Scotland's World Cup Wait

27:08Throw your mortgage at the 10. There'll be a lot more talk about the UEFA qualifiers and playoffs, as well as CONCACAF and more on the next edition of the Gab and Jules podcast. It's dropping on Thursday. Lays is an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Lays is also the official sponsor of all Bandwagon fans. That's right. This summer, Lays is inviting everyone to jump on the Bandwagon because win or lose, what's important is keeping the party going. Bandwagon fans can have more fun. So grab a bag of Lays, gather some friends and keep the party rolling all summer long. Grab a cotton candy five-hour energy shot and get in on the sweet life.

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28:09Well, it was only an international friendly, but the USA managed to put out a dominant and probably their most impressive performance under Mauricio Pochettino as they absolutely smoked Uruguay by five goals to one. Pochettino making nine changes to this team. We got to see a lot of players that were not used to seeing start for the U.S. men's national team, but they absolutely shone on this stage. Alex Freeman getting a brace and a stunning goal from Sebastian Berhalter to open the scoring. So with all that said, you would think Mauricio Pochettino would be a very happy camper after the game, but he wasn't.

28:42Have a listen. What does a result like this do for your team heading into a long stretch where you're not going to see them, particularly given the guys who are on the field tonight, a lot of regulars rested? How's this going to help you guys going into the new year? Thank you. Sorry, I don't want to be negative, no? But I hate that. No regular players. What does it mean? It's USA playing. It's the national team. Stop with that mindset. Every time that our decision is about to pick and start in XI, it's the US national team playing. And after one year, I think you need to really know me that I hate to talk in this way.

29:28It's so disrespectful. The idea of the regulars. The regular players. Who are the regular players? No, I'm saying there is none, is what you're saying. My question is maybe I think we need to stop the press conference and I need to go to the dressing room, come back, and start again the press conference. Because it's like we were the opposite, losing 5-1. I am the USA coach. No, the another. Right. No, I'm saying that it shows that... Regular. Regular. Which? Tell me which regular player you are talking about. Because I don't understand what means regular player. More experienced players. Which?

30:10More cast. More right-wing. Okay. Yeah. To be honest, maybe I am tired and I don't understand the English now, or your English question, because I don't... To be honest, very disappointed in the first two questions because I don't know what you expect. What are you going to say when you say no natural player playing today or another day or in the World Cup or I don't know when? Very sad. Very sad situation. Keep going. On the first goal, Sebastian plays it short to Serginio. So in a situation like that, do the players have the freedom of thought to come up with that? Or is that something that you work on as a set player?

31:04Or was it coincidence?

31:11Ooh, Mauricio Pochettino rattled there, which is interesting to see, considering I said that it came after one of the best performances, if not, Ale. You called it the best performance, the most convincing performance we've seen from the U.S. under him. But what did you make of his reactions there? Well, I must say that I think there is a disconnect here with the language and the language barrier and how questions are packaged and how they're understood by Mauricio Pochettino. The essence of the question is, look, you did this with these players. what message does that send to the other players that are not here?

31:53And in using the regular players and that definition of regulars, that's what said Pochettino off. Because he is essentially, that quote-unquote regular description goes against everything that he's been saying and selling throughout his time with the United States men's national team. That there is no guarantee for anybody. Nobody is safe. It's something that he has said, and we have mocked to some degree. We have said, well, Christian Pulisic is safe. If he's healthy, he's going to play. He's been saying all along, nobody has a place guarantee. You have to earn it. You have to prove it. You have to show it.

32:32You have to perform. And that's what these players last night against Uruguay, that's what they did. That was a dominant performance. A backside whooping of Uruguay. They were kicking the backside of Uruguay all over the field. And I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever seen a United States team do that in that manner to a team of that caliber. All over the field for 90 minutes. And so I'm thinking, Pacchettino is coming into this press conference about to tell the world. I told you so. Told you. It's working, isn't it? You were all doubting, but we knew what we were doing, and I knew what I was doing.

33:13And when the first couple of questions kind of take him in the wrong direction, instead of the questions being about this performance, about these players, about this game, about how dominant and how good this team was, once he brought back the guys that weren't here, then that's when he is gone. And again, I just don't think that he quite understood the notion of the question and how it was packaged or presented. Could have been packaged or presented a little bit better from the reporter. And then after that, he was gone. He was no longer interested in answering any more questions because by that point, they had lost him.

33:51Now, you see, that's the thing. I'm not sure the question took Pochettino in the wrong direction. I think Pochettino just saw a one-way street and decided to zoom down it. Like, I'm going this way. I don't care what you see. He's had enough. Because to your point, Ali, all that was needed was Pochettino to say, this is what I've been telling you all. This is what I've been telling you all. We could sit here and say, listen, as I have, we could probably name 15 of the 23 that's going to the World Cup right now. Pochettino's been saying different. And this performance proved him exactly right. And that's all he had to say.

34:30not go zooming down the one way straight up Frederick Street as he did. I don't get it. He has, after this performance, by this group of players, and mind you, this group of players that played this game against Uruguay, for those that covered this team regularly, the thought process was, well, why is he making nine changes? It was like the secondary choice of players. It wasn't even the players that played against Paraguay. It was a bunch of changes that had been made. So it wasn't even like the regulars and the second to the regulars. It was like the third to the regulars. And you provide this sort of performance and you provide this sort of result and you have this sort of match against Uruguay.

35:14And I thought it was going to be, in his mind, validation for everything that he had done. And he has now all the leverage and all the power. And he wanted to demonstrate and show all that power for everybody. And then the first couple of questions happened and he was gone. He was gone. I mean. All right. Well, we spoke at length about the U.S. men's national team's results and Mauricio Pochettino's comments over on Football America's last night with Herc, Casey and Ale. Make sure to check it out. All right. Guess what, guys? The weekend is upon us and club football is back. Here are the odds for the Premier League title favorites and Arsenal.

36:00Still firm favorites to win what will be their first title since 2003. We'll see if they can do that. Well, let's welcome back in Don and Gab for this one. Now, Don, last week on the show, and I know Xhaka doesn't have a lot of faith in your percentages, but you gave us a 50-50 % for either Arsenal or Manchester City after what we saw from them to win the title. So after what the news that we got from this international break with the fact that Gabriel was in action with Brazil and now he's going to be out for at least a month, does that peg Arsenal back a bit now or is it still 50-50 for you?

36:39No, I think it's still 50-50. I think they've got players that can come in. I mean, no one's Gabriel for them. I think he's one of the most important players for Arsenal. But City have got a very tough game away. It's in James' Park against Newcastle. North London Derby coming up for Arsenal so I just think it's very very early, the start that they've had has been magnificent, I think they have been flowing the game against Sunderland was a hard 4-2 draw and I thought Sunderland deserved their point at the game but you look at the fixtures coming up I mentioned the London Derby's for them, so that's where the difficulty is going to come but there's so much time and there's so many games to try and say right, who's a standout favourite?

37:20I know it's what we like to do because as fans and as analysts and pundits we try and predict the future and we look into the crystal ball and we think right who's good who's flowing who's struggling a little bit take liverpool completely out the equation i don't think they're ready for a title charge at all so city i think i think i think you know it's it's a captain obvious shout what i'm going to say but after this weekend we'll know that a little bit more because as i said there's hard fixtures to come hi captain obvious well let's have a look at the premier league standings there manchester City there in second and as we know they have chased down Arsenal before up next this weekend they do have a nice little trip to St.

37:56James's Park to face Newcastle and if we have a look at Newcastle's form away from St. James's Park we know it has not been well usually we call St. James's Park quite the fortress but Don if you look at it they have lost to some big guns at home the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona but they did manage to beat Spurs in the League Cup. So how do you see this game going? Listen, I'd fancy Newcastle against anyone at home. I've been up there. I've seen them beat, you know, I've seen them beat the likes of Man City in a cup. I've seen them beat Paris Saint-Germain. I've seen them beat Man United.

38:30I've seen them beat anyone top them by six. But not Arsenal. Newcastle are a different animal. And not Liverpool. And not Barcelona. Just keep naming every win that they've ever had. Well, you say not Arsenal, but not Arsenal this season. They beat them there last season and the season before. So you're looking at a microcosm of a fixture when you say, well, they can't beat Arsenal anymore. Well, only one game because they've beat them plenty of times over the last couple of years. But this season's the one that matters, Don. Newcastle are a different animal when they play at home. All right, let's go to our other Newcastle guy.

38:59Shaka, what did you think then on this one? Because I know... To Don's point, both the winners against Arsenal and Liverpool came in injury time at the very end of the game. So Liverpool were flying high at the time when they went to St. James' Park at one, Arsenal are flying high all season long. Are Manchester City the equivalent of early season Liverpool and current Arsenal? Now, I still think no. I still think Arsenal are the best team in the league, bar none. So now the question is, can do Manchester City, as good as they have been, do they have what it takes to go to St James' Park and win?

39:37I still know, as hopeful as I am, that City are the team, and I believe they're the only team that can make this any kind of a title race later on. I just don't think they're as good as Arsenal. I don't think they can go to St. James' Park and win. I think Newcastle, their away form is really kind of shining on them negatively. They are far better than their league position would suggest. At home, they get it. Job done. Right. Somebody, because Don is not going to be able to do this. Somebody has to explain to me, right? How can this be 50-50, Arsenal, Manchester City, when Arsenal are leading by four points?

40:23So just by that logic, you cannot have the same chance of winning the league if you're trailing by four points. This is by Don's standards. Yeah, but Don's standards, well, you have to grade on a curve then. Oh, no, it's out of here. You know Don's percentages. are curvy. They're curvy. Yeah, that's just...

40:47Ali's obviously not capable of looking at my percentages or the algorithms of Shaka when Man City have chased out Arsenal a couple of times over the years. No, no, no, I'm bigging them up. Shaka, I'm bigging them up. No, you're not. I'm bigging them up, Shaka. No, when you're writing them to your percentages, Ali can't get into gear. Ali can't get in. He can't get any algorithms. Ali comes from a more simplistic place. Ali looks at it very simple. He looks at the points tally. And he goes, oh, again. Arsenal have four points, clear. They should win the title. They will win the title. But right now we're...

41:22It comes down to emotion, Ali. And the bottom of the team, can they get it done? Right, fantastic. It's 50-50. Beautiful. Okay, all of that is great. But my simple mind tells me that if a team is up four points, right now where we are, right now where we are, right now where we are, because the percentage is now, not six months from now, the percentage is now. My very simple line tells me that that team is more likely to win it than the other team. Gabby, you've got the Italian hands up. Let's let Gab in because he's got the Italian hands up. Alexis said to me, Gabriel's injured. Let me explain.

42:02Does that change the equation? Now, you're overcomplicating this. Let's keep it in a simple way that ex-footballers understand. You guys all play golf, right? Not very well, but... Think of it as a handicap. Yeah, Ali, if you play off a 12 and Craig plays off an 8, then you have an advantage, right? Because it's a handicap. But it still might be 50-50. That's what he's saying. He's implicitly saying that Manchester City... I appreciate you trying to explain this. That's how math works. I appreciate what you're trying to do here. But if you think Don gave it that much thought as to somehow project this into a golf handicap, then you're really overestimating Don's ability to do simple math.

42:56I think Don gives it a lot of thought. He loves his percentages. I'll tell you what then, Ali. if you are so confident Arsenal will win the league go and take £10 ,000 of your hard-earned money and go and stick it on Arsenal. Hey, how about you because you are that confident? Hey, how about you pay me the dinner you owe me that you haven't done?

43:16Don't touch the question. The bet you lost to me. The bet you lost to me. You can pay that and then I will put the£10 ,000 on my hard-earned money. Good Lord. Do not dodge the question. That will be paid when I see you in the summer. Gabrielle's going to be a big loss for them. That was the question that was posed. All right. Should we leave it there? I have no idea what's going on. Percentages aren't really my strength. I failed Matt. They're not done. Well, as you can tell, we love to have fun on this show. So do be sure to join us tomorrow. Ian Dark will be joining us as well as we continue counting down to the weekend ahead.

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46:24All right, speaking of people who have been going through it, let me tell you, Javier Tebas has been tweeting about Florentino Perez and the NFL. He says, we've been hearing for weeks that today is a historic day for Spanish sport because the NFL is playing in Madrid. Front pages, specials, red carpet, fantastic promotion for the NFL in Spain with a Spanish stadium as a showcase. And the most striking thing, the stadium belongs to the same club that led the crusade of integrity against La Liga's official match in Miami. So if you don't remember, Barcelona were to play against Villarreal in Miami, but the two clubs were fine with it.

47:04La Liga was fine with it. Real Madrid was not fine with it. And eventually that game was called off. So this is Javier Tebas kind of linking the two. Gab, what do you make about Tebas' comments?

47:17Look, I have a lot of time for Javier Tebas, but on this occasion, as they say, he missed a wonderful occasion to keep his mouth shut. because the reality is Real Madrid had a very valid integrity argument. Whichever way you look at it, Barcelona gave up a tough away fixture, and that is something that matters in terms of the integrity of the league. It's not like it goes away because then they rent out the Bernabeu for an NFL game. You're talking apples and oranges here. Secondly, and I think just as important, maybe Javier Tebas forgot the protest from the players. Those 15 seconds of silence, of doing nothing, they made their views very clear.

48:06And it's not just Real Madrid players or Florentino Perez's relatives, by the way. It was players throughout La Liga who protested against this decision and the way it came about. I might also add a third factor here. that this game, it's something the NFL plans months, years in advance. Not like the Liga game where they announce it, they make the deal, and then, oh, wait, we don't have all the permissions. Wait, where's the permission from UEFA? Where's the permission from these guys? And everything ends up cutting so close that in the end, they have to pull the plug on it. And they pull the plug on it when?

48:45They pull the plug on it while we're at Alabama playing. Oh, look, maybe nobody will notice. So, yeah, look, I appreciate it. This is big for you. Personally, I don't think it moves the needle. La Liga is a fantastic product, largely thanks to or in part, certainly in part of the work that Tebas and his people have done. But, man, let it go. Just let it go. This is nothing to do with it. Also, part of that quote later on in his statement, because the statement was a long one and thorough. he goes on to insinuate and make the connection that look Real Madrid is all about making this money and taking this money from the NFL but they're against La Liga doing the same thing over in Miami.

49:36And he sort of positions La Liga as if La Liga is just trying to grow their product and grow their presence. So while he's complaining about Real Madrid taking money does that then mean that all these people that are coming to the stadium, potentially to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, they're going in for free? No. No. There's a windfall for La Liga here as well. So you're criticizing this team for taking the money, but you are also about the money. Here's the other thing. If this is about growing your product, if this is about spreading the goodwill of La Liga, of getting more eyes on La Liga, They go into inner cities in and around the city of Miami and go and get kids to come and watch the game.

50:18And now you're fostering a relationship with the next generation of fans and have them come to the game for free. Are they going to do that? No chance. No chance. Right. So let's not try to point the finger at Real Madrid for making money when you're trying to do exactly the same thing by bringing the game here to the United States. I just simply don't get the statement my tell us. As simple as that. I can't see the parallels that he's trying to draw. Or at least I see the parallels. They just don't connect. And as a result, he's just made trying to sell this game, if it's ever to happen, all the more difficult down the road.

51:00Because it's poorly positioned and quite clearly he doesn't have a full grasp on what's happening, at the very least, with the NFL and their moving of games. It's ridiculous. All right, well, sticking with Real Madrid, their squad didn't exactly come out of this international break unscathed. Eder Militao was in action for Brazil yesterday, and he picked up an adductor injury, which means he's set to miss about two weeks for Madrid, and that leaves Hosen, Asensio, and Alaba as their only healthy center backs. Ale? And it's Hosen that's just coming back from injury. They're struggling for numbers, that's all I'll say.

51:41That's all they'll say. Well, Real Madrid will be back in action on Sunday when they play Elche in Alicante. That game coverage will be starting at 2.30 p.m. on ABC. Meanwhile, Barcelona will be back at the camp now on Saturday, and that will be against Athletic Club de Bilbao. Ale Moreno and I will be in studio for that one. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Yes. Speaking of Saturday, look who is back. Yes, indeed. our Dan Thomas will be returning to work on Saturday. And in case you forgot what he sounded like and missed his sultry vocals, here's a little clip from a past show. Want to hear a cringy story from me?

52:22Go ahead. So obviously when I worked for Real Madrid, Beckham was there. And then maybe when I was trying to impress people out and about, they're like, oh, what's Beckham like? And I purposely go, oh, David, he's such a nice guy. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Wow, you're the Don Garber of Real Madrid. The Don Garber of Real Madrid TV. But why, Dan? Because it made it like we had some sort of familiar relationship. And did you? No, of course not. Of course we did have relationship. If I interviewed him once or twice, he would know who I was. But for some reason, I thought the ladies might like it.

52:59Yeah, right. They didn't. Okay.

53:06Oh, Dan Thomas. We absolutely missed him and his wonderful sense of humor. He will be back. He will be back in full force, or maybe at least 50%. I was about to say. We'll ask Don what percentage of Dan's force will be. Well, according to Don, it's 50-50. 50-50. We'll see exactly what happens. Anyways, that's it for this edition of ESPN FC. But don't go anywhere because Extra Time is next.

53:33All right. Welcome back to Extra Time. Welcome just to Extra Time. How are you doing, Alexis? How are you doing? I'm not doing very well, Shaka. No? Why? Tell the people. Just because. Tell the people what's wrong. Playoffs is what's wrong. Eleven dusty suns is what's wrong. Can I give you good news, though? Today, when I came to work, I was concerned about what Shaka was going to be wearing because the last time I came into work, Shaka was wearing a shirt that was a little too short. Like belly skin? Yeah, belly skin. I mean, it made you wonder, is that, does he have a navel piercing? Does he have a?

54:13What? Is that Shaka? What? Now, Shaka, you want to explain to the people why you were wearing a crop top? I have no idea what Ali's talking about. None. But don't sometimes NFL players come out in that little crop top? I don't know what Ali's talking about. Maybe Shaka feels fancy. I don't know what Ali's talking about. It was a crop top. There was no evidence of any such crop top. There was conversation of a navel piercing, which I was very concerned about. There's no evidence. unless there's a photo. Wow, you learn something new about your colleagues every single day. I learned that that shirt was not his.

54:45And he realized when he got here. Nothing happened. Wow, alright. Whose was it, Shaka? I don't know what you're talking about. We'll leave it at that. We're going to talk about this. First questions for Don. Don, were you on comms for that game? He's not specified which one. He was on comms for all the games. Oh. And I'll be on comms for the Milan Derby on Sunday. Oh, we love that. And Liverpool Forest on Saturday. Oh, we love that. So the answer is no, he was not. So the answer is no, he was not. It would have been wild if Don were on comms for the Scotland game. Are you sweating because of the navel piercing?

55:24We made him nervous. We told his navel piercing on national television. On the studio. All right, next. Was it, Chuck? We're going to find out. Don't you worry. If it's one thing about me, I find things out. All right. Okay. All right. Next question is for Gab. Gab, aren't you glad the playoffs give smaller nations a chance to make the World Cup? Like Jamaica. Ooh. Like Italy. Yeah. That's impressive. Listen, look, we have to earn our place like everybody else. And, you know, again, if you're an Italy fan, what really frustrates you is the manner, is the self-inflicted wounds time and again from not taking the ranking seriously.

56:09So you end up in a group with Spain to playing like cack away against Bulgaria thinking, oh, no problem, because we'll beat Switzerland. And then Jorginho misses the penalties in both games. There's a long history of this. this time around, I have to say, Norway weren't just a little bit better than Italy. They were a lot better than Italy, and they fully deserved to win the group. It's disappointing we didn't even attempt to try to close the goal difference gap, which is why our goal difference was like plus 12 and theirs was like plus 99 or whatever it was. But yeah, right now, we play like a small nation we deserve the playoffs ah playoffs you didn't even get playoffs me and ali we're gonna watch the playoffs just like we're gonna watch the world cup i do genuinely feel it for ali though because he is in quite possibly the toughest confederation but we could we could not have found any please don't don't don't pander over here because you could we could not have found any any more ways to miss out on the playoffs as we did in this world cup qualifying cycle i Like, you know, they told me you healed.

57:22They healed. Days like yesterday, actually, as exciting as it was to see Scotland do what they did. And as exciting as it was Northern Ireland to see, do what they did. Or Republic of Ireland. Republic of Ireland to do what they did. And you see Curacao and you see Haiti and you're going, what? We're out. We are out. And we have been out. And we continue to be out. So my healing, it's dependent upon avoiding evenings like last night and the night before and not seeing everybody else celebrating while you're sitting and watching going, yeah, we out. You're not healed. You're not healed. You're not healed.

58:03Do you see what I mean? Do you see why I'm going through it? Well. See, I'm healed. Do you want the positives, Ale? Go on, Don. Do we have a 50-50 chance of making it next time? Or of just positivity. Don, what's the chance of our positivity? What's the chance of all of us healing? I'm just... Well, Jamaica or not, I mean, one love. Reggae boys. I mean, did you see Steve McLaren's interview? It was awful. But I have to say, Ali, the way FIFA's going, there will be a chance. There will be 200 teams in the World Cup. Oh, Jesus. You've still got a chance. Oh, that's going to be brilliant. Italy, Scotland, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Minnesota.

58:45We will be all up in there. I love that for us. Love that for us. All right, next question. So we just, you know, so we can try heel. Next question. Tonight, the African Ballon d 'Or winner will be crowned. Who is your pick between Hakimi, Ossiman, and Salah? And Gourassi, maybe, who wasn't shortlisted, but he had a tremendous season. And just as a sidebar, Hakimi has won the award. But who's your pick? Hakimi is my pick. Yes, okay. Mine too. Okay. Gab?

59:19I have such a weak spot for Rossi Mani. Oh yes. Look, if you're talking over the last 12 months, I know people have kind of forgotten this, but because he tailed off a little bit and had a bad start to this season, but that Mohamed Salah guy was pretty good too, right? So in the end, I think people vote for the African Ballon d 'Or like they vote for the other Ballon d 'Or which is you know who won the biggest things and who won the most trophies and if you use that as your criteria then yeah 100 % Ashraf Hakeemee. Don you too? Yeah yep going into the Club World Cup I think they'd won the treble just won everything I mean I'm like Gab I mean Salah's being brilliant unbelievable the soft spot there is for Ossiman because he's just such a fantastic number nine but when you look at the way he plays Hakeemee what he's won, yeah, I think it was the right choice.

1:00:16Love that. All right. No questions then. Next question, though. Just because I know we were trying to heal, but now we're just going to fling some more salt out there. Ale and Xhaka, which CONCACAF national team was the most disappointing during World Cup qualifying? Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, or Trinidad and Tobago? I think I know Ale is going to go for Costa Rica. Yeah, it's Costa Rica. Yeah, 100%. Costa Rica has been a fixture in the World Cup and had to have been a fixture given the fact that you have the big three right now in CONCACAF not participating in the World Cup qualifying cycle so the next best team historically would have been Costa Rica and they would have been expected to make it directly to the World Cup and to see them struggling the manner in which they did.

1:01:02It was surprising but it also tells you if you don't have a new generation of players and players are aging out and you don't have the right plan in place and you have manager situation and you have situation within the federation as well it creates an environment full and filled with negativity and in the end you do nothing to get into the world cup. Chaco? It's not Jamaica or Honduras it comes down to Costa Rica and Toronto. I'll go Costa Rica. Trinidad and Tobago they're rebuilding Chaco young team. Move on to that question. We're all, I tell you, we're all going through it, guys. We're all going through it, except for Don.

1:01:43I thought you had heels, Shaq. I thought I was heeling so well. No, no. Let me tell you when that heart is broken. Let me just remind you of something. Curaçao and Haiti. We were Curaçao's group. We didn't beat them. Next question, please, Alexis. New Caledonia is in the playoffs. New Caledonia. I'm just telling you. I love it because yesterday on Football America's, Ale was like, I made my peace. We've healed. We're moving on. And now Ale's just like, New Caledonia. And now Venezuela. Gab, the next question's for you while we all cry a little bit more here. Percentage chance Italy are in the U.S.

1:02:26come June. We know that Johnson, 90%. You weren't buying that, though.

1:02:33No, it can't be 90 % because you ultimately have to win two games back to back. And even if you're going to be heavily favored, it's on 90%. But yeah, no, I expect them to be there. I'll go 75%, 80%. If it was just random, the chance would be 25%. It's got to be more than that, right? so look I'm going to be there all those Scottish guys who play in Italy who are all going to claim they're going to be there at least for the group stage so you know there'll be a little bit of a little bit of Italy in the US one way or the other but yeah hopefully the Azzurri will be there because three consecutive World Cups without Italy it just stops being a World Cup it becomes just a collection of guys just a collection of other countries of other countries once they're out of Europe they don't count oh boy wow alright wow next question shall we should Xabi Alonso try to reinvent Trent Alexander oh that's a wild spelling of Trent Alexander you almost made him Viking there Trent Alexander Arnold as a midfielder and play him next to Chouameni and leave Valverde as a right back Right, so you're going to play the midfielder as right back.

1:04:01So you can play the right back as a midfielder. Because he likes to go forward. I got it. I was a little confused for a minute there. Yeah, that was the premise. You got the premise correct. Well, I got the premise. So it's a no for you. Yeah. Ale, resounding no? 100 % no. And certainly when it's built like that. that you have one of the best midfielders in the world, Fede Valverde, and you decide, no, right back. And then you have a right back over here, go into the midfield. No, I don't think so. Gab, is it a no for you too? You know what? I think Valverde is phenomenal. I think he's phenomenal when he plays right back, and I think he could be a tremendous right back.

1:04:49And in some ways, it would make more sense, and it would allow you to shoehorn Bellingham into midfield three without dropping Arja Gouler, which the way he's playing, I don't think he should be doing. All that said, you're not going to do it so you can move Trent into midfield. You do it if you think it's the only way you can play Bellingham in the 4-3-3. That somehow makes sense. But yeah, no, to do it, to make room for Trent, no. All right, so that's a resounding no as we get to our last question now. Gab, what are your score predictions for the Eagles versus the Cowboys on Sunday. Is this a Marcotti Moreno Classico?

1:05:29Yes, it is. It's a Marcotti Moreno NFL Classico. Who says they don't have Classicos in NFL? Okay, so for those who don't know, we are 8-2. We have the best record in the NFL. The Cowboys are a little bit, a tiny bit better. Ali, as I understand, the defense still sucks. but it's okay because the Eagles our offense isn't clicking at all with all those fancy highly paid players Saquon and AJ and Jalen Hurts I know Jalen Hurts it's just not working they scored almost no points in the last two games although they did get big wins I would like to think that we would still beat the Cowboys because yes our defense is that good but also because I expect Jalen and AJ and Saquon and Devonta.

1:06:21All these people and Dallas Goddard to come together. I'm a little bit concerned Lane Johnson's going to be out, but no, it is the stinking Dallas Cowboys. There is a natural order to the world, and I think this is, this will be easy, 30-odd points, I think. We'll be back in that range. Doesn't mean our problems are fixed, just means we're playing the Dallas Cowboys. Ale. And so how can you utilize the word stink from different perspectives and different angles? He referred to the Dallas Cowboys as the Dallas stinking Cowboys. Yes. And I'll refer to the Cowboys as they stink, right? Yeah. My Cowboys stink.

1:07:05Can't defend at all. And while there's been some changes and you have brought in players and you've done this and you have done that. It's giving Manchester United. Let me just say, my Dallas Cowboys stink. And so I expect the Philadelphia Eagles, sadly, to beat the Dallas Cowboys and put us out of our misery. That hurts. By as much as Gab said, 30 points, I really don't know how to score NFL. If anybody has seen the Dallas Cowboys defending, it's an insult to defending. Can I just say, though, the New England Patriots are 9-2? Eagles do not have the best record in the NFL. Oh, Shaka Hisslop from left field.

1:07:53The who? The what? The nine and two. The nine and two. Is that an AFC team? I'm going to ask you. Are they deflating balls again? You know why I don't know about that. That's my contribution. I got a quick question, Shaka. What's the name of the quarterback for the New England Patriots? Drake May. Yeah! Shaka is a good name. Good night, everybody. Good night, everybody. I'll see you all in Super Bowl Sunday. Naval piercings for everybody. Everybody. Not on tomorrow's show, but Van Darf will be joining us. No, no, no, no, no. Please shoot me. Yes!

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