PL Review: Saka inspires Arsenal and Tottenham win back to back

22:09Rick Edwards:And you, but I want to be kind. Yes, the defending is poor, but they had to overcome so much in that game. Like, you know, they hit the, as you say, they hit the woodwork, was it four times? I thought it was three or four times. They had a really tight, they had an equaliser ruled out by a really tight VAR decision, sort of straight after Brentford had taken the lead. I thought they actually played some pretty nice stuff. And I, And in isolation, I wouldn't have looked at that performance. And I'm certainly not giving up on West Ham on picking up points. Because I think if they play like that in their remaining games this season, they're going to win some of them.

22:46Rick Edwards:They're going to pick up points in them. But it doesn't change the fact they lost 3-0. And it was a really bad missed opportunity. And the sort of result that puts them deep, deep in trouble. So I'm not sure what to make of it. Really bad result. Not a terrible performance. But at this stage of the season, it's always the result that's far more important than the performance. And particularly, as you say, given the other results. It depends, Luke, because, you know, I've been in a little bit of a relegation scrap myself in my career. And I think for me, you look at West Ham, momentum performances have been there, which is a massive thing.

23:22Like the belief you can win games or get something out of it. Now, this weekend, the result doesn't reflect the performance. So now for me, it's going to be about Nuno to get that to the players. to say, all right, cool, we didn't get the result, but the performance is still there to keep that belief and that momentum going into the next run of fixtures. If they play like that, they will get the right results, like you said. And I think that's just how I look at it. The killer incident for me was when they went 2-0 down, when they gave away that cheap penalty. That was the turning point where it really became the juif tackle.

23:56That there is the type of mistakes you can't make, but overall, they still had opportunities to score, like I said, hit the post two or three times, didn't take their chances when they got them. But for when you're in that relegation fight, it's the mindset. And even if you look at like De Zerbi and what he's trying to talk to, he's talking to players about, doesn't want whingers and moaners. So people like you would have absolutely no chance in his dressing room. He wants people to be positive. He wants people to be fighters. I think that's what you got to take from that West Ham performance though.

24:25That's what a good manager will take to say, all right, bad day at the office today, but look at all the positives. It's not long left, Nigel.

24:32Rick Edwards:It's not long left. It doesn't matter. You could still go to the wire because they're not, it's, I mean, depending on how results go this weekend, it might just be one point difference and they've been there before. West Ham have got the experience of being in this situation and coming out of it. So you've got to just get over it quickly. There's still games and they're still in it. That's how you've got to look at it. Again, being positive, Luke, not negative. The thing about West Ham, I sort of agree with everything that you've said, that they were all right. Some defensive errors. I wonder about goals.

25:05I wonder whether they don't have, like Jarrod Bowen's their top league goal scorer with eight, and we know how important he is for them. But you just want someone, I mean, Somerville was doing it for a bit, wasn't he? Somerville really looked great, and now the goals have dried up for him. It's going to be set pieces. Set pieces are going to be where their strengths come from. You look at Suchek, Mario Pando, the centre-back. They've got some real big boys where they're going to have to take real... What did you call the centre-back? Don't try. You caught it. No, go on. Go on. One more go. It was a tongue twister.

25:41Anyway, yes, you know who I'm talking about. I think you're talking about Mavropanos, but... That's the one. Thank you. See, at least you helped me out. Do you know what I mean? That other guy, they look at him laughing. Look at him, little Humpty Dumpty head. Anyway. Bit rich, no one you, but yeah. Rick it's going to be set pieces set pieces is another way another thing that they have to really take advantage of while still being hard to beat so they're always going to be a threat in that tough games though Nigel tough games

26:09Rick Edwards:tough games it's tough games but it's listen I did honestly think Arsenal, Newcastle, Leeds yeah there's only Leeds in there that you're thinking yeah now Newcastle are back so back after their win Leeds Tottenham have some hard games as well Leeds are safe that's the thing Spurs have also got Leeds. Yeah. Kingmakers. And Spurs have some hard games. The opposite is Kingmakers. Yeah, King killers. And you trust Newcastle? You don't really know. Depends what Newcastle turns up. Leeds, like you said, you've got the Arsenal game. It's going to go to the wire, which is going to be very nice for us.

26:45Yeah, final day. Spurs, Everton, West Ham, Leeds, Forest, Bournemouth. Oh, Bournemouth. You're talking about playing Bournemouth?

26:52Rick Edwards:No, I don't think anyone wants to be playing Bournemouth. Bournemouth could be still going for Champions League. They could be. Yeah, exactly. They could be going for Champions League. Exactly. Time for the half-time teaser then. The last time that both Coventry City and Ipswich Town were in the Premier League together was the 2000-2001 season. Both clubs had a Scottish manager. I want you to name them. We'll be back after this short break.

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28:49Rick Edwards:And the less said about the host, the better. Patrick Hilty. Saturdays from nine. Listen on BBC Sounds.

28:59Rick Edwards:On the Football Daily Podcast, Premier League Review with Rick Edwards. Welcome back to the Premier League Review with Rick Edwards, Luke Edwards and Nigel Rio-Coker. For the half-time teaser, I told you that the last time Coventry City and Ipswich Tower were in the Premier League, they both had Scottish managers. I want you to name them so Luke Gordon Strachan yeah yes very good oh you were going to say that yeah of course you were Nigel that's you all over I was going to say that Coventry are relegated I remember Coventry being in the Premier League when I was a wee little man yes I remember that mate and I played him in I know the other one as well I know the other one because I've got a soft spot for Upswich I think the other one is it's gettable actually Nigel I mean yeah I know it no pressure Nigel but I know it I know it.

29:48Rick Edwards:I'm sure you do. I'm sure you do as well. Do you know what? Just because it's never happened before, I'm going to give Luke the opportunity to completely nail the halftime teaser. So, Ipswich's Scottish manager. Used to play for the club as well, George Burley. Very nice. Very nice. Can you remember where Ipswich finished that season? All right, come on, Rick. No, no, no. But, I mean, this is, you know. That was the Ipswich. Wait, you said they both got relegated, right? No, no, no, no. In that season. Coventry were relegated. They finished 19th. Was it when they got fourth? Was it when they got fourth?

30:17Rick Edwards:fifth fifth yeah they got in the UEFA Cup yeah Burley won manager of the year it's only taken me till May to actually nail the half time teaser so can we just have a little moment congratulations thank you Rick you're finally on the up go have a cup of tea put your feet up and some digestive go on treat yourself right Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2 at Old Trafford this afternoon it was a funny game Liverpool were desperately poor in the first half. And it looked like, sort of looked like United were going to score every time they broke. Liverpool just had no answer to the movement. And yeah, and it now guarantees Manchester United in the Champions League next season.

31:04So massive credit to Michael Carrick. And then somehow, United, sort of by their own errors, let Liverpool, I mean, granted, Liverpool were better in the second half, but they really let them back in, Nigel. Yeah, they did. They did. Just really, like you said, it's weird game watching that one back now, just thinking about it. You'd have to say the first half, you'd have said, oh, Michael Carrick outcoached Arnie Slott. Like the set-up of how Manchester United set-up was perfect. They looked great. Liverpool had possession, but they just never looked like they were going to score. They got to the final third of Manchester United's box, but they never looked like they were actually going to score didn't look like they had any threat.

31:46But it's just like a team who weren't playing with a striker, which to be fair, they were. They were. But every time Manchester United counted, they looked amazing. And then the second half now, you thought, oh, 2-2, little pepping Liverpool step now, finally starting to turn up a bit now again. And then you're thinking, okay, how's Michael Carrick going to handle this now? You know, it's all been great sailing for him. What are we going to learn about Michael Carrick now when you face one of your biggest rivals tuning in, they come back to 2-2. What's going to happen? but credit to them to get the job done.

32:15And what a player to score the winner, Kobe Maynou. Deserves it so much. It's a very, very nice finish.

32:21Rick Edwards:It's a lovely finish. Composure. It's far more difficult than it looks technically. And also obviously in the moment in the game. Under pressure as well. I mean, you just sort of passed in. Yes, come on, guys. Listen, this is what you teach the kids. You tell them, pass the ball into the net. You watch some of the best strikers in the world, they pass the ball into the net. They don't strike through the laces and all that. That's why you get coached. Teddy Sheridan was a masterclass here. That's who I learned that off from my time with Teddy. He used to tell me about passing the ball into the back of the net and then you watch some of these other players now.

32:51Why did you never do it, Nigel? I got a nosebleed when I got that far up the pitch. That's what you were doing, wasn't it?

32:58Rick Edwards:I learned a lot from Teddy about finishing. I just never got in a position to put it into practice. But if I had been up there... I would have scored a hatful. A few sort of controversial moments. that we can just go through quickly. Seshko's goal, we were texting during the game. I think you thought maybe it should have been disallowed, Luke. Even though now I think we've seen an angle where you can see that it sort of grazes his fingernails. I think you can't disallow. I obviously would love that to be disallowed, but I think it would be ridiculous too. Well, I tried to wind you up by saying, oh okay so all right now to finger the ball in is what i actually said yes yeah which is a shame and i was hoping to get a nibble from you but you annoyingly you agreed with the match day officials i did which slightly backfired my point was in real time when you watched it i was looking at the player's reaction and i think he knew it touched his hand yeah now so i thought it was handball when i think he knew it was handball he looked it just looked he instantly sort of tried to pull his hand away i think after it had brushed but i did agree with you in that you know it's got to be clear and obvious and if the technology can't 100 clear it up then you've got to let the goal stand so i think it was the right decision to let the goal stand because i don't think the ar could rule it out i just thought it was handball uh and i think i'm probably right in saying that but there was no way you could rule it out on what you can see on the pictures nice re-review um i think that it wasn't clear and obvious it's hard i only saw an angle when they extra zoomed in in it and even that you couldn't really tell you can actually you think yeah it probably has.

34:39Yeah, you think so, but I just think that, yeah, you know, you can't rule that out. But then now when you look back at it, some people argue to say it should have been this loud because you look at how the game finished. It finished only 3-2. And if that goal was ruled out, it could have been a game that finished 2-2. But Manchester United deserve that one. I absolutely cannot fault your maths there, Nigel. The moment where Bruno goes in for that tackle on Shobaslai. Look. Gauty. He's such a wonderful footballer, Fernandes, but he has got a bit of spite in him. And when you watch the replay and you see the way that he is careering towards him, he just, it doesn't look great.

35:24I'm not really, I'm not saying he should get a red card for it, but you've got to be a bit careful there. Like, it's not a good tackle. you're nowhere near and you look like you're steaming in you're saying he should have got you're saying he should have got a red card no I'm not I'm just saying that it's a really silly thing to do because you're you're giving the referee a decision to make at least and you're giving the VAR sign to look at don't try and lay the foundation for Luke to jump on it

35:51Rick Edwards:he's out of control at speed he's running in at speed and it looks dangerously close to being out of control yeah in real time and the commentator said in real time oh that doesn't look good it's naughty it's a borderline Yeah, and he, and just absolutely, like, what's he doing? Like, given where the ball is, what's he doing? Yeah. It's really silly. It is, and it was a strange game in that respect, because Manchester United just really weren't very good second half, were they? No. If you look back on the game, they were so open. Like, they were getting played for, so Manchester United being open first half, Liverpool being open first half, sorry, and Manchester United were so open second half, but we're praising Manu and Casemiro, they kept bombing forward.

36:32Rick Edwards:and they kept getting caught short getting short at the back so it was I sat there at half time and was talking to you guys and I said ours is really dull now because Manchester United are 2-0 up and they're just going to sit back and get on the break and they're going to hurt and then the whole game changed they stopped doing that for some reason and they did yeah that is the Michael Carrick reign actually the results have been really good and he couldn't have done any more and it would be such a surprise now if you talk to the journalists on the patch in Manchester, I would say at least nine out of ten of them are convinced it's going to be Michael Carrick who gets the job now.

37:10Rick Edwards:And I think it will be more of a shock now. The biggest credit we can probably play Michael Carrick is it will be more of a shock now, surely, if they didn't give it to him than if they gave it to him. But I think the performances actually, even against Brentford, the defeat at home to Leeds, they are still a bit flaky and they are getting away with it a little bit. What you're forgetting to add to this is, Luke, if he does get the job, we haven't seen how he juggles Premier League and also Champions League. Well, that's very true. So that's another level of management that's going to be very new to him.

37:46He's got good support in the past. Not much he can do about that, but like you said. Yeah. But like you said, it's still a performance that you can still question. Because at the end of the day, 2-0 up against your biggest rivals. There's no way you should have let them come back in. And at the end, when it was 2-2, you would say Liverpool looked more likely like the team that could have gone on to get the winner. I sort of really want to criticise Liverpool's goalkeeper because he's the third goalkeeper and third goalkeepers realistically aren't expecting to be playing that much. I'm not sure that the second United goal is a goal if...

38:19I mean, I'm pretty sure if Alisson's a goal, it isn't. And I think potentially with Marmoud Ashvili as well. Is that harsh?

38:27Rick Edwards:I don't think it's brilliant from him. I don't think that's harsh. But Liverpool were a team, and again, you can only beat what's put in front of you. But I don't want to bleep to your defence, Rick. But no centre-forward and your third-choice goalkeeper playing. There were faults in that Liverpool performance as well. It's the 11th defeat of the season. Slott's going to get even more criticism for there is a section of the fan base now at Liverpool. I think he's had enough of Arna Slott. It looks like he's going to get next season. I think he deserves that. Big questions, though, again. It's not down to the third-choice goalkeeper.

38:56Rick Edwards:but where was your British record transfer signing? Well, two of them. One of them's injured again in Alexander Isak, who's barely kicked the ball this season. And Florian Wurtz. What did he do today? Please tell me, why not play the young kid Rio? I'm still trying to work out in my head, why not play the young kid Rio? When you look at the current run of form right now, the lack of creativity, he's got that fearless factor about him. Why not just play him, start in games like this? I think, actually, if you watch him closely, I think he still plays like a young boy. I think there are certain elements of his...

39:40No problem. You've only got one. Rick, you've only got one in a team of 11. That's fine. He made a few defensive mistakes.

39:53Rick Edwards:Luke Shaw runs off him, doesn't he, for the winning goal? Yeah, and I think that that's the trade-off. And I don't think you want to be making that trade-off for 90 minutes against Manchester United. I'm sorry, you probably get more production off him than you get off Floor and Verts at the moment. That's my aspect of it. The Verts criticism, I think it's justifiable now because we're not talking about a player new to the league. Yeah. You spent a hell of a lot of money on him. He's supposed to be a game changer. He's supposed to win you the big games. he's supposed to win tight games he's supposed to make things happen he's supposed to unlock defence and all that kind of stuff that we're excited about and yeah he just he's lost his keys let's put it that way he's lost his keys because he's not unlocking anything and I thought I was so disappointed with him today really disappointed time and time again in those in those exactly those kind of scenarios big big games he he just doesn't do anything it's not good enough it's not good enough for what he's supposed to be no I mean we haven't seen much evidence of it Why?

40:52All of the ingredients are there, aren't they?

40:55Rick Edwards:Yeah. He needs a very, very good season next season, I would say. Quick conversation about Ipswich. Third promotion in four seasons, 3-0-1 over QPR on the final day in the EFL. A year ago, they were relegated in 19th with 22 points. Are they going to be better equipped to stay up this time? Do you know what it is? I always feel sometimes with the modern game now, when you speak to all these coaches and stuff like that, they think they're going to reinvent the wheel. Stay true to who you are. Stay true to your identity. You don't have to go to the Premier League and start acting like a Hollywood diva and think, okay, now we're going to play total football when you don't have the players to do so.

41:35Restrengthen the spine. Sometimes if you have to go direct, go direct, go long, be ugly, get points on the board. Get points on the board will put confidence in these players to believe they actually belong there. I think sometimes now some of these managers take this whole total football too seriously and trying to play out the back with your goalkeeper and your players are not of Premier League quality and level. Not thinking about anyone, Russell Martin. Not thinking about anyone. I'm just saying, but you look at Sunderland, what they did this year, they went and got experience. Granit Xhaka is probably one of the signings of the season and how impactful he's been to them and how ugly Sunderland can be at times.

42:11And you look at what a season they've had. Leeds, it took Farker a bit of time, but then they change with direct energy and everything like that. But if you think you're going to go to the Premier League again and do the same thing you did last year and try and play total football and give cheap goals in your final third, you're just going to go back and be relegated again. But I do think if you look at Ipswich now, because when they came up, they were definitely sort of, you know, a free-flowing attacking side. And now they've built their season success on a really good defensive record. So I think they've got the second best defensive record.

42:46So if they stick with that, you feel like they'll have more joy, right?

42:50Rick Edwards:Guess who had a good defensive record in the championship? Burnley. Burnley. That's very true, actually, isn't it? But Luke. I mean, what I would like to add about Ipswich is, I'm very soft spot. I lived in Ipswich for a while as a child. I've always had a soft spot for them. Does the Premier League need Ed Sheeran in it? That's what I really, that's really what I wanted to pose. that's a good question you don't want him coming and singing on the pitch at half time and stuff do you really no I don't want to see a lot of him in the stand that's the problem I don't want to see a lot of Ed Sheeran in the stand and I know that every time it's Richard on telly and he's there the camera's going to go to him what's Ed done to you he's not done anything to me as such he's been very very successful hasn't he very very successful and that must rankle with you it does a little bit alright thanks very much fellas that is all we've got time for on the Premier League review the Monday Night Club will be your next episode of the football daily.

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