And welcome back to the PD Football Podcast.
My name is Presh and this week we have a special
guest host with us. Do you want to introduce
yourself? Hello, I am Ty and I'm a United fan.
Alright, thank you Ty, the United fan. How are
you doing today? I'm alright, thanks. Just a
little bit tired. I think work fatigue. I see.
Yeah, otherwise good. How are you? I'm well,
I'm well. So I just want to, hmm, what have I
been doing? I don't know. I usually like mention
a TV show or something, but haven't really watched
anything or listened to anything the last couple
of days. We've been busy with work? Yes. work
work work work i see okay but yes first and foremost
i want to address something we said last week
not you but you specifically to provide some
context uh in the game between man city and leeds
during the break for ramadan for the muslim players
to eat this is called iftar the leeds fans were
booing yes so in the episode itself i said it
would be down it could be down to islamophobia
and darren agreed and in the episode title i
put the word racism In all capital letters. Right?
Right. So my friend who's a Leeds fan reached
out to provide a different point of view on the
matter. His reasoning was that the break for
Iftar came in a period where Leeds had Man City
under a lot of pressure. And the break gave Man
City a chance to regroup and for Pep to give
new instructions to the team. Also, I mentioned
this last week, but to be fair, the Leeds fans
were booing everything. It's not like they've
only booed the Iftar. They booed through the
entire match. You know, it could still well be
racism, but I thought it's unfair to just say
it's racism without hearing the other side of
the argument. Fair enough, yeah. Right, so I
just wanted to say that up top. Now, are you
ready to start with Wolves 2, Liverpool 1? I
am ready to start. So in terms of teams and shape,
Wolves made several changes and changed shape
from the team that beat Aston Villa. They actually
made seven changes. Oh my goodness. Yes, I was
trying to be like, okay, who plays who? But it's
not that they even changed players. Certain players
changed position as well. Okay. Because they
also went from a 3 -4 -3 to a much more conservative
3 -5 -1 -1, which provided more midfield solidity.
Right, I see. Liverpool made one change to the
team that beat West Ham with Frimpong coming
in for Joe Gomez. So I really like this change
because Frimpong can actually take on a man and
puts in a cross. No shade to Joe Gomez. He's
a good defender and a right -back is a defender.
So he's doing what he's supposed to do. It's
just in a game like this, it suits Frimpong rather
than Gomez. Now, this is both a boring game to
watch and to analyze. I could have told you how
this game was going to go before it even started.
Not the precise result, but the patterns of play.
Wolves were going to sit and defend deep while
looking to counter -attack where possible. If
you're new to football, this is commonly referred
to as parking the bus. Added to this, they were
playing a back three, which gives them an extra
man in case a Liverpool player does beat his
man, the extra defender can still cover the space.
So both at the back with the three men and the
five in the midfield, they just crammed the spaces,
essentially, and made it very difficult for Liverpool
to play through, which, you know, kudos to them.
That's what you're supposed to do. Fair enough.
So it becomes a test to see if Liverpool can
break down the Wolves' defence. A test that was
abysmally failed. We created one clear -cut chance
from a corner and none from open play. We had
some half chances when Rio and Gamora came on,
but nothing concrete. Even the goal wasn't created
by team play or individual brilliance. It's because
the Wolves' player gave the ball away in a dangerous
area and Salah finished it off. right any any
thoughts about uh general gameplay or the teams
i mean okay well i didn't watch the game yeah
right but from what i saw on the highlights on
the highlights yeah liverpool got a little bit
unlucky in terms of like that there was that
early header i want to say it was Gakpo? No,
no, no. It's actually, if it weren't so tragic,
it would be hilarious. Gakpo clears it off the
line. Oh. It's going in, and Gakpo clears it
off onto the chest of Curtis Jones, and it bounces
up. Oh. So, yeah. Oh. You didn't see the proper
replay from the different angle on that goal.
Yeah, okay. Okay, I'm sorry about that. Yeah.
But also the Ngomawa shot. That saw pulls out
a great fingertip save. But like I said, it was
just a half chance. Yeah. It's not clear cut.
Yeah, fair enough. Makes sense. But yeah, that's
about it in terms of... So in terms of players,
Kirk has gotten some crosses. None of them led
to anything, but it's better than the beginning
of the season when he wasn't getting forward
at all. Yeah. Why would you buy the most attacking
left back in the division and play him defensively?
Your silence speaks volumes. Another reason that
Kirk is being limited is because Gakpo refuses
to pass to him. But why? Partly I would ascribe
to Gakpo's poor decision -making. His poor, poor
decision -making. We'll get to that just now,
but he actually did... slip him in once. And
I'm like, okay, he's learned a lesson. From now
on, we're going to, we're in a new era now. The
Gakpo passing to Kirk is era. Everything's different
now in a new world. And then he didn't pass to
him a single time the rest of the game. It was,
it's actually incredible. How do you avoid? someone
who you're meant to be working so closely with
for 90 minutes. Yeah, and the fact that the manager
hasn't done anything about it to be like, hey
man, pass to this guy. Just like every 10 minutes
of something, just slip him something. But yeah,
we know Gakpo only has one move. And that's what
he does. So how can we blame him? He's using
his one move. Not effectively, but he is using
it. So Salah and Gakpo are awful once again.
They are both playing poorly for different reasons,
but the thing that unifies them is their atrocious
decision -making. The truth is, if this is a
meritocracy and everyone is fit, our starting
wingers should be Rio Ngamoa on the left and
Jeremy Frimpong on the right. They have shown
far more industry and creativity in their limited
minutes than Gakpo and Salah. If Slot tried that
for one match, I think we would see an improvement
because right now, it feels like we're playing
with one hand tied behind our back. Okay. That's
the brutal truth. Okay. Fair enough. I mean,
like, I haven't watched many Liverpool games
this season at all, so I can't really comment
on it. But from what I've heard, there's some
like i how do i describe this in a way that so
actually i was speaking to someone yesterday
and he said it's it kind of seems like slot has
like not lost the dressing room necessarily but
he's he's not entirely in control of it anymore
he's it seems from his public statements as he's
as if though he's a very poor man manager Okay.
Because he said, like, some horrific things.
No, just, like, people are asking why Rio Ngamoa
can't play more. And he's like, if he was so
good, he wouldn't be playing for England under
19. Oh. And I'm like, bro, why would you say
that? There's no need. That's a bit rude. Zero
need. And then, like, there's something like
we're asking why Calvin Ramsey can't get a game,
right? Yeah. Because it's, like... Who's our
first choice right back? I guess Connor Bradley.
And then Jeremy Frimpong, number two. Joe Gomez,
number three. Sabotstein, number four. Curtis
Jones, number five. Endo, number six. And Calvin
Ramsey, who is a backup right back, can't get
a game. So people ask, hey, why can't Calvin
Ramsey get a game? And he's like, well, when
you're not playing, you become the best player
in the squad how you know what you know what
that means like people don't know how bad you
are oh right okay people just assume that because
you're not playing you the answer to yeah the
problem this happens a lot of the time where
like a lot of people say like kaiser will come
in and fix our problems yeah uh which i think
he will he could but i'm saying uh he hasn't
given been given the platform yeah But that's
a different story. Now, I actually said in previous
weeks that I'm going to stop talking about Gakpo
and Salah. That the real problem is slot. Because
Gakpo and Salah are not choosing themselves.
So, Ego, it's the manager that's the problem.
But they're not going to sack him right now.
So, in his capacity, the best thing that he can
do is drop the wingers. In my opinion. I mean,
they're not the only problem, but they are a
problem. Yeah. But at the same time, I mean,
he won the league last season. And, okay, obviously
last season doesn't speak about this season.
But they're still technically in contention for
both the Champions League and the FA Cup. Like,
it's possible that they could still win two really
big trophies this season. Sure, it's possible.
It's possible. I'm not saying it's likely, but
it's definitely possible. And so maybe... Are
you saying he should stay in the job because
it's possible to win trophies? Yes. You don't
think an interim could come in and do a better
job? They could. Depends on who. I would like...
Though every time I'm told that this can't happen,
I like to point to Tuchel who replaced Lampard
midway through the season. Lampard was like,
Lampard said a quote in the media, this Chelsea
squad is not a top four squad. And Tuchel took
them and won the Champions League. Right? This
idea that... Wait, but did they make top four?
Yes, they did. Okay, just make sure. Right. This
idea that... Nobody can do better. Like, this
is the best we can do is such a ridiculous notion.
But yeah, into individual moments. For the goal,
Arakadare pushes Van Dijk and plays it through.
Yeah. Kanate and Allison can't do much after
that because it was a quality finish. Yeah. But
I'd like to point out that the same thing happened
between Gabriel and Kolo Mwani last week with
a far weaker push. And he was called a foul because
Gabriel fell down, whereas Van Dijk didn't. So
this is why I say the referees encourage play
acting, because if you don't, then you are penalized.
So, yeah, in my opinion, it shouldn't have been
a goal. That's the thing. It's like, so actually
I've, I've realized Lissandro Martinez does that
a lot where it's like, even if he's out muscled,
if you, if you just like lightly push someone
just as they spring up, it kind of unbalances
them. Yeah. It unbalances them. And so it basically,
it's technically not an aerial duel or anything
because there's, there's no actual dueling. he's
just pushed the guy away and then gotten the
ball or let it roll through to the keeper or
whatever but i don't see that being penalized
again because they don't fall down yeah but even
even then i mean in recent times i've i've seen
a lot of like certain referees will give it and
certain refs won't yes and that's the issue isn't
it yeah there's inconsistency with the the referees
where it should be a a standard across all games
you know yeah the cola the colomoni one was a
push therefore it's disallowed yeah this is a
push therefore it's disallowed fair enough right
that's that's the the point i'm trying oh Or
the Colomoni one was a push, but contact is allowed.
Let it be a goal. This one in the low pool game,
there was contact, but contact is allowed. Let
it go. Whatever the case is, choose one and be
consistent with it. Don't do one and do the other.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's what I'm
trying to get at. That makes sense to me. Anything
else you want to say about that first goal? No.
yeah you don't think alison or kanate could have
done better to be honest no it was a really good
finish and like fair play yeah and like i said
he was slipped into lots of space because uh
you know i guess they weren't expecting van dyke
to lose that yeah aerial duel so he was in acres
and acres of space kanate did his best too Close
him down, but there's only so much you can do.
So I don't know what he was thinking, but Bellegarde
plays a loose pass, which gives the ball to Salah,
and he finishes with the outside of his boot.
Very unorthodox finish, but... Yeah, it did kind
of surprise me that he went with the outside
of his boot instead of either opening up his
body or just taking the shot with his right.
He's just very left dominant. Oh, okay. He very
rarely trusts his right foot. He's a bit one
-footed. Yeah. Okay. But I have seen him score
with his right foot, but I'm just saying he seems
very much more... Like, he doesn't ever cross
with his right foot. Okay. He always does a traveller.
Ah, okay. That's actually... I mean, it makes
sense. Like, there's quite a few footballers
out there. But I wouldn't have... Well, quite
a few footballers like that out there. But I
also... I wouldn't expect that from someone of
Salah's quality. Obviously, I haven't watched
much of it. It's only what I've heard of him.
But it kind of, it doesn't make sense to me,
personally, that he hasn't, you know, developed
that side of his game that much. Well, if you're
very good with your left, why, you know, practice
with the right? To be very good with the right
as well? Yeah, I guess you caught me. Yeah, then
Andre scored a deflected goal in stoppage time.
So there's nothing you can do about the deflection
itself. But why wasn't he closed down before
the shot? I counted five players who were close
enough to pressure him, but none of them did.
And he took a speculative shot and it went in.
Yeah. I would point to Keza and Rion Gamora specifically
who were closest to him. But any one of, I think
McAllister was there, Konate was there, and Van
Dijk was there. Any one of them. Anyone could
have done something. Yes, but very poor. What
do we call it? It's not really a market. Closing
down. Closing down. Very poor closing down from
all of them. Yeah. And, yeah, a deserved loss.
But, you know, like I said, they shouldn't have
scored that first goal. Let me just say this.
Spiritually, we should have lost. Okay. But not
like this. Coaching the Matrix, not like this.
Okay. Spiritually. Yeah. In spirit, we should
have lost. Yes. But you also lost. Oh. Yeah,
we did lose. That's what I'm saying. Not like
this. Right. Okay. Our second game of the week,
or the other game we're going to go into, is
Newcastle 2, Man United 1. Yeah. So, I don't
know. Do you want to take the initiative on this
one, or do you want me to? I mean, I can... I
can do the United side of things. Like, I don't
know how Newcastle... Okay, let me just... Let
me say, Newcastle kept their usual 4 -3 -3, but
made two changes to the team that lost to Everton.
Nick Pope and Nick Valtamata out for Aaron Ramsdale
and Harvey Barnes. Yeah. So, got them both out
in the nick of time. Oh, no. Now I know why you
wanted to take the lead on that. All right. Anyway,
I didn't even write that down. That's off the...
I just saw Nicky and Nick now. You know, I wrote
out this document and it never occurred to me
that they have the same first name until right
now. All right. So, yeah, all the early play
was coming from Newcastle. Yeah. Their press
wasn't that aggressive because this is something
I wanted to talk about with Darren. He's unavailable
today. Actually, both you and him share the same
birthday, which was two days ago. Actually? Yes,
so that's why he's unavailable today. He's having
a family get -together tonight. That's very sweet.
Yes, but last week we were just going through
the games that we didn't watch, and he said,
well, Eddie Howe lives and dies by his high press.
But the last couple of games that we've covered,
Newcastle haven't been pressing high. And in
this game as well, I just thought, you know,
they weren't aggressive in their press. They
weren't high. Well, to be fair, they had the
ball. So you don't need to press if you have
the ball. That is true, yes. So most of the first
half, yeah, United absorbed the pressure and
now getting more possession around the 25th minute.
right yeah and then that started to suit newcastle
because newcastle just sat deep and started playing
on the counter yeah which is you know what their
new tactic uh i would say instead of pressing
high is what they've been doing recently right
and uh anything to say about the first 25 minutes
the first 25 uh yeah i mean there were not chances
necessarily from a united perspective but like
they they could barely get out of their own half
even if you know even when they won back possession
there'd be a missed place pass or players weren't
on the same page or you know just something and
it would just gift possession back to Newcastle,
and they'd come again and again and again. And
in that situation, well, as a fan specifically,
it's really frustrating. But I am kind of glad
that they didn't let their heads drop. They sat
in there, they soaked up that pressure as best
as they could, and they sort of grew into the
game. Yeah. Jacob Ramsey gets a yellow for just
a rough tackle. I agree it was a yellow, but
then he gets a yellow for diving, and then he
gets a red card. Well, a second yellow into a
red card. And I think the ref made a mistake
with this one. Ramsey doesn't even appeal for
a penalty. He's more frustrated with himself,
kind of. I just think the ref misread the situation.
Yeah. No, I... There's a difference between I
fell contact and I went down, but that contact
wasn't enough for a penalty, and I didn't feel
contact and I just dived. Yeah. You know, and
I think he fell contact. No, no, no, no. He didn't
feel contact. He made a mistake. Yeah. He tripped.
Yeah, he just fell over. Yeah. Yeah. That's what
I thought. Which, that's the thing, because in
none of the replays... can you actually see what
happens with Laman's hands like in the in the
side on replay sort of thing that they showed
during the VAR or not VAR uh like during the
kind of yeah the replay the analysis of that
decision the the camera just barely has Ramsay's
back leg out of the shot so you can't actually
see if there's any contact made there so I'm
i'm not entirely sure but i i think like with
his body language specifically it didn't scream
oh he wanted a penalty he wanted to dive he was
just extremely unlucky with what the ref thought
he saw i i don't think it was a red or a second
yellow even well a minute later gordon gets fouled
by fernandez and that's a clear -cut penalty
for me yeah i just i guess it's the The fact
that Bruno's not a defender, he's just not wise
to the tricks of a winger. Yeah. You know, Gordon
just cuts in and Bruno, unfortunately, from a
United perspective, fouls him. He just gets up,
converts, and Newcastle are 1 -0 up. Yeah. Although
a man down, 1 -0 up. Then, United get a free
kick. Yes. And Fernandes puts in an incredible
cross and Casemiro... Headed his home. Yeah.
Now, Casimir had a black eye during the game.
Yes. No one knows why that is. We were all just
kind of like, what the fuck? What has Carrick
been doing to him? Yeah. A lot of people speculated
it was domestic abuse from his wife. Any number
of things. So, yeah. Hopefully, it's not a bad
situation for him. It's like he just tripped
and fell or something. Yeah. Hopefully. Like
nothing serious. But yeah, I just thought Bruno
had an incredible game. You know, one of the
best creators in world football. Yeah. Since
KDB is gone, you know, probably the... Well,
he has the most assists in the league by quite
some margin. Yeah. And the most chances created.
A lot. Yeah, so aside from giving away the penalty,
I just thought he was the man of the match. Yeah,
he had a really, really good game. Right, but...
The question is, in a game like this where Newcastle
are sitting deep, is the same question in the
Wolves and Liverpool game. Can United break them
down? No. To be honest, no. And this is the thing
I've been bringing up about Carrick. Is that,
you know, the games against Arsenal and Man City,
there's a set plan. Yeah. You sit back and you
counter them. Yeah. But if you have to break
down a team, it becomes much more complicated.
Yes. You have one of the best creators in the
league, so you already have a leg up on most
teams. Yeah. But you need to platform him in
the best way possible so that he can, you know,
create as much as possible and the plays that
you have to take advantage of that. Yes. And
I just don't think Carrick is putting them in
the best positions possible. Or, first of all,
playing in patterns that will enable them to
score, one. Yeah. Two, putting them in the right...
places to score. So, for example, there's not
a lot of width on the right -hand side because
Mbwemo is left -footed. Yeah. So he can't whoop
in a cross. And Dalot hasn't been playing well
at all. No. So... Well, Mizrahi came in this
game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But in the second half,
Dalot came in. Yeah. But I'm saying, recently,
Dalot hasn't been putting in good crosses. Yeah.
So my point stands that... The right -hand side
is very weak. Yeah. So, what to do about that?
New winger? That's the thing. I don't think...
Well, I think Boymo suits the sort of counter
-attacking style very well, right? But it's...
Like, you can't rely on three or four or, like,
let's say five games a season or ten games a
season against, like, the rest of the big six.
In inverted commas. I don't know if we should
include Tottenham there. You and Darren just
attack Spurs at any possible opportunity. I don't
know why, but you're not even an Arsenal fan.
You just want to attack them. They're just poor.
Okay. They're doing so poorly at the moment.
It's an uncalled for jab at Spurs. Okay, carry
on. But anyway, you can't rely on those big games
to win you. a season or like well you know what
i mean right like when when the premier league
you can't compete for the premier league if you're
not beating the small teams yeah exactly and
i mean recent form has been fairly good in terms
of results but in terms of actual play it's it's
it's been most of our goals have been set pieces
well yeah one set pieces and two counters yeah
i don't think we've I think there was maybe a
goal, not last match, but the match before, from,
like, actually breaking down, you know, like
playing... Against Palace? Yeah. What did you
do? I can't remember exactly. Okay, fine, fine,
fine. But I'm just saying, these counters and
set pieces are what Arsenal and Liverpool are
doing at the moment. Yeah. Which is... Oh, to
Sheshko's goal. Sorry. Okay. Which... Working
for some, not working for others. But both are
very defensive tactics, which I disagree with.
I believe teams should be front -footed and attack,
etc. I agree. But that's why I don't rate Carrick,
and that's precisely why he should get the job,
in my opinion. To make United as bad as possible.
Yes. But, that being said, Ramsdale made a number
of key saves. Yeah. There were quite a few shots
that... Now, unfortunately, they were kind of
speculative shots. It wasn't like point blank
or like, you know, difficult saves, I should
say. Yeah. But, yeah. Then later on, Asula wins
the ball, passes it to Trippier. Trippier finds
him again on the counter and he scores an impressive
curler. Yeah. That wins the game for Newcastle.
I think it was the 89th minute. It was somewhere,
yeah. Very... Very impressive counter and performance
from Osula, who only had about, what, 10 minutes
to show what he had. And, yeah, any other things
you want to mention about this game? Any specific
players you want to mention? I actually think
Kunja had a really good game as well. It was
just... Unfortunate. Problematically, he struggles
in the final third, which is not what you want
from a winger. But he did really well to drop
deep and overload Newcastle's midfield. After
the card, it was a 4 -3 -2. And so Kunja could
drop in and effectively make it a four -man midfield
for United. He made some really good progressive
drives, but they didn't end up in anything. He
would take it from the second, like, roughly
midfield area, take it out to the Newcastle box,
and then that's where that move would end because
there was nothing else going on around him that
he could do. I just feel as if, though, you are
being hamstrung by certain signings, such as
Konya and Mwemo. Even though they've been better
players, you're not getting the best out of them
because... of the system so they were bought
to be inside tens yeah right yeah but aside from
being inside tens both of their other preferred
position is striker yeah so they can either play
strike or inside 10. now you're asking both of
them to play on the wing yeah which is not what
they're used to and not what their skill set
uh is geared towards yeah so now you're not getting
the best out of either of them and sesco is probably
the least talented out of the three, not to be
rude, but he's the guy that's playing striker
ahead of either of them where perhaps they would
be better. So the kind of concern there is that
I think it's only Ahmad that can actually come
in. be a wing that can cross and such. Yeah.
And Ahmad has not been good recently, to be honest.
And so currently, like, I don't see another front
three. Like, until probably... No, yes, that's
the problem for the next manager. I'm just trying
to point out right now that Carrick, you know,
the formation that he's using and the game plan
he's deploying is not... helping those two players
get to their best selves. Yeah, I guess. So would
you rather have like a... What about swapping
them? Boehm on the left, Kunja on the right,
and then they can just cross like regular. They
could, but... I'm not saying that's going to
work. I'm just saying, why not try something?
Yeah, fair enough. Like they've both got really
good ball striking. But I think Kunja specifically...
He seems to function much better in sort of that
kind of like midfield area. Where he does a lot
of like twists and turns. And like there's some
flamboyant stuff. But it's mainly just like getting
past his man. How do I describe this in a way
that doesn't make it sound like he's a good winger?
Because okay no okay. So I think it would be
a good idea. But I'm just not sure of their crossing.
Like specifically Kunya's crossing. I think Mboma.
can do it i just don't know about kunya necessarily
and then at that point if he's if he's kind of
herded into the byline then where does he go
from there what does he do i think perhaps like
an oliver glasner yeah could make use of them
okay because that's what he's doing at palace
right now with ismail assai and uh come on and
jeremy pino on the left yeah so i think a back
three manager would have a solution of playing
them as inside tens yeah and but again i have
no idea who united are looking for you know to
manage them or what they're trying to do but
at the moment it just looks to me like that like
you know your wings are not being used to their
even the full backs are not so all the the width
is not being used effectively yeah no i would
agree because it seems as though they don't fully
understand so Currently, against United, it seems
to be just block out the midfield, block out
the central channels, and that shuts them down
entirely. They don't really know how to play
off the wings. Like, every now and then. I mean,
I think it was Carrick's first game of this interim
spell. They had a really nice little, like, rondo
thing that ended up in a goal. But that's, it
was like maybe, I think, that game and one other
one. they just they don't do it all that often
they don't really oftentimes if they get stuck
on a wing you know like if if like like let's
say the winger gets doubled up on or something
then they'll play it out to bruno bruno will
put in a cross instead they don't really do that
kind of thing they don't they don't they can't
really get that separation And I don't know why
that is necessarily. It is. I just don't think
Carrick is a great coach. So he doesn't see the
issues that a more experienced, more tactically
adept coach would see. Yeah. But that's just
my opinion. Are you ready to close up this segment,
John United? Yeah. Okay. Now we're going to the
miscellaneous section. This is just the other
matches or other news or any other things that,
you know. That have happened. That have happened
this week in the football world. Right. So we
have Everton 2, Burnley 0. Yes. Tarkovsky header
from a free kick and a neat chip finish from
Dewsbury Hall. Based on highlights, Everton had
all the chances. Yeah. I originally thought it
was just like Everton's page posting highlights
of Everton specifically. No. They had more chances
in the game. Yeah. And, yeah, a deserved win,
I think. From the outside looking in. I think
they maybe deserved a couple more goals, to be
honest. Burnley really didn't offer anything.
If you look at the stats, very poor game from
them. Bournemouth 0, Brentford 0. So I watched
45 minutes of this game before the Liverpool
game. Just because of the way the games were
structured this weekend. I mean, excuse me, this
midweek. There was a game at half past nine and
then the main game at quarter past ten. So the
half past nine game I watched on Tuesday was
the Bournemouth -Brentford game. I watched 45
minutes of that and then 15 minutes during halftime
of the Liverpool game. I went back to that game.
And it was an entertaining 0 -0 with Bournemouth
getting most of the chances. Perhaps they were
unfortunate not to win, but just really good
attacking football. A few weeks ago, I covered
the Newcastle -Brentford match and it was just
two teams going at each other. Really fun and
like a good advertisement for the Premier League.
I would say the Bournemouth -Brentford game as
well. Just a really fun, interesting game between
two attacking managers. Well, less so Brentford,
but, you know, both... having a good game and
i liked it yeah now it's just unfortunate ended
no no so there was no like things to talk about
but yeah i mean they were those two tavernier
shots yes two that hit the bar but yeah i mean
the one was the outside of the post so i don't
know but still yeah next game leads no sunderland
one yes so based on highlights a pretty even
game both teams had good chances and uh Perhaps
it should have ended in a draw, but Ethan Ampadu
handles the ball in the box. You disagree with
the decision? Yeah, I don't know about that.
From what I understand, and I don't know if they've
changed the rules recently. I'm basing it off
of Lissandro Martinez against Arsenal like two
years ago. But if it hits your body and then
bounces up onto your hand, it's not a foul. But
again, it's one of those things that we were
talking about earlier where like certain refs
will give it and certain ones won't. I don't
think that's what happened. Is that not? I think
it just hit him on the hand and then he does
like a, I don't know what to call it, like a
jerk motion. Okay. And it hits his hand, like
it hits his arm and then it hits his hand as
well. Okay. So is it, but okay. I think it bounced
up, hit his arm, hit his hand. Hit like his bicep
region and then his forearm. Yeah. I think it
just bounced up like in front of him. So it looks
like it. Oh, okay. But it didn't actually...
Touch his body. Okay. The first point of contact
was on his arm. That's what I'm trying to say.
And then to confirm it, that it is a deliberate
handball, that jerking motion. Okay. That second
motion is what confirms the penalty. Okay. Whereas
the first one could have been construed as a...
As an accidental handball. Yeah, okay. That's
my reading of what happened. That's fair enough.
Yeah, and Diarra converts the penalty. Yeah.
I've never heard of this player, and he's apparently
Sunderland's penalty taker. Yeah. Enzo Le Fay
is the usual taker, and I assume he was injured
or something, but I've never heard of this Diarra
chap. And, yeah. It also, to be honest, wasn't
a very good penalty. It was not. It was not.
He was so poor. He got a little bit lucky. Very
lucky. The keeper already dived. If the keeper
had waited one second more, he would have hit
his legs and not gone in. It actually came off
his hip. Maybe if he was a little bit higher.
Yeah, if he was a smidge higher, it wouldn't
have gone in. Brighton 0, Arsenal 1. So again,
based on highlights, it looked like an even game.
The goalkeeper makes a meal out of a speculative
soccer shot. So I think that's Bart Verbruggen.
Yeah, it is. He went straight through his legs,
which was very poor. Yeah. Very poor. It was
a long speculative shot. It was from far out.
It's not like it was, you know, particularly
incredible. It was just... Yeah, it was just
poor from Verbruggen, to be honest. fabian herzler
said after the match quote there was only one
team playing football i would never want to win
like that end quote so i assume based on that
quote arsenal were parking the bus yeah uh it
does seem that way yeah i didn't watch the game
but uh that's what i assume uh i mean they took
the lead 10 minutes in so i guess they don't
really have anything to play for after that and
that's what kind of frustrates me about arsenal
that They'll score a goal and then try to hold
on, where instead of teams of the past or champions
of the past that would go for the kill, try to
score more, go for three, go for four. I hate
this defensive type of football that Arteta plays.
It's not good for the league. If they win the
league and other teams start playing like that,
it's just what's happening to the league that
I love. Next thing you know, we're La Liga. Well,
I mean, La Liga has some nice football every
now and then. Anyway, Man City 2, Nottingham
Forest 2. Yeah. So, in my opinion, City were
badly cheated. Yeah. They had two good penalty
claims turned down and not even looked at in
the one case. Yeah. And Forest scored two very
good goals like screamers. Really outstanding
stuff. Yeah. One was a backheel through the legs
of Morgan Gibbs. No, from Morgan Gibbs. I think
it was Ruben Diaz. Yeah. I don't know. No, one
of them. Because they were showing their legs.
They weren't showing their faces. So I don't
know who. No, it was Diaz. Okay. Yeah. It goes
through his legs and beats Donnarumma on his
right hand side. Then Elliot Anderson gets the
ball in midfield, does a one -two, and then scores
a curler. And Donnarumma just can't do anything
about it. It was so well hit. Yeah. Incredible.
Right. But the question is, is the title race
over after last night? I don't know. The gap
is seven points with City as a game in hand.
Yeah, but they do play each other. Yes. So that's
the question, right? Say City win their game
in hand, the gap is four. Say they beat Arsenal,
the gap is one. Yes. They still need Arsenal
to drop points somewhere. Yes. Now, it was in
City's hands, now it's out of their hands. Yeah.
So, do you want to maybe look at Arsenal's fixtures
and see if... They'll beat, or who could beat
them? Newcastle, maybe. So let me just go. Arsenal
versus Everton. Everton have a good defense,
but I don't think this is the game that Arsenal
are going to drop points in. Then they have Bournemouth.
Low -key, I think Bournemouth can do something.
Maybe. Because Bournemouth are such a chaotic
team. Yeah. So... They thrive on chaos ball.
Yes. So to get, like, Arsenal flustered... All
over the place, that could be a way of beating
them. Could be an option, yeah. Newcastle, they
could be an option, but they're playing at the
Emirates, so they don't have the power of SJP.
Yeah, St. James' Park, for those of you who don't
know. We'll skip the City game because, like
I said, for this to work, City have to win that
game. They're playing Fulham and West Ham, which
both of them I don't think... are the ones to
do it unlikely then burnley and crystal palace
also not the ones to do it so i think palace
might be able to uh the thing is palace are in
a bad place right now they are but they might
show up for a big game could be on the last day
of the season yeah everything's against us and
yeah top shagger ollie glasner comes in and ends
the arteta minutes i would love it i would love
it and i think i deserve it I mean, last game
of the season, London Derby, everything to play
for. Well, maybe nothing to play for. Well, there's
Fulham, West Ham. They're also London Derbys.
So three London Derbys. They are, but they're
not the final game of the season. Yeah, but Burnley.
I'm just like, oh, this guy can't do it, this
guy can't do it. And then it's Burnley who turns
up. Burnley who beat them 1 -0 and dashed their
title hopes. It would be incredible if, like,
they had, like, two or three draws in the next
few weeks. I would like, well, it would. Well,
let's look at who City have to play. So City
are playing West Ham, Crystal Palace, Chelsea,
Burnley, Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Villa.
It's their Brentford game. That's dangerous.
Yeah. That's very dangerous. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe
Chelsea as well, but the way Arsenal dealt with
Chelsea, I watched those games, and Chelsea are
so predictable. Yeah. You know what they're going
to do, and yeah, I just don't think they're going
to beat City. That's, you know, my opinion. Well,
it's either going to be down to City versus Brentford
or Arsenal versus Bournemouth, in my opinion.
Those are the two key fixtures that we are looking
at in this title race. Okay, but hear me out,
right? What if Villa get over their burnout by
then? By the last game of the season. I see.
You know, once upon a time, we were one point
behind City and Aston Villa were beating them
2 -0 on the final day. And they scored three.
We scored three and we lost. Okay, so maybe let's
not hope on Villa. Yeah, Villa on the final day
is not a happy hunting ground for us. Okay. Fulham
0, West Ham 1. Based on highlights, Fulham had
all the play, but Somerville scored after a mess
-up by Bernt Leno. Yeah. Any other thoughts about
that game? Not really. I think they got a little
bit lucky there. So the question is, will West
Ham survive? I don't know, to be honest. I think
so, and I think comfortably. So I believe, despite
the memes, I think Wolves are not going to do
a great escape. No. Burnley, I think, are down.
So it leaves one spot left. One spot between
West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Spurs. And I
think West Ham are just too good to go down.
They've won three of their last five, I believe.
And those other two were draws. So I think form
-wise, they're the best position team. Nottingham
Forest, I think with their new appointment of
Vitor Pereira, I think they're going to survive
as well. And I think Spurs are going to go down.
Okay. Because Igor Chudov, I don't know what
kind of appointment... Like, who recommended
this man? This is such a... He walked in and
lost two games already. It's incredible. And,
yeah, they have a lot of players out, like Kuduz,
Kulosevsky, Madison, Solanke at the moment, I'm
pretty sure. Like, a lot of their good attacking
players are out. So... I'm pretty sure at one
point they, like... They only had like 12 or
15 or something in the squad. I think it's currently
10 players injured. No, like 12 or 15 players
that could play. But yeah, I see what you're...
Yeah, any other thoughts about Fulham West Ham?
No. Okay. I didn't watch it. Essendon Villa won
Chelsea 4. Yeah. So Villa scored a classy goal
after two minutes. Yeah, fair play. And then
Chelsea dominated them. Chelsea absolutely dominated
them. Just, like, a lot of, like, very basic
goals. It's not as if, though, Chelsea were really
incredible and created, like, outstanding efforts.
It's just, like, the guy gets played in, he puts
a cross in, and Jao Pedro taps in. It's, like,
that's how most of the goals happen. Yeah, not
much to say about it. Do you have anything you
want to say about this game? I just want to ask
you, how's this weather we've been having? It's
been cold. Cold! Okay. He's rubbing his shoulders
like Cole Palmer. All right. That was it. All
right. Enough. That's such a bad joke or whatever
that was. Can I call it a joke? Yes. That's so
awful. I shudder to call it a joke. I don't know
what that is. You shudder because yeah? Okay.
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