Arsenal Looking Over their Shoulder?

26:19Inter conceded five goals in the Champions League final against PSG, but it could have been 10. There's a narration according to which Italian players could play for Manchester City. Who? Italian players have not been signed across Europe for 15 years, which means they are not considered up to the task. Slight fact check there in that Donnarumma is the starting goalkeeper for Manchester City. And that's a big and important position. Right. It's an Italian player. But I think we get the message, though. And I think the big picture is that and it's something that we have discussed in the show many times is that for for those of us that can remember the 90s and the 80s, I know people nowadays think of the 80s and the 90s as, wow, a completely whole other universe.

27:10But yeah, there were the 80s and there were the 90s. And Italy and Italian football in particular was the top of the top, the best of the best. If you were among the best players in the world, that's where you wanted to go and play. And so to then see this contrast and this fall from grace, that it has been happening over time. We've seen it happening. We see how the trajectory of other leagues is going in a different direction. And Serie A haven't been able to keep up, haven't been able to keep up with infrastructure, haven't been able to keep up in terms of how they present their product, haven't been able to keep up in terms of how they develop their own players, how they nurture the Italian player.

27:54In all honesty, if you are to pick out an Italian player out there in the world that say, that guy, if we're putting an All-11 from all over the world, is there an Italian player in that team? Where there used to be two, three, four, it's not the case now. And I'm not even talking about, okay, I'm not even leaving this to the elite teams and the best players. I think there is a very clear drop-off as to what Italian football used to be and what they are now. And they have been the last ones to recognize it. I think in some regards because of their own arrogance in believing, oh, we're on top of the world.

28:35Nothing's happening. We don't want to see the truth. We don't want to see the truth around us. And the house is burning down. It's like, no, it's not on fire. It's all right. We're good. We're good. We got this. The rest of the world has taken off. Italy has stayed at a level in which now they're taking a step back. And now it's too far to catch up. And that's why we see the things that we see with the national team. That's why we see the things that we see with the club teams. And that's why Paolo Di Canio comes out and says what he says. because he's seen the house on fire. Frank? Yeah, I cannot more agree with Ali than everything he said.

29:13And that's crazy because I played against Italian teams and I played with Italian players and I saw them. And the Italian league, the culture was amazing where on top of, as Ali said, you had fantastic Italian players. Everybody was going there. Jürgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus, all the Dutch, Rijkaard, Van Basten, Gullit, and all the French, De Sailly, Zidane, Deschamps, Trezeguet, Turam, Bogossian. That was insane. This league was insanely the best in the world. And suddenly, after the 90s, in 2000, 2001, it dropped like crazy. Everybody left to Spain or England, like Zola, Viali, Di Matteo, for example, Italian players, but also Zidane, Deschamps going to Spain, so many others doing that.

30:07And the drop-off was crazy that nowadays, for me, it's only the fifth league in the world or in Europe. And it goes beyond the Ligue 1 for me. Because in the Ligue 1, you have players, French players that everybody in the world still want. I don't see, I can't name any Italian players where you say, ooh, that guy should go to Liverpool, Manchester United, City, Chelsea, or Real Madrid and Barcelona. I don't see anybody but Donnarumma. That's it. Calafiore at Arsenal? Excuse me. Yes, Calafiore. Okay, but, well, you know what? Still Calafiore is still to prove me that he's still the top of the top.

30:53Like we had Maldini. Come on, you want to compare? Okay, so that's what I'm saying. I'm still not convinced with the players that I see. And look at the national team. Look at the result of the national team. It says a lot. That wasn't even a debate before. It never happened. Italy was a threat to any national team. You knew that against Italy, you had a problem. You don't have a problem anymore. So they have to look at themselves and correct the way they are thinking the football because they drop like crazy. Jan, let me come to you because in Inter's defence, of the teams that we're seeing here, they're probably the most likely to turn things around with the attack that they've got because Bodo Glimt has been a hellish ground for a number of big teams already.

31:43We've seen that. Yeah, but I will take a myth. First of all, this is Boruglion to went to Dortmund and played 2-2. This is the Boruglion to went to Atletico Madrid and won the game. So this AstroTurf cold, snow-ish kind of excuses, forget it. Because they have deserved won this. And I was listening to Jürgen Klinsmann, let's put it this way. The former Inter player and our colleague on ESPN, I got a message from him last night. He understood the nightmare quite early when he saw what was going on. And Boreglimt, I think it's interesting what you both have said now because performances is a consequence of something.

32:28Boreglimt, if you see there, if you start with them, this is no coincidence. Conference League, Europa League, Champions League, slowly building themselves up. And big nations, sometimes they get rich and fat. and they just give up. They don't develop. And if you see Italian football at the moment, they haven't developed in terms of stadiums, on academy, of coaching. I mean, not only was Franco saying the best players played in Italy, but you always had the best coaches. The development of the coaches, you remember Saki was way beyond everybody else. And you had Capello, you had so many great coaches coming through it.

33:09And now it feels like the football train has left the station and Italy didn't know which time it went. They were just left on the perron. They were just standing there. And when we went to Norway, that was in our qualification group. When we went down there and beat them 4-1, and I was sitting before the game, I knew Donnarumma was in goal, but I saw the rest of the team and I was thinking, who is playing for Italy now? I mean, back in the days, those were the best players. Andy Canio has a point, although I think that Donnarumma will be a candidate for any all-star team because he's a great goalkeeper.

33:47But who is there now? What's the next big thing from Italy? They always had big talents. Where are they? And to Jan's point, it's a World Cup year, right? And one of the things that we do during the World Cup is we collect the stickers, right, for the World Cup and the photo album of the World Cup teams. In World Cups from years past, let's go back 20 years, you would know every single player that was going to be in that Italian national team that was part of that photo album that you were collecting. You knew who they were. You knew where they played. You knew their trajectory. You knew what they had won because that's how important and relevant they were in the landscape of world football.

34:32You cannot do the same with this Italian national team, assuming that they make it to the World Cup, assuming that they make it to the World Cup, which that in itself tells you where we are, that this is part of the conversation. We're no longer saying, well, for certain they're going to be in. No, let's see if they get through the qualification process, because Norway, when I say Norway kicked the backside of Italy. It was a whooping over two games. Well, you don't think that you carry that with you if you're in Italy, and a team with that sort of history, you don't think you carry the failures from the past into the qualification playoff?

35:13You do. The pressure is on you. And so we assume that they're going to be in it, and that still doesn't change the fact that those players, you have Donnarumma here, maybe this guy over there. I'm supposed to get excited about Pio Esposito. So maybe I'll get excited about that guy sometime if he plays regularly, but he doesn't. Who am I going to get excited about? Chiesa, he doesn't play regularly in Liverpool. You brought Calafiore. He doesn't play regularly at Arsenal. Who am I getting excited about? Sandro Tinali. Okay, all right. Who am I getting excited about? Ramazote. He's a singer. He's a singer.

35:45Yes, yes. He's a singer. Frank. One thing that I want to say about Jan's comment about the football train, I have to tell you that I took the fast train in Italy. is much better than a fast train in France. So that's something wrong. You know, you cannot compare. We do have to bring up the financial pressure, though, don't we? Because they face more financial pressure now, which has come up. So the export of Italian talent has happened more. I looked back to see, in terms of transfers, Serie A teams have not been able to spend 75 million plus euros for a player since 2022 when Juve signed Vlaovic from within the league.

36:22So then you're losing talent like Victor Ossiman. to teams that can pay a lot more money. Yeah, but this goes along with something that Jan mentioned earlier, and Frank has alluded to it, and I mentioned it as well. It's not just about the players and the talent level within Serie A and the academy products and how you nurture and grow Italian players. It's not just about that. It's how you are presenting your product. It's the quality of the stadiums. It's everything that now is part of running a football team at the elite level. It's the suites in the stadium. It's how you present your team, how you actually sell your team at a corporate level.

36:59These are things that you now have to do in order to have the revenue to be able to keep these players. But if you watch Serie A, and we watch it, the way it is presented, it seems like the rest of the world is on high definition, 4K, ultra, something or other. And these guys are still stuck in the 1990s, in the 1980s. That's true. And so it's difficult to create an argument for Serie A unless they're willing to modernize and that they get rid of the red tape, because there's a lot of red tape in Italian politics within those stadiums, within those cities. They have to get rid of that in order to be able to modernize and be able to compete.

37:43Right now, they're not competing. And it's a very good point, because I think there's a lot of things we discussed in football this week that is also a society problem. and it's a part of the building a nation, building the infrastructure of a nation. And look at what Germany has managed to do when they had the World Cup. Now they will get it again. They will renovate their stadium. If you go to any club, I mean, the club I know best in Germany is, of course, my Eintracht Frankfurt. Eintracht Frankfurt is run fantastically. There is B2B project. They have the big sponsors. When I was there last time, They just made a 10-year deal with Deutsche Bank.

38:23I mean, that's the companies that want to associate with the football club. And in Italy, this has been going on for years. Because in the 80s and the 90s and into the new century, they were able still with their money to kind of get them in there. But if you saw now, there was this Deloitte list of the most valuable clubs in the world. And then you have your likes of Sunderland there. You have West Ham. You have all these clubs, but the Italians, they're getting longer and longer down on the list because there is no infrastructure. Look at the stadium. I mean, Juventus has got a great stadium.

39:00They've got a stage, they've got a platform they can present football on. But if you want to compare with the Premier League, you have to compare with the stadiums, the infrastructure, the way you commercialise football. And that hasn't happened in England and in Italy. And this is the consequence. How do we say das reboot, Jan, in Italian? That's what they need, right? Das, exactly. Yeah, okay. Good conversation, guys. Thanks so much. The guys will be joining us on Extra Time to answer your questions. Go check that out over on our YouTube channel. Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it.

39:41And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way? You hand everything off and then silence. days pass weeks pass you start wondering should I send another follow-up email it feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere but now taxes are different because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full-service expert with into a TurboTax you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app and while your expert checks for every deduction you'll see real-time updates on your phone so you always know exactly where things stand Suddenly, you're not refreshing your inbox.

40:19You're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message. Because your TurboTax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. Only available with TurboTax full-service experts. I like things my way. my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC.

40:57It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space, on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. Osasuna against Real Madrid followed by Atleti against Espanyol. It's a double header of La Liga action on Saturday. I'm here for it and I think you are too Alejandro. I sure am. You know it and you love it. Brilliant stuff. And Pete, our producer, will be with us too. If you knew him you'd love him, trust me. Barcelona against Levante coming up on Sunday 10.15am Eastern.

41:39Our coverage will begin at 9.45am Eastern. And yeah, I think we're back for this one too. Yes, we are. Yes, we are. And Pete, too. So it's the whole team are back together. Bundesliga action this weekend. Bayern Munich up against Jan Seintracht Frankfurt. I'm in for the Bayern Munich game. Are you? I am not. Oh, I see. Are you in for FC as well? No, I am not. I am not. So there we go. It balances out in the end, Ali. Leipzig against Borussia Dortmund also coming up on Saturday. I'll tell you where we're both heading off to though. Los Angeles for the Classica's watch party at Tom's Watch Bar. We will be there.

42:21So too will Patrick Avomiela and Jurgen Klinsmann. It is going to be a lot of fun. We are live with all the build up to the Classica and of course the live game from Tom's Watch Bar. And what's a QR code for? People got to scan that? Scan that. You can come. You can join us. You can say hello or hello or whatever you want to say to us. Hola. How come we're not in the picture? I know. How come we're not in the picture? I'm the same. Got to do something about that. Let's sort that one out. We're definitely going to be there, though. Bright clothes, all the rest of it. You bringing it, Ali? Oh, I'm bringing it.

42:53All right. We're matching today, by the way. We are matching today. Look at us. Wearing bright coral at the watch party, so get ready. Okay. Okay. Stick around. Extra Time's on the way, and Jan and Frank will be joining us, too, to answer your questions. Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. Ale, Jan and Frank are here to answer your questions. Is this a watch party? Is this a watch discussion? It's a watch party. I like that headline, watch party, that's good. That's what we're going to do, we're going to watch and we're going to party. Watch, yeah, watch party, I love it. Jan, we'd love to have had you there, but no doubt you're off following Merling Haaland wherever he is.

43:32Yeah, Herling and Martin. The good thing about me is that I will get a Norwegian title winner in England, so that I'm happy. Ask the Villa, they can't harm us, can they? Look at that. You know, he's on a high. Jan is on a high with Norway. Norway's on a high right now. I don't know if it's going to get any better than this, but no way, they're on a high. All right. OK, there's quite a serious one for the first one. Boys, should FIFA or UEFA rule against players covering their mouth in any way, shape or form when the ball is out of play and rule an immediate yellow card for said behaviour? So there have been some reports that they're looking into some type of banner on this on covering your mouth if it comes to abuse but obviously then you're looking at how can you prove that that's the case that's this is what we're looking at right now so what do you guys think of this that's not it that's not even that nowadays players when they talk they all talk like that so ian la we have to do so it's it's a it's a it's already a lost a lost situation a little situation where players they do that they can insult anybody doing that.

44:37So you're going to, and they all talk like that because they don't want the media to see what they're talking about. So either they do that or they do that. They can insult anybody. So it's not going to work. It's useless. Well, well, a lot of channels have lip readers. So you will understand that they will do. Hello, how are you? But sometimes it looks a bit stupid. But this is, of course, a consequence of what happening this week, which was a very serious stuff. And I think everybody who's loved football, we were very, very sad because all of us has been in a dressing room and the dressing was always a platform for respect, platform for everything, religion, nationality, skin color and all those kind of things.

45:18So this is a consequence, but I don't think this rule will solve the main problem that they're going to do yellow card for this one. I'm not sure about that. The main problem is addressing education and ignorance as it pertains to racism. that still reigns in some places around the world and for some players around the world that still feel it's okay to do it and utilize it. That's the part that should be addressed. This right here, we could be saying, hey, are you going to watch Party with us or not? I mean, that, it's... How do you... How do you... But Al, Al, I would just want to say, it's quite interesting to discuss this because sometimes racism is a problem in the society.

46:04And for us who love football, and again, start with that dressing room. I love football, that we respect each other no matter what, you know? And that's why it's so sad it's happening there. But when you see the governing bodies, when they want to do something against it, you always get a feeling that they kind of try to do everything that's not working. Try to do something that is working. Education is one thing of it, yes. when you've seen in different games, when the crowds are going ballistic in racial behavior, empty the stadium, do something, you know? But then they're ending up with, this is, oh, this is the one, okay, okay.

46:43Noted, noted. This, the hand over your mouth, it's going to be impossible to legislate. And it's going to be impossible to somehow punish a player when you don't really know what he's actually saying. It's just not going to happen. And they're only doing this, to Frank's and Jan's point, they're only doing this because, well, he, Prestiani happened to be covering his mouth. And so, well, that's the thing that we're going to have to address. I think it goes beyond that. The problem is much bigger than just covering your mouth. Exactly. Hallelujah. OK, guys, which transfer this summer do you think was the smartest move?

47:23You know what I would say? What would Jan say? What would Jan say? Florian Wirtz. In the long term... You care us. You care us.

47:38No comment. I don't want to say anything. I don't want to say anything. Jan, I think you might say Granit Xhaka. Yeah, Xhaka in terms of the influence on the short term. Yeah. Okay, sorry. Sorry, Frank. Go ahead. All right. I will just end my Florian Wirtz thing. No, I won't stay late. I think that was a great argument, Frank. No, no, I will give that to you, Frank. Mine is Florent Witts because I think in the long term, he will be a very, very influential player for Liverpool. Please, Frank. Yeah, sorry, Frank. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, that was my choice because it took me like 45 minutes to decide who I'm going to pick.

48:22So I thought about Ike Tike. but well yeah I think he does well but the way that Liverpool plays doesn't suit me but when I saw Granit Xhaka going to Sunderland I really wonder why he was going there because after what he did for Arsenal then Leverkusen I said oh maybe that's not good the guy has been a leader the skipper of that team and Sunderland has surprised everybody and it's why I picked because he showed to the world that he's a real talented player. Good pick, good pick. I'm going to throw out a name that I don't know if it's smartest move or not. I'm not looking in the long term. I'm looking right now, and what my eyes are seeing is Luis Diaz and how much of a difference he has made at Bayern Munich.

49:11Yeah, well done. It's a player that some may have considered to be a risk. Not really. And what he brings to Bayern Munich is so different than everybody else in that team, especially when Jamal Musiala was injured. Jamal Musiala can do certain things that go off script because of the individual talent. But when he wasn't available, you look at Luis Diaz, and he is a tactical nightmare to defend against because you don't know where he's going to appear. You don't know what he's about to do because there are no trends to his game. And you know why there are no trends to his game? Because he doesn't know what he's about to do.

49:47He's chaotic in the way that he plays, and in doing that, he creates chaos defensively and creates a whole lot of movement for Bayern Munich. And it's not only movement, it's also productivity. I'll take Luis Diaz. Nice. Good stuff, guys. Kay, sorry, I didn't have the last answer. So you picked the same name, Ian, with Granit Xhaka? No, Florevitz. Florevitz. Florevitz. Oh, Florevitz. Okay. I think long-term. I think long-term. Notable mentions, Ubi Mendy, Juan Garcia, a few possible options there. We could only mention one. I don't know, and I don't want to mention Franks again. No, please. He was very emotional about it.

50:28That's mine! It's mine! I've been thinking for 45 minutes. 45 minutes! 45 minutes to find somebody. Come on, yeah. For Jan, when Haaland lifts another Premier League title, will you be more overjoyed for him or sad for Odegaard? Hashtag Bottlers FC. Wow. I will be very happy for Haaland and very sad for Martin Odegaard. That sounds a bit double agent to me. Well done. What a good answer. No, but I am a bad in terms of these two because I would love to see them both do that. I must admit that Erling has won the league, so I would love to see the captain of Arsenal, the Norwegian lift the trophy.

51:14I would love to see Martin do that, but I would be happy for both of them. As a Norwegian, as Al is saying, for us Norwegians, we are 5 million people and at the moment, no one is snowing and we have the Winter Olympics and Bordecai and you feel that we run the world. So I must apologise for that. I'm being a bit high at the moment. Yeah, it's a good moment for the Norwegians. If Liverpool had a wish list for the most natural replacement for Salah in the summer, who would be topping that list? Michael Elise, Yandiamande or any other names that come to mind? You said yes, Frank. Yeah, well, come on, Michael Elise.

51:57He has proven since he left Crystal Palace that he's a world-class player and no issues whatsoever to settle down in the Bundesliga and Bayern with the pressure that you can have in that club and his finesse, his consistency made him one of the best players in this position. So yeah, that would be for me a clear choice if I was a Liverpool board. The problem is he won't get him. I mean, you can dream. Now is my old... Is this the time when I say... We say it's a wish list. It's a wish list. This is always the time at exit time that I say that I want Jennifer Anderson. This is my moment. Well, that took a turn.

52:44That's my wish list. But so they won't get all this there. Mrs. Fjortov, we love you. Yeah, she's in the mountain skiing. So that's why I can say it. She might just stay there. No, she knows. She knows. She knows about Jennifer.

53:06Oh, my God. So what you're saying is sometimes you can only hope and only dream and wish. Don't the Americans understand that some Norwegians would like to... No, I don't say anything. But they won't get Alisa. They won't get Alisa. Yeah, and I don't think you're going to get Jennifer Aniston, either. Wait, wait, what? I think there's a bigger chance. There's a bigger chance that I will get Jennifer and Liverpool will get Alisa. Well, what about Dembélé? What about Dembélé? What about Rachel? Wow. Right? Should I just ask the next question? You're up on the news though. Is Jennifer Aniston available?

53:45I don't know. I mean, I thought you were. I see. She's got a clause in her contract. Okay. Because Alisa is not available, so... Just saying. Yeah, but I don't see Jennifer on the right side. 100 million euros. 100 million euros. Okay, moving on. For the Bundesliga brothers of Jan and Ale. Never heard them called that before, but I like it. That's a good, that's a good one. I can live with that. Are Dortmund going under the radar this year? They've only lost one game in the Bundesliga. They're six points off the top and they're doing well in the Champions League. Could they have an underdog's chance of winning one of these competitions, like in the 22-23 and the 23-24 season?

54:30Please, Dortmund, can you please win in Leipzig now so we'll have a proper Klassiker where you really have a chance? You know I'm a big fan of Niko Kovac and sometimes we like to put in a draw that he will say that he's this and that, he's just discipline and he's just good in defence. But he's done a fantastic job at Dortmund. And you know they have this terrible habit of winning football games. That must be one of the best habits you can have as a football coach by the way. So hopefully there's going to be a tough weekend now because as you were saying in the program, they're playing Frankfurt at home, Bayern.

55:07There will be favourites there and Dortmund will have a tricky game in Leipzig. Can you imagine that we could have a title race in Germany? That would be fantastic. And Dortmund would be surprised if indeed they go to their Klassiker with a chance to actually tie the top of the league. And let's not forget that their classiker is at home for Borussia Dortmund. So you can make an argument. This is what I would say about Dortmund and Niko Kovac, in particular Niko Kovac. What you see from Borussia Dortmund lately, I would say over the last couple of months, is something that we haven't always seen from this team.

55:46And there I say, toughness. I'm seeing a team that has some toughness about them, that has some strength about them, that has some personality and a clear identity. It doesn't mean that they're going to go on and win all the matches that they need to win. But at the very least, you can watch this team and say, this is what they want to do. This is how they're going to do it. And they're mentally tough enough to do it. The problem is that they've given themselves too much work because in the earlier part of the season, they wasted too many points and too many unnecessary draws. and they allowed Bayern Munich to feel like they were running away with it.

56:24Bayern Munich has dropped a couple of points here and there and that allowed Dortmund to kind of get in the picture. But if they're going to be fully in the picture, like Jan just mentioned, they have to do something against Leipzig, win that match and then put some pressure on Bayern Munich. And they're going to be at home. We're going to be in LA for it, though. Watch party. Watch party. The classic has watched party. Still, we're not there. Where's our picture? We will be there with Ovo and Klinsmann, but we're not on the... We're not cool enough. We're not cool enough. No, no, no. I've heard if you put your telephone to the QR code, it's a picture of you two.

57:00I've heard that now. It's just breaking news. Thanks, Jan. Hope so. We will be there. Trust me. OK, Ale, what are your season predictions for the MLS for MLS? Well, when in doubt, an oldie but a goodie. You always have to go forever and ever with Inter Miami. For the foreseeable future, still Inter Miami, still Lionel Messi. There are other storylines in MLS this season. We have to imagine that LAFC will be part of the conversation. The Vancouver Whitecaps, who were a young team last year, Thomas Muller, of course, with the Vancouver Whitecaps. That experience of going into the finals is that an experience that they now can take into this season and make yet another run and replicate the performance from last year.

57:49You have to imagine that the LA Galaxy would be much better this season than what they were last season. They had a horrendous season. And I feel as if though the LA Galaxy is one of the important brands in Major League Soccer. So it's important for the league, for the Galaxy to be competitive. My Columbus crew, they'll be part of the conversation as well. And shout out to Bundesliga and German players. Timo Werner is now with the San Jose Earthquakes. I don't know that people realize that Timo Werner is not even 30 years old yet. He turns 30 in March. And there he is, or here he is with the San Jose Earthquakes.

58:22We'll see what kind of signing he turns out to be. But if Timo Werner shows up and is interested and is engaged and is confident, he should be a player that should be making a difference in Major League Soccer. Interesting times. Who's the funniest person in the ESPN FC crew? Wow. Can I say today that I had a meeting with the head of communication of the Norwegian Football Association and she used to work with Stevie at New England. That was fantastic. That was fantastic. It was so good. She spoke so highly of him. But she was wondering when he went going into media, how could people understand him?

59:05because she was struggling and she was doing the communication there, but she spoke so highly of Stevie and she said he was so good on TV. So I hoped he was on tonight so that I could say hello from her. But I would say Stevie, but he doesn't know that himself. Yeah, dear Frank. I'm going to go with Dan because Dan is very sarcastic and he's a funny English guy, you know. And I love him for that. I hate him sometimes for that, but I mostly love him for that. Yeah, they can both make you laugh out loud, but in different ways, as you guys are saying. One of them is very cheeky, and one of them doesn't even realize that he's going to make you laugh out loud on a daily basis.

59:49And that's the genius of Stevie, that he doesn't even know why he's being funny, and yet he is. There is no better laugh in our show than Shaka's. That is true. True. And nobody makes you feel funnier than Xhaka when Xhaka is next to you on the show. You can say what could potentially be considered a joke and Xhaka feels like or makes you feel like it's the best joke that has ever been told. So I would suggest that it's great to work alongside Xhaka. Good point. It's actually great to work alongside everyone. Go on, Frank. Ali, you're not far away from the top of the top, you know. You crack me up.

1:00:31at some point, you know, you're a funny guy. Thank you. I wish my lovely wife would feel the same way, Frank. I wish that... That's not all of my business. I'm sorry about that. You know, for Lent... I wish that Jennifer Anderson would feel that. Thank you, Alex. That's another... Oh, my God. Just a sort of behind-the-scenes look into my family. You know, for Lent, you're supposed to give up something, right? And so I was considering giving up meat or giving up this or giving up that. And she goes, instead of giving up, why don't you add something to your life? And I said, what is that, babe? Patience.

1:01:10I'm like, somehow. So now apparently that's what I'm. Okay. I'll keep you in check and report back. Is this a time when we talk about our marriage? Frank, you start, please. I have patience is also my issue and my wife asked me a lot about patience. That's true. I know this program is called Extra Time, but we don't have time for all the issues. No, let's not talk about Jan's marriage issue. We best not. Jennifer is creating a wet, it's creating a separation in this marriage. No, it's more Rachel, I must admit, it's more Rachel. It's more Rachel. But it's the haircut, is it? Yeah. Jan? Yeah, it's everything.

1:02:01I mean, he made friends. No one told you life was going to be this way. No. Exactly. Guys, you are all great to work with, but nobody cracks me up like Stevie Nichol. You all make me laugh. A lot, I have to say. Brilliant. But that's one of the strengths of this programme. A friend of mine, I talked to a friend just when I came on, and he said, what kind of program do you do and that laugh and that we are able to be very serious but still have a crack of a joke and uh english humor uh tough humor uh a bit bullying a bit friendly bullying that's what i love with this show so that is the answer to that yeah it's just those nights out where it goes and another level off okay but we won't talk about that i wouldn't know about that okay i don't know what you're talking about.

1:02:49We all agree. We all agree that we are funny. Jan, can you stop with the Norway tweets, please? Oh, I love that. I know people hate that. For those who don't know that, I mean, we have 16 gold by the Winter Olympics, and I always write the same, just I change the numbers and the number of gold medals. And I know people feel that is a bit, yeah. You know what, Jan? What you can't see there is they did actually put a smiley emoji when they put it onto Twitter. No, no, no. I know that I love it. And I know we are Vikings. We are used to that. A thousand years ago, the whole world belonged to us. So this isn't...

1:03:34We didn't know about this. Exactly, Frank. When we had Normandy, by the way, that was Norway. Yes. That's why. I'm a Viking, too, because I'm from Normandy. So I'm part of the family. We are relatives! Exactly! Keep on bragging my friend. If they're relatives, where does the hair DNA go then? You don't want to know. Ali, Ali, we don't want to talk about it. It's too early.

1:04:07Somehow the strand of hair went in Jan's direction. Yeah. But it is fantastic. You come from Normandy. When you tell me, you told me before, but I wasn't aware of that now when I came into that sentence. But those are the toughest Norwegian Vikings. Those were the forefathers to William the Conquer who went to England. So that is also the Norwegians that belong also to us in the Normandies. Thank you. Exactly. Thank you for our history lesson. I'll tell you what I can guarantee you. No Vikings in Venezuela. So, oh!

1:04:43Jan, have you been to the biking centre in York, in England? Oh, absolutely. With my granddad, we were going from Middlesbrough down and so it's fantastic. So, I won't start telling what the Vikings did thousands of years ago. Yeah, I don't think we should go there either. No, we shouldn't go there. Okay, Jan, what has been more impressive, Norway in the Olympics or Bodo Glimt? Bodo Glimt. Because you are kind of in cross country, we have a guy called Johannes Klabo, who is one in five and there is one race yet and he is fantastic, he is unbelievable. But to have a team living next door to Santa Claus, have an AstroTurf, two months since they played the last competitive game in the league.

1:05:37One and a half months before our league starts, a small club with the stand behind one of the goals at our apartments, beating Inter. I mean, they were in the final last season and we beat Manchester City. You saw I went into Wither and we beat Atletico Madrid away. So I have to say Bordeaux-Glip. So I have to imagine, and I've just come to this conclusion now, that Johannes Klabel was the same guy that was wearing the fish outfit that was running after Jan. Had to have been. Had to have been. Could we, um... Could there be, if there was an Olympics race in running away from a fish, they would...

1:06:24I would have lost it. Jan would not make the podium, no. He would not. But to be honest, I was just trying to stall a bit of time just in case we had it accidentally to press play on. It's never not funny, let's be honest. No. It's always brilliant. Okay, yes. Jan and the fish. All right, guys. Thank you so much for sending in your questions. Nice ones today. We will be back tomorrow on Extra Time to do it all over again. Bye-bye. Bye.

1:07:02From 30 for 30 podcasts.

1:07:12Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he's ripping. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.