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Clips. It's a game changer. Hello

1:10

and welcome to the 2

1:12

Robbies podcast, your destination for

1:15

in-depth discussion and analysis of

1:17

the Premier League. I'm

1:20

Robbie Musto, he's Robbie Earle, and

1:22

here are today's topics. We

1:25

saw plenty of drama throughout this weekend's fixtures. Thomas

1:27

Hockenham came from behind to shock Man City at

1:29

home in a thrilling 3-3 draw. Ten

1:32

Man Chelsea hold off a feisty Brighton side in

1:34

a tense 3-2 affair. Trent

1:37

Alexander-Arnold plays hero for the second week in a

1:39

row, this time delivering the goal that toppled Fulham

1:41

4-3 at Anfield. And things

1:43

continue to spiral for Eric Ten Hag

1:45

at Manchester United after his side dropped

1:47

all three points in a 1-0 loss

1:50

at Newcastle. That's what we've

1:52

got coming up in today's episode. OK

1:57

Musto, let's start with the game.

2:00

that the Etihad and

2:02

Foster Cogli taking his Spurs team to

2:04

face Pep Guardiola. I think

2:07

Pep had said pre-game that there's going to be goals in

2:09

this or he felt these goals in this. He

2:11

was right, there were six of them, three on each side.

2:15

A fascinating game, mate, in terms of

2:18

style of play, system

2:21

of play, way of doing things, believing

2:23

in what you do. I thought it

2:25

was a real example,

2:28

Rob, in the end

2:30

of Foster Cogli saying, yeah, we've come

2:32

off three defeat and there was a lot of

2:34

talk about whether he should change the

2:37

place he doesn't have available. But

2:39

this guy is going to, as he

2:41

said, stay in a job or not

2:44

playing a certain way, a certain style. The

2:47

big thing I took away from

2:49

his post-match interview was

2:52

the belief he has in what he's doing

2:54

and the belief he has in his group

2:56

of players. I thought it was fascinating to

2:58

go to Manchester City and talk about belief

3:01

and talk about wanting his team to play

3:03

better, where most people seem to

3:05

go to Manchester City and actually

3:07

are so scared of City, but

3:09

City get on top of the

3:11

game and dominate you. Yeah, it's

3:13

just an interesting time to watch

3:15

football in the Premier League, Rob,

3:17

in terms of other teams' tactical

3:19

ideas, thoughts going into Manchester City.

3:21

In our era, and even

3:24

in recent decades, most

3:26

teams go there and just shut up shop

3:28

and try and block out and try and

3:31

hit on the counter. To be fair, in

3:33

odd moments that's worked, but for the majority

3:35

it hasn't. I think

3:37

there was something that thought, given the injuries they've got

3:39

going to City, they would do something different. But I

3:41

think we all knew that he wasn't going to do

3:43

anything different. Because of the

3:45

result 3-3 and because of the nature of it,

3:47

I don't know, maybe it's going to persuade other

3:49

teams to think, you know what? Let's

3:52

just keep doing the same thing. What I

3:54

like about the idea from Postagogo, Rob,

3:56

is that this group of players learn one

3:58

way. way to play and

4:01

that's total football from the back to the

4:03

front no matter where it is,

4:05

home or away, no matter who it's against,

4:07

strong or weak, and no matter what their

4:09

squad situation, the team strength is, they continue

4:11

to do the same thing, which is clear.

4:14

It's clearly easier for

4:16

the players to say, okay, today we're in

4:18

this defensive mode and then maybe in a

4:20

game we can go into our other expansive

4:22

mode. They're just one mode and I think

4:25

the result showed that you can do that

4:27

even against Man City. Man City, Robin,

4:29

and why they didn't win this game in a

4:31

second, but it was a very interesting, they

4:34

tried to play out in the first half, Tottenham,

4:36

and we did a little breakdown of Spurs making

4:38

it really hard, high press, Spurs

4:41

are a little bit fiddly and fancy to try and

4:43

break through that. They did it very, very few times in

4:45

the first half, of course, brilliantly for the goal from

4:47

the set piece, the corner they conceded and went the

4:49

other end in score with the young son,

4:52

but they continued to do the same thing.

4:54

We've seen that before, Rob, persistence in the football,

4:56

trying to play out, make a mistake, do

4:58

it again, let's do it again, let's do

5:00

it again. In the second half, Man

5:02

City's willingness to press just

5:05

waned a little bit and the football worked

5:08

from Tottenham and we ended up having a brilliant game

5:10

of football. Just a really great example, Rob, of

5:14

keep doing our thing, we're going to try over

5:16

and over again and we're playing for those opportunities

5:18

where we do beat the press and we get

5:20

chances to score goals, which they did, it was

5:22

a brilliant game. Yeah,

5:25

and Posto Coglou will base his team

5:27

on that. I

5:30

think it was really interesting, I think

5:32

Tom made a really interesting comment on

5:34

the broadcast today, where he talked about

5:36

when you see Posto Coglou, he stands

5:39

at the side of the pitch, he's

5:41

not having to go with

5:43

players for making mistakes or things aren't

5:45

going well, he's almost like he's continually

5:48

giving them the confidence and the belief

5:50

to play in the way that he

5:52

wants. I thought what was

5:54

really interesting, it got me thinking, Rob, because he

5:57

talked about at half time, he sort

5:59

of foresaw that. But if Spurs

6:02

get a little bit overconfident and

6:04

start the skills in the nutmegs and

6:07

all that, that's the kind of thing

6:09

that can hit you. It led to

6:11

Busumma doing something very similar, should he

6:13

get the goal, and Spurs could have

6:15

lost the game at that stage. But

6:18

it got me thinking, Rob, a little bit. And

6:20

it was interesting one where I thought, let me

6:22

chuck this one past Musty, because was

6:25

the Cogloo in his management style, and we've all

6:27

had managers who seem like it's about, come on

6:30

guys, I don't want you thinking negative, it's about

6:32

positivity, it's about doing things, it's about playing with

6:34

the freedom that will get the best of you.

6:37

Now, the past two Spurs managers, which

6:39

were Contain Joseph Mourinho, were very, very

6:41

much the opposite. Everybody

6:44

was set, you sit in a certain

6:46

way, there's a restriction to being individual,

6:48

it's about the collective. And

6:50

it kind of got me thinking, Rob, well, Ives

6:53

Busumma's an interesting one, because which

6:56

side of the fence is he? Because

6:58

I believe maybe it needs to be

7:00

a bit in between. I think Ives

7:02

Busumma's got to understand the responsibility of

7:05

where he is and being in the team and what

7:07

the consequences are, while playing with

7:09

the freedom. I don't think, I think you

7:11

can go two, four, one way, where players

7:14

lack a little bit of that kind of game, what's

7:17

the word, intelligence, understanding, security that

7:19

you need, and you can go

7:21

two, four, the Contain and Mourinho,

7:23

where you restrict players, where they

7:25

don't do anything, they're just like

7:27

robots. And I just thought

7:29

that it was an interesting one with Posto

7:31

Coglou, is there some players who need that

7:33

go out, you know, with sons and whatever,

7:35

but is there some players who need to

7:37

have a little bit more discipline about the

7:39

game? Yeah,

7:43

probably. It's interesting, Robin, so

7:45

what you're saying is given the licence

7:47

that he's giving them, do

7:50

some players go over the top? And I

7:52

think when you're a man sitting away... Yeah,

7:54

almost came for granted. Yeah, we saw Remus

7:56

and Royal do it in the first half,

7:58

try Nutmeg. I presume try and

8:00

nutmeg, like playing out away at the

8:03

Etihad against the champions, like that's what

8:05

you're talking, isn't it? We're like, listen,

8:07

we want you to play, but that's

8:09

not professional type of football. So

8:13

yeah, I think he was maybe about half

8:15

time, you know. Maybe

8:18

it's the thing that you have to watch for,

8:20

Rob, given his style, his kind

8:22

of, you know, allowance of this sort

8:24

of football, that the players don't get a little bit

8:27

blasé and think that they can take liberties a little

8:29

bit kind of player, because particularly against City's press, it's

8:31

really hard to do. Yeah, it was, and

8:33

Tim mentioned it half time, didn't he? It was kind of

8:36

funny that he said, Rebecca asked us,

8:38

like, what would you do differently? And I think Tim

8:40

said, well, he might just say to players, you know,

8:42

less of the nutmegs. And my goodness, we

8:44

see when it led to a goal in the second half

8:46

as well. So those little details, I'm sure, will be ironed

8:48

out. Bigger picture,

8:50

though, is that, you know, that philosophy

8:53

is, you know, that's got them a point. I

8:57

mean, Jim Beggin, Rob, and we know Jim very well,

8:59

he's a brilliant, brilliant guy and a really good commentator.

9:02

You know, it's tempting for commentators and analysts and

9:04

fans and whatever to look at them and say,

9:07

oh, you know, and Rebecca kind

9:09

of sometimes hinted with her questions, is this

9:11

really the right thing to do to be

9:14

so intricate away from home? And

9:16

Jim in commentary almost said, like, maybe

9:18

they should vary it a little bit and go

9:20

a little bit longer where I don't think that's

9:23

not going to happen, because, you know,

9:25

Robert, like, well, OK, so we're varying

9:27

it. Oh, right, then. So I'm a midfield player. If we're

9:29

not going to play out, I need to know that because

9:31

I'm going to go on the run for the support the

9:33

forward. Are we doing it? Are we not doing it? I

9:36

just think that gets a little bit of confusion. If everybody's

9:38

like, we're going to play out, we're playing out, then everybody,

9:40

Rob, knows where to be

9:42

to try and help that plan of playing out instead

9:44

of like, if it's going long, I'm going to start

9:47

running towards my forwards for the second boards for the

9:49

knockdown. So I don't necessarily think even though it seems

9:51

to make sense, change it a little bit, go

9:53

a little bit longer. I don't know whether that's

9:55

the right way. It doesn't change anything. And

9:57

look what happened. opened

10:00

up, the city got a little bit more and

10:02

we'll switch to city now Rob if you're okay

10:04

with that. The city just fell away

10:06

from the game again Rob, like they did against

10:08

Liverpool in the second half. They get up, they

10:11

have an advantage and I'll throw a question

10:13

back to you. Is there something different

10:15

with city where this year they're a little over

10:17

confident when they take the lead, particularly at home,

10:19

and fall away from what got them there in

10:21

the first place in terms of the high pressing,

10:24

the energy and the quality, they drop back and

10:26

let Spurs back into the game? It's

10:31

a good question, I knew it was

10:33

coming, just quickly finishing on the Spurs

10:35

angle, as you

10:37

were saying. I think, and

10:39

I agree with you, I'm the

10:41

same way with the post-Okoglio thing, where

10:44

sometimes Rob, I think your system of

10:46

play and belief in what you do

10:48

is more important maybe when

10:50

you lose or things don't go so well as when

10:52

it's going well. So when you're going

10:54

well, everybody can pile on, oh it's great football, they're great

10:56

to watch, football has changed place,

10:58

as soon as things start going wrong, should they

11:01

go back to the way they were? Exactly. Well

11:03

actually no, that's where he's got to stay with what he is.

11:06

And he's believed in it and now they've just

11:08

gone away and drawn with the champions, gone toe

11:10

to toe and find themselves in

11:13

a good place. So no, absolutely

11:15

not. In terms of city, I

11:18

don't think it's quite as easy as saying they've gone

11:20

a bit, and I know people will

11:22

suggest the travel, and I know people will suggest like,

11:24

I don't know if it's

11:26

winning titles on the bounce,

11:29

eventually it's going to wear off on you. I'm

11:31

not sure that it's

11:34

just quite as simple as that, although Pep

11:36

did point to, and I take a quote

11:38

from him where he said, as

11:42

a group we've not got to be ever complacent

11:44

about winning things, because winning is so hard and

11:46

it would be a time when we're not winning

11:48

things. Now it was a bit of a weird

11:50

kind of Pep putting stuff out there, but whether

11:54

he's still on the field, my overriding

11:56

thought with city is, they're not

11:58

quite at their... peak. They

12:02

have days when they dismantle

12:05

people with the football and we know

12:07

those days are many. These days now

12:09

when the opposition are better, you

12:12

talked about the standard of coaching, there's now

12:14

six or seven teams who would feel they

12:17

can at least give city a game and

12:19

I think in certain circumstances feel they can

12:21

win. Liverpool went there a couple of weeks

12:23

ago mate and were disappointing to draw. Spurs

12:26

went there today and might come

12:28

away and say we're disappointed to

12:30

draw. I think that changes the

12:32

outlook of the approach. I think

12:34

it's a better coaching, I think

12:36

these better players, a better setup

12:39

and also that city get

12:42

better Christmas onwards and that city,

12:45

you know, if you look year on year

12:47

they're not far off where they normally are but

12:50

the second half of the season is when they

12:52

seem to kick on and with

12:54

de Bruyne to come back in that time

12:56

and stones come back in that time, you

12:59

probably see a more similar

13:01

city than we've seen with that

13:03

drive, with that hunger and with that

13:06

quality that overcomes the opposition. Right, it's

13:08

interesting Rob. So you're basically saying there's

13:11

nothing different with their attitude and their

13:13

drive and their confidence or their overconfidence

13:15

or their desire. You're seeing it as,

13:17

you know what, they're not playing at

13:19

the peak right now, we've seen this

13:21

before, they'll find that peak later on.

13:23

Do you think it's more that than

13:25

where more maybe we're trying to find

13:27

another little chink of the armour of

13:29

their mentality? Yeah, I think people were

13:32

looking, you know, the Grealish, there was

13:34

a big Grealish thing, Oydon scored, he

13:36

scored today, you know, Dokkus come in,

13:38

you know, I think sometimes it can

13:40

be a bit too easy to do

13:42

that and look for something that if

13:44

somebody makes a mistake but listen, time

13:46

will tell. What I do feel is and I've said

13:49

on the pollies before, I think less points win you

13:51

the title this year, I think more teams are going

13:53

to take more points off each other Rob, especially up

13:55

at that top end of the table and

13:58

city generally... Find

14:00

the way and find the form that gets

14:02

them to the top of the table This

14:04

year might be a challenge because these other

14:06

teams who might be contesting it Absolutely,

14:09

mate well said and you know what a game

14:11

it was. It was guaranteed goals We did get

14:13

close, you know what in some ways Robert? I

14:16

I thought it could be more wild than what it was

14:18

end up 3-3 Yeah,

14:20

you know it's still it wasn't quite

14:23

as crazy as I thought actually no

14:26

Yeah, yeah, but still still a great idea

14:29

Yeah, just finally just finally Robert on

14:31

an incident and I know we will

14:33

talk in different ones The

14:36

referee an incident with Holland with a foul He

14:39

sort of allows him to play on Holland

14:41

plays in Greeley spend Blows

14:44

the whistle calls it back obviously right at

14:46

the end of the game city unhappy spurs,

14:48

you know a bit a bit going on

14:52

How did you see that and how did you meet

14:54

that situation well we It's

14:56

one of two outcomes. We thought here

14:58

Rob. I mean it's a mistake from

15:01

the referee, you know, it's just an estate

15:04

I don't feel strongly about this one at

15:06

all either either because and this is what

15:08

Tim noticed He put the whistle

15:10

in his mouth. He may have peeped out a

15:12

little whistle, right? Then he saw oh, you know,

15:14

I'll play Advantage then he's

15:16

like well, I did actually whistle I've got a

15:18

whistle again that and stop it

15:20

for yeah He's he's not going his whistle. He's

15:23

one that advantage He's seen the ball play up

15:25

there and I think it got a little bit

15:27

behind Grealish and maybe thinking it wasn't a great

15:29

chance I Think

15:32

Tim's probably right of

15:35

those two that he might have just peeped to whistle

15:37

my feet Yeah, you

15:39

know what? I got a I don't know.

15:41

I don't know that can of course Maybe

15:43

it was a brain brain. Yeah, if you

15:45

like where he's like, yeah, normally that's an

15:47

absolute I did advantage and play on it

15:49

really really is just letting go. Yeah. Yeah

15:51

normally Yeah Yeah,

15:54

okay. I agree the same. I thought it

15:57

was one of them. Let's move it on mate. Should we

15:59

move on to Chelsea? Chelsea Brighton, another

16:01

interesting game it's down for bid. So

16:04

Chelsea, never quite sure what you're

16:06

going to get from Chelsea my friend. I did

16:08

a little note of recent

16:10

results for Chelsea. Decent

16:13

2-2 draw with Arsenal, then they lose

16:15

to Brentford. They get a 4-1

16:17

win against Spurs, yes it was down to 9-1 Spurs.

16:19

They get a 4-4 draw with Man City. They

16:22

go to Newcastle, they lose 4-1 and then

16:24

they beat Brighton at home down with 10

16:26

men in the second half. 3-2,

16:29

so a bit like all

16:31

over the place with Chelsea, you're not quite sure

16:34

what you're going to get. We talked about the

16:36

inconsistency with young players, with unfamiliar,

16:38

no consistency in the line up

16:40

and the system. What

16:44

did you learn today mate, 3-2 win beat Brighton?

16:47

What can you tell me more than you

16:49

didn't know before kickoff about Chelsea? Well,

16:52

I think it's more for

16:54

me confirmation that they are

16:56

nowhere near where they expect

16:58

to be. I thought

17:00

they were particularly poor in the first half.

17:03

And I'll say that because they were 2-0 up, two

17:05

set pieces, they did well on the set pieces and

17:07

the goals, but the set pieces are

17:09

kind of different. The general football in

17:12

the first half were up. And maybe because they

17:14

were 2-0 up, they didn't feel the need to

17:16

be progressive with their football. I thought it was

17:18

particularly poor. I thought Brighton looked a more comfortable

17:20

side, a better side in possession. I think the

17:22

numbers suggested that though they were trailing in the

17:25

game. So I was disappointed. I said it half

17:27

time. I'm not going to let the 2-0 scoreline

17:29

or whatever. Did they score? Yeah, maybe it was

17:31

2-1. Maybe it was 2-1 half time. You

17:33

know, I still was disappointed Chelsea at the

17:36

bridge at home that were

17:38

so disjointed and not great. Now,

17:41

I'll go on to say

17:43

that they were fortunate to win

17:45

this game. They were fortunate. And

17:47

the reason I say that is that the

17:50

first part of this is Moises Kaiseido

17:52

rub. We've seen

17:54

many, many double yellow cards, red cards this season

17:56

in the Premier League. Yeah, back in yellows. I

17:58

just felt... Moises Kysedo

18:00

got away with those two challenges

18:02

whilst on a yellow. I'll never

18:05

understand I just don't understand that

18:07

and of course they are doesn't check a

18:09

yellow card And then the

18:12

other one was the incident the penalty incident that led to

18:14

I thought the referee Scrape Orson

18:17

with a mill in a situation where he's in

18:19

a good position He's right behind it He gets

18:21

a sense of the game the speed of the

18:24

players the physical nature of them coming together and

18:26

waves off as a no-call And then for me

18:28

Jared Gilla the var is

18:30

wrong is wrong to stop

18:32

the game and say to him You know what we think this

18:34

is a clear and obvious error Because

18:37

I didn't I didn't think it's a clear

18:39

novice error This is my major beef at

18:41

the moment this season is that we are

18:43

re-referene games with the help of Angles

18:46

and the slow motions and the technology and

18:48

taking it more away from the referee than

18:50

I think we've ever seen With

18:53

the VR situation so again

18:55

like this is for clear and obvious

18:57

Rob where listen I don't know what he's

18:59

or you probably didn't see that the Potter goggla, you

19:01

know we go and we watch all the press conferences

19:03

when you're in the studio before we get in the

19:05

studio Yeah, yeah, and he made a really good. I

19:07

guess it was a rant about this and

19:09

this was brought in for everybody in a room Oh,

19:12

that's you know, that's and we have one in this

19:14

weekend didn't we the handball that struck the head of

19:16

the player? That's what yeah the

19:19

obvious one like there's a mistake and We're

19:22

not there for like some people in a

19:24

room Why if you look at from that

19:26

angle we get 14 replays and this one

19:28

as well No, it's just so so I

19:30

mean maybe you know if we re-refereed it

19:33

to the nth degree There might be some maybe

19:35

plenty of it say, you know, why you might

19:38

well you can probably find something Rob But what

19:40

do you mean? Bablin

19:42

arm, Rob. I'm like leave Yeah,

19:46

well I wrote down the two

19:49

things one I'm I sense and I said

19:51

it last week there was a During

19:54

the last week. There was a panty and said it

19:56

was full on on there on there and I said

19:59

very often at times is trying to insert itself

20:01

in the game. It's like, we've got to

20:03

get in, we've got to get in here.

20:05

Here's our chance, let's go in. That,

20:08

I'm just not having a... One, the

20:10

other thing, I think it's undermining Rafferty's

20:13

Rob, making calls on

20:15

the field. And the second

20:17

thing is, when Rafferty's called

20:19

over to the monitor, there

20:21

should be one real kind of angle, or

20:24

one real thing where you say, here's the

20:26

clear and obvious error that you haven't seen.

20:29

So maybe he hasn't seen a pull, or

20:31

something that's not there. But

20:33

based on, you're pretty much showing him what he

20:35

saw, and he's already said that's not a foul.

20:38

When he runs it again, and then it's forced,

20:41

almost like it's pushed towards saying, well, there

20:43

is a bit of contact, well,

20:46

there is a bit of... I just

20:48

felt it was another incident where VAR

20:50

doesn't have to get involved. So

20:53

Rafferty's made a good call on a good

20:55

decision, and we play on. We

20:57

play on, Mob, we don't stop the game,

21:00

we don't look for, as you say, let's

21:02

find an angle where there's something that we

21:04

can say, well, that's a little bit contentious.

21:07

I mean, it's... We

21:09

don't want to... VAR is

21:12

off the Christmas list, mate. We're

21:14

not talking about it

21:16

till New Year, but I totally agree. I

21:19

felt it was one of those... Big moment, Rob.

21:21

Chelsea had a defining moment in the game, that

21:23

was it. Massive moment. The game 3-2. Yeah,

21:27

it just made four subs, hadn't it? I

21:29

know it's Deserby, and Milner was one of

21:31

those, come on, almost like his first acting

21:33

against Mudrick. Yeah, and it

21:35

does change games, and it's points, Rob, and

21:37

points are so hard to get in the

21:40

Premier League, as we see week in and

21:42

week out. You can't just be dashing them

21:44

away with these things. I

21:46

agreed a little bit with Chelsea. I had

21:48

one of my analogy with Chelsea,

21:50

and I said, Chelsea's still like a jigsaw

21:53

puzzle, mate, at the moment, right? And you're

21:55

not on a jigsaw puzzle. At the front of the

21:58

puzzle, you've got the picture of what it looks like.

22:00

when it's all Dean. Chelsea's

22:02

bot ain't got a picture on it at the moment.

22:04

It doesn't quite know what it is mate. It's a

22:07

bit blank. It's got loads of pieces but they don't

22:09

know where to go. All the pieces there, yeah. It

22:11

doesn't know how to put it together because we haven't

22:13

got the picture yet. And that's

22:15

an analogy to what

22:18

are this Chelsea going to be under? We can

22:21

see what Prostokov will be, we can see what

22:23

Dzirby will be. And

22:25

I know they're missing players and I know they're young. So

22:28

I get all that Rob but you can still

22:30

try to do the certain things you want to

22:33

do with the players that

22:35

may get better, may understand it more, may.

22:37

I'm still not quite sure what this Chelsea

22:39

are. Listen,

22:41

you're right and let's just

22:43

remind ourselves, Rob, over 500

22:45

million dollars spent in one window in the summer. Let

22:50

alone the money spent before. Half a

22:52

billion dollars spent on this team and

22:55

there's 10th bang in the middle. 19

22:57

points after 14 plus 3 goal

23:00

difference. Half a billion and

23:02

there. So it is remarkable. And

23:05

I'll stick to what I said in day one. All

23:08

these young players, none proven really in

23:10

the Premier League and some of the highest level and

23:13

I don't know whether they're that effective. But again, I

23:15

don't want to go over old ground. It was a

23:17

three points by the way. Let's remember that. They did

23:19

win the game. Yeah, they

23:21

won. They won the game. Very important

23:23

progress. Wait

23:26

a minute. Man United isn't it next week? Oh,

23:29

it's week. It's week. Yeah,

23:31

I think it's Wednesday. Yeah, yeah. Wednesday,

23:33

yeah. So it's going to be an interesting game.

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24:21

my friend, I mean, there's drama

24:23

all over the place in the

24:25

Premier Games weekend. Liverpool four, Fulham

24:28

three, couldn't quite believe

24:30

as things were dropping in, I'm seeing

24:32

goal flashes here and the 80th minute,

24:34

Fulham look like three to up gonna

24:36

win it. 10 minutes

24:39

later, Liverpool in a couple of minutes

24:41

have got an end goal and a

24:43

trend, well it's second

24:45

for me but first in statistics

24:49

and Fulham, Liverpool get a win again

24:51

at Anfield. I've

24:55

heard something Rob actually, somebody

24:57

said it would have been Klopp's second,

24:59

only second home

25:02

loss in 104

25:04

games, but he said

25:06

with spectators in the stadium. So I think there's

25:08

something like obviously they must have lost a couple

25:10

of games during the COVID thing, but there's

25:14

something slightly incredible about Liverpool,

25:17

Klopp and Anfield that

25:23

gives them a chance I would say Rob,

25:25

that gives them a chance. I'm still not

25:27

sure, I still think games like today are

25:30

days when they convince themselves. So

25:32

my image, my analogy of Liverpool

25:34

today is looking in

25:36

the bathroom and saying, we can

25:39

be champions, no you can be

25:41

a champion, no you are a

25:43

champion. I just feel like it's

25:45

still not quite champion-ish football

25:47

yet, but they're in there with a show. Listen,

25:53

I love so much about the rebuild in midfield.

25:56

I think we know they've got spectacular players, some of the goals

25:58

today Rob, particularly in the Liverpool and the tactics. We

26:00

just broke down a few of these strikes we saw

26:02

this weekend and some of the strikes in this game

26:04

were absolutely incredible I just

26:06

yeah, you know For me

26:08

three goals against you know full of

26:11

scoring three at Anfield. It's still yeah

26:13

That's my that's my kind of concern

26:15

about Liverpool because I believe so much

26:18

in their attacking play So like you

26:20

said that the spirit of Anfield the

26:22

manager that football club and how they

26:24

can get things going I just you

26:27

know, they found a way today, but but but

26:29

they don't yeah I need to go back and they haven't

26:31

been to be fair that defensive records pretty good. They're a

26:33

second the league table You

26:35

know, they got the joint best defensive record

26:37

So, you know, maybe I'm going

26:39

way too early here, but I just worry that

26:42

they're gonna yeah They're gonna concede many a few

26:44

too many goals to be right there at the

26:46

very end But I shouldn't really say that because

26:48

again the record right now for 14 they

26:50

can see the goal again Yeah, team goes can

26:52

see sometimes your eyes tell you different than stats

26:54

Rob Don't they sometimes you see things or you

26:57

see moments where things have nothing you go That's

26:59

not good. You know people getting

27:01

looks at goal people getting in behind

27:04

and things So listen, you tell

27:06

it as you see if the stats are great

27:08

the numbers good I don't think you can pop

27:10

sitting at home going defensively. We're exactly where I

27:12

want to be and Is

27:17

better and And

27:19

that's gonna be important and these goals in the

27:21

team look and you know as we see today

27:23

these goals from different places This is gonna be

27:26

important but I still for me They're still a

27:28

bit of they need convincing and they need to

27:30

convince me more now to net that they're gonna

27:32

be They can go all the

27:34

way and challenge fit But it's Arsenal

27:37

or City at the top of the table Yeah When

27:39

these games go on and this is it with

27:41

total transparency here when all these games

27:43

gone at the same time You know, we

27:45

have a main game to look at in the studio,

27:48

which is that was the man city first game at

27:50

this time We're looking up at other screens in our

27:52

studio looking at the goals and breaking down stuff And

27:54

then there's other goal goes in and this is just

27:56

penalty. It's hard to get a real detailed. Look at

27:58

them You don't really get yeah Yeah,

28:00

so I'm not going to break

28:02

down this game because I didn't get a close look at it

28:05

and of course every weekend where we do get a close look

28:07

and we can have a deep dive into them. All

28:09

I know is some of those goals and

28:11

Trent Alexander-Arnold talked about a clutch player.

28:14

I mean that's twice now where he

28:16

stepped up and he's a super talented

28:19

footballer. Played a lot of the times when

28:21

I did look up he was in the middle of the

28:23

park in Central Midfield making things up in there but what

28:25

a game, what a game of drama for them. They're

28:28

still, they're missing attacking players

28:30

etc but they still punch

28:32

well under Marco Silva but

28:35

what a comeback and what a feel good factor

28:37

for Liverpool given that situation where they come back

28:39

and win 4-3 so very very good

28:41

stuff. Was that his first

28:43

Liverpool goal, Alexis McAllister or Premier League goal?

28:46

I think it was his first. Yeah, Alexis McAllister, yeah. Yeah, which

28:48

is somewhat a little bit surprising and I know he's playing in

28:50

a deeper role but what a strike. Half-body

28:52

run 30 yards out, absolutely magnificent. Wow. Wow.

28:56

What a player, what a player is. Three

28:58

kicks from Trent and the late one with

29:00

the drama. Endo's

29:02

got, probably has underappreciated. Endo's got

29:04

a lovely slap and I thought

29:06

Trent was supposed to be, I

29:08

mean if he is underappreciated he

29:11

shouldn't be because he's almost redefining

29:13

the modern role of a full

29:15

back and playing

29:17

right on top of his game now and

29:19

all that talk about where England really going

29:21

to be good enough for England. England should

29:23

be making sure Trent Alexander's a part of

29:25

things going forward to the Euros that we

29:27

saw Drew earlier this

29:30

week. But yeah, great win

29:32

for Liverpool. Again

29:34

Anfield in the Cup playing well, three points, I

29:36

think that gets them into second spot aren't they

29:38

now just behind Arsenal and more

29:41

to come I would say. I still think there's

29:43

more to come from Liverpool which is this slightly

29:45

frightening thing for the rest of the league. Rob,

29:49

if you don't mind. Okay my friend, let's move it to, yeah.

29:51

Move it on, let's move it on to

29:53

Newcastle. I mean of all the games this

29:55

weekend. Absolutely. I've enjoyed this one. I

29:58

know it's not a ton of goals. I enjoyed it. I

30:00

enjoyed it. I enjoyed the energy

30:02

of Newcastle United, Rob, with the

30:05

same team again to the Champions

30:07

League and PSG and then, you

30:09

know, no subs. I

30:12

mean, my thought was, can they still

30:14

get the energy? But the fans, the

30:16

supporters and James Park pushed this team

30:18

forward. We saw, Rob, two

30:21

teams that are very close

30:23

in terms of the Premier League

30:25

points, etc. But talk

30:27

about two teams with

30:30

a different spirit, mentality,

30:32

togetherness, direction, leadership, team

30:35

ethic. I mean, night and

30:37

day difference. Now, we know United, Manchester United,

30:39

that is, both Uniteds. Manchester United have got

30:42

star individuals that have got them out of

30:44

trouble before. But how

30:46

about Newcastle United, Rob, in terms

30:48

of a team that has unbelievable

30:50

work ethic togetherness, grinding, tough,

30:53

durable, talented. I thought

30:56

it was a brilliant game of football.

30:58

Newcastle absolutely deserve winners at 1-0. The

31:01

scoreline, Manchester United a little bit. What

31:05

a good game, Rob, and what a good

31:07

team this Newcastle United team is. I

31:11

think you hit it on the head.

31:13

I've just put two teams heading in

31:15

different directions with different guys in charge.

31:18

Eddie Howe

31:20

hasn't got as good a play

31:22

as probably Manchester United, some of

31:25

the individuals. I mean, let's just

31:27

take Marcus Rashford and

31:30

Antony Gordon, two

31:33

wide players who both play for England.

31:36

Well, one's trying to get a

31:38

game for England and one's playing

31:40

for England. Let's just look at

31:42

what they do, their body language,

31:44

what they give to their club,

31:46

what they do in terms of

31:48

their defending, responsibility, their attacking prowess,

31:50

their productivity. I mean, it couldn't

31:53

be a bigger contrast in two

31:55

players, Rob, who absolutely sum up

31:57

the difference between Manchester United. I

32:00

watched Ten Hog and listened to the

32:02

interview and a few of

32:05

the players and these rumours again,

32:07

it's almost like Manchester United are

32:10

happy now to play the underdog. Ooh,

32:12

with Manchester United, we've got all these

32:14

players out. There's always a reason why

32:16

Manchester United aren't playing well, aren't doing

32:19

well, aren't controlling games. It's

32:22

like they've become, all of a sudden, I

32:25

don't know, a promoted team in the league

32:27

and they're underdogs. Just

32:29

when United are playing Newcastle, there

32:31

were times when Newcastle, however

32:34

good they were, were

32:37

to live with a great United

32:39

team, this Eddie Howe team gave

32:41

them an absolute lesson in team

32:44

spirit and character mate. Forget all the

32:46

other bits, forget the football

32:48

and what you do and what you don't

32:50

do, the stats and numbers. Just a

32:52

team who wanted to do what they've done

32:54

after it, as hard a week as United

32:57

have had, as many players out as United

32:59

have, but want to do something for the

33:01

team, for the manager and for the set

33:03

of fans. The

33:06

contrast was an embarrassment to

33:08

Manchester United. Rob,

33:13

where are we? By the way,

33:15

we swing from one to another and

33:17

we swing from, oh my goodness, you

33:19

know, mind United, this, that and the other, and they come back

33:21

and I think I said the last game, that's

33:24

better. They're starting to climb out of

33:26

a hole now. Three-nil V

33:28

Everton. Yeah, really comfortable versus Everton.

33:32

The Champions League game for the most

33:34

part was better, Galatasaray away, the goalkeeper

33:36

chucks a couple of goals in, but

33:38

it was generally decent and then they

33:40

go away in a tough environment, difficult

33:42

place to go, not a ton of

33:44

rest, same for both teams, although all

33:46

fairness, Manchester United I think had a

33:48

day's less rest and they got a little bit of travel. And

33:52

their analogy is a really good one, Rob, with Anthony

33:54

Gordon and Marcus

33:56

Rashid. Now what we did focus

33:58

on this year today, Rob, was... was you know

34:00

you see the clips afterwards

34:02

of Rashford coming off and Marcial coming off

34:04

and Tenhar they're looking you know cheesed off

34:06

with the manager as they come off. And

34:13

now I'm not torn but there's

34:15

two sides to this. The

34:17

first side of it is Marcial

34:20

and Marcus Rashford. How

34:22

about stop being a sulky and fed

34:24

up because you're out of the game

34:26

and whatever isn't right for you in

34:28

this team or in this manager it's

34:30

affecting you. How about you give something

34:32

back. One of the most important lessons

34:34

I learned in football from a very

34:36

early age is that players are there

34:38

to please the manager. The manager is

34:40

not there to please the players. The

34:42

managers, the players are there and that

34:44

was my number one goal. Every

34:47

single day I go in training and play on

34:49

a match is to please my manager. Now sometimes

34:52

you know I feel

34:54

he's unfair to me. That

34:56

still continues with me as my prime

34:58

objective. These two players have

35:01

had plenty of opportunities particularly Marcus Rashford still

35:03

in the sign after not playing well. The

35:06

other side of the coin is does

35:08

Eric Tenhar have to do a better job of

35:10

getting the team spirit and getting people on board

35:12

and players not to look like they're fed up

35:15

and that maybe it's just the

35:17

guy to lead us forward. We've had that many times

35:19

at the football club. I am torn

35:21

on it Rob a little bit in terms of

35:23

who's more at fault here. Tenhar for

35:26

not getting the players excited

35:28

about playing for Manchester United or some

35:30

of these players have been there a

35:32

while that look flipping down in the

35:34

dumps, face like a

35:36

smacked ass and do a little bit better for their

35:39

manager. Eventually

35:42

Rob it comes on the manager and you're right.

35:44

Maybe it was different era when you had to

35:46

please the manager or you'd be out the team

35:48

on and you wouldn't get the new contract and

35:51

so you were driven to perform

35:54

for yourself and for

35:56

your future. It's very different now Rob.

36:00

The very fact we are talking about

36:02

Anthony Marchniou, leading the line for Manchester

36:04

United in 2023, where

36:08

we are, tells you everything.

36:10

This guy has not been

36:12

right to this football club for the last

36:14

five years, Rob, and he's still there. Marcus

36:18

Rashford is an interesting

36:20

one, because Anthony

36:23

Gordon, we'll go back to that contrast, but he

36:25

fell out with Eddie Howe at a big tantrum

36:27

when he came off, I think it was all

36:29

on the way of Manet or Brentford. He

36:31

got bought on, he bought off and he had

36:33

a tantrum and there was all talk, he's coming

36:36

through all this big money. Eddie Howe handled that,

36:38

Rob. He managed him and look what we've seen

36:40

now. Absolutely seen it. Eric

36:42

Tenerhaug doesn't seem to me as though

36:44

he's that kind of manager who can

36:48

manipulate those situations, get players back onside.

36:50

We're now at the point with Marcus

36:52

Rashford who signed a four-year, I think,

36:54

somewhere close to £350,000 to £400,000 a

36:56

week, who

37:01

at the moment, Rob, doesn't deserve to start

37:03

on your first 11. Let's get it right.

37:06

Now, my question, maybe if

37:08

I'm back in Rashford is, tell

37:11

me one Manchester United player who's playing well.

37:15

Give me one who's playing somewhere

37:18

near the capacity. Brogdon, Bruno,

37:20

Ed. Bruno is probably at

37:22

a consistency at times. We've had

37:25

a flash at going at you, we've had a flash at

37:27

£42,000. So,

37:30

where's the base

37:33

for success collectively and individually for this group?

37:35

You have to look at the manager for

37:37

that, Rob. All

37:39

the signings he's made, the decent

37:42

players he's inherited, are all

37:44

playing way below where they should be. That is

37:47

my worry for Manchester United. And

37:49

that accountability lies with

37:52

Eric Tenerhaug. I did a bit of

37:54

a stats dive into it.

38:00

three windows he spent more

38:02

than five hundred million dollars and I had

38:04

a big list of the players right yeah

38:06

five hundred million dollars on players right to

38:08

make his own team I think in terms

38:10

of numbers I think it's 11 or 12

38:12

new players that's a

38:14

whole new team and if you go through

38:17

that list Rob, Lissando Martinez, the

38:19

Argentine I'd say is a

38:21

successful signings that injured right now they miss

38:23

him yeah but a very good signing other

38:25

than that by the way Rob other than

38:28

that and there's been flashes from Casimiro, there's

38:30

been flashes from Ericsson, flashes from others but

38:32

so many players that have not haven't done

38:34

anything I'll make it very

38:36

simple right Rob and I can't

38:38

think anything's gonna change my mind on this I'll

38:40

make it very simple if

38:42

at the end of the season Manchester United

38:45

are not in the top four positions or

38:47

actually it might be five because

38:50

there might be another Champions League spot,

38:52

if they don't qualify for the Champions

38:54

League then his time is up it's

38:56

up and I don't know Manchester United

38:59

fans are frustrated oh here we go

39:01

again we changing around and well yeah

39:04

yeah you do change around until you get

39:06

the right guy if it's proven after that

39:08

be almost two years in charge it'll be

39:10

four transfer windows yeah 500 million plus more

39:13

if you can't show development from last year which

39:15

was a step up last

39:17

year and you got back down again and we get

39:19

the production from new signings of what we've got then

39:21

there's got to be another change there's a better there's

39:23

a perfect guy out there somewhere for Man United Rob

39:26

we've seen it with the guy that goes in Aston

39:28

Villa we've seen it the guy that goes in a

39:30

Tottenham Hotspur we see it the guy that goes in

39:32

a Brighton Hobb Albion there are perfect fits in

39:34

football right and if Man United have

39:36

to change another one then so be

39:38

it we've seen it before with different

39:41

clubs particularly Chelsea they keep changing changing

39:43

changing ah here we go winner it's

39:45

okay I don't think

39:48

we're in that phase anymore Rob where we

39:50

stick two or three four years you'll get

39:52

it right listen you have four windows over

39:54

nearly a two-year period and you're going down

39:56

the way particularly a club like Manchester United

39:58

then somebody else has a good go, that

40:00

guy might pop in the door and when he

40:02

pops in the door and the vibe changes and

40:05

the feeling changes, Jim Ratcliffe's going to bring

40:07

a whole new hierarchy, we understand. That's all I

40:09

was just going to say. Obviously

40:11

the most important part. I think that's

40:13

a big point. Yeah. Yeah,

40:16

I think that becomes your big point to the

40:18

argument, is that a new owner coming in or

40:20

part owner with a view of

40:23

how sporting franchisees should run, putting the

40:25

right people in the right places, doesn't

40:28

have any real affinity to 10-Hog. I

40:30

think with Glazers it was a bit of an easy

40:32

option and you know, tick along

40:34

as long as the finances were

40:36

coming in. But

40:39

yeah, I'd agree with you. I

40:41

think with Jim Ratcliffe there could be something

40:44

of a change, man. Rob, let me just

40:46

chuck it back here because I'm going to

40:48

chuck in my weekly underappreciated

40:50

performer and he's from a player

40:54

in this game. You'll be not

40:56

surprised, he's from a Newcastle United player and

40:59

it's one of those again where it's like underappreciated

41:01

slash, watch this guy, Tino

41:04

Livrimento, 21 years of age,

41:08

can play right back, played

41:10

left back in this game. He is a

41:13

talent, Robby Earl. He is an absolute talent

41:15

and he can slot in different spots, again,

41:17

at a great age, real good

41:19

quality on the ball, really good pace,

41:21

was very comfortable in an unusual position.

41:23

Trippie plays where he wants to play

41:25

on the right, Livrimento switches

41:27

over to the left hand side. I think

41:29

this kid is a really, really good player

41:32

and I try and throw these guys forward.

41:34

Maybe some of our viewers and listeners will know

41:37

all about him and appreciate what he does, maybe

41:39

others not so much, but watch him. Very,

41:41

very good young player. He's had his injury

41:44

issues after joining Newcastle United so

41:46

we haven't seen that much of him but

41:48

he's fit now, looks sharp now. He's going

41:50

to be a future very important national team

41:52

player for England, Tino Livrimento. I

41:55

just think he's one to watch and he had a very

41:57

good game and let's not, you know. I

42:00

guess he's going to be new to the team a

42:02

little bit. I think he's an outstanding talent, so he

42:04

gets my award for this weekend. It's

42:07

a good shot, really good shot. I saw him playing

42:09

in the league cup, I think, when Newcastle went to

42:13

United Rob. He was excellent that day as well. I

42:15

think he played right back then. I think they gave

42:17

Trippio a bit of a rest, but as you say,

42:19

he can play both sides. He can come from the

42:21

ball. He can run with the ball, he's got good

42:24

delivery, he's got good size, good strength. Just

42:28

what you would sense, Rob, when we're

42:30

talking about transfers, just a

42:32

good bit of business. You're getting from

42:34

Chelsea, you're getting a good age. You

42:37

get a couple of years just to get him back.

42:39

He had a bad injury, didn't he? He just hampered his

42:41

progress a little bit, but he's coming back to full fitness.

42:45

What a great sort of understudy to

42:47

Trippio, continues to keep delivering good

42:49

things. I'm

42:52

all over that one, the bemento, I think,

42:54

is a really good shot. England

42:57

are blessed with plenty of good right backs at

42:59

the moment, mate. You'll make Gareth, doesn't know who

43:02

to pick. I've got so many, yeah. I just

43:05

find on it, Rob, the signings that Newcastle made

43:07

compared to Man United. I mean, I just look

43:09

at the starting line-up. EZAC is a

43:11

great signing, 7-10. It's more

43:13

than that, isn't it? No, 7-10, I think it is.

43:17

You've got Anthony Gordon becoming a key player, Rob.

43:19

He's becoming a very key player for his football

43:21

club. Absolutely. Liv Remento, Trippio, I think it was

43:23

his Eddie Howes first signing, Nick Pope in goal.

43:25

I mean, go on and on and on, Bruno.

43:28

It's all about recruitment. I'm sorry, it's

43:30

all about recruitment, who you bring in. Newcastle

43:32

have got it spot on with good

43:34

people in those higher positions within the

43:37

football club. And

43:39

just fingers crossed for Nick Pope, you did mention him

43:41

wrong. Oh, his shoulder, his shoulder. He might have caught

43:43

his shoulder, didn't they? They're talking about Eddie Howes, and

43:45

today they're going to see the medical people. They're hoping

43:48

he doesn't have to have an operation, but he does

43:50

have to. He's already had one, Rob. He's already won

43:52

on it, yeah. He's already

43:54

just taken it, he's got surgery, and he's going to begin. The

43:57

current's of it, yeah. That's

44:00

going to need a big pin in. So hopefully,

44:02

fingers crossed it's not as bad as first thought,

44:04

but obviously that's going to be a massive blow

44:07

to Newcastle. Losing Nick Pope,

44:09

who's been a big part of that defensive

44:11

line-up that's done him so well in the

44:13

Premier League and in Europe this season. So

44:16

good luck to Nick Pope on that one.

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45:18

right mate, let's move on to the other big,

45:22

very big weekend for Arsenal, a

45:24

home to Wolverhampton-Wunders, a Wolverhampton-Wunders team

45:26

we know. They've played good football

45:28

under Gary O'Neill, can be a danger and have got

45:30

some threats certainly in the top of

45:32

the pitch, each and everyone's been in good form. But

45:36

Arsenal have got the job done, Rob, in a way that

45:38

I think, should I say for

45:40

20, 25 minutes, I think

45:42

we saw some of the football we'd

45:44

all come to love last season with

45:46

Arsenal. Second

45:48

half was a little bit more pragmatic from

45:51

them. I thought they did

45:53

a reasonable job of trying to keep things

45:55

tight and almost felt it was a bit

45:57

of the old Arsenal from last season. and

46:00

then the new Arsenal from this season

46:02

were tough to play and so they

46:04

didn't give too much away. I mean,

46:06

the Zinchenko era really gave Wolves their

46:08

goal. But I

46:11

didn't mind Arsenal not being –

46:13

I used to remember when we played United back

46:16

in the day and some of the good Liverpool

46:18

teams who would play really well for 20, 25

46:21

minutes and blow you away, score two or three

46:23

goals. And then they kind of – I wouldn't

46:25

say Coasts is the wrong word, but they knew

46:27

the game was over. They'd won the game in

46:29

those spells with the York's and the Coley's

46:32

and Beckham's and Skoll's at

46:35

the game. Sometimes before Europe, sometimes after

46:37

Europe. We always used to think we didn't want

46:39

United in any of those games because it always

46:41

felt they got a sense of let's get this

46:43

one out of the way and we can concentrate

46:45

on things. I just thought that was the kind

46:48

of performance we got from Arsenal. Yes, I thought

46:50

football was really good. I thought setting off it

46:52

wasn't as great. But I kind of like an

46:54

Arsenal that doesn't have to play great football that

46:56

can win games. Yeah, I agree with most of

46:58

that. I think the first half was top class.

47:01

Top class Arsenal. That's – you know,

47:03

and then at half-time, Rob, we're very comfortable. I

47:05

think I made the comment that sometimes

47:08

champions or oftentimes champions

47:11

win a lot of games easily. And I

47:13

feel like at Arsenal the last year, they had a

47:15

great season, they came very close, but a lot of

47:17

them were like, heroic last-minute goals. You

47:20

know, God, something's happening here. But

47:23

really, you know, winning games easily

47:25

without any stress or having to

47:27

really flat out

47:30

your performance to get those three points is a good sign.

47:32

So at half-time, at 2-0, it's like, that's good.

47:34

That's really, really good. And I think I said to

47:36

Rebecca in the studio, whatever happens, either go on

47:39

and score more goals or – but at least be

47:41

in total control. So I think where I'm a little

47:43

different to you, Rob, is that I

47:45

still – it should have been comfy. It should

47:47

have been whether they don't go on and score

47:49

more goals. But I agree with your point and

47:51

I get your point. It doesn't have to blow

47:53

everybody away three, four, fives and strain

47:56

everything you do to do that. But be

47:58

in control. And Zinchenko. Rob, great

48:01

footballer, but there's many, many times I feel

48:03

like where he just gets caught doing something,

48:05

tries to force a ball in, he's a

48:07

little bit casual on the ball, did Arsenal

48:10

get a little bit casual? Do

48:14

I want perfection or closer to it? Yeah,

48:16

probably, but it ended up being a bit

48:18

nervy, Rob, and it wasn't hanging on, but

48:20

it's like it was as comfortable as what

48:23

the performance deserved, particularly in the first half

48:25

an hour, some of that lovely, creative, penetrating

48:27

football that was like, oh, that's kind

48:30

of what we enjoyed last year. So

48:33

tons of credit for Arsenal, it is another three

48:35

points, it's just, oh, it was almost a really

48:37

good 90 minutes, Rob, but in a good 90

48:39

minutes it would have been 2-0, but

48:41

no drama, make sure

48:44

you're solid with your playing out, don't

48:46

take any risks, Nchenko, a little casual, and

48:48

it's a lovely finish from Mitesse Cunha, made

48:50

it a little nervy, but we're, you

48:53

know, Arsenal, sneaky, sneaky, like two

48:55

points clear, haven't

48:58

been great all the time, are winning in

49:00

different ways, I think the mentality is stronger,

49:02

Declan Rice adds a mentality, it's as simple

49:04

as that, he adds a toughness that they

49:06

didn't have last year, or maybe less

49:08

of, they had a little bit of that with Grannet Shaka, but

49:11

no, good story for Arsenal, and that

49:13

football, if they can do more of that,

49:15

and they believe that it is in them, then

49:17

they're going to win a lot of games. Yeah,

49:21

I thought it was a good day for Ode-Gourd, Rob, I

49:23

thought he'd look back to the captain who

49:25

can make things happen, Saka

49:27

just is a little diamond

49:30

mate, 22 years

49:32

of age, five goals five

49:34

sets already, reliable, get to his work, you

49:36

talked about Declan Rice, I've got him down

49:38

Rob, he's my half way, and I know

49:40

we're not half way, he's my half way

49:42

player of the season, and I did say

49:45

at the start of the season, he

49:47

might be up there, he's been

49:49

excellent, excellent for them, and

49:51

maybe we slightly disagree in that,

49:53

I know what you mean of total

49:56

control, but I dare

49:58

say when Liverpool won the title, they were they

50:00

were the games that weren't in total control

50:02

but they won the game and they had

50:04

that front foot and their intensity and that

50:06

and I just feel like Arsenal, these are

50:08

belief coming together and there's a different way

50:10

of winning big games that I think they

50:12

didn't have. I think there's maybe

50:14

two or two or three more

50:16

options to them that they didn't have last season. But

50:20

we'll see, great win, gave them a four-point

50:22

gap up until today, obviously that's closed up

50:24

a little bit but in line, if

50:27

City drawing in Liverpool, they've

50:29

got a little gap again mate and they

50:31

sit top of the tree and I'm sure

50:33

they're going to want to see this December

50:35

up now and see if they can get

50:37

to the turn of the year at the

50:39

top of the table. Okay,

50:43

let's move it on to just the results really.

50:45

Rob, let's have a little look down here and

50:47

pick out stuff you want to pick out, not

50:49

in a forest, another

50:51

disappointing result for them Rob and a big

50:53

result for Everton winning one near with a

50:55

Dwight McNeil strike in 67th minute. Steve Cooper

50:58

has done a brilliant job

51:01

at this football club, no question not in a

51:03

forest, a brilliant job over the last few seasons.

51:05

A little bit of pressure now, is there any,

51:08

you think we're nearing a switch

51:10

there Rob, is there going to

51:12

be a switch and also more

51:14

importantly do you think there should

51:16

be a switch? Yeah, no, no

51:19

and no, I'm hoping,

51:22

I'd have to say the more noise I keep

51:24

hearing is slightly worrying Rob because usually that noise

51:26

comes from somewhere and he's usually as close to

51:28

people at the club who have got us at

51:31

times two of what might be thinking, you

51:34

know the ownership group there is very ambitious

51:36

but we've seen Steve Cooper, in

51:38

Steve Cooper I would trust him,

51:41

for his fans, haven't maybe

51:43

gone as swimmingly well as they can but they're,

51:45

where do they sit, they sit 15th in the

51:47

table on 13 points, could

51:50

do with a couple more wins yeah to get them sort

51:52

of mid-table and comfortable but we

51:55

saw what he did last year Rob, we

51:57

saw how he worked with under pressure and

51:59

with so many players I'd

52:01

be amazed

52:04

if Forrest did something pretty

52:07

soon and got Rizzi Cooper so no but

52:11

great win for Everton again

52:13

after all that had gone on and disappointment

52:16

of a three-nal defeat where they didn't

52:18

really get going against Manchester United after

52:20

the 10-point deduction this was more Everton

52:23

putting two fingers up showing who they

52:25

were Sean Dachshund has definitely got things

52:27

turned round if you think of where

52:29

they would be with the 10 points

52:32

that they've lost and in

52:35

this game my friend I'm gonna give

52:37

you my under-prepared play of the week and I'm

52:39

gonna say this must

52:44

be in the hope that you understand that

52:46

I mean if I gave you a picture

52:49

or gave most people a picture of James

52:51

Garner I guess a

52:53

out-of-town wouldn't even know he's a Premier League footballer

52:56

that's kind of how sort

52:58

of under-appreciated or known he

53:00

is but his young player who came

53:02

up from Manchester United was bought for

53:04

50 million pounds so somewhere around 20

53:07

million dollars has been

53:09

one of the most consistent players

53:11

under Sean Dachshund since he's

53:13

been at Everton played can play in a number

53:15

of positions was outstanding I

53:18

thought yesterday and just

53:20

his appreciation his ability his

53:22

tactical IQ he's cleavances item

53:25

numbers Rob like his 63

53:29

touches the ball 13 ball

53:31

recoveries for clearance his 11

53:33

final third passes three

53:36

long passes three dribbles into the box and my

53:38

man of the matter and he's a player Rob

53:40

who if we think

53:42

of Everton we thought maybe the goalie and

53:44

then you know Brant Waite and

53:46

and Tarkovsky as a back to and

53:49

we think of Dukore doing good things

53:51

in Dominic Calvert-Loon and maybe McNeil who

53:53

got the goal and Jack Carrington's coming

53:55

in gives you never really if somebody

53:57

wouldn't use under the radar and under

53:59

the radar Well, I've underappreciated.

54:01

So my underappreciate player

54:04

of the week goes to James Garner. Yeah,

54:06

I really like it. I really like it.

54:09

I tell you, I wanna look at this lineup, Rob,

54:11

in terms of what's different, because I got a better

54:13

vibe feeling about this team from really early on, and

54:15

I know the results weren't great at the beginning, but

54:17

I think you might've mentioned, actually, all the players, Rob.

54:20

Jad Brantaway, I thought, is outstanding again.

54:22

Him and Tarkovsky is a game changer

54:24

for Everton. That's a game changer. Young

54:27

player Brantaway, I think he signed a

54:29

new contract. Big player for the future,

54:31

excellent. James Garner, to your point, and then

54:33

Jack Harrison. They're the three, really, it's in

54:35

the team at the moment. That's different. That

54:37

makes them a better side. So I really

54:39

like your shout, Rob, because James Garner can

54:42

play, right? He can play. He's

54:44

different to, totally different to

54:46

an Onana, Decoré, or a Trisa-Garnaghe.

54:48

He's got a bit more technicality.

54:50

So you put him alongside, and

54:52

it's gonna get the moment, but

54:54

it's gonna be Onana when he

54:56

recovers from his illness, actually. The

54:58

two of them together, with Decoré in

55:00

front, making those runs into the box. I

55:02

really like it. And I think you're absolutely

55:04

spot on. James Garner, 22 years of age,

55:07

big future, gives him something different. And that

55:09

blend, you know, in midfield, there's a little

55:11

bit of this, a little bit of that.

55:14

I think it's a lovely blend in there that keeps possession

55:16

of the football. So I

55:18

like it, I really like it, Rob. James Garner, yeah,

55:20

I think he's been an excellent addition, and it's a

55:23

good shout. And a great three points

55:25

for Everton Football Club. And Sean Dyche is the man,

55:27

the perfect man to have right now, going

55:29

through these difficult moments. I like him a lot,

55:31

played against him back in the day. Brilliant

55:33

bloke. And again, just the ideal

55:36

man to kind of keep things calm for

55:39

these very difficult waters now. Again, now, Rob, there

55:41

are only two points behind Newton. Yeah,

55:44

massive, massive December, isn't it? December,

55:46

with so many points at

55:48

stake, is gonna be massive for all those

55:50

clubs in and around the bottom

55:52

of the three. Yeah, good

55:54

shout. Let's move it to Burnley eventually.

55:56

Was it eight times of asking Burnley,

55:58

get the first? A 5-0 win against

56:01

Sheffield United in a game that

56:03

both teams desperately needed these points.

56:07

But what a tonic for Vincent Kuntny's

56:09

team to put five past Sheffield United.

56:12

Obviously, the ultimate Bernie sending

56:14

off, stupid reaction from the

56:16

centre forward really lets himself,

56:19

his manager, his club down

56:22

and was a bit a turning point in the

56:24

game. But a huge win for

56:26

Burnley, but a bit of pressure on Heckenbottom, Rob,

56:28

now. I know this talk, I was just reading

56:30

in one of the things there, you say, this pressure

56:33

every week and I get used to it, I'll just

56:35

get on with my job. Last

56:37

week it was at Bournemouth, wasn't it? This week

56:39

it gets Burnley. They're not

56:41

going to win games there. Where are Sheffield United

56:43

going to win their games from? Only one win

56:45

all season. Yeah, it's just interesting, Rob, isn't it?

56:49

I would say, listen, we've not had a firing yet

56:51

in the Premier League, it's pretty blooming remarkable really. No,

56:54

crazy, yeah. But they are still only

56:56

four points behind

56:59

Luton. They'd have to overcome

57:01

Everton from Luton. From Luton, yeah. From

57:03

Luton, from safety basically. So they're still in touch. Now,

57:06

I would think that the ownership there, and

57:08

this is just me by the way, and

57:10

you can think on both ways, like, you

57:12

know, it would be

57:14

a time now, right now, to

57:17

make a change, to get that new manager

57:19

to bump, maybe you get a little bit

57:21

of funds in the January window, the manager

57:23

gets a few games to figure out what

57:25

he might need, January's signed a couple of

57:27

players, give yourself a chance. That

57:30

would absolutely make sense for me, and I'm somebody

57:32

that is very patient with

57:34

managers and don't want to see too many changes. I

57:36

think it would make sense. Or, you

57:39

know what, for the changes

57:41

to the team, for the budget that they're working

57:43

with, and that's what Paul Heckenbottom said, Rob, about

57:45

afterwards, like, you know, the budget, the resources that

57:47

we have, we're trying our very, very best, that

57:49

they say, you know what, we like him a

57:51

lot, the manager's not the problem here, it is

57:53

the finances, and trying to find a team capable

57:55

of competing in the Premier League, let's stick with

57:57

him. Let's stick with him throughout. go

58:00

down, you've got to set it before, you

58:02

can do it again and that's a very valid

58:04

reason as well. So there's your

58:06

little choices. I'll be honest with you, I

58:09

would go for the switch and

58:11

try and stay in the division but

58:14

I totally understand anybody else that say you know what,

58:16

let's stick with this guy, we like him, he cares

58:18

about it, he does a good job, he did a

58:20

great job getting us here and on the budget that

58:22

we have in the Premier League, it's going to be

58:24

hard to stay up whoever is his manager with this

58:27

football club. What do you think Robert, which way of

58:29

that would you tend to go? I'm

58:33

similar, I kind of feel as

58:35

though the McBurney thing

58:38

doesn't help and it's not the manager's

58:40

fault but just a lack of control

58:42

and emotion by a centre forward. I

58:44

think when you're playing teams who are

58:46

struggling at home and you don't get

58:49

a result, you lose 5-0 in

58:51

the end, the optics just

58:53

don't look good. When I just

58:55

looked the next four games, Robert, Liverpool,

58:57

at home, Brentford at home, Chelsea away,

58:59

Aston Villa away, am I going into

59:01

those games thinking how many points am

59:03

I going to get from there and then

59:05

all of a sudden we do it January,

59:08

we're in the half way stage in the

59:10

season and we're adrift by

59:12

10-11 points, that's

59:15

a worry. So I'd be

59:17

surprised if he sees this week out, I've got to

59:19

be honest and I hope I'm wrong and I hope

59:21

he's given time to put things right. That's

59:25

a hurtful one I think, if

59:27

I'm part of an only shoot, I'm starting to think

59:29

we need to just see if

59:32

a change gives us a little bit of a bump and

59:34

we can do things a little bit differently. Bournemouth

59:36

2, Aston Villa 2, great game again,

59:39

such good goals in this one, really good goals,

59:41

all of the goals really well taken, I feel

59:43

Bournemouth, Robert really starting to improve

59:45

playing good football again, this is on that

59:48

busy window, games going on all over the

59:50

place, Bournemouth on the front foot against the

59:52

good Villa side many many times, so

59:54

that ended 2-2. West Ham United

59:56

1, Rob Crystal Palace 1 again, it's an odds

59:58

and head wide scores for Palace equalisers after Kudu's

1:00:00

scores for West Ham United and probably of

1:00:03

all the games it was kind of like

1:00:06

a normal kind of game 1-1 not tons of

1:00:08

drama and the last game we have on the

1:00:11

list here Rob is Brentford a good win for

1:00:13

Brentford against Luton Town and struggling to obviously

1:00:15

to win games and to try and get enough points

1:00:18

even though that Luton Town right now are just out

1:00:20

of the relegation zone goals

1:00:22

from Moke, Ben

1:00:24

Mee I have here, Brown, Baptiste

1:00:29

so Baptiste there's all

1:00:31

your games Rob anything else you want to pick out

1:00:33

before we kind of sign out there was there's just

1:00:35

a brilliant weekend of football isn't it? Yeah

1:00:38

in a league that just doesn't do nil nils mate

1:00:40

we had 38 goals in match week 14 and

1:00:42

we've got match week 15 coming up in a

1:00:44

few days so look out for our podcast midweek

1:00:46

when we look back at all the midweek catching

1:00:49

but for now I'm Earl he's Musty together with

1:00:51

the two Robbies thanks for watching and listening be

1:00:53

safe stay healthy it's a good night from me

1:00:56

and it's good night from him good

1:00:58

night good night At

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