Gab & Juls Show: Is this PSG team Luis Enrique's greatest ever?

23:32Yeah, yeah. All these things I find out, thanks to the League Cup about lower league football. Exactly, it's great. I thought Cardiff played really well. They played with more intensity, they played with more drives, and I think this is a game where, like, if you're a scrub and Maneska puts you in, you have to show that you belong. I'm sorry, in this game, when you play Mark Diu, and he doesn't show you anything, I can only conclude, Mark Diu, this is your level, Cardiff, right? why should Mareka change his mind about you and give you more minutes? Tyreek George, who I normally like, also had a rough game.

24:04He had to bring in the grown-ups later on. Garnaccio scoring. And they win 3-1 and they move on. And at least Mareka didn't say after the game that someone is not supporting me. Real Madrid advance to the Copa del Rey with a 3-2 win against Talavera de la Reina. Jules, a dubious penalty, an own goal, and a goalkeeping blunder.

24:27Julien Laurens:Mbappe involved in all of them. Yes. You see any improvement? Not really, but it's not in a game like this where I think you can judge anything from Real Madrid considering the team that they faced against, the kind of where the game went, even if they considered two goals, which is not a good look at all. Mbappe, the only reason why Mbappe played 90 minutes in this, and Xabi Alonso said, oh, no, we didn't discuss it, which is not true, obviously, is that he's one goal away from equalling the record of most goals scored in the calendar year for a remodent player, which was Cristiano back in 2012, I think, or something like that, with 57 or 58.

25:04Julien Laurens:Kylian is just one more to go to level that, two more to beat that record, which would be incredible. We'd be disrespectful to Cristiano. Why? If he beats his record. Why? Oh, sorry. There's one more game to go against Sevilla at the weekend in La Liga. But obviously before that, I think Kylian saw this game thinking like, okay, lower league opposition. I can score one, two, maybe three. He scored two to get him closer to that record that he really, really wants to beat. So that's the only reason why he played the whole 90 minutes, which was not, I mean, Yamal's case, for example, to go back to the Barca point that we had earlier.

25:38Usually pretty chill out about this. I would actually be a little bit concerned because I would expect at least control in this game and an awareness of where you are and awareness of where your manager, Shabin Alonso is getting killed again. this morning. The goal, which ended up being decisive, is the goalkeeper who had been fantastic until that point, just letting the ball slip under him. And then you concede again to make it 3-2 because he falls asleep. And then Lunen has to make a big save at the end. I hope the players realize that if they want to keep Xabi Alonso, they've got to show you a lot more.

26:10Julien Laurens:Sticking with Real Madrid, there's more back and forth between the club and Liga president Javier Tebas over the Negreira case. Yeah, so Tebas who never misses an opportunity to speak. Florentino had criticized saying that, by my implication, he's saying the Liga is passive and bringing this case, which for those who don't remember, Barcelona between 2011 and 2018 paid a bunch of money to a company that was linked to a referee, essentially, Negreira, including one million that was paid while Laporta was still president. These were ostensibly to receive information on referees referees in terms of their style and stuff, almost like a consultancy thing.

26:50Does seem like a lot of money to pay. Tebas firing back and saying, look, there's a process and we're doing our bit, which I think Tebas, it's in his interest and it's in La Liga's interest to clear this up. This is before his time. Absolutely, yeah. So just taking pot shots at Tebas over and over again, I don't know, seems kind of silly from Florentino. Let's rewind all the way back to Monday, Jules. Manchester United and Bournemouth battle to a wild 4-4 draw as Santa Lemons makes a key last-ditch stop from little David Brooks. Was this a car crash of a game, or was this quality entertainment only in the Premier League?

27:24Julien Laurens:No, I think a bit of both. But two teams that play chaos football. Yeah, but one is by design, the other one is… No, I really start to think that that's also what Amorim wants, because otherwise they would do something. But for a year now, he's been in charge. Nothing has changed in terms of control games. His teams can't control anything. they were so exposed again and open in this game even when they took the lead three times three times in your own stadium and yet every time you let a team that is very similar to you because they also thrive in chaos but I don't think it's good enough from a Manchester United point of view so it's a point I guess you're happier if you're Bournemouth because you came back from 3-2 down from 4-3 to 4-4 with a Kruppi junior goal late.

28:15Julien Laurens:But if you're, I don't know, I really don't understand how Morim can watch those matches again and not do anything about it. And that's the reason why they are one of the best teams after first halves and one of the worst teams in second halves because they have absolutely no control. It's not just they don't have any control. They've got no idea what to do when they're leading again. It's harsh words. That's how you really think. Bruno Fernandes says, He's heard that the club wanted to move on from him in the summer, and that he has it in his head. Yeah, so this is an interview I think he gave like a month ago, but it was only released more recently.

28:52He said that the club wanted him to move on in the summer, the Saudi offer, blah, blah, blah. And it really bothered him. The club wanted to get rid of him. He also signed a contract extension before, which to me made little sense of sort of the timing of that. But he said that it was Amarim who said he wanted him to stay. And he said, well, because you don't want you to stay. Like, this is true. It's one of two things. Either Amarim's being a nice guy here, kind of like maybe slot is with Sala. Like, hey, we want you to stay. Or I would seriously question. Because from a team-building perspective, for what Amarim wants to do, you do not want Bruno Fernandes there.

29:30You want Bruno Fernandes' money and the money you get from him and the salary slot to buy the players you need to build something, right? I mean, I think this much is pretty much obvious, especially Bruno Fernandes' age. So you sacrifice your best player for an enormous amount of money and you put the pieces in place that will hopefully help you grow. But what strikes me is he also said, and this is slightly under report, I think, he says, I always give my maximum, and no fault there. He undoubtedly does. Then you look around and you see players who don't value the club as much as you do and who won't defend the club as much.

30:06That makes you sad. I don't know who he's talking about at the club, but people will speculate. I think these are heavy words from a guy who, while he's there, is Manchester United's most important player, Jules.

30:18Julien Laurens:Yeah, you saw at the end of the game, on the pitch, he was very unhappy with clearly some things that some of the players have done on the pitch. You know, on the free kick scored by Taverny, for example, he tells the very, very obvious tells the goalkeeper the ball is going to go there and make sure that you're on that side and lamin's get beaten. The way they concede that fourth goal is unacceptable and I think if you're someone like Bruno who probably has his power of responsibility especially playing so deep which is not really his best position. But that's where Amarim tells him to play presumably.

30:51Julien Laurens:I mean that's the only place he can play really because they're too short in that midfield area. It's not ideal but that's the only thing they can do. You must be really frustrated and then that's what that's what happens then you start saying things that you might regret one day or something jules we talked monday about the backlash of world cup tickets distributed by national federation to their hardcore supporters and suddenly fifa announces a new quote entry tier ticket which will cost just 60 pounds i guess they listened to us they did yeah so let's let's not get it let's get it right this is a tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny amount of tickets 1.6 percent of total tickets sold.

31:30Julien Laurens:Exactly. So you'd have no chance. Just don't bank on paying$60 because it's not going to happen. There will be far too many demands for the amount of tickets that would be at that price. Yeah. It's 10 % of the tickets that are sold via the national federations. The next highest tier up, which is another 40 % of the tickets is about three times that. And I've said it before, this is stupid from FIFA. These are the people who lend authenticity to the World Cup. We've seen it. Everything else is just a combination of very wealthy people, jet setters, hangers-on, corporates, and so on. These are the people who make it authentic, who make this giant reality TV show authentic.

32:13And you really don't want to be screwing them over.

32:16Julien Laurens:More World Cup gab. FIFA said the prize money is increasing by 50 % with the champions taking home$50 million. Yeah, I see some headlines. Record prize money for the World Cup, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, guys, come on, man. It's gone up to 48 teams. There's 104 games. The television rights are going out for much more. The ticket sales are going for much more. It's much bigger stadiums than there were in Qatar. And it's more games. And the tickets are far more expensive. The reality here, now they're getting$50 million in Qatar. They got$40 million. It's still half of what Chelsea got for winning the Club World Cup.

32:55I think we need to be realistic. I mean, about this, this is... I don't even know there should be prize money at a World Cup, frankly. But it is what it is. Tough going for Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey, but they eventually win 3-2 away to Atlético Baleares as Antoine Griezmann scores twice. Jules, he has eight goals and 24 appearances this season, but it started just nine games. Are you still so sure he should move on at the end of the season?

33:22Julien Laurens:I think he will because I think he wants to eventually. I think they want to try life in the US, which they love him and the whole family, Erika, the wife and the kids. So I think he will go, but I love him so much. And every time he comes on, he's more effective off the bench, let's be honest. He has started a few games, as you said, Gabi, nine. He doesn't have an hour, I think, even in his old legs. Half an hour is probably better. 45 minutes would do. There's still a bit of magic there. Of course, there is that left foot. We said that, I think, on Monday's show after he's got at the weekend.

33:54Julien Laurens:That first touch is incredible. So as long as he enjoys it and he's happy, I'm happy for him. Whether he stays maybe a little bit longer or he goes this summer to the U.S., we'll see. I think he will go, and I think he will have fun over there too. But it's great when he scores. It's great. Save$2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Cover All Tire Dressing. Plus receive four times O rewards points now at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or OReillyAuto.com. 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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35:37Julien Laurens:This was also back on Monday night, but Wesley scored the only goal as Roma become 1-0 to move back into fourth place. Gab, they're still contenders, right? Definitely. And I was really impressed with the way they were saying it. As you know, I do not like Gasperini and blah, blah, blah. But Como are a tough out, right? Como with Cesc Fabregas. Two best defenses, yeah. They've quality football. They also know how to defend. Roma not rattled. Roma, I think, doing a great job of maybe surprising them at certain times by pressing high, by winning the ball back. The goal from Wesley came in the second half.

36:11I thought it should have come sooner. It's a statement win against Como, who are everybody's darlings. Although, I have to say, sometimes if you find out how the sausage is made at Como, as they say, they also racked up record losses in Serie A, those numbers just coming out. I think it's right around$100 million. And I'd be really curious to know how this works if they ever qualify for Europe, which, in fact, they might do as early as next season. So, KOMO project, let's wait and see. Now, sticking with that game, Cesc Fabregas is getting tons of abuse from Senegal fans after Assangeao had to come off injured after just 36 minutes, which means it's a flexor issue and it means he's going to miss the Africa Cup of Nations.

36:58Now, comfy country stuff and so on. Cesc Fabregas had a pretty pointed response.

37:04Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, before the game even, he mentioned in his press conference that he was not happy with Diaw going to AFCON, that he spoke to Papcho, the Senegalese head coach, that he didn't want the player to leave Como, to go. So then he got abused for that, which I completely agree with. Abusing Sask. Yeah, you should not say things like that about Afcon. If somebody has told Fabregas in 2008, you're not going to go to the Euros with Spain, he would not have been happy. It's exactly the same. So I don't know why. He knows exactly Afcon is happening. He knew his player when he signed him. that was very likely to go to AFCON.

37:42Julien Laurens:I don't understand why suddenly he's in a nation. I think his defense there was, because I think he's eligible for Spain too, because he grew up there and stuff, and he's a Spanish citizen. Maybe he thought that he'd be in the Spanish national team by now. I don't know. I don't know, but Diogo clearly wanted to go to AFCON. He's playing for Senegal. So that was the first thing. And then obviously, as the irony can take it, Diogo starts this game against Roma, and after half an hour, gets injured, comes off, which makes, I guess, the Senegalese fans even more angry, although that was not Fabregas' fault that his player got injured halfway through the game.

38:19Julien Laurens:That was nobody's fault, really. But that whole thing was an absolute mess, I think, that could have, for some of it, been avoided. Yeah, I should point out in Fabregas' defense, it's not like this was his first game back from injury and there were some questions. He'd come off the bench in the previous three games. that said coming out and saying we pay his wages um it's true but it's a really indelicate insensitive thing to say and it doesn't sound like somebody who's known CESC for a long time it's not something that i would have expected him to say i think he regrets saying it more welcome yeah the trump administration has issued a partial travel ban for citizens of Ivory Coast and Senegal suspending their entry into the U.S.

39:05Julien Laurens:Does this mean that fans from those countries will not be able to come and watch their team? It's going to be much, much tougher. There is obviously a big Senegalese community in the U.S. and also one from Cote d 'Ivoire too. And obviously the World Cup isn't just taking place in the United States. And these restrictions don't exist in Mexico and Canada. However, and obviously there is also a carve-out for athletes and so on. is close. They're almost in the same boat as Iran and Haiti. This is something FIFA said would not happen. There's still time. But there's got to be better ways of dealing with this.

39:43Also because it's not like you're going to get tens of millions of people coming from Senegal, especially if they have to buy a World Cup ticket at those prices. So it seems to me you can screen people and do it in such a way that you can protect the integrity of your borders and your security issues and whatever else you may have while at the same time allowing ticket holders to come and be part of it. The Africa Cup of Nations gets underway on Sunday as host Morocco face Comoros. Jules, the home nation, heavily favored, no surprise.

40:17Julien Laurens:But who else do you like? I think this is quite, I know Morocco will be seen as the heavy favorite and they should be. They've reached the semifinal of the World Cup, obviously they're the highest ranked team in the country. Under 20 world champions? Under 20 world champions. They haven't won Afcon since 1976, so that's a very long time ago. Usually North African teams do well when the competition is organized in or somewhere in North Africa. So they've got their chances, of course, depending on what happens with Hakimi and when he can play again, for example. but I think as we saw with Ivory Coast in the last one, a surprise is always possible.

40:55Julien Laurens:I think Senegal will look good. I think Egypt and Mo Salah have a point to prove and Osama San on the bench. Nigeria, who missed out on the World Cup qualifications and Victor Ozyman have a big squad. I think the danger will be from everywhere and I think it's a very, very exciting tournament. You should watch it. Go and watch it because I think he's going to be great. Yeah, really nice stadiums. The bookies, by the way, they have Morocco's slight favorites. And then they have Algeria, Egypt, and Senegal, all kind of on a par second favorites. And then there's a big gap before you get to Tunisia, Ivory Coast, and my Super Eagles.

41:33Julien Laurens:ESPN and others are reporting that Carlo Ancelotti is an advanced dog over an extension to his Brazil contract that would take him beyond the World Cup. What do you make of it? I want to be consistent here. It's stupid for them to do it. uh like well i'm very happy i love carlo and chelotti i'm very happy if he makes more money um the reason you do this is because oh it gives the coach more authority whatever this isn't carlo and chelotti doesn't need more authority he has all the authority he needs you signed him up through the world cup if he wins the world cup and then wants to stay sure give him more money you do not need to do this i don't understand it um i want to be consistent i've been critical of other FAs when they've done that, like the English FA, who seems to do this, they did it with Capello, they did it with Ericsson back in the day.

42:23It's stupid. You have a contract, it covers the World Cup, you've been there less than a year. I mean, what's the rush now? Because you've won some friendlies? Come on. It's time! It's time! It's texter time! And also, a different kind of Ancelotti. David Ancelotti has been sacked as coach of Pochafogo after they finished sixth and failed to win the Copa Libertadores again

42:46Julien Laurens:maybe he can join his dad at the World Cup yeah I'm sure he might they will find him something to do in the Brazil staff for sure as a first experience as a young coach for Davide I don't think you should be ashamed of finishing 6th in the Brazil League which is a very good league with John Texter as your boss the Libertadores is the toughest competition to win obviously even if they've won it in the past it's still not easy So I find that really harsh on El Ancelotti from Texter. This is Texter for you. He did the same at Lyon. He did the same, remember, even at Molenbeek when he signed the manager who qualified the team for the playoff for promotion before the playoff even started.

43:29Julien Laurens:So he came on French radio this week to literally destroy Jean-Michel Hollas on the Lyon situation. his business partner Jean-Michel Ollos well he's former business partner I thought he still owned he's completely gone yeah sorry is this Jean-Michel Ollos who when he was Leon maybe like 15 years ago when he was Leon president like they won like 7 or 8 titles yeah that was him just checking which I think is 7 or 8 titles more than Texter's one there's some truth that Texter said in that interview on RMC there's other things that were not so true but that's him for you but I feel for David the Ancelotti for sure.

44:11Julien Laurens:Nigeria lost to Congo for a place in the World Cup Inter-Confederation playoff, as we mentioned earlier. But Gab, the Nigeria Football Association is now saying that some Congolese players were ineligible and should not have played that game. Yeah, and Congo's saying, well, they're just looking for a backdoor. So it actually concerns two players, two former, or two, well, two current Premier League players, Axel Twanzibi and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. So these guys have British passports. They're of Congolese descent, so that's why they play for Congo. Somebody in Nigeria figured out that, oh, but Congo doesn't allow dual citizenships.

44:51Right. So how can these people possibly be eligible? Now, without looking too strictly at the regulations, there are carve-outs, because we mentioned Kurosawa before. Yeah. In the Netherlands, as far as I know, do not allow dual citizenships either. Right. And yet, funnily enough, there's all those Dutch guys playing for Curaçao. So obviously there is a way around it. Britain certainly does.

45:21So I think it's pretty straightforward with the FIFA rules. Now, if somebody at the Congo FA said, oh, let's just call these guys up and have them play and not do the paperwork properly, then obviously yes. But you can't make a point of principles. So again, I'm pretty sure the interpretation of FIFA rules allow this. I think they should allow it. I think it's only fair. I understand a country not wanting to give an official dual citizenship for whatever reason. But if you're eligible, then I think it's right football-wise that they'd be allowed to do this. And it works in reverse, too, for Nigeria, right?

45:59Yeah. that they've had other people in the past who are citizens of other countries and come back and play for them. In fact, a lot of North African countries traditionally as well.

46:09Julien Laurens:Yeah, completely. More Chelsea, more Abramovich. Remember the$2.5 billion that Clear Lake paid for the club more than three years ago and which was supposed to go to victims of the war in Ukraine but is instead still sitting in a bank account accruing interest? Yeah, this story has a cut away jewels. No. But now, none other than the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who's a very menacing figure, has ordered Abramovich to release his money or he will take legal action. Yes, that's the big news of the week, which you've been asked for for many, many months now, saying, like, why is that money still sat in that account and not being used to help people, victims of the war and all of that, because that's a lot of money, 2.5 billion pounds, obviously.

46:51Julien Laurens:So hopefully, could this resolve it or you don't think it's hard enough? Honestly, like, oh, dude, It reminds me of, you know, like the joke is like cops in this country, most of them don't carry guns. And so, like, if you commit a crime, they'll say stop or I'll say stop again. Like, this is what it feels like. It's been three years. Yeah. The whole reason you forced him to sell the club is you put him under sanction. He worked out a deal with you about the two point five billion in Ukraine. You couldn't find lawyers competent enough to write this down in an actual contract where you force the money.

47:23Or maybe you get Clear Lake to say, hey, Clear Lake, instead of paying Abramovich the money. Put it in this escrow account. Pay it to us. You couldn't... Nobody ever thought of this. And then the other thing is, he's under sanction, but for three years, you don't take any legal action against him?

47:37Julien Laurens:Yeah. I mean, this is just a freaking joke. Niklas Falkroeg has undergone a medical with Milan and is expected to join on loan when the transfer market reopens in January. Is this a good idea? Either way, from Milan's perspective, they like the fact that the police is allowed. They think that can work sometimes. and Kunku now Max is all about, oh, look, my lightweight strikers. But of course, he has Santi Jimenez, who is injured. Yeah. And so, oh, but sometimes I'd want a big dude to come in and fill space in the penalty box. Nicholas Fulkrug fills space very well. Yeah. They see this as no fuss, no muster.

48:18Take him on loan, no obligation. West Ham apparently are pushing back, saying, well, no, if he plays a certain number of games or if you qualify, or if you reach certain goals, then you have to take them. We'll do your price, 13 million, 15 million. I don't think Milan would take them on those terms. But as a straight loan, I think it might be good for Fulker as well. And yeah, you need, everybody needs at least one big body striker, right?

48:41Julien Laurens:Yeah. I mean, talking about Milan players, I was taking the Eurostar yesterday. So Wednesday morning to go to Paris to cover the Paris FC Barcelona game in the Women's Champions League. In my queue for the Eurostar, Denzel Dumfries on his crutches with his ankle in a boot who just had surgery. I suspect in London, was taking the Eurostar back to go to, I would think, the Netherlands probably. So, yeah, it was just there in the queue. So I said, hello. Not every star footballer flies private. Absolutely not. Although, was he by himself? He was with his mates. Okay. So he's got somebody carrying his bag and helping him and stuff.

49:19Otherwise, I mean, come on. Yeah, no, no, no, definitely. In a contracting business, you're either growing or you're grinding. Success is no longer about hard work alone. It's about using AI to accelerate impact. Service Titan is the only integrated intelligence that seamlessly automates your entire workflow, from first call to final invoice. Born in the trades, built for visionaries ready to stop operating and start automating. Service Titan, AI for the trades. 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.

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50:17Julien Laurens:And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenix. Jules, you know how I feel about prizes and awards in football So I'll let you handle the fact that Surprise! Who won the ballot? Haitana Bomati won the men's and women's prizes At the FIFA the best awards As often, maybe as always I would need to double check But the Ballon d 'Or winners are also the FIFA the best winners Shocking You wonder even why they don't do Oh, they did before Did a joint ceremony This time it was two different ceremonies It was in Doha Haitana wasn't there but Ousmane was there, obviously, to get his trophy.

50:57Julien Laurens:They were. He was there on business. On business, yeah. Being ready for the Intercontinental Cup final. And yeah, I think they deserve it, both of them. I wonder if this is something that they might also consider phasing out somehow. Because you know in the past, when they've had this, there was so much hype around FIFA the best awards. They got big entertainers, big media presence. Here it kind of felt like this kind of went way under the radar. I don't know if there's too much hype. I also wonder, okay, I appreciate you to play the game in Doha, but this was around all the FIFA bigwigs gathered.

51:37I think they had a FIFA council meeting in Doha and stuff. Guys, you were all together in Washington, D.C. at the World Cup draw.

51:45Julien Laurens:Yeah. you couldn't stick around a few more days, maybe have the FIFA the best awards there. Itana still wouldn't have been there, but whatever. It seems kind of, you know, when they talk about oh, we're doing, we're being so kind with going back to ticket prices, lowering, you know, having the supporter entry tier at$60. Maybe if you didn't waste time flying all these people around the world to far-fung places, and then not even hyping or commercializing the thing properly. I don't know. Just a thought. Gabriel, so go team of the year from FIFA. Are you happy with it? I think, you know, these teams of the year, normally they're all kind of pretty silly.

52:22What's interesting about this team of the year, well, you'll see. So goalkeepers don't aroma, you can debate, but it is FIFA the best. They won everything, blah, blah, blah. Fullbacks, three of the four back four are Price and Germain players, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, your fullbacks, Pacho and Virgil van Dijk, the centerbacks. I got no particular issue there. Midfielders work gets a little bit more interesting because Vitinha, no argument. Pedri, no argument. And then you have Jude Belliam. Not the greatest season for him. Cole Palmer, if we're talking 2025, yeah, not the greatest for Cole Palmer either.

53:03I mean, I guess Chelsea did win the Club World Cup.

53:06Julien Laurens:Yeah, that's why I think he's done. And then two forwards. Usman Dembele no argument and Lamin-Yemal again I'm not going to argue with that so I'm not necessarily arguing with the names although Palmer and Bellingham sound a little bit better yeah Bellingham even more I think then but I like the fact that this actually looks like a team that you could you could put out there on the pitch yeah because usually they play with three defenders and then all the rest are forwards exactly right so no no I have my back four no this one is coherent quite coherent I mean Yemal can play on the left right to make room for Palmer I would have Yemal and Palmer on the wings Dembele center forward.

53:40You could do that. And then Vitinha anchoring in midfield with Pedri and Bellingham.

53:44Julien Laurens:Or you play diamonds midfield. Vitinha, Pedri-Bellingham, and then Pum Palmer. Oh, that's right. Yes. Palmer, the tip of the diamond. Our boy Wilfried Nossi is having a horrendous time at Celtic. Some of this stuff is downright weird. So, by the way, it's club executive Peter Law, who's been involved with the club for a long time. Full disclosure, I've met the guy. I actually like the guy. He talks a lot. I can see how he wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea, but with me, he was always a gentleman. The club's having all sorts of issues. Now he's announced he's leaving. He's been doxxed. His home address has been published on the internet.

54:23What is going on at this club?

54:25Julien Laurens:It's an absolute mess. I mean, the chaos was there before Wilfried arrived at the club. I remember there was a protest during an AGM meeting or something like that from the club a couple of weeks ago. Four defeats in his first four games. I mean, three were very difficult because it was Hearts and Roma, so in the league in Europe, and then the League Cup final that they lost to St. Meron somehow. And Martin O 'Neill, by the way, helpfully saying, well, I would have stuck around for the club World Cup final. What a lovely man. and Martinoni did a really good job by the way before giving you know handing the reins to who's struggling there's no doubt I think he's struggling with his communication he's struggling on the pitch to get the players to do what he wants maybe he wanted to change things too quickly with that back three that he went in straight away I don't know but I think there's already I saw Craig Burley on social media saying that he's gone taxi for Nancy I don't know what's going to happen but in terms of the worst start or worst start of a 10 year club of one of the big leagues I know it's not Scotland is not one of the big five leagues but still this has to be one of the worst okay we're not quite a Frank De Boer not yet but that was seven but you're four these things take on a life of their own people were flipping out over the fact that Wilfred Nancy has a Twitter account which he says is back when, you know, his Columbus crew and stuff like that.

56:03I've looked at it. It's now set to private. He only has like 5 ,000 followers. So it's obviously, but he's getting stick for that too. I just find this stuff bizarre. I agree.

56:16Julien Laurens:Authorities in Argentina are raided the offices of the Argentine Federation, as well as those of 17 clubs. They're investigating money laundering and corruption gap. So I always wonder about timing and these things. I went to an event at the Emirates on Tuesday where the Argentine FA AFA was named strongest brand of the year by something called Brand Finance, which ranks brand. I mean, this is brand in like the sports sphere. So they were all proud to have that. And look, at the same time, the police come and raid everybody.

56:54at the top of this there's a political divergence between Claudio Tapia who heads the Argentine FA who I think it's fair to say is more traditionalist in the way things should be set up this is also the guy who had the brainwave of creating that stupid prize for Rosario Sintra and Millet who obviously is much more free market oriented and Millet wants to push the idea of allowing private investors to buy into football clubs, which Estudiantes and Juan Sebastián Verón feel strongly about too. So it's playing out like this, sending people by to investigate you for money laundering and corruption is a tactic that people use to put you under pressure.

57:39And it's just ironic that it happens at the same time where Afar celebrating the prize that they one the football observer observatory cis reported which three outfield players played the most minutes in the past three seasons jules uh are you surprised by the results i mean two definitely

57:57Julien Laurens:not the third one i think everybody will be surprised mostly because of his age not so much you know for his position or anything like that the first one is bruno van nantes obviously playing a lot with united never injured always playing as we said almost 17 ,000 yeah you put the numbers there Gabby 17 ,000 minutes over those three seasons Fede Valverde is the same again I know he's been a bit injured this season but he's usually a machine Valverde actually played more games 199 games but slightly fewer minutes than Bruno but the third one is Nicola Otamendi and that at his age deserves a lot of credit well also he doesn't play it's not like he plays for a club that goes to the Champions League final and stuff like that.

58:41So he's literally always there.

58:42Julien Laurens:Always there. 37 years young, Nicolas Sotomendi. Milan against Como in Australia is still set to go ahead in February, Gab, after the Asian Football Confederation approved their request. But there may be too many strings attached. Yeah, this is just stupid. Honestly, they would have been better off just saying no. And you remember this. It's a little bit like with Villarreal and Barcelona and Miami. Different confederations and FAs have to approve it. So this has the approval of UEFA, of the Italian FA, obviously, of the Australian Federation, of FIFA. And then to the last sort of hurdle was the Asian Football Confederation.

59:22They said, yes. However, CDR can't promote the game. Right. And can't be involved in the games organization.

59:30Julien Laurens:Okay. And they can't supply their own match officials either. They have to get match officials from the Asian Football Confederation. Now, this strikes me as a way of saying no, because if CDI can't promote the game and you're not getting CDI officials, it stops being a CDI game. It stops being a moneymaker. They hope they can make it. They're still saying, oh, no, don't worry. We'll work something out. Obviously, they don't want you doing this. So get your legal ducks in a row. And if you really want to do this, and I don't think you should, by the way, look at maybe doing this next year. But, by the way, Milancomo, as we said many times, cannot be played at San Sido.

1:00:15So they have to play it somewhere else. And I don't know where else in Italy they could realistically play it. So, who knows? Maybe they can go and play it at... Maybe we should bring up Ogurleon. Maybe they can go and play it in Lens. It's a nice stadium, right? Very nice. Now that he's bought it, right? That'd be pretty cool. That's very true. You can have some... Is it the moules with frites that they eat there and stuff? Not really that region, no. Okay, but they have good beer in the north to France? Because they're semi-Belgian, right?

1:00:48Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Not very good beer. For sure. No real surprises in the last round of women's champions, a group stage duels. Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea, and Bayern all win and go straight to the quarterfinals. Yeah, that's right. But there was a point where Chelsea were behind away at Wolfsburg and out of that top four that was so important because you avoid the last 16 rounds you go straight into the quarterfinals if you finish between fifth and twelfth you will go into the last 16 rounds so Chelsea wanted to avoid that in the end they won't so they finished top four with Barcelona, Lyon and Bayern Arsenal in fifth so just missing out we'll have the draw to see who plays who and we'll have the full draw as well all the way from the last 16 to the final so we'll have a great idea of the kind of games that we could have all on Disney+.

1:01:33Julien Laurens:You can go and watch in four different languages. It's great coverage. And this will be exciting. Barca were outstanding at the game that I was, the Paris FC game. Again, despite all the players missing. And Paris FC have also qualified, which in itself is an achievement. Also a very interesting little team. So loads more to look forward to in the Women's Champions League. Brendan Rodgers is the new coach of Al-Qatia in Saudi Arabia. Gav, are you surprised? I mean, look, he's chasing the money, yeah, at this stage. I don't think Alcantara is an obvious place to go and win things. I know obviously they've spent money.

1:02:08And they're doing well this year. It is a little depressing, but I think Brendan Rodgers has burned so many bridges in England. Despite being, I think, a very good coach. Yeah, sure. He probably said, you know what? Let me cash in for now and let me see what happens in the future. I still think, I don't know. I know somebody at Chelsea who's been there a long time and who really likes Brendan. because that's where Brendan started out. Yeah. And he still swears that one day he will be the new, he will coach Chelsea. One day. Paul Pogba is drawing criticism from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which of course is an animal rights group.

1:02:46This is because he bought a stake in a camel racing team. Jules, they wrote him an open letter. Did they?

1:02:52Julien Laurens:Did they do the same with people who own horses who do horse racing? No, because Paul Pogba is famous and rando people who own horses. Antoine Griezmann has horses. He's famous. I think what they argue is that camel racing is a lot less regulated. I mean, for me, they're both stupid. I think it's existed for like thousands of years. Yeah, and it's less regulated and the camels are mistreated, just as the horses, I guess, are mistreated. Yeah, I don't know. I can understand why you're not happy for camels to race. camels to race, then in that case, do it with every other animal that races. I think they probably do, which is that we're talking about it.

1:03:33Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. I, it does, like, I'm against this. I'm not going to criticize Paul Pogba for doing it because many other people do. And it's mainstream, but I guess it's a way for reminding people that camel racing, like horse racing, often, not always, mistreats the animals.

1:03:53Julien Laurens:Luis Rolais got himself a one-year contract extension at Inter Miami. Are you surprised, Gab? No, because this is not a, I don't think this is a footballing contract. Presumably, he enjoys living in Miami. I think his little friend, Lionel Messi, basically runs the club, wants to keep him around. From a football perspective, we saw he lost his starting place to the guy, Salvetti, or whatever. I didn't even know he was going to stick around next year because it's MLS, people come and go. But why not, right? 40 years old, come off the bench, certain games. Hang out with Messi. Have you a sado? Sure.

1:04:25Why not? But I think football-wise, this is not significant. No. Jules, this brings us to an end. Yeah. But we're going to be back on Monday to cover what is going to be an incredible weekend. The Super Cup. The Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Hyped in Amp for that. How about that? No, plenty of other stuff going on as well. Until then, love the game. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.

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