Gab and Juls Show: Portugal Survive, Croatia Heartbreak

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21:08Quick Hits is brought to you by Gusto. Gusto is your small business partner for payroll, benefits, and so much more. Get started for free at gusto.com. All right, Jules, Enough Portugal, enough Croatia. How about some quick hits? Let's go, Gab. Two huge goals from Harry Kane in the final 15 minutes enabled England to come from behind to beat Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1. Jules, fun fact. It's the first time, and it blew my mind, since the 1966 World Cup final, that England came back in a knockout game to win when the opponent scored first.

21:45Julien Laurens:Yeah, it was not pretty. I thought, despite a couple of decent chances, to be fair, and Mpasi making some really good saves for Congo to headers by Bellingham, especially that England just lacked creativity, lacked energy. Again, it's not something new. We've said that before. And then the save year was once against Harry Kane. I mean, the first goal, there's a mistake by Mpasi. Sure, the second goal is a wonderful strike. A strike that I think he would score nine times out of ten, and I'm not sure there are many strikers in the world, not even my boy Killian, who could be that efficient and that consistent in a chance like that.

22:20Julien Laurens:So outstanding work from Kane. I don't know whether it would be without him, really, because so many times he saved them. I think it's a bit worrying for the rest of the competition, but for now, he did the job. So Tommy T says, look, it's okay because, oh, that's what Bellingham and Kane are there for. You know, they are superstars and so on. I think there's some serious questions. I think there's a lot of mistakes that he's made in assembling this team. having to play Declan Rice at right back seems to, sure, the guy can play anywhere but then you've got a big gaping hole in midfield and it just runs against what we saw prior to the tournament where everybody's talking about England's strength and depth and look, they're so good I think you can't just ride Kane, even if he's got the hot hand you need to get I want to see Saka, I want to see fit Saka If he's not fair, he can't really start He says he's fit at some point, like, I don't know.

23:15Julien Laurens:He will start against Mexico, but he was clearly not fair in this game. And of course, yeah, as you mentioned, they're playing Mexico next. Yeah, in Mexico, at the Azteca, where Mexico has never lost in a World Cup game, in altitude, so let's see. Spain, knockout Austria, 3-0 gap. They're getting stronger as the tournament goes on. That's a good sign, right? Yeah, I think it's a very good sign. My man Cucurayel. Very good. Basically, they got it in skin. Look, I think Austria, the way Ragnik plays, if you play against a team that is good in possession and also has individual quality to win them one-on-ones, you are going to be in trouble because you press against wingers in a one-on-one or whatever, and they beat you, then all of a sudden you're toast.

24:02So I think Austria put up whatever show they could.

24:07And goodbye to them in the tournament. I think this is pretty much their level. We do need to discuss, though, I don't know. We've seen some interesting sartorial choices. I think if Rangnick was going to take out the prize for Otis' choice, pairing Fuchsia with Brown, no, no, no, not going to work. And as you mentioned, Unai Simon beating Walter Zinga's record. Again, I'm happy for him because everybody, oh, no, you need to play David Rai, you need to play Jean Garcia. And I'll be the first, hold my hand up. I think David Rai and Jean Garcia are better than Unai Simon, but he's getting it done.

24:40and he's getting it done without a back line that on paper, let's not go back. We're not talking superstars here. Kubarcy may be a superstar one day. Emric Laporte is kind of like a guy since he left us to go to Saudi. Pedro Poro is the kind of guy people make fun of. Cucurea with the big hair. And yet it's working. It's working really, really well. They've played nobody. They haven't been challenged yet, but it's the same argument that we made for other teams. And also, they're the reigning European champions. So they have that on their resume already. Jules, you and I were there at exit 18W off the New Jersey Turnpike to witness France's demolition of Sweden 3-0.

25:19It could have been a lot more. We had a disagreement over whether we were asked to find, oh, what are the French weak spots? You were very determined. I don't think there are many or any. I struggled, but we identified different ones.

25:33Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think the outside of the overconfidence that a French team historically could have. Yeah, and I should say, that is a psychological thing, not a technical thing, but that is always there with France. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you saw them missing some chances in the first half when they could have been 5-0 up at half times. Yeah, yeah. France are capable, more than other teams, of beating themselves. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think at times, we are our worst enemy, especially with so many Parisians in this squad and the arrogance and everything. However, however, these front four especially, I mean, because I think Barcola is the best complement to the other three of Dembele, Olyse and Mbappe.

26:13Julien Laurens:I think it's a wonderful front four, one of the greatest already. I know they haven't won this year, but in terms of entertainment and what they've produced in those first four games, even if, again, a bit like Spain, they haven't really been tested and faced anybody that great, they are still incredible. For me, you have still to look at the two fullbacks in Luka Ding or Teo Hernandez on the left-hand side, but it would be Ding now going forward and Julkunde on the right side, even if they were better against Sweden, it's still not the kind of level, it's not at the same level as everybody else in that team from goalkeeper to the center forward.

26:48Julien Laurens:Julkunde as well. Yeah, Julkunde hasn't had a good season with Barcelona. He hasn't had a great start of this World Cup either. But it's okay having a center-back type at right-back. Yeah, of the two, of the right and the left, the left is more worrying for me to have Luka Ding against potentially Al-Amin Yamal or against El Hanus if France play Morocco, for example, in the quarterfinals? My concern, the other area identified, and we disagree on this one, but it's a limited one because he's got options on the bench to change it. If you play against a team that keeps possession and does a lot of counter-pressing and presses you effectively, if I look at the back six as a unit, to the four defenders and the two centre-backs, you don't have that many kind of ballplayers or creative types.

27:37So you're potentially in danger. He can fix that very easily because he can send on Manu Kone, who can pass. He can send on Warren Zaria-Emery, who I think is probably more press-resistant than, say, Adrian Rabiot. So he can do that. But if he gets that line-up wrong against a team that has a lot of possession, possession makes you change him, maybe you don't get help from the front four. That could be an area to exploit. I am grasping at straws here.

28:05Julien Laurens:Yeah, I know. I think Tramini and Rabiot bring the law of balance, and Tramini is a good passer of the ball. Rabiot has a different role within this team that is very important. I think later in the tournament, I wouldn't be surprised. Again, we talked about that before, but if Deschamps goes back to a 4-3-3, which is his favorite system ever, and have a third midfielder in Coney with Rabiot. Who can pass the ball? It's not so much the passing because Olisse can drop really deep and be that guy anyway. Olisse is the player that runs the most for this French team, one of the players that runs the most in this whole World Cup, one of the players that runs at high intensity the most, that has the most sprints.

28:42Julien Laurens:So Olisse will be that guy anyway. So you will always find an output in Olisse, whether you're Rabiot or Kone or Tremény or Conte or Zaire Henry, etc. But that balance in that midfield is very important, especially with our front four. in front of them. And I think that's why the team that will play against Paraguay is the same team that started against Sweden. And I wouldn't be surprised if France qualify and play, you know, Morocco or Canada. We don't know yet. I think it will be again the same 11. Yeah, Paraguay do not match up well with France. Definitely not. Wildsurf at the end of Belgium v Senegal gab.

29:17Julien Laurens:The Red Devils somehow scored twice in the final four minutes to force extra time and then win thanks to Yuri Tillemans. penalty seconds before the penalty shootout. Yeah, so this is, I think, heartbreaking for Senegal. You can say they brought it upon themselves at the end because you're 2-0 up. There is no scenario in football. I'm Italian. You're 2-0 up five minutes to go. You can see twice. You're always wrong. It doesn't matter. You're always wrong. Yeah, yeah. Maybe they are. I think they could have put the game to bed earlier. They could have scored a third. They certainly had the chances.

29:52They're really going to rue this. You know, it's funny, we talked about teams from Africa, from CAF. You know, the fact that 9 out of 10 advanced. We've lost a whole bunch of them. Obviously, Egypt still to come, as we record this on a Friday. It's hard, it's hard. And I think Belgium were very, very fortunate. They were not good at all in this game. They were not good. The Bruin wasn't good. The Tiller wasn't good. I don't know where you find this. yes, you can do the big Rom super sub shtick. Yeah. And maybe we'll see that when they play the USA next. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have a big Rom stomping on little Tim Ream, maybe.

30:32Yeah, absolutely. But that only takes you so far. I agree. So I think, once again, things breaking Poch's way.

30:39Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah. I mean, things are getting messy for Senegal already, by the way. Some players don't want to come back, like Pap Gay, until there's a change of head coach. Gana Gay was not happy. I think there's a lot of that older generation like Koulibaly who are going to leave as well. So it could be a bit messy for Senegal. And it's a shame because we both thought Senegal, along with Morocco, were the one team. We wouldn't have been surprised if they reached the semifinals or the quarters. Speaking of the USA, they beat Bosnia 2-0 to advance. Jules, how did they look? And were you impressed with Malik Tillman's free kick or are you going to be a sportsport and blame the goalkeeper?

31:16Julien Laurens:So I will talk about that after. but just so you know before, I blame the goalkeeper every day. I don't know how, but really, Gab, and it's not because you're Italian, how it was possible for Italy to lose against this Bosnia team because they are really not good. They are really not good. They were not good in this game. They were not good at 11 v 11. They were not very good at 11 v 10 after the really harsh red card, I thought, for Flo Balogun, who scored a goal before, hit the top of the crossbar with another chance. And I thought the U.S. did what they had to do. It was not brilliant as a performance collectively against a team that is very difficult to play against because they're so physical and don't really want to play football.

31:57Julien Laurens:And yet I thought they did the job well. They just did what they had to do. Enough. The support was great. The stadium was wonderful. And that was just what they needed to qualify and go to the next round. I'll direct your question to Mr. Rino Gattuso, who is watching us. But on the Tillman free kick, okay, he's quite close in. so technically it's not easy to get the ball over the goal and bend them back down and do it at pace but I'm surprised by their reaction they made it seem as if this is like Roberto Carlos at the Tournois de France or whatever this is on the goalkeeper the goalkeeper has to get it 100 % 100 % and for Balogun do you know how many players in the same World Cup game scored and then got sent off?

32:41Julien Laurens:Zinedine Zidane is one there's two more I can't remember that game I didn't want to go there just for that. There's two more. Garinja with Brazil and then the fourth one that now I can't remember. But he will come back to me before the end of the show. Gab, sticking with that game, Flo Balogunas just mentions red card infuriated US fans and he's now suspended for the round of 16 clash with Belgium. How did you see him and how big of a blow is it? So, I think... Ronaldinho is the other one in 0-2 against England. Oh, that's right. That's right. Anyway, you know... And that was David Seaman in goal, right?

33:17Julien Laurens:Everybody's like, let's all do the Seaman. Only fourth player to score and get sent off in the same work of Mudge. Yeah, although he scored against David Seaman, so I'm not sure if that really counts. But, look, I think it's the kind of thing where you slow it down, it looks worse. But we also have to realize that these VARs and these referees, it's not like they're children and they're watching this for the first time. Ooh, slow down, this looks bad. They're giving instructions, they have a lot of experience. I think they should have known this is a yellow card in my view I know equally but then the ref goes to see the green the ref can say listen I think it's an accident which he was they had no you know I think what you're deciding is could he have pulled his leg away once he feels the contact could he pull his boot away once he feels the contact with Smorimovic yeah and I think that's a really big ask I agree I think it's one of those let the decision on the pitch stick.

34:16Mexico were also through beating Ecuador, 3-0 at the Azteca. Joe's not going to lie, I thought Ecuador were going to put up more of a fight.

34:23Julien Laurens:Yeah, I agree. I think if you were Ecuador, really, you knew exactly what was going to happen in that first half an hour. You knew that Mexico were going for it. There was a long delay of the game because of thunderstorms and everything in Mexico City. But once the game started, if you were Ecuador and you are the Azteca and this team has won 3-3, but not playing great, but by being a lot of energy, a lot of intensity, let's go at it, everything, just be ready for it. And they were not ready. And you concede goals that were cheap goals for you to concede. You were under pressure a lot. You never really played your game.

34:55Julien Laurens:And by the time you woke up, it was too late. And this was too late. And I think this one is great for Mexico and we love all the celebrations and the scenes. It's wonderful to see, but really Ecuador have to be disappointed. You know what's really funny to me, just going back to this, but I think it was after the game that we had, the France game, like we get on our ESPN FC live blog, they put questions to us, and they're like, oh, where do you think the next upset is going to come from? Our Anglo colleagues, clearly they get a little too excited because they all started mentioning, well, it could be hard for England against Mexico at altitude and going from the air-conditioned stadium to the weather at the Azteca.

35:33Guys, England hasn't even gotten, they haven't even gotten there, right? And neither is Mexico for that. We're talking about the next set of games. I love that. Look, I was very happy for Harry Kane. Harry Kane and I share a birthday, by the way. Yes, we all know. As well as Joan of Arc as well. Joan of Arc and Harry Kane, that's an unusual... Joan of Arc's French. And Gamma Coutinho as well.

35:54Julien Laurens:Yeah, she's French. But, yeah, it would have been pretty freaking poetic justice if Congo had knocked out England after all these people are just talking. In English media too. They're talking about... It doesn't matter now, did it? Whatever, but it just leaves. And you wonder why people don't want you to win. You wonder why. It's stuff like that. Okay, right. Let's go back to Monday. Paraguay knocked out Germany on penalty kicks. But the big talking points is Jonathan Taz's disallowed goal for Waldemar Anton's foul on the keeper, Orlando Gill. Gav, how did you see it? It's a foul. It's a foul.

36:27Julien Laurens:It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that he gets back up. Yeah, yeah, it's a foul. It doesn't matter. Anton should have known better. And you know what? If you're Germany, I'm glad Germany were grown-ups about this. they looked at the whole game and they said, yeah, we could have won this game, but we were still rubbish and we weren't particularly good in this tournament. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the attitude. For Paraguay, look, Zladez, Romerito, Cabañas, Chilaver, channeling their history. This is what they're very good at. This is their DNA. I had more issues. Okay, the goal is this allowed.

36:57Julien Laurens:Fair enough. You can't block the keeper. You can block other players. Don't worry. I've got more issues with, clearly, the mess that Nagelsmann, and his staff and those players made of the penalty shootout. Because if you cannot, at that level, prepare not just your five penalty takers, but your six and seven and eight and nine just in case, then you've got nothing to do at the World Cup. And I'm glad, and it's our next question, that Nagelsmann is gone. Because just for that, even if Germany would have won, that mess is unacceptable. For Kimmich to go and ask Goretzka, hey, do you fancy being the sixth taker?

37:33Julien Laurens:Because we're going to go into six and sudden death. and not so much Goresca not wanting to okay he didn't fancy it I would rather somebody would fancy it or not but because Kimmich had to do that because there was no plan because nobody knew who the sixth penalty taker was it's unreal at this level unreal I'll address this in the next question yeah and the German FA asked Julian Nagelsmann to resign obviously after that defeat is your question why did they not fire him instead because if they fired him it would end up costing them more money yeah that question isn't for you because you know the answer that question is for our audience.

38:06People wonder about this.

38:11We said it when Nagazone was appointed. It is very different coaching a national team than it is to coaching a club side. We didn't know if it's something you could do it. Now we know. If you didn't know, now you know. That business with the penalties is an absolute embarrassment. I don't want to hear more stereotypes, oh, the Germans are so good because they're so disciplined and they plan. No, no. The Germans are people. They may surprise him. They're people just like the rest of us. And they screwed this up. And Jürgen Nagelsmann is a person just like the rest of us. And there are certain things he does very, very well.

38:41Whatever that chaos was, was horrific.

38:45Julien Laurens:It was. Jürgen Klopp coming? Would you be happy with that? Or you don't think it's a job for him? Or you don't think he's right for them? He would not be my choice. I could see why. Because the enthusiasm and whatever. And maybe, you know, it feels like Klopp kind of enjoys not working full-time anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's many things that would make a lot of sense. But, yeah, I think you should look internally, personally, within Germany. So, you're up. Yes. Switzerland rolled to a 2-0 win over Algeria, Gab. They may not be exciting, except for Johan Manzambi, but they're getting the job done and win their first knockout game in 66 years.

39:26Yeah, so, okay. It's a big deal for Switzerland. in Switzerland historically always managed to go and advance to a certain point without excitement. Manzambi is the real deal. He's totally exciting. That first goal, that acceleration. We told you before the start of the tournament that he was special. Can you imagine if he gets technically better as well? He's not bad. He's not a standout. I think for him it's his timing, it's his athleticism, it's his intelligence for me that makes him stand out.

39:56Julien Laurens:Look at the assist on the ball or goal. Running that fast with the ball, You have to be good. I'm not sure he knows where the ball is going, to be honest. Ah, I disagree. But you know who didn't know where the ball was going either was Reader. Absolutely, yeah. The midst of the century. The midst of the World Cup, for sure. You can tell your great-grandkids you scored in a World Cup against Algeria and it didn't look like in a game it was already won. But no. No. But anyway, I don't know how much, I don't think they're getting much further, although the draw certainly looks pretty presentable to them.

40:25This is more of Algeria's failure. They came into the World Cup with issues. in this game why you would drop Guiri or not bring him on sooner I thought that was a bit chaotic from them they're a talented team but they're less than the sum of their parts and I think they just inherited the problems that have been besetting them

40:46Julien Laurens:for a long time yeah and I think Petkovic is a dreadful coach and I think he's been slaughtered back home and rightly so because he's just not good enough especially for this really decent generation we said goodbye to Rian Mahrez who's obviously as we expected has retired from international football after being such a great servant to his team and finally winning them the AFCON a few years ago. So we will miss him. But I think Petkovic has to go as well for me. Also on Monday, Holland's World Cup run came to a shuddering end against Morocco. Jules, the Dutch go out on penalties. Some of the ugliest penalties you'll see in a long time.

41:21I mean, I think they were actually even worse than the Germany penalties, if that's possible. Look, mind you, Morocco the more talented team. Absolutely. But I have a feeling you have some choice words for Ronald Koeman because you can use to Morocco, but not like this.

41:35Julien Laurens:Yeah, not like this. I mean, if you watch us on FC the other day, you can go and watch the clip. It's everywhere. I've destroyed the Dutch guy already. I'm very happy to say it again here. I just never thought he was good enough. He was not good enough for this team. He was not good enough for Barcelona when he was there either. This obsession that he has to play defensive football when you're the Dutch national team head coach with everything that Dutch football represents or means to the world. And they might not be as good as the total football team and the Cruyff teams and the Niskayes teams and the Rienus Mikkels teams and all of that.

42:06Julien Laurens:I get you, although this is a much better squad than what the Dutch guy has been using it for. But to play that back five, to make the substitutions that he makes game after game after game, to be so negative all the time, to have 16 % of the ball in the second half of extra time is horrendous. It's an embarrassment. I'm glad he's gone. He should have never been given that job ever. He should have never stayed after the Euros, despite the Euros being decent for them. And for me, this shows, again, all his limitation. Mickey Van Der Veen at left wing back. That tells you everything you need to know.

42:42It's an absurdity. I'm looking at this and I'm like, you're freaking Holland. Other than Somerville, who can play? Who's got some creativity? who's got something in your entire team. The next guy after him is probably Ryan Gravenberg, and he's your defensive midfielder.

43:00Julien Laurens:No way, no cap. Cote d 'Ivoire 2-1, and the reward is Brazil in the next round on Sunday. Gab, Stalysolbeck, and Masterplan seems to have worked. Well, yeah, we're all rested against Ivory Coast. I thought they were a little fortunate, actually, against Cote d 'Ivoire. Absolutely. And so he can say, oh, look, I'm a genius because I rested everybody against France. I'm not sure. I don't think he's going to come back to haunt them. But I don't think they have any chance whatsoever against Brazil. I don't think so. If they play like this. Oh, yeah. If they play like this. Yeah, yeah. Ivory Coast should have won this.

43:33And I don't even know how much we can criticize them for not doing it. It's poor defending on the Haaland goal. But their individual errors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But still. Also, it's easy not to notice the giant blonde guy in the middle of the box. Spurs have been busy, Jules. Mateus Fernandes, who I like a lot. You're a little less?

43:52Julien Laurens:No, no, I do too, but not for that much. And Santo Tenali are both on their way for a total expenditure of nearly 200 million. What's going on? Can you repeat the amount, please? 200 million. And by the way, in the last show, remember, our buddy Vinay. Oh, yeah, no, no, no. It's not a priority to get a real sporting director at this time. Oh, we have Roberto de Zerbi and stuff. And by the way, Vinay, we're not going to go at you. We know that you have a boss. It's not your club. You're just a CEO. So I am sure if he was in charge of everything, I'm 100 % certain, he would have a real sporting director.

44:25Because you know what? This is getting taken for a freaking ride.

44:28Julien Laurens:I mean, my ears are bleeding to just hear the amount they're spending on Tonali and Matheus Fernandez, who are not bad players, of course. Tonali is a wonderful player. Matheus Fernandez is a great talent with a high ceiling. But right now, neither of them is worth$85 million for Matheus Fernandez and$100 million for Sandro Tonali. In pounds, by the way. I think it's crazy. On top of that, there are huge contracts for them in terms of wages. Huge commissions for agents as well. I just don't really understand. I don't understand. I think they will add talent to this team. Great. Tonali explaining that De Zerbe was a big reason of why he accepted to come to Spurs, even without Champions League football, for example, or things like that.

45:10Julien Laurens:Nobody else would have paid that amount of money for Sandro Tonali anyway. Buying guys from a relegated team and a team that's under PSR restrictions. It's absolutely crazy. And meanwhile, Gabi, they've reached a£50 million, including bonuses, deal with Brighton. For Luka Vuzkovic, the centre-back, a player that we both really like. Yeah, we obviously like him more than they do. They go and keep adding Sinise and stuff like that. And they've got this guy. Look, there's a 20 % sell-on. They have the matching rights. It's a smart deal for them, sure. Yeah, I think£50 million is probably not far off the actual market price for him.

45:45To be perfectly honest. The matching rights, I think, are completely irrelevant because ultimately the player gets to decide where he goes. Brighton, sometimes they get things wrong. In this case, they got it right. I agree. It's a smart group. I'm surprised other teams didn't step in and get involved here. Elia Anderson has done his medical while with England, and the move to Manchester City from Forrest is done with a number of around 116 million, Jules.

46:08Julien Laurens:Yeah, I was going to make the joke again and ask you to repeat it. I won't, you know, not this time. Too much money. Too much money to you. We love Elia Anderson. is great. He's had a great season. He's young. He's got a huge potential, high ceiling, everything you want. He would get better and better. There's no doubt. But right now, to put that money down for him, I think is again, crazy. Really crazy. He's not worth that. I don't know who is right now in what football anyway, to be honest. And for City to do it, I know that they need a replacement for Rodri and Rodri is still there. I know Nico Gonzalez is not good enough, obviously, but I just I think it's so, so much money.

46:46Julien Laurens:The Times of London report that eight Tunisia players have tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol, Gab. So they tested positive. There is no suggestion that this is a case of performance-enhancing drugs. But what it is, is these are trace amounts. It's considered any typical finding. What I thought was interesting is clenbuterol, which is an anabolic steroid. They're going to investigate where it comes from, but it's used in cattle raising and meat production. It's illegal to use it, but in Mexico it can happen. Sometimes that's where they were based. And the thinking is they maybe had a bit too many barbecues while they were there.

47:27Not that it helped them on the pitch. So it's just a sense that, and this has happened before in Mexico in the 17 World Cup, more than 100 players tested positive. So really important. If you eat red meat, make sure there's no Clem Buterol in it. Nathaniel Brown from Eintracht Frankfurt Dubai Munich is a done deal, Jules. Five years deal. Contract $55 million.

47:51Julien Laurens:What does this mean for Alfonso Davies? It's not great news to start with, or at least, you know, they've got two left backs now instead of just one. And when Davies was injured, which was a lot last season, then they had to play Stanisic, a left back, or Leimer, a left back, that kind of stuff. At least now you've got two really good left backs in your squad. It's a lot of money if Nathaniel Brown becomes a backup. but you also just gave not that long ago Alphonso Davies, a huge new deal. So you've got those two players there, unless you want to play Alphonso a bit... As a winger. As a winger, which is, I guess, possible.

48:23Julien Laurens:Or do something else with Nathaniel Brown, for example, like an inverted fullback, something like that. You make it work. I think he's great for company. You know, in the last few days, they signed Saibari, which I think fits their team so well. And now Brown, who's been outstanding in his World Cup, probably the only bright German performance in this World Cup. I think I have. which is the best on earth. Of course, we all know that. UEFA have issued their fines to clear breaking financial stability rules, Gab. Among them, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle, Juventus, and Strasbourg. Yeah, I don't know if we do treat Chelsea and Strasbourg as a package.

48:57So without going into too much detail, when people look at the size of these fines and the fact that their conditional fines are suspended, essentially, people say, oh, these aren't going to be very big because it's Newcastle, 3 million, Chelsea, 1 million for filing the squad cost rule. I think this is actually pretty significant because it means that you have to keep tightening things up, hitting these targets year after year. And I think this shows that they're keeping a close eye on it. Also, Juventus and Newcastle will have to enter a settlement agreement, which will place more restrictions.

49:29And there's also squad restrictions as well in the Champions League in terms of if you bring a player out of your squad, you're limited in who you can bring in unless you reduce the overall cost. So it's not a headline thing. Nobody's getting kicked out yet. But I think it's having an effect. Speaking of Chelsea, Jules, your boy, Javier Pastore, former Paris Saint-Germain legend. Legend. And Palermo legend before that. Says Angel Fernandez is exploring options while also thinking only of Argentina at the World Cup. Amazing how the guy can do two things at once. Of course. But his statements are taken serious enough by Real Madrid that they feel the need to issue another statement saying that they're not pursuing him and won't be pursuing him.

50:08Julien Laurens:Yeah, I don't know what's going on in here. Who's doing their comms around Madrid? They did this with Alise already. Yeah, exactly. They did it with Alise. I mean, remember the whole Julian Alvarez saga as well and disaster class. This is another chapter in this already quite crazy summer from Real Madrid between the players that they have signed and Mourinho and then all those players that they've been linked with. There's no doubt that at some point I think they really like Fernando Fernandes, that Mourinho is a big fan, that they need to strengthen their midfield. I'm not saying that Enzo is the answer but you know where I'm coming from and Pastore would not lie like this and say they're interested and they've been in touch if they haven't been.

50:46Julien Laurens:So I don't know what's going on. There's nothing to be gained by issuing the statement. Yeah, absolutely. Gab, ugly story involving Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni and child prostitution. Yeah, this goes back to when Bastoni was 20 years old. He used to attend these parties where there were young women present. He denies all charges of paying. The young lady in question, who was 17 years old at the time, and we use the term child prostitution for a reason, but I want to haste to add she was 17 and he was 20. And she says that nothing happened. But he's been involved in this. It's a big investigation, isn't it?

51:28It is a considerable investigation, and he denies all responsibility. not been a good year for him Salma Pariguelo leaving Barcelona we know they're coming back but where's she going?

51:42Julien Laurens:Yeah well we don't know yet the club announced three days ago via statement that she was leaving this summer and really I think considering her talent and again what she showed in the Women's Champions League final that you hopefully watch with us on Disney Plus what an incredible player that she is and that she showed she was in that game against OE Lyon. Whether she comes to the WSL in England, whether she comes here to the US, to the NWSL, I think she probably has a lot of big teams waiting to see if she wants to join them. I think it's a massive loss for Barcelona, like Alexis Puteas was as well.

52:20Julien Laurens:Alexis Puteas and Paraguayo, the same summer on the back of the players that also left a year ago. Yeah, it starts to be quite a lot for the European team. Producer Freddie, who's a big fan of women's football, reckons she's going to the London City Lionesses. Yeah, that's where Puteas has gone as well. And Michel Kang building quite an impressive squad over there. Another player, another manager, sorry, moving, Gab, is Ange Postekoglu, who have just been officially announced today as the new Al Nasser manager. Yeah, they didn't love him enough in Europe, I guess. So he's going back to Asia. You wish him well.

52:57I know he's going to make money off it. Sure. He's going to have some pretty big celebrity players. I don't quite know. It doesn't seem like an obvious fit, his style of football with Cristiano at this age, but who knows? Stranger things that happen. Meanwhile, it's official. Bruno Genesio is the new Olympique Marseille coach. Jose's got quite a job on his hands because this is a bit of a messy situation.

53:17Julien Laurens:It is a bit tricky for him. They wanted him all through the summer. It took that long since he left Lille, where he did a good job for the last two years at the end of the season. And now, because Habib Bey was still the Marseille coach, you know, he'd been there for four months. He had another year on his contract. Why did Marseille give him 18 months? We would never know. Because he would have taken six months. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. He would have just finished the season. So now they had to find a way of getting rid of Habib Bey before appointing Bruno Genesio. You're right, Gabi. He has a big job on his hand.

53:49Julien Laurens:They will make a lot of cuts. They have to make cuts, sell big players, like a Mason Greenwood, for example, to get money and balance the books and get a bit more positive their balance right now. So it's a big job. He's a good coach, that's for sure. But he's also a Lyon born and bred former player, former coach. And when you know the rivalry between the two Olympics, obviously Lyon and Marseille, I'm not sure how the Marseille fans will feel about him arriving. Marseille, bigger rivals for Olympique Lyon than Saint -Étienne? No, he's still Saint -Étienne first and PSG for Marseille, but they're very close second for both of them.

54:25Julien Laurens:André Marc Ter Stegen is on the verge of completing a move to Ajax. Gab, this is big for both Ajax and Barcelona. Or even Marc-André Ter Stegen, as his friends call him. Yeah, this is huge in Barcelona. He's been willing to restructure his contact. They owed him a lot of money. He had a lot of deferred wages from previous years. I wish him well. He was one of my favorite goalkeepers in the world, despite being German. One of my favorite people as well. injuries have caught up with him and it's a good place to restart I think at Ajax Georgia Stanway has joined Arsenal as a free agent Jules back in the women's Super League yeah I think that's a really smart signing from Arsenal really good in that midfield she would bring so much energy that means also you can probably push you'd have Kim Little over there with Mariona and you can push Mariona a bit higher up and have Stanway and Kim Little in that midfield too if you want I think that gives you a lot of options for Rennes Lakers I think this is a great move, especially as a free agent.

55:25Julien Laurens:UEFA have confirmed that unlike FIFA and what happened to Miguel Almiron, there will be no automatic red card for players who cover their mouth and address an opponent in an aggressive way like we've seen in this World Cup. A yellow card would suffice in Europe then. Yeah, and I think that's fair enough. You want to deter people from doing it. Now, obviously, if somebody covers their mouth and you can also tell or that they're screaming racial or epithets, you can still send them off. You can still investigate if you have complaints. The Red, to me, seemed a little bit... What we welcome to hear at the time.

55:59Even here at the World Cup. Well, you've got to play to the rules. He knows that those are the rules, and he knows that if you move towards somebody aggressive... Just don't do it. There's no reason. There's no reason to do it. You know what? So cameras are going to pick things up. What the hell are you going to talk about on the pitch that's so like, oh, cameras, better not pick this up, right? So, yeah, no, I think it's reasonable from UEFA.

56:24Nice! And remember, you can check out ESPN FC seven days a week. You're Alejandro Moreno, you're Craig Burley, all your favorite superheroes. Check your local listings.

56:46Quick Hits is brought to you by Gusto. Gusto is your small business partner for payroll, benefits, and so much more. Get started for free at Gusto.com. Jules, we're not done. We have more Quick Hits. Yes. No texture time of late, but it's okay because we have Mr. Marinakis to keep us warm. Jules, Vitor Pereira, who we both thought did a decent job at Nottingham Forest. Not just there, he's done decent jobs in his previous outings, too. was fired from his gig at 11.58 via email. At 11.58 p.m., that is significant because if I had midnight, he would have had an automatic extension. Yeah, extension, yeah.

57:26Would have been more expensive to sack him. Reportedly, a desperate Vito Pereira in the middle of the night when he saw the email, started making calls. 15 missed calls, 15 unanswered calls. And this is reportedly, I like to imagine him scrambling around, trying to use some marinakis.

57:42Julien Laurens:I don't know what to think. I just don't think it's a way of treating your coaches your managers it's not the first time and Spostokoglu was sacked in a very similar way halfway through the season you might not be happy with him you would rather Oliver Glasner who's the guy coming in now and we will discuss after if you're Glasner why on earth would you take this job anyway but that's another one but if you're Vito Pereira and you you did your job you kept that team up that was the only job you had was to avoid relegation you did that this is really how they thank you This is how they thank you, by making you believe.

58:15Julien Laurens:We are like July 3rd today, right? Why didn't they do that two weeks ago, three weeks ago, four weeks ago? To me, that is the main question. Because I don't have a problem. I know you're supposed to feel sorry for coaches when they get sacked. I look at it. Here's an opportunity for somebody else. Do it properly. You're entitled to do it. But you have known. You've been in the city like six weeks since the end of the season, right? So you had the chance. If you really wanted Glasner, you knew three weeks ago that Glasner wasn't going to meet us and that Glasner was in play. At least go to Vitor Pereira and say, hey, Vitor, we were looking for somebody else.

58:53Yeah, exactly. And we're looking for somebody else. And if we don't get him, then we'll stick with you. It's okay. At least you're honest with it. This seems like needlessly humiliating. But then again, who are we to question Mr. Marinaki?

59:04Julien Laurens:No, but we are. And now for Glasner, good luck to him. I would not have gone there if I was him. He's not done yet. No, but he's pretty much done. He said to Palace when he decided not to extend his contract there that he wanted to go a step higher, a step bigger, a step better. This is not a step better. Well, he could say Forrest have won the European Cup twice. But then again, Groszner also didn't... When I was not even born. Groszner wasn't interested in going to Milan, who won it six times. Yeah, exactly. Including several in your lifetime. So I know he's going to get backed up and he was promised funds and transfers.

59:36Julien Laurens:Sure. but I'm a bit like I'm really disappointed as we know Glasner is somebody who will get chippy if the club aren't doing what he wants them to do inevitably they're going to clash him and Maranakis Gianni Infantino our best friend shared his views on hydration breaks Gab and he said that FIFA is making no money of them do you believe him? yeah well they're making no money now I mean look I read some ridiculous things about it and we can a lot of people any stadium the hydration break comes everybody starts booming we've talked about why they have them and why they decided that if we're going to have them in certain stadiums where they are necessary, we're going to have them everywhere.

1:00:13And you can agree or disagree with that. It's not a money grab now for FIFA because, as he says, we've already sold our television contracts. All the deals are sealed. It does mean broadcasters can make a little more money. They can sell ads during this amount. And they do. And they do. Although, even then, I was really interested in this because there were some figures reported that are all wrong. The way that this generally happens, it's not like, it's not like, oh, look, Portugal, Spain, we financed that week. Okay, let's go start selling ads now. Now, they have an inventory of ads. They sell them ahead of time.

1:00:45Where it's going to have an impact, I think, is that FIFA will be able to charge more in the next cycle of World Cups if they continue with this. Infantino said, we're going to take a look at this after the World Cup and decide whether we want to continue. I don't think it's a done deal. I think they're really going to be guided. I think actually the coaches really like it. The coaches who coach. They like the fact, because coaches, let's face it, they like to think that, oh, look, you know, I'm the one deciding, I can go and give instructions.

1:01:13Julien Laurens:But when you have the momentum, it's not good for your team. Whoever you are as a coach, it's not good for your team. And that's the problem. If you're under pressure, great. And we've seen teams who have done great after the break. But if you have momentum, if one team has momentum, then the other team does not. So at least 50 % of people have anyone time, right? Nice job. All right, Jules, this brings us to an end. Thanks for tuning in to the Gab and Jules Show presented by Gusto. Gusto is your small business partner for payroll, benefits, and so much more. Get started for free at gusto.com.

1:01:49Jules, we're going to come back, do this all over again. Until then, love the game, love your neighbor, love yourself.

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