Latest / Friends on Football / Ep. 33 - Transfer Deadline Day Recap, Winners and Losers in the Market, Best/Worst Signings, MLS Updates, Good Business in Madrid and a Weekend Preview

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Ep. 33 - Transfer Deadline Day Recap, Winners and Losers in the Market, Best/Worst Signings, MLS Updates, Good Business in Madrid and a Weekend Preview · Friends on Football

0:22
SPEAKER_00: Hello, friends, and welcome to episode 33 of the Friends on Football Podcast.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of your co-hosts, Brandon Johnson, and joining with me as always is my good friend, Mr.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Sean Boyle.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Sean, how are you doing?
0:33
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I'm happy to be here with you.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm doing well.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: How are you?
0:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing well.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing well.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: We have a packed episode, Sean, just to give you a quick rundown.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Tonight's theme is transfers.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna get all into transfers, European transfers, who who got moved, who didn't move, the whole nine.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna break it down.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll do a little bit of a weekend preview at the end, but the bulk of the episode tonight will be transfers, Sean.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: Let's just let's just dive right in with some deadline day stories.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: So deadline day was Tuesday, September 1st in Europe.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I learned, Sean, actually, that other leagues, including the MLS, their deadline day is actually Wednesday, September 2nd.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: They give them an extra day.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: So a little bit of a little bit something different.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: But let's just go over the big the big things that happened uh on Tuesday.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: So first, Sean, Florin Balogun, US men's national team striker, moved to Everton.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Everything seems to be on the up and up, and it doesn't happen.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: So what went down?
1:37
SPEAKER_00: What's going on behind the scenes there?
1:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so the biggest story of the World Cup was the Florin Balogun red card.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: And he he it wasn't really his fault that that became the biggest storyline.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: And this one, the biggest story of the transfer deadline day, you could argue was Florin Balogun as well.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: So he's really doing a good job of taking over the news.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: This one was weird, Brandon.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: So Florin Balogin is a striker at AS Monaco in the French League.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: AS Monaco had been openly shopping him this summer because he's entering the last year of his contract.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: And most importantly, they need to raise money.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: Monaco needed to sell players this window to raise money.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: So it comes down to deadline day.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: There's a deal agreed with Everton in the ballpark of 40 million pounds.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: The next step in the proceedings, once those clubs reach an agreement with one another, is for the player to go get his medical done at his new club and then sign his contract before all the paperwork is submitted to the leagues and becomes official.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: Forum Balogun travels to Liverpool, where Everton's located, to do his medical.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: The Everton medical team notice something while they're scanning him, and they decide that they don't like the terms that they had agreed upon with the transfer.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: And the deal then goes off.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: All the reports come out saying, oh, the deal's not going to happen anymore.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: But they're trying to figure it out up until the deadline.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: They say it's not dead completely, but it's just, it's not on like it was.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of how transfer deadline day seems to go.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: It's always like snip stab snipstap.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: It's Michael Scott in the office.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: You just don't know until everything's official and the deadline passes.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: Well, Everton and Monaco rework the deal and agree to new terms of their agreement, which is interesting because then it seems like everything's good to go ahead.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: So we get the reports then that the deal's back on.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Flor and Balogun will join Everton until at the last moment, Flor and Balogun decides I don't like that you guys wanted to rework my contract.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't like that you notice something in the medical.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe there's anything wrong.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to sign for Everton anymore.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: That creates a situation where the deal is completely off just minutes before the deadline.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Monaco are not able to raise the money that they needed through player sales, and Everton are left without a striker.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely bananas.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: And it was a back and forth situation that just developed all day long.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And I it leads me to my point.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: I hate that these things come down to the final day.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: It seems like if they had more time to work this out, everything could have been resolved.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: But because they left it till deadline day, this is what we got.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a crazy, crazy scenario, Sean.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: But I think it unfortunately is that game of almost chicken.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: It's like who's gonna who's gonna blink first?
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Are they gonna blink and throw us a number that we don't appreciate or we really overappreciate?
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Or do we need to call them back and figure it out?
4:21
SPEAKER_00: And these clubs, yeah, they go back and forth, and we'll get into it even more as we continue.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: But for Flor and Balogun, just to follow up to you, Sean, is staying at Monaco possible?
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Are is he gonna be welcomed back?
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Like what where's Monaco's head at now with Balogun's situation?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: I know we're gonna go over other situations at Monaco.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: Monaco really seems to be the the hub of the Deadline Day this week.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: But what what what happens now to Balogun?
4:50
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: I would think because of his quality that he'll eventually ingrain himself back in the first team, because I do think he's probably their still their best striking option.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: He's at least deserving of minutes at Monaco this season.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: It's just a weird one.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's something where he gets back on the pitch, has a decent couple of months, and then moves in January, and they're able to raise the funds that they wanted.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: But it's something that I don't think any party expected, and I don't think any party is left completely satisfied with.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned, Brandon, how Monaco is at the store, the center of everything.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: The next point in this deadline day saga has to do with them as well, and it's directly tied to this Balogun move.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: They were in negotiations with Chelsea over one of their midfielders, Lamin Camara.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: He is an exciting young player.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Chelsea wanted him for their midfield after letting go of Enzo Fernandez.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: He seemed to be the replacement that they had touted.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: And this was another one that throughout all of Deadline Day was going back and forth, whether there was an agreement or not.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: Basically, what happened was Monaco only wanted to sell one of Balogun or Camara because they just needed to raise some money.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: So, in their head, once the Balogun deal was green-lighted for the final time, they said no, we're not letting Kamara go to Chelsea.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna sell Balogun.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: That's our only sale.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna keep Camara.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: Well, what ends up happening, I just mentioned that Balogun deal falls through.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: They tell Chelsea no, and all of a sudden Monaco are able to keep both players, but they're in a real financial problem.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: And Chelsea are left without a midfielder, Everton are left without a striker, and a lot of it's down to Monaco.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: A very weird twist in this deadline that it all came down to Florida Balogun and Monaco, but that's how it played out.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the domino effect is crazy, Sean.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: And then I also saw uh Eric Lira was rumored to go to Monaco as well, but they needed to get this one of those sales off for them to sign Eric Lira, who was the Mexican national team uh defensive center midfielder at the World Cup.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: So it's crazy how one transfer, Sean, really that happening or not happening really impacts the rest of the world because everything sort of fell apart when the Balogun transfer didn't happen.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: A hundred percent.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: It's a crazy domino effect a lot of times.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: And you get into these situations where a club needs something to happen before something else can happen.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's what created this absolute mess on the final day of the window.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: Usually it's a little more straightforward.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: Usually clubs aren't as hamstrung where they need to do a one-in, one-out, but a lot of times it is the case that they need to balance the books financially, and that leads to situations like this.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I'm gonna give you one more fun storyline before we get into some of our favorite transfers and some ones that we're raising an eyebrow to.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: The other story of Deadline Day was Malik Fafana and his move between two Premier League clubs, where he basically held both clubs hostage for the entirety of a day.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: It was Crystal Palace and it was Sunderland.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: Both clubs had agreed two deals with Leon for Malik Fafana.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: So they had agreed with the club that he was coming from on a price.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: Everything was good from that aspect, and it was left to the player to decide which club he wants to play for.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: And if you count, there were two separate occasions during the day that each club was basically 100% sure he was choosing them.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: It started off he was a done deal to Sunderland, then he was in London doing a medical with Chelsea or doing a medical with Crystal Palace.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Next thing you know, fast forward a couple hours, he's back 100% committed to Sunderland.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: Next thing you know, he's back to Crystal Palace.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: And ultimately he ends up with Sunderland, but it was one of those wild sagas that you can only really get in this sport.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting one, Sean.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: And for the listeners who aren't maybe aren't as aware, two deals essentially have to happen.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: So team to team have to transfer and they agree on a number.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: So, Sean, you mentioned with the Balogun deal, that was 40 million pounds.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: That would be that would be Monaco and Everton.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: That 40 million pounds would go between those two teams.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: However, then Balogun has to agree on a separate contract that pays him X amount of dollars per week for the next however many years.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: That's a separate contract.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't happen regularly, Sean, but there's times like this where teams will agree on the fee with another team, and it's really just up to the player to decide.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: And typically teams can kind of figure, okay, he's probably gonna go here or there.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: And in this one was weird.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: I know Arsenal was in on it at the beginning as well in the in the transfer window.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: I know Arsenal kind of backed out.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, when you're when you're a talent like this, it's it's incredible the the power of the player in European football.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: I feel like in the American sports, we're used to hey, so-and-so called, they traded.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: Especially in major league baseball, I feel like guys get traded in the middle of the game, they have to leave a game to go get on a flight to their their new city.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: But in European football, it really seems like the players have the power.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's good, maybe bad, but you end up with situations like these where one move, we don't know what could have happened even with Crystal Palace's other transfers.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: They might have said, all right, Fafana's coming to us, we're not gonna go sign these other guys.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: He ends up not coming, and now you don't have any of them because the window closed.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a really interesting case study in player power rather than team and organization power that we see it in a lot of American sports.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Brandon, a perfect point by you.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: And I'll give a quick example of just another story and saga that happened towards the end of this window where player power was on full display.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: And it is different, it's unique from American sports in that regard.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: Unless you have a no-trade clause, you could kind of get shipped wherever.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: There's really no trading of players usually.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: Once in a while we'll see a swap, and that's what this story that I'm about to tell kind of revolves around.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: So Tottenham were in negotiations with Everton for Illeman and Jai.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: Illeman and Jai is a left-winger, dribbly, fits exactly what Tottenham are looking for.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: In exchange for Njai, Everton wanted to bring Richarlison back to the club.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: He was a striker for them, he did well for them.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: He is someone who Everton were looking at to maybe plug the gap up top.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Well, what happened was Illeman and Jai agrees to terms with Tottenham, but because Richarlison is not exactly keen on the contract Everton are offering, he kind of stalls the deal.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: And he says, I'm not so sure yet, I don't know that I'm going to commit to Everton.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: And while that deal is being stalled, Manchester City's agreement with Cody Gakpo and Liverpool falls through.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: And then it gives them enough time to pivot to Illement and Jai and sign him instead.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: So because Richarlison wasn't committed to going back to Everton, he kind of just held Tottenham out of closing that deal long enough for City to swoop in and steal Ilman and Jai.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: Just an absolute fiasco, but it shows you what players have the right to do.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: And I do think it's a good thing that they have say in where they end up playing.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Agree, Sean.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, just another weird story there.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: It's it's incredible how how things like that just happen and and they work out the way they do, and teams end up not having the players they want.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: So for for instance, in this case, like Monaco overall, after this window, probably not a favorite to a lot of teams outside of outside of in Europe because they kind of sort of screwed over Everton and Chelsea.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would blame them all for the Chelsea screwover.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: The Everton one does seem like it was Balogun's ultimate fault, but Monaco is still at the heart of it.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's one of those.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: If you're negotiating with Monaco, you just have to know they might be a bad faith operator.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: They're not operating in your best interest.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's interesting, Sean.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate you telling the story, especially the Charleston one at the end there.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: So let's just take a maybe a an uh a bigger look.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Just the window at large.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: I just took a couple of notes, things that I saw.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Interested to hear if you have anything that you saw in this window.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: For me, uh very busy, just an extremely busy window.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: I feel like it was busier than usual.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: I saw something that said 3.3 billion pounds were spent in this window, which is an absurd, absurd amount of money.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think we might be a little bit too big, Sean.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: We we might need to calm it down with the transfers.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: And I know I'm probably speaking into a void because none of these clubs want to hear that, but how much is too much?
13:04
SPEAKER_00: The the numbers for some of these transfers are so high, and and we'll get into some specific players shortly.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: But you have a guy like Enzo Fernandez who wants to leave Chelsea publicly, has said multiple times he wants to leave Chelsea, and they still end up getting over a hundred million for him to to go to Manchester City.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And it's like Manchester City, like he he wanted to leave.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: You could probably got him for less, but they're like, Oh, whatever, we'll splash the cash.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: What were there other teams in the race to get Fernandez?
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe not.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: But it's crazy how the money has just gone wild.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: And my other big note, Sean, that I that I wrote down was Saudi League still's got attention.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Like, people are still going to Saudi.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: I know they've Saudi investment in sports have kind of changed, live golf, and some of that's kind of fallen apart a little bit, but they still have money to sign soccer players.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: Ollie Watkins, our our guy at Aston Villa, just said, I'm I'm Saudi, I'm I'm out.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: Crescentio Somerville, who was at West Ham, would have been playing in the championship, got a huge deal to go to Saudi.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Gianni Reinders from Manchester City last year.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Saudi.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's interesting to see that Saudi is still playing such a huge role.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: I thought maybe it was going to be a little bit of a fad where the last three, four years, Saudi, let's go make a ton of money and then come back to Europe.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: But it sounds, it seems like that investment is still going on and players are still wanting to take their talents to the Saudi league.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Brandon, money talks is essentially what I have to say.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: You're 100% right to point out just how big some of these transfer fees have gotten, some of how big some of these contracts have gotten.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, until there's harsher and stricter punishments and regulations on these sort of things, nothing's going to change because quite frankly, the clubs are more than comfortable spending the money, especially in the Premier League.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned Saudi Arabia.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of a different case because yes, they are picking one or two players from the top league still and making them one of their players and giving them lucrative contracts, but the most transfer activity we see is in the Premier League.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: And the financial flexibility that these clubs have compared to the rest of Europe is quite frankly shocking.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: We're seeing promoted sides like Whole City and Ipswich Town spend hundreds of millions of pounds, which is just crazy.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's not something you used to see.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how sustainable that is, especially if you are not able to stay up in the Premier League.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: It gets really risky to do business like that.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: I know there are parachute payments.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: If you do get relegated, you don't just go from Premier League money to nothing.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: But it's certainly a risk that these clubs are taking, trying to stay up or trying to improve.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: And then the money at the top of the Premier League, the big six, that's why you talk about a guy like Enzo Fernandez.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Man City, there might have been other clubs interested in him, but really not that many clubs could afford Enzo Fernandez's wages.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: There's only a few clubs in the world that are able to do that because of the amount of money he was making per week at Chelsea.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: So then that shrinks the available teams that he's able to go to.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: And when you kind of know that Real Madrid and Barcelona have closed up their shop for the summer, and you look around the Premier League, and nobody's really in the market for a 130-pound midfielder like Manchester City are, it leads to there just being one deal, and Manchester City are saying, hey, you know what, we're comfortable spending the money.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: It's all crazy.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: It's not exactly why I fell in love with the game.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: It's it's kind of a deterrent, I would say.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: But if you could just look past the money, I do think it's going to create a really exciting season.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I I appreciate that that lens, Sean, because you're right.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: People are spending it.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: We can we can complain about how expensive things are, but if people are paying for it, why make it any cheaper?
16:40
SPEAKER_00: So so I do understand that point.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm interested to hear, Sean.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: The the moves this week, we've seen a lot, and we'll just touch on a few, but what did you think were sort of the better moves, the best moves, uh, if you will, this week in the in the transfer window?
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Well, Brandon, I think we're gonna we could talk about one that kind of involves one another here.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: So I have one of the best moves for me is Brighton, of course, are at the center of it because that's what they do.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: They they buy smart, they sell even smarter.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: They brought in Chimas Andres.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: He comes from Stuttgart.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: He is a Spanish-holding midfielder.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: He is absolutely elegant to watch, Brandon.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: He's tall, he's got that Rogery type of build.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: He's really good on the ball, could ping a pass, calm, cool as you like.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: They bring him in to replace Carlos Baleba, who moves to Manchester United.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: And it's one of those things we see Brighton do this time and time again.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: They bring in players for a reasonable fee.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: This fee was 19 million pounds when in comparison with some of the fees we've seen being reported, that's nothing.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: That's chump change.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: They bring in these players on the cheap, they develop them, and then they sell them for a massive profit a few years later.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: I think Chimas Andres is a really good player already, and I think in that Brighton pipeline, he's going to become an even better player in the next couple years.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you bringing that one up because I did have Carlos Villeba from Brighton to Manchester United as one of my top transfers.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: I think it helps, but both teams do well here.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: So United got another defensive center midfielder, a guy who can protect Bruno, he can play with Tilomans, Kobe Maynard, whoever they decide.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: He's a Cameroonian international.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: And Brighton got 70 million in return for that.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: So like you said, they bought Andres for 19 million, sold the guy that Andres is replacing for 70 million.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: That's what a net net of 50 million.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not a bad day at the office.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: So these teams, the Brightons, the Brentfords, the teams that really take that analytical approach outside of the big six that have to be a little bit more savvy with their money, Sean.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: They don't have money to just maybe throw$100 million on a player.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Um it's good to see, and and I think for the Baleba and Andres transfers, both are good for both teams involved.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: And I I think it's I think it was it was cool that we both put that as one of our best in in opposite ways.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: And it exactly it kind of shows the food chain in the Premier League as well.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the natural progression of things.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: If you come to a club like Brighton that is a lot smaller in stature than Manchester United and do really well, your next move is likely to be to one of the elite clubs in either your country or in Europe.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: And we saw Manchester United come in, they're comfortable spending that 70 million price point or that 60 million, whereas Brighton are more comfortable operating in that 20 to 30 million range.
19:25
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's more impressive for a club like Brighton, for my money.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: They're doing the hard work, you know, they're taking on some young players and developing them.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: And then unfortunately, their model is just not equipped to keep these guys around.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, players want to challenge for European trophies and Premier League trophies.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: So they end up wanting to leave, but it's super incredibly impressive what they're able to do consistently time and time again.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: Not just them, but like you mentioned, clubs like Brentford, clubs like Bournemouth.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: They're able to buy low and sell high, and that's important to do.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: I will move us to the next one.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say one point, Sean.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: It's it's kind of giving Division I college athletics at this point.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Guys are guys and gals are getting recruited to schools, and they play for a year or two, become player of the conference in their conference, or the best player on their team, and the big fish starts start attacking and they recruit and they sign them to bigger deals and they go to these bigger schools to go win championships.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: And I I will say from my previous experience, I saw it.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: I was in college athletics towards my the end of my time in college athletics was sort of the beginning of this NIL revolution and everything happening.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: And I remember talking to a coach, and basically he he kind of said to me, Look, my recruiting pitch now has to change.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: It's hey, come to me for two years, I'll get you better so that you can go to a higher Division I school and maybe win a championship or a conference championship.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's crazy to think we're in that world in college athletics, but this is sort of the same thing just on a on a much larger scale, of course.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's hard, it's hard for Brighton to keep those players, but at the same time, they can keep their books nice and tight.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: And maybe they do shock the world and win a conference league or a Europa League and win a trophy that way.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: There is a food chain to everything.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of it's it's how the world works weirdly.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: I don't love it.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you don't love it that sometimes, but it's it's what we're left with.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: I have another one for you, Brandon, that I enjoyed.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: I thought this was two good bits of business, even if maybe the window from this team wasn't the best that we've seen because of just the number of exits they had to endure.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: But Aston Villa, I thought, did two pretty interesting things.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: The first one for 47 million pounds, they bring in Ibrahim Mbai from PSG.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: He's an exciting winger.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: He has loads of potential.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: He's been sniffing around the PSG first team, has broken in, scored goals for them, scored goals for Senegal.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: He is really talented and fun to watch.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm excited for this one and excited to highlight it here because I think he's just a brilliant guy to watch with the ball at his feet.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: I think that's cool to have in the Premier League.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: I also think we're we're kind of at a winger shortage.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: I you look around the league, there's not exactly a ton of great wingers.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's why maybe some of the prices teams are paying for them are a bit exorbitant.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: So I think that was good from Aston Villa.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: And the other one they brought in alongside him was Nicholas Jackson.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: He's already made his debut.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: He comes in from Chelsea.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: They lose Ollie Watkins, how you mentioned, to the Saudi League.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: I think they upgraded that position with Nicholas Jackson.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: I think he is a better player, not only now, but for the future as well.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: I think he has a lot more to his game than Ollie does.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: And I think he's gotten a bad rap as maybe a guy who doesn't finish chances at Chelsea.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: And there's definitely a bit of that in there.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: But his holdup play for a striker is absolutely brilliant.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think he'll get his best under Unai Emery, who he played for at Villa Real.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: So it's a player that Unay is very familiar with already.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: I think he'll bring the best out of him again at Aston Villa.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good one.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: I will go over it later, but yeah, I was not impressed by Aston Villa's transfer window.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: But this is maybe their stuff.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: This may be their sparkling, their little shining light.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, kudos to those guys.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: The other one Sean and I had was, and we we've already gone over it, but Sunderland being able to get Malik Fafana's signature.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: I I think I've said on this podcast I'm not high on Sunderland whatsoever this season.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: And I think signing a player like him who had interest from both Crystal Palace and Arsenal in the beginning of the window only strengthens their team.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: They need it, they need bodies.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: I think playing Europe European football and Premier League football is gonna take a lot out of them.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: And for them to get his signature, I think really improves their squad.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: So that was my my second best from this this past week.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: I like him a lot.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: I think he's an exciting young player, and I do think this is a good shout that will definitely help their squad.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: They're able to let go of Samon Andringa, who I've never been super impressed by.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: He was an Ivory Coast International.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: He just, all the games I've watched of him, it seems like I'm always wanting a little bit more out of him.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: So I think Malik Fafana is a guy who really could take them to a new level in attack, which I'm not saying it's going to be a level that leads them in the top of the league in terms of possession and goals and things like that, but I do think he maybe does just enough to make them a better side and keep them out of a relegation fight.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: So a good bit of business there for Sunderland for sure.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, let's flip it.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: What are some of the worst bits of business that you've seen in this window?
24:27
SPEAKER_01: And we'll just talk about individual transactions yet before we get into the teams that we think maybe didn't do as well.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: This one, this one may shock listeners, but Bradley Barcala to Liverpool and not because of Bradley.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a bad move on Liverpool's part.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: I think Bradley Barkala is a fantastic player.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: But I think Liverpool had too many other holes to fill, and to spend that much on Barkala when I think you need a defensive midfielder, I think you need some fullbacks.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: I I worry, and and I know you can do both because a team like Liverpool is that big and they can splash money how they want to splash money, but it I wasn't impressed with the other signings, and maybe some of this Barkala money got tied up and they couldn't they didn't feel comfortable spending you know an absorbent amount on another player, but I don't know if that was their biggest need.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: So that's why I put him as one of the worst.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: I am so torn because I want to respectfully disagree with you, but I think the point you made, I think it's 100% correct.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: I do agree.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: This is I think their squad's a bit out of balance, and I don't think this was the way to go about addressing that.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: So I agree with your notion there.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: I just am such a big fan of Barkle, and I do think there is something to be said that the fans, you need to replace Mohammed Salah.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: When you have somebody of that magnitude depart the club on one wing, I do think it's good business to bring in another star superstar level player, and that's what I think Barkle will be will become.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: So yes, it's a lot of money, but when you stack it up, it's not even as expensive as an Enzo Fernandez cost you.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: And if we're comparing those two players, give me Barkle all day on my side.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: So I do agree with the point you made, Brandon.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think I want to call it a bad bit of business.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I guess, I guess from my from my thought, it was just because of the other holes.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Barcla going to Liverpool is a bad idea.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: If you can get Barcla, you get Barcla.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: It's it's like you only you know you can take what's available, and he's one of the best players available.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna take him.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: That's not a that's not a bad bit of business on that end.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: I just don't think they did enough in the other parts of their team to to strengthen that, and I think that's gonna still be a big weak spot moving forward.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they just have to win games six to five, and that's how you play, fine, but it's a little it's a little bit of a risk.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: So not a bad transfer necessarily, but bad in the situation when there were other holes that they needed to fill first.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: I like that, and honestly, I don't think we're far off on how we think of it either.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: And it's hard because we're doing a worst bit of business section here.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we don't want to assume any of these transfers are bad.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
27:07
SPEAKER_01: Like we're going in glass half full, unless they sign for Arsenal.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm relatively rooting for them.
27:11
SPEAKER_01: But I think you have to, when you factor in the price point, and I'm gonna take you to mine, I think we're along similar lines here.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: It's not that the player's bad, it's just that the value you got is basically non-existent.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: And mine, I'm gonna keep it home here with Tottenham.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the worst business moves this offseason was signing Sandro Tonali to a club record.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: I think it was 92.5 million plus add-ons, taking it up to a hundred million pound transfer.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: That's just a big overspend.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you want to play the opposite side of this, I will say Tottenham were addressing a real area of need.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: They said, we cannot be this bad in midfield anymore.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Let's go sign a proven good Premier League midfielder.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: They did do that, and Sandro Tonelli is a good Premier League player.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: Thing with me is I don't think he's a special Premier League player.
28:01
SPEAKER_01: I think he's just good.
28:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what his excellent traits are.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
28:06
SPEAKER_01: I think his physicality may be what you would argue is his best.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: But in terms of progressing the ball, he's not world class.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: In terms of defending off-ball, he's not world class.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: I think he was is actually worse than the other midfielder Tottenham brought in for a cheaper price point, although it was still around 80 million in Mateus Fernandez.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: But I just think if we're rating teams for the amount of money they spent and what they got in return, I think pound for pound, dollar for dollar, Sandra Chenale might be one of the worst bits of business this summer.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: That's no, I think that's a fair shout, Sean.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't disagree with you.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: I think it's tough when you have a team like Spurs and everyone knew they needed to fill that hole.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: And Newcastle is like, hey, we got one of the only guys that can play in this space.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's set this number high and see if they bite.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: And and they bit.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: And so it it's tough.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: And and like you said, it we're never cheering for guys to not do well in their new clubs, but uh especially a guy coming to Spurs.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: But it's hard to see that number that high for a player like that when you could have spent five or ten million more and got Marcala, and you're like, whoa, hold on.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: Like and I know they're not the same position, and it's not apples to apples there, but it it's it's hard to it's hard to swallow that.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: So I I don't disagree with you.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: My other my other worst move, Sean, just is around money.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Liam DeLap.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: Liam DeLap leaving Chelsea, going to Nottingham Forest, got uh Forest paid Chelsea 45 million pounds for Liam DeLap.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: He scored one goal in 28 games for Chelsea last year.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: He's only 23, so there is maybe some upside, he's still growing, but that is a lot of money to pay for a player who has done virtually nothing in the Premier League.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: And Forrest probably did need a number nine-ish.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: But now I feel like they have three number nines that are all decent.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: They don't have a true, hey, this is our first guy on the team sheet kind of number nine.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: It's all right, let's pull him out of a hat.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Who would look better in training this week?
30:15
SPEAKER_00: So to spend that much to not get a guy who I'm very high on and not really take your club to the next level, especially a club like Forrest, you can't be splashing cash like some of these big six teams.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a little bit of a risky transfer.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: Look, I hope he does well and I hope it works out for him, but on paper, this one didn't make too much sense to me.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I completely agree.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: And you beat me to putting this one in the sheet.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: I will I am not a Liam DeLapp guy.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: You could go ahead and post that.
30:46
SPEAKER_01: I have never been impressed with him.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: He had a decent season with Ipswich when he was there, and then when they got dropped, he had his release clause paid by Chelsea.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: And he's been just an absolute oaf at Chelsea.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: He's not good.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: He has more yellow cards in his first team career than goals.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: That's not good from a striker.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: I'll just tell you that for free.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: You don't want that.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, if you want a guy who's going to get you a yellow card and a goal every fifth match as a striker, yeah, I guess Liam DeLap's the man for you.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: Not for me personally.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: I've never been a fan of him.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: I do think, yes, he does have room to get better.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: He is only 23, like you mentioned.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: But for that amount of money, it reminds me of Alvaro Marata, who's another striker.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: He's a Spanish striker.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: He's a much better player than Liam DeLap.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: But for years, this guy would just transfer every year or two for 35, 40 million pounds.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
31:35
SPEAKER_01: It must be money wandering with Alvaro Marata.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: How is he getting these big moves every summer?
31:40
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Liam DeLap's starting to do.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it doesn't look pretty.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: And and I think it'd be one thing, Sean.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: He goes to a big six club and he is their third striker.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: He plays the cup games, the lower level cup games in the beginning of the season.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: And maybe if someone gets hurt, he he subs in.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: But he's not.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: But to sign him for that much money at Forest, like they probably have to be projecting him to be that number nine, that guy.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: And if that's their number nine, then you better hope Morgan Gibbs White scores 25 goals this year because they'll they might get relegated.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Like that, you cannot build a team around him.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Let me just say this.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: If there's ever been a lock for you listeners to go and bet it's Liam Delapte score this weekend against Tottenham.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
32:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh I just glad they were playing Forrest and I just shit on him.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: And I know he's gonna score.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: And that's absolutely brutal.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, let's keep it with the negative.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: So let's let's keep the negative and get this out of the way, and then we'll end on a positive note with team related best windows.
32:41
SPEAKER_01: So let's start.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: I'll frame it to you, I guess.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: Teams were questioning their business.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: Is that a good way to put it?
32:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll we'll we'll we'll do questioning their business.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: I have two, and we've already hit on them a little bit.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: One is our Tottenham Hotspur.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: I think I called it overpay central.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: I just think I know they have money, but I just I'm not sure about Tonale, Savio, Fernandez.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm a little bit more okay with.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: But just it just they just spent so much money.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: And I think they also we didn't really talk about this, but some of the guys that left earlier in the window, I don't know if their returns were that great.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Like Christian Romero, I believe, left for 40 million to Atletico Madrid.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Like 40 million, like Liam DeLap, Liam DeLaffe got 45.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: Like that's and I think it was actually less because of his medical at Atletico Madrid.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: I think it was probably like 34 million, which is shocking for my money, one of the best center backs in the world still, even though he has some bad days.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: He's one of the best of the ball at his feet to get that amount of money is criminal.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so between that and Jed Spence, I I know Jed had basically just a meteoric rise this summer at the World Cup with England and didn't really do a ton for Spurs before.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: So his maybe is a little bit more uh appropriate.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I I feel like they just spent a lot of money, didn't get a lot in return, and they're just expected to just move forward.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: And I know these clock like Spurs have a ton of money, so I am not too worried about it, but I definitely question it.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Bright basically what I'm saying is Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, these teams would never make those sort of moves where they spent all these money, all this money to bring guys in and didn't get any hardly anything on the the outbound side.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: I I have a differing opinion of you on Spurs window, so I'll save that for the team.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Spoiler, I have them on the flip side of this, but I don't think your points are wrong, and I do agree with the fact that I think we got no value out of two really good key players for us that departed this summer in Kuti Romero and Jed Spence.
34:43
SPEAKER_01: I don't like the value that they brought in for either of those players.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: I thought, quite frankly, both got both teams, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, got discounts on those.
34:51
SPEAKER_01: So I don't think you're far off with that point at all.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you one of the teams, Brandon and I was left a little bit unimpressed with, and that's Fulham.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'm pounding Fulham recently in these episodes.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: I don't mean to.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: I don't mean to.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: I want them to be good as why.
35:04
SPEAKER_01: Like I kind of like Fulham.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: I have a soft spot for them.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: I've been to Craven Cottage, it's great.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: I just don't know that I love what I'm seeing.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: Whether that's from the manager point of view or the squad that they have available to them, I feel like it leaves a little bit to be desired.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: I think they were, their fans were hopeful that on deadline day they'd be able to make a few splash signings.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: And they made some moves.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: They brought in Hugo Larson as a midfielder on loan with an option to buy.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: He's a good player, one for the future, I would say.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Might contribute a little bit now, but I don't think he raises their floor too much.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of what I'm worried about, is Fulham's floor.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: So just a little bit.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they spent recklessly, but uh just a little bit of something to monitor with Fulham because I don't think the vibes in in there are particularly great.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know you're not high on Fulham, and that's okay to double down on that, Sean.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: It's hard, it's it's definitely hard for these smaller clubs to do business.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: We've mentioned that.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, when you're in a potential relegation fight, you may have to pony up and and spend money on a guy to bring him in to really change a club.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: And Fulham doesn't look like they did that.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: And my other club, probably in a very similar boat, and I know I've hated on this club a few times in this not in this episode specifically, but but overall in this podcast, and it's it's tough.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: I get it, it's tough for these clubs.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: It's tough to bring in players, it's it's tough to really manage that because when your players want to leave and it's public that they want to leave, you're not gonna get a lot for them in return, typically, unless you're Chelsea.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: But you you gotta figure out a way.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: And so my other team, Sean, was Asin Villa, and basically my point was just everybody left.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: The whole team is different.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: And for a team that is now qualified for Champions League, playing in Champions League football this year, they have a whole new squad.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: And it would be one thing if the squad they brought in was better than the squad that left, but uh I think their squad is a little bit more built for the future, which is fine, but you're in the champions league this year, like you can't you can't uh defer your your Champions League pass until next season.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is it.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: So it's a little worrisome for me from them.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: I hope these young guys play well.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: I love Suzuki as their goalkeeper.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's great.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: He's from New Jersey, Japanese goalkeeper.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: But could should should should probably be the US goalkeeper.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you that.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: The the the Matt Turner, Matt Freeze, slander, and they're not even involved.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic for you.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, I just think Aston Villa is a team for the future, and unfortunately, they need to be good now.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: So I do question some of their business this window.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's an interesting way to frame it because I actually like a lot of the signings they brought in.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: There's a few I don't like.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned Garnaccio, not a fan of that, and like Leon Goretzka on a free.
37:53
SPEAKER_01: It's like it's not very exciting.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: I don't love that.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: But I do love Johan Monsambi.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: I talked about Nicholas Jackson, I talked about Mbai.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: So there are good bits that they did, but like you said, they are in Champions League this year, and Una Emery is a great manager who wants to win this year.
38:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm just interested, was he signing off on all these outgoings?
38:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that he would have been.
38:14
unknown: Yeah.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: But it's like you said, if a player asks to leave, then you're kind of hamstrung.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: It's a difficult situation to maneuver.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: I think I'm bullish on Villa long term, but I do agree this season, I feel like they might be left in a place where they're not strong enough to compete in the Champions League for real, and they're going to be losing one of those Champions League spaces in the Premier League.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: I think that's the risk they're playing with.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: So they're playing with fire a little bit.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: I do like that shout.
38:36
SPEAKER_01: I've gone, I have two more I'll quickly go over.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Everton, I thought, well, once again, they're disappointing in a in a window.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: They just never do anything super exciting or fun.
38:45
SPEAKER_01: They tried to with Florin Balogun, that fell through, and now they're left without a striker.
38:49
SPEAKER_01: I also will say the one bit of business I love from them is Jack Realish.
38:53
SPEAKER_01: He comes back on loan from Manchester City.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: He was there last season, was doing really well before he got injured.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: I love Jack Realish.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: I think he's still a brilliant footballer, and he has more to give.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: I think he really does still have something left in the tank.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how much longer he'll be able to do it at the Premier League level, but I think he's got several good years ahead of him at a lesser in a lesser league with a little bit less physicality.
39:16
SPEAKER_01: I think he would have a great time in Serie A or La Liga in the next couple of seasons as well.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: So I think he'll give Everton just a little bit this year.
39:22
SPEAKER_01: I like that business.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't love the rest of their, I would say, inactivity throughout this window.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: And then the other one I had was Manchester United.
39:32
SPEAKER_01: You talked about Baleba, completely agree.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: I think I would give their midfield renovation eight or nine out of ten.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: I think they did a really good job.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: They got different profiles in, they got good players in.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: I just think they forgot about the back line.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: They're basically relying on Luke Maha to go out there and play 90 every week.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: He cannot do that.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: He never has been able to do that.
39:50
SPEAKER_01: He will not do that.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what they're doing at left back.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: They still have Harry McGuire playing every match at center back.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: That's not great either.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know that I love for a team that's going to be competing in the Champions League and wanting to retain a top four place.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I love all of their window.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great shot from United.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Everton, I wonder if they're just gonna lean on David Moyes and say, hey, keep us up.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's their motto.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: And look, there's there is some, I guess, financial benefit to just being a mid-table Premier League team, Sean.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: And that's such a loser mentality, but you're in the Premier League every year, you're getting the revenue from TV, you're getting all the deals, you're getting good shirt sponsors or whatever you need, and you just kind of hang out.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: And it's and it's okay.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Crystal Palace for a while kind of was thought to be that team, and maybe Everton's just taking that role where they're like, hey, we're not bad enough to go down, but we're not gonna win anything, but we're here every year.
40:49
SPEAKER_01: That is what they're doing, Brandon.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: It's just one of these years you might be bad enough to go down.
40:53
SPEAKER_01: So you just need to make sure you're not out.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you gotta you gotta be savvy, but not not too not too cheap.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: So it's an interesting one, Sean.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's flip to teams that we thought in the Premier League won this transfer window.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: I'll let you, I'll let you start.
41:10
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I've done a full heel turn on one of these one of these clubs.
41:14
SPEAKER_01: And I I tossed my hand up already for the 24-point prediction.
41:18
SPEAKER_01: I said sorry.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, Tiger fans.
41:21
SPEAKER_01: But whole city, Brandon.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: Unbelievable business.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: 18 signings, 18.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: Their net spend was more than Tottenham.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: So everybody said, oh, Tottenham's throwing money around.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: Whole city threw more threw more money around than Tottenham.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of level they invested in this squad.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: I and I tell you what, they did it with some exciting young players, too.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: I think they did a really good job of not only trying their best to stay up this year, but kind of preparing themselves for the future as well.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: Even if they were to go back down, I think at two to three years, some of these signings could be world beaters.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: So I think already we've seen in net Constantinos Zalakis, he's been a really good keeper through two Premier League matches.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: I like what I've seen from him.
42:03
SPEAKER_01: Nobel Mendy has been really good at the back for them.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: They also brought in signings for the future that I mentioned, like Lucas Harrington from Colorado Rapids.
42:11
SPEAKER_01: Robinho Vaz comes in from Roma.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: He's a young French striker with a lot of talent.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: Both are guys who will take some time to develop, and they might be able to contribute a little bit towards the back half of this Premier League season, or in bits and pieces throughout.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: But I think over the next couple of seasons, they'll be really good assets to have.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: They also brought in Hidamasa Morita on a free.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a really good addition to the midfield.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: They got Brooke Norton Cuffey from Genoa for$12 million to shore up the right back role.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: He's a former Arsenal Academy kid who never made it there, moved to Serie A at a young age and comes back to the Premier League now at only 22 years old.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a good signing.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: They got Tim Aribounum from Everton, who, when he's fit, is a really dynamic midfielder.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: And I just think overall, that's a lot of names.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: They have even more they didn't mention, but I think they did a good job of really building for the future and giving themselves a fighting chance to stay out.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's interesting that they took this approach.
43:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm not against it.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: I also I just wonder why other teams don't do this when they come up.
43:13
SPEAKER_00: I feel like a lot of them they're like, these are our guys, they brought us here, and we'll add one or two pieces to the squad.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of times we see those teams turn right back around and then go go down.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, we are extremely early.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: It's only early September here, Sean.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: But Hull City's 2-0.
43:31
unknown: Uh-huh.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: They bring in these new guys.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: There's it seems like Hull is acting like they've been here before, which they have been, but also acting like they're gonna be here for a while.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: This is not a hey, let's cross our fingers and pray, and maybe we'll stay up.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, we're gonna build this team and we're gonna try to be here for the sustainable future.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's great.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh I obviously hope it transfers to the pitch because they're they're they've been extremely exciting to watch thus far and proving us both right.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: We look like idiots.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: We both had them at 20th, and they are, you know, top of the table at the moment.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: So it's interesting there.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: But I wonder if Coventry, Ipswich are looking at Hull like, hmm, like, do they know something that we don't know?
44:17
SPEAKER_01: I think your point's a good one because it's weird.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: We do see some championship teams kind of think the guys that got them here will be enough to keep them up, and we see others that just throw money around like Ipswich Town did a few years ago when they came up.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: And we're seeing Hull do now, and how we saw Sunderland do last year.
44:34
SPEAKER_01: I think, Brandon, the reason why Hole specifically had to do it was because I think they know that their squad last year was not a promotion squad.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: So I think they knew that they were not even one of the best teams in the championship last season and were pretty fortunate to come up, that they needed to seriously invest in the Premier League squad just so that they weren't completely embarrassed in this league.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: And I think because of the start they've had, no one is now thinking they will be embarrassed.
45:00
SPEAKER_01: And the signings they brought in add some more fuel to the fire and hopefully they are able to grow into something.
45:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm completely fine having some egg on my face if whole city are able to stay up.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a great story.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: So I'm I would sign up for that.
45:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, me too.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm behind it.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm fine with it.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: Tigers, we we love you, Tigers.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: Sean, one of my top teams, uh, I have two listed, and I and I hinted at this team earlier.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: It's Chelsea.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: I think this has been a great window overall for Chelsea, not just this last week or so.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh they got veteran experience early in the window, Danny Wellbach, Jordan Henderson.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: They get the big transfer for Morgan Rogers, and it seems to be working well with Cole Palmer.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: I know that was a question mark we had, but they've been on fire these first two games.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: Emmy Martinez from Aston Villa, I think, I think could be the best transfer that they made in this window.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: Robert Sanchez was absolutely awful.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: He is a terrible goal.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: You talk about Turner and Freeze throwing it in the net.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: This guy's right next to them, Sean.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: And for a team like Chelsea to have Robert Sanchez as your as your starting goalkeeper for that long is absolutely embarrassing.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: And Emmy Martinez, he's a little wild, he's a little out there.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: We we get that, but dude can save a ball.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, that's all you got to do.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: So you take the crazy and you get rid of Sanchez.
46:13
SPEAKER_00: I think that's a great signing.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: LaCroix from uh Crystal Palace as a center back who will play in in Chabi Alonso's back three.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh Palestra from Atalanta can play as a wing back.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: And then on the other side, their sales, I think they did well.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: We we hinted on Liam Delat 45 million pounds.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: That's fantastic.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: And then 120 million for Enzo, who wanted to leave.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: So I I think Chelsea overall just had a fantastic window.
46:39
SPEAKER_00: We know in the past we've criticized them because they sign every South American player with a little bit of talent, and then they end up going to their other blue cloak blue coast squads.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: But I think this was a great window for their first team, and I think I think they're they're pushing for a title.
46:56
SPEAKER_00: I think they saw that the league is a little bit open this year, City's a little down, Arsenal, yes, returning most of their team, but not necessarily getting any better.
47:09
SPEAKER_00: And then United and Liverpool sort of in this weird transitional phase, they think maybe we can make a run at this.
47:15
SPEAKER_00: So I have to give Chelsea a huge shout out for their their window this this this this summer.
47:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think Chelsea uh regretfully, I hate saying it, but they they bring in so many players that are young and promising that even if they don't pan out at Chelsea, they still retain a high sell-on value.
47:33
SPEAKER_01: So you're seeing that cycle kind of pay out, and it's exactly like we just talked about Liam Delap, which is highway robbery.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: 45 million, that's robbery.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: They stole from Nottingham Forest, they should be punished for it.
47:43
SPEAKER_01: But I do think the experience they brought in helps for a relatively young side that was kind of like a headless chicken last year.
47:51
SPEAKER_01: I think Jabby Alonso, the manager, is the biggest addition they made this offseason, and he's a part of that window as well.
47:57
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I hate saying it, but Chelsea are looking scary now and for the future.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: So I definitely think they were a team we should highlight in the winners of the window.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: I'll move on to uh Crosstown Rival.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: I'll keep it in London.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna make the argument for Tottenham.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: I do think they had a very strong window.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: I think the moves at the deadline being as chaotic and god gross as they were have made people sour on the window overall.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: And I do think your point about overspending is valid.
48:30
SPEAKER_01: I do think you, if you look at some of these price tags attached to these players, you would say that there were some overpays in there.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: If I were to make the case for the Savinio transfer fee, the reason why that is jacked up a bit is because Manchester City held a sell-on clause to Ontract Frankfurt for Omar Marmouche.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: So anything that they made in profit for Met sale had to be passed on to Frankfurt.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: So what they did was they baked a little bit of a price jack into the Savinio transfer fee.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: And that way they could keep all of that money.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: And they basically did Ontract Frankfurt dirty and just paid what they gave, they got back what they paid for Marmous in that transfer.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: So I think when you break those two down, there's a little bit more than meets the eye there.
49:14
SPEAKER_01: I think Mateus Fernandez, it's a big fee, but it's a good, good signing.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: I really think he's gonna be one of the best midfielders in the league.
49:20
SPEAKER_01: Tanale, I would agree, overpay.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: But I think the thing that they did early in the window, they were able to bring in Andrew Robertson, Marco Senesi, and Jan Paul Van Hecka for a total of 50 million pounds because two of those signings were freeze.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: I think that's really good.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: I really think those guys all playing together might be an issue in terms of physicality, and we kind of saw that in the first match week.
49:43
SPEAKER_01: But I think individually, as signings, all three of them have a lot to offer the squad.
49:47
SPEAKER_01: Senesi on its own would have been a 30 million pound transfer, at least from Bournemouth after the seasons he's had there.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: Van Hecka for 50 million because he was in the last year of his contract.
49:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that's bad.
49:58
SPEAKER_01: And then Robertson, with the experience he brings on a free, is really good.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: So I think Tottenham, the case I would make is they I think they needed to do this.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: They needed to show their fans that the owners were actually serious about football.
50:11
SPEAKER_01: And you could make criticisms of how they blindly just backed the manager on who he wanted and didn't rely on the scouts and the board as to who to bring in this window.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: But I think overall they improved their squad in a pretty substantial way.
50:24
SPEAKER_01: And I think no matter what the cost is, that's probably worth it.
50:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, we were obviously on opposite sides of this, and I see completely where you're coming from.
50:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't disagree.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: I do think I may have had some tinted glasses and just thinking about the last two weeks, forgetting about what happened at the beginning of the window this summer.
50:45
SPEAKER_00: So I I do agree with you there.
50:46
SPEAKER_00: And I think the overpay issue for me, I can't get it out of my head, is because Spurs never spent money.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like they're like the little kid who goes to the mall for the first time with their own money, and they're like, Oh, I have$20.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna buy every possible thing I can buy for$20, not realizing it's the only$20 you have.
51:06
SPEAKER_00: And you're so used to having zero dollars.
51:08
SPEAKER_00: So when you get 20, you feel like you're you know on the top of the world.
51:12
SPEAKER_00: So I I think that's also a little bit what of what I struggle with, Sean, but I don't disagree.
51:17
SPEAKER_00: I think the window overall is solid.
51:20
SPEAKER_00: I think the end of it was a little sloppy and maybe could be improved in future videos.
51:26
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't just weren't reckless uh at how we own this window.
51:30
SPEAKER_01: We always seem to do these loan deals, and this one we're talking about is Mikhailo Mudrik.
51:34
SPEAKER_01: We always seem to do these loan deals that are just pure desperation on the last day.
51:38
SPEAKER_01: They almost never work out.
51:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of Timo Werner, I'm thinking of Arnot Danjuma, I'm thinking of last season Randall Cole Mulani.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: Those guys had a dead peg dead peg in the middle of a relegation scrap.
51:49
SPEAKER_01: So really, really bad work on the end of deadlines, and I could see this Moodric one going a very similar way.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: The reason I'm a little bit kind of interested in it is because he is like Deserbi's son.
52:02
SPEAKER_01: He played for him at Shock Car.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: He loves him, he calls him a father.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we get the tune out of the boy, and you know what?
52:08
SPEAKER_01: That 75 million pound option doesn't look as ridiculous.
52:11
SPEAKER_01: Because right now it looks and feels preposterous.
52:13
SPEAKER_01: But I could spend a whole podcast doing Tottenham, but uh overall I'm happy with the window.
52:17
SPEAKER_01: I think people's judgment, because a lot of their work was done before the World Cup, it's now a bit dismissive of their work now several weeks and months later.
52:27
SPEAKER_01: But overall, I think it was a good window.
52:28
SPEAKER_01: Who do you have next?
52:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the other team I I wrote down, Sean, were uh Brentford.
52:33
SPEAKER_00: The Sangari transfer, I think could be up there for transfer of the window.
52:37
SPEAKER_00: I think the quality he's shown, and I know it's only been two matches, but the quality and skill he's shown for Brentford in these first two matches have been incredible.
52:45
SPEAKER_00: And I think other teams are kind of pounding their head a little bit saying, hey, why didn't we get him?
52:51
SPEAKER_00: I also don't hate Callum Wilson and Jaden Anthony and their attacking options.
52:55
SPEAKER_00: Not the best in the world, but I think they give them a solid, solid pieces.
53:01
SPEAKER_00: And and you need that as a team like Brentford, like we've talked about.
53:04
SPEAKER_00: They don't panic by, they get what they need, they make their deals, and they get out.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: They don't fall for this extra shiny stuff that maybe or maybe isn't good.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: They they know what they need and they're not gonna ruin their budget, and they just do what they have to do.
53:18
SPEAKER_00: So I think for for Brentford, it's great business, and I think overall, just a solid, solid window for them.
53:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'll also mention El Haji Malik Doof, he comes in from West Ham closer to deadline day, and he's got an absolutely spectacular left foot on him.
53:32
SPEAKER_01: He's an exciting young left back who I think immediately upgrades their first team squad.
53:37
SPEAKER_01: So I'm right there with you.
53:38
SPEAKER_01: You said Sangari could be the best business throughout the whole window.
53:41
SPEAKER_01: I completely agree.
53:42
SPEAKER_01: He's already running the show, and he's got a great song built in.
53:47
SPEAKER_01: They're they're saying, Oh, I want to dance with Sangare, I want to win the league with it's just perfect.
53:53
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's a great transfer.
53:54
SPEAKER_01: And Brentford, you can basically just put them down every window.
53:59
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna come out better than they went into it, which is a great thing to have if you're a fan of that club.
54:05
SPEAKER_01: And similarly, I just have a quick couple quick ones that I want to shout out.
54:08
SPEAKER_01: There are two clubs we've mentioned that operate along similar lines, Brighton and Bournemouth.
54:13
SPEAKER_01: I think they did that same thing.
54:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna get into all the work they did, but boy, do I like the improvements that they each made.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: And again, you're just careful in picking their spots.
54:23
SPEAKER_01: They operate in realistic price points, and they sign guys that they know they can make better and sell for more.
54:30
SPEAKER_01: And they, I think they've done that once again.
54:32
SPEAKER_01: And I think Leagues United, surprisingly.
54:34
SPEAKER_01: They didn't bring in a whole ton of people, but I thought they did really smart business.
54:39
SPEAKER_01: You know, they were able to get a Harry Wilson on a free.
54:42
SPEAKER_01: They're able to get James Trafford in a keeper, and that's an upgrade on what they had last season.
54:47
SPEAKER_01: They're able to strengthen their defense with the Bosnian transfer.
54:52
SPEAKER_01: And then in attack, I think they are able to get a guy like Matoya over the line from the Bundesliga, and he provides a lot of speed and excitement out on the wing.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: So I think Leeds also have a shout for one of the better windows in the Premier League.
55:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks, Sean.
55:06
SPEAKER_00: I I definitely agree with you on all three, especially Brighton Bournemouth, but also Leeds.
55:12
SPEAKER_00: I feel like these teams have to be so careful on their transfers, and and all three of them nailed it.
55:17
SPEAKER_00: In in in in addition to the teams that we had mentioned earlier.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: Sean, now I just wanted to get into transfers outside the Premier League.
55:26
SPEAKER_00: Specifically, I looked at the MLS.
55:29
SPEAKER_00: So, as I mentioned at the beginning of this pod, the MLS window actually closes on September 2nd.
55:36
SPEAKER_00: So you may see a little bit of action happen after this episode is recorded.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to give I one team and then two individual transfers.
55:46
SPEAKER_00: My team that I think did the best were the Colorado Rapids, actually.
55:50
SPEAKER_00: You mentioned it with Lucas Harrington.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: I think them selling Lucas Harrington to Hull for 14 million pounds is fantastic, gives them a chance to go play Premier League football at a decent fee.
56:00
SPEAKER_00: 14 million is doesn't seem like much compared to what we were just speaking of, but for MLS teams, that's a lot of money.
56:07
SPEAKER_00: They signed Saeed Abu Farki from the Israeli League, Morgan Whitaker from Middlesbrough, and Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alcamar, uh, all attacking players.
56:19
SPEAKER_00: I think they'll really help the Colorado Rapids attack.
56:22
SPEAKER_00: They also have Paxton Aronson, Brendan Aronson's younger brother, who's their number 10.
56:26
SPEAKER_00: It it also sounds very likely, and at the time of this recording, it hasn't officially happened, but they're probably going to be selling their number nine, their current number nine, Rafael Navarro, to St.
56:36
SPEAKER_00: Louis SC.
56:38
SPEAKER_00: And MLS now has a little bit of a role where you can trade uh with cash rather than just transferring.
56:47
SPEAKER_00: So so it looks a little bit different in the MLS, but that's likely to happen.
56:51
SPEAKER_00: And then these guys that I just mentioned are going to kind of fill that role.
56:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, two other transfers, Jack McGlynn, former Philadelphia Union player, currently playing with the Houston Dynamo, got a transfer to Stoke City.
57:03
SPEAKER_00: Personally, happy for him.
57:04
SPEAKER_00: I think he's always wanted to go to Europe.
57:06
SPEAKER_00: He's when he was on Philadelphia, there were talks of certain clubs being interested, but I think he now gets a shot to go to the championship and and perform.
57:14
SPEAKER_00: He's a fringe US MNT player, I would call him.
57:17
SPEAKER_00: He has 13 caps and two goals for the national team.
57:19
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, he was injured at the end of last season and wasn't fit to even really be eligible to get called up to Pachatino's World Cup team.
57:29
SPEAKER_00: He had played for Pachatino a little bit in 2025 and looked pretty good.
57:34
SPEAKER_00: In a weird role, he's a he's a much slower player than most guys that are midfielder.
57:40
SPEAKER_00: So he kind of has to have protection around him.
57:43
SPEAKER_00: But this man's left foot, Sean, I mean, it's cultured.
57:46
SPEAKER_00: It's this this guy can ping a pass like nobody's business.
57:50
SPEAKER_00: He can place that piece.
57:51
SPEAKER_00: So there is always going to be value in a team for a guy like him.
57:54
SPEAKER_00: You just have to have the right players around him.
57:56
SPEAKER_00: And I hope to that uh Stoke City has that for him and and he can really thrive, thrive with them.
58:02
SPEAKER_01: The last one quickly on Jack McGlynn, he's one of those guys, you said it perfectly.
58:07
SPEAKER_01: If he just had a bit more physicality, he he would be absolutely sought after by so many more clubs, but he's he just lacks so much in that department.
58:17
SPEAKER_01: He makes up for a lot of it with that left boot, like you said.
58:20
SPEAKER_01: He's great with it, he's creative, he's inventive, he could pick a pass, he could curl in a shot, but the lack of dynamism and ability to just run really hurts him.
58:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
58:32
SPEAKER_00: So unfortunately, uh that is definitely his weakness, but gets his move to Europe.
58:36
SPEAKER_00: So happy for the kid and and hopefully he does well.
58:40
SPEAKER_00: The last one I wanted to mention, Sean, Devin Martinez leaving LAFC, going to FC Midland, Midland in the Danish Super League.
58:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm probably pronouncing that wrong.
58:51
SPEAKER_00: I apologize, but he's a he's a good young winger.
58:54
SPEAKER_00: He has seven Venezuela national team caps.
58:57
SPEAKER_00: He actually he like dyes his hair very, very blonde.
59:00
SPEAKER_00: So you can you can always see him on the pitch.
59:03
SPEAKER_00: He like he's very hard to miss.
59:05
SPEAKER_00: Good, good little tricky player, skilled, and probably just didn't fit in LAFC's model with Buanga and Sonny.
59:12
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't getting the minutes that he wanted to, and now he gets a move to Europe.
59:16
SPEAKER_00: So just a couple MLS transfers, things that have gone on in the last couple of weeks on the home front.
59:23
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I appreciate that.
59:24
SPEAKER_01: I always like when you keep me up to date on domestic incomings and outgoings.
59:28
SPEAKER_01: So we thank you.
59:30
SPEAKER_01: I have a few from the rest of Europe.
59:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna keep it very broad level.
59:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to get into the weeds or some clubs deep in the weeds that I really enjoyed their business, but I'll keep it relatively straightforward.
59:41
SPEAKER_01: I'll start in Madrid with both Madrid clubs.
59:43
SPEAKER_01: I think Atletico Madrid did a really good job this window.
59:46
SPEAKER_01: They were able to bring in Kuti Romero.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: We talked about how that was a pretty low fee.
59:50
SPEAKER_01: They bring in Lee Kang in from PSG, the South Korea product, who is really exciting and was one of their only bright spots at the World Cup.
59:59
SPEAKER_01: They also bring in the Danish midfielder, Morton Hulmond.
1:00:02
SPEAKER_01: He comes from sporting Lisbon.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_01: He's really good, just a physical presence in midfield, a leader on the pitch, a very much Diego Simeone type player.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_01: They also bring in Jonathan David on deadline day.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_01: The Canadian striker comes in from Juventus.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a nice move just to give them another striking option.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_01: And then most importantly, they were able to keep Julian Alvarez.
1:00:24
SPEAKER_01: And it looked like for much of the summer that he definitely wanted to go, that he might go to Barcelona.
1:00:30
SPEAKER_01: Their director said no chance, not happening.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_01: Then there was some late interest from Arsenal, and that never materialized either.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he wants to come back to the Premier League, at least not right now.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_01: I think that was really good.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_01: They hope that they're able to get him back in a good headspace because he's just been like sulking on the bench, like demanding a transfer the last couple weeks.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_01: But if they could get him fit and firing, he is one of the best players in La Liga.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_01: Also in Madrid, Real Madrid, it's like fishing with dynamite when you're able to just tell the best players around the world, hey, run down that contract until there's no years left.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_01: And then when you're a free agent, we'll give you a little extra kicker for you and your agent in all your trouble.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_01: That's what they do.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_01: They've made a habit out of this.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_01: They are they're a club that everybody wants to join, so that makes it a lot easier.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_01: They were able to sign on freeze this year, Ibrahim Kanate and Bernardo Silva.
1:01:21
SPEAKER_01: Pretty good.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_00: Not bad.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not bad.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_01: And then they did splash the cash around for Yan Diamondde, who we've talked about, one of our favorites to watch.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_01: He's starting to get ingrained in the squad, and I think it'll be an exciting season for him.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_01: And then they also were able to bring in Marco Correa, Carlos Espy, and Denzel Dumfries, all for pretty reasonable amounts, Brandon.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: That's just the Real Madrid way.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_00: It's it's different there, Sean.
1:01:47
SPEAKER_00: It's really different.
1:01:48
SPEAKER_00: And kudos to them for building that culture and and making it a place that players want to come to.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_00: I think in this day and age, and we talked about it earlier, with the the money increasing and all of these extra zeros being added onto things.
1:02:03
SPEAKER_00: Being able to say, hey, we're Real Madrid, come come and join us.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_00: And and guys are doing that on freeze is is great.
1:02:10
SPEAKER_00: So kudos to Madrid.
1:02:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh it'll be an exciting season with Jose at the helm, and I'm excited to watch.
1:02:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're box office, baby.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll get to their game this weekend and when they play, but they're they're absolutely box office.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: The last team I wanted to shout out from around the continent, I have Inter Milan as some winners from this window.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_01: They're the defending title holders in Serie A.
1:02:32
SPEAKER_01: They were able to bring in Stankovic from Klubruga.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: His dad, Dayan Stankovic, is a legend at Inter Milan.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_01: So one of their better players of all time.
1:02:41
SPEAKER_01: They're able to bring his son in, and his son's an up-and-coming midfielder with loads of potential.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_01: He's really good, and I think instantly will become one of the better midfielders in all of Serie A.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: They're also able to bring in Curtis Jones from Liverpool, kind of a guy who just wasn't fitting into Liverpool's future plans, but he's a really tidy player.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_01: I like watching Curtis Jones play.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_01: He's clean on the ball, fun to watch in midfield.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_01: And then they I mentioned they lost Denzel Dumfries to Real Madrid, but they're able to replace him with Jed Spence, who we both just mentioned from Tottenham was a star at the World Cup this summer, and they were able to get him on the cheap as well.
1:03:15
SPEAKER_01: So I don't think they did a ton of business, but as title holders, when you're able to make just a few smart moves to keep that squad fresh, I like what they did.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, no, that's good to hear.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_00: The Italian League is not one that I followed too much, Sean, but it is good to see a team like Inter Milan.
1:03:32
SPEAKER_00: I want to see the Italian teams perform better in Champions League.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_00: It I know they're there and I know they're present, but I want to see them competing on a higher level at the European stage as well.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_01: All of world football would be better if we could get Italy back up and firing.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_01: They haven't made a World Cup in in like 20 years.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_01: And say two decades, I haven't seen an Italian kick a ball at a World Cup.
1:03:53
SPEAKER_01: But they also they used to be the league.
1:03:57
SPEAKER_01: Before the Premier League, Brandon, Syrie A was the league to be at.
1:04:01
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if we'll ever get back to that point, but these things are cyclical, and there's a lot of American ownership in Syria, weirdly enough.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully they had the foresight and they bought low, and we get to a place 20 years from now where Syrie A is equal to the Premier League because I'll tell you this.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_01: We talked about how exciting the Premier League is.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't even scratch the surface of the stories in Syria.
1:04:21
SPEAKER_01: You want to talk corruption, you want to talk maxing, all sorts of good stuff that make some of these Premier League thrillers seem like absolute snooze fests.
1:04:31
SPEAKER_01: So I literally hope that one day we get the Italians back.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we gotta get Italy back.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_00: We we need it, it's good for the game, Sean.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_00: Sean, I do have before we transfer into the week weekend preview and the games that are coming up, I have a question for you.
1:04:47
SPEAKER_00: And I saw this on another pod, and interested in your thoughts.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to talk about specific players, but more generally, a young player, two you have two young players.
1:04:57
SPEAKER_00: One plays at a club in a lower level, uh lower level league, but he plays 90 minutes and is kind of the guy or one of the guys, versus the other guy who plays on a world-class team but may only play cops or the last 20 minutes of a game, but he's training with the first team and he's with them every day and in that culture.
1:05:22
SPEAKER_00: Which is a better situation for the player's development?
1:05:26
SPEAKER_00: Because I I have thoughts on this, but I'm interested in hearing what you think.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think there's a wrong or right answer to this, but I'm I'm just interested in your opinion.
1:05:35
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I love that you brought this to the table because I think it's an interesting, really interesting question.
1:05:40
SPEAKER_01: And I do think, unfortunately, I have a boring answer for you, and that is I don't know that there is much between the two.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_01: I I think it's very much down to each individual case basis, is how I would frame it.
1:05:52
SPEAKER_01: I think some guys might be more suited to a different challenge and maybe a different language outside of where they're familiar or where they grew up playing.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: In this instance, if it's a young player that came through at a club and finally makes it to that club's first team, but that club is just at a lower level, sometimes that's great as well.
1:06:08
SPEAKER_01: So I don't really know what the right answer is.
1:06:11
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think for me, if I had to pick a side, the side I would pick would be I prefer to see you running the show at your at the smaller club.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_01: Because I think sometimes we go off a very little sample size, and then players get lost in a shuffle where they've never been the best player and they've constantly just been good and one of the best their age group, but never the best at a senior level.
1:06:36
SPEAKER_01: And there is a difference no matter what league you're in.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_01: There's a difference between playing youth soccer and senior level soccer, where they're all paid professionals.
1:06:43
SPEAKER_01: I think I would err on the side of I'd rather my guy goes and starts running the show at a lower league before making that move and challenging himself at a higher level.
1:06:53
SPEAKER_01: But I'm interested to hear what you have to say.
1:06:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm actually in the same exact boat, Sean.
1:06:57
SPEAKER_00: And I I see the other side, but for me, development is games.
1:07:02
SPEAKER_00: Like you have to be playing games and you have to be playing games at the highest level possible.
1:07:07
SPEAKER_00: And I do understand the under 21s, the under 18s.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_00: There is value in those games.
1:07:13
SPEAKER_00: But like you said, when you're playing against men or women who are playing for paychecks, it's a lot different than when you're playing against guys that are still in school and and their housing is paid for and there's not really much on the line.
1:07:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't think there's a bad part on the of players on the other side that are training with better teams and they're around that environment.
1:07:37
SPEAKER_00: But I just feel for a player's development, you have to have game minutes and and seeing it and understanding it and being able to play for 90 minutes with guys that are maybe twice your age, guys that don't speak the same language as you.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_00: Whereas an academy setup coming into a first team, maybe it's a little bit more coddled, your hands are held a little bit.
1:07:56
SPEAKER_00: This other side, I do feel like there's much more value in games and playing, even if it isn't at a lower level, because yeah, become that guy, become the man and and show whoever that you can play at a higher level.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_00: So uh I was just I just wanted to bring it up because I wanted to hear your thoughts, and I do see both sides to it, but for me, yeah, it's it's games.
1:08:17
SPEAKER_00: You gotta play games uh while you're developing.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_01: And I kind of went back and forth in my explanation, but I that is the side I keep coming back to is I would rather see you playing and dominating.
1:08:28
SPEAKER_01: So then I know you can do it.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_01: And then it's just about how do we scale that up to a different league or a new challenge.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't like the thought of maybe not knowing.
1:08:37
SPEAKER_01: I I might think you could do it, but if I've not seen it at a professional level, I don't know you can do it.
1:08:42
SPEAKER_01: And then you're just kind of banking on potential, and maybe that potential comes to life quicker when you're constantly around better professionals each day and in that environment.
1:08:50
SPEAKER_01: So I could see it working both ways.
1:08:52
SPEAKER_01: It's just for me, I would like to see it materialize first, and then we'll worry about scaling it up.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no, totally fair.
1:09:00
SPEAKER_00: And of course, I think you've made a good point when you first started, Sean.
1:09:02
SPEAKER_00: It's a case-by-case basis.
1:09:04
SPEAKER_00: Certain players are gonna be better in this situation, certain players in that situation.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_00: So I I do appreciate your insight, Sean.
1:09:10
SPEAKER_00: Switching gears now to the weekend.
1:09:13
SPEAKER_00: We have full Premier League slate.
1:09:15
SPEAKER_00: I know you have some games in other countries in in Europe.
1:09:19
SPEAKER_00: Let's just let's just dive right into it.
1:09:21
SPEAKER_00: On Friday, we have Ipswich Town in Liverpool uh as the first game of the weekend for the Premier League.
1:09:27
SPEAKER_00: I think Liverpool, they need three points.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_00: Ipswich isn't the best team in the world, but they're at home, so it could be interesting.
1:09:36
SPEAKER_00: Liverpool just have to win a game.
1:09:37
SPEAKER_00: The two two draws early, all this money in the team, these new signings, a lot around it.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_00: People, I don't want to say panic button, but there's definitely people that are a little bit worried at what's happening at Liverpool so far, and I think this is a chance for them to kind of write the ship.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you're a Liverpool supporter, you just want to see one go in.
1:09:55
SPEAKER_01: You know, you've seen a couple goals, you want to see a win go over the line, you want to get three points, and against the side that you know is going to be up against it in most games this season, it's it's only match week three, but you really feel like this is one that Liverpool have to win.
1:10:09
SPEAKER_01: Just to get off if they want a challenge for the title, yeah, you can't go winless in your first three.
1:10:14
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's the way to look at it if you're a Liverpool supporter.
1:10:18
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, I think you would go along the same lines as me.
1:10:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure.
1:10:22
SPEAKER_01: I think you would pick Liverpool to probably get the job done.
1:10:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do.
1:10:24
SPEAKER_00: I do.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_00: I pick Liverpool first one.
1:10:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's relatively in control from them.
1:10:30
SPEAKER_01: I think they're just gonna be a bit overwhelming and create too many chances.
1:10:33
SPEAKER_01: Also at three o'clock, Brandon.
1:10:34
SPEAKER_01: I have to mention, if you're not interested in this one, you don't want to watch the tractor boys.
1:10:37
SPEAKER_01: We have Real Madrid playing Real Betis.
1:10:40
SPEAKER_01: And it's at 3 p.m., it's on ESPN Plus, whatever the newest ESPN innovation is.
1:10:46
SPEAKER_01: But we just talked about how Real Madrid are box office.
1:10:49
SPEAKER_01: Real Betis are box office as well, to a much lesser extent, to a much lesser scale, but they play some fun, free-flowing football under Manuel Pellegrini.
1:10:58
SPEAKER_01: They've got some legends of the game in there, still kicking the ball about.
1:11:02
SPEAKER_01: And they've also given Real Madrid vits.
1:11:04
SPEAKER_01: Real Madrid are winless in their last four trips to Real Vedas.
1:11:08
SPEAKER_01: So interesting little storyline.
1:11:10
SPEAKER_01: Neither team between Real Madrid or Barcelona has blinked yet again, La Liga.
1:11:14
SPEAKER_01: But one of them will lose at some point.
1:11:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying it will happen for Real Madrid, but I think there will at least be goals in that match at 3 p.m.
1:11:20
SPEAKER_01: on Friday.
1:11:21
SPEAKER_00: Love to see goals.
1:11:22
SPEAKER_00: Love to see goals, especially early season games.
1:11:25
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the goals are just maybe, maybe because the teams don't have the scouting down on their opponent as well.
1:11:31
SPEAKER_00: It's just it's so much more free early in the season.
1:11:34
SPEAKER_00: Once we get into March and April, the game's so tight.
1:11:36
SPEAKER_00: Everyone knows what everyone's gonna do.
1:11:38
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, these August-September games when the when the season just gets kicked off, it's always free-flowing football.
1:11:43
SPEAKER_00: So you'd love to see that, Sean.
1:11:45
SPEAKER_00: On Saturday, Sean, Saturday morning, we have 7 30 a.m.
1:11:49
SPEAKER_00: Eastern time kickoff.
1:11:50
SPEAKER_00: We have Newcastle, Bournemouth.
1:11:52
SPEAKER_00: I think this will be a good game.
1:11:53
SPEAKER_00: I do think Bournemouth need a point from this.
1:11:56
SPEAKER_00: I yeah.
1:11:56
SPEAKER_00: Newcastle, they've been all over the place.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_00: They're hot and they're cold, and they they played well, obviously beat Spurs, but I think Bournemouth should should be able to go to Newcastle and get a point.
1:12:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm expecting a draw.
1:12:10
SPEAKER_01: I I look at this one too, and I see the same thing.
1:12:12
SPEAKER_01: It looks like a 2-2 to me.
1:12:13
SPEAKER_01: It just reeks of a 2-2.
1:12:15
SPEAKER_01: And it it should be a nice little exciting game to start the morning.
1:12:18
SPEAKER_01: I I'm in on both watching both these teams.
1:12:20
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
1:12:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not a bad way to start the Saturday.
1:12:23
SPEAKER_00: Now, Premier League.
1:12:25
SPEAKER_00: The first two weeks, Sean, I I feel like they did a good job of spreading the games out.
1:12:29
SPEAKER_00: Now we're back to the original Premier League.
1:12:31
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing?
1:12:32
SPEAKER_00: 10 a.m.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_00: We have one, two, three, four, five, five games at 10 a.m., Sean.
1:12:37
SPEAKER_00: So we'll just run through them real quick.
1:12:40
SPEAKER_00: We have Brentford Brentford, Sunderland.
1:12:43
SPEAKER_00: Brentford, I think, will want three points from this.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm a Sunderland hater, I know, but I think they'll want to get all three points out of this one.
1:12:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Brentford disappointing draw last week.
1:12:54
SPEAKER_01: So I think they'll be a little bit hungry.
1:12:56
SPEAKER_01: And Brentford at home are just an absolute beast right now.
1:12:58
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, give me Brentford for all three.
1:13:01
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
1:13:01
SPEAKER_00: We have Manchester City, Coventry.
1:13:04
SPEAKER_00: I I wrote in my notes, Sean, this one could get bad.
1:13:07
SPEAKER_00: I said 4-0 city.
1:13:09
SPEAKER_00: I said two from Holland, one from Turkey, and one from one of these random new signings they got.
1:13:14
SPEAKER_00: So whoever, whoever they decide to put in the team, I think they'll also score one.
1:13:17
SPEAKER_00: I think this one could get bad for our fantasy Premier League players.
1:13:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing a lot online.
1:13:22
SPEAKER_00: People are doing the triple captain this week with Holland.
1:13:25
SPEAKER_00: It's risky.
1:13:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't I'm I'm uh I'm I'll admit it.
1:13:29
SPEAKER_00: I am such a baby with using the power-up or whatever you want to call them.
1:13:35
SPEAKER_01: That in a general sense of forgetting to set my lineup or my two biggest kryptonite.
1:13:40
SPEAKER_00: So I probably I'm unbeatable.
1:13:43
SPEAKER_00: So I probably will not be using it, but I've seen online that's a big talking point.
1:13:47
SPEAKER_00: People are thinking about using the triple captain there.
1:13:49
SPEAKER_00: But Sean, this game do you see going any differently?
1:13:52
SPEAKER_01: I see Coventry getting a goal, is what I'll say.
1:13:55
SPEAKER_01: I think Coventry get one on the counter.
1:13:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna make it four-one, but no, I don't see it going any differently.
1:14:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm just praying Erling.
1:14:02
SPEAKER_01: We should have outlawed Erling for our draft.
1:14:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how I let you have him first overall.
1:14:06
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna score a hundred goals in this match.
1:14:08
SPEAKER_01: I hate every second of it.
1:14:10
SPEAKER_01: I guess four one's what I'll go with, but it could, like you said, it could get ugly.
1:14:14
SPEAKER_00: No, I hear you.
1:14:16
SPEAKER_00: We have Fulham, Crystal Palace.
1:14:18
SPEAKER_00: I think this will be the ugliest game in this 10 o'clock window.
1:14:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I expect Fulham to try to get on the front foot at home, but I'm gonna go 1-1 draw.
1:14:26
SPEAKER_00: I think Crystal Palace squeak one out and they end up uh tying.
1:14:31
SPEAKER_01: A London Derby that I don't have any interest in watching.
1:14:34
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the gozo.
1:14:36
SPEAKER_01: If we get a gozo, I would tune into that, but I don't know that we're gonna see him in this one.
1:14:41
SPEAKER_01: I will go for a draw as well, say one-one.
1:14:43
unknown: Okay.
1:14:44
SPEAKER_00: We have Brighton leads.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_00: Very well plotted so far.
1:14:47
SPEAKER_01: We didn't plan this.
1:14:48
SPEAKER_00: No, we did not plan this at all.
1:14:50
SPEAKER_00: We have two more at the 10 o'clock window.
1:14:52
SPEAKER_00: Brighton leads Sean.
1:14:53
SPEAKER_00: I think there could be some fireworks in this.
1:14:55
SPEAKER_00: I expect Brighton to come out strong.
1:14:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go 3-1 win for Brighton.
1:15:00
SPEAKER_00: I do think Leeds will get some chances.
1:15:02
SPEAKER_00: I think Trafford will keep them in the game, but I think Brighton will just be a little bit too much going forward.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_01: It's tough.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_01: It's tough to win at the Amex.
1:15:10
SPEAKER_01: Brighton, Brighton do a good job there.
1:15:12
SPEAKER_01: And I do think they have much more of a goal threat in in the way they play.
1:15:17
SPEAKER_01: So I I don't think Leeds will be able to keep a clean sheet in this one, which is how they try to beat you.
1:15:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go Brighton two to one.
1:15:26
SPEAKER_01: I think it's two to one.
1:15:27
SPEAKER_01: Leeds get a late one, but it's not enough.
1:15:30
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
1:15:31
SPEAKER_00: And the last one I saved it, Spurs and Forest.
1:15:34
SPEAKER_00: I put mandatory three points for Tottenham.
1:15:36
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy to put a must-win on week three, match day three, but it's not gonna be easy.
1:15:42
SPEAKER_00: I think far forests are at home, they have their new signings, and I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure on Spurs to perform, but Spurs have to find a way to get three points out of this game.
1:15:49
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, you're you're not wrong, but can I say I don't think they're gonna?
1:15:55
SPEAKER_01: You could say whatever you want.
1:15:57
SPEAKER_01: I I really feel like this.
1:15:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna say it's a must win.
1:16:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say it's a must-not lose.
1:16:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:16:02
SPEAKER_01: I think we get a draw.
1:16:04
SPEAKER_01: I think we get our first point of the season.
1:16:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if we'll get all three.
1:16:07
SPEAKER_01: It depends on the health of guys already.
1:16:09
SPEAKER_01: How are we in match week three and already wondering who's gonna be fit?
1:16:12
SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely unreal.
1:16:14
SPEAKER_01: But if we have Savio and Marmoush starting, I think Tottenham could win the game.
1:16:21
SPEAKER_01: I think they make that big of a difference.
1:16:23
SPEAKER_01: I think they did improve from match week one to match week two, so we're building in the right direction.
1:16:28
SPEAKER_01: I do think forest away is just a tough opponent, is what's giving me some pause.
1:16:32
SPEAKER_01: Fuck it.
1:16:33
SPEAKER_01: Tottenham.
1:16:34
SPEAKER_01: Tottenham two, forest one.
1:16:36
SPEAKER_00: I like that.
1:16:38
SPEAKER_00: The 1230 game, Sean.
1:16:40
SPEAKER_00: Now, this one this one's interesting.
1:16:41
SPEAKER_00: We have the whole city tigers against Aston Villa.
1:16:44
SPEAKER_00: Teams on opposite sides of the table, and maybe not in the way that people had projected at the beginning of the season.
1:16:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know if Hull is as good as they look, and I don't know if Aston Villa is as bad as they look.
1:16:56
SPEAKER_01: However, the answer is they're both probably not.
1:17:00
SPEAKER_00: However, I think I'm taking Hull.
1:17:03
SPEAKER_00: You're getting molded by the Tigers, they're at home, they got the fans behind them.
1:17:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go Hull 2-1.
1:17:10
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I I I had Hole 2-0 in this one.
1:17:12
SPEAKER_01: I I was with you, I was hoping to pull it up so that you didn't have, but I'm with you.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't think Villa are as bad as they looked in match week.
1:17:21
SPEAKER_01: They're certainly not, they looked much improved against Arsenal on Monday.
1:17:24
SPEAKER_01: The thing is, I just think right now, you better be up for a fucking scrap with a tiger when you go to hole.
1:17:30
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not so sure that they'll are up for that kind of fight yet.
1:17:33
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
1:17:33
SPEAKER_01: I just I think they're gonna take some time to bet in.
1:17:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I'm a little bit optimistic about Hull's chances.
1:17:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they got they got puppies, they don't have dogs yet.
1:17:42
SPEAKER_01: So no dogs.
1:17:43
SPEAKER_00: I think Hull, yeah, I think Hull Hull wins that two to one.
1:17:46
SPEAKER_00: Sean Sunday, we have two two more games.
1:17:50
SPEAKER_00: The nine o'clock window.
1:17:52
SPEAKER_00: We have Everton, Manchester United.
1:17:54
SPEAKER_00: I think Everton will be scrappy, but I think United go to Everton and take all three points.
1:17:59
SPEAKER_00: I think they looked so good in the second half last week, and I think they'll continue that form.
1:18:04
SPEAKER_00: I didn't put a score down, but I will say three to one Manchester's uh Manchester United.
1:18:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking right along the same lines as you.
1:18:13
SPEAKER_01: I do think that Everton are gonna start to tread water a bit.
1:18:16
SPEAKER_01: They they were fortunate in that first match week, I think, against Palace to get all three.
1:18:20
SPEAKER_01: They were fortunate to get a draw last weekend.
1:18:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they'll be so fortunate this weekend.
1:18:24
SPEAKER_01: I will go Manchester United 2-0.
1:18:27
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say 3-1.
1:18:28
SPEAKER_01: I think they'll win by two goals, but you said 3-1, so I'll go 2-0.
1:18:32
SPEAKER_00: And the last one, this is without a doubt the Premier League match of the week, Sean.
1:18:36
SPEAKER_00: We have the two title contenders, Arsenal Chelsea.
1:18:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh, game of the weekend.
1:18:40
SPEAKER_00: I project a 2-2 draw.
1:18:43
SPEAKER_00: I said Chelsea's offense against Arsenal's defense.
1:18:46
SPEAKER_00: I think they'll clash.
1:18:47
SPEAKER_00: I do think Chelsea breakthrough a couple times.
1:18:49
SPEAKER_00: I do think Arsenal do as well, because I'm not still not super sold on Chelsea's defense.
1:18:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so I do think Arsenal's offense will will get them a couple goals.
1:18:58
SPEAKER_00: I went 2-2 draw.
1:19:00
SPEAKER_01: Chelsea still do have a lot of work to do out of possession.
1:19:03
SPEAKER_01: They've been getting caught out pretty easily in in both matches so far.
1:19:07
SPEAKER_01: So I would be stunned if they were able to keep a clean sheet against Arsenal.
1:19:10
SPEAKER_01: And I do agree with you, though, I think they will also be able to break Arsenal down.
1:19:14
SPEAKER_01: I think they have enough attacking talent to figure out the combination to unlock Arsenal.
1:19:19
SPEAKER_01: I think 2-2 is a great shout.
1:19:21
SPEAKER_01: I think there's going to be guaranteed goals, and I don't want to give Arsenal the win, but I will pick it.
1:19:29
SPEAKER_01: I do think they're just gonna edge it for me.
1:19:32
SPEAKER_01: I think Chelsea punch and maybe they take that lead, and their offense is falling for a bit, but Arsenal just have enough togetherness, and they've been here and done it with this group, and Chelsea haven't yet in one of these big matches.
1:19:44
SPEAKER_01: So if I had to guess, Arsenal will try their best to make it as ugly as possible because Chelsea want to play that beautiful high-scoring game.
1:19:50
SPEAKER_01: Arsenal will try not to have that be the case.
1:19:53
SPEAKER_01: And that leads me to think they'll just figure out a way to get it done.
1:19:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay, no, fair enough.
1:19:58
SPEAKER_00: And it's good we're I good or bad that we're on the same page, but if listeners or you're listening to this and you bet on this game, just fade all of our choices because we've been awful so far this season.
1:20:11
SPEAKER_01: So we're trying our best, but it's not, it's not it's not.
1:20:19
SPEAKER_01: I will say on a game-by-game basis, we've had a better feel for sure.
1:20:22
SPEAKER_00: That's true.
1:20:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
1:20:24
SPEAKER_00: We just need we need some time to for the table to take its shape because right now it looks absurd compared to what we projected.
1:20:32
SPEAKER_00: It's it's upside down.
1:20:33
SPEAKER_01: They got it out, they got it upside down.
1:20:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:20:35
SPEAKER_00: Sean, any any other games uh possibly to keep our eyes on this weekend?
1:20:40
SPEAKER_01: If we go to Syrie A, Brandon, there's a couple good ones on Saturday.
1:20:44
SPEAKER_01: I would I would recommend maybe just two games from Serie A if you're maybe bored of the Premier League or those games end.
1:20:50
SPEAKER_01: At noon, Inter vs.
1:20:52
SPEAKER_01: Napoli, the last two champions of Serie A facing one another early season.
1:20:56
SPEAKER_01: Really strong matchup.
1:20:58
SPEAKER_01: And then Roma play Atalanta.
1:21:00
SPEAKER_01: I think that's another fun one.
1:21:02
SPEAKER_01: That's a 245 Saturday.
1:21:04
SPEAKER_01: Roma, 8-0 on aggregate through two matches, 4-0, 4-0.
1:21:07
SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
1:21:08
SPEAKER_01: Keep it moving.
1:21:09
SPEAKER_01: Paolo Debala firing, Danielle Mullen scoring goals for fun.
1:21:13
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
1:21:14
SPEAKER_01: It's a great time to be a Roma fan.
1:21:15
SPEAKER_01: Almost making me forget that I'm a Tottenham fan as well.
1:21:18
SPEAKER_01: It's been fun for them.
1:21:19
SPEAKER_01: At least I have somebody producing.
1:21:21
SPEAKER_01: And then on Sunday, Brandon, there is one really good match.
1:21:24
SPEAKER_01: We have the McKenny Pulisic Darby on Sunday.
1:21:28
SPEAKER_01: So it is Juventus taking on AC Milan.
1:21:32
SPEAKER_01: The game is at Juve in Turin.
1:21:34
SPEAKER_01: McKenny's dealing with a knock.
1:21:36
SPEAKER_01: Don't think he's gonna play.
1:21:37
SPEAKER_01: He's still out injured.
1:21:38
SPEAKER_01: And Pulisic hasn't played yet this season, so he might not play either.
1:21:42
SPEAKER_01: That's the that's the billing of the McKenny Pulisic Darby, both unavailable.
1:21:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe in the stadium, sitting with each other in a box, but probably not on the pitch.
1:21:51
SPEAKER_01: So I do think Pulisic should get minutes this match.
1:21:53
SPEAKER_01: It seems like he's been close to ready to play again and just hasn't played yet, but we'll see.
1:21:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
1:21:59
SPEAKER_00: No, I I appreciate that, Sean.
1:22:01
SPEAKER_00: Listeners, a lot of a lot of football to watch this weekend.
1:22:05
SPEAKER_00: And we have the start of American college football this weekend.
1:22:10
SPEAKER_00: The other, the other football.
1:22:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh so get in front of the TV, get your games on.
1:22:14
SPEAKER_00: It'll it'll be a good one.
1:22:16
SPEAKER_00: Sean, to wrap up, I got a couple things.
1:22:18
SPEAKER_00: Wanted to see if you had anything to wrap up.
1:22:21
SPEAKER_01: I've got one quick little story for Brandon.
1:22:23
SPEAKER_01: We've already kept listeners well over an hour, so I'll make it quick.
1:22:25
SPEAKER_01: But Andre Herrera, he's a longtime really good player in Europe.
1:22:30
SPEAKER_01: He's played for Manchester United.
1:22:32
SPEAKER_01: He most recently was at Boca Juniors doing a little spell down in the Argentinian Capitol.
1:22:36
SPEAKER_01: He has decided to come back to its hometown club, Real Zaragoza, and he is playing for free this year.
1:22:42
SPEAKER_01: He said, don't need a contract.
1:22:44
SPEAKER_01: So it's similar to the story I told last week about Paolo Debala taking a pay cut and Nicholas Sula playing in amateur football.
1:22:51
SPEAKER_01: I just like seeing stuff like this.
1:22:53
SPEAKER_01: He said how much this club meant to him growing up.
1:22:55
SPEAKER_01: He wants to be back around friends and family.
1:22:57
SPEAKER_01: And he saw their pro bono.
1:22:58
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
1:22:59
SPEAKER_01: No questions asked.
1:23:00
SPEAKER_01: Rip up that contract.
1:23:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm out here.
1:23:02
SPEAKER_01: Just give me the six shirt and let me cook.
1:23:04
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
1:23:05
SPEAKER_00: I I appreciate you bringing that to the table again, Sean.
1:23:09
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to bring that every week because it is beautiful to see those kinds of things.
1:23:14
SPEAKER_00: These guys have made so much money and such a big career, and it's great to see that his ego is not getting in the way.
1:23:20
SPEAKER_00: He said, Hey, I'll come play for nothing.
1:23:22
SPEAKER_00: I'll come play at my boyhood club.
1:23:24
SPEAKER_00: And who knows, maybe he'll end up owning a piece or something like that afterwards.
1:23:28
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you'll you'll love to see that.
1:23:30
SPEAKER_00: So I I appreciate you bringing that story up, Sean.
1:23:33
SPEAKER_00: The last note I have, I know I always say the game's gone, Sean, but I think the game might be back.
1:23:40
SPEAKER_00: Next year, next year we will have all US-based MLS teams in the US Open Cup.
1:23:48
SPEAKER_00: The last, I believe, three years they haven't done it.
1:23:52
SPEAKER_00: They picked a handful of clubs to play in the US Open Cup.
1:23:55
SPEAKER_00: Some play in Leagues Cup, some play in this other cup.
1:23:57
SPEAKER_00: It's been all over the place.
1:23:59
SPEAKER_00: But we're bringing it back.
1:24:00
SPEAKER_00: The oldest competition in US soccer.
1:24:02
SPEAKER_00: All the MLS clubs will be entered.
1:24:05
SPEAKER_00: All the US based, I'm sorry.
1:24:07
SPEAKER_00: So Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver will not be in because they are not in the United States.
1:24:11
SPEAKER_00: But it will coincide with the new season calendar.
1:24:15
SPEAKER_00: So they'll enter, I believe it's the round of 64.
1:24:19
SPEAKER_00: They'll play their first game right in the summer.
1:24:21
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be right before the MLS season kicks off.
1:24:24
SPEAKER_00: And they'll they'll play sparingly over the next few months, and the final will be December 15th.
1:24:30
SPEAKER_00: Another wrinkle to this, which I love, MLS teams can now use MLS next players and Academy players in this game, and squad sizes will run rise from 18 to 20.
1:24:41
SPEAKER_00: So now you have that that 15-year-old prodigy who's crushing it at the under 18 or the MLS Next Pro level, and you're playing a USL or uh MLS next team from a different team.
1:24:51
SPEAKER_00: Hey, throw them in the game, let them have a day, give them 30 off the bench.
1:24:56
SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love this, Sean.
1:24:57
SPEAKER_00: It's it's not right when you have the U.S.
1:24:59
SPEAKER_00: Open Cup and you don't have all the teams in the US in the cup.
1:25:02
SPEAKER_00: So game's back.
1:25:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm a fan, I'm buzzing, and I absolutely love this move from U.S.
1:25:08
SPEAKER_00: soccer.
1:25:09
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, how rare is it that we just get to celebrate decision making from the MLS?
1:25:13
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely brilliant stuff.
1:25:15
SPEAKER_01: Hey, we'll call both ways.
1:25:16
SPEAKER_01: We just we're gonna call balls and strikes.
1:25:18
SPEAKER_01: This is a grooved fastball, baby.
1:25:21
SPEAKER_01: You blew it right by a great job, MLS.
1:25:24
SPEAKER_01: All of that, as you kept going and giving more information, I was like, that's good news too.
1:25:27
SPEAKER_01: It's all it's all was good there.
1:25:29
SPEAKER_01: I was waiting for the butt and we just didn't get one.
1:25:31
SPEAKER_01: So kudos to the MLS.
1:25:33
SPEAKER_01: They got that right.
1:25:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for the calendar to become one with the European calendar.
1:25:39
SPEAKER_01: I hate having the separate calendars.
1:25:41
SPEAKER_01: I think that was a detriment to the league for a long time.
1:25:43
SPEAKER_01: So next year looks to be promising on that regard.
1:25:45
SPEAKER_01: Also, you mentioned the MLS's transfer deadline went a day extra.
1:25:49
SPEAKER_01: We still have Saudi Arabia, their transfer deadline.
1:25:51
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't end until like the fourth.
1:25:53
SPEAKER_01: The Turkish Super League, theirs doesn't end until the fifth.
1:25:55
SPEAKER_01: It's just they're just taking the piss.
1:25:57
SPEAKER_01: That's one other thing I want to point out.
1:25:58
SPEAKER_01: If you do see some transfers still taking place, you're like, well, those guys just said it was closed.
1:26:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, almost all of it's closed.
1:26:06
SPEAKER_01: Most of Europe that operates in good faith, they close it on the first.
1:26:10
SPEAKER_01: A few of these other leagues have pushed that, kicked that can down the road, and here we are.
1:26:15
SPEAKER_01: With that being said, I'm hoping Charleston exits to one of those Turkish clubs or a Saudi club.
1:26:20
SPEAKER_01: We need some money for you, Richie.
1:26:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's an interesting one, Sean.
1:26:24
SPEAKER_00: But no, I'm happy to end on a high note.
1:26:26
SPEAKER_00: It's it's great to see US soccer getting in their act together and letting the MLS teams back in the open cup.
1:26:33
SPEAKER_00: We still will see.
1:26:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh one other note about that, we still will likely see some upsets.
1:26:38
SPEAKER_00: The MLS teams do get hosting privileges for the first round, uh, which is the round of 64.
1:26:44
SPEAKER_00: However, there's only 27 MLS teams, so there will be some lower level teams against each other.
1:26:50
SPEAKER_00: The second round, they're I believe not the second round, the next round, the round of 32.
1:26:54
SPEAKER_00: If any lower level team is matched up with an MLS team, the lower level team automatically gets hosting priority.
1:27:00
SPEAKER_00: So nice touch.
1:27:02
SPEAKER_00: Bring the bring the MLS teams to to your Knoxville's, to your Jacksonville's, these small cities that don't have an MLS team, bring them in.
1:27:11
SPEAKER_00: Bring your fans, bring the passion, and and and you love to see that.
1:27:14
SPEAKER_00: So US Open Cup, whoever's in charge, kudos.
1:27:17
SPEAKER_00: Because look, we'll trash US soccer till the day we die.
1:27:21
SPEAKER_00: But whoever put that together, kudos to you.
1:27:24
SPEAKER_00: You deserve a raise.
1:27:25
SPEAKER_00: I'll raise my raise my water water cup to you because yeah, you you did a great job there.
1:27:31
SPEAKER_00: So just wanted to shout that out, Sean.
1:27:33
SPEAKER_01: And we're cup guys here on the Friends of Football.
1:27:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm a big, I'm a cup guy through and through, Brandon.
1:27:37
SPEAKER_01: I know you'd be the same.
1:27:38
SPEAKER_01: We we appreciate, I mean, some cups we have to say are Mickey Mouse.
1:27:42
SPEAKER_01: The oldest cup in a country's history is not Mickey Mouse ever.
1:27:46
SPEAKER_01: So there's history behind it.
1:27:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad the US Open Cup is back on our radars, and it should be something that everybody in America starts to care a little bit more about.
1:27:55
SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.
1:27:56
SPEAKER_00: Sean, thank you for this episode.
1:27:58
SPEAKER_00: I know it went a little long, but we had a lot to cover tonight, and I think we did a good job.
1:28:02
SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you as always.
1:28:04
SPEAKER_00: You you you brought the info, you brought the energy, you brought the vibe.
1:28:08
SPEAKER_00: So always love getting to talk with you about football, the beautiful game, and just another one, another episode in the books.
1:28:15
SPEAKER_01: Brandon, always a pleasure to speak with you as well.
1:28:18
SPEAKER_01: You were the host, you brought the energy, you set the tone.
1:28:20
SPEAKER_01: I just followed suit.
1:28:21
SPEAKER_01: So a pleasure as always.
1:28:23
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:28:24
SPEAKER_00: No, thank you, Sean.
1:28:25
SPEAKER_00: Listeners, thank you for listening.
1:28:27
SPEAKER_00: We appreciate your support.
1:28:28
SPEAKER_00: Leave a comment, like, subscribe, tell a friend to tell a friend.
1:28:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I know my guy, Michael Collins out there, he's listening, so shout out to you, MC.
1:28:36
SPEAKER_00: Keep keep keep winning drafts on the other podcast.
1:28:39
SPEAKER_00: I love to see that.
1:28:40
SPEAKER_00: But uh, we appreciate your support, listeners.
1:28:44
SPEAKER_00: And until next time, take care.