Chelsea on Cruise Control

13:34Dan Thomas:Nathan, you're good friends with Jules. Are you convinced by what you said? Do you believe him?

13:39Shaka Hislop:No, no, Jules is an excellent liar. I don't know if you've picked up that across the years, but he's an excellent liar and I think in some ways like there will be some level of concern not necessarily because of say what Man City have been doing because I think as far as 2026 goes there's been a lot of like critiques about them in first halves versus second halves and so on but then if that's to be the case why is the gap not bigger I think in some ways we kind of need to look at say some of the issues that Arsenal have had and to be fair playing against Brentford is one of the toughest games in the Premier League as it stands their form's been fantastic but why is the gap not bigger considering like you know many of us well fancied them to win the league title and they've been the most consistent side throughout the season why is it still feel

14:17Dan Thomas:like there's some sort of a race there are you are you saying man city winning it basically

14:21Shaka Hislop:is that what you're telling us no no no no no i'm not i'm not saying that i'm not saying that listen i i want that but i'm not saying that but the thing that surprises me the most is the fact that it hasn't been put away just yet obviously you know there was a point where we thought awesome I'm going to run away with it when City had a dip in form, Villa had a dip in form. But then Arsenal seem to have had a little mini dip themselves. And I think in some ways that will be concerning for them. Because as we've seen through the last, say, 20 years or so, they've not managed to get it over the line just yet.

14:49Shaka Hislop:I still do fancy them. But it's getting a lot closer than I thought it would have been at this point.

14:52Frank Leboeuf:I said in yesterday's show, I think it was yesterday's show, they just keep throwing City a bit of a bone, don't they?

14:58Gab Marcotti:Right.

14:59Frank Leboeuf:And I think that's what Needham's touching on. They're not eight points, nine points clear. I mean, you look at some, they draw Sunderland. They gave up a 2-1 lead late on. All right, they're a tough side, Sunderland. Good side in the Premier League, particularly at home. A lot of physicality. Forrest, who have been struggling, well-documented, sacked the manager again. There was a draw at the city ground against a struggling team. They defeated at home to Manchester United. Was it the draw against Liverpool they had? And then the draw at Brentford, which I agree, Brentford are playing some really, really good stuff.

15:30Frank Leboeuf:But they'd won there the last four seasons, Arsenal. and so they're just not stretching that gap out at the moment and when you don't stretch it out and the other team keep plodding along and winning as City did the other night against Fulham you can get a little bit restless in the dressing room now a four point gap is still a decent gap but it's not insurmountable if you're in that City dressing room and it's seven, eight and nine points you're demoralised because you're in that dressing room you're thinking Manchester City that is we're going to have to win every single game because we're never going to catch nine points.

16:08Frank Leboeuf:They're not going to lose three or four. And even if they lose three or four, we're going to win every game, which we know this city side are not going to do. But at four points, that's just a little bit different. Stevie?

16:21Gab Marcotti:After the game the other day, after the Brentford game, I was thinking, you know what, could Arsenal actually bottle this? But then 24 hours later, and look at the big picture, it still means City have to win every game. And so that's not going to happen. And so I think maybe it's just a case of Arsenal are not as consistent as they should be for what they have. On paper, they are the best team, there's no question. And for the squad they have. But for some reason, they're kind of 7.5 out of 10 all the time. You know, a real... The best team that wins the Premier League should be at least 8.5, week in and week out, and maybe lose the odd game, or maybe drop the odd point.

17:11Gab Marcotti:You can't argue that Arsenal are dropping way too many points. But they're still four ahead, and it still means that they have to win. We have to lose. They're going to have to lose at least three. In my opinion, they're going to have to lose probably at least four games between now and the end of the season. But draws, Steve, it could be draws. It could be. So, no, I think, yes, four points. Doesn't look as good as six or nine or whatever it was, but I still think that a really big time is in their hands.

17:40Frank Leboeuf:I mean, they're slightly worrying in some of the games, and they are, look, by far the strongest squad, there's no doubt about it. And again, one of the things we talked about with Julian yesterday, which he was equally unworried about, was Jokeres. And it's not just that Xochrez is unconvincing, it's the fact that, again, we discussed this yesterday, even just take this game in isolation against Brentford. Have a good think about how many chances Arsenal created for Xochrez. I can hardly think of one. It's just not that he's missing chances all the time, it's the fact that they're not creating them.

18:16Frank Leboeuf:In fact, Brentford and Thiago, who's having a great season, they were so much more of a threat. He was so much more of a threat to the Arsenal centre-halves than Xhocarez was to the Brentford centre-halves. So I think at times they're going to have to figure that out. Julian said it's going to be horses for courses, depending who plays, if it's Gabriel Jesus, whether it's Xhocarez, whether it's Kai Havertz, my God, whether it's Mikel Moreno up there, who's done as good a job as some of the strikers. But ultimately, Xhocarez was brought in as 60 to 70 million, number nine, to score goals. and he's not doing that and hence Arsenal are not running totally clear at this moment.

18:55Gab Marcotti:I think that's a bit of a guise though, Julian. It's horses for courses. The fact is, whether it's... It wouldn't be if he was scoring. It wouldn't, yeah, it wouldn't be if he was scoring, but he's not. And the fact is that they don't have a centre-forward that's scoring goals. And whether it's Jesus, whether it's Jokeres, whether it's Havertz, whoever it is, they're not creating chances for whoever the centre-forward is anyway. So, I'm not sure... I don't like the horses for courses, but I don't think it matters who they're playing through the middle, quite frankly, because the goals that they will get will be simple ones, but they won't get that many because Arsenal don't create enough for them.

19:29Dan Thomas:It's certain managers... I don't know why they made him go because he's absolutely freezing.

19:32Frank Leboeuf:It's Friday night. No, keep him. It's certain managers speak here because, listen, listen, if Xochrez was scoring every game, goal a game, and he was firing them in, then all this horses for courses chat about winter, They're playing a big physical team, they'll play Xhocres. When they're playing somebody that'll sit deeper, they might play half or something. If Xhocres was scoring every week, it wouldn't matter who they were playing. He plays every week.

19:57Dan Thomas:Shall we see if we can count to 100 in Spanish?

20:00Frank Leboeuf:Okay, yeah. See?

20:03Dan Thomas:Nade, we're going to let you go. We know it's Friday night.

20:06Shaka Hislop:Oh, thank you so much. We know you're freezing. Kay, you've always been my favourite. Forget Craig Burley. Kay, you've always been my favourite. Half a job. I'm done.

20:14Frank Leboeuf:Hey, as usual, half a job. leaving halfway through the show.

20:17Shaka Hislop:I'll do the other half in a couple of weeks.

20:19Frank Leboeuf:Yeah, yeah.

20:20Shaka Hislop:You're getting half paid for this one tonight.

20:22Dan Thomas:Bye, Nadam. Thank you so much. If you want more, Nadam, you can go and check out the Jules and Nadam show. It's wherever you get...

20:29Frank Leboeuf:Hey, I'm trying to house gab. I'm telling you.

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21:11Shaka Hislop:Control the daily operations of your business and transform your maintenance program. Go to maintainx.com slash sports. That's maintain and the letter x dot com slash sports. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Guard Tegamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit vivgartmyway.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T myway.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgart Hattrulo.

21:53Shaka Hislop:Brought to you by Argenics.

21:55Dan Thomas:Vivgart Tudor has agreed to become the Tottenham interim head coach until the end of the season. When you take a look at his resume, his last role was at Juventus last year. They finished fourth after he was named interim on March 23rd. He was sacked the following season in October after an eight-game winless streak. Before that, he resigned at Lazio after 11 games as manager. So we wanted to get a little word from Julian Aron on what he had to say about what Tudor will bring. He said he'll bring all the discipline and authority that Frank never had. He's a good tactician with a clear structure and a back three.

22:31Dan Thomas:I think it could work on a short term to make this team better. However, he is not a coach to build things with, as we saw at Juventus or Marseille, where he only stayed a year and less than a year.

22:46Gab Marcotti:Spurs don't have three centre-backs. Do they?

22:49Frank Leboeuf:They've got three. One of them is always injured. The other one is always suspended. The other one can't play. You just feel Tottenham are flapping about in the water here. This is a left field appointment, isn't it? He's a big, rugged defender. I played against him for Croatia. He's a big, rugged defender. He's got some managerial experience, but he's not stayed in jobs very long. I know this is an interim job and so forth, but yeah, we'll see how it goes. I just feel this club really just go from one extreme to the other on a constant basis.

23:26Dan Thomas:So the players have got five days off now because they don't need to play for a while. What's the first thing he needs to do now that he's taken on this role until the end of the season with this Spurs team?

23:36Gab Marcotti:Well, he needs to get them on his side. He needs to get them listening to him and get them to do what he wants them to do. Ultimately, that's... Sometimes with coaches, we talk a lot. And sometimes what we're saying isn't always right. But if you can convince your players that what you're saying is the right thing, then they'll follow you. So that's what he has to do. He's got a short period of time to get them in line and get them organised and get them playing together. He doesn't need to come in and start with the tactics and we're going to do this and that. What he has to do is galvanise the team and get them together so that they fight for each other from the first minute to the last minute so that they pick up enough points through sheer desire and fight.

24:26Gab Marcotti:All of those things that underdogs normally have, the will to win and the fight and the togetherness. if he installs that in them it doesn't matter whether they play three at the back or four at the back, that's what they need in order to get enough points to stay in the Premier League that's all he has to do he was a big rugged defender

24:47Frank Leboeuf:for Croatia and Juventus and other clubs and he needs to somehow get a hold get Van de Ven and Christian Romero because that's their two best centre backs maybe he's going to play a three, who the hell knows but he needs to make sure he can keep them on the field together as a partnership and add to it if he wants, but he needs Christian Romero. He needs to get in his head. Even if Christian Romero leaves at the end of the season or whatever goes, when a new manager comes, it doesn't matter. He has to get this guy screwing the nut, as we would say a little bit, you know, engaging the brain, which I'm not sure he can do.

25:22Frank Leboeuf:But he's going to have to try and say, listen, I need you on the field. You have to think more about your decision-making on the park, because I need you on the park. I don't need you having three and four match suspensions. every six weeks. It's no good to anybody. So he needs to do that. He needs to find a balance in the middle of the park, I think, which they really have struggled with. There's been a lot of changes for Tottenham in the middle of the park. I know there's been a lot of injuries, but there's still been a lot of changes. And he's just got to find that. He's got to find some continuity.

25:49Frank Leboeuf:But I can just imagine most of the Tottenham fans going, who the hell has he got to know?

25:53Dan Thomas:No big deal enough. London Derby coming up for him.

25:56Frank Leboeuf:Yeah. It's easy start. Maybe she'll have waited.

25:58Dan Thomas:It's easy start. YouTube is where you need to stay and subscribe. If you want to keep up to date with all the latest talking points from the Premier League, you can do that over on our YouTube channel. Just find ESPN FC.

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27:51Dan Thomas:So the morning after the night before, sport went with total disaster. But let's get word from Hansi Flick speaking after that game and that big loss to Athleti.

28:02Frank Leboeuf:We didn't play like a team. The distance between everyone was too long.

28:12Shaka Hislop:too long and I think it's also a situation where we don't press how we want it. In the first 45 minutes we get a great lesson for us and sometimes it's good to get in the right moment.

28:26Frank Leboeuf:We have to accept this lesson and then we have to make things better.

28:29Shaka Hislop:And also, we have to start from the beginning. And when you saw the players from Atletico, they have more will, they have more hunger to score goals like that. and this is what I want from the beginning, from the first minute and in the first 45 minutes we didn't show that.

28:48Frank Leboeuf:We start with yellow cards, okay? Normally in the first action with a foul to Balde, it's a yellow card.

28:59Shaka Hislop:Sicuro, it's a yellow card. And then everything is maybe different. But he invited them to play like this and the second yellow card was what it could be. So it's totally different. But I want to... Yeah, come on. For me it's a mess. It's a mess like that and they have to wait... I don't know, how many minutes? Seven minutes? Seven minutes? Oh come on. What come on? They find something in these seven minutes, okay. For me, when I see this situation, was clear no offside. was clear no offside but at the end maybe they could see something different but tell us, tell us and there's no communication and this is so bad here

29:46Frank Leboeuf:What do you want to pick up from that Craig? Well he's absolutely correct about the VAR that was ridiculous Stevie would just say I still can't get my head around that but that's been and gone in one sense he's praising Atletico Madrid for their fierce start their aggression their intensity their desire to go and win the game and press and in another breath he wants them yellow carded for challenges I don't think it's a time if I'm being honest and he's said a lot of things right over the last 18 months in Barcelona there's been a lot to enjoy about what his team have done and what he's said but I don't think when your team have played as badly as they have and particularly in the first 45 and your team were an absolute shambles.

30:36Frank Leboeuf:Probably we've laughed at some of these games in La Liga the way they've defended, right? Stevie and I. Watching games on a Sunday before we're going on air and how they are participating in this crazy defending but getting away with it. What we saw in this first half was worse than anything we have seen in Hansi Flick's tenure and from a defensive aspect because I make no bones about it and Stevie picked up in one where they play an offside in the halfway line it easily easily could have been 6-0 at halftime and for Hansi Fleck to be talking about yellow you know debatable yellow cards for early challenges then I'm sorry but he's just barking completely up the wrong tree because the problem was not the officiating per se, apart from the VAR shambles.

31:27Frank Leboeuf:The problem wasn't the officiating, the problem was Barcelona were a complete and utter shambles. Not just defence, but he's right about the spaces and everything, but when you have those spaces and you're not pressing the ball as well, your defenders cannot step as high as they are. The two things don't go hand in hand. So you have to recognise that. He has to take this one in the chin. They were absolutely awful, but as I said, after this live game, strangely enough, I don't think they're out of it. Because they can't... We've seen Atleti. They are... Jekyll and Hyde. And we've seen Barcelona at home.

32:06Frank Leboeuf:They can score four or five against anybody. So it's theoretically not over. But what he... The direction he went down, I think was a bit disappointing for me, actually.

32:17Dan Thomas:Let's talk about the Atleti direction that they took from very early on, what were you discussing, and just showing the tone that they were setting and how much they were going out for this aggressively, Stevie.

32:26Gab Marcotti:Yeah, I mean, at home, such a big game, crowd behind you. If Barcelona didn't expect this sort of start, with his Leti getting in their face, then Hansi Flick and his players are in dreamland. But then after that, when things are not going your way, regardless of how good you are going forward, you have to have some sort of other plan. when things are not going your way. You can't just turn around and say, well, that's the way we play. Because if that's what you're going to do all the time, then you better get ready for more results like this. Because when you play as badly as a defence as Barcelona did, I'm telling you, I don't care who they're playing next.

33:08Gab Marcotti:They're stepping on the field, thinking about what happened the last game. Now, if they're going to go far in the Champions League and going to play against other real good teams going forward, then they're not winning the Champions League. I mean, it's just ridiculous. It was funny to begin with, because you're saying, well, he can't keep doing this. Eventually they're going to change. Well, they're not. And unless the middle of the park is at their best, closing the ball down, this is going to happen a lot more. And you can't hope to win the Champions League and La Liga and every other big tournament if you're gambling, because that's what you're doing.

33:46Gab Marcotti:Every time they step on the field, they're gambling. you can't get away with it forever if they don't win La Liga and they're still the favourites

33:54Frank Leboeuf:but if they don't win it against a poor dishevelled Real Madrid side that'll be the reason they've got a brilliant goalkeeper in Jean Garcia but he's not Superman so that will be the reason it won't be because Lewandowski or Ferran Torres or Laminya Mal or Rafinha or Fermin Lopez or Pedri's out for a month it won't be that it'll be that defence but the other side of it the coin was, it seemed like a universal thought process after that game that everybody went, why can't we see this from Atleti more often? It was exciting to watch. It was fun. It was full of pace. And you just think, where is this on a regular basis?

34:35Frank Leboeuf:Because the argument that they don't have the players is wrong. I mean, they might not have the best players in the Liga, but they have some really good players that can play like this. and that is the big question is why do they do it and when they do it they do it pretty well but why is it sporadic why is it not most weeks you can't always do it most weeks but you can go out with the intention to try and do it which they don't seem to do and that's the frustration thing for me watching this at Lettyside with some of the players that they have that they could they could do this a lot more often go for the jugular go after teams and put them under that amount of pressure particularly at the Metropolitano but for some reason Levante will pitch up or Oviedo will pitch up or Elchi will pitch up and it'll be drab there's just no rhyme no reason behind it because that was a brilliant display from Simeone's men

35:29Dan Thomas:we'll see if we get more of that from Athletic going forward with what's left of the season in La Liga they will be back in action it's a Madrid derby Rayo Vallecano they're up against on Sunday as for Barcelona they're back in action a Catalan derby on Monday they're up against Girona and that game is available on ESPN2.

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37:52Dan Thomas:Football W has you covered every single week. On Tuesday, you can catch up with Christina Alexander and Natalie Astrayan, 8.30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.

38:03Frank Leboeuf:You were on it this week, were you?

38:05Dan Thomas:I was, I made my Football W debut.

38:07Frank Leboeuf:Getting around, aren't we? Getting around. Tell you what, if Nader Manuha's not on Extra Time, I'm going to, it might be a walkout.

38:13Dan Thomas:Extra Time's on the way next, stick around.

38:15Frank Leboeuf:Seriously.

38:20Dan Thomas:Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time, just Craig and Stevie, because Nader Manuha's a part-timer. Well, you know.

38:26Frank Leboeuf:Honestly. There's too much of this now, I have to be honest. It's soft. It's soft. Soft. Oh, it's cold. Oh. Oh, Natham was like, before the game, he was like, Natham, what do you think of this game? Oh, tough, it's cold here. Then it snowed, he was cold again, he was showing at half time like that, and then he was like, I just wanna go home, a hot cup of cocoa, this job's hard.

38:53Dan Thomas:Something -

38:53Frank Leboeuf:And then we got soft, you know, we got soft producers letting them go. Emrod. It's gonna be hard there, stay to the end.

39:01Dan Thomas:Something amazing happened today though, that I've not seen often on this panel. What? Phil Parkinson from Wrexham spoke.

39:07Frank Leboeuf:He should have been fined.

39:08Dan Thomas:And you guys? He should have been fined. You're really happy with what you heard.

39:10Frank Leboeuf:No, well, I wasn't happy before the game when he called Nottingham Forest, Notts Forest. Notts Forest, notts. That's a fine.

39:16Dan Thomas:But he made up for it, right? Well, not quite. In the post-match. What did you like, Stevie?

39:21Gab Marcotti:Well, he didn't complain about how many games they've got. It was, well, we've got a squad and we're going to use the squad. That's what it's for. And we love the FA Cup and the fans love the... I mean, it was just... That's what you should be saying. How lucky are you to be playing football or managing a football team?

39:38Frank Leboeuf:All you want to do is complain about everything. And then the other thing that him and I perked up with was, and will you be having the players in tomorrow because you've got a busy schedule, will they be having a day off? And he didn't say, no, no, they'll be coming in and they'll be going to see our 54 masuces. And our 84 sports scientists. He said, we're having a day off. And the only thing he didn't say, he just let himself down. He said, well, they can have a day off and they can have a pint. Aye. No, but he's kind of old school, isn't he, in a sense that he, you know, he had a good run in the FA Cup, I believe, a few years ago with Bradford.

40:14Frank Leboeuf:I think they knocked Chelsea out. Might have been Mourinho's Chelsea at the time. I stand corrected. And so I think he gets it as a player who's, you know, been around the block and how important the FA Cup is. He's juggling this phenomenal story and I suppose pressure as well with Wrexham just coming up the divisions. Most people said to get to the championship, they're going to get their head knocked off. They're going to find out how tough it is. And they did to start with, but he's manoeuvred them into the playoff positions. And the Premier League is within touching distance.

40:48Dan Thomas:I love Wrexham, but I'll be fuming if it takes one season in the championship. And that's all it is. Well, even more so there. But even if Meadowsburg go up? No, of course not. But all those years, we can't get out. I like Wrexham, so I don't mind. Just don't want it to be at Meadowsburg's detriment. No, you don't like Wrexham. I like them.

41:05Frank Leboeuf:You said it was a horrible place. When have you ever said I like Wrexham? To be fair, if you come from Meadowsburg, Wrexham's like Santa Monica, isn't it? It's like Palm Beach.

41:19Dan Thomas:Absolutely. You're from Borough. Many parallels.

41:22Frank Leboeuf:Well, we've had some places tonight. You've got Meadowsburg. you had Wrexham, we had a game at Hull. Oh good grief. Yep, you've got Macclesfield again coming up. The only thing missing was Grimsby.

41:31Dan Thomas:Yeah. Craig, you are head coach. Who are your two assistants from FC? Dan Kay and Alexis can be included.

41:40Frank Leboeuf:What do you mean?

41:41Dan Thomas:If you're a head coach, who are your two assistants from ESPN FC? You get a job as head coach wherever it may be. Who are you bringing with you?

41:49Frank Leboeuf:Quite simple, isn't it?

41:53Frank Leboeuf:It's him and Xhaka, isn't it? He's got all the experience. He might stop me from punching a few. And Xhaka will just be the... He's the guy that's just laid back going, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Xhaka's the dressing room peacekeeper.

42:16Dan Thomas:Are you going to take the job, though, Steve? Why?

42:18Frank Leboeuf:Who is Mariner? Right, Paul. God bless his, God rest his soul, he's not with us. What was Mariner like though, as an assistant? Was he like a peacekeeper? How did he make that, when you were fuming with the players, or a player, you were really annoyed. How did he do?

42:35Gab Marcotti:Well, he was the go-between between me and definitely the ones that I was giving volleys to. Yeah. But no, he was... Was he good like that? Oh, he was... I was going to say he had a nose for the job.

42:55Frank Leboeuf:That might come across the wrong way.

42:57Gab Marcotti:He did have a big nose. Because he knows football and he can read the temperature in the room, he can read the temperature of the gaffer or whoever it is, and he would just, without being told or without saying anything, he would just smooth things over. But when it needed, he would put the hammer down as well. And then I would turn around and do what he normally did. But 90 % of the time, he was the guy that just went around and spoke to the lads and any problems and keep your eye on him or, I mean, it was fantastic. And then in the game, we'd be sat in the game and he'd just be sat at me and going, what was you thinking about this?

43:43Gab Marcotti:And I'd be like, no. Well, what if we did that? I'd be like, no. And I'd go, along with you, I'd quite like the sound of that. So, yeah, it was great.

43:51Frank Leboeuf:I mean, when you're a manager there, you're going to have a group of players and some of them are going to like you, some of them are going to love you and some of them are going to hate you, right? It's just the way it is when you're a manager. But you can imagine Paul. I don't think there would have been any of them who would have disliked him. So, you know, he could take all the hate for the decisions that he has to make, but you can imagine Paul being in there and the players just respecting him and being the way he was so perfect I did like your nose line

44:20Gab Marcotti:I was

44:21Dan Thomas:I'm sure he would have left it oh he would have left it

44:23Gab Marcotti:oh what I didn't even mention his teeth I could have mentioned it

44:29Dan Thomas:what is most surprising about this season so far Liverpool struggles Brentford in contention for Europe or Forrest now onto their fourth manager rank in order

44:42Gab Marcotti:You've got to go with Brentford It's the biggest surprise, isn't it?

44:47Frank Leboeuf:Well I'm not surprised at Nottingham Forest Because the ownership is And they brought Edou in It's a bit crazy The Liverpool and Brentford thing Myself included at the start of the season Said, right Who's going to catch Liverpool? And it just was not I don't think anybody could have envisaged Liverpool being in this fight for the top five, four of five. But also, I'll be honest, I think I had Brentford as one of the teams to be relegated. Because when I saw they lost Visa, Mbemo, Fleck in the goalie, although they brought Kelleher in, he's a very good goalie. Norgard to Arsenal. Obviously Mbemo to Man United.

45:26Frank Leboeuf:I thought, how the hell are they going to... They're giving Keith Andrews the job. Frank Quint. Huh?

45:30Dan Thomas:It was Frank Quint.

45:32Frank Leboeuf:Yeah, Frank goes. Keith Andrews who was there gets the job but he's a rookie. The best players go, they're a small club anyway. You think this is going to go downhill badly but no, it's been very good, brilliant.

45:46Gab Marcotti:I think it has to be Liverpool actually on reflection. Yeah. Because in many ways Brentford are the Forrest of last year. You know because Will had Forrest getting relegated last season and they ended up well... They're playing better football than Forrest.

46:02Frank Leboeuf:They are, but they almost ended up in the Champions League.

46:06Gab Marcotti:So it's kind of happened two years in the trotter. So it would have to be Liverpool. Yeah, because we didn't give... I mean, straight off the bat, without a ball being kicked, we were all like, who's going to beat Liverpool? Liverpool, Brentford, Forrest.

46:19Frank Leboeuf:It's ironic that Forrest are obviously in this tough fight. And I'm not saying this is the case, but I'm sure deep down, if Nuno Espirito Santo keeps West Ham up and they are the side to knock and he is the manager to knock Forrest down, it's going to be bittersweet for him the way that all ended at Nottingham Forest with Maranakis, bearing in mind the job that that guy did at the club. So it's kind of some irony in the offing because it looks like at the moment it's either West Ham or Forrest. Maybe there'll be one or two more get dragged in, but that's how it looks at the moment.

46:58Dan Thomas:Okay, Paul put them in order, right? They were Paul Brentford Forest. Okay, Stevie, if Chelsea keep winning games, will you finally say something nice about them?

47:10Frank Leboeuf:It's a bit harsh, isn't it? Paranoia. It's alive and well. Look at who's in it.

47:19Dan Thomas:Look at the name. What? Look at the handle.

47:25Frank Leboeuf:And she'll lift. It's not a shoelift big enough to make a difference.

47:35Gab Marcotti:It knickled you that one, didn't it? It did. There's no need for that. That's not fair.

47:38Frank Leboeuf:No, it's not fair. You're laughing at his... He would laugh at me too.

47:42Dan Thomas:The fact that he's vertically challenged. He said I couldn't cook the other week, so...

47:48Frank Leboeuf:Dan's shoelifts.

47:53Gab Marcotti:Are you waiting to have seen something? I just don't want to. It's up nice. Do you like the kit? Well done for winning today.

47:59Dan Thomas:Okay, thank you.

48:00Gab Marcotti:There you go.

48:01Dan Thomas:Last question. Nice enough. Yeah, let's see how nice you actually are. For the guys, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. What was the most romantic thing you ever did for your wives? Stop. What was the most romantic thing you ever did for you? Next question.

48:14Frank Leboeuf:Stop.

48:15Dan Thomas:I don't want to do something really romantic. No.

48:17Frank Leboeuf:Whoa, whoa. Stop.

48:18Dan Thomas:You're going on a romantic guest. No.

48:21Frank Leboeuf:Let's go. End the programme.

48:23Dan Thomas:Stevie, I bet you've got a bit of a programme. It's in you.

48:25Frank Leboeuf:the programme. Yeah, right.

48:29Dan Thomas:Yeah, I can't let you... This is not a question for him and I.

48:32Frank Leboeuf:There you go.

48:35Dan Thomas:We're going to wrap it up there. We love you all. Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow. Make sure to join us on it. ESPN FC, available every single day.

48:47Shaka Hislop:From 30 for 30 Podcasts.

48:57Frank Leboeuf:Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gunned down.

49:02Shaka Hislop:The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he scrapped it. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They're placing the arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.