Barcelona Fall Short

27:26But I don't recognise some players. And I don't know if we can talk about professionalism. but they don't have the guts that they had before. I mean, the goal they considered, the first goal, Van Dijk, who is named one of the best defenders in the world. I mean, I've been moved, pushed like so easy. I could have done that as a bad defender that I was because I wasn't the best defender in the world. I had all the tools, but not a person like Van Dijk. I don't understand that. What's wrong with him? But what's wrong with Mark Callister? What's wrong with Kroven Berg? I don't even talk about Mo Salah.

28:04He scored a goal today. But you showed the last pass that he should have given to, I forgot who he was, when maybe Zlobo's lie. But that was insane. That was insane, you know. That's so easy. And that guy knows how to do it. And he was late. He was late on giving the pass. And everything was bad. It was slow in the first half. It was a little bit better in the second half. But the spirit, the stamina, nothing. Nothing showed up. And it's not the spirit of Liverpool. Liverpool, and it's why I think Stevie is quite upset about the situation. He knows the spirit of that club. He knows how it works.

28:43And that spirit disappeared in like 10 months. What's your reaction to what Frank's just said, Stevie? Can't disagree with a word. I can't disagree with a word. It really is. Compared to what we were talking about this time last year, it's unrecognisable it's unrecognisable listen there's after you win the title it's always harder the second year it's always harder and very rarely the teams win it twice in a row but to drop off so badly is a complete and utter head scratcher and yes they've made changes and supposedly changes were my goodness we were talking about who's going to challenge this team before the ball was kicked?

29:33Oh my goodness. Now listen to us. We're talking about they might not get in the Champions League spots. So, for me, it depends on Chelsea. If Chelsea continue to do what Liverpool are doing, then we'll have a little race for the fifth spot. That's not the goals of Liverpool Football Club, to have a race for fifth. I think, by now, Stevie has gone through the threshold of being angry and how now it reminds me when my mom used to get angry with me and when she said I'm not angry I'm disappointed yeah I think it might have got to the indifference point yes yes it's like you know it's not it's not even anger anymore because you can only get angry so many times now it's just like well this is who we are this is what this team is and so it really you're wasting your time if you're getting angry about this but it's just continued disappointment continued frustration because this team at no point does it seem like they're going to get consistently better yeah so that's how things are looking for liverpool and we're of course not talking about them in the title race at the moment what did you say i said we're of course not talking about the title race.

30:51No, we're not. We are talking about the title race next. You'll see the method in my madness, Stevie. Extra time's on the way later. These three guys will be answering your questions. I have a rundown in front of me where we're talking about the Premier League title race and table odds, okay? It might not have been my best segue, but it's a segue nonetheless. It got there. We got there in the end. It is between Arsenal and Man City, as we're looking at here. in terms of how things are looking at the top of the table. Here are the predictions for the games that are ahead. Brighton against Arsenal and Man City against Forest.

31:29So we put the two games that these teams will be playing. Okay, I got that. And this is what us guys are looking at. Frank Leboeuf has Arsenal dropping points against Brighton. And that's the only thing that stands out really there, Frank. Tell us more. Well, you know what? According to what I saw two weeks ago, and I think it was against Brentford, I think, and then against Chelsea, why do you want me to see Arsenal winning away from home? that they're not capable of winning at home 11 against 10, drawing against a very good Brentford team. But I think Brighton is capable of doing the same and draw with that team who have shown so many weaknesses, even if they're still the favourites.

32:19You know, I mean, it's easy to give Arsenal a win away from home, but I think you have to face the reality. Arsenal is not the Arsenal that we have seen for the past six months. and City are getting better. And so I really see a race. And according to the race that I want to see, I want to see Arsenal drawing and I want to see Arsenal struggling because they don't deserve right now to win a game in the Premier League, according to what I saw. OK, so these are the games that are coming up tomorrow because there's more Premier League action tomorrow. Also, Newcastle against Manchester United is another of the games as it stands right now.

32:58These are the predictions. Everybody's sitting on a draw right now. It looks as though I've got a bit more faith in Manchester United of late than the rest of the team. But guys, Stevie, why a draw? Well, Newcastle are very unpredictable. You know, they're either out of this world or they're buying average. And the last time I watched them, they were buying average. So they're more than capable of turning up at home in a game against one of the big teams in Manchester United. So that's why I don't think they're going to lose the game. At the same time, you know, Manchester United, although they're on an incredible run, I wasn't totally convinced that I'm in the weekend.

33:47So I'm expecting Newcastle to be way better at home than they've been. And that's why I've gone for the 2-2 draw. Did that hurt a bit, Stevie, the part in which you referred to Manchester United as one of the big teams? Yeah, it's not a good deal. No, it has not. No, it has not. No, it has not. Can I ask a favor, though, that Kay doesn't do like Frank does because you have the only result that has Manchester United winning. Frank made sure in that result that he talked about with Brent for Arsenal he made sure that after the game was over and he knew the result to then send me a message and say I told you so I told you so I'm the only one who can get things right so please Kate don't do that he's a French Don Hodgson he was hating on Arsenal as well saying the drop points I had the right answer because I remember, do you remember the Ali predicting it?

34:51So saying that if I was right, if I were right, I would call everybody. So, you know, just say what Ali predicted. And I have a question for Kay. Kay, you say that Manchester United is going to win against Newcastle? Yes. Newcastle are not doing well at home recently in the Premier League and Manchester United have a massive belief in themselves right now. Sure. And who do you support? Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough? Okay, is it far away from Newcastle? Yes. Far away. A whole league away from them, Frank. I can support whatever I want. A whole league away. I see. Investigative reporting from Frank.

35:36Frank Leboeuf, look at that. All right, next up we've got our predictions between Villa and Chelsea. Three of us have gone for a draw. Alejandro Moreno sees Chelsea winning this one at Villa Park. Well, they're due.

35:51Do I get to call everybody and tell them that I got it right if Chelsea wins? No, no. I will call you to thank you if they do that. There isn't a whole lot of reason to believe in Chelsea right now. I don't feel that great about Aston Villa either. And so I think Chelsea, they become the sort of team that when you don't expect them to do something, somehow they're able to pull it off. And how close they were to pull it off against Arsenal when you were thinking, Chelsea, not right now, I don't think so. I think there is something about this Chelsea team that could just go to Villa Park and get a result.

36:33I'm going to one. Okay. Well, we'll wait to hear from the guys tomorrow on our WhatsApp groups. major to tune in on ESPN FC tomorrow to find out who's right and who's wrong as we look back on more Premier League action Good days from the World Cup and Football Americas have been discussing the World Cup expectations for the US men's national team as we take a look at their schedule if the seeds hold and USA win their group and gets through to the round of 32 they'd face Belgium as the highest ranked side in Group G so we would like to get the panel's expectations from this U.S. men's national team, what they would be seeing as success for Pochettino's men going into this tunnel.

37:16I'll start with you, Ali. So this is assuming that the United States wins the group. This is assuming that. And it's a big assumption when you consider that one of the teams that could potentially go through that UEFA path is Turkey. Now, why am I saying that this is a big assumption? It's because the last time that we saw Turkey play against the United States, it was here in the United States in a friendly, and Turkey housed the United States. They were dominant. They were far better than the United States were. So we have to then assume that the United States are going to take a big leap from that performance, and they have grown so much that now they're going to win the group.

37:53And if they do that, then I think it's realistic to think that the United States should get through the round of 32, should get through the round of 16, and then it's a quarterfinals. And that's when I think, if I'm looking at success for the United States, a quarterfinal appearance at home would be that. We'd check that box. In all honesty, thinking about beyond the quarterfinals would be unrealistic. It would be a bonus. It would be a plus. It would be great. Go USA. I love you so much. Land of the free, home of the brave. Yeah, and that's about it. I just don't see this team built to do something else other than getting to the quarterfinals.

38:37Stevie? I always find it tough in these sort of situations to look too far ahead. And quite honestly, I think right now, success, in my opinion, for the US is to get out of the group. You know, we can talk about, well, Turkey and Paraguay and Australia, and they're going to win the group. but listen, they have to get out of the group. I think four points gets you out of the group. Pretty much everyone's going to get out of the groups if they're a half-decent side, aren't they? Yeah. Listen, if they get to the quarterfinals, they want to get a parade through New York. That's what they need. If they get to the quarterfinals...

39:16Will you be there? No, I'll be sat here. We will have it on the screen.

39:24But the question is, what is success? and a World Cup at home, it's a unique opportunity. And so that's why I'm thinking, if you're going to dream, then dream. And quarterfinals should be something that would be the line of success. Because before that, or anything before the quarterfinals, it's something that they've already achieved in past World Cups. So that's why I'm saying, hey, success has to be something that improves upon what you've done before. Pochettino was brought in to do something that he hasn't done before, that this team hasn't been able to achieve before. And they've gone to a quarter-finals before in 2002 with Bruce Arena and our very own Casey Keller, who didn't play, but he was there.

40:13Look, all I'm saying is success has to be improvement from what you were before, and if that's the case, I think quarter-finals is what should define the success for this national team. Frank's always got wild predictions. Frank, what's your prediction for the U.S. men's national team if the chips are to go their way? You know what? I want to be optimistic, and I'm going to use my own experience and what we've gone through with the national team in 98, where before the World Cup, nobody was very optimistic about us, and to be questionable was the right maybe a way of thinking and way of analyzing our team.

40:54And us, too, we were wondering, you know, where we could go. And we only thought about going out of the group stages. And as Stevie said, and you play one game after one game, and you never know, you build something, and maybe, and Ali was eluding it, with the pressure, the pressure, the good pressure, the positive pressure of the fans, the media and everything, you go game after game. So I'm not saying that United States has the same strength that we had with the national team that maybe we didn't know. But you never know, especially when you play at home, what can happen. And I want to believe that the fans will bring some craziness and maybe United States can go further.

41:40But yes, I agree with the guys. Qualifying will be kind of an achievement with what we are seeing right now with the national team. All right. There will be more talk on this because it's already dropped. It's streaming now on ESPN Plus Football America. It's talking about this very topic. Make sure to join the crew. There he is. He's already had a name check today. Casey Keller. 100 days from the World Cup. Football America is available now on ESPN Plus. All right. Look at Jeff Carlyle. Jeff Carlyle. All right. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify.

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44:47Gemma Soler was at the camp now for us tonight. She's been doing plenty of post-match interviews. Gemma, tell us who you caught up with after the game and what the overall feeling is about what we saw tonight. Hey, Kay. I think it's the first time I'm in a semi-final where, of course, a team goes to the final and the other not. But it's like overall, all of them are happy because, of course, Barcelona players are frustrated. We had the chance to talk to Joan Garcia and Rafinha and they had that frustration. But at the end, if they had to fall from this final, it had to be this way. They fight until the very last second.

45:26The atmosphere here was amazing. They just needed that extra goal. But they had to overcome so many adversities. The injuries before the match, during the match, Araujo playing as a striker. So everything happened to the team. And also Rafinha, one of the captains, one of the veterans, one of the leaders of this team, he said to me that this is a very important lesson, that he thinks it would be very important for La Liga and for the Champions League because they realised today that playing like this, they can overcome any challenge. And I think it's a very important game. Pedri was absolutely fantastic.

46:00La Minha Mal, despite not scoring today, was amazing. Marc Bernal, a star is born, if it wasn't already at the Camp Nou, reminding us so much of Sergio Busquets, but being able to score four goals in four games for this midfielder. So it was a very nice night, despite the defeat, we can say, like this overall, because the public stayed after the final whistle, and the players say thank you to them, and it was the other way around. And for Atletico, I got the chance to talk to Diego Pablo Simeone, and the conclusion is that they managed to make it to the final, comparing the two games. In the two games, they managed to be better.

46:42The light has gone off because I'm talking too much. So they are happy because it was the third semifinal. It was the third semifinal in a row for Atlético de Madrid. Eventually, they make it to the final. And let's remember the last final of the Codepa del Rey 13 years ago at the Bernabeu. They managed to win it there. So they won another final. Yes, against Real Madrid back then. True professional. True professional. So I'm just working right through. I'm glad, though, because we want to ask you, Gemma, the feelings being here in the studio, because of those injuries for Barcelona, obviously there's going to be some tired legs as well.

47:16That game against Athletic at the weekend could be dangerous for them. Yes, because if there's something you need at San Mames, that is physicality. And the last minute I was looking at La Minha Mal, Pedri was touching the bicep for Morris, everything. So I was checking them. Marc Bernal was absolutely TSO. I don't know how to say it in English, Ale. That would be hamstring. Hamstring. Okay. So after the final whistle, they just could lay in the turf and they were absolutely destroyed. I don't know if Pedri will be able to play that game because it demands so much of physicality. The good thing on the other side is that Real Madrid made them a favor yesterday.

48:01and they also got a very complicated game, Arbeloa's squad, against Celta Vigo, so maybe Hansi Flick, because they also have Newcastle, so maybe there will be some rotations, even though it's going to be very demanding winning against Atletic Club. Yes, absolutely. Well, thanks so much for all your work tonight, Gemma, with and without the lights behind you. We look forward to seeing much more of you. Of course, in the light, as always. Atletic Club against Barcelona, coming up on Saturday, 3 p.m. Eastern from San Mames. our coverage will begin at 2 on ESPN+.

48:35And the best of February is coming up now on ESPN FC. Frank, you didn't get to talk much in the show. That's a first. And then turned off his eyes. That was without a trampoline. I'm scared of heights as well. I got a bit fluttery there. I have something to say. Frank, you have a hair problem. You know, at the back, you know, you have a little hair problem. A bald guy is telling you you have a hair problem. How come the two people that talk about my hair the most, Right. Frank LaBeouf and Stuart Robb. Oh, oh, well, that's Rowan Woodstock. I used to have the parting on the other side. I used to be able to give the old quip over.

49:16Frank, how are you? We haven't spoken to you. I've ignored you a bit today. Oh, that's all right. Don't worry. I don't expect anything from you anyway. They sent the email from the producer. Yeah, the email said, don't go to Frank. Ignore Frank. No Frank. Oh, that's okay. The guy's his first one, you know, he's mourning right now, so he's okay. Start, bench, or drop. French fries, French bread, French toast. I go fries. Without mentioning the brand, there's five gentlemen that do really good fries. Yes, yes. There's five of them. Yeah, five of them. I'm four and I say four. It's five of them. Five of them.

49:47Those are the winning fries. Have you ever ice skated? Yes. You can go from A to B. Yes. I do have a tendency. Once I decide I get a bit confident, unfortunately I've scheduled some families over. I'm youngsters. When he's younger, no teeth. This man's going right on. I don't take the teeth out when I'm ice cream. Who's the funniest person in the ESPN FC crew? I would say Stevie, but he doesn't know that himself. You're right, all right. You're right. But I'm wrong, you're right. I'm going to go with Dan. Dan is very sarcastic and he's a funny English guy. Poor Florian, he's got a bar cake. Leave him alone.

50:25Oh, he's got a little bar cake. Get that over. Where did that come from? Ali, you're not far away from the top of the top, you know? You crack me up. I wish my lovely wife would feel the same way. I wish that Jennifer Anderson would feel that, but that's another. Mary, have you got a little bit of glitter on your face? What's that? I heard, baby, you were at Carnival. What? No, no, no, no. Look, look, look, my friend. Man, you understand. Look, there is one thing when you're playing you cannot do. But when you're retired, you can do a lot more things. So, learning how to dance a little bit of samba.

51:00Mario, you never answer the question. Were you or were you not at Carnaval? Of course I had to do a little bit of samba. It's no problem. I know you will like it. Okay. Love to see you at Carnaval. No, that's not me. Yeah, and February was a short month as well. So there'll be plenty more laughs coming off on ESPN FC as there always is. Thank you so much for being with us for the latest edition. Funny guy over here. Funny guy over here. It's not quite funny today. No. Things are not that funny at all. No. And guess who's up next for Liverpool in the FA Cup? Wolves. Stick around, Extra Time's on the way.

51:37Frank's joining us to answer your question along with these two. See you there.

51:43Hello and welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. Stevie and Ali are here in the studio. Frank the Buff is joining us as well. What I've noticed, Katie, is that you're much nicer to Frank than Dan is. Oh, it goes without a saying. Unnecessarily so, Dan goes after Frank for no reason whatsoever. Frank is such a lovely guy. He's a great guy. Now and again, he likes to remind me of something that happened in the 90s that is very unnecessary to bring up, but other than that, we'll let him go. Yes. That's not true. I didn't do that today. You didn't do it today. I just noticed that you... No, I didn't do it today.

52:22I just compared the result with what the three of us said, you know. And I was feeling that there was a little bit something of bitterness, as we call it, you know, towards Newcastle. Because you support Middlesbrough, which is only fair. Yeah. That's okay. It's okay. I'm not bitter. Well, kind of.

52:45I'm not bitter. Okay, first question. Oh boy, how many swear words did Stevie say that the Wolves scored their second goal? I saw his reaction. I know you, may I just say, because obviously you don't have our perspective, Stevie. So as the game was going on and we were on air doing other things, Stevie's behind the cameras. And I'm having a conversation with you about Barcelona and all I'm seeing behind cameras is And he can't say anything because we're on live TV. But I didn't even need to see the screen to know that Liverpool had done something awful. I didn't know what to do because I was dying to say something.

53:30It's like a Charlie Chaplin movie. Honestly. And I couldn't go anywhere because there's not a lot of room behind there. So I was like, I didn't know what to do.

53:39I'm raging. Yeah, so he was muted pretty much because we were live on air. So we've probably saved him from saying a number of words he would have used. There were plenty being said before. Oh, yes. No, it was good. It was actually good for me. I couldn't say anything. Right. Therapeutic. Yeah. Oh, yes. I thought about that. Stevie, Liverpool played their worst half of football for the 11th time this season. It's impossible to win when you're throwing away 45 minutes every game. Are we really still giving Slot more time? Yes. Honestly, absolutely he deserves to be starting next season. You know, I'm sure he's got things wrong.

54:30He's certainly, in his press conferences, unlike last year, he's said some things that you're kind of questioning. But you have to look at the players individually. I mean if we were to go through the whole team and the squad, never mind it, the squad and pick out players that have actually had a positive season, we'd be struggling. That can't all be on the manager, can't be. And so I think a lot of the problem is down to the players. You know, Anislaut's not on the field making passes. You know, Anislaut's not on the field, passing the ball, when you've got ten yards of space, you're passing it to the opposition.

55:14But it's almost, it's almost, it's almost harder to pass it to the opposition, but they somehow still manage to do it. And they've been doing it all season. So I don't think you can put all this on Anislaut. Yes, listen, when you're the coach and your team's not winning and it's doing poorly, You absolutely deserve to be under scrutiny and you deserve to take some blame. But there are way too many players who are way below where they should be performing. You can blame it all on him. Can we speak to the professionalism of Stevie Nichol? This whole show, while we have been doing this show, behind the cameras there is a big TV screen that all they've been doing is play time and time and time again, I mean on repeat, the Wolves goal.

56:00over and over and the celebration over and over again. The seven of them lying on a pile on top of each other with a big smile on their face. And yet, Stevie, here he is answering the top question. And he's still being nice to me when I reminded him it was only their third win of the Premier League season, Wolves, and it came against Liverpool. You're lucky he went in front of me going down the stairs. Go on, Frank. Yes, I want to talk to Stevie and maybe ask him what he thinks about that. Last year Liverpool played very well the first six months and I really think it's because you know what happened with Klopp before in the years that the players they worked under Klopp and they were still carrying that spirit and that pressure that Klopp put inside the dressing room.

56:50Even if he was working as a father, as a friend sometimes, I think he worked very hard to make sure that everybody was spot on every game. And that worked for the six months after he left. And then we started to see what was lacking in the dressing room. And Arnaud Slott wasn't capable of reprocessing in a way. And it's why maybe I really think that there is a real question for Arnaz Slat. I think that guy is not capable, yes they made some changes, but he's not capable of reprocessing or redoing what Klopp was capable of doing years after years. I don't disagree with that. I think every manager goes about it in a slightly different way.

57:39and clearly, Arnest Lodge's personality is completely the opposite to Jurgen Klopp. So, I think at the end of the day, Frank, that's just another thing to throw in the mix of what's going wrong. I 100 % agree that that's part of the problem, but I think there are probably four or five other things and you put them all together and that's why we're seeing what we're seeing. But I wouldn't disagree with your point, Frank. I think there's no question that... Okay. You know, being on... It's tough to explain to people outside the professional side of the game that... Well, that's got me the best of parts.

58:23Pressure is a good thing. I'm struggling to get... Pick up a penguin. But there's... You need pressure to perform at the highest level. You actually need the pressure. You laugh at that.

58:42Sorry. Oh no.

58:47Are you alright there? I am alright. You have a right to break down, Stevie, because they're still showing the goals of the rules. No, so you do, to perform at the highest level, you do need a certain amount of pressure. If it goes below that or it goes too high, then that can cause problems. Right. But there's no question that the pressure that... There's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of questions for TV tonight as well. It's a pressured environment. It's very pressurised. But clearly, clock got the right amount of pressure. OK. Why won't Sloth throw the dice and give Rio and Gamora a start?

59:25Gakpo has been horrendous all season and Rio has shown bright sparks in the few minutes he's played. I would disagree with that. So why won't he throw the dice and start him? Do you think it's because of the situation they're finding themselves in at the moment? He doesn't want to put that pressure on the young player. It's because of that pressure. That could be the only reason. I've got to get this to the rest of your show. That could be the only reason. Because there's no other reason. Generally, when you've got competition for places and one guy who's got the spot isn't doing well and hasn't been doing well for a period of time, then you can make the change.

1:00:07So the only reason he hasn't given Inge Moore more of a chance is because he maybe thinks that putting him in a side that's struggling isn't going to help him. Because there can't be any other reason. What do the guys make of Arna Slott's comments saying the Premier League is bad to watch? Do you guys agree? So he said, I don't enjoy watching a lot of Premier League matches. There are too many set pieces and that kills the fun. I think about Barca from 10 to 15 years ago. Every Sunday night we couldn't wait to watch them play. Ale? Well, but he would... Go ahead, go ahead, Frank, go ahead. Yeah, sorry, he wasn't the only one.

1:00:45I think yesterday Rudrulit said exactly the same, that he said he doesn't even want to watch. After that he saw that he watched Arsenal playing at Chelsea and that he wasn't interested about watching any football anymore, and especially the Premier League, because it's only corner kicks and set pieces. In France, we call it the corner league right now. I don't know if it's the same in England, but it's true that it's getting boring. Last season, the level has dropped, and it's a confirmation of that level that we are watching. We can work out with the Premier League. So something has to be done, something has to change.

1:01:27And I'm not enjoying most of the games as well. Still passionate about it, but it's getting boring a little bit. That's true. Yeah, I think I find myself anyway, I cannot speak for anybody else. I find myself when the quote unquote big games are coming up in the Premier League and you get excited about the potential matchups and how important those matches could be for a title race, and I'll give you the example of Arsenal-Chelsea, you sit there and you begin to watch the game with an expectation of a certain level of play. And this particular game that I just mentioned, Arsenal-Chelsea from this past weekend, it was hard work to watch.

1:02:14And I don't begrudge Arsenal for depending on set pieces. If they do it very well, then so be it. You take advantage of it. But where I do have an issue is that when that becomes the angular piece of your attack, that you depend on that heavily, that it's not just an asset that you can use, but that becomes the thing that separates you from the rest. And because they have done it so very well, then other teams are now placing even more focus on it, both defensively and offensively, and it then becomes this corner league, as Frank is mentioning. But just even before we get to the corner kick, I'm not – again, I don't begrudge set pieces, but before we get to the corner kick, the level of play in between the two 18-yard boxes, it hasn't been all that great consistently.

1:03:09And too many of the teams that we consider to be high quality in the Premier League, say, for example, Liverpool, are underperforming. At times this year, Manchester City has been incredibly boring to watch. They have improved some, but incredibly boring to watch. And so whenever we see a one-time sort of like pass combination between Manchester United, which they have done over the last month or so, you go, hey, look at one-time passing, movement of the ball, movement beyond the ball, running behind, look, it's a diagonal ball. And those are things that should happen regularly, and they don't.

1:03:45And so I would say that there's been a downswing in the level of play, which then makes it heavily dependent upon set pieces. And of course it makes the game hard to watch. All right. Stevie, who's performing worse compared to pre-season expectations, Liverpool or Spurs? Oi, good lord. That seems silly, but that is a tough one. Well, that's to be Liverpool. I mean, we expected Liverpool to be winning the league. Yeah. And Spurs finished 15th or 17th last year. One of the two, right? And so we expected Spurs to be better, but nobody had them anywhere close to... Champions League or European places.

1:04:45Whereas Liverpool, it was, oh, favourites for Champions League, favourites for Premier League. So yeah, it'd have to be Liverpool, because we knew sports were capable of struggling. We, not one of us said Liverpool were going to struggle, at all. At the end stage. You agree with that, Frank? Yeah, 100%. Yeah, 100%. Nothing to add. Liverpool is not the Liverpool we have seen, and we have seen Spurs being bad. So that's why, for me, the answer is Liverpool. It's a missed opportunity by Frank. It's not just 100%. It's 100 % the same. That's you. Well, you know, but see, I'm willing to share, Frank.

1:05:27Artistic license. Which player do you see exiting Madrid first, Mbappe, Vinny or Jude?

1:05:40Well, if it's among those three, I'm going to say probably Vinny. I mean, he's already been in conversations, allegedly, reportedly. And his contract situation is one that continues to be part of the conversation. Mbappe just got there, and they seem to be very dependent upon him. And the conversation is all around Kylian Mbappe. and Jude Bellingham, I think he gives his team a different profile when he's on the field and so I don't think he would be leaving just yet. I think the opinion on Vinny is divided right now among Real Madrid fans. Let's not forget, there was one point in this season where he was being booed and that point may return, but he was being booed by his own fans regularly.

1:06:29Not a one-time thing, but regularly. So, yeah, if I were to point the finger one direction, it would be Vinicius Jr. in terms of him leaving before the other two do. Can I say something sorry about that, Ali? I agree with you 100%. There he is. There he is. Nice work. So, Stevie was watching Liverpool, obviously, at the same time that the Barcelona game was on. But this is a substitution question. Stevie, did Flick make a mistake by subbing off both Firmin and Ferran Torres and replacing them with only one attacker in Rashford. Arauco who came on wouldn't have had to play striker had one of them still been on the field.

1:07:17Well the question is when you make a substitution and you're deciding who's coming off

1:07:27You're figuring out who's done what and who's going to do anything. And has the fair meaning Torres do enough? Well, this is what I would say. Are they doing enough to stay on? Well, what I would say, Steve, is that I think it makes sense to have this Twitter handle because it's upon review football. And upon review, it's easy to then have this question and pose this question to Hansi Flick. but what you're not accounting for when you're Hansi Flick is that Alejandro Valdez is going to get injured. When you had just brought him for the injured Jules Koundé. You're not anticipating that that's going to happen and then that throws everything into a spin as to what is it that you're supposed to do and how do you make up for now a left back that is no longer there.

1:08:13And so, yes, in retrospect, you would have wanted to have had more options coming off the bench in terms of the attacking talent, but you were making substitutions based upon the team that was available to you prior to injuries. It's difficult to account for injuries that are about to happen, especially a guy that came off the bench for another injured guy. You know, the fact that you're putting a role up front tells you the situation of the game demands. You know, it's nice to knock the ball around, play football, create chances, but when you've only got a certain amount of time left eventually you have to put the ball forward early and if you're putting the ball forward early I think I would rather have a Rojo up there fighting for it and then you try and win the second ball so yeah I think it's 100 % 100 % situational and I have no problem with what it is yes it is Francis Morey was laughing while he was saying it but you really delivered you brought it You got to pull the head back.

1:09:19No, no, you were good. I have a one second delay when you speak. It's why I'm a little bit late. We thought it was you, Frank. Last question. How does Kay feel that Rob Edwards has made Wolves the giant killers in recent weeks? Oh, well, that's a touchy subject. Because, look, Kay is a very nice lady. Very nice lady. She behaves very well. Much nicer than Dan Thomas, for sure. Much nicer than Dan Thomas. But as soon as that man came on the TV, she changed. Yep. She changed, and it was scary. Yeah. Am I making this up, Kay? I wasn't... What? She changed. She wasn't nice anymore. It's okay, though, because sometimes...

1:10:11Was she swearing or what? Sometimes good things fall apart, so something better can fall into place and that's just what's happened at Middlesbrough. You wouldn't have thought that would be what you were carrying on with it. What you were saying to the screen was not nearly as nice. It's one of them who pulled off this face. And then that one could feel. And she just said at the beginning of the Estrada Times that she wasn't bitter. Yeah, she was the ball. How many places are wolves above Middlesbrough in the pyramid? I don't know. You tell me. I'm sure you know. Two.

1:10:50He's still involved. I hope he's enjoying his time. I hope he's enjoying his third win of the season. She started singing Taylor Swift karma to this guy while he was on the screen. We prefer you being happy than him being happy. Okay, well, we're very happy now. Welcome to hell, we call it. We've got a great new manager. Middlesbrough got a win against Birmingham City. The second, they're in the automatic spots, and we'll take it. Thank you very much. A little lost. Karma. Thank you for what you did at the beginning of the season, Rob Edwards. We'll leave it at that, shall we? Yes. Good riddance.

1:11:26ESPNMC, available daily on ESPN+. Congratulations to Wolves for their third win of the season. Oh, I already.

1:11:37It's a season two playoff race with TGL, presented by SoFi. Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern, Jupiter Lynx versus Boston Common Golf. Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern, Los Angeles Golf Club versus New York Golf Club. Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern, the Bay Golf Club versus Jupiter Lynx. Keep up, it's golf. Watch on ESPN, ESPN2, and the ESPN app.