Carrick's Red Devil Revival?

24:44Julien Laurens:I think that is for me only the reason why he didn't give him. For me, the worst thing why I was shocked was, how could Pope miss that ball? I couldn't understand that because I was working on that game. And I was looking at him. I said, dude, come on now, really. You come out, you see the ball, and you just miss it. This is like not even a difficult ball. It was crazy for me to see that. But then when he goes and commits himself, you understand, to make sure that Jokeres didn't get to the ball, then I was still a defender with him. So I think that is the only reason why the ref didn't give the red card.

25:16Julien Laurens:because if not, he definitely had to give him a red there. Shaq, Newcastle keeper here. Yeah, I'm 50-50 on both in that looking at the cushion of Havertz incident, in real time, I just thought Havertz went over very easily, far too easily. In much the same way, when we were looking at the Manchester United game earlier, Casemiro goes down under the slightest of contacts, and both Stevie and I are like, he's sold one to the referee there. And that was my feeling with Havertz, that from the time he feels any contact he goes over, and it's far too easy. Had that been the other way around, and a defender goes down that easily, I would say he's got to be stronger there.

26:02And so, while I say that, I know somebody's going to show a slow motion video or photo, and it's going to look terribly different. This one, I think, is closer to being red. And Tiao has, I think Tiao maybe is favored to get to the ball. But he slows up. He slows up when Pope comes. And as a result, I think Newcastle and Pope are very lucky here. Had Tiao just continued his run, there's no question. But the fact that he checked his run, it put a whole lot of doubt in my mind. Don't you think the fact that Jokerez slows up goes towards Tiao? because he's not going, he's definitely not, you've just convinced me that Jokic is definitely not getting that before Chou.

26:52I think he slows up because of Pope, right? But he slows up before Pope messes it. But then because Thiao kind of slows up, it then becomes, well, will he won't he type of thing. And there's no question that Pope, it's an intentional foul in the situation. So, give the intentional foul, Arlene, Jokerez. I give Jokerez the benefit that he don't.

27:18Julien Laurens:Go on, Mario. But, Xhaka, how could he miss that ball? Come on, tell me now, man. The ball is right in front of him. How can he run to that ball and he doesn't see it? You've seen me play. I was never that far out. So, don't ask me. Xhaka, wait. Yeah, I was never out there. So, I can't tell you. Hey, this ended. Two minutes before the end. You know what even the funniest part is? He goes up to try to do the header. With the whole team, he goes up for a free kick. I'm like, dude, you couldn't get the ball. You couldn't get the tackle, right? Now you're going to tell me you're going to score ahead of now?

27:50Julien Laurens:Hey, come on. Now you're killing everybody now. Stay in the goal, man. OK, Jules, come in on this conversation for us, please. No, I thought the Kusanov one was definitely a red count. I didn't understand at the time why that was not even checked and given, because I agree with everything Stevie said. And for Pope, I think Joe is there. I think Chiu would get to the ball and the ball is going away from the goal, to be fair. So I thought at the time the yellow was the fair call by the referee. And I don't think he got it wrong. And I don't think, again, once he gives the yellow, I don't think VAR can call him and say, listen, this is clear and obvious that he should have been a red.

28:33Julien Laurens:Because as we've been discussing, we all disagree really if he should have been a red straight or not. And I think that's why he was not overturned. So I've got less of an issue with the Pope one than the Kusanov one. Was that at a rate to bring it up, though? Did he need to address it after a win, Jules? I think it's, again, I can hear Stevie's point. I think what he wanted to say was that everywhere in the table now, pretty much you look at whether it's the title race, the race for Champions League, the race for European places, and obviously the race to stay up or go down. Nobody can make mistakes anymore.

29:05Julien Laurens:And that goes for the managers, the players, in all of those teams that are involved in all those kind of battles, if you want. It goes for the referees and VAR and PGMOL everywhere. And I'm not just talking about Arsenal mistakes, but we saw the West Ham-Everton game, for example, and Everton feeling like the CEO had to reach out to Howard Webb and PGMOL and say, hang on a minute, like this is not. How could you miss that Mateus Fernandes penalty? Because yes, Everton still scored after, but that was a penalty every single day. and I think we got to a point now when it's so tense and so pressurized for everybody because as we see on the table right now, a lot of those teams have something to play and it might just be for conference league position for example, place but that's a lot for Brentford, Fulham or Bournemouth or even Brighton Europa League is the same, Champions League is the same the title race, let's not even go there and then the bottom three, what Spurs and West Ham and maybe Forest you can't make mistakes now you cannot make mistakes, nobody can make mistakes from the Premier League to the referees to everybody really involved.

30:06Julien Laurens:That's how important the next four games are going to be, or five for some of those teams. And I just think that's why he wanted to say, like, listen, this is not the first day of the season in August when it's okay because there's still so many games after that where things can level up. Now there's none of that. So everybody has to be at their best, really, to make this end of the season just the most fair for everyone with no mistakes from anybody. Mario? No. No, I understand what you said. But you know what for me was really interesting was, watching that game, I could see the pressure on Ateta.

30:40Julien Laurens:I could feel it. Even his team, the way his team was playing. If you look at Newcastle, the way they were playing, and Arsenal were playing, Arsenal was playing against Newcastle the way that you expected Newcastle to play. Newcastle started pressing them higher up. Arsenal was dropping and playing on their own half. And I was like, oh. And then they see an interview of Ateta after. I understand. Look, no, there are points that he must be right that he says, you know, because I'm sure he looked at certain detailed things to come out with it. But one of the key things I feel like the relaxed Arteta that I personally know, I don't see him now.

31:14Julien Laurens:He is really, really taking this one. Like, I understand that becoming champion is a different level, and I totally agree. Everybody has that. But you can see that it's getting to him. And he is getting spicy now, so it's interesting. Jules should be a script writer for Arteta. because if Arteta had said what Jules said, it would have been, that's perfect. That's the way to deal with it. You're not crying. You're actually being 100 % right. This is the time where everybody has to be at their best and it would have been one of them. Instead, it comes across as you're whinging. So, Jules, give them a call.

31:50Yeah, have a word, Jules. Have a word. Another job. Yeah, just a little bit more work for you to do, Jules. We're continuing with this or that in the Premier League. The Lissandro Martinez red card. Remember this against Leeds, the loss to Leeds at Old Trafford earlier in April. The hair pulling in the 59th minute. Straight red, seen as a non-footballing act. Free match ban to follow. We're reminding you of that because the debate's been reignited just yesterday in the FA Cup. This is between Calvert-Lewin and Cucurea. Calvert-Lewin checked for a similar incident Involving Marco Correa here No red card Have the right call No inconsistencies here for you?

32:35No at all What are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to go near Cucarello with your hands like that Because you're going to touch his hair He's running around with a mop on the top of his head It's impossible if you go anywhere near him Not to in some way Either touch it or get it in your face Or whatever Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve! It's crazy man! Cut your ear! Cut your ear! Oh Mario help!

33:01Julien Laurens:Please! Oh my god he calls it a mop! I know what a mop is so I'm listening to it all like Steve come on man! Seriously? You can't call it a mop! No I understand! No when it happened you understand I... The first one was for me definitely you could blatantly see that he's pulling his hair. So and also why because hey when you have longer hair and someone pulls it it's the most annoying part ever when you play football. I mean, I had it. When someone pulled me, I would get really upset. But on the second one, when I see Cavaloo, it's not really like, I think he's more brushing his hand through it.

33:34Julien Laurens:So that for me, it's a small thing. But the first one, no, Martinez was really pulling it. And he knew he was pulling it. The only thing, he didn't know how long he was pulling it anymore because it happened so quickly. And he was even surprised, like, oh, what did I do? And then it was too late. So the red card there. But believe me, Kate, don't let anybody pull your hair. You get annoyed when you're playing football. I'm telling you. No, I can imagine. Xhaka, where are you on the mop top? Let me say, if you were to have long hair, that you're intended to have long hair. Thank you. No problem at all.

34:03I think the referees got the right both times. I thought Alessandro Martinez, that was a clear pull. No debate there. Watching the game in real time, in real speed, I kind of thought that Calvin Lewin's hand went into his hair and he just pulled it out. not pull here, pull his hand out and that kind of caused his hair to fly up a little bit but I and again, the replays I've seen there certainly is no convincing angle that suggests that Calvin Lewin had a hold of his hair, so I'm fine with the play on as it was Do you agree with the boys, Jules?

34:36Julien Laurens:Yeah, absolutely I thought Alessandro was a red every single time and then I didn't think for Calvin Lewin I just think that I mean, like Kukura's hair, as well as what Stevie just said, it looked like if you just put your hand in it, that you would... It's stuck. He's naughty. I know he's naughty. He gets stuck, exactly, Steve. It's naughty. I would not. He's a good condition. Jules is going to put his hands in there. Jules is saying he's going to pull it. You can tell Jules is a great girl, Dad. He's got the detangler and everything, you know. Getting the nuts out of the hair. Oh, my God. I was...

35:09All right. Let's move on from this, shall we? Mario, you are here for the first time talking to you since Resenia departed the role last Wednesday. What were your thoughts on it?

35:22Julien Laurens:Oh, no. You know, I spoke about it quite a bit. I said, like, look, it's always sad, you know, when a coach goes out. But the thing was, if the team keeps on losing, you know, it's going to be the first person they're going to look at. Things didn't help him. I was, for example, at the Chelsea-Man United game. and there were just certain things that I felt like the authority that you normally set as a coach, I think it was slipping away a little bit and I was dropping a little bit. I could see how the players were reacting and how they were doing it. Even when you watch the game against Leeds, Fernando scores the goal and overall if you look at the game, he worked hard.

36:04Julien Laurens:I think when he came off at the game against Manchester United, that instead of just focusing on the game from Liam Rossin, he focused on saying hi to him that he came off. And I'm like, dude, man, just focus on the game. Don't worry about the players. And I think when you as a coach focus too much in either how they think or what they do, I think you're always going to be one step too late. And away from that, hey, that's the game we play, and especially how they invested so much. But they've got to be careful because I don't want them to go. If they want to get a new coach now, They've got to be careful that they're going to do it quickly again.

36:39Julien Laurens:Because they do it quickly again and it goes wrong again. Especially the guys. It's not only the owners because they go after the owners. But you also have to remember there's also a recruitment team. They've got to do their job also better because they're bringing in the coaches. It's like a party there. Everybody can come in. Okay, so let's use you in a consultancy role if we can right now, Mario. What is the type of coach that they need right now? What does the coach need to do with this Chelsea team? I think that I hope that bringing a coach that can stand up for himself and is allowed to be you know like I can take care of my first team and and let me do my job and not the guy that is going to be someone is here on the right someone is here on the left and he's got to follow the trajectory what they are putting out there because sometimes they could have a plan but it might not be the plan of the skill of the manager you're bringing in because if you're bringing a certain type of coach in and he has this philosophy like I want to play like this I want to do it like this, then don't come up with your plan and say, no, you have all these players and you just got to figure it out.

37:40Julien Laurens:No, and we're going to buy more, but we decide who comes in. Yeah, but it doesn't work like that. No one's been successful in football yet. They did it that way. So if they want to carry on and doing that, just buying players and putting a man in front of that group, it's always going to go wrong. They need to have someone that is going to be involved in who they're going to get and then carries on with growing in the team and with the club. Jules, do you think the board at Chelsea are going to follow Mario's advice? Do you think that this is what they should be doing in this hunt for a new coach?

38:12Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, I think there would be a lot of candidates and if we show the graphic again of the odds, you see that list, there's a lot of quality and potential there. They want a young coach, we said already before on the show, but if you look at that list again, that we just showed a minute ago, you will see that there's not an outstanding candidate in the sense that everything, it just ticks all the boxes. If you look at here, neither of them really is just perfect. And I know it's rare to have the perfect coach that you want outside of maybe Klopp when he went to Liverpool and Pep when he went to City to just the most recent one.

38:49Julien Laurens:But for Irarola, it's the step up that we've seen with Thomas Frank, for example, from a club like Bournemouth or even before that, Rayo Vallecano to a club like Chelsea with everything that comes with it in terms of pressure expectation. Cesc is the youth. He's a young coach. He's only been in the job for a couple of years at Como. And again, I know he knows Chelsea really, really well, but it's a different board game than Como in Serie A with rich owners. Marco Silva, again, that step up from Fulham. Can he go? We've seen him before at a club like Everton where things didn't work out. And if we go down the list, Conte doesn't really come because he's not, he's never going to go back there.

39:23Julien Laurens:But you look at Felipe Luiz, great player. He was for Chelsea, did really well in Brazil, but never never coached in Europe before what's that step up like again we go back to this so nobody's perfect for the world there's pros and cons for all of them is is in all the interviews that they will have with all those candidates because most of them are going to be interviewed it's the ones where they feel that the cons is the less important and suddenly without minimizing it thinking like okay there's all those pros the cons we can deal with that he can adapt he can make this he can make that and then they would have to go for it but this one is a tricky tricky key one, especially if there's no Champions League, because a lot of the best players at Chelsea will have to be sold if they don't qualify for the Champions League.

40:02Yeah, good stuff. Okay, let's move on to talk about some of the stories that we've been seeing across the football world, but just a reminder that Extra Time will be coming up later tonight. And Extra Time is where the panel will answer your questions. Everyone, staying late to do so tonight, you can check it out over on our YouTube channel.

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40:31Julien Laurens:Pepsi prebiotic cola. Unbelievably Pepsi. Kraft Mac and Cheese is better than 90s hip hop. We'll remind you of your childhood without making you feel incredibly old. Kraft Mac and Cheese. Best thing ever.

40:53All right, Segunda here, and this is both teams fighting to stay out of the Segunda División relegation zone in Spain. Fourth minute here, Huesca against Zaragoza. Abad is brought down by Saído in the box and a penalty is given to Huesca. Yeah, it's a horrible challenge defensively. And so, Cielo steps up for the pen, Andrade makes the save, the goalkeeper. Very good save. One foot on the line. Good save. 63rd minute, Huesca free kick. Ball's cleared. But it's put back in and Jesus Alvarez is brought down in the box. Right at the edge of the box. Penalty given to Huesca. Same man steps up to take it.

41:38This time he scores. It's a great penalty. I'm not 100 % sure it's a penalty though. Oh yeah, I'm with you there. Then we're going to see this reviewed for a red card here, Descende kicking out of Huesca player. The ref is going to check the incident and you see there Andrade, the goalkeeper, shoving Huesca player. Chaos is going to ensue here. He's given a red card. The player that he pulls down there is Jorge Polido, captain of the opposing team. He loses his head and punches the player. You can't do that. Holy smoke. This is Tarragota's statement afterwards on their keeper, Esteban Andrade.

42:18They say, We witnessed scenes unbecoming of this sport and which should never have occurred. The club strongly condemns what's happened in that moment, which has unacceptably tarnished a football match of special importance for our region, something that is unacceptable. Regarding our Esteban Andrade, the club will analyse the events that occurred and take the appropriate disciplinary measures. Shaka, I've got to start with you. What do you think of what we just saw there? There's absolutely no place for it. I don't know whether you want to argue about whether the push was worthy of a second yellow card or whether there was some simulation or selling of it to get Andrade in more trouble.

43:02That is now irrelevant. what you saw from Drada you cannot accept or excuse in any manner that so now both the club and the league have a task on their hands here because I'm not sure I can think of another situation similar to it that you can draw a parallel and say well this was done and this was right or not it's going to be a lengthy ban first instinct is It's got to be somewhere between eight, maybe 12 games, as much as that. Whether the club stands by Andrada, if they walk away again, you totally understand and you sympathise with the club's position. Because that is unbecoming of the game.

43:51Stevie, have you ever seen anything like this? No. You haven't all those years? I've seen it in amateur games, in amateur leagues, where players, where you can accept somebody just being ill-disciplined and losing the plot. You know, we as footballers, we're taught to react in the right manner very, very quickly. You know, you have a split second to lose control and then regain control. And players in the top divisions around the world, that's what they do. Because they're professionals. That is absolutely amateur ever. And quite frankly, if the club does decide to just rip his contract up, then he really can't complain.

44:35Mario?

44:38Julien Laurens:Yeah, no, no, I totally understand what you guys already highlighted, you understand? Like, if I go back to myself, did I lost my head once? Yeah, maybe, I'm sure, but I never let it go that far. That's a little bit too much. You know, you could get a card, but the way he did it, like, okay, the first card I can understand, you understand, you push and you let yourself go, but then the second one, the second one, no, this is, you know what the worst part for him is? no one can defend him. That is the worst part because there's no one that can say like oh it didn't happen or he made a mistake or someone was close to him or whatever.

45:10Julien Laurens:There's no defending. That is the whole problem that's going to be really tough for him because he's going to stand in front of people that are literally going to say what he did and he just can only say yes I did. 12 games Jules 10-15 what type of punishment do you think we're looking at here? Yeah they're talking about 15 in Spain and that his contract will be terminated. I think Stevie said that he would not be surprised if that was the case. I agree. I would go more than 15 even, I think. And I also hope that Polito, I really hope there's police charges as well and that he goes to the tribunal because you can't just punch somebody whether it's on the football pitch, you know, in Australia, anywhere.

45:46Julien Laurens:This is not, even in real life, even, take football apart from it. Football is going to get heavily banned, fined, and probably will struggle to find another club anyway. And that's his lesson and that's all he deserves. But I also hope there are more, more to come from him in terms of Polish charges and everything because you can't just get away with it, even just with the 15th game ban. No. Let's move up a tier in Spain and head to the Primero where there are some teams trying to avoid the drop down to the Segunda. Osasuna took on Sevilla. Sevilla are really in trouble as it stands right now.

46:18This is at El Sardar on Sunday. And Neil Maupay put Sevilla 1-0 up here and it looks as though things might go their way in this game, but in the 80th minute, Raúl Garcia Sevilla is going to get the leveller for Osasuna. Wow. Superb straight on his left-hand side. I mean, he's really picked the spot as well. Gave the keeper no chance. And then the winner would come for Osasuna. Akatena here in the 99th minute. It's a really good header. He just attacks the ball, whether you're trying to go from a standing jump. And when you're down there, that's what happens. Yeah, massive implication. Sevilla dropping into 18th.

46:57and Levante are down there with them. They've played their game today against Espanyol, just a point apiece in that game, but really bad times for Sevilla as it stands right now. A seven times Europa League winner in the bottom three with just a few games left to play in La Liga. It is tough times down in Andalusia right now in La Liga. While we are in La Liga, Edemir Latao, it's been confirmed that he will miss the World Cup and the remainder of the season, of course, and surgery is set to take place for the player according to reports. He'll be guessing his hamstring injury dealt with. So bad news for Edemilatau.

47:39As for Mbappe, his injury has been concerning for both Real Madrid and France. This is when we saw him want to come off against Real Betis, asking to be subbed. It's injury to a part of his hamstring. Question mark right now is El Clasico, especially with Barcelona. 11 points ahead of Real Madrid. We'll keep an eye on that for you, but make sure you scan this QR code if you are in the Los Angeles region and would like to go to our watch party. Barcelona against Real Madrid, the classic health fan experience, Eden Hazard and Carlos Puyol will be present. Scan the QR code if you would like to be too.

48:19And before that, Osasuna against Barcelona and Espanol against Real Madrid. Those games are in between the match when the two face one another Saturday and Sunday. We have you covered for both of them on ESPN+. OK, let's get to the Istanbul Derby Galatasaray against Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super League. Fixer Ossiman back in action here after fracturing his forearm. We're taking it to the 12th minute of this game. And this is where we're going to see a penalty be given to Fenerbahce. Oh dear. You know what, he should have taken him down about 10 yards previously. Instead he waits until he's in the box and then tries to win the ball.

49:02Anderson Taliska sends it wide. I think he just needs to keep a commiss and pulls it a little bit too much. 40th minute, long throw into the box. Ossieman scores with his knee. Good adjustment by Ossieman. His touch isn't perfect and then as it's coming down, it's finished. That's called a football brain by the way. 60th minute. That gun taken down in the box. Ooh, look. That's a bit of a dive to start with. Ah, caught him. There's a touch. This is a penalty to Gareth Tasseray. Yes, absolutely positive. Before the penalty's taken, Edison refuses to get on his line and the ref ends up giving him a second yellow.

49:43Oh boy. Keep watching. Wow. Oh, what a fool. Jesus, what are you thinking? Edison then gets in the ref's face, makes contact with him. Just to make sure he misses the rest of the season. Yilmaz steps up, scores that PK.

50:12Watch this one. Oh, no. Subkeeper dropping across. Torreira finishes. Over the top of his own defender. That was a little Torreira finishing off. Keep! 95th minute, Ossieman is going to get into a scuffle here with some Fenerbahce players. He grabs Guendouzi's neck.

50:46Not a surprise he couldn't do as he gets involved. The big screen puts up a photo of crying canaries which is Fenerbahce's mascot. Oh boy, oh boy. I know how it would rub it, isn't it? Oh boy, with the hair and everything. Three games remaining, Galatasaray with the points lead there, set to secure another the league title, but there are so many storylines coming out of this clash, Jules.

51:15Julien Laurens:There was only four points before the game between the two teams, huge rivalry, as you know, as you can imagine. And although Galtasaray has been the best team in the league in Turkey this season, without a doubt, if Talizka scores that pen, the rest of the story might be a little bit different. I think Ozymen should have been sent off at some point in the game, probably on that scuffle that we saw at the end, he should have had a yellow before. That should have been a straight red anyway on Ganduzzi. Ganduzzi was pumped even from the beginning of the game. He had a bit of a clash with the mascot, when the teams come on.

51:50Julien Laurens:You could feel the tension from the beginning. It was a great game to watch. Domenico Tedesco, sorry, the FNB manager has been sacked today as a result of it. Although, if you sack Tedesco, I think you should sack Ederson and send him back home to Brazil because because he's as much responsible for this defeat as Tedesco might be in this game. But it was a very eventful derby once again in Istanbul. We know that you've been on the Gab and Jules show, and Gab has been preventing you from talking about certain pointers in this game, Jules. But this is a safe space for you. What was going on with Ossiman?

52:23Why has there been some controversy here?

52:27Julien Laurens:I think, like often with him, I think he's really pumped for those kind of occasions and games, right? And you're right, I put this in the quickies that we should have talked about on the show and that was ignored by Gab, probably because he didn't watch that game and he doesn't like talking about games that he hasn't watched, which is fair enough. The Aussie man made foul after foul in the first half. He was very aggressive and that's fine. That's his game, even more in a derby. I can understand it. I thought at the end, right now, the scuffle that we showed, he went too far anyway. But even before that, he should have had a yellow before that and probably more than that even.

52:59Julien Laurens:There was issues on the Fenerbahce side about the cast that he has for his broken forearm that he did against Liverpool, that you mentioned, K, first game back since that second leg in the Champions League last 16. I think it's probably just because Fenerbahce are a bit better about the way the game went, really, that they're protesting against what Ozymane was wearing. Although we've seen it before in the past with other players as well. I remember even Eric Cantona, like a long time ago when I was much younger than now and more hair, that also a few teams were not happy with him wearing that kind of plaster, if you want, on his arm.

53:31Julien Laurens:I don't know if that was really a thing with Ossiemen on Sunday but Ferdinand Bache clearly not happy with how the game went and how the game was refereed Yes, okay, so if you'd like to hear a lot more from Jules talking about a lot of things except for Ossiemen's cast in that game then you should go and check out the Gavin Jules show it drops every Monday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts Alright, stay right where you are everybody's sticking around to answer your questions on Extra Time and we will see you next time on ESPN FC. Extra time on the way next. Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time.

54:09Stevie. Stevie's chair's been low all... I kind of liked you low because I felt like we were your heavies and you were the gangster boss. That's better. I felt I was always back at school, sat in a stupid wee chair and I... Is it going down again? Is it going down again? What's going on then?

54:32Oh, it is.

54:36Oh, boy. So Kay, Shaka, Mario, Jules, and little Stevie. Little Stevie. Let's go down. Little Stevie. We got little Stevie with us. Oh, well. Stevie, you're dropping again, man. Steve, you're dropping again. I see you going down, bro.

54:52Julien Laurens:I'm so sorry, man. The legend is dropping. They're taking it away from you. Oh, OK. Okay, Shaqa, would Manchester United have been Premier League champions this season if they had given Carrick the reins at the beginning of the season? Well, the stats would say as much. I still think as good as Carrick has been, I still think City and Arsenal are better. So the short answer is no. Jules? No, I agree with Shaqa. I mean, you can't just look at 13 games. And by the way, I know they won today. I didn't think they were very good. I don't think they've been very good lately, to be fair. I know they're third in the table right now, which highlights my point even more, that the quality in this Premier League season has been not great at all.

55:39Julien Laurens:It's not a vintage season, and that's probably why they're third. But it's done well for them compared to where they were when he took over and what had happened under Amorim in the first half of the season. But no, I don't think they would have won the title. Although, saying that, you know what's funny? When they want to wear the Emirates, and I was there with Ogi, and you know Augie, big United fan obviously. And Augie went, ooh. At that time I think they came back maybe 11 points behind Arsenal with a game in hand. There was something like that. And Augie was like, oh, they might catch Arsenal at the top.

56:07Julien Laurens:And I was like, mate, please, just erase that from your mind. Never repeat this to anybody ever because you look like a fool. You look like a clown. Never repeat this to anyone ever because I'll tell everybody on ESPN FC later in the season. You're welcome. You're welcome. You also have to remember that While Manchester United have been outstanding under carry, they've not played any European football. They've not played any cup football, just about. So they've gone weekend to weekend, whereas everybody else has been playing midweek and are tired. So the second half of the season, I don't think maybe is reflective of Manchester United's, well, I think they're the third best in the league, despite what the second half of the season may suggest.

56:50OK, where's Phil Jones to stick up for them? All right, Jules. You could always call it Stevie to stick up for Manu. He's a little Stevie today. Little Stevie. Jules, what game was worse? The Milan Juve snooze fest or Chelsea Leeds, where the XG over the last 30 minutes was 0.12?

57:08Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, that's a really, really tight one. I won't lie because Milan Juve was not good at all. It was really hard. I think on this one, because the Milan Juve was a late kickoff, obviously it's an evening kick-off, right? You probably were more likely to fall asleep at the end of that than at the end of the Leeds-Chelsea game, Chelsea-Leeds game, which was indifference. Unless you're Stevie and you need a nap and then maybe that fell at the right time for your nap, that's a possibility as well. I felt that both of those last half hour and the whole 90 minutes for the Milan-Juve were just terrible football games.

57:45I think it's a little harsh on Chelsea-Leeds. Is it? It's the semi-final of the FA Cup. Last half hour. I have been lucky enough to play a lot of semi-finals in the FA Cup. And I can assure you, none of them were particularly great to watch. Nobody wants to lose. There's so much tension. I mean, it's just one little step and you're in the cup final. So, I think it's a little harsh to be on top of Leeds and Chelsea in the semi-final in the FA Cup. As we know, many a football game has been known in the past to put Xhaka to sleep. However, we need to know, the world needs to know, did the tension in the Chelsea-Leeds game keep you awake during, Shaka?

58:29No, no, no. I did not. As much as TV is making a good argument for it, I had a proper nap. So, God help us if I'd watch Milan-Juvie, because I had a good old sleep during that one. Don't watch that one back. Okay. If Bruno Fernandes Mario does end up breaking the Premier League assist record, he got his 19th today, will this cement his legacy at Manchester United or does he still need to win more trophies?

58:59Julien Laurens:No, I think he already, you know, like everybody knows now that the way, the years, the past years that how many United has been playing and the things that they are still, some days people come to the game and still can leave it a smile. I think it's a big effect of what he has brought to the club and also when you watch Man United Look, we all played the street football and sometimes when you play on the street gate When you play everybody gives you the ball, right? You go there they oh no give it to Mario Oh, give it to this give it to just give it to this. No with them Playing professional every ball goes to him.

59:34Julien Laurens:It's incredible like sometimes I watch it and I go it It means that the guy has earned his position in the sense of like, I am the creator. And sometimes if I have to finish it all the way, I will do that too. So I feel like, yeah, Bruno is the guy that I'm happy that he stayed that long because there were moments that people were talking about getting him away from that team. But it's better that he stayed because if not, he was not going to look good for Man United. So yes, Bruno, I don't think he needs a lot of trophies to win. So Jules, we're hearing that Michael Caric has said after the game that Bruno Fernandes should be the player of the year in the Premier League.

1:00:13Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think it's in the conversation. There's no doubt about it, especially if he beat the records. That would be a pretty special record, you know, to have 20, or he would have to have more than 20, 21 or more assists in 38 games in the league. I think in a team like United that was not functioning for the first half of the season, I think he's pretty special. I think he is a club legend, not at the level of the ones who want a lot more. Sure, I get that. But at his level, because without him all those years, they would have been even worse by far. He made that team better, despite these teams not being very good, certainly not good enough to win bigger trophies.

1:00:51Julien Laurens:So, yeah, I think sometimes I don't really understand the kind of debate around Bruno. Is he a great player? Is he a club legend? I think he's been outstanding for them through all those years. All right, next question. Mario, which team will be hurt more by the Xavi-Simmons injury? Tottenham or the Netherlands? I mean, look, when it comes to Spurs, they're in a difficulty in the situation because they're trying to be safe in the league. So I think when you bring a player, you're always going to, you know... Sometimes you hurt more because there are more games you play. But when it comes to Holland, he's in the squad and they will take him...

1:01:28Julien Laurens:I think he will make it to the World Cup squad as well. So for missing out, it's gonna be a big miss because he always either he comes on or he plays So I think for both sides will be a big one But I think eventually in the bigger big escape it because he comes right before the World Cup at this moment If you ask me right now where we live in I think It's sad for him to miss the World Cup because missing a World Cup Sometimes people have to understand that they've never never been to a big tournament It's something that you look at and you go like, wow, this is something I don't want to miss. So I think it's going to be sad.

1:02:03Julien Laurens:You saw it at his face already. After two minutes, I saw his face. The way you reacted, I knew the kid is over. Jules.

1:02:13Julien Laurens:For him to miss the World Cup, yeah, without a doubt, it's huge. He's young enough to probably play in a couple of more, but this one will hurt a lot. And he's not the only one. you know it's the same for Gnabry but the other around this probably was the last chance for Gnabry to play in a World Cup well the last World Cup he could have played in so that side I think Spurs will miss him in a team that lacks so much creativity and we saw it again in the game I know they won obviously at the weekend against Wolves but that was not great in terms of creativity and he's probably the most creative player there outside of full backs that can cross the ball so they will miss him massively Xhaka oh go on were you going to say something no I was just going to say Since De Zerbe has gone to Tottenham, Xavi Simmonds, for me, has been their best player.

1:03:00You know, the Xavi Simmonds that we thought we might see at the start of the season that we hadn't seen, all of a sudden appeared when De Zerbe took over. So, yes, personally, missing the World Cup's a blow, but, I mean, if Tottenham go down, surely that figure, yeah? Could have done with this version of Chevy. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Xhaka, with last year's Champions League sides, Newcastle and Chelsea both missing out this time, which club should be more disappointed with their season?

1:03:38I think Chelsea should be. Kind of, given their spending, given somebody too more, I think a lot of Chelsea's issues are self-inflicted. I don't understand why it's that from Oreska, but there you go. So I think from a club standpoint, I think Chelsea should be the more disappointed. Jules, did you see the latest Neymar controversy and do you think he can still go to the World Cup?

1:04:06Julien Laurens:Yeah, I've seen him, you know, not playing due to a virus, but still seem to be partying the night before. He's played more lately and he played 90 minutes, I think in four games in a row, before the virus. We said it, I think, we were together maybe on one of last week's show when we talked about him and all the antics and the argument he had with some of the fans and the way he was talking and Ali was on as well and we agreed that I think it's sad. It's sad to see him like that. It's sad to see those stories when he should be focusing on the World Cup and his performances and to be fair, he's been good on the pitch, I thought.

1:04:46Julien Laurens:He should have had more goals, more assists than actually what he had because the players around him are not that good and he still lacks a bit of sharpness and efficiency when he gets into the box. At the end of the day, I think the way Carlo Ancelotti will see is like, has he been fit enough and has he played enough? If that's a yes, then I think Carlo will look at, if taking him to the World Cup becomes disturbing in a way that it would disturb the tranquility of the team because you'll have even more media, even more pressure, even more exposure, even more scrutiny around the team because Ney is in that team, he's in that squad, then I think Carlo could easily say, I've got enough to deal with that I don't need that on top of everything else because it's Brazil, because it's everything.

1:05:29Julien Laurens:So I don't think he will take him, but I think I would love him at the World Cup. But I just don't think, one, he would be ready, really. Ney would have been good enough to make that squad. And I think for Carlo Ancelotti, it'd probably be too much hassle to take him anyway. Sounds like you agree, Mario. Yeah, because I think, look, Neymar is a special player, you know, and I don't think anybody could say like a good Neymar is an easy pick, right? When Neymar is fit and everything is up to task, what you expect him to be, oh my God, look, even I want to watch it because that's why I like Brazilian football.

1:06:09Julien Laurens:But when Neymar is not fit, it becomes an obstacle in a team. And I think at the moment now, what Brazil is going through is that they need the team spirit. He's not an individual now at the moment, because normally Neymar would be the individual that could make the big things and say like, oh, give him the ball and he breaks everything open. But now, because they're struggling with up and down, the little injuries, you know, is his focus there? Does he want to do it? Is he ready for it? if he's there oh man you build a team around him and you go to the World Cup but they cannot do that so that's why I think you understand a little bit what Jules said I think that's why Ancelotti is going to his choice is going to come down to where are you Neymar if you're not ready then we're going to go with the team I can't go with little Stevie little Stevie I think we should call it every time I look at your season little Stevie I'm sorry Stevie You're putting me off.

1:07:06You're putting me off. Honestly, I feel like we're like his guards and he's like, you know, the boss. Alright, Lil Stevie, back when there were fewer subs.

1:07:21When there were less injuries. Players struggle to go three games without getting injured.

1:07:34I'm glad I can keep you going. Do you want me to come home here? I've actually got the kids' car seats. You can put me and the boys to bed. Read us a story.

1:07:53I've got the booster seats for you. Go on, tell us. Fewer subs, less injuries. Well, here's the thing. In my humble opinion, the biggest difference today is the pitches. The pitches are rock hard today. We played on softer fields. And so it meant that in terms of muscle injuries, I think that's why we didn't pick up as many and that's why we got away with having fewer subs especially. because when you go on the fields now, every single one of them is like that. Whereas ours were soft. So yeah, in terms of stamina, you had to have it. But in terms of injuries, because the fields were softer, it wasn't quite as bad on your joints and on your muscles.

1:08:49OK. Stevie, how's the diet been going? The diet's going all right, aye, surprisingly. He said something really funny today, though. He just said, I'm absolutely gutted. And I said, why? And he said, because I've just finished his food.

1:09:08Yeah. Oh, boy. You are doing great, though, aren't you? I am, right. Yeah, absolutely. We're having a major debate about Coca-Cola earlier. We were. It is amazing. Because I... He's eating bags of crisps and drinking cans of Cokeware all the time. and you kind of get a bit blasé. And then when you don't have one for a week, I've been basically having a day off every week where I can have whatever I want. I can have a couple of beers, some crisps and some coke. And the first week, honestly, when I had a cup of coke, I was like that.

1:09:48Julien Laurens:Oh. It was almost as good as a beer. That's how tasty it was. I did say almost. That's what? That's the bar? Yeah, but that's what's happening. Okay. Staying off the carbs. Oh my God. And then I get one day a week on a Sunday. He's doing really well. You've got to give it to him. Well done, little Steve. You have a history of being on diets and not lasting very long. I know, but this one's gone good. But it's fair to say, Shaka, he's shrinking tonight. Yeah, there you go, yeah. You can obviously see it. You've lost height. I've lost... Yeah. I want to go that way not that way alright thank you so much for sending in your questions thanks to Jules and Mario for staying late and answering them and thanks to little Stevie oh yeah

1:10:40oh yeah

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