Caliente Clásico

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0:34Hello and welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FC. Kay Marie and Craig Burley here in the studio. A little later on, Shaka Hislop will be joining us as we look ahead to the weekend. And that's just what we'll be doing here as well because El Clasico is coming up on Sunday. The countdown to kickoff is on and there's been drama before a ball has even been kicked. These are the Spanish sports dailies today. Le Mines Clasico says Mundo Deportivo. As for sports, it says Lamin heats up the classic owl. What's this in reference to? It's in reference to something he's been talking about on a YouTube channel.

1:09On Madrid, he said they always get the calls, they always complain. Let's welcome in our team in Madrid now, Alex Kirkland, Mario Suarez and Luis Garcia. I suppose I should start, Alex, by asking you where this came from because it is a comparison and there is some context to it. Hello, Kay. Yeah, it's worth giving some context because this isn't just Laminya Mal hitting out at Real Madrid. This is Laminya Mal appearing on a YouTube show promoting the Kings League, which is Gerard Piquet's alternative football league. Laminya Mal is now involved in that league. He has a team. It's a 20-minute interview in which they cover kind of all kinds of subjects.

1:46The tone is lighthearted. He gets lots of things thrown at him. It's quite a kind of informal setting. And one of the questions during that interview is someone saying, it makes kind of a throwaway comment, is this rival team, which is presided over by a very popular streamer here in Spain, are they like Real Madrid? Are they kind of the Kings League version of Real Madrid? And in that context, Luminium says, yeah, you know, they rob and they complain and things like that. But it's one throwaway line, which, like I say, isn't even directly talking about Real Madrid. Nonetheless, of course, in the context of just a day or two before the Clasico, it's the kind of thing that's going to make headlines.

2:23What do you think about this, guys? Luis, do you have any problem with Lamin saying something like this, a time like this? No, I think, yeah, of course, the time is not the best one. I think that right now Lamin Yama is under the microscope. Everything that he does, everything that he's going to mention is going to look and explode in different ways. People will have... I'm not trying to save him for what he says. I wouldn't do that. I think he's young. He's going to make mistakes. He's going to make comments that people are not going to enjoy. He will come for a time that he understands and he will mature at some point.

3:01He's still a young kid. He's a new generation that is going to the Kings League. Nothing like that will happen in our time. He will be focused on playing at the Bernabeu or at the Camp Nou, focusing on what you have to do but this is a new generation and digital they are digital creators content creators they are exposed every single day because they are public figures and exposure is very big so they are gonna be a lot of moments where these young players get involved in situations where probably they wouldn't expect that what it creates around them so for me it's okay I understand it's young I understand I'm not supporting these kind comments i think that they kind of make or generate something around them um but again it's john and he will understand that it's better to talk about football it's better to play football is better to be focusing on your job more than than be exposed in different situations because it's been a lot of time happening these these kind of things mario is it like a generation i was going to say like in your day this kind of format this kind of setting didn't even really exist in which you would say something in, like I say, in such a kind of informal, relaxed, offhand environment?

4:15Well, what can I say after this comment from this legend? So, but it's true. As to John, it's still for me, I think I'm 20 years older than Lamine. But it's all about the context. It was in the Kings League. I will never say that, but you know, these new times, he has a lot of confidence in himself. He was playing like a game with this content creator, with Ibai, very famous here. They were playing like a game and well, the problem here is what is going to do on the pitch, what is going to happen on Sunday, what is he going to be able to do. And let's see if he's going to perform well because in the last matches, because of the injury he has and the pain he's having, he's not performing the way we were used to see Lamine Jamal so he has the chance now to on Sunday to say look I said this on Kingsley and now I'm gonna prove you that I was saying the truth.

5:11One thing's for sure Kate I mean there's no possible way that any more spotlight can be on Lamine Jamal than was already going to be the case because we're talking about right now one of the absolute best players in the world in the biggest fixture in the world as well. Absolutely what do you think of those comments? I was 20 years older than Lamine Jamal I need to get my start counting my fingers to see how much older I am, I don't even want to tell you how much older I am than Luminium Al but I agree with the guys, it's a flippant comment, he's a youngster he's pretty much had a very good time against Real Madrid particularly last season when they won all four games, he played great but I think when you get burnt in big games, you learn to not give the opposition anything I remember playing in Celtic Rangers games and you did not want to give your opposition anything to get them up and you learn that as you go along and you learn that in defeat sometimes to think, okay, I've got to let my football do the talking.

6:07He has done that and I think here, you know, it's probably just a throwaway comment, but you know what the media is like these days. Newspapers well, newspapers have always been like it but the social media picks up the newspapers run with headlines and they will run it as far as they can to take the context of what he said as far as they can to build a story and sometimes that can annoy other teams but I think there are bigger fish to fry for Real Madrid than worrying about what Lamin-Yamal is saying. The biggest worry for them is actually trying to stop Lamin-Yamal on the field. Yes, obviously and then Barcelona will be having to cope with Madrid's superstar in this Clasico as well.

6:44That is of course Kylian Mbappe already heading into his fifth Clasico and just his first season at Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe faced Barcelona four times in all competitions and lost all four however he did have five goals in the last three of them but you'll probably remember the first of them it was a year ago it was at the Santiago Bernabeu and he was offside eight times in that game obviously things have changed since then he's been absolutely brilliant this season and it seemed like he was off eight times in the first half but it probably wasn't correct but they left so much space for him to run into he was just I think too anxious and he was making those runs too early if you look at his numbers for last year his numbers are actually pretty good for a first season the performances were not always there but the numbers were decent this year, thus far and at the end of last year we saw both we're seeing the numbers from the goals we're seeing the performances we're seeing a better work rate we're seeing a player who I think felt the pressure of going to Real Madrid which is understandable even for somebody you could argue who's the best in the world but now he's got his chest puffed out.

7:54When Vinicius Junior is floundering, when Rorigo's out the side as he is, when Jude Bellingham's having the operation, he's not quite fit, when Mastantwano's finding his feet, when all these things are happening, he has stood up for Xabi Alonso. He has said, I'm the man, I will get the job done. Make sure you play me in the right position. Make sure you get the service to me. He looks super sharp. He's making great runs. He's dribbling with the ball. his finishing is excellent, he's everything Real Madrid would hoped he would be, it's taken him a bit of time, unfortunately some of those around him are not quite performing and that's an issue for Xabi Alonso to find the balance and there's some problems at the other end of the field with the defence and the injuries, but in terms of Kylian Mbappe, he has puffed his chest out and said, if you get the right players around me, I will deliver for this football club and his form at the start of the season has been absolutely brilliant.

8:51It's great to see. Not if you're a Barcelona fan and not if you're a Barcelona defender, but from a neutral point of view, it's just great to see how he's playing. Yeah, our boys with us in Spain today, Alex, Mario and Luis. Alex, this is Kylian Mbappe's Madrid team now. Yeah, and to answer Craig's question, Kay, it was six times that Mbappe was caught offside in the first half alone in that first Glasgow last season at the Bernabeu and eight overall. But it's also worth emphasising, as you did, Kay, in the intro there, that, yes, he didn't score in that opening Clásico. He then scored in the three subsequent Clásicos, including a hat-trick in the last one.

9:25Now, those goals weren't enough to get Madrid a win, of course, but it did seem like he was starting to figure things out, and there's no doubt that he's been in career-best form so far this season. And, Luis, if Madrid are going to win this Clásico, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Mbappé isn't absolutely at the heart of it. Totally, and I think that Xavi Alonso has got it very clear. I mean, if you want to hurt this Barcelona high line, it has to be with Kylian Mbappé making the runs, making the right runs. And having someone behind him is going to feed him. It's going to give him that kind of buzz.

9:56I'm sure there's been a talk between Xabi Alonso and Mbappé because last year we saw him. I'm sure that Xabi Alonso has watched that game, reviewed it, made all the work around him. He was getting involved into the offside quite a few times. No having that time, that tempo, waiting for the opportunity is the quickest player on the pitch. I can assure you that. So you don't need to rush your run to get involved into the outside before the ball just even come out from the boot of a teammate. So I'm sure that for the Sunday game, those talks are being made. We don't know if Adagula is going to be involved in the middle of the park.

10:32I'm sure that Xabi Alonso is thinking about it because he's the one player who can make those kind of passes. And I'm sure in the other side, he's going to be very focused on pressing those kind of balls because if you allow Kylian Mbappé to be on a 1v1 situation against the keeper, we've seen what he's done in the past few games. He's sharp, he's clinical and he's with a lot of confidence. Right now, this is Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid. Mario, if you have to defend against a player like Kylian Mbappé... All the best, man. Well, yeah, good luck. But what do you do? How do you do it? Well, you have to do the opposite that this Barcelona are doing right now, the defensive line.

11:05So we are all talking that Barcelona, they are not defending last season. So if there is one day that you need to defend well or 100 % is against Mbappé. Because as you were saying in the first Clásico he didn't score, but in the other ones he scored, he performed in an amazing way. And I think on Sunday he's going to be the key player for Real Madrid. He knows and Xavi Alonso knows that Barcelona are struggling to defend well. so I hope or I'm lucky that I'm not playing for Barcelona defensive line on Sunday. Yeah, we can just watch and enjoy or not depending on which team you support and the run that he's on in terms of scoring, K, is quite remarkable.

11:50I think it's every game bar one that he's found the net so far this season. He's going to want that point to prove though because he's going to want that win against Barcelona now. He's faced them all these times and lost all four even though he's been delivering in the last few. We just saw a couple of clips from the first game where we saw in that little clip the space that Barcelona were leaving and how the pass was either delayed a little bit or, more to the point, Mbappé made his run a little bit early. Yeah, I mean, obviously it's not just about Mbappé, it's about the team and it's about winning.

12:20But a big part of that is Mbappé playing well, is Mbappé performing now. He can't do anything if Asensio plays and makes a mistake, or Militaille, or Haugstens back and is nervous, or Carreras. If they defend Real Madrid, that is the way they defended in the Madrid derby, where every cross into the box, they were in trouble. Now, Real Madrid don't have an Alexander Soloth. Barcelona don't have an Alexander Soloth up front. They don't really have that physicality, but they struggle with the Atletico Madrid physicality. This is a different facet in how you have to defend. Mario's right. The one way you deal with it is you drop off and you deny the space.

13:02But guess what? Barcelona to hell and high water are not going to do that because Hansi Flick has said from day one, we will not change. They just have to play it better than they have this season. Now, Martinez went to Saudi Arabia last year. He was the organiser. He was the guy that dictated when they squeezed up and when they dropped and when they really come out at pace, he's not there anymore. And they've found it a problem to get somebody to marshal the back four. And when you don't have an experienced player to marshal the back four as a unit, then you see the problems that Barcelona have had this season.

13:39Almost every team that's played against them has ripped them apart. Even Girona, second bottom of the league, last weekend, should have been 4-1 up at half-time. Four clear-cut chances. Mbappe will not give up chances like that if he can find that space in behind. Yes, will Mbappe be able to do that this weekend on Sunday? You'll be able to find out on ESPN +, ESPN2 and Deportes. Our coverage will begin at 10am Eastern for the big game, El Clasico. And right now, if you can't get enough of El Clasico, our preview special is streaming, available on ESPN+. Check that out and get the predictions of the panel for the weekend's game.

14:19over on YouTube there's a lot more Classico talk and beyond make sure to click subscribe while you're there on ESPN FC so your team just got knocked out of the FIFA World Cup brutal right well the good news is you're not done it's time to jump on the Lays bandwagon and nobody loses on the bandwagon no upsets no heartbreak no stress only good times so join Lays on the bandwagon grab a bag of Lays get ready for the next match cheer for whoever you want Lays keeps the party going Leigh's official sponsor, the FIFA World Cup 2026.

15:18you can buy in and out of your position. For a limited time, download the Call She app and use code FC to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I. Call She. Trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see callshe.com slash regulatory. Liverpool sit fourth in the Premier League standings right now and make the trip to West London on Saturday to face Brentford. But will Mo Salah start the game?

15:53He was named on the bench midweek in Frankfurt as Liverpool got their first win in five. Arnaz Slott was asked about him in the pre-match presser. I think in general in football, players miss chances. And Mo is a human being as well. So we're not used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row. But these things can happen. What could have to do with it, I have no clue if it does, but I could come up with it's easier maybe to finish a chance if you're 3-1 up than if you're 1-0 down. But maybe that's completely not true for him, but could, could, could. But I think the main thing is that Mo has always scored his goal for our club.

16:38And the last thing I worry about is Mo starting to score goals again, because that's what he's done his whole life and that's what I expect him to do in the upcoming weeks and months for our club as well. Does he start, Craig? I think he does, but I think he's definitely drinking in the last chance saloon or he's very close to it. Big star or not, he's not playing well enough, he's not pulling his weight and they need to win games because Arsenal are in great form. If they win again at the weekend and Liverpool drop more points, then that gap increases and it's very difficult to bridge that. And I think the Mo Salah situation with his form, which seems to be the big talking point for us and in England at the press conferences, is maybe stopping some of the journalists, Sainte-Anne Slott, what about your team selection?

17:29Why is Eke-Tiki on the bench when he's been your best player and Alexander Izak plays? Now, that may change at the weekend because Alexander Izak finished or came off in the Champions League game with a groin injury. so that decision may be made for him. But he's got that wrong. He didn't introduce Florian Wirtz in the Manchester derby when that was where the space was. I think he got that wrong. So maybe Mo Salah isn't playing well, this is all Liverpool's problems, once he's backscoring goals, everything will be hunky-dory. It's not quite the case because the manager has struggled, I think, to put Liverpool's best team on the pitch to get their results.

18:08Now, he thinks he's putting the best team on. Clearly, every manager does. But I don't think he has. And if I was Hugo Eketiki, having started the way I have for Liverpool at a new club from the Community Shield onwards, I would be peeved. What did Alexander Iza cost? £100 million,£150 million? I don't care. He was the guy with the jersey. He was the guy scoring goals. He was the guy who was the biggest threat. and then two of their biggest games, Chelsea away and Manchester United at home, he left them out. So it's not just Mo Salah, I think, here. It's the problem with the manager. But, of course, if Mo Salah has another stinker, if he plays and Liverpool drop points, that's where the headlines will go.

18:53And it's maybe taken a little bit of heat or certainly questions away from Arne Slott's team selection. I agree. I think I could get starts. No question. He's been... Because of the injury? Eki-Tike starts because he's the best attacking player for Liverpool this season. But he hasn't. Agreed. Well, I mean, moving forward, in my opinion, Eki-Tike has the talent. He has been, without question, Liverpool's best attacking threat all season long. Now, the question then becomes, does Anislaut play three, play two, or do something that we haven't seen him do for some time, just play the one up front?

19:33And that's where, well, both Alexander Izak and Mo Salah have not played well. So to Craig's point about Mo Salah maybe drinking in last-chance saloon, if you had a viable contender, you could see that. But given Izak's own struggles, it's six and one half dozen of the other. And it really just comes down to Mo Salah's age and Alexander Izak's cost. And which way does the Zanislaw go as a result? Now, again, we've had this conversation about Mo Salah time and time again in Liverpool, going through lean spells, and then all of a sudden, he lies the league alight. So you want to feel that it happens again.

20:18That time will come when it doesn't. But as of right now, he's still backing Mo Salah to do Mo Salah things. In all fairness to him, though, I think there is, but there's no doubt about it, some of the threat has been negated on that right-hand side by the fact that Alexander-Arnold has gone to Real Madrid. When you have such an attacking player with the prowess and the passing ability of an Alexander-Arnold who can bend balls in and play balls over the top for you, you're going to get more service. That has gone, so that adds a bigger pressure on Mo Salah to perform with a Conor Bradley, who's a good player, but he isn't Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Dominic Sobislai, who's gone back there, or indeed Jeremy Frimpong, who I don't think they've worked out, is he a right winger yet or a right wing back or a right back, but that's another story.

21:11Going back to Slott, I think when he comes in off the back of Jurgen Klopp, that's a difficult pair of shoes to fill and he did a great job, but there was less to tinker with. There was less decisions had to be made. How do I get a better Ryan Gravenberg? How do I get a better this? How do I get a better that? But within reason, that XI was on the field most weeks, certainly early in the season. Now he has so many more decisions than he had last year. So obviously, Fring Pong injured in this game, so he's not going to be available at the weekend against Brentford. We've seen Florian Verts in this game.

21:48He had a couple of assists as well, Craig. How does this team change this weekend against Brentford? Well, look, I thought the ideal time to get him back in was maybe not Chelsea away, which he didn't, but it was Man United at home, which he didn't. And Brentford away, it's going to be more physical, it's going to be long balls, they're going to sit in. They're going to sit in and defend a little deeper, and then when they do win it, they're going to try and hit that ball over the top, like they did against Manchester United, to some success. But when the team sits in, like I think Brentford will, you need somebody that can pick those little holes.

22:21You need somebody that's got the Trent Alexander-Arnold eye for a pass. and whether he started slowly or not, which he has, he has that ability. So I think this is a game, even though it's away from home, to get him in because I think Liverpool will have a lot of possession and Liverpool will find a Brentford side that's got a lot of people behind the ball and it's going to take maybe a Florian Verts to play those little passes. Now that one for Sabozlai was five yards. I mean, he'll get an assist for it, for the nerds out there. But the ball he played for Gakpo across was, you know, I can't resist it sometimes.

22:57I love using the word nerd. It just gets them going. You know those people sat there. But, you know, the ball he played for Gakpo across, he can do that with his eyes closed. So, yeah, I mean, at some point, you're going to want to get Florian Verts into your team, into form, with a continuous run of games to build up his confidence. And the sooner they do that, I think, the better. Look, I'm in no position to say that Florian Verts are struggling with confidence. But certainly, given the performance against Leverkusen, the two assists, you've got to keep him on the park. You want to get the best version of Florian Verz.

23:32Frankfurt. Frankfurt, excuse me. You want to get the best version of Florian Verz performing for Liverpool. And you kind of saw after he came off the bench against Liverpool, that little turn flick, that played more Salah and really shared them better. But that's the Florian Verz that you know and that Liverpool thought they were buying. So you want to keep him in this momentum of playing well, of being creative, of being that player. And as a result, Anislot has to play him against Brentford. Whether Brentford's style suits Fleur and Verde or not, you've got to get him on the park in this moment, kind of give him the form that he's shown over recent weeks.

24:13Even in some of the more disappointing results, I think his performances have slowly gotten better. Let me stick with you, Shaq, because Anislot was also talking about the form and fitness of Alexander Isak and how it's been disrupted this summer at a smaller club. He said you cannot compare maybe a player who hasn't trained or played in pre-season at a smaller club than if you go to Liverpool. Well, this is what Eddie Howe has responded with. I think the set-up here is very good. It's not perfect. We've got things to improve and to grow, but the club and sorry the owners here have developed the facilities since I've been here very very well and I know there's huge well you can see there's building work going on currently to hopefully help us deliver even better in the future but I've got no complaints we've got elite athletes here many of them and touch wood we're managing them pretty well at the moment Shaka, is Arna Slott blaming Liverpool for his next form and fitness?

25:16No, credit Eddie Howe for not taking the bait. First of all, Alexander Isak didn't have a pre-season with Newcastle United. So, in talking about having a pre-season at a smaller club, it doesn't apply certainly this season to Alexander Isak because he chose to stay away and train on his own. So, I think the first part of Arna Slott's comments is geared towards Alexander Isak. we all say it all the time, you can train as much as you like, that cannot replicate games. Pre-season games cannot replicate Premier League games when they run around, when it truly matters. Alexander Izar had neither. And as a result, it's kind of struggled.

25:55But at the same time, Alexander Izar has got this kind of injury history to him. In three years at Newcastle, he missed 38 games through injuries. That's almost an entire league season. So that speaks to maybe his frailty. and Manning's gotten better with each season he does spend a lot of time on the sidelines and of course not having a pre-season hasn't helped that, hasn't helped his form and that especially given Mo Salah's own struggles has been a huge problem for Anislaught in Liverpool. If there was an issue which there was with Alexander Azak's pre-season which was well documented or lack of pre-season why is Anislaught playing him?

26:40I could understand playing him if you didn't have Eketiki and you didn't have a striker and you wanted to get him in the side and you don't really have much choice but he's not in that situation he's got two he's got two number nines one a little bit more versatile than the other I think Eketiki's a little bit more versatile but he's got two guys that can play that position and he's talking about his pre-season wasn't ideal and yet he's put him in early season in the two biggest games doesn't make sense almost feels like he felt pressured to get him in the team and not only is that detrimental to to Isaac's confidence it's detrimental to the mindset now of Eke Tiki who's and this happens as a player if you go on the field and you play like how he has played for your new club and then somebody comes in playing in your position for big money is not fit but goes straight into the team and doesn't perform and then goes back in the team the following big game, you're in the dressing room and you go home and you go, what the hell?

27:41What do I need to do? So you then cause an issue with two players. One lacking confidence and one now pretty upset with the manager who he might not say and he hasn't said anything, hasn't come out and said, you know, think if it was me, I'd be knocking the manager's door down, trying to play. So that's why I go back to some of Anlie Slott's decisions with the new players, where he's played them and moving Sabozlai to right back and all that, and he's done okay. These kind of things with Wirtz and Eketiki and Sabozlai, they're just little cracks that are appearing in his decision-making that he didn't have to make last year because he didn't have the amount of squad.

28:18He didn't have these big signings. So I go back to it within reason. If everybody was fit, he could pretty much put the same group of players on the field, which was to their detriment the longer the season went on because I think some of those players got tired because there wasn't the rotation. Now he has the players for the rotation, but he's struggling to find the right balance within the first 11. And that, I think, is where we're going to find out about Arnie Slott, particularly with the pressure on him, with Arsenal winning and with City winning. And Liverpool can ill afford at the weekend to drop any more points.