In short
Arsenal vs Man City Community Shield fallout; Arsenal title outlook and transfer priorities; Manchester City midfield/defense recruitment debate; plus rapid-fire football business/transfer news (FIFA Infantino dispute, PSG, Barcelona, Man United, Liverpool ownership, Real Madrid, etc.).
Guests (hosts)
Gab and Jules (football/soccer analysts/commentators). They discuss Premier League clubs’ tactics and transfer windows, and also cover FIFA governance and club ownership/business moves.
Key claims
- Arsenal’s 3-0 Community Shield win showed City couldn’t break them down despite ~60% possession; early goal (24 seconds) shaped the game.
- City’s Maresca shouldn’t be judged on this match; more squad readiness is needed by September.
- City likely needs midfield reinforcements: Enzo Fernandez and Boadi are discussed, but Boadi’s youth makes immediate “Rodri replacement” unrealistic.
- Arsenal’s best chance is keeping Odegaard and Saka fully effective; they’re favorites for the Premier League.
- Vinicius Jr staying at Real Madrid is framed as Arsenal’s “not meant to be” despite serious efforts; next steps depend on Martinelli’s future.
Notable examples
- City chances mentioned: Haaland/Foden shots; Arsenal keeper Raja saves.
- City defensive structure: back three (Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Kusanov) and midfield/forward shape (Kovacic, O’Reilly/Foden/Anderson).
- FIFA: Infantino plan to spin off sell 20% of FIFA commercial operations faces UEFA/others’ resistance.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOCommunity Shield Recap
0:35 to 1:30
Discussion on the Community Shield match between Arsenal and City.
“Lots going on, but let's start with the Community Shield because Arsenal and Manchester City.”
Arsenal's Performance Insights
1:30 to 2:25
Analyzing Arsenal's strategy and performance against City.
“And I know it's pre-season friendly, blah, blah, blah, but this is ugly.”
Transfer Speculations for Arsenal
2:25 to 3:23
Discussion on Arsenal's potential transfer targets and needs.
“And obviously we all have to put in our predictions who's going to win the title, whatever.”
City's Summer Transfer Needs
3:23 to 5:06
Exploration of Manchester City's midfield needs and potential signings.
“as young as Solis, who did really well in the game against City.”
Evaluating City's Midfield Dynamics
5:06 to 8:11
Analyzing the dynamics of City's midfield options and potential changes.
“You can go and sign somebody in between Boadi and Rodri.”
Assessing Squad Depth and Future Strategies
8:11 to 14:00
Discussion on squad depth, formations, and managerial strategies moving forward.
“you would have spent almost$350 million, which is a lot of money.”
Arsenal's Tactical Options and Recruitment Challenges
14:00 to 25:28
Discussing Arsenal's tactical flexibility and ongoing recruitment challenges.
“I think there's a lot you could do with Gvardzio if you want to start with Kusanov, Diaz and Gehi and then have O 'Reilly on the bench and Gvardzio as your kind of left back.”
Arsenal's Tactical Options and Recruitment Challenges
25:29 to 25:47
Discussing Arsenal's tactical flexibility and ongoing recruitment challenges.
“O 'Reilly Auto Parts gets you back to savings.”
Arsenal's Tactical Options and Recruitment Challenges
25:50 to 26:54
Discussing Arsenal's tactical flexibility and ongoing recruitment challenges.
“The one that makes buying so incredibly easy?”
FIFA Leadership Controversy
27:04 to 28:00
Analyzing the controversy surrounding FIFA president Infantino's recent plans.
“It's a story that has dominated the headlines post-World Cup.”
Show all 32 chapters
FIFA's Leadership Crisis
28:00 to 29:00
Discussion on the internal conflicts and leadership issues within FIFA, particularly surrounding Gianni Infantino.
“And now I think that's quite up in the air.”
Impact on Upcoming Competitions
29:00 to 31:00
Exploration of the implications of FIFA's internal struggles on upcoming competitions, including the Women's World Cup.
“elections in march and by november 18th you have to put forward other candidates my understanding is that the people who want Infantino out are basically, they don't want to go to elections.”
PSG's Recent Performances
31:00 to 32:40
Analysis of Paris Saint-Germain's recent matches and their performance in the French Super Cup.
“Lens got a bit of a lucky goal that Florian Thauvin scored, but they were also very solid.”
Transfer Updates and Player Movements
32:40 to 34:30
Discussion on recent transfer activities, including Ferran Torres and the situation with Manchester United.
“from the time he got on the national team.”
Liverpool's Investment Changes
36:17 to 38:05
Discussion on Liverpool's new investment from a group of high-profile investors and its implications.
“Application times may vary, rates may vary.”
Real Madrid's Transfer Strategies
38:05 to 40:45
Analysis of Real Madrid's recent player signings and their overall transfer strategies.
“it renews their commitment, it also brings in fresh ideas, I think Patia was very involved QPR and I think in a very positive way.”
The Future of Dutch Football and Key Player Moves
40:45 to 42:00
Exploration of Xavi's appointment as the national team coach and other notable player movements in European football.
“I think Xavi will do well with the Netherlands.”
Transfer Talks: New Signings and Departures
42:00 to 43:15
Discussion on the latest transfers, including players moving in and out of top teams.
“And for Eddie Haar, I think he's just had enough of the club selling all the best assets all the time.”
Analyzing Player Moves: Araujo and Salah
43:15 to 44:47
Insights on Araujo's loan to Liverpool and Salah's move to Trabzonspor.
“I was surprised Tuchel hasn't been given a harder time.”
Liverpool's Strategic Moves
44:47 to 46:09
Examining Liverpool's decisions in the transfer market, including loan strategies.
“Hugo, he was welcomed like a god of football, like an absolute hero.”
Mourinho's Missed Opportunity at Manchester United
46:09 to 48:10
Exploration of Mourinho's potential move to Manchester United after leaving Real Madrid.
“And then after a few hours, rang up Sir Alex crying and said, no, I'm going to go back to Chelsea.”
Inter Milan's Recruitment from the Premier League
48:10 to 49:20
Discussion about Inter Milan's signing spree including Stones and Spence.
“But then he agreed first and then changed his mind.”
Scotland's New Coach: Sebastian Pocognoli
49:20 to 50:32
Analyzing Sebastian Pocognoli's appointment as the Scotland national team manager.
“he's already he was at Genoa on loan in Serie A I think he's a good fit if you want a fast guy running up and down the flank.”
Chelsea's Financial Fines and Future
50:32 to 51:49
Reviewing Chelsea's financial penalties related to past transfer irregularities.
“If he's really in it and not just there because he wants to wait for the next club job, I think he can do a really good job not just for the A team, but also helping structuring and everything the youth team.”
Chelsea's Financial Fines and Future
51:50 to 52:42
Reviewing Chelsea's financial penalties related to past transfer irregularities.
“I think just about I like things my way.”
Pedro Neto's Future and Chelsea's Strategy
52:53 to 56:00
Discussion on Pedro Neto's potential transfer and Chelsea's roster decisions.
“Uncle George helping balance those books, Jules.”
Rodrigo Moura's Potential Transfer
56:00 to 57:26
Discussing the implications of Rodrigo Moura's potential transfer and valuation.
“Yeah, he's expensive, although he's only 18 years old because he's that promising.”
Messi's Struggles in MLS
57:26 to 58:28
Analyzing Messi's performance in his first MLS start and recent challenges.
“He makes his first MLS start for Inter Miami after the World Cup.”
New MLS Signings and Rumors
58:28 to 1:00:00
Exploring new signings in MLS, including Brill Mbolo and Alexis Sanchez.
“And speaking of MLS, Gabi, a couple of new faces have been confirmed.”
Jamie Vardy's Move to Brazil
1:00:00 to 1:01:48
Discussing Jamie Vardy's potential transfer to Sao Paulo and its implications.
“I think more than in Europe, for example.”
Ronaldo's Future Plans
1:01:48 to 1:02:55
Considering Ronaldo's reflections on his upcoming season and retirement.
“And then after that, it's probably time to retire.”
From Ball Boy to Millionaire
1:02:55 to 1:03:56
The story of Charlie Morgan, the former ball boy turned successful entrepreneur.
“So, he wasn't really a ball boy even back then.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00In ESPN's wild world of college football, every Saturday begins with a ritual. And then, the migration turns to mayhem. Predators hunt, territories are defended, rivals clash. In this wild world, legends are unleashed on Saturdays. No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN. College football on ESPN kicks off August 28th. Witness the wild on ABC, ESPN, and the ESPN app.
0:35I'm Gab, he's Jules We back, baby Blue skies over West London Four weeks off Nobody cares about our holidays So let's get straight into it Because there's a lot to get you caught up on There's a lot of Gianni Infantino FIFA stuff We're going to get to that in a bit Rodri, how about that? Stolen from under Real Madrid's noses? Possibly Mohamed Salah has a new home. Vinicius' new home is his old home. Lots going on, but let's start with the Community Shield because Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal, obviously, the defending champions. City, new manager in Zomareska. Some people, like myself, thought, all right, given that it feels like everybody in the Premier League has changed their managers in the last eight months, City might be the best of the bunch to challenge Arsenal.
1:27and they get absolutely destroyed 3-0. And I know it's pre-season friendly, blah, blah, blah, but this is ugly.
1:35Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think when you consider goal after 24 seconds like they did, it obviously changes a lot of things in your game plan, in the way you would approach the game and the way you play and also the way the other team plays. And for Arsenal to score so early, then maybe much easier in the way they could defend and let the ball to City, which they did, because I think City had close to 60 % of the ball in this game. But Arsenal used it much better. They defended really well. There was never really a way for City to break them down. And even when they had a couple of decent chances, like the one for Haaland, the shot from Foden, the one from Cherki, it was just well saved by Raja and not well executed from a City point of view.
2:12I still think that there's much more to come from Mareska and City.
2:17Julien Laurens:I don't think anybody should be worried about that performance. But it's a 3-0 defeat and it's not a great start for him, for sure. Well, let's get into that because, you know, obviously the window's open. And obviously we all have to put in our predictions who's going to win the title, whatever. And I'm like, this is kind of silly because especially with some teams, they're so far behind where they're going to be, both in terms of preparation, but in terms of personnel. Let's get into, I think for Arsenal, I think this should be briefer. They've been linked with another defender. There's talk of Kwanzaa, there's talk of Kwanzaa.
2:50Other than that, I don't know. and obviously there will be outgoings i assume jesus martinelli maybe we can talk about that in a bit but we don't expect anybody coming in who's going to crack the starting lineup do we
3:02Julien Laurens:well maybe on that left hand side i think the idea was to go and get uh another left winger especially if martinelli leaves i think tollis was a good replacement for trossard but i think they were also looking like we saw with the vini in the vini vinicius uh links for a player certainly more established, let's say, than the player as young as Solis, who did really well in the game against City. But I think they're looking for somewhere there on the left-hand side and yeah, a centre-back who can also play right-back. They like Azric Kwanzaa a lot. They like Jules Koundé. They like Jal Kwanzaa.
3:38Julien Laurens:But it would also depend on what Ben White does. I think we're talking about finishing touches, alternatives as well. I'm not a guy. I've kind of become one. I thought Solis, what, two assists yesterday? Yeah, yeah, yeah. With City, it's a different story. They've been linked all summer long with Enzo Fernandez. He has a good relationship with Maraisca. This seems to me, for me, the main basis of the link. I look at this midfield, and Tijani Reinders is gone now. And I say, yeah, they could definitely use another body. And obviously, Rodri. Boadi's the guy they've been linked with. If they get Rodri money in, I'm assuming they can get Boadi, right?
4:18Yeah, yeah, yeah. he's just he's only 18 years old so people forget this and i really want to emphasize this because i know we have the whole if you're good enough you're young enough and blah blah blah or young enough good enough whatever and lamina miles done it at a very young age but it is a big ask especially if you're in midfield and we started in the world in the world cup too where you did really well and
4:38Julien Laurens:then kind of fizzled yeah against france yeah yeah fizzled after that opening what 45 minutes or an now against Brazil. After that, it was more difficult because he's an incredible talent, but still very young. And I think to think that he could just come in and replace Rodri and have those kind of input, I think it's putting a lot of pressure on him. And I don't think he's ready. I just don't think he's ready for that. So you can sign Boadi and he might be ready in a year or two. You can go and sign somebody in between Boadi and Rodri. Nobody's as good as Rodri anyway. But I don't know, let's say a Steeler, if you like that kind of player from Stuttgart, somebody like that who has already more experience than Bouhadi, who can do a really good job in a team like City in a Mareska team.
5:24Julien Laurens:Because what we saw yesterday in that game against Arsenal, we can talk about Elia Anderson a bit later because I'm not sure I really understand the use of him or why not using him more or better. But there was, you know, Kovacic coming, there was this back three, Gvardiol, Ruben Diaz and Kusanov kind of building. then you had Kovacic, and then you had three of O 'Reilly, Foden, and Anderson. So there's something interesting he's building, but you need the right players to fit in that. I will see if Enzo fits into it. Because Chelsea put this deadline of Friday at 5, but deadline schmedlines, we know that's not.
5:58There's only one deadline that matters, and that is the transit window. All right, Jules, let's just try to order kind of what we said. Maybe we'll go by departments. We'll come back. Well, let's start with the midfield. Since you brought up the midfield, you brought up Elliot Anderson's role. I'm a huge Anderson guy. I would imagine he can maybe, if Wadi's not ready, I mean, you talked about something like Angela Stiller, who's one of those guys who scouts and numbers geeks love. Julian Nagelsmann perhaps likes him a little bit less. Other people seem to rate him a little less. I don't know that City are in a position to go and blow a lot of money here on him if they also want to get Enzo and Wadi this window.
6:43what are the reasons, and I know you would lose a little bit, but I'm wondering if Elliot Anderson can't grow into that role, especially if it is more of a midfield three rather than the two and the four. Yeah, no, I think he can. I think he can. I think maybe the issue... Rather than seeing him the way we saw him today, where it felt like it was Kovacic who was more central and Elliot Anderson seemed to be floating around.
7:10Julien Laurens:Yeah, in the 3-1-3 and then obviously the three forwards. It was definitely Kovacic more in front, but I think Anderson would play there if Enzo signed, for example. I think having O 'Reilly, Foyden and Enzo as your three makes a lot of sense. Wherever you want to have them, then I think Anderson can play just in front of the three who will start the build-up phase. And if you sign Buadi, then that gives you more options. They need, that was always, the midfield was always going to be the part of the squad where they need the most rebuilding or there will be the most changes because Bernardo Silva left, because Rodri is about to leave, because Nico Gonzalez is not really good enough, certainly for starting position.
7:55Julien Laurens:So you end up spending 116 million on Elliot Anderson, you will spend another 100 million on Bouadi and you will spend another 120 million on Enzo. So I really think Boadi and Enzo will end up at City this summer. And just in that midfield three, you would have spent almost$350 million, which is a lot of money. But there are three incredible players that if you use them well, I think can take you to the next level. There's no doubt. Because the rest is in place. But maybe not straight away with Boadi. It's essentially what we're saying. Yeah, but you need another body anyway. so if you have Anderson and Enzo already with Foden you're saying that can yeah yeah and then even Nico Gonzalez has a backup and Kovacic that's great you had Boadi you have a pretty special midfield all those five for kind of three positions what you don't have in that setup is Ryan Scherke starting it's Foden or Scherke anyway but it was the case last season yeah and it was better with Scherke than Foden I'm saying this is a big year for Foden obviously he said the whole summer.
9:04I'm not going to judge him on the community shield, but I think it's pretty evident that the club have gambled on him in terms of extending his contract. They're showing a lot of belief. He didn't necessarily... I don't even know if Enzo worked with him before when he was in the youth team because Foden was already training with the seniors at a very young age.
9:26Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah, no, he didn't have him. But he had him as an assistant. He would have had him as an assistant. There's a relationship there. I'm not... I don't see Foden and Scherke necessarily as alternatives to each other, and I kind of feel that if the believing in Foden means Scherke's not getting minutes on the pitch, that is going to have to be a big call that he has to make. And the other big call is if Foden or Scherke on the side of a three, even with the one even with the one behind, you know, what we were describing with a 3-1-3, or a 3-1-3. Yeah, a 3-1-3 setup, yeah. Yeah. I don't know that that's Scherke.
10:12I don't know that Scherke has necessarily found his best position yet. You're still talking about a young player. Yeah, yeah. But man, the temptation to just saying like two wingers, Holland in front, put Scherke further forward, give him freedom, and have two guys covering him behind who can pass. it seems like such a straightforward thing and I know Maresca likes to do more sophisticated things but maybe I love Scherke too much
10:37Julien Laurens:I don't no no I really think it's a matchup between Foden and Scherke for the kind of central role really behind the two wingers on Haaland the wingers are very important for Maresca which is my next point as we move into the front three as we saw yesterday and if Semenyu and Doku are not in a great day like they were not in that community shield arsenal defended really well very often 2v1 so it was hard for the coup and semino to really do something special you can put for them wide or even checky are wide but you lose a lot of what obviously made them special we talked about that a lot last season already so it's one or the other you need almost both because you need options and rotations and things like that um but i'm personally i'm a shakki guy and not a But that's just me.
11:24Do you need another center forward too? If Marmouche, because Marmouche has been linked. People have been trying to move him all summer. Yeah, yeah. He doesn't seem to be a Merezka type, let's say. He's a wonderful person. And you may need to move him just to get some money back if you're going to spend all that money if Enzo and Boari arrive. But then you have a problem then, because then you say, well, Semenyo is the alternative to Holland.
11:53Julien Laurens:Yeah, Moubarou did really well in pre-season, but he's still quite a young striker. Mahmouche did okay in pre-season too. But if he goes, then I think you look at a replacement for him. Unless you bring another young player from the reserve team up to the first team, like Divijn has done, it's possible. I think Mahmouche will stay. I think they need somebody like his profile. I know if he wants to play more, he will have to leave. But he can also get time on the wing, too. Like, if we are going to be short with wingers, right? If you think that, you know, Dokun Sumenu, if you need a backup there, and Savinho obviously came with a move as well, there's no reason Marmouche can't play as a wide player, right?
12:37He's going to do it differently. He's going to have different characteristics. But the other thing with City, for me, I was very skeptical about, at the back about carrying this many central defenders as they do. So there's this many top, really top-notch, because Kvarjol is a top-notch central defender. He's obviously put his chips in the Ruben Diaz basket by making him captain. It doesn't mean he can't be benched occasionally, but fundamentally, you've got Marquet and you've got Kvarjol, right? I know you need four central defenders, but the question is always resource allocation, right? If you play Kusanov on the right or Varjol on the left, you can do your three plus one, and then you have Nunez on one side or maybe Aitnuri, who if not, I would assume is probably going to go if they find a taker.
13:35And obviously you've got Nico on the left. Is that how it's going to shake out? Of those four A-list center backs, will three kind of always play? And one might be on the right and one on the left.
13:47Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, that's what we saw in pre-season. That's what we saw in the Community Shield. I don't see why he would change Sonny in possession. Our possession is a bit different. Would you trust O 'Reilly at left back or more Gvardzio at left back? I think there's a lot you could do with Gvardzio if you want to start with Kusanov, Diaz and Gehi and then have O 'Reilly on the bench and Gvardzio as your kind of left back. But we can also go in midfield and do a bit what Calafiore did in that game on Sunday in the Community Shield for Arsenal. I think there's a lot you can do. I think O 'Reilly is probably the best for that if that's what you want.
14:20Julien Laurens:But I think Vardjot can give you something else too. So I think they have, I can see why they're looking for a right back in case for some games they need a more traditional back four, for example, and they might build up differently because they will be super dominant. But I think they've got, I'm ready to give him a pass. I thought people were really quick to judge Maresca on the game yesterday. You can't judge somebody now. And criticise him and everything. I think you could see the structure, you could see the permutation. I think there's a lot of interesting things that he's going to do. And these squads, compared to now, as you rightly said, Gabi, earlier, will be very, very good and very different.
14:57Julien Laurens:Certainly much, much stronger in two weeks' time when the season properly starts in the start of September after the end of the transfer window. And I think then he will have so many different options. In the same position, have different profiles. He will be able to do a lot of things. Then the pressure will be high because he will have to deliver. But for now, it was unfortunate that they considered so early. I think there were still some interesting things they did tactically, but he needs a full squad ready to go for September. I will say this from a recruitment perspective, and there's obviously, recruitment is difficult, and there's always a lot of stuff that we don't know.
15:34It's not a good situation to be in, to be left with two weeks to go. It's a bit late, that's true. And to have to sign 200 million potential players to have a complete squad. And we know the reasons why, Rodri, the World Cup, Real Madrid, Barcelona, whatever. But that's definitely suboptimal. Looking at Arsenal, on the other hand, the Vinicius story, how real was it in your view? Because from my view, with the greatest respect to Arsenal, I would assume staying at Real Madrid would have always been his preference. I don't know all the things that we've criticized Vini for at Real Madrid in terms of his work off the ball and tracking back and whatever it never seemed to me that Arteta was going to be like oh look now you're at this club where we work everybody works look even Bukayo Saka is working so you have to work too I didn't why would Arteta want that kind of headache yeah do you think it was kind of like well if there's the right opportunity sure but we're not going to make this a centerpiece
16:40Julien Laurens:no no no they they really believed that it could happen they worked on it uh quite hard to be ready in case he didn't extend at Real Madrid that was always the case but as long as he didn't extend they had a shot and they were really keen Arteta included I think he would have been a game changer I think he was always a bit of a not a long shot but I think they also knew that staying at Real Madrid was the number one option and if that didn't happen and it could have well not happened then then he would have come to arsenal the fact that in the end i think real madrid also couldn't afford to let him go and then they made the extra effort they paid the extra money to keep him at the club for us what's interesting now is you missed out on rogers because you didn't want to match the offer well i think way over the valuation of the player that chelsea did fair enough then you try for vinnie and you try for vinnie believing that there was a possibility and I think there really was a possibility but it didn't happen and so what do you do next because Rogers would have come and I think so this was still would have come Vinny would have come until this was already there so you're a player down you're sure what you're saying if Martinelli goes if Martinelli goes then then what is the what is the next possibility do you go for barcola now and kind of almost break the bank because he will be expensive did you look at another option of maybe a younger player Mika got was a possibility before he went to PSG.
18:08Julien Laurens:Do you go like that? Or you say to Martinelli, listen, we're going to keep you at least until January and you have that left hand side with Martinelli and Tolis who work really hard, who are really good players. And Maduweke too. Like it's not, it's not like Maduweke goes away. Presumably, hopefully Saka will play a lot. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Izzy can play on the left hand side. So you're probably covered. I, for me, it's very simple for me i say look until downman's ready because downman's the horizon right it's very simple you go to martinelli like you've been on the market for six months nobody's matching our valuation obviously somebody comes and says hey i'll give you 60 million for martinelli fine right but i would say like are you up for a one-year extension and it's going to be like last season in other words Solis is Trossard but he's a he's a younger Trossard who's new to the club so presumably won't get the trust that they had in Trossard so there will be opportunities for you we need you're a different profile from Solis you're fast you're direct in a way that Solis isn't and you're going to compete on that left hand side with Solis and Maduike like you did last season and we won the title and we won the Champions League and even at the risk of him leaving on a free it's really not the end i don't think it's the end of the world if that happens i would try to give him a one year extension and maybe a little bit more money that for me makes a lot more sense than going and blowing another 60 80 million arsenal have spent so much money and the reality is when we and this takes us to the other argument those miles louis skelly stories and that that were those words pure prophet right i don't know that's it's it's kind of almost like ugly words to use when we're talking about human beings but because you know when somebody's been in at the club a long time like if they were to sell saliva he would basically be pure prophet because he's been there long enough that he's you know his residual mortgations very low um i don't know how that even came up, or how seriously to treat the Lewis Skelly thing, certainly with him starting, there are a lot of bodies for that midfield.
20:24Hopefully, it means Rice plays a little bit less, and you can preserve the best version of Rice.
20:35But they're going to have to. I mean, we can rule it out, right?
20:39Julien Laurens:Yeah, I was told there was nothing in it at all. I don't know where it came from. So then there's a Nguyenieri issue, potentially? Yeah, yeah. Which we know. He wants to play, yeah. I think Nguyenieri, you don't sell Nguyenieri. No, no, yeah. You have to do that. I think Gabriel Jesus, who's linked with Napoli, you're not going to get any money back. You shouldn't get any money back for him. You wish him well, and that's it. the additional defenders all based it's all it's all Ben White contingent do we think no it's the saliva injury because obviously we're not sure exactly well it's a long term one and it might be back in December it might be back in January we don't know and Timber is also injured so right now if something happens Timber is much closer no?
21:26Julien Laurens:well yeah but still not ready yet not training with the team or anything like that so if something happens to White or Mosquera then suddenly you're looking at it in a very different way. That's why I think they're looking at that position especially. And I think that's probably a position where there's something interesting to do, even for Consa or Koundé or people like that. This is where I go back to my favourite thing, which we're going to talk about later, which is veteran player on loan. Thank you, Liverpool, for finally doing that. We'll get to that with Ronaldo Raju later. I think that's a great deal for Barcelona.
22:01I might have chosen a different live body, but you know, you got a body. But in terms of starting XI, what we saw from the Arsenal, we saw, I mean, for me, I saw Odegaard back. When I was critical of Arteta last season, it's because I was like, Odegaard and Saka are your best attacking players. And Kai Havertz. And when I look at this and I see that Saka's on the bench, you're coming in, he's not fully fit. Odegaard is ghosting through games, even when he's playing. Djokovic is starting instead of Havertz. I'm thinking, I want to see technical Arsenal. I want to see Arsenal outplay opponents rather than outset piece them.
22:46And we know you can do that, but because you need to have that other dimension when you have so much talent. If we get this Odegaard all season long, Arsenal are really going places.
22:56Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think so. The momentum of the World Cup was always going to be positive for him. And I think he's ready to go. I would have liked him to have a bit more rest even. Because he feels like he had a bit of holiday, but came back pretty quickly and pretty strongly. So he might have a deep in form in November, December, which I think for a lot of the players who won't find the World Cup is to be expected, wherever you are and wherever you play. But the form that he showed yesterday, and again, we've said it many, many times, but he's so important, not just for Arsenal with the ball, but also obviously in the press and the counter press without the ball.
23:33Julien Laurens:So they need him at his best. I don't know what that means for Eze, for example, and others in that position. There will be a lot of games to play for everybody. We didn't mention Eze as an alternative on the wing. No, I said on the left. Yeah, I said Eze can play there. But yeah, yeah, he's better as a 10. So you have Eze, Madueke, Solis. Madueke is the replacement to Saka on the right. I think he barely plays on the left. But if Saka, we're hoping, Saka is playing, right? Saka's fit Saka's Arsenal's best player Saka plays right yeah well we would have to think in positive terms yeah yeah and then but then you have Madueke then part of that rotation yeah yeah but not high in that picking order I think maybe not high but you're still an option there yeah yeah sure sure and then maybe and then if you also keep Martinelli yeah yeah and you have Dallman I mean yeah Dallman is after Madueke on the right but he can play on the left too yeah but not really You don't think so, Darmann with his physicality?
24:31Julien Laurens:I think there's an interesting point to be made of, should they make Darmann play on the left, like build him to play there. Right now, he's not ready to play there. All his life he's played on the right-hand side. He's still a young player that even is learning to play on the right-hand side as a left-footed winger. So to move him to the left now would be, I think, very difficult. But you could do some work with him so that he can get there at some point. But right now, he's not. I've had people tell me his future is probably not as a winger and he probably has a skill you know three four five years down the line to actually play yeah which I don't know if that position exists very much in football anymore but yeah so yeah so basically well done Arsenal you know there's not much argument here uh they are the favorites right now to win the Premier League
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26:41Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash network. Go to shopify.com slash network. Shopify.com slash network. All right, enough Community Shield. How about some quick hits instead? Let's go again. It's a story that has dominated the headlines post-World Cup. Jules, FIFA president Johnny Fantino's plan to spin off FIFA's commercial operation and sell 20 % of it to a group of investors led by Josh Kushner and our old boss Bob Iger, too. Did not go down well.
27:22No. With CONCACAF, Asian Football Confederation, UEFA taking a strong stand against him. Choules, where do you stand?
27:29Julien Laurens:Did you like the Infantino plan? No, I didn't. I thought it was an absolute disgrace. I thought it looked well dodgy, too. The way it was done, the fact that Infantino himself didn't really inform anybody around him. It was very much his own decision. I thought it's a shameful move that he made and I think he's paying for it now because he's under a lot of pressure. A lot of people want him out. Where he was untouchable. He thought he was going to be untouchable and that he was going to be re-elected in March 2027 very easily. And now I think that's quite up in the air. I think he will still be there because I think he can find a way through anything, which is probably a good...
28:11Julien Laurens:Teflon. Yeah. but I think what he did was was really poor yeah I he was the classic kind of railroading it through like oh I have this great plan and you have to vote on it by August whatever it was and he's like no like this is not how we run organizations after 10 years let's see how it goes but it was also a very stupid plan for one very even if you want to sell FIFA that's fine not fine but whatever you want to do it but you put it out to tender you negotiate hey who wants to buy fifa how much will you give me for this 20 percent these guys say 20 billion uh is it worth more is it worth less that's how you do it in the business world and gab you have a piece on the website explaining the whole affair it seems both sides are battling behind the scenes now yeah so basically you mentioned this before there's elections in march and by november 18th you have to put forward other candidates my understanding is that the people who want Infantino out are basically, they don't want to go to elections.
29:15Like the ideal situation would be something where he resigns, he gets thrown out. There is a process for a vote of no confidence, but the timing of that is such that it would go past November 18th. So that's not really viable. It doesn't feel viable right now. And so they're putting pressure in different ways. They've already said, like UEFA said, we're not going to participate in FIFA competitions. We'll see what happens. There's a Women's World Cup is the next one in Poland in September. The reason they don't want to put out a candidate now is that then that candidate would come under attack, right?
29:48So they're hoping to force them out in other ways. There's talk of legal action. There's talk of getting Kass involved. Both sides are going around trying to get statements of support. We saw one recently from Qatar. I think this battle is going to be played out with two important constituencies that we've not heard of yet. One is Saudi. they have not taken a side. They've been big backers of Gianni Infantino before. It helped them get the 2034 World Cup. It helped them deliver such a lucrative World Cup. But they've been completely silent, which is very interesting, I think. And the other one is the clubs because the next World Cup will generate less revenue than this one.
30:26It's pretty much a given. It's Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, just a different economy. And so how are you going to increase revenue without selling FIFA? the club world cup the men's club world cup is the biggest area of growth to do that you need to have the clubs the big clubs in the world involved so far again all the big clubs except for Real Madrid who put out that statement they've all kind of been silent too so you wonder could we see something maybe a little bit like we see with UEFA competitions with the UC3 where the clubs take a minority share in the competition itself to help drive it um i think both sides are kind of courting the clubs and their support on this one meanwhile jules it's super cup season for paris saint-germain yeah they won the european one against aston villa last wednesday or some version of aston villa anyway but they lost to lawns uh who had to play the almost entire second half or in fact the entire second half and part of the first half a man down is reason to worry
31:24Julien Laurens:No, I thought PSG were good against Vela and Mourn and I think they were good against Lens. They didn't win this time. Lens got a bit of a lucky goal that Florian Thauvin scored, but they were also very solid. The game was played in Lens after a turn course to decide where the French Super Cup should be played, either in Paris or in Lens. So they had the support of their fans. I don't think there's anything to worry at all about for PSG, but they've got players coming back to fitness. Some have played, some have not playing some play only half an hour so i think it's like a lot of big clubs at this time of the year yeah and there was a lot of uh again there was no dembele but also there was the the xg i think pretty much tell its own story in terms of chances created and also that goal between the potential offside i guess he wasn't offside no no he might have been outside there might have been a foul in the build-up too there might have been pacho switching off a lot of things you know So, yeah, I wouldn't be concerned.
32:22Julien Laurens:And more PSG, Gabi Ferran Torres assigned, Mika Gotts assigned as well, plus Magnessa Clio should be earlier. How excited do you think I should be? I think Barcelona should be more excited that they got 50 million for Ferran Torres with one year left. I'm assuming this is there because Luis Enrique knows him and trusts him and loves him from the time he got on the national team. Mika Gotts, I think, is an interesting player, a slow burn. The guy who plays in that position right now is already pretty good. I think Torres fills the gap left by the guy who went to Milan. So in other words, a situational player.
33:04Akeliouche is the one that should be exciting you, Jules.
33:07Julien Laurens:Yeah, probably. Magnificent. For sure. Manchester United lose a glamour, if you live in the mid-2000s, friendly to Ruben Amarim's Milan, 4-2. Michael Carrick says they need to strengthen. No doubt you agree, Jules. Yeah, absolutely. in midfield, probably even at wide. We'll talk about Marcus Rashford later, but there's probably still a lot of things to do. I've seen them play quite well in pre-season at times in some games. That game, not so much, although they took the lead twice. I was left a little bit disappointed, so there's a lot of games to come. They will be in the Champions League. I think the club have to realise that Michael Carrick needs more players and very quickly, because as we said earlier for City and that also goes with United.
33:52Julien Laurens:There's only two weeks to go until the end of the transfer window and they're not completed yet. I don't think clubs, people realise, especially the last couple of seasons with the extra games, how much playing in Europe takes out of you. And speaking of Milan, Gab, it looks like they need to shift a lot of players, not just Rafael Eao, but Ficayo Tomori, Yusuf Fofana, Christopher Nkunku, there's a few of them. Yeah, I mean, the ideal thing would have been to move these guys quietly at the start of the window rather than kind of come out with almost like an announcement. But a big change. Jerry Cardinale wants to make a splash with Amarim.
34:28I think he went about everything ass backwards, but hey, that's how he rolls. I think there's some smart pickups at the right price. I think all these guys could go down to the wire. Yusuf Ufana I think could do a job for a lot of clubs. If we're talking short term, he's a very, very good player and he's not just a defensive midfielder. 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. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.
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35:44same-day coverage. There's no medical exam. You just answer a few simple health questions online. You can get up to$3 million in coverage, and some policies start as low as$30 a month. Ethos has also earned strong customer feedback with a 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot based on more than 4 ,000 reviews. Take 10 minutes to get covered today with life insurance through Ethos. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash sports. That's ethos.com slash sports. Application times may vary, rates may vary. Trustpilot rating as of June 1st, 2025. Back to United. One guy who is not moving on is apparently Marcus Rashid.
36:28I'm guessing it's because nobody wants his wages.
36:30Julien Laurens:There's a bit of that. Back from the loan in Barcelona where he did well. Not great, but well. I think it's the fair word for it. based on a lot of money in wages. I want to see what Carrick can do with him. I want to see... He never wanted to go back to United and play there because he was so toxic before he left that first loan move to Aston Villa. But maybe with Carrick it would be different. Yeah, maybe. I'm not holding my breath. And meanwhile, Fenway Sports Group are selling a big chunk of Liverpool to a group of investors you may have heard of. Yeah, that's right. It's almost like an all-star cast.
37:11it's Amit Bhatia who previously was involved with QPR but whose father-in-law is Lakshmi Mittal who's one of the richest men in the world. Eduardo Saverin who is the co-founder of Facebook with your pal Zuck back in the day. Then later he gave up his US citizenship I think for tax reasons and stuff. He is worth a lot of money. And then the third guy is even richer. It's Jeff Bezos the Amazon guy they took about a third of the club it values the club at 5.5 billion I think that is a huge valuation well done Fenway for getting that much money they're going to be silent partners I think our listeners are sophisticated enough to know that just because the guy who owns you has a lot of money doesn't mean that you're going to sign Lamine Yamal tomorrow but it's good for Fenway the owners get some of the money out it renews their commitment, it also brings in fresh ideas, I think Patia was very involved QPR and I think in a very positive way.
38:10He's a really bright guy. I'm biased here because I know the guy. So yeah, I think they're in a really solid spot. A long-running saga ended this summer when Vinicius Jr. extended his deal with Real Madrid. We touched upon this earlier. And with Jan Diamande joining from Leipzig to man the other flank, Jose Mourinho won't be able to complain about not having flying wingers, Jules.
38:30Julien Laurens:That's true. Now let's see how Vinny and Mbappé and Bellingham and Diamande can play together and who is behind them and who is going to do the defending yeah probably um but but on paper is great i think real madrid did really well in the transfer window this summer for mourinho the money they spent the players they bought i think they should have gone for rodri and we mentioned earlier they tried but they tried well did they really try uh but we see the balance will be key obviously and we delighted to say obviously if you're listening to us from france that you'll be able to see La Liga and Real Madrid and Mourinho every single game on Disney Plus in France in France so we've got that to look forward to as well and we talked about Rodri from the City perspective earlier and I just touched upon it as well but is this a good deal for Barca do you think no too expensive he's 30 years old he's hardly played the last two seasons um spending that amount of money in a position where you already have frankie de jong you have casa who may go and whatever but if he's going to go he's going to go to price now you're going to get less for him if you do shift him um you have bernard presumably you have pedri there he's been playing deeper uh if you're going to keep playing that that four two three one variation if eric garcia in theory he's done it so i don't see the logic to it i think rodri is a very good player i don't I think he's a game changer in that role for Barcelona, the way they play.
40:03If part of your issue is the high line and people chasing back towards the goal, he's not going to help you with that. So no, this makes no sense to me. Jorge Valdano had a good line about it. He said, yeah, well, it came out to around 70 million because it's 30 million for Rodri and 40 million to stop him going to Real Madrid.
40:21Julien Laurens:Yeah, probably. Yeah, it's a lot of money. Too much money for me. Xavi is the new Holland manager, Jules. I was not expecting this. No, me neither. To be fair, I don't think it was first choice. I think they obviously went to Arnestlo and Peter Bosch and people like that. And more bald Dutch guys. Yeah, yeah. At least Xavi has hair, right? He's got hair, beautiful hair even. But even if you're not first choice, it doesn't matter so much. I like this a lot. I think Xavi will do well with the Netherlands. Finally, the right guy for the job after the guys that we had before. it's the you know the Cruyff air if you want and mentality and I think I think this is going to be very exciting are you going to call him the Dutch guy no I love Xavi I love his choice he'll never be the Dutch guy you know he can't do worse than what I was there before I think so you know let's talk keepers Gabby Zan Suduki joins Aston Villa from Parma for around 30 million euros after he almost went to PSG and we thought that meant that Ibu Martinez was going to Juventus but now it's not so clear.
41:25No, the latest today is that Juventus have said, yeah, Emi Martinez is a little too expensive. Let's get on the phone with Spurs again. Talk about Vicario. I mean, Villa are in a bind. They're in a bind now. Emi Martinez, okay, whatever you think of him, most people would say he's a top 10, if not top five keeper in the world, right? And now he's in a situation where he's a year away from free agency. I mean, Juventus were hoping to get him for 6 million. it's kind of crazy when there's a lot of clubs a lot of big clubs who have worse goalkeepers than Emi Martinez if they go if they say it's just too expensive the reason is there's agents and fees involved we'll see, this is definitely one to monitor between now and the end of the window I'm going to go back, I know Sene Lemons they liked him, although then he cost Belgium their place at the World Cup with his mistake are you sure if you Carrick you wouldn't think about it I would I would all right okay enjoy your center lemons certainly better than Martinez last season I mean he degenerates back into an honor anyway also happening while we were away any how out at Newcastle and Matthias Yaisler coming in just I'm a fan of Yaisler yeah it's
42:43Julien Laurens:exciting although obviously he's been in Saudi for a few years now and we wait let's see what he does coming back to Europe after being very promising earlier. But I think this is a good appointment. And for Eddie Haar, I think he's just had enough of the club selling all the best assets all the time. I think it was a very difficult environment to work in and work around. So I can completely understand his decision. Getting ready for the England job? Yeah, potentially as well. But that won't come very soon. He would have to wait at least two years. So I don't know if that's... I don't know, man.
43:14Oh, maybe not.
43:15Julien Laurens:You're right. I was surprised Tuchel hasn't been given a harder time. Let's see how things go. Yeah, me too. Kuti Romero has joined Atletico Madrid from Tottenham in a deal worth around 40 million euros. Gab, a match made in heaven? Well, obviously that's a stereotype because, oh, look, he's going to be with Diego Simeone and Negarra. Maybe Diego Godin will make a guest appearance in training to scare people. I don't see the logic in this. I mean, they already had center backs. Loads of them, yeah. And Pubil and Lenormand and Hanchko. The rumor is that, well, no, he might play a back three. And sure.
43:54They've signed Grimaldo as well for the left. Yeah, so obviously with Grimaldo and Llorente, then you've got your instant wingbacks. And Sinoni played there the other day as well. Yeah, and then what do you do with your wingers? I mean, turn them into wingbacks? I don't... I don't... Lionel Messi said he's the best center back in the world. I invite people to go and watch Tottenham over the last two years, the amount of goals they conceded when he was there. And when he wasn't there, it was often his fault because he wasn't rehabbing properly or because he was suspended. So yeah, I don't like this one at all.
44:25Mohamed Salah has a new home. Jules, are you surprised that Trabzon Spor and a free transfer after everyone was pushing him to Saudi Arabia?
44:33Julien Laurens:Surprised? No, we thought Turkey was always a bit of an option as well. halfway through. If you stay in Europe, they're still in European competitions. So it's not Saudi or it's not MLS just yet. I think that will come a bit later. Hugo, he was welcomed like a god of football, like an absolute hero. There will be great atmosphere. It's a team that did well last season, so he should improve them. So I'm curious. And I think the Turkish clubs, especially the top clubs, not just the Istanbul clubs, but Translansport as well, building something really interesting that's going to make that league interesting to watch for us too.
45:12Julien Laurens:They were third last season, so I guess we'll get to see him in the Europa League. I just love the idea, like, oh, look, he's Muslim. Surely he's going to want to go to Saudi Arabia. I mean, he's enough money. He can fly to Saudi Arabia whenever he wants. And in fact, there's plenty of flights on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and, well, maybe not so much from Trabzon, but still. Liverpool have picked up Ronald Arrojo on loan from Barcelona. you like this move? For who? For Barcelona? Okay. In the principle, I'm the guy who's been saying all along, big clubs, this goes back to the Manchester United days when Ralph Rangnick wanted to sign somebody on loan for six months and then to fight to get Marcel Sabitzer in.
45:53Oh no, we don't do that. No, it's a smart thing if you need a body, right? If you think, look, Jacquet is not, you know, he's very, Jacquet is very young. Leone is very young. Virgil will be coming back after the World Cup. he's gonna be more tired blah blah blah let's just get a body in um you don't even think about doing this on a permanent basis because he's a contract through 2031 and he's 27 years old which i think is just crazy um from barcelona's perspective um no makes no sense to uh you try it makes sense to get him away because obviously it doesn't fit the way you play you're still totally short-handed at the back and you're short-handed up front right who's Anthony Gordon going to be your centre forward this season
46:40Julien Laurens:I mean they're looking for a centre forward yeah but they haven't found it yet Pavlidis yeah I think they would sign him they would sign one before between now and the other well they have to yeah yeah they have to they've got nobody I mean and at the back it is another body that leaves but from Liverpool's perspective yeah maybe you can relaunch his career a little bit with Araujo maybe you can plug some gaps in the league cup but he's obviously not the future no i agree nor the present jules none other than sir alex ferguson appearing in a netflix documentary told us what many suspected but what would have been reported even but not confirmed we've said it many times but we weren't sure but the way it's different when sir alex says it he says that basically after everything went south at real madrid for marino the manchester united offered him the job that Mourinho agreed to take it.
47:32And then after a few hours, rang up Sir Alex crying and said, no, I'm going to go back to Chelsea.
47:40Julien Laurens:Yeah. Did he get scared of the challenge of following somebody like Sir Alex? Because after 27 years of winning everything, it's hard for anyone. Like it's hard to follow Wenger. Like it's hard to follow Guardiola. But even probably more for Wenger and Fergie because of the time they spent at those clubs. Or was it the pull of going back to Chelsea that was so... Mourinho does not get scared. Mourinho would be very angry if he heard you say that he... Well, he might be. I think that was part of that and I think a lot of managers would have looked at that job after Fergie and said like, he's in love with Chelsea.
48:13Julien Laurens:That's why he went back. And that's maybe that as well. But then he agreed first and then changed his mind. I don't know. I find it. But I would have loved to see Mourinho at United at that time because it was a very different story than when he joined, what, five years later or so. And he certainly spent a lot of money too. So he would have had the backing. I actually think Mourinho at Manchester United back then could have worked much better than Mourinho later. I agree. Jed Spence and John Stones both joined Inter Milan. Gav, do you like this Premier League shopping spree from the reigning Serie A champions?
48:45I mean, John Stones was a free transfer. Jed Spence, it's amazing. The deal was around$30 million in the end. People are wondering, this guy's young enough. He's a freak athlete. he has Tuchel's trust in World Cup games why is he available for so little money? why I mean Arsenal are messing around with Esri Kansa we're talking 40-50 million Kansa's like 5 years older than Spence or maybe not 5 but certainly why? there's a reason there's a reason people are turning towards Jed Spence I'm just going to leave it at that he's already he was at Genoa on loan in Serie A I think he's a good fit if you want a fast guy running up and down the flank.
49:29And Inter have a very good record with aging central defenders over the years. So Stones will bring some quality there. Yeah, Inter are so far ahead right now. We'll see what happens in the last couple weeks of the transfer window. But to be honest, I mean, it feels like the title's already in the bag. It feels like the title's Inter's to lose, put it that way. Sebastian Pocognoli is the new Scotland manager, Jules. Oh, I love this. Come on, get the Tartan army excited
49:57Julien Laurens:He still, despite what happened at Monaco Where he was a bit hot and cold He's still a very promising young coach I'm a bit surprised that he kind of leaves Club football behind him Certainly for a few years now To take charge of the Scotland team But for Scotland I think he's good They will have an identity I think he's a very exciting coach to play for To work with I think he will help this team And not just this team But he's got always a great vision and suddenly he had a Monaco of a bigger picture with youth teams and things like that. So I think this is really good for Scotland. If he's really in it and not just there because he wants to wait for the next club job, I think he can do a really good job not just for the A team, but also helping structuring and everything the youth team.
50:44I presume it has to be as brief because Scotland don't need to qualify for the next Euros, do they? No, they don't have to. So I think that takes a lot of pressure off.
50:53Julien Laurens:Yeah, it must be, for sure. Chelsea's case over transfer irregularities in the Abramovich era is not finally over again that's right if you remember they had three separate cases and these are allegations that Chelsea paid essentially kickbacks that they engaged in false accounting in the Abramovich era, Chelsea's new owners Taiboli and Bedare Bali self-reported this and said oh look what we found we looked in the books, all this dodgy stuff but look we're telling you that this happened so it's a question of how do you punish them in the end when they sum this up they got a 10 million euro fine from UEFA because they were investigated by all three bodies they got a 10 million pound fine from the Premier League VFA also fined them 10 million it's a nice round number Jules this is the scientific way we do things they got a suspended transfer ban they got a transfer ban for two windows but the ban is suspended So yes, as long as you don't start paying bribes to people again It's not really going to impact them $30 million is a lot of money But I'll tell you what They were smart I've been critical of Bolian and Bali But they accounted for this They held back$100 million If you remember when they bought the club Precisely because they'd been warned about questions About what happened in the Abramovich era Does it seem fair to you that there's no points penalty No points deduction Is it fine the only thing they could have done?
52:18I think just about I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. Sticking with Chelsea, Pedro Neto could be on his way to join El Halal for 60 million euros. Uncle George helping balance those books, Jules.
53:01Julien Laurens:Beautiful Uncle George making a lot of money for everyone, including himself, of course. From a Pedro Neto point of view, unless you've been told by Xabi Alonso that either the system doesn't work for you or you don't really fit or it doesn't count on you, this makes no sense whatsoever. I know he's going to make more money financially, sure, but I don't think Pedro Neto right now needs money. So I would be a bit disappointed, to be fair, and I would want to see what Chelsea do then, if they replace Pedro Neto, who we don't say Pedro Neto is one of the best wingers in the world, but certainly last season, he was a good player for Chelsea.
53:40Julien Laurens:And he covers both flanks. Exactly. I guess the thinking is, can Dainis Devao on one side and Gittins and Morgan Rodgers on the other? I'm assuming that's the thinking. Yeah, and that's if there's wingers in the system. So that's why I'm thinking there might be a back three and other stuff going on more to what we saw at Bayer Leverkusen from Xabi Alonso. But yeah, it'd be interesting. And maybe Chelsea can't say no to that kind of money either for a player like Pedro Neto. Yeah, I think it's more the latter. I mean, you look at the list of people, Baguio, Shield, hopefully they can move him on loan.
54:11So many people they need to move on.
54:13Julien Laurens:Legendary Milan defender Franco Barresi has passed away a few weeks ago. put his uh korean perspective please yeah i mean franco barezzi the the the legend begins when he's 10 years old when uh he and his brother go and have uh his brother beppe i think was two years older um they go and they have a trial at inter and uh inter decide ah yeah we'll take beppe the other one franco is too little no he'll never make it and then what does he do he's in the first team at like 18 years old when Milan won their last league title before getting relegated in like 1978-79. I mean, incredible story. Somehow misses out on the 1990 World Cup, talking about the wisdom.
55:06And, you know, kind of redefined the position and made, he was a sweeper, he was a sweeper type, or he was born as a sweeper back when sweepers existed. But then he's such an intelligent footballer that he made the transition to the back four under Rigo Sacchio, like a proper flat back four pressing type system. Very good on the ball, could have easily played in midfield. Undersized, but rarely beaten in the air. And kind of probably one of the greatest defenders of all time. Paulo Di Caño, I think, put it best. He said, like, you watch him play and it looks like you're on the PlayStation and God is moving him into position.
55:49I mean, that's one for real tactical nerds. Jules, people rave about Porto youngster Rodrigo Mora. Roma are hoping to put together a package close to 50 million euros to get him on board.
56:01Julien Laurens:Yeah, he's expensive, although he's only 18 years old because he's that promising. But again, he's a lot of promises from the Portuguese league. We've seen it so many times before. And that's why I think other clubs have been quite cautious around Rodrigo Moura. I want to wait a little bit more to see his development and the evolution of his play. Maybe if you're Roma, you're thinking, well, we have to take him now because if two years' time he continues his progression, then he'll be out of price for us, maybe. It's 25 million euros, right? Plus some selling fee. Plus 50 % of the selling. I mean, this isn't confirmed yet, but this was talked about in the Portuguese press.
56:39and if you think about it 50 million is what Porto wanted if you're going to get 50 % of the salon fee you're going to come out pretty close to that amount and maybe you enjoy a lot more upside he's really really young and very raw I think even though I think last season was his first full season maybe he played a bit the year before
57:01Julien Laurens:yeah the year before as well but it's not like he pulled up trees last season he just showed you glimpses yeah exactly Now Gustavo, Rino Gattuso, Alasio Gav They were beaten by Mantova 2-0 and they are of the Coppa Italia already Yes, nice one The Coppa Italia by Ferragosto Real smart move going with Rino Look, I know it's not all about Rino Gattuso and Lazio But the reality is this was your one chance to win something or do something this season because they ain't going to be competing in Serie A So yeah, not good Rough day at the office for Lionel Messi as well I love it, I can mention Rino Gattuso and Lionel Messi, what do they have in common?
57:37They're both World Cup winners. Yes. How about that? He makes his first MLS start for Inter Miami after the World Cup. I mean, played before, but in the League's Cup. And they get beaten 4-1 in Nashville. And he misses a penalty.
57:49Julien Laurens:Yeah, third penalty in a row that he misses, if you remember the two that he missed at the World Cup. That's mean to remember the ones he missed at the World Cup. That's mean. You're being mean. I'm just saying it's three in a row now. Bad performance, bad game. It was top v second. in MLS for this conference, obviously. And yeah, that was a bad performance from Inter Miami. And Leo Messi, obviously, lost his dad a few days ago and he's still probably suffering for that as well. So there are more games to come, obviously, from Messi and Inter Miami. But this one was one to forget very quickly.
58:28Julien Laurens:And speaking of MLS, Gabi, a couple of new faces have been confirmed. and Brill Mbolo from Rennes to Atlanta United for 17 million euros. And Alexis Sanchez from Sevilla to Montreal as a free agent. Yeah, two very different buckets. I think we can put these in. Brill Mbolo is 29 years old. I think he still has plenty to give, which is why there was a transfer fee paid. Atlanta United have shown, I think, more than any MLS club, willing to pay transfer fees. And we do, yeah. Look at the amount of money. I think the second highest or the highest they paid was for Yappi Yacpo a couple of years ago.
59:03Alexis Sanchez. I love the idea of him running around. 37 years old. How about that? They're for the little man. I'm proud of him. I don't think this moves the needle in terms of MLS glamour, either one, but, you know, it's a slow burn, MLS. That's the story of MLS. Jamie Vardy's next stop could reportedly be Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jules, these are things I thought I would never say.
59:26Julien Laurens:I mean, we never thought we would say that he played for Clermonese in Serie A one day, and he did, and he did okay, to be fair. probably yeah uh sao paulo who you know i've been i've been let's say brazilian clubs lately apart from trying to bring back home some like old like legends and stars and things like that which they've done really well also as we saw with memphis the pie for example trying to bring a bit more glamour and names that we don't expect and vadi will be of that i if vadi has watched a of the Brazileiro and the Brazilian league is quite physical. It's quite tough to play there.
1:00:05Julien Laurens:I think more than in Europe, for example. I'm not sure this is a good move for him, but in terms of the life he would have there for the family and everything, yeah, it would be different. It would be exotic. Again, I would want to see a documentary on the Vardis in Brazil, for sure. But, yeah. Yeah, I mean, last season at Cremonese, when he contributed, what he did was He played for a defensive team. He hung on the shoulder of the last defender and he timed his run. And he scored a few goals. I think he can do that for Sao Paulo too. I don't know enough about them to tell you about how they play and where he fits tactically within that.
1:00:42But yeah, I think Rebecca Vardy is going to have a lovely time in Sao Paulo. Romelu Lukaku is off to Fena Baccia. A chance to restart his career, Gab? Yeah, I think he needs it. I think he showed at the World Cup that he can contribute in the right role in the right system. who was never going to be at Napoli after everything that happened. I really like the guy. I've followed him since he was thin and 16 years old and scoring those overhead kicks for Anderlecht in the Belgian top flight. So I wish him well.
1:01:14Julien Laurens:And Fenerbahce play Lyon tomorrow on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Champions League qualifiers. I'll be torn. Do I root for Romelu so I can see him in the Champions League? I don't think he's been involved. Or do I root for the team that John Texter built and took the greatness? And Pablo Fonseca. You like Pablo Fonseca. I do, I do. Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken out about his future and whether this season might be his last, Jules. Yeah, I think he was quite honest about it. And I think we all agree with him as great as his career was, as we saw the World Cup and as we saw last season I think it's time very soon to call in an end he's great he's 41 years old he's played for what 24 season or something crazy like that he said the season might be his last might be but we know he will be he'll have a new coach in Elche past the Koglu Al Nasser and I don't know what will happen with Portugal in terms of will he continue or not with Jorge Jesus but certainly I think yeah It just sounds about right to have another season, be as successful as possible, maybe get the 1 ,000 goals mark in his career, which would be incredible for an incredible player.
1:02:30Julien Laurens:And then after that, it's probably time to retire. I'm not putting anything beyond that man. Nothing would surprise me. If he says it himself, I think he's right. And finally, Gabi, remember the Swansea ball boy who became famous after being kicked by Eden Hazard in 2013 in that game. He's about to become a multi-millionaire. I love these stories. Yeah, we said it before. We told it before. I know, but now it's actually happening. I know, but... Now it's actually happening. So, he wasn't really a ball boy even back then. He was 17 years old. Yeah. He was about twice as big as Hazard, but Swansea were time-wasting.
1:03:06I think it was a cup tie. Rafa Benitez was on the bench. Ian Layden Hazard just loses his cool and just kicks him. They became friends afterwards, but the cool thing because in the meantime, his name is Charlie Morgan. He and two of his mates, shortly thereafter, they started a company that made vodka. Welsh vodka, I'm guessing. It's called O Vodka. And according to Sky, it's about to be sold to Sazerac for half a billion pounds. And that's going to net him about 100 million. Wow, well done, Charlie. Might I suggest you invest in Swansea? Wouldn't that be cool? From ball boy to owner? Yeah. Jules, this brings us to an end, but we're going to come back on Thursday.
1:03:47Do it all over again. Yes. Maybe do some previewing of the Premier League, which starts on Friday night. Until then, love the game. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.
From the publisher
Gab Marcotti & Julien Laurens discuss Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield and ask if the Gunners are the favourites this season. The guys have a lot to catch up following the end of the World Cup including Gianni Infantino’s proposed FFA deal, Rodri’s move to Barcelona, Liverpool’s new minority owners & ask if this season really will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last.
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