Gab & Juls Show: Do Real Madrid lack direction under Xabi Alonso?

22:57They had a plan and they had a plan that involves Salah and they had a plan that Slott was a part of. But it's not like Slott sat there and says, like, yes, let's keep Salah. Let's do that. Now, Richard and Michael, you guys go and do this for me. No, no, no. It's a group decision. And I feel like they've been absent to it. If it's true that he has no relationship with the coach, that's the problem. That's why you have a sporting director with an office next door to the coach. That's why you have a coach that should be going to talk to him. Slott has obviously failed to get production from Salah.

23:26Now, Salah, the other thing, too, is all the analytics nerds tell us his numbers were on the slide well before, not just this season, but even in the second half of last season, right? So I think there has to be a bigger accountability here. I don't think the door is closed. I think I love Arnish Law. I love what he said about the first step and stuff like that. I think that's him offering a way back. I'm always skeptical of the Saudi things because, yeah, I'm sure there's middlemen in touch. There always are. It's just, does he want to do this? Can he find a different solution? Does he want to find a way back in?

24:03And I'll tell you what, this four diamond, you want to call it that? I don't know if it's going to work long-term, but if you're talking about a formation where you can have some combination of Isak, Ekitike, Salah, and Gakbo as your front two, you can have Virts at 10 in some games maybe not every game and you have the attacking fullbacks one at a time, maybe two at a time to go and give you wins. That is something that can offer him a way into the lineup. So I don't think the door is closed just a hunch I get, but I don't think the door is closed to Mo Salah at all. And I also think Liverpool need to take this as a learning opportunity about what went wrong in their summer recruitment and in their handling of Salah.

24:49Two goals from Jules Koundé. Paris born, but not Paris bred. He went away. He left you. Prodigal son. Barcelona turned it around against Eintracht.

24:59Julien Laurens:Yes, I mean, this was a typical Barcelona game where they were so open defensively, the high line, etc. And Frankfurt, who I think made 60 passes in the first half, but were 1-0 at half time, obviously on a quick transition. Almost exploited it more than that. But in the end, the talent, the substitution from Flick, to be fair, because Rashford coming on at halftime made a massive difference. Changed a great cross for the first Koundé goal, then Lamine on the cross for the second Koundé goal. It's a game that could have finished 5-4, 5-3 for Barcelona, but they won, and that's the most important after the defeat at Chelsea two weeks ago.

25:35They're on 10 points, which you might think doesn't look good, but their last two games are both eminently winnable. I think they're going top eight. Me too.

25:42Julien Laurens:Huge win for Jose Mourinho and Benfica, has they beat Napoli 2-0 to keep their qualifying hopes alive, Gabi? First of all, respect. Yes. Right? It's still a tough run. I think they played Real Madrid in their final game. Napoli were absolutely terrible. They were doing better. And Conte brought this up like three times in his post-match press conference. Well, we had to play on Sunday night. We played a tough game against Juventus. It took a lot out of us. Benfica played on Friday. Benfica played on Friday. Just stop repeating it. Who cares? You should have put in a better performance. This was a really bad performance from Napoli.

26:19Despite a long, long list of injuries and absentees, Arsenal beat Bruges 3-0 to stay perfect. It's a perfect 6-for-6 at the top of the Champions League. Jules, good way to bounce back after disappointment from the weekend?

26:34Julien Laurens:Yeah, really good. I mean, they were outstanding at times. Not always, because Raya had to make a couple of really good saves too. Maybe a little bit too open. considering the back four of Lewis Kelly, Hincapier, Norgaard and White no Saka for example. Is he fit? Is he just being rested? Saka? Yeah, he came on after 70 minutes. He took the half time. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. It was just a rest like for Rice, like for Timber or Trossard and so I think it was really good for Marseille Wissomadweke with two goals. The first one exceptional. Martinelli with a lovely goal. They could have scored five or six easily So really good.

27:14Julien Laurens:They've scored 17 goals in the Champions League and considered one in six games. Yeah. Bruges, led by, of course, Mr. Champions League, Hans Van Aken. Obviously, they were a mess. They also had a bunch of players out. But I thought this was so professional from Arsenal. Ready to hype Leonard Karl Gabb. The 17-year-old becomes the youngest ever to score in three straight Champions League appearances in Bayern B, sporting 3-1. Kind of, just because he's different. He's tiny. He's 17 years old. He has a little sort of porn star mustache. And he just plays differently. He scored a nice goal. We saw him score a tremendous goal against Arsenal as well.

27:56I don't know who he reminds me of because he's low to the ground. In some ways, he's short. He's low to the ground. He has super quick feet.

28:06Maybe, and I want to be blasphemous, but certainly in the way he runs, the way he moves the ball, He reminds me a little bit of that guy who's in Miami and just won the MLS MVP at 17. What Messi was like at 17. Not Messi later, okay? Be very clear on this. But yeah, he's a weapon to have. I don't know if we're going to see much more of him in number 10 because I don't know that you can sustain that position with his body type and physicality. I think he's better off coming from wide areas. But yeah, Bayern have a live one. We'll see how things shake out once Musiala returns, which must be imminent now.

28:44Yeah, he's back at training. Atalanta come from a goal down to beat Chelsea 2-1 as Gianluca Scamacca and the Prince, Charles de Quetelaire, find the net. Jules, more inconsistency from Maresca's men.

28:56Julien Laurens:Yeah, the first half was decent, to be fair, and then I think he messed up. Maresca messed up everything. For me, this is on him massively. More than on your boy, Wes. I mean, Wes... He's not good. Well, he's good. He's not good like his transfer fee. He's good, I think. And he made a mistake on the Scamacca goal. He forgets it completely. I don't know, Mareska trying to explain that if he had had another change, he would have brought Esteval on. He had another change to make. So I don't understand. I don't understand what he did there. But for me, after what happened against Leeds and Bournemouth to some extent, this is bad again from Mareska.

29:36Yeah, I think very much outplayed by Atalanta in this game. a lot of this on to my next couple but i this continuous chopping and changing and look i don't want to pick on on for fun but like if the guy doesn't have any kind of regularity you know it's like he's a project let's get him back to where we thought he was going to be he can't play every

29:54Julien Laurens:three days anyway physically which is a problem i know for and he's what 23 yeah yeah no like that's true totem hospital rolled to a 3-0 win over us plus slavia prague gab is the man with two first names impressing you more now no not based on this game because slavia prague are terrible. It seems like the only thing they try to do when they're... Who's the guy with the two first names? What? Thomas Frank. I'm trying to think about players. They're not good. And they just play to defend and eventually you're going to make a mistake. I thought the you said the Xavi-Simons penalty was exactly what we don't want to see.

30:34I think that's just a dive to win a penalty. Was there contact? Sure. I wish people wouldn't do that. he went out there. I don't get... Are we going to see this again? Archie Gray with Pellinia? Or are you building towards something in the front four? Or are we going to go back where you pack the team with defensive midfielders in some games? You can't do this and expect any kind of regularity. I thought Colomwani would play in this game. It seemed made for him. No, he's on the bench. I just don't understand him. But yeah, he got the win. And they got a shot at top eight. So well done there. Speedy Barcola rattles the crossbar, but Paris Saint-Germain don't go past the nil-nil draw away to Athletic Bilbao.

31:13Joe, it's nothing to worry about, right?

31:15Julien Laurens:No, no, because they were really good. They had 73 % of the ball. Many chances when I see them in three, four, outstanding save, and there's that one from Barcola who should have crossed the ball to Gvaskelia every single day. What? Not when he hit the crossbar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gvaskelia is on his own. I know, but how much is Speedy Barcola? You want to make the highlight reel. but yeah but he missed but the move to get to that chance was incredible the passing the movement from PSG they're getting close to their best again Dizier Edouard came back so it's good it's 10 years since they last had a nil-nil draw in the Champions League second half goals from Jonathan David and Weston McKinney in the other way helped Juventus to a 2-0 win over Paphos Gabriela Spalletti needed this they were being booed at halftime yeah and some people were probably still booing them at the end yeah you get a reaction it's nice David scores.

32:07McKinney, who I think has been playing much better than people giving credit for, opening the scoring with a really well-taken goal, I saw. At one point, we saw David Luiz going on a run from the back, beating three opponents. The man is, what, in his 40s and is a centre-back? Come on, man. He needs to sort it out and do better. We had games where they were drawing and playing well, and getting criticized. now here they played badly and they won but it was a big win they needed this to stay on track let's detour back to league football Manchester United are up to joint fifth after a 4-1 win at Wolves Monday night Jules is it starting to come together for Ruben Amarim or do they just happen to play against somebody who's beaten nobody this season

32:53Julien Laurens:I think we know by now you should not take anything away from a win against Wolves because they're that bad so so bad I mean one of the worst performances I've seen in a very long time But I like the tweak from Amorim by moving Bruno a little bit higher up and not on the same, not on the double pivot really with Casemiro. You could do that because Wolves are so terrible. Anyway, I'm not sure you can do that against Bournemouth, for example. In this game, we're coming up. But it's a game that they had to win and they won quite comfortably as well. So well done to them. The 3-1-5-1. How about that?

33:27Julien Laurens:Yeah. Yeah. Also on Monday, Milan come from two goals down in Turin to be Turino 3-200. Napoli at the top of Serie A. Christian Pulisic is a super sub guy. Yeah, he had the flu. And it was funny when he scored his first goal. The joke was that like nobody wanted to come near him. He's actually the top goal scorer in Serie A. He has seven goals in 446 minutes. Eat your heart out. Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe. Actually, their numbers are probably comparable. But still, I think Meno were actually better in this game than we suggest. Obviously, Pulisic came on. They lost layout. There's still work to do, but at least there's something more performance-wise.

34:09But then again, I always wonder. It's Torino, who are really bad, like horrible football, and like, oh, look, we have an unexpected lead. What should we do? Let's just give the ball to the opposition and wait for them to score. That's not the way to play. 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. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

34:39And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. 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 Hattrulo Brought to you by Argenics A lay Alex Grimaldo goal means Newcastle have to settle for a 2-2 drive by a Leverkusen Jules, fair result?

35:28Julien Laurens:I think so, although you'd be gutted and frustrated if you're Newcastle to have led until the 88th minute and then concede the goal like they did It's a lovely goal, Mazza for Grimaldo in a kind of 1-2 It's really, really impressive but before that they responded well from going a goal down they still can't keep a lead which is I don't know what the problem is but they keep throwing away those leads Newcastle which must be again very frustrating but I think the draw was probably fair yeah two of the goals were lucky I think the first goal and obviously the fleck and glitch brain fart that leads to the Vultimata but the other two Louis Miley what a leap yeah great he's a big boy we used to bother Glim throwing results away and being unlucky Gab Was it the other way around this time in the 2-2 draw away at Borussia Dortmund?

36:13Borussia Dortmund going back to their roots and throwing games away. Yeah, they dominated. I think the XG 3.19 from BVB as Julian Prant scores twice. They look like they're in control. And then the old insecurities come out. Like Bodo Glynn played pretty football. Just keep it in front of you and see out the game. It's really not that complicated. I think Kovacs' head was exploding because this was shades of the old Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund, I think they play Spurs and Inter next. So they are very much on the bubble. So this is a massive two points dropped. Our boy Roberto de Zerbi sends out his 21st different lineup in 21st games, something which is objectively difficult to do.

36:59And it's Bedlam in Brussels. Marseille win 3-2 as Mason Greenwood scores twice. But Union Saint-Joulois nearly equalized late, Jules. it's your boy your favorite Kevin McAllister yeah yeah

37:10Julien Laurens:I mean there was an offside by a millimeter on the not the McAllister goal that was disallowed but on the Promise David goal that was disallowed literally when I say millimeter it was a case of a millimeter and then Promise had another amazing header saved by Rulli Marseille went in control 3-1 up and then I'm not sure what happened and Deserby messed up his system early on with the back 3 didn't work never worked went back to a back 4 but they play Liverpool at the Velodrome in January now for the next round of this league phase which is going to be massive and an incredible game and if they win that then they'll have a good shot to have a good position in the top 24 so after the win against Newcastle winning at Bruges which we expected but still although they make it hard work for themselves I was trying to figure out if it was mathematically possible to send out a different line-up in every single game of Marseille this season, assuming that it would be 50-odd games.

38:09Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it is. I can't be bothered to go and figure out the math, but anybody on social media wants me to know there's a basic formula for it.

38:16Julien Laurens:Atletico Madrid bounce back after defeat at the weekend and avoid getting bossed by PSV Eindhoven. But, Gabb, this was closer than it looked. It was very much closer than it looked. First of all, Atletico Madrid, Sorloth was, I think, I think Sorloth is in a better situation than Julio Navarez right now. Yeah. I know it seems crazy. Alvarez, who I don't think he scored at home in the league since August. But the PSG Eindhoven put together something like 2.23 XG. It's not acceptable. That's not acceptable. Pepe with the goal late to open it up again. I know obviously there was trauma from the weekend and whatever else, but I don't think he necessarily feels like he's in control of this team the way we're used to seeing or the way we have been used to seeing him in the past.

39:05They need to sort it out. But yes, Bosch, chapeau again. Honorable defeat. Flo Balagun gives Monaco the three points against Galatasaray. But Jules, how unlucky were they that the magnificent Ugurkan Shakir, the goalkeeper, had to come off after saving a penalty, making unbelievable saves. And they got the guy who came on. I don't know if you saw the whole sequence. I watched the whole sequence. Before he comes on, there's people shouting at him from the stands, presumably telling him, you suck, because he does suck, as we then found out. He turns around. Rather than focusing on getting in the game, he turns around.

39:40He argues with him. He seems to shout at somebody on the bench. He comes onto the pitch, and then he glitches completely on the goal.

39:49Julien Laurens:Yeah, hasn't touched the ball. When he comes on, it's a corner, and he kind of goes for, tries to come down. I'm not sure, comes back down and it's too late. And it's a good number nine goal, but Balogun who missed a couple of chances before that he could have had a hat-trick easily. But Monaco needed that win so, so badly, not just in this Champions League to try to finish top 24, but also for their overall form, which hasn't been great lately. So Pocagnoli and the players really, really, really needed that win. So they were fortunate, though. I've never seen that with a goalkeeper. or somebody who's just...

40:24No, but they were.

40:25Julien Laurens:They were a nice city to win. Clearly. Even the return of Victor Oseman didn't quite do it for them. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Man, that was... Watch the highlight. If you can, watch the whole sequence. I've never seen somebody come on and look less prepared, more distracted. I even wonder, is he really the backup keeper? Yeah, I think so, yeah. Are you sure it's not like some bus driver, security guy? No, no, he's not. Jason Martin scores late, but Olympiacos get the three points away to Carl Almaty. God, Mr. Marinakis is alive and well. That's right. Despite all the mean things certain people say about him, like they hit the woodwork three times.

41:00It was getting nervy. And I think Mr. Marinakis would not have been best pleased if they didn't come away with three points because it is Kairat Almaty. But eventually, Jelson Martins gets it done. It's the kind of thing where if they score earlier, they could have scored four or five. Ajax get their first points, scoring three times in the last 11 minutes to win 4-2 at Carabag. Finally some luck, Jules.

41:25Julien Laurens:Yeah, Peter Grimm, who'd come on as a manager to replace Johnny Heitinger, who lost his first three games, and then now has won three in a row, but it looked like they were not going to win this one. They were twice behind, and then Oscar Gluck came on and changed the game completely. So it's good for them. And now with three points, with two games to go, well, the 24th team has six points, so there's three points. Don't go there. I don't even want to call him. No, no, no. Mathematically, you're right. It's possible. It's possible. But, like, they responded well of going down. They're coached by a guy who lives up to his name in the way he looks and in the way I explain.

42:01It's crazy, Gabby.

42:02Julien Laurens:Villarreal win the game in Henning La Liga. They will move to second place. But in the Champions League, they're in last position alongside Karl Mathias. They lose at home to Copenhagen 3-2 thanks to a leg goal from Andreas Cornelius. Andreas Cornelius, who I genuinely had forgotten that he existed. Really? I thought he retired. I know he'd been to Copenhagen. He was like a punchline in some of the other clubs he's been at. Yeah, yeah. He's only scored in, I mean, in one season in Turkey, but otherwise, it's only at Copenhagen that he scored. Nowhere else. Are you serious? Yeah, so if you look at his career, he had that one great season at Copenhagen that took him to Cardiff.

42:39Yeah.

42:39Julien Laurens:It was terrible there. Then I think he goes back to Copenhagen, does well, that takes him to Italy, at Atlanta, par, dreadful. Then he goes back to Copenhagen does well goes to Trabzonsport something like that goes well in that one season and then you know what I scored in Copenhagen so let's go back there hey whatever works for him BRL obviously not believing in the mathematics like you did with Ajax because they threw this away against an opponent that you know they should have been controlling let's check it on the women's Champions League Jules there's only one round to go Barcelona beat Benfica and Lyonese win at Manchester United.

43:19I think they're places in the top four in the women's Champions League. It's the top four that avoid the playoffs. And then it's 5-12 that go into the playoffs. They seem okay, but there's plenty of uncertainty for the other two spots. Arsenal leak out a win over 20. Chelsea beat up Roma. Real Madrid get a big three points over Wolfsburg.

43:38Julien Laurens:Yeah, it'd be very interesting. I think the top 12 is pretty much sorted now. Valaranga can still do it, but I don't think they will with that one game remaining. So, It's where you finish really in that top 12. That'd be very interesting for smaller teams like Paris FC, for example, who play Barcelona next week because the next run is already next week. Would be very, very interesting, especially if they can beat Barcelona. Top four is key. So you don't have those two extra games that you're trying to avoid and you're straight into the quarterfinals. It was a big win from Lyon where United, I thought they were outstanding.

44:10Julien Laurens:And even Barcelona without Aitana, still far too good for Benfica, like Chelsea were as well in their game, winning 6-0 against Roma, smashing it, really. So next week will be really interesting. Make sure you watch it on Disney+. And Juventus, big winners against St. Paul's. True, that's true. An organization called Fair Square has asked FIFA's ethics committee to investigate whether FIFA President Gianni Infantino broke his own organization's rules in giving US President Donald Trump the FIFA Peace Prize, Gab. Yeah, look, obviously he was awarded this FIFA Peace Prize last Friday for which he got a medal.

44:51He got a certificate.

44:51Julien Laurens:And a trophy that looks like zombies' hands coming out of the ground. The trophy was a little creepy. I think they got Cristiano Ronaldo's sculptor to make that one. But he seemed pleased with it. So, like, I put this in context. This was on, like, the BBC website or whatever. the ethics committee, it would be like you and me writing a letter to FIFA and saying, hey, FIFA, you should do this, right? It's just a lobbying committee. That said, they make some valid points should a FIFA president. And it's not just the Peace Prize, it's also the way, you know, he's made public statements about how everybody should support the president of the United States because he's doing such a great job with the economy.

45:36He's taking political views, which he's entitled to, but not with the platform of being FIFA president. That's what they're saying. You have to maintain some level of political neutrality because guess what? The US is a democracy. So the next person who's in charge might not like the current president as much as you do and you will need to work with him. So I think they make a valid point and they say, look, FIFA's governance right now is such a mess that you have a president that can do pretty much what they want. And it's very much top down. That's kind of their main thing. They want to find a reform there.

46:10I don't think it's going to success and they're going to succeed. The ethics committee, they have investigated, I think they investigated Infantino once before and then gave him a pass. I think it was over a bonus payment or something that they queried, if I'm not mistaken. I know I'm on legal shaking around here, but I'm pretty sure they have. So they are an independent body. They can do it. whether they choose to take on this fight and what it actually means, that's a whole other kettle of fish. But a lot of people have been calling for this. In today's world, planning ahead isn't always top of mind, but not having life insurance can leave families facing difficult financial uncertainty during already emotional times.

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48:09Julien Laurens:open yeah cast open who are currently in the second division in belgium if you don't know where that is it's right on the border with with germany um it's it's what they have wanted to do they own already a quarter of braga for example in portugal they've looked up buying club in spain is QSI who own PSG who will also own these other clubs. Atari sports investment. Yes, exactly. So let's see if it works. Claude MacAlele, for example, used to be an open manager when they were in the top fly in Belgium not that long ago. The thing about Oipen that I should point out here is that Oipen's current owner, previous owners, are the Aspire Academy in Qatar.

48:53So for those who don't know, in Qatar, leading up to the World Cup, the Qatar government built this massive kind of like training facility, state-of-the-art pitches and so on. They were going to kind of raise the next generation of superstars ahead of the World Cup. I mean, it's an interesting, it's a massive, really ambitious project. I think we've both been there. But my point is here is they didn't really buy another club. They kind of... Ultimately, that ultimately Paris Saint-Germain's owner is the emir, and ultimately the owner of the spire is also the emir, I think it's more like they kind of gave it over to GSI to run.

49:35Julien Laurens:Infantino is getting stick from everywhere, Gab. He's been criticized now for accepting a Lebanese passport. This is kind of stupid, but I guess I see their point. First of all, he met with, I think, the president of Lebanon, or his high officials, because when this happens, They like giving gifts. And Gianni Fantino's wife is Lebanese. They said, ah, look, we will give you a Lebanese passport to go with your other passports. I'm sure he has a Swiss one. I know he has an Italian one. Yeah, he's about both. It's been suggested he has a Qatari one as well, which comes in very handy. Just whisking through immigration when he goes to Doha.

50:13And the reason people are upset about this is apparently under Lebanese law, you cannot get a Lebanese passport through marriage. So if you were to... Yeah, it's from your dad, isn't it? Yeah, it's patrilineal. So if you were to marry, if you're not Lebanese and you marry a Lebanese woman, you're not entitled to a passport or it's a very difficult procedure. Guys, this isn't why he got the Lebanese passport. He's been married to the same Lebanese woman for 25 years. He got it because the Lebanese FA wants to somehow suck up with him. And they said the same way university if you have honorary degrees, here's a Lebanese passport, which you will probably never use.

50:51That's all that happened. So I don't know what you're supposed to say. Oh, no. I stand with people who are unhappy with the Patrilinean law governing Lebanese citizenship. So I don't...

51:01Julien Laurens:It's unfair for the people who are trying to get a Lebanese passport for their husband or wives or... Yeah, it's fine. I just think there's many stakes to beat Johnny Fantino with. I don't know that this is one of them. I think it's an issue, but you don't want him to get involved in politics. You do want them to get involved in politics. I think we have to kind of pick a lane on this one. I mean, criticize the Lebanese FA because you're basically devaluing your Lebanese passport by saying like, oh, we'll give it to our friend here, but we won't give it to other people who are married and maybe reside in Lebanon or so on and have all sorts of issues who marry Lebanese women.

51:35That, I think, is fair. More FIFA, as expected. They've sanctioned one three-minute water break per half during World Cup games next summer. You good with this, Jules?

51:47Julien Laurens:No, I think three minutes is too long. I think this is like a timeout in basketball, and this is not basketball, obviously. This will, I think, help coaches to have those kind of tactical breaks, which I don't think we should have in football, the World Cup or anywhere else. I think the water break or the cooling break, as we saw in the Club World Cup, for example, for 45 seconds or a minute is enough. You don't need three minutes. I mean, one of the French broadcasters of the World Cup has already said that they're going to put a lot of advert during those three-minute breaks. That's a perfect opportunity.

52:21Julien Laurens:Exactly. Monetize the break. More money from FIFA, more money from the right holders, more money for all of that. But for the players to have a three-minute break, I don't think is good physically. Drink for a bit, for sure. Don't drink too much, by the way. But three minutes is too long for me. And again, I think it will advantage the bigger teams. Yeah, I think the other factor with this is the coaches obviously love it because the kind of coaches who like to actively coach. It's going to have the impact, I think, because you've got this thing, you can make certain tweaks, which will generally are invariably defensive tweaks.

52:53So it'll probably make the game slightly more defensive. If you apply, if it becomes effectively a coaching break, then you have to allow it everywhere, right? So even when I'm indoors at an indoor stadium or in Vancouver where it's 13 degrees Celsius or whatever, then I have to allow it, which seems kind of stupid. So maybe would one way out of it say you can have the water break, but you can't have any contact with the bench?

53:24Julien Laurens:Yeah, maybe. Or they usually come towards the bench, don't they, where all the bottles are and everything. But yeah, I think I'm not. I understand the cooling break and the water break, the players, especially if it's really, really hot, but that's too long for me. After Atlético Madrid, private equity giants Apollo have taken a stake in Wrexham. Gab, is this significant? The Wrexham thing by itself is not, although what we're seeing is obviously, you know, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I like to think of them as Nightman and Dayman. They've been looking to get some of their money out, and rightly so.

54:05They came in, they built this, they spent money. I don't think it's making money, but the brand is growing. So nothing wrong with that. What's interesting is the stance Apollo have taken. They've created a fund. They're raising$5 billion. Obviously, the Atletico Madrid is the biggest investment they've made. And I think that is going to be significant because you have to do something with it. With Wrexham, it kind of feels like, let me buy a little chunk. If they make it to the top flights, that kind of investment. Let me get a little lottery ticket in here. And besides, as the private equity people like to say, they need to deploy capital.

54:41So I think given the Atletico Madrid stake, they value the club at$2.3 billion. They didn't obviously buy the entire club, but I think they still have another$3 to$4 billion to go. So we'll see where they go and put that money. Mikhailo Mudrik, who tested positive for meldonium, which is a banned substance apparently, and hasn't played in more than a year, was given a 12-month driving ban because he was stopped because his car had overly tinted windows. Jules, does this seem fair to you? Does your car have tinted windows? What are you hiding inside? No, and I don't know the rule really,

55:19Julien Laurens:but I'm sure if that was given by the court, then I guess it's fair. Is it deserved? I don't know. I don't understand. There's very few situations where you would ever need to drive the car. There's a picture of his car. He was actually stopped minutes from my house. It's a cheeseball car. You're in a cheeseball situation. You should keep a very, very low profile if you're Mikhailo Mudrik. One of the excuses he gave in one of his previous court appearances when his license was suspended and he was driving was saying, like, I needed to get to training and my driver wasn't available. Bro, take an Uber then.

55:56Also, what do you need to go to training for? I'm not being funny. I'm not sure why we're talking about this. It's so quick.

56:04Julien Laurens:To make fun of him. To mock him. To mock him, I see. Egypt will face Iran on June 26th in Seattle in the World Cup, as we know. But both countries are unhappy because, Gab, they've written to FIFA saying they object to the fact that an LGBTQ plus pride celebration will be taking place at the same time in Seattle that day. OK, this is obviously a sticky situation for FIFA and for the organizers. It doesn't need to be. Right. There's a very polarized situation. this celebration that takes place in Seattle it's not like they said despite what some people think it's not like they said aha look we're getting Egypt and Iran both have laws restricting LGBTQ rights let's go and have a big pride march and a big pride celebration at the same time no actually because well first of all their celebration they've been doing this since 2007 well before the World Cup this is just what happens at that time and they chose the date two days before the draw to have their march.

57:02So this is not them trying to troll Egypt and Iran. At the same time, I think if you're FIFA and you want to be inclusive, bizarro as it sounds, Egypt and Iran have different cultural views and religious views, I guess, on this issue. You can swerve the whole thing. And here's my suggestion. Belgium and New Zealand, who are in the same group, they play at the exact same time, just up the road from Seattle in Vancouver. Flip them First check to make sure there's no pride march in Vancouver Once you've done that Just avoid the issue I'm curious to see how this works out Because I'm hoping the president Of the United States doesn't find out about this And doesn't somehow weigh in one way or another Because I think that'll just turn this into more of a political issue There's enough politics in football already You can avoid this pretty easily If you're smart about it Jules This brings us to an end but we got to come back on what on monday clock is ticking down towards the holidays and uh we're gonna have some maybe not verdicts but early indications of where everybody is including chubby alone so uh so we're gonna be back on monday until then love the game love your neighbor love yourself

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