyote is the last man. And he trips, not trips,
takes out the Newcastle attacker. So for me,
it's what we call dog so. Denial of a goal scoring
opportunity, right? If you dog so, dog so is
a straight red card. But he didn't even get a
yellow card for it. He just concedes the penalty
and the game just kind of went on. I was very
shocked at that. The commentators didn't say
anything, so maybe I'm just missing something.
But to me, it looked like he was the last man.
Pulled him down and no retribution for it. That
was very shocking. But yeah, I think it was Bruno
G who scored the penalty. I wasn't watching the
game, so I didn't see what you meant. Yes, but
I know for fantasy reasons, you know, he did
score. I took Bruno G out, I think. Oh, yes.
Then for the final goal. It was kind of like
Newcastle had the energy or the momentum with
them. So this was, again, kind of against the
run of play. But the keeper clears it. The Newcastle
defender heads out. Brentford win the second
ball and pass to Dango, who scores a fantastic
goal. And yeah, Brentford win 3 -2. The game
itself was really open, I think. from the highlights
that I've seen. So there was definitely going
to be a winner. And when that equaliser went
in from Bruno G, there was always going to be
a winner because both sides were playing for
the win. So I'm not surprised Brentford got the
winner because Brentford have been playing well.
But I'm more shocked about the fact that Eddie
Howe is not caught on and made progress with
his team. Because I would have thought Newcastle,
especially even after losing Isak and having
Walter Mare. he would have made that work and
it would have been a lot more progressive at
least. But it shows character to get back into
the game. I disagree. When Eddie Howe was at
Bournemouth, never scratch that, when he just
was at Newcastle and they made the Champions
League, what I used to think was Newcastle were
beating teams just by outworking them, not being
superior in terms of ball stuff, you know, like...
Just being faster, stronger, you know, physical
traits. But when Newcastle went to the Champions
League, they got wiped on the floor by certain
teams because they couldn't compete technically,
right? And I've always known Eddie Howe to not
be a technical coach because of that. So to find
out that his team is in a... in a bad situation
and he has no tactical answers to get out that
makes perfect sense to me because he's never
been you know a tactically astute manager so
yeah uh on to our next story so the next game
i should have watched was uh crystal palace versus
brighton or the other way around brighton versus
crystal palace but again uh that was the early
kickoff on sunday and i missed it i was asleep
i did wake up 25 minutes into the liverpool versus
man city game And that's what is our next story.
I just thought Salah, Gakpo and Wurz were extremely
poor. You watched this game. I did, but you've
been saying Gakpo's been poor all season. Yeah,
and he had another poor game. Definitely, I agree
with you. But I think Salah had moments, but
he was out of the game. I think Wurz was just
locked up, so he couldn't have any more chances.
And we didn't do Chelsea versus Wolves, but...
Well, we'll get to them just now. Okay, right.
The point of Wurz... is that he's an excellent
dribbler so when people gang up on him he can
dribble out of the situation or also he's such
a good passer that if there's pressure on him
he can pass it out there was a yet a few good
passes in the first half yeah but i haven't seen
either of those things to a high degree do you
know what i'm saying yeah i hear that he's been
doing it but at a low Like, at a 3 out of 10
level, when he should be at a 9 or 10 out of
10 level. Doing it consistently. Consistently.
For the amount of money he costs, what he should
be doing is much more than what he is doing.
Especially in the big games. It's no use scoring
against Burnley and, like, who else did he score
against? Karabag. Yeah. And all them, man. But,
like, in the Man City game... Yeah. That's just...
That's the definition of sack padding. Right?
But in the big games against, like, a Man City,
he's just... poor. That's not what I want to
see. I like Wirtz, but honestly, he hasn't shown
anything more than even Harvey Elliott at this
point. So yeah, if we had to bring Harvey Elliott
back and it was a choice between the two of them,
I honestly don't know who I would pick. It's
that, that's how, you know. Just from a Liverpool
side, he brought on Curtis Jones much later than
he should have. I think Soboslai was probably
the best player on the pitch. Even though he
got sent off. Yes. And I think defensively, you
guys had City closed off. It was just towards
the end where it just became a little bit sour.
So I don't think you heard our last episode,
but I was complaining about the fact that this
window came and went and we didn't add any defensive
reinforcements. Now we're forced to place a box
that right back. We'll speak about, we'll just
put a button in that. We'll speak about that
just now, right? Still in terms of general play,
I would say McAllister was more willing to try
risky passes. We were getting quite a few really
good balls from the middle of the park, which
is not what we've been doing in recent weeks.
Recent weeks, we'll just pass side to side and
then put in a cross from the side. Now, we're
getting actual line -breaking balls through the
middle, and I thought that was very progressive.
Not progressive. It's a good thing. It's a good
thing to... Because in comparison, you would
go side to side and then go to Gakpo who would
sky a shot. Or you go to Salah who would just
miss it. But you wouldn't be delivering those
crosses into your striker like Ekotike. So, especially
in the first half, you were a lot more cutthroat
in terms of going forward. Because Ekotike had
a lot more chances in that first half than he
did in the second half. Oh, I disagree with that.
Again, based on just what I saw, I thought we
were more attacking in the second half than the
first half. The first half was a lot more even.
Again, I have to say, I missed 25 minutes of
this. It was a lot more even for me. And then
the second half, we were kind of all over them,
despite the fact that they won. But yes, let's
get into... Okay, not individual moments, but
there was a goal for Liverpool. And after that
goal, things just changed drastically. We kind
of sit back and try to... You defend for the
win, yeah. Defend for the win. And I disagree
with that totally. Slott has been doing this
since he came in and I just, it makes me so frustrated
because a big team shouldn't be doing that. A
big team should be going for the win to make
it 3 -1, not to make it, to protect a 2 -1 lead.
Especially in a big game, that's not, with like
lethal finishes, that's just not on. You have
to see the game out. Yeah, put it out of range.
I prefer possession. If you're leading, bring
on another midfielder and recycle possession
between your midfield trio or however many they
are in the midfield, right? Maintain possession
and then you'll win the game. Bringing on a defender
invites more pressure and we'll get into individual
moments now, right? So the first goal for Liverpool
was just, or Liverpool's only goal, incredible,
incredible free kick from Swaziland. It had this
lovely swerving motion. It went like... Left
to right, top corner. It went through the hole
in the wall and went off the corner. But he's
been doing this all season. He did it against
Arsenal too. I mean, yeah, he did it against
Arsenal. So I feel like... I didn't say corner.
I said corner. Okay, sorry. Yes, you were saying?
I think he's probably... he's probably the best
dead ball specialist in the league at the moment.
Not Bruno. But if we're going off actual, like
the way he's striking the ball and with the amount
of pace that's going on. And he's scoring for
Hungary as well. It's not just us. And the fact
that he's scoring in this Liverpool side where
they're not even creating that many chances,
it just shows his quality. Well, that's the point,
right? Slot is... Okay, we'll get to slot just
now. But yeah, carry on with what you're saying.
And just in terms of the goal itself, it was
a very, very beautiful free kick. It just swirled,
came from left to right, top corner. Donnarumma
stood there like a statue. He had no chance of
saving that. And yeah, he runs off in celebration,
doing a snap. For me, goal of the season contender.
But it's currently my two favourites, this and
last week. Solanke scored... Scorpion kick against
City as well. So the City team are giving away
Puskas winners every week. Okay, but yes, so
that's the first goal. City's goal comes from
just a ball back in the area. Haaland heads it
forward and Bernardo finishes off. But what's
important was the entire line steps forward except
Sabotsla. Why? Sabotsla is not a right back.
Savasta is a box -to -box midfielder who has
some good defensive instincts. That's why he
can play at right -back, but he shouldn't play
at right -back. It's... You know what we were
saying about... Just now we were saying... Just
also on that as a right -back, he loses that
pressing... You lose that pressing capabilities
if he plays at right -back. Yes, he's our best
midfielder. 100%. Taking your best midfielder
out of midfield and putting them at right -back
is a huge problem, right? And that's why he...
He didn't step forward with the rest of the line.
Otherwise, Bernardo would have been offside.
And that would have been... But you also have
to take the game into consideration where you
couldn't really play your youth right back, which
was Ramsey. Yes, I see. No, Ramsey's gone. Oh,
okay. My point is, Semenya would have tore whoever
was on that side apart. So, at least you would
have that senior player getting Shuhonda right
back. So here's the, not order of operations,
what am I, who's going to play there? First choice,
Connor Bradley. Connor Bradley would have gotten
torn apart regardless. He's not a good defender.
Two, Jeremy Frimpong, who is very fast. I doubt
he would have gotten torn apart because he can
run back. Maybe he would still get dribble pass,
but his pace often bails him out. He's also injured.
Three, Joe Gomez. Joe Gomez, very good one -on
-one defender in wide spaces. Would have probably
done the best job. Also injured. Now, this is
what I was mentioning earlier on about we didn't
get any defensive reinforcements. Now we're forced
to play Sabastai there. But that's not the case
because early on in the season, Things were so
bad. Sabotsai had to shift back into midfield.
And you know who played right back? Curtis Jones.
Why don't we play Curtis Jones at right back
and Sabotsai in midfield? It doesn't make any
sense to me to not be doing that. It's very frustrating
to see this every week. Darren was celebrating.
He was like, more Sabotsai right back shifts.
And laughed. Because he knows. On the City first
goal, even though Soboslai is keeping Bernardo
on the side, that goal came out of nothing, where
it was just a cross, a header, and Bernardo was
going to finish that. He slid and finished it.
They had no real chance creations before that.
And that goal, if Alisson was just a little more
aware of what was happening, I reckon he could
have saved it. But it just went through his legs,
actually, I think. And that was the equaliser.
Well, Bernardo was one -on -one in very close
quarters. It's difficult for Alisson. I don't
blame Alisson because if you're one -on -one
versus the keeper, the keeper isn't to blame,
I feel. If the keeper can bail you out, cool.
If not, it wasn't their fault. Then for the second
goal, Alisson gives away a penalty. It's one
of those where you wonder if the rules have to
change. It's reckless. Because... If Mateus Nunes
takes a shot, Alisson saves the ball and everything
is fine. Mateus Nunes kicks the ball out into
touch. Now Alisson clears him out and he doesn't
get anywhere near the ball. So now it's a penalty.
To me, that should be an indirect free kick because
the ball was already gone. He had no way to play
the ball. Okay, the ball was still in field.
That's why it was given. But the ball was on
its way out. Nunes had no opportunity to... get
the ball and do anything with it. So I know it
sounds like I'm just saying that because it's
a Liverpool, you know, it's a decision that went
against Liverpool. So you think, oh, red tinted
glasses. Yes, my red tinted glasses on. But I
disagree. I think goals like that shouldn't be
or penalties like that either. You need to either
change the rules or something because it's not
the best. We've been saying this for a while
now where referees, not in just this game, have
been very poor over the season. So giving away
a penalty, even when you look back on it, you
think, okay, it does look like a penalty. But
they've been giving penalties left, right and
centre for even worse challenges and they're
not giving penalties for even worse than those
ones. Consistency. Yeah, consistency is horrible
with the referees. Alright. Then the last action
I want to talk about is sort of the second last
action of the game. Chirky shoots from far away
because Alisson is up the pitch trying to score.
For what reason? I don't understand that as well.
Slot moves Alisson all the way up to the attack
there to get an equalizer. Yeah. You're trying
to equalize the game here. Yeah. That's pretty
shame. Why would you rather have one point or
zero points? I think in terms I think what's
going on zero? Okay. Wait, I don't think it was
necessary to fallacen to go up there because
it was just you guys were Attacking cut like
just before you talk about this this last call
Salah had a moment where you I went outside the
boots and he went straight to a critique and
a critique a should have finished that that's
just one chances of how many and I think it was
completely unnecessary. One chance of how many?
I'm asking you. There was a few chances. No,
there wasn't. There was a few Ekotike could have
done better on. We did not create enough chances,
right? As many as you should, yeah. Enough to
win the game. True. So, I know you, I watched
the highlights. You're talking about the one
Salah passed to Ekotike. Ekotike, a horrible
miss. Yeah. That is one chance. That was one
clear -cut chance. The rest of the game, we didn't
have a single other clear -cut chance at that.
The thing Slott has chosen to focus on in his
post -match interview that Salah was brought
down and the guy didn't get a red card, which,
you know, how about look at your patterns of
play? How about look at your defensive structure?
How about, you know, all these other things,
but he'll focus on... the refereeing to avoid
having that conversation about himself which
I wasn't slot out but day by day it's becoming
harder to be a slot in guy I'm not slot in I'm
slot out based on his comments where he dissed
us but just on a from a City point of view too
City didn't play like the best football that
there was that day like Carland was invisible
most of the game when Chirky came on he did okay
Like, he didn't use Foden. What else happened?
Just in general. Samir Nodrin had a great game.
Another stinker from Amoosh, too. It was just...
City and Liverpool looked a lot... They just
looked like they were butting heads more than
anything. So, I think the result was not fair.
I think a draw was probably fair. But the fact
that City got the win means they get to chase
down Arsenal. Yeah. I think the result... Oh,
we still haven't talked about the last thing.
But the result is very good for the race for
the league. But not good for us in terms of top
four race. So, yeah. The last kick of the game,
Turkey kicks it. Sabotslai fouls Haaland. Haaland
fouls Sabotslai. And the ball goes in. The referee
goes... Now, the referee gets it spot on. 100%.
Sabotslai fouls Haaland, meaning it's a red card
for Sabotslai and a free kick because it happened
outside the box. Haaland, he, what's the word?
But a play advantage, right? Then Haaland brings
down Sabotslai, which means you have to go back
to the original thing. So referee got it spot
on. But I just thought Sabotslai, there's absolutely
no need to grab Haaland. We're 2 -1 down. Losing
3 -1 versus losing 2 -1, there's no difference,
right? And you would have been better off losing
3 -1 and keeping Sobol's life for the next few
games? Yes. I think he's only banned for one
game because it's a non -violent red card. Like,
violent conduct is three games and non -violent
is one game. But whatever the case is, he's going
to be banned for one to three games, depending,
right? The game is done. You just threw away
next week. We're playing Sunderland, who... Away
as well. Yes. Sunderland, who are unbeaten at
home. We desperately need three points. What
are you doing, Subhash? Just such poor decision
-making, such a frustrating game to watch. Again,
I didn't watch the full game, but from what I
did watch, very frustrating. Do you have anything
else you want to say before we close this up?
No, not really. But I do think City aren't going
to chase down Arsenal simply because the way
they played against you guys, even though they
didn't deserve the result and they got it, won't...
In terms of just the general, when you look back
on it, I think City are just going to take those
results and then move on. But I don't think they
look anywhere near ready to win a title. Well,
they have a few easy games coming up. perhaps
winning those easy games will give them confidence
and then that confidence is what will lead them
to the title. I don't know. I don't know. I'm
just speculating. And for you, where do you go
from here? Us? Okay. On this podcast, I've said
what we should do is wait till the summer, sack
slot, get in Luis Enrique. Enrique wants to come
to the Premier League. He said so himself in
interviews. But he's not going to leave PSG mid
-season. So we should just wait it out. But we're
at the point where we may not make top four.
It's actually because of certain things. It's
a top five now that the top five go to Champions
League. So we need something to change. And I
don't know what that's going to be. Hopefully,
like United, Chelsea, Aston Villa all fumble
horribly and we can get back into it. Because
I don't see us getting back into it based on
our own qualities, our own good qualities. We
just, we're so fucking shit. Anyway, some miscellaneous
games from the weekend that I was able to watch
some highlights for. The first game is Fulham
1, Everton 2. So, Fulham's goal was cartoonish.
Everton had two chances to clear the ball, but
just didn't, leading to the ball rebounding off
Mikalenko from a Yemeni shot, and it was given
as a Mikalenko own goal, right? All the chances
were falling to Fulham, who failed to capitalize
on their dominance. For Everton's first goal,
Mikalenko did a nice turn, which took three Fulhams
out of the game, three Fulham players out of
the game. It was a really good turn. And passed
to Keenan Dewsbury -Hall. Who's back from injury.
Who's back from injury, yes. And he's slotted
home. For Everton's second goal, they scored
from a corner. Again, using Arsenal's technique
of blocking the keeper. The keeper tried to punch
the ball but couldn't because he was blocked
off. And it came off the keeper's hand and went
in. So, again, very... Unfortunate. Unfortunate.
But yes, a tactic that works, but I just don't
like it. It's very disgusting. Unethical. Unethical.
That's the right word. Our next game, Burnley
0, West Ham 2. Somerville scored with the first
chance of the game. Mateus Fernandes won the
ball in midfield and passed to Somerville, who
poked it over the keeper. Really good goal. Somerville's
having a good season too so far. He really picked
it up over the last couple of weeks. Well, it's
been six weeks. It's not been a season. Six weeks
doesn't make a season. But he has the last couple
of weeks been pretty good. So I'll give him that.
For the second goal, we've been speaking about
Duf. Darren and I, I don't mean you. Do you know
who Duf is? I do not. He's the left back for
West Ham. And he has a wicked cross on him. And
he just fizzed in a brilliant cross to Tachi
Castellanos. And he just had to direct it goalwards
because there was so much power, so much whoop
on that wall. He just, just a little touch and
it just flew in the goal. Right. All the other
chances went to West Ham. Based on the highlights,
it was just like a walk in the park for them.
So really nothing to... Right home. Right home
about, yes. I really hope West Ham survive relegation.
Nottingham Forest they can go down for. Fuck
them. They beat us 3 -0. They did the double
on you, didn't they? No. We haven't played them
again. We only played them once. Last season
they beat us at Anfield. Yeah. Wolves won Chelsea
3. So Doherty makes a silly challenge on João
Pedro, who was going away from goal to give them
a penalty. And that, again, this... I understand
down to the letter of the law it's a penalty.
But once again, I just think he's going away
from the goal. That should be an indirect free
kick because it's like you're not stopping him
from going, from taking a shot or, you know,
he's different direction. But yeah, it is what
it is. They get a penalty. Palmer coolly swats
away. Then Mosquera just pushes João Pedro over
in the air. Just literally just walks up to him
and pushes him over. So another penalty, obviously.
And Palmer converts with no problem. A little
bit later on, Cucurella does a cutback and Palmer
finishes excellently. That's a first -half hat
-trick. First -half hat -trick for Palmer. Really
good player. Two penalties, you would say, so
some people may discredit his hat -trick because
of that, but regardless, I think Palmer's a top
player. I think coming back from injury and scoring
two penalties as well is not a bad day in the
office at all. Although, I had Enzo in my team
for fantasy, and Enzo is the penalty taker when
Palmer isn't there, and I thought, okay, Palmer's
injured, so he's not going to be back soon. So
I brought in Enzo instead of Palmer. And yeah,
Palmer just absolutely finishing me, rinsing
me. Stat padding though. I don't see Wolves as
gold. Do you want to speak about that? I didn't
see it either. But is there a conversation to
be had about conceding against Wolves? What do
you mean? Just defensively. You know, Wolves
are going down with eight points, so is there
a conversation? Anybody can concede a goal. Especially
going away from home. I don't take that as a,
you know, as something that's crazy. The last
two games that we're not going to talk about
is Bournemouth vs Aston Villa 1 -1 and Brighton
0 -1 Palace 1. Like I said, we're not going to
talk about it. I'm just mentioning that it's
there. Villain dropping more points. And yeah,
we're done. Do you have any topics that you want
to talk about before we close up here? No, I'm
pretty happy with everything that we said. One
more thing, just mind the gap there, yeah? You
can mind the gap. Alright, fine. Fine. Alright,
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