Our giddy uncle

0:00Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications.

0:37Individual results may vary. Buying a car is a big deal, so you shouldn't go in blind. With the CarGurus app, the new dealership mode is like having a personal cheat sheet in your pocket. Instantly compare the car in front of you to similar options, see deal ratings and price history, and estimate your final price. It's no wonder CarGurus is the number one most visited car shopping site, according to SimilarWeb's estimated traffic data. Buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at CarGurus.com. Go to CarGurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's C-A-R-G-U-R-U-S dot com. cargurus.com We all belong outside.

1:21We're drawn to nature. It calls to us. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes, nature makes all of our lives richer, calmer, and frankly, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With AllTrails, you can discover trails nearby or trails worth traveling to and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation. Whether you're looking for a laid-back walk with family or something more adventurous to get your heart pumping, AllTrails gives you the tools you need to get out there and find your outside.

2:11Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with AllTrails.

2:48Still waiting in line? Again?

3:10up right from your home or office. For a limited time, go to stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply. Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden, or maybe on the golf course, can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated.

3:47Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

4:06Luke Moore: Luke Moore.

4:20Luke Moore: Hello, everybody. Good to have you with us on this wonderful Wednesday. Thanks to a friend of the Ramble, Hank Mardukas. Mardukas for giving us that intro line. If you want to submit an intro line for a future episode, then become a friend of the Ramble, damn you all. Sign up for just five bucks a month. You'll get an extended edition of today's Ramble where we're discussing the longest ever away day in English football and a chat that I had yesterday with my very own Giddy Aunt. Oh very nice. An exclusive. A little dangle. You sprung that on us. Yes I have yes. How Giddy was she? A little teaser, little pre-promotional teaser trailer.

4:55How Giddy was she? She was sat down. Okay. Because I thought

4:58Luke Moore: you better sit down for this. We were talking all things so that will be, I'll talk about that on Ramble and Cup. But right now, everybody, I want to talk about Serbia 0, England 5. I don't know about you guys, but Jim Campbell, I had a wonderful evening yesterday. I've booked my tattoo in. Oh, Tommy Tookes. Yeah, exactly. Lifting the World Cup. Cannot wait. With his baseball cap on or his little hair island? Yeah, he's got the hair island on, the World Cup's got the baseball cap on it. Nice. Nice. That's very, very good. Very good. Luke Moore, what a performance. It was great. Really good. by far the best performance under Thomas Tuchel so far.

5:36Luke Moore: Yeah, difficult choice that. How many games has it been so far? That was the fifth one. Okay. No goals conceded though and that continues. You know, but we were crying out for a performance such as this chiefly because it's not that we have to be overly judgmental of Tuchel and the performances very early on in his tenure but we have to try and see a bit of a direction to understand what he wants to do. That's what we've got to go on. How he wants England to play et cetera, et cetera and I think for the first time last night, we probably did see something that was coherent, it was cohesive and it was clearly England got their foot on the throat and they didn't let it off.

6:13I guess, before I hand over back to you guys, I would say that you don't want to go too over the top about it for all the obvious reasons, not just the non-English football fans in their YouTube comments, but that is part of it, but I do think the situation made it lend itself to a big England win, by which I mean that Serbia know that they have to get some kind of result realistically in their home game against England.

6:42Luke Moore: They're not just going to put a load of men behind the ball. Quite. Even though they were pinned back, it wasn't that time. No, and they can't afford that. As soon as England scored the first goal, and actually it's a bit of a one-two punch because the second goal came quite quickly afterwards. Yes. Serbia need to do something which then leaves it there for England to rack up the goals because there's no point really in Serbia not trying to get something out of it. Because if they can snatch back a two-all draw or something, that's massive for them. So I think the situation did play a part in it.

7:09But nevertheless, I thought England were very good and I thought there was a lot of really good individual performances which bodes well.

7:15Luke Moore: Yeah, after the game, Thomas Tuchel said the performance was teamwork in its purest form, Jim. A strong quote. But at times, you know, there was quite a bit of cohesion that we saw on the pitch. And actually, what I liked about that is that it wasn't there immediately. there were points where you know the players weren't quite finding each other it looked a little bit like it was a case of one team being far superior to the other but not quite hitting their stride but then once they did it all clicked really really well so many players grew into the game I thought you know Morgan Rodgers there was a point where I'd forgot he was on the pitch but then he clicked into life and he had a fantastic game from that point on Maduweka as well this flicks for you Jimmy Campbell yeah exactly I'm here here I am yeah take note and I thought Rhys James and Madueke kind of had a couple of kind of moments where they weren't quite on the same wavelength at the beginning but that kind of seemed to smooth over as well and just to a man everybody performed well.

8:10Luke Moore: I thought actually I felt a little bit sorry for both Tina Liveramento and Anthony Gordon because everything was being funneled down the right and we've had conversations a lot haven't we about how there's probably more to come from Gordon in an England shirt but he actually just wasn't really getting a lot of service but other than it being sort of tilted very heavily in favour of the right hand side which obviously worked, so it's not a criticism. I thought it was a pretty perfect performance, really. You couldn't ask for too much more. I mean... He made a good contribution for one of the goals, didn't he, Gordy?

8:39Yeah, yeah. And he causes the goal because there's a rebound. That's more a first half observation. And he had a lovely headband on. He did.

8:46Luke Moore: I mean, yeah. I'll tell you what, though, Luke. Again, you're going on what you saw. So nobody is saying with this team, England are going to do this, that or the other. But going on what we saw, there was real balance to that midfield and Rodgers I think is a player who I think if you said before this game to a lot of people you know I don't think Rodgers will make the World Cup squad next summer, I don't think you'd have too much push back on that, I think some people might have him in there but he'd be, maybe on the periphery It's a conversation isn't it for sure After last night Luke, you think, bloody hell this is where we were saying players have got a real chance with the injuries England have with Saka, Palmer of Bellingham to name just three.

9:29Luke Moore: Or even Adam Morton, because people may be talking to him in the context of, say, where Elliot Anderson's been playing. A chance for people. Anderson has taken his chance. Rodgers has done it. Madueke's done it. You look at those three players and you think, well, surely they'll be in the next squad. And as you, the old selection headache from the manager in the next, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But that midfield look, the three of them in there, we know what Rice brings, but two others who are very green when it comes to England. Rodgers had a couple of little bits here and there. It was a fine performance.

9:58It was what we were crying out for earlier this week when we talked about, or was it last week, sorry, when we talked about what midfield we see picked in this Serbia game. And I remember saying to you the exact words, we hope for Anderson and Rice and we fear Henderson and Rice, right? And what we did get was that. Ended up a run out, that was nice, wasn't it? This was the end. And a late break into the box as well. Yeah, I saw that. I'll tell you what. The old Terminator run,

10:21Luke Moore: I thought I haven't seen that for a while. With all the pace of continental drift. We haven't seen that kind of pace since the original breakup of Pangaea continentally. But we did see a nice balance in there. I think Anderson now has a really good claim to be a real part of the mix for England going forward because of the performance, because of the type of player he is. With the caveat that unless Ange Postacoglu surgically removes his hamstrings and wears it as a fucking bracelet. And tells him to forget every defensive bow in his body. So, yeah, so Posto Coghlan could put the kibosh on it.

10:57Luke Moore: But other than that... And then also on Rodgers, what is really interesting to me about Rodgers, and it's an exaggeration to say that he's lucky to have been picked from the start here, but it's not that much of an exaggeration, chiefly because him and Konza have both really struggled to impose themselves on the Premier League this season for Villa. Villa had a really slow start. Rodgers hasn't really done much. Konza's had a tricky time. I mean, obviously he had a sending off as well. And both those players were really good last night in the England context. And I just think if you're Rodgers and you've got that combination of Anderson and Rice behind you, you really are being given a platform there to succeed.

11:35First 20 minutes was quiet, but you know what? I mean, you're away from home against a competent side.

11:41Luke Moore: You've just walked through a three-mile long tunnel. You'll be tired from that. That tunnel as well, right? Yeah. and I do think sometimes we're a little bit harsh I do because it was it was mentioned in commentary quite a lot last night that Rodgers didn't do much Lee Dixon was kind of on his back a bit there's nothing wrong at nil-nil with spending 15 or so minutes getting the pace of the game working out where you can operate I think it's incredibly nitpicky if you're saying about Rodgers well first 20 minutes but that's what Dixon was saying this is it I mean I know he walks off the pitch 5-0 winner and you know he had some notable moments but that first 20 minutes I mean come on at the time Dixon was I think it was around the time when he provides that flick for Madiweke.

12:17Luke Moore: But you know what? He did something before that. The turn where he puts Madiweke in and it didn't quite happen. That was a moment where you see Rodgers. Rodgers is powerful. He's quick and he's got good feet. And he showed it last night. The second goal is absolute class, by the way. Superb. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And that kind of change of pace and a quick flick, you don't see it that often from an England player. But these are... it's almost like de facto trial games for these players. Because that's how it works. You don't have the run that you do at club level and bloody blah, we know that.

12:52Luke Moore: And we know that anybody who is called up to the England squad is a quality player. You think about the players that don't get called up. So we know they're good players, but you've got to show a little bit of something. We say this time and time again, that if you get that chance, can you just show you're comfortable there? Can you have a moment? And he did that. Well, this is it, isn't it? I mean, club form is the first part of getting yourself into an England shirt. And this part is far, far more important, especially with limited opportunities, right? Because it's about doing it when you get there, right?

13:22Luke Moore: As you say, it's about contributing. It's about showing Tuchel that you can be relied on in those moments. And we see it all the time. There are players where you think, you know, X player or Y player should be playing based on how they're playing for their club. But if it doesn't quite happen, then Tuchel doesn't necessarily know that he can depend on you in a big game. And these moments are absolutely about establishing yourself in that shirt. Yeah, also as well for Rodgers. I mean, that's pretty much the area of the pitch where he plays for his club because, you know, who did it in the previous game?

13:50Luke Moore: Eze, who I know he drifts inside, but you think of him as also a wide player. Again, I know positions aren't, you know, it's sort of, they're more loosely defined nowadays. You think, well, could Bellingham play? Well, Bellingham will, yes, of course he can. I think Bellingham weirdly gives you, based on what we saw last night, I think you could argue it's a nice problem to have, but Bellingham gives you a bit of a problem because he's such a high-profile player. He can drift a bit and he can be a bit inconsistent for England. But you have to be a really strong manager to be able to leave him out.

14:24Luke Moore: I mean, if you think about the thought exercise of Tuchel having to the first World Cup game, the first group, England qualify, but she probably will now. The first group game in the World Cup. It's a big, big play to leave Bellingham out. But that's what I like about Tuchel. well, he said, you know, well, it's different teams. I don't say you're going to have a whole different 11. You're going to have a general shape and, you know, probably eight or nine starters. You have to have different, you have to have different, you have to use your different weapons. Because what happens, you talk about positions being loosely defined, and you're absolutely right to say that.

14:57But I think also over and above that, a theme that we've come back to a lot on this show is the idea that you have different ways of interpreting those positions from different attacking players. Like you mentioned Eze there, different players to Rodgers. You know, you have players like Gordon, who's a completely different wide forward player to one or two others. So you can start picking the players to unpick different locks depending on who you're playing against. But I do actually think, aside from that, if you want to have a good basis from which to build from, I do think the two players, if you're going to play a 4-2-3-1, the two players at the back of that, you want them to be fitting perfectly in there.

15:34And I think it's early days and they've only played against Andorra, which you can't read too much into, as you guys said on Monday and now Serbia are away. But the balance you can see, the eye test on the balance with Anders and the Rice is there. So then that leaves you a problem because if Rodgers keeps imposing himself and you've got so many options in the hole, where does Bellingham fit in? You can't put everybody.

15:57Luke Moore: Is that an invented problem though? Because you can put Bellingham there, you can put Palmer there and if we're going to judge it based on this, you can put Rodgers there and you've got three incredible options. Surely that's a definition of a nice problem to have. It's a lovely night. I know that he has to add that. It is, but you still got a solid... Look, one of the things that comes up in Tuchel's interviews quite a lot, which is worth talking about, and again, contextually, I think a massive part of this game last night is that it is inconceivable to me that you prepare for England coming to town and you're in camp as Serbia and you're at home and the first goal that England score is not even an intelligent run by Kane.

16:35I mean, it riffs around.

16:35Luke Moore: They were very charitable from set pieces. Totally. and you're on the back foot straight away from that so that informs it you're absolutely right Luke and it's why one shouldn't get too carried away but the point I want to make about Tuchel though very quickly if I may is that he spends quite a lot of time in his interviews it seems to me talking about how little time he has to work with his players now you can understand that because he comes from a top level club environment but he does mention it a lot and he said last night I think it was in the ITV interview actually afterwards he said we've had three weeks in total really to work together and for me that's half a pre-season right and then they go away again and he said the first count we had was good the second count was so-so and the third count we just had here was brilliant and part of the reason I'm so pleased as to why we won so well is because it's reflective of what I've seen this week now that's all fine but what that says to me is we know the clock's ticking when you get about a year out of it from a big tournament the clock starts to tick if he's as decisive as he needs to be he needs to have an understanding probably already of what he's actually going to do and he needs to start playing players more consistently and one of the criticisms we've had about him in the past has been that we don't really know what direction it's going in.

17:46Now this is the first step on quite an interesting direction and it'll be interesting to see what the next step is because if it goes back to type again it's a little bit odd.

17:55Luke Moore: I certainly agree with you and that's why you've just got that tinge of excitement this morning as an England fan because you can just see something but talking of nice problems and all the rest of it well for me and a lot of people when everyone's fit you know Sakira's a starter on the right some people would maybe have Cole Palmer in there not everybody who starts finishes and you do have substitutes lest we forget you know and it does seem criminal to say well Cole Palmer's a sub but you know you've got those two and then you think well there's there's Jared Bowen as well I mean he was great when he came on but Nani Madweke is now he's taken his chance I mean my goodness you know what a goal that was Tupul likes it brilliant goal yeah and you mentioned Rhys James it was nice to see Rhys James playing more like a right back I know Enzo Morescu gets him to do other bits and pieces I was really encouraged by him brilliant and his delivery and all the rest of it and you know Carl Walker said a year or however long ago it was Rhys James will be my successor as right back for England and I'm certainly when we had that glut of right backs coming through we said on this show and I fully believe it like when he's fully fit and firing James is the best of all of them because there's no obvious issue or weakness in his game.

19:04I think I'm right in saying way back in the day when he first burst kind of burst onto the scene we were having conversations about players like Walker even then we were saying is he getting a bit older? Aaron Wan-Bissaka was being talked about a lot he was hyped he got a big move to May and I have a lot of money and people were talking about how he attacking wise wasn't that great. Then with Alexander-Arnold it was the opposite problem and I just felt James didn't have an obvious weakness in his game and he kind of shows that when he's fit.

19:29Luke Moore: He was brilliant last night. And also that delivery is what we've spent a lot of time talking about Trent Alexander-Arnold having as a kind of as a sort of distinct point from other players but James is showing that he can do that as well. Well and also if Medvedev is in front of him there's an understanding at club level there they haven't played a huge amount together due to James' injuries but there's perhaps a familiarity whatever that's worth and you know Liveramento behind Gordon as well I think as you said Jim it was a lot of it was down that right hand side but it was good for Gordon he looked a bit lively, but I think that left-hand side, you know, because Rashford comes on and Rashford again, like there's just, there's no fear there.

20:06Luke Moore: I mean, I understand he comes on and it's 4-0 or whatever. How predictable that the Marcus Rashford renaissance begins immediately on the most public stage possible. Yeah, I know, right? It's always nice to have one in there. And great for Ollie Watkins to come on and win a penalty to do something as well. So again, even the subs came on and it, you know, Tuchel was beaming, as you say, about how good the camp was. But look at Madiweke and Gay and obviously Konza, but Gay in particular scored his first goal for England. Of course, I know the three of them did. How he was beaming after. And again, it shows you, because Eberichie Ezer said in an interview the other week that his goal for England was probably the goal he cherished the most in his career to date.

20:49Luke Moore: Perhaps he'd forgotten about that FA Cup winning goal, but he felt that it was such an achievement to score for England. And Gay said that, to play for my country, to score for my country. And that's the centre-back saying that. So the camp, it really does feel good this morning. England has become pretty good at recognising the journey that players go on to get to where they get to Madueke's first goal for England as well given that he was asked quite a difficult question I thought quite an unfair question after the Andorra game about that own goal are you going to claim that kind of thing he's like well no of course I'm not for him to get a goal on the next game was really important you haven't mentioned Jed Spence his journey to come to where he's come to he's found it very difficult I've got a huge amount of admiration for how he's like knuckled down found himself in that horrible situation that players find themselves in where you're signed by a director of football at Spurs, the manager doesn't really want you, you're farmed out, and you don't really have a future there, it seems, then it all changes.

21:38And now all of a sudden, he's a key player, and he's forced his way into the England side. And you see Harry Kane presenting him with his cap and actually being quite emotional about it, saying, I know how hard you've worked, I know what it means to your family. So this lineage that needs to be protected post-Southgate seems like it is. Another player that can come back in who's been a stalwart for England has been John Stones as well. We haven't mentioned him yet. So what we're getting at here, I think we're talking ourselves into a situation where we have to rely on Thomas Tuchel to be super definitive and confident in his selections when the time comes because he's got so many options that he's going to have to make big call after big call after big call.

22:13It's not just going to be Bellingham. It's going to be a Bakayo Saka call. It's going to be a John Stones or Konza call probably. It's going to be other areas of the pitch where he's going to have to make a big definitive decision. And it's very well for us to say, well, you just pick different weapons for different challenges, it's easier said than done because these players want to play and they'll all think they can make a difference and there's an absolute plethora of options now and what he's got to do is have a mix and a blend and do it well and they need to be ready to go when they inevitably qualify for the World Cup, which they will.

22:47Luke Moore: It's all about a mix and a blend, Jim. Marcus, I have a question for you about Mark Gay, given that you mentioned his reaction there. Can we call him our giddy uncle? Oh, he's the giddy uncle. come on then that's nice my giddy uncle what a goal how giddy uncle he's all about uncle that's true Greg's coming in the run for his goal really wanted it as well again charitable from Serbia yeah keeper should be you know keeper's got to stop that going in the net isn't he it's a really big part it really is as simple as that get rid of that yeah yeah yeah he's about four yards I know I can't believe he's reaching it without moving he's thinking the keeper's going to no I'm just going to carry on did you not speaking of which little digression do you see O 'Neill as goalkeeper against Cape Verde I didn't see that my god is it I mean we have to share it on the socials like Cape Verde break through and the guy's in on goal and O 'Neill just doesn't come off his line love it just stays there yeah guy just puts it in the net ah he weren't expecting ah damn good news all the time at main night you're not at main night anymore but anyway you're playing for a respectable side now yeah going back to the going back to the game itself before we kind of move on because we've talked about quite a lot of bigger issues here I wanted just to say that you know Serbia were charitable it was a bad night for them I think they might have been somewhat distracted by some of the stuff that's happening off the pitch as well, which you don't have to go into.

24:00But they did find themselves in a difficult situation, as I mentioned. You know, the fact that they go 1-0 down in quite a weird way. They have a player sent off as well. They can't really dig in given the position of the qualifying group, as I said. But I do think, you know, that second goal that is of such good quality from Madueke, that is a bit of a heartbreaker. You know, he makes the run so well. He does, he technically, you know, as a forward player, he cuts across a defender, gives a defender a decision decision to make and the finish is amazing. I think sometimes when England are good, a lot of middling teams, like Serbia are ranked 32 in the world, right?

24:36So middling kind of competent international side.

24:38Luke Moore: Who should have, you know, would have been disappointed if they didn't get a point off England in the Euros. That's right. Absolutely, a good point actually. They get their hearts broken by this type of stuff, by the fact that England can attack in so many different ways when they're on it. And I think what can happen is it goes one way or the other with England. If they score early and they follow it up and they really get to hit their straps, they can punish you. But those kind of teams know that if they don't score early, they can dig in and make it really tough for England. Of course, Serbia can't really do that in this situation.

25:07So I think you've got to be, you've got to temper your expectation based on that performance in isolation because I think there are reasons for it.

25:13Luke Moore: Another way to look at it is to not temper our expectations. Okay, yeah, fine. And expect the World Cup to be like that 12 minutes against the Netherlands in the second half in Euro 96. Yeah. Where it's just bang, bang, bang, bang. I think that's what we should expect. Okay. we should demand it I think on this show we are officially demanding that every game from now on do you know what I did like what Tuchel said that he's really enjoying being England manager and he said you know everywhere I think he's living in London at the moment he said everywhere walks people coming up to him you know come on and all this and suggesting squad selections and so on I think for him he was just like this is incredible because it's a totally different experience of what he's used to and I remember the late great Sven Jorn Eriksson saying that when he was in charge of England he said wherever you go especially on the eve of a tournament people come on Sven and it's our year and all this and he said it really does propel you that kind of feeling all the way to a quarter final but I think that even Tuchel this performance and victory is big for him because again there's a lot of chat and perhaps too much about performances against Andorra and all the rest of it but for that for him to just satisfy people as the international break comes to an end I know there's another one fairly soon before a slightly bigger break but it all bodes very well quick shout out for Nikola Milenkovic as well absolute textbook Luke Moore sending off that by the way it was a sending off yeah I know but the ball's going at a slight angle are you trying to tell me that Kane doesn't gather that ball and have a shot at a very presentable chance also he's absolutely butchering him the amount of times honestly the amount of times there'll be loads of people listening to this who can relate to this the amount of times when you were quite one pace like I was when you were absolutely convinced every single brain cell in your head is telling you you can get that ball and I must have attempted 400 of them in my Sunday career I've probably got to about 25 of them Kane properly dangles it doesn't mean whoops you thought I was slow did you say what you like about Milenkovic the fine defender he committed to the challenge he did he didn't second guess himself he has gone all in absolutely big night for Anusol as well as Pete pointed out on the WhatsApp is that how you pronounce it I assume so it's not got an accent above the N alright well Anusol then yeah alright I see why you went with that.

27:26But it is for the anus.

27:28Luke Moore: I guess it is, yeah. Is it? What is it? Anusol is for, it's Pyle's cream, isn't it? Yeah, hemorrhoid cream. Oh, is that right? And they've decided that this is the time to make a big pitch to the public. Maybe they heard that in England there's a lot of people suffering with that. Maybe there are. There's going to be a lot of men who drink too much watching a footwork in the pub who've probably got hemorrhoids. I think it's a pretty well-targeted advert. If you've got hemorrhoids, there's nothing to be ashamed about, but get yourself on this anusol, or whatever it's called. Be safe. Exactly. Ain't a soul safe.

27:53Luke Moore: Indeed. Absolutely right. A little free advert for them. That's probably not their tagline, is it? Before we go for a break, I want to go on a slight tangent here. Former England striker Wayne Rooney has told a story about the first time Louis van Gaal met his wife, Colleen. Rooney said, we had lunch with all the players, wives, girlfriends and staff. He came up to Colleen and said, your children, they look very much like the father. She said, yeah. He said, he has very strong sperm. If you want to be an England striker, you've got to have strong sperm. I kind of agree. I can't agree where he's going with that.

28:23Luke Moore: Have you seen the clip of Rooney talking about it? No. Because he's sort of... It's like he's trying to do a Dutch accent, but the scouse is so strong it completely overrides it. It can be a problem, yeah. I think Wayne Rooney's one of the greatest living Britons. Yeah, I know. All for him. There's no doubt about that at all. Coming up after this, Erling Haaland scored a glut.

28:52Hi, all. This is Kim and Penn Holderness from Lifeline. Summer is here, which means it's officially travel season. And when you're out there making plans, you need somewhere reliable to stay. That's why Best Western is such a solid option. This summer, get 1 ,000 bonus points and a chance to win 250 ,000 bonus points. So wherever you're headed, make it count with this limited time offer. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at BestWestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, T's and C's and sweeps rules for details and visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.

29:23Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs and being thrown for loops. Like when someone brings donuts into the office or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications.

30:00Individual results may vary. Thank you for calling the Bombas Comfort Line. Bombas make socks, slippers, tees, and underwear made with the highest quality materials. Press 1 for comfort, 2 for style, 3 for donation. You chose style. Bombas is styles for whatever you enjoy. You can run in Bombas, lounge in Bombas, dress them up, dress them down, but always give back in Bombas because with every item purchased, another is donated. Bombas, comfort worth calling for. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S.com and use code audio. Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast.

30:36Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course? can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where Liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

31:14Oh, my honey, right foot. Oh, Jeezy Peeps, man.

31:18Luke Moore: Welcome back to the Football Ravel, everybody. Was it Jeezy Peeps for Belarus? They lost 2-0 to Scotland in Hungary, this game was. Scotland added three points to their tally. It's all about the tally, as Steve Clarke said. When that gets added up, this is going to be a bit of a bonanza, isn't it? It is, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we don't know what Scotland are on at the moment. As you say, at the end of the group, it all gets tallied up. Apparently, according to Steve Clarke. Just puts it in a bag. No one's allowed to look into it. Give it a little shake. Yeah, but I would recommend winning games because I think Italy would be greater.

31:47I'd recommend looking at the table if you feel like it. It's there for you to use, isn't it? It's a resource available to us all.

31:52Luke Moore: No, don't do that. I don't care about the table. It's all about winning games. Well, this is second in the group in the playoff position after two games. So a good start for Scotland. I mean, I know that, you know, they may have scored one or two more against Belarus and goal difference could come down to it, but it's a win on the road. It's a clean sheet. And Che Adams got his goal, Jim. He did. yeah weird atmosphere Shea Everton Adams Shea Everton yeah that's his middle name isn't it Everton Sheverton Sheverton sure yeah pretty routine win wasn't it but as you were saying on Monday Marcus it's absolutely important that you put those away again especially in a small group of Scotland did you say weird atmosphere I did say it was weird atmosphere because there was no atmosphere yeah because you could only hear the people from the benches but it's surprising how loud that is went back to Covid times didn't it it did when you have a behind the closed it's a reminder that that's just a park with some seats around it.

32:40Yeah, that's all it is. That's all it is. A bit of paint on it. A bit of paint on the lines. That's all it is at the end of the day.

32:46Luke Moore: A little bit of that. A small group of Scotland fans did travel to Hungary where the game was being played. Great bunch of lads. Lovely bunch of lads, I assume. Didn't they say something like, I mean, there's no problem if you can't get into the game because that's normally the worst bit. Yeah. One of them said, Scotland trips are fantastic but usually the worst bit is the 90 minutes. Yeah, you're right. So when we heard this game was on and we couldn't get in, we just had to come. Yeah, it's like, Imagine the conversation that that guy's had with his wife or whatever. You can't even go to the game.

33:10So? Yeah.

33:11Luke Moore: So what? Because they were in Denmark, right? So I thought, oh, we'll make the short trip to Hungary. Yeah. Might as well. Especially if we can't see the game. I mean, they're a lot closer than they normally are to Hungary, I suppose you would argue. I do remember when England played Croatia behind closed doors. I think it was Nations League around 2019. And a group of England fans went. They broke in, didn't they? No, they managed to climb up on a hill. That's right. Because it was played in quite a small stadium. So they did see it. It's an important win for Scotland. You know, I suppose in a way, the lack of fans probably helped them, which I guess is the design of the punishment in question.

33:44I mean, that's the point of it, I suppose.

33:47Luke Moore: Well, Belarus are banned from staging home matches in their own country because of the government's support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But my point is, it's a punishment, isn't it? It is a punishment, yeah. It therefore makes it easier for their opponents. Scotland have three home games left, right? And that's massive. Yeah. Because ultimately, you are right to say they're in that playoff position at the moment. on, I think, obviously below Denmark, but they're on the same points. And they played Denmark at home. Yes, exactly. With this stuff, if you're, sorry to use this kind of quite disrespectful phrase of middling international side, but it's got an R that, ultimately, when it comes down to qualification, you just have to be really good in your home games because you don't really expect much from your away games.

34:24And in this 14 group setup they've got now, it really does make a massive difference because Belarus are doing a pretty good impression of a whipping boy at the moment, but they're not a kind of Lichtenstein or an Andorra and they haven't got that option in their group at the moment, Scotland. So they just need to make sure they do to get their business done properly at home. Yes. Starting in October against Greece, right?

34:45Luke Moore: Well, indeed, yeah. I mean, I think that point, you know, on the road in Copenhagen is a huge one because, I mean, Denmark went to Greece and won 3-0. That's a bonus point for them. Yeah, but that 3-0 that Denmark secured away in Greece is also a bit of a statement victory for them as well because Greece hammered a Belarus. I think they could knock five past them. So you're thinking, oh, Greece aren't a bad side. You know, England and so on. When Denmark go there, it's like, okay, you've just got to be at the races now. And at that point, you know, if Scotland can beat Denmark at home, it'll be absolutely huge.

35:16Luke Moore: I think, by the way, you're also right to say they shouldn't score more against Belarus. They would have one or two really good chances, obviously, that the own goal gets them over the line. Absolutely. I mean, speaking of charitable, what an own goal that was. No one around him. Sticks it right in the gap I'll tell you what you can get Great header Yeah Now we know that John McGinn loves chips Chips Chips Say it properly Chaps Well, Uzmano Dembele has also spoken about his love for eating fast food Dembele said, I still eat burgers and pizzas after matches, especially post-game Well, we got that Every player does I will always eat them I will never stop It's Antonio Cassano-esque Yeah, it is The whole pizza thing, though A lot of players do Hence the Must be the carbs, right?

35:55Luke Moore: Pizzagate Yeah, quite That's why there was pizza knocking about. Exactly, yeah. So I'm led to believe that they have to get on board things like protein shakes and get a lot of protein on pretty quick after games because they've got such, I think it's because they've got such low body fat and they don't want their muscles to break down, right? But I think the pizza thing is obviously a carb thing, but also it's just nice, isn't it? Yeah. You're burning that many calories every single day. Surely it's not even going to touch the sides. I don't think I want to be near anyone who doesn't like pizza.

36:24Luke Moore: Is it even possible? Actually, my dad doesn't like pizza. He thinks it's foreign muck. Well, yeah. I mean, it is that, Jim. There's a caveat to this, which is that everyone's dad of a certain age is weird about food. Sure, yeah. Not everybody. Pizza is like some sort of alien kind of thing from another planet. But has he probably tried it, though? What he'll do is he'll try a bite of it and then make a face without really tasting it and then make a big sulk about not liking pizza, even though he likes all the constituent parts of pizza. My dad's exactly the same. But do you know what, though? Does your dad like pizza?

36:52Before you make this point, answer the question. Yes. Peter likes pizza does he? He does. Peter Speller likes pizza.

36:57Luke Moore: Yeah exactly. There's something in there. Is that why you do that vocal warm up? That's what that's about. Peter Speller picked a pizza pesto. But I think there is something strange about seeing an older person eating pizza. What do you mean? Do you see what I mean? I went to Can't imagine David Attenborough eating a pizza. Exactly Jim. I went to Turin a couple of years ago for the Turin Derby and to name drop Lawrence McKenna and I went is that a lame drop? I think he's a lot of people know I think he said a lame drop which feels quite Freudian you can take that out with Lawrence I'm not going to disrespect Lawrence he's a great man I think it's a fabulous name I think it's up there with Attenborough but anyway so Jim you went to see Juventus play with David Attenborough yeah and we met you there over a pizza Attenborough didn't touch it he had spaghetti no we went into a restaurant pre-game and there was four very Italian looking guys all sat around one in a suit one in a tracksuit like everything you would expect and they were all north of 55 possibly 60 and two of them were eating pizza and I just looked and thought that just looks odd to me even though I'm in Italy do you know what I mean I just back home I wouldn't see people 60 plus eating pizza in a restaurant Italian men are funny because have you heard of that that phenomenon called the umarelle no I think I'm pronouncing that right the umarelle is a it's a cultural phenomenon in Italy where old retired men go to construction sites and stand there watching builders build and give them advice.

38:30I like that. Apparently it's like a proper hobby among a lot of retired men in Italy. That's good. So there's loads of photos of them standing behind the kind of wire fencing with their hands behind their back observing how the building's going.

38:41Luke Moore: That's surely annoying if you're doing the building, right? Or the backseat building. I don't know, yeah. I've never seen one of them with a pizza. It's funny though, isn't it? Yeah, it is funny. Yeah, it is. What are we talking about? We're going to talk about Wales 0, Canada 1. That's not a link. You just have to get on with it. Yeah. Isn't rare bits a bit like pizza? Yeah. In a way. You should have just ignored the link. Yeah. Well, you shouldn't have poked the bear. There's a big Italian contingent in Wales. But of course... The great Joe Calzaghi, of course. There's one. And where was the Hawaiian pizza originated from?

39:10Luke Moore: I don't actually know that. I think you're going to tell me Wales. I believe it was Canada. Was it? Okay. There we go. If that's wrong, then up yours. But yes, a changed Welsh side fell to Canada. 1-0 in Swansea. only Bellamy's second defeat in 12 matches it was only friendly of course it would be very inconvenient if they were in the same World Cup qualifying group Belly Belly I like that Belly oh Bellas had handpicked Canada himself as he wanted a match to test the players and they're three places higher than Wales in the old FIFA Rangers well they got a test gym and they failed it they did wonderful wonderful free kick to settle it it's an interesting from the amazingly named Derek Cornete fantastic sounds like an alter ego like a Ben Stiller character like some sort of professor yeah Yeah, it's an interesting one, picking a team who are the type of team you're likely to face in the World Cup.

39:56Luke Moore: You know, there's value in that. So Craig Bellamy's been talking a lot about picking their opponents very carefully so that they're around their level or higher than their level and they can learn from that. And he seems sort of laser focused on this stuff. So I'm sure there will be stuff that they take out of it. They'll be disappointed not to have scored a goal, I'm sure. But I think it's a strange position they find themselves in, though, Jim, talking about the World Cup. I totally understand that rationale. but they're I don't want to say do I want to say unlikely they're kind of up against it to qualify for the World Cup they are but he's not going to approach it that way is he I guess not but they've got big games at home to Macedonia North Macedonia and Belgium both of whom have been good and it's going to come down to that and that's two big challenges because Macedonia haven't lost a game yet they've been brilliant North Macedonia sorry North Macedonia disrespectful to the North Macedonian people yes exactly they were previously known as Macedonia and then an area of Greece also called Macedonia went come on we keep getting your mail not paying another bill a speeding ticket what's this but a good win for Canada of course a joint host next summer also talking of the hosts and their results Pochettino's US beat Japan 2-0 people are quite negative about what's going on over there aren't they I think it was Clint Dempsey I saw Clint Dempsey I think it was yesterday saying that, in his opinion, if the US weren't hosts, there was absolutely no chance they'd ever qualify.

41:21Luke Moore: On Deuce? Yeah, Deuce is getting stuck in there. Didn't do a wrap though. I was waiting for the wrap. That happens after when the mics are off. You've got to pay for that. You didn't smash a window or do a wrap, sadly. Gentlemen, I want to go back to European qualification for the World Cup. Norway beat Moldova 11-1. And they really did beat them. I always love it. Absolute hammering. I always love the one. They didn't keep a clean sheet. That was their own goal. Yeah, well, the goalkeeper will be coming off going, how have I not got another notch there? At one point at 6-0, Moldova just knocking it about at the back of the opening.

41:52We've got Erling Haaland, famously the most devastating striker in world football, just breathing down their neck.

41:58Luke Moore: Was it Russell Martin's brother who's in charge? No, just keep to the plan. It's going to work. We've got one back. Yeah, Erling Haaland scored five, which he'll be disappointed with, I think, out of 11. I think he's got under half the team's goal. There was a penalty and he didn't take it. Yeah, I saw that. So yeah, he could have got the double hat-trick. Yeah, although, I mean, speaking of the Martin family, Rangers midfielder, who of course is now under the expert tutelage of Russell Martin, Tello Asgard is his surname. Where's he from? It sounds very Nordic. It sounds very kind of... Well, that's the place in the Avengers, isn't it?

42:29Luke Moore: Well, it's actually one of the Norse realms. Yeah, it's a realm in Norse lore, isn't it? In Norse mythology. Is it spelt the same? It might be spelt the same. Who cares? He scored four goals. It doesn't matter, yeah. He only came off the bench, didn't he? Yeah, right. in the 64th minute yeah he's scoring so try-esque it is it absolutely is another Louisian do you want to do you want to hear a little bit of intel about the largest wins by national teams I think this is in European history go on I think it's ever because we got that famous American Samoa thing didn't we remember back in the day oh yeah yeah yeah so I remember when Germany beat San Marino I think it was 13-0 was that in there oh this is I think this is qualifiers okay oh that was I mean it may have been a Euro qualifier if this is just World Cup qualifiers you're going with.

43:13Yeah, it is.

43:13Luke Moore: Right. I'm narrowing it down, aren't I? By a Norwegian team. Right. Yesterday. Yeah. Turns out this was the biggest one. I'm led to believe that in European World Cup qualifiers, the biggest result ever was Germany, who beat Cyprus 12-0 in 1969. But this is the biggest result in almost 30 years because North Macedonia beat Liechtenstein 11-1 in 1996. I guess they were called something different then. well they were probably oh yeah former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia something like that yeah yeah it's exciting stuff though isn't it because obviously Norway have not we've not seen them at a tournament for a long time a long time and they've got some obviously some brilliant players it's not just Haaland and Odegaard they've massively underachieved over the years Antonio Lusa in there and you've got Oscar Bob in there call that golden generation but this is what it feels like it feels like it feels like when Belgium's kind of hipster generation first came through 1994 must have been the last time they played in the World Cup right I think so yeah must have been 1994 Marcus you're the resident World Cup historian Norway last qualified 98 they qualified when of course they famously beat Brazil but didn't progress it's been a long time it has been a long time because we think you know you say oh well England they usually sort of nowadays breeze through qualifying as to France and Portugal even if they have a wobble France nearly did last night of course but for a side like Norway who you know qualified a fair few times it's very very tough especially when it's only the team finishing top of the group goes through.

44:41Luke Moore: So they've got a real chance. And I'll tell you something, I know Scotland beat them not that long ago, but with the players that you mentioned, not that many sides would want to come up against them. No, that could hurt you for sure. Absolutely right. So could Portugal as well. Because Cristiano Ronaldo, speaking of records, equaled the record for most goals scored in World Cup qualifying. It's boring, isn't it? He's got 39 alongside Guatemala's Carlos Ruiz. Well, that's great for him. I mean, great for Carlos to get a mention. Yeah. But someone's about to take his record, which is a shame. That is a shame.

45:11Is Ronaldo going to call it quits here? Or is he going to carry on?

45:14Luke Moore: Whatever it's going to be, it's going to be boring. I'll be absolutely fair about that. Well, they beat Hungary 3-2. Another international side played in Hungary. The home team for a change. So a good win for them. Well done, Cristiano Ronaldo. It was a penalty, by the way. Do we have to say that? Of course it was a penalty. We have to say it. Well done to him. Do we have to say it? It's not said enough, is it, Jim? No. Well done for Cristiano Ronaldo and all your achievements. Yeah. I loved it in the... he's a fair few in the piece I read about Cristiano Ronaldo get equal in this record for no reason they just put Messi's in there he's got 36 yeah well I think that's relevant yeah of course you do because you're as tedious as him what about Carlos Ruiz he got his mensch Carlos Ruiz was a very prolific goal scorer for LA Galaxy back in the day was he just yeah I looked him up earlier well done you well look you remember when we first started doing these podcasts and no the amount of you know international caps that the top players would get you know, Shilton's obviously still number one for England.

46:08Luke Moore: 125. 125. 125 international caps. Phenomenal. And the longevity of that man. Christian O 'Reilly has 223 international caps. Wild. That's absolutely crazy. Do you see what I mean? I know it's boring to say, well done. Peter Shilton was quite shit towards the end as well. And also with that personality in a dressing room. But think about the international goals as well. What did Gerd Muller got? 73, I think. Something like that, yeah. And these were the guys who had these records. He has 141 international goals. But Gerb Muller scored his goals almost one a game though. But 141 Luke. It would be easy to forget about it if people weren't constantly mentioning it.

46:42Luke Moore: Yeah, exactly. I think the international record hasn't actually been mentioned as much because of what he did at club level. We should have led with this and get a big traction on the YouTube. They love Chris Darnold on YouTube. And with good reason. All right, coming up after this, Big Ang is back in business.

47:05Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications.

47:42Individual results may vary. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. It calls to us. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives richer, calmer, and frankly, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With AllTrails, you can discover trails nearby or trails worth traveling to and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation. Whether you're looking for a laid-back walk with family or something more adventurous to get your heart pumping, AllTrails gives you the tools you need to get out there and find your outside.

48:38Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with AllTrails. There are moments that reveal who we are and who we're meant to become. For those born to lead, Such moments call for a vehicle of equal distinction. Dynamic by design, uncompromising in execution, the Range Rover Sport was engineered for those rare individuals who demand the world and possess the conviction to claim it. When your time to lead arrives, you need a vehicle that rises to meet it. The Range Rover Sport. Exclusive offers available now. Explore further at rangerover.com.

49:19Luke Moore: that's right we're going back to club football if your international team didn't get a mention already then do better um now big angers replaced nuno at nottingham forrest look mate wow mate look mate i tell you what we knew that the the writing was on the wall for poor old start mate can't wait to get started at forest mate do you know what forest fans must be gutted because under Nuno this season they were thinking could we win a trophy well they're going to have to wait till next season with Ange of course because it's always a second season trophy it depends on how you look at it though oh I'm looking at it like that it depends on whether it's first full season because it might not be oh this this counts surely you reckon this counts I mean I suppose he can always use that as a technicality if he doesn't he could he really really could we're assuming quite a lot about how long he's here last year yeah that is true well I mean it's such a you know interesting situation what happened for us with Nuno because the way he's improved them and well that this is it isn't it I think because of the chaos of this and because chaos is so regular under Maranakis and you look at that and go oh just another day in the crazy world of Nottingham Forest it's I think it's perhaps being lost a little bit of what an astonishing achievement it was for Nuno to get them into Europe I mean they were in a relegation battle when he joined and he essentially put the kibosh on that immediately The way they did that, the way they did it as well, it almost had a tinge of disappointment that it wasn't Champions League.

50:45Yeah, exactly. Which made you kind of think less than that. They were in the hunt for that. Yeah, yeah. And also Nuno's job was a real slog at first at Forest because Steve Cooper was popular. I mean, I remember fans still singing Steve Cooper's name after he got fired. They had the PSR thing, a points deduction. They went on that mad one where they all lost their heads about referees. And Nuno had to navigate that as well. And then, as Jim says, he turns it around in quite dramatic fashion. and I know that it's come to an end the way it's come to an end and his comments that he made were quite odd towards the end of his forest tenure.

51:16Luke Moore: It kind of made it inevitable really. Yeah. When there's smoke, there's fire. Yeah, but I do think that Nuno... From Eddie's barbecue. He definitely... Nuno had a calmness about him. It was probably pretty important along that chaotic stuff you're talking about. And I don't know if Pasta Cogli fits into that. Pasta Cogli is quite volatile. Yeah, we'll come to Pasta Cogli in a minute. you're talking about the chaos and Nuno of course we suspect that there's a bit of chaos because of all the things you've just said there and the Maranacis coming out onto the pitch after the game and just the way he is and some of the things that have been written about him and so on I'll let you do your own research there but they had a good relationship Nuno and Maranacis as we understand it and it seemed that the former Arsenal man Edu's come along and got between them and I think that Three's company well it is two's company three's a crowd it is a crowd and I think that clearly that's what's driving this by the sounds of what people are reporting that Maranacos didn't want to get rid of Nuno that it was good but Edu was his man and he felt that being in European competition you've got to now have somebody like Edu who has experience of all this kind of stuff come in make some more signings whereas Nuno wanted to trim down squad and he's a bit like no I don't want this I don't think Maranacos had a problem making signings before Edu not for now sure but this is Nuno clearly wanted to go in one direction and I think that they're saying, well, actually, we should be going in this direction.

52:40Luke Moore: Maybe we should, their argument may well have been we should be thinking bigger and Nuno's like, well, hang on a minute. I've got us here. Can you not trust me a bit? And so you have this kind of fight for power if you see what I mean. So that's why it's such a shame that they couldn't put that aside and they couldn't all work together but, you know, this is football and we've seen this before. It's a signal for the Forest fans because you're right to say they loved Cooper but it was, you know, certainly with hindsight you can see why he was moved on. Well, they love Nuno as well now. And they loved him.

53:06Luke Moore: And now they've got a new man there. Hans Prostogoglu has signed a two-year contract. And he will lead them against Arsenal on Saturday, which is fascinating. Let's be honest, in Football Ramble HQ, we were hoping it was going to be Jose because him and Maranac is together. That's death star stuff. It would be great, but it does leave open the possibility of the West Ham job. Jose stated in the last season that he wants to be involved with a club that isn't involved with UEFA competitions because he hates UEFA that much. West Ham still fit that bill. so the dream is alive he's saying that there's other options for European football outside of UEFA true go and manage outside of Europe you'll be fine you'll be clear he wants a Super League that's what he wants that's what he wants well he's currently in the Super League well he was up until recently if we want to nitpick but I think there will be a landing spot for Mourinho in due course guys don't worry too much about that he's a grade A Rangers man as well one thing that does bode well for the Maranachis and Postacoglu relationship is Postacoglu's Greek heritage Maranachis said what I want to say Leber Andrews that he has spoken about Greece many times.

54:06Luke Moore: He's proud to be Greek in this huge success that the whole world saw, which is the Europa League win. He promoted Greece. That's why he's got given the job. Yeah, absolutely. What a coup for the people of Nottingham. I read that and I thought, if I was a Forest fan, I was like, could you have maybe cast the net a little bit wider? Could you have had a proper think about this? Also, apparently Postakoffi speaks Greek. He does, yes. Yeah, so, I mean, it just makes things a lot more efficient for Marianas. Yeah, exactly. It just makes the arguments a bit more fluent. Yeah, get stuck into him. I mean, for the purposes of entertainment, it's fantastic to have Postacoglu back.

54:40Luke Moore: It's a really, really good fit in terms of that because they've got some incredible attacking talent. They already have a solid sort of defensive foundation. We'll see if that actually means anything. I was about to say, it's a very change of gear and style, isn't it? Well, I mean, we spent most of last season saying, why isn't Postacoglu more pragmatic when the evidence in front of him suggests that he absolutely has to be and then he was in the Europa League. Exactly. So I wonder if he'll use this kind of change of scenery and this break to just quietly play with a bit more pragmatism and let his defenders stop arriving late in the box and not doing anything else.

55:16Luke Moore: Just to add to that, Jim. I mean, yes, of course he won the Europa League, but Tottenham's 22 losses last season was the most of any team not to be relegated in the 38-game Premier League season. Yeah, it's wild. He claims that he made a decision in January to wrap his hand on the league, which I think is a baffling thing to say. Sure. and I don't know if it's true or not but clearly they were as far as they're in the Europa League right yeah don't do that again yeah they were prioritising the Europa League clearly Spurs under Postacoglu but I think there's prioritising something and then there's that but you know one of the things that was levelled as criticism at Nuno and was probably almost was certainly definitely a contributing factor to them dropping away from the Champions League places was that they got found out a bit and they played in quite a one dimensional way this kind of counter-attacking thing or go up a goal early and kind of hold on to it.

56:03And they were very successful at doing that for long periods. So there wasn't a massive amount of pragmatism or flexibility about Nuno either. Now I know there are different managers who like to play football in a different way. But from the Poster Coglu point of view, I think he probably did enough to warrant another job in the Premier League. Oh, I agree. His Premier League record specifically was poor. The season before it wasn't. Yeah. For a period of time. I think he can still do a job I mean he won the Europa League I mean it'll be really interesting to see how it transpires

56:33Luke Moore: I think to judge his whole managerial career on Spurs' record in the Premier League specifically last season I think it's fair on the man and I think you're right Jim I think it'll be interesting how he approaches it and good or bad it's entertaining and that's true of Forrest and him there you go this'll be great for the ramble big new manager bounce against Arsenal Jim with fingers crossed I hope not the only thing that'll be bouncing will be several hamstrings I told you if he runs Elliot Anderson into the ground he should not be welcomed back on these shores again I tell you something though Nuno is now at large you see maybe in a couple of months if teams aren't doing so well the likes of West Ham although don't spoil our Jose Mourinho wish he's available so you know you wouldn't be surprised if Nuno was back in work in the Premier League specifically soon enough isn't he a Georgie Mendes client well he'd be back in work this morning exactly I wouldn't be surprised by the time the show comes out.

57:28Luke Moore: Is it Wolves? What? Co-manager with Vitor Pereira. Sorry, he's just doing bits and pieces around the office. Oh, by the way, I should say that Steve Cooper has gone to a happier place. Brondby. He's not died, he's gone to Denmark. Denmark. Very happy country. Yeah, apparently one of the most happy countries in the world. I love this for Steve Cooper. Yeah, same. I think he can really get stuck into like the nerdy parts of coaching that he clearly loves. Yes. There's about too much pressure on him from, you know, from compare, I mean, obviously, in Denmark, they love their football but it's nowhere near the level of scrutiny that you get here he can rebuild he can rebuild and I think he'll do quite well there and he'll be parachuted into some kind of Leicester adjacent size job again within a few years yeah not Leicester though specifically probably won't be them definitely won't be them right gentlemen I want to finish with this have you seen this Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho as we affectionately call him in this country his son Joao Mendes is set to join Hull City.

58:27Lovely. Clash of cultures. Although Hull was a European city of culture.

58:32Luke Moore: Yeah. And JJ a culture played there. And it had that super lamb banana thing there, didn't it? Which is, I think, a city. What's that? It's really weird. It's a sort of city of culture thing. Liam Gallagher did his MTV unplug there? Hurry up, Jim, because Mark's talking about Liam Gallagher. Sorry, you know what? Fuck it. Forget the super lamb banana. It's too weird to explain. It's literally a sculpture of a lamb that's also a banana and it's fucking mental. Ignore it. I think you just did explain that. To be honest with you, when you told us the name we should have really figured it out I don't even know I think that's on us but anyway Joel Mendez quite incredibly he's signing for Hull from Burnley's Academy I thought I recognised this story from a year ago all the glamorous spots yeah right on the other side Burnley's Academy at the Copa Copa Cabana is he any good?

59:18Luke Moore: I haven't seen him play his dad was good yeah that'd do you a few who's your dad again? can we meet him? can we get you a few contracts? Should we call you Ronaldinho Ino? Yeah. You're tired of hearing that? Okay, cool. I remember when he signed for Burnley's Academy, Ronaldinho posted something on his Instagram in a Burnley shirt. Good enough. That'll do. There we are. That's a fair trade. That's it. A few more international fans. Well, on adapting to life in England after moving from Barcelona, Joel Mendes said, it's difficult at first, there's no denying that, even more so in winter. And here, as it's in the north, it's a bit worse.

59:48Luke Moore: If you put on a glove, two socks, we can manage. A glove. Like Michael Jackson. Like he's playing golf. I like that though he's a positive attitude just put me socks on just put me glove on put another glove on it's not that cold yet wait till winter you won't for the benefit if you put two on you need the contrast yeah lovely lovely well let's see if Ronaldinho Sanchez or Al Mendes remember the name he's a centre back isn't he is he no I just made that up come on he's not a goalkeeper just the one glove alright thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network work.

1:00:24Luke Moore: Patreon subscribers, don't go anywhere. Keep listening for Ramble Uncut and make sure you head over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to sign up now. Thank you very much, Luke Mull. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jim Campbell. Thank you. And thank you Ronaldinho Sun. And Thomas Tuchel, damn it all!

1:00:47The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

1:00:58Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

1:01:34Your team just added its 67th AI tool and also your 67th security blind spot. The good news? The Vanta agent works like a GRC engineer in the background, finding every app your team uses, scoring the risk, and drafting fixes for you. Vanta is the platform used by over 16 ,000 fast-moving companies like Ramp, Cursor, and Harvey, who are shaping the future with AI and staying ahead of AI risk. Get started at Vanta.com. This is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. O-Pill is the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill available in the U.S. Let's be real. Getting a birth control prescription is not always easy, and it's so much admin.

1:02:13In fact, about a third of women face barriers to access prescription birth control. Between scheduling appointments, missing work, class, or just trying to exist, it's a lot. But now Opill is putting birth control in our control. Opill is a daily birth control that's FDA-approved, full prescription strength, and estrogen-free, and 98 % effective when used as directed. Grab it online, or at most major retailers, no prescription or doctor's appointment needed. So if you're thinking about birth control, check out Opill to see if it's right for you. Use code Giggly for 25 % off your first month of OPILL at O-P-I-L-L dot com.

1:02:48That's code Giggly at O-P-I-L-L dot com. Birth control in your control. We love to see it. There are moments that reveal who we are and who we're meant to become. For those born to lead, such moments call for a vehicle of equal distinction. Dynamic by design, uncompromising in execution, the Range Rover Sport was engineered for those rare individuals who demand the world and possess the conviction to claim it. When your time to lead arrives, you need a vehicle that rises to meet it. The Range Rover Sport. Exclusive offers available now. Explore further at rangerover.com.