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3:57Welcome one and all to the Football Ramble. It's Tuesday. It's the day after Monday Night Football. And Chelsea ran away with all three points at Craven Cottage. Jim Campbell, an entertaining game for the opening day at Craven Cottage between the two big West London sides. Brentford will probably have an issue with that, but an entertaining game nonetheless. It was between the two big beasts of West London. It was proper Monday Night Football, this, wasn't it? It was a really open game. It feels like the season has come back very quickly, but I was like, yeah, I have missed this. And I do wonder, with Monday Night Football, if both sets of players have seen everybody else play over the weekend and they are just raring to go.

4:42Because that's what this looked like, wasn't it? They were kind of so, so up for it. And the atmosphere sounded pretty good. You were there, obviously. How was it on opening night? I contributed an enormous amount. Not as much as the away fans. But it was great. I think the first day of the season is always a wonderful thing. You want to be at home on the first day of the season. I appreciate Fulham lost the game. But also, you're right. You wait, though, that extra day or two to play that game. I mean, Monday night. I can't remember the last time when Fulham opened the season on a Monday night.

5:18And it'd been a derby match as well. And there were so many new shiny toys to play with as well. I mean, the two new managers, it was an ex-Real Madrid manager versus another one. Alvaro Albala, of course, took over from Xavi Alonso. The last two Real Madrid managers. Exactly, yeah. Inexplicably. And then, of course, all the new signings and so on and so forth. It did remind me how good Cole Palmer can be, and especially as he's got his friend and new teammate, Morgan Rodgers, in there. And lining up as Chelsea did, because I know when we're trying to predict the season, it's always interesting who's going to go out on a bit of a limb.

6:05And Luke did, to be fair to him, when he said he fancied Chelsea for the title. I think, you know, maybe one of the motivating factors he said was, you know, I just didn't want to say Arsenal or whatever. And I do respect that from someone who's going to have a bit of a punt. And I think Chelsea, yeah, you see that front line they have when Morgan Rodgers is in there in a sort of, you know, almost like two number tens, if you like, with him and Cole Palmer and João Pedro in front, all three score and have hit the ground running. And you go, that is a very good front line. Oh, the three of them were absolutely exceptional last night.

6:38And I think prior to the season, you look at Chelsea and a lot of people are backing them to do very well. All the ingredients are there, right? So you're just thinking, will it actually gel? Will it work? I mean, there's one ingredient that certainly needs to be substituted out for something else, but we'll come on to that. But yeah, they looked absolutely kind of irresistible going forward at times. And I think that was partially helped by how Fulham set up, though, certainly with that first goal. A lot of gaps, a lot of space, which made for, as a neutral, that made for a really entertaining game because both teams were quite open like that.

7:11But it was a poor start, wasn't it, to say the least? Well, indeed it was. What was it, 33 seconds or so? Israel Pedro has already scored a lovely finish. And I did, I reminded myself that, why did Ancelotti overlook him for Brazil in the summer? But anyway, that's been and gone. But I did think, yes, that's been one of the concerns, I think, for Fulham fans during pre-season is the defensive capabilities. Now, under Marco Silva, as Fulham were for a number of years in Premier League stability and all that kind of good stuff, the defence was never the strongest point. And it wasn't a particularly weak point, but it was more, you know, Fulham, you know, at their best were a good solid unit, didn't concede too many, didn't score that many, but, you know, tough to beat, all that kind of stuff.

8:02Under Arbeloa, obviously we have one match in the Premier League to go on now and for what pre-season is worth. A lot of Fulham fans thinking, I don't really know what to expect because the Sabal size is so small and the manager is so inexperienced and it's different to what Fulham have had under Silva, of course. But the two little points that were kind of coming to the forefront were I think Fulham might look better in attack and I think they might look weaker at the back. And I think you probably saw that in this game, really, didn't you? I mean, that's what it came across to me, certainly.

8:39But you're right, Jim. you could make an argument that all five goals were pretty soft in this game. Yeah, I think so. Chelsea would be very disappointed. And you're looking at the goalkeeper you alluded to earlier. But I think for Fulham, they're just caught cold. Yeah, the second goal. Yeah. The second goal is a really surprisingly rash moment from Bernd Leno, who just needs to trust his defenders more. You put yourself in so much danger as a goalkeeper if you rush out there because you have to get it right. or you're essentially, you know, you are just opening the door to an open goal. And those Chelsea players were pressing hard.

9:20They were in and around that box constantly, right? So that was a real, really surprising mistake from Leno, I think. Yeah, he didn't have his best game. I mean, even the third goal, Cole Palmer nutmegs him at his near post. Yeah, I mean, that happens very quickly, though. I'm always kind of, you know, loathe to be too critical of goalkeepers when you're seeing something like that in slow motion. Yeah, I mean, to come to Bert Leno's defence, I thought he was the best goalkeeper on the pitch last night. Yes. It's a funny one, isn't it? Because that's a really, it's been a really entertaining game.

9:50Fulham will come away from it thinking it's a shame we couldn't push on and get an equaliser. Positives to take though, I think. Yeah, they had a lot of possession as well, which, you know, Chelsea would have been comfortable with. I think they're happy to give up the ball sometimes, certainly if it makes the game open like that. But Chelsea will always also look at that and go, So that could have been 3-1, maybe 3-0 if our goalkeeper had made some fairly routine saves, certainly that first one. Yeah, well, when Jamie Carragher was on the Rambler during the summer series, he was saying that Robert Sanchez is not good enough to be Chelsea's number one.

10:23And I think that... He's not. He's clearly not. Yeah. Look, you don't want to single out someone too much and be too harsh on the guy. but I think anybody watching Chelsea will see that Sanchez can be a decent keeper to me he's probably a goalkeeper for a mid-table Premier League side if Chelsea have serious ambitions to challenge for the title maybe not this season because some will say come on this is this is crazy it's still Chelsea that's still a bit of a bit of a mad club at the moment with the ownership and there's all that kind of oh I think they're absolutely going to challenge for the title Well, the lack of Europe is a factor there.

11:01It is. The quality of the squad. Yeah, but I appreciate that's not the point you're making, but I don't think it's controversial to say that. Fine, but they will certainly have ambitions if it's not this season realistically, then definitely next season under Alonso. When you get a manager in like Jabby Alonso, you're not thinking, well, this is a bit of a stopgap. You're thinking this guy can elevate us because of what he did at Bayer Leverkusen, really. And I'm surprised they've not gone in the market for a game. I mean, perhaps they have. Perhaps they've tried and nothing's materialised and there is still a little bit of time left in the window.

11:33If they needed any more reminders, well, they certainly got them last night because Josh King, I thought, had a brilliant game. Yes, he was one of the highlights. Yeah, and I think it's really, really encouraging. Again, I think full of fans thinking, could this be the season where he really comes and shows the Premier League what he's made of? Last season, he had moments. I'm glad that this allowed goal against Chelsea. I was about to say, this one counted, you know, I mean, Sanchez might have done better because it was pretty poor goalkeeping. But Josh King looks a real bright spark, as he has done.

12:05You know, he went out to America pre-World Cup tournament. He was one of the five players, along with Rio and Gamora and a few others, to be around the England training camp and, you know, sort of be an extra body in there for training purposes or whatever, get a bit of experience. He has a very, very bright future. So really excited to see what Arbaloa can do with him. And I think he's going to be great. And I think he's going to link really well with Gonzalo Garcia up front. Great for him to get a goal. And Cesar Palacios, slightly quieter game, but I mean, he's 18 and it's his first game. And lest we forget, they're playing against a better side in a derby.

12:39So a bit of a baptism of fire for a couple of the new boys. But yeah, circling all the way back to Chelsea, I wouldn't be shocked if before the window closes in a matter of a week's time, if they just lob a load of money at the goalkeeping situation. Although it does seem strange, Jim, that it's such an obvious area where they need to improve. And I appreciate they've spent an enormous amount of money, particularly on Morgan Rodgers, but on other areas that some might argue a bit more pressing. But it does seem a bit of an oversight that they haven't looked to strengthen in that position. Well, I think the possible explanation is that Alonso has recognised that Robert Sanchez is the incumbent goalkeeper.

13:24So he wants to give him a chance in his own system before making to rash a judgment. And I think they rate Mike Penders quite highly. It was said in the commentary, you wouldn't have heard it, that Penders is 100 feet tall. Around that, I forget the exact height of him, but he's very tall. Obviously, I think they rate him quite highly. I think he's probably going to be battling with Sanchez for that spot. So it could be the case that they've got the answer there and he just felt it kind of almost kind of good practice or due diligence to give Robert Sanchez a chance first. I also wouldn't be surprised if by the time we come off of this call, Emi Martinez assigned for them.

14:07You know what I mean? You just don't know, do you? But it does seem an issue that needed fixing from really the beginning of the transfer window. So I have a suspicion they've probably got faith in Penders, and who knows, maybe he is the answer. Yeah, maybe he is. I mean, certainly, as you've just linked Emi Martinez to Chelsea, if Enzo Fernandes is to stay to Chelsea, which he may well not, it would be a bit of moral support for him. That was funny. Oh, my goodness. I've never seen such pantomime villain stuff down at Craven Cottage. Enzo Fernandes, when he came on, roundly, soundly booed by the full and faithful, to the point of there were even a few chants of Inglard, Inglard.

14:50I mean, the Chelsea fans were then chanting his name. So that's actually fixed any animosity there. So maybe he ends up staying because of you lot. I know. I did think that. I was like, hang on a minute. The reaction there, as you say, has just made Chelsea start singing his name. And don't boo an Argentinian. That's just... You know how that ends. Yeah, exactly. You know how that ends, though. Indeed. He didn't score, though, fortunately. I thought surely he's going to. But yeah, he obviously came on a bit later. With that Chelsea front three, though, that we talked about, we saw the cold celebrations from Palmer and Morgan Rodgers.

15:28That's going to happen all throughout the season. So if you're not enjoying that, then bad luck. I mean, if Palmer is in this type of form, we've seen it with Martin Odegaard already this season as well. some players who've had seasons below their top level kind of look like they're fit and fresh and ready. Palmer's absolutely in that bracket as well. He came off with a little bit of a knock. It might just have been cramp because I suppose he's not played much. And I know he has a groin issue that they have to manage, but it doesn't look like it's affecting him at all at the moment. He looked at his kind of silky, kind of incisive best.

16:03And I think him and Rodgers are going to have such a good time playing together that they complement each other so well. and with Gio Pedro in the middle as well, that front three, they pressed and they harried and they were so, so kind of, all three of them were always ready to pounce. And I think if you're a Chelsea fan, having watched that performance, you're probably expecting a really, really fun season, especially with Maxence Lacroix looking really solid at the back and also providing a quite phenomenal assist as well. Yeah, Lacroix looks the part. But it's obviously a step up in terms of, I don't know, expectation, and you'd argue quality as well from Palace.

16:44And he just looked at home, didn't he? He just looked an absolute monster at the back. He looks like the sort of the reference point is a phrase we often hear now about kind of leaders on the pitch, isn't it? And he looks like Chelsea's kind of defensive rock already, really, like the one they're going to turn to and the guy that is going to set the tone and he's going to marshal the defence. Yeah, exactly. He's going to be crucial because if Robert Sanchez is to be the goalkeeper, that defence needs to be at the races and Lacroix coming in there. Yes, you know, you mentioned it the other day.

17:15It's a great signing. One that maybe not for Chelsea fans, but maybe we've slightly gone under the radar because of the huge fees for Elliot Anderson to Man City and obviously Morgan Rodgers to Chelsea and others. But yeah, he's in there. I mean, Cole Will didn't have his best game at the back, but we know Cole Will. He's coming back from a long time out injured though, isn't he? Exactly, yeah. If they can get him back to his best. And I thought Achenpong did all right, actually. Jarrell Hattah on the other side as well. And they're playing a system that presumably takes a little bit of time to get used to, but they all look very, very comfortable, innit?

17:46I wonder where Rhys James is going to fit. I mean, obviously he was playing in the centre midfield. I do – I mean, James is such a quality player. Yeah. I do tend to prefer him, though, on one of the flanks, if I'm honest. Oh, 100%. So I just, I mean, it's going to be a back three under Xabi Alonso. I think he could be, I mean, he can be the right-sided centre-half of the three. I mean, you can even have him as the kind of the wing-back. Well, that's what I was going to go on to say. He could be the right-sided of the three centre-half. That's surely his best position. Yeah, you would think so.

18:21But if he is needed, right centre-half of the three, where he can do a job, he could be mobile and so on and so forth. But yes, agree. I think where Gusteau was playing on that right wing back. But then in the centre of midfield, you know, maybe with notable absentees and so on, you know, that's where he's going to be in there. I mean, it was good for them that Lavia played. Yes, I'm a huge fan of Romeo Lavia. He's been really, really unlucky with injury. Very unlucky. Even back to when he was at Southampton, he was a really, really eye-catching player and he put in another good performance. I think that's the kind of the upside of Chelsea's crazy squad building, isn't it is that you've got all these absolute gems tucked away that sometimes have been out on loan somewhere or they haven't been able to play for whatever reason he's absolutely one of them I know Moises Caicedo isn't quite fit enough to play yet but I think he'll be he'll be fit soon so who knows how much uh Lavia will actually play but he's a great option for them I mean the rotation options when you don't have the Champions League is it is absolutely huge they can have a have a tilt in the cup competitions as well with this squad it's it's this is you know what we've been saying for a while, isn't it?

19:25All it really will have taken at Chelsea for them to be serious contenders is for the owners to be a bit serious and for them to actually, you know, to let the managers manage and give them a bit more control. And when you've got someone in like Xabi Alonso, it'd be absolutely ridiculous to try and do his job for him. And there's absolutely no reason they shouldn't do really well this season. And especially with, you know, Esteval coming on as well. He is clearly a very, very good player who's only going to keep getting better. Giovanni Coenda as well, obviously the jury's out on him a little bit because we've only seen about a 20-minute cameo from him, but obviously a very highly rated young player as well.

20:03They keep coming. Yeah, Pedro Neto off the bench as well. I mean, they've got options. And yeah, it was a reminder that, as you say, Chelsea, without the European football, just one game a week. Yeah, he's a very good coach with a lot of time to coach. Exactly, and it kind of all bodes well. The type of insight you only get here. Yeah.

20:27yeah exactly i really like the kit as well yeah i do as well i feel quite uncomfortable like in a chelsea kit um because it's normally a kind of shade that i think um if you were to try and get it in a paint shop would be called wanker blue but this one is slightly slightly lighter it looks a bit like the 2016 leicester kit why yeah um estate agent wanker blue is that what it would be cool

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23:30I think it all bodes well for Chelsea annoyingly but I mean look the fact is that of course they were starting you said everybody said early days blah blah blah blah but from a Fulham point of view I was you know again from that performance there is stuff to take and yes the defence will need to to sharpen up but if Fulham play like that you know it was a period in the first half and Fulham got the equaliser and then they really kind of went for Chelsea. Yeah, there was 20 minutes where they were absolutely fantastic and it looked like it was pumping there. Yeah, and I think that it's for that reason and I think the squad as well where people say, I think they're going to get relegated.

24:07I never thought that and I don't think that after just one game. We'll see where we are in about 18 games time, you know. But I don't because I think they've got it in them to produce those moments. You know, if in that 20-minute spell, You extrapolate that out and play like that for more of the game and against lesser opposition. They'll win games. They will. I think they'll swarm teams up front. I think that's one of the really exciting things. With Gonzalo Garcia, what he brings to Fulham is a mobility that they haven't had up front. Now, Rodrigo Munez is more mobile than, say, like Raul Jimenez due to just age.

24:46And you go back all the way to dear old Mitrovic. But Munez is a different type of forward, and he's a good option to have as well. He can mix it up a bit, and if indeed they still keep him, because Munez probably would think he would like to start more games than he's on the bench, but that's another issue. But with Gonzalo Garcia, it's great for him to get his first goal. He's going to need to be a little bit more of an aerial threat, but he's not tall, and he's used to playing in a certain way in Spain. These are the adaptations that he's going to need in the Premier League, and he's still very young, not played an enormous amount of football, and a totally different footballing culture, et cetera, et cetera.

25:22He sniffed the goal out, though, didn't he? Well, he did. And he sniffed the goal out, which is, again, that goes well, showing the striker predatory instincts. But very mobile touches here and there. Because, again, with Raul Jimenez up front, Fulham were used to some lovely link play. Well, you've got that with Garcia, I think. And Josh King, as I've already talked about him, Oscar Bob, this is a chance for him as well to show that he can be a part of an exciting dynamic front line too. So I think there's reasons to be optimistic for Fulham, really. It's just, you know, sort the defence out.

25:54Because if you start leaking goals, then it's, you know, because you can't give chances away like that for the quality Chelsea have. They're not going to play a team as good as Chelsea every week. But still, the cut and thrust of the Premier League and every team in the league has attacking threats. They are going to have to sort that out. Well, this is the danger, isn't it? Obviously, it's tempting to look at it and think Chelsea are very likely to be a title contender this season. They are also kind of happy to let Fulham have the ball and then win it back and pounce. It's unlikely that Fulham will play that many teams as good as Chelsea this season just because of the nature of that.

26:31That doesn't mean that those problems will not be present for lesser teams. I think they were very open. They left a lot of space for Chelsea. They might do that for other teams, and it's something they need to look at. I did think during that 20-minute spell in particular, they looked really tidy. A lot of really, really good link play from a lot of players. Oscar Bob, as you mentioned already, I thought Alex Iwobi as well in that first half was really, really good. Even Calvin Bassi was doing some really sort of tidy passes. He had his kind of typically kind of busy game, didn't he, in a lot of different ways.

27:08Had that sort of dive, not even sure if it was a dive, and a couple of interesting moments. But I was also impressed by how quick they were to kind of close down Chelsea's front three, certainly at different points. But there is a feeling that this could kind of be the same old story for Fulham, where you're looking at a lot of good stuff that happened in a game they ultimately lost. And I think when they were 3-2 down in the last kind of 15, 20 minutes of the game, the final ball was lacking from a lot of players. I think Iwobi became quite guilty of that. Ryan Sessegnon and Kevin both came on and you could tell there was a bit of a drop-off in terms of the passing.

27:49And they made some bad choices or couldn't quite get the final ball off. And I think that is something that Arbelauer is going to have to fix. He's going to have to make sure that those periods in a game are more of a reflection of Fulham as a whole than a good 20 minutes. Because you can't just play well for 20 minutes of each half and expect a win. So it's an interesting one, isn't it? There's so much to take from this, from a Fulham perspective. A lot of it's positive. A lot of it's a little bit scary. And it's just a really, really difficult game to assess because of the opposition. It could be really exciting and it could be really frustrating.

28:26Well, if we go back to the Hopometer, which the Athletic did, of course, asking fans of various clubs how optimistic or pessimistic they were about the seasons. Fulham were the second most pessimistic about their season. I think it was Liverpool that were the most pessimistic. So I don't know what Fulham fans will make of that. I suspect they haven't moved too much on the hopometer, but maybe moved up slightly, I would like to think. I certainly have. I know that before the game, though, Rafa Benitez, former manager of Alvaro Arbeloa, said he was surprised that Arbeloa had become a manager. He said he was unsurprised that Xavi Alonso had become a manager as well.

29:07That's unnecessary, isn't it? Absolutely unnecessary. Yeah, I don't know what Rafa's talking about there. One man we didn't see for Chelsea, and I don't think we will see him again for Chelsea, was Liam De Lappe. It's been reported that Nottingham Forest are working on a deal to sign him. I think this is an interesting one, Jim. He's available for£50 million, pounds and is apparently training separately from the first team squad which is you're not allowed to call it that anymore but it absolutely is that why are you not allowed to call it is that because it sounds too negative towards the players is it politically incorrect in some weird way I sort of forget why in my mind you're not allowed to say that anymore but I remember some sort of FIFA directive or UEFA thing it's like we're trying to put an end to bomb squads well you're not going to be able to do that are you Is it because bombs are bad?

30:01Bombs are broadly bad. Yes. Broadly. Yeah. I mean, let's not unpack that. Yeah, exactly. If you need to knock down an old factory, maybe they're useful. True. Yeah. Well, then you use dynamite. Yeah, exactly. You use TNT dynamite and you use a plunger or you light it and it's got a little fuse and Bugs Bunny does it for you or something. Sure. diving into a swimming pool you're not supposed to do it in a bomb shape but it is fun that's true there are examples where bombs can be good we've got off topic somewhat we have but Liam De Lapp 50 million quid yeah signed for 30 I swear whoever does their transfer negotiations is literally a hypnotist because they are incredible at it we signed him for 30 what's he done he was largely injured he scored he did score a goal against Barcelona yeah extra 20 million Thank you.

30:58Yeah, maybe that's it. Sell him to them. Yeah. So, I mean, if he was to be sold for 50 million after having an injury-ravid season, but even then didn't really do that much, although I want to be kind to DeLapp because I still think there's a really good player in there. And my goodness, Liam, we might need you for future World Cups. But, yeah, if they were to add an extra 20 million, I suppose that's – You've just got to take your hat off, haven't you? Is inflation still that bad? Is it still that bad? I don't know. Are they in charge of it? Maybe that's how it works. It wouldn't shock me if Clearlake or Bluco or whatever were in charge of the Bank of England somehow.

31:36I perished the thought. Well, anyway, Liam DeLapp, he needs a move. There's no two ways about that, G. Yes. Forrest would be an interested one because they could really probably do with a striker, hence they're interested in him. I think they could use a sort of big kind of bustling striker as well. I mean, I know DeLapp and Chris Wood are kind of perfect analogues of each other, but there's a little bit of consistency and style there. And they've also just sold Tewo Awaniyu, so they need a presence there. Yeah, and Wood is obviously no spring chicken, good player that he is. But I think that's a good fit.

32:06And that was the thing for De Lapp. You know, I've bored everybody with this opinion before, but when Chelsea signed him, I thought, I thought De Lapp, going from relegated Ipswich, where obviously he played well, he wasn't sensationally good because, you know, young and it's difficult to do that when a side gets fairly convincingly relegated as well. I thought he needs that mid-table move and then maybe could get the big move, which is why, yeah, I thought, you know, maybe Fulham or whoever should have gone in for him. But I think Forrest is probably a good place for him to be, especially with Glasner there, you know.

32:39Yeah. I think he would probably get a tune out of him as well. Ah, well, there we are. So, yes, Liam DeLapp, good luck to you, sir. Good luck to Fulham. And, yeah, I'm feeling charitable. Well, good luck to Chelsea. Do we want to wish the great-grandson of a fascist dictator good luck, Jim? I feel like I need to know more. Right. Well, and finally, ladies and gentlemen, Romano Floriana Mussolini. Mussolini, yeah, I did say that name. The great-grandson of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, of course. Yes. I didn't think you were thinking of everybody else. He made his debut for Lazio in Serie A.

33:26I was going to say, the sins of the great-grandfather aren't necessarily, oh, Lazio, is it? Oh, yeah, fair enough. Yeah, probably. I am going to make some assumptions, actually. Yeah, played against Bologna last night. He was booked three minutes into his debut. Gennaro Gattuso, of course, is manager of Lazio at the moment. What a ride that is going to be in the season. I mean, we've seen it before, obviously. Wolfgang Hitler was a quite prolific striker in the Bundesliga too as I'm sure you remember so so it pans out I guess imagine they qualify for the World Cup with a Mussolini in the team I just so many things I want to say but I think everybody knows that and I think everybody would probably broadly agree with me or specifically agree with me so there we are everybody let's finish on that that happy note thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Greater Network I shall be back tomorrow with Pete Donaldson and David Cartlidge to chew through the fat of all Premier League transfers and anything else that we can get our hands on.

34:31But that should be it for the fascist dictator chat for the time being anyway. Let's indeed hope so. Thank you, Jim. Thank you. And thank you, Gonzalo Garcia.

34:49The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the ACAST Creator Network.

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