Rodri Trotter

0:00I've got a choccy in my pocket, can I have some crisps? Welcome to the Football Ramble! Big wins for the English teams in the Champions League. It's Wednesday, 22nd of October. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm Roderick Hanna-Razio.

0:24Hello, everybody. It's Wednesday and it's the Football Ramble. And I want to say thanks to friend of the Ramble, Richard, for giving us that intro line. You know, sometimes, Vish, I don't know what these intro lines are. I've no idea where that's from. For all I know, it could be a Gary Glitter song. Yeah, but you can always trust old Dick. It is a reminder to all of our listeners that you really can get Marcus to say anything you want. For a bit of money. For a bit of money. Because if you want to submit an intro line for a future episode, then become my friend of the Ramble. For just$5 a month, you'll also get an extended edition of today's Ramble.

1:01On last week's Ramble Uncut, we discussed the revelation that Jose Mourinho would text Henrikh Mkhitaryan every night asking him to leave Manchester United. And of course, Vish gave us a little insight into how Roy Hodgson was forced to resign as England manager. I didn't realise until I went back to look at it afterwards that Hodgson then did a press conference the day after he was sacked. Did he? Yeah. and he did the enjoyable thing of saying look I'll never show up a press conference but I do not know why I'm here it's lovely head to pendra.com forward slash football ramble to get involved now well last night what a feast of Champions League football it was a total of 43 goals, 5 red cards and 6 penalties across the Champions League 3 teams scored 6 goals or more, Arsenal didn't manage 6 but they managed 4 Jim Campbell, Arsenal 4 Atletico Madrid 0 have some of that Diego Simeone for getting David Beckham sent off that was my takeaway that was my kind of lens I was looking through technically ex-Arsenal David Beckham he trained with them didn't he in between various stints we'll take it your son's on the pitches yeah yeah it was it was a really good performance I listened to the show from Monday obviously Marcus and I I agreed with your assessment of Arsenal against Fulham that it was a little bit flat and it was It was functional and it wasn't particularly impressive in a kind of very rounded way.

2:34This was much better than that. And I felt like there has been a performance like this coming from Arsenal. There's been a sense in a lot of games that they perhaps should have scored more goals than they've managed to. And I put that down to kind of new players perhaps clicking with their kind of new teammates and certain tweaks to positions and things. And obviously, you know, Atletico had a couple of chances. Alvarez hit the bar and obviously there was a crazy kind of moment with David Rear in the first half where your heart's in your throat but Alvarez manages to, or doesn't quite manage to get it in from a tight angle but aside from those moments They're more anomalies though.

3:08It's a mistake and it's a great effort. Also he apologised twice for it so what are you going to do? Exactly. Other than those moments they really really controlled it. In a way I was quite surprised by how how efficient they were in that sense actually I thought there'd be a bit more to come from Atletico but I think they came to kind of try and dig in and perhaps perhaps go for a point and obviously that that flurry in the second half just made that impossible they really really fell apart it's an unbelievable goal from Gabriel to start there's a picture it's almost like that picture of I might be overselling it slightly but it's a bit like that picture of Diego Maradona up against those seven Belgian players where he's got like four or five men around him and he still manages to get the header away and then the goal from Martinelli shortly after that you know kind of you know at that point that the two goals has made it safe and I want to praise him again because he's scored in every Champions League game so far for Arsenal this season and he's really really stepped up to the challenges he had a lot of kind of pre-criticism this season of people worried that you know he kind of plateaued and I think a lot of the time that was based on on what we were seeing but he's he's got his head down.

4:18Well, I think he's one of those players. While also knowing where his teammates are. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I mean, Martinelli, it's kind of obvious to me that he's benefited from the increase in competition in places. He's responding to that every time he's given a chance. Vish, Arsenal, yeah. I mean, particularly that 13-minute spell where they scored four goals. They were bloody irresistible in that second half in particular. Yeah, yeah. I actually don't think they hit their top attacking capacity, which is only a good thing. You're just trying to bring Jim back down to work. He's goody this morning, and so he should be, man.

4:50He's telling me there's more. Yeah, I'm saying there's more. Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah, because... All right, throw him even higher up. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. Right. Help me. Take one of the legs. Hold a helium balloon, Jim. Take one of the legs. But what I did like about it, you know, you mentioned Martinelli there. I think that's a great point about him thriving with more competition. Because I think it's actually weirdly narrowed his role. because he's almost been like, right, he's almost looked at it ahead of time and thought, these are the points in games that I'm going to come into and I've got to really make them count.

5:24And it's almost like he's become a remarkable impact side. You see the first Champions League round against Athletic Bilbao, like he obviously comes on and helps change the game, or does change the game actually. And in this particular saying, that was a finish that I don't think we've seen for a while, despite the fact that he is renowned as well certainly made his name initially as like being a really astute finisher the one against Man City was a lovely finish yeah 100 % again came on and helped in his game yeah as we like to say nowadays these are elite level finishes yes oh yeah yes exactly it is that goal I mean wonderful work from Miles Lewis Skelly so this is a thing I want to really go big on come on England next summer well I mean yeah he's England now isn't he so yeah talk to me you know it's no secret throw me up in the air damn you Rory I'm going to need your help for this we'll come to the England section of our Champions League roundup in a minute mate don't worry don't worry Rashford's getting a bench it's all coming up us you know when he came when Miles Lewis Skelly came through the Arsenal Academy he obviously came through as a midfielder and that's not a secret and it's been talked about a lot about how as a left back you know he might he'll probably end up being a starting midfielder for Arsenal.

6:47And even, you know, apart from without the ball, he's basically playing in midfield. But one of the hardest things I think to do in football is run, you know, 10 yards forward. Through Atletico Madrid players specifically. No, but run 10 yards forward and then pass forward. And he does that from such a difficult position at a point where he gets the ball facing his own goal in his own half and turns through a passage of three Atletico midfielders who are renowned as being some of the biggest shithouses in the game and then lays on that pass and it's like, yeah, fine, I see it now. But it was a glorious goal.

7:25I mean, you mentioned the first goal, Jim. The ball in is superb and obviously Gabriel, who's just an absolute machine of a man, isn't he? My goodness, what a player. And as Vish describes there, the set up for that goal, Martinelli, the finish has to be so precise against Jan Oblak who gets a hand on it just about yeah beautiful into the corner and on that by the way the full backs as you just described there I mean it really does I know they're not the first side to do it and you know Guardiola's man said he'd done it before but seeing Arsenal as I did in the flesh against Fulham on the weekend you really do see like Calafiore he scored an absolute peach it was given offside that was such a good finish just a stunning finish and we know he's got that about him.

8:10But as you say, when you have the defensive line Arsenal have, and you can push men forward, that's what I want to see Arsenal do. And that's what they did against Atletico. Now, Atletico is just styles of different. If Arsenal come up, they've got Bayern to face, for example, in this early phase. Will they be doing that? Perhaps maybe in phases rather than in a longer period as they did against Atletico. But it's about that control. It's about squeezing the play. and that's Arsenal at times last night. This is why people are saying, well, they can win the Champions League. Well, of course they can.

8:42They got the semi-final last time. Only just, you know, not a bad account themselves. Beaten by the best side, I think we can agree. And they've improved. So I think this is a statement win this for Arsenal. And also, before I start talking about the general, going a little bit more specific, lovely for Viktor Djokovic to score a couple of goals. Absolutely. The first one, you'll give it, mate. The second one, it's like, that's a proper striker's goal. first of all he basically walked into the net yeah he took so many touches on it didn't he yeah that's one of the sort of criticisms of him before he joined Arsenal which is that perhaps he takes too many touches in the box for the Premier League didn't seem to matter last night he's the Japanese league indeed he's lower standard yeah and he I think he was a bit worried about a VAR call or something like that so the celebration was a bit sheepish but shortly later he scores with his abdomen essentially and yeah you know they all count don't they and a big part of his role and what he's getting better at, I suppose, is finding those spaces where he can be effective in an instant.

9:41He's, you know, there's a lot of different facets to his game that Arsenal still needs to get right in terms of kind of getting him in behind defences, which is when you're a possession-based team, you know, the chances might be once or twice in a game. So you've got to be really clinical there. But they're finding different ways to kind of get him involved. And he was really good yesterday, really, really involved. And, you know, they don't all have to be screamers, do they? No. Well, I mean, Arteta said he makes us a better team. And I mean, he had a sniff at goal as well. There was one again, Oblak saved.

10:09He's there. There isn't a period of adaptation, of course, to English football. I know he's played here before, but you get what I'm saying. But I think in the Champions League, maybe he's a little bit more familiar. I know it sounds odd to think, well, he didn't score against, say, Fulham, but he scores against Atletico Madrid. Even the Fulham game, though, he got shots away. and he wasn't getting shots away at the start of the season. Yeah, which is why that first goal, I think you just kind of go, right, just take that, pal, and then you get the second one and you build the confidence from there.

10:43Because you're right, against Fulham, he had a couple of efforts, but they were quite wayward and there was a lot of, whee, cheers, because people are aware of the price tag. They're aware that he's now, that he's the starting striker for Arsenal who are going for Premier League and Champions League glory this season. Don't forget the Carabao in the FA Cup. Josh, I've tipped us for a quadruple earlier this season. Let's have a quadruple. I'll put the chat for the quadruple, absolutely, yeah. There's an enormous spotlight on him. Yeah. And you can imagine someone, any player, sort of struggling a little bit with that.

11:11So these goals, they're important goals. And they do build the confidence. Diego Simeone looked, when he was interviewed by TNT Sports after the game, all the negative emotions you could feel. I don't know whether he was going to cry. I don't know if he was going to get angry. Very rarely have I seen him like that, Vish. It's great, isn't it? the thing is though I've warmed to the Beckham documentary was brilliant and I loved the Atlantic over to teams but you're right it is yeah but you're right it is no no no there's something no no no I think yeah the Beckham documentary is great I would urge everyone even if you've watched it to re-watch the way he walks into the documentary essentially yeah because they track him walking down the hallway and he looks incredible he does look incredible and then when he has that cheeky little grin on his face.

12:01Maybe those women... It's for David Beckham's people, isn't it? Yeah. Talk about this. The guy mugged off. I wonder how... I mean, he seems also quite refreshed. He's done that job for so long. And I suppose you would do it for that long if you get paid that much. I mean, his longevity in the role. It's really quite exceptional. It is. What do you do? What do you do if you're the guy after Simeone? Yeah. Spoken like a true Manchester United fan. But any legacy manager, though, is difficult. Remember to get rid of the booby traps in the US. Arrive grenades in the drawer. Yeah. There was obviously, as there inevitably would be, and I've mentioned it myself, a chat about can Arsenal go all the way and win this competition.

12:46I mean, of course they can. Yeah, that was you two minutes ago. Yeah, well, indeed. But of course they can. I mean, Gabriel kind of just sort of laughed that kind of chat off. But they are very much in the mix, Jim. If you look at the teams who could realistically win it, I mean, the side could come from nowhere, they're in there. Well, I think the squad depth is the difference this season, isn't it? And obviously that's been the point of the quite extraordinary kind of summer window and the idea that you've got enough players that you can keep everybody fresh and firing and essentially time your late run.

13:19So they've conceded three goals all season. That's the fewest they've ever conceded in their history at this point. Boring it. And yes, so I mean, they're in a good position right now. I'm not going to book any flights just yet. Just yet. But yeah. You have looked at where the final is. Yeah, I like it. Look, maybe I just want to go to Budapest in May. Yeah. Lovely part of the world. Yeah, I've never been. So Jim, just go to get it sorted out now. Do you need a visa for Hungary? Well, as it's EU, you'll need, if you haven't already done it, the fingerprints and eye scans. We can do that sorted.

13:54We can do that here in the office if you want. Cool. Can we? That's frightening. Use that other bloke's one that you normally do. Pete's got a spare, right? Vish, I want to ask you something about Eberet Cheezze. Go on. You're a big fan of his. I'm a big fan of his. We're all big fans of his. What did you think of him last night playing a more central role? He's kind of in there with Martin Odegaard is obviously injured. I quite like it. I know with Palace, he wasn't just farmed out on the wing, but Eze kind of in the centre getting more involved. I'm quite enjoying seeing him there. yeah yeah i mean the odegaard thing is unfortunate broadly but beneficial to as a i think i can't remember which arsenal game that you and i were at where city wasn't it yeah sorry of course yeah um where he he came on centrally and he like we we did always know this about him but it was in really interesting seeing it in that game with that much pressure on him but he takes contact so well.

14:51Yeah, he's really strong, isn't he? Yeah, and so like when he doesn't have people around him, he's also incredibly skillful. So he can beat people in different ways. And it's interesting seeing a midfielder who is able to do that in the middle and then also pass it. And like thread balls through. And he's not afraid to shoot from outside the box. Which is refreshing. That led to a goal against West Ham and very nearly led to a quite similar situation yesterday. In the first half, yes. He got an assist that might actually have been a shot yesterday as well. So that directness, even if the numbers aren't telling you that they're making direct contributions to goals all the time, it adds to the pressure.

15:32And he's been brilliant in that sense. Where do you see Eze? I mean, obviously, with squad rotation and all the rest of it, he might play centrally and out on the wing. But it does feel like when Odegaard comes back, he will slot into where he'll normally be for Arsenal. He's been a great player for Arsenal. That feels like Eze would maybe then be out wide in competition with Martinelli and Trossard. I feel that having seen him what he did for Palace last season and what he's currently doing with Arsenal at the moment I feel like slightly Is it a waste of him to have him outside? Wasted is too strong a word because he's still a very very effective winger.

16:07Do you understand what I'm getting at? I do but I mean we're sort of yet to see the full kind of wide as an experience I'm going to call it like he's some sort of jazz fusion band. But he did, I mean, he played out there against Nottingham Forest and he got an assist to Jokoros' goal in that game. So he's already played there and already contributed. The thinking seems to be that Piero Hincapié has come in to play as a kind of more traditional, wide fullback. And you would perhaps pair those two together so that Ezza can cut inside a little bit more and you congest the area a bit more while having the outlet of Hincapié.

16:46so Hinkapieh's had a small injury so we've not really seen much of him but that's the thinking So Arsenal have got three quality left backs then It seems that way yeah Just like the old days Yeah exactly There we go Love it Alright Which of the three is the Kolasinac? None of them which is really refreshing It shows you that they are improving Gentlemen before we move on from Arsenal Did you see this that Lettingham had filed a complaint to UEFA after Arsenal left them with cold showers after their Emirates Stadium training session the night before. Simeone put his players back on the team bus and told them to shower in their hotel rooms.

17:24The timeline of this is absolutely amazing if you read the story. So according to the story the Atletico Madrid staff realised that there was no hot water at quarter to seven. Their training at the stadium was scheduled to finish at half past seven. They had managed to fix the issue by 7.25 but by then they'd already left in a strop so it would have been fine but they left at quarter past seven with Simeone going get back on the bus go and shower at the hotel this is an outrage caught you over he's using that isn't he yeah not very well do you think he turned the hot water off and went look at them bastards yeah whatever he did didn't work well even even if it was Arsenal's hijinks I suppose this is the benefit of this Champions League set up because Arsenal don't need to go to Atletico yeah yeah that's right so we can all fuck about with them yeah because they would have filled the pipes with piss.

18:17How fresh was the piss? It's warmer than yours. Yeah, that's true. Would you want the piss to be warm or not? He'd see me only just at the top.

18:27Drinking loads of water. Yeah. Whack some chilli in there. Like that fan in the away end at Boca who nearly pissed on me when I went to see the many moons. Nearly? Oh, yes. From above, from a great height. One for uncut. One for uncut. Coming up after this, the little magpie saw off Jose Mourinho's Eagles.

18:56Four and five years never complained about the referees and the action, but this action is really incredible. Incredible. Welcome back to the football ramble, everybody. Newcastle United, three. Benfica, zero. Before the game, Jose Mourinho called himself a little magpie. He said, the club up there know how much love and respect I have for them. I learned that from Mr. Robson. Sometimes Jose's 4D chess doesn't take like a grandmaster to figure it out, does it? No. It's amazing. Eddie Howe called Mourinho one of the all-time managerial greats. Well done, Eddie. He's after your job. I also think there's a sincerity to both those things.

19:35Obviously, Bobby Robson, a huge impact on his career. and also Mourinho is that, isn't he? Especially to, you know, modern managers. He's definitely talked about Newcastle before because of the late greats of Bobby Robson. And also, as you rightly say, because of a potential landing spot. Well, he's a little magpie. He's got to land somewhere. Anyway, Newcastle... Chasing after shiny things. Newcastle gave them a shoo-in. They're hitting everywhere. Yes. They've now recorded back-to-back victories in the Champions League for the first time since 2003. Those stats were slightly misleading for most of that time.

20:16Does that sound good or does that sound bad? Yeah. I think it's testament or not testament it is the reality that they didn't qualify for the Champions League for an awfully long time. It's a bit different to the Amarim stat of winning two games in a row. I was like, yes, but you've been trying to win games in that period. Yeah, he's had loads of chances. Whereas Newcastle, I think it's a more understandable stat. Not as embarrassing as Harry Maguire spoke about that stat after the Liverpool game. But it was a good win, though. Anthony Gordon scored his fourth goal in three games. He is becoming...

20:44Well, he is the player. I mean, I know... I can't remember if it was maybe the season before last where he was very, very good for Newcastle. His first full season for Newcastle, he was brilliant because he obviously had that initial period having signed in January. Yes. And he was actually quite stroppy and not very good. And then under-21s came back early to go straight into pre-season and was excellent, yeah. Yeah, and I know he's had one or two injuries and so on. He was still good last season, but this season, my goodness. Allow me. He is a starter on the left side for England now, isn't he?

21:19He really has cemented that place. And Jim, you and I have said before that we've just not quite got maybe the full tune out of Gordon for England yet, but now... If we can see this Gordon in an England shirt, we're in a good position. Which we have been seeing flashes of, I think, of late. and he's such a weapon for Newcastle United he really really is scored the opening goal of course lovely one and great that Jacob Murphy was back in the side getting an assist Eddie Howe referred to him as an assist threat which is quite specific I've not heard it like that very sort of PowerPoint presentation way of putting it a little bit but Murphy back in there was good to see and of course Harvey Barnes came off the bench and scored a couple of lovely goals He did, yeah.

22:02Hell of a throw from Nick Pope. Unbelievable. For the first one. Really nice because he was clearly trying to calm everything down. Because he held on to the ball and then he sees the opportunity and, you know, nails it. This felt like a throwback Champions League game. I really enjoyed it. There was a great energy to it. Didn't feel like a 3-0. Do you feel Benfica were better than that scoreline? Yeah, yeah. Because they showed a lot more. Because I saw them when Chelsea beat them 1-0. they had nothing they'd get to the box and have a nosebleed wouldn't they yeah I mean it really was I mean Chelsea weren't brilliant themselves but they did enough and you know a win's a win's a win but with this Benfica side you know Mourinho said himself despite you know Mourinho's pomp and all the rest of it he said there's a reason why I got this job it's because the previous coach failed I mean they had a disaster in was it the opening round of fixtures where they lost 3-2 to Carabag and you know embarrassing result cost Bruno Laje's job so I didn't expect too much of them against Chelsea.

23:02And, you know, he's not been there that long, of course, and he's playing ultimately a better side, but they showed a little bit, I thought. Yeah, Luca Bacchio looks fun, doesn't he? Yeah, he does. That shot off the post, if ever like a non-goal effort can nourish you as a footballer, it was that. Yeah. Like golfers and cricketers talk about a point where you've hit a ball so well, but only you know that it's a good shot, basically. And as soon as that left his foot, he was clearly like, this has got a chance here. Yeah, lovely effort. Obviously it didn't mean anything but he's got something. Yeah, exactly.

23:37He took something out. But Newcastle, great value though. I mean, bear in mind Yeah, 100%. Obviously lost to Barcelona in the opening game. That can happen. Absolutely it can. But you're going to get Rashford. Exactly. But you've got to put that right in your home games after that, right? Totally, yeah. And this is a really, really big win when you look at the fixtures they have. And it's the manner of it for me as well. They had a lot of shots. They had 19 in total, 10 on target. Obviously, they win by three goals. Really, really energetic, really sort of dominant performance. The 12th man effect as well is massively, massively in evidence at St.

24:10James' Park. These are like, you talk about the shot being nourishing, but you can tell for those fans that every moment of this is an absolute joy and they're getting energised by it. This is what they've wanted for such a long time. They're there on merit. They look the part. They're playing really, really well in these games. and I think having lost that opening game in a game they were competitive in and they would have been disappointed to have lost that the way they've course corrected and the way they've reacted to that has been basically perfect I also think Volta Marder looks like the kind of player in the front three that the two other players around him love playing with A little bit Roberto Firmino-esque I was going to say that Yes Well I mean that touch obviously with the flick Yeah but he clearly for someone who plays up front and loves scoring goals he's very unselfish.

24:59I love it. I think he's brilliant. Yeah. And he seems to really like helping other people. I know that's quite a simplistic way of putting it. No, you're spot on. I think everyone like Firmino like everyone loves playing with him. Yeah. So even the fact that like you can swap out or swap in Murphy and still have Gordon on one side and he just plays really well with both of them. And I suppose like Murphy gives him something else to work with. A different kind of thing to work with and he's clearly really amenable to anyone who's around him I thought what was really interesting was for someone who drops back he was never in the way of like Ramsey or Miley like he's obviously played a lot with Gimmarish but he was you know Miley was able to like come to the edge of the box on certain occasions and yeah like what a fun player to have yeah totally and you mentioned Lewis Miley there I know he's a bit of experience now playing for Newcastle but comes in for Tonali I think it was takes to it like a duck to water to Champions League.

25:55It all bodes very well for Newcastle, I think. And they are a force. I mean, I understand the loss to Barcelona, but it's the first game. Newcastle could really do something in this competition. Again, spoken much about what Aston Villa did last year. Newcastle got to look at that and think, do you know what, lads? They are obviously aiming for the knockouts. That's quite clear. They've won two of the first three games. Got a decent goal difference as well. You get in there, you never know so I think that I think they should be very excited about this competition especially if you look at their away games they've got they've got PSG which is obviously the biggest remaining tie they've got and a difficult away game unfinished business there as well absolutely Leverkusen who will come onto their Champions League home form later on what the hell happened and Marseille and you think those last two games they're probably going to win those I mean it's not an easy run but they're winnable they are winnable which is why it was important they put the game away in Belgium when they went there last time and then this one as well and racked up the goals.

26:57So again, they've given themselves a great chance to get through, which you would imagine they would looking at it. Before we move on from Newcastle United, did you see this? Former Newcastle striker Papa Cisse is playing for a Sunday league side in, I think it's south of Manchester. Withenshaw. Withenshaw Vets, yeah. They won 6-2 this month. He scored all six goals. The team has a total of 222 Premier League goals and 325 international caps. Their players include the aforementioned Cisse, Emile Heskey, George Boyd, remember him? Former Hull and Burnley winger. A former Everton striker, Uma Niasse.

27:34Wigan Fullbert, obviously former, but played for Wigan, Manuel Figueroa. He scored from his own half. Yes. Stephen Ireland. Yeah. Former Man City Man. Neda Manoa. And Jolene Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. I mean, what a side. Niasse has been doing this for a while. a bit of a cult hero at Everton but yeah I've clocked on to this team because quite a few of them play fives together so they come up against like a load of jumped up young 20 somethings and they're like what the fuck but that's brilliant isn't it we've all wondered what it would be like to play against that level of opposition you're obviously never going to do it when they're kind of of playing age I'm sure like you know it's quite humiliating to get battered like that but it must be an amazing experience I'd take 6-2 against that lot yeah 60's not bad is it also very cool the fact they're not I mean obviously part of the motivation will be like be quite fun to run rings around someone for 90 minutes but they obviously do it because they love football that much not that I was ever in doubt but I mean they're kind of just like us the two is massive there the opposition it is yeah how important were those goals was there an equalising goal in there no but you're right I think there's something wonderful and heartening when you get former pros like that say well of course I keep playing I just love the game like when you see Scholes when he was playing I can't remember if it was in a league but certainly it was on like 3G AstroTurf yeah wasn't he just hanging out in the park on his own going you see that tree connect that from you alright mate see that milk bottle well yeah because they they wanted him back at Salford City for an FA Cup game or something didn't they but then when David Beckham was seen at one of the pitches in West London under the Westway yeah he was seen there and said love it bloody love all that I played against Carlton Cole and Barry Hales on those same pitches.

29:22Did you? Yeah. Carlton Cole, when he was, I mean, you can love football too much, I reckon, but he was coming through at Chelsea. Oh, wow. I think Ranieri had just taken over and was like a big fan of his and he was just like there playing like seven a side. Yeah. And we were like, what are you doing? Have some of this. Yeah. And the bit of the Scoles thing, good, you know, whatever keeps his daughter's feet out of his mouth. It's only a good thing. Absolutely. Get your daughter's foot out of your goddamn mouth. Now, Villarreal lost at home to Manchester City. Erling Haaland scored for the 12th consecutive time as the Citizens ran out winners in Spain.

29:59Decent performance from Man City, as you might say. Savinho was excellent. Talking of when you said about Nick Voltemada as an unselfish striker, Haaland, I think it was only about 30 seconds into the game or something, when you're thinking, oh, he passes it. Did you see that moment? I was like is he thinking about his assist record as well I can't forget about this I've got to keep this up as well the goals are fine they're going to come but I want to do the assist as well you can get all the goals you want but like a video game you only complete 60 % of the story don't you yeah some strikers can be frustrating where you think you should have bloody passed man whereas Harlan is like well there's one whereas whereas Harlan is like no you should just always shoot from kick off you should learn from that I want to see something shoot from kick off yeah but he does that because he knows I'm going to get my chances it's fine yeah feed some other people for each other exactly yeah he's giving back yeah to him it's tax yeah yeah yeah that's what you mean that's what you mean yeah there's a sense isn't there that the kind of early season jitters that City appear to have are just in the in the distance now just completely gone I mean nine wins in a row is it that so unbeaten in nine games now across all competitions and one of the things that's been really notable about them under Pep Guardiola has been these really long kind of unbeaten slash winning runs and they're clearly kind of, you know, well, like deep into one of those now and it'd be interesting to see how long they can keep it up because you back them to win the title, Vish, and the way they're playing, it really feels like we are sort of getting back to a very new iteration of that invincible feeling team that they've been in the past.

31:36Yeah, yeah. I think it's still a bit premature there with that, as I would, you know, I like to pour cold water on this. They've been good and I think they'll be up there and I think that was a good solid 2-0 away victory in the Champions League so everybody's happy. Guardiola saying last season was tough for us. The vibe and how the team I'm playing now make me feel fine. I totally get all that. I still think though that they're going through the gears. I think that the question mark is is there more to come or is this as good as it's going to get for this team because I think they're going to still have to improve if they want to really challenge for the Premier League and the Champions League.

32:15But like Savino doesn't even start for them in the league. No, and he was brilliant last night. Yeah. So I get it. I'm saying that for me, you know, tagging on to your point there, Jim, about the feeling of that kind of peak Man City under Guardiola, I think that's still a way off. But they've definitely improved. And I can see the improvement. I'm saying more that they're kind of on the road back to that sense where teams approach them with a bit of fear. Yeah, I see what you mean. I mean, Virial have not been great in the Champions League although they're decent at home generally who cares about them we're talking about the Premier League now doesn't matter well done for playing against Man City I hope you got a lovely souvenir with a few shirts but come on well Rodney got a souvenir of sorts he was Rodney incredibly dismissive I love that Rodney oh you're not what you were Rodney sorry old Rodders or Rodry as people call him was added to Villarreal's Hall of Fame yeah who the fuck's Rodney they wouldn't even give you a proper shirt Villarreal you spelt my name wrong you plonker you got a Marley and knock off do you know what he said though when he got added to the Hall of Fame lovely jabbly of course that was Del Boy not Rodney this time next week I'll be a millionaire because of how much I'm fucking earning yeah he came up through Villarreal's academy made 84 appearances for the club peck him through and through you know what he did after that he moved on and maybe you should too Villarreal yeah it's real it's cuck behaviour isn't it doing that before the game there's no need for that there's always a need for it you're up to disdain for tradition and history though no that's not true it's a nice thing what do they call the little submarines yellow submarine whatever something about submarines hey put your head above the water you might find you know that you'll beat Man United in the Europa League final come join the real world on the land mate hey did you hear that little dig I didn't it's white noise now it just bounces off someone so I posted not the most embarrassing Europa League final defeat exactly yeah I posted a video of Harry Maguire celebrating the winner against against Liverpool on the weekend and someone I assume as a Rammel fan someone replied like well I suppose you've got to enjoy it while you can and I was like yeah cheers and he went he replied going he's embarrassing though isn't it how far United are for you I was like yeah yeah cheers again and then he They went back to, it just keeps your manager in for a bit longer.

34:39I wonder when you'll finally get rid of him. I just replied, same to you. And he blocked me.

34:48Weird. So you've really got to enjoy it while you can. You do. That's one listener we've lost. Oh, what a shame. Well, come and follow Jim and me. You'd be very welcome there. Elsewhere in the Champions League, PSG crushed by Leverkusen 7-2 in a nine-goal thriller. It's an absolutely amazing game, this. At one point, it was 10 aside and 1-0. Yeah. Is it an argument to just reduce the number of players in each team? Could be. 10 aside looks pretty good. Robert Andrick, he's sending off with absolutely match. He's like, you know what? I just want to elbow this guy in the face. Consequences be damned.

35:25I'm just going to elbow him in the face. Yeah, right. Alex Garcia got a consolation for Balevico. He was one of the great consolation goals. One of the great pointless goals. Yeah, just smashed it in. And he was just like, yeah, I suppose I should raise an arm to that. Also, Kovarac Scalier scored a goal which hit both posts before going in. And it was actually his second bite of the cherry as well because there was a shot blocked and he hit it again. That was beautiful. That should count for two. It was. One of the teams that scored six goals in the Champions League was PSV. And they were thrashed Napoli.

35:55Don't expect this from Napoli. They beat them 6-2. Obviously, McTominay got both of Napoli's goals. He's getting more handsome with every goal. without doubt he looks like a male model it's incredible this is what happens though when you move from our climate to like a Mediterranean climate you eat their food get those tomatoes in you yeah exactly I reckon he's getting a lot of food on his plate and being like I didn't know you can get this fresh this is a vegetable this is what olive oil actually tastes like it must be it has to be all these things I reckon it's a smoking you know I think the biggest part is not being at Manchester United yeah different kind of fumes nothing to do Smoking's bad for you, Vish.

36:33Wow, is it? Well. Look at Scott McTominay. It's all I'm saying. I know there's signs of evidence out there, but look at Scott McTominay. The opposite examples do outnumber him quite a bit, though. Yeah, but look at Scott McTominay. You being one of them. Good word as well. Dirty little tabber. Smoking. Doesn't need to sound that cool. No, that's true. Barcelona beat Evangelos Maranakis in the Olympiacos 6-1. Bad week for him. There was a sending off in this game. A pathetic season. Here, here. You can't do that on the football pitch. You can't. You can't breathe on an opponent and expect to stay on the pitch.

37:10If you haven't seen this, ladies and gentlemen, do check it out. It'll be all over social media, obviously YouTube and whatnot. But what was he sent off for? Presumably he thought he caught him in the face. Yeah, the guy's hand brushed the Barcelona player's face and he obviously goes down. There's a second yellow, so it can't be VAR. but should it should be if it leaves for a red card well this is and this is this is the problem isn't it when you bring the technology you think well these that decision was so appallingly bad that you think well can you not then for second yellows potential second yellows do that you bring that in people say but the first I think I think it should be brought in for second yellows and I think that we might see conversations happening with iFabulous and all the rest of them as it's such a crucial thing and people are going to go shut up we want less technology we want more of it when you see that it's just absolutely ridiculous piss take but Marcus Rashford did score two goals after that red card he did both really good goals as well really confident finishes properly gave the keeper the eyes didn't he opened the bodies if he was going to put it across to the keeper's left and then said no the first touch for that second goal was lovely he's playing with confidence it's really nice to see him appreciate it isn't it yeah big competition down that left side for England of course now there it is or voting very, very well.

38:31Some good news, though, coming out of Barcelona and Spain, generally. Barcelona's game against Villarreal in Miami has been postponed or cancelled, depending on who you chat to. The organisers say there is insufficient time to organise the event. Liars! Pathetic liars! Just admit you've been defeated. It comes after players across the league of protesters last weekend, and as soon as the ramble, as soon as we got behind those protests, bang! oh we can't that's too much pressure on us super legal I did the weight of the ramble back on them another missed opportunity yeah I did think when the players were protesting you know some of the most famous players to have played the game they lacked a little something right and it was our support yes I think they're glad for it obviously because obviously they didn't want to go to Miami but they they had to get our attention in some way and they couldn't come directly to us correct because they well they thought they could at the time yes but now it's been established that they can't.

39:29They don't want to pay$5 a month. I mean, if we do have this kind of sway, then my suggestion for moving the Serie A game, AC Milan versus Como, from Perth, Australia to Perth, Scotland, don't be surprised if that happens, everybody. That would be better for everybody, wouldn't it? A lot of Scottish-Italians as well. I'm sure they would appreciate that. Yeah, it'd be better for everybody, Jim. But again, what's good for the Rambo may not be good, may not be what's good for Serie A. but I think it's better than the current situation is what I meant and that's how bad the current suggestion is that if they moved a game to Scotland it would be much better but this is good we're pleased about this I mean I do love the fact that yeah La Liga said it's cancelled but the event organisers said it's been postponed yeah and also actually well but La Liga have come out swinging about it really haven't they as well they've said that you know having to cancel is damaging to the international profile of the entire football ecosystem piss off which is just kind of nonsense isn't it And they've spoken a lot about the kind of opportunities to sort of grow La Liga and compete with the Premier League and the kind of eyeballs that the Champions League gets as well.

40:32So they seem very angry about it. Maybe they could think about redistributing their own TV money in a less crazy way if they want to make La Liga more competitive. How dare you, Jim? That is a tradition to give Real Madrid and Barcelona all the money. You're taking money out of one person's pocket to give to many. How dare you? Ridiculous, Jim. It all trickles down. We all benefit in the end, don't we? in the very, very, very end, I'm sure. Right, coming up after this, Nuno has called West Ham relegation candidates.

41:12Yes, everybody, back to the Premier League. Sod all that Champions League bollocks. Let's talk about what happened on Monday night. West Ham United 0, Brentford 2. Oof. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh, West Ham were bad. Dogshit. Oh, my goodness. A lot of people said it's the worst performance they've seen from a Premier League team in a while. An established Premier League team as well. You probably need to go further back than that. I include my own team. But that's off last season when we saw Southampton. Yeah, yeah. But it's worse because it's West Ham. Okay, fine. Yeah, with all things considered. Pound for pound.

41:48Yes, yeah. I don't remember watching a game where it was so clear that the players don't like each other or don't and that's coming from a Man United yeah who's English well they're in it together at Man United yeah it's just the manager that hates the players yeah and himself and his children yeah he said it yeah he did yeah but the thing about this like the broadly serious point in that is that a lot of times when teams get into this situation they've got to a certain point together and that certain point is a high that is now you know that they're falling falling from as it were so they've worked together previously but you look at that squad and a lot of those players were brought together to push them even further up essentially that that's what you're loosely you're seeing the debt that's the declan rice money that was invested in that squad which is why a few of those players are there to lift them beyond um i suppose beyond where they were and drive the club forward.

42:51And they've gone backwards and because of that, it really does feel like a lot of the players are like, well, I didn't sign up for this. This isn't the situation that I want to be in. I didn't make the decision to come here so that we can play at an athletics ground in front of 10 ,000 people and almost be ridiculed. And no one's really up for the fight apart from like Bowen and Pakatar. I mean, I did love that in the game. Like Bowen had a pretty good effort on goal was the keeper saved. I thought, yeah, he'll always... Yeah, absolutely. But otherwise, Jim, I mean... But yeah, I think that the problem, as you've alluded to there, is that they're just so easy to play through.

43:26There's so little resistance to... They had no midfield at one point. Thomas Suchet was looking around going, is there anybody here? Yeah, well, exactly. And that's a lot for him to do on his own, isn't it? And there's just no press. There's no energy. And that is the type of thing you would associate with, you know, what you might call a new manager bounce. It's surprising that they were that flat that quickly under Nuno Espirito Santo. Maybe it's kind of harsh to look at it like that because he's still figuring out his players. I've seen a lot of West Ham fans question the line-up and question some of the decisions in-game, which suggests to me that he's looked at this squad and he's gone, bloody hell.

44:08How do I make this function? So I think this game and probably a few games to follow it are likely to be experiments really just so he can get a proper understanding of how he can make this function as a unit because I mean this is not it is it? Brentford had so many shots I mean to be honest with you no one associated with West Ham will be feeling lucky at the moment but they were lucky that it wasn't much more than that much more and also they conceded that much ground and you know the ball and the impetus to a team who up until that point had lost all their away games this season I mean that's the thing is it's against the Brentford side who have done okay this season but some people thought they might be in a relegation scrap but if Jenson doesn't score that goal at the end Brentford fans could have been understandably disappointed they only won 1-0 I mean look a win especially on the road for most teams in the Premier League and I would include Fulham in this it's always a good result so I don't want to be silly here but they should have scored more they should have won about four But also, it shows how little faith West Ham fans have in their team, that even at 1-0, there was no sense of like, oh, we could stick around, we could get a late one.

45:22Because of what they've seen so far, they're like, no, this is an absolute mess. Keith Andrews said at 1-0, I was totally calm. Honestly, it was so, so bad. I mean, they've lost five successive home games in the top flight for the first time since 1931. Nuno said himself that the atmosphere at home is bad and they need to change something yeah but I mean how many times have we seen this at West Ham over the years well there was a plan it's particularly poor at the moment there was a plan yeah but there was a planned boycott of the game yeah yeah there were empty seats because of that reason and there was a protest by the directors boxes or the entrance to the directors boxes outside so actually I think the booing at full time and the atmosphere is kind of it comes from protest as much as it comes from sort of frustration at the team and the new manager.

46:08And I think, you know, that combines to potentially make this look worse than it is, certainly in terms of the atmosphere. I think this is a venting of frustration that kind of needed to come out, almost a sort of like primal screen therapy approach to supporting your team. And I think, you know, everybody, you know, all of those fans are invested in the atmosphere getting better as well. They just need to see something to get behind. So this could well be a kind of, you know. Well, what did you think of Nuno's comments when he said, I mean, we are relegation candidates. I hate saying that, but it's the reality.

46:38You can see our own fans are concerned. Concerns become anxiety, become silence. The anxiety passes to the players. We have a problem. This is a deep problem. I think a lot of people, myself included, thought Nuno would go in there and he would at least, you know, make them a much more solid and cohesive defensive unit, which of course he may will do. It's very early days and he's taken over in a job which he was very quick to take because quite clearly he still wanted to be operating as a manager. And the thing at Forest happened, he wasn't wanting a break. It was very unfortunate what happened there.

47:10He'd have sod that, right, where's the next job? Okay, West Ham, big Premier League club, bang, I'm in there. I can fix this. And you would still back him to try and sort it out. Under Potter, they were going nowhere. So I get why Nuno has gone there in its early days. He is realising just how deep-rooted these problems are. And West Ham fans have been saying this for how many years now with owners and the poor recruitment and so on and so forth. He has a monumental task on his hands and they will be hoping that they're getting Wolves or Forrest Nuno rather than Spurs Nuno. But I mean, Spurs Nuno, again, bit of a mad situation in the club.

47:46Yeah, very different as well. Very different, but, you know, it's a stinking start and things need to happen because otherwise, the newly provided sides are thinking, right, well, there's one. Yeah. I think he's actually right to make those comments though because everybody can see it. There's no point pretending that they're in a situation other than that and that the challenge now is to just climb their way out of it. But let's hope his hatred doesn't turn towards his family like it did with Ruben Amarillo. Indeed, always. Hope it doesn't get that bad. Now, Champions League is back tonight. Liverpool looking to break their four-game losing streak as they head to Frankfurt to play Eintracht Frankfurt.

48:26A tricky fixture, Vish, but the current run of Liverpool a bit of pressure on this game ooh yeah

48:35could be problematic for them could it be a five game losing streak that's what your little noise seems to do I said with no real intent and entirely facetiously what an honourable man Liverpool I think they'd maybe lost two games in a row and I said who knows it could be eight. Oh, you got it. And I, even though I said that facetiously and I didn't mean it, I would like to, well, I feel like I under-clubbed because it could be ten. It could be ten. You just don't know. Don't cut your hair until they've lost ten in a row. If Arna Slott loses ten in a row, does he get sacked? No. Ten in a row would be insane, wouldn't it?

49:18I mean, for any manager of a club that size. This is complete and utter speculation, but I'm really happy to go with it. Nobody's safe. I mean, there's been a few people, I don't think he's unsafe. No. I want to make it clear that there is no chance of that happening. But if you lost 10 in a row, Jim, I mean, other managers have come and gone after winning the Premier League title. Admittedly, most of them are Chelsea or that Leicester manager, of course, which is mad. But no, obviously, we're talking bollocks here. But interestingly, though, speaking of Liverpool managers, Jurgen Klopp has said it's theoretically possible that he could return to manage Liverpool one day.

49:53Well, I like that one day being in December. Possibly. Yeah. I mean, it is theoretically possible, yes. So, you know, it'd be ridiculous to say no. But he said he doesn't miss the smell of the dressing room. And he said, I don't want to die in a dressing room. So, theoretically possible. I don't want to die in a dressing room, to me, speaks louder than it's theoretically possible. How bad is the smell? Well, who knows? Who knows? I mean, I suppose the only way this would realistically happen would be if Klopp ended up coming back as a sort of Kenny Dalglish style caretaker manager if things have gone really south but they seem too well run for that to be needed.

50:31Although who knows? Graham Potter is now manager of Sweden which is a reminder that absolutely anything can happen in football at any time. Yeah, but that's a lovely job, isn't it? Well, exactly, but would you have predicted it a month ago? Yeah. He obviously, sack from West Ham, wants to get back into football. What can I do? Try and get Sweden to the World Cup. Fair enough. Nuno must be going, I didn't realise the Sweden job was available. Yeah, he never managed it. Do you think he watched the game on... He knows the country. I think he got announced on Sunday, didn't he? And so he would have had that job and been in Sweden watching the Monday night West Ham game and thinking like, I think things have worked out all right, actually.

51:10To be honest. Yeah, what an enormous bullet I dodged. Speaking of international management, by the way, Gennaro Gattuso said he'll leave the country if Italy fail to qualify for the World Cup. He said, I'm already living quite far away, but I'd go even further away. So where is he living? Is he living in Switzerland? Must be. I don't, yeah, but presumably... In my mind, in like a cave. Yeah. Surely though, Graham Potter, if that's put to him, he'll go, yeah, no, I'll leave Sweden if we fail to qualify. That'll be fine. Get behind that, Graham. I'm quite surprised that he's living far away. Why?

51:42I suppose if he's going around and seeing the players, he doesn't necessarily have to be based in Italy. Yeah. I feel like he's accidentally told people that he's not living in Italy. I don't think it's a Jürgen Klinsmann situation. He's got like taking training over Zoom and stuff. I think he's very much in travelling distance. I wouldn't say it's Gennaro Gattuso, though. In my mind, he sort of, you know, lives in the Trevi Fountain. He's as purely Italian as you can get. Yeah, with trousers that stop about the shins and he's shirtless, just wringing his shirt in a ravine or a river. They have him in Italy, don't they?

52:13And he'll have a go at you unless you throw a penny into the fountain. Yeah, yes. Not at him, though. Then you'll really... be in trouble. Anyway, Graham Potter's former club Chelsea play Ajax tonight. It's the first time they play since their 4-4 draw back in November 2019. More of that, please. You go, goals. Give us goals. It's all we want. It's all we ask for, really. All you just said is you struggled to get the word goals. Yeah. Being a neutral like I am in this championship campaign. Just like how many managers and the turnover of players since 2019 for both teams is kind of ludicrous. It is quite a ludicrous Great shame though That Eric Dyer Won't be fit in time For Monaco's game Against his former club Spurs Yeah I'm surprised we haven't Opened with this actually It is a great shame Well I didn't want to start on Start on such a negative note Is he going to sit with his brother?

53:04Hopefully Don't pick on him No Leave him alone Maybe he'll sit with Harry Kane's brother I don't know Why would he do that? What are you doing here? Oh I've got the dates wrong I've got some ideas Stop making me stupid thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble part of the 8 House Creator Network Patreon subscribers don't go anywhere keep listening for Ramble Uncut and if you're not a Patreon subscriber make sure you head over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to sign up now there we are everybody enjoy the Champions League tonight or whatever else you're going to do because if you don't like the Champions League you can have a nice meal I thought you were going to say you can fuck up well that is an option that is one of the things you can do you can absolutely do that I wouldn't recommend it but it's your life not mine thanks Jim thank you thanks Vish fuck off you don't like the champions oh dear and thank you Sweden for taking Graham Potter home

54:06the football ramble is a stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network