Mbappe's First Hat Trick of the Season

25:36And as soon as a club does that, the sort of inflationary effect for everyone else is quite significant. But, you know, as I say, Chelsea have really capitalised on that contractual trick that they pulled off when the new owners came in four years ago.

25:55All right, so Craig mentioned a little earlier in the show the Julian Alvarez whole transfer saga. And we've been talking a lot, James, about the Barcelona and Atleti side of it. But of course, Arsenal are in the picture, or said to be, and there has said to have been direct talks between Mikel Arteta and the player himself. So what can you tell us about the Arsenal angle on this? Yeah, so Arsenal have sort of sat in the corner and just quietly had their hand up while Barca and Atleti have just sort of, you know, have gone at each other over the whole summer. And they've kind of got an ace in the pack here, which is Andrea Berta, the sporting director, because he had the same role at Atletico Madrid.

26:38He worked there for 11 or 12 years. And he negotiated the contract that brought Alvarez to Atleti in the first place. So no one knows that contract better than he does. He's obviously got a prior relationship, therefore, with the player and with the player's representatives and clearly the club itself. So he's quietly been doing the work on this. we actually broke the interest in Alvarez, in Arsenal's interest in Alvarez back in January. And since then, they've just steadily been in the background trying to play a very sort of delicate role, which is everybody knows Atletico don't want to sell him.

27:13And Alvarez has since kind of made it quite clear he wants to go to Barcelona. So you'd think, ostensibly, there's no chance of them doing the deal because the club don't want to sell and the player doesn't necessarily want to go there. But as it's played out, and Barcelona have really riled Atletico and they've responded so negatively towards them and been so publicly firm about not selling to Barcelona. As I say, Arsenal have just been in the corner in the background with their hand quietly up saying, we're here, we love you, we're happy to pay the market price. My understanding is they are prepared to break their club record fee to try and sign him, which is currently£105 million for Declan Rice.

27:51Now, if Alvarez really wants to get out and get out and go anywhere, then it's going to be difficult for Atletico to turn down, what, 115, 120, 125? I don't know exactly what the price would be, but it would be hard to turn that money down. But Arsenal are in a situation where they need some encouragement in these final few days from either the club or the player to say we can do a deal. Because I think if they get that, this could actually move quite quickly. But from what we're told, Alvarez is quite reluctant about coming back to the Premier League. as I say we all know he wants to go to Barcelona but if Atletico completely shut that door but say actually you know as we were talking about with Enzo Fernandes earlier do we keep a player who really doesn't want to be here he's torched his reputation with the fans to some extent we've seen that in the La Liga game at the weekend of course he scores a few goals and that will go away but they may think there's a circumstance here where actually maybe selling to Arsenal is the best course of action.

28:53And the other thing I'd just throw in the mix, and maybe this doesn't work, and I don't know what Craig would think about this, but maybe Alvarez might think the way I get to Barcelona is to go to Arsenal. And I go to Arsenal for a year, or 18 months, or a couple of years, and then I get to go to Barcelona. He's 26, he's got a bit of time on his side. Of course, this would play out if he was a little bit younger. But I do wonder whether even, and I have no information to this, but I wonder whether even Arsenal could sell that to him and say, look, come to us, give us a couple of years, win the Champions League with us, and then you can go and get your dream move.

29:26Just a thought. I think that's how Arsenal would have to sell it to him, really. Because he has got his heart set in going to Barcelona. And the club, his club, his employer, have been steadfast in saying, no way. So if he really wants out of that club, and it's been too vitriolic now, I think it's gone too far. You can always heal it with a few goals, but it'll never really go away. You go to your car park to get your car and they're waiting on you, they're abusing you. It never really goes away once you take this stance. The problem here is when you're selling that move a couple of years down the line is things change.

30:04Things change at Barcelona. Hansi Flick may no longer be in the job. Things could change on the sporting front with Deco. So you're always taking that risk, but if you can't get this move to Barca directly pushed through, you may have to take your second option. Now, the concern here for Arsenal would be you're spending a lot of money on a player whose first port of call is not you. What you really want when you sign a player is a player who's desperate to come. And clearly, whilst Arsenal are a great club and a successful club and a successful team, and they're absolutely going in the right direction, is that ultimately the player, he's their second option.

30:45And so, are you getting the player that's got the desire and the desperation that he would have if he goes to Barcelona? There's a lot of nuances within this move that are a bit of a mess, I have to say. But if Arsenal could get him on the premise that James was talking about, with a clause in the contract or whatever it is, that if Bassa come back in in a year's time, we will honour that move. that could be a way of them getting a very good player into the squad which will make them even more stronger favourites for the Premier League which they already are and it gets him out of a club where clearly he's unhappy and the club are unhappy with him so every day just seems more of a mess and I just hope for his sake that it all gets sorted out in an amicable way Yeah, so that might be an in at Arsenal, we'll wait and see but on the way out at Arsenal is Gabriel Martinelli, James

31:42Yeah, I've been told by Arteta and the senior executives that he's essentially surplus to requirements this season. It's sort of been quite significant. I think that he's not been part of the matchday squad for either Community Shield winner over Manchester City in Cardiff or the opening Premier League win against Coventry. And Max Downham, who is a fantastic talent, but when you're not getting in ahead of a kid who's just got his GCSE results. It's not a great position to be in. And Martinelli, look, I think his career's kind of stalled, really. I think, as Craig was talking about earlier, it would be something of a shame, I think, if he went to Saudi Arabia.

32:24I'd like to see him try and revive his career in a sort of better league, a better quality league. But he's just reached a point, I think, where Arsenal have moved on beyond him. His decision-making is incredibly frustrating. As a player who's watched him a lot, he creates the opportunities through his pace and his speed of thought that he then wastes. And it's that kind of frustration. He almost brings it on himself because he's very dynamic. His acceleration is ferocious. And then he gets into these positions and then he tends to make the wrong decision. Or he's not quite clinical enough when he's in front of goal.

33:03and Mikel Arteta's been quite open about how he wants to improve that forward line. And also, we're talking about clubs spending money. Arsenal have spent an awful lot of money in the last three or four years to get themselves into the position that they have and they need to recoup some of that. I think they've seen some of the other clubs moving towards, as we're talking about Villa, sort of trading models where there are just more transactions. My information has always been that they were going to move a little bit towards that this summer. their record sale remains Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool all those years ago.

33:38I can't even remember what that was now. 2017, 16, 17, something like that, which is£35 million. So I think they're quite pleased to be finally getting some Saudi cash because they've had their hand up for quite a long time. I remember being in a briefing once with one of the executives at Arsenal who pretty much said, somebody had said to him, why are Arsenal not getting any players to move to Saudi? Why is the Saudi interest not coming to the Emirates? And they sort of said, you know, not for the want of trying. As if to sort of say, and I think they had done this, I think they'd actually gone out to meet some of the execs at the clubs in Saudi Arabia to sort of say, hello, we have players too.

34:17You know, we're happy to get some of these marked up transfer fees if you're interested. So I think the fact that they're presumably close and that deal will go through now, I think they're finally going to get one over the line. and as I say smash their own record sale in the process is a good thing for them and in the same way when we were talking about the Alvarez situation where it feels like there's no good way out now now whatever happens somebody's going to be disappointed if he goes to Barcelona let's go be furious if he goes to Arsenal they've lost a great player if he stays that could be a very toxic situation I think Martinelli leaving is actually now the best thing for everybody I I think he just needs to go and revive himself and hopefully resume the upward trajectory in his career.

35:01Sorry, just to backtrack a little bit, James, the Alvarez situation with Arsenal, there's no desperation from Arsenal in terms of if the deal gets done or the deal doesn't get done. Or is this because they're not quite sure about Xochres, Havertz, blah, blah, blah, and they feel they need to go to that next level, be it Champions League final, that they feel they need that extra player? yeah they i always go back to straight after the champions league final defeat to psg i i asked arteta a fairly mundane question to be honest about i think how what he was going to do over the next few days or how they were going to process it what you know just what the next few days look like and he gave it he sort of lucked into this really good answer where he just talked about how we need to show ambition in the market and we need to be quick and decisive and dynamic and all this sort of stuff.

35:53And we sort of came out of it thinking, I think that's a bit of a message to people upstairs there and to the supporters to sort of say, we're not going to rest on our laurels here. And everything I've heard since then has been that comment was about the forward line, was that they know they need a little bit of stardust up front. You know, let's not forget that they brought Jokeres in last summer as an upgrade on Havertz. And yet what happened when both players were fit at the end of last season? Kai Havertz is starting. He's starting the big games. He starts the Champions League final. and significantly he starts the community shield he starts the opening weekend of the season I just you know we could have a debate about whether Jokic is good enough I don't want to do him down too much because I think he's a good lad who works hard and he has some quality but they build him as like the number nine who's going to win them the title and okay they won the league but he's not that I don't think he is that I don't think he's the number nine who really can and be the main man, and take them to years of sustained success.

36:49I think they know that too. I think they know that they'll be content, I think, if they go into the season without signing Julian Alvarez. But look, as I say, they've positioned themselves to say, right, if we can get him over the line, he is the absolute game changer. If we don't, we won the title with Jocares, with Havertz, with Mikel Mourinho, who actually did a pretty good job up there. once again as a sort of makeshift centre forward and showed again in the World Cup how good he can be. I think they'll feel they're confident enough to give it another go with that. And something that they have shown in the market, actually, is they've been prepared to wait for players rather than just sort of panic buy.

37:30So I think they'll feel maybe they could get him next summer if they can't get it over the line this summer. But look, cards on the table. If they could get him, they would want to get him now because they know what a transformative signing he could be, I think. Good stuff. Nice stuff. Thank you, James. Yes, stay up to date with all the latest transfer talk over on our website and stay up to date with the whole Julian Alvarez saga and see how that plays out. OK, EFL Cup action now. We've got to see Spurs after that 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday. They were up against Charlton today, who'd made 10 changes.

38:05We take it to the 41st minute. This is Mikey Moore with his first goal for Spurs. Yeah, he started at the weekend in the, should we call it the debacle at Brentford? Oh, it absolutely was, wasn't it? Ball bubbles around in the box here, Foster Solanke, 2-0. You were telling me, I think he made five changes, he made a few changes, try to find his feet, obviously got a big game at the weekend coming up in the Premier League, that's his bread and butter. Danzo there got a little injured, a little bit of contact with the had to have a little bit of treatment for a small cup. He's Savio. Savio, Savinho.

38:44Formerly known as Savinho. The deal's got done, came on today. 82nd minute, he's going to cut inside and he's going to score.

38:57A player with a lot of talent, we saw it at Girona, when they had their terrific season, where they were in the title race for quite some time. and then he was, I would describe him at Man City as a little lightweight. At 85th minute, he's involved here. It's a deflection off Ben Davies. He's given credit for the goal. Yeah, there's no doubt he has a talent. There's no doubt. But he has to have a consistency and that's what Tottenham will be hoping for. So Savio now in, Marmouche to follow as well. This has been a big topic of conversation in the world of transfers and right here on ESPN FC, James, I'm interested to know your own thoughts on this double move.

39:40OK, well, I think that most people objectively would say that they've overpaid for Savio. But I think there's more going on here than just the two deals. if Tottenham had paid more than 59 million quid for Omar Marmouche then Eintracht Frankfurt would have been entitled to a sell-on fee and I don't think it's an accident that the fee for Marmouche is going to be 50 million plus I think it's 10 of which five is pretty much guaranteed as add-on so that gets you to 55 million and that's strangely close but under the amount that it would then trigger a 15, I think it's 15 % the sell-on fee to Eintracht Frankfurt.

40:31So I wonder, and I don't know this, but I do wonder whether they've slightly paid a higher fee for Savio to effectively get Marmouche for a lower fee and maybe what's going on there is they've tried to do that deal to get it over the line to save City a bit of money going out the other end so that's just something to maybe think about and maybe in the fullness of time we might hear a little bit more about that but you know the Spurs have had to really the the noises were very very clear very early on as soon as they avoided relegation last season they were going to go big in the market this summer and clearly they have I mean they've spent huge sums and it's been a real departure from what we're used to seeing from Tottenham under obviously the chairmanship of Daniel Levy before he well officially left was essentially kicked out and the ownership kind of remodelled the hierarchy at the top end of the club so now it's on Deserby isn't it I mean this is this is very much Deserby's Tottenham he has had a heavy say in this recruitment strategy I mean somebody like Savio was was somebody that Spurs were looking at prior to Deserby coming in.

41:43They tried to do that deal last summer, but couldn't get it over the line. So they've had some sort of longer term targets. But none of this has happened without De Zerbe's sort of sign off. And now it's on him to make it work. I mean, he's, you know, as Craig sort of alluded to, it was a disastrous, I mean, an awful start for them at Brentford. And while I get the argument that obviously they had a lot of players missing, there were one or two, I mean, Archie Gray was captain, I think he was the youngest ever Tottenham captain actually um at the weekend and you know they've got a couple of players there you know coming back from injury who've tonali made his first start they've got you know a couple of players who weren't able to to feature and obviously you know the two city boys will come in now you presume at the weekend there was just a fundamental lack of effort and fight about them that i think will scare a few spurs fans because that's the sort of thing that's supposed to be behind them you know that that sort of that just that alarming capitulation and sort of drop off of the basics well that's where you you go and get Deserby and you sort of consign the last two league seasons if you like finishing 17th twice to history and you say well these are the standards we don't accept anymore and they've had a lot of concerns about the culture in the dressing room and at the club and I think you've seen in some of the outgoings that's part of the reason why some of those players have gone Christian Romero is probably near the top of that list and I think they felt they'd set those standards internally that would make sure that the kind of performance they gave at Brentford was a thing of the past so as ever when you spend this kind of money quickly the pressure shifts away from the board who have had to put up with that for years and rightly so because you could always argue that Tottenham have prioritised their balance sheet as opposed to their team sheet.

43:33You can't really say that about them this summer. They have put their money where their mouth is, and now it's on the manager to mould a team and to get them up the table. And I think everybody will be looking at that Brentford performance and think, well, they've got to leave that an incredibly long way behind very, very quickly. Otherwise, as mad as it is to say it, De Zerbe does start to come under a bit of pressure because that's the knock-on effect of such a big spend. This is the perfect way back into bouncing back, though, isn't it? Well, it's only one game, but I did say at the weekend, if Igor Tudor had been in charge of that team, you wouldn't have been surprised.

44:08That's how sort of rudderless they looked. In fact, Roberto De Zerbe on the touchline, as every goal went in, looked dumbfounded. Now, as Stevie and I were talking about, I don't know what the reaction was. Because generally, when you have a performance like that, the manager tears strips off you. But I don't know where we are with this Tottenham team. I don't know, and we know De Zerbe is that kind of character. Look, Spurs have been a big surprise for me because of all the things James talked about. Because they've not done what they've done this summer for a long, maybe not even ever. I thought they would have had a manager, like they did have an Antonio Conte, similar to De Zerbe, who bangs his fists, who's demonstrative, who demands.

44:52But Spurs, and the hierarchy has changed, Spurs have never really buckled to those demands. They've tampered with it a little bit, kind of half-heartedly. But they've never gone in, to my knowledge, certainly, in recent history, they've never gone in in this manner. So they've secured safety, just. They secured De Zerbe on a long contract. They've gone out and spent. And now it's up to them. They don't need the weak players, the weak mentality that they've had over the past couple of seasons that we saw at Brentford at the weekend. And one of the things with Mermush and Savio coming in and one or two other players is they are very talented players.

45:37But do they have the backbone? Has he got enough players with the backbone to drive the others forward? That's going to be one of the big questions because I've signed a lot of talented guys, but talent alone doesn't get you to the end game. It's an exciting time, apart from Brentford, It's an exciting time for Tottenham. But he now, as James said, he's under pressure. We've spent big. Now he has to mould this group into a team that can push for the top six. They have to be pushing for the top six, even though they were where they were last year. You spend that kind of money at a club the size of Tottenham, with that stadium, with this squad and this manager.

46:13You have to be pushing up to the top end of the table. And what we saw at the weekend was a million miles from that. They're also said to be pushing for Cody Gakpo right now. He's emerged as one of the major storylines in this final days of the transfer windows. Man City apparently entering the picture too. What do you know about this, James? Yeah, not loads. I know that the interest is genuine. And I know that the wide left position is something that Spurs have been looking at for quite some time. And again, my understanding was that De Zerbi had told them earlier in the summer that he wanted multiple wingers.

46:47So there's a lot there that fits. and yeah, Gakpo again does he take Spurs to another level? Probably not but he knows the league he has a level of quality and consistency that I think Spurs would probably I guess rate him as an upgrade on but I don't know Craig's point I think is right about the character I always remember speaking to a couple of people at Spurs when Thomas Frank was there and Frank and his coaching staff were quite critical about the sort of lack of leadership that they had in the group and I always got the sense that when he picked Christian Romero as captain it was almost as if who else do I go for you know like the dressing room is not full of those characters full of those leaders and I thought it was really interesting knowing that to then see De Zerbe say my five captains, Mickey van der Ven is now obviously club captain, Pedro Porro, Ben Davis, James Madison and Archie Gray.

47:56And every single one of those players was there last season. And you sort of think, well, what has De Zerbe seen in that group that Thomas Frank didn't? What has he seen about the characters in the dressing room? And I'm sort of stunned that Andy Robertson is not in that group because, again, the sort of talk about the reason why they would sign a player like that is because of his character. Great character, great leadership, quality, speaks really well to the press. You know, you would think if you're going to name five, he would have been nailed on for that. And he wasn't. And I just, again, I'm not casting any aspersions over anybody.

48:37I'm just I'm trying to give a bit of information about the view of that squad previously. And the fact that De Zerbe's seen something different there is something, I think, to keep in mind as the next two, three, four months go by. You know, was Thomas Frank and his coaching staff wrong? Was there actually a leadership group there all along? Or is De Zerbe placing his faith in a group of players that let the last guy down and may let him down too? Who knows? I'm glad it was a lot more simplistic. a leadership group back in the day we called them senior players senior players who ran the dressing room and then if you were a youngster coming through you listened Archie Gray is a terrific young talent but I've never heard him speak again it goes back to the point Tottenham barely got out of the relegation last year because they had a squad of players who didn't think or didn't even believed they deserved to be down there and didn't have the mentality or the fight that you need when you're in a relegation battle.

49:42They had the talent, but they didn't have the other facets that you need, which is rolling your sleeves up. And you need a bit, and every team needs that. And I look at the players that have signed even in the middle of the park, and as experienced as he is, I wouldn't call Tenali a leader. You know, but he had Gimarez and he had Joe Linton beside them at Newcastle for long periods. You know, one very, very experienced sitting in front of the back four and the other one a bit of a warrior, really, in Joel Inton that can do multiple jobs. So you look even at that position and you say, well, Rodrigo Bentoncourt should be a player that's, he's not a leader.

50:18In fact, a lot of times it's a liability, the way that he charges you around the field. A guy with so much experience and ability. And yet, if I was in the middle of the park, and I was saying this to Stevie, if I was in the middle of the park with Bentoncourt, I would be getting him by the scruff of the neck and saying, listen, you know, you need to be here beside me, not charging around, getting yourself booked and making all these. And so you need, regardless of the talent that you sign, it all comes down to the fact that you need players within your team that can see the game and can talk and can organise.

50:52And that's going to be one of the several big questions for Tottenham and De Zerbe going forward, because I would question if they have that kind of individual within this locker room at this moment in time. I don't think they have. They've signed a lot of good players, but I don't think they've got a lot of, again, to go back to that point, I don't think they've got a lot of leadership. On the Cody Gakpo point. I think Stevie was talking about it the other night. Unless Liverpool have got a Barcala or others up their sleeve, they're not really in a position to be letting a guy go that's pretty consistent for them.

51:27You know, he did have a period last year he didn't play particularly well. But a lot of times when you watch him play, you know, he's one of the things that, you know, as James mentioned, he would beef up the Tottenham squad, which is one of the things you have to have these days in most leagues, but particularly the Premier League. So one of the things Arsenal really worked hard on was they had a good first 11 in those couple of seasons that they went toe-to-toe with City but lost. But they beefed the squad up because Arteta knew that he needed to be able to go to the bench when somebody wasn't playing well or he had a suspension or an injury.

51:59And Tottenham absolutely need that. And I think Gakpo comes into that, he comes into that place where he'll get you some goals, he'll work hard, he's got some physicality about him, but he won't probably always play, but he'll be a big part of the squad. The one thing I would say, if Liverpool sell him, they have to have somebody lined up. Otherwise, Areola's been left high and dry because he was ultimately one of their best performers at Newcastle at the weekend. Yeah. Well, I'm going to let James Oli get some rest now because there's a lot going on in London at the moment in the Premier League.

52:32So thanks for joining us, James. We'll see you again soon. Yep. Stay up to date with extra time over on our YouTube channel every single day. The panel answer your questions and you can always find it over there.

52:47Real Madrid back at home and it was a big win. And it all pretty much came about in the second half for one. So we saw a big 45 minutes. And it feels like it was 45 minutes in Jose Mourinho's post-match press conference, Alex Kirkland. We sent you to it. I kept looking up out the corner. And I'm thinking, is Jose Mourinho still speaking? How long was it? Over 20 minutes, Kay. I was timing it from start to finish. Just over 20 minutes. Look, in keeping with the new sort of relaxed mood that we've seen so far, at least answering every question, quite discursive and he was happy with that second half as you mentioned he also said he was kind of happy with the first half he said in the way the team kind of stayed calm didn't panic kept at it as you might expect lots of talk about Mbappe after his hat trick he said he's liked what he's in for Mbappe not just the goals that he scored but also kind of the role that he's taking on within the group taking responsibility being a leader came back early from his post World Cup holiday and wants to see a lot more from him he said did have a problem with the whistles in the first half there were a few whistles in the first half when it was goalless when it was one all he said look we know what the Bernabeu is like the fans are like they have high expectations that expectation is built on history on the trophies one and he said it can in a way it can help you to maintain those standards so yeah a long press conference but a relaxed one as well from Mourinho tonight all right so a good times rolling right now at Real Madrid with back-to-back wins but the drama is around the whole Julian Alvarez situation right now Joanne Laporta the Barcelona president has said, we got the information that Atletico Madrid wants to sell the player.

54:21It's clear that our offer remains valid until the end of the market. Atleti are emphatic in their response. They say the player is being victimised. But the only victim of the Julian case is us. They have harmed us economically and socially. There is 0 % chance of selling him to Barca. This situation is not about the money. It's about dignity. There is 0 % chance of selling it to Barca. There's a campaign with many lies and half-truths. The only one who pays for this is Atletico. This is getting uglier still, Alex. It is, and it comes, of course, after Julian didn't train today. I asked the club about this when we found out that he hadn't been training.

55:04He was indisposed, is the literal translation of the Spanish, indispuesto. But you can translate it as unwell if you had a bad night. That sort of kicked things off. And then, as you mentioned, Laporta's statement followed by the riposte from Atletico. It is getting pretty ugly. It's getting incredibly uncomfortable. And I have to say, increasingly, I find it hard to see how Julian can stay at Atletico under these circumstances. It's getting really quite toxic between his camp and the club. You know, the club, we know how they feel about Barcelona. Not happy with the players' representatives either.

55:39Look, we've seen all kinds of turnarounds in football. and sometimes players have to sort of get their heads down and work things out. But I do think it's difficult right now to see how he stays. As you heard there, there's a 0 % chance of him joining Barca. Is he willing to accept not going to his dream club but going somewhere else, going to the Premier League? That remains to be seen. But yeah, ugly is the word for the situation right now. OK, let's talk about Barcelona because they're in action against Athletic Club tomorrow and we did see a good start for Hansi Flick's men. And Laminia Mallow not in the best of moods there.

56:11Has there been any talk about that, Alex? Yeah, there has. And about the, you know, lots of speculation about the possible reasons. Is he not happy with his personal form? Is it in terms of potential exits or players that haven't really been involved in the first team so far this season? One or two of Lamin's close friends. You know, speculation about Alejandro Balde, who's a close friend of Lamin. Hansi Flick's been talking about him today. He said that he spoke to Balde and said, look, potentially you'll be starting behind Gio Cancelo at left-back, but if you get your head down and work hard, we can see.

56:45So some talk that maybe Lamin is not totally happy with the roles of one or two of his close friends in terms of the team. I think it will turn around soon enough if Lamin feels his personal form is where it needs to be and Barcelona keep winning games and he keeps being important. Well, that would be a worry, wouldn't it? If he is... You always have people in the dressing room you're closer to, but it's really up to the manager to select the team. You've got your own... If this is the case, you know, he's got to concentrate on what he does, not worry about if his mate's playing there, if his mate's getting enough game time.

57:23That's not his job. His job's to do what Luminium All has been doing. But let's not forget, He had a bad injury to finish the season. Spain won the World Cup without him being brilliant. He's got to get his head back down. I'm sure he will. He's got to get his head back down. He's working for a manager that trusts him. He's working for a manager that has had success. They play the best football in Spain. He's got everything laid out in front of him. It's up to him to go and do what he does and let the coaching staff do the tactics and select the team. If you start getting involved and worrying about what's happening with Joe Bloggs and his mate, then that's going to take you off your game.

58:04So I would hope that that's just a rumour and that he's a little frustrated at the moment because he does not want to start meddling in who plays where and when because that is not his job. We can see how Barcelona look tomorrow when they take on Athletic Club. And you can too by catching us. The game will be on ESPN2, 2.55pm Eastern, also on Deportes. but pre-game coming to you on the app. So make sure to join from 2.30 Eastern for all the build-up to Barca against Athletic. That's all we've got time for. You lied tonight. You lied. You said it'd be a short show. You said 25 minutes in and out, but you were blabbing on.

58:47You and James. Thank you so much. You and James. Never stopped. And we're going to continue talking. And Alex Kirkland's coming back too because extra time's coming up. I'm not talking about Alvarez. We'll see. We'll see. Stick around. Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. Alex Kirkland is with us from outside the Bernabeu. I'm Craig Burley. You get these transfers that come along now and again. After a couple of days, you're just sick of it. Alvarez feels like that because it's just... It's kind of a mess, isn't it? It's not the Mbappe three-year one, no. No, but it's just... It's a mess and it just...

59:21I don't know. It's never... It never ends well, put it that way, really. First question. After Manchester United lost to Hull City, Michael Carrick got a bit hot under the collar at Jan Agafiotov's post-match questions. Was Carrick in the wrong, or is it just how everyone reacts to Jan asking them questions? He did get a little bit prickly, didn't he? Well, look. Is he in the wrong? No. That's his choice to react in that way. Jan suggested that there was no passion from his team in the first half. And usually a manager at the end of a game is running hot under the collar anyway, particularly one who just witnessed a performance like Carrick had.

1:00:02So, yeah. Do I think he could have been a little smarter in how he answered the question? Yeah. But that's what... And a fair play to Jan for keep badgering away. So, yeah, sometimes that happens. OK. Alex, you've seen it. What did you think of it? I saw this. I loved it, Kay. Look, as someone who does quite a lot of these post-match flash interviews quite they're so often so formulaic and so often like let's be honest you know just kind of generic questions and answers i think anytime we get a bit of passion a bit of back and forth a bit of debate i love it more of this kind of thing please yeah there's more passion from karik than his team for boom yeah karik said it was ridiculous he said you played didn't you tian so we'll see how that plays out well at least at least he knew yan played unlike jrgen klopp when he never knew Nadim played and then found out.

1:00:53Did he play? Alex, how well is Bouadi suited for the Premier League and can he make a difference for Manchester City this season? It's a good question. I mean, look, replacing Rodri and filling those boots of the best midfielder in the world right now, a Ballon d 'Orvin, it's not easy. It's not ideal. I think, let's see. I saw him at the World Cup. I know that he got a lot of plaudits for his performances early on, in particular at the World Cup. When I saw him later on, it was the game against Canada. I wasn't hugely impressed. He looks quite raw to me as someone who hasn't seen much of him or any of him really in playing in France.

1:01:29So, look, let's not rush to judgment and give him time because I think he'll need it. Craig, do you think that players are still carrying with them fatigue from the Club World Cup? The Club World Cup? The Club World Cup, it says here. No, I mean... Then go a full season and then a World Cup. Well, it certainly doesn't help, but the World Cup was the one for most of the players, wasn't it? I haven't had the fortune of playing in the World Cup myself and knowing how little time there was off the back of it before we started the season again at Celtic, a season which was a big season for us because we were trying to retain the league title.

1:02:04A lot of guys just picked up muscle injuries within a couple of months of the season and lo and behold, it was most of the guys that had been at the World Cup for different countries. so yeah it is whether it's the whole club well the whole club World Cup thing feeds into the Gianni Infantino whole narrative and I don't want to go there but the whole thing and this was my problem with it was having something as big as that ahead of a season a full season for all these players ahead of a World Cup is just complete nonsense isn't it I wouldn't say it's still affecting the players but I think the World Cup certainly is affecting some of the players at the moment This person does often send you questions about the Club World Cup.

1:02:46I think they know you love him. Really? Yeah. Tell me somebody that thinks it's a fantastic idea to play all these games and make the players even more fatigued. It's just bonkers. And hopefully we get this Infantino. It seems to have gone a bit quiet. But hopefully somebody will oust this guy and we can move on to a little bit more common sense. But I'm kind of slightly worried that he'll cling on through some sort of power struggle. that's a different story. Craig, how disappointing is it that Celtic lost to Lask yesterday in a second leg Champions League player? Disappointing for the Celtic supporters.

1:03:21All goal advantage. I don't pay any attention to it these days. But yeah, it's embarrassing actually, isn't it? I mean, Rangers got walloped, I think. Hearts went through tonight in the conference, I think it was, whatever it was, against Rapid Vienna. But to be four up, I think four goals to the good over the two legs and then lose five goals is not a good look, but you dominate Scottish football for the most part and rest in your laurels. It's what you get. OK. Don't think we have Alex for the moment, so we're going to... Oh, we've got him back. Yep, yep. Nope. Yeah, we do. Good, because we've got a nice question for you, Alex.

1:04:01How short is Dan Thomas in person? We saw a picture of Dan taking a picture of you and he had to hold the camera up to get you in the frame. I think we've got that picture. There it is. Tell us, Alex. Yeah. Yeah. Look, it's often the case when you meet celebrities, when you meet famous people, they're not as tall as you expect, are they? And that's the case. Look, that photo, the perspective is not flattering to Dan. There's a bit of a slope on the edge of the picture, which doesn't help. But the facts are the facts are the facts. I think that is actually flattering to Dan. I think it doesn't look as bad as really it should be.

1:04:41I think if he was actually going and standing right next to Alex, it would be a much poorer look. Look, we all know he's vertically challenged. I mean, there's no getting away from that. I mean, it's been quite obvious from probably day dot. But there you go, you know. It takes all sorts. He's got his friends in Madrid to cut Alex's feet off so that Alex can't talk more about it. Sorry, Alex. But Craig, good job. Well, he's coming back to work, I think, tomorrow. I think, any Billy big time. He is. And travelling around. Craig, following on from your previous shark-based words of wisdom, Dan shared this.

1:05:15Oh, yeah. Do you have any other noteworthy pieces of advice? So first, let's remind you. Remember this, and you'll stand in good stead. A shark will only attack you when you wait. Right, good. So if you keep that... But what? Yeah, Don, don't. Don, listen, because you're not the brightest. A shark will only attack you when you wait. Now if you keep... When you're wet! Don! Oh, yeah! I'm not done. A shark will only attack you when you're wet. OK, right. Do you understand that? I'll get extra time. Don, what's not to understand about that? Don's face. What?

1:05:59When you're wet! A shark! I'm trying to help you here. Stay dry. Stay dry. He would die. A shark won't attack him. Stay dry. Stay dry in the ocean. Yeah, good luck with that one.

1:06:17Alex is back. Alex, you understand, right? Please tell us. Again, I've seen the clip and I enjoyed it very much. It's great stuff. It's terrific content. I actually stole it, Alex. It's not my line. I heard it from the late, great Sean Locke, the English brilliant brilliant comedian who passed away I think a couple of years ago and I heard him so I pilfered it from him really because obviously I'm not a comedian but I just loved that line but it's not really about that it's Don and Shaka Don and Shaka make the clip Shaka off camera you can hear him well you know Shaka he just laughs and Don with that sort of that made it but I have no other advice at this moment.

1:07:05No words of wisdom. No, no. What a shame. Well, maybe next time Don comes on, you can have some ready for him. I did laugh when I heard that at the first time, the comedian Sean, a shark will only attack you when you wait. What? Don, brilliant. Okay, Craig, since Stevie has agreed to go to yoga class, if Manchester United win their next two games... Yes. Stevie and Alexis had a bet that if Manchester United win their next two games, they'll go to a yoga class together. Well, obviously, there'll be a camera. Will you? Absolutely. Will you buy him some yoga pants?

1:07:40Can you imagine, Stevie, a pair of yoga pants? Well, as we know... Do you want to imagine? I'd love to... As we know, his... His... Stephen, our colleague, has... I wouldn't call it a problem. A flatulence problem. Yoga is not good for that. I think that could be a worry for the other participants. in this possible yoga event, because Mr. Nickel... Let's just leave it there. Yeah, have you ever done... Why does he go into these beds? I don't know. Have you ever done a little tree pose? A little downward dog, Alex? I do a bit of yoga. I do it with my kids. My kids love it. We stick some kids' yoga on YouTube, on the TV screen in the living room, and we do it together.

1:08:25Yeah, it's good fun. I don't do it, but it's actually supposed to be really, really good for you, particularly in my scenario, where i've got a lot of uh issues with my pelvis from my playing days it's very locked and stiff and it is actually however i think he has passed that stage why don't you join them if it happens no no no no i've no interest but i actually think you know anyway that is supposed to that'll be the next thing he's he's cut back on everything he's cut back he's on a diet he's cut back on his beer he's taking up yoga that is this the new steven nickel yeah he actually has been saying no to some things that he'd usually not to so he's it's really raining it in on the diet all right yoga we'll see actually in madrid it's gone 12 p.m it is thanks so much for being with us go get some rest great work as always no worries guys thank you we'll be back tomorrow espnfc make sure you are

1:09:55We'll be right back. Terms apply