And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. My name is Darren. And how
are you doing today? I'm okay, I'm okay. Tired.
What about you? Carrying on with the stuff that
I've been watching. I caught up with Pluribus
to the end now. Not as good as the first couple
of episodes kind of set up. uh it's all right
show i give it like a seven or eight out of ten
but uh if it's a vince gilligan show you're expecting
a 10 or higher yeah i mean i don't know much
about it just from when you explained last time
but yeah yes so i watched pluribus and i also
watched the first four episodes of alien earth
have you ever watched the alien movies no but
i've obviously heard about them yeah uh what
did you hear about them well i just hear like
uh you and your cousin talking about the characters
when we play our little game so and uh obviously
they're like a cultural a cultural thing where
you've seen uh you've seen them in like uh movies
so yeah the alien vs predator stuff they're all
over the place uh yeah i'm not exactly sure what
the term is but they're they're A big cultural
phenomenon. Ubiquitous. Yes. Thank you. So, yes.
I watched the first couple of episodes. It's
created by a guy named Noah Hawley. Have you
heard his name before? Noah? Noah Hawley. No,
I've never heard his name. Okay, so he made Fargo,
the television show, which is pretty great. And
he made Legion, also the television show. Legion
is Professor X's son. Professor X is who? From
the X -Men. Oh, the X -Men. Okay, sorry. I was
on a completely different train of thought. No,
no, no. So, Fox owned the rights to X -Men on
TV. So, they attempted to make an X -Men show
called Legion, which starred... I forget that
guy's name, but... Was it an animation? No, no,
no. It was a live action. It was very trippy
because he has similar powers to Xavier in that
a lot of his stuff happens in the mind. So there
was a lot of mind... What's the word? Have you
seen Inception? Yes. Inception and Doctor Strange,
where buildings are moving and it's just super
trippy and weird. That's what Legion was like.
It's a movie for... It's a TV show. Oh, a TV
show. Yeah. When did it come out? It was between
like maybe 2017 and 2020. Oh, I've never heard
about it. But I'll probably give it a try now.
It sounds like it's something I'd enjoy. Yeah,
but like I said, this guy Noah Hawley, he's moved
on to Alien Earth. And after four episodes, I'm
like, I'm intrigued, but I'm not excited. I didn't
wake up this morning like, ooh, I need to watch
episode 5 of Alien Earth. I was just, you know,
I thought about other stuff. It was a good show.
Nothing more. Yeah, maybe 6, maybe 7 out of 10.
So that's how I'm feeling about it. But yeah,
enough of that. Let's move on to the... Well,
first I just want to say that this week there
are far too many matches for us to even go through
the highlights of. So we're just going to do
the two all Premier League games and some miscellaneous
things. Is that alright? Shaolin Soccer. No.
That being said, do you know the guy who directed
that Shaolin Soccer? No, I actually watched it
on the weekend. That's why I randomly said it.
He also made a movie called... I forget the name.
But it's like Kung Fury or something like that.
You ever seen that? No. I mean... Kung Fu Hustle
and... Kung Fu Hustle, yes, not Kung Fury. Oh,
it's Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, the same
person. Yes. His name is Steven something. Okay,
no, I didn't know that. Really good, really funny
director. It's the same guy who's the lead actor.
He's also the director. Okay, that's cool. Yeah.
There's also Shaolin Basketball. Oh, I didn't
know about that. I don't know if it's by him,
but I saw it on the streaming site once. All
right. Maybe have a look into that. Probably
not, but maybe. Anyway, the first game I want
to speak about is Liverpool versus Brighton.
Again, all Premier League game. Liverpool made
four changes to the team that beat Sunderland
in midweek. Slott changed both the fullbacks
again, but this time Jones coming in for Endo
and Kirk is in for Robertson. Sabotslai coming
in for Gravenberg. uh keys are finally given
an opportunity in place of echo tk um that was
the starting lineup for brighton they made three
changes from their loss to aston villa the goalkeeper
jason steele came in for bart verbruggen and
17 -year -old harry howell came in for matoma
on the left wing an 18 -year -old summer signing
costalus came in for danny wellback at striker
I've never heard of Harry Howell and Costolas
before. Neither have I. Yeah. So, I wasn't excited,
but I was intrigued to see what these guys would
bring to the team. I mean, Brighton is... In
a modern context, they generally unearth some
good talent, or at least platform them. So, maybe
it's something similar. I would argue... Oh,
sorry, we're getting into the game now. Howell
had a poor game, really poor game, because he
was asked to do a lot of defensive work. And
every time he tracked back, he lost the man or
didn't defend properly, which is unfair to put
on a 17 -year -old, I feel. It was very... And
he was on the left wing, so he had to mark Jones.
So, like, Jones, Salah, and Sabotslai. That was
his responsibility. And it's very unfortunate.
Thrown into the deep end. Yeah, kind of. Very
unfortunate for him. I will say that it was mainly
just Liverpool attacking Brighton. That's how
the game went. I don't think we would get anything
else. you know uh it's not as if this brighton
is the brighton of three four years ago that
you know would come out and play through you
and like really attack you and get at you this
is fabian hertzler's brighton which i've never
been a fan of fabian hertzler since he came in
he's turned them into like a toothless version
of what they used to be and I guess it's partly
because they sold off a bunch of players like
McAllister, Caicedo, Cucurella, etc. So that's
part of the reason, but I'm still not a fan of
Fabian Hertzler. You were going to say something?
No, I mean, I rate him. But that's just me. The
games I've watched, I like some of the way they
set up, some of the way they play. It's similar
to us. But you don't like Oteta either. I will
say that they broke our press every time. Now,
I'm not sure if that's because Slott has regressed
us in terms of our pressing or they're just really
good on the ball. But every single time we tried
to pressure them, they very easily just played
out of it and just worked it up the pitch. But
even against us, I think... the last couple of
games we've played them they've been one of the
teams that i felt were the most difficult to
play against even if we did beat them a couple
times i think the same thing they're very good
between the lines and i don't know i don't like
i think obviously if you Comparing it to someone
like De Zerbi where the fluidity is on the next
level, it's difficult to gauge. But I still rate
Herzler. I think his football could translate
well into a bigger club as well. Alright. So,
there's not really a lot of things I can say
about game shifts. But there was a shift that
happened in the second half where when they were
3 -0 down, Herzler brings on Matoma, Mente and
Ruta. So, Mente is the right wing, Matoma is
the left wing, and Rucha is the striker. He actually
played him behind Kostulas as like a second striker,
but nevertheless, three attackers came on, and
they immediately started getting half chances
and putting more pressure on us. So, I think
he got it entirely wrong playing Harry, Howell
instead of Matoma, or even Mente playing on the
other side. Mente looks phenomenal. But I guess
that's just because he has pace. Yeah, I mean,
he's always, like with him, I guess the problem
has been staying fit. He's always kind of had
really impressive games where you've thought,
oh, someone should sign this guy or he might
be the next one that Brighton make big money
off of, you know. Apparently, he was really good
at fire north with slot. So there were a few
links with us, but I don't think he's good enough
to be like a league winning wing. I mean, the
one player who's dropped off a bit, who I'm surprised
about, is Balaba. He had a decent game against
us. But I mean, I think towards the end of last
season, he was one of the best midfielders in
the league. Yeah, I guess if you're comparing
him to, like, Caicedo, then it's obviously you're
going to come up short. No, I'm not saying he
seemed... You're comparing him to himself. Is
that what you're saying? To himself, but also
I think last season he seemed like... He was
the perfect replacement for Caicedo for a club
like Brighton. And this season, it seems like
a lot of the things he's good at. I would say,
you know, to be fair, he's had a lot of injury,
well, what's the word, concerns. And that's what's
kept him out of the team a lot of the time this
season. So I don't 100 % blame him because, you
know, fitness is not... Yeah, I mean, that's
not in anyone's control. I just also think maybe
since they kind of rejected his move to Man United,
I don't think he's put in the same level of performance.
Quiet quitting. Yeah, quiet quitting. I'm just
wondering if it's that. I still think he profiles
as potentially an elite midfielder. I wouldn't
mind him at Liverpool. He would be perfect for
you guys. If we can get him playing how he was
last season, like I keep saying, we need a new
defensive midfielder. If nothing else, to give
Gravenberg a rest once in a while, because he
gets played into the ground. And also, I think,
maybe to push him up the field a bit, like in
the 8th. Yeah, I wouldn't mind him playing at
8th as well. Like, we play Sabotslai and Gravenberg
in the 8th, sell McAllister maybe to Real Madrid.
uh even though there's been like a lot of links
uh linking support side to madrid recently uh
i would be not shocked but like puzzled if madrid
don't come calling for him in like a year or
two even at the end of the season yeah i mean
potentially i mean i think he's already one of
the best midfielders in the world so it's like
does he would he stay loyal That's, I guess,
the question you're asking as a Liverpool fan.
Can you build... He is the type of player you
would want to build a team around. So you'd need
a certain level of loyalty from that player,
you know. But I just think... So last season,
Sabotslai was our 10. By trade, he's a box -to
-box 8, but he played in the 10 last season.
We, or Slot, bought Wurz to replace Sabotslai.
He thought Sabotslai was replaceable. That's
why I'm... I think the club doesn't view him
in the way that supporters and other people view
Sabotslai, like his importance to the team. I
think they thought we could just do without Sabotslai,
and they didn't realize how much his pressing,
how much his off -the -ball work is so crucial
to this team. And it's also one of those things
where I don't think you could have seen how much
he'd improve on a week -to -week basis. Not that
he wasn't good last season, but... I think last
season you would have said he still maybe has
two or three seasons to go to be one of the top
midfielders in the world, and there's still a
lot of things he has to polish up. But right
now, this season, I'd say him and Declan Rice
have comfortably been the best midfielders in
the league. Well, I think partly because Trent
was taking the set pieces last season. Now that
he's had a chance to show how good he is at set
pieces and... you know not just free kicks but
uh he really sends in the ball at corners as
well he's really good at that so you know i think
that's given him a platform to show his qualities
much more than previous seasons were because
of trent uh speaking of which he very it pissed
me off right but in the when was it like december
he posted a picture of him and trent in the pool
together and i'm like right you need to get your
thinking cap on right you think the fans are
gonna like this that you uh taking pics with
this guy who just left us unceremoniously you
know just he's gonna leave unceremoniously as
well that's that picture is what made me nervous
that that made me think okay was he a real madrid
fan i think he is yeah then if they come yeah
it's over i know it's over but what's what It's
not that Trent left for Madrid that pisses me
off. It's that we didn't get a fee. That's all
that my, what's the word, anger comes from, is
that we didn't get even one cent for him. But
then, don't you think if, like you're saying,
the club underrates him, they're going to end
up getting a fee that you're not probably happy
with? Because I think if he goes, it should be
a Coutinho -like fee. Yeah, 100 million plus.
It has to be. But I don't think, I think the
club might settle for 70. I think Madrid will
tap him up and he'll go for zero. When is his
contract out? I think he has two years left,
but we're currently renegotiating. So if he doesn't,
if we don't come to... They'll say they're only
going to offer 70 million this season or they'll
get him next season for free. Yeah. And we bought
him for roughly 70 because that was the buyout
clause in his Leipzig contract. so if we're getting
him at roughly 70 and selling him at 70 that's
bad business because we've improved him as a
player we should be getting at least 20 to 30
million more in my opinion surely the club will
have to value him at this point because i like
i wouldn't see how much more he'd have to do
to be like uh recognized like what are you gonna
do i don't think it's a club i think it's slot
yeah but i mean in that sense then the club would
have to either you can't really force a coach
to play a player because then it always tends
to go mess up the dressing room dynamic so I
think maybe they should if like if it comes down
to Sabazlai versus Slott I think they should
take Sabazlai's side but it's also like you don't
want to give the player too much power because
the thing is what if he leaves yeah exactly that's
what I'm saying we choose him over Slott and
then he leaves the next window or yeah but at
the same time I think it's hard to replace someone
who's actively one of the best players in the
world it's just He runs the hard yards and he
has technique, which is a very unique profile.
People usually have one or the other. They're
either like a Connor Gallagher or like a Pedri,
right? I'm not saying Sabatsai's tech is as good
as Pedri. I'm just saying he has a combination
of the two, whereas most people don't have even
one. I mean, Pedri works hard, though. He's probably
one of the best pressers in Barcelona. Well,
there's a difference between works hard and is
very effective at running all the time. I don't
think running is, but if he's asked to run, he
does run. I think that's part of why he's been
picking up a lot of injuries. All right, but
yes, so we just did a small digression for that.
Let's get back to what we were saying. The game
changed entirely. I think I already made this
point, but let me just reiterate. The game changed
entirely when Matoma, Munte and Ruta came on.
I mentioned that, right? The dynamic shifted.
Even though we were 3 -0 up at the time, it felt
like we were under a lot more pressure. You started
getting nervous. The game ended 3 -0, but when
those three players came on, there was a noticeable
shift. And I think Herzl got it incredibly wrong.
He should have played those three from the start.
Or got the one earlier. What is the... I guess
he's maybe considering the Premier League a lot
of times. Because with Matoma especially, that's
obviously the most creative outlet. That's the
guy who makes everything happen in attack 80
% of the time for them. So I can only think that
he was rotating because he was prioritizing the
Premier League. So he didn't play Matoma in the
last game. in the last Premier League game. Now,
it's unclear to me, so I haven't followed Brighton
that closely, but I believe Matomas had some
injury problems. But even when he didn't have
those injury problems, Herzl has been dropping
him. So, I don't think he's one of Herzl's favorites.
I mean, it could be a physical thing. Also, a
player keeps getting injured, you know. So, it's
hard to keep selecting them. So, yeah. Do you
want to get into individual moments? Yeah, this
is cool. So the first goal for Liverpool is just
a really great goal from Jones. I thought there
was very little that Brighton could do because
the ball just breaks favourably for Kyrkis, who
puts in a great cross and even better finish
from Jones. A lot of the talking points from
both the commentators and in the post -match
team that does the analysis, they were saying
that... Because Jones is not a traditional right
back, he made that run. Because he's a midfielder
that drifts into the box. That's why he made
that run and that's why the goal happened. So
if, say, we had Savoslav playing right back or
even one of our, like, Bradley or Frimpong, that
goal would have never happened because it's only
Jones that would make that run. The inversions.
Not inversion. Just making a late run into the
box. But I mean, I guess it could be true. Like,
Sabozlai would also probably have the ability
to do that. I guess he just has the intelligence
to know how to play right back. Whereas, I guess,
maybe Jones is more attracted to the middle of
the park. But it can benefit you in certain game
states. Like, I think when we had Miles playing
left back for a long time. It worked, you know.
I think it eventually, his tendency to go inside
or crash the box late or join the midfield play,
it got exposed enough that at times teams were
just targeting our left -hand side. So it is
a good tactic to have as an alternative if Jones
can play and go into or become a box crasher,
like an extra option if you guys are going to
play with cutbacks especially. Well, it wasn't
really a cutback. It was just a cross. No, no,
I'm talking about generally in terms of him crashing
the box or him dropping. the midfield it's not
a bad option to have from a fullback so in an
ideal world Jones wouldn't be playing right back
obviously I hope we buy a new right back in the
coming window I think that will definitely happen
and we get rid of Connor Bradley because in my
mind he's just not good enough he's had a few
good performances mostly two games against real
madrid is what's propping up his reputation but
both those games i thought venusius and mbappe
were bad they were actively bad and that's what
made him look good not that he was good himself
right uh so back to what i was saying about individual
moments Liverpool's second goal comes from good
play from Gakpo and Salah playing in Sabotsai
who finishes extremely well yeah that was uh
i mean just a thunderbolt the power on it was
crazy but let's look at the build -up i keep
saying nasty things about Gakpo because he refuses
to change things up he's so predictable He only
has one move, he cuts in and shoots. Or he'll
cut in and pass. That's his one move, cut in
and do something. This time, about the halfway
line, he switches the ball to Salah, which provides
Salah with acres of space. And then Salah plays
the ball, which provides Sabotslai with space.
These guys finally got their thinking caps on
and said, okay, let's try something different.
Let's try, you know, generate space from... I
don't know how to say it, but do you get what
I'm saying? Yeah. Like, I mean, I guess they...
He just tried something different and things
worked out. Yeah, they trusted themselves more.
It was a good assist by Salah as well. Yes. Again,
like I said, thinking caps. That was a very well
-thought -out ball to get Sabasai in and give
him the space to... The weight on it was crazy,
crazy good. So, yes. Liverpool's third goal.
Salah makes it all on his own. He beats Cadioglu,
their left back, and gets fouled in the area,
just literally gets pushed over. And then he
converts. If Brighton... I blame Brighton for
being bad, not Salah for being excellent. Because
it's not like he did an excellent dribble or
anything. He just got into the box and they pushed
him. It was mostly like a strength thing. He
just was overpowering. Yeah, he overpowered Cadioglu,
fell over, and then... Somebody else came and
fouled him. Yeah, I mean, I think obviously it
looks like this is going to be Salah's last season.
Hopefully. I guess right now the main thing is
just like if you can get in the top four and
bag a trophy, whatever that is, would be the
best. I guess Liverpool fans would be happy with
that as the end of the season. But the thing
is, you can't plan how a play is going to go
out. You know, Steven Gerrard lost 6 -1 to Stoke
in his last game. Yeah, not that I'm saying you
should plan. No, no, but I'm just saying even
if we win nothing... He should go. Yeah, he should
go. Yeah, I think he is leaving anyway. So I'm
saying it's maybe just like the team is settling
into the idea of like, oh, okay, maybe they're
starting to deal with the pressure better because
it's like a psychological thing. Like now they'll
be, okay, we're not going to win the league.
the fans are not necessarily on our side now.
So I think maybe this is the game where the pressure
comes off finally. Because I don't think Brighton
are easy opposition either. It's probably the
outside of the Aston Villa -Newcastle game was
the only really top fixture, I guess. So I think
it could be. Maybe, like you're right, something's
flicked. The switch has been flicked amongst
the players, amongst the coach, with the coach,
sorry. Who knows? But we've seen these false
dawns before where we went on a really good run.
Not really good. A lot of them were draws, but
we went on an unbeaten run. But there were still
flaws. That's why I hope this is a new dawn where
the players, they play with more confidence and
try new things. But yeah, I'm not going to slam
Salah for this game. He did a good job with the
third goal and the second goal. But aside from
that, him and Gakpo were also kind of poor. So
if you guys get the FA Cup in third or fourth
place, do you still get rid of slot? Yes. But
obviously that won't happen if the season ends
like that. Look, say he finishes third, we win
the FA Cup. But he's got them playing well. I'll
say keep him. Okay. He is actively not playing
us well. He's making so many mistakes. And if
we can upgrade, why not upgrade? Let's say you
have a 7 out of 10 manager and you can get a
9 out of 10 manager. It's just common sense.
That's what... I hope you guys get Diego Samiani.
Fuck, I would be so angry, bro. Every week playing
awful football. And by the way, he's a fake hard
man. He's not a real fighter. The Liverpool crowd
were chanting at him. He got so upset one day.
He complained to the referee that they were chanting
at him. So, yeah, don't rate him at all. He's
emotional, but I think he can hold his own. Okay,
last moment I want to chat about with this game,
and then we can move on, is Rio Ngamoa comes
on and scores an excellent goal. Really, he gets
a lot of backlift off the ball. He goes into
the top corner and I thought, wow, very good.
But it was chalked off to be offside. Even though
it was onside. Replay showed, well, I don't want
to say it's onside, but it was very, very close.
The fact that there was no VAR to draw the lines,
you know, if the lines were there, we could see
how close it was, but they didn't draw the lines,
so we don't know. And it's weird that they, like,
I would understand if they said, okay, There's
no VAR through the whole competition, but it
doesn't make sense to put it in at a certain
point and then it's not there the whole way.
Yeah, I really think it's dumb. They're saying
it's for the lower league teams who don't have
VAR at their stadium. Well, they're going to
have to make a plan or something. They can totally
fund it. I mean, how much does it cost to get
a TV and a couple cameras and mics? I have no
idea, but this is just not... I would rather
we... It's interesting because the commentator
in the Liverpool game was saying he was mentioning
other games and saying that he liked that there
was no VAR because it didn't stop the game. You
know what I'm saying? The game continued to flow
as it was going. I think also now we've reached
the point where... VAR has become a part of the
game. Everyone associated to the game. So the
refereeing is obviously going to be worse than
it was before VAR was introduced. If you just
pull VAR out, I think... It's like you've become
used to using something and if you take it away,
you become worse at what you were doing. It's
like having a technology that helps you do your
job. Yeah, like let's say a calculator. Yeah,
and now you have to do every equation by long
division or long multiplication or whatever it
is. All right. Well, speaking about referee mistakes,
I would. move on to the Aston Villa versus Newcastle
game now, where it was all referee mistakes.
I mean, the whole game was just, I guess, defined
by the referee. The referee, this is like one
of those things where I guess I agree with a
lot of people who say that Premier League refs
are oftentimes trying to make it about themselves.
That's the impression you get watching it. And
I think that's what it seemed like. Obviously,
I watched the highlights. From what I could see,
it just seemed like a lot of the... Sometimes
referees are on an ego trip, man, and they just
feel the need to show their authority. So, despite
the referee giving Aston Villa a red card, he
was completely anti -Newcastle this game. So,
let me bring up a few incidents. The goal that
was offside... It wasn't really offside, but
it was chalked off to be offside. A dubious penalty
call not given on Lewis Hall, who was just bundled
over in the area. A yellow for Malik Chow, who,
it was a non -violent challenge. He just, like,
he even touched the ball, but it was slightly
a bit late. Yellow card. I thought that was very
harsh. And then Harvey Barnes pushed over in
the area. Just, again, should be a penalty. And
the last one, there was a handball given outside
of the box when replaced. It was clearly at least
a yard inside or half a yard inside the box.
Very, what's the word? Disheartening to see how
bad they are at their job without technology.
And these are the best paid referees in the world.
Yes. Alright, so let's, okay, we spoke about
the referee. Let's just get into, like, shape
and that kind of thing, right? So the teams recently
played in the Premier League with Villa easily
winning 2 -0 at St James' Park. This game is
at Aston Villa's home ground now. So they actually
beat each other away and away. Aston Villa set
up in their usual 4 -2 -3 -1 but made seven changes
to the team that beat Brighton in Madrid with
only Bogard at right back. the double pivot of
douglas louise and andre onada and then morgan
rogers in attack stake in the starting 11. newcastle
set up in their usual 4 -3 -3 and made six changes
to the team that beat spurs only bonds ramsey
and the three and three of the back line in tripia
bird and tior remained in the team so very heavily
rotated teams and yet they still had the the
usual game plan Which is what I like to see.
I think that's the sign of a very well -coached
team in that you can replace certain players
and the team still plays the same way. Yeah,
I agree. I think both Eddie Howe and Unai Emery
have some of the most well -drilled players in
the league. In a clear, distinctive style. how
they want to play and what they want to do it's
like yeah i think it they translate it to their
play as well so when the players step on the
pitch i guess they're not they don't feel as
antagonized or as i guess confused by having
to play in the system with the maybe they're
not used to it you don't get the the sense that
like oh the players who are coming in don't know
their job unless they're a new player of course
but so The game starts with a really nice tempo.
I would say even the entire first half is played
at a really nice tempo. Both teams are attacking.
Both teams are... They're not defensive, but
they defended well. I'll say that, right? I mean,
they covered their distance as well. I would
say Newcastle's high press was like 60 % effective.
Because, mainly, Villa are struggling to get
out of their half because of that press. But...
sometimes Villa would break the press and do
a really nice attack. So it was either Newcastle
press them and get a chance, or Villa break the
press and they get a chance. So it was up and
down, up and down. Yeah, I think with Eddie Howe,
it's like when he first came to the Premier League,
especially with Bournemouth, the level of the
pressing, like alongside you guys, it used to
take a lot of teams by surprise. I remember Bournemouth
used to be one of the teams that really impressed
me under Eddie Howe. I think they just about
survived relegation. Like, obviously, the resources
weren't the same, but I think when he first got
to Newcastle and he had better players at his
disposal, bigger athletes, the pressing really,
like, took everyone by surprise, how intense
they were with it, how good they were at winning
the ball. I think now that teams have figured
that out, I think he seems to be a bit lost for
ideas, but it's just one season. I still think
he can figure it out. Okay, so what changed is
the red card? That's what killed the tempo of
the game for me. Yeah. Did you think it was the
right card? I mean... Yes, I think because, like,
not necessarily on the basis of, like, it's hard
to say whether it was a goal -scoring chance,
but I think the fact that it was a half a goal
-scoring chance as well as the tackle itself
being dangerous, I think both those things, it's
a fair red card in my eyes. I disagree. I think
it was a yellow. There were more Newcastle players
forward, but there were Aston Villa defenders
back as well. So it's not as if he was the only
one there. I think the thing that makes it a
red card for me is also that he didn't do anything
to go for the ball. His intention was just to
foul. Okay, sure. That's a fair point. But in
my opinion, it was a yellow. I think that really
killed the game for... From a footballing perspective.
Yeah, from a footballing perspective, yes. It
really killed the tempo. After the second half,
it was entirely Newcastle. Aston Villa barely
got a chance because they were a man down. And
being a man down doesn't necessarily mean the
end for you because there are times where coaches
can actually use that to their advantage. It
might be even harder to beat a 10 -man team because
those 10 men can get behind the ball and park
the bus very well. Yeah, I think sometimes even
someone like Eddie Howe, I think against you
guys, they went down to 10 men. Oh, we did it
to them. We went down to 10 men. Oh, yes, yes.
You guys went down to 10 men. And then we beat
them to one. But yeah, then you stepped on. But
I'm not saying winning the game. I'm just saying
Aston Villa were 1 -0 up at this point. So get
behind the ball. Defend deep. When you can, break.
And that, I think they could have won. But I
think even when he was at Arsenal, Unai Emery's
structure is so... like, fixed on everyone having,
like, the structure itself, like, moves together,
I think. So it's like, he's generally struggled.
He struggles when he goes down to 10 men because
I think it's like, they have, they generally
move as a complete unit, whether they're attacking
or defending. And I remember, like, for example,
when Arteta goes down to 10 men, we're generally
very good. He just goes low, blocks the distances
and makes Martinelli or Saka take the ball out.
I don't know what it is with Unaemi, but... From
his days at Sevilla, I've noticed that he hasn't
really been good when he's reduced to 10 men.
When he's reduced to 10 men, he's never really
been good. They kind of just collapse. Do you
think it's a mentality problem? It could be,
but other things would indicate that he's good
at coaching mentality. I guess, yeah, winning
the Europa League several times. Yeah, and especially
as an underdog, because it's not like the...
he turned Sevilla into Europa League favourites
they weren't necessarily a big team in Spain
you know so it's like I don't know if it's something
about his coaching but maybe it's more the fact
I think that they operate as a complete unit
and at the minute one piece is out of that unit
even if a player gets injured like we saw when
Tielemans got injured and how much the play fell
off how much the results changed so It's because
of how much of a unit they are. If everyone's
good and everything's working, they can be one
of the best teams in the league. But I think
generally that's been a problem of his coaching.
He doesn't coach as much fluidity, even if he
was the first coach to get fullbacks to invert,
I guess. Okay, so let's get into individual moments.
So the first goal is from Tammy Abram, who scores
from a... not from a free kick. the midfielder
uh who was it Buendia I think was it Buendia
he takes the free kick quickly no it was Douglas
Luiz Douglas Luiz he takes it quickly and Tammy
Abram is in and he scores and I was slating Tammy
Abram when they signed him but okay fair enough
he scored against the Newcastle in the FA Cup
that's a feather in his cap I'm not gonna take
that away from him take that away from him but
I will say that it was about a full yard offside
yeah speaking about we were talking about the
ref being anti -Newcastle I would I know it looked
like that but I would just say the ref is kind
of an idiot overall because And the linesman,
because this was quite blatantly. Clearly offside.
But it also goes back to what we were talking
about. They've become so reliant on the technology.
It's like one out of five that were totally wrong,
in my opinion. Which, again, shows why we can't
take VAR out, because can you imagine if this
happened every week? So, Tonali scores a long
-range goal. Not really long -range, it's just
at the edge of the area. deflection huge deflection
but goal nevertheless that gets them back in
the game gets them believing Tenali again comes
lost a long range goal this time no just a clean
perfect ball strike of the ball reminded me a
little bit of Thiago Alcantara just the yeah
the technique on it right yes he didn't the ball
I don't think the ball touched the ground. He
hit it in such a way that... Like a grass cutter.
Yeah, like a grass cutter. It was so clean, so
well hit. It's one of those goals that's very
satisfying to watch. Definitely, yes. So, Tenali,
good job with that. Slight bend on it. Yes, slight
bend on it. And then, lastly, Aston Villa, I
don't know what they were doing, but they were
trying to play out from the back. And they passed
it to, I think, Osula. And then, Walter Mata
takes advantage of the situation and he scores
the third goal. The decider, I guess. Or the
one that put it out of range. Beyond the doubt.
Yeah. Any other thoughts you have about the Aston
Villa -Newcastle game? No, I mean, I think we
covered everything. Alright. So, keeping with...
Okay, we're going to get into the miscellaneous
section now because those are the only two games
I wanted to talk about. Mainly because... It
was Premier League opposition versus lower league
opposition. There's nothing to talk about with
Arsenal banging somebody 4 -0. Mostly all the
Premier League teams won except Burnley. Yes,
I was going to bring that up now. The only shock
of the round was Burnley losing to League 1 Mansfield
Town. Yeah, I mean, and it's not that much of
a surprise given, like... how burnley play and
how they have been playing at it's like we've
seen like many teams in the relegation scrap
get turned over by lower league teams and it's
a surprise because they're a premier league team
versus a third division or second division team
but i would also argue that confidence is low
yeah so because confidence is low it permeates
throughout the team and then even against the
lower league opposition they you start like messing
up the basics yeah So I think that's where Burnley
is. There's a lot of chatter right now about
Scott Parker losing his job. What do you think
about that? I mean, I think they should sack
him. Obviously, I think he's one of those managers
that's deceptive because I don't watch much of
the championship, but he seems to get a lot of
teams promoted. And you can't necessarily sack
someone after they've got you promoted. But then
he gets them relegated the next season. I guess
the best case scenario is you want to be Regine
Labrie, the Sunderland coach who has them flying
at the moment. Well, they were much higher earlier
in the season, but still they are nowhere near
relegation and they are looking very good. I
guess they've become like they've taken, in my
opinion, they've kind of replaced Crystal Palace
as the team that can beat anyone this season.
Who? Sunderland. They can beat anyone? At home.
They kind of have... I think they have the third
or second best home record in the league. They've
avoided defeat against us. I think they're very
difficult to play against. They lost their first
game this weekend or last week. So that's pretty
impressive if you ask me. Yeah. So I'd say the
same sort of... As a fan of another team, the
same sort of like, oh, you know you're going
in to get a difficult game. Crystal Palace or
Nottingham Forest last season. I guess Sunderland
would be the iteration of that this season, in
my opinion. I've never been a fan of Scott Parker,
but I have been impressed with certain results
that they've got this season. They're on 15 points
or something, so it's not like Wolves are on
6. That's really poor. 15 points, that's not
bad. Not bad at all, but still not good enough.
I'm comparing them to Southampton last year who
were like dog shit. In that comparison, they
come out pretty well. But anyway, just a note
here. Port Vale's FA Cup fourth round tie against
Bristol City on Saturday has been postponed because
of a waterlogged pitch. The fixture has been
rearranged for Tuesday, 3rd of March. So that's
the only game that hasn't been played. I would
also point out that Brentford is playing tonight.
I don't know who they're playing. I think Macclesfield
Town. Don't quote me on that. Not important.
Sorry to the fans of those clubs, but we are
not covering that. But you said last week that
you wanted to cover the Arsenal -Brentford game.
I did watch it, but I didn't do a write -up or
any, you know, write out my thoughts about it
because... You said you wanted to bring it up,
so the floor is yours. Yeah, I mean, it was a
good game from Brentford. I think they were the
better team on the day, honestly. I think, again,
our defense kind of platformed our ability to
get a result, which is how it's been in the last
few weeks. I think, again, a lot of the times
where they put the pressure on, I was just thankful
for Declan Rice's athleticism in being able to
break it up, I think. a lot of last -stage interceptions.
I can recall two or three on his part where Brentford
were one pass away from a one -on -one. So, I
mean, I'm happy with the result in terms of I
know that is one of the most difficult grounds
to go to. and not necessarily. I thought we would
win the game, but before the game, the way it
panned out, I'm happy with the point. I mean,
they've played last season. I think we lost that
game and we played in a similar fashion. So it's
OK to get something. I think the one thing I
would like to see, though, I don't know why Oteta
hasn't done it yet, is I would like to see Eze
on the left just for like a full game as a left
winger. I think it's obvious that in the central
areas he has the passing range that Odegaard
doesn't have, but I don't think he's interpreting
the out -of -possession play as well as the rest
of the team yet. I guess that comes with coaching,
right? Yeah, I think it's going to take time.
I think he's coming from playing in Oliver Glasner's
team where he kind of had the freedom. He was
the player who could do whatever he wants. And
I think in Arsenal's team, that's always going
to be Saka unless we get like... one of the absolute
best players in the world. So I think I would
like to see him as a left winger to reduce some
of his responsibility outside of possession.
I just want to see his creative traits come into
the game more. I think in the FA Cup game this
week, apparently from what I read, I didn't watch
it because I was out with my friends, but apparently...
He shifted Eze onto the left at some point and
the creative dynamics improved with Saka through
the middle. And I thought Saka centrally would
make the most sense for us. So hopefully that's
something Arsenal will do going forward. But
also congratulations to Brentford. I mean, they
played a good game. They caught us on a set piece,
so karma, I guess, if you believe in that. But
yeah, I was happy with the result in the end.
I still think we're going to win the league.
So let's see how it turns out. All right. I know
I said I wouldn't say anything, but let me just
say something. I thought Arsenal were very lucky.
Both teams rode their luck a bit because I think
Arsenal had like two clear -cut opportunities
that were... Very, like, one from Martinelli
that Keller saved later on. Keller did save.
Bad finish, but still a good save. Well, how
can you say it's a bad finish? He did everything
right. It's just Keller was aware to it. Yeah,
no, I mean, I think he could have loved it a
bit more. I think he... Like, he usually loves
it more. So I'm just going off of how he usually
finishes. All right, fair enough. There's that.
There was a Jokeres shot that it was just taken
off him at the last second that he couldn't do
it. Igor Thiago, on the other hand, I thought
he had a few really good chances that he just
left on the floor. Perhaps if Wissow was still
playing for Brentford, he would have... you know,
put them away. But I really thought Brentford
were not clinical at all. The one thing though,
I think Igor Thiago will definitely be, will
bang at a bigger club. I'm not saying he's a
bad player. I'm just saying in this particular
game, he wasn't effective. He just strikes me
a bit like, as a bit of like a Diego Costa, like
his ball striking is just so like clean. I don't
see an environment where he doesn't score a lot
of goals when you match it with his physicality.
He's a very traditional Premier League No. 9.
Drogba kind of No. 9 would be nice to... I would
take him at Arsenal. I just wanted to point out
his ball striking. Every time I watch him, it's
like... He misses the target a lot, but you just
think, damn, if it's on target, there's no way
the keeper saves it. Last word on that is I'm
glad Arteta got a taste of his own medicine.
Raya was complaining to the referee that there
was a player standing in front of him and he
couldn't get the ball. And I'm like, yes, finally.
It's still going to benefit us more than it hurts
us. I hate the unethical set piece. Don't do
unethical set pieces. I'm telling the managers.
Or I'm telling the football association. Put
a rule in that you can't do that or something
to protect the keeper. But yeah, you want to
move on now? Last thing I want to bring up in
this episode. Spurs sacked Thomas Frank last
week, but they've introduced Igor Trudeau as
their, what's called, interim manager. What do
you think about that? I mean... I don't know.
Like, obviously, Tudor, he kind of flopped at
Juventus. So, but he did well at, where was he
before that? I think it was Lazio. Yeah, he did
really well with Lazio. So he got them back into
the Champions League, got them pretty, I think,
close to the title. They fell away in like the
last month, finished third or fourth. But it
depends. Maybe he's good for a club like Tottenham
who need to build a squad. I mean... I think
what I've read about Igor Trudeau is if there's
any question marks about his, I guess, coaching,
the biggest question mark is his recruitment,
which I think wouldn't suit Tottenham because
that's the thing they need more than anything
right now. But if the director of football gets
it right, maybe he can be a coach that elevates
them. I personally wouldn't have gone with him
because I think they have a lot of personalities
right now that have to be managed. I think it
would make sense to go for someone who can manage.
They don't have to be the biggest personalities
in the game, but the fact that you have Christian
Romero, you have Richarlison, you have Bentancourt
and the same squad, the players who are very
egotistical in how they play the game. I don't
know. I don't think it's the right decision.
I totally agree with you. Knowing very little
about this person, I knew about him at Juventus.
And when he was at Juventus, I thought, OK, I've
never heard this name before. Let me do a little
bit of research. And he has been sacked from
almost every job that he's ever had. It's only
places like Lazio where he did an all right job
and Juventus took a chance on him. He was only
at Lazio for about three months. And then Juventus
came and took him away. So, you know, I don't
know. Maybe if they had given him more time at
Lazio, he would have fallen apart. He could have
also been building off of Sarri's work. So I
think Sarri is probably a very good coach. Maybe
Tottenham should have gone for him. Could be.
Could be. I just think Igor Trudeau, what is
he going to do in this time? How long is he there
for? Did they give him a permanent contract?
No, no, he's just in trouble until the end of
the season. Maybe they're just hoping he has
a similar effect to what he had at Lazio, just
gets him off the table, then they let him go.
I just, with his record, I wouldn't bat an eye
if, like, Burnley signed him. Spurs are a top
-six club. What the hell are they doing? You
know, it's... The same thing, I would say, but,
I mean... Is he an upgrade on Thomas Frank? And
the fact that neither of us can answer that question
speaks volumes. And also at the same time, I
think right now... Tottenham are in a relegation
battle. So they have to make... I think you can't
keep saying that, oh, okay, they're a big club.
They're not in a relegation. No one is above
football. When we say top six, we mean in terms
of income and revenue. Yeah, in terms of the
brand. Yeah, not league position. So I get what
you're saying, but they're still a big six club.
Yeah, I'm saying in terms of... They're not too
big to go down. Would you want to take this risk?
Again, but what is a definite, a sure shot? That's
the only thing I can maybe empathize with the
Tottenham board on, that perhaps the situation
with Thomas Frank was getting too tense. Thomas
Frank wasn't helping himself much by saying a
lot of things in his interviews where it was
clear that he wasn't fully invested in the job
as he was at Brentford. I don't know about that.
What do you mean? I forgot what it was. the last
episode we discussed something and he said something
that was like very weird about like after a game
i don't remember what it was okay neither do
i but uh yeah carry on yeah i mean it was a comment
similar to the ones you you criticize a slot
for making where he was rude to the spurs fans
the the fans and the club or talking about the
history of the club and what the fans have done
and won or something to the Champions League.
I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I remember
seeing a lot of fans criticise him about it.
Sorry for not doing our research on that, but
I do remember, like, and then he drank from the
Arsenal Cup, which I think you should be kind
of considerate of that as a Tottenham coach.
Apparently, all he did was talk about Arsenal.
during Spurs meetings and stuff. He would be
like, we need to play like Arsenal. We need to
be more like Arsenal. And apparently the Spurs
players hated that. Yeah, I mean, those are their
direct rivals. No, but I mean, we can be direct
rivals, but I can take inspiration from you.
The fact that the Spurs players were so negative
towards that, I wonder what was the... But now
it's like, okay, if you look at... the crop of
players that they have. It's now three or four
coaches that have struggled with players like
Romero, players like Bentancourt. You can make
a mistake three times. Yeah. No, I'm not disagreeing
with you. I'm saying that I think the problem
here might be the players. Yeah, and I'm saying
you may have made... You may have appointed the
wrong manager three times. But perhaps it's more
like they're hoping that they can get... Because
the one thing I know about Tudor is that he has
a very aggressive disposition in his management.
So maybe they're hoping they can get, like...
just a bounce a new manager bounce till the end
of the season and then they employ someone who
they want to build long term with because I think
their thing is that they really don't want to
get dragged into a really they're not going anywhere
in the Champions League we know that they're
probably going to go out in the next round maybe
not but it's very likely that they will so it's
like I think from their perspective now the new
manager bounce is what they're banking on to
help them at least like shoot up the table you
know Interestingly, they're talking about Pochettino
coming back after the World Cup. He's currently
the US men's national team coach, which I think
is a horrible, horrible decision. You should
go backwards, first of all. But second of all,
I think the game's moved past Pochettino at this
point. It's moved past him, and it's a bit of
a sad thing, because I think... He was one of
the new age coaches that kind of platformed a
few new ideas that other coaches executed better
than him. Especially with regards to pressing,
I think a lot of teams were influenced by how
his Southampton team pressed and it changed a
lot of the Premier League pressing structures.
But just like Jose Mourinho, is it past his time?
Who knows? I wouldn't think Tottenham should
give him the chance because I think it would
be making an emotional decision more than anything.
I'm basing this off his Chelsea time. His time
at Chelsea was very poor, so that's why I'm saying
I think it's past him. But I don't rule out a
redemption arc where he comes and does well in
the Premier League again. I just think, based
on what I've seen, I don't think that's going
to be the case. I mean, at Chelsea he was horrible,
but... Is it the structure around him? Is it
the club? The board? That's true. We have to
consider that with Chelsea all the time. Is there
anything else you want to bring up? Nothing per
se. What about you? Go. So in that case, thank
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