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Week 23 Premier League Recap · Premier League Playground: Lad and Dad

0:04
All right, and welcome into the Week 23 edition of the Premier
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League Playground. I am the dad, Bjorn, with me as
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our star of the lad. Luca Miller.
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And how are you today, Luca? I'm doing good.
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How are you doing? Good, doing good.
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So we wrapped up another week in the Premier League and you
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didn't really have any games. You had kind of an off weekend.
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You're back practicing outside, but no games for you this
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weekend. I have a game today I was.
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Going to say you've got a football game today and then
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you've also got some games coming up this weekend.
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So maybe no outdoor, outdoor games.
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So this when we do our next episode, you'll have some games
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to kind of catch us up on for, for your action.
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But I guess for right now, Luca, we want to just dive into Week
0:47
23 games. Yep.
0:48
All right, Luca, Well the first game we had of the week was West
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Ham hosting Sunderland. This game ends 31 West Ham.
0:55
I figured it could be two nil. Sunderland Somerville scores in
0:59
14th minute off of a header from Bowen.
1:02
Or well he Bowen crosses it in and Somerville heads it.
1:06
Bowen then scores a PK in the 28th minute, contains Fernandez
1:10
with a really nice goal from way out in the 43rd minute and then
1:13
Brobby gets a consolation goal in the 66th minute. 11th game
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with a goal and an assist for Bowen in the Premier League and
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only Sunderland 6th away goal in 12 games.
1:25
Yeah, it's sort of been Sunderland's problem, right?
1:27
As they go on the road, they just don't score a lot of goals.
1:30
So if they're going to be giving up three, they're going to
1:32
really struggle. They're, you know, a team that's
1:34
been much better at home, but they really, really struggle on
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the road to score goals. It kind of feels like Luca, the
1:40
shine is a little off of Sunderland.
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They were such a great story the first half of the season.
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They're sitting right now, Luca, in 11th on 33 points.
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I'm curious your opinion with this team now do you?
1:53
I think 11, that's a little low. I thought it was.
1:56
I thought it was higher than that.
1:57
Yeah, they're in the bottom half now.
1:59
Yeah, they've struggled lately. Obviously they had a lot of guys
2:01
go to AFCON, but even with their guys back, you know, they they
2:04
lost obviously this week, they won last week, but then a loss,
2:07
draw, draw and they're three before that.
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You do you think this team Luca can can kind of get it together,
2:13
make a push or are you kind of saying they're probably just
2:16
sort of a mid? Table.
2:16
I'm kind of fading on them a little bit.
2:19
Yeah, it was a good story. Yeah, they now no Granite Jocker
2:22
for them. I think it's his first game that
2:24
he missed with injury. So that's a big loss for them.
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He's been so good for them in the midfield, so feels like
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maybe they were missing him a little bit.
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But again, losing to West Ham, not great West Ham, Luke in 18th
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place, but you know, trying to creep out of that relegation
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spot of 18th. Now the problem is is that
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Forest also won, which we'll get on to.
2:45
So Newcastle or West Ham pick up a big three points, but the team
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they're kind of chasing, Nottingham Forest, pick up three
2:52
points, but they did pick up some points on leads.
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So West Ham, Luca, what do you think?
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Are they going to get relegated or not?
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I don't know. That's a good question.
3:00
We'll have to see who they play next, but yeah, I I'm a little,
3:05
I'm on the fence. I don't know.
3:07
Before I was definitely their day related, but now I don't
3:10
really know. Yeah, it's interesting.
3:12
When you look at the bottom of the table now you've got Crystal
3:14
Palace. Look all the way down in 15th,
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Leeds in 16th, Forest and 17th and West Ham and 18th.
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And then we pretty much think Burnley and Wolves in 19th and
3:23
20th are going down. So it's sort of that one last
3:26
spot nobody wants to be in because then they get relegated.
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And now Crystal Palace sort of in the mix.
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West Ham only eight behind them because Palace have been doing
3:34
so badly. But yeah, we'll see.
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Next couple weeks will be kind of big here.
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But signs of life from West Ham. Luca, back-to-back win.
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So inching closer to 17. All right, Luca, good result.
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You know, you thought maybe it would be a 11 tie.
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I I think this was you kind of picking based on your fandom of
3:54
Arsenal, hoping that somehow the worst team in the league was
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going to go to the Eddie Had and get draw.
3:58
I I saw something in wolves, you know?
4:01
OK, well tell tell me about the game.
4:03
Well, it ended 2 nil city. I predicted he won one Marmos in
4:07
the 6th minute from a nice ball from Nunez and then so may know
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he's been really good for them in the 48th minute for and still
4:15
in the first half, City rested some starters.
4:19
Mormous started over Holland and bounced back after losing
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command menu and Bodo in the Champions League.
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Yeah, I mean, this was just cruise control.
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You know, I think City hit a crossbar in a post.
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It probably should have been four or five.
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Nothing. This game was never in doubt.
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So let me ask you this, Luke, about benching Holland.
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Like, do you are you OK with them benching him?
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Like, I mean, he he got so in the game, in the Man U game, he
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gets pulled off in like the 75th minute.
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And of course Holland wants to play every minute.
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You know, he's the best striker in the world.
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Pep pulls him off in a game that they were sort of on their way
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to losing and then doesn't start him here.
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It kind of says he wants him to sort of, you know, he spins it
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as well. He needs rest.
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They're playing a lot of games. But also for him to clear his
5:02
head. Are you OK with benching Holland
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for a game or so? That's a good question.
5:08
I don't know that's hard because Holland is just insane, but he
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also has played like what, every minute for them before the Man U
5:21
game I. Don't know if it's been every
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minute but. I'm exaggerating a little bit.
5:25
Yeah, I mean, he plays a ton of minutes.
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He played in the Champions League game when they went to
5:29
Norway midweek. So, you know, obviously this was
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a game that they rested a lot of guys, a lot of, you know, key
5:36
guys. They're playing the worst team
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in the league at home. So they're pretty much know
5:39
they're going to win this game. Of course they have got great
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guys on the bench to bring in. It's not like Marmouche's, you
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know, chopped liver. So it's interesting, Luca, when
5:47
you look since Holland arrived at Man United, they actually
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have a. Better Man City.
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Man City, thank you. They have a better win
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percentage when he doesn't start games.
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So Holland has not started 22 games since he's come, and
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they've won eighteen of those games, so an 82% win percentage.
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Holland has started 115 games and they've won 73 of those, a
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63% win percentage. It's not hard to wrap your head
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around that. You know, I know I think that's
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just a little fluky. I, I mean, you know, every team
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in the world would take him, Every team in the world would
6:19
start him. But it's just interesting to me
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that you see that they maybe, you know, the team is maybe too
6:26
reliant on him and everything is sort of geared so much for him.
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I mean, the whole point of that team is to get the ball to
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Holland and maybe when he's not there, everybody else sort of is
6:37
a little more involved, a little more free flowing.
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I don't know, you know, but that.
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Might be it. Yeah, could be, you know,
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Semenya Luca, he's been great third goal since joining and
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he's sort of fit right in. But situation, I want to ask you
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all, Luke, but there was a bar situation in this game.
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Take me through the bar situation in this game.
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So Marmos. Marmos gets a long ball and he
7:00
kind of flicks it in inside and mascaras on him and he kind of
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kind of flicks his like upper elbow to arm and Marmouch ends
7:14
up getting past him and then hits the post.
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But I, I I. So Marmouch kind of is like
7:21
bringing the ball back and the defenders running there and it
7:23
kind of comes up into his arm. Yeah, OK.
7:27
So the call on the field was what?
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It was no penalty and then the ref went to the what?
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It was like the refs first ever Premier League game and he said
7:41
no to the penalty and then he went to VAR and he stayed with
7:46
his call. It's pretty rare I do.
7:52
It's close so. What in Europe, if you're the
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referee, would you have called that a handball in the box and a
7:57
penalty or not if you're the. I think I would.
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I think I would have called it on the field and if the VAR told
8:05
me to go look at it I might have overturned it.
8:09
Yeah. So there's two things here.
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I think the first thing is just sort of your opinion on the
8:12
call, right. So I I think his arm is extended
8:15
out. It's not in a natural position.
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It clearly hits his arm. Yes, the argument is that it's
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in a natural position, so therefore it should not be.
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I don't think it's a natural. Position, I don't think it is
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too. So if I'm the referee I'm
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calling a penalty. I think City, we're kind of hard
8:29
done here. What is interesting to me
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though, Luca, is like you said, the way this goes down as a
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referee makes a call. VAR then looks at it right.
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A referee up there with, you know, sitting in, you know, a
8:39
booth somewhere looking at all the different angles.
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Well, then radio down to the referee on the field.
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Hey, I, I see something that looks more like a handball.
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You need to go take a look at it at the monitor.
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The referee goes over the monitor and what is highly
8:53
unusual is that this referee came back and said I'm sticking
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with my decision on the field. That's the first time all year.
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That. All year that a referee has gone
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to VAR, been told to go there and then stuck with his call,
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said VAR. I disagree with you.
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I think you're wrong and you just said it.
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This guy's first Premier League game.
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Oh boy. Now, it didn't make a result in
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the outcome. It didn't make a difference in
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the outcome. But look, in the 2324 season, 55
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times they told a referee to go to the monitor to look at Barr
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and only one time did a referee stick with his decision.
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And this is something that frustrates me is the referees
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will go over there and they almost always just go with what
9:32
Barr tells them to do. You know, I so I actually like
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what this ref, I don't think the ref got the call right, but I
9:38
like his process of saying no. I disagree with you, Barr.
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I made the call on the field. What I'm looking at the angles
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and I still agree with my call. I wish more referees would do
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that rather than this, but it feels like a charade where they
9:50
go over there, they look at it, then they come on and they
9:52
change their decision. They feel like I'm starting to
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feel like they don't really look at it very closely and they just
10:00
are like, OK, VAR told me this. I'm just going to go with VAR
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because they know best or something.
10:07
Yeah, but I agree with you. Yeah, so I think it's, you know,
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like I said, I kind of like that this ref did this in this
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situation. Again, didn't make a difference
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on the outcome of the game, but I think it's just really
10:17
interesting because like I said, most of the time when they get
10:19
sent over there, they're changing.
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But I agree with you, like a referee, like the whole point of
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it was just to say you go take another look.
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You, the referee on the field, you're reffing the game.
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Just go take another look and see if it changes your mind.
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And so I hope that more referees do this when they see something
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on the field, they make a call, they get sent over by VAR and
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they're looking at it and they say, no, I disagree with with
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VAR. I, you know, or I, I see it in a
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different way. There's a referee on the field
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doing the game. So interesting that he he stuck
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with his decision. So, but yeah, City, Lucca,
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obviously with Arsenal losing, pick up three points, They're
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now only four points behind. So yeah, this was a game.
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Like I said, they played the worst team in the league.
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So it don't take a whole lot from this.
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They got their business done though.
11:00
Yeah. Alright Luca, interesting game
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here, Fulham hosting Brighton. This game ends 21 in full.
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I predict to be 11. They already scores a nice going
11:10
to the top corner in the 28th minute, which crazy.
11:13
That equalizes in the 6th, 72nd minute.
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And Harry Wilson, we've already talked about him.
11:18
He's on fire, scores his eighth goal of the season in the 93rd
11:22
minute off of a free kick. And Brighton never won at Craven
11:26
Cottage in last six attempts, so I guess they just have trouble
11:30
going to Craven Cottage. Yeah, and and you know, look at
11:33
this team, if you look at the stats on this game, super, even
11:36
SO505050 possession, each team had six corners full of them had
11:41
twelve shots. Brighton had thirteen shots, but
11:44
you know, Fulham get a big, big three points here.
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You know, again, look, the goals from Subs is sort of Fulham's,
11:50
you know, way they go. They have 24 goals from Subs
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since the start of last season. Did she crazy not start?
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I don't believe he did that. He did so since the start of
11:59
last year. Looking through this season, 24
12:01
goals from substitutes, I mean that that's just huge to be able
12:04
to get that kind of production off your bench.
12:06
Fulham now up to 7th. OK.
12:09
Yeah, I mean Fulham up to 7th. On 15th a couple weeks ago.
12:13
And they've just been rolling. So, you know, they like they
12:16
obviously won this week, they lost last week, but then their
12:18
last three before that, a win and two draws.
12:21
And so they are now moving up. And this is what we said, Luca,
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if you put a string of games together of even Law, even if
12:28
they're just draws and a couple wins, you can kind of move up in
12:31
this mid table here because everybody seems to kind of win,
12:33
draw, lose, lose, win, draw. Like it's nobody's just sort of
12:36
running off five wins in a row. So Fulham hanging around, you
12:40
know, potential European spots here, you know, ahead of
12:44
Brentford now ahead of Newcastle, Everton, Sunderland.
12:46
So keep an eye on Fulham. Like I said, they're kind of
12:49
playing well here now. The typical thing the Fulham
12:52
would do in years past is they go on and like now lose two or
12:55
three in a row that they probably should win and then
12:57
fall right back down. So we're going to be looking for
13:00
a little consistency from them. You don't have to win every
13:02
game, but you know, just a draw here against a good team and try
13:05
to beat the teams below you in the table.
13:07
Yeah. All right, Luca, Burnley hosted
13:10
Spurs. This game man's 22 I predicted
13:13
be one nil kind of all Tottenham until the 38th.
13:17
Well and then the in the 38th minute Van de Ven scored off of
13:21
a corner. Am I saying 2?
13:26
Zen 2. Swanzibi.
13:28
Twanzibi in the 46th minute, 45 + 1.
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He gets the equalizer off of a really nice ball from Kyle
13:37
Walker. Foster then comes off the bench
13:40
and scores to make it in the 76 minute to make it 21 and the
13:43
Romero nice powerful header in the 91st minute ties you up.
13:48
Burnley winless in last 14 Premier League matches.
13:51
Longest run since 1970 and Spurs have won two of last 14 Premier
13:57
League matches. Yeah, I mean, Spurs, Luca are in
13:59
14th place on 28 points. I mean, they're tied with Palace
14:03
on 28 points. So Spurs are eight points away
14:07
from the relegation. They are, they are now I, I
14:10
don't I, I don't think they're at risk for getting.
14:13
Relevant. I hope they are.
14:15
I hope they lose every single game this season.
14:18
But you know, it's interesting, Luca.
14:19
Both goals Spurs get come from center backs.
14:22
You know, Luca, what's weird about Spurs is they they were a
14:26
little hard done in this game, I have to say.
14:28
I mean, Petrovich for Burnley was out of his.
14:30
Mind you mean. Dubrovka Thank you Dubrovka.
14:33
I was out of his mind in this. Game.
14:34
Yeah, he's like Donald Rumo last week against United.
14:37
Yeah, I mean, just incredible saves where I kind of feel like
14:41
Spurs were a little hard done here.
14:42
They pretty much dominating this game I.
14:44
Know and and and they find themselves something.
14:46
This is what's amazing about Spurs is they dominate this
14:49
game, but yet they need a late goal just to tie.
14:52
They somehow find themselves down in these games.
14:54
It's not even like that goal from from Romero wins them the
14:57
game. It just gets them a tie.
14:59
But they totally outplayed him in this game.
15:00
Chances all over the place. I think they hit a post and a
15:03
cross bar. The weird thing is, look at
15:05
their 5th in Champions League in the Champions League.
15:08
Look at their fifth there 4/2 and one this team.
15:11
You cannot explain this team. They're terrible at home.
15:12
They're good on the road. They're not good in the Premier
15:15
League. They're good in the Champions
15:16
League. Like they're the strangest team
15:18
to me to watch. You just never quite know like
15:21
what they're going to do when they go out there.
15:23
I mean, in some ways they're a bit fascinating to watch because
15:26
like they literally could lose 5 nothing.
15:27
And you've said it before. They they beat city at city.
15:31
You know, like it's just this team is so sort of, you know,
15:35
bipolar one way or the other. But I mean, they're struggling
15:39
right now for sure in in in the in the Premier League.
15:42
You know, two wins and 14. That is really struggling and
15:46
they got city coming up this weekend.
15:48
So doesn't get any easier for. Them, yeah.
15:51
All right, look at this was an exciting game, Bournemouth
15:53
hosting Liverpool. This game is 3 two I predicted 2
15:57
well 32 Bournemouth I predicted 21 Liverpool.
16:00
Ebony Olsen in the 26th minute scores and then Jimenez in the
16:05
33rd minute. Van Dyke in the 45 + 1 head off
16:10
of a header from a corner. Super slide, nice free kick in
16:15
the 80th minute and then Adley in the 96th minute wins it.
16:20
So yeah, Liverpool's longest winless run since 2021.
16:24
Five matches. This game was just bonkers.
16:27
Yeah, this is a fun game. Chances kind of back and forth
16:32
Luca. I think Bournemouth ultimately
16:33
get the deserved winner in this one.
16:35
Bournemouth had an XG Luca of 2.3, Liverpool only 0.83.
16:40
So Bournemouth clearly had sort of the better chances in this
16:43
one and they sort of get their just reward getting that kind of
16:46
late goal. Liverpool are just sort of, like
16:49
you said, no wins in their last five.
16:51
You know, they 4 draws coming into this, they drop points.
16:54
They're now in 6th place. So dropping down now out of
16:58
Champions League spots. I mean, it's almost
17:00
inconceivable to think that the defending Premier League
17:03
champions might not make Champions League this year.
17:05
I mean, it's just sort of crazy. But that's just where Liverpool
17:08
are, Just they give up too many goals.
17:10
We've said it all along, you know, now there's talk of Andy
17:14
Robertson being sold to Tottenham.
17:17
Robertson has six months left on his deal.
17:18
He'll probably leave this summer no matter what.
17:21
So now you think you just cash in on him?
17:23
Do you sell him to Tottenham for a little bit of money or do you
17:26
just hold on to him until the until the summer and then he
17:28
walks away for free? But it just feels like they
17:31
shouldn't be selling any defenders.
17:33
Honestly, they're not been good on defense.
17:36
Yeah, and I think Joe Gomez I think came off injured so.
17:40
Oh man, who are they going to put it center back now?
17:42
Yeah, they have Symacos on loan I think in Syria.
17:45
So I think their thought is if they sell Robertson, you bring
17:48
him back. But I mean, he's.
17:50
That's a wing back. Oh, I know, right?
17:53
No, I know. Yeah.
17:53
I don't know what you do. With Joe Gomez was already a
17:56
right back move to center back. Yeah, I know.
17:59
And I don't know if connotate is he he might be hurt.
18:01
I think he's also hurt. I don't.
18:03
Know like, how serious that is? Yeah, yeah, they're, they're in
18:06
trouble on the back line and and I, I'm starting to now with,
18:09
with United playing so much better, Chelsea discerning what
18:12
they've been doing, hanging around 4th or 5th.
18:15
Liverpool I think are in some trouble here getting a sort of
18:17
one of those top five spots. They're in a real dogfight.
18:20
Yep. All right, Luca, let's move
18:22
over. Chelsea went to Crystal Palace
18:24
in a London Derby. Take me through it.
18:26
Chelsea won this 310. Yeah, I actually got this spot
18:29
on. Yeah, you picked this up.
18:30
I did 31. Luca Luca special that your
18:33
predictions. Estevan on the 34th minute, he
18:37
scores Pedro. Wait, I think Jao Pedro in the
18:42
50. I always get them Pedro, Nestro
18:44
and Jao Pedro. Confused.
18:46
Yeah. In the 50th minute, he scores
18:49
Fernandez off of a PK in the 64th minute, Wharton red card in
18:53
the 72nd minute and Chris Richards gets an oh wait
18:58
consolation in the 88th minute. Esteval, youngest Premier League
19:02
player in three years with the golden assist In the same match.
19:06
It was Evan Ferguson before him. Yeah, Esteval, Luca, I, I I
19:11
really liked what I've seen from him this year.
19:13
He's only 18 years old, 276 days, so he's super young
19:17
player. But I think Chelsea have a good
19:19
one there. I I think he's just going to get
19:21
better and better. He's got pace, he's got
19:23
quickness. Yeah, I hate to say it, but I
19:26
think Chelsea have a really good player there.
19:28
Crystal Palace Luga free falling from that, and this is just can
19:33
you? It's unbelievable how bad, how
19:35
quickly they've become so bad. It it's kind of sad.
19:40
I don't like to see it. Yeah, I mean, we kind of pull
19:42
for Palace. We've got a couple of Palace,
19:44
you know, friends of the pods that root for Palace.
19:46
Your friend Polk. Polk's a big Palace fan and, and
19:49
you know, when we flew over to London last summer, remember we
19:51
were talking to a guy on the plane who's a big Palace fan.
19:53
We saw them in the FA Cup there and stuff.
19:55
And so, you know, and I always like a lot of their players.
19:57
I like Ollie, Say and Eze. And yeah, you know.
20:00
All got sold. They did, and now there's talk
20:02
about Meteta going and of course the manager said he's out of
20:05
there in the summer. It just feels like this is like
20:08
crisis level. And Palace continue to be this
20:13
bad. I think Glasner will just dip
20:16
before that. Well, I know and you wonder if
20:18
if they may decide to just sort of part ways where, you know,
20:21
he's already been sort of critical of ownership.
20:23
He said he's going to leave. Maybe it's the best thing to
20:26
just let him go. You bring in just like an
20:29
interim person for a couple months here just basically at
20:31
this point. Don't get well without being
20:35
fired. Yeah.
20:36
I mean, you can sort of mutually part ways, you know, where
20:40
you're sort of fired but not fired.
20:42
It's like. Because a fire, I mean, wouldn't
20:45
be good for his resume. No, no, but people understand,
20:48
you know, people get it like, you know, So I still think, I
20:51
still think he'll be well sought after this summer.
20:53
You know, I don't know if he's going to get maybe the biggest
20:55
jobs, but I think I think he'll, he'll definitely land a job and
20:59
I think it'll be a pretty good job.
21:00
I think he's well thought of even with all this kind of
21:03
happening. And I think people understand
21:05
they just keep selling all their best players.
21:06
You know, they just sold Mark Gay, he about to sell Matata.
21:10
I mean, you just can't keep selling all your best players
21:13
and then want to compete for, you know, top, you know, 8 or if
21:17
you're OK just finishing 12th or 13th every year, then yeah, keep
21:21
doing that. I mean, that's sort of like the
21:22
the Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth model, right?
21:25
Although Brentford not in 1314. No, they're in 8th right now.
21:30
But again, I mean, do you really think Brentford are going to
21:32
finish top 6 or 7? Maybe.
21:35
Maybe. OK, all right.
21:36
I don't, I think so. I think they're a great story
21:38
and they're incredibly well run team.
21:40
Same thing with Brighton and Bournemouth.
21:42
But ultimately they're going to, to me, they're probably all
21:43
finished, you know, 11th, 12th, 13th, which is.
21:46
Fine, they will not. OK?
21:48
Brentford will be finishing seventh. 7th OK, well Luca
21:52
Crystal Palace The first time in Premier League history the
21:55
Crystal Palace have had a game with a red card, giving up a
21:58
penalty kick and giving up three goals.
22:00
Oh goodness, not exactly the. First time in there in history.
22:05
Well, in the history of the Premier League, so since 9293,
22:08
it's like. 20-30 years ago maybe.
22:11
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty rare to do that.
22:13
A red red card PK give up APK and give up three goals.
22:16
So tough times for palace here. I I hope they're able to kind of
22:19
steady the ship a little bit. I don't think they're going to
22:22
be, you know, worried about relegation, but they they easily
22:24
could finish 15th or 16th. Yeah.
22:27
All right Luca, a game we were kind of excited to see and I
22:30
thought it was OK, didn't quite live off to the hype that I was
22:34
looking for was Newcastle hosting Villa.
22:36
I really thought this could be a real bar and burner between two
22:39
teams with a lot of talent. Villa have been fantastic all
22:42
year, Newcastle been in great form lately.
22:44
So tell me about this game. Yeah, this game is 2 nil.
22:48
Villa, I predict be two, two tie when Dia scores a nice goal in
22:52
the 19th minute from outside the box.
22:54
Watkins in the 88th minute just gets kind of, I wouldn't say a
22:58
consolation, but another goal. Aston Villa got 13th goal from
23:03
outside the box and Aston Villa closed gap to four points on
23:07
Arsenal. They're tied to the city now.
23:09
This look at this city is a really good win.
23:12
I I so I watched a lot of this game the the you know, going to
23:16
Saint James Park, that place was rocking.
23:18
I mean you can hear the noise through the TV.
23:20
There's fans are great. That is a huge home field
23:22
advantage for Newcastle. Look, both teams had chances.
23:25
You know, it looks like sort of Villa Cruz to nothing, but
23:28
Newcastle had a couple chances here, but so did so did Villa
23:31
too. But this is a big, big win for
23:34
them. But I really thought kind of
23:35
Newcastle may, you know, kind of find a way to win this game.
23:39
But for them to go on the road, Luca, they just keep hanging
23:42
around Aston Villa and I don't I probably have not given them
23:45
enough credit in this title chase.
23:47
I've I've been sort of on the same.
23:48
This is a two team title race. Arsenal and City Villa now 23
23:53
weeks into the season, only four points behind.
23:57
You know, are you Luca? Are you saying they have a
24:01
legitimate chance to win the title?
24:03
Yes, I've said this since. Well, tell me what it is, all
24:07
right? So tell me why I'm wrong and
24:09
you're right. Why do Villa Luca have a
24:11
legitimate chance against Arsenal and City?
24:13
To pretty well stacked, well loaded.
24:16
Proved it. They've beaten us, they've
24:19
beaten Arsenal, they've beaten City, Newcastle.
24:21
At Newcastle we just saw that they've beaten.
24:25
I don't they beat United that we lost to did they beat?
24:31
I don't know if they beat Liverpool.
24:32
I think they did though. So they beaten, I'll, I'll just
24:35
say most of the good teams, big, big, like most of the big six
24:40
and I, they have such a talented team and I, I think, I think
24:45
they definitely have a legitimate chance.
24:48
Yeah, I mean, they're all good points.
24:50
They're right. They they've gone up against the
24:51
best teams and done very well, where I would say Arsenal have
24:55
gone up against the best teams and not really done that well.
24:59
We are terrible. Well, I wouldn't say terrible.
25:01
I mean, we, we beat United at United, we beat Villa.
25:04
And we lost the United at home. We've tied City, we've tied
25:07
Liverpool twice. We we tied Chelsea at Stanford
25:11
Bridge. So a lot of ties, you know, and
25:14
of course we just we'll get on to Arsenal game, but we lose at
25:17
home. So you know, not a lot of wins
25:19
against those top teams or Villa really sort of I think have
25:22
proven themselves. I do think you're agree.
25:24
I look at that roster, Luca, and they have a really good team.
25:27
If they they've got to stay healthy.
25:29
To me, you know, I think Kamara is now out for them.
25:34
I think for the rest of the season he was, he was kind of
25:37
sneaky, a really good player for them.
25:38
Do you know what happened to him?
25:39
I think it was a knee problem, but I'm not sure.
25:42
But the point is it's something major that's going to keep him
25:44
out for a while. There's some talk about them
25:46
bringing back Douglas Louise. Not that really, right?
25:49
All that excited. He was good before he left for
25:52
Juventus and then he's never been quite as good.
25:56
No, he's not really done a whole lot.
25:58
So he's on, he's on West Ham I think now West Ham or Mayan
26:03
Forest because he was like Juventus, he didn't do great and
26:06
then he went to, I thought he's on, he was on Forest, he might
26:11
have left, I don't really know. Yeah, yeah.
26:14
So, well, you know, the, the transfer window I think has
26:16
about 5 more days left. So keep an eye on the Villa
26:20
maybe trying to add a midfielder.
26:21
And, and, and because like I said, I to me, I, I've, I've
26:25
wasn't given enough credit. I, I truly do think, like I
26:27
said, now that they're four points off, they have AI think
26:31
they do have a legitimate chance.
26:32
They've proved it. Now we're 20.
26:33
Like I said, we're almost 2/3 of the way through the season.
26:37
And like you said, I think their results are to speak for
26:39
themselves. Yeah.
26:41
All right, Luca Brentford hosted Nottingham Forest.
26:44
This game ends 2 nil, Nottingham Forest.
26:47
I pretend to be two nil. Brentford eagle Jay Zeus scores
26:51
in the 12th minute. A good chest volley.
26:54
That was nice. And I will knee in the 79th
26:57
minute. Kind of does it all himself.
26:59
And only second home loss for Brentford.
27:02
They the only other team to lose to them is US.
27:07
Yeah. Nottingham Forest unbeaten in
27:10
last three matches. Yeah, Nottingham Forest, Luca,
27:13
like I said, I mean, you know, West Ham coming on a little bit,
27:16
Forest coming on a little bit, you know, neither of these teams
27:18
obviously want to get relegated, so they're sort of making a
27:20
little bit of a push here. So this, like you said, good win
27:24
for them because West Ham winning.
27:26
But yeah, going to Brentford and winning has not been easy.
27:30
So good, three points for them. It's a shame.
27:32
Brentford had really been doing well.
27:34
They've dropped their past 2. So again, you think they're
27:37
going to turn it around and finish 7th?
27:39
Yeah, not so sure. I, I still think they're going
27:41
to maybe finish, you know? Ten.
27:42
Well, I've been right most of the time.
27:44
Yeah, we'll see. Yeah, we have.
27:46
We have a bet on if here Liverpool will finish third or
27:51
Aston Villa. And you, you have, we have $5 on
27:54
it. And you, you think Liverpool's
27:56
going to, I think Aston Villa's going to.
27:58
Well, I, I, I, I felt a lot more confident a few weeks ago.
28:02
So you're in trouble now. I'm in a little bit of trouble
28:05
here. There's a pinpoint.
28:06
Gap. And you know what, I'm going to
28:08
use that $5. I'm going to buy a Kai Average
28:10
card and it's going to feel very good.
28:13
Is he still a soccer player, Luca Yes, he's still a soccer
28:16
player. Because I like, I haven't seen
28:18
him for a year. Well, I mean, they won't play
28:20
him. He wasn't even on the bench for
28:22
this. If he came in, I think he would
28:25
have made a difference. Well, all right, well, let's RIP
28:27
the Band-Aid off Luca. Let's go on to our next game,
28:30
Arsenal host Man United. Do we have to talk about this?
28:34
I know, can we just edit it all out?
28:35
Let's just go over to everybody more probably wants to hear
28:37
about Everton leads. Yeah, yeah, yeah, about. 15
28:40
minutes on Everett. Yeah, we should.
28:41
We can just say like just, yeah, just say the result of Arsenal
28:44
manual. Yeah.
28:45
What would you say, Manual 132? Yeah.
28:50
And Paul Alexander. Yeah.
28:52
I I don't want to hear anything from you guys about this.
28:55
I do not. I predict to be two one Arsenal,
29:00
Martinez, Ungo in the 29th minute for Arsenal and Blaimo
29:07
off of a gift from Zuma, Mandy in the 37th minute and then we
29:11
just collapse from there. Dorgu scores like absolute crazy
29:15
lucky Rolly in the 50th minute of volley outside of foot
29:20
crossbar and in I mean, come on and and Marino, we grab one
29:26
back. We have a little bit of hope.
29:29
And then Cunha, another Raleigh in the 87th minute.
29:33
I mean, Arsenal concede three goals for the first time in
29:38
since December 2023. OK, moving on.
29:43
Yeah, look, I mean, Arsenal just don't give up three goals.
29:47
It's been 121 matches without giving up three goals and that's
29:51
how hard it is to score. So, you know, I've got to ask
29:55
you now where you are on the state of Arsenal, Lucas.
29:57
So I mean, you know, look, we're 23 weeks in.
30:00
We're still first. We're four points up now.
30:03
We were seven points up before. We've also had multiple chances
30:07
over the past couple weeks to extend that.
30:09
Yes, and we have not. Been it out 11 points and we
30:12
have not. And so here we sit after City
30:14
had another little bump in the road and we're only four points
30:18
above them. So I'm curious like where are
30:21
you right now on sort of like this team and where you're how
30:25
you're feeling about sort of like our title shot?
30:31
Like I think every, I'm not completely fading on Arsenal
30:37
about their title. I'm a little nervous, but I
30:41
think it's just a blip in the road, kind of what City had.
30:45
And City also lost to United in our defense.
30:49
And I think we have our only person out right now.
30:56
Well, technically Cal Fury's back in training.
31:00
So if he plays in our maybe our Champions League game off the
31:03
bench, possibly, then our only person injured would be down
31:07
men. And while he doesn't really play
31:10
very much, he just comes on in like FA Cup games.
31:13
So that would be really big. That would mean we would have
31:16
like everyone on the everyone back pretty much.
31:19
And we would have a very, very good bench.
31:23
I think that would help us. And I, I, I, I hope I'm right
31:28
And I think that Arsenal, well, hopefully it will get back to
31:33
our winning ways. Yeah, I don't think it.
31:36
Look, you're not going to win every game.
31:37
You know, like you just not like the Premier League is so good.
31:40
All these teams are so good. You just aren't like and and
31:42
even the best teams go through little rough patches.
31:45
And so yes, this has been a rough patch.
31:46
Your last three games have been no wins, draw, draw and a loss,
31:50
you know, But like look what it took United to beat us.
31:53
You know, is they had an XG in this game of .71 and they get
31:57
three goals because Dorgu and Kunya hit balls from you know,
32:02
24 yards out that literally one goes off the crossbar and then
32:06
the other one curls like perfectly into the corner.
32:08
Amazing shots. Like tip your cap to them.
32:10
Like I mean they like they're really, really great goals.
32:14
But like that's what it took. And then Zubamendi literally
32:17
gifts them a goal, which literally flipped this whole
32:19
game, the 1st 30 minutes actually, Arsenal were excellent
32:21
in this game. They get a goal.
32:23
They're totally on the front foot in this game.
32:25
Zubamendi, who's been a fantastic player, He's like the
32:28
last person I would think would do this on the field.
32:30
He's so technical, so smart, just, I mean, he made a mistake.
32:33
You know, guys make mistakes. These are human beings out
32:36
there. It's just like you, you hope
32:38
that your mistakes are small ones.
32:39
This was a massive one that led to just a basically a tap in
32:42
goal for him and Boomo. And then the whole game just
32:46
flipped on its head like Arsenal just I think got real nervous,
32:49
got real tense, you know, and I think that, you know, I just
32:53
wonder, Luca, if some of this, you know, lack of form is just
32:57
nerves too. Like we they we have not won a
33:00
lot, Luca. I mean, like that's the whole
33:01
problem, right. We have this great team for
33:03
playing through four different competitions right now, FA Cup,
33:06
Carabao Cup, we're 7 and O in the Champions League.
33:09
We're still top of the table in the Premier League.
33:11
You know what there's going to. Be were the semi finals of the
33:13
Carabao Cup. Yes, I mean, we're when we went
33:16
to Stanford Bridge and we're up in that.
33:17
So we have, you know, Chelsea at home.
33:19
We're all we need is a draw here.
33:20
Like we're in like really good spots.
33:22
But I think the anxiety comes from is that we haven't been
33:24
able to close the deal and win any of these trophies lately.
33:28
Oh, because none of the competitions have ended.
33:30
No, no, I'm saying in the past couple of.
33:31
Years. We haven't, we haven't won a
33:33
Premier League title in over 20 years.
33:34
You know, we never won a Champions League title.
33:36
The FA Cup was I think 5 or 6 years ago.
33:39
And also I think for me, Luke, it's also, it's like there's
33:42
feels like there's something kind of broken in the attack on
33:44
this team. It's just, it's, it's, you know,
33:46
that we, we want total control of the ball.
33:49
We pass it around in the horseshoe around the 18.
33:52
We eventually try to get it to soccer to create something.
33:55
You know, there's it just feels like it's always the same thing.
33:58
And I just wonder if teams have sort of figured that out a
34:00
little bit, you know, I mean, Luca, who's like who is stepping
34:03
up and scoring goals for this team?
34:05
It's. Kind of a mix honestly.
34:10
We don't have like 1 main goal scorer.
34:14
I think that's a bit of a problem.
34:16
All right, Luca. So let me just tell you how bad
34:17
it's been lately. Kai Osaka zero goals in last 13
34:21
appearances in all competitions. Guy Ocharis 0 non penalty kick
34:25
goals in the last 11 Premier League games.
34:28
Gabriel Martinelli zero goals in last 13 Premier League
34:31
appearance. Noni Matawake zero goals in last
34:34
25 Premier League appearances. Leandro Trosard, One goal in
34:37
last 11 appearances in all competitions.
34:40
Those are like our, you know, our striking force, you know,
34:43
Yeah, we're getting Jay Zeus back, Habert hopefully coming
34:46
back. That's been the core of.
34:47
Our attack scoring a little bit. Well, that's the thing we
34:49
expect. We we have to get goals from
34:52
midfield. We have to get goals from Marino
34:54
Rice, We have to get goals from our defenders.
34:56
Gabrielle, you know, Timber, it goes on as an own goal today,
34:59
but I kind of give that goal to Timber.
35:01
Yeah, but the problem is you need your forwards and strikers
35:04
scoring goals. And I, I'm just kind of worried
35:07
because this feels so much like last year when we just couldn't
35:10
get goals from attackers and wingers and something's got to
35:13
be a little different. It cannot be this conservative.
35:16
They cannot just bring the ball down and pass it around.
35:20
Luca, you said it. You said Odegard shouldn't be
35:22
the captain. Tell me why.
35:24
Because he hasn't really done anything.
35:26
I think Rice should be the captain because he's contributed
35:29
so much and he does so much for his team.
35:32
He plays, so he runs around so much.
35:35
Really good at winning balls. He's scoring a little bit.
35:38
His passes are great, I think, and Udegard hasn't really done
35:41
much. And Rice, I think, is a good
35:43
leader too. Yeah, I actually, I'm there with
35:47
you, Luca. Like, I look, I don't think the
35:49
captain always has to be the best player on the field.
35:52
Like, I don't think so. I think leadership, yeah, it
35:54
helps for people to look up and be like, yeah, that guy's like
35:57
really good. But like, there's other
35:58
qualities of leadership that you can have.
36:01
But I'm with you, Luca. Like, I don't think Odegard has
36:04
been at the level we need him to be.
36:06
I don't think he has that sort of that fire look.
36:09
I don't know what happens in the dressing room or on the training
36:11
pitch. I all I can go with by what I
36:13
read or what I see. And I'm I'm with you, Luca.
36:16
Like, to me, like when Rice was at West Ham, he was the captain.
36:20
You know, he just has that sort of presence, I guess.
36:24
You know, when Rice is on the field, like I feel like
36:26
everything's better, you know, like when he's running around
36:29
out there, I'm like, you just watch him and I just like he, I
36:32
think he plays with that perfect amount of passion and fire.
36:35
It's never too much. You know, like we talked about,
36:37
like Kaisado, sometimes it's like too much with him.
36:40
Rice is always in control, like you said, running back.
36:43
He's forward, he's back. I'm kind of with you, Luke.
36:46
I, I don't think teams typically do that change captains mid
36:48
season, but I, I, I think Arsenal need a little something
36:51
to shake up this team. For me it's either Rice or
36:53
Gabrielle. OK, yeah, yeah, I, I, I hear you
36:57
on that, Gabrielle. Like I said, I have no problem.
36:59
I would have no problem with that too, you know.
37:01
All right, Luca. Well, let's move on.
37:02
Last game of the week we had Everton hosting Leeds.
37:05
So yeah, not much in this game and one one I predict 00.
37:09
Justin scores in the 28th minute and Berry in the 76th minute.
37:13
Leeds only one loss in the last 10 Premier League matches.
37:16
Yeah, look at Leeds. Look in their last ten Premier
37:19
League matches. Three wins, 6 draws, one loss
37:23
which their loss was at 43. Crazy game to Newcastle.
37:26
Oh yeah. So Leeds, Luca flying under the
37:29
radar like now a lot of those are draws, but like I said, one
37:33
loss in their last 10 for a team that just came up they're, you
37:36
know, and look, guess who they have this weekend?
37:39
Arsenal so we'll get on to that with your prediction.
37:41
But leads look like I said, sneaky kind of good team.
37:45
They're on 26 points. So you know, they're six ahead
37:48
right now of West Ham for that final relegation spot.
37:51
I'm not going to say leads are clear and free and not getting
37:54
relegated. They're still in a little bit of
37:55
a battle here, but they're doing enough.
37:57
And like I said, these draws, while they don't seem that
38:00
exciting, that's how you sort of rack up some points to try to
38:03
keep yourself. You know, if they if they draws
38:05
were losses, well, now you're tied with West Ham on 20.
38:08
So leads look a sneaky good team here.
38:10
It's a pretty decent result going to Hill Dickinson against
38:12
Everton and getting a tie. All right Luke, well there it
38:15
is. That wraps up Week 23.
38:17
Not a great week for Arsenal, but we had some good games.
38:20
So I want you to give me your Player of the week, your Team of
38:23
the Week and your Goal of the week.
38:26
Player of the week I'm going to do I think.
38:32
I think I want to do. No, I mean Harry Wilson.
38:37
I will win. Yeah, getting that's a big game
38:40
winner for them. And I mean, he deserves a shout.
38:42
I mean, we we've brought him up how good he's been.
38:44
We kind of a little little bio on him.
38:47
I mean, he's just been, he's just been unbelievable for.
38:49
Them to see. Also, I want to give an
38:51
honorable mention to Esteval. Esteval OK, yeah, Golan and
38:54
assists for an 18 year old in the Premier League?
38:55
Pretty impressive. Yeah.
38:57
All right, look what's Give me your Team of the Week or Goal of
38:59
the Week. Team of the week is Bournemouth.
39:02
All right, good win against Liverpool.
39:04
Exciting game there. And goal of the week is Dorgu,
39:10
with an honorable mention of Wendia and Cunha.
39:13
OK all. Right.
39:14
Yeah, I just. There are some good goals, Yeah.
39:18
You know, like I said, I mean, again, you just sometimes have
39:20
to. It's like when Soba Sly hit the
39:21
free kick against Arsenal, something you just got to be
39:23
like, well, I mean, these guys are amazing players.
39:26
They do amazing things. I sometimes wish Arsenal players
39:29
would do some amazing things. Feels like all our goals are
39:32
just like these little Petter goals are scrapping.
39:34
Kept poking it in like why can't one of our guys bomb it from 24
39:37
yards out into the upper 90? But.
39:39
Yeah, yeah, I have a hot take. I do not like like United at
39:43
all. You wanted some more hot takes?
39:46
There you go. I do not like United at all.
39:49
At all. We like them last week, they
39:51
helped us, last week they and I mean credit to United Luca past
39:55
two weeks, Michael Carrick's come.
39:56
In Give me a break on this. Arsenal goodness.
40:00
Gracious. Give me a break on this Michael
40:02
Carrick guy. Oh goodness.
40:03
Well, he's undefeated now, so. I don't want to hear any more
40:06
about this guy. All right, Luca, well, let's
40:08
look ahead. All right, let's let's get off
40:10
of this week. Let's wash it clean from an
40:11
Arsenal standpoint, let's focus on Week 24, OK?
40:14
We got some good games coming up here.
40:17
Right off the jump, Luca, we've got Leeds hosting Arsenal.
40:21
We just talked about Arsenal. Bad run of form, leads in a
40:24
pretty good spot here. Tough to play at Ellen Rd. at
40:28
home. What do you like for this game?
40:29
Like what do you see in here? I think 2 nil Arsenal.
40:33
All right, tell me why you're you're you're thinking a bounce
40:35
back Arsenal get a 2 nil win on the road I.
40:38
Think Arsenal are just a better team than them?
40:41
I think we have more depth and even though we're attacking like
40:47
area of our team has been great, we just do have a bit more
40:52
threat and then we have so that's why I have to know.
40:55
Okay, all right, Wolves host Bournemouth.
41:02
I'm going one nil wolves. One nil Wolves.
41:05
OK, wow. Home win for Wolves there.
41:07
Yeah, Bournemouth may be coming off that big win against
41:10
Liverpool. Maybe you know the emotions.
41:12
Hard to get them. Back.
41:12
I'm going to be watching that game and praying.
41:15
I'm going to be like, come on, Wolves.
41:18
All right, how about Brighton hosting Everton?
41:22
I'm going 00. 00 OK Chelsea host West.
41:30
Chelsea going to win three nil. Three nil.
41:32
OK, so the West Ham resurgent for Renaissance is over here.
41:36
They'd want two in a row, but. They're yeah, but.
41:38
By Chelsea. Chelsea just scored three goals
41:41
against Crystal Palace which probably have a better team than
41:44
West Ham, so I think they would beat West Ham.
41:48
Is it at Stanford Bridge? It is at Stanford.
41:50
Bridge, so yeah. And, and Chelsea were on the
41:53
road too, so I, I, I think. All right, here's an interesting
41:57
game, Luca Liverpool hosting Newcastle.
42:00
Those games are always crazy. I'm going 32 Liverpool, 32
42:05
Liverpool. Those games are always wild.
42:06
I think I I'd be willing to see some goals or I'd be.
42:10
Feels like there should be some goals in this game for sure.
42:12
You know neither. You know, Newcastle played
42:14
pretty good defense, but Liverpool give up goals all the
42:17
time. Yeah.
42:19
So kind of feels like, you know, these are two underperforming
42:22
teams. And Cher and Dan Burn are both
42:25
out for Newcastle. So and both teams have a little
42:29
bit a little bit short on the fence and not very short on
42:32
attack. So I would think that's.
42:34
Yeah, that could be that could be a fun game to watch.
42:36
You know, we'll be on that one. All right, man, you Luca hosting
42:39
Fulham. So Michael Carrick, he's he's
42:43
gonna be the greatest manager of all time.
42:45
They should literally sign him to, you know, a new deal here, a
42:47
10 year deal. I'm never gonna lose under this
42:50
guy. 2 new United. 2 new United now Fulham come in in good form
42:55
here though. 21 United. Well, I don't make you change
42:58
your. I'm not, you know, don't make me
43:00
change your. Did you write it?
43:01
What you tell me what a two, one or two?
43:03
Nothing. It's it's at.
43:06
It's at Old Trafford, so Man U is at.
43:08
Two nil. Two nil OK wow the man you
43:12
renaissance these guys that just keep coming.
43:14
I mean up to 4th place. Look out here in the title
43:17
contenders in a. Couple weeks.
43:18
Oh boy. All right, look at Nottingham
43:19
Forest hosting Crystal Palace. Two teams right around that
43:23
relegation battle. This is a big relegation game
43:26
here. I think 1 nil.
43:27
Nottingham Forest, OK. Aston Villa hosting Brentford.
43:34
Two nil. Aston Villa all.
43:36
Right, here's a bit of an interesting game.
43:38
I mean, Spurs hosting City. Spurs typically do well against
43:44
City. Spurs are kind of a hot mess
43:46
right now. I think it's be 32 Spurs. 32
43:50
Spurs OK, wow, you're just going with like, these games tend to
43:53
be kind of bonkers. I mean, but yes, and.
43:55
I don't know, for some reason Spurs places.
43:57
Just own city kind of. So I feel like I like the show
44:04
inconsistent and I, I feel even they're just bounced back from
44:08
that easily. I mean, yeah, so weird sort.
44:11
Of fascinating to watch this one yeah just cuz I mean it feels
44:15
like city should go and get a win in this one.
44:17
But you never know. You never know, I I just don't
44:21
know what to expect from Spurs week of the week.
44:22
So all right Lucas, last game of the week we have Sunderland
44:25
hosting Burnley. 00. 00 Not an exciting game there all right,
44:33
all right, Luca. Well, let's move over to our
44:36
viewer mailbag question. All right?
44:39
And this question, Luca, is sent in from your grandmother, a big
44:43
fan of the pod, Nan. Yeah, let's.
44:47
Go and she wants to know. This is a bit of a two-part
44:49
question, okay? Is she wants to know, Luca, if
44:55
you could interview one professional soccer player, who
44:58
would it be and why? Kai haverts.
45:01
OK, so there'll be a second part to this.
45:02
OK, Kai Haverts is your favorite player, right?
45:06
So if you could ask Kai Haverts a couple questions, what would
45:09
you ask? Well, I would ask, can I get
45:13
your autograph? Can you sign this jersey?
45:14
Because I'd obviously be wearing a card.
45:16
Questions about like him or like if you're interviewing him.
45:19
OK, so you're getting him? Got to get an autograph.
45:22
Fair enough. You get him to sign a card, he
45:23
signs a jersey, and now you sit down.
45:25
You're you're next. You're face to face with him.
45:28
He's getting ready to interview and.
45:30
Well, I would think this is after a game, so I would kind of
45:34
ask him about the game and how he thought he played and the
45:38
team played OK, And I would ask him maybe I.
45:50
Mean are you interested in like what he does in the offseason,
45:52
like training tactics you're interested in, like who he gets
45:55
along with on the team, Like who's your best friend on the.
45:57
Team. Oh yeah.
45:58
I would ask him who's your best friend on the team?
46:01
What are some like ways to train in the offseason for people that
46:07
might be watching this? What?
46:15
What is? You like want to know his
46:18
favorite food, like things that he likes to do outside of
46:21
soccer? What are some?
46:23
Yeah. What are some activities you
46:25
like to do outside of football? OK.
46:28
And I would ask him, what are some healthy foods that you
46:32
what? What are some of your favorite
46:34
foods that are good, like healthy foods to eat before a
46:38
game and how many questions do you want me to do?
46:43
All right, well, I figured you'd say Kai Haverts.
46:45
So if you could interview another player, OK, besides Kai
46:48
Haverts, what would be another player that you would want to
46:51
interview? So if you could pick any player
46:53
in the world right now, not Kai Haverts.
46:56
He's busy or you've already interviewed him.
46:57
You're going into the next room. Luca, who do you want to
47:00
interview? Cristiano Ronaldo.
47:02
OK, Why Ronaldo? Because he's my second favorite
47:05
player, OK, and I would also ask him for autograph.
47:11
So he's what? What makes him like your second
47:13
favorite play? What is it about him?
47:15
He's almost to 1000 goals, he's 5 Champions Leagues.
47:20
He's just so, so good on the ball.
47:24
He's just done it all pretty much.
47:26
He's won the Premier League a couple times.
47:29
Yeah, he's just and he's he's a very cool guy.
47:32
OK. I like I like his celebration
47:34
too. OK, You like his celebration?
47:37
Yeah. You.
47:37
You run around the house doing the celebration.
47:40
Don't. You this?
47:40
Yeah, I would not if I had an interview a third person
47:44
Ederson. Ederson OK, like Manchester
47:47
United goalie. Cities.
47:49
Cities, yeah, I keep saying the United, Yeah, it's city Goalie
47:52
playing in Turkey for is he with Benner Bache?
47:55
Or something. Yes, Benner Bache.
47:57
All right, Luca. Well, let's move over to our Did
47:59
You know section. So we've been rolling through
48:01
the Premier League teams, trying to learn a little bit more about
48:04
each one. Ironically, we're up to
48:07
Manchester United. So yeah, I mean, it's probably
48:14
the most famous team in the world.
48:16
You know, they're called the Red Devils, Luca.
48:18
They were founded in 1878, the Newton Heath Football Club with
48:24
the Workers Railroad depot. They kind of merged to form a
48:29
team. John Henry Davies was a local
48:33
Brewer. He named it Manchester United
48:35
and in 1892 they joined the Football League.
48:39
They won their first league title in 19 O 7 and 19 O 8, won
48:42
their first FA Cup in 19 O 9. Of course, they've won a ton of
48:47
trophies, right? 20 league titles, 13 FA Cups, 6
48:51
League Cups, 21 Community Shields, 3 Champions Leagues,
48:56
kind of slash European Cups. They've won a Club World Cup and
49:00
they want a Europa League and they kind of famously won the
49:02
travel in 9899. Their biggest rival, Luca, of
49:06
course, Manchester City location, Liverpool, they call
49:10
it the Northwest. Darby, That's sort of a big one
49:12
because they're just two big teams and I guess Arsenal's a
49:14
little bit of a rivalry just as they've been, you know, 2 very,
49:17
very good teams for a long time. Luca they play at Old Trafford.
49:21
Nickname what? The Theatre of Dreams.
49:23
Theatre of Dreams, That's right, named after the the Trafford
49:28
family which owned the land. So I didn't really know that
49:31
that that actually Old Trafford. So there was a new Trafford and
49:34
an Old Trafford, but it's actually named after a family
49:36
that was built in 1910, currently has a capacity of
49:41
74,197, the largest Premier League stadium.
49:46
Bobby Charlton, Luca club legend.
49:48
He's actually the one who named it the Theater of Dreams.
49:52
Interesting though, Luca. From 1941 to 194049 they shared
49:57
main road with City due to World War 2 bombing, Damage told
50:01
Trafford. So one point for all those eight
50:04
years, City and United share the same stadium and in fact, they
50:07
played at City Stadium. Very famous managers Luca Matt
50:11
Busby, who famously had the Busby boys managed from 45 to
50:16
69. He won five league titles in a
50:18
European Cup. Of course, Sir Alex Ferguson.
50:22
Luca managed from 1986 to 2013. Thirteen Premier League titles,
50:26
5FA Cups, 2 Champions League. Probably the most famous and
50:30
successful manager ever in the Premier League.
50:32
Jose Mourinho managed there from 2016 to 2018.
50:36
He won a Europa League in a League Cup.
50:40
So one thing in their history, Luca in 1958 they had something
50:44
called the Munich Air Disaster. We're a plane crash in Munich,
50:48
Germany and, and 23 people died, including eight players.
50:52
And Jimmy Murphy kind of credited with keeping that club
50:59
sort of, you know, together, you know, they is a tragedy that
51:02
happened to the club. They lose all their, they lose 8
51:04
players. That's a lot of players.
51:06
And Jimmy Murphy sort of took over and kind of help keep the
51:09
club going as they sort of kind of regrouped and went through a
51:12
grieving process. So he has a statue outside of
51:15
Old Trafford. Matt Busby.
51:17
Well, of course, Busby boys, he has a statue.
51:20
Sir Alex Ferguson, of course, has a statue.
51:23
And then for players, Luca, I mean, there's been a billion
51:26
legends that have gone through that club, but they call him the
51:28
Holy Trinity. And it's Bobby Charlton, Georgie
51:31
Best and Dennis, Dennis Wall. And those three together have a
51:38
statue as well. And they're called the Holy
51:40
Trinity. They played Luca back in the
51:41
like the Fifties, 60s and 70s. But of course, David Beckham,
51:45
your boy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand,
51:49
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, a ton of just amazing.
51:53
Players Vandersar. Vandersar.
51:55
Yeah, Great, great goalie Peter Schmeichel.
51:58
They're the most expensive player they've ever bought.
52:00
United have spent a lot of money.
52:02
Paul Pogba, Luca back in 2016 from Juventus, $127 million.
52:09
Boy, did that work out. Yeah, not money well spent.
52:12
The most expensive sale on this expensive player they've ever
52:15
sold. Ronaldo.
52:17
Ronaldo in 2009 Luke 110 million to.
52:21
Real, Real Madrid. Yeah, so and Luke, of course,
52:24
there's a lot of other players playing right now that have come
52:26
through there. Scott Mctominay, Lukaku, Di
52:29
Maria Alanga, Juan Bisaka, Dean Henderson, Nani Deheya Vidich.
52:34
Some of these people aren't quite active.
52:36
Robin van Persie, Jayden Sancho, Juan Mata, Veron Berbatov, Rude
52:41
van Nisselroy, of course, Rashford Ibrahimovic, Memphis to
52:45
pay a lot of a lot of real famous players that obviously
52:48
come through there. We could probably go on for a
52:49
lot longer name and a lot of these other famous players.
52:53
But yeah, there's like a little bit of the history of they're
52:54
owned by the Glazier family who bought them in 2005.
52:58
But in 2024, a guy named Jim Ratliff, an English guy, bought
53:01
about 27% of the club. The Glazier family, Luca,
53:06
they're from America, They own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
53:09
We've seen this a lot, right? American ownership with a lot of
53:11
these teams, especially some of the football owners have gotten
53:15
involved. So there's a little bit about
53:17
Manchester United. Most people know a lot about
53:19
that team, but we thought we'd kind of dive.
53:20
Into. The history there.
53:22
So all right, Luke. Well, real quick, we'll plug our
53:25
Instagram Premier League playground.
53:28
We kind of put up some stuff about each episode so you can
53:32
find out when new episodes drop or things you want us to talk
53:35
about it. premierleagueplayground@gmail.com.
53:38
We have a YouTube channel, Premier League Playground.
53:41
We're kind of getting that up and running there.
53:44
But Luca, we end every week with our penalty kick trivia
53:48
shootout. So we'll go back and forth
53:50
asking each other trivia questions and do you want to go
53:54
first or second? I will answer first answer.
53:58
First, OK with my first question to you is what?
54:00
Is the name of Crystal Palace's stadium Selhurst Park?
54:04
That is correct, Selhurst. Park in South London.
54:07
Selhurst is like a district in South London, so an area there,
54:11
So it's named after that area there built in 1924, which
54:15
country hosted. The 2018 World Cup, 2018 I
54:20
believe, was. Is that Russia correct?
54:24
All right, so 11. All right, Luca and Arsenal
54:27
trivia question. Arsenal's Invincibles, of
54:29
course, was an O3O4, the team that went undefeated during the
54:33
season. But of course, Luca, they had
54:36
games before that season and games after that season.
54:39
So Arsenal's unbeaten run was actually how many games
54:46
extending over parts of three seasons?
54:49
49 That is correct. 49. Games unbeaten.
54:53
Pretty amazing. The longest obviously unbeaten
54:56
run ever in Premier League. In which city is the Balandor?
55:01
Ceremony held every year. Oh that's a good question.
55:04
Where are they? Think of the name.
55:07
Yeah, right. The.
55:08
Origin of the name. I was going to say that.
55:09
Paris. Yes.
55:10
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
55:11
Yeah. All right, Luca.
55:13
Alexander's in Chenko right now. He's Arsenal's property but he's
55:18
on loan, I think to Forest, although he might have.
55:20
Did he just go to IAX? I, I didn't know.
55:23
I I think he's on. I'd last last time I checked, he
55:26
was on Forest. Yeah, I think he's on Forest,
55:28
but kind of on his way out. Essentially.
55:30
But Luca, he plays for what? National team?
55:36
Ukraine he plays. For the Ukraine exactly, And
55:39
they're still trying. To qualify for the World Cup.
55:41
So they still have some. Oh wow, that'd be nice if they
55:43
went to the World Cup. I would like that.
55:45
They're yes, they're they're in a little group with.
55:46
Albania, Poland and Sweden, I think, I think he's a captain
55:51
for Ukraine. He might be, yeah, yeah.
55:52
He's played there, you know, for all.
55:53
I think he's 20. 9 Of course he plays left back, but he plays in
55:56
the midfield a little bit for Ukraine.
55:57
So yeah, it'd be great. Good story if they could, yeah.
56:02
For. Which club did Kaka?
56:04
Start his professional career which.
56:08
Clubs, I'm guessing, think of like cities in Brazil.
56:11
Yeah. So I was going.
56:12
To say it's got to be a Brazilian Sao Paulo.
56:14
Correct. OK all.
56:17
Right. So 3333, yeah, this is this is
56:20
like a true penalty kick. Who is Manchester United's all
56:24
time leading goal scorer? I want to say Rooney, that is
56:35
correct. That is, I thought.
56:37
Maybe I could trip you up and you'd go for your boy Ronald.
56:40
Yeah, I knew it wasn't him, but he wasn't.
56:42
Really there he was up there, you know, He was up there like
56:45
he's like. He was there for like.
56:47
Four years, but he, I think he's like top five, right?
56:50
I I don't know if he's top five, but.
56:52
OK, he was there for So he did. He was there for six years and
56:55
then he came back for a season. So I guess 7 total years at the
56:58
night. Which country?
57:01
Is Carlos Tavez from and I think I know this one.
57:05
I believe he is from. Argentina, correct.
57:07
OK, 444. All right, All right.
57:11
Luca, my question to you. Is we've had 22 World Cups and
57:16
we're about to have the 23rd World Cup coming up this summer.
57:19
Of course in Canada, US and Mexico, 8 countries Luca have
57:23
won the World Cup. So out of those 22 tournaments,
57:26
we've only had eight different countries actually win, because
57:29
Brazil's won five, Italy's won four, Germany's won. 3 Germany's
57:33
won 4/2, so Brazil at 5:00. Germany at 4, Italy at four.
57:37
OK, can you name the other five countries that have won World
57:41
Cups? Uruguay.
57:42
That's correct. Argentina.
57:44
Correct, France. Correct.
57:49
Two more. Wait each of these?
57:52
Teams. So you want you've named all the
57:53
multiples. These two have only won one
57:57
England, correct? Kind of think which countries
58:03
have stars, but of above, yeah, which ones, he said.
58:07
England. Uruguay, France.
58:08
Argentina, Italy, Germany, Brazil.
58:10
You're missing 1 country. I'm going to give you a time
58:13
limit here. Fine.
58:15
Not Spain. Spain.
58:16
Spain. Spain is correct, yes.
58:18
Yeah. So it's pretty amazing.
58:19
Only eight different. Countries have actually, I know,
58:22
all right, Luke, the last question.
58:23
Here SO. You got to get this right to
58:26
win. I know.
58:27
Well, you had a tie. Yeah, Paulo Mardini made.
58:31
His professional debut for which Italian club?
58:35
Maldini, I don't. Know this for sure, but I'm
58:37
going to guess AC Milan, correct?
58:40
OK. All right.
58:40
You got another question over? There, do you?
58:42
Have one I don't actually I don't have.
58:45
One but I could. Quickly come up with one.
58:47
I do have another one. All right, you got 1.
58:50
All right, so this is it, make or break here.
58:52
If I get it right, I win. If I miss, you win.
58:54
Wait. OK, what?
58:56
Which endless. Team did Lionel Messi play for?
58:59
Oh goodness, yes, that's no, come on, that's too easy.
59:03
For a messy one, how about? All right, what?
59:07
Speaking of messy, what was? Messy's first club.
59:11
It was Newell's Old Boys. All right, All right.
59:13
I'm going to give it to you. There it is.
59:15
You. Yeah.
59:16
Newell's Old Boys, yeah, in Argentina, that was his first
59:18
club, so kind of a thriller penalty.
59:21
Yeah. Well, we were.
59:22
We were on. Fire.
59:23
I know we didn't get someone wrong.
59:24
I know, I know. I'm gonna have to.
59:26
Bring the heat next. Yeah, hard questions, but all.
59:30
Right, Luke? Well, I think.
59:31
That's it for me. You got anything else for me?
59:33
There's the final list on that's full time for us.
59:35
Thank you for listening. Bye.