0:00

Hey. Hey there! Did you know Kroger always

0:02

gives you savings and rewards on top of

0:05

our lower than low prices? And when you

0:07

download the Kroger app, you'll enjoy over $500

0:09

in savings every week with digital coupons. And

0:11

don't forget fuel points to help you save

0:14

up to $1 per gallon at

0:16

the pump. Wanna. Want to save even more?

0:18

With a boost membership, you'll get double fuel

0:20

points and free delivery. So shop and save

0:22

big at Kroger today! Kroger. Kroger, fresh

0:25

for everyone. Savings may vary by

0:27

state. Restrictions apply. See site for details.

0:35

Hello! Welcome into the latest edition of

0:37

a As of the Nfc I'm came

0:39

or he joined in the studio by

0:42

Alley Marino and Stay the Nickel And

0:44

we will start by talking about on

0:46

a slots once again because what we

0:48

are seeing is that Liverpool and Feyenoord

0:51

have now verbally agreed a compensation package

0:53

according to reports let's hear from Yeah,

0:55

Gun Club, then on on Islam. I

1:00

was like a lot about it. Promote that

1:02

if he's the one that wants to take

1:04

the job radio with go Rogue Bob come

1:06

on, let's go over excited rather. Like

1:09

of the world is the A blue

1:11

football they're going to. Definitely all the

1:13

things I hear about him as well

1:15

as a guy. Good guy. Some people

1:17

I know know him I don't know

1:19

revered but some people will be that

1:21

is a really good guy and like

1:23

Doug a lot. So good code good

1:25

guy. Looking forward for job If used

1:27

to Solution Auto got a man than

1:29

I am more than happy to not

1:31

have up to me to judge Leo's

1:33

things. Obadiah, that's all. Really good. To.

1:36

Me: When

1:38

with russell to quell just yet, walk around with your.

1:42

Best job in a world Both club in a world That job

1:44

at a world. I

1:47

always you know help even with not

1:49

finity on ios Looks like Zola as

1:51

base where improvement episode like that? oh

1:56

great to upgrade team fantastic

1:58

people Yeah,

2:02

no. Okay, so

2:04

what would take a

2:07

really, really interesting job?

2:11

Gillian Laurent joining us now to talk more about

2:13

this. It looks as though Arna Slott is going

2:15

to be the one, Jules. Tell us why Liverpool

2:17

have decided on this man. Yeah,

2:21

you're right. The two clubs have had an

2:23

agreement tonight for Northern Liverpool around 11 million

2:26

euros with bonus

2:28

included, ads un-included for

2:30

Arna Slott. I

2:33

mean, they're getting one of the... Really, if

2:35

you think about the already busy, let's say

2:37

the sixth-best league in Europe, which it is,

2:39

I think, then you...

2:43

He's one of the best managers in

2:45

the last three years in the six

2:47

big leagues. There's no doubt about that. He obviously

2:50

won the double domestically. He got to

2:52

the Europa League final with Félignon, lost to Roma. But

2:56

overall, it's been a really good time for

2:58

him at Félignon, the way he plays. He's

3:00

a very proactive coach with a

3:03

lot of running, a lot of pressing, really

3:05

fit players, a lot of cutbacks, for example.

3:07

This is one of his main trades. What

3:10

I like the most, I guess, about Arna Slott is

3:13

how he improves the players because it's one thing to

3:15

be great tactically and to have a

3:17

good style of play and putting a good system

3:19

in place. But I think improving

3:21

plays, especially young players, is something that he's

3:23

very, very good at, that he's done a

3:26

Félignon through all those years. And

3:28

I think something that there's no reason for him to

3:30

change, that he could do at Liverpool as well with

3:32

some of the players there. So I

3:34

think he ticks a lot of the boxes.

3:36

He speaks very good English. Obviously, he's had

3:39

European experience. He's been winning in his domestic

3:41

league. Maybe his league is not as good

3:43

as the Bundesliga, like Klopp had

3:45

won before coming to Liverpool. But certainly, I think

3:47

he ticks a lot of the boxes by exactly

3:49

what Liverpool wanted and he's also, in terms

3:51

of data, there's a lot of similarities

3:54

between his Félignon team and Liverpool in

3:56

the club. See, you're going to

3:58

be fine. You're gonna

4:00

be alright, dude. I'll tell you what though, you got... That...

4:03

This is what makes Claude stand

4:05

out from everybody else. I mean, who

4:08

do you know, leaving a job, turns

4:11

round and says, well, basically leaving you

4:13

in room for improvement. I mean, who does that?

4:15

Nobody does that. He's putting

4:18

themselves down. That's incredible. Leaving

4:20

a job like that and seeing there's room for improvement.

4:24

Unfortunately, the fact that

4:26

he does that and the fact that the personality he

4:28

is and his character and the

4:31

way he is, that's what's going to be

4:33

difficult for Anna Slott. I don't think it's... It's

4:36

not going to be the coaching or the tactics

4:38

or anything like that. It's... It's...

4:41

Having a strong personality and

4:44

being honest. Liverpool fans

4:46

love honesty. They don't want to hear tall

4:49

tales about improvement when it's not

4:52

happening or... or excuses. They

4:55

want straight talking and they

4:57

want character. Now, if this guy

4:59

has those two things, allied

5:01

with the players that he's been given

5:03

just now, and hopefully he will add to

5:06

it, then he has a chance. That's

5:08

what he's got right now. He's got a chance.

5:11

What do you want to see after the first, say, five or ten games if

5:14

he's coached next season? What will make you

5:16

say, okay, maybe this was a good appointment?

5:20

Be competing at the top of the league. I

5:22

don't want two draws, two

5:24

losses, two defeats, kind of scenario where

5:27

it's, well, we're just... We're

5:29

finding our feet and all that. No, no.

5:32

No, I want a good start. I

5:34

want a winning start, primarily

5:36

because of the team that he's been given. It's

5:39

a team that's been at the top of the

5:41

league for most of the season. It's a team

5:43

that clearly just isn't quite good enough. So

5:46

the fact that you're taking over a team like that, you've

5:49

got to get them back on track quickly. But

5:52

it's a team of players that any coach would love to be coaching, surely, Ali? Well,

5:56

and that's why when Arne Sloane was asked about

5:58

this, he said, yeah, yeah, yeah. I

6:00

want a Liverpool jump. Of course, of

6:02

course. And while

6:05

I appreciate and Jules did a really good

6:07

job of lining up the things that Arnus

6:09

Slott has doing and on paper, it

6:11

all seems like he has taken all

6:14

the necessary steps to now take this

6:16

big jump. Which, look, at

6:18

some point you got to take a chance if you're a Liverpool. And

6:22

what I, if I'm a Liverpool

6:24

fan and I put myself in that position, what

6:26

I would want to see is that, yeah, that

6:28

this is a big jump, but that there isn't

6:30

a leap into the unknown. And

6:32

that could be the situation because we

6:34

don't quite know, none of us do actually, none

6:37

of us do, not even Arnus Slott does. None

6:39

of us know how

6:42

his relation with

6:44

the players is going to develop in a short

6:46

period of time. In order

6:48

to get to that good start that Stevie's

6:51

talking about, that relation has to be right

6:54

from the very first meeting. And from the

6:56

very first meeting, as Stevie knows, and I

6:58

know, when you have a new manager that

7:00

shows up, you get a really good idea

7:02

as a player what this guy is all

7:04

about and what kind of

7:06

message he has and whether you can believe and

7:08

get behind that message. And so his first few

7:10

days at Liverpool and the interactions with those players

7:13

has to be right on point from the very

7:15

beginning in order to get this going in the

7:17

right direction. And if you do, then all this

7:19

momentum that Stevie's talking about in

7:21

terms of the talent personnel that you have

7:24

available, then that takes over. But if the

7:26

guys don't buy into whatever

7:28

he's selling from early on, it's going

7:30

to be tough, tough, tough, because

7:32

he's always going to be compared to that

7:35

guy, the other guy, Gaffer, club,

7:37

when the Gaffer was here. And when you have

7:39

that sort of conversation, it makes it very difficult

7:42

for everybody to perform at their best level. And

7:44

that guy's got a few more games yet

7:46

as Liverpool manager. In fact, this weekend they

7:48

will be taking on West Ham. And

7:50

even though they're now huge outsiders when it comes

7:52

to the title race, when it comes to our

7:54

prediction, we've all been

7:56

a lot more favourable towards Liverpool, every

7:58

single one of us. us tonight has

8:00

got Liverpool winning this game this weekend

8:02

and we'll be looking back on it

8:05

on the next edition of ESPN FC.

8:07

Be sure to be with us every

8:09

single day to keep up to date

8:11

with all the biggest games and all

8:13

the biggest stories in football. Did

8:16

you know less than 10% of Americans

8:19

own an e-bike? Here's why that should

8:21

change. Studies show e-bike

8:23

owners actually end up exercising more plus

8:25

getting outside more. If you're looking for

8:27

a balanced lifestyle and everyday adventures you

8:30

need to check out Lectric e-bikes. They

8:32

are the number one selling e-bike brand

8:34

in America. Their bikes are typically foldable,

8:37

pre-assembled and have serious range up to

8:39

150 miles on some models.

8:43

Check them out today at Lectric

8:45

e-bikes.com and add some more adventure to

8:47

your week. That's

8:50

l-e-c-t-r-i-c-e-bikes.com. Passion,

8:54

drive and patience. The formula for

8:57

winning championships is also what keeps

8:59

your ride or die alive. eBay

9:01

Motors has everything you need to

9:03

maintain your vehicle and level it

9:06

up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof

9:08

racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights and

9:10

more. Whether you're into speed, power

9:13

or style, eBay Motors has you

9:15

covered. With over 122

9:18

million parts beyond number one ride or

9:20

die you'll always find exactly what you're

9:22

looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit

9:24

your part is guaranteed to fit

9:27

your ride every time or your

9:29

money back. Because with eBay Motors

9:31

you're burning rubber not cash. With

9:33

all the parts you need at the prices you

9:35

want it's easy to make your car the MVP

9:38

and bring home huge wins.

9:40

Keep your ride or die

9:42

alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items

9:44

only, exclusions apply. One

9:48

of the massive stories this weekend is

9:50

the North London Derby Arsenal taking on

9:52

Tottenham Hotspur away from home ahead of

9:55

the game. We heard from Big Ange

9:57

on what some of the consequences of

9:59

the game. would be we're just taking

10:01

a look at this. Will Spurs rest Arsenal's

10:04

dream? Well, will they? Let's hear from

10:06

the Spurs manager and the possible wall.

10:10

There's a feeling among some Spurs

10:13

fans that a priority is

10:15

that whatever happens with Spurs this season they don't

10:17

want to see Arsenal win the league. Do

10:20

you understand that? What's your take on that with some

10:22

fans feeling that? Yeah, I mean,

10:24

it's fair enough. Again, I'm

10:26

not going to dictate how fans feel or

10:28

what they feel is important. We understand the

10:30

importance of the game and we understand the

10:33

importance of, yeah, particularly

10:35

at home in these kind of

10:37

games to not let our

10:39

biggest rival or the biggest derby

10:42

for us get

10:44

on top of us. So we understand the consequences.

10:48

We understand the consequences. Okay, Jules, let's start with

10:50

you on this one. What are we looking out

10:52

for here? Do you think this is an easy

10:55

win for Arsenal? No,

10:58

it's an easy win for Arsenal. No, it won't be. Even

11:00

if Spurs are not as good

11:02

as they were maybe at the start of the

11:04

season, 2024 had been tough for them. They lost

11:07

at home against Wolves, they were behind against Palace,

11:09

they were 1.5 times against

11:11

Forest, for example. Again, in their own stadium they

11:13

got destroyed away at Fulham, they got obviously destroyed

11:15

away at Newcastle as well in the last game.

11:17

They haven't played for two weeks. I

11:20

don't know if it's good to not play for

11:22

two weeks after being destroyed

11:24

like they did at Newcastle or if it's better

11:26

to play straight after to almost try to forget

11:29

such a heavy defeat. But in the

11:31

meantime, Arsenal have played four more games so you

11:33

would expect Spurs to be fitter, certainly

11:35

even if they haven't played for two weeks. More

11:38

rested, for sure, but they will be at

11:40

home and they are still fighting

11:42

for that top four finish. We still don't

11:44

know if fifth place will take you into

11:46

the Champions League next season from

11:48

England. So top four is a must for

11:51

them and just for that reason only, even

11:53

if Arsenal were not fighting for the title,

11:55

this is a must-win game for them. their

12:00

away record as well. They have the best

12:02

away record in the Premier League right now

12:05

and you can see 39 goals scored in those games, 17

12:07

of them, 11 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. But

12:12

it looks as though Spurs are going to get to have a

12:14

big say in this title race TV. Yeah,

12:18

I'll be honest, I'm not quite as confident

12:20

as other people at Spurs can take points

12:22

so far. I mean, other

12:26

than it being a derby, and I did

12:28

see last week that I was worried about

12:30

Liverpool playing Everton in a derby because

12:32

it was a derby and it

12:35

proved to be right. But

12:38

other than that, I

12:41

don't see any other reason why Tottenham takes

12:43

anything from Arsenal. I mean,

12:45

they've become

12:48

unpredictable, they've certainly become

12:51

really, really open all the time.

12:54

If you look at the other side of the fence

12:57

on Arsenal, you talk about predictable consistent,

13:01

an incredible level and they will love, that

13:03

front three of Arsenal's will love having the

13:05

space the Spurs are going to give them.

13:07

Because Spurs aren't going to change the way

13:09

they play, they're going after this. And

13:12

if you're Arsenal with a defence, certainly the

13:14

way they've defended this year, that's why the

13:16

top of the league, as much as for

13:18

scoring goals, the top of the league, because

13:21

they've got a great defence. I

13:23

tell you what, when that ball gets turned over and

13:25

Arsenal get out that back line of

13:27

Spurs, that's why I've got goals

13:29

written all over this game. Do you see

13:32

them putting four goals past them away? I

13:34

think I've been actually kind on reflection, given

13:36

Tottenham too, but I

13:38

certainly can see Arsenal scoring

13:41

four goals, the way that Spurs

13:43

played a game. They're wide open. Arsenal

13:45

absolutely take advantage of teams that

13:48

leave themselves wide open. So, it

13:51

is a derby. That's the only

13:53

reason, in my opinion, that

13:56

could change this result. Nothing else.

13:58

Certainly not form. Not the

14:00

way they play, nothing like that. Is

14:02

it the derby factor that's made you face a draw?

14:05

Well, couple of things. Yeah, the derby

14:07

factor which has the potential

14:09

of making this match about emotion. Not

14:11

quality of play, not talented

14:13

players on the field, but emotion. And emotion

14:15

can carry you a long way if you're

14:17

a Spurs. If it

14:19

is about execution and quality of execution, then it

14:22

should be arsenal that should win this game. But

14:24

because it is a derby, maybe emotions take over.

14:26

And the other thing that I was looking into

14:28

is, at some point somebody's going to

14:30

trip. Whether it's

14:32

Manchester City or Arsenal. And neither

14:35

one of them had the luxury to trip. Liverpool

14:37

already did against Everton. And so it

14:40

feels like, all right, well, if somebody's going to

14:42

trip and at some point it's got to be

14:44

either Manchester City or Arsenal, well,

14:46

what better scenario than a game that

14:48

is highly competitive, emotional, that perhaps you

14:50

don't worry so much about the quality

14:53

of play, but about the

14:55

bad challenge, the 50-50 duel, the stadium

14:57

is pushing you. You can

14:59

see the scenarios by which this could

15:01

be the moment in

15:03

which Arsenal trip. If

15:07

for no other reason, you're looking at an

15:09

Arsenal team that, yeah, Jules just mentioned, it's

15:11

four matches that have been stressful matches up

15:13

until the Chelsea game where they were fully

15:16

dominant. And so it's hard for me to

15:18

kind of make an argument against Arsenal and

15:20

this isn't an argument against Arsenal. It's more

15:22

along the lines of, these games have a

15:25

way of ruining somebody's

15:27

party. And it so happens

15:29

to be Arsenal's party that Spurs has a

15:31

chance to ruin. Well, the party

15:34

continues here on this set tonight because

15:36

Jules will be joining us for extra

15:38

time answering your questions that you've also

15:40

kindly sent in. So make sure to

15:42

check out the most recent edition of

15:44

Extra Time every single day over on

15:46

our YouTube channel. The

15:49

FA Cup final is around the corner.

15:51

Manchester City taking on Manchester United for

15:54

a second consecutive year, on May 25th,

15:56

9am Eastern for all the coverage

15:58

of the FA Cup. final. We're

16:02

driven by the search for better, but when

16:05

it comes to hiring, the best way to

16:07

search for a candidate isn't a search at

16:09

all. Don't search, match, with Indeed. If

16:12

you need to hire, you need Indeed.

16:14

Indeed is your matching and hiring platform,

16:16

with over 350 million global

16:19

monthly visitors according to Indeed data,

16:21

and a matching engine that helps you

16:23

find quality candidates fast.

16:26

Stitch to busy work, use Indeed

16:28

for scheduling, screening and messaging so

16:30

you can connect with candidates faster.

16:32

Join more than 3.5 million

16:35

businesses worldwide that use Indeed

16:37

to hire great talent fast.

16:39

And listeners of this show will

16:42

get a $75 sponsored job credit

16:44

to get your jobs more visibility

16:46

at indeed.com/FC. Just go

16:48

to indeed.com/FC right now and support our

16:50

show by saying you heard about Indeed

16:52

on the podcast. indeed.com/FC terms

16:54

and conditions apply. Need to hire,

16:57

you need Indeed. Hi,

16:59

this is ESPN's Mike Greenberg and ESPN Bet

17:01

is ready to take you through all the

17:03

biggest sports moments this spring. The official sportsbook

17:05

of ESPN has exclusive offers and markets from

17:07

Scott Van Pelt, Stephen A. Smith and me.

17:10

From the playoff intensity to finally getting out

17:12

to the ballpark, there's no better time for

17:14

sports fans. Sign up today and new users

17:16

get $100 in bonus bets

17:18

for making any sportsbook bet. Download ESPN

17:20

Bet today. What a play. 21

17:23

plus and president select states. Gambling problem

17:25

call 1-800-GAMBLER. Terms and conditions apply. See

17:27

app for details. Aragula

17:31

scored the only goal of the game

17:33

on what was his first La Liga

17:36

start for Real Madrid as Real Madrid

17:38

beat Real Socio. He had 1-0 on

17:40

Friday night to go 14 points clear

17:42

at the top of the table ahead

17:44

of Barcelona's game against Valencia on Monday.

17:47

Luis Garcia is in Kuala Lumpur but has

17:49

tuned in tonight. Well,

18:03

we saw in the second half more or less what

18:05

we saw in the first half and this is what

18:07

we were talking about half time which was a Roush

18:09

off the outside that had quite a lot of the

18:11

ball that was reasonably creative with it, that had a

18:13

lot of the territorial advantage but that couldn't find a

18:16

finish and couldn't create sufficient numbers and really clear chances

18:18

to have scored and that Real Madrid scored

18:20

from really not very much. Ali at half time I

18:22

think described it as scoring from absolutely nothing. By the

18:24

end of the game there wasn't a huge amount more

18:26

added to that and as you say

18:28

Real Madrid that little bit closer to a league title

18:30

that's been really theirs I think since they

18:33

put four goals past your own or what's that about five

18:35

or six weeks ago I think from that point on we

18:37

all knew the league title was only going to one place.

18:40

A lot of changes we saw tonight Luis,

18:42

lots of rotations for Ancelotti with that big

18:44

game in the Champions League ahead and they

18:46

still won the game. And

18:50

yes, that's the way that Real Madrid has

18:53

been handling almost for two or three months

18:55

every single game at the weekend. Very focused

18:57

on the Champions League but every weekend just

18:59

making bigger and bigger the gap between them

19:01

and first year Izona and after Barcelona. Once

19:04

again with the rotation we wanted to see

19:06

how Tagule where he can offer

19:08

to this Real Madrid side and well

19:11

he wasn't involved much but in the

19:13

right moment some skills I think that

19:15

ability is something that we all knew,

19:18

the talent that a young player

19:20

can bring to the creation of

19:22

creativity at the front but that fantastic goal

19:25

that put the first the leading for Real

19:27

Madrid at the end it is certainly three

19:29

points so a lot of rotations but once

19:31

again the focus is on the Champions League

19:34

in midweek and it was a matter of

19:36

time for Real Madrid to leave the trophy,

19:38

see how closer and closer and

19:40

well Barcelona will have to wait for next year. When

19:43

Bayern take a look at Real Madrid's record

19:45

this season they've actually only lost two games all

19:48

season and those two games were both to

19:50

Atletico Allay and yet again they've got the job

19:52

done tonight and not with their first team

19:54

either. This

19:57

was the definition of an alternative team for

19:59

Real Madrid. Carlos Ancerote and Real Madrid, and we

20:01

mentioned in the pregame, look, if there was ever

20:03

a time to play Real Madrid, this is it.

20:07

Real Sociedad didn't quite get the memo. Never

20:10

really trouble Real Madrid. There was a

20:12

stat that came on screen late in

20:15

the match that said chances

20:17

created and it was Real

20:19

Sociedad six. Real Madrid

20:22

won, but that's all they needed.

20:24

One. Real Sociedad could play this

20:26

match until midnight. Actually,

20:28

you know what? Until tomorrow and

20:30

they still wouldn't score, right? They

20:32

don't believe they can score and

20:34

so Real Madrid very solid, just

20:36

behind the ball, said, okay, you

20:38

have the ball. Turrientes, Tuzuimendi, Túo

20:40

Yarsawa, Tútakecú, and

20:43

back around to Turriente, and here we

20:45

go again. And it happened time and

20:47

time and time again. Never

20:50

threatening behind, never threatening with

20:52

service into the 18-yard box,

20:54

never threatening to turn

20:56

Real Madrid around. No, none of that

20:58

was happening. And Real Madrid, without

21:00

doing much, and at halftime

21:02

and said, they hadn't done a whole

21:05

lot of anything. They didn't do much more

21:07

in the second half. Even the guys that came on the

21:09

field, you think, okay, well, now Vinny comes on the field,

21:11

Valverde comes on the field, maybe we're going to see something

21:13

different. No, Vinny came on the field as a bunch of

21:15

turnovers. It didn't get much

21:18

better for Real Madrid, but it didn't need to. And

21:20

I think that is Real Madrid. I

21:23

think if you want to define Real

21:25

Madrid this season in La Liga, they

21:28

did what was required. In

21:30

order to win the title, they did what was

21:33

required. They beat Girona when they had to beat

21:35

Girona. They beat Barcelona when

21:37

they had to beat Barcelona. And when they had to

21:39

play these games that felt like, ah, man, I can't

21:41

believe we have to go to San Sebastian. It's going

21:43

to be rain, it's going to be wet. How are

21:45

we going to do this alternative team? They

21:47

didn't know. They win the game. In the

21:49

case of Arda Güle, this is what I would say. If

21:51

you want to define his game, you

21:53

can look at the goal if you want to. There's a touch in the 67th

21:56

minute when the ball comes from Luka Modrić. And he

21:58

just, he feels the pressure. of how you got

22:00

on getting tied to him and he just kind of flicks it

22:02

over to himself. And in that moment you kind of go, yeah,

22:05

the goal important, wins the three

22:07

points. But that touch, I like that. There

22:10

is substance to his game. We just

22:12

need to see more of it more

22:14

consistently. Yeah, very excited to see a lot

22:16

more of it as well. It is a

22:18

whole different prospect on Tuesday though, when even

22:20

though Bayern Munich have not been at their

22:22

best, it is fair to say this season,

22:24

they have been looking a lot better of

22:26

late. Now this is a classic in Champions

22:28

League competition, 20 titles

22:31

between them. And in their previous meetings,

22:33

you can see it's pretty evenly balanced

22:35

as well. 11 wins for

22:37

Bayern Munich, 12 for Real Madrid, and

22:39

plenty of goals scored as well. But

22:42

Real Madrid are favourites for this clash

22:44

TV, to Bibby? Absolutely.

22:48

Yeah, I think Bellingham, Rodrigo and Vinny, that

22:51

is what Bayern Munich have here. Because

22:54

it will be somewhat on the break. I mean, I don't

22:56

think Real Madrid aren't going to be as

22:58

deep as they were against City, just because of the way City

23:00

play. But there's still going to

23:02

be some walk counter attacking. And

23:05

that's bad news for Bayern. Yes,

23:07

recently, they've been better. But

23:09

that back line you can't trust. And

23:11

with those three having had a

23:13

nice rest, 100% ready

23:16

to go. Ooh, I wouldn't

23:18

like to play for Bayern Munich this week,

23:20

coming this week. Sid, what's the feeling in

23:22

Spain about what's next up for Madrid in the

23:24

Champions League? Well,

23:27

the reason they were playing tonight, Real Madrid on a

23:29

Friday night, I give them a little bit more time

23:31

for Bayern Munich. Which isn't to say they're fearful of

23:33

them, but it is to say, of course, that this

23:35

is part of a process now where the Spanish League

23:37

is trying to help its teams. And there's an awareness

23:39

that Bayern Munich are a difficult proposition.

23:42

But I think after what happened against Manchester

23:44

City, no one has any doubt that

23:46

Real Madrid are the favourites. Now, that's not to say

23:48

it will necessarily play out that way. But you look

23:50

at what Real Madrid have done in the Champions League in

23:52

the last five or six years. Quite apart

23:55

from the way that the number of titles

23:57

they've won, it's the way that they've won. It's that sense

23:59

that there's all well- something that they can do

24:01

even if they're not playing particularly well. You can

24:03

look at some of the games in this year's

24:05

competition where they've not played particularly well against Leipzig.

24:07

They weren't that good. It took a very late

24:09

Jude Bellingham winner to beat the Union Berlin earlier

24:11

on in the competition. There's been moments where you

24:13

haven't thought that they're at the very best but

24:15

they find a way and I think

24:18

everybody feels in Madrid at least that

24:20

that's likely to be the scenario against Bayern

24:22

Munich and as you say you talk about

24:24

that capacity to counter-attack then Real Madrid I

24:26

think are unmatched in that. The other thing

24:28

of course to bear in mind in this

24:30

and given the way that Real Madrid won the Champions

24:32

League in recent years and you look back at the

24:34

season in which they beat Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea and

24:36

Manchester City at the Bernabeuil the second leg is at

24:38

home. So let's just imagine a scenario

24:40

in which they go to Munich and they get

24:43

beaten. Even then I don't

24:45

think anyone in Madrid will say it's done.

24:48

In fact if they were too kneeled down after

24:50

the first leg I think people would almost enjoy

24:52

it more the chance to come back to the

24:55

Bernabeuil and have a comeback which isn't to say

24:57

that's the ideal scenario but there's something about Real

24:59

Madrid at the moment you just feel like no

25:01

matter what happens they will find a way. Talking

25:03

about feelings Sid because it was the

25:05

headline on one of the Catalan papers

25:07

Mundo Deportivo about Chavi staying on and

25:10

we're getting a chance to talk to

25:12

you guys now you and Luis about

25:14

this decision. Let me start with you

25:16

Sid were you surprised to see it

25:18

and what's the what's the feeling been

25:20

about it? Not

25:23

remotely surprised to see it. On

25:25

the face of it this is a shock

25:28

obviously because it's less than three months since

25:30

he said he was going but not at

25:32

all surprised because if you look at the

25:34

way that Chavi has been responding and you

25:36

look at the results in in the last

25:38

two sort of two three maybe even four

25:40

weeks there's a been a definite move towards

25:42

this. Now Chavi has been asked the same

25:45

question in every single press conference after every

25:47

single game time and time and time again.

25:49

Does this change anything? Because of course Barcelona went

25:52

on that run at 13 games without being beaten.

25:54

Does this change everything? He kept saying no

25:56

and no and no and no and it got

25:58

a little bit silly. But then

26:00

you notice that the no starts coming with, well,

26:02

nothing's changed, and he was using the Spanish phrase,

26:04

which Luis will be familiar with, adi

26:07

a deo. As of

26:09

today, nothing has changed. Well, of course, as

26:11

soon as you're saying that as of today,

26:13

nothing has changed, well, tomorrow, tomorrow's

26:15

another day. And it was

26:17

really, really clear that there was a sense

26:19

that the way that

26:22

he felt about the job, the way that Barcelona

26:24

felt about him, the way that he was engaging

26:26

with players and with fans, and

26:28

of course, results was shifting into a better

26:30

place. And I think at that point, you

26:32

started the kind of feeling that actually he

26:35

knows that even if it's not perfect, this,

26:38

this is what he wants to do. And Barcelona are

26:40

looking at it as well. And this is a key

26:42

element. Never overlook this key element. Barcelona

26:44

weren't finding it easy to find a replacement.

26:46

So you get to a point where actually, this

26:48

kind of makes sense. But to

26:51

answer your question about how do people feel about it? What

26:53

do people think? I don't think

26:55

anybody is, how

26:57

do I put this? I don't think anyone

26:59

is celebrating this decision. I don't think anyone

27:02

is thinking, Oh, wow, it's absolutely fantastic that

27:04

Chavi's continuing. I think most people think, well,

27:06

it's kind of the right thing. It's kind

27:09

of normal. But I don't think anybody thinks

27:11

that this is a huge success. In a

27:13

way, there's a slight embarrassment. They've been through

27:16

these three months when they needn't have done.

27:18

Well, let's put that theory to the test,

27:20

shall we? Luis, are you celebrating this decision?

27:26

Yes, of course, I'm celebrating the decision because

27:28

it's a friend of mine. I think that

27:30

he can do a good job of Barcelona.

27:32

He did the last year and this year

27:35

because of so many different situations, he has

27:37

been this project. But

27:39

in the end, I think that Chavi deserves

27:41

another chance to

27:44

prove that he's a fantastic manager and

27:46

that he can bring this Barcelona to

27:48

the next level. And I agree with

27:50

them. With Chavi has

27:52

been changing the way to address this matter. He's

27:55

been changing the way he was after. No, I'm

27:58

not. Important one. Let's focus on the game. I'm

28:00

not important one, the important ones are the

28:02

players. So it was delayed to say, no,

28:04

I haven't changed my mind and I'm going

28:07

to continue living. So I was expecting, I

28:09

had in the back of my head something

28:11

that it was saying, yeah, if the things

28:13

are going well, and I think each of

28:15

you felt that, felt the confidence of the

28:17

crowd in many of the last games, felt

28:20

the confidence of the chairman, and of course

28:22

felt the confidence of the players. And being

28:24

at that point, if the

28:27

club managed to give him some

28:29

more players, couple maybe that he can

28:32

adapt, that he can bring to this

28:34

11, I think that Chavi can change

28:37

the course of this Barcelona for next

28:39

year. So I'm happy for Chavi,

28:41

I'm happy for Barcelona. Sid, we're seeing

28:43

some conflicting reports on the backroom staff

28:45

and what's changed there for Chavi. What

28:47

reports have you seen on this situation?

28:52

Well, the situation is essentially

28:54

that what Barcelona want to do is change

28:57

or at least update slightly the approach

28:59

to the physical preparation. And

29:01

so I think what we're going to see is

29:03

we are probably going to see a new coordinator

29:06

of the fitness training and the fitness regime that

29:08

they use. And I think we'll probably see a

29:11

change in the staff relating to physiotherapy

29:13

as well, physiotherapy and pre-match and post-match

29:15

preparation of players. There was a suggestion

29:17

at one point that there might even

29:20

be a desire to change the assistant

29:22

coach or at least to add an extra

29:24

assistant coach. There was talk about Dominic Fervent

29:26

who had worked, of course, with Pep Guardiola.

29:28

That I don't think is going to happen,

29:30

although it wouldn't amaze me if at the

29:33

end of the season that gets re-addressed. But

29:35

I think what we'll see is a shift

29:38

in the building of the team in terms of

29:40

the fitness preparation for the side. But I don't

29:42

think in anything else. And then as Luis was

29:44

saying, by the way, that question about what De

29:46

Barcelona do now next year in terms of strengthening

29:48

the team, that's a really difficult one.

29:50

Because the truth is, of course, as we know,

29:53

they don't have the financial muscle to do that. And

29:55

it's going to be very difficult for them to reinforce

29:57

the team. But they are talking

29:59

optimally. about being able to get to

30:01

one-to-one. Now what one-to-one means in the financial fair play

30:04

with the rules is very simple. As the name suggests,

30:06

you can spend a euro for every euro that you

30:08

manage to make. So if you sell a player for

30:10

50 million euros, you can buy a player for 50

30:12

million euros. In other words, you can't just go and

30:14

buy. You can only do it if you make savings,

30:17

but you're now back on an even keel, which Barcelona

30:19

haven't been in this position over the last three years.

30:21

So that would be good news. The problem is, of

30:23

course, that we've heard optimistic

30:26

messages from Barcelona before, and

30:28

until it actually happens, I think it's probably

30:30

the right thing to do to be cautious

30:32

about those kind of messages. And I don't

30:34

think Chavi will be able to have really

30:36

big name signings in the summer. So I'd

30:38

love to get your opinion on La Liga

30:40

taking their games abroad. You've obviously been covering

30:43

the league for decades now. What are your

30:45

thoughts on it actually being played league games

30:47

outside of Spain? Well,

30:50

this is something that Javier Tebas of the President of

30:53

the League has talked about before this first came up.

30:55

What is it? I think three years ago now when

30:57

he was talking about taking a Girona-Vasalona game abroad, one

30:59

of the reasons why this has become an issue again

31:02

is, of course, before it was blocked by

31:04

the Spanish Federation, because Tebas and Rubiales, the

31:06

President of the Spanish Federation, didn't get on

31:08

a saw where the Federation blocked it. Now,

31:10

what's happened since then? Two really big things.

31:12

One, the Federation has taken the Supercut to

31:14

Saudi Arabia. So their argument that you can't

31:16

take games abroad looks a little bit weak.

31:18

And the other, of course, as everybody knows,

31:20

Rubiales has now been forced out of the Federation.

31:22

So Tebas is going to try again. Now, I

31:25

have a number of issues with this. And one of the

31:27

ones that I have is that I'm

31:29

a little bit doubtful about the impact, the real

31:31

impact on a foreign market, in this case, probably

31:34

the US, but it may well be that they

31:36

look at other countries as well, in terms of

31:38

the legacy of that game. Now, obviously, it's one

31:40

thing to say, get a huge stadium, sell it

31:43

out. Will you sell it out? Will that game

31:45

generate money? Yes, it probably will. My

31:47

doubt is whether it generates real money in terms

31:49

of genuinely creating a new fan base,

31:51

because presumably the immense majority of the

31:54

people that go will be people who

31:56

are already fans of Spanish football. They

31:58

may not necessarily kind of... start

32:01

spending more money on Spanish football, following it more

32:03

deeply than they already are. You may not get

32:05

a huge influx of new fans, not least of

32:07

course, because La Liga's plan at the moment is

32:09

for only one game. Now I think we all

32:11

probably realise that it will start with one game

32:13

and it will end up being more. Then you're

32:15

going to have the argument about which teams is

32:17

it? What kind of compensation

32:19

do you give to fans of those teams here

32:22

in Spain if you take games off them here

32:24

and take them, in this case to the US

32:26

or to wherever else it is they end up

32:28

playing? I think it's problematic, but

32:30

I don't think it's an insurmountable problem, but I must

32:33

admit, personally, I'm

32:35

uncomfortable with it. Okay, we're all based in

32:37

the US here. On the point about getting new fans,

32:39

and we know there are lots of La Liga fans

32:41

already here in the US, do you think that's something

32:43

that it would be able to do to get new

32:45

La Liga fans on board here? Ah

32:51

man, you know this is a conversation and from

32:54

a different angle that has been taking place in Major

32:56

League Soccer for a long period of time that you

32:59

bring in some of the European teams here to

33:01

play MLS teams and the hope is that those

33:03

fans that are coming to watch the European team,

33:05

whether that's Manchester United or Arsenal or Spurs or

33:08

whoever it may be, and they're

33:10

watching their local MLS team, that somehow they

33:12

make the connection with their local MLS team

33:14

and so therefore, next weekend when the local

33:16

MLS team is playing at home and Manchester

33:19

United has gone back home, those

33:22

guys are going to come back. That crowd is going

33:24

to come back. And I can just tell

33:26

you, having gone through it myself, that

33:28

doesn't quite happen. The moment that Barcelona

33:30

goes home, the moment that Real Madrid

33:33

goes home, those people that came to

33:35

watch Real Madrid and Barcelona are not

33:37

coming back to watch the local MLS

33:39

team. I've seen it happen, I've gone

33:41

through it myself. And so I have

33:43

to then sort of play out this

33:46

scenario that you're putting forth, okay, and

33:48

say okay, if indeed

33:51

is Barcelona, Girona, the Barcelona fans are going

33:53

to go crazy. They're all going to go

33:55

watch, right? The

33:57

Girona fans, wherever they may be, they're

33:59

going to see. up and

34:02

that's are it. See your

34:04

regular Dallas Cowboys

34:07

fan is not coming

34:09

to watch Barcelona play and magically becomes a

34:11

Barcelona fan. He's probably already or he or

34:13

she is already a Barcelona fan to begin

34:15

with if you're coming and showing up to

34:17

watch this game. If you're going to pay

34:19

whatever money you're asked to pay nor watch

34:21

this game it's because you're probably a fan

34:23

of Barcelona already and if you're making the

34:25

five hour drive to watch the G-donna play

34:27

it's because you're probably a hardcore G-donna fan

34:30

to come and watch your team play. I

34:32

don't think you're making new fans. I

34:34

just think you're strengthening your position as

34:37

Barcelona fans or whoever the other team

34:39

may be. So this idea

34:41

that by playing games abroad you're

34:43

attracting a new crowd. Yeah a

34:46

casual sort of new eyes onto

34:48

La Liga but to follow it

34:50

weekend, weekend and week out I

34:52

don't think that's quite the case. I think

34:54

that's something that plays very well in a

34:57

boardroom and in a presentation, a PowerPoint presentation

34:59

but it doesn't play well in reality. So

35:01

no from you too Stevie? Yeah absolutely. I

35:04

can't give my head around why MLS would let

35:06

them anywhere near the place quite

35:08

frankly because as Ali's

35:11

saying you know some people will come on

35:13

one night and obviously

35:15

MLS thinks or would think

35:18

again talking boardroom well if these

35:20

people come to our stadium or our rooms

35:23

then maybe they'll come back when this team's

35:25

not here. But as Ali said

35:28

the reality is that's not what happens. The

35:31

whole day out, night out,

35:34

there's a new circus in town and then when

35:36

it goes then everybody else goes away. Luis

35:38

as a player do you like it? As

35:43

a player? No probably not but I

35:45

would like to say something about it

35:47

because probably we are not seen in the

35:50

business class that probably La Liga has been doing for the past

35:53

15 years. Let's say that I

35:55

traveled to the US back in

35:57

2003. And

36:00

we were playing Barcelona against

36:03

Guatemala, Barcelona against United, against

36:06

Juventus. There

36:08

were 10,000 people back in Boston, New

36:10

York, and the other one

36:12

was San Francisco, I think it was. 10,000

36:15

people back then. I went

36:17

on the precision tour for years,

36:20

five years back with Barcelona. With the B

36:22

team, let's call it this way, there was

36:24

no Messi, there was no Luis Suarez, and

36:26

they were playing again, Spurs, Tottenham, Oxford. There

36:29

were 70,000 people. Every single

36:31

year it's been increasing, the number of people is

36:33

watching football. Of course, if we try to think

36:35

that La Liga is going

36:37

to go to the MLS or to the

36:39

US, and because we are going to play

36:41

one game there, it's not going to do

36:43

much, it's true that in one year, two

36:45

years, no. But the battling between Premier League

36:47

and La Liga is always there. If you

36:49

go to the market in Asia, of course,

36:51

Asia, the one that follows Premier League. So

36:53

La Liga has been trying to catch up

36:55

every single year, and of course it's always

36:57

very difficult. So that's why they are

37:00

trying to open the market in the United States. It's

37:02

the only way to battle. The fans, of course, they

37:04

are going to be angry. That's

37:06

something that we all know. But I'm

37:08

sure that if you ask the fans, listen, would you

37:10

like to bring a Bappé to Real Madrid? Would you

37:12

like to be the top player to Barcelona? Would you

37:14

like to bring top players to La Liga and Madrid?

37:17

Yes, all will agree. And how the teams are going

37:19

to get the money to get those players? You have

37:21

to find a way. And a good

37:23

way is to go to other countries, to

37:25

go to other markets, and try to bring

37:27

infrastructure and try to reinvestment. And

37:30

that's why La Liga is trying

37:32

to implement a way of bringing

37:34

investment to all the teams in

37:36

La Liga. What way? Go to

37:38

the United States. A good market, a massive

37:40

market that is growing very much, as we've

37:42

seen with MLS and the arrival of players

37:44

like Melio Nelmesi, Busquets, and

37:46

so on. So I think that

37:48

if we think in the short period, yes, of course, it's

37:50

not going to be worth it. But

37:53

if we go out and look to 10, 15

37:55

years, I think that La Liga is trying to

37:57

think about and it will be a fantastic

37:59

investment. Speaking of things that might

38:01

not be worth it, Sweden as a country

38:03

and a football federation have decided that VAR

38:05

is probably not worth

38:08

it. They've become the first country

38:10

to reject the introduction of VAR.

38:12

They plan to introduce it, but

38:14

a majority of Swedish clubs were,

38:16

quote, actively opposed to its introduction.

38:19

Sidlów doesn't necessarily disagree with the

38:21

Swedes either. Holy Smorgasbord! Oh

38:25

my goodness! Sid

38:27

says good on him. I'm not 100%

38:29

sure anymore what I would do, but

38:32

very often my gut reaction on VAR

38:34

is in the bin. And genuinely, I'm

38:36

not convinced that you, Sweden in this

38:38

case, would lose that much by playing

38:41

without it. So Sid,

38:43

you can see their point, it's fair to say.

38:47

I certainly can. Have I ever told

38:49

you how much I like the Swedes? Good on you,

38:51

Sweden. I mean look, this really,

38:53

in truth, this is a much, much, much

38:55

broader debate and it's one that we would

38:57

need a lot more time on. And actually,

38:59

I wouldn't have, as I mentioned in that

39:02

tweet, I wouldn't have a really, really clear

39:04

answer on it. But my issue

39:06

with VAR, and I've always said this, and I think this is

39:08

one of the reasons why I kind of

39:10

don't engage, or I tend not to

39:12

engage with people saying, yeah, but what about this decision?

39:14

What about that decision? My issue with VAR is very

39:17

rarely about the justice or otherwise of it.

39:19

It's about the impact it's having on the

39:21

games themselves and on the way that games

39:23

are referred. So you get decisions where you

39:25

wait too long. You get a game that

39:27

gets stops and started. I think you see

39:29

very, very minor things become game deciding things

39:31

all the time because they get spotted by

39:33

VAR, which is to say it's wrong that

39:35

they get spotted, but things that didn't happen

39:37

before. And I also think one of the

39:39

problems with VAR, I think

39:41

is that fundamentally, its introduction

39:43

was predicated, from my point of view

39:46

at least, on two, I'm

39:48

going to call them lies. It's maybe lies a bit of

39:50

a strong word, but on two false

39:52

premises. And premise number one was,

39:55

before VAR, football was an

39:57

absolute disaster. It was terrible.

40:00

terrible injustices were happening all the time

40:02

and we desperately desperately desperately desperately needed

40:04

to do something. We really

40:07

didn't, you know. Football was alright. Yes, there

40:09

was some injustice. Yes, there were some bad

40:11

decisions. But it wasn't a terrible terrible thing

40:13

that we absolutely had to fix. And

40:16

the second false premise upon which it was based is

40:18

precisely the word I've just used. Something

40:20

we had to fix. And because

40:22

we started talking about technology and because we

40:24

started talking about replays and because we started

40:26

talking about clear and obvious, we allowed ourselves

40:29

to believe, now admittedly this is our fault,

40:31

no one else is, it's all of us, we allowed ourselves to

40:33

believe, ah but with var

40:35

it'll be fine. There will be no more

40:38

injustice. There will be no more bad decisions.

40:41

There will be no more problems. And

40:43

there are. And there are and people will always

40:45

say to you, but it's not the technology, it's the people applying it.

40:48

Yes. Absolutely. But

40:50

the technology changes the way that we do things. So

40:52

that idea that we really had to fix it I

40:54

think was false. And that idea that it would be

40:56

fixed was always going to be

40:58

false. But of course now it's harder for

41:01

us to take when things go wrong, when

41:03

decisions are bad. Because we think well how

41:05

can it be wrong? We've got this amazing

41:07

technology. And so there's a bit of me

41:10

that thinks you know what in terms of the actual experience

41:12

of the game and just enjoying it in

41:14

the bin with it. He might as well

41:16

drop that mic right now. No, no, no.

41:18

Can I just say. No, no, no. For

41:21

somebody who claims to be on defence whether

41:23

he doesn't know that we use

41:25

var or not, that seems very

41:27

convincing that you hate var. You

41:30

hate var. Just come out and say it.

41:32

Don't tell me that you're on defence on

41:34

it. You just hate it. And explain it

41:36

as such. I

41:39

am on the defence a little bit. I am on

41:41

the defence a little bit because I accept having said

41:44

all those things, I accept that now if

41:46

you see a game and there are some games for example

41:48

in the early rounds of the Cop of the Ray when

41:50

there's no var and you see a bad decision, it's hard

41:52

now, isn't it? Because you think I know

41:54

that could be fixed and it is hard. And there are

41:56

bits of var that I think for example that would you

41:58

know automatically cost some. I think well that

42:00

doesn't really get in the way that doesn't waste much time. It

42:02

doesn't break the flow of the game I'm

42:04

sort of with that and offside is objective

42:06

as well I do understand the argument that

42:08

says how can we be ruining goals and

42:11

ruining goals? celebrations for the sake of something

42:13

that's absolutely minuscule I'd be well behind goal

42:15

line technology which funny enough is the one

42:17

bit of bar that Spain doesn't have so

42:19

it's got all these Terrible bits of bar

42:21

that ruin the game and the one thing

42:23

that you can do really quickly really objectively

42:25

without any problems nah We won't

42:27

have that one We'll have all the rubbish bits instead

42:30

and so I Genuinely, I'm not

42:32

sure because I think we've gone too far with bar

42:34

to go back on it And I think I would

42:36

look at that not just me But like those of

42:38

us who are kind of a little bit unsure about

42:40

bar We would look like a bunch of old dinosaurs

42:42

if we now wanted to get rid of it But

42:44

I would very very much be in favor of a

42:46

really stripped back version of bar And of course that

42:48

comes back down to that phrase doesn't it clear and

42:51

obvious part of the problem is we can't agree on

42:53

What clearer and obvious is so it's

42:55

funny really because clear and obvious It's

42:58

not clear and obvious That

43:00

sounds like Sid might be rummaging back in the bin for what

43:02

he put in the bin I

43:07

really hate it, but I don't hate it that much Listen

43:13

this is a Stevie did he

43:15

convince you? No,

43:17

no, you can't go back on bar Well

43:21

the thing is said I love I love the way

43:23

you put Well, you

43:25

know what we did get decisions wrong, but

43:27

it's okay. It's okay now and again to

43:29

get a decision wrong. We're gonna again Yeah,

43:33

and you actually covered every single

43:35

bit every single base when

43:37

you when you were defending it by saying well

43:39

Somebody will always say about this goal and that

43:41

goal and not be kidding that As

43:44

if it doesn't matter well it does

43:46

matter and it's important and

43:48

the important thing is that Vah,

43:51

I think the game is better for

43:53

Vah, but we just got to learn

43:55

to use it better The

43:57

fact that they were taking a step. We really have the The

44:00

fact that we're taking a step now with the

44:02

offside, now it's going to be,

44:04

what's the official name? The Automator. The Semi

44:06

Automator is going to be quicker. That's a

44:08

step in the right direction. So we're taking

44:10

a step in the right direction using VAR.

44:12

We cannot go back to all this nonsense

44:15

about, we don't need VAR and goals are

44:17

not goals and, well it would be the

44:19

goal but, the referee missed it

44:21

or the liens have missed it. We can't

44:23

go that way. We just got to accept

44:25

it and get better at it. If Obiello

44:27

was depending on a call by VAR to

44:29

be promoted to La Liga, I'm pretty sure

44:31

that scene will be all about VAR. Me

44:33

too. Louise, go ahead. I mean, in

44:35

all seriousness, that is part of the problem, isn't it?

44:37

I mean, Ali's absolutely right by the way, but in

44:39

all seriousness, that is part of the problem. It's of

44:42

course, we look at VAR and we go, oh it's

44:44

great when it rescues us. And when it goes against

44:46

your team, you think it's the worst thing in the

44:48

world. I just wanted to throw a statistic at you

44:50

by the way. Oh here we go. And this is,

44:52

this is, this is the statistic I think

44:54

from last year or maybe the season before in Spain. And

44:56

I was talking to a former referee about this and

44:59

obviously I have a problem with

45:01

this stat because this stat is based on someone's

45:03

judgment. And I think it was based on judgment

45:06

of the Spanish technical committee of referees. But the

45:08

stat was that pre-VAR referees got on average, I

45:10

think over the course of the season, I think

45:12

it was 94.5% of decisions right. Now

45:16

I'm inventing the stat, well not inventing the stat, but I

45:18

just don't remember exactly, but it's more than that's what I'm saying

45:20

to you. 94 and a

45:22

bit percent, they got right, pre-VAR. Post-VAR, it

45:24

was something a bit over 97. I

45:27

think it was 97 close to 98%. And

45:30

I must admit, I did think to myself, three

45:33

percentage points for all

45:35

of the ways that VAR impacts upon

45:37

the game, doesn't actually seem like

45:39

that much of an improvement to me. And

45:42

what I mean as much as anything else is, if it was

45:44

94, 95% of decisions before, that's

45:47

what I mean by it wasn't really, really

45:49

terrible before. And I don't think,

45:51

you know, we didn't, we didn't spend

45:53

100 years saying football's completely rubbish because too many

45:56

bad decisions happen. Once in a while a bad

45:58

one would happen, but not that. Can we agree

46:00

that said it's not on the fence? Can you imagine? Can we

46:02

agree that it's not on the fence? I

46:04

don't know how many cameras they have at Swedish Games.

46:09

But I know what we do have

46:11

on the fence and the

46:13

league and the other the other biggies. And

46:17

can you imagine what Novar, every

46:20

show like ours, we'd be talking forever about all

46:22

the mistakes the referee's made. The referees would end

46:24

up being... But we still are.

46:26

We're still doing that. We're still doing that. We're still

46:29

not getting off for every game. Yeah,

46:31

but we're arguing about this. You

46:33

try opening up up like that because

46:35

we think referees can make better decisions

46:37

when the game's going 100 mile an

46:40

hour and we've got to make a

46:42

quick decision. You're telling me that they're

46:44

making better decisions doing that than somebody

46:47

being able to see it again. The

46:49

fact is we do argue about the guy in

46:51

VAR who does make a horrendous

46:53

decision. Can you imagine if we got

46:55

rid of it? But you've still

46:57

got 60 million cameras. And it's

46:59

a wonderful world. 60 million cameras picking everything up. I

47:02

can see rainbows. We'd just be sitting here looking at, he

47:04

plays all game going, got that wrong, got that wrong, got

47:06

that wrong. All I

47:08

heard is that you want to be

47:10

part of ESPNSC Sweden. What? In Stockholm.

47:12

In Gothenburg. Let's end it here so

47:15

we can let the seed and Louise finally get some

47:17

rest. Louise, you're going to play the Emperor. Is it

47:19

a thumbs up or a thumbs down on what Sid

47:21

had to say? No.

47:25

No. Yeah. Yeah.

47:27

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

47:31

We'll let you guys get some rest now. Thanks so

47:33

much for being with us. And if you want to

47:35

see something just as passionate as Sid this weekend, make

47:37

sure to catch the Seville's Arby on Sunday.

47:40

It is Real Betis against Sevilla. Sid

47:42

will be pitch side, no doubt getting

47:45

very angry about VAR. There's some big

47:47

games this weekend, including Athletic against Athletic

47:49

and Barcelona taking on Valencia as well.

47:52

Tired of ads interrupting your favorite sports

47:54

podcasts? Good news! Ad-free listening is

47:57

available on Amazon Music, included with

47:59

your Prime membership. Amazon Music offers

48:01

the most ad-free top podcasts. Enjoy

48:03

shows like First Take, Part of

48:05

the Interruption, and The Low Post,

48:07

available ad-free and uninterrupted.

48:10

To start listening, download the Amazon

48:12

Music app or go

48:15

to amazon.com/ESPN pods. That's

48:17

amazon.com/ESPN pods to catch up

48:19

on the latest episodes without the ads. Hey,

48:23

it's Kayleigh Quilco for Priceline. Ready to go to your

48:25

happy place for a happy price? Well, why didn't you

48:27

say so? Just download the Priceline app right now and

48:29

save up to 60% in hotels. Whether it's Cousin

48:33

Kevin's Kazoo concert in Kansas City, go

48:35

Kevin or Becky's Bachelorette Bash in Bermuda.

48:37

You never have to miss a trip

48:39

ever again. So download the Priceline app

48:42

today. Your savings are waiting. Go

48:44

to your happy place for

48:46

a happy price. Go to

48:49

your happy price, Priceline. All

48:54

right, that will do it for the latest edition of ESPN FC. We'll be

48:56

back with you all weekend, but

48:58

stick around right now. Jules is joining us. We'll

49:00

be answering your questions next time. We've got them

49:02

right here. Stay with us. Welcome

49:09

into the latest edition of Extra Time. We've got Ollie and

49:11

Stevie here in the studio and

49:13

Julian Naran is joining us as

49:15

well. From London. Stevie's Freeze is broken. That was

49:18

the music. Heartbreak.

49:21

Heartbreak. All his ready meals were

49:23

in there that his loving wife

49:26

had had for him. That's right.

49:28

So Stevie's solution. Very

49:30

clear. Before

49:37

they go to wait. Stevie

49:39

was right about Everton being a banana skin

49:41

weeks ago when he was analysing the run

49:43

of games remaining. How does it feel to

49:45

be right Stevie? Oh, here we go. Well, he already

49:47

told us that he was right in the show. I

49:51

was thinking about it the whole game. You

49:54

know what you just want to be wrong? I just

49:59

felt it. and I smelled it and

50:01

then I watched it. I

50:06

don't know, you did, you bring that up to annoy

50:08

me. No, I didn't bring it up. It's

50:11

part of the question, even thinking about it's annoying.

50:15

Which part? What a part, look.

50:19

This is as bad an Everton team as

50:21

they've had in many moons.

50:25

And we still got a gate. Good

50:29

thing you said you were over, right? Yeah, exactly. Another

50:31

quick, he turned the page. This

50:34

is for you, Alay. Should Goulago on

50:36

loan next season or fight for his spot

50:38

at Madrid? Look,

50:44

I'm always fighting for your

50:46

spot. And if

50:48

you can make it in Real Madrid and

50:51

fight your way to be part of the rotation at

50:53

Real Madrid, and that's I

50:55

think what he should be trying to fight for first.

50:58

Not thinking I'm going to start matches, let me

51:00

be part of the rotation. Let

51:03

me gain the trust of the manager. And

51:05

as I become part of the rotation, then

51:07

maybe there is another place for me to

51:09

be. And then maybe there's another

51:11

spot for me to be able to impact

51:13

the play on the field. But right now,

51:16

he's not even part of that rotation. And

51:19

what we have seen from him is flashes and it was

51:21

the same today. Goulago had a couple of nice touches. You

51:24

can see the talent is there that is waiting

51:26

to come up. But he's had

51:28

injury issues. There's been some inconsistency. There's

51:31

been a mild content and kind of like, I'm

51:33

not playing, kind of whiny attitude. All of that

51:35

has to change. Get in the rotation first

51:37

and then you can fight for bigger things. If it

51:39

does get a snap, who gets

51:41

the... Well,

51:44

let's assume that Jules'

51:47

boy, Mbappe, is coming to Real Madrid

51:49

next year, right? That's

51:53

when it becomes a little bit more

51:55

crowded for Arda Goulair. Together. Go

51:57

on loan. Okay. Yes, little

51:59

sign. Okay, if

52:02

you were Arteta, what players would be

52:05

your priority in the summer transfer market?

52:07

And who would you try to unload?

52:12

That's a really good question. I think the club

52:14

is already working on that. Edo, Michael Arteta, all

52:16

of that. I think finding

52:19

another defensive midfielder or somebody that can play

52:21

either in the double pivot, a bit like

52:23

what Jean-Gignon is doing, I think Thomas Parti

52:26

will probably be leaving the club in the

52:28

summer. Someone like Zuby Mendy, who they

52:30

really, really like, and they're not the only ones from

52:33

Ra'so Cédard, who's young,

52:35

who is a really

52:37

good player on the earth with a

52:39

lot of energy, who could really slot

52:41

in pretty well. Also, I think this is

52:44

one. At left-back, I think there's another position there

52:46

to be looked at, whether someone

52:48

like Salomendi, for example, who could be

52:50

leaving Real Madrid is of interest because Alfonso

52:52

Davis is going to come to Real Madrid

52:55

probably this summer or maybe the one after.

52:57

Salomendi will be, I think,

52:59

a good contender for a position at

53:02

Arsenal. So for me, the midfield, that

53:04

midfield, that number six and the left-back

53:06

are the two positions that really maybe

53:08

need the most strengthening in

53:10

the squad for next season. Speaking

53:13

of unloading, tonight, Jules, Sid

53:16

Lowe had a big say on what

53:18

he thought about VAR and the producer

53:21

has told me that you were watching

53:23

the show and asking him, what's going

53:25

on? No, it's

53:28

just that we've had this, I mean,

53:30

we have this debate and discussion about

53:33

VAR for a long time. I'm just

53:35

like Stevie. I agree with

53:37

everything Stevie said and I know,

53:39

I mean, Sid especially was on

53:42

the fence, but not really on the fence, under the fence, over the

53:44

fence, on the right of the fence, on the left of the fence.

53:47

I mean, he covered the whole fence. But

53:49

in the end, I'm with Stevie, he's there. We're not going

53:51

to go back to what was there before. I know Sweden

53:53

are doing it, but we're not going to

53:56

go back to what before. Let's just make sure that

53:58

it works better. That's it. Okay,

54:00

you guys all in agreement on that.

54:02

All right. What's the most intimidating stadium

54:04

you played in that you didn't expect

54:07

to be? And

54:12

now are you if you can think of one

54:14

now, you know, never odd see these never intimidated.

54:17

Oh Well

54:23

It's like I always find this strange

54:25

when people say a bit of it different places I mean,

54:27

I mean noise flails angry

54:31

faces He

54:35

will shout at the boss banging on the boss Yes,

54:38

please Fantastic. Why

54:41

not? Great. You actually loved it.

54:43

Absolutely. I like

54:46

I think and and and and

54:48

to your point TV when you go away

54:50

and play say for example in work Qualifies

54:52

in South America you get all of that

54:55

in most places most places in South America You

54:57

get that sort of reaction and you kind of

54:59

go. All right, you get used to that

55:02

What was intimidating to go in and play Brazil? Not

55:05

only the fact that they had the place

55:07

that they had available to them It said

55:09

when we're going to the stadium people

55:12

are not banging on the boss or throwing

55:14

things at the boss No, no, they're dancing

55:16

on the streets. They're celebrating their day And

55:18

all that they know They

55:25

know what they have available. They know

55:27

what we have available. I think any

55:29

idea what you come here. Yeah, that's

55:31

right Look at them. That's right. That's

55:33

right. And so in the stadium in

55:35

the stadium It's not like we

55:37

come out on the field and they're booing us

55:39

No, they're concerned about their partying and they're dancing

55:42

and the thing or whatever. They know that Ronaldo

55:44

is about to score They know Ronaldinho's about this

55:46

court. They know right We

55:49

pretend not to know and we're trying to

55:51

tell ourselves. Ah, here we go. Here we

55:53

go. This is our chance This

55:55

is when we make history Three

55:58

nothing games in mind. See you guys later And

56:00

it happens. What do the managers like? So

56:02

imagine being the manager, right? You're very smart.

56:04

You play against Brazil, in Brazil, against all

56:07

that mob. And

56:12

as a manager, you've got to come up with some reason

56:14

why you're going to get a result. Yeah,

56:17

not really a kabooma. Well, no. I

56:20

cannot remember because it wasn't memorable, I'll say that

56:22

much. But I will say, I will

56:24

also say that we went to Brazil and we

56:26

tied Brazil in work on qualifiers. But to the

56:28

intimidation factor, it's

56:30

enough. Let me

56:32

just say this. It's enough when you are standing

56:34

in the tunnel with Brazil and

56:37

you see that bright yellow

56:39

jersey, right? That'll

56:41

get your attention. But when

56:43

you walk out and the people

56:45

are celebrating already, they're already dancing, we

56:47

haven't even started the game, they already

56:49

know what the outcome is going to

56:51

be. We're trying to tell

56:53

ourselves otherwise. They're all looking up at the scope

56:55

of it. Oh, yeah, it's so well known. One

56:58

more time. We put it... Hey,

57:00

hey, hey, hey. That's

57:02

okay. Oh,

57:05

no. Oh, no.

57:07

That's my favorite one. That's

57:10

my favorite one. I love

57:12

that. All right. Oh, so,

57:14

I'll... One

57:16

more thing on that, because I just thought about it. We

57:19

had just played Brazil at home. We

57:21

had just lost to Brazil at home for

57:23

nothing. Both teams are sitting

57:25

on the tarmac waiting for our charter flights

57:27

to go to the next World Cup Qualified.

57:30

Of course, Brazil's plane comes first and

57:33

they take off. But before

57:35

they take off, while we're all here long-faced with four

57:37

goals on us, oh, my goodness, what are

57:39

they going to do? Are they going to fire the

57:41

coach? What's happening? This guy, it's

57:44

from here to there. They're dancing. They're

57:46

celebrating. They got the drums and... Oh,

57:48

yeah, and Marcelo's got the drums and

57:50

this guy's got that and that guy's

57:52

dancing. You're like, it

57:55

must be nice. And of course, their

57:57

flight gets here first. Must be nice. Must

57:59

be very nice. Alright, for Stevie Kay

58:01

and Jules, with the Euros this summer,

58:03

make a case for why the casual

58:05

fans should cheer on your countries this

58:07

year. Yeah, Jules, you're going to have

58:09

to make your case. Well,

58:14

you should cheer for France because we

58:17

never get to finals, we never win anything,

58:20

so we need your support to finally

58:22

do win something. Also, we have

58:24

the best player in the world, in Finland and Bapei,

58:26

and we have a cool shirt as well, so come

58:28

and cheer on us. Okay, yeah,

58:30

that was too much hair against Romino for support.

58:33

I don't know whether they still

58:35

do it, and they probably don't,

58:37

but when

58:40

I used to go, when I was younger

58:42

and I used to go to the Scotland

58:44

games, we would be standing on the terrace

58:47

and there'd be bottles of whisky getting passed along.

58:49

I put it with just to get a swag and pass it on. What's

58:53

that? This is a selling

58:55

point for a professional fan. 16, right? I'm

58:58

sorry. 16,

59:00

I'm standing in Scotland then. Next minute, these

59:02

bottles of whisky are getting passed out and everybody's just

59:04

going like that and having a dip, and another one

59:06

would come. Unbelievable. Does it make watching the team easier?

59:10

That's just very generous of Scots, you know.

59:13

Why should the casual fan get behind Scotland?

59:17

Well, in case they get offered free whisky. All

59:20

right. You'll have a good time. You

59:22

go with Scotland fans, you'll have a good sing, so

59:24

you'll have a good laugh, you'll have a good time,

59:26

you might not win a game, but you'll

59:29

have a good time. You'll enjoy yourself. You should

59:31

have kept that part out. No, that's the obvious

59:33

part. That's the only guarantee.

59:37

Hopefully you can get behind us. We're some

59:39

lovers and players. We always get close recently,

59:41

but we just don't quite do it and

59:43

I'm sick of the heart ache, I'm sick

59:45

of the heartbreak. And so

59:47

is Dan. That's Dan on my side as well. So

59:49

if you want me and Dan to be

59:51

happy, or me and Dan to be happy, get

59:53

behind England. There we go. You're

59:56

depressed, everybody. by

1:00:00

get behind England. Harry Kane, you're telling

1:00:02

him, Jackal, right loads to enjoy about England

1:00:04

this year, right? And you had to

1:00:06

mention Dan. That takes points away. Yeah,

1:00:08

because Dan feels the pain of the

1:00:11

England train with me every single time.

1:00:13

Well, I told him there's more pain to come.

1:00:15

Oh, thanks, Stevie. You're welcome. All right. You

1:00:18

didn't convince me, Kirk. No. Well,

1:00:20

we don't convince many to get behind England. They

1:00:22

usually just complain about how arrogant

1:00:24

our fans are and get upset about its

1:00:26

coming home and don't get the whole point

1:00:29

of that front. So

1:00:31

it's not coming? Why

1:00:33

are you one stop a buyer? I'm not one stop a

1:00:36

buyer. I'm not one stop a buyer. I'm

1:00:38

not one stop. All right. OK, Stevie,

1:00:40

how much confidence does a defender

1:00:42

get playing in front of a

1:00:44

solid goalkeeper? Eric Dyer never looked

1:00:46

this good at Spurs or England,

1:00:48

but he's been so solid at

1:00:50

Bayern, constantly benching Kim Minjae. Is

1:00:52

it all because of an all-time

1:00:54

great Neue behind him to sweep

1:00:56

up those loose balls? I

1:00:59

mean, in that case, I don't know, but I'll

1:01:01

tell you what, it's fantastic when you don't even

1:01:03

think twice about the guy behind you. You

1:01:06

think he's going to save it all the time. You think he's

1:01:08

going to make good decisions. I mean. I

1:01:11

mean, in the 80s, people would

1:01:14

have big, big centre forwards and they would fling

1:01:16

balls into the ball. And

1:01:18

we had Brucie Grobbela and Gull, and

1:01:21

he came for everything. And

1:01:23

as soon as the ball left the wing of Spurs,

1:01:26

or the full-back Spurs, however it was, it was putting

1:01:28

a hand. And it got to a

1:01:30

certain height. I knew, I didn't

1:01:32

even have to think twice about it, I knew Bruce was

1:01:34

coming. And so we would just fall

1:01:36

in behind, just in case. Not,

1:01:40

you know, 99 times out of 100. We'd

1:01:42

take it out of the sky, fantastic. On

1:01:44

the occasion, they may be humble. And

1:01:47

so we would just get back into a position behind

1:01:49

them, just to cover them just in case. And I

1:01:51

didn't even have to think about it. I knew he

1:01:53

was coming. And as I said, 99 times

1:01:55

out of 100, he collected it.

1:01:57

And while I appreciate it. And

1:02:00

then the question and I think the message

1:02:03

that is conveyed in the question better guy

1:02:05

has been better than anybody would have thought

1:02:07

and him going to smile Munich and that

1:02:09

he has had more of an impact then

1:02:11

they would have thought that would have hoped.

1:02:13

I think I'm a single bring thera guy

1:02:16

because he thinks he meeting doom an option

1:02:18

off the bench or for your rotate employers

1:02:20

in another. Maybe he's an option of a

1:02:22

guy that can cover a whole, not a

1:02:24

guy who's going to feature where the question

1:02:26

and diplomas lose weight, loses weight is a

1:02:29

fag. That's when all. Right has been playing

1:02:31

quite a bit because my own lawyer was

1:02:33

injure for about a month and so and

1:02:35

that says and coincide with the time with

1:02:37

their Eggs Are was playing. So. Ah,

1:02:41

that's that's where the argument lose his

1:02:43

ability for me. I see this in

1:02:45

this specific case. Nod, nod nod nod.

1:02:47

To the point of having a solid

1:02:50

goalkeeper behind you that's always going to

1:02:52

make a better player. Said do

1:02:54

with the ceiling be like in Paris

1:02:56

is Timmy an imbecile should win the

1:02:58

Champions League this season and then leads

1:03:00

and that drives. Me:

1:03:05

nothing in this movie. Incredible

1:03:08

does seem everybody in paris

1:03:10

of have now. Gone.

1:03:12

Over the side the zebra is I was

1:03:14

going to run the great as a free

1:03:16

agent as was it was explained it many

1:03:18

many times on this oh so this this

1:03:20

is done nothing to files are just excited

1:03:23

by the end of the season this seven

1:03:25

games as with density eight is a richness

1:03:27

of is a final second when three more

1:03:29

trophies ones with and city tomorrow that ties

1:03:31

older then they will be the as difference

1:03:33

the finals and then as we sit with

1:03:35

us who the summit of fun with and

1:03:37

as or does holy cow of I saw

1:03:39

seasons embryos many of the three for trophies

1:03:42

to. the club so is he does

1:03:44

it and if he does them all

1:03:46

including the somebody from weakness of brazil

1:03:48

home that would be incredible as i

1:03:50

just don't think his legacy would change

1:03:52

what is the only when does the

1:03:54

league and the cards and not itself

1:03:57

as a for example i think he's

1:03:59

legacies overseas massive after seven years at the

1:04:01

club and I think people have gone over the fight

1:04:03

now that he was leaving, everybody has moved on, everybody

1:04:05

is together now for them to try to

1:04:08

get as many of those three trophies as they can. Less

1:04:12

question and what a belter of

1:04:14

a question it is. For Stevie,

1:04:16

start venture drop. Sushi, shepherd's pie

1:04:18

with corn or eggs Benedict? Oh,

1:04:21

easy. Total treat, shepherd's pie,

1:04:24

no danger, absolutely not. Even

1:04:27

with the corn? It's not even getting substituted

1:04:30

at any stage. With the corn? It's

1:04:32

with corn. It's shepherd's pie, we

1:04:34

have a corn, it's not. But this is the

1:04:37

whole point of the question. I never saw the

1:04:39

corn. This shepherd's pie is with

1:04:41

corn. I

1:04:43

could always pick out the corn. No,

1:04:45

you have to eat it. I've got to

1:04:47

eat it. Yes, I've decided. Oh no, yes,

1:04:49

here we go. Well, I can't eat sushi.

1:04:52

Gink, gink. It's absolutely out the

1:04:54

window. I couldn't eat it. No

1:04:58

chance. You might see me using chopsticks.

1:05:02

No, he'll ditch the chopsticks quickly.

1:05:04

I know. I give you that. Shit

1:05:10

was pie with eggs Benedict. With

1:05:12

corn. See, we call them kills it. Well,

1:05:15

yes, corn really kills it. And

1:05:17

what do you wish you would like to find the dish again? Please

1:05:20

remind me. What about the guys that we had

1:05:22

in the classical watch party? Henri

1:05:27

and Thor with the nutrients that

1:05:29

corn gives you. And

1:05:31

pro-corn. Well, you saw the two of them. It

1:05:34

looked as though they'd eaten the shepherd's pie with corn. Okay.

1:05:37

It looks ill. Eggs Benedict. I

1:05:42

can't eat the shepherd's pie with corn. It goes

1:05:44

against my religion. So eggs Benedict gives us an

1:05:46

issue with the way to the time. I

1:05:48

can eat eggs Benedict. Just think it's a waste of

1:05:51

time. Why is that? What's the point?

1:05:54

I don't know. But why is it a waste of

1:05:56

time? Is it my touch? You Got

1:05:58

your something with it. While.

1:06:02

He takes me don't want

1:06:04

somebody data. Housing

1:06:07

don't like that accompanies whatever as our

1:06:09

booties on. League and no,

1:06:12

no. Definitive

1:06:14

another ruins but it when a really

1:06:17

good a loosely get one our current

1:06:19

are them and I'm trying to lisa

1:06:21

hi as is akin to filter and.

1:06:23

Really hates com. A

1:06:26

thanks for that offense. The whole this.

1:06:34

A feel half of it because. They're

1:06:37

drinking enough for all visitors. The services

1:06:40

of a sudden exhausted know I mean

1:06:42

feel zombie Citing the My Twenty Find

1:06:44

Friends restaurant for a long appreciate of

1:06:46

my you don't like corn period or

1:06:49

Gov Connally call this is your phone

1:06:51

call was what is makes them tick

1:06:53

it wouldn't to and together affects the

1:06:56

taste of everything That's my palate is

1:06:58

no use. The Zulus Apartments and that

1:07:00

is a fine how it gets and. I'd

1:07:03

spots and an education. I

1:07:08

would like go right for the name

1:07:10

is a size of a know sincere

1:07:12

and those who go intended and a

1:07:15

common pilot.