In short
ESPN SC discusses Arsenal’s 1-0 win over West Ham and the controversy over a late VAR/refs decision involving a foul on goalkeeper David Raya, plus the Premier League title race and other weekend football results. It also covers Barcelona clinching the La Liga title by beating Real Madrid 2-0 at the Camp Nou.
Guests and backgrounds
Craig Burley (former footballer/analyst) and Dan Thomas (host). Frank Leboeuf (former France/Chelsea defender, pundit) joins for the Arsenal referee debate. Later, Luis Garcia (ex-Barcelona/L a Masia background) joins the Barcelona/Real Madrid discussion, alongside Alejandro Moreno, Sid Lowe, and Gemma Soler.
Key claims
The foul on Raya/goal should have led to disallowing Arsenal’s goal; refereeing lacks consistency, especially around set-pieces and goalkeeper contact. VAR should defer to on-field judgment for “big” calls. Arsenal are still the best team over 38 games despite recent poor performances.
Notable examples
Trossard’s deflected 83rd-minute opener; West Ham’s late equalizer ruled out after a long VAR check for foul on Raya; Arsenal’s set-piece blocking cited as producing 15 goals. Barcelona’s La Liga title win includes early goals by Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres; Hansi Flick’s high-line/pressing approach is praised.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOArsenal's Narrow Victory Over West Ham
1:12 to 3:30
Analysis of Arsenal's 1-0 win against West Ham, including a controversial VAR decision.
“It was goalless right up until the 83rd minute, where Trossard's deflected effort would break the deadlock.”
Referee Decisions and VAR Controversy
3:30 to 6:20
Discussion on the impact of VAR decisions and referee consistency in the Premier League.
“They have to come to the clubs and explain and show and try to explain why sometimes it is, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's a goal, sometimes it's not a goal.”
Debate on Foul Consistency and Set Piece Rules
6:20 to 8:40
Exploration of foul consistency and the effectiveness of current set piece rules in football.
“you get away with it but the issue I have here and I said this to you I think there has to be a law change because this is becoming too much in too many countries.”
Arsenal's Title Chances and Upcoming Matches
8:40 to 11:40
Predictions on Arsenal's performance in remaining matches and their chances of winning the title.
“in the game, the Premier League became very soft, where you barely touch somebody in the face, the guy fall, there's a free kick and everything.”
Relegation Battle and Team Performances
11:40 to 14:01
Analysis of the relegation battle involving Spurs and West Ham, and the current league dynamics.
“But this big decision that Chris Kavanagh made, and I heard people say, well, this is a big decision for VAR.”
Arsenal's Confidence and Title Race Analysis
14:01 to 15:19
Discussion on the current state of the title race involving Arsenal and implications for other teams.
“So it's not over, but overall, if I'm an Arsenal player, I feel confident.”
Barcelona Triumphs: La Liga Champions
16:31 to 19:43
Analysis of Barcelona's victory over Real Madrid and their successful season.
“Most protein drinks ask you to choose between results and taste.”
Managerial Impact and Team Dynamics
19:43 to 25:25
Exploration of Hansi Flick's influence on Barcelona and the team's response to his demands.
“It was a special day, a sad day today for the Barcelona manager.”
Real Madrid's Internal Struggles
25:25 to 28:00
Discussion on Real Madrid's current turmoil and comparisons to Barcelona's success.
“And the band-aid that Florentino Perez continues to try and put over it to fix it isn't working.”
The Symbol of Leadership in Crisis
28:00 to 28:36
Discussing the importance of leadership in tough times for Real Madrid.
Show all 25 chapters
Real Madrid's Leadership Void
28:36 to 30:21
Analyzing the lack of leadership within Real Madrid's current squad.
“The question is, would he be here if the situation is that Real Madrid can celebrate the league?”
The Turning Point of the Season
30:21 to 31:12
Reflecting on the significant moments affecting Real Madrid's performance.
“When Real Madrid won the first Clásico of the season, we'd forgotten that Real Madrid won the first Clásico of the season.”
Ferran Torres Reflects on El Clásico Victory
31:12 to 31:59
Ferran Torres shares his emotions after winning against Real Madrid.
“Tell us about tonight, winning in La Liga, in El Clásico, at the Camp Nou, playing the game you played tonight.”
The Importance of Team Cohesion
31:59 to 33:59
Discussing how team spirit and connection contribute to success.
“You're ending the season in really good shape.”
Adapting to Success at Barcelona
33:59 to 37:36
Players discuss their adaptation and success at Barcelona.
“And I think you can see it then on the beach because you run for your team, we run for each other, and this is important.”
Burnley vs Aston Villa Recap
42:00 to 43:39
A detailed recap of the Burnley vs Aston Villa match, highlighting key moments.
“Villa looking to finish Champions League.”
MLS Insights and Messi's Performance
43:40 to 45:52
Discussion on the MLS match featuring Inter Miami and Messi's impact.
“We're heading to Wembley for the FA Cup final.”
Eden Hazard's Reflections on Madrid's Season
45:53 to 47:53
Eden Hazard shares insights on Real Madrid's season and future improvements.
“This was the reaction when Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for Barcelona.”
Relegation Battles and Key Match Updates
47:54 to 50:06
Updates on relegation battles in various leagues and crucial match outcomes.
“What do you feel they need to improve next season?”
NWSL Highlights and Upcoming Matches
50:07 to 50:51
Highlights from NWSL matches and a look ahead to upcoming games.
“We'll wrap things up with some NWSL action.”
Extra Time Analysis on Current Football Trends
52:56 to 56:00
Analyzing current trends in football, including social media impact on perceptions.
“Welcome in to the latest edition of Extra Time.”
Arsenal's Dislikability and Title Chase
56:00 to 58:26
Explores the reasons behind Arsenal's current negative perception and their title aspirations.
“I think it's a combination of many, many things, you know.”
Set Piece Controversies in Football
58:26 to 1:01:43
Discusses the increasing issues with set pieces, including player behavior and refereeing challenges.
“How you win the league is really unimportant to you as an individual.”
International Rivalries in Football
1:01:43 to 1:04:49
Frank shares insights on historical rivalries in European football, particularly France vs Italy.
“The goalkeeper was free to go and punch anybody.”
Casual Banter and Personal Stories
1:04:49 to 1:05:59
Engages in light-hearted banter including personal anecdotes about dressing and attending matches.
“I would have just said Germany after what Harold Jumacher did to Batista.”
Transcript
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0:52Craig Burley:Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN SC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Craig Burley. Later on the show, we'll be discussing Barcelona celebrating La Liga title in the best way possible, defeating Real Madrid at the camp now. But we kick things off in the Premier League. A huge match in London. West Ham taking on Arsenal, and it would be Arsenal, who would win by one goal to nil. It was goalless right up until the 83rd minute, where Trossard's deflected effort would break the deadlock. West Ham thought they'd equalise late on, however, after a long VAR check, it was chalked off because of foul on David Rea.
1:26I call from the refs that I think it's very brave, but very consistent with what they've been talking about all season. So when I have to be critical, I have been, and today I have to praise them at least for giving the option to a referee to decide. Away from the lights and the chaos, to give clarity to him to make the right call. And I think when you look at the action in that way, I think it is an obvious error and it is a free kick and the goal has to be disallowed. So congratulations because they made a big goal in very, very difficult circumstances.
2:13I guess a lot of people will be thinking, why does it take so long? Probably today I have realised how difficult and how big is the referee's job. Because you're talking about a moment that can't decide the history, the course of two massive clubs that they are fighting with their lives to achieve their objectives. And the pressure is huge. It was a right choice. It was a right choice. Everybody's confused. Everybody's confused. So I think it's up to the referees to try and and they take what is what is a fault, what is allowed, what is not allowed because seems like the rules have changed and Everybody feels confused and frustrated.
2:58The players don't understand it. It's the lack of consistency in the decisions. I think in this previous This recent season has been happening a lot of blocking, grappling, holding, almost like a wrestling situation that all of us don't understand what is a foul, what isn't a foul. I think even the referees confuse themselves and it's upsetting due to the duality of criteria. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not and today it's frustrating. They have to solve it. They have to come to the clubs and explain and show and try to explain why sometimes it is, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's a goal, sometimes it's not a goal.
3:40Because everybody's feeling confused and today we are upset and we are sad.
3:47Craig Burley:Frank LaBeouf joins us in my job's easy today. Are they right? Before we address everyone, let me just address Mikko Lattessa first and foremost. Let's just cut the crap. with a manager who is, along with many others, one of the biggest hypocrites in modern day football. Because had that been an Arsenal player with the arm across the goalkeeper, which I think is a foul, had that been against him, he would have pointed out all the other fouls that were going on, apart from that one. I.e., he never talks about the holding from Declan Rice and what Trossard and others were doing. So had that been at the other end and it was an Arsenal player with the arm across the goalkeeper, he would have pointed all the other fouls going on and why it was absolutely fine.
4:41But it's fallen in his lap today. And when it falls on his lap, he plays the Mr Nice Guy. Refs are great. You know, VAR's a difficult job. I've only just realised, you've only just realised VAR's a difficult job. Yeah, because when it doesn't fall in your lap, VAR's wrong. Was it the right decision? Well, here's the problem I've got. The arm across David Raya is a foul. But what comes first? The chicken or the egg? Because Declan Rice has got a choke hold. You know when somebody's choking on a bit of food and you've got the Heimlich manoeuvre and you try to get... Never had to do it, thankfully.
5:23But he's got... I think it's Mavropanos. He's got him like that. and there was other stuff going on. So what foul came first? And that's where I think the issue that a lot of people here have. Some may think it wasn't a free kick with the arm across, but it was. It was. Whether you think Raya was weak or not, that's a foul. The issue is, and it's where English football is, this is a problem for a lot of countries, but it's a problem for the Premier League because the Premier League, the richest league in the world, the football's been dire for the most part it's been long throws, it's been set pieces it's been bun fighting in the six yard box it's been damn ugly that's the Premier League and that's a problem so I don't want, do you want to watch games like that?
6:11do you want to watch this? and you know it's ironic it's Arsenal who huff and puff and they cheat and they block and they do all this but listen, if you get away with it you get away with it but the issue I have here and I said this to you I think there has to be a law change because this is becoming too much in too many countries. This, having eight, nine, ten people around the goalkeeper and the referee having to intervene 90 % of the time before a set piece is even taken, is just dull and boring. And I think they're going to have to look at the laws about maybe even keeping players from encroaching into the six-yard box until the ball is struck.
6:53and then you can go in and have a free-for-all. But we can't continually have this, you know, surrounding of the goalkeeper because that's not modern-day football. And what we end up with is a scenario like this. This is a mess. This is a mess for Howard Webb at the PGMOL because there's going to be conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory about who failed who first. And I can't answer that question because it was just a mess. What I can tell you, and isolation, in my opinion, the arm across David Rea was a foul. The rest of it, you go figure that out for yourself. Frank? Yeah, many things to say.
7:35I got upset when I saw that because, yes, it's a foul, for sure, and I'm with Craig with that. And, yes, there is something behind all the scenes when we see Declan Rice holding not only one player but two players. And that was a foul as well. And that's the first fall that I saw. And how many times, you know, Arsenal used that kind of blocks on the goalkeeper, abstraction on the goalkeeper, and they got the goal allowed, where definitely in our time, it would have been a foul. In our time, it was very easy to cop. You were unable to touch the goalkeeper and be near him and block him. And that was a foul.
8:15So therefore, that was a foul on that case. But that was a foul. The 15 goals that Arsenal scored on set pieces. Look at Declan Rice. He's blocking everybody. He doesn't play the ball. He doesn't care. He carries on. So, yes, a foul. And Raya is blocked. And it should have been a foul. And it's only fair that the goal should be disallowed. Or has been disallowed. But really, I'm upset. Because there is no consistency whatsoever from the referees. We don't know. in the game, the Premier League became very soft, where you barely touch somebody in the face, the guy fall, there's a free kick and everything.
8:52And on corner kick, set pieces, you see, as Nuno Espirito Santos said, wrestling, blocking, obstruction, craziness. I mean, it's the opposite of what we see during the game. So they have to try to find a solution to make it clear, because That's everything but clear right now. And again, we saw Arsenal doing that every game, in every set pieces, and they scored 15 goals because of blockings. So I just want to understand. And they have to be clear to explain how it works. The arm across any other player wouldn't have been an issue. Because it wasn't an arm throwing. And if that had been across any other player, I don't think we're having this discussion.
9:37The fact it was the goalkeeper, who wasn't off the ground, by the way. His feet were still on the ground. But because it was the goalkeeper and we know rightly or wrongly, there's almost like a different written rule for what's a foul on a player and what's a foul on a goalkeeper. That's why that was given. Arsenal were turgid again. They've won. PSG will be looking at that game thinking, we could beat these by five or six. they were but to give credit to Arsenal they did win they got the result but people sitting at home will say well they got the result because the referee gave them that result and it was wrong but this will rumble on this will rumble on
10:20Craig Burley:there's no asterisk when Arsenal lift the title in a couple of weeks no I don't think so because I tell you why this in isolation is a horrible sort of decision to have to make and it was a mess and there was bodies all over the place and there was holding and there was alarm in the goalkeeper. And yeah, but in isolation, it's a big decision. But there's probably been 100 to 200 of those. Arsenal won't win the league because of that decision. Arsenal win the league because they've been the best team over 38 games. Yeah, the best team with the best results. Not necessarily. They've been dreadful to watch recently.
10:53And they've lost their way. And the manager got lucky because he made another bad decision when Ben White gets injured. He puts Declan Rice, their best midfielder, to right-brack and he brings on Zubin Mendy, who has not been playing well. He then has to scrub a sub by making another sub at half-time to bring Mosquero on for Calafiore and Chef Louis Skellity left back and put Rice back in the middle. Then he takes Zubin Mendy off. The sub is subbed. So he got lucky today, Michael Ateta. But sometimes you need a little bit of luck. And the other part of the luck was he was playing West Ham, who, yeah, they were fighting for their lives, but there's a reason they're down there.
11:32There's a reason they're still the favourites to be relegated because they're just not very good. And Arsenal have scrapped that one out today. It's not over. It's not over. But this big decision that Chris Kavanagh made, and I heard people say, well, this is a big decision for VAR. No, no, no, no, no, no. VAR is only there to give a bit of advice. And I thought it was absolutely correct that VAR did its job and said, listen, this has to be an on-field decision. It's too big not to be an on-field decision. And so I think the pressure in some sense was off VAR by saying, look, this could be 50-50.
12:13We have to go to the on-field. Chris Kavanagh, you make a big call. And that's where that call fell. And there's going to be a lot of people disagree with it because of everything else that was going on. But what we know is Arsenal have got another three points. They're in the box seat to win the Premier League title. But, boy, the end of this season, it's getting damn ugly.
12:36Craig Burley:Let's just remind you what the run-in is for both teams. Manchester City have that extra game. They take on Palace on Wednesday. And then the run-in sees Arsenal take on Burnley, of course, already down. Then Crystal Palace, who will just be days away from a Europa League final. If you're Arsenal, Frank, you could hardly really draw up a better two games, could you, to finish this season? well the thing is you you should be comfortable to if you arsenal and if you are confident about your game that you can go and win the title because uh you deserve it overall arsenal deserve to win the title what they've done during the season was better than the others uh even if as uh chris said you know they were they were quite dreadful uh lately but they've done the job and and they have 79 points and uh and they win big games important games when they need to and it's true that playing against Berlay and Cristal Palazzo shouldn't be an issue and they should win the Premier League and rightly so but we don't know with Arsenal as we saw today West Ham between West Ham and Arsenal we could see a difference in the first half but suddenly when West Ham became a little bit physical they match with Arsenal and Arsenal started to shake and I agree with Craig if Ateta makes the same mistakes next time somebody's injured and put Declan Rice out of the game, because it's what he did, put him out of the game for the first half, he can be surprised by, for example, Chris Appalach, the last game of the season.
14:02So it's not over, but overall, if I'm an Arsenal player, I feel confident. If I'm a citizen player, I have doubts. I would think that it's already over.
14:14Craig Burley:Of course, this game not only has significance in the title race, but what's going on at the bottom of the table, but we now know, without any question, it is a two-horse race. Leeds are safe. Forrest is safe. It is between Spurs and West Ham. Spurs currently sitting one point ahead of West Ham. Just a reminder, on Monday it's Spurs against Leeds. And if they win that game, they're then four points clear of the Hammers with two games remaining. And I think Spurs are a bit... And this is no guarantee they're going to stay up, but I think Spurs are a better side. I actually think West Ham are the third poorest side in the league in terms of the way they play, in terms of the results.
14:49I think Spurs are better. I think Roberto De Zerbi's been able to have a short-term impact, an impact that Nuno Espiro de Santo hasn't really been able to have over a much longer period. And if you're asking me to put 100 bucks on it or whatever it is at the moment, I'm putting it on West Ham to go. I'm putting it on Spurs to beat Leeds, who are safe, even though it's Ellen Road. And I'm putting it on West Ham maybe to not even win another game, maybe not even win another point. So, West Ham to go.
15:19Craig Burley:Thoughts? Spurs are at home tomorrow. Oh, sorry. Beg a problem. So, in theory, obviously against the Leeds side, going in with a little bit of confidence now, considering what happened today, Frank. It should be a good day for Spurs, but we've said that before. Yes, yes. I think they should get along very well and be safe quite easily. I don't see any surprises right now. in West Ham. They tried hard and the fans were there supporting them and trying to help them out. But I think it's over. It's over. I don't see Spurs, you know, losing against Leeds and losing another game where I don't see West Ham winning anything else.
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17:13Craig Burley:In La Liga, Barcelona with defeat Real Madrid by two goals, Sunil, Marcus Rashid and Ferran Torres scoring early on. Barcelona with that victory, champions of La Liga. And let's go to, oh, look at this, crack team in Catalonia, Luis Garcia, Alejandro Moreno, Sid Lowe and Gemma Soler. Yes, Dan, the whole family here. It's been an emotional game. A very beautiful night especially for you. Luis joining us now. You come from the Academia of Barça La Masia. Seeing this young generation full of kids from La Masia winning back to back La Liga, playing at home in a classic or whatever happened. Tell us what you feel.
17:59Yeah, definitely. It's a special moment for all the fans of Barcelona. I think if you like football, you have to enjoy what Barcelona has done, not only this year, but in the past couple of years. The football that they propose, they show us, it's true that that high line gave us a lot of problems. I know that we've been talking a lot, we discussed if it was good, if it was bad, if they would change, they have to adapt. But in the end, the situation of this team is that they needed something. They needed a change. In a moment of crisis where the financial wasn't the best one, they decided to go for the academy.
18:36They looked there. They started bringing young, talented players, as always La Masia gives. And now today, watching the team, seeing nine players, Spanish players playing involved, a lot of them coming from the UF Academy of Barcelona. It's really make you feel proud of the team, of the club, of the vision that John Laporta in this occasion had eight years back, of Deco, that was a person that wanted to change a little bit the dynamic of a manager. That is not always to look, yeah, we want the philosophy, the idea, but football has changed and you need to adapt and you need to look forward. And I think he decided to bring Hasseff League who has brought a fantastic football, a lot of goals.
19:20We've been enjoying very much this style of football. And I think the Barcelona deserve today to leave that trophy. I think they beat the better team. They beat the most solid, the most consistent. And today, once again, they show against the biggest rival. The second deal of La Liga is don't forget. They control it. They dominate it. They won the game. The game. And in the end, they leave and celebrate the trophy at home. You talk about the mentality that Hansi Flick has brought to this team. It was a special day, a sad day today for the Barcelona manager. He decided to stay, to be the manager today, despite he lost his father last night.
19:59Hard day for the Ale, but also what he means for this generation of players is something special. you need a manager that is able to bring all of it together it's not just about the talent that Luis is talking about, that's important you need that material but you need to be able to shape that material into something that makes sense out on the field and you need those players to be able to respond to you, and you need those players to be able to deliver on the field and you put a plan together and they have to trust you And when you tell a defender, and we had Eddie Garcia early on in the season, the first game of the season against Mallorca and Mallorca, and we asked him, hey, when they ask you to be so high, does that make you uncomfortable?
20:46And he smiled and he choked on him and said, well, you know, it's not great. It's not fun. But he believes in what Hansi Flick is putting out there. And so does the rest of this team. The amount of work that this group puts together in order to regain possession higher of the field. that in itself is teamwork and you you have the work of the manager reflected on the attitude of the players young veteran all those that have been here for a while does not have been here only for months and when you see that it tells you how important a manager can be for a group hansi flick was a perfect match for this group and this group this group has responded and you can pick up on that you know you can talk about the as you've just said you you talk to someone like Eric Garcia who explains the model, explains what they're trying to do, is we believe in this.
21:34I think there's an important element to this, which is I think that sometimes they don't necessarily believe in him, but they believe in him. They believe in the manager. So they may well as defenders think, my goodness, I'm exposed here. I don't want to be this high. I don't want this space behind me. I don't want to be exposed like this, but this is what the manager wants. And this is what the manager wants and what he's going to enforce on us. And we're going to work on it and so we're going to go with it. Why? Not just because we believe in this style but we believe in the man who is telling us to go this way.
22:05So the families are starting joining the players. I've just seen the parents of Pedri later. I'll introduce them so you can congratulate them. I'm going to have a conversation with them but while I have that conversation we'll send it back to Dan.
22:20Craig Burley:Thank you very much guys in case you miss any of the action. Let's take you through what happened today. Obviously, so much turmoil for Real Madrid going into this game. Barcelona, heavy favourites, but they still had to get it done. And it'd be Marcus Rashford, of course, very much hoping for a contract to Real Madrid for the start of next season. No, Barcelona for the start of next season. I think it'll depend on the fee. I think he could argue that he's earned the right to probably stay at Barcelona because he certainly played the part and he certainly did. Olivier Rodrigo in the stands. I've got no idea.
22:50Craig Burley:Oh, come on, Craig. Even you know her, surely. No, I have no idea. Oh dear. Yeah, and it's the second guy. Nice little link up, wasn't it? Lovely ball with Danny Ornmott. I think it's a bit better than that. That's a great little flick. I mean, seriously, that is not easy. Beautiful little flick into Ferran Torres. And that's, he's just, you know, I know he had this little lull during the season, but he has become a more natural finisher. and lovely scenes after the game Hansi Flick getting the bumps as the Barcelona players for the second consecutive season celebrate winning La Liga the first time they've done it at the camp now Barcelona seven behind Real Madrid when it comes to total success in La Liga Real Madrid have won it 36 times Barcelona 29 Will that be filling Real Madrid TV tomorrow as like a positive Real Madrid's basketball team won yesterday.
23:47Craig Burley:I think that will be very much the headline as this game is buried. It's interesting because Sid said something there that really sticks with me. And I like talking about both teams, although Bassa has the big story here because this is a great, successful, momentous day for them and they deserve it. But Sid said when we were talking to Eric Garcia in the season about the high line, about the space in behind and about how uncomfortable that is at times. And it looks uncomfortable on the field when you're watching it. that Eric Garcia said, that is what the manager wants. Mainly all the manager wanted at Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso as the new incumbent coach as he was at the time, all he wanted his players to do as a basic starter was run around a bit more.
24:35Yeah. Was work a bit harder. He wasn't asking them to leave this crazy high line. He wasn't asking them to do stuff that they can't do. He started with the basics. I want you to press higher, press earlier and work harder and that's our starting point. And they didn't want to do it. And that's the difference. You've got Barcelona players who have felt uncomfortable with what Hansi Fleck at times has asked him to do, but they've said, OK, we're going to try and do this to the best of our ability and it might not always be perfect, but the boss wants it and that's what we're going to do. And we're going to nail our colours to the mast.
25:13That is a complete contrast to what you're getting at the Bernabeu. And that's why one side are successful. And that's why Real Madrid for the second season in a row are unsuccessful. And the band-aid that Florentino Perez continues to try and put over it to fix it isn't working. It isn't working. It's not progressive. Barcelona are progressive. The manager's progressive. The way they play football is the way they approach the game is. It's progressive, it's not perfect, but it's fun to watch. In the modern day of passing the ball for passing the ball's sake, Barcelona pass it with a purpose. And that makes football fun.
Read the full transcript
25:55Craig Burley:I want to go back out to Si. I want to talk to Sid, just to start things off, Sid. You've, of course, lived in Madrid for a very long time. Is this the most embarrassing week that you have witnessed for Madrid under Fiorentino Perez? Yeah, I think so. I think we've seen, look, we've seen bad periods for Real Madrid. We remember the first Galactico era. They went three seasons in a row without winning a major trophy. At the moment, it's just two. But I think the way that this has been exposed so publicly, I think the nature of it, I think the size of the fine for the two players, half a million euros each for Germany and Fede Valverde.
26:31I think the way that this has been picked over and responded to means that it probably is the most embarrassing moment. Now, I don't know about you, Dan, but I remember in 2003 when Real Madrid actually won the league title. That night, the players refused to do what Barcelona have done here. And they refused to do a lap of honour of the Bernabeu because the internal tension was so great. The confrontation between the board of directors, the presidency and the dressing room was so great that the players refused to celebrate. There was due to be a visit to the town council the following day. And at four o 'clock in the morning, the players said, we're not going.
27:03Five o 'clock in the morning, by the way, they changed their mind. But the confrontation was so great and that came public as well. But bear in mind, as I've just said, that happened with Real Madrid winning the league title. So I think this year it kind of feels worse. And I think it feels worse because of everything that's going on and because it comes, if you like, as a confirmation of the reason why they didn't compete. So you can look at what happened in midweek and say that it's a product of the tension of not winning, which it is. It is a product of the tension of not winning. that's when it comes to a head in a confrontation like the one that we've heard about between Germany and Valverde but it's also a reflection of that tension and that's why they haven't won things this year because they have not been, let's use Hansi Flick's word, a minute ago in his speech in front of the stadium he referred to it as a family.
27:47Brahmadien haven't been a family or if they have they've been an incredibly dysfunctional family. Well and if we're gonna give an example of that and I'm not just gonna put my finger on Kylian Mbappe and just point at him and say that he's the only issue and he's the only problem but he's a symbol isn't he yes he is very much a symbol and I think he was gonna he was supposed to be the flag bearer for this team this season for all the right reasons and actually I think towards the end he became the flag bearer for the wrong reasons and while he may have been injured and while he may not have been ready to play given the circumstances right now in this club he had to be here today not necessarily to play but to be here an image of the club and where was he last week oh I'm gonna go hang out with my girlfriend at the yacht now some people would say well he can do whatever he wants with the time off you have to have some self-awareness and know what the reality of the club is and their symbolism here and while he's away with his girlfriend and they got in Sardinia his team is is giving away point.
28:53His team is losing the league. The question is, would he be here if the situation is that Real Madrid can celebrate the league? May I answer that? That would be my question. May I answer that? 100 % yes. Yes, he would be here. And so, if you're going to be the face of a team, you have to be the face of the team in good times and in bad times. And right now, it's a bad time for Real Madrid. Where's Kylian Mbappe? Nowhere to be found. No more questions, Your Honor. Ali just used a really important word by the way. You just said you have to be a leader in good times and bad. One of the things that I think you can say about this Real Madrid team is that they have not had leaders this year.
29:31They have not had leaders. Who is a leader in the Real Madrid dressing room? The only one you could really think of is Dani Carvajal, who has spent most of the season injured. And in truth, in the moments in which he felt that Arboloha wasn't giving him the opportunities, his leadership collapsed as well. Because he was critical of his manager rather than supporting his manager. So you are mentioning that Real Madrid leadership, they need a strong manager. So you're suggesting they need Jose Mourinho. That's what I understood. I think the leadership goes well beyond that. Because I think leadership is about culture at a club.
30:05And I think it goes well, well beyond Mourinho coming or not coming. I think it even goes beyond the manager. I think it even goes beyond the dressing room. I think it goes to the presidency as well. And I think it goes to the culture that's handed down. Now, let's go back to a statistic that I was talking about earlier. We were all there. When Real Madrid won the first Clásico of the season, we'd forgotten that Real Madrid won the first Clásico of the season. On the 26th of October, they were five points clear at the top of the table. They are now 14 points behind. It's a 19-point swing since October.
30:35What happened in that Clásico? Well, Real Madrid won, and they played quite well, and they'd won nine out of ten games. Admittedly, we all thought they weren't quite as good as they looked because, of course, they'd had the derby against Atletico Madrid where they conceded five. But the other thing that happened was that when they took off Vinicius, Vinicius walked off the pitch and threatened to walk straight out. Now, after that game, Xabi Alonso said, I want us to focus on the important things, not the unimportant things. In other words, what Xabi Alonso is saying is, let's talk about the performance and the result, not about the fact that one of the players got annoyed.
31:06But here's the thing. I think with time, we've discovered that that was the important thing because it undermined them so much. And here comes Ferran Torres. Yes, we have Ferran Torres. Congratulations! So we have the word for a player. Tell us about tonight, winning in La Liga, in El Clásico, at the Camp Nou, playing the game you played tonight. What do you feel? Yeah, now I don't have words. It's just unbelievable. Win La Liga, it's always amazing, but winning about Real Madrid here in our stadium with our people is like, I have no words. Tell us about your goal. I just saw the pass from Fermin to Dani.
31:53I didn't expect that Dani saw me, but when I was just there, I saw the ball and I know it was a goal. You're ending the season in really good shape. How do you feel? Yeah, now I feel one of the best moments in my career. I think I'm just enjoying the football, enjoying on the pitch with my teammates, with my family over there. And yeah, just enjoying. Ferran, can you take us through the emotions of the day? Obviously, the bad news about Hansi Flick and his father. And now you're having an opportunity to win the league here in El Clásico against Real Madrid. Tell us about sort of what this means to you as a team, to you as a player, to be able to do this for your manager.
32:37Yeah, we knew it obviously that we had to win here. But at the beginning of the day with the bad news, we just thought about winning for Hansi, for him, for his family. And we gave everything on the pitch. Fran, earlier in the season, we've just been talking about this. After the first Clásico, Real Madrid had a five-point lead. You now have a 14-point lead. What does that say about you as a group in terms of the mental strength, in terms of the toughness, to kind of be able to overhaul that and to be able to come back from a disappointment like that? Yeah, it was a difficult moment when we lost there in Bernabeu, but we know we are very young, we can improve a lot.
33:20We did it, that's important, and I think we have a long way to go and improving, improving, and improving. Ferran, I wanted to ask you, first of all, congratulations. It's not easy what you've done. People think that now it's the last games of the season and now you leave the trophy, but it's been a long season. There's been ups and downs during the whole season. We've been talking a lot how important it is, the bone into the dressing room, that connection that you guys have. It's a young, talented team, but how important it is for you guys to be like this? Yeah, I think for us, it's the best feeling, the atmosphere that we have in the dressing room with the people, with all the staff, with everyone.
33:59And I think you can see it then on the beach because you run for your team, we run for each other, and this is important. Can we talk about your season, the great season that you've had, the productivity that you've had, you had an opportunity and you took advantage of it? Yeah, like he said. All right, never mind. We signed today a new player with new hair. Well, a good player at that. Very good player. Now is his time. It's your time, bro. I tried. Hey, he didn't want to shoot the free kick. You ask him to shoot. Everyone, everyone. One, two. Can I let you into a secret? Me and Ali were sitting pitch side, and it looked like you were going to cross it.
34:42Yeah, I was. And I said to him, you can't cross from there. Surely that's too good a position to not shoot from. I don't know. When I put the ball, I didn't have the feeling that to score. But after everybody is telling me to shoot, I built the confidence myself. It was because yesterday in the training, he didn't score. He didn't score. No, no. So why did you want him to try again? It's true also. Can I tell you? I'm going to let you into a secret too. He didn't believe that you were going to score either because he had, instead of putting the video, he took a photo. He didn't take a video. I'm not allowed to take a video.
35:10The TV rights weren't allowed me to take a video. There's a fact about it. Just tell us, Marcos Rashford, La Liga champion, how does that feel? It's an incredible feeling. But I think over the season, we deserve it. We was the best team. And we had some bad moments, but we always come back and fight to improve. So I think overall, we deserve it. What's the key to those bad moments? We've been talking with Ferran about this. After the first Clasico, you're five points behind Real Madrid. It's now 14 points ahead. What is it in the dressing room or in you as a group that meant that kind of moment didn't sink you?
35:44The two or three difficult moments, the defeat against Sevilla, the defeat against Girona, those moments didn't sink you? I think it's the character of the individuals to not be down so much and also it's the staff and the atmosphere from the fans. They're always pushing us to improve. It doesn't matter if we are winning a game, they want us to score more goals. So, no, it's perfect for us as players to be in this environment. It's the only place where you can continue to improve. Marcos, I wanted to ask you because you arrived to Barcelona, you play in different positions. We don't know what's going to happen in the future, but we would like to know how you've been feeling.
36:20How has been your adaptation to a club like Barcelona? It's been good. Listen, I came here to win and we do this. So I'm very happy. I enjoy tonight with everybody. And then, yeah, when the end of the season, we will see. Doing what? Hey. Tell me, friend. Friend, friend, have you got the power to ensure that Marcus stays? Can you do that? No, he has no power. More than him. Much more, much more. But do you have as much power as the president? Can you say, right, Marcus, here's the deal. Make sure you stay next season. Yeah, he's a really good guy. I think we can continue with him. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah.
36:56We have to get Ferran go, but how these players, these young players, players that have this energy, helped you adapt this season? I don't know if Aziz, Mancunian as well a little bit helped you with this. Listen, they are young players, but they don't play like young players. They play like they are experienced, they are so calm, they understand the game so well. It's like this, I think the manager and the staff is doing a great job to manage them. but on the pitch just let them play they are they are so mature on the pitch so I don't treat them like young players can we talk about your journey a year ago you're thinking what is happening with my career I'm taking the scenic route and now you're here Barcelona winning a title could you have pictured this before you came to Barcelona you know I said to my brother I think like two years ago I will play I will play here and I want to win here so I believed it would happen and I I try my best to make it to this team and this is the perfect and the way I the way I want it to and so I'm very happy and like I said I just want to enjoy today you know it's perfect but it hasn't ended Marcus no it doesn't have to end I think after tomorrow when he will see the parade in the city.
38:19Have you explained what he's going to leave? He doesn't want to go when after the tour tomorrow. After the Rua. We'll see. Where we'll see. Let's wait. Thank you very much guys. Thank you very much indeed for your time. Just a dream for next season. Win everything like always. Like every year. Yeah. Everything. Let him enjoy tonight. But it's a dreamy night, it's a dreamy night tonight. Your manager, what does he mean, this manager, Hansi Flick? He do a great job. I think it's normal for him, he win everywhere he goes, but to do with such a young squad is not easy. I know they are good players and they all have a lot of qualities, but it's not easy.
39:08So he's doing a fantastic job and we have to continue like this. And I guess you wanted to give that trophy to him tonight after the... Let them enjoy the celebration! Let them enjoy the celebration! We've got better places to go.
39:20Craig Burley:Thank you very much for your time.
39:25So, Parran, congratulating to Luis Garcia. So, Dan, we go back to you. Thank you very much, guys. Much appreciated. Those two will know each other from Manchester. Yeah, of course. There you are. Thanks, Craig, for that. A better night out. Manchester or Barcelona? A better night out. Read the promo!
39:45Craig Burley:Alibes against Barcelona, Real Madrid against Armillero. Still to come then on ESPN Plus this week. Thrivent believes money is more than numbers. It's a way to care for the people, causes and community you love. That's why Thrivent brings together a unique combination of financial services and generosity programs, offering advice, investments and insurance to help you plan your finances while creating opportunities to give back along the way. Through generosity programs that offer resources to fund service projects or direct charitable funds, Thrivent makes it easier to turn your values into action and support what matters most to you.
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41:57Craig Burley:Let's just check out what else happened in the Premier League. Burnley taking on Aston Villa. What was at stake here? I wasn't paying attention. Burnley already down. Villa looking to finish Champions League. Is that guaranteed yet? Villa just looking to solidify. Yeah. Eight minutes in and I was just finding a bit of time there to come up with an answer for that in these games. Villa have been, they've got a Europa League final to play. I think it's Freiburg they play. So they've got a - They're just looking to guarantee Champions League football, aren't they? Boss Barkley here with a header 1-1.
42:32I'm surprised this game was as close as it was. Great header from Barkley there.
42:38Craig Burley:Second half we see Oli Watkins score. Long forward ball from Martinez, there we are. This is the kind of goal that you give away that sums up why you're getting relegated. There's one long straight ball from the goalkeeper right in between the two big dumpling centre halves. It shouldn't happen at that level and that's why they're heading back to the championship. Cash caught in possession here he'd be punished as well. Hannibal into Fleming 2-2. Yeah it's a really good flick there. Nice goal. Yeah it's they're just not although they're in the Europa League final they're just not finished they just don't look Villa that is as efficient and as fluid and as strong as they were earlier in the season.
43:23Craig Burley:Really going into this game here's a penalty late on Buendia going down no penalty awarded for the challenge from Kyle Walker VAR would have a look, say no pen
43:38It's undebatable he stands on him I'll be honest I don't think many people are going to be too fussed
43:45Craig Burley:Burnley 2, that's the Villa 2 It took you a while to get there I was expecting that earlier What that means then, Villa sit 5th in the table They are 4 clear of Bournemouth so one win in their final two games will guarantee a top five finish and Champions League football. We're heading to Wembley for the FA Cup final. Manchester City taking on Chelsea. That game will be live for you on ESPN2 and ESPN+. Our coverage starts at 9am Eastern. PSG would leave it late, but a 1-0 victory would put them sixth clear at the top of the league. And they will, of course, win the championship again, much tighter in Scotland.
44:22Craig Burley:Hart and Celtic both in charge of their own destiny. If they win their remaining matches, then they will be the champions in the Premiership. MLS Toronto taking on Inter Miami. What a performance this would be from the visitors just before the break. Rodrigo de Paul. At the second time of asking, they exit 1-0. He had to score certain times because he's... I mean who takes three kicks when the wee man's around? Even Lionel Messi must have felt soft letting him take that. Into the second half we go. Messi into his good mate Luis Suarez. Well he's onside because there's a player on the deck on the far side.
45:02Yeah. He's just, watch, he's playing everybody onside. Look, there he is. Oh no. I'm going to roll over a bit more.
45:10Craig Burley:Just get up. Get up and get up with it. Riggion here would get his first goal for Miami to make it 3-0
45:26Craig Burley:Messi then with a couple of assists in the game would find the back of the net himself as Inter Miami make it 4 He is an assist of 2 or 3 or 5 every game There you go It's like Shelling Pease for this fella playing Major League Soccer Even at his age 8 minutes to go Horrible defender Ayala We're getting a huge mistake The old double touch He's off the left toe You're okay Toronto will get another one back But in the end, Inter-Miami win By 4 goals to 2 Now they'll be talking about that on the next edition of Football America Xhaka Huck, and look who's there Alexis Nunes will be flying in from the West Coast to host the show because of course she has been in LA at the Walmart watch party today.
46:19Craig Burley:This was the reaction when Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for Barcelona. And she had a chat with Eden Hazard to get his reflections on his old team's performance after the game. Yeah guys back with the man that is Eden Hazard. Eden I I know you're forcing the smile right now. That was a tough loss to take. Of course, you were hoping for a 1-0, but you knew it was going to be difficult. What do you think went wrong for Madrid? I don't know. You know, at the end, we miss a couple of players. You know, Mbappe was not playing. Valverde was not playing as well. So, fair enough. Barca, they play good.
46:57So, I think they deserve to win the La Liga. They deserve to win today. So, we have to accept it, even if it's not easy. but you know let's go on holiday soon and you know work a bit harder and then try to win La Liga next year. As we said back-to-back seasons now that you've lost the league to Barcelona I know that that is not the Madrid way the bar we talked is so high looking at this season where do you feel it went wrong because you also had a Kylian Mbappe who was performing well. No I think he's a bit of everything you know he's not he's not just about one player so So, you know, we sacked the manager like three months after he came.
47:36So, you know, it was a bad season. Does that make it hard to come back from? Yeah, of course. But that's happened also in football sometimes, you know. So I think it's just time to bounce back, to see what we did bad, you know, this season and to improve next season. That's it. As you said, time to take a holiday, improve next season. What do you feel they need to improve next season? There's talks about someone you know well, Jose Mourinho potentially coming. What do you feel is needed? Let's see who is going to come as a manager first. And then... Do you like the idea of Jose? Yeah, of course.
48:08I know Jose, you know, for me, he's been one of the greatest the last 20 years. So I know he's good for the job, you know. Let's see if he wants to. But there's a World Cup to play, you know. You know, one season is long, you know. It's like nine months to play. So let's see. Let's see. because I think we're going to bring some players as well, new players. So I can't wait for next season. Can't wait for next season. Now it's time for a holiday. Eden Hazard, thank you so much for putting on a brave face for us. We'll go back to you guys in the studio.
48:41Craig Burley:Meanwhile, at the bottom of La Liga, a big win for Valencia Athletic Club means that they move up to 12. But boy, is it so close with just three games remaining. Speaking of relegation scrap, Heidenheim taking on Cologne. the way the results went yesterday opens the door for Heidenham to try and climb themselves out of the relegation zone and it's the perfect start as Jan Schotner makes it 1-0. Two minutes later though Cologne would get the equaliser Butler here. That's what your old nickname wasn't it Craig? Back in the day? Yeah, well one of many. The ones we can say. Some unrepeatable. Yeah indeed.
49:23Craig Burley:Heidenheim though, 18 minutes later, Reid takes the lead, Ibrahimovic here, sees his shot, takes the deflection. I think it's an own goal isn't it really? He sees it late to be fair. And the three points will be sealed, Schotner getting his second in the game to make it 3-1. So just to confirm what that means, it is so tight at the bottom, three teams on 26 points, Heidenheim, St Pauli and Wolfsburg remember 16th will have a playoff tie with those finishing third in the second division. As it stands Heidenheim and St Pauli are going straight down. A German Cup final, May 23rd Bayern Munich against Stuttgart.
50:06Craig Burley:Munich of course looking to do the domestic treble 2pm Eastern on ESPN+. We'll wrap things up with some NWSL action. Can see Current take on Chicago Stars. Chawinga here makes it 1-0 to the current. Played in inadvertently by the defender trying to get back in. Two minutes into the second half, Chawinga gets her second.
50:37Craig Burley:And just moments later, Chawinga bags a hat-trick. Nicely done. Patrick Mahomes in the crowd enjoying that. There's Kansas City current. And hats off as they get the victory. Ali, Alexis and Jeff to break down what we've seen across women's football this weekend. Tuesday, 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. That is it. That brings us to the end of today's show. Be sure to stay tuned as Frank returns to answer some of your questions. A lot more on Arsenal, I believe. Stay with us. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back.
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53:02Craig Burley:Welcome in to the latest edition of Extra Time. Lots going on today. We're in the big fancy studio because we did our Classico. Craig, first half of the season, you're quite negative of Barca's high line and defence overall. Has the entertaining play and results won you over any?
53:25Well, one of the reasons that they're not in the Champions League hunt is the high line, as it was last year. it is not perfect and I love watching them play it's super risky but you could say it's not really been tested second half of this season because Real Madrid have been so poor so they could have afforded what it said say in the live show 14 points of a gap at the moment which means you can make mistakes so I'm not I don't think any of us are wrong about it, but it's the way Hansi Flick does it. But I think it's going to stop them in the big, in the elite level Champions League knockout stages.
54:12I don't think they can, and I think that's been proven. So I'm not negative about it, I just don't, I think it has, I think it has a lot of downfalls as well as a lot of plus points.
54:21Craig Burley:Okay. Craig, I'm genuinely amazed at the overwhelmingly negative reactions to what seemed a clear foul. Are neutrals bigger haters now than when the guys were playing? No. What's the first part of that question again? Amazed at the overwhelming negative reactions. Right, there's a negative reaction from a lot of people. I'll answer this in two parts just quickly. There's a negative reaction because there was so much else going on. And it was the question of what came first. And there was probably two or three other fouls at least. which came first and why was that one the definitive one the referee went to right so that would be the first reason that I think there's a this is blowing up the second part of it is all the sort of negativity and bemoaning is born out of the the the sort of era that we're in of social media.
55:17It's as simple as that. There's two worlds. There is the social media stroke X stroke Twitter moronic world where there's very little common sense and then there's the real world where people may disagree with people or have a different opinion but there's far more common sense. That's a big part of the issue because if you live in one of those worlds, i.e. the social media world, that's all you're seeing. But it's not really it's not really indicative of a lot of normal people out there.
55:49Craig Burley:Do you think the negativity around Arsenal has been fuelled by their style of play in the second half of the season, Frank? I don't know. I'm not sure about that. I think it's a combination of many, many things, you know. The way that they played, at first it was very convincing and after, you know, they They were struggling. The set pieces and all the fouls that we saw, the obstruction and everything. So the negativity came up where they were quite annoying. And Craig, it's true. You can talk about it, have a legitimacy to talk about it, and be, in a neutral point of view, critical towards what you see because you think it's not the top of the top.
56:32And then you have another, let's say, world of media who only are trashing other things and even us and even the people who criticize and that's the word that we want to avoid. But the negativity comes from the fact that Arteta at some point has been annoying and the complaints from many people and also the Arsenal fans came up as well. So it's hard to find why it happened, but it happened because the way they were playing and the ways people inside the club were complaining about. You know, it normally wouldn't happen when a club wins as many titles as Man City in such a short space of time as they did, with a manager who's spent a lot of money and with a club who still have 115 charges hanging over them.
57:22And Arsenal won't care about this, but I think most neutrals would have been hoping City, neutrals that is, not us, would have been hoping, although we are neutral, we don't sort of vouch for any team, But most neutral supporters would have wanted Man City to win the Liga because I think Arsenal have become very dislikable. They won't care about that. But it became about the set pieces. It became about Nicolas Joubert, the set piece coach. It became about the manager bouncing around in the technical area. It became about everyone's against us. It became about the style of play. And maybe that's harnessed some sort of siege mentality within the dressing room.
58:03I don't know. Sometimes you find that's how it goes. But there's no doubt. And generally what happens is when a team is top of the tree, they do become dislikable anyway. That's a kind of natural thing for people to do. But I do feel Arsenal have really, in other supporters' eyes, really have become a team that a lot of them want to hate. I've said it for a long time. How you win the league is really unimportant to you as an individual. to maybe everybody else it is, who think you should win it playing a certain way. That's not correct. How you win the league is really unimportant to a team. It's about winning the league.
58:41And it looks like that's what Arsenal are going to do. Now, flicking that switch, as you know we talk about, and playing a team like PSG in the Champions League and playing in the same manner in which they are, that's a different conundrum. And we'll find out just how that's going to work out. But there's no doubt that Arsenal are capable of playing much better than what we've seen in the second half of the season. There is no doubt they have a better player pool than what we are seeing. That being said, they're probably going to win the league,
59:11Craig Burley:albeit they're crawling over the line. Frank mentioned something during the show that I wanted to ask you. He was talking about how it's getting worse in the box with the pushing and the shuffling and the wrestling. Is that just kind of recency bias? Did that happen in your day? And is it just the fact that we've got cameras now that's picking up all these different? No, there was always a little bit of blocking, but it was never. It was not it. There was always more players and that Frank can either agree or disagree. There was always seemed to be more players on the edge of the box or on the penalty spot, particularly defenders or bigger players waiting to go and attack that ball.
59:46Now it seems there's less of that and more about the end swing and under the crossbar, which is which I'm OK with. trying to block the goalkeeper. Right. But I do think this is, and you know I mentioned this on the show, I do think this is, if you're changing the laws, right, you change the back pass rule so the goalkeeper couldn't pick it up, you change the offside law to try and benefit the attacking play. So they've made all these changes to the laws over the years, and there's been many more. I think this is going to have to be a law or certainly a part of the game they're going to have to look at.
1:00:21Because it's becoming, not just in England, but it's becoming super ugly. You know, every set piece, every mainly corner, but every free kick, we have this delay of game where a referee's got to go and talk to people because somebody's lying on the floor before the ball's even kicked. And the goalkeeper spends the time pushing people out. And there has to be a better way around this. And I think, honestly, they have to look at either limiting the number of people in the six-yard box before a corner
1:00:50Craig Burley:or excluding them completely. But then you're just not going to have the same scenario on the six-yard line, where everyone's pushing and scrapping, but just a little bit further away from the goalkeeper. Yeah, but there was... Go on, Frank. If I may, if I may, Craig, there was a time where PSG tried something. It was a time with Ginola, George Weah, Ricardo, Cambo Are, very tall guy. They were putting everybody in a near post, not close to the goalkeeper, because at the time you couldn't touch the goalkeeper. it would have been a foul. But they put a group of players together in a near post in order to get the ball from Valdo and to avoid any opponent to come into them.
1:01:36So they were all together. And they scored like many, many goals, but it didn't last. I don't know why. But we never saw any foul. The goalkeeper was free to go and punch anybody. And the defender was able to come, but it was very hard because they were very compact. But they tried, but it didn't last. I don't know why, but it was a good combination of what we see now and our football at the time and a good tactic without seeing any abstraction, blocking, and goalkeeper not being able to even jump. But it's become so tedious, Frank. I mean, every time you see it, and it's not just Arsenal. This is not an Arsenal-centric point.
1:02:13We saw it yesterday with Liverpool Chelsea. Yeah, everyone pushing and shoving. Exactly. When a corner kick has been taken, for the most part, you can go and put the kettle on, make a cup of tea, come back, and the ref will still be trying to sort it out. This is a part of the game they're going to have to look at. The game evolves. The laws of the game evolve, and I've mentioned some of them. And this is just another part where it's not enhancing the game. It's taking away from the spectacle because we're having these scenarios. And you're never going to eradicate it fully. But when you have, I'm going to say, 12 guys, maybe 10 guys stood within a three or four yard radius and the goalkeeper, how can you sort that out?
1:02:54Look, I think IFAB are going to have to look at coming up with something that cleans this part of it up. Because not only will it make it easier for the referees and the VAR, I think it will speed the game up as well. Well, it's got to. Because it's just ridiculous now.
1:03:08Craig Burley:Too much faffing. Faffing around. Frank, Scotland's biggest football rival is England, Who is France's biggest rival?
1:03:19I would say Italy. Well, because we're in the middle of Western Europe, I would say that England, Germany, Italy... Not Belgium? Not really. Not Belgium. We love the Belgian people, but they don't like us. They don't like us. We don't like you either. Who likes you? You do know. You do know. You do know why. You don't know why, but we don't know why. But playing against England has been always something special because of the history that we have and the Hundred Years' War and that half of England was French before and nobody was English. Maybe, I don't know. Germany, because of the history as well.
1:04:00But Italy, I don't really know why. And it came very, especially in our time, in my time, where many French players came to Italy to play. De Sailly, Thuram, Zidane, Deschamps, Bogossian, and some others, Thuram Henry as well. And every time we had a game against Italy, it was like a World Cup final. They couldn't lose because they knew that they had to come back to the dressing room the day after in Italy. And at the loss, they would have been teased by the Italian players. So it became a big rivalry. But, and we are fighting also about, you know, clothes, food, monuments, whatever. Who's the best country in Europe?
1:04:44And we are fighting against Italy about that. So it's maybe the reason why. But, yeah, we have many enemies. Nobody loves us, but it's normal. What a long answer. I would have just said Germany after what Harold Jumacher did to Batista.
1:05:00Craig Burley:Frank, I'm not sure if you saw Eden Hazard's shorts. Did you in our coverage? Obviously, you don't like... Look like a bathrobe. Yeah, it was quite... Quite something there. Yeah, it is something. Yeah, I wouldn't have come on TV, especially close to Alexei, with shorts like that. Yeah. But it's not that restaurant. Like you, Dan, coming to the restaurant, you know, for dinner with shorts and almost flip-flops, you know, and shame me a lot. He's from Belgium. Frank, I was hoping that you'd come to Wembley with us next weekend. Is that a play? You're not going to come? Is that a play? No, I'm sorry.
1:05:40I'm going to be on stage. I'm going to be on stage for the Champions League final as well, just so that. I'm so upset about that. I'm going to see the game, but I can't be with you guys after. I think we've seen. I've got no intention of watching it either. But some people have to work, you know.
1:05:55Craig Burley:Yeah, so me and Craig are off to England tomorrow. Craig, when does Wembley, Craig, start? Take off, touchdown, or not until you're in the stadium? And the moment you leave here, I would suggest, you've been a very happy, friendly chap away from here. That is it. That brings us to the end of today's show. Me and Craig will be away, but of course, the rest of the crew will be here as there's a lot going on, including, of course, Manchester City against Palace. Oh, I'm not asking that question. It's too late. Let's get this done. Goodbye.
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From the publisher
The FC crew look back on Arsenal's controversial 1-0 win over relegation threatened West Ham, do Arsenal have 1 hand on the trophy now? Plus, the lads discuss Barcelona's 2-0 over Real Madrid in ELCLÁSICO to clinch the LALIGA title. And, who will be relegated from the Premier League, with Spurs & West Ham now the only teams in danger.
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