How Do Liverpool Recover?

26:21No upsets, no heartbreak, no stress, only good times. So join Lays on the bandwagon. Grab a bag of Lays. Get ready for the next match. Cheer for whoever you want. Lays keeps the party going. Leigh's official sponsor, the FIFA World Cup 2026.

27:02you can buy in and out of your position. For a limited time, download the CallShe app and use code FC to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I. CallShe. Trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see callshe.com slash regulatory. Let's take a look at the top half of the La Liga table, where Real Madrid picked up a 1-0 win over nine-man Getafe yesterday to go top. Two points clear of Barcelona, who won against Girona on Saturday by a score of 2-1.

27:46Barcelona did win that game, but it was a bit sketchy at times. Let's hear from Hansi Flick looking back at the match against Girona. When we analyze the match against Girona, It's something about I always speak, you know that I always speak about positioning the right the right high the right distance between between the players And the opponent is very important and if you are too far away from that You lose you have to you have to run too much give the opponent a little bit more time To to play out and then this is also what what kills us in the defense So it's about that. So we have to find the right position.

28:27And from there we have to jump, we have to we have to oppress.

28:34Mario, help me out here a little bit. It sounds like he's talking about some really basic stuff. Why, if it's so basic, can Barcelona figure this out? Because, you know, look, when you what he's talking about, of course, you understand his team is a little bit vulnerable at the moment. And you know like sometimes you also when you see a coach talk like that and they try to take the heat away also from the team a little bit But if you see you know when I watched Barcelona already that game I saw them scoring at the end against Girona and you see your mom coming off Off like you know like the bench is celebrating with his team You knew how important this win was because sometimes this small wins people might think like okay They should have won the game and things like that.

29:17No, it wasn't that easy. It was very difficult for them. That's why they celebrated the goal like that when they scored, you know, at the end. But the thing for me is when you are a team like this, they are in that position now. The injuries are talking. And they have to be careful now because sometimes it's not always like, okay, you can get used to it and we can talk about it. They say like, oh, it happens and this and that. No, guys. They've got to fix it now because, you know, like, if they don't look at players or they don't look after players really well because now you've got – he's talking about even Ravinia and Torres, you know, hoping to make it.

29:52Then they've got the big game coming up in the weekend next. They've got to hurry up because if not, those guys, if you don't get them fit, they have a big, big problem. I mean, is it a personnel thing? I feel like it's much more a strategy thing here. I'm going to disagree slightly with Mario in which he said that this team is a little bit vulnerable. I thought you might pick up on that, yeah. This team is a lot vulnerable. A lot vulnerable. We put a package together in their game against Girona. And it's incredible how easily they're losing the ball in bad areas and how one pass beats everybody.

30:28And they could beat Girona or it was Sevilla a couple of weekends ago. They just go on in one-by-one situations to a session. And it's happened regularly. It's not it's not a one-off. It's not like we're just picking out moments here and there No lose the ball by Pedri in a high area where the front when the back line is now in a position in which They're unable to drop or make the decision not to drop. There's no pressure on the ball One pass beats everybody and we're going towards goal When I tell you that this is happening to Barcelona every single sequence that they lose the ball. I'm not making it up!

31:10They lose the ball in a bad area, high line, nobody dropping, the ball gets played in behind, one pass beats everybody, Girona 1v1 situation going towards Szczesny. It's an amazing thing to see when Hansi Flick paints a picture of saying, you know, when you're not close to players or you're not in the position that you should be, then you end up running more. You're no kidding, Hansi. No kidding. You don't say. Really? But if you're not in a good position to defend, if you're not in a good position to press the ball, if you're not in a good position to impact the decision of the player with the ball, then drop off.

31:52Drop off. Instead, the mindset of these players, and I suppose it's something that has been made a philosophy of Hansi Flick is, and many of those sequences we saw, secondary defenders that were in a position where they could drop off and actually play the angles to where now, if the ball gets played in behind, they're able to cut the angle because they have the diagonal movement that is going to cut off the attacking player. Instead, Eric Garcia, no, I'm going to step up. Cu Garcia, I'm going to step up. Step up to where? The run is already happening. The ball's already being played through. You're not giving yourself any room for mistake here.

32:29You're not giving yourself any room to be able to make up the difference, make a challenge, and somehow impact the play defensively. It's all too easy. And I'm not even a defender. And I honestly watch this, and I think to myself, if I were teaching defender, if I were running a class and say, okay, this is what we do when we defend, I would show that video, that compilation that we just showed there and would say, kids, don't do that. Don't ever do that. We're going to do everything but that. And yet Barcelona continues to do it. They did it against Sevilla. They did it against PSG. They are doing it against Girona.

33:16It doesn't matter who they play. They get exposed. So, I repeat, they're not a little bit vulnerable. They're a lot vulnerable. It does matter who they play to some extent in that Girona couldn't take advantage of the mistakes, right? On Sunday, you got Real Madrid and not only Real Madrid, Stevie, Kylian Mbappe, who's red hot right now. We saw him get the goal yesterday against Getafe. I mean, that to me seems like a recipe for disaster for this Barcelona back line. Like, how do they fix it or at least make it so they can survive Mbappe? Because I just see him as such a threat against this defense.

33:47They ain't fixing it for this weekend. We're talking about things that we were talking about last year. And, you know, Martinez last year got the credit for leading the back line. But there was still way too many occasions when they were stepping up when they shouldn't have done, even when he was there. And so this 100%, you know, we're always talking about is it the player's fault, is it the coach's fault, you know, is it 50-50? This is 100 % on Hansi Fleck. The fact that it was happening so regularly last year, the fact that it's still continuing this year, tells you that he hasn't made it clear what he wants.

34:27Because as the coach, when you see it and you don't have a leader to organise it, you cannot play the high line. And so what you do is you absolutely tell them, to Ali's point, if we don't have anybody closing the ball, we must drop. We must drop. and you say it till they're sick listening to you saying it. And that hasn't happened. So they ain't fixing it before this game and it doesn't look as though he's going to try and change it. So this is what's going to trip them up continuously. It's not changing. Go ahead, Mario. You know, this is kind of a big problem with a lot of coaches, right? For me, you know, when you're a great coach, you try to understand what is the material I have in front of me and how can I make use it to the best of my ability.

35:16But sometimes they stick to what they know and what they want to do so much that it doesn't even make the player that you have in your team make him better. It makes him even worse. So holding on to that and seeing who was the only player that Omer was reacting on the ball through was Koundé, but he's a right back. He cannot hold anybody in the middle. the clips that we see he needs to focus on making sure that everybody in your team has the capability to understand what you want to play and if you don't have them change the line and drop it maybe 20 yards so it's not that high It's really frustrating to sit and watch it such a good team because it shouldn't be a difficult thing you're telling them one thing if there's nobody closing the ball you can't hold the line That's it.

36:08This is not rocket science. If there's nobody closing the ball, you cannot hold the line. End of story. Is part of the reason that there hasn't been a change because playing this way is what allows them to be so dangerous going forward? Because that's the only reason I could see sticking with this. You just think we're going to outscore people 4-3. No, that's reckless. You shouldn't be coaching Barcelona, Real Madrid, a team like that. If you're so reckless, the basics of coaching, you're not going to bother with it. Quite frankly, I would suggest that the problem is the players are dumb.

36:50You can tell. When you're coaching players, you can tell players a thousand times and some of them don't get it. But all of the players don't get it? Not one guy back there? Why is this team continuing to gamble and be completely and utterly reckless? Why? I don't have the answer. Because they're dumb. Well, what we do know is that consistently and repeatedly, one ball beats everybody. Yeah. One pass beats everybody. And that's not even up for discussion. That is not a matter of opinion. It's factually you see it happening repeatedly in every single game, and they don't seem to address it. And that is the part that, to me, it's really hard to fathom and really hard to digest and process.

37:45If I'm seeing a problem that is happening regularly, that it happens repeatedly, and it doesn't matter the opposition, everybody's seeing it, everybody's picking it out, and everybody's exploiting it, then maybe not everybody else is the problem. Maybe we are the problem and we should adjust that for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be happening. And if you do work on it and it still doesn't work, you have to make changes. Oh, wait a minute. They don't have anybody to change it. There you go. We'll have plenty more on Classico throughout the week here on ESPN FC, but let's leave it there for now.

38:20I do want to touch on one other thing from the Real Madrid game over the weekend against Getafe. An interesting moment here. Vinicius Jr. off the bench draws a red card on Alain Neom literally like seconds after Neom had been substituted into the match. Steve and I had a little back and forth. I thought it was a little bit harsh. Stevie thought it was spot on. But what was very interesting about this is apparently what was said afterwards from Vinicius Jr. to the Getafe manager Jose Bordalas. And this is from Bordalas after the match. Quote, Vinicius came up to me and said, what a good substitution.

38:54I told him to get back on. And then Bellingham told me I should be on the bench. And I said, go away. Don't talk so much. All right, so we've got players getting into it with the opposing manager. You guys were in that spot back in your Major League Soccer days. You guys ever get into a tête -à-tête on the sideline? I'm sure you said some things under your breath about Ole. From what I can remember. Hold on. It went under my breath. Maybe he just didn't hear it. From what I can remember. And it wasn't up close and personal. It was from afar, 30, 40 yards out. He's him banging at the benches at Gillette used to be behind the advertising boards.

39:32Oh, yeah, yeah. And he was banging on the boards, as I remember, pointing the finger at me. And he was just saying all sorts of different things. But with the glasses and the teeth, I thought he was smiling at me from afar. Why is this guy smiling at me? He's going to sign me one of these. But I've now come to find out that it was not a positive excuse. No, it wasn't. But listen, Bordelass seems like one of those exceptions to the rule. In what way? Well, because when the game's finished, everybody just goes like that. What are you doing? Another one will go, I know. Stupid. That's what happens 99 times out of 100.

40:13But that is the occasion when you get a guy like Bordelassi who holds on to it and doesn't let it go. But that's unusual. Mario, you ever been in a situation like this or maybe seen somebody else go after an opposing manager? No, no. I mean, look, I think it's a quick thing. You know, like maybe if a coach, you know, sometimes they hold on to the ball too long or they purposely pretend like they're going to pick it up and let it roll. Yeah, you just say something quickly to him, you know, like you swear something and then grab the ball and carry on. But no, I never know. I have not experienced it myself.

40:49So that's why I don't know. The only thing is like, yeah, quick reaction, like I said to you, I will say something quick and then let it go, grab the ball and carry on. That's a pretty good one-liner from Vinny, I would just say. No, it is. But I'll tell you what, you've got to go on YouTube. Oh, here we go. And Davey Moyes and Suarez. Okay. So before the game, Liverpool playing Everton, before the game, David Moyes was in the press talking about how Suarez dives and he jumps and he falls over. And, of course, guess what happens? Suarez scores in the game. And he does that. And he belts, he comes running over right in front of Moyes and gives one of them a huge dive.

41:26And you've got to watch. It's fantastic. But what's even better is Moyes. Moyes laughed. It's like you've got to give him credit. Yeah, love that. Even in a bitter rivalry like that. Speaking of bitter rivalries, El Clasico this weekend right here on ESPN Plus as well as ESPN2. Here on ESPN Plus, our pre-match coverage will start 10 a.m. Eastern time. Do not miss a minute. Are you looking to rebound from your high-interest credit card debt? A SoFi personal loan can help you get back on track. Consolidate your debt with a SoFi personal loan into one low monthly payment. And you could save money on interest over time.

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43:46When we take a look at the latest odds to win the Champions League, there's the Barcelona and PSG still tied as far as the bookmakers are concerned as co-favorites in Arsenal, then Liverpool, and then in fifth spot we get to Bayern Munich. Of course, that had a big win against Borussia Dortmund. 2-1. Mario, I know you were watching that game and you were very impressed with Bayern. Should they be a little higher as far as Champions League favorites? Yeah. Yes and no. Why? Because, OK, I didn't think Dortmund was very clever also, the way they played against them. So that also helps. I don't want to give them too much credit.

44:23I think they kind of were in the position where they are now. I would leave it there. But do they look good? I mean, if they keep playing like the way they're playing now, you understand? But if you look at this game too, you understand how they won the game. Okay, I see the header, of course, you understand. He scores. They could call it and say the push, but okay, no. He scores the goal. But what for me the question was, Diaz. Diaz and Olisse, that's the one that won the game. Look, now he waits on, you understand, Bellingham. Before he kicks the ball away, he makes a tackle because he read the situation.

44:56tackles goal. But what I didn't understand is for COVID, what he did and what company did well, Kane dropped in the middle, Kimmich drops in the middle, splits the two defenders, so he gets the extra man at the back. Kane drops in the middle of the park. Okay, when Jackson came off, he became kind of, because before he was kind of midfielder, but when Jackson came off, he did it again. And the way he assists Diaz, we didn't see that. The way before Ole says scores that goal, The assist to Diaz, he strikes him up with 40 yards and puts him right on the plate for him. But what I don't understand, if you know that your striker is not that quick that you play against, you know he's going to drop in the middle of the park.

45:37So you now need to compete with that. And then when you know that Kimmich is going to drop off, then put someone on Kimmich and leave a center defender to do the dribbling in the field. And then you allow a 1v1 against Kimmich because he doesn't want to have that. Okay, regardless if he, you understand, was a right back back in the day. but still you don't want that. He's a midfielder now. So things like that in the game for me was very surprising to see that. I felt company outplayed him, you understand, not only football-wise but also with the tactical way. Let me, just a quick question. The question was about Bayern Munich and whether they're able to win Champions League, not whether Borussia Dortmund were clever or smart.

46:16I really think that Mario had some money on Borussia Dortmund and he's upset with Niko Kovac. I was angry, yeah. I wanted them to do something. Come on, give me a good derby. I wanted to see the German classical derby. You're right, Ali. You're right. There we go. He's projecting. There was some anger, some issues there. Bundesliga, where should we consider Bayern Munich among the Champions League favorites from what we've seen so far? They are among the best teams in Europe. And if you don't like what you're seeing now from Bayern Munich, whatever those reasons may be, because they have been dominant.

46:53Perfect, actually. Like, literally perfect. Think about this. Jamal Musiala is coming back sometime turn of the year. So I think we can agree that makes them better. And you don't have to have the conversation as to whether Harry Kane drops into the midfield or not and you play Jackson. No, no. Jamal Musiala drops into that space. Harry Kane plays up higher. And he can choose then to play underneath if he so desires, and then Musiala takes a more advanced role. You don't have to have that conversation. So they're actually going to get stronger and become better than what they are now, at least on paper.

47:33The key for me, and this is something that Mario mentioned there, it's Luis Diaz and Michael Olise. If they continue to play at the level that they are right now, especially Michael Olise, then that gives this team a credible threat in the attack beyond Harry Kane, and they're not nearly as dependent on Harry Kane as, say, for example, Manchester City are on Erling Haaland. My question with Bayern Munich, and it will be the question over the course of the season, is defensively, in wide areas, do they have enough? And I don't think they've been able to answer those questions in terms of player personnel.

48:09And so it's going to have to be Conrad Leimer, who has done a really good job in that position. Well, he's going to have to be the answer. In the left-back position, maybe Alphonso Davies comes back. But even if he doesn't, then you're sort of like, okay, who is going to be that player that gives you certainty down that side? I know in a conversation about Champions League favorites, we shouldn't focus on a left back. But when you get to the latter stages of Champions League, think about this. If they're playing against a team like Barcelona, and who is the left back for Bayern Munich facing up against, say, La Minha Mal?

48:43There is importance to the position. There is importance to actually have answers in every position. Right now, Bayern Munich doesn't have answers in all of the positions, though they're one of the favorites. Lots more on Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga, and I'm sure the Champions League over on our ESPN FC YouTube channel. Join the more than 4 million subscribers today. We're pretty popular, apparently. Hey, look at us. Up next, a look at the Eredivisie, where we find Feyenoord on top with a three-point gap on PSV. But what we're focused on here is Ajax, who dropped a match against AZ over the weekend.

49:22They have fallen all the way to fourth. Of course, that's the club where Mario started his career. Ajax, are they in another crisis here, Mario? I feel like this is now an annual discussion on FC. We've been in a crisis for a very long time. I'm going to tell you that we were first financially in trouble. then we fixed that situation now we are playing wise I actually the funny part is like when I was home a couple of months ago I spoke to Heidencar because I bumped into him on the street so we had a little chat before the season actually was before the season kicked off but what the key thing is now with Ajax yeah Ajax is known for bringing up the homegrown talents like including myself I was I was like what nine years old when I joined them so when you watch them now they have a lot of international players and people from the outside and they're playing against a team like AZ where they clearly had one of the key players was a 19 year old kid middle of the park called Smith that was their focus point for AZ playing well but then at Ajax you look at them and you're thinking like what happened to that team the team is not playing well they kicked off maybe the first 20 minutes but then after it was nothing happening so at the moment now the team is not good enough and that's why they're in that situation it doesn't matter they got a coach.

50:36They let him go first, bring him back. He took the job again because he was at Liverpool, of course, Sothe's assistant. Comes back, takes the job, and then now he has a team. The way Ajax wants to play, like we talked about just prior to this situation, you can only play football with the players you have. You cannot do it with the philosophy you think that is right. And at the moment, Ajax is playing like Ajax's star team, but they're not the star team. Of course, you You can watch the Eredivisie right here on ESPN+. I'll tell you what, Mario's having a tough day. Yeah, I know. We're really picking at him.

51:12We're picking at him. There's some anger issues. Of course, Mario will be with us. Hopefully no anger for today's edition of Extra Time. No, no, absolutely. That's right. Of course, where we take your questions off social media, it'll be Stevie, Ale, and Mario today. Really looking forward to that. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

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53:02All right, that's all the time we've got for this edition of the show. But do not go far because we have got what looks like a pretty great list of questions here for Extra Time, which starts right now.

53:18Hey there, everybody. Welcome into the studio. I was very excited. I knew I had to bring it a little more because you called me out yesterday. Yesterday was like. Yeah, a little down in the dumps. I flew in in the morning, you know. It just wasn't myself. But you're back. He's back. Well, you're back. A bit of a stretch, right? Back to what is really the question. Kind of back. Mario, also with us as well. First one comes from Tinker Taylor Marine, who actually I think sends quite a few questions in. Boys, do you think VAR review requests from managers is a good idea? We did see this in the under-20 World Cup.

53:54They had their little card. They would hold it up. Ale, what do you think? Do you like it?

54:04It feels very NFL-ish. Yep. Doesn't necessarily make it bad. No, no, no. I thought that that was the reason as to why you had the VAR officials involved to begin with, that they would be the ones that say, hey, this is worthy of. So I don't, it feels like raining on a wet surface. It's almost as if, so in you sort of picking up your card and saying, hey, can you go take a look at this play? We're already assuming that they've taken a look at this play. So why would you, raising your card, change the initial assessment? I guess in that it forces kind of a stoppage of play and the ref to deal with it.

54:45We don't need any more stoppages. We've got enough stoppages. Yeah, actually, I watched a little bit of the Under-20 World Cup, and they would use it all the time. Because Mario, they're using it at moments when you, like, so if there's a penalty against you late in the game, and you know it's a penalty, you're still going to do the challenge because maybe there's a chance they'll take it back. But, you know, these guys are just basically, you know, hoping for a miracle. It's not going to happen. It just slows the game down. Are you freezing the kicker? Is that what you're doing? I guess so. Very NFL-ish.

55:17Ale, why is Slott complaining about United and Emerim's low block and long ball tactics? He did talk about this yesterday. Why is he complaining that other teams are not playing how he thought, just outclassed tactically? Asks James. Look, if Manchester United decide that this is, and Ruben Morim decide that this is the best way for them to win the game, that is his job. That is his job as a manager to figure out what do we need to do as a team tactically and technically in order to give ourselves the best opportunity to win the game. If Arnaz Lott's team, for whatever circumstances, are unable to figure that out or unable to break through or unable to create chances or unable to score goals, that's on them.

56:01It has nothing to do with Amorim. It has nothing to do with Manchester United. I cannot understand a manager that wants to dictate how his team is going to play and how his opposition is going to play as well. That makes no sense. I've never quite got that. What, complaining about what the other team's doing? No, why would you complain that the other team sits at the top of the box? Right, they're kind of giving you the... Because even if you don't... You've got 90 minutes against a team that's sat at the top of the box. so even if they do get the ball they've still got 70 yards to go before they can get a chance to score so I would love every single team I've ever played against to try and start set at the top of the box next question can we finally admit that Barcelona is still not at the level where they can go toe-to-toe with the very best of teams with a squad full of high schoolers from the academy and little to no liberty to spend as much as teams like Madrid, PSG, and Liverpool in the market.

57:00This was also directed for you, Ale. You can start us off. Well, I would say that they went toe-to-toe with this same group of players and with the same tactics last season and were seconds away from advancing to a Champions League final. However, I think the one thing that you can, the flaw in that argument is the thing that they missed out on those last few seconds was seeing a game out defensively. And that, instead of improving this season, actually seemed to have gotten worse. And so they are trending in the wrong direction. I think there are adjustments that need to be made by Hansi Flick, adjustments that need to be made in terms of how they approach defending up until they clean their possession a whole lot more than they have over the last couple of games.

57:55And they actually get closer to the ball in advanced positions so that they can actually press and counterpress the ball so that you can hide the vulnerabilities of the high line. If you don't do that, then they cannot go toe-to-toe with anybody, never mind the top and the best in Europe. Sevilla scored goals. Girona scored goals and should have scored more. They are in a position right now in which unless they change dramatically what they're doing and how they press the ball, they're going to be exposed the whole season. During the show, Mario, we saw the Champions League odds. The oddsmakers still believe in Barcelona.

58:32You think they'll be there at the end of Champions League after they've had to play, in theory, all these good teams that will really test them? I mean, look, look, Ali said it, you know, look, for them it's not. We're talking about the way they play and the injuries and everything they have. So if they fix that situation, there will always be a team and a club that is going to be part of the end journey. But how far they will go in making it all the way to the final is going to come down if they can make a team that understands what we talked about, the weaknesses of them. And if they understand that, they can go far because the talent the team has.

59:08They have so many talents in that team. It's almost like any, any, it's like a candy shop. You can grab anything that is great there, but you also can grab anything that has a leak. And if they don't fix the leak, they have a problem, and they won't go far there. The real question is, is Shaka getting money from the bookies for using his algorithm? You think that's what they've tapped into? The wayward algorithm? That's what we showed. Looks like it's Shaka's algorithm. Did you see, today for the first time, we saw Mario with a flashing smile. Big smile when he started talking about the candy shop.

59:43There it is. And the hands started going everywhere. Ali, you know where we're off air. You know where I'm going, right? The candy shop, my friend. Sorry to do this to you, Stevie, but more Liverpool questions. Oh, great. Hi, Manji. Is Slott being found out now that he has to build a squad? Two weeks after the Chelsea loss, he's played the exact same team the exact same way with the same result. Last year, he was handed a well-oiled squad on a silver platter, and maybe he got lucky. Yeah, that's the way you can't say that. You don't win the Premier League by being lucky. I mean, you don't. And there was nothing lucky about what Liverpool were doing up until they ran out of gas.

1:00:25That was kind of once they had it in the bag. They weren't really sweating the league then. You can't say that at all. No, absolutely not. Maybe you'll like this next question. It comes from Stevie's Mints dealer. All right, here we go. What would a successful first season at Spurs look like for Thomas Frank? Of course, they lost to Villa over the weekend.

1:00:48They're sixth right now, I think, in the table. I think into Europe, you've got to say that's absolutely a success. Considering they finished, what, 16th last year? Yep. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, if they finish in the European spots, I think you should consider that a success. Okay. Not top four, just any European spot. No, I think top four would be absolutely phenomenal. Yeah. I mean, who goes? Nobody's ever gone from 16 and then the following season got in the top four. So, yeah, I think if they do that, that's a miracle. Mario, you think Spurs are capable of that? Forget top four, just make in Europe.

1:01:29Look, you know, Thomas Frank, the way he manages his teams, He always builds them up to become better and takes his time and really mold them to better. So if I look at Spurs, like Steve, he said, yeah, making it to Europe, it's a big achievement. And top four, that is why I will not say that straight away, is because there's so much competition. And I don't know if his team is already ready to get that position. Had they beaten Villa, they would have been second. I mean, one of those games you think you might look back on, you're at home, you're winning. If they don't finish top four, if they don't make Europe, surely.

1:02:04But the reason they're not second is the reason why they lost again. Wow. But it's also early in the season. Very deep. Very deep. Come back to me when you figure it out. Yeah, it'll be a minute. Andas, Mario, what's your assessment of Matip's delict? Are you seeing signs of him becoming a top defender again? Oh boy. I've seen it's the one game. No, yeah, no, no. That's true, what Steve is saying. It's one game, you know, he played well. The key thing for the league at the moment even in a national team it is you know sometimes it's good to be at a position at a club where things are not as easy for you because it will make you better so if he managed to be part of a journey that Man United started to grow again then I guarantee you that he will be much better because there's a lot of responsibility to build up you know the focus because that team didn't look great so for him to be part of the journey if he can do well yeah then he can I mean a top defender yes because that's how he started at Ajax but we have to see first a random observation about Matthias De Ligt he cannot take a throwing without being an illegal throw it's just he wasn't called in the first half he threw the ball in I think it was two or three times and he's jumping while he's throwing the ball and I'm thinking it's an illegal throw not called anymore and people don't pay attention to this thing and I'm seeing it.

1:03:32I'm like, he's literally doing a jump shot when he is throwing the ball in. I don't understand it. I don't get it. Are they teaching Netherlands? No, but you know what he also has to learn? Look, De Ligt was never a player that played on the side, like throwing the balls in. He was always in the middle. I could tell. Hold on. No, no, no. I don't care where you play. Even the goalie should be able to take a throw in. Stevie, I get it. But what I'm trying to say is, Stevie, I understand what you say. Everybody can throw the ball in. But what I'm saying is that while he's being tested now, he's playing a position that he's not used to, like right or left.

1:04:11He's more the central guy. So he is now being pulled out of his comfort zone. Throwing the ball in, yeah, I agree with you. Come on, anybody can throw the ball in. I agree with you. You know what he needs? A candy shop. I need to get some lessons from Kerkers. I was going to say, a throwing coach. This feels like. The throwing coach. Mario, you did mention the candy shop earlier. So we'll finish things up here with a food question. Would you eat Stevie's breakfast that he showed us from yesterday? This is breakfast ahead of Liverpool and Manchester United. If you don't know what that is, Mario, just give us a second.

1:04:46I know what it is. Oh, you do? Okay, okay. I can see it. What do you think? I see it because I lived in England for so long. I will eat the egg. I will eat the potato, the bread. You understand? But the sausage, I don't eat pork. You understand? And beef. So the rest, I'm good. Okay. Still a pretty filling meal, huh? That was brilliant. What's the red sauce again? No, that's beans, isn't it? Oh, that's beans. Okay. Yeah, English style. Beans on toast. It's great. So good. I have to give them that credit for that. That beans on toast and with some egg on it, I got to give them that. I've never had the beans on toast.

1:05:20It's a big thing, huh? Oh, why? Yeah. Let me give it a shot. Is it just the baked beans? Just a bit of toast. Butter? Butter on it. We scrape in the butter. And then you fire the beans on top. All right. All right. That was a hearty breakfast, Stevie. Hearty. Hearty. Surprises stayed down after the way the game went yesterday. All right. That's it for us here in the ESPN FC studios and this edition of Extra Time. For Mario, Alex, Stevie, I'm Seb. Thanks for watching. And join us tomorrow, why don't you, for another wonderful edition of the show.

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