Madrid's Derby Win and Arsenal's Embarrassing Cup Loss

25:04Manchester City are this year's winners of the Carabao Cup after defeating Arsenal 2-0. Arsenal will start the better of the two sides. Good save from Trafford early on. But Arsenal faded as Manchester City took control. A mistake from Kepa, who was in goal ahead of Rea, would gift City the opener. O 'Reilly making it 1-0. than just moments later. So, Riley, once again, he'll get the second as Manchester City are crowned champions. Big discussion is about whether or not Arteta should have started Kepa. Here's the Arsenal coach. Choice of goalkeeper. What was your thinking and how do you see that performance for Kepa?

25:39I understand that, but I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair. And I think we have an understanding keeper on Kepa. He's played all the competition and I think it would have been very, very unfair for him and for the team to do something different. Frank LaBeouf joins us. Should we start with the goalkeeper? Should we start with Arsenal? I don't really have a problem with the goalkeeper and everybody's got a different opinion and a different view on it. But Man City did the same thing. Klopp did it with Liverpool with Kjellar. So a lot of teams do this to try and keep players happy.

26:14And he made mistakes, right? I have a huge issue with Arsenal. not so much the goalie who's their second string goalie by a stretch and as well as city played and we'll get to them we have the best team in england the best squad in england and and debatably could be the best team in europe or certainly doesn't look like it in the last few weeks but they're in pole position for the champions league and the premier league and possibly the fa cup and yet they played football apart for that first 10 minutes and apart for the end when they were desperate and chasing the game and throwing subs on, that hour in between was a shocker.

26:54An absolute shock. How can a team with the talent levels that Arsenal have play football that would have got Jose Mourinho slaughtered, Antonio Conte slaughtered for parking the bus? They barely get out of their own half, of their own penalty area. When those two City goals came in, they hadn't had a touch on the ball. They hadn't been in City's half. They had 11 men behind the ball. They were so negative. I thought it was embarrassing. For a team of that talent, against, by the way, this is not Man City of whatever year when they were the juggernaut, two or three years rolling everybody over.

27:31You know, favourites to win the Champions League, winning all those Premier League. This isn't that city side. And for Arsenal to approach the game like that, honestly, I thought it was, and it made for a terrible spectacle. but I could not believe they looked to me like a team that were in the bottom three trying to defend against a team that were top of the league and the best team in the country I'm sorry, the keeper's a smokescreen for me that performance, that approach to a cup final when you're the favourites and you have that talent level was an absolute disgrace It's kind of worrying how flat they were after that initial from the kick-off.

28:14Yeah, that's going to be my question. First 10 minutes you thought there was only one team in this. Aye. So what changed? Well, City settled down. City... City hadn't exactly been at their best either. So, yeah, Arsenal started better. But then City settled down after about, what, 25 minutes? And then after that, Arsenal weren't in it. And you have to be worried if you're Arsenal. I mean, to be so flat... The biggest thing for me is you're in a cup final it's the second half you're behind and it's one thing to start off by getting men behind the ball but then you have to go and close the ball then you have to try and close people down nobody closed anybody down it was almost like they were quite happy to just sit and let Man City have the ball and you're getting beaten in a cup final so the front three were absolutely invisible again and that's that's been the last what two, three weeks there just seems to be no imagination in this team.

29:14And then to what you started with 100 % wrong decision. You play your best goalkeeper. It's a cup final and guess what? Professional football is not about being fair. Professional football is about winning. Not participating in the final, winning the final. And talking about how it wasn't fair to him and it wasn't fair on the other players. How is it not fair on the other players? Well guess what? The other players don't have a winner's medal because you played the reserve goalkeeper who wasn't ready for it because the mistakes that we showed showed that he wasn't ready for it so yeah it's got nothing to do with being fair it's about being professional but they're all doing it Madonna Ruma was on the bench doesn't make it right Klopp did it with Killa doesn't make it right other managers have done it it's a strategy that they use to allow players to remain relatively match sharp and not a problem in the dressing room.

30:11I get it. You want to play your best team. But for me, that's... Honestly, for me, there's a bigger picture here. And Kepa wouldn't have had to have been called. All right, and he was. And he's a keeper, and that's his job. But he shouldn't have even been in those scenarios if Arsenal hadn't have played as defensive, as boring, and as deep as they did. Arsenal, playing like that in a cup final with this team, this squad that they have. It's quite incredible. Arsenal embarrassing, Frank, do you agree? They were, even if I think that before Kepa's mistake, defensively, they were doing the job. I found Saliba and Gabriel on top of their football, and defensively, there was nothing to say.

30:58I mean, what changed for me the second half is because of Guardiola. He asked his players to be a little bit more forward, higher on the field, play on the counter-attack. Well, no, sorry, counter-pressing. And so they were, you know, inside the Arsenal half. And it's only because Kepa made that mistake that Arsenal got in danger. They were defending quite well. Yes, they were attacking. They were lacking of ideas when they had the ball. But defensively, I found Arsenal very quiet, very, very OK. I mean, sorry. And so I wasn't bored by the fact that they weren't playing. We know Arsenal. Sometimes they have a hard time, you know, to kick on.

31:43And that's what we saw at the beginning of the second half. And because mostly of Guardiola, a change of tactic. But again, for me, the key factor was Kepa Superstar. I mean, the guy made a big mistake and he changed everything. And I was pretty sure that Arsenal could have held that pressure if Kepa wouldn't have made that mistake. I mean, again, I was totally with TV. It's not a charity. It's a professional world. And Craig, you know, and I know, your mate, you know, Kevin Hitchcock was the number two at Chelsea, and he stayed on the bench. He never played like that. We never did that. The coach were trying to put the best goalkeeper, the best defender, whatever, you know, according to what he thinks.

32:31But we had one goalkeeper, and we knew that goalkeeper was the number one. And it wasn't because he wasn't happy the second one could play the Carabao Cup or whatever it was at the time. No, that's not that word. It doesn't belong to that word. And if all coaches are doing that, I'm sorry, they're all wrong. Because, and we saw that so many times, goalkeepers are fragile, and they need stability. And I'm sorry, that was a mistake from Arteta. Like, it was a mistake from Guadalupe to put Trafford. Because he wasn't ready. I mean, he did well. He did very well. He was lucky. But that's not, for me, professional.

33:08But you don't... The two things can go hand in hand. And I mean this. They defended like a team that... Or they approached the game for long periods like a team that didn't even think they could win the game. I mean, that's... I thought, honestly, whatever the team selection you want to talk about... That's not the first time we've heard those accusations thrown at Arsenal. Have they got into that mindset now where they can't get out of it almost? We saw them away against Bayer Leverkusen. We've seen games in the Premier League where it's just scraping by. They've lost that dynamic energy where you used to watch them and the opposing teams couldn't even get out of their half.

33:48They were pressing. Because they knew they had a good back four. A really good back four so they could squeeze the game. and they really throttled the life out of opponents. And then they would win the ball back high up and they'd start again. It's predictable. It's part of the boss football. It's predictable. And listen, it's probably going to be good enough to win the Premier League, probably. But it's gone from this winning it high up, pressing teams, putting so much pressure on the opposition that they won it in great areas and all of a sudden they're on the front foot to getting 11 men behind the ball.

34:24when you get 11 men behind the ball for long periods, which they did in the second half, at the start of the second half, long periods, then what's going to happen with teams like City? People like Cherki and others, they're going to find these little spaces and they're going to prod and poke and put balls in the box and your goalkeeper's going to be under more pressure because you're sitting right on top of them. But you're the better side. And yet you're sitting alone. And listen, City passed it quite well, but we've seen City, when they're pressurised this season, cough the ball up. Rodri hasn't always been as clean on the ball.

34:59Bernardo Silva hasn't always been as clean with his passing. But when you give players that amount of space and time to go and prod and pick a pass, then that's what they did. They made it too easy for City, didn't they? It was embarrassing. When you know that City's biggest weakness is getting caught on the counter-attack, you need to have a spark. And there's nothing wrong at times sitting behind the ball. Every team's done it. There's nothing wrong with that. But when you get a chance of getting it, and then when you do get it, there has to be a spark. You have to make the opposition somewhat, not frightened, but cautious because they know that you're going to get after them.

35:42That was completely not... There was nothing. Why? They looked flat. They looked as though they had no legs. But it's the cup final. You know your opponents are going to come. You know it's a proper opponent. It's a proper game. It's not a good sign. I played in the cup final. We played Wimbledon and we got beat 1-0 by a team we should have murdered. And it wasn't until after the game we were talking, we were actually all in the same boat. We started talking about how we had nothing in our legs. Now, if that is what this problem is, it's either over-coaching or they're running out of juice. If they're running out of juice, you can forget the treble now, never mind what used to be the quadruple.

36:21Let's talk about the champions, shall we? What impressed you from Manchester City today, Frank? The fact that they were able to cope with the situation, because I think, I don't know if it's TV or Craig who say that, but the first half an hour, Arsenal were better. And it's only maybe at the end of the first half, and especially the second half, where they started to work together and to be very high on the field and on the counter-pressing, that they were very, very effective. Of course, you have to name Doku and Cherki on the side. Bernardo Silva working so hard. And you have Rodri. I think Rodri lost one pass, you know, today.

37:00And you have to mention O 'Reilly. I mean, he was opportunistic in his position and scored two goals at 20 years old. I mean, that's absolutely fantastic. But everybody was spot on, I would say. Trafford made three great saves at the beginning of the game and was everywhere. But really, I think that was a common move that they made. And that's because of Pep Guardiola, I'm pretty sure. It doesn't happen like that. You have to have in your mind, say, OK, we have to change. It's not working. If we carry on like that, we're going to be considering goal. And we have to move forward and try to be challenging the opponent.

37:40And it's what they did. And Arsenal, offensively, didn't exist at all. City passed it better than Arsenal, but they were camped in Arsenal's half and there was no real pressure, really. Rodri and Bernardo Silva and Cherki even. They didn't like Cherki doing what he was doing in the second half, to be honest, but that's kind of how it felt. I think that was a resemblance of how that game was going, that he felt, whether we agree with it or not, they're showcasing that and showing off. but that's kind of how the game was going to Man City. It was almost like somebody going to make a tackle. And City always look good when they don't have to defend for long periods because that's their weakness.

38:27So they asked a couple of questions early on and a couple of questions later on when Calafiore and they made some subs because they were desperate at that point and City dropped off a little bit. But that hour in between when City didn't have to do a lot of defending, that's when they're at their best because they don't have to worry about their Achilles heel. They can go and do what they do and play and pass the ball. And let's be honest, Arsenal let them do that. They've won nine. League Cup now, Manchester City. Pep Guardiola has won five of them. They're just one off. How many did you win, Stephen?

38:57Do you remember? I missed a couple of finals with injury, but yeah, we won, I think we won four in the 80s. He was asking about Liverpool. Not you. 10 now. Manchester City then on nine. There were Premier League games as well today. Let's go straight off the bottom of the table. Spurs taking on Nottingham Forest. I believe they call this one a six-pointer. Spurs better in the first half than their opponents. Couldn't take their chances though. Solanke here. Yeah, in the end this was offside, but... It kind of summed them up. You know, they had plenty of the ball. they had Forrest pinned in but didn't really hurt them.

39:38One chance to Forrest in the first half, one goal. Yeah, they had literally, honestly they couldn't get out of the half. Yeah, could not get up the field for the bulk of that first half. And for the one time they got up and they set a piece, Eagles just bangs it in the back of the net. And then in injury time here, what a save from Cells. Yeah, it's a fantastic save. It's a great strike but I mean Cells, Good save, just gets a touch on it. Bell with a beautiful strike, it looks in all the way. Shears at the last second, sells with his hand. Into the second half, Forrest got better. Yeah, just the guy in the penalty spot on his own, Gibbs-White.

40:19Keeper as well, because the keeper could have saved it, but... Look at how many white jerseys are in that penalty box. And nobody even has a look to see who's around. Spurs fans had enough exiting early, not for the first time this season. They're probably glad they did because Spurs get a third. Yeah, beautiful ball in behind the defence. Now one year, gets on the end of it. And it's all the deja vu for Spurs at home. Great ball. Cuts out the back four, cuts out the keeper. Now one year follows it in. Stop volleys at home. So that finishes Nottingham Forest 3 Spurs. Now, the only good news for Spurs today is the fact that West Ham lost as well against Aston Villa.

41:07So it's still one point difference at the bottom with seven matches remaining. Now, there was no post-match press conference from Igor Tudor. He had to leave because of a family emergency. So as a result, we won't talk about him personally or his future. I don't think that is particularly apt considering the circumstances. But we will obviously talk about what we saw today on the pitch, Craig. and overall good first half but in the end? Well, what the difference between the sides was Spurs have got more players you would say are talented players but Forrest have, on the face of that, more resilience because they got battered in the first half but they defended.

41:48Centre-halves headed it away when they had to. Sales made a great save when they had to. They made some challenges. You know, Elliot Anderson, who's been excellent, could hardly keep the ball in the first half because the midfield was so tight, but at least they got their foot in and made some challenges. And then they come out and they had a bit more, obviously they scored, so the Spurs are now deflated and that's where you ask the question about this Spurs side. They lost that goal and they got no response in the second half. The response was, they allowed for us to just gain more confidence.

42:17And it's almost like what we've talked about. They're not used to being, they had a bad season last year, but they weren't as close to being relegated as this. They were down there, but the points difference was, it wasn't realistic that they were going to go down. Now it is. So now every game is that six-pointer now. Every game, every point matters. Every clearance, every header, every mistake. And you just feel when Spurs take that bloody nose, although they did well at Liverpool last week to come back, that was a much better performance. Sorry about that, Stevie. Most teams do. But it just feels, looking at this, that out of the three teams down there, even though West Ham are in the bottom three, they're the ones that look as if they could cave quicker under the pressure of this relegation dogfight.

43:09So that's kind of where I am. Every single player that plays for Nottingham Forest has a job, knows what the job is, and knows that if they do that job, then they're in a fighting chance. And that's the difference between the two teams. Spurs, it has to be the personality of the players that they have in their squad. They don't understand that the most important thing is to do that one job that you have. And if you can give us something else, that's a bonus. And the goals at the end. I mean, the second one, as I said in the highlight, there is, what, five white jerseys? And there's not one of them knows that Gibbs White is there.

43:48Not one of them. I mean, Craig said it, the Forest defenders, they clear it, they head it away, they do their job. Spurs defensively, well, they can't do their job, just can't do it. Obviously, we're not going to talk about, you know, Igor Tudor's future and stuff like that, because he's got other things going on. But I would just touch on his team selection for today, which is, I think, very important. And I think a lot of Spurs fans have been questioning his team selection in all these games where they've been defeated. they had arguably one of their best performances in midweek against Atletico Madrid, they won 3-2 albeit Atleti knew they probably took their foot off the gas a little bit because they had a three goal advantage but still, they scored three goals at home against Atleti and the scorer of the three goals didn't play today Xavi Siemens got two Colomani got one and there's a game three days later and it's a huge game and the two guys that were arguably two of your better players that night don't play.

44:52It's decisions like that that are just turning people against the manager and decisions like that, why there's a lot of people losing faith that he's going to pick the right team going forward. Because that, when you saw the team selection today, bear in mind what these players had done in midweek, these two players in particular, for them not to play today was a big surprise. Frank, final thoughts on this? Well, you know what? when I see those names, you know, I only see very good players. So there is a lack of soul. There is a lack of faith. The lack of leadership because not only on the field, but also on the bench, nobody is capable of giving an idea of what they have to do.

45:32And most of the players look like street footballers. I call them like that. So those players who have the football, they have the quality, but they don't know how to work together. And that's clearly, and Stevie alluded it, they don't know what to do. They don't know their job. They don't know what they have to do individually and all together. And it's why they're there. And because they're not ready, because they all think they're a very talented player and they deserve to chase for the race, for the PPL or any other championship, they're not ready to fight. So they're very vulnerable for me and they really are in danger.

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48:02Well, just a reminder, Real Madrid winning earlier today, defeating Atletico Madrid by three goals to two, coming from behind to do so. Sid Lowe was there for us. Sid's just come from the Abloa press conference. Sid, I've been told to ask you about Vinicius Jr., Trent and the referee.

48:19Right, which order would you like him in? Shall we start with Vinicius, shall we? Abloa was asked about the performance from Vinicius and what does he think about the fact that Vinicius have produced a performance this good up against Marco Chorente, who's about as tough a fullback to be up against, not least because he has the speed to keep up with you. And Abelho's response was to say, well, it's just another great performance from Vinicius. And he made the point of saying it's not just about the talent, it's about the determination, it's about the insistence of going back and back and back and keeping on taking people on.

48:48So he was really pleased about him. In terms of the referee, I thought Abelho said something quite interesting, actually. He was asked about the red card for Fede Valverde, And he said, look, I don't agree with Jose Luis, who's the referee. He says, I don't have the same view of him as he does of this incident. But I'm really grateful to him for coming to the touchline and explaining why he sent him off. He said it was for excessive force. I don't see it like that because the challenge was low down. There was no risk of any damage to anyone. From my point of view, it shouldn't have been a red card.

49:20But I'm happy that he at least explained it to me. And if you'd like to hear about Trent, here's what was asked about Trent. Of course, Trent Alexander-Arnold, that story broke just before the game that he'd been left out of the team because he'd been late to training this week. Arbelo was asked about this in a slightly vague sort of way. And he said, well, you know, I pick the best team for every game and it's the best 11 I can come up with. He was then asked again later in the press conference, much, much more directly because that first question had been a little bit vague. Look, did you leave Trent out of the team because he was late to training?

49:50to which Aboloa said, I repeat, I pick the best XI for every game. In other words, he wasn't going to deny it, but nor was he going to give anyone the satisfaction of saying that, yes, that was indeed the reason why Trent didn't start tonight. Why didn't you submit it? I don't know. It's certainly some modern mystery, isn't it? It was Trent in the drawing room with the dagger. If I tell you, I'll have to kill you. Oh, my God. Why? Because it got leaked? Is that the issue, Sid? No, I think what he's done by not admitting it but not denying it is essentially say it's true, which, of course, helps him to reinforce the message that there are some rules here and everyone has to follow them.

50:31I'm a bit with Steve on this. I thought there was a chance that he might say, look, I'm not going to talk about the decisions I made, but there are rules that the players know. I thought he might let it slip just as much as anything else as a message to everyone. And there's a way of saying I'm top of this. But I think he doesn't want to kind of single Trent out. I think he would rather ignore it but be reasonably happy that someone in the media has got hold of it because at least it puts it out there that players are being forced to be committed and turn up on time, which are precisely some of the questions, of course, that we've been asking all season in terms of the players' application and commitment to the squad.

51:04La Liga percentage chance, Sid? Say that again, sorry, Dan, I missed that. Percentage chance for La Liga, Barca or Real Madrid? Well, I think you have to look at this and say it will almost certainly be decided by the Clásico. So the fact that Barcelona have a four-point lead, I think the balance is tilted slightly in their favour. But I think it's close. I'm going to go for Barcelona 60%, Real Madrid 40%. Sid Lowe, good man. Thank you very much. I imagine Stephen Mannerman might have a beer waiting for you. Go and enjoy that. Of course, La Liga coverage continues. And when we return from the international break, Atleti against Barca at the Metropolitano.

51:42That game live here at ESPN Plus, 3pm Eastern. What international break? Oh, yes, Greg. Ivory Coast, Scotland. We have it live. Now for some bonus material. Ahead of the derby, we spoke about La Liga Confidencial with Sid and Luis. Now, if you didn't check it out, really interesting article over on the website, La Liga Confidencial, where 30 players were asked a number of questions about La Liga, including if you were to build the team around someone, who would it be? Kylian Mbappe and Pedri are equal at the top. Luminium all coming in at 16%. Erling Haaland at 6%. This is obviously offered. I didn't realize Erling Haaland played in La Liga.

52:24I think this is available to everyone. Luis, who would you pick? Pedri or Mbappe? I know that you've been told. I know that you've been told. I don't watch you on my day off. I'm a very busy man, Luis. Yeah, I'm sure of that. I've been bullied today by Ale Moreno and Kei Morey because I decided to pick Kylian Mbappé, and I explained why. If you need to sign a player right now for your team, and we don't know anything else, just that you need to sign a player, I will pick Kylian Mbappé ahead of La Media Malo, because he provides goals, and football is about goals, about scoring goals. The one who scores more goals wins.

53:06So I decided to pick Kylian Mbappé, and I will stick with that decision. Very defensive, Luis. It's just a question. Calm down. It's obviously getting a bit of stick. Don't start. it's all right yeah but I feel I know you then I know you know why you're asking me I stick with Kylian Mbappe I see a surprise it's only 16.6 percent for the young superstar would you have chosen him yeah I'm really giving it much thought clearly but you go to me in your mouth every Mbappe and Pedri yeah I mean I would definitely go to the minimum all over Pedri really so I think Pedro's had quite a few injury issues.

53:45I know he's, you know, over the last couple of years, not that he's not a great player. He is. But the real game changers are Mbappe and Laminya Maal. And Mbappe's carrying an injury at the moment as well. So, yeah, I'm comfortable with a young man. He'll take it on his shoulders. Yeah. Said you put Santi Cothorla.

54:07Do you know what? I was looking at that list, that top four. The question, obviously, if you could sign one player for your team, who would it be? I thought any one of those top four would do. To be perfectly honest, to state that Oviedo are in, I'd probably take anyone from the top 25 and they could come and improve our team for us. Who would you have, Sid? I think I'd have Mbappé as well. I think, look, obviously, whenever you get a question like this, you always think, well, it depends what kind of team you are, what kind of style you want. But I think if you're taking it as saying, we don't know what the team is, who's going to come in, immediately make an impact, and in the case of, say, an Oviedo, rescue you, or in the case of, say, an Athletic Madrid, push you to being a title contender, someone who gets you 30 plus goals a season is to be honest has got to be the first choice however much we love Pedri however much we love Laminya Malle I think it has to be Mbappé I'm with Luis on that the least shocking I think result from this survey was who is the most annoying manager on the touchline Diego Simeone with very much the lion shares of the vote no surprise there for your mate Luis no no surprise at all even if you are an opponent or if you are a part of his team or even his staff.

55:15I think that we've seen so far many decisions or many actions of or even with the his assistant. Let's leave it like this that Simeone is one of the most annoying on the on the sideline. Sid Bordelas is there as well but obviously Simeone very much taking the title there. Yeah I mean Simeone I think Luis has kind of revealed the key thing here this is an anonymous survey but when we saw Simeone at the top I thought what have we only asked Atletico players never mind opponents all the Atletico players saying good grief will someone please get rid of this bloke for us Bordelass is is is not a huge surprise although actually he's I think seen from a distance we don't actually see some of the things he does on the touchline as we do with Simeone Simeone is that bit more demonstrative which suggests that if the players on the pitch think Bordelass and we from off the pitch didn't think that because we think it about his team but not about him suggests that it's not just that he's down on the touchline being naughty but he's being sneaky with it.

56:13He's very good at hiding it. Which pundit is the most annoying on the sidelines? Burley, 100%. You can take that crown quite happily. Listen, I would be hugely disappointed if I didn't have that crown. Yes. Can you imagine Diego Simeone? Do the managers find out about this? Did somebody deliver it said onto Diego Simeone's desk and go, Monday morning and go, you know, you're the most annoying manager in La Liga. You know, he's probably just two foot of the money. He'd say that as a compliment. Craig, you've given me a brilliant idea. At the end of today's game, when we go down to the press conferences, maybe I'll put up my hand and say, Diego, I have a question for you from ESPN.

56:54You are officially the most annoying manager in La Liga. How do you feel about that? Yeah, well, I've heard your other questions. I've heard your normal ones. Your normal questions are not, so yeah, I'd go with that one. Thank you very much, boys.

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58:05Call 1-800-GRANGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. I'm not going to lie, you're starting to worry me. That's it. That's the end of today's show. There's another 20 highlights down there. We dropped the Portuguese. We thought that's in you over the edge. Somewhere in there. Should have kept it. Extra time, thanks. Frank's back with us.

58:31Welcome to the latest edition of Extra Time. Frank was sleeping there. Frank was having a little nap. He's awake now. Are you with us, Frank? We're having a power nap, Frankie. I wasn't napping at all. I was listening to you, carefully listening to you. Beautiful. It's past midnight in France, Frank. You can double dip for today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. We'll do that. Beautiful. Are Liverpool the worst Premier League champions in recent history, Stevie? The last time they won the league, they...

59:00Wait, it's too long. Last time they won the league... They had. They had. They, the following season, they had nine defeats and finished 20 points off first, and thanks to other teams dropping off, they managed to finish third. This year, they are currently on 10 losses and already 21 points, with possibility of missing out on Champions League completely. I was trying to think, where did Leicester end up the year after? Leicester were just about... Leicester almost were in a relegation fight at one point. Yeah, I think... So the answer would be no. Who has done the better job after taking over their clubs as manager, Arbeloa or Michael Carrick, Craig?

59:37Oh.

59:43Carrick, innit? I would say Carrick. Carrick, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know... Well, to be fair, they've knocked Man City out of the Champions League, which wasn't expected the way they were playing. So he's done all right thus far, but I suppose Carrick, because he hasn't got, he's got good players, but he hasn't got Mbappé, Happy Vinicius and Thibaut Courtois. So yeah, probably just Carrick. How much could today's loss impact Arsenal's title charge the rest of the way, Frank? I'm sorry, you're going to get that. How much could today? Oh, um... Nine points at the moment, is it? Not much. You know, have you seen, have you seen, yeah, yeah.

1:00:24Have you seen Martinelli during the war when he was warming up with talking to an opponent and smiling where they were losing 2-0 and the fact that we saw some of the players not very concerned about the fact that they were having an important game. I think they want to win the Premier League. I think some players they were ready to lose today, not very concerned again. So I don't see a big impact. I think for the fans, they're gonna start wondering if there is a curse and if Arsenal can get something. But I think they're gonna get the Premier League. Frank, explain to me why that makes a difference.

1:01:08If they're thinking about the Premier League, why would that take their attention away from today? You've got no games, you're off on international duty. Explain that to me. I'm with you. That's absolutely even stupid, we can say. You have a game, you have an important game at Wembley, you have to make everything to, you have to do everything to make sure you're gonna win and get a title. I don't know how they think nowadays, you know, and because of that rotation system, it's like, you know, okay, I didn't play in that competition. Most of the time I'm on the bench because I play in the Premier League or Champions League, so I'm not very concerned about the League Cup, and that's awful for me.

1:01:46I mean, I can't use my experience for that because in my experience, we were playing every game we could and we didn't care. We wanted to play a final, then played three days after the Champions League and then national duties and then after a big game against Manchester United or Arsenal. That was our life. I don't understand the players anymore. I don't even understand the coaches anymore. Stevie, Trent Alexandrano got benched today for tardiness. Did you ever get punished for breaking the rules during your playing days? I only ever once didn't play for being late for a meeting that I wasn't told was on.

1:02:26I was at Notch County and they brought a new manager in and he was a good guy but for some reason he lost the plot. We were playing a midweek game, we were training at a stadium in the morning and we were told the boss was leaving at four and so I had a couple errands to do and I got back about. What errands did you have to do? I can't remember. I must have had something to do. Otherwise I would have sat in the dressing room with my feet up. I must have been doing something. And I got back and as I got through the front door the girl at the reception told me there was a meeting up the stair. So I walked in and the mangy went mental.

1:03:09And never played me that night. I wasn't best pleased. Did you dish out any punishment to players when you were coached for tardiness or other...? You were allowed to be late once. Sometimes, what if there'd been an accident? You know, if there's a legitimate reason for somebody being late, like an accident, then how can you punish somebody? But I don't remember anybody ever doing that. There was a couple of players that actually didn't turn up for training at all. Wow. And of course I had no choice but they didn't play. But for somebody being late, if they had a legitimate reason then I was fine with it.

1:03:55But generally nobody was late. No? No. Barely you. Well, I got... Ben Hoddle dropped me at Bolton away because I missed a flight at Heathrow. I was in the airport. What were you doing at the airport Craig? Having a pizza. I've never heard the call on the channel. Just a pizza? Yeah, yeah. Oh no, no, no. That was the day when you played the Saturday and the Monday. Remember? The Easter. Right. So two days. Was there any whining about a game every 48 hours back then? No, there was not. Anyway. I think I've told you this before. I won't go into it. But I'm running up to the, what do you call it? The gangway.

1:04:36Yeah. Departure bit. And I can see the plane getting pushed out. Now, footballers think they're somewhat important. Yeah. But there's not a pilot in the world pulling the plane back in. Was it you on your own? No, it was me, Ann Weisy. Right, OK. And only one of us got dropped. Ah, I see. He was club captain. Ah. Anyway, we missed the flight. Frank, what about you? I've never been late in my life. I even was born on time, you know. The doctor said I would be there at 9am. I came up and came out at 9 a.m. So, no, I like to be on time. I hate being late. I prefer to wait for the others. And that's, I don't know, I feel so bad when I'm starting to think that I'm going to be late.

1:05:22So, you know, I do everything to be on time. No, I'm always on time. What's the chances Vinny gets dropped if he's late? Today. Well, it's like Dennis Wise. No, correct. Not a chance. No, it's rules for one and rules for us. Stevie, how can this Real Madrid defence keep a clean sheet against Bayern? I don't think they can. No. Champions League, it's going to be fun. Final question. 11 Declan Rices or 11 Feli Valverdes? What would you prefer? Feli Valverdes. Yeah? Yeah. Why? Scores more goals. Okay. Simple as. Simple as. There we are. That is it. That brings us to the end. I'm not going to do the last question.

1:06:00That is it. That brings us to the end of today's show. Thank you very much, Frank. Go and get some sleep. We'll be back tomorrow. Bye-bye, guys. Stevie, you're in tomorrow. Cool shot. Exciting. Looking ahead to... I'm the lovin 'er. Some international action.

1:06:19Two teams. One cup. The primetime stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi Finals. Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tigers Jupiter Lynx. Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2. And Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. and on the ESPN app.