Seško Strike Lifts Man United

19:09Kolo Muani:There'll be more talk about Manchester United.

19:11Benjamin Seško:We might have sort of digressed there. That's OK.

19:13Kolo Muani:It's Manchester United talk. Everybody loves that. More on it over on the YouTube channel ESPN FC.

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22:08Kolo Muani:So let's show you some of the Arsenal reaction in the papers in the press in England. Champagne bottle. Mick's got a lot of bottle. Northland and Derby, of course, finishing 4-1.

22:19Benjamin Seško:What's the champagne? I'm not good with that headline.

22:21Kolo Muani:Just because he got asked if they were going to bottle it, basically, if they were bottling this beforehand. So it's just a bit of a, ha-ha, look at what we did anyway. Yes, as we know, they beat them 4-1. There was controversy, though, over Randall Colomuani's disallowed goal. No, there wasn't. This has come up in the papers. Oh, there wasn't. This has come up on the show. And Don, I know you weren't happy with Gabriel in this incident.

22:46ESPN FC Crew:No, listen, I think he's got history. I think, listen, I pride myself, as the guys do, but having, or working for the Premier League, I'd like to think I know 99 % of the laws of the game, where now I think over the last season and a half, 18 months, I'm starting to get a little bit lost in the handball law, the offside law with this five centimetre sort of gap that you can apply. When does that apply? The push in the back, because I've seen Romero get pushed in the back down at Tottenham when Eketike jumped for the ball and stuck it in the top corner, so that was allowed. And I thought the touch from Cuolo Mane into the back of Gabriel was minimal.

23:21ESPN FC Crew:And the reason why I say that, and I'm pretty sure even if Craig doesn't agree with me, he'll agree with what I'm going to say now. When you get pushed in the back, your legs do not give way. So therefore, Gabriel made the most of it, and in my opinion, he dived.

23:35Benjamin Seško:No, I agree he made the most of it.

23:37ESPN FC Crew:Because your legs don't give way. If you get a nudge in the back, your legs don't give way.

23:40Benjamin Seško:No, I know, but, you know, look, I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying, but I... And I think it's un... I think it's unquestionable that, unfortunately, in today's game, look there, I think it's unquestionable that that's going to be given as a free kick. Now, I'm not arguing with you that it's not the first time he's certainly thrown himself over. I accept that. And I do think the Romero one you're talking about, I think they got that wrong. The Volta Mada one on Gabriel at St James' Parks, there's been quite a few. And I think the argument here is not, for me, is two or three wrongs don't make a right.

24:27Benjamin Seško:It's just consistency within refereeing, which I think is another debate altogether. And I think the consistency across the board, not just in England, but in the whole of Europe, is pretty terrible. but for just on pure facts and pure replays whether we think it is soft or not i think it absolutely has to be given as a free kick because once you put your hands in somebody's back then the chances of you getting away with that are extremely slim because you say it's a whole

24:57Kolo Muani:other conversation consistency but then you could just make the most of it one second done well i

25:02Benjamin Seško:I can't answer that question because I don't really know. We're now debating how much pressure was in the push. His legs have gone. His legs have gone underneath him.

25:13ESPN FC Crew:His legs went underneath him. But you know when you get a tap in the back, your legs don't give way.

25:18Benjamin Seško:Well, my point is, as soon as you're seen in that position, go that way, as soon as you're seen in that position and somebody's back, it's a no-brainer. I mean, it's not whether we like it or not, or whether we think it's, you know, I just, I don't, I think it's a foul. Unfortunately, I think it's a very light foul, but I think it's a foul.

25:38Kolo Muani:So going to the point then, Don, because you have a problem with him and you're saying his legs have gone. We've seen him do it before, though. You could say in some instances that he's been smart here in giving this one. But is his reputation going to precede him if this is to happen again with referees in the future?

25:56ESPN FC Crew:Well, absolutely, because it could be a massive moment in the Champions League or it could be a massive moment at the end of the title, at the end of the league when they play Arsenal, or it could be a huge game. I mean, we've seen them there before go down. And the referee on that occasion said, no, no foul. Then there's a push in the back from Koalemane there. Then there was the Eketike little nudge in the back on Romero who hit the deck and he went down too easy at the same time. you know, Volta Marder, just a little tap in the back and his legs give way. I think I'll get peltless from Arsenal fans and I'll take it on the chin because everyone thinks that I'm being biased or Craig, no, exactly.

26:32ESPN FC Crew:And Craig's being biased or Mario's being biased. It's just what's happened over the weekend. You've got to call things out. And I think Arteta's men this season have been a little bit guilty of going down too easy. Now, you can look on social media and I love Bikai Osaka. There's a funny incident that went down on social media and he was on the floor injured and then a ball got played in behind and miraculously he got back up and ran into position trossard went down at the weekend holding his chest and he went off holding his head and it's like it's an arsenal thing because i'm seeing it a lot with them it might be happening with everyone it might be systematic and it might be the way everyone's trying to bend the rules because us footballers k we try to bend the rules every single time.

27:15ESPN FC Crew:It's sort of what we do. I'm just sort of noticing a little bit more about Gabriel because as you've just shown there he has got a little bit of history and if referees are seeing this it might go against him in a big Champions League game or a big game at the end of the season. You know me.

27:33Benjamin Seško:I don't care who I'm upset within reason. In the football parlance that is. It's not just Arsenal players doing this. Everybody's doing it. Everybody's doing it. Mario?

27:46Gabriel:Yeah. No, no, no. It's so true. You know what the funny part is what Don is saying? This is not a new thing for Arsenal, Don. You know yourself. Look, they've been always good at it. Even in the time when I was playing, I'm talking about. I'm not talking about now. I'm talking about the time we're going back now. We were sitting in a dressing room and just talk about this moment. Why are they always getting the free kicks? Why are they always smiling? Because they know how to get them. They know if they have to get a yellow card, they know. As soon as you hit them on a break, they kick you down.

28:16Gabriel:They don't care. Take the yellow card. So now, even when this moment, I understand it was maybe a soft situation for Gabriel. But the two arms on a player, I am almost guarantee that's why they gave it. It is not because of, you know, if you do a small little arm tap, it's okay. But two is a little bit too heavy for him. But he is gambling. I am saying that, yeah, he's gambling. There is going to be a moment where he's not going to get it. and I hope because most of the time when he gambles it's right in front of his goal because if you see this now with Walter Mard it happened and now he had the moment again it's right in front of the goal it's where a striker it gets the moment and it's not like it's a defender or a midfielder no it's a striker so there is going to be a moment where he's not going to be you know taken care of like he's been now

29:05Benjamin Seško:Don's the only he's definitely got it in for Arsenal

29:08Kolo Muani:yeah absolutely Don absolutely let's continue I mean what's oh yeah

29:12Benjamin Seško:What happened? Did they turn you down as a kid? What is it?

29:16ESPN FC Crew:No, no, no. It's just because we're chatting Arsenal. It'll happen with someone else next week. Someone will go down next week. So the Arsenal fans go on fire away.

29:26Benjamin Seško:I think it is a bad trait across the board. Again, it's not the Premier League. It's every league. It's a terrible trait that players are going down without the serious head knocks, which is a different debate. Serious head knock. Game has to be stopped. There's no argument about that. across the board, players will go down for anything now. And all these softies want the ball kicked out. And to Don's point, these players, most of them, as soon as they realise they're not getting what they want, they're back on their feet and they're running off again. It is... Well, Luke Shaw. Luke Shaw done it tonight, didn't he?

30:03Benjamin Seško:It's an endemic. Luke Shaw done it. Yeah. I mean, it used to be, and I mean this in all sincerity, in England back in the day and I'm talking a long time ago we were talking about diving it was only the foreign players that's what it was isn't it yeah no you're right

30:19Gabriel:you're right

30:20Benjamin Seško:that was the conversation you're right what are you saying and I'm not the European players the British players never dived which was nonsense that was nonsense but the European players came in from Italy and Spain and Germany and all that and they were clever and they would go to ground and everybody used to say it's just it's just the European players it's just the Italian Italians, it's just the Dutch, it's just the Spanish. Well, no, the British players are as guilty as everybody.

30:47ESPN FC Crew:No, but you know why, Greg, what you say now, it makes sense to me. Jürgen, he started it. Jürgen, yeah, he was the worst.

30:54Kolo Muani:Blame Jürgen Klinsmann. Yeah, he started it.

30:57Gabriel:But you know, yeah, you know why I'm saying like what you just said now, it makes so much sense. and I'm going to tell you now because before I ever made my debut in England, the first thing they said to me was, if it hurts, you can stay down. If it doesn't hurt, get up and keep moving because you're a defender, that's one. And the second part is you're in England now. You're not in Holland anymore. Get up and move because if not, they're never going to respect you in your own stadium. I said, okay. But now you say exactly what they told me. Yeah, it's not just a patent for the players

31:33Benjamin Seško:that are not British now, it is that they're all as bad as each other for trying to con and get the game stopped. And that's why quite often when I'm watching a game and somebody kicks the ball out for a non-emergency injury or an injury that's not threatening, certainly not in a head sense, I get irate. I get irate at this. Because it's a business, it's a game, it's a contest. And if that player is not seriously injured, the game continues. And we just see it too much these days. But that's another story. It's not going to change. And by the way, Don, I think your Arsenal are going to win the league.

32:12Kolo Muani:Well, let's see what the Arsenal basher has to say about the next topic. One of the topics yesterday was Mikel Arteta. Does he have a selection headache when it comes to Eze and Odegaard? What's your thoughts on this situation here, Don?

32:27ESPN FC Crew:Oh, it's Eze all day long, K. I commentated on the Wigan game in the FA Cup. over in Bristol and he was magnificent. The kid's got special ability. He needs to be given his head now. You know, alright, he went for a little bit of a bad form. I think no goals in the last eight before he got these couple of goals against Tottenham. But the kid's just got magic in his boots. He's got a swagger about him. He can play. He gets on the half turn. Odegaard's a fantastic footballer, don't get me wrong. But this guy's got more end product. I think he's got assists in him. He's definitely got goals in him.

32:58ESPN FC Crew:I think if you played Ezzar for 38 games in the Premier League, I think he'd be looking at something like, he should be looking at something like 15 goals You know, playing in that position, I think As I said, he's got the natural ability He's got the ability to take players on He's got a yard of pace He's got a bit of strength He's got positional awareness And he knows where the back of the net is So I think the shirt has to be his

33:19Kolo Muani:Do you agree with that, Mario?

33:23Gabriel:Yeah, I would play SA Why I would play SA is also because he can do more than just create things You know, I want a player that he has goals in them. And we can say like, okay, against Spurs, you could say the first time, you could say, oh, it's lucky. But then he does it again. Come on, this is not luck anymore because now the luck is out of the window. And I don't want to say, oh, the guy's not a great player. No, I like all the guys. But I definitely want to put some pressure on the situation in the sense of like, I am here. I came here to play. So now I'm going to test my coach. I'm going to say to him, like if I'm SA, I'm going to be like, coach, What is for me key to be able to get my opportunity and battle with for that position with the player that is playing there?

34:02Gabriel:And of course he's the captain and it doesn't matter because you always the captain always get something some special treatment But not in a sense when you are competing in the sense of like I'm showing that I'm word of it So that's why I say like essay. Yes, he needs to keep going and he needs to definitely ask questions to his coach

34:20Kolo Muani:Want to say anything about this?

34:23Benjamin Seško:the boys pretty much echoed what I said yesterday I think Eze should get a run on the side I agree, I think his end product is more accurate I think he takes more risks than Martin Odegaard in the final third I think he's prepared to try and play more killer balls and hence give the ball away a bit more often but be prepared to take that little bit of heat to find and I'm a big believer in And, you know, let's not, don't try and pad your stats. And I'm not suggesting Odegaard is, but he's a very tippy-tappy player at times. And he's very happy to go sideways and play these one-twos. It can be pretty at times, but I think if you look at his goals from where he's been playing in that position, I might be wrong, he's got one this year in the Premier League, I know he's missed a lot of games, but I think Ezi would have a bigger threat in terms of goals returned from that number 10 position.

35:15Benjamin Seško:And I think he takes more risks in terms of that final ball. And yeah, a lot of them might not come off, but I think he takes those chances and he plays those passes. He has the ability to do so and he's got a sort of swagger about him, hasn't he? And I, for one, would like to see him giving a long run on the side. I think he never got that run after he scored the hat-trick at the Emirates against Tottenham because Odegaard came back into the side pretty soon after that. And he was shunted to the left side and then he got dropped. So I would like to see him giving a run. And I think Arteta's shown, to be fair, that he's not frightened to make that big decision.

35:48Benjamin Seško:you know, Degas the captain, you're not playing. But is he going to do it between now and the end of the season? I'd like to think he is, because I think Ezi's a talent in there that can change games that are tight. Yesterday's game wasn't tight in the end, but he can change games that are tight with his end product. And at the moment, for me, he's the man with that number 10 shot.

36:08Kolo Muani:Let's take a look at what the loss does mean for Spurs right now, though, especially when it comes to relegation as it stands, because they find themselves just four points above the relegations, only 11 games to go. They're also the only winless team in the Premier League in 2026. Don, what's it like for these players right now to be so close to where they are looking at those relegation spots?

36:33ESPN FC Crew:Horrible. Yeah, horrible. I went down, as you know, West Ham with an unbelievable side that we went down with a Premier League record of 42 and the team was filled with England internationals and our team was guys like Thomas Repco and Christian Daly and David James, Joe Cole, Paolo Di Canio, Trevor Sinclair, Jermaine Defoe, Freddie Canute, a team that was pretty stacked and we got to Christmas time and we looked around in the dressing room and we thought, we're going to be fine. You look at Canute and you look at Di Canio, you look at Jermaine Defoe and the guys that I mentioned and you go, we'll be all right.

37:13ESPN FC Crew:Then all of a sudden, a busy December, busy Jan, you get to Feb and you go, holy moly, we're in the bottom three, but we'll be fine. And then the games go by and you've got no form to lean on and you're winning like one in three and four and you're not jumping too many places because all the teams have gone away from you. I'm probably a little bit in the minority where I think Spurs will be okay. I think they'll just about be okay. They've got some wins in them from there to the end of the season. They're going to have to improve, don't get me wrong, but their fixtures compared to Forrest and West Ham, West Ham have got the worst run of fixtures.

37:46ESPN FC Crew:Their fixtures are horrible. So I look probably, and I think Spurs should be okay or might be okay, then I'm looking 50-50 between Forrest and West Ham. But it's a horrible situation and scenario to be in because you're living game by game. And my memory of being in that dogfight where West Ham is, every home game that we played, there was always TVs big massive plasmas in the dressing room the first thing we'd done when we came in whether we won or we lost is we banged on the TV and we saw all the results about the teams in and around us you got a little bit of joy when you seen someone lose and then you were quickly deflated when you thought oh no they've won and then you try and do all the math in your head and then you fast forward seven days later another game comes

38:27Kolo Muani:yeah tough times for Spurs

38:29Benjamin Seško:and we'll see how it plays out it is it's like when you go to you know you're looking at those games and you think how the hell did West Ham just beat Arsenal? Or something like that. You know what I'm saying? How did Forrest do that? And you're down there. And I don't know if Mario said this scenario, but I had it when I left Celtic, the same as Don. When I left Celtic, and I'd never been in a relegation battle with Chelsea, really, and certainly not at Celtic. And then I went to Derby. And it's just, it's a different mindset. When you're going well, you're looking forward to the weekend. And when you're going badly, you're dreading the weekend.

39:02Benjamin Seško:And you start looking at the fixtures. as a player, because you're thinking to yourself, you look around your dressing room, you think, well, have we got enough or haven't we got enough? Then you look at the fixtures and you go, Arsenal away, Liverpool at home, chill. You know, you're now thinking...

39:19Kolo Muani:Are you doing the yes-no in your head?

39:20Benjamin Seško:Well, you're going... It's depressing, because you can see the championship spiralling towards you, and then all that doubt in your mind. And when you're a team that's not used to being in that position, and Tottenham really, I mean although they were heading that way under Postacoglu they were never really in a relegation battle because it was at the end of the season we're quite some way from the end of the season now and they're in it now they're not, this squad is not programmed for a relegation battle, it's a bit of a fancy Dan team isn't it, you know if we get in Europe we'll be alright, the manager will get sacked he'll take the blame but all of a sudden you're down in that bottom 4 or 5 and the natives at the London Stadium they are going to get restless if they aren't already.

40:04Benjamin Seško:And that pressure just compounds on a weekly basis as every result gets worse. And that is really when you find out what the make-up is of your teammates. Because you start looking around the dressing room and going, who's going to help? And that's when you find out if you've got guys with a good mentality or if you've got guys that are going to completely chuck it when the pressure gets on, which is kind of where Tottenham are getting into.

40:35Kolo Muani:Mario?

40:38Gabriel:No, he's right, because I've been in that situation too, you know, what they talk about, because I've been with Birmingham, and it happened, you know, like what Don said, you know, you go down and you're like, oh my God. Then I said, I promise myself, it will never happen again. I go to Wigan, I'm riding the battle too. So the only thing that you do then is that you need a player that is confident, or not confident, but he's ready for the battle in the sense of like he will take the heat when things are really going bad. And fortunate I had that time Steve Rousers, my manager for example, and I was right back.

41:10Gabriel:He called me, get on the ball. But I'm like, get on the ball. I'm a defender. No, you have to have the forwards. But I had to do it, drop, because there were guys that the confidence was really, really low. So I had to go and pick up the ball, try to create something and do something. But the key thing now is going back to Spurs. When you look at Spurs, right, what Craig said was very, very good because if you look at the players, you think that Gallagher came there and thought, oh, I'm going to be in this situation. It's going to put me there. Look at Simons. Simons comes there. You think that he's a player that's capable of already handling it.

41:45Gabriel:Look, I'm not saying that they won't be able to have the fight and not ready for the fight, but one thing I'm saying is that they did not come for this battle. They didn't come and ask themselves, oh, I'm going to be in this situation because this is going to be a lot of pressure. It could be also maybe good pressure if they come out of it because now they know how it is because you have to go after trying to win the league, regardless if that is a big shot that I'm talking about now. But that is the pressure that the guys like Arsenal, Manchester City, even if Liverpool drops, Man United, you know, Chelsea later on will have to.

42:18Gabriel:Like, you know, you need to have that fight in you to say like, oh, this season starts, I need to win it. Spurs doesn't have that feeling yet. and now they're in the feeling of saying like I cannot relegate because it's a club that never relegated so this is it's incredible what they're going through now but they have to make sure the team and the individuals are ready for this battle if not they have a problem

42:39Kolo Muani:Yeah, we'll see if this happens

42:41Benjamin Seško:Have I done something to upset somebody?

42:42Kolo Muani:What's wrong?

42:43Benjamin Seško:Because right in front of me off camera here there's a replay in the Man United Everton game You don't want to watch that

42:50Kolo Muani:wonderful excitement again

42:51Benjamin Seško:My eyes keep getting drawn to it over here it's like purgatory, you know what I mean? I'm having to watch that again

42:57Kolo Muani:Gavin Jules, you can go and check out to see their thoughts on the North London Derby and many more things that have been going on in the world of football wherever you get your podcasts.

43:09Kolo Muani:Benfica's Gianluca Prestiani has been provisionally suspended by UEFA for one match following those allegations of racial abuse towards Vinicius Junior. He will not be in the second leg this week. There will be more information on this story over on our website, ESPN.com. and make sure to stay up to date with us daily as we will be looking back on everything that goes on in Europe and right here in the Premier League, in La Liga, in the Bundesliga every single day on ESPN FC. Be sure to be with us. So yesterday we saw the Messi incident and he's not received any punishment for his post-match reaction in Miami's 3-0 loss to LAFC.

43:50Kolo Muani:He's been cleared by MLS. Saccurata. Of course he has. He determined that he did not break the rules by following the refs into a tunnel area. There'll be more to talk about this.

44:01Benjamin Seško:Listen, we'll be talking about this. Go on, throw more.

44:03Kolo Muani:Yep.

44:04Benjamin Seško:He could go in the dressing room, roll about the referee and his assistants for good measure and Don Garber would go, nothing to see here. Clean or messy. Spare me. Spare me the rest of it. Yep. Sorry, have I just...

44:16Kolo Muani:No, it's absolutely fine. Have I just screwed the show up tonight? They will continue the conversation tonight. Ale, Casey and Alexis. It's 8.30 p.m. Eastern. That will definitely be one of the big topics. Are they doing it from home? No, they all have to come in as well.

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46:57Kolo Muani:Thanks for being with us on the latest edition of FC. I'm not doing Mondays anymore. Extra Time is on the way next.

47:07Kolo Muani:Welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. Craig and myself here in the studio. Don and Mario joining us. I've got a question.

47:17Benjamin Seško:Mario do you only come out your house on Mondays? Yeah What's wrong? You give us a bit of love on a Tuesday or a Wednesday or a Thursday or a Friday Is it a contract? It's like Craig David Craig David the boy

47:36Gabriel:Give us a bit of love on Monday I'm happy you're here on Monday You see, I see your face on Monday. I'm happy. Well, I'm not normally. I'm on a Monday.

47:47Benjamin Seško:I'm not avoiding you, but I'm not. Sometimes I'm here on the Monday. Sometimes I'm not. But, you know, I feel that he's thrown a bit of a straw up and gone. I only do Monday. Only doing Mondays.

47:59Kolo Muani:Yeah. We won't say what happened on the other days.

48:01Gabriel:I promise you, I will ask them. I will ask them and say, like, okay. Craig said, you know, I need to. I'll tell you what.

48:10Benjamin Seško:You do a Thursday and I'll do a Monday.

48:14Kolo Muani:Can you ever imagine Mario throwing a strop though?

48:18Benjamin Seško:Yeah Really? Well I'm not really

48:21Kolo Muani:No

48:22Benjamin Seško:No

48:23Kolo Muani:We're happy to have you every day of the week Mario But we love having you on a Monday

48:28Benjamin Seško:Don and I had the biggest ever You know talking about this It's a different story Don will tell you this We once We once had this debate about Michael Carrick Do you remember this Don?

48:42ESPN FC Crew:We did.

48:43Benjamin Seško:I do. I know where you're going. We had this discussion about Michael Carrick and Sergio Busquets on Premier League Productions many, many years ago, and the producer, they kept trying to go to a break. And we must have went for 15 minutes. The producer was just throwing all his paper out, Steve Turkey. Because we're talking about Carrick a lot today.

49:04ESPN FC Crew:We used to, yeah. Do you remember that? We used to do a Monday program, didn't we? We used to argue like cat and dogs. It even got that far. I was arguing like Michael Carrick's career, like I think profile wise, the same as Busquets, two like brilliant players, but Busquets sort of won the lot because he had legendary players around him, but Michael technically was brilliant. So me and Craig done a program for PLP and it was every Monday and it was like, it was, you know what we're like, like we've got opinions. It got that bad in the end. Craig would just out me on air for the state of my socks.

49:36ESPN FC Crew:He'd go, how can I take you seriously with a cover of socks on? It was just. It was a Monday, Mario. We didn't come to know each other too well.

49:42Gabriel:Mario, it was a Monday. You could have joined in. It was a Monday. You see, you know, actually, my career started with Don. I was with Don in the studio in England at Piappi. That's how I started. But I'm talking 20 years. Almost 15, 16 years ago. Yeah.

49:58Kolo Muani:Full circle moment, Mario. Okay, Don. Do you think West Ham has turned the corner and will dig themselves out of the bottom three by the end of the season?

50:10ESPN FC Crew:I mean, they've definitely turned a corner. That is the truth they have. It's just when you analyse their fixtures, Liverpool away next. And I'm not sure what's after that, but they play all the big boys. They play like, I think, Aston Villa and the likes of Man City. And you try to pinpoint, as we were chatting before, where the wins are going to come from. You plot it in your head. I remember playing in front, and it wasn't the season we went down, but Alan Pardew came in at West Ham. and it was the first time I've ever sort of done it officially and he came in and used to give us cards and he'd give every single player a block of six fixtures and he'd go right it's going to be anonymous uh your name's not going to be on there you can put what you want if you want to put six losses you could put six losses no one will ever know so of course like you're not you get the six in and you go I might draw that one don't fancy us there and then in the end you start putting loads of x's like you're going to lose and you think well i can't put that card in that looks a bit defeatist then you just start lying and you go yeah we'll win at anfield we'll win at city we'll win it you're not and all of a sudden it was just a shambles

51:19Kolo Muani:how it can be all right we heard a little talk about relegation today didn't we yeah all right

51:24Benjamin Seško:i didn't fill in any cards yeah it's a it's a very downward spiral in that scenario i think from West Ham's point of view just briefly and Forrest they will be hoping that Tottenham's wars continue because the more people you can drag in the better chance you have of it not just being about you. You always want to make it about you don't rely on other teams but if you can't make it about you which is sometimes the case you have to rely on other teams and the more the merrier which is Tottenham are playing into that card.

51:57ESPN FC Crew:So just just very quickly for Andas' text there. West Ham's fixtures. So try and plot these guys. Try and plot where West Ham are going to get 12, 15 points from. Right, here we go. Liverpool away. Liverpool away. Loss.

52:15Gabriel:Fulham away. Liverpool away. They're not going to win. No, I think they lose that one. Man City at home. I think Fulham is going to catch them.

52:24Benjamin Seško:Okay. Man City at home. Right.

52:28ESPN FC Crew:Man City at home. Loss.

52:32ESPN FC Crew:Villa away. Yeah.

52:34Benjamin Seško:Go on, Mario. Ooh. Ooh, that's a tough one.

52:39Gabriel:Yeah. That's why he said, I think, I don't know. I don't think they're going to win at Villa though. I don't think.

52:46ESPN FC Crew:A loss, Mario. So then the next three. Yeah. A loss, okay. So then the next three is Wolves Palace, Everton. Win. They can win all three, I think. Win.

53:05Kolo Muani:Palace Everton.

53:07ESPN FC Crew:So Wolves at home, Palace is away, Everton's at home.

53:12Benjamin Seško:Win, win, draw. I think Palace, I think, you know, Oliver Glasner is, I think there's too much negativity there.

53:22ESPN FC Crew:Eight points. Eight points. And then they've got Arsenal,

53:28Benjamin Seško:home. I've got an idea. Why don't we do this with every team down the bottom and give it a chance for another blizzard? Well, just to let you know, the last game of the season is Leeds.

53:41ESPN FC Crew:The last game of the season is Leeds at home. Hold on, Don. Let me see if I've got a shovel to shovel the snow.

53:47Kolo Muani:I think you've skipped some games as well here, Don. But anyway, we get the point. To answer Andas' question, I'm hoping. Anybody got a snowplough? I'm hoping. Mario, has Casemiro's tenure at Manchester United changed his legacy positively or negatively?

54:04Gabriel:Oh, 100 % positively. I have seen it, you know, I've been there, I've seen him play and I think Keroch has definitely helped that in the way he plays. And you see also, he's more confident, the distances are not as big that he has to run around and you know with Omerin it was always stretched open and put him in trouble and we couldn't see the Casemiro that we kind of like why he came to Man United because what he did at Madrid and I don't want to say we're going to see that again of course because okay everybody ages and it becomes less but you can see now that he definitely has the intelligence to understand the game so Casemiro all positively for me.

54:44Benjamin Seško:I think the United, it's good to see that actually because I don't know if the guy, I think they will probably agree it was quite sad to watch a period going back maybe I'm gonna say somewhere between six and twelve months might be quite wrong time frame wise but it was quite sad to watch a player who was world-class and he was who had pretty much won everything and played with the best players in the world and and had been one of the best, if not the best, holding midfielder and enforcer on the planet. It was sad to see him being hung out to dry in this Man United side. And I think the way that he's immersed himself in this United team he hasn't had, the fans know that he's a great player, but his legs have kind of gone.

55:38Benjamin Seško:He has given 100%. He's told them he's leaving at the end of the season, but he's going to fight till the end of the season, and he's doing that. and he just looks like he's got a smile on his face. He looks like he's happier. And I think that's great to see because it was, from a player perspective, it was horrible to watch a guy go through that period where the last place he wanted to be was the place that he'd been the best, which is on the field. But he doesn't look like that now. He looks like he's got a... And I'm not suggesting he's 24 again and can run about the field all over the place.

56:12Benjamin Seško:He can't. but he just looks as if he's finishing his career at Man United enjoying his football whereas a year ago or whatever it was he looked as if every time the ball came to him that he was going to just he looked like a nervous wreck and it's so nice to see a player not get completely smashed from pillar to post for his performances expecting what you're expecting when he was playing with Kroos and Luka Modric and players like that so I have to say that has been really, really good to see the fact that somebody with his resume hasn't been buried in the ground for what he's doing and it's actually the opposite so that's great.

56:50Kolo Muani:So it's positive For Craig, Jack Hughes of the US men's hockey team got his teeth knocked out during the gold medal game and Loftus Cheek got his teeth knocked out yesterday as well They still continue to play though Jack Hughes did. When you got your teeth knocked out.

57:04Benjamin Seško:Did they knock the puck out? When you got your teeth knocked out. Did they throw the puck out and go hold on, there's a softie on the ground

57:09Kolo Muani:Did you continue to play the game or were you subbed out?

57:12Benjamin Seško:It was training. It was in training. But we didn't stop training. We soldiers on, people just trampled over the top of me. Picked myself up, brushed myself down with a Sunday time. I knew he was going to say that. I did. Mario, I did, honestly. I just picked myself up. I was like, broken bones everywhere. How can I embellish this story a bit more? It was training, so, yeah. You picked yourself up.

57:34Kolo Muani:Did you pick your teeth up?

57:35Benjamin Seško:No, well, if I had picked my teeth up, they could have put them back in. because they were broken at the... Do you want the Phil Gory details? They were broken out from the root. So the teeth got shoved up. I'm gonna give it to you. The teeth went up the way into the gum and fell. So I broke, I had a hairline fracture in my roof of the gum here. And then the teeth fell. Now, being it was 1987 or 88, something like that, we didn't even bother with the teeth. it just sounds a bit of a strange story but nowadays or not even nowadays if you get those teeth those very your natural teeth could have been implanted back in rather than having an implant but we didn't know that back in the day so we didn't send out the sales party Craig

58:25ESPN FC Crew:so on that one on that one Kay I played in a game at West Ham and Christian Daly got his front tooth knocked out on about 85 minutes he soldiered on for 5 minutes soon as the game was finished the dock at Upton Park had the whole squad just after a game lined up and we walked the length of the pitch found his tooth and the root was still on it and they put it back in they put it back in true story

58:49Kolo Muani:see your team could have done that for you gone and found the tooth big boys work let's just say

58:55Benjamin Seško:in the late 80s sympathy was in

58:57Kolo Muani:short supply yeah I can imagine gents transfer wise which club is closer to competing for the league title in the next season or two? Marielle, put this to you first. Chelsea or Manchester United? P.S. Burley looks too happy and calm post-vacation and it's disconcerting.

59:18Benjamin Seško:Oh, sorry.

59:20Kolo Muani:He's in for Xhaka today, so he's bringing in.

59:22Benjamin Seško:I missed my day off today.

59:25Kolo Muani:Yeah. Listen,

59:26Benjamin Seško:we all cover for everybody. So,

59:31Gabriel:the question is, which club

59:33Kolo Muani:It's closer to competing for the league title next season or the season after between Manchester United and Chelsea.

59:42Gabriel:No, but I like, okay, going to Chelsea, I expect them to compete. It's not even I, who has the chance? After so many times, I've waited so many years, now there is no more like, oh, we have to wait, oh, this, we're doing this. know guys you got to compete now for the league you have invested enough now I want you to go after it regardless of like saying are you ready no you have to be ready because now fortunate your coach came prior to the winter time so now you have enough time giving him enough time to warm up and next season the beginning of the season you know coming from a Chelsea side you need to go after the title.

1:00:21Gabriel:Don have you got a thought on that?

1:00:25ESPN FC Crew:all day Chelsea all day long I'm not sure they're going to get there but at the two sides I think Chelsea are more equipped I think the 100 million pound players that they've signed on top of Neto on top of João Pedro Cole Palmer Enzo Fernandes Kai Sado they're still missing one or two I still think they need that sort of Petr Cech type goalkeeper the guy that's going to bail you out and get you loads of points and a couple of experienced centre-backs but apart from that. I don't see them going to a title, but at the two I think they'll be closer.

1:00:55Kolo Muani:For Craig, happy and calm Craig. Do you think whoever wins the Carabao Cup final in March will have a big impact on the rest of the Premier League title race? Would the winner have a mental edge when they meet again in April in the league? Because obviously of course it's Arsenal and Man City.

1:01:09Benjamin Seško:Yeah, I mean I think it would depend how tight the title race is. I mean the tighter it is, goes without saying, the more pressure is on, particularly the team winning. And that could have some sort of mental bearing that Cup Final. There's no doubt about that. I think the mental side of it is a big part of it, particularly when you get to this stage of the season. And particularly when somebody's chasing you down. Then it becomes into the realms of who plays on a Saturday and who plays on a Sunday or a Monday. Because that really factors in. you know if you're playing if you're Arsenal and you're playing on the Saturday something for whatever reason you're playing the Saturday you're two points ahead you bang with you bang the win and you go five ahead you put the pressure back on but if you're if you're Arsenal you're two points ahead and you're playing the Sunday and City are playing on Saturday and they win you're now a point behind and that that may seem like a very small thing to to the fan but from a playing perspective and I had it when I was in Scotland in particular when I was at Celtic and Rangers because usually the teams didn't play in the same day because of television and it was so nip and tuck one of us was playing the Saturday one was playing the Sunday and of course you know what the other one's done and which whatever the other one does generally piles the pressure on so those are the little nooks and crannies that this is going to come down to yes the cup final yes how tight it is and who can get their nose in front early each weekend to put the pressure on the other team to ask the question.

1:02:44Benjamin Seško:That's the position that City want to be in. Whether they will be or not, I think that's a big, there is an argument of whether they'll be strong enough. But if they are, that's where I'd want to be. I'd want to be playing on a Saturday, I want to be playing first every week to put the pressure on Arsenal and see how they cope with it.

1:03:01Gabriel:Mario? I know why you say that. No, he's right because, you know, especially when I was in Holland too, you know, at Ajax, we will always do that. The same what he said. You want to be the first, you want to be the winner and then wait for them to go and do it. Because they are nervous when they come on. You know they've watched it. And also when you won the game, right, correct? You know you're at home and you're thinking like, I know you've been watching us. We won. So now I want to see what you got. That's how you go. That mindset you have every time.

1:03:29Kolo Muani:One thing we know is that Don will be cheering against Arsenal every single week.

1:03:33Benjamin Seško:Particularly the players that go down. Particularly Gabriel. Particularly the ones that get pushed and die.

1:03:39Kolo Muani:Chouting at the screen and everything. All right, guys, thank you so much for sending in your questions. We'll be back tomorrow to do it all over again. See you Monday, Mario.

1:03:48Gabriel:See you, see you for sure.

1:03:55Eberechi Eze:it's a season two playoff race with TGL presented by SoFi Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern Jupiter links versus Boston common golf Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern Los Angeles golf club versus New York golf club Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern the Bay golf club versus Jupiter links keep up it's golf watch on ESPN ESPN2 and the ESPN app