MNC: Have City just blown their title chances?

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1:07This is the Monday Night Club with Mark Chapman. On the Football Daily Podcast. Shea Gibbon, Charlie Adam, Rory Smith with us. Everton 3, Manchester City 3. And somehow, Mike Mayaner, with the final whistle going, City have rescued a point. Yeah, and who knows where that leaves, Manchester City or Everton come May the 24th and the final day of the season Everton 3, Manchester City 3, five of the six goals coming in a crazy second half Jeremy Doku opening the scoring with a curling effort just before the break and then all hell let loose when Manchester City became masters of their own downfall firstly Mark Gaye passing it back terribly allowing Tieno Barra to steal in and steer it into the far left-hand corner moments later Jake O 'Brien's header from a corner had Everton 2-1 up.

1:57Everton were too clear when Tierno Barry made it 3-1, assisted by Merlin Rule, crossed low on the right-hand side and he just tapped it in with his left boot. Manchester City from that kick-off instantly got one back to make it 3-2. Erling Haaland dinking over Jordan Pickford and then in the seventh minute of stoppage time, Jeremy Docku added again, this time with his right foot, curling effort, edge of the D, past a flying Jordan Pickford and made it 3-3. But Arsenal now have the advantage in terms of points in the title race because Manchester City could only get one here. David Moyes still denied his first ever victory over Pep Guardiola in the Premier League.

2:37And Manchester City's great record over Everton comes to a little stall tonight as the players of Everton certainly look a little bit perplexed how they've let that slip. They did face an onslaught towards the end. Manchester City fans in that corner in the north-west side are now pointing and waving their hands towards the players in support of their efforts to rescue a point tonight. But it is absolutely the case of the word rescue because for most of that second half, the intensity that Everton played with, the surge forward of their players, the rawness of their fans carried their team into a 3-1 lead.

3:12Manchester City claw it back in a great game of Premier League football on a Monday night. and somehow we end up with a fantastic scoreline of Everton 3, Manchester City 3. Both sets of players look crestfallen, don't they? Both were gutted, didn't they? They were that close, Everton. But again, you've got to play right to the last moment and it's a lovely finish from Dooku, but that's a big dent in the title race for Man City. But you've got to pick yourself up now and go again. So five points, the difference between Arsenal and City. City with the game in hand. They still have Palace at home, Brentford at home, Villa at home, and they have to go to Bournemouth.

4:00Arsenal still have to go to West Ham and Crystal Palace. And they have Burnley at home. it is surely now Arsenal's to lose, Rory. Yeah, absolutely. That late goal from Doku changes it a little bit. As I say, I think it means that Arsenal can't afford to lose a game. But yeah, that was the break they'd been waiting for. And I guess it proves that City's players are susceptible to nerves as well. We have been treating it as though the only team that can buckle in the title race is Arsenal. But that's not true because that's what City have. Arsenal laid down the gauntlet on Saturday. They beat Fulham 3-0.

4:39They got the win and the goal difference and said to City, go on then, see if you can catch us. And City couldn't, ultimately. They stumbled. I don't think anyone's thought they're going to drop two points tonight. I really didn't think. We thought it was going to go to the last game of the season and then they're going to go to goal difference. We didn't think either team would drop. Now it's wide open. Arsenal has to be Arsenal's now. Do you think a little bit of this, Shea, shows there are several members of this city side who haven't been in this situation before. Yeah, possibly, but I think that brings a hunger as well.

5:10You know, other players like Bernardo Silva, Halland and Co. should bring these players along. And of course, the likes of Gehi, Semenya and all these other players who haven't done it before, there'll be a hunger from them to do it, you know. And maybe, I mean, Gehi, a couple of mistakes he's made tonight, I've not seen him make them in his whole career. It's kind of so unlike them. And Gonzalez in midfield, it's not Rodri. I don't know I think if you look at the goals The goals that they've considered Man City have been poor goals Like they gave Everton Could have been worse Donnery made a couple of big saves Yeah Don't forget Switch off from the throw in there Gahy's short back pass And then all of a sudden The set play they don't deal with At the front post And it does Annoyingly for Everton Drop them back to 10th And below Chelsea So they are Four points off Bournemouth In sixth Arsenal have a five-point lead at the top of the table.

6:02Big win for them at the weekend, 3-0 at home to Fulham. Shane, given what stood out most for you about that performance? I just felt like they played with a freedom. I think in the last, I don't know, many weeks, six or seven weeks, it felt like there's a real nervousness and a real sort of the pressure of getting over the line. And it felt like the pressure was getting to them and it felt like they weren't playing themselves and games were really tight and they were playing with a fear nearly and fear of failure or whatever it might be and I just felt that the weekend that for whatever reason whatever the message from Arteta was before the game that they sort of played that first half especially with just with freedom obviously Saka being back was a big plus I think and back to where we think where we think he's been maybe he's took a dip and that's coincided with the team taking a dip but Jocker is as well could have had a hat-trick at the weekend you know he had a big chance 1v1 in the second half to get his hat-trick but you know he's starting to score important goals I don't know just again Maybe we're talking about the psychology of having that, to get the six points clear, just to put a marker down.

7:05I don't know. They seem to play with a freedom and a swagger again that we've seen early part of the season, and maybe it's flowing back at the right time for them. Well, Rory, Nigel Ria-Coker said on the Football Daily Pod that Saka was playing with a smile on his face. And actually, when was the last time he said that we saw him smile like that on a football pitch? Yeah, that's important. There have been various points of the season where it does look like the pressure has been getting to Arsenal, that they have struggled to express themselves, to have any kind of joy in the way they play. And that can hold you back.

7:36And especially, as we said before, goal difference is potentially going to be really important here. They needed to take that early goal that Jokic has scored and expand on it. Because we saw the week before they went one and up against Newcastle in, what, nine minutes? As they scored in nine minutes. And then they still had this really stressful afternoon where it felt like the Emirates was on edge and everyone was really fraught and anxious. But on Saturday, it didn't feel like that at all because they had the game tied up in the first half. They could just kind of see out the second half, really.

8:09Perfect preparation for Atletico. You get to take Sakharov at half-time, which means he's got a little bit more sharpness, but he's not been rushed back. It kind of worked out perfectly for Arsenal the whole afternoon. Including a new midfield option in Myles Lewis-Skelly, who in the youth teams was a midfielder but came in at full-back. Yeah, and again, the early days with Miguel was that he used to roll into midfield and he was very comfortable with the ball, similar to Nico O 'Reilly at Man City. They're very comfortable with the ball, but I just felt that Miguel said something in terms of he's not had a go at Miles Lewis-Skelly, but there's something not right in terms of where he's been at in terms of playing or maybe his training's not been to the level he's expected.

8:53they're asking a lot for a young player that's come really in and done really well and then's had a bit of a dip and then he's brought him back in but for what I was saying maybe the injury to Saka has given him a wee bit of fresh impetus for the rest of the season you know he's played a lot of football picked up the injury come back and then yeah maybe just trying to nurse him back in because they've got the game you know Fulham at home and then they've obviously got a big Champions League game so don't want to take too many risks with Saka so yeah it's always good to see players coming back fresh, ready to go.

9:26And let's say, they play with a smile on their face. It's just about being back on the pitch and hopefully he can perform to a level that we know that Saki can play to. Given your experience in that position, what do you make of what Mikel Arteta said afterwards on Lewis Skelly? He was asked why he played him in that position, to which he said, because probably I don't have a clue and maybe I should have done it earlier. I don't know. But I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready. the team is ready or the opponent is the right one to play him in that position. It was a big risk because I knew what was going to happen.

9:59If he wasn't this great, we could have lost the game. So how do you play a kid at this age, in this scenario, in a position that he hasn't played all season? I knew that, but I just had the feeling that it was the right game for him. Well, I think, again, playing against Fulham, who you'd expect Arsenal to beat at home, to give him that confidence to play alongside Declan Rice, Asaka, Eze, Trossard, where he's just surrounded with good players. But he's an intelligent footballer. He understands. Like you say, it's not like it's a rush of blood and Mikel Stott. He's seen stuff in training. Like you say, he was comfortable enough to roll him into midfield as a full-back because he can receive the ball.

10:42He can play forward. again what it is is just has he got the tactical knowledge to be able to sit or go forward if Declan's going forward or sitting it's just getting that connection between the two of them because he's got quality he's a good footballer as well so it's yeah it's a risk that you take but ultimately it's paid off for him I'm surprised that it's taken this long because Lewis Skelly as you say Chappers was a midfielder in the youth teams I take Arteta's point you've got to pick the right opponent you've got to pick the right time, you've got to make sure the team's ready. Could he not have tried it a little bit earlier rather than...

11:20I mean, to be honest... Well, that's been... I suppose that's the... Well, I mean, there's all sorts of criticism that fly around, aren't there? But one of the things is that that midfield has played, or in the main, Rice and Zubomendi have carried a lot of the load. Yeah, and it's difficult because Arteta's in a position where they've finished second three years in a row, he desperately wants to win the title he knows there's not gonna be a huge amount of margin for error okay it's not like a 99 point season but you can't you can't be taking risks with games and i guess yeah like you think back to i mean lewis kelly's not been fit the whole season but you think back to say february or november or whatever you think well why would arteta look at a game there and think yes you know this one i can probably afford to drop a couple of points in he's he's not going to do that it is always a risk playing a young player in a new position but I think you probably do have to be a little bit bolder at times because that means that against Fulham at home in May it doesn't feel like such a risk if you have done it previously.

12:19And then the other factor that went their way or not went their way but they probably benefited from was that Victor Jokre has got two of the goals. His second one in particular was really impressive, wasn't it? Yeah, I mean he seems to have grown into the position. He's had a lot of stick personally as well. I suppose over the course of the season, after his 21st goal of the season now at the weekend, and has said he could have had a hat-trick later on. He won the penalty last week, of course, in Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of the Champions League. So there's lots of pluses. There's still some question marks.

12:48Is he the answer to, because we all, us experts, talk about for the last three or four years, the missing piece of this jinx, has been the centre-forward, has been the out-and-out number nine. What more could he have done? As you said, that was his 20th. So he's gone past 20 goals in his first season for Arsenal. What more could he have done? I don't know I mean I think earlier part of the season his hold up play could be better linking up different things it feels like even Saka's goal he had an assist at the weekend you know running the channel holding it up and then just releasing it at the right time for Saka to go into that space I think earlier part of the season things are bouncing off him and didn't have the awareness of runners and different things and it looked a real struggle if I'm being honest I think in recent times and maybe it's just purely a confidence thing because you know centre forwards thrive on confidence scoring goals you know he had a huge goal for his country as well to get to the World Cup.

13:35You know, everything in his world at the minute is not perfect, but it's pretty good. He's scoring big goals and big games for club and country, and maybe it's purely a confidence thing and feels more at home with this team and this league. And again, coming into the Premier League, there's a lot of pressure, and we've seen that with players coming from different countries. I know he's played in England before, but he's not played in the Premier League. It's different to the Championship. And being that sort of number nine focal point for Arsenal that everybody keeps saying This was the missing piece.

14:05You know, your rivals are going, they've got Haaland, Liverpool going to spend 100 plus million on Isak. He's had a better season than Isak, hasn't he? Absolutely he has. And he's had the top season, he's a very good season. The top season will be, you know, going and scoring 20 league goals and, you know, winning titles and stuff like that. But what I'm saying is, for me, I look at Jokic and I think this has been a good starting point for him to go. I think he's, like you say, his link-up play has improved as the season's gone on but I think he likes to be on the shoulder he likes to run the channel he wants to be a sort of number nine that likes to run in behind as well and he's a handful for centre-backs but like you say you get judged on your goals when you're playing And judging again you mentioned trophies if Arsenal get one of these big trophies over the line then people say it's justified he's brought in he's brought in important goals at an important stage of the season and it's money well spent because they haven't done it have they?

15:02I mean, he made the point. He did the press conference today, Rory, and he said, you know, the biggest challenge I think I've had is to adapt. You come to a new thing, new country, change everything in your life. You have to adapt quickly and be ready for all the challenges that are coming. Well, and it's not just him that has to adapt. It's the team has to adapt. As Charlie says, he's a different type of forward to what they have had previously at Arsenal. His movement, the runs that he makes, the way he wants to play is different to Kai Havers or Gabi Jesus or whoever it might be. I find Jokere is really interesting because the allegation was always Arsenal needed a$20 season striker they've got one so by that measure he's been a success I think there have been times where he's looked a little bit like he's struggled to impose himself against really high quality opposition I'm not going to call him a flat track bully but I'm inclined to agree with Charlie that this feels like a good sort of a solid debut campaign and you want to see him kick on in his second, I think.

16:02Well, again, you look at the big fella at City, he's the amount of touches he hits in the game. You know, Pep's not really come and ask him to link the game and play. The most important thing for him is between the posts and he scores goals and he scores goals every season and he scores a lot of goals. So that's the most important part for that number nine. You know, Mikel might be asking Jokeres to do different little things, let's say, come and link in the play and then ultimately when he comes to link the play, he's further away from goal. So I think he's had a good season. And what would make it into a very good season would be if they can cap it off and, let's say, win a tight end.

16:35I do wonder whether he suffers in comparison to Haaland, though, you know, not because they're kind of Scandinavian or whatever, but because Haaland has redefined what the numbers that we think count as good for a striker. So although Jokeres has had a solid season in terms of 21 goals, I think it's 14 in the lead now, they're decent numbers. because Haaland scored 50 before Christmas or whatever, it looks like Jokeres is a level below. But I think the problem there is that Haaland is a total outlier statistically and you can't compare people to him. But naturally we kind of looked at the top score in the league, he's got 107 goals and this guy's only got 20.

17:14He must be rubbish. And I think there's a lot of players, we saw it with Messi and Ronaldo five, ten years ago. There's a lot of players who suffer from these constant comparisons with people who are doing things that are fundamentally very unusual. Let's talk relegation battle next on the Monday Nightclub. A terrible weekend for West Ham. They lose. Spurs win. Forest win at Chelsea today. Leeds won. Newcastle won as well, if you were still thinking that... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you were still thinking mathematically... Come on, you. You're better than that. I know, but mathematically they were still...

17:49I hear you. They were still under threat, weren't they? So I'm trying to highlight just how bad a weekend it was for West Ham. So it leaves us with Newcastle on 45, Leeds on 43, Palace on 43, Forest on 42, Spurs on 37 and West Ham on 36. We'll talk about the bigger picture in a moment. Let's focus on Spurs first of all. You were there yesterday. How different did it feel for them both on the pitch and from the away fans at Villa Park? They were top, I thought the performance The Deserby factor was there How they played the game I get it that Villa made the seven changes But I just thought the way They applied their cell in terms of the intensity With and without the ball, Conor Gallagher was Unbelievable That midfield three of Benton Coeur, Polina And Conor Gallagher They sort of dominated the game And Villa's midfield never got close to them And They were very very good and you can see a little bit It's starting to appear now in terms of how De Zerbe wants to play.

18:53Well, Micah and Alan were on with Kelly on Match of the Day last night. Micah said Spurs were exceptional how they set up. They have been playing lower, but against Villa, they were brave. Yeah, they went for it again. They had two really speed, athletic players in the wide areas, Terl and Mounier were really direct when they were running and driving. But for me, again, looking, thinking about how clever Pedro Poro, he's really good at in terms of just going and finding little spaces in the pocket or allowing getting his distances right between him and Rodgers to allow other spaces to appear for Conor Gallagher just to pop out I just thought that that week's training of Tottenham with De Zerbe they just look a totally different team they were coached there was real clarity in how they wanted to play right from the off you know the goalkeeper really comfortable with the ball wanted to build up from the back and let's say Villa just couldn't get near them and the changes obviously were effective but again they've got a good squad and they shouldn't have to be able to rely on the other players for the whole season I get it they've got a big game coming up as well and they're behind but Tottenham's performance from where they were and everybody felt where they were going to come into this game it was really good to see Yeah I mean it's so tight now it's between two really realistically isn't it Chappers the rest are in my opinion home and dry and maybe not mathematically but they're done and dusted, it's just, as you say, it's a huge week for Tottenham.

20:21Even just, you know, forget about tactics, forget about managers, forget about the boardroom. It's about that result, isn't it? There's three points, the lift that'll give the lads, you know, imagine them going into training today and the whole club, the fan base as well, because a few weeks back, you know, the Tottenham Stadium was nearly empty towards the end of games and, you know, you could see them in the away end yesterday. Their place was rocking, wasn't it? So it's just that feeling, you know, the human being feeling of we've won a game of football, We've got out of the relegation zone You know they flipped with West Ham Of course they've dropped in Psychologically we've popped out So again the positivities of just Of getting the three points Getting out of the relegation zone And just that belief that Comes flooding back into the team So then on the other side today Nottingham Forest go and make eight changes And they're coming off the back of a brilliant result In Europe against Villa And their squad players come in And by the way Tough place to go Chelsea I know they're not in great form but still a tough place to go and may go and perform to that level.

21:18So again, the connection between their group of players, the manager, the supporters, to then put that performance on us is incredible and that's probably kept them up. Now they can have a real good focus now on Thursday night. They'll be disappointed really that they've had to play Monday and Villa have played Sunday so there's that less recovery but it'll be an unbelievable game at Villa Park on Thursday night. I mean, there are so many different threads that run through this. I'll come back to Forrest and Villa to a certain extent in a moment. And Chelsea. And Chelsea, yeah, crikey. But Spurs on last night looked to me, Rory, like a team that realised they had to fight.

22:02Like a team that realised, a group of players that realised, we are in a relegation battle here, which is what we've talked about before. You know, at times Forrest have acted like that, Leeds have acted like that, West Ham have acted like that. Spurs have felt like a group of players who in the main have been feeling sorry for themselves a lot of the time, whereas they had the fight yesterday. Yeah, I kind of thought for a while that Spurs looked like they were so... There was a sort of rabbit caught on the headlights element to Tottenham, that they looked so kind of overwhelmed by the idea that they might be part of the squad that got Spurs relegated, that they didn't really know what to do.

22:35It seemed to kind of really inhibit them. But then the win against Wolves, I think, made a massive difference. I remember Pelinia is the player who sort of summed it up. most is if you look at his reaction to that win against Wolves to the goal that he scored in that game but then to win there was a tackle that he won relatively late on yesterday when the game to be honest looked safe he won a tackle and then he won a foul there was actually three or four times in the game he did that even in the first half he actually read a real good pass got fouled in the box and he was celebrating as if they'd won the game but that just shows the connection there Pedro Paula did the same but going back I think We were talking about Celtic earlier I think that Igor Tudor Appointment Similar to what Wilfred Donne says It was A bit of a deflator It wasn't what They expected And I think Deserby's gone in Right I'm the boss in here And If you don't want to be here You go If you want to be here You're on the train with us And we're together I think now He's just coached them And he's gave them Real simple Clear messages That this is all I want to play Now he's been able to work with them Week to week He's given them An opportunity To get on the training ground and get his principles in the team.

23:45And you've seen that last night. So again, now they're looking. I don't think it's done yet, but they have to just keep focusing on what they can do. They've got their cell in their position. They're not chasing. They're ahead. Now they need to perform to now to the end of the season. And that's a massive psychological shift as well that Spurs are now in control of their own destiny. It was a big call to replace Tudor with a long-term manager. Potentially, you're appointing Roberto de Zerbi on Premier League wages and paying him in the Championship if it goes wrong. But to be honest, from the evidence of Wolves last week or the week before, and then yesterday, it looks like it's worked.

24:21For the first time in a long time, Spurs look like a team with a clear identity, I think. Roberto De Serbi said post-match. I do like him post-match because he tends to say the opposite of what everybody else is thinking. So Spurs players are crying and he's like, I don't want to see people crying like that. They need to be positive. Now last night he went, I don't want to hear positive voices. We have to stay focused for the next game. My biggest job is to help the players show their qualities. The level is not to fight for relegation. We have to accept and be stronger than the people who speak too much.

24:53It was the right spirit and behaviour on the pitch, but I am pleased with the performance. Yeah, that's all. Again, come back to the three points. Forget tears and laughter, whatever it might be. It's about three points and the belief because this Tottenham team have been, I suppose, criticised and rightly so all season. and they're human beings at the end of the day and they're feeling the heat, Mark. There's no getting away from that. They're feeling the heat big time from their own fans, from outside noises, from different managers. You know, they don't want to be the club that, the players, sorry, that relegate Tottenham, one of the biggest clubs in the league, you know, that stadium, the training ground, all the different things that go along with it.

25:28And they're very close to the trap door. There's no getting away from that. Yes, it's a big result, you know, of course, at the weekend, but they have to go again. They've got Leeds next, Chelsea away, could be anything, I suppose, in the last game ever. So there's still tricky fixtures in their last three games. There's no doubt about that. And it could come all the way to the title race, could go to the wire. It definitely much feels like this could go to the wire as well, depending on what West Ham do, of course. Again, from a coach's perspective, De Zerbe's Spurs have now won possession in the final third 5.3 times per game on average.

26:05That is the highest average for any team under a manager this season. it's a very small sample size, but it's worth paying attention to. Yeah, because at the end of the day, if you regain the ball higher up the pitch, it gives you more actions to go and score more goals to give you the opportunity there. But again, when you've got Richarlsson, Conor Gallagher, Tell yesterday, Mounier, they're really aggressive in the press, but the two in midfield of Benton Coeur and Paulinha, just really, I think Conor Gallagher was obviously man of the match and he set the tone for the team. and like De Zerbe said, he said that if I see Conor Gallagher like that he's a top, top player it's the real Conor Gallagher we've seen at Chelsea and we're starting to get that but again, we don't know what happened inside the building with Tudor and how he wanted to play but what we're looking for is that if I'm De Zerbe going in there, he says by the way, we've got good players low in confidence some injuries to key players but if we go and be aggressive we press the game we'll give ourselves better opportunities to score goals with the quality we've got at the top end of the pitch.

27:11I think Ben Sankor coming back has been bigger than maybe people realise. That has been the theme throughout for Spurs, that the performance has been poor, the managers have been bad until De Zerbe, they've made all these terrible decisions, but they have constantly had 11 players out injured, which I'm pretty sure doesn't help. Charlie, to you, does it look like a tactical shift from De Zerbe or is it a mentality shift, or is it that they've got a clear tactical identity, which means they have the confidence in themselves. The clear principles in what he wants to do. And I get it, the injuries are coming because when you change managers so quickly, the different types of training, different types of philosophies, the energy and the intensity of the training goes through the roof because new players or players that are not playing want to come in and show the manager.

27:54Then all of a sudden they're at a risk of injuries. So that chopping and changing managers quite quickly has probably not helped the players either. but there's just a clear tactical emphasis on what he wants to do in terms of how they build how they get through the thirds and then at the top end of the pitch with the two wingers really high stretching the pitch and people making their runs and ultimately the quality at the top end they've got Rich Alisson scored 10 goals this year he's not everybody's cup of tea but what he does for the team is he works so hard for the team out of possession and that's key when you're in that position to have somebody like him, like Conor Gallagher, that can go and press the game and keep teams suffocated in their own half.

28:37The regains are so high, and it gives you the chance to actually go and score some goals. Leeds, West Ham, Spurs and Forest, Rory, have now only lost two of their collective last 12. Yeah, someone's going down with a lot of points. That's the reality of it. The last two seasons, I think the bottom three didn't crack 30. and we talked a lot about the idea that the promoted teams were at such a massive financial disadvantage they wouldn't be able to compete and there were basically now 17 Premier League teams and three guest teams who would appear every season. Leeds and Sunderland have disproven that.