SuperClasico Final

25:31Meanwhile, let's go to Manchester United, shall we? Of course, much discussion still about who will be the next manager. Olly Goner Solskjaer, odds on to return to Old Trafford. Michael Carrick, 5-2. Dan Fletcher, of course, in charge at the moment. We'll be at the weekend, 6-1. Craig, we haven't had you on since the rumours of Olly Goner Solskjaer. I've watched the boys and I couldn't believe how they're all on the Solskjaer. Yes, Stevie said it was a good idea. I don't get it. It made complete sense. I don't get it. I just don't get it. I mean, it just feels like a lot of these ex... And there was a piece in the...

26:06I think it was a piece in the headline of the Times 24 hours ago that said Manchester United are canvassing a bunch of ex-players about this position. And straight away, my mind was like, what is this fixation with ex-players of a particular club? they are absolutely fixated with having to be get a next player in who knows the club Solskjaer has been there and has failed was sacked was sacked because they were doing well no he was sacked because they got they got pumped at Watford that's not why he's going to go back in he's not going in to be the manager for the next 10 years he's going in there till they figure out what they're going to do why does it have to be him?

26:53Well, because he's a familiar face, he knows the place. Yeah, and he's failed. It wasn't like they got relegated. I mean, you're saying he's failed. They were terrible in the end. In the end, they were, but they're only looking for five months. Well, Darren Fletcher's there and Michael Carrick's around. He's managed the football. There's people that have no affiliation with Man United that are better than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. I don't understand why you would say that. Why would you? Because you don't know what they're going to do, what Michael Kallit's going to do. I know exactly what Solskjaer's going to do.

27:26Yeah, he's going to fail again for the second time. What do you mean fail? This is another... What do you mean fail? Ineos, who have put 1.25 billion, they might as well just call themselves Ineos on goal. Because they keep having these on goals, right? Ten Hag, new contracts, Amarine, recruitment, you know, sacking kitchen staff, saving money here, having to pay managers, bringing... Solskjaer was not in work from Manchester United sacked him. Why? Because there was no real suitors worth any note. He then goes to Besiktas. He lasts six months. He's out. And the only thing he is doing, like the rest of the United players, they're all hovering around Manchester and Cheshire, which is where they live, waiting for this sort of interim call.

28:12I just don't get... Why would you bring a manager back in who was deemed poor enough that they sacked him? He cried in his interview, and they want to bring him back in? I mean, is that the level of their due diligence? Is it a case of better the devil you know? We want to get into the Champions League. We need to finish top five. Ralph Ragnick was a complete and utter failure when we tried to go outside of this net of ex-players. We know what Solskjaer's going to bring to the table. He's a safe pair of hands. Get us to the Champions League, then we'll get Thomas Koehler. Well, if he was a safe pair of hands, why did they suck him?

28:48Well, because obviously overall he failed. Exactly. Why are they going for failure to come in and steady the ship? And why does it have to be somebody related to Manchester United? I think you've been a bit harsh here, by the way. I'm not being harsh. You tell me what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has on his CV, apart from a smiley face and a nice personality, to come back into a club that he was sacked at to steady a ship. If they finish fifth this season, would you agree this was the right decision? Well, if they finish fifth this season. Fifth? What's fifth? Champions League. This is all they care about.

29:25This is why they've brought him back, basically. Because they think he can win enough games. I'll be honest with you. I'll be honest. I don't think it's... I think it's a known goal if that's what they do, and there's no guarantee that they're going to do that. But... Who's going to... Is this the level of what they're prepared to look at, even short term? It's kind of where they are, really. Frank, what do you think? You're not going to get in the decent, are you, for five months? I'm with Stevie, and the last sentence from Craig says it all. Oh, Bob. No, no, Craig, no. Sorry, come on. It's late in France.

30:06Don't start. It's late. Yeah, fair enough. I really think that you are thinking that Manchester United are planning on getting something great straight away. No, they're not. They're going to finish the season. Maybe they're going to get the Champions League. Maybe. But what they think is what's going on next season. So it doesn't really matter who's going to get in charge right now, where they're going to position themselves, how it's going to work. It's not even a debate because they know they're such in a big mess that they put somebody and let's see, let's think about the future, the close future, but it's still a future.

30:45And talking about the present, it's not doing anything. It doesn't bring anything to them. So bring Ole Gunnar Solkir because the guys, as you say, does a nice smile, a nice guy, and he's going to do it for like three months, four months, five months, and that's it. And after, we're getting it seriously. Luis, you're a nice guy with a nice smile. Oh, God. I mean, I'm not a big fan of second parts, and I feel it this way. I think that if you are trying to get in the top four because that's the only target or the only aim that you think you're going to achieve, why you get rid of Ruben Amorim and wait until he is the part of the season?

31:23You are three points away from Champs League, so why to bring home? It reminds me a little bit of that joke of Nate Vargas, the comedian, American comedian, when you send a mail and the computer says, no, you cannot send it because it's too big, and you wait and you say, what about now? That's kind of the thing. that didn't work before, why should work now? Because you think that it's going to be, it has changed something. I'm not a big fan of that. Just a reminder, more Manchester United chat over on YouTube, where you can also find extra time as well, where we stay late. Look, Robbie's got a standing ovation.

31:57What's that for? I don't know, a velvet jacket.

32:14it see you

32:19it's all too easy now for Chelsea it's showing off now And Newcastle about to hit the front. It's Arsenal's party. A goal of real quality from Arsenal. It's Erling Haaland. Of course it is.

32:35So a full round of matches for you on ESPN+. It all starts on Friday, which I believe is tomorrow. Wrexham taking on Nottingham Forest at 2pm. And Saturday, an early start. Everton, Sunderland, City, Exeter City, Fulham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Spurs, Villa, Charlton against Chelsea. Of course, all these available on ESPN+. Good doubleheader on Sunday. Pompey against Arsenal, Manchester United against Brighton. And then on Monday, Liverpool take on Barnsley. What could possibly go wrong, Stevie?

33:10PSG won the French Super Cup, coming from behind to beat Marseille in some style, pushing it to penalties. Luis Enrique then adds another trophy to what has been an impressive resume since he joined PSG in 2023. AC Milan will play out a 1-1 draw against Genoa. A frustrating night for the host because of course they could have closed the gap. Just one at the top of the table. It's now three between them and Inter. Bishop Pulisic had a disallowed goal in that game. And I'm sure, as always, he will be a hot topic on the latest edition of Football Americas, which returns tonight, 8.30 Eastern. Be sure to join Christina, Herc and Casey.

33:55And Casey will be in studio for Frankfurt against Borussia Dortmund. That game live tomorrow, 2 p.m. Eastern on ESPN Plus and ESPN2. That's it. That brings us to the end of today's show. more rants about Oligon et Chauchat to come in extra time as Frank returns. Craig with us and his... Olig's at the wheel. Well, stay tuned.

34:24Welcome to the latest edition of the Extra Time. Frank Leboeuf is joining us and keep telling us it's late. It's your normal time, Frank in France. You can't use that as an excuse. Be a nonsense. No, no, no, no. It's just, I'm sorry, I went to do something yesterday and I travel all day long. So I'm a little bit tired. You got the violin. I'm a little bit tired. So I get that? Trombone. Yes, I'm a few. Oh, shut up, Mario. Don't talk to me, Mario. Don't put... Oh, man. You know, we were talking about only going to Solskjaer. I should have said better the red devil you know. I don't think brilliant.

34:57All that money, right? All that money, right? All that money, right? And that is really... All that dough. Why do you hate him so much? I don't hate him. I'll be honest with you. I'm not going to have to listen to Fjortov piping on as well. Ah, yes. I mean, there's only three people in the world that he follows around. Yes. Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. That's true. He's just going to camp up in Manchester. Manchester. Let's take a look at the first question then for extra time. Here it comes. Here we are. Did Liverpool just show the league how to play Arsenal?

35:32Back of the centre-backs, keep it tight in the middle and prevent runners in behind. No Arsenal player really even got on the end of a cross. I think most teams have been trying to do that so far this season and not being able to do it. It just so happened that on this particular night, Liverpool got a block in or a challenge in when they needed it. Arsenal weren't quite at it.

36:02What a terrible attempt to try to stay out of shots. I have to be in the shot. It's contract. What do you say, Stevie? Anything interesting? No, nobody knows. No idea what he's talking about. But he was right. I followed you, Stevie, you were right.

36:22I'm trying to be professional here, Dan's trying to get that and I'm trying to be half sensible, the two of them. I'm trusting Frank. You never know he'd be such a Ole Gunnar's houseguard loving. I know. I know. Stevie, what would he be like if Roy Hodgson was back at Liverpool? As good as Roy was over the years, you know, isn't it? I could probably suffer four months. Okay, Stevie, last year you debated with Dan about how mediocre the Premier League was and Newcastle's regression. How would you assess the Premier League season thus far and which team has regressed the most? Well, I think the last question is the easiest one, right?

37:00Which team has regressed the most? The defending champions? Yeah. All right. Bitter. What is that? Wolves. I wouldn't... Huh? What's wrong with your end? Him. Go back home then for another thought, mate, will you? Right.

37:27Yeah, I would suggest that the Premier League so far has been pretty average. Right, to be honest, in terms of the quality, I think we've had some exciting games, but in terms of the actual quality and teams being able to dominate other teams with great football, there's not been that much of it. So I wouldn't suggest it's gotten better since last year. We discussed before, and you mentioned parity, that the worst teams are better now than they have been in the past. It's hard to judge. It was your point. What, Wolves, Burnley? West Ham? There's not a straight answer. Every time you watch it, week after week, you kind of think about something else.

38:12Right. I mean, are the other sides getting worse? Because the three sides that are at the bottom are as bad as the three that were at the bottom last year. Yes. No question. Yeah. So, it doesn't look like the worst teams are getting better. It looks like the supposed better teams are getting worse. Right. That would be my suggestion. Frank? Yeah, I agree. It's like, except the three at the back, the three last, the middle of the table is getting a little bit better and the top is getting a little bit less good, let's say. And it's why you have a mix and you see how many points you have between the fifth, I would say, to the 14th.

39:03And then after you have Aston Villa and City trying to survive and Manchester City and you have Arsenal above everybody. But it's not a very good Premier League again and And it must be a concern because that's the second year that we are seeing it. And we are supposedly watching the best league in the world. I'm having doubts right now about that. Well, the one way to look at it, sorry to bring up Man United again, but they've just dropped a bunch of points over the last three or four weeks to teams in the bottom half of the league, and yet there's still a smidge of Champions League places. tells you how bad, when we know the state they're in and how bad they have been to watch, and yeah, they signed some decent players, Kunia and Mbemo, and Cesc was getting a bit of game time, scored a couple yesterday, but the fact that they've played the way they are and are sitting so close to being in the Champions League places with, you know, maybe three or four good results tells you how bad the rest are.

40:08Although, could you say that, like Stevie said, you don't see many teams outplaying the others. Is it not just that the others are better coached? Tactically, they approach games better than they have in the past, which doesn't give the bigger sides the opportunity to shine as much. No. I'm not being funny, right? I wish people wouldn't get carried away. You know, a team... I don't hear anybody talking about Arna Slott being a tactical genius for blacking Arsenal out. You don't need a tactical genius to get everybody behind the ball. Right. At the end of the day, the better size, the onus, has always been on them to break down the opposition.

40:49And for 100 years, teams have been sitting in a defensive shape and it's always been up to the opposition to break them down. So I don't think it's got anything to do with coaching or tactics. Sometimes the likes of Arsenal, in terms of the final third, don't turn up. I mean, we've been talking about Arsenal all season and it's been the same question mark every single weekend. They don't put teams away. And then with the week, Villa force, we go, OK, looks like they've figured out how to put teams away. And then today, considering the possession, considering the domination they had over Liverpool, they couldn't put Liverpool away.

41:27Never created a clear chance. But yet they were still able to make three. They completely changed the front three. That's how strong they are. But yet they still couldn't break Liverpool down. So I'm not sure it's down to coaching tactics. It's about teams not being able to do it because on certain days they just can't figure it out. Yeah, if I may, I think that we have seen lately teams who are not capable of defending, not being good defending. The only team who knows how to defend is Arsenal and they are first. Today, to show what I try to explain is that when you defend you have a chance maybe to win.

42:08Liverpool, for the first time this season, they defended well. Last season, they were good. We saw City collapsing last season because they had no defence. So it's like nowadays. It's not really important to defend, but how to score. But I was born with an education of football over the Italians, where all the masters of defending and show to the rest of the world that if you are good defensively, you're going to get titles. You're going to win stuff. You're going to show consistency. And today, right now, in England, we don't see that anymore. The only team who knows how to defend, again, is Arsenal.

42:46Is there not an argument to say a team like Sunderland, who I think pretty much everyone expected to go down, have been so good because defensively they've been solid, Frank? I think so. I think so. And you can add that to Arsenal. They've defended well as well. Yeah, yeah, but I mean, for me, it's the basics. We all had that in our education. Again, until 2010, let's say. Maybe, I don't know why it changed, but we all knew that we had to be strong. I mean, I played with players like De Sailly, Deschamps, and some others who were playing in Italy. And they say, that's what you have to do. Otherwise, you're not going to get anything.

43:26And I remember playing for Chelsea and working hard with Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Viali, Claudio Ranieri, who had that Italian education, where you first try to be solid at the back and after you try to develop your football. But if you are a piece of, I don't know, a bad gruyere, as we say, with all holes everywhere, you're not going to survive. And it saves a lot about every time you see a winner of a title is because he has been good defensively. The other thing is, let's be honest, how many great strikers are there in the Premier League now? How many are there in the world? Well, you know, particularly Erling Haaland, yeah.

44:11Fantastic. Talked about Xochitl. Chelsea haven't got one. Newcastle have got, you know, Volta Man has done okay. Then Thiago's got, what, Brentford up to sixth? Fifth? Yeah. No way. You know, Aston Villa, Watkins has had a better period recently, but it was awful. You know, there's not... So there is that. In a sense, there is that as well. We've been used to, certainly, Nick, and other countries are the same, but in England we've been used to having, to name a few, you know, when Shearer was playing and Feltler was playing and Van Nistelrooy and Drogba and all these teams, right, had these people who would just do something amazing, you know what I mean?

44:52And you could throw balls in the box and they were putting their head on it and that was the difference. It was goals, it was quality. How many at the moment have we got in the Premier League you can say that is top quality, world-class strikers. I think there was always at least five or six teams. I think at the moment we're looking at one. Is that a result of tactics? Because all these guys Craig's talking about got service. Now, the people that get service now are the white guys. Hi. Your Madwekis and your Saka's and all these guys. Every team, it seems like the most important guys are the attacking white guys.

45:31so you're sent a forward to getting enough service I can even tell you you would have done that to Drogba to Rooney or any other to Shearer touching like five balls for 45 minutes like Haaland does they go in the dressing room they say oh guys what are you doing you don't need me I'm not going to play I'm not going to run for nothing it would never happen I imagine Shearer touching like ten balls a game he would have gotten nuts. And so it's why. It's impossible. They have to change that. They have to rethink the positioning of strikers and the use of strikers. Speaking of strikers, should Arsenal sell Jean-Claude Chárez and buy Thiago from Brentford?

46:15Stephen? I see the highest scoring Brazilian in the Premier League season. Can I make that up? Five years.

46:26Well, see, the thing is, you could argue that he benefits because nine times out of ten, Brentford are going forward with plenty of space in front of them. Right. As opposed to Jocker is, who now isn't playing with a team that's pushing plenty space. He's got less time, less space, and certainly less opportunities. So I would say no would be the answer right now. Why are Arsenal so bad going forward, Frank? Do they get over-managed?

47:02I think they think too much. Many times I saw today, especially the first half, where they could have gone straight and suddenly they decide to go backwards. And I say, why do they do that? Why they don't want to lose the ball? Why they don't want to try? And if you lose the ball, that's OK. You have to try. It's again, it's that football that we have nowadays that you think too much. I remember talking to Jean-Pierre Papin. He was saying, when I start thinking, I don't know how to play football. It has to be instinctive. And we play chess right now. We play almost like handball, handball, as you say in England.

47:38It is what it is. You have to stop thinking. I remember Drogba scoring against Everton, getting in his chest, having the goal behind him, just turning and smashing the ball, top corner goal. That was English football. That was the football that we liked. That's not the football that we see right now where, oh, my God, He's going to go right. Yeah, he goes right. Oh, he's going to go backwards. Oh, he's going to go left. They never tried and played directly like we used to do and like people used to like. I think we need a timely reminder here that you're old. Arsenal are top of the league with six points.

48:18Oh, yeah. I mean, we're talking about why don't they do this and why don't they do that. It's up to the others to be better. Has anyone else done? Yeah, Craig, it's not... We're going to move on. Isn't it by default? I love enough of living in... Oh, no, no. I can't say that. Huh? Oh, God. Let's go back to 2026. Has anyone asked Don what his updated percentages are and who will win the Premier League? No, no, no. What's the biggest challenge for a player making the jump from the youth team to becoming a regular in the senior squad, Stevie? The biggest challenge?

48:59I don't know whether it's the biggest one, but it's the first challenge is being accepted. Between what, by the other players? Aye. Really? On the field. I don't mean the interest. Respected more than accepted. Yeah, yeah, yeah, respected. Yeah, they think you belong there because if they don't think you belong there, then A you'll never see the ball, B they'll start knocking you around for fun. Did you see that happen? No, I didn't see that happen. I mean How do you know Well he's made it up Well because Because when you The difference is The difference is When you're talking about All these Premier League teams And you've got You mean your Marlins Stuff coming through They're coming through The Arsenal's And all the other And the top teams But if you go around The rest of the leagues You try and be You try and be a kid In the Championship now Who's 17 Who's trying to get in The first team And you see what Training's like with them they'll be getting a tough time so it's a little different but ultimately if the players don't respect what you're capable of on the field with the ball at your feet or any other way then you ain't going to make it You got a bit aggressive with me then Passive I would have said the biggest jump when I noticed it was physicality which is kind of what Steve is saying to his sense, he's talking about being accepted but his physicality is the physical difference from the youth team or even the reserves up to the first team and getting clobbered by guys that have been there 10 years who are bigger, stronger.

50:34That isn't so much the case now when you see the Pedris and Laminya Mal and Lennart Carroll in Germany. They're all very, you know, smaller guys. But the game has changed in a sense where a lot of that physicality has been taken out of it because of the protection of players. So that's slightly different now. And I think that's why we're seeing some of these guys who are a little bit smaller in frame coming up and being able to play because certainly 20 years ago, if these guys were coming through then, they were getting absolutely smashed week in, week out, and with very little protection. Frank?

51:12Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's a hard task, and it's also due to the experience for you to welcome the guy, to make sure that he does what he knows. when I was captain in Strasbourg or Marseille or vice captain with Denis Walsh at Chelsea, I used to welcome the guys and say, if you're here, it's because you're worth it. But we're not going to give you the red carpet. You will have to show physically, as Craig mentioned, or technically. If you're pure talent, you will of course accept the guy. But there is a test. There are many Sometimes you arrive late, you know if you can challenge the guy, how he reacts when you tackle him in the training round.

52:00It's a christening at some point and sometimes it used to work like that. But players, if they are here, it's because they're worth it. He's very agitated. You're very agitated. I don't think so. You're clock watching. That's because we were early today. Yeah, it's been a long day. Did you ever have a match like Brendan Aronson did against Newcastle, Frank? Having a mistake or error at the end of what would have been a man-in-the-match performance? Scored two yesterday and then, of course, gave away the penalty.

52:36Yeah, I'm sorry. Not that I remember. Because in a hurry, I'm not going to think too much. Well, I gave them enough to talk about on Football America. That's all right. Oh, yeah. I've been here a while, come on. Go on. Did you have any... I've been here a while. Any match like that? Oh yeah, loads. When? Well, mistakes. You would have been the star, but you had a bit of error at the end. I wouldn't go that far. Man of the match performance, you let it down with a banner. I actually played pretty well in the semi-final against United that day and I unfortunately made an error. Were you man of the match that day before you did that?

53:13Well, I certainly wasn't after it. Well, I was actually for United. Well, yeah, that's true. United's best player. That was a match for David Beckham. No, wake up. No, Stevie didn't make errors, did he? That thing, the lob at Postman. And the little chip over David James. Very unusual. Well, yeah. Because normally when you're in that position and you've had such a great game, you know, you can sometimes shut your eyes and run around and things will go for you. So that's really... You often do that, don't you? Who said that? Who said that? Shuck your eyes and run around

53:50Does any of the country crew play fantasy Premier League? If so, how's the season going? No, you do, don't you? Absolutely not You play, don't you? I do play, yes How's it going this year? Very well You did plenty of time, didn't you? Sorry, did I have plenty of time? Well, not today You do it during the operation? Yes, hold on a minute During the operation Hold that liver Sort it out So, apparently you've been busy today What do you mean? Well, you didn't do it today, did you? You had a busy day, didn't you? do it before the start of the match. That's it. Thank you very much, everybody. We will be back much more sensible tomorrow.

54:20Nottingham Forest... Shut up! Stop coughing, Ray! Nottingham Forest against Wrexham in the FA Cup, plus the return of the Bundesliga.

54:43We'll be right back.