Gab & Juls Show: North London for Eze

17:55Gab Marcotti:yeah alright final thought I think we need to talk percentages now since we were last on because circumstances have changed every week you say

18:03Julien Laurens:when one of the two drop points you come on the show and say okay City have dropped points what's the percentage Austin have dropped points what's the percentage because the percentage has changed

18:12Gab Marcotti:so it's like the stock market the reality is now we're in a situation where the gap is five points where City have a game in hand this is that situation where both these teams either one of these teams wins out the rest of the season. They become champions. Yeah. Which is pretty cool. It is amazing. It is amazing. So the question to me is, as of right now, if City win their game in hand, then that game at the Etihad is like a final. The advantage to Arsenal is that two out of three results will go their way, right? For that reason, I'll go with the percentages first. Go on. I still have Arsenal at a good 70%.

18:56Gab Marcotti:I think, and we'll talk about this later, but I think Pep changing things around as often as he does, I don't think it's helpful. I think it's harmful to City. Okay. Or I think it's more of a risk of it being harmful to City. So that's why I'm going to go as high as 70%. I have a feeling you're going to go lower.

19:13Julien Laurens:Yeah. I was going to say 65, 35. Right. Because I think two points is still significant, slightly better goal difference as we know you don't believe in it there's no such thing

19:24Gab Marcotti:but it still matters I think also with the goal difference if City I mean City have to win their games right so presumably those four they're going to come yeah absolutely unless they win 1-0 for now

19:34Julien Laurens:two points and plus three I think it is a difference plus four I think plus four is there that's why I think Arsenal 65 I think is a fair reflection of where they are right now

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20:32Gab Marcotti: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. All right, enough Arsenal. How about some quick hits instead? Let's go, guys. Real Madrid lose top spot in La Liga as they fall 2-1 away to Osasuna, who, by the way, naturally have an Italian manager. Yeah, young and very promising, yeah.

21:04Julien Laurens:Jules, they created very little. Yeah, I was very disappointed by the performance from Real Madrid. He kept the same team, certainly, that midfield and that front too. I think he likes the balance that Camavinga on the left and Valverde on the right, Gulen. Tramini can bring no Bellingham again and some people in Spain have said that this is a team that is better without Bellingham than with I hope for those people shut up now I'm not sure yeah but I'm not sure where you put him in that team though if you play like that if you play that 4-4-2 I'm not sure where he fits

21:30Gab Marcotti:there's a simple solution do not play this formation this formation has no patterns of play it is nothing it's eight guys defending and then wait for Vini or Mbappe to do something together but no formation

21:40Julien Laurens:have pattern of play this season anywhere Real Madrid so I'm not sure at least the guy before him

21:45Gab Marcotti:tried

21:46Julien Laurens:Yeah, he tried but still could not find it. I don't know. I like a lot what Sassouna did and the way they took the game away from Real Madrid and good for them and credit to them. And Raul Garcia scored a wonderful goal at the end that was almost choked off for a tiny offside, but it wasn't. They deserved their win. I think for Real Madrid it's a massive setback and that I think has more questions than any of us could answer anywhere on why they were so poor.

22:13Gab Marcotti:and turns the screws ahead of the return line. They're only 1-0 up.

22:16Julien Laurens:Yeah, it's pressure, pressure. Sticking with them, with Real Madrid, Gabi, the fallout from Vinicius' allegation that he was racially abused by Benfica, Gianluca, Prestiani last week in the Champions League first leg playoffs. Rumble's on and he's now a subject of UFI investigation. You were there at that game.

22:32Gab Marcotti:I was, and I think a lot of things have been said, a lot of things that I think were somewhat inappropriate, certainly from Jose Mourinho. I thought Vincent Kompanyi was very eloquent in talking about it. But I think we need to divide. There's two separate things going on here, both of which are true. One is that Vinicius scored a phenomenal goal, and then he celebrated it in a way that I think most people would think is inappropriate. I disagree. I don't think, and that is incidentally, that is why he was, that's why the referee, Letaché, immediately booked him for it. And I don't know how much is shown on television, but what he does to the flag, staring down the fans in that way, I think from a referee's perspective, I think he was entitled to book him.

23:22Gab Marcotti:Now, that said, what Pristiani did, and he's going to deny it, so I'm saying what he's alleged to have done. But I'm going to talk about what he did, because I saw what he did. You've got pockets of players all over the pitch, getting in Vinicius' face, arguing, all normal, right? All normal, we see this after every game. It goes on for a very long time. Presiani walks around with his shirt above his head, not just at the end when he's alleged to have racially abused Mbappe, but he's actually searching him out with his shirt above his head. He looks like the freaking headless horseman, also because he's only two feet tall.

23:57Gab Marcotti:He's like a little horrible dwarf running around, right? This is not appropriate. It's very clear to me, and the balance of probabilities that he was going to go say something inappropriate. Yeah, otherwise you don't cover your mouth anyway. Absolutely, absolutely. And Vinicius argues with just about everybody. They're in his face, blah, blah, blah. Everything's fine. Nothing is said until the moment he says that. This is why I 100 % believe Vinicius in this. When I then hear Pristiani's explanation, which came through Chouameni initially and then was reported on by other media, that he said i didn't call him a monkey the word mono i called him a gay slur bro this doesn't make it better no that's discriminatory language that's his defense

24:44Julien Laurens:to ufa now he said like it was not racist it was homophobic okay hopefully the there's an

24:50Gab Marcotti:automatic 10 game ban i think it will be you have to treat this exactly the same because if that was a gay footballer out there what are you going to do it's okay to call him that no no it's the same sanction anyway so he'd be punished it is i the level of stupidity and the mourinho does his job and he's trying to gain an edge and whatever and whining people up that's not he views everything that's not appropriate disgusting what mourinho said it's reprehensible i think it's not appropriate um but i think more than one thing i think can be true also i don't think there were any replies didn't hear any reports of the crowd racially abusing venusius there were no reports of that there were no complaints of that from Real Madrid.

25:31Gab Marcotti:It seemed to be entirely down to the reaction of the two teams and down to Pristiani. This guy needs help. Yeah. And he needs a long ban. Liverpool need an Alexis McAllister goal in the seventh minute of injury time to escape with a win at Nottingham Forest in Vitor Pereira's debut. Jules Arnislot says they were lucky and that the first half was their worst of the season.

25:51Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, we've seen bad halves from them regularly because they haven't been, as we've said, very good this season. And they got lucky in this game because they were really second best not even to some extent in the second half as well but they didn't create much viet was supposed to start didn't feel great they didn't risk him and without him and especially with sobozla right back for the first half before jones uh took his place there was just not enough really not enough i don't want to go on mo salah again because i've i've mentioned what i think of him but it was one of his worst performances and as as was liverpool in the first half they got lucky uh he's right it's it's three massive points for them in that race for fourth and fifth place but they will need to improve very quickly otherwise they won't be in the champions league next season i feel bad for mr marinakis having

26:35Gab Marcotti:to be on the receiving end of this one forest definitely i thought they deserved all three points they had the opportunity and by the way while i'm with you in sala was terrible virgil van dyke spreading the ball everywhere but to teammates not good either inter bounce back from

26:51Julien Laurens:their defeat in the artist circle a bottle glimmed in the champions belt with a two nil win alecce Gab, they're not 10 points clear at the top?

26:57Gab Marcotti:Yeah, professional performance. Don't let the fact that the goals came late on fool you. They were on top from the start. They conceded very little to lecture, and they created plenty. I think it shows, you know, they said, okay, Boto Glimp, those were individual mistakes. We need to be better prepared, and we're going to show that in player game. And I had held high, as they like to say. 10 points clear at the top. Manchester City down Newcastle 2-1 to keep the pressure on Arsenal. Jules, we saw a different look from Pep Guardiola. An impressive Nico O 'Reilly at number 10. No room for Phil Foden and Ryan Shirky.

27:34Gab Marcotti:Marmouche effectively alongside Haaland up front.

27:36Julien Laurens:Yeah, I mean, we've seen that kind of 4-2-2-2, 4-2-2-2 formation in the last three Premier League games. O 'Reilly has been on a good run for the last three games as well. For all the time that they played him at left back to come along into midfield, this is a more natural position. from that's where he always played when he was a kid. It's only that they, Pep tried to make him in that left back kind of playmaker role, but this is much better for him. You saw the goal that he scored, the run that he makes. He had another really good one in the previous weekend too. That's good. I'm not sure where that leaves him.

28:09Julien Laurens:You're right, Phil Foden and Ryan Cherky either, because if you want Semenyo in there, if you think Marmush can help Haaland, and we saw Haaland having a really good overall game, then I'm not sure if there's room for Foden and

28:21Gab Marcotti:I think he's trying different solutions for different things. This is how this man's mind works. What I'm not sure about, I don't know if this is a good solution. Let's not forget, City are playing at home. I don't think they'd had a game in 12 days, something like that.

28:35Julien Laurens:No, they played in the FA Cup.

28:36Gab Marcotti:Okay.

28:37Julien Laurens:They wouldn't have played in, yeah.

28:38Gab Marcotti:But it was against some nonsense opponent, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whereas, obviously, Newcastle played in Azerbaijan. Yeah. In midweek, right? and I thought he said like let me just go and let me put the more physical lineup out there the big boys O 'Reilly all right Semenyu's not that big but he's a monster athlete he is Marmouche runs around Holland and let me go and try to pound them and I'll muscle them you had the better chances you're deserving winners but you still had Gijo Donnarumma having to make that save from Barnes right yeah

29:13Julien Laurens:I think it's not it's off target but yeah I see what you mean you know what I mean

29:16Gab Marcotti:yeah yeah yeah you're right I'll be curious I don't think this can really continue. What I find interesting is if the Champions League final were tomorrow and everybody were fit, if you were to ask me who is definitely starting, I would say Rodri, I would say Donnarumma, I would say Holland and I would say Guardiola. And then after that, I would say, I'm not sure.

29:34Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah. Cesc Fabregas and Como win 2-0 away to Juventus and they do it without Nico Paz as well. And one point from the last five, Gab as Luciano Spalletti lost it all over a sudden?

29:45Gab Marcotti:No, it's the same UvSphere go and complain, oh, we're so terrible, blah, blah, blah. That was a bad game, though. This was a bad performance. Galatasaray was a terrible performance. The performance before that against Inter was a good performance. Yeah, true. And even this performance against Como, without that Di Gregorio mistake, that was an individual error on the goal. Yeah, true, true. I'm not sure this game unfolds the way it does. You have to look more holistically. You have to look more broadly. The game before that against Lazio was a good performance, even though they had the late equalizer.

30:14Gab Marcotti:You have to stop comparing yourself to the past. You have to stop saying, Ooh, Jonathan David is in Ale del Piero.

30:21Julien Laurens:He should have scored at the end, though. He should have scored that one. Of course, yeah.

30:24Gab Marcotti:Lloyd Kelly is in Chiellini. Lloyd Kelly is not good enough. Gregorio is in Buffon. This is your reality now. Yeah, yeah. So try to get out of it by playing football, which is what Spalletti was trying to do. But yeah, it's going to be huge if they don't finish top four. Barcelona down Levante 3-0, and they're back on top of La Liga. Jules, lots of positives. Sir Hansi Flick from Pedri's return to Mark Bernal's performance. I love that guy. to Fermin Lopez, who scored a nice goal. But Laminya was unhappy of being substituted with two minutes to go.

30:50Julien Laurens:Yeah, and Joel Cancelo, by the way, I thought was outstanding. The first really good performance he had since he came back in that left-back position. I'm team Cancelo, as you know. Yeah, I know you are. I know you are. I'm still, you know, the jury's still out for me. But yeah, Lamin, he wanted to do more. He wanted to score. He wanted to do this. It's fine. I understand. It's okay. We saw Salah being... I'm not comparing Lamin to Salah. I don't think any player, especially attacking players like to be subbed off.

31:17Gab Marcotti:No, nobody does. I think at 18, I know he's still there. Just a reminder, he's still 18 years old. Yeah, of course. But he's played enough football that he should know. With 3-0 up, we have a Copa de Re game coming up. The game's over. I should be happy that Rooney gets to play a little bit. Right? I understand why I'm doing this. And understand if I want to go be angry, let me go be angry by myself in the dressing room, not in public. But where I see him,

31:42Julien Laurens:and I was the same when I was playing, why two minutes doesn't change anything. You're not rested. If I take you off for the last two minutes of the game, you think, hang on, I could have finished the last two minutes. Yes, but Rooney could have played too. And that's why... Even for Rooney to play two minutes, he didn't even touch the ball. Yeah, I know, but... He did, he had a chance to score. I know, I know. But usually two minutes, you don't touch the ball. Okay, in this game, he had, but... Do you see what I mean? I think from a player's point of view, the frustration comes from, two minutes, 20 minutes, 25 minutes, it's a tactical change.

32:10Julien Laurens:Two minutes is for nothing. It's not tactical. It's not to rest I mean It's not to give That much time to Rooney Do you see why I think psychologically

32:18Gab Marcotti:To the rest of your squad If you're an unused sub I think it does make a difference I don't know I don't know

32:22Julien Laurens:That's why I can see His frustration

32:24Gab Marcotti:Really

32:25Julien Laurens:Bayern extend the lead At the top of the Bundesliga With a 3-2 win Over Frankfurt But Gav This should have been a routine

32:32Gab Marcotti:But it wasn't No it wasn't It's a 3-0 up There's coasting They're missing chances They're worrying about Alphonso Davies Fortunately his injury Doesn't seem as serious As we first thought and then Harry Kane defending in the box gives away a penalty should have done should have known better Kane by the way he scored two goals he's on track to match Slovendusky's record

32:52Julien Laurens:yeah he's 28-9-23

32:54Gab Marcotti:and then you also a Kimmich with a blind pass it's the stuff they tell you as a six year old not to do so you're two of your best most experienced players screwing things up and then it's nervy at the end because it's 3-2 and anything can happen Mario Götze coming on of all people at the end so yeah just don't do this don't make life difficult for yourselves Paris Saint-Germain beat up Mets 3-0 and go back on top in Ligue 1 Jules, plenty of changes for Luis Enrique

33:19Julien Laurens:Yeah, we saw Beraldo, remember him? Yeah I'd forgotten what he looked like We saw first half a draw Fernandez after his move from Barcelona We saw the B midfield Yeah, who said it was really funny he said after the game he said, I didn't think Ligue 1 was that you know, I didn't expect the level to be this high in Ligue 1 which I'm glad he was honest because at times you see how good he is technically but physically he needs to to beef up a bit and work up especially next to Zaire Emre who I thought was outstanding in this game

33:52Gab Marcotti:they were playing against Mets is he talking about Mets' level Mets or bottom

33:56Julien Laurens:I think the physicality level not so much the talent level Mets I think had two shots

33:59Gab Marcotti:the whole game

34:00Julien Laurens:yeah but I thought they moved the ball quite well at times and it was a good goal for Dwayne not that he took it well but for him to score again I think that was important before Monaco on Wednesday night. Chelsea are held at home by Burnley. 1-1 as Wesley Fofana gets sent off. Gab is four points lost in the last two home games for Liam Rosinio, and he's not happy.

34:20Gab Marcotti:He's not happy. I'm all for radical candor for managers. I play Arnaz Slaven does. I'll play Rosinio here. He shouldn't be happy because this could have gone really, really bad. Tosin, I was surprised. He could have been sent off.

34:35Julien Laurens:That's a red card every day for me.

34:36Gab Marcotti:I was shocked. People may know. It wasn't even a foul, I think. No, no, it was a fan. The Wesley Fofana should know that, hey, I'm booked. Maybe I don't put myself in this situation again. Disappointing. And John Pedro's goal, by the way, at the beginning, I thought the ball came off his hand, incidentally. So, yeah, four points and it could make all the difference. Fabio Silva, of all people, grabs the injury time equalizer for Borussia Dortmund. Away to Leipzig. Jules Nikolovic hardly rotated despite the Champions League. He's obviously a believer with their Classiker coming up.

35:05Julien Laurens:Yeah, I guess so. the classic second leg playoff against Atalanta and I know they've got two goals lead to take to Italy in midweek but it's tricky the first half they were completely dominated by Leipzig team that was I thought really good Jan Diomande if you'd never seen him play before we've highlighted him before I mentioned him was outstanding and then the second half was better for Dortmund it's probably the fair result I think Milan losing Serie A for the first First time since opening day as Carlos Cuesta's Parma win 1-0. Magic Mike, not so good. But Gab, they're not happy with that goal.

35:41Gab Marcotti:No, and they're not happy with the goal because initially it was disallowed for a foul on Mañan, which wasn't there, and then the VAR allowed it. But in fact, they probably should have ruled it out because the guy jumps on Bartesaghi's back. That said, they should be unhappy with the fact that they actually played well and didn't win. And that doesn't always happen. Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it. and you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way? You hand everything off and then silence. Days pass. Weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow-up email?

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37:49Julien Laurens:I think it should still be okay for that top five. but games like this are not helping them. That first half, really, I know it's a great goal by Starr, it's a wonderful free kick, although Martinez should probably do better and know better. But they could have been 3-0 down in the sense that if there's a, in those opportunities that Leeds created by just playing super vertical, direct football and Villa being so open and I know they are missing players and this, but I was so disappointed by their performance in the end. Okay, they hit the post with Buendia, the draw is probably a fair result just about.

38:24Julien Laurens:But it's not enough. Because behind you, behind them, they're lucky that Chelsea are dropping points, for example, too, at the same time as them. But if United start picking up form, Liverpool, and go on winning runs, then I think I'll be worried. For now, I think they'd be okay for top five. They might finish fifth, but they'd be okay, I think, for top five.

38:42Gab Marcotti:All right. So it's still more than 50%.

38:44Julien Laurens:Yeah. All right. Atletico Madrid, Bede Espanol 4-2 as the only living solo in captivity. Backs two more goals, by the way. Pretty low-key, really good season from him. Gab, why can't they play like this all the time? I think because

38:59Gab Marcotti:he put so much pressure on them. I think the fact that this was sandwiched in between two Champions League games, obviously, against Bruges and Mr. Champions League, Hans Van Aken. Obviously, he finished 3-3, so there's some uncertainty, so he made some changes. Alvarez was on the bench. Alvarez, by the way, gigantic cock block, frankly, right now. But he hasn't scored in the league since, what, November 1st? Something stupid like that.

39:20Julien Laurens:But Luqman, really good impact from Luqman since coming. Luqman helps, but if certain players benefit

39:26Gab Marcotti:when Alvarez isn't there. So this game, so Sorlot obviously having Luqman and Antoine Griezmann behind him, but also having Alex Baena, who I thought had a tremendous game. Alex Baena last season, arguably the best player in La Liga outside of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Yeah, we agree on that?

39:44Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah.

39:45Gab Marcotti:Well, Juventus Atletico was better than Alex Baena last season.

39:47Julien Laurens:Alvarez had good, last season was a good season from Alvarez. But yeah, I see what you mean. You know what I mean?

39:51Gab Marcotti:Now he comes here and he's in and out. He's in the bench and blah, blah, blah. This is what they can do. I mean, 3x G just by going a goal down? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I think there's more to come. Just Simeone can't put his finger on it. Yeah. Heartbreak for Lons, Jules. They were 2-0 up at home to Monaco. Everything was going great. And somehow they lose 3-2. And with it, lose top spot in the league.

40:16Julien Laurens:Yeah, I don't really know what happened. 10 minutes, they continue 3-0. Ansu Fati just came on, I think on his first or second touch, scored a lovely goal to start that comeback from a Monaco team that had been playing better lately, even if they lost to PSG in the playoff first leg in midweek, that you could still see the improvement from Balogun against Cords, which is really good for him. So it's more the way that the collapse from loss that is surprising. At home. Yeah, especially at home with the fans when they've been outstanding all season long. uh monaco had played in midweek of course yeah yeah so um so yeah it was that was the most surprising because monaco are a bit better right now even with all the injuries and and from lance that's a bit of a setback that they would have to correct very quickly before psg obviously come to town atalanta come from behind to be napoli 2-1 and gab there's more referring controversy this time involving rasmus holland and that penalty yeah or two instead the disallowed goal i think

41:14Gab Marcotti:even more um yeah as well yeah so napoli take the lead all right i'm going to say this because is very angry if we don't remind everybody about this all the time they have comfortably six starters out right plus a couple guys would be key reserves you would be starters as people all right so so you get that and you're third or fourth in the league and that is really impressive and i know it's not fair to you conta you don't get to work with your players and blah blah blah how are you supposed to okay fine you're a great coach okay get that out of the way focus on this game they take the lead and then they're absolutely furious because they think they should be two nil up um and it was it's kind of interesting because the referee in this game and different referees have different styles the referee in this game is a guy named kifi who generally he's a guy who does not blow up but he lets play run he doesn't call many fouls in the game he likes physicality right so there's an incident hoyland comes into the box with uh with with isaqian and goes over there's a collision between the two.

42:11Gab Marcotti:He signals for the penalty. VAR says, are you sure? And he's, no, he corrects himself because frankly, it is just that. It is a collision. Yeah, I agree. Hoyland runs into him. I don't think Hoyland was cheating, but Hoyland runs into him. Yeah, yeah. And then what really set them off where I think they might have had more of a case was in the second half. There's another case. It's again, it's Hoyland against Hien. Hoyland gets past him, puts in a cross, Miguel Gutierrez scores, and the referee immediately whistles for the foul. VAR could have looked at it and said, maybe it was just a coming together, as I say here.

42:42Gab Marcotti:Although, you watch it again, Hoinland hoaxed Kian's arm. So, I don't know what you're complaining about.

42:49Julien Laurens:I thought that was too good code to be fair.

42:51Gab Marcotti:You thought they were too correct? Exactly. Look, it's tough. Everybody's injured. You're going to have to cut it out. Just deal with it. Habib Bey is now in charge of Marseille, but the troubles continue. Beaten Chunil at Brest, which, of course, isn't a football team. It's a woman's body part. their last league win was a month ago and by the way that guy who scored the goals for Brest who's like 8 feet tall do we not see him coming?

43:14Julien Laurens:I know I know

43:15Gab Marcotti:how tall is he really?

43:17Julien Laurens:is he really like 3 meters tall? not 3 meters but he's 197 I think oh my god yeah he's a wonderful you know he's those kind of players that is obviously not the most fancy and he went to Germany had a decent few years there then came back to France but who is very good technically for his size and stuff He's a lovely, lovely player. I love those kind of players. And scored two goals for Habibé. It's the dream return to Marseille, where he played, obviously, although he's from Paris. More of a nightmare, actually, no? Yeah, but the dream return was to coach them. He really wanted it. There had been so many things happening off the field recently.

43:54Julien Laurens:Deserby going, but also Benatia being promoting to basically running the club. Pablo Longoria being dismissed completely. So Longoria's gone entirely? He's not gone yet. he's still the president but he said to him we just want you to focus on the league committee those meetings with the league don't do anything to do with the transfers anymore with the Mercato's and Benatia from Sporting to basically top of the club

44:23Gab Marcotti:was this because he threatened because there were reports saying that he had quit

44:27Julien Laurens:and then the owner Frank Marcotte decided to change everything and saying I want to keep Benatia giving more responsibilities and Longoria I'm disappointed in you I'm bringing you down I'm sorry

44:38Gab Marcotti:isn't it supposed to be Latin people who go and have these impulsive decisions and you're in you're out clearly loves Benatia not like a serious American executive

44:45Julien Laurens:clearly loves Benatia and believes he can do a much better job than Pablo Longoria which in a way I can understand a bit but it's a risky game though Brighton with 2-0 away are Brentford and James Milner sets a Premier League appearance record passing Gareth Barry

45:02Gab Marcotti:tremendous And James Milner, of course, making his debut at just 16 years of age. In 2002. I think he was the youngest player in the history of the Premier League, or second youngest at the time. Kept himself fit, went on to have multiple iterations of career. Very happy for him. However, because as you know, this is a sticking point in mind, football was not invented. And that's fair, and that's really fair for me to say. I want to highlight, okay, football was not invented. So I looked to see who's actually had the most top flight hits. Because football was not invented in 1992. to peter schilton 848 we'll never be beaten let's be honest yeah that's a demented amount yeah but what was interesting peter schilton okay goalkeeper stands around the guy who's second is a guy named terry pain who i'd only heard of i knew nothing about him 713 appearances he's not a goalkeeper no he's a forward uh yeah so i shout out to terry pain yeah and after he left he went he played somewhere else for a couple years too but most of his career at southampton though um i i'd love to know how does he do that how do you play 713 games as a striker incredible madness barry saint-germain have reportedly chosen not to appeal the court decision to pay kilian mbappe around 60 million euros jules are you surprised no no no we've talked to you

46:23Julien Laurens:about this whole saga really for the last few months or so i think psg tried to see if they could get away with paying it and if they had managed to do that and pay the bill less they would have been happy they tried it didn't work now they said i think they admitted themselves

46:38Gab Marcotti:that they had to pay this is money they owe him no problem they will pay it's open and shot it's money at the home a bunch of lawyers got rich off this because of course mbappe had to defend himself had to take him to court. And by the way...

46:49Julien Laurens:That's what frustrates you the most in this whole incident.

46:52Gab Marcotti:And also, they were suing Mbappe for 212 million pounds. You have to do something in return.

46:57Julien Laurens:This is so scummy. I know, but may as well, if you pay lawyers, may as well make them work a bit more. I hope they have them on a retainer. That's all I'm going to say.

47:05Gab Marcotti:Also, do you think Mbappe has 212 million euros in the bank? I don't. What are they going to do? Take his future earn? I mean, he's close to it. Want to earn extra income for your business? Amazon Hub Delivery is looking for ambitious business owners to assist with local deliveries. When you become a partner, you and your staff will deliver packages to customers in your area on a schedule that works for you. With each package delivered, you'll gain extra income and exposure for your business. Plus, Amazon Hub Delivery makes it easy to get started. There's no upfront costs, delivery experience, or long-term contracts required.

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49:05Julien Laurens:Janine Fantino made an appearance at the Board of Peace and announced that FIFA would be raising$75 million dollars for investment in gaza including many football pitches and the national stadium gab it's easy to be cynical but this is a good thing right yeah i feel like i think the outcome is is

49:23Gab Marcotti:a good thing i mean i i think gaza needs to be needs to be rebuilt um they need a lot of things yeah football you know sport is the most important of the least important things as carol ancelotti like to say um i did this this is a positive outcome that comes out of it then later if you want to go and slam johnny fontino because he's at the board of peace which is clearly not a neutral organization in the sense that some countries constitution even forbids them from joining the board of peace if it's an alternative to united nations and all this other stuff that's a whole other issue right and some people have taken issue with him on that if by going there now does he need to go there to commit 75 million dollars no um are there are there fifa programs already in place that could have spent 75 million dollars yes um but you know he's playing a long game he likes the people running the board of peace and he's staging a major competition in the u.s so all these things for him in his mind make sense after 13 consecutive victories paulo Paolo Fonseca's Lyon stumble at Strasburg, losing 3-1.

50:31Gab Marcotti:The very handsome Paolo Fonseca, my man. Jules, they're still third, which is quite a turnaround from where they were. And by the way, isn't it funny how Lyon start playing better when Fonseca's actually there on the bench working as opposed to being suspended? But is there any way we can shoehorn John Texter in the conversation?

50:49Julien Laurens:I tried. I tried to think about it for you, Gabby, but I'm not sure that. Although we can blame it on John Texter, the fact that Paolo Fonseca I had to take this team from quite low to quite high. It was a game too many. Maybe this one, they still have some injuries. They didn't play well. Strasbourg and Gary O 'Neill are doing a really good job in this game. Tactically, some of their key players like Godot or like Diego Moreira, of course, who was outstanding, I thought, from start to finish in what was a really, really good game. Panickeli, too, scored again. Hendrik had two out of ten in the ratings in the keep this morning after a bad performance.

51:25Julien Laurens:I thought two was a bit harsh, to be fair, because it was not just him. It was the whole Lyon team that was not really up for it. And if you're not up for it against a team like Strasbourg with all the intensity and energy, you're going to struggle. And they did struggle. So they're still very much in that race for the third place behind PSG and Lens with Marseille. And I think one would be missing out. But there's an Olympic, I think, on Sunday or the following Sunday. This Sunday are coming or the next one, which is, I think, for me, where this race between lyon and marseille would be settled so assuming lawns and paris and germain

51:59Gab Marcotti:are in um is your money on on lyon right now i think it's marseille is a basket case right now and it's five points i think five points yeah five points before the olympico but if you win

52:10Julien Laurens:the olympico it's back to two and it's you know everything's possible roma b cremonese three in it on sunday night and gab they've quietly moved up into third place some love from gasp grudgingly

52:21Gab Marcotti:so because i think he's having people rethink things he's got guys in there who you know are either young i mean he had guillard at the back pisilli came in unscored and he just goes and he takes the game to the opposition they're genuinely fun to watch cremonese went there just lined up purely to do to to defend 0.06 xg which is objectively difficult to do and roma kept creating chances kept creating chances they were patient there's no matthias sule there's no paolo dibal guess what i don't need those guys i got other people brian zaragossa as well looking pretty sharp i want him to do well there so i think it's almost an underreported story that's up the third uh joe's dick advocate the coach of curacao helped played such a seminal role in getting them to qualify for the 2026 world cup this summer he is stepping aside yes he said that his daughter which

53:12Julien Laurens:we knew uh has healthy issues and that he has to put family first before football which is completely understandable. I think it would have been difficult for him not to take this team to the World Cup, the smallest country ever, to make it to the World Cup. The first one, obviously, and he was such a big part in how this team full of Dutch with dual nationality to the World Cup, but he has to look after his family and his daughter, so completely understandable. Fred Routen, another Dutch manager, will take over. They've got Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast in the World Cup. So it would be tough for them to come out of that even in third place.

53:49Julien Laurens:But at least they will have the pride of going there and they will play there for Decai Volca and his family. You know that already. So I really hope, or we really hope, that his daughter is getting better very, very soon and that Caruso can make him proud of the World Cup. MLS, the season started, got underway this weekend and champions Inter Miami got spanked Three-heal away in LA by LAFC. Gab, Leo Messi played 90 minutes when he was doubtful for a hamstring injury, but it seemed that his playing time would be managed ahead of the World Cup. Does that make sense to you? And what do you feel about his reaction trying to confront the referee at the end?

54:23Julien Laurens:He was really angry trying to get into the referee's dressing room and only Luis Suarez, of all people, trying to stop him from going to see the ref.

54:30Gab Marcotti:Luis Suarez, the calm one in this situation. Okay, were any other player, he would get banned. if I were MLS I would make sure he gets banned I would have a word with the club and say look since you're gonna manage his minutes anyway ahead of the world cup let's manage it by giving him a nice little holiday so it looks like we're serious people uh I don't know if they'll do this for I generally don't for commercial reasons because oh look if there isn't even the possibility of Messi playing right but you cannot do that you're setting an example you're the face of the league you can't do that and when Luis Suarez is the balanced one uh in the relationship you know that they're having a really, really bad day.

55:11Gab Marcotti:Beyond that, I think Messi's earned the right to play when he wants to play. And I don't say this lightly. It's part of the deal Inter-Miami made when they took him to the World Cup. I think they're comfortable with it. Manage his minutes, get through the World Cup, and then worry about it later, the playoffs and whatever else. Because there's a whole other MLS season after the World Cup, basically. Evan Gisson! Who's that? I know.

55:37Julien Laurens:No Paris Bonham Breda.

55:38Gab Marcotti:Okay. So we give him a pass. MIA until now. He gets the late winner for Crystal Palace at home to Wolves. But Jules, how about that banner? And I quote here. Opportunities missed. Board inept. Fans disrespected. Glasner finished. We saw that from the Palace fans. I'm not saying they're speaking for all the Palace fans. But we're not used to seeing stuff like that from Premier League crowds.

56:04Julien Laurens:Not as you're right. But I can understand the frustration on this season, yesterday, so Sunday, that win against Wolves, by the way, Wolves who missed a penalty earlier on, was only the second in the last 16 games in all competition. They could not beat a Bosnian team in midweek in the Conference League playoffs either. And probably, I think, if I was a Crystal Palace fan and seeing that banner and the reaction towards Oliver Glasner, is what he's been saying lately, which is, for me, unacceptable from a club's point of view, but from a fan's point of view, asking the Crystal Palace fans to stay humble.

56:41Julien Laurens:Remember who you are and where you come from. Like, what kind of world does Oliver Glasner live in to tell his own fans to stay humble? I don't think they're asking for much, but at least more than just one win in 15. It's all about him. It's been all about him since the start of the season. I don't understand. Even now, he talks about himself in the third person. and I'm like really what come on man please well I mean I who's the last manager we heard even even Mourinho I can't remember Mourinho saying Jose Mourinho when talking about himself Oliver Glasner said what Oliver Glasner you know like what so this is bonkers first of all

57:20Gab Marcotti:if you're going to mention Glasner in Mourinho in the same sentence don't no respect respect

57:26Julien Laurens:Well, Glasner would say something. Glasner would say, Oliver Glasner deserves to be in the same category.

57:31Gab Marcotti:Okay, Oliver Glasner deserves to be in the same sentence right now as Dave Bassett and Sam Anardy. He deserves to be sacked. That's why he deserves. But, well, deserves to be sacked. I don't know. Yeah. My advice to him is you're good at what you do in terms of setting people up on the pitch. You made history for Crystal Palace. If you need to start thinking about your next job, which you obviously are since you're leaving this club, first thing I would do is get on the phone there's lots of people out there who can do media coaching and tell you how to speak to other people and how to treat other people because you're in a situation where you're making me and you because I know your feelings yeah like Steve Parrish over him and say Steve Parrish is right and Glasner is wrong this is how extreme

58:17Julien Laurens:you've taken this he's tarnishing his own legacy at the club because for him to now say like well I've been the greatest manager basically that's what he said I'm paraphrasing him But he said, I'm the greatest manager this club has ever seen because they've got 30, they had 32 points before this Wolves game. And he said only twice in the history of the club in the Premier League, they've had more than 32 points. Look how great I am. Look how big I am. Look what, you know, and being cynical and sarcastic and all of that. I mean, I can't bear him anymore. I really can't. And I'm sure there's people above him at the club who think the same.

58:46Julien Laurens:So if he doesn't want to be there anymore, no problem. Just go, go take three months off and you're going to get another job next season. Otherwise, if it's the club, just get rid of him.

58:54Gab Marcotti:He's seriously hurting himself. And I can understand him sitting there and looking around at other clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere and saying, oh, well, there might be an opening at Spurs. There might be an opening at Manchester United. Absolutely. I've proven myself. Yeah. Yeah, but if you hear people talk like that, if you come across as something that rhymes with stick, I don't want you in my club because you're toxic. Touch him. I mean that's he apologized to his credit he's a couple months left to go and try to repair things I think he needs to do that yeah

59:29Julien Laurens:Chelsea finally have a sponsor gap I mean that's been one of your sagas on the show

59:35Gab Marcotti:and appropriately you mentioned saga Scandinavia it's a Scandinavian company

59:40Julien Laurens:is it have you heard of it before not like the last one okay

59:44Gab Marcotti:it's a company called IFS they're leaders in industrial artificial intelligence okay I looked this up. Apparently, the artificial intelligence that they used is used to power factories and industries and automate tasks. Okay. I don't know. When I first saw this in an AI company, I'm like, oh, cool. Is it Anthropic? Is it OpenAI? Is it somebody I've heard of? No, it's these other people. They're more niche. They were actually... This is really boring to people, but it's... You love it. You love it. Yeah, they were more of a SaaS software service company, and they're kind of pivoting towards us.

1:00:18Gab Marcotti:I don't know. Chelsea, the reason Chelsea didn't have a shirt sponsor for so long is because they were reportedly holding out for 65 million pounds a year.

1:00:26Julien Laurens:Is that what they got for this?

1:00:28Gab Marcotti:Well, of course, terms of the deal are undisclosed. But Chelsea are saying, well, we're happy with the amount. Of course, you're happy with it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have signed it. So we genuinely don't know. It's one of those things. Again, you wonder. You're IFS. Most normal people don't need industrial AI at home.

1:00:47Julien Laurens:It's not something that you buy as a customer. Exactly.

1:00:49Gab Marcotti:So, you know, it's kind of like I'm going to buy some PIF this weekend, you know. But well done, Chelsea. They're monetizing this. Finally, they can use the extra revenue. So at least this part's over for now. Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice, says El Nasser beat El Hazem 4-0, Jules. He spoke for the first time since his mini strike, and he said, and I quote here, I belong to Saudi Arabia.

1:01:16Julien Laurens:Yeah, absolutely love declaration to Saudi Arabia and I guess to PIF, right? Yeah. Been paying him for those years. Kaká used to say, I belong to Jesus.

1:01:28Gab Marcotti:Yeah. He belonged to Saudi Arabia.

1:01:30Julien Laurens:To Saudi Arabia. I mean, good for him. That's probably really, if you think about it, and I'm not dismissing this in Cristiano before you all abuse me. That's really the only league he can play in, right? Right now to score, to keep scoring goals and get to a thousand. and because those two get him a bit a little bit closer he must be on 964 something like that now 965 so he's getting closer uh the most important probably for him because remember the strike was because he felt pif were advantaging al hilal in the title race and not al nasa well al hilal drew this is by not spending money yeah not spending it for al hilal and not for al nasa Al-Hilad drew this week against Ali Tihad, which meant that with this win and Cristiano's goal, they go on top of the table now with only 10 or 11 games to go.

1:02:18Julien Laurens:So he's on track very much to win his first title then.

1:02:22Gab Marcotti:His contract is up in June. And since he belongs to Saudi Arabia, he just wants to win and score goals. And he wants Al-Nasir to spend. I am sure, since he makes an enormous salary, I'm sure he can play for whatever the Saudi minimum wage is next year and say, hey, Al-Nasir, I demand that the$300 million that you're saving in my salary all goes to buy better players.

1:02:41Julien Laurens:Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's see what happens. FIFA reportedly studying the introduction of their own cryptocurrency. Gab, what could possibly go wrong here?

1:02:52Gab Marcotti:Yeah. So Gianni Fantino. Now, I don't think it's a coincidence that he said this after going to the Board of Peace and hanging out with somebody else who put out a meme coin and stuff like that and whose sons are involved in crypto. He says, oh, we're also studying the development of a FIFA token and a FIFA coin. It would be a real potential global currency serving 6 billion football fans worldwide. I love the 6 billion too. That means there's what? There's 8 billion people on earth, right? Yeah. So 75 % including like... Football fans. Ready to buy the FIFA crypto. Well, the odd thing here is you're studying this now.

1:03:33Gab Marcotti:Bro, I know you're a smart guy. like Saucyos, Fan Token.

1:03:38Julien Laurens:Others have tried before.

1:03:39Gab Marcotti:Crypto's been around for a really, really long time. And look, I'm not making fun of crypto. I actually think I know more about crypto than most people. I think it has a role. But the way you spin this and the people around you does, hey, look, it's just like a way to get money from people. That's not your role. But yes, keep studying. Keep studying. And talk to the people. at Solskjaer's and Fan Token and all this stuff. Remember when they were all over everybody's shirts? Yeah, of course. Ask them. Ask the clubs. Did you benefit from this? Anyway, Jules, this brings us to an end, but don't worry.

1:04:15Gab Marcotti:We're not taking this Thursday off. Too important. The Champions League playoff round coming back. Until then, love the game. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.

1:04:28Gab Marcotti:From 30 for 30 Podcasts.

1:04:35Did you take someone back?

1:04:38Gab Marcotti:Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he scrapped it. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They can place him to arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.