Manchester City: FA Cup Champions

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1:10Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas. Jermaine Beckford is here as is Nadam and Newark. We are at Wembley. You may have noticed Manchester City clinching the FA Cup final, defeating Chelsea by one goal to nil. Not the best game when it came to quality, but it was one little moment of magic that handed City the title. fantastic individual goal from Semenyo would see them get over the line and defeat Chelsea.

1:37Why was it so poor? I think in my opinion Chelsea's approach was one which was basically built around a side who struggled to find wins and confidence in recent weeks so they found something against Liverpool playing in that style I think Colwell being back, Rhys James being back in there as well you saw a more robust side to them but I think with mostly attacking coming from Gusto on one side and Kukareo on the other, their defenders, you know, they might be able to contribute in attack sometimes, but their defenders, so their attack wasn't really there. And I think from a City standpoint, at times, I think Marmouche and Haaland didn't work well together as it took.

2:08And as the game wore on, Roger was getting more tired, they were losing that influence in that midfield section. And it was boring. It was boring. That's essentially what it was. Because every time Doki got the ball, for example, somebody we want to see on the ball, it's a 2v1 against him. It's going to be very difficult for him to go past two players and so on. So Chelsea tried making for harder cities they could that's the first thing and they did do that so when that ends up being the case you got a game like that jermaine is a striker talk us through the cement your goal oh what a finish so he was he didn't have his best game today i think i think no not many two players did exactly and i think that's something that we need to to address but at the same time he was he was part of the build-up the one thing he does really really well he doesn't set the ball up and watch and admire his pass and admire what's going on in front of him the attacking play he finds himself going into the danger areas into the 18-yard box closing down closing into the six-yard box close to where the goalkeeper is lovely little ball across the pitch from harland but that that finish the little back heel finish is so so difficult to do nine times out of ten you will miss the target every now and then you'll miss the ball completely but to do it from that angle oh my gosh the goalkeeper has absolutely no chance of getting there because he doesn't expect it.

3:21I'm offended you didn't ask me about that finish. Yes I know, we go back to about Stamford Bridge. Yeah sometime in 2010 or whatever but I think in fairness from Chelsea from this perspective Colwell is on Semenyo so when Semenyo does that there are certain times in football where you hold your hand up and say well there's not much I could have done there. That's great forward play, that's a fantastic finish and something where nine times out ten that probably doesn't go in but today it certainly did. And of course you kind of felt as this game was going on it was going to take a big mistake or something special to separate these two sides.

3:51Yeah, I don't know if you'd agree, but defensively, the teams weren't making that many mistakes. A lot of mistakes were happening in the attack. So maybe it was going to be that quality. Would you agree? 100%. 100%. I don't feel like Chelsea put City under enough pressure for them to make a mistake in the first place. And on the flip side of it, I think the way City were playing, Chelsea had to just sit deep anyway. You know, so they weren't, I mentioned before, they weren't making the penetrative passes through the midfield or through the defenders. They weren't getting the defenders facing their own goal.

4:21Everything was being played in front of them. And it was neat and tidy, don't get me wrong. It was pleasing on the eye. But as a striker, I want to see goals. I want to see opportunities. I want to see shots. I want to see saves. We didn't see enough of that today. We saw the emotion in with Bernardo Silva when he caught himself on the big screen at the top. Obviously, this is last piece of silverware in theory that he'll lift for Manchester City. What will the history books say about him? For Manchester City he's an icon. I think they showed recently that through his tenure at City he's not played in maybe seven games total.

4:52That is it. So you can see how important he's been at the times. Maybe he's playing as six, maybe he's playing as an eight. Maybe he's high and wide on the side. He's played left back as well. One thing for sure is that he's had to be played. He's probably Pep Barrio's most trusted player throughout that whole time. So legacy-wise for him this year being given the captain's armband as well, for him to walk up those steps twice, to be able to lift the trophy in that manner, and to know that these are the final days and what's been an incredible chapter for him, for Man City, for his legacy in the Premier League as well.

5:20So he's rightly emotional. Same for John Stones, who isn't necessarily going to get a chance to play, like Bernardo Silva is. But as he walks away, people lift him onto their shoulders because he's been an icon for Manchester City. I always feel someone like Bernardo Silva is someone who former players appreciate more than fans even, because you can see what he does maybe more than those haven't played at that level. Yeah, absolutely. He's one of those players that he's the creative force before the creative force. You know, every time he gets the ball, he'll always give you 110 % energy and effort.

5:51He's not the quickest player in the world, but he's so intelligent. The way he plays the game, he plays the game two steps ahead of everybody else, and that's why he stands out as much as he does. For me as a striker, I would have loved to have played with somebody like that, with Bernardo Silva. just because of the way that he makes space, not just for himself, but for everybody around him. He's an incredible footballer, great human being, and genuinely, it's going to be a shame to see him leave in the Premier League. For sure. What I will say, the same way with Bernardo Silva is the same way it was for David Silva.

6:22When they first came, I thought these small little left-footed players want to play like little rinky-dinky football. Get into them, be physical, you'll dominate them. For all the years that those two played, they've never been dominated, and instead their influence has been phenomenal. You give them the ball and you trust them with the ball. Very rarely do they turn it over. All the time they're dictating the tempo and the mood of a game of football. And for both of them, they've been through City's most consequential era in their history, a time when the Premier League is changing styles and so on.

6:49Little Bernardo Silva, who is not very tall, he's not very fast, not very strong, is still without question one of the most important players for a team that's won so much. How do you go about replacing someone like that? I don't know. I don't know. I think in my opinion as a City supporter the way that the league is going it might require different sorts of skill sets and so on Because for Bernardo Silva his ability to roam and play so many positions has made him invaluable for the team I don't think you can actually find somebody that does that I think Bernardo has felt his way into becoming that player for City Understanding how the team works, understanding how the league works So I don't think you replace him.

7:22I think in some ways if you want a midfielder with like influence Maybe Nick O 'Reilly can go in there in the future instead of starting in the left back but the fact that Bernardo Silva has done it his own way and the danger is, as is the case with De Bruyne and others that came before you can't directly replace them but you can find a way to help the team go into that next era Let's welcome in, Craig Burley is with us Craig, of course, we didn't hear your commentary I'm sorry it was full of sunshine and positivity, wasn't it, for this game? Well, I was about as positive as I could in that first 45 minutes Yeah, it was tough I think a bit of a little leads when they came here against Chelsea.

8:00I think Chelsea will fail, particularly in that first half, they've left it on the table. And what did we talk about when we saw the line-ups? What will happen when City push them back to a back five? They'll dominate the middle of the park. They'll dominate possession. And that's how it panned out. City didn't have to be great. Chelsea were a bit better in the second half. I heard you boys talking just before I came down.

8:29City are not a juggernaut at the moment they're a good side and I just feel Chelsea were a little bit we got Bernardo Silva I'm not sure if you can get him just here he's walking behind Craig we were just talking about how he's going to be missed Craig oh I thought you were going to get him in for an interview you're going to have to get him yourself Craig use your burly charm oh yeah I mean I was just talking about you had David Silva as you well know who is an 8 out of 10 every week, sometimes a 9 or a 10, and you replace that at some point with the Portuguese version. Exactly. You know, that consistent player.

9:06And for someone so diminutive, he's not big to have that physical presence and want that physical battle as well. It's absolutely brilliant. We were saying before, he's a player that shouldn't be as good as he has been for this whole time. When I think about the way the Premier League is, a player that's maybe 5 '8", 5 '9", isn't the quickest isn't the strongest but for City across those years has been as important as anybody else within that side well he was going to leave a couple of years ago wasn't he every year has been rumored and then he was talked out of it but i think the time is right for him you know going out in this that's sort of high i would say so yeah i would say so and there might even be a premier league you never know and i think what's been key i think for this year with him this is the first year he's been captain and wearing the unbound and taking on that responsibility with this new side with new players they see the game in a different way but i think he's led by example And that's an example that you feel that teams like Chelsea, Jermaine, have been missing.

9:57People like Rodri, who we saw today, Bernardo Silva, people who can take this team, take this XI by the scruff of the neck and lift them to the standards that Pep wants. Yeah, absolutely. With Chelsea, that's why they spent over£200 million on two centre midfield players. They were hoping one of, if not both of those two midfield players, Enzo and Caicedo, were going to be something similar. you know you don't spend 100 million quid and not get and not expect to get a phenomenal football player it's just something behind the scenes at Chelsea is just not quite right yeah it took them a little bit of time maybe the maybe the price tag was a little bit too heavy on them maybe the expectations that come with it to be fair I think we're all sort of called side against I think Enzo and Caicedo have turned out to be players that they wanted to be they've grown into it I think so yeah I agree there are other players but initially initially maybe it was a bit too much for them.

10:48Yeah, I think for me anyway, you know which players are key for Chelsea. You mention those two. Like at his best, you mention Nicole Palmer. You can talk about Levi Colwell and Rhys James. But I think for me, a lot of the supporting cast around it, at times they can't elevate themselves to that level to where they can be competitive. If you have a midfield today of, it's almost a little box at times, sometimes they have to go a bit wider. But if you have guys, Kai Sido, and you have Rhys James, and you have Fernandes and Cole Palmer, and then you secede possession and ask them to have to do a defensive job, that's going against the grain of what these guys are about, what brings the best out of them.

11:24Cole Palmer going back to help Malagusto for the bulk of the game isn't where he's going to hurt City. So I just feel Chelsea don't have a... They've got no direction at the moment, never mind no leadership. Manchester City then, winners of the FA Cup. It is cup season, of course, on ESPN. Next week it's all about the Pokal via Munich against Stuttgart. that game live on ESPN plus 2pm Eastern.

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13:03It's another FA Cup title then for Manchester City, up to eight. Still a bit away from Arsenal and Manchester United, but after two defeats in a row, Naidem. Don't know what you're talking about. Sweet one, obviously, against Palace and United. Don't know what you're talking about, Dan Thomas. They've just won it. That's all you need to focus on. It doesn't have to be great to win it today. Yeah, that's the way this thing goes now. By the way, it's raining, and I don't know if you're not working the rain. Well, they're good. Off you go. Bonus. I'm hoping you'd melt like the Wicked Witch. Small print of my contract, so if you see me disappear, it's all right.

13:36Craig alluded to it yesterday. Could this be Pep Guardiola's swan song? Before this last few days I thought he was gonna be but in recent press conferences he's talking about how he's gonna be back next year. Yeah he said it was not his last time at Wembley. Yeah but I think he's had something impressive today as well where he's saying that he will be back next season and for something to be that direct and that strong is very unlike Guardiola. I think he likes to sort of keep people guessing overall so for him to say that you know it's almost like we have to call him a liar for saying it but through the last few years I don't think we've had the chance to do that so I think he's staying.

14:08He seems like he wants to go again. He's got one more year left on his deal. I was going to ask that. He's got one more year left on his deal. So this never-ending story keeps on going. So Pep Guardiola to stay. Meanwhile, from a Chelsea perspective, of course the talk has been over the last 48 hours that they've had productive talks with Xabi Alonso. I don't know what that entails. Uriola is still in the mix. Arna Slopp, we'll talk about that a little bit later on with Liverpool and what Mo Salah has come out and said. So in that state, where are we with Chelsea and who's going to be in charge next season?

14:37Bearing in mind Xabi Alonso, as you know we cover La Liga every week, he took a big hit with that Real Madrid job. Got out just in time, so he wasn't unscathed, but he got out with a little bit of damage. He can't afford that to happen again. So if it is to be Chelsea for him and not Liverpool, he's got to get the assurances. But that's all the assurances every manager gets, and when you get in there, it changes. And that's the problem. But what we do know is whatever this club are doing isn't working. No. Right? And how easy is it to fix, Greg?

15:17Well, you have to bring in a coach and you have to trust them. Right. You can't bring somebody in and then you have half a dozen people with their fingers in the pie trying to make decisions that are affecting the on-field. You have to let the Guardiola's and the Clops of this world who have been super successful in England But they've basically controlled the football club within reason That has to happen, but I don't think that that will happen And why wouldn't he be a Chelsea player that's looking elsewhere? All the top, you know, Cucurella said this, Enzo Fernandes said he might want to live in Madrid one day Why not?

15:52Why wouldn't he, unless, if I was a player at that club and I was at the peak of my career, as some of these players are, some of them are a bit younger, and I was looking at them saying, they don't know what they're doing upstairs, and they're just going to keep making bad decision after bad decision after bad decision, and therefore we won't be challenging. Okay, we're at an FA Cup final today, but we won't be challenging for the Premier League, really. We won't be challenging for the Champions League. Why wouldn't a World Cup winner or a Cole Palmer or a João Pedro say, do you know what, I think I can go somewhere else and better myself, And that's the issue that Chelsea have so they have to me I think a big statement with the appointment of a new manager and who would that be?

16:32I think we are all right. I think all this Alonzo stuff I wouldn't say it's necessarily a smokescreen, but it just feels like he's going to be going to Liverpool Have you seen with this? I saw it but have you seen the reports from Liverpool today about the data? But we see when I hear the data thing it feels like it feels like that's almost on a slot using as a justification for how well he's doing but that's not him saying that this is this is the the richard hughes and an fs the the fenway sports group that on the club are saying the data's telling us i mean this is bonkers isn't it but you know how that'll be received though by the fan base by people within football that will be received terribly because they know ultimately they're not happy with what they're seeing on the pitch and if you want to talk about data one key bit of data is they've lost 19 games of football this season yeah like how do you say that's fine as long as like their xg is going up you know the 19 games is too much fans were leaving early yesterday against against aston villa and as they enter this next uh this next season are they going to be comfortable with arna slott's manager the likelihood is absolutely not they're losing faith in the type of football that's being played as well you know they were spoiled it was interesting what you're saying during the game you're like none of these players want to be playing this system that chelsea was set up to play what did you mean by that exactly exactly so you look at the type of football they were playing every single one of them Cole Palmer you look at Joao Pedro you look at the attacking players especially they don't want to be sitting deep in their own half defending like a half-court press you don't want to do that those type of players need to be in attacking areas picking up the ball pressing the center half pressing the fullbacks winning ball turning turning the ball over in the final third where their real creativity can really kick in yeah that's where the magic happens not in your own half you can't do anything from from your own half that's what the defenders are for that's what you're holding center midfield players that's what Enzo Fernandez when he's playing in the six or Caicedo when he's playing in the six or the eight that's what they're there to do that's their role that's their job and then they give it to the creative players the Cole Palmers and you know all of those other players that were that should have turned up today but didn't for sure Craig said it like what we've what you've said there Craig has already said that because he said Cole Palmer doesn't want to have to be doubling up with Malo Gusto for 90 minutes but that ends up being what he's doing and I think to make it worse from a Chelsea perspective, especially that first half, is Cole Palmer then wins the ball back and he looked forward and he's going to play it to Malagos to further up the field.

18:48That is the exact opposite of what you want it to be. You want to be able to feed those attackers in those dangerous areas so they can do something. But instead, as was the case in that first half of Chelsea, here comes Kukurea down the left, here comes Malagos to down the right, who are good players. But if you want to be creative and score tons of goals and win games, it's not going to be that. Did you see how, and I think he's one of the best talented front men in English football, Joe Pedro but either Chelsea won the ball back in those areas you know right back in the fullback area and he had nobody within 30 yards of him when they played up to him or he was I was walked from our commentary position he was actually 20 15 20 yards inside the defensive half when Chelsea were defending so when they won the ball there's no outlet there was absolutely nothing and nowhere to go yeah yeah you have to you then have to travel 70 yards yeah it was for For me, I thought in some ways it was Chelsea played with that style in a manner of a team who are far below where they should be as a football club because they were thinking in the match, like, I've been guilty of this for the teams I've played for.

19:50They look like they spend so much time getting ready for what City were going to do that they disregarded what they were going to do themselves in terms of how to attack. So whenever they won the ball back or say Sanchez had the ball, he's looking up. Here's a high ball to João Pedro. João, wrestle three or four plays if you can. Maybe he'll drop to one of ours and maybe we can do something. that's a side that's far better than that so many good footballers being basically told we're going to focus on just make Cole make sure you come back make sure you come back let's make it hard for them yes you can make it hard for them but you also need to try and win the game at some point and Chelsea don't have that and also footballers these days they're just way too nice look at everyone being nice to Naidem look at these two I mean just because I took my teeth out I wasn't horrible I was just horrible and I'll tell you what I mean without because some menu who was man in the match called a brilliant goal i mean what a skill set to have big strong fast and talented yeah i mean it's a good starting point and that's not me no exactly what i'm saying is being horrible is as soon as cucurilla was booked and he'd had him on toss before he was booked yeah one-on-one when cucurilla gets booked i didn't get the mindset of not ramming that ball down some menus target him every time i'm in midfield i'm getting the ball Good, there you go.

21:02Full-back don't even overlap. And you run at Cucurella because he cannot make a challenge. But for a long period of the game, they didn't do that. And that's why I'm saying sometimes I think, does the modern-day player even think about these things? Or does a manager have to say, hey, he's booked. Give him the ball and let him run at him. Are they too honest? Because that's what I would say. They're too honest. Whereas they're too nice, too honest. In our day, that's exactly what I would do. I would target him. If he's on a yellow card, I'm going on the other side and playing on him. If the other centre-halves on the yellow card, I'm going on that side.

21:35I'm targeting him. I'm stamping on his toes. I'm giving him little elbows in the ribs. I'm causing absolute carnage. Yeah, to be fair, what I will say is I've never actually played for a really good team, so I can't really say how the targeting will work. Despite that, though, you very much hang your hat on Manchester City. And somehow still trying to get yourself in the celebrations as well. I think we've got some footage here. More footage. I think this was Rodri, wasn't it? Just after the trophy presentation. Listen, at the end of the day, you know what I mean? If a Ballon d 'Or winner wants to come and say hello to me, then there's not much I can do, you know what I mean?

22:06Basically, I'm like Ballon d 'Or just by, you know, just being close to him. It's the way it goes, no? It rubs off, huh? Well, yeah, something like that. I'm glad I wasn't here. You are? You're still there, no? To be honest. To be honest, though, Craig, just to the... I'm not shaking players' hands. They're not shaking your seat. No, exactly. I've crossed that divide many years ago. Yeah, to be fair, I've obviously been very, very fortunate to Sports City in these last few years whilst I've been working. And I've seen, like, say, Rodri after a Champions League final scored the winning goal, I've spoken to him then.

22:35And I think for Gahey as well. Last year, when Palace won it, I spoke to him and congratulated him. And I said, you probably don't know anything about blah, blah, blah. Then he started talking about our careers. So I have a connection with him from there, congratulated him again and said, basically, it's his trophy now for the rest of the years in a row. All right, we don't need that whole story. Anyway, run the promo down, whatever. Run the promo. Let's do the promo, shall we, after that? I thought I was enjoying that. It's all to play for at the bottom of La Liga. You can see all those games live tomorrow on ESPN+.

23:06We've discussed in detail over the last few days the destination of Xavi Alonso's next managerial club. And according to a man who came running down the steps with such excitement here at Wembley Stadium, as we were just about to all leave, have a dinner, have a celebratory beverage, Mark Ogden has got some breaking news. Yeah, well, Chelsea are very close to a point and Xabi Alonso was their new head coach. Four-year contract, I'm told. Could be in charge for the Tottenham game on Tuesday. So, obviously, Chelsea identified a short list of candidates, Antonio Riola, Marco Silva at Fulham, but Xabi Alonso was the favoured candidate.

23:39As soon as he made it aware that he was ready to consider Chelsea, had some assurances to be given in terms of recruitment, the authority of the coach, but all those have been dealt with, and Xabi Alonso is now on the verge of taking the Chelsea job. Was Liverpool ever in the ether? I've been told that Liverpool were never ultimately convinced about Xabi Alonso so I don't think that was part of the equation I think maybe he was waiting for it, maybe he was hoping for it because clearly as a player Xabi Alonso had a lot of rivalry with Chelsea as a Liverpool player but no, Chelsea have made headway there we know that Arne Slott's under a bit of pressure at Liverpool but I think he'll stay but clearly if Xabi Alonso goes to Chelsea it takes him out of the equation for Arne Slott which does add a new element to it How come Liam Rossiniar got a six-year contract?

24:19Xabi Alonso who has been... What do you think, Craig? It's a statement. It's a statement. I mean, Leverkusen was brilliant, won the league, big job at Real Madrid. You don't become a bad manager overnight. They just didn't accept what he was wanting, i.e. work hard and pressing. The basics run about. But it's a danger him going in there because of the way Chelsea have operated. So he has to have control or an element of control that some managers haven't had. And he has to have a big sway in how the club has been run, certainly on field and all big decisions with players. So he's stepping from almost a frying pan into the fire here.

25:02But as we've talked before, Chelsea is a big job. But you've got to make sure you're keeping the best players. So, you know, there's no point Xabi Alonso coming in, you sell Cole Palmer, you sell Nenzo Fernandes, you sell Kaicedo. You've got to keep your big players, your core players and build around that. But if you want to keep those big stars at a football club, you have to make a statement in terms of the manager. And to be fair, this is a statement. It is a statement, Jermaine. It's quite cool, you would say, for Chelsea, considering what's been going on over the last few months. Yeah, it is.

25:33But Chelsea is a big football club, you know. So you look at Gaby Alonso, where he is as a manager, granted it didn't quite work out for him at Real Madrid. But again, he's a very good manager. As a player, if I'm looking at that and I'm seeing him coming in, I'm thinking to myself, this is amazing. The amount of things I could learn from this guy from a playing perspective, not only from a coaching perspective or a management, but just listening to him about when I pick the ball up in this area, this is what I want you to do. Those sort of nuggets of information, it's going to be golden for the likes of Cole Palmer, for the likes of Joao Pedro, all of those forward position players especially.

26:14I think it's a great acquisition. Yeah, so my only thing with this is why do it now with eight days to go before the season ends. Like, if you wanted a boost, because, you know, I've done this, say, a couple of days ago and then gotten into this final with a different sort of energy to it. Because I'd imagine there'll be lots of Chelsea fans who will be happy bringing in someone like that. But, like, why couldn't they have done that so that he could lead him out for this game in particular? Yes, like, going into the future, the four years, if it works out well, it'd be great. But, like I say, what's the significance of these next eight days?