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Football Ramble

19 Sep 2025 · 55m · 21 chapters

Episode artwork

The Preview Show: We've got our headlocks back

In short

Football Rebel Preview Show covering upcoming Premier League and Champions League matches, focusing on Marcus Rashford’s return to form for Barcelona vs Newcastle, Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Napoli with Haaland scoring, and previews for Arsenal vs Man City plus other weekend fixtures (including Everton at Anfield and Newcastle’s trip to Bournemouth).

Guests

No guest guests are interviewed in this transcript. Hosts are Marcus Feller and Luke Moore, with producer Hunter Raja mentioned.

Key claims

  • Rashford’s two goals vs Newcastle show he’s “flushed out” of his Manchester United slump; Barcelona’s system and elite teammates helped him thrive.
  • Man City’s Haaland milestone: 50 UCL goals in 49 UCL games; Foden’s form is improving.
  • Kevin De Bruyne’s early sub after Napoli’s red card was “unfitting” given his status and the home fans’ “King Kev” build-up.
  • Arsenal are slight favourites vs Man City and need more ambition than they showed in prior games.

Notable examples

  • Rashford’s second goal: header that kissed the bar; option-to-buy clause of $26m for Barcelona.
  • Club Brugge beat Monaco 1-0; Simon Mignolet’s penalty save and yellow for celebrating; Monaco’s squad reportedly took tops off on a flight.
  • Kairat (Kazakhstan) made a ~6,900km trip to Sporting Lisbon and scored their first UCL goal despite losing 4-1.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

0:31

Excitement for Weekend Matches

The hosts discuss upcoming matches, including Arsenal vs. Man City and Rashford's performance.

“Bombas make socks, slippers, tees, and underwear made with the highest quality materials.”
2:42

Excitement for Weekend Matches

The hosts discuss upcoming matches, including Arsenal vs. Man City and Rashford's performance.

“Vishy's now staring on the barrel of what?”
4:45

Rashford's Return to Form

The conversation focuses on Marcus Rashford's impressive performance and its implications.

“That's done Yep I'm glad we could do it here on a Friday.”
10:00

Newcastle's Champions League Journey

Discussion of Newcastle United's performance against Barcelona in a Champions League match.

“The first thing he said was Thomas Tuchel.”
13:00

Game Highlights and Reflections

The hosts reflect on the highlights of the Newcastle vs. Barcelona match and historical comparisons.

“Yeah, let's leave it all alone, I reckon.”
14:01

Match Recap and Player Insights

Discussion on recent football matches, player performances, and memorable moments.

“Because if I got it too right, we'd have to pay the license.”
18:10

Monaco's Unique Flight Experience

Analysis of Monaco's unconventional plane trip and its impact on players.

“I'd say, if I was the England manager going to games, you wouldn't get me out of Monaco.”
19:34

Monaco's Unique Flight Experience

Analysis of Monaco's unconventional plane trip and its impact on players.

“to Manchester City doesn't quite go to plan.”
21:36

Kevin De Bruyne's Substitution and Match Analysis

In-depth discussion on Kevin De Bruyne's performance and tactical decisions during the match.

“We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes.”
28:00

Doku's Development at Man City

Discussion on Doku's playing style and potential growth at Manchester City.

“I always think with him, though, and I still think this, even after last night, that he needs exposure to loads of different types of scenarios to work more on his problem-solving.”
Show all 21 chapters
30:50

Arsenal vs Man City: Big Match Preview

Analyzing the upcoming Arsenal vs Man City game and its implications.

“That is not the big question, but it's a question that Mikel Arteta will be trying to figure out because they, of course, go to the Emirates Stadium Sunday, 4.30pm is the kick-off time.”
32:29

Arsenal's Tactical Approach and Expectations

Examining Arsenal's performance and what they need to show against top teams.

“And Pep Guardiola was purring after the Napoli game saying, you know, there's a different feeling amongst us.”
34:29

Brian Robson's Take on Premier League Players

Discussion on Brian Robson's comments about Odegaard and his own career.

“It's a really interesting interview with ex-Many United Midfield of Brian Robson.”
36:15

Arsenal's Growth and Pressure in the League

Analyzing Arsenal's growth and their pressure to perform this season.

“I know that the two goals come from set pieces, but they still go in and they get the third, which was crucial to really kill off the tie.”
42:00

Diego Simeone's Controversial Sent-Off

A discussion on Diego Simeone's recent sending-off and the circumstances surrounding it.

“As you said, that bald bloke in the crowd got a champ, Diego Simeone sent off, essentially.”
43:44

Fan Reactions and Controversies

Exploration of fan reactions and controversies related to the recent incidents during matches.

“talking about the stuff he didn't do to wind Simeone up because he was worried that his impeccable reputation was going to be smeared somehow and he just starts the video by going, well, I didn't mention the Falklands.”
45:54

Everton vs. Liverpool: A Preview

Analyzing the upcoming Everton vs. Liverpool match and its potential dynamics.

“There's a lovely bit of needle when they played last season as well.”
48:24

Manchester United vs. Chelsea: Tactical Insights

Discussion on the tactical approaches of Manchester United and Chelsea in their upcoming match.

“Chelsea off the back of a 3-1 loss to Bayern, Manchester United.”
52:39

Mourinho's Return to Portugal

A look at Jose Mourinho's appointment as head coach of Benfica and its implications.

“Ruben Amrum started as manager on the 11th of November 2024, right?”
56:00

Mourinho's Potential Return to Management

Discussion on Jose Mourinho's possible career moves and his cult status.

“I mean, when he said it wasn't my cultural level, it was not my level in terms of football either.”
58:28

Interrailing in Australia: A Debate

A humorous debate on the feasibility of interrailing around Australia.

“It was 50 hours from Perth to Adelaide 24 hours from Adelaide to Alice Springs and just another 24 hours from up there to Darwin.”
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Transcript

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2:33Luke Moore: Dancing in September, everybody. Welcome to the Football Rebel Preview Show. Arsenal host Man City, Everton are off to Anfield and Rashford's back to his best this Friday 19th of September. I'm Marcus Feller. I'm Luke Moore. And I'm the producer of Hunter Raja.

2:57Luke Moore: Happy Friday, everybody. We've made it to another one. Vitushin, you must be delighted. Yeah, they said it couldn't be done. Or maybe they just told me that. Vishy's now staring on the barrel of what? Probably two or three restaurants this weekend. A few bottles of wine. No, I'm working this weekend. Oh, are you? Yeah. McDonald's is still a restaurant. It is. Some good deals at the moment. Yeah. Very good deals. Always good deals and steals there. but do make sure you pay for your food. If you're enjoying the start of the season with us then get over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble for just five bucks a month.

3:30Luke Moore: You'll get an extended ramble every single Wednesday. Access to our Discord which is like one huge group chat of fellow Ramble listeners all over the world and every single episode of the Ramble completely ad-free. That's all for just five buckaroonies a month. Search patreon.com forward slash football ramble or click the link in the show notes. Yeah, and I think it's worth pointing out that a lot of people complain about things, right? So people complain about me picking my nose on the camera or some of my dreadful opinions or that I've got dog shit on my shoe or whatever. But the thing, it was mud actually, from a visit to Avery Stone Circle when it rained.

4:10Anyway, they also complain quite a lot about the adverts, okay? I understand why. Adverts can be annoying They can be frustrating But We took a very conscious decision To find a solution to that You pay just$5 a month You never have to hear an ad again No So get involved

4:26Luke Moore: Despite Some of the stuff That comes out of his mouth We've never had a complaint About Vish That can't be true Surely Well not including The producers No no no Sure sure Out with the people Who work in this operation We've never had a complaint About Vish No we haven't So keep it up Vish Well done mate Excellent work Is that Vish's performance review I think so That's done Yep I'm glad we could do it here on a Friday. That's you for another year, mate. You said you're working this weekend. It's not really a Friday for you, is it? No, that's true. Although, even if you are working on the weekend...

4:54Marcus Speller: It's starting to feel like a Sunday, actually.

4:56Luke Moore: Even if you are working on the weekend, there's still a little bit of a kick you get out of a Friday. Yeah, that's true. It is very true.

5:03Marcus Speller: You kind of vibe off everyone else.

5:04Luke Moore: Indeed. Newcastle United fans will need a bit of a pick-me-up, of course, today. They lost 2-1 to Barcelona at St. James' Park. And they lost because Marcus Rashford became the best player in the world. Because Marcus Rashford's Manchester United serum finally wore off. It wore off, Vish, didn't it? It's now flushed out of his system entirely. Is there any argument, Luke, for Man United to try and get him back in the club?

5:28Marcus Speller: They were probably watching that and being like, oh, he's a good player. Yeah. Make a night of him. I wonder where he's come from. That's right. My brother was at this game yesterday. He's a Newcastle United fan. He's a Newcastle United fan. And as is the way with people's relationships with their brothers, Ours is purely based on taking the piss out of one another. Very much been one way for a long time. Yeah. I didn't even get to enjoy that, you know, his team losing, getting run out of dodge in their own backyard because the proponent of that was one of our players who we thought wasn't good enough.

6:05Marcus Speller: And yeah, my brother often sends me memes whenever Manchester United lose. And I think he was in a bit of disarray yesterday because the only meme he sent me was of Obama as LeBron James in 2018 when Donald Trump repeals the 22nd Amendment. So he was in disarray. I was in disarray. No one really got to enjoy it. But I did, hand on heart, love seeing Rashford back to that kind of form. I did too. I also would just chuck in there, if I may, that, you know, losing 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League in quite a ding-dong affair. It's quite some distance away from where May and I are at the moment.

6:39Luke Moore: Yeah, but he doesn't need to know that. He was too pissed. he doesn't need to know that Thomas Tuchel was in attendance didn't seem to celebrate the Rashford second one a hard heart indeed to stay in your seat when that one flew in I think he was stunned, I mean the header was fantastic, great header yes it was, you can't forget that but of course you're tempted to move straight on to that second goal, so great header, give him all the props in the world for that but my goodness, we've seen Rashford hit them before, we know he's got a hell of a shot on him, but the technique I mean, that absolutely flew in.

7:13Kissed the bar on the way in as well. This is a beauty. Gorgeous. It's also such an instinctive goal. It's like, I'm going to do what I naturally like doing. I'm enjoying myself. And I think that comes from someone enjoying football, right? It was a brilliant goal. Absolutely brilliant. I mean, you can't help but have like a wry smile about it when you know the origin story of why he's even at Barcelona. It's just unbelievable.

7:38Marcus Speller: He someone made this point the other day actually before this game that Marcus Rashford is the best Player currently contracted at Man City United.

7:47Luke Moore: Yeah, and those two goals are the same amount of goals Man United have scored all season Yeah, yeah, I mean I didn't hear that one I Want you to miss out on any of them.

7:56Marcus Speller: Did you see with the goal as well that before it goes in Lewandowski starts celebrating? Yes, I did see that Robert Lewandowski celebrate yeah I think the other thing about it... Do you think that's just because he's like, oh, yes, he's got his confidence back.

8:10Luke Moore: Pass it.

8:11Marcus Speller: Oh, fair. The thing I thought about Rashford, but you didn't really know, was whether he would be regarded as a big-time X-Factor player at other clubs. And at Aston Villa, I thought there was a sense of they were quite happy to have someone of Rashford's stature. But with Barcelona, because of the lineage of forward players that they've had, I did think you know maybe his you know whatever honeymoon period it was would be shorter because they'd be like right well if this doesn't work we'll just get the other one

8:43Luke Moore: yeah and is he going to play that much because of Rafinha and Lamin-Yemal yeah

8:47Marcus Speller: but then because he has a moment like that where even the first goal Buster gets to get there it's recycled and he stays in the box you know Lewandowski's on the left of the box when Rashford bursts through the middle and then stays in the middle but that goal and that reaction from some exceptional players was a lovely moment of... He is surrounded by much better players in, weirdly, a much better place despite the state of Barcelona as a football club. Yes. And thriving and being put on a pedestal. And, yeah. But it felt like he was one of them, didn't it?

9:19Luke Moore: Yeah, yeah. When he did that. And there was a bit of that. I mean, glowing comments from Rashford about Barcelona, of course, as you'd imagine, especially after that game. But he was saying, yeah, I hope to play here many more seasons. Hansi Flick himself said, you know, when we had the option to bring him in, it was a no-brainer. So they all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. If he keeps this up, we shall see him. They have an option of$26 million to buy him at the end of the season. I mean, his contract with Man United still will have another couple of years come the end of the season.

9:49Luke Moore: So, you know, we're sort of looking far too far ahead in the future. But it all bodes well for Marcus Rashford and England, because Tommy Tuchel was there. Were you waiting for that?

9:59Marcus Speller: What did you have? nine minutes on the clock. I just can't zone it out. I know it's coming. The first thing he said was Thomas Tuchel. Literally the first thing he said. It wasn't the first thing. Well, you're contractually obliged to do the intro. Contractually obliged.

10:11Luke Moore: It's a passionate thing. It's nothing to do with contracts and so on. The intro is very fast today. I did it in one. I should tell people you did it in the first take as well. I always do. Categorically untrue. Nine times out of ten. Unless one of you mess it up. My contract with England is, you know, until I die, mate. Yeah, I know. I heard you charting it last weekend. Do you know what? To go back to the game, and we can talk about Barcelona, and clearly Rashford is coming out, you know, out of a frying pan of a massive club and all the scrutiny into the fire of another massive club who've got their own problems, and you're right to point that out.

10:48But there probably will be an inspirational factor to him playing there, you know. He will probably feel fortunate to be there, despite the stuff he'll say, because of the issues that he's had. not all of which are his fault, of course. But I think that it felt to me watching that performance, a couple of things. One is that you go to Newcastle and the fans then make it an occasion because the crowd are incredible and it's had some quite cultish history around the Champions League.

11:18Luke Moore: Tino Aspira was in attendance. For example, but also what do TNT Sports do in the build-up? They show a long half an hour extended highlights of the 3-2 Barcelona game from 97-98 where Espiritu scores a hat-trick, right? They didn't have us on like they did last time. They should have. Maybe they didn't win because last time they won 4-1 against PSG. We were there. We were a part of the little intro bit. But the point I wanted to make was that he's also clearly relishing the big occasion and wanted to have a huge impact and really earn his salt being there. I thought the game was a really interesting game.

11:51You can't help but feel like it's an event where Newcastle plan the Champions League, particularly at home. Totally, yeah. And maybe that's just the generation we are, but it's...

11:59Luke Moore: Well, the City would be consumed with it all. And so they were really looking forward to it. You saw the Tifos and all the rest of it around the stadium. Yeah, that's it. And they started... I mean, you know, there's no shame in losing by the odd goal to Barcelona. No. But they get... You know, on another day... I mean, Anthony Gordon was up front. That was quite a fluky finish for his goal as well. He watched a replay. A little bit. Because he has a chance. The early miss was... Yeah, and he's just taken his eye off the ball. Yeah, but look, it's a very tough game. there's not many tougher games that they'll face in the Champions League this season of course so yeah it's a mad thing to think that the only reason Marcus Rashford is basically playing at the start of the game is because Lamin-Yamao came back from international duty with a pubic injury yes 18 year old with a pubic injury it's odd needs further investigation in my view I think it does

12:49Marcus Speller: yeah I think all the investigation has been done certainly by us exactly yeah

12:53Luke Moore: we heard about his I wasn't volunteering for the job should be a qualified professional We heard about the stuff about his 18th birthday party. Oh, yeah. I don't want to know anymore. That was back in July, wasn't it? Yeah, let's leave it all alone, I reckon. But yeah, a loss for Newcastle United and that was despite Barcelona staying right next to a Wetherspoons, apparently. Yeah, they were. Was it the same one

13:12Marcus Speller: that Tonali went to? I don't know. Quite possibly.

13:15Luke Moore: I do not know, though, Vish. They were staying right in the mix. I mean, do you know De Campo's restaurant is right next door? Yep. Do you think they stay next to a Wetherspoons because Wetherspoons famously don't play any music? Could be. I did not know that. Yeah they don't There are some exceptions to that It's been a long time since I've been on Weatherspoons But generally speaking I think Part of the overhead's limitation They don't pay for the license for the music Do you have to pay for a license to play music in a pub? Of course you do You'd be amazed If I start singing a song now It'll be so accurate

13:47Marcus Speller: No one's going to a pub Thursday night 18th of September Let's put that CD out from that fucking Weatherspoons

13:55Luke Moore: You need a PRS license for that stuff, mate. That's why I didn't sing that Earth, Wind and Fire intro. Because if I got it too right, we'd have to pay the license.

14:04Marcus Speller: It's not happened so far. You're the one keeping the Mandela family in Clover, are you? Well, that is contractual. Ten minute walk to the nearest Greg's on the big market as well for the Barcelona lads. We've got a celebration after the game. We were in that neck of the woods.

14:20Luke Moore: 24 hours. Greg's, it's a 24-hour one. 24 hours? So I've heard. What a place. Yeah, I don't know whether that's actually true or not. A quick Google Maps will tell you that. In summary for this game, it was a great game, enjoyable. It didn't quite match up to the 97-98 game because that had an Aspira hat-trick, Rob Lee, Keith Gillespie, Pierre-Louis Giacolino, Refrain, you know. But it was a pretty good tribute. It was, yeah. Nick Voltemada was left on the bench, though. Yeah, you see Eddie Howe said before the game, he said, Nick has had quite the introduction to the Premier League. he was completely cramped up and blowing after 50 minutes in his debut.

14:55So we couldn't start him today.

14:57Luke Moore: There you are, you see. There are the reasons why. Well, in the big league, son. Damn right. Newcastle away in Bournemouth on Sunday. Lovely trip for them. Lovely trip for them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if the weather's as nice as it is today on Sunday. Get the sand between your toes. Which I don't think it will be yet. Exactly. Sand between the toes would be on offer. Bournemouth, of course, gubbed Newcastle at St. James' Park last season. Was it a gubbing officially? A 4-1. Bloody hell. What a gubbing that is. I'm pretty sure it was 4-1. They certainly hammered them. I can't remember. So, yeah, we shall see.

15:25Luke Moore: They'll need to get back on the Premier League wagon. Absolutely will. Well, to be fair, they've been on the Premier League wagon. They need to get back on the wagon in general. And I wonder if Big Nick will start up front for them. Now, I want to go to Club Brugge for Monaco 1 in the Champions League. That happened as well. Monaco, of course, they all got nude, didn't they? Or at least semi-naked on their flight over. They did a tribute to the late 90s classic, possibly early 2000s classic road trip by having a plane trip where they all took their clothes off. Right. Because they were hot. Yes.

15:59Which was incredible. There was a problem with it yesterday.

16:01Luke Moore: Yeah, you mentioned it yesterday. There was a problem with the air conditioning, so they all started getting a bit nude. I was saying to the lads yesterday, I'd be quite self-conscious about it if I was on that flight. Yes. And all these 20-something lads who were ripped started taking their tops off. Simon Mignolet had an incredible 17 minutes in that game. He gave away a penalty, then saved the penalty, then got a yellow card for celebrating in the referee's face and then he went off with a groin injury. Not immediately after. That would have been something if he'd have done the groin injury as he was slagging off the ground.

16:26It's incredible. So you're also not even doing it justice because he gives away the penalty which under UEFA Champions League regulations is checked by VAR and given. He saves the penalty that even though he knows that the penalty has been checked and is a penalty, he runs about 10 yards throwing hands in the direction of the referee yeah yeah yeah it was a bookable offence definitely because he's got presumably he's like well I've saved that now so what are you going to do now ref he's like well the ref's like well nothing I'm going to do anything I can't give another penalty I thought he was very lucky to stay on the pitch actually

17:00Luke Moore: the referee's going to say well I'm going to make you away for 30 quid there's a yellow card there's a yellow is that still the fine is it it certainly was in the Leatherhead District League when I played when I played back in the day I only ever got one book in in my whole career did you really

17:16Luke Moore: ball but like it was a weird involuntary one where someone played the ball down the line and I stuck it out of hand and pulled it away going, ah, what have I just done that for?

17:22Marcus Speller: I only got one yellow as well actually playing football.

17:24Luke Moore: Was yours verbal abuse?

17:25Marcus Speller: No, mine was kicking the ball away. Yeah. Oh, petulant. After being called offside, kicked the ball away. Yeah, Luke's had a few.

17:32Luke Moore: Sergio Ramos at the end of the table there. I've had a few, yeah. I've had a few, to be fair. We used to get, when I played, we used to get, the club would pay the fines unless it was for dissent that you get to pay yourself. Is that right? Yeah. I ended up paying quite a lot myself. You had a tab. Well, anyway, good win for Club Brugge. A sad return to the Champions League for Eric Dyer. Hopefully things can improve for him. But the good news for him is that Thomas Tuchel wasn't there. So he might not hear about it. Yeah, word won't get to him. He's taking his top off, has he?

18:06Marcus Speller: Come down and watch us.

18:07Luke Moore: He's always doing that. Come down and watch us in Monaco. You'll love it. It's a beautiful climate down here. You will absolutely love it. I'd say, if I was the England manager going to games, you wouldn't get me out of Monaco. there's not even a gamer this weekend oh no they take contactless they only take contactless right okay the FA probably don't give them a card I would have thought so now did you see that the Kairat the team from Kazakhstan have been turning a few heads in the Champions League just merely people going sorry who are they well blimey they're from there well a small group of fans made the 6 ,900km journey from Kazakhstan to see their side lose 4-1 at Sporting, which of course is in Lisbon, which is why we affectionately call them Sporting Lisbon.

18:50Luke Moore: They did score. They did score. They got gubbed, but they scored their first ever Champions League goal. So that near 7 ,000-kilometre trip was worth it, Vish, you have to say.

18:59Marcus Speller: Yeah, you might as well stick around in mainland Europe then for the next round.

19:02Luke Moore: I'd say so.

19:03Marcus Speller: I was thinking that these kind of distances involved and the small amount of fans that want to make the trip, would you stick them on the plane with the players? Yeah. What's the point of not doing that? I mean, presumably and not making them make their own way there.

19:16Luke Moore: Help them out. Yeah, 100%. It's a nice feel-good story. Yeah, and if the air conditioning goes, then everyone gets naked. You get to see your heroes with the tops off. Samuel L. Jackson said, so many snakes on this goddamn plane. Well, I don't know if it went that far. Right, coming up after this, Kevin De Bruyne's return to Manchester City doesn't quite go to plan.

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22:12Let's not take the piss here. I certainly wasn't. Well, I think you are.

22:16Luke Moore: Well, about the football ramble, everybody. Manchester City 2, Napoli 0. Erling Haaland scored. Of course he bloody did. It was his 50th Champions League goal in his 49th Champions League game. And he's done this in 13 games fewer than the previous record holder, Rude Van Nistelroen. It's quite some feat, this. He is a monster. An absolute monster of a man. Bear in mind, you're rubbing along over a goal a game at what is generally accepted to be the highest standard of football you can get. That tells its own story, right? And, you know, I haven't seen the profile of the clubs he scored them all against.

22:52But, I mean... But they haven't all come for Man City. No, quite. Exactly, yeah, absolutely.

22:57Luke Moore: Incredible. Amazing effort. And it was a lovely goal as well. It was, but the pick of the goals was Dockers. Yeah, but I want to talk about the phone assist. Yeah, fair. Yeah. Yeah, lovely. I mean, Foden looks back to his best. He's back in business. Back to his best is the best player in the Premier League, technically, because he... You know those signs you have on the shop doors where you flip them around if it's open? He should have wired them around his neck and he should have just... That celebration for that Haaland guy, he should have flicked it around so it went open. Yeah. Come on in.

23:25Luke Moore: I prefer open for business. Open for business, yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice. He does look like he's got the bit between his teeth, old Phil Foden, which is great for Man City and England. of course there was a sending just punch him I can't reach for him we don't care about our country do we right Kevin De Bruyne was subbed off after 20

23:43Marcus Speller: you paint one flag on a round of rounds

23:47Luke Moore: do you know what I don't know if you saw that one when somebody painted like the Battenberg cake colours over it I thought my England that was one of those do you know what I thought to myself I thought we've got our country back

23:58Marcus Speller: is it no it's Battenberg It was! Somebody was doing that! We saw it at the same time and I said to Marcus, alright, come down from that lamp post, have a look at this.

24:13Marcus Speller: I said, it looks like there's three million people over there. Stop bringing your vicious neck and come here.

24:18Luke Moore: Oi! Oi! No, to be fair, you had kicked off. It was a headlock. I can tell you what, that is a beautiful British activity. A headlock. You don't see him anymore.

24:29Marcus Speller: A nuggie or is that too American? American yeah headlocks

24:33Luke Moore: headlocks universal though surely a lot failed about our society and we stopped just doing common or garden nothing vicious headlocks until the person calmed down and then walking along with them a little bit yeah a little bit yeah just to demean him a bit I'm speaking about it

24:47Marcus Speller: from a different side really but yeah people used to do that you've dished out your fair amount of headlocks in your time Vish I think I have actually can't reach can you can't reach

24:56Luke Moore: oh you can give me you can give me a headlock after the show how about that Now, Kevin De Bruyne subbed off after 26 minutes following Giovanni Di Lorenzo's red card.

25:05Marcus Speller: That was a shame, that.

25:06Luke Moore: It was a definite red card.

25:07Marcus Speller: I thought it was a tribute to John Terry. Do you remember John Terry's last game? Yeah, exactly the same minute. That would have been great.

25:11Luke Moore: Well, Antonio Conte, he said he was sorry he had to sub Kevin De Bruyne off. It was such a shame to the point where Antonio Conte did an apology. He was showing remorse. Not sarcastically. Or clapping at the same time. Ever so slightly remorseful, but he was like, you know, it was a substitution I had to make. and I was like I mean surely if you're down to 10 having someone of De Bruyne's experience and quality I mean he'll have his tactical reasons I suppose like

25:34Marcus Speller: Le Botka can do a lot of the stuff that De Bruyne does Do you think he's thinking about the legs? And then Tomine's got the legs obviously Yeah I think that's It was a real shame because I was thinking to myself when I saw the build up you know the Manchester City fans bring out the King Kev Tifo and you see De Bruyne before the game showing the players other Napoli players around the stadium and stuff it's quite rare you'd see some home fans with a previous visiting player getting that kind of treatment so I thought it was a really unfitting kind of end to his the show yeah and like I say if Conte's even apologising it must be it must be regretful

26:13Luke Moore: yeah very much so his apologies are normally presumably when he's like stamping on someone's chest going this hurts me more than it hurts you I'm sorry to do this but he's incredibly violent at the same time I think Rasmus Hoyland would have been happy to come off in the 26th minute. Do you know what? I don't need this abuse. That's why I left. We don't want to play these. But it was good. Rasmus Hoyland's playing in the Champions League. I mean, based on last night, kind of. No, they can't race last night. Man City, you know, despite what I said last season, they're still a good team and it's a very tough place to go.

26:50Luke Moore: And they go down to 10 men. So you can't really judge it on that too much. But again, it's just another reminder of what you can do once you leave Manchester United the Doku goal was beauty man come on it was a great one he wriggled his way he is probably European football's best wriggler got to be up there has to be up there you've thrown that at me I need to have a think about that but Thierry Henry spoke about this on the overlap didn't he about working specifically with Doku at Belgium and he was saying he was trying to say you know get end product just be more direct you can do all the step overs in the world but if you don't get a cross in or you don't get the shot away, be more efficient, essentially.

27:27Luke Moore: And I would say that, I mean, he probably said that a little while ago to Doku, of course, but I wonder if this season, a little bit more time under Guardiola, who can improve players, especially wide players who are very pacey and maybe lack a little bit of end product, as we saw with Raheem Sterling many years ago. Doku looks like he's on course to become one of those guys where you think, bloody, he's such a weapon. He already was. But if you get that end product in there with the assists and even the goals, he's a frightening prospect.

27:59Marcus Speller: Yeah, he is. I always think with him, though, and I still think this, even after last night, that he needs exposure to loads of different types of scenarios to work more on his problem-solving. And I'm not griping about the quality of the goal he scored yesterday. But if you look at it, when he comes onto the ball, he can side-foot it into the far corner with his right foot. And he chooses not to do that, I think, because he has a set play in his head of like, take it to one side, step over, touch forward, bang.

28:28Luke Moore: Yes.

28:29Marcus Speller: And every time I watch him and he's in space, including during the Manchester derby where he wriggles away and it works perfectly when he gets past Luke Shaw, I feel like he's really applying like cookie cutter skills on the field. And I think he just needs to be a bit more instinctive. And I think that just comes from further exposure to those different situations. which he might get now at City because he's not exclusively playing on the left. Even that goal yesterday, he's a bit more inside. He's on the edge of the box. He's getting in the box. It feels like he's getting in the box a bit more, certainly centrally.

29:05Marcus Speller: But yeah, incredible feet, obviously. There is so much to work with there that it wouldn't be a surprise if, I don't know, in a couple of months' time, suddenly he's just stratospheric. Yes.

29:15Luke Moore: But the problem with, the only counter-argument to that, though, is that, you know, if you're going to talk about Doku in this way, you have to talk about the fact that he doesn't consistently start games. If you look at his numbers, if you look at, say, Adama Traore's numbers, who's not a similar player necessarily in aesthetic, but positionally similar. His numbers are diabolical, right? Doku's numbers are better than Traore's and Doku really doesn't, hasn't ever really consistently started games at Man City. You know, last season, he started 18, came off the bench 11 times or something like that.

29:48You've got to give him a little bit of credit for that because it's hard to get into games sometimes particularly because you don't know always consistently what situation you're being subbed into.

29:56Luke Moore: Yes.

29:56Marcus Speller: But he started a lot of those games up front didn't he? They were all together and then he, I suppose as Marcus said, because his end product wasn't as great, it certainly wasn't what Guardiola wanted then he took him out and started using him more as an impact player.

30:10Luke Moore: I think that's why we're seeing the improvement this season is you're right to say that Luke but I mean he's at Man City and you know how much they kind of rotate and how many good players they have. So maybe it's just part of doing business when Well, indeed. And I think that also as well, Guardiola tends not to just shove a young player in there and go, right, often, right, I mean, how long did it take, say, Phil Foden to, you know, he was really drip feeding him in and we were all going, come on, play him more, play him more, you know. So I think with Doku, yeah, the improvements there and as Vish says, you know, maybe in a couple of months or maybe towards the end of the season, I don't know.

30:41Luke Moore: Certainly at some point in the future, I think he really could become a very important player for them the way he's playing. Will he start against Arsenal on Sunday? That is not the big question, but it's a question that Mikel Arteta will be trying to figure out because they, of course, go to the Emirates Stadium Sunday, 4.30pm is the kick-off time. Arsenal gubbed them 5-1 in that fixture last year. And it's, I mean, if you remember last season, they played each other fairly early on in the season. and Arsenal, it felt like, wow, were they inferior? I mean, they went down to 10 men and obviously just did that very noteworthy, I'll say, defensive performance in the second half where they nearly clung on and I think John Stones got the equaliser.

31:29Luke Moore: But going into this game, I'm tempted to say I would have Arsenal as slight favourites. Do you think that's fair? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You think that would be okay? This fixture last season, Arsenal smashed them. Well, indeed, 5-1, as I said.

31:43Marcus Speller: But that fixture in particular felt more like, well, exclusively about revenge. Because even when they won, it moves them six points behind Liverpool. And Liverpool have a game in hand. So the league wasn't quite lost, but they certainly required snookers to get anywhere close to Liverpool. And this is a chance to, you know, I suppose, exact a little bit more revenge, but also make a bit of a statement. because I feel like we've seen functional Arsenal and we're waiting for like, oh shit, maybe they are doing something now to overcome that final hurdle. I mean, I think they can do it this weekend.

32:22Marcus Speller: And I agree with you. I think they are favourites.

32:25Luke Moore: Yeah. Luke, Man City have started the season a bit better, as we all know. And Pep Guardiola was purring after the Napoli game saying, you know, there's a different feeling amongst us. Yeah. And whatnot. It's a huge game, this. And this is the game, Luke, where I want to see more from Arsenal. I understand a way to Anfield, you know, it was just, it was a very nip and tuck that the only goal is a beauty. I felt I want to see a little bit more from Arsenal. Yeah, but Arsenal showed no ambition in that game. Well, exactly. And Jim pushed back, didn't he, and said that at home, Arsenal do show a lot more ambition and they've been good at home so far this season, haven't they?

32:56Luke Moore: Even a way to Old Trafford on the first day. Fine, they won the game. It's the first game of the season. Early days, etc., etc., etc. But I still, against, you know, I was saying that Jockeridge has got goals against lesser opposition. Arsenal have had some good wins. I know Forrester are a good side, but Arsenal, you know, under Ange, you know, coming in his first game and whatnot, expect them to win and win fairly comfortably, which they did, and they get credit for that. But it's these games where if Arsenal want to win the league, they have to show a bit more, I think. Yeah, and the complexion of the game last season between these two teams at the Emirates was interesting because Arsenal went ahead early.

33:30Then they missed a load of chances, a load of dominating the ball and all this kind of stuff. And then the feeling, I was at the game, and the feeling was that we need to make this count.

33:39Luke Moore: But Man City were there to be taken. They were in that funny. But they were but I just want to explain the complexion of the game and what I'm talking about because then Haaland equalised and the feeling in the stadium was like, oh, that's so annoying because we should have scored a second and we didn't. And then they just went through the gears and City had no answers. City then became really sloppy and Arsenal destroyed them. And I don't know if you remember there was that whole kind of celebrating, mocking the Haaland celebration as well. Oh, Marzalus Kelly. Very enjoyable. So, there might be a bit of needle left over from that.

34:08I think we'll find a lot out about both teams because Arsenal have looked good at home this season, as I've said. They whooped Leeds. You'd expect them to do that. They beat Nottingham Forest. You'd expect them to do that. What do we expect here? The answer is we don't know. Like I say, we'll find out quite a lot about both teams here. It's a really interesting interview with ex-Many United Midfield of Brian Robson. Did you read this? Yeah, I did. where it was funny because he was asked about who he thinks the best player in the Premier League is and he said Martin Odegaard, which is odd. And then in the same interview, he compared himself to a combination of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Rodri.

34:50Yeah. I mean... Which I thought was an incredible amount of hubris. Yeah. I know Robson was a brilliant player. Maybe he relates to Odegaard because he also had a series of crippling shoulder injuries himself.

35:02Luke Moore: Did he not say, though, later on in his career, he did a more sort of Rodri role? shielding the back four. I mean, it was one answer to one question about something quite different and he managed to get all those players in talking about himself. A skilled interviewee, clearly.

35:15Marcus Speller: Do you think it's outlandish that he labelled Odegaard as one of the best players in the league? He said at the moment for him, Odegaard is the best player in the Premier League, which is categorically not true. Yeah. Which is clearly not true. I mean, for him, it's true. But yeah, all right. Okay, well, obviously, there's no objective truth in that subject. Yeah, right. But the point is, if I said, for example, down this camera now Martin Odegaard is the best player in the Premier League right here right now clip that I'll get a lot of shit in the comments you watch right there we go well it's a little limitless test for you I don't even have the reputation of Brian Robson do I no and Brian Robson's got a burner account on YouTube yeah some hateful things actually oh dear he doesn't do that no he doesn't he does not have a burner account on YouTube he might have a burner account on YouTube he might say some terrible things we don't know we don't know

36:02Luke Moore: yeah but we're not saying he does

36:03Marcus Speller: or doesn't

36:06Luke Moore: well yes we're neutral on that specific issue unlike Brian Robson yeah so Arsenal Man City I mean I keep going on about I want to see a little bit more from Arsenal I think almost so as well that again in that 5-1 they proved that they could show their dominance and again Man City were in a bit of a funny period so you know but what was great they showed a bit of emotion

36:28Marcus Speller: didn't they

36:28Luke Moore: yes like oh Arsenal are angry yeah almost a bit like that first leg against Real Madrid as well. I know that the two goals come from set pieces, but they still go in and they get the third, which was crucial to really kill off the tie. But I think sometimes, I almost sort of want to say to Arsenal, you're better than sometimes your tactical approach may suggest.

36:48Marcus Speller: It feels like they are, over the last few seasons, they've been pace setters in a marathon in that it's an incredibly impressive thing to do, but if you finish ahead of them, you know you've got a personal best or something like that. And it's almost the kind of bridesmaids thing, isn't it? it's just like yeah I'm with you you know I'm not an Arsenal fan but the number of times I watch them and I'm impressed by them and I still think you can do you can do more than this like there's so much more attacking Verve now and maybe only it's now actually with the reinforcements as we spoke about on Wednesday actually after their Champions League game that like which again was impressive yeah maybe only really now is the time that they they would just feel Arteta in particular would feel comfortable flexing yeah

37:32Luke Moore: we want to see a flex they also last season it's harsh isn't it because they were good but they dropped off in terms of points gained last season they categorically drew far too many games they drew 14 games and subconsciously they may well have started to prioritise the Champions League as it sort of I think there's no doubt about that I agree but it's a frustrating thing that because can they really afford to do that in their position or do you just think because the way the chips fell they thought this is what we've got to do totally yeah I think that's probably what it was even if it was subconscious but look yeah it's going to be a big game on Sunday no doubt about that now Arsenal loanee Alexander Zinchenko played the full 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest sleek up defeat to Swansea during the week it's quite a damning the way you started that was like Arsenal might be gutted they let him go but as the sentence transpired it became clear that was absolutely not going to be the case

38:26Marcus Speller: didn't Zinchenko listening to this be like why has Marcus used me as a link to this

38:31Luke Moore: it seemed like the perfect man to do it. Well, Forrest, of course, travelled to Burnley this weekend as big Ange Postacoglu tries to get his first win as Nottingham Forest manager. They've had two games now. Ange promised that his team would start seeing his influence as early as Wednesday's match against Swansea. They scored goals, they lost the game. It's another... Conceded very late. It's another add to the collection of ridiculous things that Ange Postacoglu simply refuses to stop doing that brings a lot of pressure on himself. Like, he said, it was the way he said it as well. he was like he was having a dig at other managers for making excuses because it takes months for the players to understand their philosophy and he goes and the players will know my philosophy on Wednesday not in months not in weeks on Wednesday bang lost to lower league goals exactly yeah it's like what are you doing the quote was it won't be months it won't be weeks it will be Wednesday yeah it's exactly what you just said this is how we do things around here yep we have to do whatever we fucking want score a couple of goals and then we lose the game okay I don't want to see anyone deviate from that as long as we score and then when you lose you say it's who we are mate Europa League reigning champion manager though have a bit of respect fish show some respect for him ashes here actually

39:41Marcus Speller: I have no respect for him but I will come February 2026 yeah your record 5? 6 yeah 5 now yeah that's it we're in 25 at the moment ok and how old am I so that makes me 39 oh he's a big 4-0 next year yeah wow interesting I know he's interesting isn't it

40:00Luke Moore: yeah

40:01Marcus Speller: Don't look at me like that

40:03Luke Moore: I'm not going to take my top off I hope that you've got enough room for everybody at your party That is very rich coming from you Speller What's that? Stag do Move on Didn't really have one Well you certainly didn't as far as I was concerned Yeah After all the things I've done for you It was not nearly as boozy as you demanded I didn't get an invite either Should we do this on Uncut next week? I think so Coming up after this Jose Mourinho is back in the dugout but not at Rangers

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42:25Easily done, isn't it? Just by scoring a goal. Easily done, isn't it?

42:30Luke Moore: As you said, that bald bloke in the crowd got a champ, Diego Simeone sent off, essentially. I mean, it was incredible. Surely Simeone, when he calms down, should reflect on that and go, ah, fair play. Yeah, but he hasn't calmed down because did you see the press conference afterwards as well? I mean, that was straight after. He just got up and walked off, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But those of you who haven't seen the fallout to this story, many people listening would have seen Diego Simeone getting sent off late because Virgil van Dijk scored a last-minute header to win the game after Atletico Madrid kind of battled really hard to get back into it.

43:00He was annoyed. Fine, get that. While all the other Liverpool fans presumably were celebrating a great winner, this one guy who has been previously banned from Anfield for three years for abusing a disabled woman at a charity game, right? What did she do? We don't know, Vish. A charity game? We're not sure. Yeah, Steven Gerrard's like testimonial or something.

43:20Luke Moore: Do you know what I mean? It's like it gets worse. it gets worse and I can't no that's it this is the full house isn't it so some people were interested as to what he may have said to get Diego Simeone riled up which wasn't the angle I was going for because he's always wound up I mean the guy gets head loss all the time but then it meant this guy this fan who did this thing released a video where he sat in his car talking about the stuff he didn't do to wind Simeone up because he was worried that his impeccable reputation was going to be smeared somehow and he just starts the video by going, well, I didn't mention the Falklands.

43:58Well, now I think you did mention him. Now the first thing I'm thinking is you did mention the Falklands. And that would have been a really good thing to mention as well. You should have said that.

44:05Marcus Speller: You mentioned it once and I thought I got away with it. Yeah, which made me think that he's planned that. If Liverpool score a winner, he's planned that. That's right. And it's not even the biggest confrontation around Liverpool based on the Ramble this week because Pete has taken up arms. just confusingly against Virgil van Dijk. That's right. Not sure why. What has he done now? He just keeps saying that he... He's old and he's past it. Yeah, which is just ridiculous. I mean, he's older. Yeah. Liverpool fans in the YouTube comments have taken it well. Yeah. I saw one this morning that said, from the impeccably named Clipboard Keith, who has said the following, Pete needs an hour-long cry in the bathroom.

44:48Every time I watch this, I can never hear what he says because he keeps covering the microphone with his tears.

44:55Marcus Speller: Why does he keep watching it? He does cry in the bathroom a lot, though. I think so, yeah. Even at work. He's not crying in there.

45:01Luke Moore: So, yes. An amazing week in football. But the Liverpool fan who said that did say that Diego Simeone and some of the Atleti coaching staff and whatnot gave it the big one to them when they equalised. So he basically was just like, middle fingers up and so on. I mean, it's just, you know. I wonder if that fan can rile up David Moyes, though, tomorrow, if they score. I'm not sure he'll be allowed back in the stadium, will it? David Moyes will. I'm not sure this guy will be allowed back in the stadium.

45:29Marcus Speller: I didn't mention the River Styx. There's no reason to have room to get riled. I didn't mention that your ferry boat has got a leak in it.

45:36Luke Moore: Yeah, exactly, yeah. Well, David Moyes has young Jack Grealish in his ranks, of course. Named the Premier League's Player of the Month last week. Surely a recall for England soon. Every single section. What? Did you mention England? didn't mention this with did I mention I think I did with Eric Dyer actually well anyway look

45:56Marcus Speller: why else would we have talked about Eric Dyer

45:58Luke Moore: because he got his top off on a plane yeah alright now anyway Everton and Grealish are going there it does feel like it's it's a little bit more balanced this game obviously Liverpool are favourites for crying out loud but it feels like Everton have a little bit more of a chance how many times have we seen them go to Anfield it's a battling display and they lose and it happened last time around under Moyes when I think they lost 2-0 and was it Beto who ran through and hit the post and they had in the first half they showed a bit and then of course Liverpool's quality shined through there's a good feeling among Everton I'm not suggesting they are going to win the game because again they are second favourites clearly but I just feel second favourites nice way of putting it lovely silver medals up for grabs in this game in a three horse race you could also say they're rank outsiders couldn't you but I just you understand what I mean though I think Evertonians will be there'll be a little hint of quiet confidence.

46:51Luke Moore: There's a lovely bit of needle when they played last season as well. Yes. Remember Decore getting right up amongst Liverpool fans. Yeah. Where was this fella then? Well, maybe Simeone was picking up where he left off, clearly. But the, I know what you're getting at and I think Everton have shown themselves this season to be solid, pretty solid, you know, they've also done what I believe that teams who set up defensively first and tried to be robust absolutely need to do, which is they then sprinkle some exciting attacking players over that who can nonetheless work hard, but also give you a bit of magic.

47:29And they've got that, I think, not necessarily across their front four, but their front four are still pretty good. And I think what you can do is be seduced into thinking they're a defensive-minded unit and forget about those players that can actually hurt teams as well. However, having said, they should have beaten Aston Villa, 100%. They should have. They had 20 shots in that game, two of them on target, which is ridiculous. but they should have won that game. Other than that, they've been pretty good with the exception of the opening day which was again an absolutely ridiculous refereeing decision which meant they lost the game.

48:00They never should have. Liverpool's a different test particularly away from home. You have to see how they start the game whether they can frustrate Liverpool make it difficult. Liverpool have shown themselves to be less than fluid going forward this season despite their amazing results. So it's all there for them. If they can take it down to the trenches drag Liverpool into deep water and make it the type of game Liverpool don't want you can easily see why Isak will feel the pressure because he'll probably start the game and although his link-up play and his performance overall was okay clearly he's not up there at that standard yet Virts has been growing into games but still found it difficult not registered a goal or an assist yet you know the pressure can start to mount up so if Everton can make it difficult it could be interesting but that I feel like is a big if a big if

48:45Luke Moore: yeah well that game's on telly over here later in the day we've got another TV game Vish Manchester United hosting Chelsea how about that are you going to be watching that or are you going to be hiding in the basement yeah just doing something else would you say hiding in your basement slagging off Angela Rayner is that what you're going to be doing come on

49:08Marcus Speller: what

49:08Luke Moore: being very political today you are being clipboard Keith clipboard Keith yeah you keep hanging out come on Manchester United hosting Chelsea blowing the froth with a couple of cold ones. Clippy Keith. It looks like you're writing a slur. Chelsea off the back of a 3-1 loss to Bayern, Manchester United. Did they do one of those little midweek friendlies? They've not been playing far away.

49:29Marcus Speller: I just hope they stayed indoors. Yeah, okay.

49:33Luke Moore: But it's a chance yet again for Ruben Amarim to show that his players, they like him and they understand his tactics.

49:41Marcus Speller: Yeah, it's also, you know, I thought Chelsea had quite a harrowing game in Munich. So you wonder about, I suppose, the tax on that for them going into this game. It's quite an interestingly matched game on a number of fronts, not least because Chelsea feel quite freeform in a bad way in that they see, you know, the structure is clearly there, but they don't quite adhere to it. Whereas conversely, Man City United are too structured and Amorim being so set in his ways that he's unwilling to relent on his formation of the three at the back and wing backs and whatnot. And you wonder what would win out here.

50:21Marcus Speller: I mean, obviously Chelsea. But, you know, I suppose how long will it take for Chelsea to beat Manchester United? And I do want like... Chelsea's record at Old Trafford is quite poor. No, it's awful. But I mean, this is... Which is surprising actually because if you think of like the number of teams that have like, I suppose, done well at Old Trafford over, well, you know, since Ferguson, it feels like it should be... that they should have at least got something somewhere. I think they've won once at Old Trafford in 12 years. Yeah, wow. And that was in the FA Cup, I think. But at the same time, I do wonder if Manchester United need to be, certainly Amerim needs to focus a bit more on Chelsea's weaknesses rather than, it feels a lot of what Manchester United do is, you know, they're basically through periods of just constantly rehearsing to play in this formation, but they do it in games and it doesn't quite work.

51:14Marcus Speller: and it doesn't matter what the other team does. They're just going to still play a certain way. And I would like to see Manchester United go out and try and get at Chelsea's weak points.

51:22Luke Moore: Yeah, I mean, the middle of the pitch is always a concern for Manchester United. And we're seeing... Not the only concern. No, but it's always a concern.

51:29Marcus Speller: We see how strong Chelsea are in that area. Indeed.

51:32Luke Moore: And Kyle Palmer is back at it. Obviously, he had a slight injury in fitness issues.

51:39Marcus Speller: And that's good news for?

51:41Luke Moore: Not for Manchester United. No. But ultimately England, yes. Yes, exactly.

51:45Marcus Speller: Get out of the way. Good to get that in there, yeah.

51:46Luke Moore: I mean, the headache on Thomas Tuchel, I tell you what, my goodness. But yeah, Cole Palmer looks the business, and this is the type of game where, I understand Chelsea's record at Old Trafford hasn't been great and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But this is where, like, does Ruben Amorim, will he even plan to try and deal with Palmer? Or is it like, no, this is, you know, is he too rigid? Because this game, Palmer could absolutely fill his boots. The freedom he'll have, you would have thought on the pitch the way he's playing back among the goals and looks like he's got the bit between his teeth Luke I would be worried if I was a Man United fan well Man United are dead under Amerim they're just not falling over yet right they're dead we can have these discussions all we like right and you know Man United may even win a game here and there but they're done under Amerim they're done there's nothing you can see about Ruben Amerim in any way he conducts himself either on the touchline in an interview obviously I don't see him at training but I presume he's not turned into some kind of, you know, Winston Churchill type character at training based on what we see as the results.

52:48They're done. Ruben Amrum started as manager on the 11th of November 2024, right? If they fire him in the first year, they've got to pay him 12 million. And they've already paid about that to 10 high. They don't want to do that again. 12th of November 2025.

53:01Luke Moore: He's off. About 11 games in, they'll be in about 16th. They'd have just been obliterated by Spurs because that's the game they're playing before. And it's bang in the middle of the international break. So get your Tim Ford hat on because that's what's going to happen. But the thing is though, and then they'll get someone else in who will happily take the job because the money will be massive. They'll be able to attract someone even if it's just a firefighter type manager and the whole thing will continue. But they need a manager who's going to come in and go, right, what have I got to cook with here?

53:26Luke Moore: Looks around, there's ingredients all over the place and he thinks, well, I can only make a basic casserole but it's going to taste a lot bloody better than the shite that you've been munching on so far. So that's what I mean with someone like, say, Frank. I mean, look, Frank's at Spurs. but someone who just comes in and goes, right, let's play to our strengths. This is what I just, oh, blimey, I've hit my microphone, I'm so animated. This is what I just don't get with this system. It's like, Amorim's clearly a good coach and I think he'll go on to do good things in the game and what he did at Sporting was impressive.

53:59Luke Moore: But I just don't understand how this group of players can't play that system very well. When you have other managers, you can get players to play a different system every few days, maybe not radically different. It just, it doesn't make sense. Amarim's counting the days, I'm telling you. He's counting the days for him to get out of there.

54:16Marcus Speller: I mean, after the Grimsby Town game, we came in here and I said that I think it's done. And this game will follow a similar pattern. Manchester United will start well. They'll be like, oh, Bruno might enjoy himself in that deeper role and then I wouldn't be surprised if from that point it falls to pieces. But I hope it doesn't.

54:32Luke Moore: Well, sadly, one former Manchester United manager, certainly, you know, in the, in the near future won't be returning to Old Trafford because Jose Mourinho is Benfica's head coach now.

54:44Marcus Speller: I do kind of like this. It's a dark day for the Ramble. I'm sorry. I want him back here but I do like it.

54:48Luke Moore: But do you not think though it's again we want him back here but when he comes back here it is that a case of ah what have we just wished careful what you wish for. So he's in a Champions League club so he's back in the big leagues which is good. It's fucking bad news for West Ham. I saw this morning they've been linked with Slavenpilic. I mean honestly that was in the Metro this morning. Well look he's and also Chelsea host Benfica on the 30th of September. So we're going to get that at least. But Mourinho said in his press conference, I have so many emotions, but experience helps me control them, which is a bit rich.

55:18Luke Moore: But he also went on to say, I have coached the biggest clubs in the world. I made one wrong choice. I was wrong to go to Fenerbahce. It was not my cultural level. It was not my level in terms of football. It was just not my level. Stop saying it's not your level. Also, didn't Fenerbahce, his Fenerbahce side get knocked out of the Champions League qualification by Benfica this season. Now he's gone to Benfica, now he's going to be in the Champions League. Yeah, he did say he mourned Bruno Large leaving the job. And I thought, a very brief tear, which was immediately wiped away. The same way a mafia capo mourns the death of a boss when he knows he's about to elevate himself to the position.

56:00Luke Moore: I love it. I mean, when he said it wasn't my cultural level, it was not my level in terms of football either. it was just not my level we might have to wait a bit longer until he goes to the Scottish Premiership is that what you're saying oh no what's amazing is the cult of Mourinho even we underestimated it because we said he'll get probably one or two more jobs he could probably do a middling Premier League job he could definitely Marcus has been desperate for him to go to Rangers I understand that that was a vicious suggestion but you both were on board with it well it was West Ham or Rangers but what I'm saying is you know if Benfica's a massive club.

56:36They've won the European Cup, right?

56:38Luke Moore: A long, long, long, long... Sure, but they have and not many clubs can say that in the grand scheme of things and he's also had a history there himself. The fact that he can walk back into that job I think is quite interesting. I don't know how big the cult of personality of him is in Portugal itself. I presume it's massive. Has he still got the aroma of Porto on him though? Because he did say he doesn't expect a huge reception from the Benfica fans. Right, right, right. Because I kind of felt like if he was going to go back to Portugal he'd go international. That was my feeling.

57:03Marcus Speller: I wonder if that ship sailed.

57:06Luke Moore: No, I don't think so.

57:07Marcus Speller: Because there is a sense that if you go and do that job, there is an ambassadorial side to it, and he just does not have that, evidently. Yeah, true. This is a nation who are fairly happy to stick with Carlos Quiroz for a while. We all know about him. And what did he win? Yeah. He went on loan to Portugal from Alex Ferguson. The D. Yeah. If you're a Portugal manager. Carlos, lovely to have you here. you just got a bit of

57:33Luke Moore: sunny lip if you're a Portugal manager and you don't win the Nations League although actually they might not have been competing at the Nations League when Kiros was in charge no he wasn't his big achievement with them was they were knocked out in the round of 16 in the 2010 World Cup yeah okay okay which I wouldn't say is par to Spain yeah but

57:50Marcus Speller: we just got rid of the international football break why are we doing this we've got proper juicy prem to get into I gave you the chance to chin him in the first half and you didn't want him so now this is what you get

58:00Luke Moore: I just didn't think you wanted to carry on talking about Man United and Chelsea, Vish, that was all. Well, look, anyway, now on Wednesday, let's go to something very, very different. We talked about Juan Mata interrailing around Australia. He's gone to Australia and we thought he might like to interrail around Australia. Vish very sternly and defiantly said interrailing around Australia would be impossible. Well, Red World Traveller on X has replied, interrailing Australia can be done, by the way. I got the train across Australia. It was 50 hours from Perth to Adelaide 24 hours from Adelaide to Alice Springs and just another 24 hours from up there to Darwin.

58:36Marcus Speller: Yeah, sorry. I'll take it back, Redwood Traveller. You are correct.

58:40Luke Moore: It's the only way to get round Australia.

58:42Marcus Speller: That's not inter-railing. That's railing.

58:46Luke Moore: He'd have probably taken the GAN. The whole point of inter-railing, for those who don't know, is that you hop on and off trains throughout Europe and have a lovely old time. A couple of hours in that city and then maybe three or four more you're in there. I don't think it's that enjoyable to do 50 hours in one go across a desert in baking heat. Yeah. The thing about it is, I mean, our listener and a friend, Red World Traveller, has said something and given us some information and he's still given us absolutely no indication as to why he actually did this. No. Because it seems like the most pointless thing ever.

59:18When you finish, you're in Adelaide. Great. Is that good? Adelaide's nice. Is it nice, yeah? Have you been to all these places in Australia? Yeah. So you can tell us all about them.

59:28Marcus Speller: Darwin is... A bit of a dust bowl. Awful. You were actually going to Australia a couple of months, weren't you? Yeah, yeah. Adelaide's lovely. Perth, fine, so hot. Alice Springs, fine, so hot. Darwin, one of the hottest places on earth.

59:43Luke Moore: Right, literally.

59:44Marcus Speller: Yeah, absolutely no need to go there.

59:46Luke Moore: Right, yeah, don't travel all the way there. Certainly not on the train.

59:49Marcus Speller: Yeah, but I'm sure it would have been enjoyable after his 98 hours on the train.

59:54Luke Moore: You're gagging to get out. I don't care where it is. Yeah, I don't care where I am now. Exactly. It could be a cesspit and I'd be happy to get off this damn train. Right, everybody. It's a huge day for the Luke Nation. Luke is taking on Vish, who is the lineal champion at My Biddy Art. That's happening later today. My Biddy Art last week was one for the ages. It was fantastic. It was poor of me. I had, again, another sloppy error. But Luke won and he will capitalise on sloppy errors, Vish. That's a little bit of... I can't guarantee that. That's a little tip for you. Don't make errors. So today's episode of My Biddy Art will be available later this afternoon.

1:00:25Luke Moore: So make sure to subscribe to the Football Ramble in your podcast app so you do not miss it. And thank you everybody for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the Acast Creator Network. Remember to sign up to the Football Ramble patron for ad-free episodes. Patron.com forward slash football ramble. And of course, join us for MyBiddyAunt later on today, which will be in your podcast apps. It's weekend time, Luke Moore. Get your keys out, big boy. That's right. Pitbull's playing and he'll be playing all the way through MyBiddyAunt. I'll see you in the weather. On the show, we don't have the music license for that.

1:00:55Let's get my buddy aunt done. Then we can all go to Wetherspoons.

1:00:58Luke Moore: Damn right. Thank you very much, Luke Moore. Cheers. Thank you, Viducan Hantaraja. Cheers. And thank you, Jose Mourinho. He went and stole the show. You're welcome back any time, Jose.

1:01:19The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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From the publisher

How many times can England be crowbarred into one Premier League preview? Get your calculators out everyone, because Marcus is going for the world record today...


Marcus, Luke and Vish delight in Marcus Rashford's stunning brace at St James' Park last night, as the Man United serum finally wears off. Plus, Bryan Robson (and Clicky Keith) get in the YouTube comments, Luke makes a bold prediction, and there's a crucial update on Diego Simeone vs that Liverpool fan. Come join us!


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