Latest / Friends on Football / Ep. 42 - Premier League Recap, Manchester City Playing the Villain, Standout Performers, An MLS Minute, Barcelona Soaring, Serie A Check-In, South Melbourne Find Glory & Champions League Returns

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Ep. 42 - Premier League Recap, Manchester City Playing the Villain, Standout Performers, An MLS Minute, Barcelona Soaring, Serie A Check-In, South Melbourne Find Glory & Champions League Returns · Friends on Football

• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, friends, and welcome to episode 42 of the Friends on Football Podcast.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm one of your co-hosts, Brandon Johnson, and joined with me as always is my main man, Mr.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Sean Boyle.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, what's going on?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, not much is happening in my world.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to talk to you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's been an action-packed weekend.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're finally back playing club football, so I'm excited to talk about that.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on with you?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Much of the same.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was a good first weekend back, a lot of games going on.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just excited to break down these matches.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Sean, first we'll start with our number journey as we continue through these episodes.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: This one 42 Sean actually had a lot of options.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Guys like Jamal Luciala and Leonard Kyle, both Leonard Carl, I'm sorry, both wore it.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and now Carl's currently wearing it at Bayern Munich.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: But the guy I wanted to profile today, uh Manchester City legend, in my opinion, Yaya Torre.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Even with all the drama, and unfortunately, Yaya was on the team pretty centrally during during the years where a lot of this went down.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'll give you some of his non-Manchester City stats.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, he was four-time African footballer of the year, 2020 through 2014.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, 2010 through 2014, 100 caps for the Ivory Coasts, uh, played in three World Cups with the Ivory Coast and six AFCON tournaments, and was the captain in 2015 when they won the AFCON.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, he actually wore 24 for most of his career, and he wanted 24 when he went to Manchester City, but Patrice Vieira was wearing it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: So he decided to flip it and wore 42.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: And an interesting point to that now is uh Antoine Semenya wears 42 for City, and he actually got Yalya Yalya Tori's blessing to wear it.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's cool.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: He said he wanted to honor a fellow African Premier League player.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a pretty cool, pretty cool story to get us to get us going tonight, Sean.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm glad you picked him, Brandon.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: That he was an absolute baller, and he's someone who maybe people nowadays don't talk about it a ton, but he was instrumental to some of those early City teams.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Delightful to watch in midfield.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: He actually he's coaching now, but he was a Spurs youth coach at one point after his playing career ended.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been a fan of him retroactively after he became part of the Tottenham family.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: I can't say I was super fond of him when he was balling for City, and all that might come with an asterisk now, but I'm glad you brought him up.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I wanted to still honor him because at the end of the day, yes, he's class.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I I gave you his stats outside of City, but nonetheless, Yaya Tore a legend, and it's cool to see that that number got passed down to another African player who plays for the same club.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Yaya's brother also played for City for a bit, Kolo Tore.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So so pretty cool stuff there.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, jumping into the Premier League schedule this weekend, all 20 teams played.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: We had we were, I think, pretty decent with our predictions.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we'll go through game by game and just give you some quick notes and we'll we'll chat a little bit.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it was a pretty good week for the friend of football boys with their predictions.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I think you could go as far as to say we were great with our predictions.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think we smashed a lot of them out of the park, which is rare.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we should celebrate it.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: We should we should take a small victory lap.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: The first game uh on Saturday was Arsenal and Leeds.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Arsenal wins this one 2-1, Sean.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: A bit of a weird game.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Leeds actually goes ahead and look to be playing pretty comfortably.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it takes two goals from Arsenal, one from Ricardo Calafiore and the other from Bruno Guimarash, uh, neither of which are forwards uh to come back and win the game.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: But I think for me, Sean, the big takeaway is I think Arsenal, unfortunately, is serious again about going for the title again.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is just a classic example of a team falling behind.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe they didn't have the best first half or the best first, in this case, about 60 minutes, and they just find a way to win.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: And good teams find ways to win games, and it's not always beautiful, it's not always perfect, but you have a team in Arsenal who should beat Leeds every day of the week.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: They're at home, but for whatever reason, the first 60 minutes didn't come off well.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: And kudos to Leeds because I think Leeds did handle themselves well, but at the end of the day, Arsenal showed their class and was able to put the game away.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a game Arsenal definitely should on paper take care of business in and win.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Circumstances change, of course, when James Justin kicks off the scoring for leads, like you mentioned.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: The limbs in the away end were spectacular.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I was buzzing for leads.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, come on, boys.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then Arsenal did respond, how champions should respond.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: It was encouraging on that front.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: I still think they're not fully clicking like they were maybe at the end of last year.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: But if you think back to last year, they were kind of clunky in a lot of parts of that season as well.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And they kind of just found ways to get the job done.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: That was another instance of this this weekend.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: So something that Arsenal should have done on paper.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: They end up taking care of business.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure their supporters will want to see a little bit of a better product in the weeks to come, but you can't complain about three points, and that's what they did.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: So with everything again, and we'll talk about City later in this episode, but it's really looking like Arsenal's title to lose, depending on, of course, what happens with Manchester City.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: Brighton will get to them, of course, as well.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're sort of in that mix, but other than that, it seems to be sort of those three, and then a drop-off after that.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, going into the season, I I expected Arsenal to win the league this year.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I hate saying it, but they just seem to be the most settled team, and now City have started the year in such an impressive manner on the pitch that you could kind of start talking yourselves into them.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: I still think Arsenal's model is a bit more sustainable than Cities is, even if all of this off-the-pitch drama wasn't going on.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: When you add that into the mix and the fact that it's very unlikely that City don't face some sort of points deduction this season, it's see it's hard to see the title going anywhere other than Arsenal.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that's disappointing.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping somebody emerges and gives them at least a push and makes them earn it.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: But if you take City out of the picture right now, everybody and their mother would be betting Arsenal to win this league.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: The second game this weekend, we saw Aston Villa and Brentford with a 2-2 draw.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm interested to hear what you think about this one.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think Aston Villa they're struggling, Brandon.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: They're just not this really good, solid team we've seen the last few years under Unay Emery yet this season.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's a disappointing one not to win, especially at home.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Brentford's a good side, so there's no shame in drawing Brentford, but it's just not convincing totally from Aston Villa yet.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we that this is just another staple from them this season.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a disappointing result after a disappointing result.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yarmeluke and Ayer score the goals for Brentford.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yarmuluk's goal is well taken.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good job.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how Christopher Eyer pops up in the box like he did, and it kind of slots one home as if he was the number nine.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: It took a deflection, but it it's weird that he popped up in that position.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: For Villa, John McGinn, of course, he scores the go-ahead goal after Nicholas Jackson answered immediately to the opening goal from Yarmulik.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So you're like, okay, Villa are gonna get into this game, they go ahead, they're gonna see this out at home, not the case, and they end up dropping points.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's disappointing for Villa and another good result for Brentford, which I feel like we can get used to saying.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, completely agree.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the scoring, like you mentioned, was interesting.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: We saw Brentford in the 10th, Aston Villa responds in the 12th, so basically straight away from the kickoff, and then Aston Villa in the 77th, and Brentford in the 79th, so they almost did what they had done to them in the first half.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I agree with you, Aston Villa will definitely be more upset with this one.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: They still just have not put it together, put together a full 90-minute performance, and Brentford did what they needed to do, and it's again not pretty, but I think I think we need to start to really realize the longevity of some of these teams and and realize when they when we look back, come the end of the season from these results in September, October, November, that that away point at Aston Villa is gonna mean something.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: That could be the difference between a Champions League or a Europa League or a conference league finish for a team like Brentford.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's a great point for them on the road.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, you want to win every game you play, but realistically, I think if you told them before the game, hey, you're gonna come out with a point, they would be pretty okay with that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: So kudos to to Brentford, and again, Aston Villa just really has to start to get it together.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think they will get better as the season progresses.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: They were a team that had so much turnover, maybe the most in the entire division.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it was going to always take some time for them.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you're a Villa supporter, you just want to see some more signs of that a little bit quicker.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: We've had a long layoff now with the international break.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think their fans would have loved to have come out and seen a different team this past weekend.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that was the case.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So they'll just have to wait a little bit longer before we start seeing some encouraging signs from Imery.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: I do think they'll come, but my confidence is starting to drop just a little bit in knowing it'll come this season.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: It could it could be just a troublesome year all around.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: And you hate to see that, but that's what happens with some of these teams in turnover and not being able to bring in players of the quality that you lost, you're gonna see that drop off.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, of course, the bigger clubs, they sell the one guy, they got the next guy who's just as good, if not better.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: But these mid-table, mid-tier clubs like Aspen Villa, it's a little bit more difficult to do that.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully they they start to put things together.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: The next game we have Chelsea Bournemouth.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: And this one you mentioned before uh that it was gonna be a blowout, and it was.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Chelsea went five to one.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, the biggest takeaway though, is Jordan Henderson.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Where has this man been?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: What has been going on?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: He comes, I feel like, into the team, not necessarily a nailed-on starter every week and has a brace and an assist.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: He looks like he's 25 again.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: What what did you see from this one, especially from Henderson?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been a fan of Jordan Henderson, Brandon.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I just have never liked him.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he's a lovely guy, just not for me.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then he went to Saudi in the middle of where he was kind of in a leadership role with Liverpool, and it was a weird, weird thing for me to see him.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: He was one of those first guys that went over.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't necessarily in his prime, but it was still an odd choice because he still clearly had a lot to offer at that point in just a leadership role.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: He's still being called into England squads.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like this was years ago that he left for Saudi.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Then I think he pops up at Ajax and he's kind of hopping all around, and he ends up at Chelsea, which was a kind of a head scratch for this year.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it was one where Chelsea were just looking for some leadership, some veteran guys in the locker room with an overall young group to kind of steer them in the right direction.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't expect him to be playing too much, to be quite honest.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: I thought he'd play the Cup Games, you know, maybe if they're in Europe next year or something, he'd play there.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: But boy, he starred in this game.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: He was the biggest takeaway, like you said.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Two goals and assists, two really good goals as well.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't just run-of-the-mill tapp-ins, they were really good strikes.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't think he had that in him still.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say that.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bit disappointing for me if you're Bournemouth to see that happen.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: This game was over before it began.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think three minutes in, Chelsea already had two on the board.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So my biggest takeaway was alongside you with Jordan Henderson, and then Bournemouth, bad, bad, bad.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm starting to really worry about them.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: I told everybody before the season I'm not a huge Marco Royce believer, and that's starting to rear its ugly head a little bit.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: The back line for Bournemouth were absolutely horrible in this match, just dreadful.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Chelsea got whatever they wanted, basically whenever they wanted to get it.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And Bournemouth are sitting on three points, and I think I'd be a little bit concerned about it if I was a fan of theirs.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's not been pretty.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: The games that they did have opportunities to close out, they didn't.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that's always gonna cost you in this season.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: I I think again, and we also talked about on the Chelsea side, Chelsea always love to score early.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: They score early every game, and again, we see two goals right aft basically from the kickoff.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if teams just are shell-shocked by how forward they try to be, how aggressive they try to be, or what, but hey, newsflash, every team playing Chelsea.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: You need to be switched on from the from the kickoff because this is happening every week now.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think Jabby Alonso's a a great manager, to be honest, and I was concerned as a Tottenham fan about his hire when it was made because he can raise their ceiling over time.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: It might not come together this year, kind of how we saw with him at Laverkus, and it took a while to get his out-of-possession stuff to kind of settle down, and it was the second season there where he really took off and they won the league and it exploded.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think that could be the case for Chelsea as well, where it takes a year to get everything ironed out, but their attack is flying, like you mentioned.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And when you combine some of his tactics with the guys that they have in those roles, the Morgan Rogers, the Cole Palmer, the Jiao Pedro, we keep talking about those three for good reason.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: They're really, really good players and they play well together.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: It all fits and works, and then when you have a guy like Henderson come out of nowhere and score two from outside the box, all of a sudden you're starting to look at a pretty dangerous Chelsea side.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's just against the best teams in this league, will they be able to keep clean sheets?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't seen that yet.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know that we'll see that this season, but if you're a Chelsea fan, you're probably optimistic about what you're seeing.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you have to be.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Especially under Tabi Alonso first season.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it's goals.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: You get goals.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's fun, it's fun to watch.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's fun to watch.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll we'll definitely keep our eye on those guys because that attack, like you said, is so potent, and I don't know if there's a team in the Premier League defensively that can stop that.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: Again, Chelsea's problems, like you said, are gonna be not getting scored on.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: But if they sort that out, Sean, maybe they sneak into a top four finish.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would expect them to be a top four team, to be quite honest.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think before the year, we were both pretty high on them.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: At least we didn't think they would have another season in 10th like last year.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think I actually flirted with them being a title challenger.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just the idea of it because on paper you could see a world where it works.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And it hasn't all been smooth sailing yet, but you're seeing the high highs that you would want to see if you're a Chelsea supporter.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it's something to grab onto, it's something to build on.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think they'll even look better at the end of the year than they do right now, just as an overall group.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they'll maybe be able to maintain this goal scoring rate that they're on.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're the third or fourth highest scoring team in the division right now.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: I know Brighton are up there, of course, and Manchester City are up there, but Chelsea's attack can go toe-to-toe with all theirs.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely one we'll keep our eyes on.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: The next game, Sean.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: We had Ipswich Town, the Tractor Boys, winning two to one versus Fulham.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I said I wasn't gonna watch this game.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: I had no interest in watching this game, and I watched the highlights and I was like, dang, I I missed out because this one was interesting.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Fulham goes ahead early, and Ipswich scored two goals right at the very end of the game to steal three points at home.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: For a promoted team, these are the games you you look back on and you're like, alright, we needed that.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe this spurs them on, and they go on a little bit of a run, and it's interesting.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: They're in the middle of the table pretty comfortably, and it's not what we expected, that's for sure.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's certainly not.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: It is the Tractor Boys making all the noise, Brandon.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Two goals from the 88th minute on to win the match and get all three.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: You went from looking at a situation where you lose a tough one at home by a goal.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Cessnion, by the way, Ryan Cessignon starts to scoring for Fulham, and Fulham fans are probably like, okay, here we go.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna beat up on the teams that just came up.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we need.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: We just need to prove to ourselves we're better than those promoted sides.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden, in the span of five minutes, it goes to shit for Fulham.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Ipswich get all three points.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think they would have taken a drawing war on.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: They were just looking for one answer.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, they get two.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: The lap the winner from a set piece, O'Shea, gets in on the scoring, and it was absolute scenes in the ground.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I loved seeing it.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: I also kind of like seeing it because I found myself rooting for my Arbolo prediction to come true.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And this is probably good for that to get a win for Ipswich, but then a just a crushing blow for Fulham.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that's those are the ones again.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: We we talk about games we'll look back on.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: If you're Fulham, you have the game in hand, you're looking for your first win of the season, and it's going well.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: And Fulham before this game had lost their last one, but tied the previous two, so decent form, but you have the game in hand and to give up two goals in the last three minutes of the game is rough.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one where and I hope, I hope not, but that's one where you go in the locker room and everyone's looking at each other and the fingers start pointing.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, you let this up, you did that, and that can tear a locker room apart, especially when they look at this table, and they're fully in 20th.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: There are some other teams obviously very close to them, but they're in last place, and it's like, hey, we didn't beat a team that we should absolutely at least get a draw with on paper.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: And now you have to move on from that.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully Arbaloa can keep them together, but I'm not sure because it's not looking promising at Fulham right now.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, this was the run of fixtures that we talked about a few weeks ago, where Fulham have these promoted sides kind of in sequential order, and they just need to write the ship by then, was what we said.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: They could sputter to start, but then they need to show encouraging signs in these matches.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: They still have some opportunities, but those opportunities are dwindling, and the seat is going to get warmer and warmer if they keep putting in performances like that.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: I honestly think yes, they're sitting bottom.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: They are kind of a deserved 20th place team at this point of the season, too.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: You could point to all the other clubs so far in this Premier League and show signs or point to signs that you've seen and moments of encouragement, and there might be a couple for Fulham.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't all bad, but overall it's been nowhere near the level that they're going to need to stay up.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to see that for Fulham because I think they're a really good club to have around.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think they have a lot of pride and history, and Craven Cottage is great.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: So let's figure it out.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that does require changing managers or something if things don't improve quickly, but they need to figure it out quick.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that's a tough, tough spot they're in right now.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: The next game, Sean, we have Sunderland at home losing two zero to Brighton.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: This was my big bet of the week.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it came off.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: I projected three to one.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: It was two to zero, so two goals spread.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: But Brighton, my my takeaways, first of all, and and you know what I'm gonna say, but I'm gonna say it anyways.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sunderland suck.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: Sunderland is awful, they're a terrible team.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Brighton go up one zero, and then get a red card, and you think, okay, maybe the game's gonna flip.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe Sunderland will get into it.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: Nope.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: Brighton probably had three or four chances to make it two zero earlier, and then end up scoring, I believe it was the like the 91st minute to score the the second goal.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just the the they go down a man, and we we've seen it, Sean.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: We've seen it in games where teams elevate, we've seen it where teams shut down, we've seen it, we've seen every gamut of this, and the red card probably deserved, but they all look at each other and we're like, Alright, we're alright, we're still gonna do this.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: And it's probably leadership, it's belief, it's all of it, and it comes out and shows again.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: And in a game where Sunderland, maybe they steal a point, they score a goal late, Brighton go away with one point, and they're like, Okay, like we had a red card, we were up 1-0, but we were playing with 10 men for I believe it was like 30 minutes.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: So fine.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: The other team scored.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: But they said nah, like we're still here, we're still gonna get three points, and they go and make it happen.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I I I don't know, I don't I don't want to call them a title contender because I do still think they're probably a player or two away.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: But they're making noise, and maybe maybe it's a Champions League spot for next year.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know what it is from them, but every time I see them play Sean, it's just so pragmatic, it's so disciplined, obviously, besides the red card, but it it's so put together and and uh they're one of those teams where I'm like, I don't see too many holes.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've got a few takeaways on this one.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was a pretty big game in the context of the season, and I just want to counter the Sunderland suck point.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: They don't I I don't think Sunderland suck.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're one of the three worst teams.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think they'll be fine.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: They were missing a key, key, key component to their attack.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Brian Broby really, really means a lot to this team because all of their good attacking chances go through him.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can play the ball to him and he pins a guy on his back, and then he could lay the ball off to a runner, or he could spin and try to get a shot off himself.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's very important to what they do.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Without him, they did look a bit rudderless.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not wrong in what you saw.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: You'd think when they go up a man that there would be some more encouraging signs and better chances.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't really the case.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: I do think it's a credit to Brighton because you're talking about what you see on the pitch, and I think you're right in all those accounts.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not something that we saw last season from Fabian Herzler, who uh was the youngest manager in the Premier League, and uh he had showed a lot of promise, but you just would see again how we talked about with uh some of the teams in the division this year, you'd see signs of it, but it's never consistent.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: And now what we're seeing from Brighton is it becoming consistent.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: And he's really honestly enhanced some of his attacking principles, and they're be they're playing a lot of intricate stuff that we didn't see from them in the past.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the out-of-possession counter-attacking stuff is lethal too.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good collection of young, talented players that are hungry to make a name for themselves, combined with a young up-and-coming manager that's hungry to make a name for himself, and it's creating this product that is tantalizing for just everybody, even the casual fan, the fan who doesn't really care about Brighton otherwise, they're all kind of keeping an eye, saying, Oh, what are Brighton up to?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna score some goals.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're probably a fun watch.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a fun place to be.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you're a neutral looking for a team to pick and follow in this Premier League, Brighton's a good shout.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there's gonna be some frustrating times too, like when these players you become attached to and start to love get sold to one of the big six clubs in England or one of the biggest clubs in Europe, that's gonna be frustrating.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna wish you could hang on to those type of guys, but boy, are Brighton fun to watch right now.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you with your last point, that's what I was gonna hit on next.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: That if they can keep the nucleus together, give me one more run, one more season run.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I really I don't know if it's championship level.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if they're winning the title, Sean, but they can make some serious, serious noise because they're all so bought in.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, and maybe it's Hertzler, maybe it's just the culture, maybe it's Pascal Gross and their leadership.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know exactly exact what it what it is, but when you have a team that's all bought in, it you become so much better.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care who they play or what million hundred twenty two hundred million dollar player the other team has, but when they have the 11 guys on the field all rowing the boat in the same direction, it's hard to beat.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately, like you said, these guys are gonna get picked off uh come the end of the season.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's just that's just the business we're in now.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's the mid-major college team and they they made a run in March Madness.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: So bye.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: All those guys are gonna get signed to other teams.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: But can we just bottle it for one more season?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Give me one more year of this nucleus at Brighton.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: I think they could be really, really special.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I do agree with you, and I I think they'll have more now that they're in Europe, it looks like they're trending towards maybe Champions League this year.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: If they can get Champions League, they'll be able to keep more of those guys than they have been able to in the past.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: So playing Champions League football is a big deal to a lot of guys, and it could kind of turn their head when a club is coming in for them, and they are in the Champions League and Brighton aren't.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: But if that's a chip that Brighton have to leverage themselves against some of these other clubs, I think that will help their case.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: So qualifying for Champions League should be the goal this season for Brighton, and it should be the expectation at this point, too.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's early still in the year, but they look every bit one of the top four sides.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So keep that positive momentum going.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of the things though, Brandon, we have to just caution everyone.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Football is a game of runs.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: And those vibes look great right now, and they look together, and they're fighting for each other.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Down a man, no problem.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: All it takes in this sport is a couple of bad performances, and then all of a sudden, those same guys might be doing the same thing, but we're looking at them saying, Oh, he's he's out of it.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not it's so it's not just that's not just a caution to Brighton, that's a caution to how quickly this sport just could flip on its head.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: But right now, the what we're seeing from Brighton can't get better, and it's impressive because it came off the back of a long break.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: So they had beaten Arsenal, and then they have this long international break, and you're like, oh, did they lose the momentum?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: They did not, they picked up right where they left off.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good point as well, Sean.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Moving into the next game, the 1230, again, our Tottenham Hotspur making the the big national game.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: They go to Old Trafford and they take a point.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: 1-1.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm interested to hear just what you thought about the game overall, Bentonker's red card, and maybe the response from Spurs.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was a film I I had seen before, Brandon.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was playing out before my eyes.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: We dominate the first 30 minutes, just we once again look.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, these guys look at them.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Deserve a good coach, good coach.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna score.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Surely one of these are gonna go in.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nope, Tottenham don't score.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: First 25-30 minutes in that spell they dominated, they don't score.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then this is the part we've seen.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: They eventually let the other team grow into the game a little bit and it becomes more equal.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: They might be still having the better of the chances, but it's still okay, now that's a threat.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, dodge one there.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then before you know it, and Buemo, who just kills Spurs, he scored 7-7 against Tottenham.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: He pants Jan Paul Van Heekka, just quickly makes a move, turns him, slots it, far post.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And dread set in immediately for me.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, here we go.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Full sad boy season, fall, it's raining, all weekend.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it doesn't get worse than this.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then I was like, oh, it does get worse than this, because here comes a red card.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: And it was one of those, Brandon, that I knew the moment I watched it it was a red card for Bentoncore, and only Bentecore would get the red card, even if I don't agree with how we officiate these things.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, Bentencore's action might be red card worthy.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: He I wouldn't call it a headbutt.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would call it he puts his head into Luke Shaw.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: But Luke Shaw basically incited a riot and then laughs, and the person who responds to the riot, and then he just gets away.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: He gets a yellow card.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: But none of that happens if Luke Shaw doesn't two-hand shove Bentoncore when he's just standing still and starts the whole thing.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Bentoncore stands up, fights for his team, a little bit, defends himself.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: The problem is he does the one thing that's an automatic red.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: When your head, thank you, Zidane.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime your head goes into an opponent's head now, you're off.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: And deservedly so.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: So he goes off, and I'm thinking, well, there we are absolute shit.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm cursing the whole lot of them.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: I at this point, I said Dominic Selenki couldn't play for Scunthorpe.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: He was dreadful in this match, Brandon.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: Dreadful.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: Dreadful.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden the narrative changes.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tanale whips the ball in a perfect cross.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: It luckily finds Selenke's head as he's falling to the ground.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: And Selenki has a good finish on it, but I'm not even sure he knows it.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say, great finish, Dom.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: But it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt when you watch the first half and he's missing basically sitters.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: And my main takeaway was United are shit.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: They are not good.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: And Spurs deserved three, but it's a good result not to lose.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: That was the main thing.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: You couldn't lose that game after how well they played throughout most of the match.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Even United fans were saying, yeah, that we we looked bad and Spurs deserved a win.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's interesting.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, we have the Spurs allegiance, but as you know, Sean, I was extremely high on United at the beginning of the season in our preview, and they just have not shown it yet.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think we saw the one game where Bruno had the hat trick, and that was really it.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: And there just hasn't been that killer instinct where you're up one nil, you're up a man, put the game away.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: And they they couldn't do that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: They let Spurs hang around and yeah, lucky.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: Every you know, every squirrel finds a nut, even the blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: But hey, if you're Spurs, you take it.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure again, we talked about draws.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you told Spurs before the game, hey, you're gonna play with 10 men for most of the second half and you're still gonna get a point, they would say, sure, sign me up.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're Tottenham, I think you take that as an encouraging sign.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: But I think Manchester United, it's definitely some questions we need to ask about them.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I just don't know what United's calling card is.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: What are they particularly good at?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I I don't know that there's a clear answer from what we've seen so far this year.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know that Michael Carrick is inspiring a ton of belief.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's another one of those coaches where it's harsh because we see 10 seconds of them throughout the game, but every time they show him, he's just kind of you know, he's just kind of like chewing on his thoughts, and you're kind of like, hey dude, like we need something.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: And thankfully for Spurs, he had nothing.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: And there's not a ton of they don't have this intricate style of play.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: They don't have a calling card that, oh, they're very sound defensively, or oh, they're gonna really pressure you, or they're creative and attack.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's really nothing that stands out about this Manchester United scene.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's just weird because that was never the case throughout all the years of me getting into the Premier League.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Manchester United were the team.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: And now they're far from that, and I don't think I was ever high on Michael Carrick being the answer to solving that, but I thought he would be better than this so far.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know how optimistic or how full that glass is.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is it half full, is it half empty?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where Manchester United fans sit.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think I know my where I stand, but I still want to see more.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's me calling the sack Carrick right now, but I do think it's putting out a request to see some more from him and this group because it's not like they didn't spend in the transfer window either.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Their team isn't perfect, their roster isn't perfect, but it's more competent than what they've put in practice now.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: And Brandon, just to take away from Spurs too, if they had Harry Kane in this game, I think they win 4-1.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's I mean, we are so good at getting to the box, and then in the box we make terrible decisions or we just don't have a focal point of the attack.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's being harsh on Slanky, but he's been miserable this season.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you just dropped Harry Kane, who admittedly might be the best striker in the world, into this side, it's a completely different team, and it just breaks my heart every time I watch him.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: And now, do you think this is looking ahead to the January window, but is that an area that Spurs A have to address and B are going to actually do it and address that position?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's difficult.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's so weird because I think the best striker at Tottenham right now, Brandon, is not on the Premier League roster.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think Richarlison's still the best out and out number nine at Spurs.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, falling out with the Zerbi or he had a failed move and he was left off of the Premier League squad.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: So he can't play again until January if we register him then.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think you do need to bring in a striker unless you see a real uptick in performances from Solanke because, like we talk about, Marmoush is not really that number nine.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a nine and a half.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: And even if Marmoush is fit and firing, I still don't know that we have enough goals in this team to take them to the level the owners want to get to and we want to get to as fans.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say yes right now.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Striker is a very much big priority for Spurs.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's either figure it out in-house or bring somebody in who could do the job.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: Moving to Sunday's game.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the first game we had on Sunday was Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: This one, I said I don't think either team could score.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: They proved me wrong.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: Crystal Palace goes and wins this one three to one.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: The first half of the game, Crystal Palace did not look good at all.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: Forrest take the lead early in, I believe it was the second or third minute, and really were on top of this game.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it could be maybe a two or three-zero kind of result.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't until almost halftime where Crystal Palace equalize and score again in stoppage time before halftime, and then they scored their third after right after the break.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think Forest just kind of fell apart.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think they had a 20-minute window in the game where they kind of forgot how to play soccer, and unfortunately, Crystal Palace took advantage of that and scored three goals.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I think if you're Crystal Palace, that's a huge, huge win.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: I don't really it was just an odd game overall, I think.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Oliver Glasner goes back to Crystal Palace, he loses against his old team.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: But I think for Pal, if you are a Crystal Palace fan, it's encouraging because the signs are clearly there.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: You had that 20-minute spurt where you looked incredible.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it's now extending that to try to make that a whole half and then a whole match.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um so the quality seems to be there for Palace Forest.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's a weird one for me.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's just a blip on the radar, but you you gotta give credit to Crystal Palace for taking advantage of it.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a good analysis of what I saw as well.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think Crystal Palace had been a team I pointed to as looking kind of lost through the first five games of the season and wasn't really impressed by them in any match.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: There was a couple where they against Everton, they looked good and probably got a bad result in that one.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was kind of just another one of those rudderless ships that we just talked about where I don't know what they're trying to do.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: And they needed a result like this to kind of just not get themselves into those bottom-of-the-table talks this early in the season.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I think this was a good win at home to take care of business in a game that I completely agree.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: Forrest, I don't know how they only ended up with one goal.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: I really don't.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Liam DeLap, Brandon.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, this guy, I tell you, he's a farmer.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: He's a farmer.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: He is a farmer, Brandon.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: He had the worst header attempt I've ever seen.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: He needs to be evaluated for concussion.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: It was a wide open back post header, and he sent it out for a throw practically.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: It was so bad.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then another one where I don't know if he was ever ruled offside or not, but it was a rebound, and he is alone with the keeper and he just rifled it off the keeper's face.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was anywhere but the face, and that's a goal.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: And he hit the one spot of that frame that would have kept the ball out.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I'm not a fan of Liam Belab, never have been, never will be.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: He was very unimpressive with this one.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure Forrest fans were pulling their hair out, wondering what happened, why, how has he not scored?
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: So frustrating for Forrest.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: I do think they I thought they'd be better at this point under Glasner.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I believe in Oliver Glasner as a manager, and I thought this would be one of those situations where he takes over a new team, but the transition isn't too rough.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's pretty seamless.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they'd play in a similar way.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: I thought the team was built to be compact defensively and keep teams out.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that was, like you said, we saw 20 minutes where they just capitulated and threw goals in their own net.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then we got some good breakout performances from guys from Palace that they're going to need throughout the season.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Daiichi Kamada, Jefferson Lerma, Yarby Pinot are the ones that end up on the goal sheet.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: And especially Pinot and Kamada, they're going to need to be the creative outlets for Crystal Palace moving forward.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we did not see that offensive prowess at all from Palace really in the first few games.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it's great to see those guys getting on the score sheet and making things happen because we said we don't know where the goals are going to come from from that team.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: And they clearly show that hey, we we got a few goals in us.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: So good result for them.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: They sit mid-table, and I think they're probably deserved where they are, and the they'll they'll leave satisfied.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: Forest will definitely leave with some more questions and answers from that game.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: Next, we had the Hull City Everton game, and I believe we both picked a tie for this game, and it was a tie.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh 2-2, Hull City and Everton.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: I this is a pretty back and forth game.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's good watch.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: I I think again, I just have to give it to Hull again.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_02: They go down to one, they find a goal, tie it up to two, and it's an Everton team that still has not lost a season.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: They find a way to get points from every single one of their performances, and for Hull as a promoted side, you go down, heads didn't go down.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: Heads were still up, they still had belief, and through your guy, Balumi scores in the 74th to tie it up.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's just a it's a good point for both teams.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know how else to look at it because I think both teams played well enough to get a point.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if one team played good enough for all three, but they'll leave there, they'll shake hands, and I think both teams are pretty satisfied with that result.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, this was my best bet.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: You're right.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: We both picked draw.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: This was my best bet was I think I sensed a draw on this one.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: I just felt like, as we talked about, Everton are one of those teams.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're ever gonna come away from the game saying we deserved all three in a runaway fashion.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: They never they never say that.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: They're like we hard fuck game, we're in it.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Deserve point.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's the story of every Everton match under David Moyes.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or if they maybe are not up to the races in the game, they find a way to leave there with a draw.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what Everton do.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then at hole, I just didn't see them going down easily at home.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, like we saw play out, they would respond to any adversity that they faced.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: And of course it's Balloony.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: Who else?
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's my guy making all the difference.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love him.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: I do also want to point out he didn't start the match because he was tired.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: He told the manager, hey, I'm tired.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: He was away on international dude.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: He said, I'm not up for the start.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of just love that.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Oh, come on, score the goal if you need me to.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: But from the beginning, I can't I can't go 90.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: Which, if I was his manager, I'd want to kill him.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: But as a casual fan of this guy in Hole City and what they're doing, I absolutely think that that's brilliant.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: And he's a guy who he's had moments like this in the past.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like he was trying to be subbed on in a match last year and didn't have a shirt ready.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's some stuff with the loomy that you have to it's a little rough around the edges, but boy oh boy, is there a player there.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: So a good result for Hull again that we can rinse and repeat that line, Brandon.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: They've been brilliant to start the year, especially when you factor in expectations.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think going into this match, Sean, you have two teams that are in the top eight, they're in European positions in the Premier League.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: And would we have guessed that six weeks ago when the season started?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: That would be blasphemous if we were to say, Oh yeah, they're gonna meet in week six, and they're both gonna be in in European level positions.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it's great to see.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Everton right now is in the Europa League spot, they're in fifth, uh, which would be a great, great accomplishment for them.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: And Hall's in eighth, uh, which would be comp most likely conference league.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a good result for both teams, and I think they've both been having great starts.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_02: The though we have two more games, Sean.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_02: I want to skip the Sunday late game, and we'll do the Monday game first, and then we'll go back and spend some time on the Sunday game because I think we have a lot to talk about there.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: The Monday afternoon game, Sean, Coventry City at home beats Newcastle 4-1.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: I watched this game.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was I was in the office, but it was a slow day, so I had the you know the side screen, had some eyes on it.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: Coventry City, Sean.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they came out of this break, this international break, flying.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: This was not the Coventry City we saw before the break.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: And we were texting during this game, and I think we said Coventry City scored four goals.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: One was a penalty kick very early.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: The penalty kick was probably the most boring goal they scored the whole game.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: Three absolute bangers, and Newcastle was also a banger.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: It was just goal city on Monday night at the uh oh, they play in that long stadium name, the Coventry Building Society Arena or whatever they call it.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like Michael Scott's run for rabies to cure the fun one.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's 50 names in one.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Brandon, this match was this match had a lot to it on a Monday night, you know.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: I I wasn't necessarily expecting this game to be a Bell Tour.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was kind of just like a job, like, okay, we'll record after it.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be fine.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we'll make sure to talk about it.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I wasn't expecting too much.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Newcastle would find a way to win.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: Completely the opposite came true.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: Sadiqi Sheriff, first start in the prem, stunning performance.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: He wins the pen for the first goal and then scores a brilliant goal himself for the second.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned him when he was brought in during the transfer window.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: He's a young Ghanaian player that has represented France at the youth international level, but he's got loads of potential.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: And now he's off to a great start, especially after this little break.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: Got a little run-up, got to train with the boys for an extended period because he was a late acquisition in the window and starting to pay dividends.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's a floor raiser, I would say, for Coventry.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: He's a difference maker at that position if it clicks, which there was definitely some encouraging signs of that today.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think also uh we have to talk about Stephen McFunny.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: This guy comes in, 18-year-old, promising young English center back.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he says, I'll have a go, and he slots one in off the far post.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: Just unbelievable.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Newcastle were out on their feet.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: They were dazed and confused as Coventry were pouring these goals in.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a Newcastle supporter, which my buddy Joe's Weibel is, I've been taking the piss out of him in text.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: I said I was thinking I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the technically.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was having a laugh.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the the Newcastle decision making in the final third, we both had the same takeaway.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was anytime they should pass, they shot.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime they should shoot, they passed, or dummy the ball to nobody.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: It was insanity what they were doing in the final third.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: Some real concerns are starting to settle in with Matthias Yisla's group and specifically how he's managing this group.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be interesting to watch as we as the season develops, too.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_01: But Coventry are the story from this one.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was special from Frank Lampard's boys.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: They looked ready for this one, they got after it, they had their fans behind.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I just loved the confidence they played with.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_02: To score four goals like that, no matter who you play, four goals is a good amount of goals in the Premier League, and four great goals.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: We mentioned the penalty kick was fine, but the other three goals, all optimistic chances, not necessarily goals that should be finished, but I think when you have a manager that believes in you and has faith in you, and you get that opportunity, you take it.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_02: And and Coventry City did a great job of that.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, Sean, we have to mention they do play Tottenham next week, next Monday.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: They got all their goals out of them today.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: Just get glad they got out of their system.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: No way country can do that again.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, don't make me eat my words.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: God.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm glad I was glad to see.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was saying, score another one.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, make it make it five, make it six.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get them all out.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get all of October's goals out.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: And this one, I want a clean sheet at Whitehart Lane next week.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: And Sean, to finish off our recaps, we have to talk about the big game.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_02: This game was tabbed as game of the century, game of the season.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: Every phrase and term you could give it.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: Manchester City, the evil villains going into Liverpool, into Anfield, which they knew was going to be a hostile environment.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it was.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_02: I will say Anfield, they brought it.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_02: The noise was there, but Manchester City, they they wear the villain cape and they say, Alright, fine, and absolutely crush Liverpool 3-0.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, this one was interesting because the first half was fairly even.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_02: I thought both teams had a lot of half chances.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: Holland did not look great early at all.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: He he didn't look interested in getting into the match.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then unfortunately, the game changes in the second half when the 61st minute, when Ryan Gravenberg, uh who we actually mentioned as one of our player pool, or I'm sorry, one of our number journey players, uh, gets sent off.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: And for second yellow, we can talk about that if you want to talk about that.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: But after that, I mean City just turned it on, and it was beautiful.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_02: The Holland scores the first goal, a goal he should probably score and does.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Jeremy Doku, a curler, top bins, and your guy, Ryan Cherkey, that third goal.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my lord.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: Sends the defender to the moon, slots at home.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was beautiful from City in that the last uh 30 minutes or so of that game.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tantalizing, tantalizing football from City after they went up the man.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is important to discuss.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily breaking down whether he deserved to be sent off or not, but the match really, really changed at that moment.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was pretty even.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: Both teams were kind of feeling each other out, trading a few blows, nothing in the haymaker realm, just kind of jabs here, jabs there.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: I thought what really reared its ugly head for Liverpool was no Zoba's Light, no Esac.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: And specifically in this one, missing your best player in Zoba's Light, that's gonna hurt always, of course.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's a world-class player, not having him, it lessens your chance to win.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't expect, I didn't know, I don't know if we talked about him being on the injury report.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: I know we talked about Esac, but I think Zoba Slide was a surprise.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: ESAC also hurt because you look at their front three, four if you count Verts, and you're like, okay, Kumas is starting his first Premier League start.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right, bud.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: Get on out there, big match.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: Mind yeah.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then you got Munoz on the right, Barkle on the left, and then Florian Verts, the 140 million pound disaster through the middle, and they did not look like scoring really.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: They had a few chances.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, okay, a better player finishes that one off, but you can't expect a guy making his first Premier League start against Manchester City to really slot home any chance he gets, especially not his first couple.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: And once Graven Birch gets sent off, it it flips on its head.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: Almost instantly it seemed like City scored, and then you saw the banana peels come out from their hand, Alfie Holland having a laugh in the stand.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was all of a sudden this raucous weird energy at Anfield, and then the goals kept coming.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: And City just looked like the best team in the league at this point.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're the most fun to watch when you factor in all phases of the game, I would say, and also because just the level of talent they have.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like we talk about how Brighton are young and exciting.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, City are kind of like that finished article of what Brighton could become when it all clicks.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: And Enzo Moretka is doing a good job of managing this really difficult situation.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of a bummer because first of all, I don't want Arsenal to win the league, but I I really do like a lot of these city players.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_01: It it sucks that they're gonna be the ones punished because Holland seems like a lovable guy.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: Cherokee, I mean, who doesn't love watching that guy play football?
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_01: Same with Doku.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're brilliant.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely you're just sitting there like smiling the whole time, like, oh my god, they're brilliant.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, who cares?
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_01: They tap some phones and cook some books.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then and then you zoom out and you're like, well, it's the biggest scandal in the history of English football.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_01: Is it is it that bad?
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot to digest here, Brandon.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, and I wanted to leave this game for last because I'm sure we'll we'll talk a little bit more about the bigger picture in all of this.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: Are these hostile crowds going to Impact City?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because honestly, I thought Anfield I thought they handled Anfield very well.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe this is just the player's mindset, or they just they just grasp that concept that hey, everyone's gonna hate me and let's just go in and embrace that.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_02: Or like, is it gonna get to them?
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_02: Is my question.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe it depends on when the verdict of all this comes out and and what we ha what we see happen coming from that, but it just looked like a machine in that second half.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, we have to mention the red card, and that definitely absolutely changed the game.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_02: But there was no fear from them even before that.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: They were like, Yeah, we're playing Liverpool, and Liverpool, like you said, was down a few players, but we're still gonna put it together, and I think Holland probably could have had a goal or two earlier.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_02: He kind of flubbed a couple chances, but this I I guess my question to you, Sean, is how much is this of this outside stuff is gonna actually impact the play on the field?
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, early returns suggest not too much.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: So there's still a long way to go, and it's gonna wear over time, probably.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: But it almost is it's almost this freeing kind of let them hate us mentality because it's a weird spot where the guys out there playing and kicking the ball each week aren't really the ones responsible for this punishment they're about to endure.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: So in their minds, it's kind of like, oh, we get to go to the most hostile environments and just ball out and be the bad guy and send everybody home unhappy.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds pretty sick.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I've never competed in high-level sports, but I used to love facing off a kid I didn't like, or there was a little bit of you know, talk, or this kid's this or that.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: I used to like being the villain, you know what I mean?
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'll put one 50-50 rows deep in the outfield and the ball still hasn't landed.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you know, I think that City might just kind of love it a little bit.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if it's always gonna be the case, like the first time they lose, things might change.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_01: But if they could just ride this wave of momentum and winning, I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing as much as I thought it would be when I was looking at this match in particular.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh well, all the attention to circus, it's blah blah blah.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when the ball's kicked, none of that really matters.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's so it's so fascinating.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_02: And we've talked about it offline on this podcast with our friends, family, everybody's talking about it, and I I guess we just have to wait and see what these punishments are.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_02: But I do think that's an interesting point you make about the freeing part, where it's like, look, we didn't do this, we didn't get in this mess.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_02: If something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen anyway, so we might as well just go out here and just do our thing.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_02: And most likely, if a deduction does come and they do get relegated or sent to a different league, none of these guys will be on the team next year.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_02: They're all gonna leave anyway.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's kind of just like uh a free-play bingo space.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a free hit, you know.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's well, let's give it our best go, and whatever happens, happens.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: And the more I talk about it, and I'm sure you have this in the back of your mind too.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: This has been going on for so long for us, where we've known about oh, they were up to something bad, we didn't know the extent of it, but it just it was common, it was common.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_01: And now it it's here, but then it's immediately appealed.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_01: How long is this appeal gonna last?
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: This appeal might last years.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: We have no way of knowing.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: I have no clue.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: Does somebody have a date on when the appeal has to be figured out by?
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's a chance that Holland's kid is playing by the time that we actually see a points deduction.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're all kind of assuming it's gonna be this year, and like I am, uh because based on everybody's talk around the situation, it's like, oh yeah, it's coming.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: Winter is coming.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, we haven't seen a White Walker yet.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's I don't know.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's so intriguing, is the word it's fascinating, intriguing.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's what the Premier League needed from a storyline perspective.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_01: It is not what they want to see in terms of just a cheating and a scandal.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_01: No league likes having that sort of issue dictate the press, but just in terms of how compelling a season can be, this season's absolutely more compelling because of this.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I wonder what Arsenal's camp thinks about this, Brighton's camp, teams that are at the top of the table with City now.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh well, they're gonna drop off, so we're okay.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: Or is it maybe this won't go more than or maybe this will go more than this season, and we have to wait until next year to figure it out.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_01: If the Premier League is smart though, they're not going to come out and like deduct 50 points from City in December and just say, hey, you guys, just watch along for Arsenal's uh title run in these last four months when it's already basically decided.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think that would be crazy to do.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna do it, you have to wait till most of the season, I would say, just to keep some intrigue around the league.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now I know that's not how they make decisions, but just from a pure if we're doing like a Hunger Games and then we're pulling strings around here, you can't pull the string too early and have this race be decided early in the season because really it's a two-horse race.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and if you take one of the horses out of the race, well, things are a lot less interesting.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the earlier you do that, the worse your product is.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't think that's how they make decisions, but selfishly for me, let's punt it another year and somebody please emerge and start challenging Arsenal.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so let's just have that scenario where they punt it to next year.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_02: City go and win the league this year.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_02: What's the situation?
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_02: Is there an asterisk?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, there's so many asterisks.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's we're we're we're at an infinite amount.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't even know if they've ever won anything because they're all they're all tarnished, you know, and whether they are officially stripped or not, all of those titles through that period and now beyond are tarnished in some way, shape, or form.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_01: You can remove their name from who won the league, but everybody knows who won the league on those seasons.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure if you're a Manchester City fan, go win it again.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: Take my name off the trophy, who cares?
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_01: We know we won.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna celebrate us if they won.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: I I I think the stripping of titles is a nice thing in theory.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let the record book show a hundred years from now, people look back and be like, oh, that's weird.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody won the championship in 2020.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, somebody did, but they cheated, so we stripped it.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't I don't think that matters.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: The people that are alive and enjoying and playing in these matches, they're going to have those memories forever.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's so fascinating, and Sean, we'll we'll close out there on that topic, but obviously something we're gonna continue to revisit as the season goes on, especially if any more noise happens.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to do a quick, just a quick like best performance, worst performance, and some individual performances I saw.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_02: I I think for me, we just mentioned it, but I think the best performance is Manchester City.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think coming into that game with their backs against the wall and everyone hating them.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think to come out and perform and win 3-0 is huge.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: Worst this could go a few different ways, but I think I'll give it to Forrest.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_02: I I just a lot of question marks.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_02: Fulham, don't worry, you're you're right, you're right there as well.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_02: Just it it doesn't look right, it doesn't look fluid, and and I worry when you don't win games that you should win, how that's gonna impact you over the course of the long term.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then individual performance.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_02: I I it's funny, we we mentioned both of these guys already just casually through this episode.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_02: Jordan Henderson for Chelsea for me was was the guy turning back the clock, scoring two goals, getting an assist, and playing in a Chelsea team where he really doesn't even need to score Sean, let's be honest.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they have enough attacking power without him, and he comes and does that, and like you said, probably signed to be the veteran leader in the in the locker room, probably not to be playing many Premier League games, but comes out and does that.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_02: And then worse, it's funny, same same uh same thing you mentioned this earlier as well.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_02: Lame to lap.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_02: I I put in my notes here, I put lump on a log.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just it's it's baffling to me.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_02: We questioned the transfer, we questioned the fee when it happened, and we said, What in the world do Forests see out of this guy?
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_02: And it looks like we're right so far.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, maybe he can turn it around, but he's just a lot of money for not a lot of impact.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm glad I liked how you ran through all this, Brandon, and I agreed with almost all of them or had them in the conversation for my own picks.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you nailed it in a lot of the ways there.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_01: I will go with my team first.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_01: The most impressive team, or best result, I should say.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they played well throughout the match, but the best result would be Ipswich for me.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned Forrest on the flip side of that, but Ipswich getting that win from the dead with just a few minutes remaining against a team that I think is going to be a team they're battling for relegation.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's another one you look back at the end of the year and you're like, wow, that's a relegation six-pointer, is what could be what could have happened there.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I've gone Ipswich for best result.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_01: Worst, I've actually gone a different direction.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're right.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_01: If I were to say who played worse, Forrest and the manner in which they lost.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that just can't happen.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_01: But I actually went Manchester United.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think, yeah, I think you can't lose that, or you can't draw that game and lose two points up a man at home with 20 minutes to play.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_01: I I think a professional team sees that out way more times than they don't.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, I feel like Manchester United, maybe this is a little bit of bias talking, I feel like they were lucky to get the goal.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they created much throughout the course of the match.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_01: It was a few half chances here or there, and it was really just a moment of brilliance from Emwemo that got their goal for them.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, a better striker for Spurs, and you lose that game pretty convincingly.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I went for United there.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_01: Best performer.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm workshopping a little thing.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to give out a gold star, a silver star, and a bronze star.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_01: My gold star was Jordan Henderson.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_01: So we're on the same page.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's hard to go any other direction.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I hate doing it because, like I said, not the biggest fan of his, but he he deserved it.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm an unbiased guy.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll I call it how I see it.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_01: Silver Star, I went Sadiqi Sheriff, who we mentioned, just brilliant from him.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Coventry as a whole, really just impressed.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't see it coming.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_01: Element of surprise, maybe that's working on me.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_01: Sadiqi Sheriff gets my silver star and bronze.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_01: It would feel wrong to introduce this little system I'm doing and not give it to my guy Balumi, especially when he scores an equalizer to get a point.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I think he's probably earned a few throughout the course of the year so far.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of a retroactive tip of the cap.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_01: Keep doing the guy.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_01: I I love him.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_01: Worst performer, Brandon.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, this is my favorite segment.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_01: We had a lot of names here.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_01: Liam DeLap, glad you already covered him.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_01: I won't do it, but I co-sign.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_01: Dom Solanke, he's Liam DeLap senior.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: Bournemouth, entire back line.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_01: You guys, whoo, stinkers.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give it though to Lucas Hornostek, the new castle keeper.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_01: Just a really shocking penalty to give away and ruin the whole game from the first minute.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was in the fifth minute where he concedes it.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: Jack Rodoni, by the way, scores the pen, lifts up his shirt, says, uh, get well soon, man.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_01: Loves, love seeing that.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: Rodoni, former Wimbledon guy, so I like that.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, Hornsteck just really a lot of goals.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_01: Not the goals that went in that could have been stopped.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of those were really good goals.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_01: He had just some of these shots, the rebounds he was allowing.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_01: It was like he never saw a ball come at him before.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, it was weird because I thought I thought he was a pretty promising keeper so far this season, but he gets my worst one of the week.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I love staying on the theme of me picking a goalkeeper each week.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he who he was poor.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_02: He was really, really poor.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we I know we breezed it through that game, but yeah, the penalty he gives up is really wonky.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_02: His defender is basically shielding the striker from Coventry, and he just doesn't pick it up.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's his fault that it spills to begin with.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, whoa, whoa, what are you doing, dude?
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then he kind of act like not a pen, and then you kind of see him talking to his friends in the trust tree.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: His teammates are like, Yeah, it was a pen.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_01: He's telling ref ball.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, you didn't.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, you didn't make it not quite.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so yeah, definitely, definitely some odd, odd performances.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_02: I I do like you bringing in a goalkeeper every week because we're we're tough on them, but I feel like you have one job, and I know, Sean, you're the guy that wants the goalie who can play with his feet, and he can do this and that and the other.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't care less.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_02: Just kick it out.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_02: If you can save it, kick it out.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_02: Give the other team a throw and do whatever you need to do.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_02: And for me, that's the only thing I'll really criticize, criticize goalies on.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_02: But every week somebody's doing some kind of just brain lapse where they forget how to play goalie, and unfortunately, again, that position, it's if you mess up, it's probably gonna end up in goals.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_02: And as we see with Newcastle, that's what happened in this game.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I think that's totally fair of you to valuate goalies that way.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_01: I just I want a little more from them.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: I need no, it's fair.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: You it's funny.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was actually having a conversation with a with a friend of mine, and he was talking about inverted wingers and this, that, and the other.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, no, just give me old school football, 4-4-2, line them up.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you're left footed, you either play left mid or left back or left center back.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's like you're not playing on the right side of the field.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's my version of football, and we need to get back to that.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_02: We're getting too cute with all this nowadays.
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_01: Game's gone.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_01: If we're at the fullback, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we saw it with Arsenal's game in Cala Fiori's Megan is darting right into the box.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, bro, you're playing left back.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why are you the highest player on the field at this moment?
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's I and look, I get it.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: Technology, strategies, all that has to change.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_02: People have to evolve, but just give me a good old 442, lump it out of bounds.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_02: You go up one nil, pack it in, park the bus, and and we go home with a 1-0 win.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad we disagree on this because we couldn't have further views from one another.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_01: I would rather look good and lose a couple matches than do what you're talking about.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_02: I want three points.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_02: Every time I touch the field, I want three points.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care how it looks.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I would I would like the three points too.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_01: I ask for both.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_01: I do ask, I do get a little bit greedy.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_01: You ask for everything.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I do.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I ask for the moon, you land on the stars.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_02: Fair enough.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I want.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, now to close out, it's funny we were talking about goalkeeping blunders because I wanted to give you a quick little MLS update.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_02: Did you happen to see the New York City Chicago fire game or any highlights from it?
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, totally fine.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_02: So Chicago goes down.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_02: Matt Freeze is a goalkeeper for New York City.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's the key to the story.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_02: Your guy.
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Chicago goes down to 10 men uh on a red card, and they're down 1-0 at halftime.
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they come out in the second half and they score early to tie it.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_02: Both teams after that are pushing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_02: Freeze Freeze is doing good.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_02: He's making some great saves until the 87th minute.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_02: 87th minute, New York City FC has a goal kick.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_02: And again, because you want to play this cute soccer, Sean.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_02: Huh?
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not with Matt Freeze with a proper keeper, yes.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, stop.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, see, now the cute thing is now the center back takes the goal kicks and he taps it over to the goalkeeper, which happened.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then Matt Freeze decides to just pass it to Chicago striker.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_02: Chicago striker taps it in.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_02: They lose two to one, up a man for most of the game, and it hurt their play.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's now hurting their playoff chances.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_02: So again, Matt Freeze, love you.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_02: Just kick the ball into the Rosie.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care, give up a throwing.
• 1:04:27
  SPEAKER_02: But no, we have to play this cute brand of soccer and do all this fancy stuff.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_02: And it comes back to bite us.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_01: I do like that it happened to Matt Freeze.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_01: I will say that.
• 1:04:37
  SPEAKER_01: We need to stock that.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_02: I knew he would like that.
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm glad you appreciate that.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm glad we had that conversation right on it.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I I wanted to tell you that one first.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_02: Just a couple quick other ones.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Messi Asuarez, they they turned back the clock.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_02: They they win 4-0 versus DC.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_02: Both of them had braces in this game.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_02: Miami's firing.
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_02: They'll probably finish second or third in the East.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then the game I was at this weekend, uh, Philly wins again.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Ryan Richter and the boys win again.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_02: 2-1 to Real Salt Lake.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_02: Not the bet, not the prettiest game.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_02: They were up 2-0.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'll give up a late cheap one.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, that's 13 in a row.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_02: Club record, 13 unbeaten streak.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they have not lost a game since Ryan Richter has become the coach, so in MLS play.
• 1:05:24
  SPEAKER_01: So pretty 11 wins, too, isn't it?
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's I think it's 10 or 11 wins at 13.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's the last seven.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_02: They won the last seven.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_02: And just yeah, like I think it's like three or four draws total.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the rest are wins.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, they're on fire right now.
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_02: With that, we do have some midweek MLS.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like I mentioned to you, last episode, the MLS is really finishing quickly.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_02: Chicago plays Philly this week on Wednesday in Chicago.
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_02: So definitely one to highlight.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think it'll be Philly's probably the toughest game since Ryan's become the manager.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_02: Having to go play against your guy, Greg Berhalter, in Chicago.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_01: Stop associating guys that aren't my guys with me, please.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_01: I would like the record to show you not my guys.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_02: We also had uh Cincinnati and New England in the east, both top top-level teams fighting for uh home field playoff spots.
• 1:06:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then in the West, uh, the big game to watch is St.
• 1:06:19
  SPEAKER_02: Louis plays Vancouver.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_02: St.
• 1:06:21
  SPEAKER_02: Louis is second in the West, Vancouver's first in the West, so definitely some playoff implications.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_02: Possibly the number one seed up for grabs in the Western conference this week.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're in, and I I love all of that from the MLS.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_01: You you do a great job of keeping me and the listeners informed.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_01: I also did tune in a little bit of that Philly game.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_01: I did know you were there, so I tried to make an effort to put a little bit of it on.
• 1:06:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a little choppy, kind of like you said.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, couldn't really get a rhythm, but it was once again great to see the union win.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_01: So they keep that alive.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's the most important thing for the MLS for me at the moment, is seeing how long that streak can go and watching my guy Kavan in the playoffs.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait for that.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's a guy you could say my guy for.
• 1:06:59
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's your guy, but it's our guy.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's our guy.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_01: So he's lumping me in with guys like Freezey and Bearhalter.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_01: Let's associate me with some proper ballers.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I have a quick trip around Europe to get to and one on a different continent to close out the show, which I think you'll appreciate.
• 1:07:16
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll start in La Liga, the three matches I talked about, Barcelona, Atletico, and Real Madrid all played on the same day.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_01: All of them won.
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that is the good news for the title race in La Liga.
• 1:07:26
  SPEAKER_01: Barcelona have won all league games so far, all eight of them, with 34 goals in those eight games.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_01: They have only allowed seven, not a math guy, but that's a differential of plus 27 so far in the year.
• 1:07:39
  SPEAKER_01: They need to maintain this dominance in the league, obviously.
• 1:07:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's trending in the direction that they will, but I think the key for them this year is going to be how they perform in the Champions League.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: They this feels like the best team in the world at the moment.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_01: They need to get over that hump and win a Champions League to kind of cement what they've been building the last few years.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_01: Atletico, they win, they get saved by Kuti Romero, 87th minute winner from my goat.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_01: Another one of my guys, just slotting right into Atletico, and we'll get to them in a second.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_01: They have an interesting Champions League tie this week as well.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_01: So good stuff in Madrid continues with Real Madrid, winning 1-0.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yandiamande opens his account for Real Madrid, his first goal.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_01: They do lose Vinny to a red card for violent conduct, and that means he will miss El Classico, which is coming up on October 25th.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, not the best result for Real Madrid.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_01: They get the win, but they lose one of their best players for the biggest game of their season in later this month.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's gonna be interesting.
• 1:08:38
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that the week of the game.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_01: In Italy, just quickly, I talked about Roma and Como.
• 1:08:43
  SPEAKER_01: Ended in a 0-0 draw.
• 1:08:44
  SPEAKER_01: Danielle Malin gets sent off for a red card, which kind of took the sting out of this game.
• 1:08:48
  SPEAKER_01: Weird one, it was probably a red, but the ref was awfully quick to pull it out.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he didn't really give it much thought.
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_01: So Roma are gonna struggle without him.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's been such a big focal point to what they do.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_01: His goal output has been phenomenal since joining last January.
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm interested to see how they hold up without him.
• 1:09:06
  SPEAKER_01: Juventus are horrible.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_01: They draw one-one with Cagliari.
• 1:09:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know what's going on.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_01: You just look at the Juventus squad, and the squads we grew up with with Juventus are absolutely world class.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_01: You'll get these guys.
• 1:09:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh my god, Lloyd Kelly starred for Juventus.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, why don't we do it?
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's bad.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's really bleak for Juve.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_01: And Inter continue to just look like a well-oiled machine and dominate Syrial.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_01: So they are the standard to beat there.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_01: Brandon, to wrap up the show, I'm gonna take us to uh the land down under Australia Mate.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_01: South Melbourne, Melbourne for us Americans, but they say they say Melbourne.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_01: They win the Australian Cup.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, now what's the context?
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_01: What does that matter?
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_01: You're basically speaking a different language.
• 1:09:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they become the first ever non-A-League side to win the Cup.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_01: Which the A-League is the top flight in Australia, so it's equivalent to the Premier League there.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And now what makes this really interesting, Brandon, uh, is they defeated Melbourne victory on penalties to win the cup.
• 1:10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Cool story, first non-top division side to win.
• 1:10:11
  SPEAKER_01: All that's unique.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_01: But South Melbourne are actually a very unique club.
• 1:10:15
  SPEAKER_01: They're nicknamed Hellas.
• 1:10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hellas is used to be what they were referred to as.
• 1:10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's South Melbourne FC, but people still refer to them as Hellas.
• 1:10:23
  SPEAKER_01: They basically were a very successful club in the top flight of Australian football.
• 1:10:28
  SPEAKER_01: They had four league titles, they've won a bunch of cups before.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_01: They were managed by the legend Ferrance Pushkas.
• 1:10:35
  SPEAKER_01: They were managed by the legend Ange Postacoglu.
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Gomé.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Anj played there, he managed there.
• 1:10:44
  SPEAKER_01: A very successful club.
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ange actually won back-to-back titles as a manager there in 97, 98, and 98, 99, and they qualified for the club World Cup in 2000.
• 1:10:53
  SPEAKER_01: But in 2004, the A League was formed, and it was a closed franchise model, meaning uh you paid it a fee to get into the league and there was no promotion or relegation.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_01: So South Melbourne, a club with a lot of history, were left out of this equation.
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's a big deal in Australia.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it sucks for in my opinion.
• 1:11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I hate a league that doesn't have promotion relegation.
• 1:11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think it takes away from the product, but it creates an interesting storyline.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_01: They were left out because they had some debt associated with them when the league launched.
• 1:11:23
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't really afford the fee that it would cost to get into the league.
• 1:11:27
  SPEAKER_01: I hate when people are priced out of anything, let alone something like this.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_01: This is crazy.
• 1:11:31
  SPEAKER_01: They were also dubbed an ethnic club that had baggage because it's very much located in the Greek Australian community, and it's equal parts almost Greek and Australian, in terms of the heritage of this club.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_01: And they didn't like that baggage that was associated.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted a clean slate for the new clubs in the league.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and miss me with all that.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize how gross the Australian top flight was, but I'm happy to see South Melbourne get the job done and win a cup.
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_02: That is absolutely incredible.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, thank you for doing that, the legwork on that and bringing that to the table.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_02: I had absolutely no idea.
• 1:12:03
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know the A-League was a closed league.
• 1:12:05
  SPEAKER_02: I've heard of the A-League and I know a couple of people who have played in that league, but I did not realize it was a closed league.
• 1:12:11
  SPEAKER_02: But kudos to South Melbourne for winning it.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Do so now do they play in like a second division, or is it just like an independent league?
• 1:12:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's referred to as the second division because it's not as high of a quality in terms of just money being spent in it.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I do think it's independent of the A-League since there's no promotion into the A League.
• 1:12:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's the it used to be the NPL, I want to say, and I think that's back up and running, and that's where they play in, but it's mostly regional and it's not as high of a level overall as the A-League is.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha, gotcha.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that is that is really cool.
• 1:12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's that's cool stuff, and I'm I'm glad we can bring stories like that to the table.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to ask you, uh, I know you mentioned you had some Champions League games to talk about this week.
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Are are you are we seeing a PSG three P or do you think Barcelona has the legs to truly, truly put up a challenge for the for the Champions League this year?
• 1:13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Barcelona have been so disappointing in the Champions League that I don't know.
• 1:13:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna have to certainly take a step in that competition for me to believe it.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_01: But PSG, if you're just looking at what's gone on in club season so far, Barcelona have definitely looked like the better team.
• 1:13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, PSG kind of do this thing where they don't necessarily hold their pedal or they're hold their foot down on the gas throughout the league season because they know they could get away with it.
• 1:13:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's hard to tell if it's just smoke and mirrors or not.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_01: But if you ask me who the best team is right now in the world, I would say the answers to that question are all PSG, Barcelona, Manchester City.
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_01: You could throw Arsenal in there, you could throw Bayern Munich in there.
• 1:13:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I would be surprised probably if it was anybody aside from those five teams.
• 1:13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:13:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess maybe you lump in Real Madrid just because of the history they have in that competition, but they certainly don't look like one of those best teams right now.
• 1:13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:13:54
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's that's good to know.
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like we always hear about the same clubs, and with PSG's dominance the last couple of years, I wondered if it was sort of uh their competition to lose in a sense.
• 1:14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it sounds like they have some competition this year, this year, so that's good to good to hear.
• 1:14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And Brandon, we have some great games starting today.
• 1:14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Starting today, we have Atletico Madrid, as I mentioned, hosting Manchester United.
• 1:14:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's a proper affair.
• 1:14:20
  SPEAKER_01: 3 p.m.
• 1:14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Eastern.
• 1:14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Galatasarai hosts Barcelona.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_01: So Barcelona Lumino All, they're going to a hostile environment in Turkey.
• 1:14:28
  SPEAKER_01: That'll be cool to see.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited about that.
• 1:14:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then on Wednesday, Brandon, we have got some belters.
• 1:14:36
  SPEAKER_01: We have Man City hosting PSG.
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_01: How's that?
• 1:14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_02: How's that?
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we get an early answer to that question as to who's the better team right now.
• 1:14:46
  SPEAKER_01: We have a fun one.
• 1:14:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is a ball mower's pick, but Bodo Glimped are hosting Bruce Ya Dortman.
• 1:14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just a black and yellow, black and yellow.
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Wiz Khalifa bowl, I might dub it.
• 1:14:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great one there.
• 1:14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Pittsburgh Derby.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Pittsburgh Derby hosted in the Arctic Circle.
• 1:15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have Roma hosting José Mourinho in Real Madrid.
• 1:15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Jose returns to the Stadio Olympico where he won a European trophy with Roma.
• 1:15:13
  SPEAKER_01: We do get Vinny in this match, so because his suspension won't carry into the Champions League.
• 1:15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of fun there.
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have some.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is when the champions, it's the second match week in the Champions League.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna kick off this week.
• 1:15:25
  SPEAKER_02: This is you're this is giving uh two three TV type of a schedule here, Sean.
• 1:15:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate you uh slow days in the office, Brandon, right?
• 1:15:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I can pull that pull that off, but uh I'll do my best.
• 1:15:39
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, that's those those are good fixtures.
• 1:15:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I and we've hinted on this before, and I know people don't love the new format of the Champions League with these games sort of just being almost like league games rather than knockouts or or a bracket, but you get to see some of these cool matchups that maybe you wouldn't see otherwise.
• 1:16:02
  SPEAKER_02: You're talking city and PSG, that could be a semifinal.
• 1:16:06
  SPEAKER_02: That could be a final.
• 1:16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's cool in that respect.
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_01: We get some of those Giants going head to head early in the competition.
• 1:16:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's also, if you're a fan of one of these clubs, you get to potentially travel to double the amount of cities in the group stage in the guaranteed rounds of the tournament.
• 1:16:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of pros, there's a lot of cons to the way it's done.
• 1:16:23
  SPEAKER_01: It worked out where there's final drama on the last day of this league phase last year.
• 1:16:28
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it'll work out to be the case again this year.
• 1:16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Does mean these games are maybe a little less significant and taking a loss isn't the end of the world as much as it would be in the old format, but I think there's enough benefits to some of these new rules and the structure of this format that maybe outweigh the cons.
• 1:16:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
• 1:16:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think the jury's still out, but I love seeing some of these matchups, and we get more of those unique matchups, so that's a good sign.
• 1:16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's proper, proper, Sean.
• 1:16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to give one last little shout.
• 1:16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Tonight, the US women's national team play Spain.
• 1:17:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they're playing that game here in Philly, and I'm going to be at that game.
• 1:17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And of course he is.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Mr.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Booth's on the ground.
• 1:17:08
  SPEAKER_02: What do you know what's going on?
• 1:17:08
  SPEAKER_02: She's at another match.
• 1:17:09
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta bring notes and do my uh journalism for the podcast.
• 1:17:14
  SPEAKER_02: So get your credential, yeah.
• 1:17:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I re honestly that would save me a ton of money.
• 1:17:19
  SPEAKER_02: We should work on that.
• 1:17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if we had some more juice, I think we might be able to work that in the future, not right now, at present.
• 1:17:24
  SPEAKER_02: No, but it it's interesting because these are friendlies uh for the women, just like the men had a few weeks ago.
• 1:17:30
  SPEAKER_02: And the women do it a little differently.
• 1:17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Typically, the women will play the same team twice over a four-day period.
• 1:17:37
  SPEAKER_02: So USA just lost to Spain this weekend down in Washington, DC.
• 1:17:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I think Emma Hayes is really looking to rebound here.
• 1:17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Spain and USA are ranked one and two in the world on the women's side.
• 1:17:48
  SPEAKER_02: So to be able to see, arguably, you know, based on FIFA's rankings, the two best teams in the world on a Tuesday night in Philly, sign me up.
• 1:17:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm gonna take that.
• 1:17:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm excited to see both teams.
• 1:18:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm expecting a great crowd, a fun evening, and just another celebration of women's sports.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about the women's game, and I know we'll talk a lot more next summer for the Women's World Cup, but the the game continues to grow, and it's one of those things that maybe we don't follow it as much as we should, but it's it's hard to ignore now.
• 1:18:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's right in front of your face.
• 1:18:21
  SPEAKER_02: The NWSL is a great league.
• 1:18:23
  SPEAKER_02: There's national team players on every team, not just even USA national team players, there's players from England and Spain and some of these other top top level countries.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_02: So it's great to see the women's game continue to grow in this country, and uh I'm excited to be able to watch the US here in my city.
• 1:18:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're in for a treat, Brandon.
• 1:18:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the US on their own are fun to watch.
• 1:18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Spain are a delight to watch.
• 1:18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they play a lot like the Spain, Spanish men's team does.
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you see some quality on the ball there.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think also just the chance to see the goat Trin buzz up that left side, maybe the right, we'll see where she's deployed.
• 1:19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Mouse Swanson back in the picture.
• 1:19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Try my best to watch them as often as I can.
• 1:19:07
  SPEAKER_01: The friendlies, of course, when there's nothing at stake, it's less enticing.
• 1:19:10
  SPEAKER_01: But knowing you're gonna be at this match, it's in Philadelphia, I will make sure I'm tuning in.
• 1:19:15
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate that, Sean.
• 1:19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it should be a fun one.
• 1:19:18
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's obviously a little different than a men's because they are playing the same team they just played three days ago.
• 1:19:25
  SPEAKER_02: But uh even still, it look, Emma Hayes has said to be the best, we have to beat the best, and if we can get the best in a friendly, it shows us where we need to be and how much better we need to be come next summer.
• 1:19:37
  SPEAKER_02: So we're not surprised when the World Cup does happen.
• 1:19:39
  SPEAKER_02: They the women went to Brazil in the last window to play Brazil in Brazil, and there were red cards and yellow cards and fights and everything, and they were like, hey, this is what is gonna happen next summer.
• 1:19:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad the women are taking that approach and really trying to put themselves up against the best teams and competing.
• 1:19:59
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it would be one thing if the US men's team called Spain and said, hey, play us in a friendly, and Spain's like, sure.
• 1:20:05
  SPEAKER_02: But but getting beat 6-0 isn't gonna solve much for the US team.
• 1:20:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's cool to see two teams, arguably on pretty equal level, playing.
• 1:20:15
  SPEAKER_02: And while the game itself doesn't mean anything, I'm sure we'll still see a lot of electricity, a lot of fireworks in the building.
• 1:20:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it should be a fun one.
• 1:20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I absolutely love Emma Hayes.
• 1:20:25
  SPEAKER_01: I was asking her, I was asking her to coach both national teams before we hired Punch.
• 1:20:30
  SPEAKER_01: I wish she could have done both jobs.
• 1:20:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's how much that's how highly I think of her.
• 1:20:33
  SPEAKER_01: If Tottenham need a manager anytime soon, I would first one of the first calls would be Emma Hayes.
• 1:20:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know she's probably never managed men before.
• 1:20:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's all right, Emma.
• 1:20:42
  SPEAKER_01: You'll figure it out.
• 1:20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, she'll figure it out quickly.
• 1:20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Every time I hear her talk, I'm like, yeah, yeah.
• 1:20:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, oh, I'll lace him up if I can, you know what I mean?
• 1:20:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'll do whatever.
• 1:20:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll run through a wall for you, Emma.
• 1:20:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really like that you're getting to see her at work tonight as well.
• 1:20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that's good stuff.
• 1:20:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, definitely excited for that one, Sean.
• 1:20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Listeners, as always, we we appreciate your support.
• 1:21:02
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be back to you later this week with our preview for next weekend's Premier League episode.
• 1:21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, any any final thoughts you got for tonight?
• 1:21:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, a lot of good football the next couple of days in the midweek here to get us through to the weekend preview.
• 1:21:17
  SPEAKER_01: So not any wall periods coming up for the friends on football.
• 1:21:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're head first in action now.
• 1:21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, between Champions League, Premier League, MLS, women's national teams.
• 1:21:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's go time.
• 1:21:32
  SPEAKER_02: This is what we hey, this is what we asked for.
• 1:21:34
  SPEAKER_02: We got our we got our club seasons back, we got our games back, Sean.
• 1:21:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it's definitely a fun time.
• 1:21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Listeners, thank you for your support as always.
• 1:21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, like and subscribe, tell a friend to tell a friend.
• 1:21:44
  SPEAKER_02: And until next time, take care.