Chelsea's Post Maresca Mess

21:08but for me it's now advantage Arsenal Football Club.

21:12Dan Thomas:Advantage Arsenal Football Club says Jan right now. When we get the panel's predictions though, I'm not too sure that that is how you see it, Jan. You think that they're going to drop points here against Bournemouth? I think they will because I think there are games like this. I was talking about Manchester City going to Forest, going to Sunderland, get away with four points and these are the crucial ones. I mean, great win against Aston Villa. First half, a bit more equal, maybe advantage Aston Villa But I think this is a test. So I was predicting that my two fellow teammates here will go for an Arsenal win, so I go for a draw.

21:46You don't agree, Craig? No, Bournemouth had a great, honestly. It was just such a great start to the season. They lost Zabane to PSG, lost Houston to Real Madrid, lost Kirkus to Liverpool, amongst one or two others. And yet, at one point, early in the season, I think they were in the top four. It was quite amazing. But since then, there's been quite a big drop-off in their form. And so I just think Arsenal are going to be too strong. I think they'll grind them down in the end and get the result.

22:17Dan Thomas:You too, Stuart? Yeah, I saw Bournemouth play at Brentford. Not the last game, the game before. They were better at Chelsea. They got a 2-0 draw at Chelsea. But the game against Brentford was one of the worst performances I've seen for a long time. Defensively, they were all over the place. They didn't compete in midfield. Physically, they were outfought by a Brentford side. And I think Arsenal would do that to them. I think it's going to be a comfortable win for Arsenal. They've been there before and done exceptionally well. I think the first game of the season a couple of years ago, they won 4-0.

22:45I think it could be one of those sort of performances.

22:47Dan Thomas:Yeah, OK. So all the boys will be back with us on Extra Time. And you can stay up to date with everything that they have to talk about every single day over on our ESPN FC YouTube channel. If you run a residential construction business, you're always looking for ways to boost profit margins. Between managing change orders, crews, billing, and timelines, it's easy to miss out on high-margin service work. That's where Service Titan comes in. It's the all-in-one software built for service and construction, giving you real-time visibility into project profitability and powerful membership templates that help drive recurring revenue.

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24:41Dan Thomas:is fulham against liverpool and everybody is predicting more dropped points for liverpool however stuart robson and yanaga fiotov have been a little bit harsher than you craig stuart you You say Fulham are going to win this one? Yeah, I've seen nothing from Liverpool over the last two games against two teams down at the bottom, Leeds United and Wolves. Yes, they beat Wolves, but they were fairly fortunate in the end because they didn't play particularly well against Wolves and Wolves out-battled them in the second half and made lots of chances. So I don't see Liverpool playing particularly any better against Fulham.

25:14Fulham got a good draw against Crystal Palace. They've got some decent players. They're enjoying a good run of form. Jimenez is starting to get back to form. Even Smith-Rowe is starting to play quite well. They're the biggest signing. And Liverpool show no sort of creativity at the moment. There's no cohesion. They've still got one or two problems defensively. And they're lacking confidence. And I don't think at the moment the manager knows how to sort it out. So I see a Fulham win.

25:38Dan Thomas:OK. Now, Jan, yesterday on the show, Craig had heard about your tweet. Your I-told-you-so tweet about Florian Vert. What you'd had to say about Florian Vert anyway. But, yeah, it was a tweet. to begin with. And then we'd asked him about it on the show, and so he'd brought it up on the show. So maybe it's a good job you didn't meet each other in Nottingham, because I don't think he was going to be too favourable as to what you had to say. You, Jan, said, I'm not one for what did I tell you, but what did I tell you? He will turn into one of the best around. And, of course, this was Florian Vert's performance in the Wolves game.

26:08Dan Thomas:So defend your tweet, Jan. Well, first of all, they played a mighty Wolverhampton, who kind of went to Old Trafford, took a point. Fantastic. got that third point in the Premier League. I think Florent Wies were very good in that game. He was also very good against Real Madrid. That was my only defence after the Leeds game because against Leeds, there was something about Florent Wies that I haven't seen before. I've seen him, now I'm on the weak side of my argument. I think against Leeds, his decision-making was terrible. I think he was very slow on the board. That's the first time I've seen that because I'm used to see his head like back in the days with Gerrard and Lampard.

26:48We're all over the place to anticipate what was going on on the pitch. A couple of three times in that game, he was all on the box and then he took too much time. So, yes, I can defend my tweet after the Wolverhampton game. And I tell you, okay, you are now the 250 ,000th reply that I've had on that tweet because there was a lot of other Arsenal fans and Manchester United fans that don't fancy Florianvich, surprisingly enough.

27:14Dan Thomas:Yeah, we did bring up some of those responses, remember, the other night, Jan, but there's been a response here in studio from Craig to what you had to say. I just think he's been disappointing. Very disappointing. I mean, you cannot justify anything against Wolverhampton Wanderers, who at the time had two points. I mean, we have our colleague here, Jan Agafiotov, was beaten in a race with a man dressed as a fish. And I think he could still score against Wolverhampton Wanderers. I love Florian Wirtz. I'm sorry. I love him. He's my favourite player. Sorry, I'm biased. I'm biased. It's you guys that cover German football.

27:52You just can't let it go. Anybody that comes in from Germany. Florian Wirtz is a terrific player.

27:59Dan Thomas:We were all excited about him, watching him for Leva Kuzn every week, weren't we? Listen, I liken it in a sense there's been others. Do you remember Antoine Griezmann makes this move to Barcelona? He's going to be the best. He's having Messi. It doesn't quite work out. He's not terrible, but doesn't quite work out. It's not really... They're not a good fit. Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool was terrific. When he came from Inter, everybody thought, well, Inter, you know, they're selling them. He was brilliant at Liverpool. Hence the reason Barcelona paid a fortune for him. And he was terrible at Barcelona, because it wasn't a good fit.

28:37So, what Florian Veltz did at Leverkusen is what he did at Leverkusen. And it was brilliant. And he is a brilliant player. But we have to judge thus far, and it's only thus far, what he has been for Liverpool. And as 150 million-plus player dollars, he's been... I mean, if I'm saying he's been average, he's been dropped out of the team. They don't know where to play him. He is weak in possession. He hasn't really... He's called against Wills, but he hasn't really taken a game and done stuff that gets the fans off their seat and go, wow, my God, this is... We haven't seen anything from him. And I keep going back to this.

29:17What he does for Germany and what he did for Leverkusen matters not a jot in the eyes of Liverpool fans around the slot, who by the way... But don't you think that... Is under pressure. Craig, yes, I see your point. He can't do anything with his price and his fee. But, I mean, if you take the whole Liverpool team, I mean, how many? Sobotsdam? No, but that's a soft argument. No, no, no, it's just an argument. I will end my argument. And I think that you're right. I mean, he's been a disappointment. Watson? Yeah, but anyway, it's hard when you get into that team. This is a young kid coming from Germany, more or less coming from his mum's and dad's house.

29:58So I see your point. Absolutely. And that's why I've been impressed with Akiteke, because he's gone into the same team and taken his position. and Florian Wieshassen. So I take that point. So I know I need a very good lawyer to defend my tweet. At no point will I sit here ever and say Florian Wieshassen is not a good player. He's a terrific player. Him and Musiala in Germany. And, you know, Lennart Carroll we're seeing coming through at Bayern Munich. And there are probably others. At no point am I even suggesting that. But we have to take it at face value. At the moment in time, We have to take it for the first half of the season.

30:38Thus far, it's been a big, big... Now, you can look at Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk, but they've all done it for Liverpool. They've all been there. They've done it for Liverpool. They've done it at that club. The supporters that turn up know what they can do. Even when they play badly, they know what they can do. At the moment, the Liverpool fans, they don't know what Florian Virts can do because they haven't seen it.

31:02Dan Thomas:Robbo, you've obviously seen it. you saw him playing in Germany, you saw him for Leverkusen, now you're seeing him for Liverpool. What's your take on the situation? Well, Liverpool have always been, over the last few years, when they've been successful, a high-intensity team, people running in behind, Salah not coming back and then making those forward runs, playing at high pace, what did he, rock and roll football, as Klopp used to call it, and they did it a bit under Arna's slot. What they had a problem with was when teams dropped deep and it was too tight in the box and they wanted somebody to open up defences and be clever in and around the box.

31:32That's why they bought Florey and Verts, to do those things, when it was tight, to play little one-twos, dribble past people, get his little shots away, which he did on many, many occasions for Bayern Liverpool, go and find space out wide at times and make little runs there. He hasn't done it for Liverpool. He looks, and Jan said it, at times he's been caught on the ball. He's not aware of what's around him. So he's obviously, I think, playing with a complete lack of confidence because that's what happens when you're lacking confidence. You don't see what's going on around you. and he's just lost that ability to go past people really well and he's just not controlling games as he did for Bayer Leverkusen.

32:06He's got to get it right soon, otherwise it's going to be a real flop for him. Now, Jan and I could have discussed this over ten pints of Guinness at a Nottingham pub. Yep.

32:17Dan Thomas:Sliding doors, Jan. I tried to call Robin Hood and he was not home and then I didn't have any more on the list. The Sheriff of Nottingham was looking for you. But on a bigger note, Arne Slott, coming up to the second half of the season, hasn't got the answers thus far. Everything he did last year, pretty much, pretty much, you know, got his team selection good, certainly domestically. Not so much in Europe. In one or two of the cup competitions, they went out of Plymouth. He made some big changes. I think that was a mistake. But in the Premier League, he pretty much got it spot on. even when he was making substitutions.

32:57This year he's lost. He's just, you know, just because of the form of some of the players or whatever it is, and injuries or new signings, whatever. But he's lost. And he hasn't got any type of answer to it. And I think that's when you saw the graphic. I mean, Liverpool may win the game, but I think that tells you the story at the moment. The best at the moment, I've got them as a draw. The other guys have got... And that's when you find out how good a coach somebody is. not when they're winning games, when they're losing games, and suddenly you've got to try and change it. You've got to make decisions.

33:29And at the moment, as you just said, Arna Slott isn't making the right decision or doesn't seem able to get Liverpool to change their ways. They're struggling at the moment. I mean, I go back to you a little earlier in the season, and Jan mentioned Eketiki. And that was one of the head-scratchers. And we're talking about big decisions. It was early in the season, and we know Eketiki started the season really well. But we also know that Alexander Izak was also a big transfer. But it was a difficult transfer. It was drawn out and there was fitness issues. But yet, for some reason, Arne Slott was desperate to get Alexander Izak, an unfit, not very sharp Alexander Izak, into the team ahead of a guy who was putting his hand up from the community shield onwards.

34:13And Hugo Ekotiki saying, hey, I'm not phased by coming into this football club. I can score goals. I can link the play. I can come short. I can run the channels. And yet, Arne Slott, we're talking about big decisions. A couple of these big decisions at the start of the season, Chelsea away was one of them and that's where it started was Alexander Izak into the team. And then you have a front line with two players out of form. Alexander Izak and Mo Salah at the time. So, these big decisions for Liverpool that he's making or he's made so far this year have not gone very well. But it's not, I think it's not too when we talked about the title battle, it's not to both of them to see what happened to Liverpool last season when they were struggling.

34:55They had Salah who could make that 1-0 goal, could make that match-winning goal. You have a striker, you have a goal-getter, have a great, great season. At the beginning of the season, they somehow got some results, Liverpool this season. But I think that's going to be very decisive now at the second half of the season, how they can get Salah back in business. Because if not, it could be a very sad season for Liverpool.

35:18Dan Thomas:So none of our boys tonight have gone in favour of Liverpool. I wonder what their thoughts are on Manchester United. He'll be facing Leeds at Elland Road in the early game on Sunday. Craig and Stewart are both saying a draw. Jan Agafiosov sees Leeds beating Manchester United 2-0. Jan? Yeah. Yeah, this is a big game. I mean, I'm a bit older and I know that Leeds United against Manchester United, that was the big one. I was crying in the middle of the 70s when they sold Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen to Manchester United. You know what I'm saying. I saw Leeds United the last month, good organised. We would have said four or five weeks ago they would be struggling.

36:01Now they kind of find a momentum. I think it's a fantastic, good timing for them to get Manchester United at Allen Road. I mean, they even saved some of the best players at Anfield to make sure that they win at home against Manchester United. That's why my tip is 2-0 Leeds. Yeah, they are going to be missing Ampadu's suspension, but he's been a tidy player for them. But Jan's right, Daniel Farke, they're starting to get a bit of confidence. They'll probably play Calvert-Lewin and Okafor because Man United are pretty weak at the back. They have some injuries, they have players away. And being at Ellen Road, and I think they showed this against Liverpool, that that crowd can really push this Leeds team forward.

36:43And I think there is a belief now in Yorkshire that this Leeds team can stay up. I mean, they're in a decent position. They've got a few points of a gap, but they're actually playing some decent stuff now. And they've got two or three players with Mecha as well up front that are physical. They can put balls in the box. If they get crosses in the box for Calvert-Lewin and Okafor, whoever it is, I think they can cause this Man United team a lot of problems. And Ruben Amarim at the moment, he just doesn't have the answers, the decisions that he makes. I mean, what's this bring? this light for light centre-half changes around the 70-minute mark is just baffling to me.

37:18I mean, some of the decisions he makes are just baffling. And I think this is a team low in confidence. I think this is a team that doesn't really believe in their manager. And I think that's the opposite of Leeds. They know what they are and they're getting better. They're at home. And whether I go for a draw, I think I went for a draw. Yeah, I could squeeze out a win, but definitely a draw at worst.

37:39Dan Thomas:Robbo, you went for a draw as well. And obviously with Manchester United, We're seeing missing players. We're seeing decisions like this from Amarim. We're seeing formation changes. Well, you just put up a team there on the graphic. Does that team frighten you? I watched them in the last game. And although it was a back four, or it said it was a back four, quite often Dallow played quite high on the right-hand side and Shaw tucked in from the left-hand side. They were a back three again. And Dawgiel played as a left wing-back. So they're mixing up their formations. But Szczesko isn't doing enough as a centre-forward.

38:10Zerzi, I think, got taken off at half-time. Cunha is a good player, but they're missing Mbuomo. He was the player that was making them tick. He was the player that was causing problems to other teams and got Manchester United going again. But with him away, I just don't see where Manchester United win games. They just don't look a very good side. And as Craig said, they don't believe in the manager. The manager's not quite sure what he's doing. Manchester United at the moment aren't a good team.

38:34Dan Thomas:Yeah, Leeds against Manchester United coming up on Sunday. And more English football on the way right here on ESPN+. Plus, because we've got the FA Cup third round coming up in early January. Some of the games we've got highlighted here on ESPN2. Everton against Sunderland, 7.15 a.m. on January 10th. Portsmouth hosting Arsenal on January 11th. You can see this whole slice of action, all games available on ESPN+.

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40:46Dan Thomas:As we make a return to La Liga, this is how the table is looking right now. Barcelona on top with Real Madrid four points behind them in secondary. Now after 18 games played, and one thing we know for Real Madrid as that Kylian Mbappe will be out of action this weekend. He's got a sprain in his left knee. Word is out that he'll be out for three weeks. Alex Kirkland, our Madrid correspondent, joining us now. Stuart Robson's still with us. Tell us more, Alex. What's the latest on the Kylian Mbappe injury situation? Yeah, it's a real worry for Real Madrid, and it's a bit of a mystery exactly how long he'll be out for.

41:24You mentioned some reports that it could be up to three weeks. We know that he's ruled out for the Betis game this weekend for the Super Cup, he's not being ruled out definitively. We've been told that he's a serious doubt for that competition. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't travel with the team and they have him there as an option if they need him, if he's able to play some part. But we don't know exactly what the status of this knee. What we've been told is it's an injury that's been, it's the same injury that's been troubling him for a few weeks. You remember he missed the Man City game in the Champions League before Christmas with a slight problem.

41:56But after that, he played three games in a week against Alaves, against Talavera in the Copa del Rey and against Sevilla as he was chasing that club record for goals in a calendar year at the end of the year matching Cristiano in the end he's come back after the Christmas break had this open training session I think it was on on Wednesday and had this scan which subsequently revealed this the extent of this problem but like I say we're not being told definitively how long he'll be out for and the big question is the Supercopper because it's the first trophy of the new year. It's the first sort of big test post-Christmas break for Xabi Alonso and the team, who went into Christmas under so much pressure.

42:34And so being without their best player, their top scorer, with a trophy on the line, the first trophy of the season, would be a real blow for Madrid. A top scorer by some distance as well, by the way. I suppose, Alex, we've been on this Christmas mini-winter break, but I suppose we're on manager watch again, aren't we, with Alonso? It's not going to go away, is it? Even though it was severe they beat at home, but it wasn't a great performance. They have Betis at the weekend. They have the Supercopa on Thursday. I'm presuming we're in the exact same position, and he is, Xabi Alonso, that we were before this sort of mini-break.

43:10Yeah, this is going to keep hanging over the team until not just results pick up, but performances pick up as well, because they got those results, as you say, before Christmas, but they still weren't playing particularly well. And as long as this team don't convince, those doubts about Xabi Alonso are going to continue now the Supercoppa is it's not the most important trophy of the season but it's a trophy and if they're going to win it they're going to have to beat Atletico Madrid in the semis and then either most likely Barca if not Athletic Club in the final if they were to go and win that trophy and do so playing pretty well that would be a big boost for Xabi Alonso and you know might convince the club to say okay we'll stick with him maybe until the end of the season if they don't if they crash out if they play badly that's going to ramp up the pressure.

43:52So, yeah, I agree. Nothing has really changed from where we were, you know, when they were losing at home to Celta, when they were losing to City. Even with that little winning run before Christmas, it didn't really change the vibes around the team, which has been pretty negative for a while now.

44:06Dan Thomas:And so with all this hanging over Xabi Alonso, Robbo, the one thing he doesn't want is a player he's relied on so heavily this season. He's been scoring the lion's share of the goals. In Kylian Mbappe, 29 goals and four assists from him, and now he's not going to be able to rely on him. Well, he's been the outstanding player. Of course he has. He's been absolutely brilliant. He scores goals out of nothing. He's been enthusiastic, which he wasn't in his first season. He's done most things right. So people like Vinny Jr., people like Rodrigo, who probably weren't Alonso's favourite players a little while ago, have got to step up.

44:38Gonzalo Garcia, who did well at the World Club Championship. He's got to go and get windballs in the box when crosses come in. Bellingham's got to make the right sort of runs. He's got to start scoring goals as well. and the midfield players have to dominate games. And Alex is absolutely right at the moment. Real Madrid not only have to win games, they have to win games convincingly and put in great performances for Alonso to be given any credit. And at the moment, when they win games, they do it in a very lethargic manner. And when they don't win, they're in big trouble. So Alonso is under pressure all the way through from now to the end of the season.

45:11It was that last game, and correct me if I'm wrong, The final game at the Bernabeu, the 2-0 win was Sevilla. Is that right, Alex? Yeah. Yeah. And Alex was at it. I think part of the problem, even in victory, and Alex touching this at the time, was performance. And it wasn't just performance at 11 against 11. It was the fact that Sevilla were as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than Real Madrid at home with 10 men. It's just not a good sell. It was not a good look. The fact that they were still in the game with a man down and still looked really dangerous and still backed Real Madrid up and still worked table courtois with less men on the field at home.

46:05And that aligned to the fact that they'd struggled in the Copa del Rey with the fact that Andre Lunen had to make this late great save to stop the game going to extra time in a match that he had felt the need to start Kelly and Mbappe, who was on the score sheet. But that was the risk that they took to start his star man in a game against a lower league team to try and win this game because the pressure was really on. And when you put all that in the melting pot, it's just not a good look. Now, things change, second half of the year. But this is five days, Sunday and Thursday, coming up against two of the better teams in La Liga.

46:49And it's sink or swim, I think, for Xabi Alonso. So things could either turn very quickly or they could go very sour very quickly, as they already are. And without Kelly and Mbappe, you're going to the well in St. Vinicius Junior, as Robbo said, and one or two others who you know, you know, they're not completely on board with you as a coach. And that's a very difficult situation to be in. I'll give you one thing, though. And Rob will mention Jude Bellingham's goals. He's looking a little sharper. He looked a little sharper going into the winter break than he did over the previous couple of months.

47:21Back on the score sheet, looking dangerous again. So that is a plus point for the manager.

47:26Dan Thomas:Well, let's get to the first of those games this coming week, Alex. It's against the other side from Sevilla in Betis. How are they going to fare against them? Yeah, well, if Muppé is out, then who replaces him is going to be the big question. There are a couple of options. Xabi has been quite happy with Rodrigo in the last few weeks. He's been scoring goals again after a long, long time without scoring goals. Do you bring Rodrigo into the middle? He actually prefers playing in the middle, Rodrigo, rather than playing on the right. And do you bring in someone else on the right-hand side? Or do you bring in Gonzalo Garcia, a player who did so well, as Robbo mentioned, at the Club World Cup and hasn't got many chances since.

48:00Now, it's worth mentioning that Madrid have actually played well without Mbappé. You know, we saw it against City. They were pretty good against City and Mbappé wasn't there. They had some good performances at the Club World Cup. It's going back a bit. But last summer when Mbappé wasn't involved either. So we've seen Alonso perform without Mbappé. Of course they miss him. Of course they miss his goals. But in terms of sort of the team's overall play and structure and stuff, they've often looked maybe a bit more cohesive and coherent without Mbappé on the pitch. So there are ways that you can say, OK, OK, maybe this is an opportunity for the team to start to function even without their best player.

48:32But, yeah, the big question is who's going to play through the middle. Will it be Rodrigo? Will it be Gonzalo Garcia? It can't be Hendrik, of course, because he's now joined Lyon on loan.

48:40Dan Thomas:Yeah, now the other team, Barcelona, they also had a bit of a scare when it came to their superstar this weekend coming. A scare for Laminia Mal, front cover of Sport, talking about it. What was the issue here, Alex? Was it an issue with his fitness or his health? Yeah, there have been different reports. Some talk of gastroenteritis, of a stomach bug. I mean, it was New Year's Day. So we've all felt a bit under the weather in the past on New Year's Day, haven't we? I don't know. What we're told is, and Hansi Flick said this today, is that he's fine to play. There's not going to be an issue. And Lamine has been posting on social media, on Instagram today as well, in the build-up to the derby, saying how much he's looking forward to it.

49:19So whatever the issue was in terms of missing training yesterday, he's fine and he's going to play. And that's good news for Barca. It breaks a toenail that's on the pages, isn't it?

49:28Dan Thomas:Yeah, well, they've got to fill those pages every day in Spain. Sports Daily is dedicated pretty much to both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Alex, we'll let you get some rest ahead of a big week ahead for both Real Madrid and Barcelona. We look forward to hearing more from you soon. And be sure to be with us for our Supercoppa action. Barcelona against Athletic coming up on Wednesday. And then on Thursday, it's Atletico against Real Madrid. both games available on ESPN Plus and ESPN2

50:01Dan Thomas:Early La Liga action two other Madrid clubs today Rayo Vallecano against Itafe and at the end of the first half is when we'd see the opening goal it comes from Jorge de Frutos for Rayo It shouldn't really, should it? As good a strike as it was goalkeeper Kenny threw it in

50:24Dan Thomas:However, late on in this one it would be 1-1 Arambari scoring the equaliser 1-1 it would finish They are mid-table clubs both of these teams Zatafé now find themselves in 10th which is where Rayo came into the rounding Rayo down in the bottom end of the table after dropping points in that game today Mola Liga action coming up to you this weekend as discussed though it will be a Catalan derby the Espanyol taking on Barcelona and Real Madrid on Sunday taking on Real Betis without Kylian Mbappe, also Real Sociedad against Atletico. Well, if I don't give you the call today, I'll give it to you Sunday morning.

51:02The call? You're in Real Madrid, aren't you?

51:05Dan Thomas:I am in Real Madrid, yes. I'm on El Cof. I have that second chance to cough all over you. Yes, let's see if I'll be coughing on Sunday's coverage or if I'll even make it. Maybe I can do it from my living room. Maybe. I recommend that. make sure to check out extra time over on our youtube channel every single day you can catch the boys answering your questions over there 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 efgar tigamide alpha and hyaluronidase qvfc it's injected under your skin subcutaneously.

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52:26Dan Thomas:Meanwhile in the Serie A, it was Cagliari against Mivan. Serie A! The Serie A! You don't like it. No. I'm allowed. 50th minute. Your husband's Italian. Rafael Leal with the only goal of this game. He does well there. Now he's a player. He's got, you know, would you say he could be one of the more frustrating players in all of European football? Oh, yes. Because he has so much patience, so much talent. And, you know, every now and again he does stuff like this, but he could do that. You feel every week with the talent he's got. Yep, so that's Milan with their three points under their belt, ahead of both Inter and Napoli playing their games this weekend.

53:05Dan Thomas:They sit top of the table after picking up their three points on Friday. Meanwhile, over in front, it was Toulouse against Lons. And we're taking it to the second half here for the goals in this game. Wesley Saeed capitalising here on a mistake in the box. And he's going to score the first goal of the match to put Lons ahead. Yeah, the classic case of getting a pass in the penalty area and trying to get it under control and getting caught. 85th minute, they extend their lead there. It was Thomason with the rebound. and then late on in this one they would put it beyond all doubt 95th minute 3-0 it would finish

53:51Dan Thomas:and you 3 points for Lanz and that's where they find themselves 4 points ahead of PSG having played a game more this is how things are looking right now in Ligue 1 Lanz having themselves a good season it is that time of year where you get to go and check out the transfer rumors over on our website espn.com make sure to do so on our transfer talk website and that's all we've got time for on the latest edition of espn fc he made it he'd have to stay here a little bit longer because extra time's on the way rob or anyan are answering your questions too stick around with us

54:36Dan Thomas:hello and welcome into the latest edition of extra time we've got robo we've got yan and we've got craig here in studio with us today surviving he's doing well there's a lot going around there is a lot going around it really is have you guys survived the season without getting any coughs or splutters yan well i've had a great christmas i had a chance then to meet craig as i have learned that I was very close to him in Nottingham. Happy that I didn't when I listen to his coughing now. But maybe you heard the show when I was doing a show together with Jules and we realised that we were sitting in the same building without knowing each other at Windsor.

55:16So, yeah, we're a beautiful family of Jules. I mean, it's a bit of a coincidence, Sean, isn't it? You know, maybe people are avoiding you. I don't know. I met him for breakfast. I didn't see you at breakfast in Nottingham. No, no, I was in the pub.

55:31Dan Thomas:Robbo, are you staying healthy? I've been staying healthy. Jan's not quite telling the truth, because off air he told me that he did know where Craig lived. He could have gone round there, but decided against it. I was at my son's house. He turned his phone off, he said. I was at my son's house. My two lads were at the game, and my wife and my daughter were at the game. I was watching the grandkids. But I was literally... His house is right on Trent. I mean, I'm looking at the Trent end of Forest Ground. Could literally throw a stone over the river at it, but I didn't... But let me say, I was at a game in Nottingham Forest, and Nottingham Forest is the most friendly club you can visit.

56:10Fantastic football club, and after the game, I was staying there because there was a misunderstanding about my transport. I was staying for a couple of hours up in a boardroom, so I had a great time there. So thank you, Nottingham Forest. Of course, and it was a very touching week, really, with John Robleson died, who was arguably nothing for his Scottish, nothing for his greatest ever player. So that was a, you know, he died, I think, on, it might have been Christmas Day, actually. So there was a bit of a thing there for him. You know, you go back to that era for people that don't know her. Slightly older viewers, or a lot older viewers will know, but younger viewers won't know.

56:51Nottingham Forest won two European Cups and some of the greatest players. He was an unbelievable wide player, but he passed on Christmas Day. So that was quite an emotional thing at Nottingham as well. It's a very friendly club. Not a huge stadium down there in Nottingham. But I think everybody that comes from Nottingham is very friendly. Yeah. But you know what was good? What was good about it? I know I didn't say anything, Stuart. But what was good about Nottingham Forest as well, some of the old legends from that time is walking around in the corridors. There was John McCowan, the legendary captain.

57:34There was Franz Clarke, Gary Birtles, the great number nine and so on. So great club, great club.

57:40Dan Thomas:Nice stuff. Okay, Craig, if you were in charge at Chelsea, would you have parted ways with Enzo? I think it would.

57:50I think it was mutual, was it not? I don't know. I mean, you can't... You can't be dictating or trying to dictate... ..your employment to, you know, billionaire owners and not be getting results, which he hasn't recently. You have to have a real sort of air of authority and irreplaceability. Is that a word?

58:19Dan Thomas:It is now. Well done, Kate. Yeah, I think it is. You can't, you know, you've got to make sure you are irreplaceable when you start making demands. And once you start making those demands and the club, whether you agree the way Chelsea's won or not, and I don't know how they do things, it doesn't look great to me, but it's how they do it. is once you do that, once you show that a sense of you might not be loyal to that club, even though loyalty is a word we band about and there is no real loyalty in football, when the club get a sniff of that, they will go and try and look elsewhere. When you hear about all the stuff that's coming out, I'm not really surprised, to be honest.

59:08We talked about this in the live show. It's not like it's one of the greatest managers ever and Chelsea couldn't afford to let him go. He's a good coach. He's done a decent job. But, you know, wherever they go, they will move on.

59:21Dan Thomas:But how are they going to get a top manager, Robbo, when we're hearing what we're hearing, that there's all this management inside and different people telling the manager what they must do? Well, like the players, they want to buy players at a young age and develop them. I think that's what they want to do with their managers. But the trouble is they're not going to develop them because they sack them after a year or so. Because they don't want a manager who's... We were talking on the show about Jurgen Klopp. You don't want somebody like Jurgen Klopp, or they don't want somebody like Jurgen Klopp who's going to tell them, no, I'm not going to listen to this.

59:49I'm not going to have five people tell me what I can do. I'm not going to have the medical department tell me which players I can and which players I can't play. I'm going to pick my own team. So they don't want a manager that's going to challenge them. So they're going to have young, inexperienced managers, like Mareska, not so young, but inexperienced. They're going to try and get that sort of manager and develop them and dictate to him what they do. So they're not going to get a top manager at the moment. Go ahead. In the newer history, I mean, it's Thomas Tuchel. Was it seven games he got?

1:00:16I mean, Thomas Tuchel is not a guy sitting around being told who's going to play. So I think that is going to be a new manager that will come in that they can kind of manage. But this is not like Pete Best leaving the Beatles. This is just go on.

1:00:33Dan Thomas:Can you see them making Champions League play? I'll go back to Sam here. and I don't know how accurate all this is regarding the medical department but isn't it I certainly know Robbo and I have had our fair share I'm not sure about Jan but he probably has but isn't it the medical department's job to inform a manager who's fit and who's not not the other way around is that, you know apparently the minutes that could be played and how long the players could be used for. Go on Stuart. I would always say that the medical, you should have a separate medical department that the player's injured, you go away with the medical department and you have it like a doctor's office, you know, or a proper rehabilitation clinic.

1:01:22They go and get their rehabilitation. Then the department, the medical department say, we've worked him hard, he's now fit to play, you know, we're going to play him in a reserve game, behind closed doors game, and he'll be fit to play next week. but what you can't do is start to say, oh, well, you can't play him in this game or you can only play 60 minutes in that game and you can only play 50 minutes in that game because then you're taking away what the manager wants to do tactically and he can't get any sort of cohesion. So that's where they go beyond where they should be going. But it depends how the...

1:01:51I don't want to labour this because it gets a bit tedious, but it depends how the conversation... See, there's always two sides to the story. It depends how the conversation goes. If a medical department is saying, 50 minutes, end the story, or let's just say an hour, an hour, end the story, that's it. To a manager, that's very in your face. But if a medical department says, listen, we're recommending that this player's coming back, as Robbins said, we've worked him hard, we've done this, and we're worried if he plays any more than this, there could be a recurrence of the injury. That's a different scenario.

1:02:27It depends how a conversation goes. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, but I guess there will have at least two sides of the story, because I think we should be aware now that there are so many, and we talked about that in the live show, that there's so many different truths coming out now. I mean, did he talk to Manchester City? Did he talk to Juventus? If so, OK, the fans would say, yeah, just let him go. So there is a lot of spinning now going around, and I think we should be a bit careful which one we believe in. We didn't have this nonsense in the old days when we had one physio. Bob Ward, Bob Ward, Craig.

1:03:05It was every time the back. He went from Chelsea to Middlesbrough. He was always the back. Wardley was at Chelsea and in Middlesbrough, Bob, I've got headaches. You're back. Bob, my toenails fell off. Back, back. To be fair, though, to be fair, he's not that far off. You know, your backing is the big bulk of it. But when we had one physio and one master, yeah, it wasn't great in the treatment. You used to queue up for treatment and all that, but we didn't have all this nonsense about who can play and who can't. You just got on with it. There's too many chefs in the kitchen now, isn't there? Hey, Kay, I have to tell you, you remember there was an old physio.

1:03:47We came to Middlesbrough. I was a record sighting at that time. That was before they exploded with Bambi and Juninho and all that. We had an old physio and John Henry had a problem with his knee. And he was actually standing like this on the chair. And then he went in like this. Ooh. Ooh. And he said he tried to take the energy out of the knees. That was Premier League in the 90s in England.

1:04:14Dan Thomas:Ah, I love that. Ooh. John Henry, my favourite. Sorry, Ian. All right. No problem. I could tell you a topical story about Leroy Rosina, but I'll leave it till next time. Okay. Yeah, well, might need some of those stories. Well, wait till his son gets the Chelsea job. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right. With Liverpool being as bad as they have, they're still sitting on fourth on the table, Robbo. Has the quality of the Premier League dropped significantly this season? What would you attribute it to? There's lots of sides that aren't playing at their very best, of course. There's lots of sides that are not quite sure what style of football they want to play.

1:04:51There's lots of sides that are passing the ball without penetrating. which I don't understand, you know, what's the point in passing the ball to find openings and then going back across the field again. So there's not enough penetration with some of the play. I'm not sure about some of the coaching that's going on. I see some terrible set plays, how-to-defend set plays. I see some really poor times when teams try and play high off sidelines, they get it all wrong. So there's lots of things that are wrong on the football field, but we're also seeing better footballers. You know, players are much better probably than they were 20 years ago in terms of their technical ability.

1:05:24So, you know, and there's, but if you look at the two sides at the top, they're the outstanding sides and the rest are some way below it. Liverpool aren't playing well enough. Chelsea aren't playing well enough. Newcastle have bad moments and good moments, too inconsistent. There's not enough sides playing at their peak at the moment in the Premier League.

1:05:46Dan Thomas:OK, for you, Craig, who's more likely to finish five? Chelsea, Manchester United or Spurs? Pfft! I've got to give it to you all, actually. Chelsea! Spurs! Spurs! Spurs! I mean... How about Chelsea? Pfft! Throw me a mid-table team in. Anybody? Spurs! Oh, my God. Man United! Pfft! Who's the most likely, then? Oh, Chelsea. Oh, my God. Spurs. I mean, I think I'd sooner watch Mourinho and Conte's Spurs. I definitely would than watch this current Thomas Frank version. He's already said in the last few days, I'll win the fans over. We'll wait and see. And Man United, I wouldn't hang anything on them.

1:06:37Chelsea are by far and away, regardless of recent results, a much better outfit, much, much better on their day than any of those two teams. It's not even close.

1:06:49Dan Thomas:Does anyone disagree? No? No? OK, we'll move on. Craig's absolutely right. Chelsea on their day are still a decent team. On their day, they're a decent team. The other two at the moment aren't. If you believe that Pep will see out his contract, Jan, with Man City until the summer of 2027, where do you think Maresco will manage next? Will he wait for a top job in the Premier League to open up or maybe seek a job in Serie A? I think this is quite interesting because Manchester City, I mean, up there were the biggest clubs in the world. And when the biggest clubs in the world hire a manager, they will have to try to go for the best, the most experienced one.

1:07:27There were always exceptions. We saw Winston Company coming from Burnley, taking over Bayern Munich. Well, it's worked out very well. When City picked up Guardiola, it was not like they picked him up from an iPad somewhere in Catalonia. Catalona? Catalana? Help me, Kay. You can have Catalonia.

1:07:44Dan Thomas:You can have Qatar. Yeah, you can have Qatar. Yeah, OK. In Spain. And when they didn't pick him, he was a very experienced manager. When Manchester United got Sir Alex Ferguson, he had great success with Aberdeen, winning European Cups and everything. Nowadays, it seems like the biggest jobs in the world will be given to some people to have a good experience of two or three seasons. I don't think that Maresco will go straight into a Manchester City. why should he? I mean he won the conference league yes he's a world champion as they call it and he was at Leicester why should Manchester City go for him?

1:08:23I don't get it I don't get it the big jobs need to I can understand the exceptions with Xavi Barcelona because it's a legendary status Xavi Alonso Real Madrid I get it but all this thing of giving them to young coaches the biggest jobs I can't see that I can't see it

1:08:40Dan Thomas:alright now obviously Brennan Johnson's gone to Crystal Palace, so we've got a question in about that. Considering Brennan Johnson was Spurs' top scorer last season and they can't find goals this season, do you think it was wise for Spurs to sell him? I mean, I haven't seen all the games. I know he's had his problems. I know he has certainly divided opinion, maybe not even divided opinion among some of their fan base. And he seemed to me a pretty easy target at times, Brennan Johnson. but he did, you know, he offered what he offered and he did, as you say, score goals. So, yeah, I mean, I don't, I have to say, I'm not paying that much attention, as much attention to Spurs as I am to others at the moment because they're really, they're really, I mean, if I can avoid watching Tottenham, then I do.

1:09:31That's how, I mean, unless they're playing a game that needs to be watched. I'd ask Craig, just asking Craig, you watched him at Nottingham Forest, I presume, Brennan Johnson. A little bit, yeah. He always played up front for them. Yeah, he played up front for them, didn't he? Ever since he's been at Spurs, he's played on the right wing. And the position doesn't suit him. Most of his goals have been from crosses coming to the other side. He does what a right winger should do. He comes round the back and keeps it in and scored his goals at the back post. But he's not a right winger. He was a centre-forward at Nottingham Forest and did a good job spinning down the channels and receiving the ball with his back to goal.

1:10:01It's a very different thing to have to play out on the right wing when you're playing for not a particularly great side. Yeah, I think he's been a bit of a skipper. I think he has been a little bit of a scapegoat there, to be quite frank. And maybe for that lad, it's maybe time for him to go out and get away from the sort of vitriol that he... You know, he got this online stick last year that was quite... I mean, everybody gets it, to be honest. But he got quite an abusive period. And then he went on this run of scoring every week. But sometimes you can just never appease. So, yeah. Is the move finalised to Palace?

1:10:37I know it's like 30 odd million or whatever it is. So, you know, it's an opportunity for him to go and get away. And Spurs at the moment are a club that are not really going anywhere, are they? I think it's a brilliant signing. Brilliant signing of Crystal Palace. I think that Oliver Glasner will get him going again. Get him in his position. I think this could be one of the better signings in this transfer window. Yeah. Well, he'll probably get a little bit more love at Crystal Palace than he was at Tottenham. And I think that'll help him, Jan. You know what I mean? absolutely and some of us we need that even Rob will

1:11:14Dan Thomas:alright we're going to end it there we all need love we all need love where is the love love love yeah ok thank you so much for sending in your questions we love you all join us tomorrow on ESPN FC

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