Celta Vigo Spoil Real Madrid's Homecoming

28:20He said he still loves the club. And listen, whether he leaves in January, whether he leaves at the end of his contract in 2027, he will always be remembered as an absolute great of the club. But it's just really sad, I think, for this state of affairs to unfold after less than eight months ago, Liverpool were celebrating winning the Premier League title. Yeah, that's crazy. For me, do you know what I think? He went public because he knows that there is one game left before he goes to the African Nation Championship. And I'm pretty sure Saudi Arabia already knocked at the door before, even before he was on the bench.

29:00And because he felt it, because he's not good enough right now, but like the others. And as you mentioned, Virgin Van Dijk, Abu Konate, Verz who just signed McAllister, everybody was thrown under the bus by us first by maybe the board but everybody was only the shadow of themselves so you get the credit yeah you get two games credit and that's it it's a high level, we won't give you like credit for years and you earn nothing that's for sure, you earn nothing that's the football world and it's kind of a jungle but I really think that it's already done for Saudi Arabia, I think it's already there talking to them and it's why he went public.

29:40Because I don't know why he would do that if he knows he goes to the African Championship in one game from now and not going to see his teammates for like months. Just don't say anything. Go there. Come back and see what's going on. Does Mo Salah really think he's been scapegoated for Liverpool's, all Liverpool's elves at the start of the season? I mean, come on. He must look himself in the mirror when he gets home and know he's not playing well. He knows the standards that he's set. He knows his performance. Nobody knows that better than a player themselves. Sure. You know as a player, when you step off the field, week in, week out, where your levels are at.

30:25And he knows where his levels are at. Now, you might think, well, why me? Well, because Cody Gakpo on the other side, he's more of a threat. He's working hard defensively. And we actually talked about this with Beth. A few weeks ago, when Mo Salah's not giving you what he was giving you going forward, he's not giving you a lot defensively as well. And that right-hand side has been a problem. Alexander Arnall's gone. Frimpong's been injured. Conor Bradley's been in and out. Dominic Sabozlai has played right back. So the manager is looking to show up, not just be more creative on that right side, but he's looking to show that right side up defensively.

31:01Which you can accept that if Mo Salah's getting 35 goals a year. You say, well, OK, he's not helping out Trent as he wasn't, or he's not helping out this player or that player, but he's playing these killer passes and he's scoring these game-winning goals. When he's doing none of that, and he's not doing much defensive work either, what does he expect? And I think every Liverpool fan can look at the way they've played and can see where the problems are. The problems are not just Mo Salah's not playing well. Alexander Izak's been dropped, Frank mentioned it. Florian Wirtz has been out of the team.

31:33He's a superstar, Florian Wirtz. German international, he's been out of the team. Izak was out yesterday again. Eketiki, who came in and had been superb at the start of the season, I think strangely got dropped. He was dropped at Chelsea and for a few more games for an unfit Alexander Izak. And I talked about it. McAllister was out yesterday, who hasn't had a great season. He's had some injuries. And the reason they're not dropping anybody else at the back is because they don't have anybody else at the back. They did get Mark Gay before the transfer window shot. So you can only drop so many players.

32:06It's the entitlement of the statement that Mo Salah made yesterday was just saying to me, it almost smelled to me that he was saying, I, Mo Salah, I'm undroppable. I'm undroppable because of what I have done in the past. That is, in a roundabout way, what he said in his statement to some of the media. But if there is somebody who is against him at the board, the guy is against everybody. Because really, everybody has been criticized. Everybody has been on the bench. So it's not fair to the board. It's not fair to the board. It's not fair to Slott. It's not fair to his teammates. I don't understand why he does that just before going to...

32:49But he's done Liverpool a huge favour here, I think. Because don't forget, when Van Dijk and him signed their new contracts last year, particularly Mo Salah, it was a tricky situation for Liverpool because you don't want to completely obliterate the pay structure. But you couldn't be seen to be allowing a player with the numbers of Mo Salah and the performance level and winning the Premier League. You couldn't be seen to be doing nothing. And so they were in a very tricky situation. They had to pay all this money to get him to stay, which they did. But now the performances have dropped quite considerably.

33:27and now that Mo Salah has spoken out, it's a win-win for Liverpool if they can get him out now. Because they get a player out who, by the looks of it, is past his best, who's not playing well, who's unhappy, and they are paying him a king's ransom as a salary. And now they won't look bad if they say Saudi Arabia in January. And I think Liverpool would be like, you know what? This has worked out pretty well for us. That was a big question, Mark, and we've been asked many times. Would you sign last season? Would you sign Mo Salah again? And I was the first to say, yeah, but you don't know when his talent is not going to be showing anymore, when his fitness will drop.

34:04And it's what happened now. And so nobody's happy. But Liverpool were in a situation as a club, weren't they, that if they hadn't been seen to be aggressive in trying to keep Mo Salah, the fans would have turned, I would imagine, on the board for saying, how can you let this happen? That's true. And now, after this, I think this has helped the situation fall on their lap for a big January decision. Beth, have you got something to add on Salah? Yeah, just that I will say, you know, in less than 12 hours' time, I'm going to be on a flight to Milan. Obviously, Liverpool playing into Milan on Tuesday night.

34:41So I think we'll get some real answers, I think, over the next 48 hours or so about where this whole saga goes next. because if Arna Slott includes him in the squad, maybe you could take that as maybe there's been a resolution behind the scenes. Arna Slott will obviously be asked about it a lot at his press conference. That will be the main topic of conversation tomorrow night. So I think we will have a bit more of an indication of which way the wind is blowing on this within the next 24 to 48 hours. So, yeah, I think it's going to be a few more twists and turns over the next week for Liverpool.

35:11Yeah, we definitely look forward to hearing that. When you actually take a look at Liverpool's recent run of games, it's not too pretty to look at. There's just that one win in six as it stands right there. However, Arnaz Slott still can see the positives. I can take a lot of positives from this game if we would have won it with 3-2 or with 2-0. I think we were all sad. Controlled performance, dominant against a very difficult team to play against. I think we're improving. Individuals are improving. And performances are improving. But, as you just said, it's hard to take for these players as well, that are putting so much effort in, fighting so hard, doing a lot of things well, not to get the result so many times after each other.

35:58I think we can all understand that that does something with an individual and with a team. But, as I said, I will keep reminding everyone about the fact that after the 2-2, I didn't saw a team that stopped. I saw a team that came back to 3-2. And after the 3-3, I saw a team that had the biggest chance. Improvements. Can you see any improvements? Yes, of course. You know, and I got a comparison with Unai Emery and Aston Villa. We started very badly the season. And without changing the players, without changing even the tactic, you change the mentality of the players. So, of course, everything is possible.

36:36You will have to find the recipe to make sure that the players players who have won everything to get back into the game and be ready to fight. That's the only way to be successful, between the mix of the players who were there and the mix of the players who just signed. That's going to be complicated, but hopefully for Liverpool and the fans, they're going to find a solution. Not really if you're losing this amount of goals. I think the huge bonus for him has been Subozlai. I think he's admitted his own mistakes by reintroducing Eketiki, which, you know, he seemed very keen to shoehorn Alexander Izak into the team.

37:19When Alexander Izak, it seems, wasn't up to speed and wasn't ready, and it was unnecessary because at that point, he already had a player who had come in and was playing well, and Hugo Eketiki. so look I don't expect him to go to a press conference when they're struggling as they are and say I don't have the solutions I don't see a response from the player I don't think the players are putting the effort and I don't think you know any manager saying those sort of things would be digging their own grave but I think he's been a little glass half full when he can see so many positives when Liverpool are in the bottom half of the league so So, will it turn around?

37:57I think it's like Man City last year, isn't it? Nobody knows. Everybody's expecting it. We're expecting a turnaround. We're expecting things to change, but it never really did for them. I think Liverpool are in a very similar scenario. Beth, you don't miss a minute with Liverpool. Have you seen anything to suggest that there could be a turnaround? Yeah, I mean, I think with the performance yesterday, Liverpool were 2-0 up early on in the second half. and for about 10 minutes after that, they looked so comfortable. They were in cruise control. They hadn't played the most scintillating football, but they didn't need to.

38:30You know, they just kept chipping away and you thought, you know what, actually, this could be a really comfortable win and those have been very few and far between this season. And then Ibrahim Akinate goes and concedes a needless penalty and, you know, for all of the criticism of the manager and a lot of it has been justified, but I think yesterday, you know, he set the team up in the right way. The team went and executed his game plan really well. You can't legislate for players at this level to continually keep making these individual mistakes. And I think that is the issue for Arnazlat, is that even when his team managed to find themselves in positive positions, there's always a mistake within the team.

39:07And I think maybe that comes down to confidence. And that is probably his biggest challenge at the moment. I asked him yesterday, do you feel like mentally there's been a little bit of a collapse from the players? And he said he doesn't believe that to be the case. But I think, you know, you just felt within the stadium yesterday, as soon as they conceded that first goal, that they were always vulnerable to concede more. And that's exactly what they did. So I think trying to get some semblance of confidence and belief back is as tough as task. And whether we'll be able to do that at this moment in time with the dressing room, obviously pretty fractured from the way Mohamed Salah has come out and spoke.

39:41You know, it's really hard to know whether that will turn around and if it does, how quickly that will happen. And he was specifically asked about that incident with Kanate, Anaslot was after the game, and this is what he had to say. Unfortunately for him, he does a lot of things well, but he has been a bit too much on the crime scene, and that is something I've heard people saying before in England. So that means that he's been involved in goals we've conceded, but if you are a centre-back, that happens in football. Okay, you're pulling a face like that now. When I told you that he'd said that, you said, well, okay.

40:20Yeah, okay, that's true. He's always in the crime scene, and especially on the first penalty when he tried to block the cross, and he slid and, in fact, touched the player. I exactly know what he did. But when you're on the first line, you're always in danger. And it's where I want to go to Virgil van Dijk, because the guy is never on the first line. he puts Konate on the striker and covers him. He's like a sweeper in my time, let's say, where he tries to cover, but he doesn't cover really, really, really well. And it's what I want to see, I want to say that Van Dijk is as guilty as Konate. They have to work together, and they don't work together right now.

41:02There is nobody to cover each other, and it's mostly Van Dijk who has to cover Konate because he decides to put him on the first line and go to the war with the striker. And that's where I try to defend Konate in a way that if Konate is guilty, and he's guilty for many reasons, Van Dijk is hiding from me. And from a player like him with the talent that he has, he's for me as guilty as Konate. What I want a manager to do is pull me into the office and say, listen, I can't have these mistakes. whether it's Van Dyke or whoever what I really don't want them to do is talk about me being at the crime scene to the media because I'm coming in on a Monday morning or the next day and I'm going oh crime scene is it a crime scene I'll show you a crime scene I'll show you it's the same the other way when you've had a spot with a manager like it seems Mo Salah has had with Arnie Slott well it doesn't seem he has when you've had a sort of verbal spot indirectly I've done it I've had those spots with managers, it's very awkward to come in the next day to training, because the players are talking about it, and you're thinking, is he going to talk to me?

42:15Is he not going to talk to me? Is he going to address it? How are we addressing this? If I was Ibrahim Ikanati, I know as a player I'm not playing well, but I know it's not just me, and I know Arne Slott was asked these questions about him, and you can answer it, and sometimes we talk about managers not being honest, but you can sort of be a little more cute and clever about the way you answer it, not to upset your players. Because what you don't want to do at the moment really is upsetting the players any more than they're already frustrated. So you don't want to be talking about individual players persistently making mistakes.

42:54It's what basically he's said here. He's basically saying, yeah, he's the one making mistakes week in, week out. But if I was Kanati, I'd be going in, What about my mate next to me? What about the captain? Is he not making any? Is he been at any crime scenes? And this kind of attitude and this kind of verbal tennis match, this festers. It's so surprising that we're having this discussion with Liverpool because three months ago we were anointing them the champions of England. Who's going to stop them? What about this transfer window? to look at these players the fact that they're not only a playing well they're b arguing amongst each other and and and thirdly players and manager are throwing everybody each other under the bus i mean it's really and i mean this it's when a dressing room gets like this and the blame game starts it's very difficult to get out of that very very difficult because there's a distrust Frank, when you start to distrust a manager or a manager starts to distrust the players, it's very difficult to turn that around.

44:09And it's very strange about Liverpool because you don't have the picture of the club being like that. It was very internal solution, internal problem. We don't talk too much. Everybody goes public right now. And that's very strange. It looks like some of the clubs that we won't name where they like to put everything public and they like to put the mess. And everybody knows what's going on. I really think that it should get a meeting together and say, no, we're going to shut up and we're going to start working because really it's not working well, right? Yeah, you were smiling, Beth, as Craig made that point about Arnazslot actually saying it out in public.

44:44Has that been a surprise for you as well? Yeah, I mean, to be fair to Arnazslot, he's had it put to him quite a few times over the past couple of months about players' individual errors and he's been very quick to say, it's my responsibility and he has protected his players to an extent. And I think, you know, maybe it has just got to a point now he knows that he's under pressure. And also, you know, he's Dutch and Dutch are quite famously quite blunt. And I think that's one thing that has worked against him at times over the past couple of months is maybe he's said things and he's not meant them in a certain way and then they've been interpreted.

45:19And so, yeah, I was surprised that he was quite so blunt about Canarte. And, you know, I take the guy's point completely in terms of Van Dijk is absolutely not a bit of the standard that you would expect from him either, and that hasn't helped. And I think that the issue is, and again, I think one of the guys referenced it, is there's nobody really to replace Canate. There's been people crying for him to come out of the team for weeks and weeks and weeks, and I would agree that at this point he probably does need a little bit taking out of the firing line. But it's hard to see who he brings in because you say maybe Joe Gomez, but he's hardly played at centre-back this season, and he's having to cover right-back because there's been injuries there.

45:55So it's been really hard. but I would be very, very surprised if Liverpool don't go and sign a central defender in January because they should have done that in the summer. They obviously missed out on Mark Gay and I think they've really paid the price for it over the past few months. Good stuff as always, Beth. Thanks so much for being with us and we look forward to seeing how this all plays out this week, especially with that nice trip to Milan for yourself. Make sure to join the football reporters over on our YouTube channel. Is this a comedy show? You can keep up. Does it look like it to you?

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47:48Event 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. OK, let's move on to talk about the Premier League because there's been a lot of talk about the title race with how tight things are looking at the top right now, given the way that the weekend played out with Aston Villa getting that win over Arsenal. Look how tight it is at the top. Just two points behind Arsenal. It is Manchester City and just three points behind them, the team who beat them at the death.

48:20It's Aston Villa right now. Does it look like a three-way battle at least for now? I thought Aston Villa were superb in that game. I heard Frank talking about it yesterday. Ebbed and flowed. Could have been who deserved it, who didn't. But the fact that Villa, I think, no wins in their first seven, no goals in their first four, I believe, games, are where they are, is just amazing. And I was expecting Seti to beat Sunderland at home, although Sunderland had been a tough nut to crack, particularly away from home, very dogged. I was expecting that result. But I didn't think Villa had enough in them to beat Arsenal.

48:57Now, I know a man that was crowing about it. You know what that's saying? Crowing. Well, they only let you know when they get the prediction right, don't they? People only let you know when they get the prediction right, but Frankie definitely did that. You know, Arsenal, I know you talked about Eze yesterday. I felt a little sorry because in a sense, you know, Eze had a poor game. He wasn't the only one, but he had a poor game. But my defence there would be when he scored that hat-trick against Tottenham, he was playing in the number 10 position. True. And he's had to be... No, I get it, he plays on the left for Crystal Palace, but playing on the left for Crystal Palace isn't the same as playing there for Arsenal.

49:35And he was such a threat in that position in the games that he played there that it almost felt that we have to get Martin Odegaard back in the team kind of thing. and Eze suffered for that and so that affected the game a little bit and obviously Trossard come on and Trossard's a very good player the back four was a makeshift back four but I don't think that was the excuse for losing the game I just think they've come up against a Villa side that they've got a little bit, a lot about them they've got a lot of confidence they've got some good players and a fantastic manager who makes substitutions at a good time and obviously Bindia coming on and making a huge call the disappointing one out of all that would be Chelsea again I suppose You want to talk about Chelsea?

50:23The game at Bournemouth and the game against Leeds After the Arsenal game you were looking saying boy I tell you what they could mix it, if they play like this they could mix it and then they have a couple of results like they've had so that's been disappointing but if we thought Arsenal were just going to run away with this and roll everybody over and I think Michael Ateta has said this I think we're wildly mistaken. Yeah, but I'm happy to see a race. And it's not a crisis for Arsenal, this first loss, and that's OK. And when you have a chance to have players like Heze, of course, you take him.

51:01But you can create something that's going to become a competition between him and Odegaard, for example. And you have to keep the right balance and the chemistry inside the dressing room. And that's Arteta's duty. Yeah, you can get the best player, but you have to make them play together and do the right choices. And yeah, I agree. Eze, without Odegaard, can show his talent. Without Odegaard, that's another problem. So that might create some issues there. Let's see how it works. But again, they lost one game and I guess they're going to win next weekend. I don't think Aston Villa have got enough about them to go all the way.

51:40I'd like to see it. I would love, like Leicester, I mean, Leicester will never be repeated. Villa are stronger. Well, they're a bigger budget than Leicester. They're a bigger club. That was an unbelievable story. I'd love to see somebody else. I mean, nothing against Arsenal, but they've got many titles, not recently. But I'd love to see somebody let Unai Emery get rewarded for the hard work and the change that he's made in a football club, which he has. And I know Arteta's changed Arsenal again. It's taken a little bit of time. But I just don't think Aston Villa are going to have enough about them.

52:14I don't agree with you because I think if you... What is it for you and Aston Villa? Because when I see the name, I mean, I love the way they play. This is a Canada and somebody winning the World Cup. No, no, no, come on. Maybe we should listen to him. He was right about the... Yeah, I was right. But, you know, when you see all the players playing, you have the best goalkeeper in the world. He threw enough mud at the wall. Eventually, some of us... We have the best goalkeeper in the world for me, with Emiliano Martinez. The back line is very talented. He just texted me. Oh, yeah. OK. Well, you know, Messi said it, so I can't say otherwise.

52:49But in the middle of the park, Onana, Camara, McGuin, there was another one. There was Rogers as well who came on. We came with. Tillemans. Tillemans. They were better than Arsenal. And we are talking about Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and some others. And really, I saw a team everywhere filled by very good players who know how to play together. So, you were talking about Leicester. Wow, I can see that. OK. By the way, if Villa do win the league, he's not coming back on for a while. Oh, yeah, because he will have to pay a dinner. Insufferable. Well, he's insufferable at the best of times. Exactly.

53:32There are more Premier League games. Well, one more Premier League game to enjoy on Monday. I say enjoy lightly. It's Wolves against Manchester United at Molineux. Wolves haven't won a game all season. It's seven straight losses behind them. Manchester United have got to win this one, haven't they? Surely. I said surely. Yeah, surely. No excuses. Well, they've got a new manager in Rob Edwards, so they haven't won, but they've been a little better, a little bit more of a threat. But, yeah, if you're Man United and you're Ruben Amarini and you're talking about evolution and playing better and all this sort of stuff.

54:07A team with two points at the bottom of the league is a place where there's going to be no excuses. And there'll be nowhere for him to run. If they lose this game, Man United, which I can't see, but there's going to be nowhere for him to run. Kate, where did the new coach come from? Rob Edwards. Which club did he leave to go to Wolves? Yeah. Middlesbrough. Do you hope Wolves get beat now? In some sort of bitter way? Am I hate watching Wolves all season? No. Of course not. No, but they can win because they have now a very successful coach. Just a big Manchester United fan tomorrow, just let me know that.

54:43Just not. All right, make sure to stick around with us tomorrow. We'll see how it does all play out between Wolves and Manchester United. And of course, I don't care. Yeah, of course. In this case. You hit both ones. let's head over to italy for the serie a standings where napoli are back on top of the table they took on juve today and it was a game they won 2-1 with rasmus hojland scoring both of napoli's goals gabriele marcotti joining us now to talk about what we saw in this game today what's your biggest takeaway gab well biggest takeaway from the napoli side is that the great form continues after Antonio Conte.

55:26Kind of like, I think I've made this analogy before, but it's when you decide to take a break from your girlfriend and then you get back together again and things go absolutely amazing. And that's kind of pretty much what happened to Napoli. Hoyland getting both goals, the system works, McTominay playing deeper, and everything really fell into place. alongside Elif Elmas, of all people. No La Botca, and of course, no Frank Zumbo, Anguissa. For Juventus, curious choices for Mr. Spalletti. We know he's a curious man. He thinks outside the box. But man, talk about moving everybody all over the pitch.

56:05Koopmeiner's back as his third centre-back. Keenan Yieldis, your centre-forward for this one. So Jonathan David and Loisa Penda on the bench despite the absence of Dusan Vlaovic, of course, is injured. I don't think Juve were great. They got the equalizer back through yield. There's a nice pass from McKinney, who I thought actually played really well. But that was about it. Napoli created more chances and I think fully deserve the three points on the day that marked Luciano Spalletti's return. Gab, I have a question to you. Do you think the Serie A is that bad? that Hoyland and McTominay, who didn't stay to Manchester United, are doing so well.

56:52I'm just kidding you. You know why I'm doing that. You know why? I know where you're going with this. Yeah, yeah. But that's crazy. That's insane. I think they're actually two... They're two very different situations. I mean, Hoyland scored both goals today. Like, when a striker scored goals, he's doing his job. But it's not like Hoyland is tearing it up in Serie A. I think those are team goals. McTominay, completely different story. I didn't think he was going to be this good. He's proven his versatility. You know, he plays off the striker. Other times he plays way deeper like he did today. He's such a phenomenal athlete physically.

57:28And I think that really makes a difference in Serie A. But the guy also, you know, he's an aerial threat. And he also has quality. You know, you can just ask the proud Scotsman near you. I mean, Scott McTominay could become the first Scotsman to score a goal in the World Cup since somebody in 1998. I don't remember. No, nobody does. Well, if we don't score against high 80, we've got a problem. And saying that, they did beat Costa Rica and somebody else, so it's not going to be that easy. Scott McTominay just looks to me as if, you know when you just find that perfect home? Yeah. Because it's not just with Napoli he's doing it.

58:07He's doing it, as Gab said, with the national team. and sometimes a player in their career, when, I'm not going to say they don't feel loved, but they feel like they're always going to be the scapegoat in terms of being left out. They're going to be the guy that gets moved position. They're going to be the guy that gets taken off or put on the bench or rested, as a manager would like to say, I'm going to rest you today, where he goes somewhere, his confidence levels are through the roof, the fans absolutely adore him. all these attributes in his game are coming out and he's getting in the box and he's scoring goals but guess what, he's playing with better players Napoli are a better team than Manchester United Napoli are a successful team and when you go to teams that are playing well the chances of you playing better are pretty high when you go to a team that are struggling look at Florian Verts and one or two others at Liverpool world class players but they've gone into a side that hasn't functioned since the start of the season.

59:07And had Florian Verts gone to Liverpool last year, or Alexander Isaac, or anybody else, the transition would have been much more seamless. But when you go somewhere, or when you are at somewhere that is struggling, that tends to rub off on you. For Scott McTominay, he's going in, we've got a manager that believes in him, they're playing some great stuff. They won Serie A last year, he scored that brilliant goal, the overhead kick right at the end, and he knows that everybody admires what he brings to that team. And when you have that as a player, that just makes you feel 10 feet tall. And on top of it, he embraced the Italian style.

59:43The guy, the air cut. The guy is even handsome right now. And everything is Italian style. Gab can witness that. There's a lot of handsome people in Scotland. Yes. Don't underestimate them, OK? Oh, I never say that. Freedom, guys, freedom. All right. Gab and Jules are always available in podcast form. If you'd like to hear more from Gab, you can do that twice a week. I heard Gab getting mic'd up at the start of our show. He's been sat through it all. Please tell me he wasn't sat through that. He has been sat through it all, and he's sticking around for longer because he's going to be with us for extra time too.

1:00:16But check him out over at the Gab and Jules show twice a week. Buster Olney here for La Quinta by Wyndham. Summer work travel can feel like extra innings. Long days, late nights, and not a lot of room to stretch out. especially when your hotel room feels more like the dugout than the clubhouse but when you stay at la quinta by wyndham you can step up to spacious suites that give you room to relax recharge and get ready for the next day i always feel like i need that when i'm traveling on the road covering ball games plus you can earn wyndham rewards points with every qualified stay because when you've got space to unwind you're always playing at your best tonight la quinta Tomorrow you shine.

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1:01:37Stick around. Extra time's on the way. We've got the questions here. These guys will be answering them, and Gab's returning to answer them too. He's been sat watching, listening, waiting. Quickly, Gab. Quickly, Gab. Let's go. That's what he's been saying to you all. I'll show you in a minute.

1:01:53Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. We're doing a fast edition here. Godmark Hrti is joining us. Frank made an executive decision. He was going to go to... I'm not going to mention it. I should never give people travel plans away. No, you shouldn't. Because he's a wanted man. Yes, he is. But he's going somewhere tonight rather than driving in the morning with the traffic. Correct. Very shrewd, smart decision. His private airport where his private jet awaits. Sure. Okay, which side is Liverpool board going to take? Which side are the Liverpool board going to take? Slot or Salah? Gab?

1:02:30Well, I think before they take sides, I think they should kind of look at themselves. It's been an onslaught of everybody condemning Salah for his words. And you can see why. But I think at the same time you have to be realistic and you have to look at the broader picture and look at the players. they will arrive this summer. They knew Salah was a question mark when they extended his contract, which is why they only extended it for two seasons. And I would have imagined that they would have sat down with Arna Slott and obviously Richard Hughes and Edwards, and they would have said, all right, what if Salah has a dip?

1:03:12How are we going to change this? Now we've ended up in a situation where, you know, the last three games he's been on the bench, They looked, maybe some people might say, a little bit better with Saba Slai on the right. But if you're Salah, you know that even if this works, when you come back, you're not coming back to play on the right wing because you're a completely different player. So if it's Saba Slai that gives you the necessary balance that Liverpool have been craving all season, and they achieve that balance while he's away at the Cup of Nations, the only way he's getting back into the team is in a different position, unless you expect Slott to redraw the plans again.

1:03:45So I think that is a difficult position that they're in. That is a conversation which should have been had. If a guy says he has no relationship with the coach, either he's exaggerating or the coach isn't doing his job. And I would expect people within the club to know where the truth lies. OK, for the panel, I'll put this to you, Craig. What does Fran Garcia do at Real Madrid? After his performance today, what's the point of him being on the team? I don't think Fran Garcia is responsible for all Real Madrid's issues, but he's part of a squad and the only reason he's in the side is because they have a mountain of injuries in the defensive areas.

1:04:30Now, when Alonso played him in the left side of midfield at Elche, that's not fair on him and it was really not a very good look for Xabi Alonso either, making that decision. Do I think, I mean personally, watching La Liga every week, do I think Fran Garcia is good enough even to be a squad player at Real Madrid? No, I don't. But guess what he's got at the moment? He's got availability and he's got legs to run about. What is his position? Left back. He's a real left back? He's a left-back and not a good enough one for Real Madrid. Ferla Mendy's been there, they've signed Carreras. David Alaba can play centre-back or left-back, but his career's just been...

1:05:13Latterly, just absolutely tarnished with injuries. So, yeah, the answer is, you know, long-term, he's not good enough for what Real Madrid need. Gab's pulling a face. Are you a friend Garcia fan, Gab? You're not having this. No, I agree broadly with Craig. I feel like he fell into the left-back position. With the build he has, I don't think he has a physicality to play left-back for Real Madrid because he doesn't have the other aspects that can make up for the physicality. So I could maybe see him playing as a winger on a bad team, but he can't be Real Madrid's week in, week out left back. And they know that because, as Craig said, that's why they signed Carreras.

1:06:02Okay. Just briefly, Danny Carvajal hasn't got the physicality you would imagine for a fullback, but he's just got a... He has a rage. He's maybe a little bigger than Fran Garcia, to be honest with you, but he's just such a good player. He covers for all his, you know, the physical... What's the right word? His physical deficiency is actually defending the back post from crosses and stuff like that. He's just such a good, intelligent footballer that he makes up for it in different ways. Unfortunately, Fran Garcia isn't anywhere near that. It was like, Cavaral was educated in the 90s with Italian defenders.

1:06:39He knows exactly what to do to put down a forward line player. He knows exactly what to do. He's annoying. You hate him when you play against and you love him when you play with. You want him on your team. Frank, who's playing worse, Real Madrid or Liverpool? Oh, come on. That's not even a question. Liverpool. Liverpool, it's a shamble. Real Madrid, they're second in the league, which is not the case for Liverpool. And, yeah, overall, I would say, yeah, nothing goes well for Liverpool. something goes right for some stuff goes right for Real Madrid at some point. Three days ago there or four days ago there had a very good game.

1:07:21Liverpool, we are still waiting. Gav, when will Juve's troubles end? It's a really good question. Look, I argued when Belletti came in, it wouldn't have been my choice that they need to hit the reset button. because you know when you don't pay your credit card bill, Kate, and it comes back and you're like, oh, look, minimum payment,$25. I'll just pay this. And then it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Right now, the club, Damian Camaldi, is getting killed for the transfer window this summer. You go back and you look at it, most of the players they spent money on were players that they had committed to before.

1:08:02They're inheriting one bad position after the next. And if you just throw money at it thinking, oh we need to appease the fans by getting back into the top four. If they don't do it responsibly, they're going to be back in that same situation. I think they need to let some of those high-priced veterans run out their contracts. And I'm thinking of people like Kostic. I'm thinking of people like Rugani who I genuinely believed had retired. And then, oh look, he's still a Juve player 15 years later. And they need to try to build something long-term. Even with a younger, cheaper manager. Instead, they went for the bling manager in Spalletti, who maybe can get you top four this year and maybe can get you and maybe bring some money in short term.

1:08:47But if you go with Spalletti, then you've got to give them a Spalletti-type budget and Spalletti-type players. Because otherwise, there's going to be revolt from the media and from the fans and from the commentariat out there. And they're not going to be strong enough and they'll just go along with it. And Giorgio Calini is going to say, oh, no, well, we've got to go for it. But I think most of all, what Juve need to do is they need to forget about the past. Honor the past, but do not compare today's players and say, oh, but when we had Bonucci and Chiellini and Del Piero, it was different. Guess what?

1:09:22You don't have those guys. You can't think like that. You can't play that way. The game has moved on. Those guys aren't there. Just accept the fact that you're in a giant hole that was made six or seven years ago, and the people are working to get you out of it, they're not the people who created that giant hole. There's the answer to that question. Absolutely. When's it going to end? Not very soon by Gab's answer. Have they just been watching them? Have they been taking the Manchester United blueprint, Juventus, for how to create a very unbalanced squad? Yeah, the difference is that, you know, Manchester United, they're still spending money.

1:10:04They're still, I mean, they're not profitable the last couple of years, but, you know, they can go out and do that. With Juventus, it's just been kicking the can down the road, kicking the can down the road. Manchester United haven't had all the legal difficulties, of course, that Juventus have had. It's just been sort of this continuous spiral. And, look, haters out there will say that it started with when they pushed out the boat to San Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm certainly not going to blame Ronaldo himself, But thinking it was a good idea to spend all that money, that somehow you'd go over the top and you'd become Real Madrid and generate a billion euros of revenues every year just because you have Cristiano.

1:10:44That was an incredibly stupid gamble that was made by the club at the time, under Andrea Nienle. And that is one of the big mistakes that they're still paying for today. And then I could add high-price free agents from Pogba to Rabiot to whatever else, signing them to stupid contracts, thinking, oh, look, we can win the Champions League now. Guys, you cannot. You can't. You have to actually build something. You have to put on your big boy pants and act like grown-ups and accept the fact that it's going to take time and it's going to take planning and believe in kids. And then don't give away Dean Heysen.

1:11:18Don't give away Matthias Sule. Don't give away Keren Yildiz. Don't lose Keren Yildiz. He's a gem. Let him grow. But enough. I'm not even a Juve fan. This gets me upset. Yeah. Keep playing. Keep paying that minimum payment. OK, everyone blamed Ancelotti for not playing Arda Goulomar often, but I still don't think he's ready to start in midfield enough. He loses the ball, he gets run past way too often. Well, you know, we started with Garcia. For the most part, he's been... Let me just put it another way. For the most part, he's been one of Real Madrid's better players. Yeah, that's what he is. One of the better creators.

1:11:56You know, if it wasn't for him, at times Mbappe wouldn't have the service because he's the one passer, the one real passer. Bellingham's not really a passer. Chumeni's not. Kamavinga's not. Valverde's a runner. And he's the one player, along with Mastantoino, who's not been playing recently, he's the one guy that can actually manipulate the ball. So, I don't quite agree with that. No, I don't agree as well. I think people are trying to find who's guilty. We went to Fran Garcia, now Aldagula, and you always point the player who normally don't play, but you never touch the superstars. But you have to aim the superstars if it doesn't work at first.

1:12:36And today, nothing worked. Nothing worked, and everybody was guilty for that loss. Last question. Gab, while you are not a quarter Scottish like Kay, you have deep family ties to Scotland. Will you be cheering them on against your mate Ancelotti in June? That's a really good question. And of course, as I mentioned, with Nigeria not going to the World Cup and Italy, who knows, it may need to be Scotland. Not least because a big chunk of the Scotland team, a sizable chunk, actually play in Italy. from Lewis Ferguson to Scott McTominay to Billy Gilmour. So there would be a lot of reasons to do that.

1:13:24Can I root against Ancelotti? Hell yeah, if he's coaching Brazil. I mean, I'm not saying I want to root against Brazil, but I will always take the underdog. So yes, I would be supporting Scott. But he will have the time to cheer. If Italy doesn't qualify, he will have the time to cheer on other teams. Will you accept Gab? Or us? You said that you didn't accept me as a Scot. So would you expect... It's Gab's wife, is it, I believe? What are your deep family ties, Gab? Yes. Oh, well, you know... He's also been seen, not recently, but on a regular basis, was seen at the Mount Maison bar in Glasgow, drinking alcohol with me.

1:14:05So in some sense, that brings him into the... If the general decides that he has to support Scotland, you know? Yeah, I think it's... He will. When Gab said a big chunk of the players are playing in Italy, I thought he was going to say a big chunk of the players are just not very good. Which I don't know. Could be true. I mean, that is one way that the Italians can still maybe get on board. A lot of Italians in Scotland, you know. A lot of Italians up there. They get everywhere, don't they? Well, and also the wife of the current Italy manager happens to be Scottish as well. So we know who he's going to support if he screws it up and doesn't get Italy to the World Cup.

1:14:48And that was the Italy manager who was just a wee 18-year-old playing for Rangers when I was playing at Celtic. We played against each other in the all-firm game and he was even more of a nuisance as a teenager. Like it was like having a little rat scurrying at your ankles. 18-year-old Gattuso, can you imagine? Remember the energy he had when he was 25, 26? Think about him when he was 18. It's like incredible. Yeah. Go onto YouTube and look up Gattuso getting pranked on Italian TV. You don't need to understand Italian. It's brilliant. ESPN FC is available every single day on ESPN+. Be sure to be with us.

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