Latest / Let's Kick It Off! / Ep 20: All Eyez on Bilbao

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Ep 20: All Eyez on Bilbao · Let's Kick It Off!

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Welcome to let's kick it off it's the 20th episode of the
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series and we are celebrating in style by chatting all things
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Europa can Man United really beat Bilbao once again at Old
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Trafford and have a. Glimpse of some.
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Silverware this season. Join Steve Ash and AS as they
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discuss what lies ahead for Man United.
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Let's kick it off. I'm Steve and I'm joined today
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by Ash and us as always, and we've got a packed agenda today,
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so we're going to get straight into it.
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We're going to hold off on talking about the Brentford
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game, save that for later. And we're going to rewind a few
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days and talk about the first leg in Bilbao, where Manchester
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United won three nil unexpectedly.
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It's fair to say I didn't watch the first half live.
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I was out for dinner with some work colleagues and I left the
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dinner and I was driving home and I could see the WhatsApp
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messages flying. I was getting calls from Raj.
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So I'm thinking I have a feeling we're doing well here and people
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are thinking about booking flights and yeah, when I called
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Ash and I said what's the score? He said are you joking and we
1:22
were winning three nil. So I think my prayers from the
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last pod were answered when I said I need a good result, I
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wasn't expecting a three nil but yeah, we'll get straight into it
1:31
as since it's a good result it's only fair to start with you.
1:34
Mr Positive, what did you make of the performance and the
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result out in Bilbao? You're not going to ambush me
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with a Liverpool fan this week, are you?
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Not today, no. So, like, we can, we can talk,
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you know? That's great.
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Yeah, obviously. I mean, I thought it was
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fantastic. One of the best performance of
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the season. Do you did you end up getting
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to, to to see any of the game? Did you?
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Yeah, I've, I've caught up and watched the highlights.
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I know that the Athletic had a few chances before we scored our
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first right. Yeah, the 1st 20 minutes I'd say
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they were on top, which makes sense.
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I mean, if you if you if you saw the build up the the atmosphere
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was really hostile. They were really up for it, the
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crowd obviously the finals in Bilbao as well.
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So I think it means a lot to them.
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They haven't, I don't think one actually.
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You're the man who has a better memory.
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Haven't won a European trophy, I think, Is that correct?
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Yeah, that's the start. And I think the, the, they've
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won the Copa del Rey, but they're not like a club, even
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though they've got, I don't think they've ever been
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relegated, but they're, you know, they're, they're not like
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a club with a huge trophy hall. So this semi final clearly meant
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a hell of a lot to them. The, the, you know, the
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atmosphere was, was really ramped up.
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And I thought in that initial phase where the, you know, we
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know our team has a certain number of sort of inexperienced
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players and some experienced players like Lindelof as well,
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who haven't played a lot of football and they just looked a
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bit rusty trying to build out from the back, getting caught,
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some sloppy passes. They were, they're two really,
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really big opportunities. Inaki Williams had a head of it.
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You know, he should have scored, to be honest.
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And there was another one where it hits Lindelof when he's on
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the line and you're just thinking, OK, that, you know,
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oh, man, I'm going to have to get on this pod again.
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Then, you know, talk about how Bilbao battered us.
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The season's over. It's all.
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It's all going to be depressing. But yeah, the the big gun
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stepped up in the end. So really good performance.
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We can go through all the various bits.
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But yeah, before that, be good to.
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Kia ash because obviously he's more negative on this team so
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it'd be nice to hear him hopefully say something good
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about what happened yeah I mean, I've already booked my flights
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and booked my hotel right as yeah, we'll see if we'll wait
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for Thursday. But yeah, as I was telling
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Steve, when we're putting the agenda together, like this is
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one of the most historical results not just since post
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Fergie, but also in the club's history.
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We've got not a very good record in Spain.
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And you can't deny, like the boys after 25 minutes, you know,
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played fantastic and they kept the ball really well, kept it
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away from Bilbao and they defended well, which was a very
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pleasant surprise. God knows when the last time we
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kept a clean sheet, so to do it in Bilbao was one hell of
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achievement. I think the start also regarding
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athletic and how many goals they've conceded in the Europa,
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it's like, I think they've considered like less than what
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we did in 1/2. Yeah.
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So just, yeah, astonishing really.
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In a way it kind of takes me back to certain performances in
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Europe away in the past. Like I remember when we went two
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nil up against Arsenal in no time in 2009 and it had
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obviously it's the Europa, but it had an air of that.
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It's like, wow, this is like come out of nowhere.
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But yeah, so as Ruben said in his press conference, like, you
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know, he's named for his honesty.
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So he focused more on the 1st 25 minutes that as mentioned,
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obviously we we knew that Bilbao would come at us.
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So we had to expect. I think the interesting part is
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the build up in terms of like, you know, we weren't going any
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far. You know, we weren't going far
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with it in that first 25. But yeah, once we got the first,
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you know, the heavens opened up and you know, it was raining
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goals. And yeah, it probably the icing
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on the cake in that first half would have been Mazzuri to hit
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that 4th when it hit the crossbar.
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Then it would have just, you know, you're talking like, I
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think Manchester United only scored like four goals in 1/2
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only on a few occasions. So yeah, they, they were up
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there, like, historically in terms of stats.
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But yeah, great night. And that's where all the focus
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should be in this pod. I I, I saw Andy Mitten tweet
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actually, and I think Laurie Whitwell tweeted it as well.
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Yeah, one of the best away results in Europe and Manchester
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United's history. So like when I saw that, I was
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like, wow. But then I get it, you know,
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three nil in Spain. So couple of questions before we
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kind of go through some of the goals.
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Like, yeah, is it really that that high up there in terms of
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Manchester United's history and what other results kind of stand
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out in your memories that even come close as you mentioned one
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there against Arsenal. But yeah, as would you really
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say it's like up there that high in, in terms of historical
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results in? Terms of just because it's it's
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going away from home, it's always a difficult one, right?
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Yeah. I mean, the context is always,
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yeah, it's, it's just the Europa League and inverted commas.
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But this was a game where we weren't favourites, I'd say,
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fair to say. Like going into the game, I
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don't think anyone gave us the favourite tag.
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Going into this game, certainly you know, over the two legs you
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can maybe there would have been some arguing that you know,
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United could go through, but the first leg everyone looked at
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their home record is unbelievable, even in La Liga,
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right? Their home record is
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unbelievable. They've got good Europa record
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as Ash mentioned, their defensive record is excellent
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and offensive output has been poor generally, right, so.
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What's the thing they have with the with the home grown?
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Is it a certain number of home grown players they have to have
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in the team slash squad? I think everyone.
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It's everyone. Oh.
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I thought there was a specific thing with like Athletic that
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they they try and play so many homeland players.
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I'm like. No, all are.
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All are from Basque. They have to be Basque, right?
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That's what I'm saying. Yeah.
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So literally like. There's no quote, no, it's just
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you have to be Basque, which is, yeah, it's pretty incredible.
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That's what I mean. Yeah, very different philosophy,
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which yeah, gives them. Yeah, certain.
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You can, you know, if you want to call it football heritage, as
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Josie says it, you know, some certain quality.
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I mean, it's always just a tough even I think didn't we go there
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in 2012? Maybe I can't remember.
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I think we got knocked out of the Champions League group
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stages and then down into the Europa and I think we lost in
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that game as well, right. And that was a a team that
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basically took, I think we won the league the year before and
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won the league the year after. And that was the Aguero year as
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well, right? So this is a high class team.
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It's not an easy place to go it. Was the old stadium that two
9:07
under feet you were talking about?
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Yeah, so it in that context, you know, Ash mentioned, you know,
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going to Spain and it's not a weak Spanish team, they're 4th
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in La Liga. So in compared with the the La
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Rial game, the Sociedad, this is a certainly a step up in terms
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of quality of opposition. So it's Champions League level
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opposition. So it might be Europa League,
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but in a semi final, big pressure, big stakes, you know,
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let's talk about mentality. I think their voice showed some
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strong mentality there to to turn it round from what was, you
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know, I always say you need a bit of luck and we had a little
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bit of, you know, one of those first two goals goes in the
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momentum right changes. We had a little just just a
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little bit of luck and then but then after that I thought we
10:04
played well and yeah, happy to we can maybe deep dive into some
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of these goals because I. Come on, I know you're dying to
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talk about Harry. Harry McGuire on the right one.
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I just want to get some of the, I've got some of the stats up on
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this fixture. To give you context, Steve, even
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even before as I was born, they played.
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So they actually played for the first time in 1957.
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I think Manchester United's first ever game was against
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Anderlecht in 57, but in the same season they played in
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Bilbao, January 16th, it looks like 1957.
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Guess what the result was? Steve 5 free to athletic.
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So a bit of historical context about just how tough it is to go
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to athletic and we obviously lost in 2012 and just, you know,
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quickly talking about, I guess 2nd tier European tournaments,
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but mean a hell of a lot, especially given, you know, your
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take in terms of like how pivotal it is.
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I mean, again, I'll turn to ASIP European Cup Winners Cup 1991,
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right? It's like it's not the Champions
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League, however, like particularly for fans who went
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to that game or, you know, growing up watching that game,
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fantastic memories. And I guess it's like for the
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younger generation watching this game that's just gone on
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Thursday will be the same thing when it's like when I was 10,
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you know, I saw Manchester United beat Athletic Bilbao 3
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NIL in their own ground. So yeah, I think it it was a
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historical result in terms of the context, because also the
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quality of the team, as in the United team as well, it's going
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to be our worst ever league season.
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So there's that factor as well. But yeah, let's get into the
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goals. Let's talk about it.
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Yeah, I mean, when when Andy Mitten's saying it's it's up
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there. I mean, I I kind of trust this
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judgement as well. So, you know, I think it is.
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But yeah, let's get into the goals.
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So first goal Casimiro, which started with your mate Harry on
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the right wing us. Oh, is.
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It Harry Denio? Is it Harry Lamarl?
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Sir Harry, right. Is it?
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Yeah. Is it, I don't know, Lionel
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McGuire, I mean, it was unbelief.
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What was he doing? I mean, actually before the
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goal. First thing to note, you know,
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I've talked about previously how it's the certain profiles that
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Ruben Amarim needs. And even if Dogu is still that
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rough diamond, that ability to get from from fullback into
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midfield into the attacking phase, right, the free kick that
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leads to the goal he does. He basically runs from the full
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back position. And I don't know if you
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remember, I said, oh, if this is before we sign him, I said, oh,
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if we sign doggy, because I'm Mr Positivity, I'm going to say
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he's the next Gareth Bale. And it was a Gareth Bale S
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great. He just knocks it and runs and
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the guy just he's so fast doggy and the guy couldn't get near
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him, just shoved him in the back, gave the free kick away.
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And that's, you know, why was McGuire, Euro, Ugate, Casimiro
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all in the box? Because it actually came from a
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set piece. It ends up somehow ending up at
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McGuire. And I'm like, what are you
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doing? Lay off the gun actually, you
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idiot. What is this guy doing?
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Somehow does some kind of Ronaldo esque chop back then
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flicks it round and delivers the cross.
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And I don't know what was going on, to be honest.
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And then somehow it. Yeah, Ugate, who I said had a
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difficult start, does the flick and then Casimiro on the far
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post bang and I'm just like wow, what a goal.
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Love the knee slide. It was beautiful, Dave.
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Going to turn it on you analysis on the second goal, is it a
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penalty? Think so.
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I mean, probably a bit of bias in there, but yeah, I mean, he
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had his hands over Hoylan, right?
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And yeah, it felt like a penalty to me, but.
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Here's a question for you if if he doesn't touch Hoyland, does
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Hoyland get the shot away? I'm not sure.
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Yeah, that's a good question. Because that's the decision the
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referee made. Because.
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Because if he doesn't think there's two decisions the
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referee has to make there. 1 Is it a foul that gives the
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penalty? The second decision is does
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Hoyland get to the ball? Then it's a red card and he
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believes both things happen. And I think he does get to the
14:37
ball because he's so close anyway that without, and I don't
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know if you remember, Hoyland gave a penalty away in a very
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similar kind of pull back against City in a league game, I
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think it was. And that was way softer than
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this. Yeah, funnily enough, I think
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like a striker in form probably scores from that opportunity,
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but Holland probably would have like, I don't know if he would
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have got the shot off anyway, but I feel like he was in
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position to be able to get it off.
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Whether he actually would have got it off and scored is another
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matter, but I feel like he was in the right position.
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So yeah, based on that, I think it was a penalty in a red card.
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Ash, what do you think? Yeah, Given we've seen over many
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years in Europe decisions go against us and you're like, what
15:25
the hell is going on? The famous ones like Nani
15:28
against Real Madrid, high fur, because we're so used to
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watching the Premier League. And in the Premier League it's a
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yellow card or not even a card. I think just when you look at
15:37
like how they have to interpret this stuff, it's like, as as
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mentioned, it's a goal scoring opportunity denied, therefore it
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is a red card. Even though, yeah, I'm not 100%
15:50
sure if Hoyland's getting there. To your point, Steve, like
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there's been many games in recent weeks or even months
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where balls have actually been put into the box like that and
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he's always ever so slightly behind it, whether that's
16:03
confidence or like not understanding the rhythm of the
16:06
other players. It's like a combination of
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factors, but I mean credit to Hoyland because it was
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definitely one of his better games and you know, you have to
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put yourself in that position. I thought the build up for the
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for that penalty was good as well.
16:22
Chris passing Garnacho is for me.
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He's been playing well. You know, you can debate output,
16:30
but like, he's creating the chances that is desperately
16:35
needed in this team. And I still find it a bit wild
16:39
that, like a lot of United fans that I talked to are happy to
16:42
sell him. Maybe we can talk about that
16:45
later on, on a different pod. But, you know, he's 20.
16:49
He's got more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo at the same
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age. It doesn't mean it's going to
16:53
turn out to be the the next CR7, but I see so much potential in
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him. Maybe, yeah, he doesn't have
16:59
like, the like, ideal position in a ribbon system.
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But I would not sell him and persist with him.
17:07
But yeah, he he played really well and he he deserves a lot of
17:11
credit for his his play on that second goal to get the ball, not
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handle it. And then, yeah, obviously Mr
17:19
Fantastic Captain stepping up again.
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Yeah, yeah, I think before the again, I want to say a little,
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little shout to Agarte because the the goal actually comes from
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an interception from him. Like they make a mistake in the
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midfield and he just he not good on the ball, but the off the
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ball he just snaps in, makes the challenge.
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Hoyland, who played, I think excellent in whether you say
17:44
about his finishing or not, I think his holdup play is really
17:47
improving. And in this game, his general
17:49
holdup play was really good. Garnacho, I totally agree with
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Ash is whether you sell him or not, it'd be hard to improve.
17:58
We discussed this in the January window, right?
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It's like I don't want to sell him because he's one of our key
18:04
players. He's the one player that can run
18:05
with the ball, can create moments, create speed, take on
18:12
players. So yeah, a really, really good
18:16
play from him. And then crucial cross as well
18:19
from Mazrawi to to Hoyland. And yeah, really good run from
18:24
Hoyland to still get there to, to make the run.
18:27
And for me was, it was, it was, it was definitely a in the
18:31
European context, that's a foul. And I want to shout out to the
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referee on the night who was getting hugely intimidated by
18:38
the the supporters but he kept his cool.
18:41
And the athletic players. Yeah, shout out to the VAR as
18:45
well, because everyone's critical of VAR, but everyone
18:50
forgets about the decisions that get overturned or the offside
18:53
goals that, you know, that get corrected.
18:55
And there's so many times where we've looked back and we talk
18:57
about big European Knights. We always think about skulls
19:00
against Porto and you know, all these moments.
19:04
But I think the fact that he could go to VAR, went to the
19:09
monitor, made the decision and once the once the red card
19:13
happened, I think that is it changes the game, right?
19:17
I think 2 nil 1010 men, you're thinking right.
19:21
Booking.com here we go. Sky scanner, Yeah, that's
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exactly tail.com. Expedia that's.
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All plugs and sponsors available to come on.
19:30
That's when the prices started rocketing, I think.
19:32
Yeah, when the red. Car BA sleazy jet.
19:36
Yeah. That's exactly what I was
19:37
thinking when you were saying that about the red card.
19:39
But yeah, I mean, I think we're all in agreement there in terms
19:41
of it was a penalty, but in terms of sorry, it's funny, I I
19:46
think a few of us have made this mistake between Ruben and Bruno.
19:49
I think, I think there's journos that have done it in the press
19:52
conference as well. It's obviously the fact that
19:54
they're Portuguese and have a similar haircut.
19:56
But yeah, I was meant to say Bruno there.
19:59
So how the fuck does he keep? Like, is he psychic or something
20:04
with what way the keeper goes? Because I think I was listening
20:07
to talk of the Devils and even Laurie Whitwell was saying when
20:11
you slow down the penalty. The keeper hardly even makes a
20:15
movement in terms of what side he's going and Bruno somehow
20:18
always managed to send the keeper the wrong way.
20:21
Ash, any ideas? So interesting, I was watching
20:25
the game with my cousins once. 19 so you know, young and
20:30
impressionable. And a friend of the pod, doctor
20:34
Minaj. He's a psychiatrist.
20:37
And funnily enough, Bruno was speaking after the game.
20:41
I'm probably going to get the quote wrong here, but he
20:43
basically said when I'm dead, that's when I can rest.
20:50
When when the journal asked about pressure.
20:54
And yeah, Minaj asked me, like, what do you think?
20:59
And I think it's fairly simple for me.
21:01
I think Bruno's been doing this for so long.
21:04
When he was a kid, he was probably taking penalties, free
21:07
kicks. He's so used to it.
21:10
It's like getting on a bike and just automatic.
21:14
He just knows what to do in that situation.
21:16
His his penalty record at Sporting was phenomenal.
21:23
His record at Manchester United has been fantastic as well.
21:26
I can probably think about two penalties, but I he's probably
21:29
taken close to 50 penalties, which is an astounding record.
21:35
Obviously there is a technique to it.
21:37
He's he's got probably, he's definitely got two stars of
21:40
penalty because he's got the, the the one step and then he can
21:45
put the keeper down. Yeah.
21:46
And a lot of the times the keeper doesn't have to move that
21:49
much. It's the body shape.
21:51
It's a little bit, dare I say Canton are esque in terms of
21:54
Canton are used to open his side foot and you think he's going to
21:59
go a certain way he goes. The amount of times I've seen
22:02
Cantonese and the keeper the other way, Bruno's got that with
22:05
the one step and then obviously Bruno's got the ability to, you
22:09
know, put it in bottom corners as well.
22:11
So yeah, I think it's just repetition.
22:15
You know, so do you, do you think, do you think he's dummy
22:17
in the keeper? He's he's angling to shoot one
22:19
way and then putting it the other way.
22:20
Or is he actually watching which way the keeper's going?
22:23
I think he's, I think he can do both.
22:25
I think he's that good at penalties.
22:27
And also, if you think about player penalty trends, you know,
22:34
obviously Tony, Ivan, Tony was the famous one a couple of years
22:37
ago where he, you know, he doesn't even look.
22:40
And, you know, he places AI and players feed off each other and
22:44
then they try to do it in training and then it gets
22:46
replicated on the football pitch.
22:49
So to me, he's capable of doing it all when it comes to
22:52
penalties. So yeah.
22:55
As what do you make of the penalties?
22:57
Do you think, yeah, is he, is he wrong foot in the keeper or is
23:00
he watching the keeper? How's he doing it?
23:02
He's watching the keeper and he's looking for the keeper.
23:05
Little weight, a little movement, just looking where
23:08
does the keeper put his weight and then and then and then he
23:11
knows once the weights going one way, if he it's hard to adjust
23:16
back the other way. And it's a good point Ash makes
23:19
is that the the trend is now on what is in the stats world
23:22
called keeper dependent penalty taking, which is that you watch
23:25
the keeper. So your mate Harry Kane has
23:28
switched from the the old method in football was pick a spot and
23:33
hit it hard. And ever since Kane missed that
23:36
penalty in the World Cup quarter final against France, he's moved
23:39
to keep a dependent penalty. You'll see him do the stutter,
23:43
look up where's the keeper's weight going And I go the other
23:45
way still with pace with in Kane's case.
23:49
And I don't think he's missed a pen since then.
23:52
So if we if we get to the World Cup final, this still wherever
23:56
this time he's going to score hopefully.
23:59
Interesting. Yeah.
24:00
I mean, I don't know if the quote I, I didn't hear the Bruno
24:02
quote, but I heard a kind of talk around the quote.
24:05
I think what he said, which I thought was brilliant was that
24:10
that when he when he retires, he won't have those moments, the
24:15
pressure moments. So he wants to enjoy those
24:18
moments. And that's I thought that's a
24:19
really good mentality to have that you can either look at that
24:23
as this is a negative thing and here I'm under pressure or oh,
24:27
this is a positive thing because I won't get this again.
24:30
This is this is like and he looks on.
24:32
It's a challenge and something positively.
24:35
And as I said, great mentality, top captain.
24:39
Narrative is so important though when it comes to like that
24:42
statement because if your friend Roy Keane said it, I dare say
24:47
that you'd call that toxicity. But so it depends.
24:50
Like, obviously when Bruno is banging penalties away and the
24:54
team is winning, it's all, it's all good, right?
24:57
And everyone, when I say everyone talking about the
25:00
general media, the, the football world are happy with Bruno.
25:04
If Bruno had scored that penalty, but then we lost 3, two
25:10
or whatever, and then he says that, then then see the
25:13
comments, you know, the United fan base generally would still
25:17
be on his side. But that's where the negative
25:20
spin comes from, like from the general media.
25:23
Yeah, I'm not going to get into a Bruno debate on this pod.
25:26
We'll save that for another one. But I think just in terms of the
25:28
record on penalties, you can't deny the stats, the results.
25:33
He is just unbelievable at putting the ball in the net from
25:36
penalties. So yeah, I mean, fair play to
25:38
him. Yeah, I saw some reaction to
25:41
that quote as well, and I think it was he was asked like, how do
25:45
you deal with the pressure? And then he made the comment
25:48
essentially when you retire, that is the pressure that you
25:50
miss. So yeah, again, putting a
25:52
positive spin on it. So yeah, fair play, put the
25:55
penalty away and then yeah, third goal, Mr Bruno Fernandez
26:00
again and a brilliant little flick around the corner from our
26:03
friend Agate who? Can't again.
26:06
I was like, what is this like? It was like a little back heel,
26:10
wasn't it? It was better than him open his
26:11
body up like he was giving the ball away early in the game.
26:14
But yeah, so flicks, flicks was the way to go.
26:17
Bit of Dino in there. So yeah, again, great pass from
26:21
Castamera. He actually starts it at the
26:24
base of midfield. He plays it.
26:26
I can't remember who he plays it into, but then it's all like,
26:29
this is the thing. This is like old school
26:31
Manchester United. It's like 1 one touch football,
26:34
you know, I've been seeing some goals recently from like the mid
26:37
90s and it and it was just cliche like that.
26:40
It's just like one touch round the corner, free player moves
26:43
onto it. Yeah, Bruno, like, you know,
26:46
like a box to box midfielder bursting through and just
26:50
caressing it like another penalty.
26:52
FIFA finesse finished. Finished.
26:53
That was, wouldn't it proper? Real, well, I don't know, is it
26:58
RT? Yeah.
27:00
And then I think at that point you go from searching the flight
27:03
to I think that's probably when I was getting the call from
27:06
Roger. Shall we book, you know, three
27:07
nil up 10 men, it's like. I tried disturbing your your
27:11
dessert. Yeah, it's it's just
27:15
unbelievable, like not expected, right.
27:17
I was like going three nil up in that first half.
27:21
I mean, yeah, I mean, certainly not expected, but highly
27:26
enjoyable. It's nice to, you know, have
27:29
some positivity in the season. I think that we've got to have a
27:34
shout out. Just generally, Ash mentioned
27:36
Casimiro, I think McGuire, Casimiro, Bruno.
27:40
There was a sense that the three main men, the big guys, the the
27:46
ones who have the experience really stepped up in this game,
27:50
really showed their quality down the spine.
27:54
I thought they were magnificent and they held the kind of, and
27:58
that's what you want from the spine, right?
27:59
To hell to, to knit the team together to, to produce the big
28:03
moments in the big games. Leaders, leaders.
28:08
I thought they were absolutely, you know, magnificent.
28:11
And if this is Casimiro's last season, then I hope, you know,
28:16
he can go out with a trophy. It'd be 3 trophies in three
28:19
years. For the flop.
28:22
He, he, I think, I think he scored in the, the FL like the
28:26
Carabelle, right? He missed the FA Cup final but I
28:30
think he would play the final if he if we get through to the
28:32
final. It'd be magic.
28:35
I mean, you remember his header against Chelsea and the
28:39
celebration at Stamford Bridge? I think that was Season 1 when
28:43
he first came. That's the type of passion he'll
28:46
show if if we're able to get to the final and hopefully win it.
28:50
But yeah, I actually want to do a shout out as well because
28:54
these people have been the stars of the season, the away fans,
28:59
Absolutely hats off to them for going all that way.
29:04
The bookies, you know, they were saying obviously, yeah,
29:07
Athletica favourites got no chance, but they all turned up.
29:14
And yeah, we were getting bombarded at the beginning.
29:16
But I was so happy for the away fans to get a result like that
29:21
because you know, they've they've had to endure a lot this
29:25
season. So big shout out to the away
29:27
fans. And I just want to add with the
29:30
point I was made about like, you know, Harry Maguire, Castamero,
29:33
Bruno, the one stepping up, These are the players that have
29:36
taken a lot of criticism, not just this season, in previous
29:40
seasons. And for me, this is what I love
29:41
about sport is like the ups and downs and people coming back
29:45
from these challenges. And I mean, the abuse Harry took
29:49
in particular, I think like it was it 2-3 years ago, it was
29:52
like it was bullying basically. And yeah, I think this is
29:55
exactly what so many people love about sport is seeing, not
29:58
seeing them down, but obviously seeing these characters take
30:02
abuse, go through it, get back to the top.
30:05
And it's that it's that journey, right, which makes it so
30:07
beautiful. So obviously hopefully it can
30:09
end in a trophy, but. Comeback stories.
30:12
Sport is all about comeback stories, as Fergie said, right?
30:15
You learn more in defeat and then you come back stronger.
30:18
That's what he always used to say when we when we came second
30:21
in the league. So, you know, it's, it's in the
30:24
blood. It's in the heritage of this
30:26
football club that, you know, players can, yeah, like have
30:30
Downers and then they can come back.
30:31
So it would be really fitting for Harry to be able to win the
30:38
Europa whatever happens afterwards.
30:41
So, you know, this is the thing like that Leon goal, and I think
30:45
I mentioned it before, to make that Harry goal stand out even
30:49
more, get to the final, give yourself a chance to win it.
30:54
So we've got to finish the job off on Thursday.
30:58
Unfortunately, we do have to touch on losing 4 three to
31:02
Brentford on the weekend and obviously having a quick look
31:06
ahead to Thursday nights. I mean, in terms of the
31:10
Brentford game, there was a lot of changes made.
31:12
I think that's the first thing to say.
31:15
I mean that was expected. I think most people expected
31:18
changes. We're not playing for anything
31:19
in the league. I think we are officially safe
31:22
from relegation maybe a couple of weeks ago.
31:25
We've avoided the drop, although we've not hit the Magic 40 yet.
31:28
So clearly, yeah, nothing really to play for in the league apart
31:31
from Pride prize money. So I guess, oh, is it OK to just
31:38
keep losing games in the league? It's not OK to keep losing
31:42
games. I just think it's the wrong
31:43
question. The question really should be do
31:48
you or do you not support the team selection?
31:51
Because the moment you have the team selection, you're going to
31:53
probably lose that game, right? Because Brentford have a lot to
31:55
play for. They're pushing for Europe,
31:57
they've got their strongest team out.
31:59
We generally agree, even if we put our strongest team outgoing
32:03
to Brentford's a difficult game, then the question just becomes
32:06
do you think it's right for Ruben to rotate so much to rest
32:11
so many players to bring in? You know, Cheeto Obie is the
32:14
youngest, I think. Was it the youngest Premier
32:17
League appearance maker for United?
32:19
I think this was the third youngest ever Premier League
32:22
team by anyone. If do you support that or not?
32:27
I personally do, I think, I guess we've won three nil, but
32:31
I'm still worried about Thursday night.
32:33
I really want us to go through. I think we need to prioritise
32:37
the, the, the, the Europa and that means keeping the players
32:41
fresh. We saw what happened with
32:42
Delict. He gets injured, right?
32:44
So you're going to protect players from injury.
32:47
You you want to get some minutes into certain players and we got,
32:50
you know, I think we've got another 45 into Shaw's legs, bit
32:53
more into mound. Ahmad played a bit more, I
32:58
supported the rotation. I think there were some good
33:00
moments in the game where again, we got into those, keep talking
33:04
about getting into those wing and cut back situations.
33:08
We scored a really nice goal from one of those.
33:12
I think was it Garnacho into Mount, which is what you're
33:15
looking for #10 into #10 and then I think Garnacho had
33:21
another chance, maybe from Mount into Garnacho the reverse way
33:24
where he could have scored and lovely goal from Garnacho and
33:29
Ahmad as well coming back, which was nice.
33:31
But we got bullied, right Physically because it's a young
33:34
team and Brentford are really strong and physical.
33:37
You know, long throw into the box and they score a goal, for
33:40
example. You could see there's a
33:43
difference in the level of physicality because you put on a
33:45
17 year old, etcetera. It's going to happen.
33:48
I think it's fair enough. You don't want to lose any games
33:51
of football. I know you're going to talk
33:53
about momentum and I know you know this and that and the
33:55
other, but I think it was right to protect the players as much
33:59
as possible. I really hope that we can put in
34:04
another good performance on Thursday if we win on Thursday.
34:07
For me, this result honestly doesn't matter to me.
34:11
So that's my my view and I know that that will get a lot of
34:15
criticism because the Premier League is the bread and butter,
34:19
but I think the manager made the right call.
34:22
I, I actually agree with you in terms of like the rotation, I, I
34:25
think it's right to rotate, protect the players for the
34:27
Europa League. The only thing I would say is if
34:30
you were doing that, you're putting your eggs in the Europa
34:33
League basket. And if you do that, it's got to
34:37
pay off. And very similar thing happened
34:40
with Jose, you know, in 2017, he did a similar thing.
34:44
We weren't obviously 15th, we were 7th, which was bad for our
34:48
standards back then. So loads of, yeah, whatever, we
34:52
were outside the top 4, right? But loads of pressure was put on
34:56
Jose to basically go and win that trophy given he started
35:00
doing the same thing, you know, resting players in the league.
35:02
So that's all I'm saying is while I agree with it, if you
35:05
keep losing games as well, you would pile in the pressure in
35:08
terms of winning that trophy. So he has to win that trophy.
35:11
And I'm not going to get into the Reuben thing on this pod,
35:15
but what I will tell you is before the Europa League final,
35:18
I will categorically tell you what I'm doing with Reuben if we
35:22
win the final or if we don't win the final.
35:25
So the viewers will have to tune in and wait for that.
35:27
But in the meantime, Reuben, my friend, you need to win this
35:33
Europa League trophy. Ash, what did you make of losing
35:37
another game in the League I? Mean, I don't, I don't like it.
35:40
I mean, I remember when Reuben was losing games like, you know,
35:48
continuously at the beginning and as we're saying, like he's
35:51
comfortable with that situation. And to be fair, as has been like
35:57
that a couple of times since the post Fergie era.
35:59
So like he doesn't mind basically the house burning down
36:03
like David Moyes and Ollie that those two kind of like moments
36:07
stand out to me. And I think that's the question
36:12
whether all this house burning is going to lead somewhere.
36:17
I know as is confident next season with better players, even
36:23
that in itself worries me because I'm not seeing the
36:27
improvement enough from his existing players.
36:30
So we'll see. I mean, regarding Brentford, to
36:35
be honest with you, because obviously the Euro, like you
36:40
said, Steve, all legs are in the Europa.
36:43
So he had he had to rest, you know, and rotate the players.
36:47
But I'm not really sure even if like our full team starts, how
36:53
do we play? And I'm not talking about about
36:55
the result. I'm talking about how we play.
36:58
You know, Europa is is not as taxing as the Premier League and
37:04
that's the key. So we'll we'll have to see if I
37:09
don't think we're giving up the games either.
37:10
I I think he's I think he's picking the most suitable team
37:16
for the weekend games. He's hoping to get a
37:19
performance. Yeah, we get we get segments
37:23
throughout the game. So, you know, as has already
37:27
talked about it in terms of there were some the the first
37:30
goal was was really good. And it goes into my point about
37:33
Garnacho, like he's playing well, a little bit of petulant
37:39
second-half with a bit of like throwing his arms.
37:42
But to be fair, he's a kid and he's going to get frustrated,
37:44
right? He's not getting the ball.
37:46
And he probably wants to do more for the team as well.
37:50
This is where Reuben's management skills like have to
37:54
occur. Steve as well, right?
37:56
We've seen that he didn't want to, you know, go with Rashford
38:00
and essentially go through the season and try and help him.
38:05
You know, for whatever reason, he wanted to get rid of him
38:08
pretty much straight away. Yeah.
38:10
And I look forward to the conversation, Steve, because,
38:15
yeah, the the league is not going to get any prettier with
38:18
three games to go. Yeah, let's hope we get 40.
38:22
Points. I'm, I'm curious about something
38:25
in terms of you saying, you know, that he needs to get more
38:28
out of the players. Which of these players
38:30
specifically do you, you know, have a high regard for that you
38:33
don't think Reuben is getting enough out of?
38:38
Because, you know, you mentioned Garnacho.
38:40
I think Garnacho has improved a lot under Reuben.
38:43
I think he started out not really understanding that number
38:46
10 role. I think it's apart from just
38:48
that final bit of execution for that goal was excellent, right?
38:53
I've been saying he gets in the position if he could just hit
38:56
that into the top corner and he hit it into the top corner.
38:59
I think his general game has been really good like, but you
39:04
know which, which other players do you think he you think?
39:07
Another manager would get more out of, I think other managers
39:12
could get more out the goalkeeper in terms of his
39:15
possession and honours. Strength is his, you know,
39:18
passing skills and we're not really seeing any benefits in
39:23
the current setup. I think he I think other
39:27
managers could probably actually get more from the centre backs
39:30
in terms of the way they played the ball out from the back.
39:34
I mean, which centre backs do you think are really good on the
39:36
ball that haven't shown their quality in the Reuben system
39:40
elect? I think there's more to come
39:42
from to late that that's what I mean.
39:45
That will be what will be interesting next season because
39:48
there is a big, what's the word importance, right when it comes
39:53
to the centre backs in Rubin system in terms of how they play
39:56
out from the back. And as I mentioned with the eye
39:59
test, I don't know, six weeks ago, all I'm seeing is sideways
40:05
passing, which means you keep the ball away from the
40:08
opposition. But where is it going?
40:09
And then The Athletic, without me even seeing it, like write an
40:15
article essentially, you know, highlighting my point.
40:20
Over many games. Do you know what I'm really
40:22
looking forward to is when we redo what we did pre FA Cup
40:25
final last season, where us pulls out the cards of all the
40:28
players and we say whether we're selling or keeping them.
40:32
Because I, I was thinking like, you know, we, we recently we
40:35
have, we've had a, had a, have had a few amount of injuries,
40:39
right, like key injuries as well, like Mainu.
40:42
Great to see Ahmad back on the score sheet, right?
40:44
That's a big, big boost like ahead of hopefully, obviously
40:49
the semi final and then hopefully a final.
40:51
Like, it's going to be really interesting just to sit down and
40:53
look at the squad and kind of have a discussion about whether
40:57
we think some of these players. Are like, I generally would
41:00
probably more tilted towards being positive towards the
41:03
players, right? And then you guys a little bit
41:07
more, you know, negative towards the players then I always think
41:10
if you're negative towards the players, why do you blame the
41:13
manager if you don't think the players are good enough?
41:15
So that's why. But it's not simple.
41:18
It's not simple science. So that's that's your problem
41:21
when it comes to if someone says like a player is not good
41:25
enough, it doesn't literally mean that the fan thinks that
41:28
they can't play football if it if they think that more can get
41:31
bigger, get an out, get out of them right and.
41:34
That's why we need, yeah. That's what I was asking.
41:36
Specifically, we need a. We need a deep.
41:37
Deep dive like we need to go through.
41:39
And the last part, I think Cabs mentioned, you know, he thinks
41:42
our squad is like a mid table squad.
41:44
And if we're a mid table squad and we're a mid table and the
41:48
we're not mid table, we're bottom of mid table.
41:50
We're like 11, we're like 11 points off Brentford.
41:53
Do you know what I mean? Like the difference between that
41:56
and where we are. It's not night and day.
41:58
The the the other interesting that thing he mentioned, which I
42:01
was a bit like what you're saying, you know, Ollie burning
42:06
the house down or something, is that he said he thinks that
42:09
potentially next season Liverpool will get worse because
42:12
slots going to change things to get better.
42:15
And that's how I feel with Ruben and what Ollie did in his first
42:19
season that, you know, we needed to get worse.
42:21
And then the second season we were better.
42:22
We came second in the league. We contested we, you know,
42:26
Europa League final which if but a.
42:28
Half after that, didn't it? No, but no.
42:30
But that was the Ronaldo signing, which obviously we, we,
42:34
we we all know about. But just in terms of that doing
42:37
that kind of cultural reshift, reshaping the team.
42:42
I, I, I'm hoping, and I'm not saying it's for certain that
42:45
that things will get better, but I see some improvements in
42:50
certain individuals. He has, as Steve mentioned, you
42:53
know, he lost Lysandro just as he was having some form.
42:58
I think EUR really improved a lot.
43:00
I think Deluxe had a good season.
43:02
I think he's improved McGuire. McGuire was dead under 10 hog,
43:05
right? 10 hog basically banished the
43:07
guy and I think McGuire has stepped up really good.
43:10
I agree with you in terms of the build up, still not good.
43:13
But I always think that, you know, Steve asked that question
43:16
a few pods ago, if you could take a player from the past, who
43:19
would it be? And he said Michael Carrick and
43:21
that's that team lacks that midfield, you know, someone to
43:25
run the midfield and we don't have that.
43:27
So, you know, like Casimiro and Agate a good physical players,
43:30
but the story even in the Bilbao game was talking about like we
43:34
lost a lot of ball possession. I do think that if we can make
43:37
and I will probably do a transfer pod, but that that your
43:41
Carrick signing Steve for me that I was saying the Rooney
43:44
Ronaldo, which is I guess we're looking at getting as well
43:47
right. And if we can fill those two
43:50
positions in and we talked about Dumfries as a right wing back.
43:54
I don't think the squad's that far away.
43:56
I do see a bit of improvement. I like the way that he's managed
43:59
Luke Shaw and Mason Mount like 10 hug would just bring him
44:04
straight back in popper hamstring and they'd be gone
44:07
again. You know, Cobbies been eased in,
44:10
Ahmed's been eased in. I think he's trying to and
44:14
you're right. It's all about now the final.
44:16
He's like built this, you know, the whole game plan around
44:20
getting through on Thursday, getting to the final and winning
44:24
the final. If it works out, genius,
44:29
fantastic. If it doesn't, then you know
44:32
we're going to have a conversation.
44:33
So I understand where you're coming from.
44:35
I do think you should have a view either way because I don't
44:37
think you should decide things in one match of football because
44:40
anything can happen, right? But but he's taken the gamble.
44:44
That's what I mean. He has taken the gamble.
44:46
Jeopardy. Jeopardy comes with a gamble.
44:48
Jose took the gamble. And I remember, you know, we
44:51
were one kick away from getting knocked out.
44:53
I don't know how they didn't. Score.
44:54
Oh, that's when he was given by the banana and all that, right?
44:58
And so, you know, I hope on Thursday it's less of a kind of,
45:03
you know, difficult kind of. Oh, we're going to concede,
45:08
We're going to concede. It's going to be 1 nil at half
45:10
time and then everyone's going to be nervous and looking at
45:13
their flights and hotels and they've already been booked and
45:16
what their cancellation fees look like and yeah, it's going
45:19
to be. Yeah, I was thinking like in the
45:21
in the Brentford game it was 41. I'm like if it's four one on
45:24
Thursday night, Can you imagine? And we've been do.
45:30
You know what's interesting as it's like the way I see it, the
45:33
way you're looking at this Reuben situation, you know,
45:38
given that you, you got a bit of a, a bit of a teaching
45:41
background. It's like the student, in this
45:44
case Reuben, he's good at one subject, which is the Europa and
45:49
then all the other subjects, he's been bang average, right?
45:53
And we're just basically talking about domestic, domestically or
45:57
domestic form. So I'm really interested to see
46:01
like how this student picks up his form outside of outside of
46:06
quality of players. Because yeah, if the solution is
46:10
basically a bunch of players of like Kunya quality or like the
46:15
next level up, then as Cab said, it's like then we might as well
46:20
just wait for Carly to see what he's doing with the Brazil
46:24
situation. Like he's supposed to be a
46:27
manager that is able to get players irrelevant of ability,
46:33
put them into a system. Yep, he needs time to coach them
46:36
and he's going to get the pre season.
46:39
But I don't know, it's just really worrying.
46:42
It's like 25 Premier League games.
46:44
And you know, I guess if you took it from the moment Reuben
46:49
started, I think he's like 16th in the league.
46:53
If there were no signs I would agree with you.
46:55
That's the problem is that even though we keep losing games,
46:59
that's what I was asking. You.
47:00
But you can always see signs right?
47:02
Like. I don't think you can because
47:04
under 10 hag I saw nothing. I was convinced that this.
47:07
Was no, no, but that's going nowhere.
47:09
Yeah, that's second. See second season, yeah.
47:11
Yeah, it was like, and I don't feel that.
47:13
I feel like there's a lot of players who are starting to
47:15
understand this system, but I feel like you're a little bit
47:20
enchanted by his personality though, because he's a nice guy.
47:23
Everyone likes him. The other thing I would say
47:24
about 10 hog, the thing I learned from 10 hog is how much
47:30
charisma is important and, and, and that is true.
47:33
You're right. If, if he didn't have the
47:35
charisma, there's I would I would, I would be No, no way
47:39
would I be backing him because he's honest, because he he
47:43
identifies the things I identify and he points out this team
47:46
lacks that the profiles in terms of the speed, the physicality,
47:50
the take on ability, right, the dribbling.
47:53
And because he he says the things and therefore I I feel
47:57
that he understands what's missing that if he then gets
48:00
those things that we can improve.
48:03
The Europa is a window because it it it shows you that where
48:08
the level of opposition is closer to to us that we can
48:12
perform. And the Premier League is, is is
48:14
a higher level. And I do feel that there's some
48:18
young players. You know, I like Lenny Oro, I
48:21
think he's he's going to be a really good player.
48:23
I really, I really back him. I really feel that Garnacha,
48:27
we've been talking about him. He's getting for me.
48:31
He's had a good season. I just just just think he just
48:35
has to learn to play with with that fullback that he hasn't had
48:38
the overlapping fullback and he's got that now.
48:41
He's building that relationship. Like I said, I think Hoyland's
48:44
link up plays got better, but he put proper striker in this team,
48:48
Someone that can genuinely finish chances, like a world
48:50
class striker. You put in a Cunha at 10, you
48:53
sign a midfielder. I think you know that there
48:58
will. It's amazing how a few players
49:02
who are of a decent level, it's a bit like this game, right?
49:06
We didn't have Bruno Fernandez and you're like, you're missing
49:09
the guy who can make the difference and sometimes quality
49:14
player will make the difference. What will be interest?
49:16
Yeah, I mean, and this is the thing, right?
49:18
He's going to get the summer like irrelevant of Steve's one
49:23
game decision making, Jim's backing him.
49:26
I I, I can feel it like the way he was he.
49:29
Has to he. Has to well, this is my point.
49:31
The way he presented the on the interview about Ruben, he's got
49:35
no choice. This isn't like Dan Ashworth
49:37
where he's called him like, you know, one of the top football
49:40
operators then obviously backed out and sacked him.
49:43
This is different. He has to back him all the way
49:46
now. So obviously they've started
49:48
early. Maybe we'll talk about it,
49:50
Steve, in terms of like the transfer rumours starting around
49:53
season ticket renewal time, but he will get the players in
49:57
general that he wants. And what will be interesting
50:00
next season is like everyone and especially you, as you're going
50:05
to say things will improve but you can't.
50:07
He can't say it's an improvement going from 16th to 10th.
50:11
He's got to challenge for at least, you know, a European
50:16
position and he can't. You know, we can't finish like
50:22
8th like 7 points behind like it's not good enough given the
50:26
amount of money he's going to get and hopefully the quality of
50:28
players. I agree.
50:29
So if let's look at the league table and when we were thinking
50:32
of we'll make our pre season predictions and I'm going to
50:34
make a pre season prediction now well in advance.
50:37
I do think Liverpool, Arsenal and probably City again are
50:41
going to contest for the title and I think the title will come
50:44
from those three and no one else.
50:46
And then you've got another group behind that of a of a
50:49
Newcastle, of a Chelsea, maybe Villa in the 4-5 and six.
50:54
We need to be in that group. It needs to be Newcastle,
50:56
Chelsea, Villa, Man United and we shouldn't be messing around
51:00
with the Bournemouth's, the Brentford's, the Brightons and
51:02
the Fulham's and the Palaces. We need to be in that top group
51:06
contesting for the 4th and 5th spot for the Champions League
51:09
and at worst the Europa League qualification and anything short
51:13
of that. It shouldn't be good enough,
51:15
assuming that we sign the players that we're talking
51:18
about. United's a massive club, you
51:22
know, we, we, we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to, you
51:25
know, Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton.
51:28
So I, I 100% expect us to, to be contesting higher up the league
51:33
next season. But as we know that Europa
51:36
League is pivotal, isn't it? Today, That's what I.
51:38
Was going to say, so let's. Let's.
51:40
Teach us all on that game. Thursday night, I'm really
51:43
looking forward to it. I'm, I'm hoping we get through.
51:46
I hope we can get some tickets in the ballot and let's, let's
51:49
get on. Booking.com or other sponsors
51:52
are available for our podcast if you're listening.
51:55
We'll drink some heel, take some athletic greens.
51:59
I'll be using Nord VPN as well on the travel.
52:02
Just to shout out to Hugh is another chocolate dark
52:05
chocolate. So, Hugh, if you're interested.
52:09
So yeah, it's Thursday night. It's a big one.
52:11
And I really hope that we can build momentum into into that.
52:14
And if and if we can hear that Champions League music again
52:17
next season, then I feel confident that this team, you
52:23
know, Casimiro's last hurrah, you know, we'll sign to new
52:27
players and I think we'll we'll be competitive.
52:30
I have seen the positives, this positive signs.
52:32
I think the Bilbao game, the first leg showed that there's
52:38
something there and I want to see this again on Thursday
52:40
night. And then if we can get through
52:42
on Thursday night and I really believe in the lads, then we've
52:45
got a massive, massive, massive game back in Bilbao Sedan where
52:49
we're going to have some good memories, probably against Spurs
52:52
I'm guessing, given that they're ahead and we'll see.
52:56
You know, that's the real test because this is a team that has
53:00
proved that even in the Brentford game they were still
53:02
trying till the end. This is a team that hasn't
53:04
doesn't give up. They keep going, they keep
53:07
fighting, made comebacks to to be where we are.
53:12
And I think Ruben's going to have the master plan and Angie's
53:16
going to be, you know, he says he always wins a trophy in a
53:19
second season. And I think it's going to be
53:22
the, you know, the sacking trophy.
53:24
See in the final mate. Yeah, I mean, one thing I hope
53:27
for Thursday is we just don't sit back from the start.
53:29
I think that's going to like, you know, clearly well, well,
53:33
yeah, that's what I mean. I just, I just hope we don't
53:34
just sit back from the, you know, the first whistle and
53:37
concede a goal. I just hope that, you know, on
53:40
the counter at least that, you know, we do have some threat.
53:43
And if we can get that, that just that goal in the first half
53:46
that could really put it to bed, that would be much better for
53:49
our blood pressure, I think. Yeah, I was going to say a goal
53:53
would really make Old Trafford like a carnival, so that would
53:57
be nice. Rather than the dead silence
53:59
and, yeah, ticky tacky passing of athletic.
54:04
I think it's actually worth just mentioning, you know, on the red
54:08
card in the first game, how you know it popped a balloon in
54:12
terms of atmosphere, just killed the place.
54:15
So yeah, they were pissed off about the penalty.
54:17
But the red card itself, it just killed the atmosphere along with
54:21
the goals. But yeah, we we need a rocking
54:24
Old Trafford on Thursday. Nil, nil, reset, go again.
54:30
Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that's really
54:31
interesting, I don't think we're counting our chickens, but it
54:35
seems like the club might be because they've actually opened
54:37
the ballot for the final. So we've put our application in
54:41
for our final tickets because there's a really short window
54:44
between the semi second leg and the final.
54:46
I think it's 13 days. So we got an e-mail the next day
54:49
after that first leg result. I don't know if they would have
54:52
done it if we weren't three nil up.
54:53
But anyway, it came out and we've had to put our application
54:56
in for the final. So we've done it.
54:58
We may have a hotel on reserve, we may have some flights booked
55:02
with free cancellation, but you know.
55:04
You know, what's so funny is it shows the difference in
55:07
perspective. I think both of you guys were
55:09
negative about that. It's like what what's going on
55:11
what the club doing and I was thinking, oh, look at this
55:13
really efficient operations getting things lined up so that
55:17
the ballots ready to go on the you know, if we go through as.
55:21
Jim's Jim's selling some of our allocation to some rich people.
55:26
I think it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really good that that, you
55:29
know, they've got their ducks in order.
55:30
They're all ready to go because very short turn around between
55:33
Thursday night and the is it a couple of weeks?
55:35
I think isn't it for the for the final?
55:37
So less than two weeks, you know, I know we've had a lot of
55:40
redundancies in the club and worries that, you know, the
55:44
things won't be working as efficiently, but I think they've
55:46
done a pretty good job there. So I'm going to say that in a
55:49
magnificent job, if we get tickets in the ballot hold,
55:52
yeah. Hold fire because.
55:55
Exactly. When I find out that, you know,
55:57
they've all gone to Idios and Dave Brailsford's got in my
56:01
seat. Exactly.
56:02
Am I going to be protesting outside Old Trafford?
56:05
I think which game was it, Steve?
56:07
Where? Because, you know, we fired the
56:09
person who who used to go to the away games because that person
56:13
wasn't around. Like that caused massive
56:15
problems, right? Was it a game in France?
56:17
Yeah, I can't remember which game, but yeah, I know what
56:20
you're talking about. Yeah, so let's let's hold fire
56:25
all eggs on on Thursday, followed by we.
56:28
Wanted to run the ballot but the guy who presses the buttons
56:30
didn't buy it. And his laptop, he's like, he's
56:34
taking his laptop with him. The guy who takes the balls out
56:38
the bag. #52 Yeah. Steve, I think, I think the
56:42
only, the only thing to mention just before we wrap up is I feel
56:47
like there's exploitation of fans going on here.
56:49
So as I know you're wearing the colours of EasyJet tonight, but
56:52
EasyJet have started hiking them.
56:55
Actually, McLaren, McLaren, McLaren.
56:58
McLaren, I'm looking at you swapping teams after Lewis
57:01
leaving Mercedes. But yeah, they're hiking the
57:04
flight prices to like 1500 LB return like Manchester to Bilbar
57:08
roots is shocking isn't it? Yeah, I do think this is where,
57:14
as you know, I'm kind of a bit of an anti anti neoliberal
57:17
capitalist. I think, you know, that these
57:20
corporations do love their opportunity to take advantage of
57:23
us. You know, my, my water bills
57:25
gone up massively. My, our energy prices have gone
57:28
up. And every time they have an
57:30
opportunity to, to fleece us a bit more, they will.
57:34
I think there should, there should be some kind of
57:35
regulation to say that, you know, the, the normal average
57:38
price is this and, and you can't charge more than X percent
57:42
because, you know, it's a bit ridiculous really.
57:45
And that's going straight in the, you know, in their pockets.
57:48
It's just, it's just unnecessary.
57:50
But that's what you do in the free market, you know, and all
57:53
you people are going to vote reform and Tory and all that.
57:56
That's, that's what you're going to get.
57:58
So you know, I, I, I, I hope you can look in the conscious think
58:03
about the Green Party come the next election and you know we
58:05
can, the world will be a better place.
58:07
But I doubt it based on the Council results this last week.
58:12
OK, and I'm not bombshell before we wrap up, just yeah, big shout
58:16
out to the boys on Thursday, Old Trafford.
58:18
We need that atmosphere. Hopefully it's relatively
58:23
comfortable, but I think we all know deep down it's not going to
58:26
be. So up the fucking Reds.
58:28
Let's get that final in Bilbao. Thanks for joining us on this
58:32
episode and we'll catch you on the next one.