Gab & Juls Show: What has happened to Mo Salah?

22:33Yeah I think that's fair because teams playing against Liverpool now they know that the game's not over, you know they'll continue to push and sometimes like if I'm to reference for example Arsenal in the early part of the season when that game if they're leading 1-0 game's done literally this is early in the season obviously it's changed a bit in recent times but the game is done and it's done not because you'll miss your chances because you will not get chances they will just shut it off and be ruthless and that's the hallmark of like in my mind like a really successful team whereas for Liverpool they'll concede these late goals Slott will get asked about it and give the same thing I just can't put my finger on it you know every goal is a little bit different it's a bit of this it's a bit of that well I would have liked to think with my coaching with my players we'd be able to create something and some scenario to where we become more robust at the end of a game and I think to sum it up given all the goals I've already conceded in the 90th minute and beyond I need someone to try and explain to me what was so complex about the goal that Spurs scored against them yesterday because it literally is basic it's so basic it's so basic and you could counter in some ways by saying well get the players to just drop off and then more people around to contest it but no no we're going to apply a bit of pressure here so then why are you then so wide open in the space of one kick like in some ways it's alarming and slot he has to answer for it because we're talking for that goal we're talking about Andrew Robertson talking about Virgil van Dijk we're talking about Joe Gomez three hugely experienced players but then also look at the shape around them why was the midfielder not say affecting him why is it not one in front one behind is it because the manager doesn't mind how you do it because if that's the case you've got to start demanding this is how we deal with these situations because that wasn't the only chance that Spurs got from that type of play as well

24:20Julien Laurens:yeah for a long time he looked like Ryu Ngomua who was making a rare start for him was the the bright spark making things happen he's only 17 we will talk about Max Dahman later but he's that kind of generation and you we were together yesterday on the radio in England and you said you think that more and more players like that will be produced by academies and be younger and younger to be able to play in the Premier League and shine. It's maybe also a worry if you're Liverpool and arguably your most creative player yesterday was a 17-year-old winger. Yeah, yeah. As good as he is. Yeah, as good as he is.

24:55And I don't think this is... This is tough, actually, because you can never predict the future. Yeah. But one thing I know is that the more you play, the more people understand how you play. And that's why some of the best... Like if there's a striker or say even Salah, if you scored 15 goals a season for 10 years, that's actually really impressive because people know how you're going to try and score your goals and so for N 'Gomoha and Dalman and people like this they can be a spark because people don't know how to play against them like people seeing them for the very first time you don't know their tendencies like even some of the best players that we see when you're playing against them for like the 10th time you kind of know what they're going to do and they might have that little moment where it's like oh yeah that was special but you see it you sense it you do you understand it so for Liverpool maybe he's that spark because people don't know how to deal with him.

25:43And for the style of play that he has, he's like super direct. He's got the speed, he's got the change of direction and people can't read him because the book's just arrived. This is him. This is the start of his career. So I think from the Liverpool perspective, the fact that they're having to throw it that way to where the tried and tested people that were there before aren't having the impact that you'd hoped for, that is troubling because in my mind, and I won't necessarily say the same, well, maybe it's the same of Arsenal to a certain extent. if you need to if you need a youngster yeah to get you out of trouble i think it says a lot about say where the team might be in any particular save money and get a better view of the road when you replace your worn out wiper blades at o'reilly auto parts right now save ten dollars on a pair of rain x latitude wiper blades they They feature beam blade technology to improve windshield contact for maximum visibility.

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27:15Julien Laurens:well Ned enough Liverpool and Tottenham what about some cricket? yeah let's go my friend you were once not that long ago it was a long time ago a young prodigy as well so tell us about how you feel about Max Dowman who unlocked the game for Arsenal against Everton at the age of 16 and 73 days. To become the youngest ever Premier League goalscorer. Taking over from, was it James Milne or James Vaughan? James Vaughan. James Vaughan, yeah. Incredible that he can have that moment when he's at the same age to be in his GCSEs. Like still technically has to be in school. I think he has his marks in a few weeks.

27:50Yeah, I think career-wise, he's probably going to be okay as he stands, Lord willing. But it's very, very impressive that someone like Arteto, who at times can be as ruthless as you can imagine in team selection concerned to somebody that young to try and provide the difference in a game that was essentially a stalemate against a really tough and robust Everton side and for him to be playing is one thing for him to be if he was just training with the first team now that's amazing if he was training with the 23s that's amazing but instead he's being trusted at that sort of level with something on the line in terms of Arsenal winning a league title which he's not seen in his lifetime not even close you know that's the thing to remember so it's absolutely incredible and I think there are going to be more types of Max Dalmans in the future.

28:32Because I think English youth football is actually in quite a good spot. I think people from a very, very young age have fallen in love with the sport and learning it in a way which maybe previous generations didn't. Otherwise, you'd probably not have people like Max Dalman coming out.

28:45Julien Laurens:We talked about Rio and Gomuha before, which is similar. He's a little bit older, he's a year older, but still the same. The idea is there that it's a 16-year-old in a way. And I don't think Arsenal played badly in the second half, especially. I like some of the changes that Arteta made he went all for it obviously you know and Rice and Eze as your double pivot is not something especially for Arteta how risk averse he is usually but he went he went for it but he's still a 16 year old you needed the talent of Max Dahman a mistake by Pickford Shore on the first goal but still that kind of spark and a bit of energy coming out somewhere that you maybe was not expected to also get you this win yeah someone like Max Dahman what he can do is provide something different different to which people don't know how to read it, don't know how to expect it but not different as in not good, different as in could be outstanding and for him, he definitely provided that for them and anyway, Jules, Arsenal won a game they could have lost Yeah, because I thought Everton played really well in a very Everton David Moyes style away from home against a big team and in a game where they defended really well, I thought without Tarkovsky too and put Arsenal under pressure on quick transitions NDI, Drewsbury Hall, those kind of players are really good players for that and maybe we're a little bit like even on set pieces.

30:03Julien Laurens:James Garner is a wonderful set piece taker, incredible. So I thought it was really, really interesting. And in the end, I think Moyes was felt it was a little bit cruel to have lost in that way, which I think is a fair analysis of the game. Yeah, for sure. I'm with you on that. But you know, this is football, this is Premier League football. Just because you think you deserve something very rarely, does that mean you get what you deserve and sticking with the title race neds manchester city dropped points yeah they did yeah what happened yeah next question nothing to see here no do you know to sum up that so arsenal played at 5 30 man city played at eight yeah you talk about say arsenal coming up against the dogged side in everton everton had some chances ever asked us some chances for the first goal there's a mistake from pickford and then like bang there's the goal it's not how you drew it up there's the goal and then the second one is chaotic but max makes history from a city perspective they played against west ham and as the game was developing city were like comfortable they took the lead west ham have a set piece corner uh mavropano scores mavropano was very significant in this game as well because have you seen the the ball hit him in the face yeah i mean wow i thought he was taking his head off that's the level of commitment i need from my friends in my life but from City you know things were bad as a fan of a team when a team draws and it feels like they've lost and that is essentially how it was because City knew that they couldn't afford to drop any more points and they dropped points in a game where West Ham to give them credit were committed but they also had one shot not one shot on target well they did have one shot on target which came from the one shot that they had and it's just a reminder at this point in the season teams are so dogging so desperate that unless you do what you need to do to score your goals they'll do everything they can to try and stop you yeah so you give west ham credit helps them in the relegation dogfight but from a city perspective for me personally forget it's a day to forget and i think vibes wise as flat as they come yeah as flat as they come i was disappointed that shaki was on the bench again i didn't understand for a game like this same and for the naruma on the goal we warned you before we told you this is the kind of mistakes he will make because that's he's an amazing goalkeeper one of the best in the world but on those boards unfortunately he's always struggled all through his career this is nothing new yeah I refuse to comment anymore on this situation Jules

32:25so Pep said the title race will be over if the team drop points this weekend Jules but he's corrected himself he did what do you think about this? and he's right

32:33Julien Laurens:because there's a game in hand the gap could be six points there's a game at the Etihad obviously where we will go and we will be very soon in next month where if City win that is just a three-point gap so i know you're very uh pessimistic let's say on the chances of city coming back into the start of race and actually winning it but that's only because of not pictures of city but because of arsenal yes arsenal making me pessimistic because they're so robust yeah like true you know they'll find a way but still factually and technically in terms of points this can still be on at some point somehow somewhere right yeah it it's still to play for you have to believe yeah yeah you have to you have to believe but there's belief and then there's watching another team hoping that all these other teams do well against the side who are deservedly top of the premier league i think that's the difference and that's what changes the vibes because now every time arsenal pick up three points it feels like four feels like five feels like six which is disappointing chelsea prepared for the champions league last 16 second leg against psd on chusana with a home defeat against newcastle and they were booed off by their own fans net yeah Yeah, that's tough.

33:39I think there has been some booing at Chelsea in recent months, even from going back to the Maresca times as well. But the booing in some ways at this stage, in my opinion, is understandable because they were once quite settled in that Champions League top four, top five. And now you're wondering, are they going to be the team that drops out? And I think Chelsea in the Europa League to me, that's not really the DNA or the recent DNA, at least of the football club. So that's a massive result as well for Newcastle, who, if we're honest, aren't having a great season. No, no. They're not having a great season whatsoever.

34:09It's one of the biggest wins this season. But what does it say that now they're only six points behind Chelsea? I know. So I think there is in some ways reason to boo. That's tough. That's tough. But Jules, the tight race could have taken another twist in Italy, did it?

34:22Julien Laurens:Yeah, it could have because Inter Milan dropped more points against Atalanta on Saturday in a game where they created enough chances to win it. Just could not find that second goal, considered a late goal as well to make it 1-1. and then that meant that Milan who played on Sunday against Lazio, it was the big Sunday night game in Italy, with a win would have come back five points behind when before the derby last weekend it could have been 10 had Inter won that derby and five points you think okay the title is on, title race is on really. Milan with the momentum, Inter not so much the momentum and Milan went to Lazio, lost 1-0, it could have been worse, they were saved twice by the the crossbar.

35:02Julien Laurens:We had this incredible scene, I don't know if you've seen it or not, where Rafael Leal was taken off after an hour, 65 or 66 minutes, and Max Allegri comes to see him as he's just walked off the pitch, and Leal kind of pushes him back because he's so unhappy to have been taken off in a game of this importance for Milan. So a lot of tension, clearly. Maybe the nerves got the better of them knowing how important this game was to come back into the title race and get the gap to five. So really disappointed by the performance in the end. Disappointing for Milan to not have capitalised on Inter dropping points, basically.

35:38Julien Laurens:But that's why we said it's tough when you get into, you know, you could be the best player. Nerves can get to you easily. This is such an important part of the season. Like you build up to this moment and very often you do realise that most players aren't actually ready for it. I know. Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro were the heroes again for Manchester United on Sunday and Adam. Is that good or is that bad? the reliance on them too? Bruno Fernandes now has more Premier League assists in the season for United. He's gone above David Beckham. He's not even sneaky anymore. He's doing so, so well. And in some ways, I don't think it's an issue to have a reliance if the people are consistently going to do it.

36:18I've got no problem with that because ultimately there'll be players that will always be more important than others within the side. I'll be honest, I see the Bruno Fernandes bit, I didn't see the Casemiro bit. I'm not one of those guys, like I forget the name of the guy who works for Sky who said like give up the game before the game gives up on you yeah I forget what the guys like that stuff feels ridiculous now yeah and to write off somebody of that sort of caliber I think maybe it says a lot about maybe he was struggling with fitness maybe he didn't have the right manager but now he's been unleashed and you know we just said they're like dealing with the pressure of playing at this point in the season I think it's fair to say Casemiro has probably done that before so yeah sure so yeah yeah he's not the biggest no It's so good in the air.

36:58Do you know what? Madrid had a few of those because it was like the same with Sergio Ramos. Yeah. But fair play to him, fair play to them. And for now, they're keeping that sort of United juggernaut moving.

37:08Julien Laurens:So Bruno is only the third player in the Premier League history for United to have at least 100 goals and 100 assists. The other two being Giggs and Rooney, which is easy to find. But it's incredible. In years to come, people put Bruno Fernandes alongside the names of Giggs and Rooney. And some people try and say, no, no, that's not good enough. I know, I know. Listen, he's been there for a long time and he's never really let them down, has he? No. So, Ardegula then, he showed he was a special player again this weekend. We love that goal. We adore it, yeah. If you haven't seen the goal, Real Madrid play Elche, they battered them, he's on the bench, rested for the game against Manchester City at the weekend, massive game in midweek, massive game in the Champions League.

37:43Julien Laurens:Obviously, Ardegula comes on, we'd already had a beauty from Federer Verde who keeps scoring, you know, beautiful goals. Ardegula comes on just at the end to get a bit of, you know, to stretch his legs and get a bit running. Gets the ball halfway through his own half would you say something like that yeah it's not far off 70 yards away from the goal sees the Elche goalkeeper off his line and then unleashed this incredible strike but just like perfect technique the technique is just like it's so sweet the way he'd say it's clean he's just like and he goes straight in and i love those goals you know yeah yeah i suppose we love them because you don't get a chance to see them very often yeah we see people try yeah yeah try people be able to execute because you know for someone said oh it's this far you can do it i reckon most people on planet earth cannot kick the ball that far yeah let alone kick it that far and that accurately as well yeah exactly oh it was so so good so so good what a season is not that good at having that it's for sure nez we talked about united's win uh but let's focus on aston villa who lost that game obviously our trafford uh 3-1 on saturday afternoon it was another tough afternoon for them.

38:52Julien Laurens:Maybe not so much the performance because I thought in the second half at 1-1 they looked maybe the more likely to score but yet mistakes let them down again. Yeah mistakes do seem to be an issue with them at this moment and it's funny from their perspective the fact that once upon a time there was talk about a title race you know they won 10 or 11 games in a row they were three points behind Arsenal and now you look at them and they're 19 points behind Arsenal. I think that says a lot given the fact that Arsenal haven't been perfect in that stretch either. Yeah, yeah, that's true. I think that's one win in seven for them.

39:20And the fact that they're still technically in the top four, they've got to take that as a positive because they know their form can change and in some ways it probably needs to. Otherwise, you know, this European dream that they've been very much seen as a reality in recent times, you know, could very much disappear. So it was Bayern versus Bayern on Saturday duels and we were not disappointed. We were not.

39:40Julien Laurens:No, it's because it was a, okay, it could have been a bigger game. Yeah, Bayern have won this title. It's pretty obvious. Bayer Leverkusen trying to finish in the Champions League places. There's a lot of teams there, Stuttgart and Leipzig and Dortmund and all of that. But it was still a big game, even with the Champions League in midweek coming up and back-to-back Champions League. I thought it was still quite intense. Bayer Leverkusen scored early. Then there was two red cards for Bayern Munich as well in this crazy game. Loads of chances Bayer Leverkusen should have won. What's interesting, and it's probably good that Bayer Munich won against Atalanta, their first leg of the last season in the Champions League, so well, so big, the 6-1 up already, because they have three goalkeepers out for now.

40:24Julien Laurens:Erbic might be coming back for them, although he could not play that game. Neuer is out already. The other two goalkeepers, Ulrich and a young one that plays for the under-19, are also injured. So Vincent Kompany found himself before the Atlanta game. And OK, he's got a five-goal cushion that will qualify even if he plays his big team. But with no goalkeeper. Remember when Harry Kane for Spurs went in goal? He won't have to go to that. However, it's quite unusual when you've got your top four goalkeepers all out at the same time. Yeah, for sure. I suppose you need to bring someone back as soon as possible.

41:03But for now, as you've said, with Atalanta being quite comfortable and the league being quite comfortable, I suppose you can make do, kind of?

41:08Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think they'll be fine. But in this game, Bayer Leverkusen will be kicking themselves. However, there was a lot of good things they did. and they would go to Arsenal on Tuesday, I think quite optimistic that they couldn't create an upset. 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? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now, taxes are different because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full-service expert.

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42:52That's amazon.com slash H-U-B delivery. Newcastle, we mentioned, got a big win at Chelsea this weekend.

43:00Julien Laurens:Traveled to Barcelona now on Tuesday night to make more history. Once, they never qualified for the Champions League knockout. now it's 1-1 after the first leg they can qualify for the quarterfinal which would be exceptional do you think they can do it? I think they can do it will they do it? in the knockout rounds of the Champions League I feel like you get one you get your advantage you play at home you get your opportunity that's when you need to be in the ascendancy because no you think they missed that trick? yeah we're talking about Barcelona side they're top of the league Barcelona side obviously have got injuries and stuff but have also made it to the semifinals last year who have a real belief that they could win it this year.

43:39It's tough to see them not learning the lessons from the game against Newcastle the first time. And also there were a lot of individually, not necessarily poor performances, but they know they can perform better. Whereas for Newcastle, maybe that was them full speed. We never know with football. You never know. I think if Newcastle were to get through, it wouldn't surprise me if they got through playing a worse game than they played the week before and just find a way to tough it out. but the odds are very much stacked against them but i think you can still always score there you

44:07Julien Laurens:know yeah i think the the way they do you think they'll score two though that's the thing and how many would barcel score i think newcastle score as well but i think if they're to get through i think they'll need to score probably at least two yeah because that could be at least two to take it to extra time or maybe just win the time i think it's one of the best games especially after what we saw in the first legs where there's there's been big results and stuff i think this one is one to watch with him. I think that little skill from Dani Olmo that won the penalty. I think nine out ten defenders going for them.

44:38I'm dangling a leg there as well. God, everybody is. I'm done. Oh, that was cold. That was really cold. But anyway, sticking with Barcelona Jewels, they had fun this weekend, didn't they?

44:45Julien Laurens:Yeah, they did. They were playing at home. The Camp Nou was able to have more fans in it. I think 63 ,000. They played Sevilla, who, you know, are struggling a little bit again. And when you've got Alexis Sanchez up front, know that he started, but he came on. It tells you the state of the team and Barca ran riot really. They won 5-2. It's a game that could have easily finished 10-3. Barca had so many chances, more than the five. They scored two penalties, Rafinha with a hat-trick. We saw Lamine Yamal scoring a hat-trick the weekend before. This time it was Rafinha's turn. Lamine was on the bench, rested for the Newcastle game that we just mentioned.

45:23Julien Laurens:Rooney Barji played on the right-hand side. It was Barca at their best really I thought at times with the ball just incredible what they're capable of doing against a really weak opposition let's be honest so I think I think this is perfect in a way the Newcastle winner Chelsea the easy win for Barcelona against Sevilla just just perfect preparation for I think what would be a really cracking second leg between them two agreed Nottingham Forest West Ham leads and Spurs all drew this weekend. We mentioned Spurs already before and West Ham as well. So let's have a little look now of that kind of relegation battle and where that leaves those teams.

46:04Julien Laurens:What do you make of where they are right now and what could happen between now and the end of the season? I've got to say, by the way, it's probably quite rare for all those teams to not lose on the same weekend. Yeah, I think so too. Concern how few points in the grand scheme of things that they have, relatively speaking. and you also realise if one of them had won what a big difference that would have made whoever that would have been that's going to be the case between now and the end of the season isn't it like if you manage to win as is the case towards the top and so on but down at the bottom it probably matters more because each of these teams isn't going to win the next six or seven games you might win the best team of that lot in the last eight games of the season might win three games maximum might win three games and that could be more than enough to stay up which is crazy to think about.

46:53But I think for me, you just have to celebrate the fact that you're not in the bottom three at this moment in time. And I know some people very close to us in the studio believe that. And in fact, you as well, believe me. But I'm not 100 % sold on that. I think they're running in terms of like average position and size they play against is probably a bit more generous.

47:12Julien Laurens:True, you had a good look at the schedule of all those teams. So right now, these are 32 points. Spurs 30, Forest 29 West Ham 29 so there's just three points between those four we assume that Wolves and Burnley are gone and then Palace and whoever is above Leeds are too far away so it's it's three it's one of those four is going to go down I have to say I I'm a bit pessimistic about Leeds and I know they have 32 so three more than West Ham and Forest and as you said the schedule you think is easier and you've got them 100 % staying up right that's what you said 99 % there's always there's always margin of error don't you dare do that don't attach me to that one do you know I've got to say about this this relegation section I think it's interesting because the majority of those sides will stay up we're talking about four teams for one spot essentially if you assume that Burnley are down exactly yeah you have to like your odds if you're one of the teams that's above you right now it feels like almost 50 50 like say it was just West Ham and Forest that were there tied on the same points and everyone else is gone.

48:17That's a different sort of situation. Whereas now, if you're at the top of that mini table, you need, not that you need, three teams behind you have to get significant results for you to slide all the way down. I think that matters. And, sorry, I think, I don't think Leeds go down, but I think it's going to be interesting between Spurs and Forrest next week.

48:37Julien Laurens:Yes. There's some big games coming up. That Spurs-Forrest one, I think if Forrest were to lose and to fall four points behind Spurs yeah that would be it I don't think they catch Spurs but Spurs won't be that far ahead of Leeds so that to me kind of shows that Forrest with 28 goals scored in 30 games yes that's the worry as well Forrest not scoring enough despite having really good players in attacking position I think Spurs will be okay I fear for Leeds a little bit sorry Leeds fans and for Forrest as well more than West Ham I think West Ham have a bit of momentum and I know they will have the FA Cup which is maybe a distraction that you welcome or you don't welcome.

49:17Wins give you confidence. True, I guess so. Wins give you confidence, yeah.

49:20Julien Laurens:But I think it's going to go to the wire. And as we said yesterday, Leeds last game of the season is away at West Ham. And they might be safe by then. Which is just a big game by itself anyway, just generally. Yeah, exactly. So let's see, I guess. Okay, so lo and behold, PSG didn't play this weekend, did they? No, it was a good point game. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, go back to the top of the table, did they? Yeah, they were traveling to Lorient and you thought, okay, they're one point behind PSG, even a draw, they would have taken that.

49:46Julien Laurens:They went there and lost 2-1 in a really entertaining game. That I thought, Lorient, a decent team, they will stay up despite coming up from the second division and being kind of a small club still, even with rich owners. And for Lens, it's one of those afternoons where you played well and I thought they did really well. you knew the pressure was there because PSG not playing it's a bit like the Milan the chat that we had earlier or even the City chat in a way where you know you have to respond in a way the nerves are a bit there they created enough chances they considered two poor goals I thought and that's a massive missed opportunity for them because their point behind PSG would have their game in hand to play at home against Nantes who are struggling not to go down and it's those kind of you just against a team like PSG in a title race like L 'Anse and L 'Anse have been the better the best team in Ligue 1 this season without a doubt better than PSG but you have to take those chances oh you look really sad about that no no no no just say oh my god you see I try to give them credit and then I get hey this guy man look at this guy look at this guy it's true but you have to take those chances it's true yeah it's true yeah yeah yeah Lowndes Man City yeah yeah yeah yeah sure oh my god right talking about poor form what about Sunderland's poor form oh my gosh one of your former clubs their poor form continues after the defeat to Brighton at home?

51:09Yeah, once upon a time we were praising Sunderland's home record and how they hadn't lost there. And then they've lost to Liverpool, lost to Brighton. I'm not sure if they've lost another one in that time as well. But the energy's kind of starting to change a little bit because they start the season really, really well. Those first eight to ten games, they were up and around the bottom four or five. Everything felt good. It was positive. New signings were doing great. You know, the talk of Granit Xhaka, everyone around it. Mookie Helles, Alderete, all these guys doing so, so well, Reynildos. And now we're sort of seeing, they've been unmasked in some way, in my opinion, because I want them to do well, but they scored 30 goals in 30 games.

51:46I think any team that wants to be upwardly mobile in the league, like you can have a solid defence, which Sunderland do have, but you're not going to win games of football just purely through that. And that drop in goal scoring, especially by comparison to everybody else, it's been one of the reasons why they are sliding down the league now. and in some ways you know the only team behind that can really catch them between now and the end of the season is Palace who were in 14 and in some ways that's a positive because realistically the lowest they'll finish will be 14 but once upon a time it's like they were looking at how high they could finish even top 10 exactly comfortably top 10 but you know as a former Sunderland player who finished top 10 back in 2010-11 did you?

52:22listen that's not for everyone you know that's not for everyone but hopefully they do find a way to score more goals and to bring like some level of excitement because then that gets you almost excited for the next year as well. Whereas if you like fall across the line come the end of the season, I think it affects how people look back at it in my opinion.

52:39Julien Laurens:Because they're sure to stay up, is it not an opportunity maybe to just try something a bit different and maybe go with a bit more, hey, let's enjoy this, let's attack more, something like that? But the change in identity isn't necessarily something that's a strength. If you've got a manager that could do it this way or that way, is that a strength or a weakness? Because I think in some ways it's probably a weakness. Yeah, yeah, yeah. His principles have given them this opportunity. That's the foundation. You can make tweaks, but if you make wholesale changes, then realistically, who are you and who is the team that you've trained up to this point?

53:10I think you could maybe try and fight. It's interesting. The league, it's all linked here. So City in second, struggled in the last two games against Real Madrid and against West Ham in terms of being creative enough to create enough opportunities to score their goals. Sunderland are sinking towards the, not the bottom, but they're sinking down the league because of the same thing. A team down in the bottom three is not scoring enough goals because they don't have enough creativity. Like, that's how valuable creativity can be within any particular game. And sometimes it's magic. Sometimes it's the sum of all the parts coming together to create tons of good opportunities.

53:42Not every goal is going to come down to number 10, finding something special. But they absolutely have to find it because they're an ambitious club now. Yeah, yeah. But the ambitions will never be met if they're going to be averaging a goal a game for the entire season. Yeah, that's true. So massive game in Germany duels. It was fourth versus fifth, Stuttgart versus Leipzig. And who came out on top?

54:00Julien Laurens:Yeah, it was a really good game. As we talked about Bayer Leverkusen earlier against Bayern, and Dortmund had won two this weekend. So this was big. We don't know yet which league, apart from the Premier League, we get the fifth spot to qualify them for the Champions League. It could be La Liga or it could be the Bundesliga. It's not France, it's not Italy. So it's one of them too. So right now, it's just the top four for Germany until you know if fifth place qualifies you or not. And there was a lot of stakes. Stuttgart against Leipzig. Leipzig, who not playing in Europe, by the way this season, let's remind that.

54:33Julien Laurens:I thought played really well, but so did Stuttgart. And in the end, because there was a bit of that I felt this weekend in the Premier League as well, trying to build up from the back and play. And it's a terrible mistake by the Leipzig goalkeeper. Interception in the last third, simple pass, simple finish, Dennis Wendt have scores. That's how Stuttgart wins. And if Leipzig don't qualify for the Champions League and came up short 1.2 points, they will look at this game and that mistake by the goalkeeper, it's a simple pass. If you watch it again, he passes the ball to literally, I promise you, sometimes I pass it to you and the guy behind has anticipated, get in front of you, whatever.

55:13Julien Laurens:This one is in the middle of nowhere for nobody and it's just an absolute gift and I can't believe a game of this caliber. And we see those mistakes a lot. It's not just Stuttgart or Leipzig, but with so much a stake that it's decided on a mistake like that, it's crazy, I think. Do you know what the scariest sound to hear on a factory floor is? Silence. That means something somewhere broke. Production has stopped and now you're paying workers to wait while the team troubleshoots and fixes the problem. Finally, there's a proactive way to reduce equipment downtime thanks to MaintainX. MaintainX is the AI-powered maintenance and asset management system that brings your unplanned maintenance downtime to zero.

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56:42Julien Laurens:So you're getting something that actually fuels you. And there's depth on the roster. Buttermilk and vanilla, blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten-free options. Breakfast that delivers, snack that delivers. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box. Chelsea won the Women's League Cup against Manchester United on Sunday, the first trophy of the season. This is big for Sonia Bonpasta's future. It really is. The fact that they're not winning the domestic title feels really strange because it's years worth of Chelsea dominance in doing this.

57:19And they're still technically involved in the Champions League and they've got a tough two-legged tie against Arsenal. coming up but the fact that say last year for example arsenal won the champions league when sonio pompastor was brought in to help chelsea win the champions league like is that arsenal team from last year any better than chelsea teams of the years gone by probably not but the fact that they're back to winning ways is very vitally important i think more so for the belief that they'll take into the back end of the season yes the league title is probably a bit too far away from from them although strange things have happened but as i looked at the game and i saw the images of like the Chelsea players celebrating.

57:55Julien Laurens:I know I thought the same. Yeah it's like oh I've seen this before. And they look so happy. I know it's just a league cup for that squad who won so many things but. And I think what's interesting as well if I heard this correctly so they've played two games to get to that match because they're in the Champions League and next year they won't be in it at all. So they're going to be the last Champions League playing side to win the league cup so maybe it's significant from that standpoint as well but winning is always going to be a great feeling whatever the competition whether it's training or whatever especially when the season hasn't gone really according to your plan exactly yeah so the season's not gone according to plan but they're still on course for potentially a treble because they've got the FA Cup and they've got the Champions League so maybe she isn't under as much pressure let's go Sonia so Mr.

58:39Seth Fabregas in Como beat Roma it's nice that you wore the shirt today on Sunday and made a step forward towards Champions League

58:48Julien Laurens:football yeah incredible season that sesk is having uh with como who you know we can say it again it's fine they are very rich owners they they had money to spend they spent it really wisely not on superstars not on old players but on youth on the profile that they wanted uh to make to to play the style of football as sesk is wanting to play and they're doing really well They're the most intense team in Serie A by far. One of the most in Europe. A lot of good young players play great football. Nikopa, Dacuña, whoever you want. And that win was big because, as we said earlier with the Bundesliga and the chat between Stuttgart and Leipzig, right now we don't know if Serie A will have fifth place.

59:34Julien Laurens:We don't think so. But again, you just don't know. So if you just think about top four qualifying for Champions League next season, you wrote Napoli in third with 59 points, Como in fourth with 54, and Juve with 53. Juve beat Udinese. Massive, massive win for them in that game because they knew that Como were playing each other with Roma. Roma have 51 points, so just two behind Juve in that fifth place and three behind Como. So it was a massive, massive win for Como, who I thought, despite Malen scoring for Roma and Roma taking the lead, Como reacted really well. it was easier because Wesley got sent off and Roma finished the game played the whole last half hour with 10 men but still massive win for Como and I think it would be amazing for Como to qualify for the Champions League because it's just a bit different Yeah, is he breaking Italian football?

1:00:27Julien Laurens:Yes, the thing where I'm a little bit disappointed and maybe it's because he's Cesc and he's still young I thought more teams by now would want to copy what he's doing instead he's still very much Do you think Italian football would change because of one person? Well, I thought at least... A Spaniard. Yeah, yeah, true. But I thought at least get some inspiration from what they're doing. And no, it's still a very pedestrian league. Yeah, when you talk about their recruitment and stuff, is it mostly young players or is it a mix of everything? Mostly young players. They've got a bit of experience.

1:01:00Julien Laurens:The goalkeeper is 30, for example. They went to find him. He's French, Jean Butet. He played in Belgium a lot. it was not a big name at all but their stats and the data I think helps them massively in the recruitment and is exactly the profile they wanted but you've got a bit of that but their youth is great yeah Latourina Paz and that's the same youth that plays in the league where for example you sign Luka Modric as he turns 40 to play for ACM and he's the best player in the league yeah it's crazy that that is going on but to give Cesc credit from when I started speaking to Improp in the last couple of years you know took over that job when Colmo well not Como were in low division but Como were fighting relegation last season and then the form turned and now they're one of the best teams in Italy doing it the way that he does it which is very different to how other people have done it and I'm sure along that route because of the money side of things there'll be like criticisms leveled towards the club but you know this stuff that he's doing now this would be the reason why he's somewhere else in the not too distant future and if he wants to come to Manchester I'm of course you would welcome him just remember blues blues better than red we've talked about Chelsea Newcastle already needs but I think the image the the one image that got the world talking is what happened pretty much just before kickoff and that Chelsea huddled with Paul Tierney the referee right in the middle of it yeah as weird as it comes as weird as it comes and made more weird because for most of us we've arrived into that game with no real like context about why other things happening yeah but from a Chelsea perspective apparently Rhys James is the one came up with the idea to do it.

1:02:33So the players around are trying to support that. And Tierney, the referee, has probably been like other referees and seen him do it in the past and says, no, no, we can't do this, you know, just in case, you know, it's Chelsea that don't have kickoff. And all things came together to form one of the weirdest...

1:02:48Julien Laurens:It was a Newcastle kickoff. It was a Newcastle kickoff, yeah. So that's the thing. But I'll be honest, if I was a Newcastle player as our kickoff and it was an issue, I think I'd go and stand in the mix. I'd make it super awkward. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think it's up to the referee to do that because he's not, the referee, in my opinion, hasn't asserted his authority. He's just made it really awkward. I agree. Because he could have booked them, could have said, you come here, I'll do this or do that. But instead, he's created this sort of like scene to where like, well, who's in control at that moment really?

1:03:14I know.

1:03:15Julien Laurens:I thought it was a terrible look for the Premier League, for the referee himself in the middle there. Maybe he wanted the attention on him. That's what it looks like. That's what it feels like. He might not have meant it. She's wrong in itself. He might not have meant it. I'll give him credit and say that he doesn't mean it, but it looks ridiculous. the whole thing's ridiculous and as you said as far as the Premier League it's been an interesting weekend and you know finished off with that in itself but anyway Jules what happened between Abkar and Solov on Sunday on Saturday rather yeah Abkar is the Getafe centre back if you don't know him he plays from Morocco he's been in he's been all his life in Spain and it was a big derby in Madrid derby between Atletico Madrid and Getafe on Saturday and in the second half it looks like and it's pretty obvious if you if you want to go and watch the the game or the footage is everywhere that he grabs uh solo's private part if you want during the game solo doesn't react well to it as you can imagine obviously and kind of like battle him off and almost throw him on the floor the referee gets called by var again completely rightly so to go and see the screen and send him off and send a grab off which i think is completely deserved you just can't do that on a football you can't do that anywhere yeah let's just let's take it away from football you just can't do that I was thinking more football was because of our show but no actually nowhere not on the tube no just nothing don't do that I don't know why Abga would think that it's okay to do that in any environment again and I think he has to get punished quite heavily I think so for me personally me personally like I know some people say oh it's nothing it's just part of football you stop him back in the day and stuff yeah but it's sexual assault yeah completely I think in my mind, the league should go above and beyond for a punishment.

1:05:03Because some things that exist in football now, legacy-wise, are good and a value to the game. Some things like that need to be completely put in the bin.

1:05:12Julien Laurens:I didn't think this would happen ever again. You're right, a few instances, do you remember? Yeah, loads of stuff. Listen, there's loads of stuff in the past in terms of football. Yeah, when you were playing. That's not involved anymore. But that should be out. and I think the fact that we've seen it now and the fact that the league have seen it now and the fact that Abka thought he could do it in this era where everything's recorded in VAR time now he's stupid the thing is stupid and the league itself needs to make sure that never happens again I agree on this note Nes thank you so much for coming down it was a privilege again and a pleasure to be with you on this show pleasure as always we'll be back on Thursday Gab will be back here we have obviously all the Champions League last 16 second leg to debrief with you, so make sure you join us on Thursday.

1:05:56Julien Laurens:And as Gabor always said, love yourself, love your neighbor, love the game, or something like that.

1:06:04Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30pm and 9pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app.