And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. My name is Darren. And how
are you doing today? I'm good, I'm good. Feeling
more energetic, strangely enough, than a usual
day after work. But yeah, I guess hopefully it
continues throughout the week. What about you?
How are you doing? I've been listening to the
audiobook of The Godfather. One of the best movies
ever made, but this book kind of fleshes out
things that the movie didn't have time for. So
it's a little bit more interesting to get into
the minds of the characters. So how have you
found books as a medium, just generally? Do you
enjoy it? I'm not a big reader, so that's why...
Or audiobooks? Well, I haven't listened to audiobooks
often. So this was just a... Like, it came out
my... youtube algorithm so i just tried it out
and uh but it's not really the same when you've
watched the movie first right i think it helps
because i have a idea in my mind uh of what things
are supposed to look like some people would say
that you the whole like for me the fun of it
is forming your own ideas of what something should
look like but that's fine but for me it's the
other way around i uh um sometimes i just can't
picture what A thing would look like. Yeah. Not
always, but, you know, just sometimes I'm just
like, huh, I wonder what that would look like.
And then, you know, I might get stuck upon that.
But, yeah, listening to an audiobook I've already
seen the movie of is very interesting. So with
that in mind, last night I started the Dune audiobook.
oh nice uh dune i'm gonna finish it tonight probably
but uh dune is a very big thing in the sci -fi
community so i love the movies so um you know
check out the audiobook as well yeah i've heard
a lot of good things about the movie i didn't
know it was a book to be honest i read a lot
but not sci -fi so i might check it out though
dune is a very well respected book from like
the 60s it was made in response to lawrence of
arabia i don't know if you've seen that I've
heard, I've read a story about Lawrence of Arabia,
but I've never watched the movie, no. Okay, well,
Dune is written as a fictionalized version of
Lawrence of Arabia set in the future. It's very
interesting. Listening to the audiobook, I'm
not a fan of the prose. The way he writes things
is not very interesting, but the themes and the
ideas, that's what's interesting to me. Yeah,
I mean, I guess it depends what you like, you
know. A lot of people read for themes and ideas.
All right, well, so getting back to the podcast,
what I want to do here today is cover a few Champions
League games and then go to Wolves versus Arsenal.
So just like the FA Cup games last week, there's
just far too many to mention. So we're just going
to focus on a few key ones, if that's all right.
Yeah, I'm okay with that. So the first one I
want to mention is the early game on Tuesday,
which was Galatasaray versus Juventus. Did you
see this? I watched like half of it. I mean,
my man Spalletti has gone down, unfortunately.
Well, there's still a second leg. There's still
a second leg. It's difficult, but it's not...
Undoable. Crazy atmosphere though, Galatasaray.
Wow. I would be scared to play at one of those
grounds with the chanting and they have these
big drums. It feels like they're right on you.
I feel like anyone's going to struggle there.
The real cauldron. Yeah, exactly. It feels like
a bit of an old school football stadium in a
lot of ways. Old school San Siro type of vibe.
You really fear entering there. I mean, obviously,
hopefully, Galatasaray can go deep. It would
be nice as a neutral to see them go deep in the
competition. I would still prefer Spalletti to
get through, though. Well, I would say, first
of all, Galatasaray's goals, all of them came
from poor defending. So it's not like Galatasaray
themselves were really incredible or special.
It was more Juventus shooting themselves in the
foot over and over again. And I think the atmosphere
intimidated the players. They started making
a lot of... Yeah, that could be a factor. It
is. Yeah, so for the first goal, there was a
horrible mix -up at the back by Juventus, which
allowed Gabriel Serra to neatly finish off. Did
you see that? Yeah, I did. What did you think?
I mean, like you said, it was just poor defending,
misplaced pass. I don't think there was much
more to add. I just think it's very naive. But
I mean, that's the thing you get with Spalletti
teams in the initial period, I think. It depends
where they're transitioning from. I wouldn't
know much. Like, I did like Thiago Mota as a
coach, but I do think Thiago Mota is very much...
He's of a different school of thought to Spalletti.
So the stakes building up are going to be normal,
I would say, at the stage of the project. I feel
like Klopp or Guardiola should go to Juventus.
They're like a sleeping giant waiting to be woken
up, it feels like. I think that could be the
case, but, you know. Especially Guardiola, because
he's like, you know, that's the one league he
hasn't done it in of the top four leagues. I
wonder, I mean, if there's anywhere he would
go in Italy, I think only Juventus or Inter Milan
would be able to afford him. That's true. so
cambiaso the left back for juventus had a really
poor game defensively but going forward he he
beat his man and he put in a really nice chip
which kalulu hit directly at the keeper and coop
minor scored the rebound so even though it was
uh two other players that uh you know were more
involved i would put it on uh cambiaso as the
one who created that goal Because he did quite
a lot for the work. Yeah, I would agree. I mean,
I think sometimes the assist is better than the
goal. I guess that was one of those instances.
Yeah, it wasn't even the assist. It was the pass
before the assist. But yeah, I will say, like
I said, he had a horrible game defensively. And
he got a yellow card in the first half. I'm getting
a little bit ahead of myself. Still in the first
half, Koopmeijner scores his second. And it was
an absolute banger. After some neat play in the
midfield with Weston McKinney, who played as
a false nine, Koopmeijner's squad is like a long
-range shot that just... You know when it hits
the top of the bar and goes in? The posted stamp.
Yes, very nice. Not a posted stamp. Like it hits
the bar and goes down. Oh, like the Zidane penalty.
I think I clocked out of the game around the
time it was equal. So it was 2 -1 going at halftime,
I believe. Okay, I didn't note that in my notes.
But I think it was 2 -1 at halftime. And Juventus
were looking good. I really liked Weston McKinney
at false nine. I believe he played for Leeds
or something, right? Yeah, he was at Leeds before.
And I didn't think much of him. I think I only
saw him play once or twice. I don't know if he
played much at Leeds. I don't watch Leeds much
anyway. Yeah, well, when they were in the Premier
League, I watched him a few times and I thought,
oh, this guy sucks. So to see him being a useful
part of a team, it's very good to see that when
a coach can see something us laymen can't see.
Spalletti, head of the game. yeah let's hope
I mean I would like obviously I would agree with
what you're saying about Guardiola but if you
can't get Guardiola I think I would go for Spalletti
so I think Juventus are in a good place to build
either way and I think there'll be a lot more
western McKennies coming along in Spalletti's
system I mean we've seen that he's done it before
you know he's helped players too I guess, find
a level that they haven't been able to find in
other systems or other leagues, other coaches,
under other coaches. Even Messi needed Guardiola
to kind of kick -start his career. I read, let
me not say that, I listened to an audiobook a
while back. There's a book about Messi and his,
like, trajectory from La Masia through, you know,
his career. This was written about, like, maybe
five years ago still so it didn't cover the you
know the world cup and that kind of part of his
career but like his progression he was like a
very talented player and then guardiola is the
one who like supercharged him and turned him
into you know the greatest ever unstoppable yeah
so uh on a slightly lower uh standard i would
say sterling as well sterling was just like a
talented winger he wasn't anything special and
then he gets under guardiola and he scores like
he has like a 20 goal 20 assist season i mean
excuse me 20 goal 10 goal assists yeah season
20 goal 10 assists yes thank you yeah so Why
did we bring that up? Why are we talking about
Guardiola? No, I mean, we're talking about coaches
can find, I guess, hidden qualities in a player.
Yes, that's true. So then Galatasaray equalized
to Noah Lang when he scored a rebound after Yilmaz
shot. So I'm not going to mention Yilmaz again,
but he was the chief destroyer of Juventus. He
didn't get his name on the... he didn't score
yeah he didn't score uh he did uh i guess there's
a rebound and assist yeah yeah so he got the
assist for uh noah lang but uh he didn't get
his name on the sheet but he was very good he
was very good i mean he looks like a very uh
A very good winger prospect. I think he's like
25 or 24. I mean, that's the first time I've
seen him play. I don't know much about Turkish
players or the Turkish league, but he was very
entertaining. He reminded me a bit of Alexis
Sanchez when he used to play for Arsenal. So
let's hope, I don't know if he'll get the opportunity
at a bigger club, but a lot of his fundamentals
seem like it can be translated into him being
a top winger. I mean, one game is a lot to...
There's not much you can ascertain from one game,
but I like those sorts of wingers, at least from
what I saw in that first half. All right. Then
Galichastra get another free kick, which Gabriel
Sara takes, and he delivers a wicked delivery
in, which Davidson Sanchez, former Spurs player,
tucks in neatly. Champions League finalist. Was
he there at the time? Yeah, he was. Oh, I don't
recall that. I thought he came like the year
after, but all right. Maybe not. Yeah, Davinson
Sanchez scores. And yeah, I can only speak much
more about the delivery. His header was bad,
was all right. But the delivery, really fantastic
stuff from Sarah. Yes, then Spalletti brings
on Cabal because, like I said, Cambiasso is having
an awful game at left back. Cabal. gets two yellow
cards within, like, five to ten minutes of each
other because he was also getting rinsed. And,
yeah, so now they're down to ten men. And still,
at ten men, 4 -2 down, they're passing the ball
around at the back. Very silly thing to do. Build
-up mistakes. I mean, that's what you get with
Spalletti. It's not a build -up mistake. They
weren't building up. Like, they were just passing
it around at the back. And they didn't realize
Osman was there. I think it's more like a confusion
of how to play the system. I think, but like
again, I think Spalletti and Dezerbi have the
same problems. They both are going to heavily
persist with the, even if the players don't interpret
or read the situation, that they must keep the
ball when they're building up. And I think a
lot of times it can look like that. It just depends
what you want. For me, I like Spalletti's football.
So I would bear the low moments. To go through
the highs when they eventually come, you know.
Alright, well then Osterman catches them off
guard while passing around at the back. And he
passes it to Noah Lang who scores his second.
What do you think of Noah Lang? At one stage
he was one of the hottest winger prospects in
Europe. And now it doesn't seem like he's...
Well, this is the only game I've ever watched
him in. So, like you said, you can't ascertain
a lot from a single game. But he looked decent.
But did he look decent because Juventus were
bad? Did he look decent because he's an excellent
player? I don't know. I guess that's what I'm
trying to say. I've watched him a few times.
Every time I watched him, he seemed really good.
So I've wondered what is it that's made big clubs
be hesitant towards getting him. So yeah, that's
really all I have to say about Galatasaray event.
I wanted to go through the individual moments.
Just talk about Spalletti's naivete and that's
about it. Anything else you want to mention about
this game? No, nothing. I think you've mentioned
everything. Long live Spalletti's naivete for
me. All right. The second game of the night later
on was Benfica versus Real Madrid. This was the
second game back for Trent Alexander -Arnold.
He's been injured. He had two separate hamstring
injuries which have hampered his season. Valverde
back in midfield. Albeloa played a 4 -4 -2 with
a diamond in midfield. Choumeny at the base of
the diamond. Valverde on the right, Kamavinga
on the left. And Ardegule in the 10. And then...
Mbappe and Vinicius as the two up front. The
two up front had very, very little defensive
work to do. Whether that's Oblo's instruction
or they're just lazy, unclear. Perhaps a combination
of both. Yes, so early, all the play early doors
was coming from Benfica. Yeah, I do. I remember
the start of the game was pretty... Their midfield,
I forget that guy's name. He's Norwegian. oh
yes I also forgot his name I didn't write it
down but he was like having an excellent game
right and Benfica's wingers were really giving
Trent and Carrera's problems speaking about Trent
like going into the game defensively I think
he had a bad game they weren't punished for it
but Valverde had to basically hold his hand for
a number of situations the majority of the game
yes where like he got beat and then Valverde
was there to bail him out so just a really poor
performance that way but going forward he had
a few really nice touches and yeah some of his
passes like in in the context of Real Madrid
being like a very transition based club I think
going forward he might be the perfect player
for them especially Vinicius and Mbappe so we'll
see we'll see what's the the risk factor given
that Like you said, he tends to struggle defensively.
It's how much can you accommodate it. In terms
of him going up the pitch, I still think he's
one of the best players in the world in attack.
So I would take the sacrifice and put him in
the team because I don't think Madrid have a
more creative player right now. It's all fun
and games playing like Levante and them, right?
But in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
uh when Luis Diaz is rinsing him are you gonna
be like oh it's fine his defensive uh liabilities
are fine you know that's the times it's like
you have to you have to like how many right backs
are gonna be able to stop or on form Luis Diaz
I think if someone manages well if this guy's
the best in the world yeah but I think he's the
best in the world because of what he contributes
to the team it's like was Danny Alves the best
defensive right back in the world I don't think
so. What is the job of a defender? I mean, it
depends how you look at it. It's like if your
right back or your full backs are your creative
outlet, then I'd say Trent is one of the best
in the world. But you still have to do the defensive
work. It's not one or the other. But if you have
a player like Valverde who's willing to cover
for him, it makes sense to let him create. I
think for me... He's the type of player that
can create something from nothing. So I think
he's one of the best players in the world going
forward. And I would platform his creative ability.
I would platform that above his defensive problems.
I would agree with you in terms of Liverpool,
where we have somebody like Jordan Henderson,
who's a useless player and adds nothing. Valverde
can actually contribute to the attack and does
a lot more work off the ball. Yeah, but it's
give and take. It's like in the same team as
De Bruyne, some players will have to play a deeper
role, some players will have to sacrifice what
they prefer doing, someone like David Silva.
Well, I disagree with that. David Silva had still
played quite high, still played... Yeah, he played
decently, but I think he was more facilitated
around controlling the game. He was not really
allowed to take the risky passes that De Bruyne
made. That was all centered around, hey, this
is our creative outlet because he's on point
with his delivery. I think it's the same thing
with Trent. If Real Madrid had a better creative
player, which is practically impossible unless
they got Prime De Bruyne back right now, in my
opinion, then it makes sense to play for him.
There's no better creator in the world than Trent.
For me, there's no one that generates play better
than Trent. Bruno Fernandes. I don't think so.
Not all over the park. Maybe in the final third,
but Trent can generate play from anywhere, in
any game state, I think. All right, we're just
going to have to disagree about that. Trent is
the closest to KDB or Messi for me in terms of
his passing range. Wow. All I hope is for failure
for this guy, if I'm being honest with you. That's
bias. It's not bias. He's a bum. He's a snake.
Every football fan loves him outside of Liverpool
fans. It is what it is. Every football fan hated
him outside of Liverpool fans until he moved.
Yeah, because now we can acknowledge his quality.
There we go. And there we have it. Listeners,
there we have it. There we have it. I didn't
hate him though. I always thought he was the
best. So the main thing I was thinking is Madrid
lack a controller in midfield. They kept losing
the ball and they struggled with the build -up
in the middle part of the park. That's what I
really feel. That's not anything new. Everybody
has known that since Kroos left. They don't have
that kind of... metronome who's going to keep
the ball ticking over so yeah uh the next thing
i want to say is madrid was sitting deep to counter
which is a very cowardly tactic in my opinion
you can say whatever you want about that uh madrid
are a big team they should be generating play
they're the ones who should be looking to create
the space not just sitting back and countering
that's very like i said cowardly so like in the
last 10 minutes of the half madrid started applying
a little bit of pressure to the game because
they were just sitting off the whole time. And
in the last five minutes of the first half, the
Benfica midfield looked gassed. They were totally
finished. They were struggling. And they just
made it into halftime at 0 -0. So Jose could,
you know, refresh, give them some new instructions,
etc. So, yeah, I think more so... their conditioning
let them down more than effort and like technique
and those kinds of things yeah I agree I mean
I think I guess it was also like the physical
level of I generally think when when I've if
I've noticed anything of playing like Portuguese
teams it's the the intensity is one thing generally
any team can take advantage of I think even like
PSG maybe Sporting got the better of Man City
last season and I mean it was like it was a much
it was like a perfect game for them every chance
they had came off so I think there is a definite
like difference in intensity level I think between
like I would say even a club like I think a lot
of the Portuguese I guess success compared to
like maybe someone like Marseille who are able
to generate more play against better opponents
is probably due to the the inclination towards
like keeping clean feet, but I think obviously
if you can overrun them physically, I think they
really don't offer much benefit in terms of the
top level of the Champions League. In the second
half, Madrid continue where they left off and
they're just applying more pressure. This is
the type of football we want to see. Instead
of them sitting off, we want to see front foot
football from them. And this pays off with Vinicius
scoring a beautiful goal. uh incredible curler
from like the i i don't know if it was just outside
the box or just inside but you know that incredible
typical venetia score in a way but uh incredible
nonetheless yeah so from this venice starts celebrating
he does a little dance at the corner flag and
the benfica fans do not like this they really
get frustrated and one of the benfica players
goes over and says something and there's like
a big clash that the referee gives a yellow card
to venusius for inciting the crowd i assume a
little bit like two minutes later uh a player
his name is prestiani says something to him behind
his shirt so basically he lifted his shirt up
so you can't see his lips moving And he said
something to Vinicius. Vinicius then goes to
the referee and the referee stops the game. Now,
apparently this was due to a racist incident.
Prestiani said something to him racist. That
was racist, which really upset Vinicius and they
had to stop the game. Afterwards, Prestiani has
come out and said that he didn't say anything
racist. He's lying. He said he called him the
F word. Which, not fuck, you know the one. Which
is like, yeah, I'm not a racist. I'm a homophobe,
how dare you? Which, I'm like, that's not gonna,
that, what's it called, defense is not very well
thought out, in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, I wish
the worst for him in his career, Prestiani. Hopefully,
we find him playing out his days in the lower
leagues. Well, I have no evidence. None of the
other Real Madrid players that were close to
Vinicius reacted in the same way, so it's possible
Vinicius... Mbappe did react? No, no, no. At
the moment. So, Presciani says something, Vinicius
is the only one who reacts and goes to the referee.
After the fact, Mbappe says something to him.
But I'm saying in that very moment, Kamavinga,
Mbappe and Vinicius were all around him. And
Vinicius is the only one who reacted. So it's
possible he misheard. I doubt it. I don't want
to say Vinicius is lying or whatever. I'm trying
to give, what's the word, options about what
happened. I think Cristiano was guilty, so that's
just my opinion. I don't want to make him seem
like the good guy or say I'm waiting for his
opinion or all the facts to come out. He knows
what he did. Hopefully he gets his career taken
away from him. That's what I hope. Maybe he gets
a long -term injury. Maybe he gets in a car accident
and loses his ability to walk. But I wish the
worst for him. There's no need for that. We can
agree to disagree. Trent deserves the worst,
not this poor guy. No. This poor guy, any racist,
deserves the worst. Luis Torres also deserved
the worst, you know, so he didn't get it though.
But you loved it when he scored those goals for
your club. No, I didn't. I didn't actually support
the MSN because of him. You can ask my brother.
No, whatever, bro. To each their own. What else
did you think about this game? Nothing, I just
was angry at Cristiano by the end of it. Because
similarly, the racism incident kind of killed
the game. Both teams weren't really doing anything.
Benfica were totally gassed. Madrid, they...
In fact, they didn't take advantage of that situation,
which they should have. It felt like both teams
had their air pulled out of the... The game.
I don't know how to. And, yeah, based on his
comments after the game, I no longer like Jose
Mourinho. What did Jose Mourinho say? Sorry,
I missed this. He said that, why does this keep
happening to Vinicius? Maybe it's something wrong
with the player. So, for me, that sounds like
he's... Victim blaming. He's victim blaming.
So, I used to like him. I've lost a lot of respect
for him now, and I hope he keeps failing as he
has in his last couple of drops. All right. Let's
play devil's advocate. Why do you think it keeps
happening to Vinicius? It doesn't justify it,
even if he's an annoying player. No, I'm not
justifying it. I'm asking a question. There have
been many players who've been antagonistic. And
I think Thierry Henry, Vinicius, you can count
the players who've got this sort of treatment
and they're almost always black. All right. Anyway,
anything else you want to say about this game?
Fuck Jose Mourinho. All right. Let's move on
to Wolves 2 Arsenal 2. So this is the big talking
point of the... Or the big game of the week because
there's no other Premier League games. This was
due to a rescheduling because of the Carabao
Cup. This game has been shifted to this time
slot. So yeah, Arsenal set up in their usual
4 -3 -3 and made two changes to the team that
drew with Brentford last week. I do understand
they had an FA Cup game as well in the middle
that like... Against Wigan. Yeah, that was a
totally different team. I'm just comparing it
to last week with the Brentford game. Saliba
came in for Mosquera, and Martinelli came in
for Trossard, and Saka came in for Eze. Those
were the three changes from Arsenal. Wolves set
up in a 3 -4 -3 with Arokodare replaced by Bellegarde,
Jao Gomez out for Andre, and Chachua in for Rodrigo
Gomez. Wolves get off to the worst possible start
as Matthias Mane is ball watching and Saka goes
in to score the goal. But for me, the real story
is the excellent cross by Rice. Yeah. I mean,
I discussed that last week. Like, I think right
now, for me, he's carrying us a lot. But we will
discuss it. You can introduce the goals and stuff
and then I'll give my opinions on. Okay. I would
say in the first half, the two, like, really
big culprits for Arsenal were Martinelli for
not controlling the ball properly and Jokeres
for not making the correct runs. They killed
so many attacks for Arsenal. It was all one -way
traffic in terms of the play. And the two of
them, they killed off all the attacks that, you
know, like Saka might play one of them in, but
then they... take the wrong touch or something
like that. I just really thought Martinelli and
Jokeres were very, very poor. Yeah, that was
probably Martinelli's worst game in an Arsenal
shirt for a long time. I would say since the
days we first signed him, he seemed a bit like
making a lot of petulant mistakes. I don't know
if he was overthinking everything. Maybe he was
feeling the pressure from Chassard. playing,
I mean, Trussout's probably been our best attacking
player, at least in terms of creativity and end
product in the last couple of months. So I guess,
I don't know what it was, but the threat that
Martinelli usually has didn't feel like it was
there. I don't feel like he was linking play
as well. I don't feel like he was providing an
option behind. I feel like he was running to
the ball a lot, which is not something he's good
at or usually does. But I think maybe having
Saka in the middle was a bit confusing. Although
I really liked Saka in the middle, which for
me, this means the main thing I'm asking for
is Eze on the left. That's what I want. I think
Saka or Eze on the left, but preferably Eze because...
The way Saka played the 10 position for me, especially
out of possession as well, was really good for
the first half. Yeah. So they conceded early
and you would think Wolves would have, you know...
conceded more but they stayed resolute and weathered
the storm then in the last 10 minutes of the
first half they start to express themselves a
little bit uh they didn't do too much i don't
even think they got a shot on target but it's
just getting some good position getting some
time on the ball you know giving the players
a bit to breathe you know uh they just got some
time on the wall and that's how the first half
ends um in the second half wolves come out playing
some good football Now they're actually applying
some good pressure to the Arsenal defence and
holding the ball up a little bit. Arakadare is
especially making a nuisance of himself and winning
some half chances. And I mean, Martinelli's still
giving the ball away a lot. You're speaking about
giving the ball away, but I would also mention
that when Trossard came on, he also gave the
ball away. Not that one was better than the other,
but I'm saying it was just a bit uncharacteristic
of the way Martinelli was playing. I guess it
seemed like he was trying to play a bit like
Trossard. When Trossard came on, I think he just
had a bad game. But I think Martinelli was trying
to maybe... play the position in a similar way
to Trossard and I don't think it works for him.
Then Hinkapie scores a goal against the run of
play. Gabriel breaking the lines to get Hinkapie
in. Great pass by Gabriel. We need to see more
of that. The thing is, Gabriel is a centre -back.
It should be Zubamendi or Rice with these deep
line -breaking passes. In fact, if I'm not mistaken,
I believe Zubamendi was bought to do these line
-breaking passes. That's what he was good at.
I mean, the assumption was that he was going
to be like Thomas Partey. We shouldn't mention
him now, but of course, Thomas Partey, that's
better out of possession. The player, not the
person. Not the person. That's better out of
possession. Because I think the one... I don't
know why he hasn't been playing it the same way,
but I think... Thomas Partey, the one thing he
gave us when he did play was constantly playing
through the lines, constantly playing forward.
I mean, if there's anything I would say, I think
it's not something that comes naturally to Rice.
He's never been good at line -breaking passes.
That's always been the one critique of his game.
But I will give him credit for trying, for taking
it on. I think he's at least stepping out of
his comfort zone. Zubamendi, Odegaard, a lot
of players are playing within their comfort zone,
which leaves a lot of responsibility to Rice.
I think right now he's carrying us. I think he
would have lost the last two, possibly. lost
maybe three of the last five games if it wasn't
for like Rice especially defensively and being
able to break the press a lot a lot of times
it feels like he's doing the midfield job on
his own right now so it's not a good sign going
forward especially with Man City looking as good
as they are so despite the goal Wolves' momentum
continues and Hugo Bueno scores a wonder goal
now similar to the Vinicius goal not really but
I kind of see what you're saying, but in that
they're both long range. But for this one, I
would say Raya could have done better, in my
opinion. I think his positioning for it was...
Raya keeps getting caught a little bit forward.
This has happened a few times in our way. He's
been chipped. This time it wasn't a chip, but
because he was so far forward, Hugo Bueno was
able to finish in this way, I think. Yeah, I
mean, I think we've probably had the most amount
of... I think I saw a stat that said Arsenal
have had the highest amount of low XG goals conceded
against them in the Premier League. So it could
be something related to Raya's positioning. But
again, I think it's a give and take because he's
like comfortably, I think, the best at claiming
crosses, which start a lot of quick transitions
for us. So I think that is due to his positioning
as well. So if you take that away, I think maybe
the main thing would be like... getting the ball
or getting like attackers that could could read
that it's a give and take it's very similar to
edison i wouldn't say raya is the complete keeper
like allison but i'd say that if you could play
to his strengths or get a team that could play
to his strengths it's okay you know the teams
aren't always going to score wonder goals you
know it's not a big i think it's more important
for his positioning in terms of claiming crosses
and being able to play the ball out quickly another
thing i was kind of shocked at uh not shocked
just more like frustrated with as a neutral watching
the game is that Arsenal kept hoofing the ball,
right? They would just kick it up the field instead
of, like, trying to find a person, trying to,
you know... That's what I was saying. Rice was
the only one who was trying to generate play,
who was breaking the press. Everyone else seemed
to try to bypass midfield. I don't know if maybe,
like, Zubamendi's playing with a lack of confidence
that's, like, seeping into the two centre -halves
as well because they're usually so short of themselves.
I've never seen... I think the last time I saw
Saliba make that many mistakes in the game was
probably when we first signed him. It was a strange
game in a lot of ways, honestly. Yeah, just those
long balls just led to too many turnovers for
Arsenal. They really struggled to keep the ball.
And Wolves kind of overpowered us physically
the longer the game went on. Because I would
say certain players looked gassed, like Zubamendi
and Timber. Those were the two that really...
for me looked like really tired i think ben white
picked up an injury in the fa cup warm -up otherwise
i think he would have been starting a few games
now uh but is there no one else that can cover
right back Califuri got into it I think in that
warm up before I'm not sure if it was the last
game or this game but I'm not sure he probably
has a I wouldn't say I don't know about Myles
on the right I think Myles would get he's struggling
a bit defensively recently so I think that's
why he hasn't gotten a team I was just wondering
Because I assume Ben White would be the person,
but now that you're telling me Ben White was
unavailable, it's a shame that Arsenal don't
have anyone to come on for Timber. But I would
say for midfield, there's no such excuse because
they have Norgard. Yeah, we could have. I mean,
he did play well in the FA Cup. That being said...
I wouldn't have played Norgaard because that's
not what the game called for. Norgaard is a defensive
midfielder, right? Yeah. So I would have dropped
Zubamendi and played Eze and let Rice be the
lone six. Again, I wanted Eze on the wing. So
I would, even if you push Martinelli through
the center, I think Martinelli and Gakiris are
a bit similar if they play through the center,
but Martinelli has more, like he's better technically,
like comfortably better technically. Again, that's
always been my thing. Why not play Martinelli
through the center and Eze on the left? Then
you have three quick and creative players attacking.
Because, yeah, the front three didn't seem balanced.
Maduweke, Jokers, and Martinelli. That's not
a... And I think Maduweke needs a high amount
of technical security around him to be able to
reach his, like, having Ben White or Timber close
to him sometimes. Particularly Ben White, because
I think Ben White's good at interplay. Ben White's
good at overlapping. I think Saka plays better.
Saka could play with either. He plays better
with Timber because I think he's good at going
inside. But the way Saka played the 10... is
the way I would want Martin to play. Like, he
constantly played forward. He constantly took
men out for the strikers. And like you said,
it was more a thing of Kikiris and Martinelli
not making the runs when Saka or Eze later on
opened up the space. So, I think the main thing
I would like, a fundamental disagreement I've
probably had with Arteta since Eze signed is
that he hasn't played Saka and Eze much together.
Whereas I think you have to find a way to get
them both in the team for me. How much did he
cost? Like 65 million or something? thing for
Eze and I feel like you really haven't gotten
the best out of him or you know what we've seen
at Crystal Palace he hasn't shown that quality
at Arsenal I don't think but yes I thought Andre
had a very tidy game he was also he's the CDM
for Wolves at the base of their midfield You
could say perhaps it's because Zubomendi was
tired that made him look good. But I just thought
he, not just in this game, but I've seen him
a few times and he just looks like a tidy player.
Yeah, and I think Zubomendi, you're right, he
just needs a rest. Because for like 10 -minute
spells, he'll look unplayable and then he'll
completely drop off. I don't know if it's an
energy thing. Maybe he has a different level
of physicality in the Premier League that he's
not used to. like i think it's in la liga it's
more technical it's more like everyone plays
on the ground there's not as much teams that
press high you know so he looks tired but at
times when when the game state is in our favor
he looks like our best player so it's hard to
judge with him i can understand why he's not
being dropped but i do think he needs to be rotated
and I think Nogard is good enough. Like, unless
we're playing one of the big teams, I think he
can fill in those dynamics good enough for us
to get at least a couple of wins and some rest
in Zubamendi's legs, you know. Nogard is Premier
League proven. It's such a shame that he's not
getting more minutes. Yeah, exactly. I mean,
I agree with you on that. Even give Rice a rest,
you know. Yeah, Rice needs a rest. Play Nogard
and Zubamendi together. But like I said, with
Rice I can understand because... I think he would
have lost a lot of games had it just not been
for Rice and the way he was able to break up
the opposition play and sustain our pressure.
Like, at times, he's not meant to be the creative
outlet, like you said, for the goal we scored.
But he takes that on. He does it because no one
else is doing it. But isn't that bad coaching?
I wouldn't say it's necessarily bad coaching.
I think sometimes it can be a sign of overcoaching.
Maybe inexperienced coaching? Yes. I wouldn't
say it's necessarily bad because... I think at
the same time, it's like... Because if Rice feels
he's the only one that can, you know, make a
difference... I don't necessarily think Rice
feels that way. Like you said, we're getting
in good positions. I think... I don't know if
it's a coaching issue or if it's something where
the rest of the players aren't necessarily taking
on the responsibility that Rice does. Saka does.
I mean, I don't think Saka's fully fit. I think
he's also being overplayed because he's coming
back from injury, being played again every game,
full 90 minutes, I think. Maybe now he's trying
to rotate him more. Hopefully, things peak at
the end of the season. But I do think it's like
so many times Eze will make a gap, Saka will
make a gap, and then Martinelli runs to the ball,
Gokiris runs to the ball. So it could be an issue
of bad coaching, but I'd say that if the floor
of the team is that good, then we're not going
to drop. below a certain level I think at some
point it's like maybe the players have to help
the coach out maybe the coach has to be less
authoritarian I don't know what's happening behind
the scenes but I would say that it's like I wouldn't
like it's hard to say it's bad coaching when
you hardly give anything away because we are
a defensive team so I think everything is approximated
of the fact that we play defensive football in
Arteta's mind so yeah but it's like you can't
just miss out a whole portion of play and say
well i'm a defensive but i think it could just
be a thing of like a certain level of games i
think he approaches football in the same way
that simeonio mourinho approach football so his
thing is if we can reduce the amount of chances
our opponents create we need we don't need to
create too much to win so it's not like we're
gonna I think we have the best ex -league difference
in the league, but in terms of chances created,
I think we like fourth or fifth. So I think there's
like, there's something there that shows that
it's more like in every game we're creating more
chances than the team we're playing. That's how
Atletico views football. So I think it's more
a thing of, it's like we are going to have to
win in a similar way to a Simeone team in the
same way that Griezmann or Koke would. would
take the risk and bail the system out in a game
where it was on a nice edge. I think Arsenal
players need to do that more. We did that at
the start of the season. We've done that at points.
So hopefully we can get over the line. I think
we will still. I really do. But let's see. I
think a lot of it is going to be dependent on
Rice, Saka and Eze for the rest of the season.
So it's about the 88th minute and I'm thinking
these guys are time -wasting pieces of shit.
Rice takes a full minute to take a corner Crossout
refuses to leave the pitch to get treatment for
He said he got elbowed but instead of getting
treatment here he stays on the pitch and keeps
walking around And I understand every team wastes
time But this was really overdoing it. I was
getting pissed off. But Trussell was a concussion.
He had to do a concussion check, right? And it
looked like he actually struggled, struggling
to walk and stuff. Oh, but you get injured, you
go off the pitch, right? But I'm saying if he
was stumbling, maybe he was struggling to get
off the pitch. What's interesting is, and I went
back to watch it, he gets up, he looks to the
bench, shakes his head, and walks back onto the
pitch, right? And then they do sub him later,
but he was trying to waste time. Okay, I'll take
your word for it. I didn't see the review of
the situation, so I'll take your word for it.
So then, as it goes on, a hit -and -hope cross
from Matthias Mane leads to a mix -up from Raya
and Gabriel. So there's obviously some miscommunication,
but I believe Raya is to blame. He needs to be
more forceful and take command of his area. I
think in that situation, Raya was to be blamed.
could be blamed but I think Gabriel was chaotic
throughout the game aside from the exceptional
pass he gave for the second goal like he was
very very off it he lost the ball a lot like
you said he was just I feel like Saliba and Rice
were trying to play out and then Gabriel would
just clear it out then he's shouting at players
when he makes a mistake so I think he was just
I've seen that before Jordan Anderson, the biggest
culprit. You'll shout at someone for not being
there. There was one time he was supposed to
be marking the space and they scored and he looks
around and he can't find anyone to shout at.
That's what it was. It was strange from Gabriel.
He needs to rein it in a bit, I think. If I was
Arteta, I'd give the captain's armband to Rice
because I think Rice is... He's the only one
stepping up. And everyone, I think he has the
most... Seems like he has the most respected
voice in the dressing room. I see. So, I really
thought Arsenal deserved it for the egregious
time -wasting they were doing. They bottled a
2 -0 lead against the bottom team. I thought
Wolves, in the end, they deserved the point.
They put enough pressure on in the last 30 minutes
to say that, okay, it was a fair result. I would
argue that in the reverse fixture, they gave
Arsenal a really good game. The reverse fixture,
they were better than Arsenal. It was actually,
I think, the last kickoff of the game that Arsenal
scored from that they just made it out instead
of getting a draw against them at the Emirates.
Yeah, very good job to Wolves, I think. Now,
the bigger question is, they bottled the lead
last night. Will they bottle the league? I mean,
two points. It depends. We've seen gaps close
to two points. We've seen it go both ways. We
know Man City. We know what Pep's going to do,
probably. We know it's probably going to be 90
% till the end of the season. We'll see. I don't
think we're going to bottle it, honestly. So
if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. It is what it is, you
know. We keep moving. I think this is not the
city of old. There's no KDB. There's no Gundogan.
Foden is out of form. Who's going to be the one
to put the team on their back and carry them
through these next 12 or so games? Shirky. Turkey.
Could be. Could be. I don't know why I'm laughing.
I just think it's not the city of old. They're
not capable of going on like a 10 game unbeaten.
That's what's still making me think we're going
to win it in the end. That being said, I think
we'll get the best of them. I think they'll beat
Arsenal at the Etihad. So, I just don't see where
the, you know, where City are going to lose the
points. You know what I'm saying? I don't know.
I think, We've been generally good. We've had
a good record against them in the last two seasons.
I think we can beat them there, but I think it's
going to be more than that. I think both teams
are not really looking like complete teams yet,
so I think there's going to be a lot of drop
points. It's going to be an entertaining title
race. I think Aston Villa will also drop away.
They've also been conceding a lot of chances.
You keep saying that. It's been two months that
you keep saying that. Yeah, and they've dropped
from five to seven points away. Arsenal haven't
been playing well. City haven't been playing
well, so they're still dropping away. All right.
Anything else you want to mention about this
game? Any other points you want to bring up?
Nah, I mean... You said you wanted to say something
about Rice? Oh, I think I just like... Okay,
you said it within the... More that he seems
to be the player that's taking on a lot of creative
responsibility. If I had... To guess, I liked
the way Saka played the 10, so that worked out
now. But before that, I was going to say if Arteta
refuses to play Saka in the 10, because the thing
with Eze is he has a lot of similar traits to
Saka in the 10, but I think the one thing he's
not as good at, specifically in the middle, is
leading the press. And I think he has to pick
that up, especially because he's coming from
pressing in a back three under Glasner, where
I think he was the player that the team played
for. coming into a team where Saka is the player
the team plays for so I think it makes more sense
to have him on the wing it can open up his creative
abilities he gets more chances as well because
I don't think he's ever played in a team where
he hasn't had to be the main creative and scoring
outlet so now he finally well I guess when Olise
was there but It wasn't the Olisse of now, you
know, it was like a very raw Olisse. So it's
like, I think now he has a player like Saka alongside
him where he can focus a bit more on the end
product. And I think Saka is a better player
centrally than Eze. Eze is a better player potentially
on the left than Saka. So hopefully that comes
into play. If anything, I think... Before, I
was going to say I would have wanted Rice closer
to goal because he seems to be taking on the
responsibility of at least taking shots or swinging
in crosses. But I would like both of them closer
to goal. So it means, like, I think I like the
fact that Rice is taking risks, like you said.
So I think if we get him a bit more in places
where he can create, because it's not like Martinelli
or Trossard. I mean, Trossard is doing well,
depending on how you look at it. Whoever's occupying
the half spaces, if it's not Saka or Eze, I don't
think they're doing much. And I think if Eze
is our best finisher, it makes sense to get someone
else who's going to take the risks in the half
spaces. That's what I liked Calafuri for, but
he's injured for a while now. Did he play last
night? I read something that he's injured or
he's out now. After last night? Maybe. I read
it this morning. I could have been reading an
old article. Sorry if I'm wrong. Okay, because
he's the one... We didn't actually mention the
goal, but there was a mix -up from Raya and Gabriela,
and then they scored. We just mentioned the mix
-up. It got credited to him as an own goal. Yes,
yes. So, I also want to say, shout -out to Tom
Idozi, who's a debutante. He's the one who scored
the goal. Oh, okay, yeah. Well, now that you're
saying Calafiori, it was great to him, but I
mean... He took the shot. It was a good shot.
It was a really good shot. It was his debut,
and I really think that was a really good moment
for him. Yeah. So, yeah. Kudos to him. Kudos.
But, yeah, basically, I'd just say get Rice closer
to goal, and I think right now, the way he's
playing, he can solve a lot of our problems.
All right. So, we're done with this? Yeah. You
have no other thoughts? Not as far as I can think
of. On your end? Not really. I think I would
put down the draw to Arteta. Yeah, I would as
well. Not rotating enough. Not playing front
foot football against the worst team in the league.
There's a lot of times where I just thought,
you're passing sideways, passing sideways. It
should be more active. This is the type of game
where you extend your goal difference. This isn't
the type of game where you... you know, unceremoniously
throw things away, you know, and that's a damn
shame for Arsenal if this is the way they bottle
the league. We'll see. Time will tell. I don't
think they're going to bottle it. But that being
said, I am going to make the image for this episode
a picture of Arteta inside of a Coke bottle saying,
Bottle Man begins the Arteta story. Okay. Okay.
So let's get on to the miscellaneous news stories,
which is only one. I forgot to mention this in
the last episode, so... Jose Mourinho's a cunt.
Is that it? Okay. Vitor Pereira named the new
Nottingham Forest coach. Oh, he gets another
go at the Premier League. You're not a fan? I
didn't... I thought he did well at Wolves when
he first came in. I remember they... I think
they played a game against Man City where they...
I don't know if they lost the one, but I think
they had them on the back foot for most of the
game, so... I don't know much about Vito Pereira,
honestly. Well, I know that he played with a
back three. Yeah. That's about it. I mean, again,
the only protagonist of a back three to date
that I've liked is probably Simone Inzaghi. And
Thomas Tuchel. Conte. No. Fuck off. I mean, but
Thomas Tuchel kind of, he started with a back
four, went to a back three. He's like, you don't
know what you're getting with him. Whereas, I
guess, what is it? Inzaghi is more principled
on only using a back three. Yeah, but Vitor Pereira,
I was actually very bullish about Wolves coming
into the season because he had them playing so
good football last season. Now, am I just looking
at results and saying, oh he got the result or
because I don't actually watch them so I wonder
if it's going to be similar at Forest where it's
like he'll con a few results but like playing
style wise he's not but sometimes it's not even
really about the playing style because I think
many coaches can come in and play good football
I think we've discussed it in private many times
that probably the biggest thing with football
coaching is man management I think that's why
you could have someone who probably doesn't think
about the tactical or analytical elements of
the game as much as people who would be considered
the greatest coaches, like Ancelotti or even
Alex Ferguson, to that matter, who can still
rise to the top of the footballing pyramid just
off their man management. All right. Anything
else to say about Vitor Pereira? I wish him luck.
I like Nottingham Forest. I mean, I don't like
their owner. I don't like Mr. Marinakis. I kind
of like the history of the club. They have a
good story. I've watched a couple documentaries
on Brian Kloss. I wish them luck. I hope he succeeds.
I also wish them luck. In the championship next
year. You've been waiting to say that. No. I'm
just... I want West Ham to stay up. So by virtue
of that, somebody has to go down, right? And
that just happens to be Nottingham Forest. Hopefully
it's Tottenham. No hard feelings to Nottingham
Forest, but it's going to be you. Tottenham are
firmly in there now. They're in the race, but...
If Igor Trudeau has his six months like he had
before he got sacked at Juventus, they might
go down. That is true. Yeah, Igor Trudeau and
Vito Pereira, that should have been the same
story we were talking about. On Monday. Yeah.
So. I'd regret not bringing it up then. But yeah.
Two new managers for the. The. The race. For
the bottom. Let's see how it pans out. I'm shocked
that Tottenham didn't get the Zerbi though. I
mean he was right there. Opportunity missed.
But. Someone will get him. Someone will get him.
I'm pretty sure he's coming back to the Premier
League. I just don't know where. Alright. Well.
As long as we're done there. Yeah. Thank you
for listening. Please remember to rate, review,
subscribe, give a like, etc. Leave a comment.
Importantly, it needs to be a five -star review.
You can find all our links at pdfootball .com.
That's the letter P, the letter D, football .com.
Please tell a friend. Tell that friend to tell
a friend. Tell a family member. Yeah, goodbye.
Peace out.