Real Madrid Dropping Points Like Flies

20:41Dan Thomas:Don Hutchison joining us now. Is too much being made of this, Don, or is it fair what we're hearing? No, I think it's very fair. And I think Liam showed his inexperience there by giving him a two-match ban. I mean, the four players that came out and were quite verbal, criticising the football club or the ownership or the model, suggesting that they might want to live elsewhere and play elsewhere. He's inexperienced as given Enzo Fernandes a two-match ban. He could easily last week have given the four players a one-match ban, and that one-match ban would have been against Port Vale in the FA Cup and they would have went through anyway.

21:15So I just think he's left himself a little bit open because what if Chelsea get walloped off Man City? Then you've dropped one of your best players. He's talking about the culture, which I understand. But I just thought the easy call and a more experienced manager would have said, right, the four players, one match ban against Port Vale, and then everything would have been forgotten about. Now you're leading into a Man City game, which is big pressure.

21:37Steve Nicol:I don't think I've seen in recent years such a mountain out of a molehill.

21:49Steve Nicol:As Don said, you had Cucurella basically lambasting the ownership's inability to run the club properly.

22:00Steve Nicol:and yeah Enzo Fernandes made a couple of comments here and there but who doesn't this is this you'd think he'd run into the manager's office kicked the door down and had a scrap with him and I tell you what and I'm not listen Enzo Fernandes I think he's a very good player right and I'm it's not like I'm some fan or something like that because when I see him on the field he actually quite annoys me the way no the way that he's anti because he's not the only one, but he's one of several, particularly Chelsea players with their antics. But if that was me, I'd be inclined now to stick two fingers up to that manager and say, yeah, you want to hang me out to dry?

22:39Steve Nicol:Yeah, you want to hang me out to dry as the bad guy? You know, banning me from this game, banning me from one of the big games of this season. So you're basically pointing the big finger at me to all the fans and media out there that I'm the problem. And after that, you want me to come back and salvage the season for you after this ridiculous ban to try and save your job.

23:02Dan Thomas:So, Rosinia is shooting himself in the foot by not having him available for the weekend, like the journalist asked. Well, listen, he may win the game,

23:12Steve Nicol:he may get in the Champions League. I don't know. Any manager who does not pick his strongest team out of spite is shooting themselves in the foot. There's no player... You know, when Casey was at Tottenham and Donham was at, you know, West Ham, Liverpool and I was at Chelsea, you know, in Celtic. If a manager's, you're going to, if I'm going into a no-firm game against Rangers or a London derby against Arsenal or something, and all of a sudden you've got the guy that might win the game for you, I'm just giving you an example. You know, our case has got his best centre-half in front of him and his protection and he's been left out for something so silly.

23:46Steve Nicol:So you're exposing the team. It just doesn't make sense.

23:49Dan Thomas:But he can't walk it back now, right? Oh, no, he's done now. No, he's stuck now. Now he would lose all respect if he goes there. But don't paint yourself into a corner over something that just seemed like it was not that big of a deal. Look, I played in two countries where I didn't really speak the language. You think you know the language. You say something. You do something. Maybe the nuance isn't there. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But is that really something that you can't just call into your office and say, hey, hey, next time, maybe you don't want to mention this. Maybe, you know, it can be done a little bit differently.

24:30But but to blow up like this and that we're still talking about it.

24:34Steve Nicol:It was I think the Madrid comment was the one that. Yeah. There might be other things. I don't know. But certainly the journalist who, you know, we've done this been a bit cheeky. Where would you like to live? And he said, I mean, again, I said this a week ago. What's he supposed to say? I can't answer that question. I'll be banned.

24:49Dan Thomas:Yeah, because they said other than where you've already lived as well. So it left, it didn't leave those options there.

24:54Steve Nicol:What's a player going to say, well, I can't answer that question because Joe Bloggs over there won't be happy and I might get banned. So you might say... No, I only want to live in London. You might say Madrid and people take that as he wants to go to Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid or whatever it is. And that might be the case. But Casey's right. As the manager, you pull him in and you say, hey, come on. Hey, we're under enough pressure here already. You're not wet behind the ears now. You know, you're a guy in your mid-20s. You've travelled the world. You know how it works. You've got to be a bit cuter at what you say.

25:25Steve Nicol:But listen, don't worry. As long as you're committed between now and the end of the season, we'll sort anything out in the summer if you want to, but as long as you're committed between now and the end of the season and you're doing your job in the field and I know you're going to do your best, then it's fine. But just be careful. And something, a little pep talk like that, Rather than making this huge scene in the media and then banning the players.

25:49Dan Thomas:But they're going to continue to ask him about it, right? So how do you think he did now that the punishment's been given? How do you think Rosinio did in answering those questions in the most recent press conference? I just think he's been ridiculous from day one.

26:00Steve Nicol:Yep, I'm right there with you. It's the two-match ban. That's the strange one. That's the strange one, Kay. Who at the football club said, right, the number is two? Port Vale and Man City. Who's come up with a two-game ban? The sensible option is to say it's a one-game ban because it was Port Vale. Then it's all just gone. And Enzo Fernandes plays against Man City. The strange one is, whether it's Liam Resina or whether it's one of the sporting directors or whether it's one of the owners have chirped in and said, right, give him a two-game ban. The two-game ban makes no sense.

26:32Dan Thomas:So what does it do now, though? We've already heard from the players speaking out a little bit about their feelings towards this manager compared to the previous manager. does this cause further problems?

26:42Steve Nicol:Yeah, but hold on. I don't believe Enzo Fernandes was one of those players speaking about Enzo Maresca.

26:48Dan Thomas:Yeah, he said there was an identity before, wasn't it? Him who started with that one. There was a firm identity before.

26:53Steve Nicol:Yeah, and Cucurella said something, I think, even stronger.

26:55Dan Thomas:Yeah, he said something even stronger, but it's still suggested the differences between the two. I'll be honest with you.

27:01Steve Nicol:I'm sick of the lot of it. I am. When it gets to this level of pettiness, at this level of football, It's big business. You know, there's millions. We're talking about millions of dollars here for Champions League places and whatnot. When it gets to this level of pettiness that you have to feel, and there is a big question mark that this is actually coming from Liam Rossini and whether he's just a puppet that's fronting up and trying to make it look like it's him, I'm almost sure people above him are going, get this dealt with. Well, but then be stronger as the manager. I mean, Don, when was the last time you heard somebody get suspended for having a little blip in the paper.

27:45I mean, we're talking about British tabloids. I mean, we've all had, you know, situations that got blown out. We've all been there. Yeah, but we never had a suspension. Yeah, we've all been there. I mean, no, exactly. I mean, I remember a time being away with Craig in Scotland, and the journalists sit you down, and it's quite cozy, and you have a cup of tea in a hotel, and it's a little bit chit-chat, and all of a sudden, you know, they ask you one or two questions, and it's nothing major. It's like, oh, how's the family? Yeah, all good. How's life at West Ham? Yeah, playing good football, enjoying myself.

28:15Do you keep an eye on the Scottish football? Yeah, keep an eye from a distance. Who's your team? Rangers. All of a sudden, the next morning, Hutchison wants to sign for Rangers. It's like, I didn't say that. Yeah, exactly. It's like, you get done. And did you get a two-match ban for it? No. And that's what I'm saying. That's what's so ridiculous about it. Managers know, because they were players, that they were in the same... That's when you bring them in and you say, hey, just be a little more careful. And I'm like, yeah, I mean, I didn't even say that. I don't even know how that became the headline.

28:46But instead, it's like, I don't know.

28:48Steve Nicol:I'm trying to think of a manager that I worked under that would have actually, I think if I had a manager, one of the managers I'd worked under, any of them had pulled me in and said, I'm banning you for two years because you said you wanted to live in Madrid. I think I would have laughed myself under the table. Yeah, 100%. Absolutely.

29:05Dan Thomas:Would have been a better punishment to still make a sense that he can't. No, I don't think anything.

29:10Steve Nicol:I don't even think it warrants that. I think it just warrants a manager speaking to some players and saying, listen, you know. You know what the press are like. Be careful. Never ever has news and gossip travelled as quickly and as far. So, and I understand you all talk to people and blah, blah, blah. And you talk to journalists and you're on social media. but let's just be a bit careful and be focused on finishing this season strongly because don't forget Chelsea are in the FA Cup semifinals and they're fighting for this top five in the Premier League so there's a pretty sensible way of doing it not sitting at a press conference trying to make out you're the headmaster at the local school

29:51Dan Thomas:and you're punishing all the kids in the school but you have to dismiss it you've added more fuel and you know Don said it's kind of shows the inexperience of Roscinia but then at the same time you're also in that inexperience you can be whatever you want in the locker room in the in the changing room in your office you can be the hard man but publicly if you're going to go hard on a player publicly it better be for something that's worthwhile and the rest of the players are looking around going this is what you're going to be the strong man about and we're going to respect you for this and to me it looks like a guy that does not have from the outside again doesn't look like the guy that has the resume everyone's questioning why is this guy the manager and so then I'm doing things to show you why I'm the manager instead of everybody already knowing why you're the man.

30:53Steve Nicol:And also they're going into this game, which is a huge game, obviously, against a Man City side that can, whilst they're definitely second favourites to win the league, but they can smell a wobble in Arsenal. They can smell the pressure. You know, Arsenal have not played well, even in the Champions League, knocked out of the FA Cup. They have not been putting teams away with the clarity that they once were. So there is a chance that this Arsenal team could drop points. between now and the end of the season. And this is a City side that I think has been in that position many, many times and has been successful and doesn't have that pressure of getting over the line.

31:32And I think they can sense that maybe three or four weeks ago

31:36Steve Nicol:there wasn't going to be an opportunity, but all of a sudden Arsenal look as if the nerves are getting to them. Their big players are not playing well. They've got injuries. So City are going to be going after. They're sensing blood. And so you don't want to weaken your team in that big game when City have got so much to play for, but that's been Chelsea and Liam Rossini's decision. Rich Eisen here. The April 15th tax deadline is coming fast, but don't worry. Hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today. You know how April feels. Everything speeds up. Games matter. More hoops and hockey schedules tighten.

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33:42Dan Thomas:Let's get to some Premier League action because there's a big relegation battle game today between West Ham and Wolves. This is how it all played out.

33:51Steve Nicol:Well, I mean, a big relegation battle for West Ham.

33:55Dan Thomas:For West Ham. Well, another team's been dragged into this whole battle, which we'll get to in a minute. Uh oh. Mavropanos is going to convert the header to put the Hammers ahead. I mean, Craig and I were talking as we were watching that kind of first half out of one eye that Wolves had so many opportunities and then right before the half they concede. Wolves with a free kick and made a mess of it so the ball comes out and Somerville who had a big chance in the early stages of this game as well tries to chip the keeper here.

34:28Steve Nicol:I mean that that did not not the chip but that would infuriate this would infuriate you if you're a coach the the sort of slopping you know you know me know you and all of a sudden it's a counter-attack.

34:42Dan Thomas:End-to-end. But there were to be more goals in this game. 66-minute Wolves turn it over. West-hand break. And Tati Castellanos and Pablo Linco. And it's Castellanos who scores. Yeah he's just able to redirect it in the end. Kind of almost like a tackle.

35:01Steve Nicol:Wasn't this a nice flick, Casey? Yeah, to get him through for sure. And then, see he just kind of leaves it out there. The two of them go for it, he tackles it and just finds a way.

35:11Dan Thomas:Wolves would then give the ball away straight from the kickoff and so there's 99 seconds between these two goals from Castellanos.

35:20Steve Nicol:Yeah I mean this is huge for West Ham because as Casey said you know we were obviously doing Real Madrid but everything we looked up early on it was all Wolves doing the attacking but that just changed in the second half they were so sloppy and this has just been a huge game particularly at home yeah for West Ham against the last place team right I mean if you're in that relegation fight and you slip up at home against the last place team then you almost deserve to go down but West Ham showed some heart.

35:50Dan Thomas:Yep Nuno revamping West Ham's fortunes 4-0 against Wolves and this is how things are looking in the table and we draw your attention to Spurs who slipped into the bottom three with this result. They are in the relegation zone with seven games to go. And Vicario is not ready for Sunday's game. This is what we're hearing as well, which means, Casey, Antonin Kinski could be coming in to play. Yeah, it didn't go so well the last time he was on the pitch. And one of the strangest, you know, situations, you know, I'd seen how to handle, you know, a goalkeeping situation. I mean, yes, mistakes, 100%.

36:29Did it look bad? Yeah, 100%. But were Spurs going to win that game by pulling him at the stage that they did? But now you're asking him. You've done this to him. I know it's a different manager, and maybe that gives you that little bit different. But obviously, that first 20 minutes for that man, if he is indeed starting away at Sunderland, that's going to be huge.

36:59Dan Thomas:It is a different manager. Craig Deserbe is in.

37:01Steve Nicol:And here's the problem for him. If I was Anton Kinski coming in, I'd want to come in and take all the potential mistakes out of the equation by any ball coming back to me. It's getting launched. Like the old days, Casey and Xhaka, boot through it, up the field, squeeze up everybody. And what's the easiest way to do that? Is to make sure you don't have six guys coming towards you. Well, here's the problem. The new manager, Roberto Deserbe, is a manager who, like a lot of managers around the game these days, loves to play out from the back. Loves it. He wants to stretch the game, he wants to stretch teams, he wants to make the pitch as big as he can.

37:43Steve Nicol:And he wants his goalkeepers, if you look back to Brighton in particular, it was Jason Steele, Sanchez, Verbruggen. They were taking the ball almost on their own goal line in the six-yard box. now this is the last guy on the planet that A you want to be doing that and B he doesn't want to who wants to be doing that he doesn't want me to do that what Deserby's saying to him and I don't know if he is maybe he's gone the opposite way maybe he's gone maybe Deserby's saying right I tell you what how we're going to get out of this mess is not over playing we're going to be simplistic and we're going to squeeze the game that's kind of what the sensible thing to do would be but I don't think he is.

38:28Steve Nicol:I think he's going to talk to the goalkeeper and say, listen, I don't mind if you make a mistake, but I want you to take these chances. And you think about the nerves of that young man coming in. After that result today. After the... Well, after this result today, they're now in the bottom three. The horrendous performance in the Metropolitana and the huge embarrassment have been taken off. It is not a particularly comfortable situation.

38:53Dan Thomas:You don't think he's going to try and just keep it safe and keep it Simpolo knowing where his new team find themselves at right now.

38:59Steve Nicol:Yeah, but I wonder if the managers sent him, this is what I want you to do. I want you to play out from the back because that's what De Zerbe does.

39:07Dan Thomas:Maybe when they're higher up the table and he's going for something.

39:10Steve Nicol:You would think it's okay, but we'll see. Also, if I'm the young man, and let's say young man, he's early 20s, he's not 17. Yeah, but he doesn't have 200 games and Premier League experience. I don't think, if I'm him, I'm taking that responsibility on myself. Even if the manager's asking me to do this, if I don't feel comfortable, it's getting launched. Because he's not going to make an effect to his long-term career at Tottenham, because he hasn't got one. Right, so I think for tomorrow, is it tomorrow or that game? No, Sunday. For that game on Sunday, for me, if that goalkeeper plays, he's got to take that risk of those howlers out of the equation, and just go against the manager and get that If it's a comfortable pass, great.

39:56If it's anything over... I mean, if it's not 90 % that it's an easy pass, up the pitch.

40:06Dan Thomas:What are you expecting from Spurs, Don, and De Zerbe? Are you going to like this one, K? I'm on comments for the game on Sunday, so I can't wait for that one. We didn't even need to ask. I know. Well, like the boys have said, De Zerbe is going to want to put his stamp on what happens from now to the end of the season. His stamp, like Craig said and Casey said, is taking massive chances. You can go back and look at any footage under De Zerbe when he was at Brighton. It's goalkeepers playing balls from their goal line onto the penalty spot, the six-yard box, and attracting the pressure and trying to play that lovely, beautiful, purist-type football.

40:43He hasn't got time. So it's going to be fascinating watching the game, whether he's put his stamp on it and he wants his team and his players and his goalkeeper to play out from the back because that is his style? Or with seven games to go, does he just abandon all his principles and say, right, the most important thing, which is a common sense thing, is do the right thing, win games? And that starts at the weekend against Sunderland. Looking at the fixtures tonight when I was watching the West Ham game, Spurs and Forest have got the tougher running. West Ham, I think, have got Arsenal their strongest game.

41:14Any game after that, you could see potentially West Ham taking a point from the majority of the games. so they're running out of games and now in the bottom three which will affect confidence we've i've certainly been there when your 4-4-5 bottom and a team wins on a on a Friday night like West Ham have done tonight and a brilliant win in a pressure game that they had to win and then all of a sudden the Spurs players will be just before they go to bed tonight waking up tomorrow prepping for the game in the bottom three and that is a massive extra pressure on their shoulders going to the stadium light which is a hard place to go anyway against a fit Sunderland side What a test.

41:50Steve Nicol:You know, there's an extra responsibility as well here on the Spurs players and the defenders, you know, not to try and take the easy option and go back to the goalkeeper all the time. Yeah, I agree with you. Give the young guy a hospital ball where he's under pressure and maybe a bit of a bobbly pitch where Sunderland do press. A lot of their success this year, particularly early on, was the good side, but their physicality, their pressing and how they went about. You think about Arsenal who went up there. they really didn't stand off Arsenal. They went toe-to-toe with Arsenal. So don't take that easy option of turning back and going back to the goalkeeper and putting him in a difficult position.

42:30Steve Nicol:So, you know, I think he can be helped by his teammates not putting him in that scenario, but we'll find out. And Don, I'm sure Don will let us know.

42:40Dan Thomas:Yes, of course, because he's going to be on the commentary for that game. This weekend we'll also be seeing Liverpool taking on Fulham. That game is actually coming up tomorrow. And obviously Liverpool have their own troubles right now. These are the predictions from our panel. All of us going for a draw, except for Don Hutchison, who is confident for his former team. Why might that be, Don? I'm not confident, Kay. I am not confident. It looks like it to me. The only reason I put 2-1, because, well, it's not. It's an edgy one. I could see Fulham taking the lead. I could see Liverpool maybe taking the lead and Fulham get it back to 2-1.

43:13I can see it being edgy, being nervy. It's only because they're at Anfield that I've got them winning the game. And they should have won the game down at Fulham, if you remember when Reid scored the absolute worldie, the best goal he'll ever score in his lifetime. But you're watching a Liverpool team, Kay, that you can't rely on. It's three state straight defeats. I look at Villa. I think Villa upwards, they're going to be the top four. And it's a straight fight between Liverpool and Chelsea, but who's going to finish fifth? And as I said, the only reason I've got them winning the game 2-1, that's because there's a reaction, surely, after getting walloped against Paris.

43:47surely there's a reaction after getting walloped against Man City when you're at Anfield in your home stadium. Surely those fans can drive them on to a win.

43:56Dan Thomas:Fulham's got to fancy the chances though here, yeah?

43:58Steve Nicol:Well, there wasn't a reaction. The trouble is, Don, there's no reaction. Get wallet from Brighton. No reaction. Wallet from City. No reaction. Wallet from PSG. Should have been six. Maybe five. Five or six. Certainly could have been. Fulham are a good side. Marco Silva, a very good manager. Very organised. And Liverpool are just... There's nobody frightened of them. And what does Andy Slott do? He's also in a position. We talked about Real Madrid today. Wednesday night, Bayern Munich, trying to chase down Barcelona. You know, he's already, people are already talking about him potentially losing his job in the summer.

44:30Steve Nicol:That's how bad it's kind of got, how poor they have been. But he definitely will if they don't get in the Champions League. Yeah. Now, whilst the game against PSG in terms of scoreline, they're not out, it's 2-0. it's hard to put forward an argument how Vettinha and Neves and Dembele and Dewey and all these Cavett Scala how they're not going to have a field day at Anfield With Liverpool having to chase it and open up space He's in a juxtaposition because he's got a lot of players out of form he's got one or two injuries he dropped Mo Salah, changed the shape at PSG which smacked of desperation to try and find a solution and here he has this big game at home to Fulham who are a very solid Premier League team but he's got this game in the midweek that they're chasing that he probably knows deep down they're not going to win but there's 60 or 70 ,000 going to turn up at Anfield expecting them to put on a show.

45:27Steve Nicol:So how does he balance who he picks and who he certainly rests for Wednesday and all that sort of thing? He's in a real difficult situation at the moment, the Liverpool manager.

45:36Dan Thomas:We'll see how it all plays out. Another game coming off at the weekend is Arsenal taking on Bournemouth. Everybody agreeing that Arsenal will win this game and there'll be more talk about it across the weekend right here on ESPN FC. Be sure to join us tomorrow as we look back and ahead to everything that's going on in the Premier League and beyond.

45:59Dan Thomas:Borussia Dortmund against Bayer Leverkusen coming up on Saturday morning. Casey will be back with you along with Alexis Nunes. Lots of games going on at that time. They will keep you posted. You can catch that match on ESPN2.

46:15Dan Thomas:And a reminder that it was more dropped points for Real Madrid as they took on an early game in La Liga against Girona. 1-1 it finished. Let's hear from Alvaro Abelho speaking after the game about the penalty claim that Real Madrid were not given. To me, it's a penalty here and on the moon. It's one more, another week, same thing. It's what we have. It is what it is.

46:45Yeah.

46:46Dan Thomas:Man on the moon, there he is. There he is, Sid Lowe. Well, what did you make of what Arbeloa had to say and tell us more that you did here in that press conference, Sid? Well, first of all, I just love the idea of sending all the referees in the VAR to the moon. That would be a good start. That would be very nice. Obviously, as you can imagine, the press conference was dominated by that possible penalty at the end and then dominated by the game against Bayern Munich in midweek. Questions about whether or not what happened today was a test run for Bayern Munich. So, for example, the fact that Danny Carver-Hal played, the role of Kamavinga in the middle of midfield where he hasn't always played and Avaloa was saying that he wants more positional discipline from him, not just a player that kind of covers a lot of ground but someone who stays in that place.

47:29He said he was pleased with Jude Bellingham but fundamentally, obviously, the bottom line is that they haven't picked up all three points tonight. He said, he admitted, Abuelo, that it wasn't their best performance, but said even with that, we should have won the game. And he referred to the refereeing decisions going against him as the same old thing as always.

47:46Steve Nicol:Did Real Madrid said, and I suspect I know the answer, did Real Madrid ever talk about decisions that are not given for their opposition or other teams? Guess what, Craig? Guess what? You knew the answer. Of course they don't. But it's getting a bit, you know, I said at the time on the show after it, it seems to me, now said, it's almost becoming smoke and mirrors. Yeah, he talked about not a particularly good performance tonight, but it seems we're always talking about, or a lot of time, we're talking about decisions that haven't gone Real Madrid's way, rather than why the real reason Real Madrid are in this position, that they're having to chase Barcelona, is because performances like tonight, we've seen that far too often this season.

48:35yeah and I think the important thing Craig is that it's not just you that feels like that I think the important thing is it's what they feel like in this stadium and look there's no doubt that Real Madrid's fans and across the media and that Arbelo won't be the only person talking about the refereeing decisions and in particular that possible penalty at the very end but if you listen to the response inside the Bernabeu even those fans who may well come down here now and say we've been robbed and we should have won this game 2-1 and all the rest of it but the reaction of those fans to the way that round you played throughout the game and through much of this season tells you that yeah they are angry with the referees yeah they might well think the referees are out to get them they may well get involved in conspiracy theories and all the rest of it but they're also watching their team and they're watching their team and they're thinking this is really not very good and for almost the whole season it's been really not very good they're not a good football team.

49:28They have some good players. They have moments. The game in midweek, the last half an hour against Bayern Munich was one of those moments where you go, maybe it can happen. And of course, these fans will still be clinging on to the possibility that they go to Munich and they turn something around because Madrid tend to find a way sometimes, not all the time. But the reality, which they see week in, week out, is this isn't very good. I'll give you one example that really struck me tonight. There was a period in the second half quite late on, around about 70 minutes more or less, where the Bernabeu started chanting Now, I'm going to try and give you the polite version of that.

50:00That's basically put your guts into this. You know, show some effort. Fight for this. And it's the most sort of, how do I put this? It's the most simplistic, the most old-fashioned, the most cliche chant there is. Now, that's not a criticism of the Bernabeu. For me, it's more that if a team as good in theory as Real Madrid, a club like Real Madrid, If they've reached the point where their stadium is basically reduced to saying, well, go on, try a bit. I think they've got really big problems.

50:31Dan Thomas:OK, let's take a look at the 11 tonight and remind you guys how Abelhoa shaped his side up tonight with Bayern on the horizon. And thoughts for Bayern? What do you think we're going to see for that second leg, Sid? What changes will we see here? Right, well, Abelhoa had said in the pre-match press conference that he wasn't going to use this game to test things. but he very clearly did in my view because if you're not using this game to test things then Cormany starts. The only reason to not start Cormany is to try something else in midfield and then Abelho admitted it after the game he said I wanted to see Camavinga as a number six.

51:04I wanted to see him hold his position. I wanted to see him to being able to close off the space and so I think what we saw from tonight suggests that Camavinga and Bellingham play in the middle of midfield in midweek not Valverde which is one of the other options. I think Valverde stays on the right although potentially quite narrow, potentially quite close to those players with the freedom then to either get behind the forwards or get wide. I think we'll see him, I think he wants, if he possibly can, to start Militao in midweek. I was surprised tonight, if we're looking at clues from tonight, how little we saw of Mendy.

51:38Mendy came on, I think, with 72 or 78 minutes, with kind of 10 or 20 minutes to go. I thought that if he was going to play midweek, that Arbeloa would have wanted him on the pitch for a little bit longer than that, and it wasn't to be. So I think tonight's conclusion is, probably in midweek, Bellingham and Kamavinga in the middle, Valverde alongside them, and one other midfielder, which I guess might well be Thiago Pitac, although it could be Ardegula. Well, Kamavinga didn't cover himself in glory tonight, and also the equaliser for Girona was a really...

52:13Steve Nicol:and it was only one moment but it was an extremely poor effort at trying to close the ball down which by the way he took an absolute pounding from from Militao you watch Militao when when Camavinga goes for this sort of half-hearted closing of the ball down now you can't you can't have that in the Champions League in midweek in Munich against this Bayern side who have a lot of possession you've got to get out to to to buy you gotta you gotta make tackles against them and it goes back to that phrase that I've got no idea how to say it that Sid was talking about in Spanish, is that we're at that stage where, you know, there are good players, but the supporters are basically just asking them, look, we know we're not the best at the moment.

52:56Steve Nicol:We know we're unlikely to win La Liga, but just show us a better fight. And when you see that kind of half-hearted closing down there, in a game that they had to win today, you have to question that desire because if I'm playing a game at this business end of the season and you need to win to either win the league or keep the pressure on then every loose ball every second ball as we call it in the game you've got to fight for that with your life and it just doesn't seem to me that Real Madrid are in that mindset they might be in midweek they might be in Champions League nights but certainly in La Liga games this year you can look at a lot of their players a lot of their performances a lot of their games and question the intensity of their play.

53:40Steve Nicol:And Steve McManaman said it in commentary weeks ago. Real Madrid, no matter who they're playing in the Liga, Real Madrid will allow you to play. And I think in today's game, that's quite a dangerous tactic with some of the talent that's out there. Because if you allow Harry Kane, Michael Alisi, Luis Diaz, all these players that buy on half, Sergin Arbery, you allow them to play, they'll destroy you. So at some point, you've got to change that mindset and go and try and engage. And they haven't done that often. Well, let's look at that back four. We talked about, Sid talked about the midfield. He talked a little bit about Mendy.

54:15Olise against Fran Garcia. That's not happening.

54:17Steve Nicol:It can't happen. I know, it can't happen. Carvajal against Diaz or Gnabry. And then maybe switching around at different times during the match. That's going to be a long day.

54:29Dan Thomas:Yeah, surely. We're going to see some changes there at the back. No doubt Trent back as well. We'll see how it all plays out. All right, Sid, we're going to let you go home right now and get some rest because you've got a busy weekend and a busy week ahead. We know that. Thanks so much for being with us and thanks for all your reports. If you've ever wanted real energy without choking down something that tastes like regret, Bucked Up is the answer. The flavor is the thing people keep coming back for. Insanely delicious, which is not a phrase usually associated with energy drinks, and they're built on real science-backed ingredients.

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56:01Dan Thomas:on Football Americas, which is available now on ESPN+. Check it out every single week. That's all we've got time for in the latest edition of ESPN FC, but Don will be back to join the guys to answer your questions in extra time. That's on the way next, so stay right where you are. We'll see you over on Extra Time.

56:27Dan Thomas:hello and welcome into the latest edition of extra time don hutcherson is joining myself craig and casey to answer your questions all right let's get the first question slam this week on it slammed with questions i'll buy some things that you said in extra time no

56:43Steve Nicol:people are taking people are taking liberties taking holidays oh yeah there are a lot of people

56:49Dan Thomas:taking hold spring break in the usa number of people is that what is that why it is yeah yeah all right yeah all those with kids trying not to miss school time taking break but some of us professionals you know we continue on or our kids are old it doesn't matter yeah or the two

57:04Steve Nicol:listen somebody's got to keep the ship afloat exactly and here we all are and if you're if you think we're doing it you're in trouble all right we're both in bapé and vinnie embellishing

57:16Dan Thomas:their battles in the box does this hinder their chance of winning a penalty today's mbappe challenge

57:22Steve Nicol:could be an example yeah actually that's a that's a pretty good point that the more because referees know of reputation and the the more your reputation goes as somebody that goes to ground easier the bar gets raised in terms of and i'm not saying that's right but the bar would certainly get raised when a referee's looking at an incident and he's thinking is he is he trying to con me there yeah there's a big head snap there's two arms up yeah and and and i think you know there's no real reason for it now because you know var is going to look at everything and if they see the contact they'll call it but again there's those like today you know where we talked about is the call on the field will always get the benefit of the doubt.

58:11If the call on the field is made penalty for Mbappe, it stays. But because of the exaggeration, maybe the referee says, well, I'm not going to call it. And therefore, if VAR shows that it's clear and obvious, I'll come back. It wasn't clear and obvious.

58:29Steve Nicol:No penalty. So the classic example of that was midweek, wasn't it? it was a pomicano on Vinicius Jr. where English referee Michael Oliver gestured after it that there was a coming together, but in his mind it was very minimal and that Vinicius had basically thrown himself to the ground, which is how most people read it. So yeah, that has got an effect.

58:54Dan Thomas:Earlier reports say that the FIFA FanFest might not be free Don. How many ways can they try to ruin this World Cup?

59:04I mean, the ticket prices are sort of getting a little bit out of hand. I'm not sure the last time I checked how much they're going for, but I think at the end of the day, I think, you know, bums will have to be on seats. I'm pretty confident or I'm pretty hopeful that the tickets will be and have to be lowered because the stadiums have to be full. Don, I'll tell you how much you're going for. I got an email from US Soccer about having tickets available for the opening game against Paraguay and you know tier one tickets were five thousand dollars a piece. Wow!

59:38Steve Nicol:For the US's opening game so there you go. Everybody's getting ripped off here at the moment and I don't you know you go to a game even that Brazil France game that did you go to that? We were covering it but Dan went to it yeah. Car parking which is going to be the same all over the country you know around the grounds it's just it's more than what a price of a ticket really should be. So on the The hard part too is the parking is a lot of times inside that exclusionary zone. So they won't even let you into the stadium parking. So I don't know how they're going to work that. I don't know how you're going to fill some of these magnificent stadiums here in the US, but they're huge.

1:00:16Steve Nicol:I don't know how you're going to fill them. As Don said, when you're charging extortionate prices. And again, I mean, don't... It's too much pressure. Yeah. it's too much pressure on the families to try and find the money. You know, in a cost-of-living crisis, you know, if you're a hard worker and you've got a couple of sons, a couple of daughters, whatever, and you want to treat them to a game and you're desperate to take them to a game because it's a family memory, the pressure that they're putting on these families to find the money, which might put them into debt later down the line, seems bizarre and ridiculous.

1:00:50And look, Don, I get it for a final, right? But you're talking about opening round games, group stage matches, and you're asking, like you said, a whole lot. And again, I mean, it's and the one disclaimer in that email from U.S. Soccer was we have no control over the ticket prices. This is all set by FIFA. So don't, you know, as an American soccer fan, you know, give U.S. Soccer the benefit of the doubt that they're not in control of this.

1:01:21Steve Nicol:FIFA are big into talking about growing the game, right? You know, that's why we've made the tournament 48 teams, which certainly I don't agree with. It's open-saturization. But that's what they've done. They talk about that's their way of growing the game. My argument would be, how is pricing the next generation, basically, of soccer fans, stroke soccer players, how is pricing people out of going and falling in love and wanting to be that person, wanting to be that person in 20 years' time or 15 years' time. How is pricing people out of that growing the game? It's only growing one thing, your bank balance.

1:02:01Dan Thomas:For Mr. Burley, with La Liga doing a retro match day, what would you implement from current football besides money in the era in which you played? Is there anything you like today better than when you were playing? Vice versa. Sorry, vice versa. Right back there. What would you take back from the day that no longer kind of happens now?

1:02:25Steve Nicol:Well, as I said this other day, I don't like going to any big sporting events and everybody stood there with their phones. Live in the now. You know, certainly we didn't have that because we didn't have any more. Certainly it was in its infancy. I also like back in the day. Say back in the day if you know that we're dinosaurs. We are. I also like the interaction with the referees, which you don't really have these days because it's very standoffish and the referees are all, the referees are miked up. Back in the day, the referees were not miked up so they could give you a bit back. So you would give them a bit of stick or a lot of stick and they would quite often, depending on the individual, would give you some back and be quite sarcastic.

1:03:13Steve Nicol:Yeah. Oh, you're not having a great game yourself, Burley. There's not that interaction now because all the referees' mics are all recorded for obvious purposes. So things like that, subtle things like that, I think I've sort of missed out the game.

1:03:27Dan Thomas:Don? Yeah, all of what the boys have been saying, I'd like to see physicality return to football. What really grinds my gears is when I see a player who doesn't back himself to either do a trick or try and get himself out of trouble, just fall over on top of the ball and referees just go, oh, that must be a foul. And they give free kicks. It really winds me up when I say, that's not a free kick. That's a player just sort of semi-giving up, semi-cheating himself by not willing to do a trick or not backing himself. I'd like to see challenges be made again. You know, legit tackles where 50-50 is not, obviously, as Craig said, back in our day because I committed some horrendous two-footed tackles and deserved every red card I got.

1:04:13And, you know, there was a million, you know, bad leg breaks back in the day, not what all meant, but because the tackles were absolutely crazy. But the physicality has to return. You know, the last time I checked whether it's women's football, men's football, there's 22 athletes on a football pitch. There's going to be collisions. Let the game flow a little bit and let tackles be allowed as long as they're sort of semi under control. I bet for me, Kay, real quick, and I've all harp on it, and we talked about it briefly with the Spurs game and Kinski coming in, is goalkeeper, be a goalkeeper. Keep the ball out of the back of the net.

1:04:50Clear the lines when it needs to be cleared. If you want your goalkeeper to be the best player on the pitch with his feet and keep the ball out of the back of the net, then I expect every striker to play like Messi, every winger to play like Ronaldo. because you're only doing one thing. You want now the goalkeeper to be best with his feet and the best goalkeeper as well? Forget about it. Let your goalkeeper be a goalkeeper. If you have that odd goalkeeper that is fantastic with his feet, then take advantage of it. But don't ask somebody that is competent to do things that is ridiculous. Let them be a goalkeeper.

1:05:36Dan Thomas:For Casey, as an American, which would be the worst result for the U.S. at the World Cup? The U.S. men's national team not making it out of the group? Or England winning the whole thing during our 250th celebration year as a country? Look, those Americans of us who obviously played a long time in England, there's such a great rivalry between the U.S. and England. in, you know, I mean, anybody who's been there for a Ryder Cup, for, you know, things like that, there's always this great rivalry. And it's a little trickier for me because my kids have British passports. So my kids are British as well.

1:06:17I want, and obviously the Scottish guys, you guys are obviously, would love for England to win the World Cup. So, yeah, it's... But the U.S. has to look at themselves first. 100%, absolutely. The U.S. in that group, and I preface this every time we would come into a World Cup. Somebody would say to me, should the U.S. get out of this group? I'll say, well, why don't we wait? Let's see what the draw looks like. And then we'll see. I mean, let's go to Brazil, for example. The U.S. are drawn with Ghana, the champions, Germany, and a very young Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal. and you tell me when you look at world rankings and you look at when only two teams went through, should the U.S.

1:07:05have gone through in that group? I would say, no, they shouldn't have. Could they? Yes, they did. Brilliant. Go to Qatar. You have that group. Wales, England and Iran. I say, yeah, England should win the group and the U.S. should go through second. I'll put them under that pressure against Wales and Iran. Yes, they should go through that. With this group, yes. With eight of the 12 third places going through, it would be an utter disaster in this group if the U.S. don't go through. But they haven't shown me consistently under Pochettino that it's a given.

1:07:46Steve Nicol:Do you know what gets me now about this? About the World Cup, and we're going to cover it extensively and be hopefully quite excited about some of the games. But the qualification and the... It's almost like FIFA are making it like the school race where the little kid, the little boy or girl comes last by quite some way but they get a medal because they don't want them to be upset. And it's like that. I mean, take Sweden, for example. Sweden finished bottom in a group in qualification. And because of this stupid Nations League, they're at the World Cup. Now, they finished at the bottom of the group, and the word for the group is called qualification.

1:08:27Steve Nicol:And yet, they were given a parachute and a pathway through another tournament to get to a World Cup, in which you could finish third. For example, Scotland might only have to be Haiti, and might get drugged by Brazil and Morocco, and they're getting through. It really boggles my mind. I think it devalues the tournament. It does. It devalues qualification and it devalues the tournament. Where I'm a big believer in, OK, you worked hard to get there. Excuse me. And if you get out of your group, then you've damn well earned it. And now we're at that stage where I'll tell you what, they're doing it, they can go and if they get that.

1:09:13Steve Nicol:Yeah, I just... But that's what happens when you make it to so many teams. Kay, are you thinking exactly what I'm thinking? What? As the lads are chatting there.

1:09:21Dan Thomas:What? Tell me what you're thinking and I'll let you know. Italy. Italy. No, do you know what I'm thinking? As the lads are chatting there, I'm thinking, how have Italy not made this? Not made this, I know. No, I'm thinking. No, no, Don, Don, let's go even stronger. Not made the last three. Not made the last three. If only FIFA could be so generous. Well, I know that, but I mean, like, this one's embarrassing because there's a million teams there. As they're being to all these teams that are going to get through, that's what I'm thinking, Don.

1:09:44Steve Nicol:I mean, I just don't know a world where and the qualifying campaigns I played in, if you didn't, I can't remember exactly, but either if you didn't win your group, you didn't go, or if you didn't finish in the top two, but certainly depending on the size of the group, some groups had four, some had five, if you didn't finish top, you were out, see you on the beach, go on your holidays. Or go into a playoff at least in second. Possibly. I cannot get my head around a World Cup qualifying campaign where you finish bottom of the group and you've been rank rotten, and yet there is a pathway for you to get to the World Cup.

1:10:18Steve Nicol:I just don't understand the logic in that.

1:10:21Dan Thomas:All right, Don, percentage chance Spurs will go down given the West Ham win today. I sort of had a feeling this question was going to come tonight. I've been thinking about it. I'm pretty prepped for it. I'm going to say West Ham have got a 20 % chance and I think the 40 %ers in Forrest and Spurs might go down. So I think West Ham are in a great position. The only thing that's harming them slightly is they've got the worst goal difference, so they can't rely on any sort of goal difference being that extra point. But the win tonight, the form they're in, Spurs have got to go to the stadium alight, the best they can do there, I think there's a point.

1:10:59Forest play Villa, that screams of a Villa win to me, even though Villa are coming off the back of Europe where they tend to struggle. But the fixtures that Forest and Spurs have got, I think they're 40 % chance each. to go down and West Ham only 20. Great win tonight.

1:11:17Steve Nicol:Tell you what though, one of the greatest stadiums ever to be gracing the championship, wouldn't it? It would be. It's a bit worrying, isn't it, Don? He's thinking that question might come so he's got his fingers worked out. Of course, he's got to get it ready. You know,

1:11:31Dan Thomas:the questions are pretty good. I'm just happy his numbers added up. I'm just happy it equaled 100. Well done, Don. What was your first car, guys? What was your first car, Casey? My first car? My first car was a 68 Buick LeSabre that I still have. Wow. Have you kept it all nice? It looks significantly better than it did when I drove it in high school. That's for sure. It's definitely been one of those things that I've restored over the years.

1:12:02Steve Nicol:Now, this will mean nothing to the U.S. You got a Morse Minor or something? A Morse Minor. This will mean nothing to anybody living in the U.S. It was a Ford Capri. B-Reg. I remember the old Ford Capri's. Ford Capri. All right, I'll go further. Ford Capri 1.6 laser. Now you could get a 2.8, but... Ford Capri 1.6 laser with a big pinstripe along it. B-Registration. You don't get that here, do you? No. It's a B-Reg, 82? What a car. No, no, B-Reg. I don't know, actually. I think it was 82. When I got that in 89, it was a B-Reg, whatever the hell that means. My first was an F-Redge. Yeah.

1:12:45Dan Thomas:What about you, Don? It's quite a funny story, actually. It's only funny because everything was okay in the end, but my dad, who was a miner, who was down to mines for 36 years, we didn't know how to go about buying cars when I was 18 and passed my test. So he said, right, you've got£1 ,000. Go and buy whatever car you want with£1 ,000. So when I was at Hartlepool, there was a player who used to pick me up in a Volkswagen Golf. driver which was a convertible black with black roof so it was amazing he used to pick me up he lived in stanley up near gateshead in gateshead he used to pick me up drive down to hartley pool and i didn't know anything about cars so i said to my mate listen i've got a grand to spend i'll buy your car off you for a grand so he said yes we drove down to hartley pool on the friday day before a game and that was going to be the last drop off as we were coming back we were playing cards in the back and him the driver was playing cards as well he crashed the car rolled the car rolled it about five times and ripped the car off wrote the car off sorry and that was the end of the car buying exercise and then you know we were okay so we survived happy days but i lost what i thought was going to be the best car and then i went out and bought a ford escort for a grand

1:14:01Steve Nicol:blue ford escort you but the thing is you used to think you were the 1.3 I bought mine when I got my first professional contract in Chelsea, which was, by the way, was not big money at all. It was a couple of hundred bucks a week at the time. But it was enough to buy this little old car. And you drove about your local town, you thought you were like a Hollywood actor. What about yours?

1:14:24Dan Thomas:A little Ford Fiesta. I actually bought it off. A little 1.3 litre Ford Fiesta. We had Gordon McQueen's daughter's, but it was on the maternal side. And mine was, that was a grand.

1:14:34Steve Nicol:If you look back at those cars now, you saw a picture of them, you think holy smokes. Oh yeah, I loved it. The Silver Surfer, yeah?

1:14:41Dan Thomas:Do you have a little name for your car as well? Everybody has a name for their car, don't they? No? Did you, Dad? Car. Maybe that's a girl thing. What was it? Jeff. I think the registration was someone like Jeff, yes, who was named Jeff. I love it. What's your name for the car then? Silver Surfer? Because it really wasn't slick but we just called it the silver surfer all right Don and Craig do either of you eat haggis

1:15:11Steve Nicol:I've eaten haggis uh yeah but I wouldn't eat it you would choose to eat it no you know what a haggis is I think I know what it is well go on sheep stomach it's basically the intestines of a sheep it's the poop is it like stuffed with anything so I don't even know because I it's it's It's not a very good... I think it's got flavours in there, isn't it? It's got flavours in there. It's got onion and stuff in there, I think. Oh, great. But it's not a nice taste. It's got flavour in once you dump half a pound of salt on it. Nah, it's not something I would... If you said to me, do you want a bit of haggis?

1:15:52Steve Nicol:I'd say no.

1:15:53Dan Thomas:Dian, what about you? It's one of them. Yeah, it's a bit like black pudding. It's one of them where if you go for the full English or the Scottish, whatever it is, where it's on there and you go, yeah, yeah, put it on there. And it's on the side of the plate. And you think, I've got to try it. Like, I've got to taste it. Because the last time I tasted it, it was terrible. But I might like it this time. And you taste it and you go, no, still terrible. I remember being at a wedding in Scotland and there were some Americans there. And one of them was almost green in the face in the morning. And I said, did he have too much to drink last night?

1:16:24Dan Thomas:And they said, no, he's just found out what black pudding is. and I think he'd been eating it. So, yeah, no. So neither of them eat haggis. All right, thank you so much for your questions. Thanks for sending them in. We will be back tomorrow here on Extra Time and ESPN FC to do it all over again.

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