Bedlam at Anfield as City complete comeback to stay in title race: Football Weekly

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:30to stop anyone getting it before VAR, brackets correctly, closed brackets, spoiled the fun. Elsewhere, Arsenal do feel slightly inevitable. Jokeres with two against Sunderland, while Villas' challenge looks to be over. Manchester United are in the top four, beating Spurs, with a lot of help from a Chex Notes, completely out-of-character challenge from Christian Romero. Lots of managers under pressure. Eddie Howe after a home defeat to Brentford. Fabian Hertzler after a home defeat to Palace. And Sean Dyche as Forrest are hammered at Leeds. There's also a massive win for West Ham, and Fulham somehow losing a game they could have been 5-0 up in.

1:00We'll answer your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

1:09On the panel today, Barry Glendening, welcome. Hi, Max. Hello, Jonathan Wilson. Morning, how are you doing? And I'm all right, thank you very much for asking. And good morning, Nader Manumaha. Morning, sir. Right, let's start then at Anfield, Liverpool 1, Manchester City 2. And I know we need to talk about the title race and the whole game, but can we start with one of my favorite bits of the season so far gmail man says my immediate reaction to that turkey goal which has just gone in is our rushton is going to love that oliver was today the first time a player got someone sent off by fouling them and ry says can a disallowed goal be in contention for goal of the season based on comedy value alone i mean barry just this ball rolling so slowly towards the goal with harlan and somber's life fouling each other i loved i loved every second of it yeah it was tremendously entertaining and if only ray and shirky had hit it a little harder it would save us about i've got to guess about 15 minutes of chat i think we can all uh agree that by the letter of the law uh the goal should have been ruled out and the correct decision was eventually arrived at but by any other metric fun bans vibes, entertainment, referee, romance.

2:27It should have been allowed. People will disagree with this, but I think anyone who claims to love football does not want that goal ruled out. If you really want that goal to be ruled out, you don't love football. You love procedure and law and terms and conditions. You're the kind of person who buys a new fridge or oven or toaster and immediately begins reading the manual and marking bits and highlights your pen, your favourite bits. I'm reminded of our mate Charlie Baker's impassioned, I wouldn't say a rant, but a cri de coeur on TalkSport recently where he described VAR as a thief of joy. He said it's a thief of love because beauty in football is in the mistake.

3:22And a lot of people who watch football, especially kids, don't really care whether referees get things right or not. I'm firmly in that camp, and I totally get that other people aren't. But yeah, I think it was a crying shame that that goal was ruled out. I don't think the ref wanted to rule it out because I don't think he wanted to send off Dominic Saboslay. But as Jonathan pointed out in our group chat, it means he's ruled out of Liverpool's game against Sunderland, which is good. But I don't care. I want Dominic Sabozla to play against Sunderland. I don't care whether he's ruled out or not.

3:57I would like him to be there. But anyway, that is my take on that goal. Ray and Shirky should have hit it harder. No, but the fact it was so slow made it so fun. I'm scanning the panel to see who might be described as heartless and loving procedure. And my eyes are drawn to Jonathan Wilson. sorry i was i was paying no attention i was reading my toaster do you have a comeback do you think uh do you think are you happy with what happened yes it's completely right decision and it's people think this is a virus it's not a far issue the only the only issue with our is craig paulson should have made the decision in the moment like as it happened my first reaction was this cannot be a goal that has to be a red card for sabos liner well my first thing was is Haaland in his own half when the ball's played and yes he is so it's not offside because it's one of those exciting things where the goalkeeper's not there and the defender is there so you saw because you're so used to the goalkeeper being behind the defender you're not thinking offside but you know so that was my first thought my second thought was this has to be you know no goal and a red card you can't have a situation where the ref just chooses to ignore an obvious foul because it doesn't suit sort of the vibe yeah if if holland and sir oslai had been sort of tussling and had been 50 50 yeah fair enough you probably can just about ignore that but where there's been two fouls one after the other you can't ignore you know you can't create incentives where a player who has been fouled but the advantage played then has carte blanche to commit another offense that just makes no sense also the reason these laws exist it's not just because of that one game in this one game maybe it would have been some kind of natural justice if a game had finished 3-1 but you've got to think of the other consequences at the minute city is six points behind arsenal the goal difference arsenal's got them spelt by five it's it's it's very possible or well not improbable not impossible that the title is decided on goal difference and if city get an extra goal goal difference because of a goal that shouldn't have stood, Arsenal would quite rightly be absolutely furious.

6:15That would have made it better, actually.

6:20Only in terms of vibes. And the reaction of Arsenal fans if that happened would be truly hilarious. That is true. Again, I'm not sure that would it be hilarious is a good way of running any institution. I think it is. Say, suppose I wasn't sent off, scores the winner or scores a hat-trick in Sunderland on Wednesday, Not only is that unfair on Sunderland, it's unfair on those other teams challenging Liverpool for the final Champions League places. The reason this feels unsatisfactory is not what Craig Porcelain's done, which is to follow procedure perfectly, apart from the fact he should have done it himself rather than hiding behind bar.

6:55The reason it feels unsatisfactory is because Superbosal's life cheated. Nadim, your head is in your hands, which is early for you, only seven minutes in. I know, I know. It's quite impressive, doesn't it? Everything it's been said is really interesting. I just keep watching it back. We're very sure that, you know, this is the right process and so on. but is this the right process just because Sobber's Lai could have gotten back to stop the ball going in if he was like maybe three or four yards further back does the ref just let everything go on and it's just a goal and all that other stuff doesn't matter because it's technically still like a foul on Haaland but does Haaland's foul on Sobber's Lai matter anymore if Sobber's Lai doesn't look like he can get there because you know that final scene of Sobber's Lai laying on the floor in the six yard box thinking he could potentially kick it away is that the most important thing or is it everything else that came before yeah but presumably Haaland wouldn't commit the foul if it was further back well you never know because a striker thinking he's going to score and then somebody pulls him back that's red mist like that's the only time you see them angry somebody taking away their goal but yeah i'm with um i get i get it like i i unfortunately have turned into that sort of like laws of the game stickler type guy well you know because this has happened this is what's going to happen and so on and so forth and it's the it's the correct decision i wish uh as harland has said that chirky tried to play him in instead of trying to shoot because I think according to the two different speeds of say Sobberslay and Haaland I think there's only one guy that's going to be potentially winning that one but also like one of the few times it's just it's so chaotic and to see it somewhere like Anfield and you know even that whole dog so like tell me like a more obvious example of a denial of goalscoring opportunity like this debate was Salah's won this was this one that well Haaland's running through on goal and there's no goalkeeper that yeah I think that I know he's I know he's been out of form relatively speaking over the last month but that's a that's a pretty that's a pretty strong opportunity but the the ultimate dog so exactly I suppose in the end like from a Man City perspective it didn't matter and for Liverpool like someone's like he's gonna get one game for that and as you said it's it's like you could say it's cheating but that's like that's like game theory isn't it that's the first thing you try to do and if you can get away with it then fine because in that moment what are worries other options just let him go through so i'm i enjoyed watching it and i think i watched that forever because it's just a hilarious sort of example of how football even for as pristine as it can be at times on occasion it's just ridiculous and that's exactly what that was to me yeah um i mean the whole of actually the whole of injury time barry was brilliant but like that whole last 20 minutes was in a game that was not a bad game even if it was still nil nil but you know as soon as spodzlai scores that free kick that next 20 minutes was just brilliant i was It was about 72 minutes on.

9:33It just was tremendous entertainment. The free kick was sensational. I don't know how he kicks a ball like that. To leave a goalkeeper of Donnarumma's quality just standing motionless, watching the ball whistle past him like that as it veered away to the right into the top corner was amazing. The Donnarumma save was incredible. the Bernardo Silva goal was good Sabazlai he played him offside there or played him onside there so that was him giving off some main character energy ahead of his big moment the penalty with Erling Haaland was standing there as Sabazlai and Matt Callister tried to put him off and he didn't seem at all flustered I was kind of wondering was he doing that thing where he then chucked the ball to somebody else to take the penalty once all the kerfuffle had died down.

10:33But no, he was quite happy to take a good penalty. And then that Donnarumma, absolutely sensational save, which has kind of been forgotten a bit because of what happened after it. But that was a brilliant save. Yeah, actually, Wilson, that save has kind of been forgotten. But also, Alisson's complete recklessness. He just doesn't need to do that. And that's actually the big moment of the game, really. And it has kind of been forgotten. Yeah, I mean, just no need to make that challenge. just a very weird rush of blood but yeah the Donnarumma save I thought Joe Hart's punditry on that was was really interesting you know that shows brilliant the real advantage of having a goalkeeper as a pundit that you're they're explaining things that I mean certainly would never have occurred to me I don't know if it occurred to an outfield player but yeah the way he sort of takes that little skip to his right before diving up for it but yeah it's just a sensational save and and as important in the game as any of the goals yeah actually was it's a bit like you talking about hungry in the 50s joe hart could be talking absolute nonsense because none of us know we just have to agree with him but i really do i really i really do like how he how he breaks it all down i mean that that free kick canadian i mean the four of us you're probably the best person at kicking a football oh god he's short there are two noises that like the noise of how he strikes it and the noise of it hitting the post is beautiful but like technically that is it's so good.

11:56Yeah, 100%. And I know there's been a sort of critique about, well, should you have more people in the wall and so on? But think about what he's had to do to score that free kick. He's had to miss the wall on the left side as we've seen it, but then curve off to behind where the wall was, whilst also giving the goalkeeper a clear view of seeing where it's going to go. You know, that's such a low percentage goal, but such a high quality strike, because that's the only way realistically he was going to score, to strike it like that. And most people, when you try and get it to spin that way, it will probably slice.

12:26It will not be caught as sweetly as that. And you say, well, you know, he has it in him. He does. But even for him, that's not a high percentage opportunity as such. But it's an amazing strike. I think it kind of reminds me in some ways in terms of, you know, or just let him shoot type mentality. Do you remember Chalunoglu's in Bundesliga probably seven or eight years ago where he's like wobbled one in from about 40 yards? No wall in there. I think he was at Leverkusen. It's one of the best goals you'll ever see. The goalkeeper says, oh, go on, just let him shoot. Ball's moved in about eight different directions and then landed in the top corner.

12:59Keeper was nowhere near it. But you sort of, you make these sort of like guesses, you know, you've got other things to focus on. You put two in the wall. You can then still defend with everybody around it. But the strike is as pure as it gets. And obviously we know that he has the ability to score goals from distance, but that one itself to cut across it that way with that power, that's a 1 % of type strike in my opinion actually Ned I mean obviously it's a massive result for City they haven't won at Anfield for so long I wasn't quite aware of I know Max thank you thank you tell me that that's okay what's it like to lose at Anfield no I'm not that it's just it's obviously such a massive win but like what what chance do you give them of winning the title in the way that they are playing at the moment obviously that result gives them you know momentum and the Carabao Cup final will be quite interesting because if they do beat Arsenal then obviously that there'll be all that chat around nervousness of Arsenal.

13:52But Arsenal are in the box seat, but what hope do you give City? Well, to be fair, the nervousness, you could argue, is going both ways. Because Arsenal, yes, they haven't done it in such a long time, but they've been through a few of these title races before. So you'd like to think that you develop on the sort of negative experience you've had in the past to prepare yourself for these moments, especially with a deeper squad and a more experienced core group of players as well. But I think the win yesterday, it's still six points behind Arsenal. there's no guarantee Arsenal going to be dropping six points for you know for the next few months or whatever there's no guarantee of it but when it's nine it does feel different and also from City being one nil down especially because at the start from 2026 uh in the league they'd not scored a goal in the second half Man City hadn't so when it's one nil to Liverpool according to the prior trends that's it it's over you know what I mean that game's over and as you said that record at Anfield.

14:45The last time City went at Anfield with a crowd was in 2003, I believe. And Nick and certain, Nicklaus and Elka scored. But Peter Schmeich was in net for Man City. That's how niche it is. That's how niche that game was. Peter Schmeich was in net for Man City at Anfield and City won. So to go all those years, this is before my career started. This is when my career started. This is after I retired. And they won no down. So it's like, well, I guess that's it then. So to see that, I think it's going to give them massive belief. Obviously, they've not been perfect. But heading to this next busy part of the season as well as having a starting 11 who the manager sort of trusts he's having some players coming back in and a bench that I think he believes in a little bit more than say we saw not too long ago so the pressure will be on and they've ridden their luck I think before yesterday it was one win in six and they were still technically there with a chance of only being six points per end Arsenal it feels like the gap should be bigger so as far as belief goes City have probably gained some and maybe Arsenal have a little bit more doubt but then you know they're in the driving seat so they don't need to worry that much interesting that you and I both measure eras of the Premier League in your career and I thought that was just me but you do it too.

15:50Conscious that we've got lots to get through I don't know if Barry Wilson had anything else to make to pick up Arna Slott was upset with Mark Gay's challenge but there probably was cover wasn't there if not I'll move to the Emirates Arsenal 3-100-0 what a balanced panel we have for this game.

16:08Wilson you were there what did you make of it? Yeah I mean I think 3-0 was probably a slightly wider margin than it ought to have been you know Sunderland conceded three in now in three successive away games but this was significantly the best performance of the three and they held Arsenal for 42 minutes and played pretty well in that first 42 minutes but Aldereta gives the ball away cheaply to Maduweke, Arsenal cycle it around, Sunderland rushing back they're not set and Zubemendi scores with a brilliant finish and that's the quality Arsenal have that one small slip can cost you and then the second goal is slightly different you know Mokiela losing the ball it was slightly less of an obvious error than than Alderete being caught in possession but he gives the ball away trying to clear it and Arsenal score from that so Arsenal forced two mistakes they score from both of them I think the point from a Sondland point of view is that they these never look like scoring they had a good 10 minutes just after half time without ever really looking like they were going to take any of the chances they've only scored six goals away from home all season that's why their away form is so much poorer than their home form Michael Arteta was very complimentary of Sunderland Regis de Bariste was very complimentary of Arsenal it felt like the mutual respect at times was a bit too much it felt like it almost killed the competitiveness of a game you know Arsenal got the third goal in injury time on the break where it's another Sunderland mistake you know Rinaldo misjudges it on halfway.

17:35So 3-0, Arsenal won comfortably enough. Maybe it was more of a 2-0 game, but it was always a something-nil game. Yeah, they do, Barry, have an air of inevitability at the moment about them, Arsenal, don't they? I mean, since that, the Vita Manchester United, four wins in a row in all competitions. They have bounced back when we all maybe thought there might be a bit of a wobble. Yeah, I was more expecting a wobble from them in the Leeds game at Elland Road than I was here, obviously because they're away and Elland Road is. very hostile environment, but they absolutely pull Leeds' pants down. I don't think they pull Sunderland's pants down here, but they did beat them comfortably without playing, I would say, anywhere near their best.

18:16So that has to be good from an Arsenal perspective. My only gripe about this game would be that I was quite sad we let Victor Jokeres score twice because... padding his numbers a bit. No, but I think he's good I don't know, like he scores EFL goals, you know, if you put those goals at Carlisle Stadium on some mud, they'd look like proper EFL goals but I sort of think Arsenal might need this, I think, you know, he's their top scorer now, he will get probably 15 by the end of the season you know, I think he might be answering his critics a little bit His critics? You think those two goals have helped Barry make his case that he's actually like a top top striker is that what you're saying because it doesn't feel like no it doesn't feel like it just then but i don't you know i'm talking about critics not barry yeah isn't that what arsenal were always crying out for someone to score those skanky scrappy goals and you know because that's what they didn't have so if he provides that service great it's a it's another box ticked i think for the years people said oh they need a nine they need a nine need nine like i wasn't necessarily buying into that because i'd seen arsenal play some really good football without one I saw a point where they were at 50 points at the halfway point of the season a point where they were either first or second top scorers in the league as well and I think at times we sort of get caught up in like well somebody missed this chance and if there was a nine there they would have scored this chance but some of those chances haven't really so if let me put it this way it's like for some of those games if it was another team doing it wouldn't necessarily be the nine that's scoring that goal it would be other people just stepping up in big moments and And then the discussion isn't about the nine not scoring.

19:56It's about the team not scoring in that manner. And Jokeres is obviously a good player. But I think what sums up is I think Arteta sees him as an option. I don't think he sees him as the main option. Because there are certain games which maybe require a skill set. But I quite like, to be honest, watching Arsenal when it's a mix of Havertz and Jesus. Because it's a little bit different. I think at times for defenders, you kind of know how Jokeres is going to play. And he's a good finisher and stuff. But he wants to play the physical side of things. You know, some of the runs are, not as a slur, but like, yeah, you do see more of that saying around the EFL and stuff.

20:31But it's not to say he's not a good player, because obviously he is. But I think for Arsenal, sometimes when they go up against some of these sides, they need the brute strength, but they need a bit of finesse as well. I think the other two kind of have that and say, there's no surprise to me, say the Havertz assist for the Jokic first goal. You know, I think that's a clever bit of movement from Havertz from that turnover. obviously you need to be able to capitalize on the mistakes but how far it drifts into a space and he plays a great pass and then even for the second goal it's great that Jokrej can be there to tap it in but a lot of that comes from the pressure of Martinelli and the full speed nature of that maybe someone else would have been there but I think for Arteta it's good to have options you know Jokrej can start on the bench come on and score two goals and make a difference if it was the other way around then he started maybe they'd have been winning maybe they wouldn't but yeah I don't think he's the main person at Arsenal up top I think it's just one of the options that he has as a consequence, yeah.

21:22He must be a good player, but I don't think he's the difference as such. One other note from that game is that Brian Brobby, probably lucky to stay on the pitch. A clumsy challenge. I mean, who would do a clumsy challenge on a football pitch like that? I know, Brobby, Brobby, Brobby would. Anyway, yeah, he probably got away with that. And that'll do for part one. Part two will begin at Old Trafford.

21:49Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly so four wins in a row for Manchester United they beat Spurs 2-0 I mean the main story of the game Wilson is Christian Romero who has spent a couple of weeks just being rude about the board on Instagram can the board now be rude about him on Instagram his sixth red card for Spurs his fourth in the Premier League since he signed no one in the Premier League has been sent off more he'll miss four games and I don't know what you think I don't know how good a defender he is like he is a liability like he's good at passing the ball he scores goals but he does these challenges that you saw in the 80s where you take the ball a bit of the ball and you just take everything else and you get away with it and he sometimes he still gets away with it but he just does it all the time yeah i mean yeah he's he's a liability that's that's that's what he is um i think good romero when his head switched on is is great um but he's he's always prone so i mean it wasn't the worst challenge on Saturday I think on another day you might have got away with it but you can't argue with it you know I think something slightly strange happens with Casemiro's legs that his sort of ankle gets caught under him which makes it look worse but that's not saying it's not a red card it just isn't the worst example of that type of challenge it's not the worst challenge Romero's made this season but just why are you making that sort of challenge 35 yards from your own goal with plenty of players around you it's just um it's just the sort of thing that a sensible calm defender doesn't do.

23:13Nadim, you're a sensible common defender? Once upon a time. That's not me anymore. No. Now you're a violent psychopath, but take a Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Since I retired, the edges really come out. I think for Romero, like, the discussion is like, is he a good player and so on? Well, yeah, for me, he has to be. Firstly, like, you know, he's played international football for our World Cup. So he's won the World Cup, of course, yeah. Like, it's very tough for me to have played for QPR in some dark times and then say that this World Cup winner, you know, isn't a good defender. Because it kind of reflects on me a little bit.

23:53But isn't that funny that I can, because I've never been near a good football pitch, but you can't. Hey, listen. Yeah, you've got to be careful. We can speak about certain things here, Max. But yeah, as well as that, when it comes down to Spurs, when they have an injury crisis, if it's ever Romero and Van der Ven that are out, we'll say, oh, they'll be better when Romero and Van der Ven come back because they've got a good partnership. So there is something there. But I just think like the stuff we just said about the board, what I think is interesting is the board and so on. He's done this for a year, two years now.

24:24The stuff that he says, I'd imagine a lot of Spurs fans agree with what he's saying. so he's not the villain at his own football club in the way that we will perceive him to be the villain from the outside he appears to play with air quotes passion and wants to represent those fans and work with his teammates and he's trusted to the point where he is the captain however however having said that the team does not the squad is is that it's bare bones and there are not enough players left to be playing. A four-game ban, I don't think that helps the club out too much. I think it does. I don't think it helps too much at all.

25:02And it was the fact that, you know, sometimes people will be red-carded and they're stunned. There's like an appeal. It's like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Like saying to the referee, blah, blah, blah. Casemiro's on the floor looking like his leg's about to get chopped off because it's so bad, this tackle. And Romero's like, ah, yeah, that's a red, isn't it? That's a red. He's taking his armband off. He's like passing over. He's even got his flipping international teammate, Martinez, saying like, what are you doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a red. But like as captain, with the responsibility that you have towards your team, especially in the tougher times, to go missing like that after trying to be outspoken about you having the team and club's best interest at heart, the argument just falls flat because now, I don't know if you know any Spurs fans, Max, but you're now in this weird position where you try and defend him in a way which just makes you sound like a crazy person.

25:52person previously you could have said oh the club stuff yeah fine but that tackle you could easily pull out of those tackles and to give you a bit of insight as well like the referees know what players tendencies are and so on and sometimes so like if a ball's between two people he'll shout for somebody to not go in for a tackle that's what a referee would do you'd be like calm calm don't do this and so on now unless Romero's red mist is also something that makes him deaf I think he's probably had the chance to pull out that tackle but also for um so i had a bit of balance to this so christian amaro's got four red cards yeah since he's arrived you know who's second on that list in the premier league and you know his third it's actually quite funny if you have to guess in terms of red cards oh what are they is it wispy is it wispy tens who keep getting sent off is it no no no no not at all actually um the person with the other most of my red cards in that time well sorry i put till the other day was casimiro i'll put that out there okay yeah who's on the same as Esri Konza on three oh okay yeah so Christian Romero it was Romero who's on four now but previously he was on three with Lewis Cook Casemiro Konza Mason Holgate Raul Jimenez Rhys James in fact Rhys James is minutes per red card probably worse than Christian Romero's let that sink in but he doesn't like that's a captain it's a liability there Rhys James yeah yeah but they don't fly in all the time I don't know anyway M says are Spurs in danger of relegation?

27:18Wilson, are Spurs in danger of going down? I mean, they shouldn't be. But on the other hand, what do you call a team that's six points off a relegation zone with 13 games to go and playing abysmally with a captain out for four games and loads of other injuries? I mean, they're missing... I think they did 10 or 11 out for that game. He's now out for four. Destiny, your doggy, had to go off, so he's probably out. That's, what, 13 players missing? six points off the relegation zone. The only thing not putting them in the relegation zone is the fact that they're Tottenham Hotspur and people think it's kind of inconceivable that Spurs could go down.

27:58But the best thing, we thought it was great last season when Spurs finished fourth bottom but won the Europa League. Imagine this season if they finish third bottom and win the Champions League. And Thomas can turn around to Ange and go, that's a real season. and also imagine if Arsenal do then lose the um do then lose the title on goal difference to City just imagine the meltdown in in North London a mushroom cloud it feels unlikely but you know let's hope um Manchester United now bats have won four Premier League games in a row for the first time since uh Eric Ten Hag was there um I've been in the last eight saying that kind of takes the gloss off what is an otherwise excellent achievement well if he could do it how hard could it be i mean it is extraordinary what michael carrick has managed to do there in four games i mean they are now sort of favorites to get into the champions league i mean it's extraordinary in its ordinariness because he hasn't done anything that particularly revolutionary um he's just playing players in their proper positions and the players clearly have a lot of time for him and didn't have much time for his predecessor.

29:19He made one change here, I think, a kind of tactical tweak where he didn't play Brian Mbwemo as a centre-forward and didn't really have a main striker in this position. So Tottenham's defenders weren't quite sure whether to stick or twist or who to mark and whatnot. But apart from that, Carrick hasn't, his results speak for themselves. But he hasn't done anything particularly brilliant or anything that would suggest he's a managerial genius. But the great advantage he has is that United have not played a team this season and will not play a team this season who have played less football than them.

30:07they they have been at least as fresh if not more fresh than every team they've played and will play so i think there's only two more games they've got this season against the team has even played the same number of games as them which is the west ham game they've got coming up but maybe west ham are distracted by the fact they've got the effort cup at the weekend and is it bournemouth the other the other game yeah if they look fresher and sharper and playing with more energy than their opponents that's not necessarily some great tactical thing by carrick that's just that they've been absolutely hopeless and so haven't had to play much much football so they are in a in terms of qualifying for champions you're saying this would have happened anyway under very much not but it just makes it really hard to judge michael carrick uh and they really should now qualify qualify for champions quite easily because they should be really fresh newcastle to brentford three brentford's first win in newcastle in 92 years done the double over them this season watar was brilliant in this game amazing cross for yanel and he strikes the winners so well they are seventh native level on points with Liverpool and I don't know if you had them relegated at the start of the season but lots of people did and it's it is great credit to Keith Andrews isn't it yeah it's huge credit Keith Andrews I think when you look at say the the toil that Thomas Frank is sort of having at Spurs and you see players like Vista for example not necessarily being able to have the impact in Newcastle that he had last season was another strikers another key player gone and Brentford are better question mark yeah you know it's um it is surreal I think it's probably a couple of months ago I was seeing them uh what felt like trending in the wrong direction and I thought wow they might be in trouble the same way having that discussion well Spurs and a Spurs and a relegation dogfight I thought that was Brentford and then casually they've had a ton of three o 'clock kickoffs on a Saturday where they just keep winning keep winning keep winning and now they're like prime time they're the box office they're a great team to watch in terms of how they try and play because it's not as say simple not simple that's disrespectful but the way that i think they played previously feels a bit different to how they play now i think they do want to try and take the game to you as quickly as possible they do have set pieces and so on but they've got some really good footballs out there there are some games where you know they'll have a ton of possession and they travel really well i think most most recently like a loss to Chelsea was actually a really impressive performance by them to where they're disappointed that they've not gone to Stamford Bridge and won in the game which they dominated for the most part I never thought I'd be hearing that about Brentford or thinking that about Brentford especially at this point in their history but they've been fantastic you know they deserve so much like credit for being able to you know continue to develop as a club to develop as individuals as people keep getting taken away from their club but they're really really worth worthwhile and I think for me the only issue is like and maybe this is my bias I whole mind up if this is me even though they're doing really well I'd imagine most teams that would go and play against them say well we're just playing Brentford as opposed to playing against a team where they've got the second top scorer in the league and they're one of the most informed teams in the league that can play really well at home in a way and they're essentially pushing for Europe right now which is not something I thought I'd be saying about Brentford come the middle of February.

33:10They also benefit from the freshness that Wilson spoke of with regard to Manchester United, they had all week to prepare for that game. It was Newcastle's second match in four days. It was Newcastle's 39th match of the season. Which is not to take away from what they're doing. You can only play the games you're given to play. Yeah, and actually, Brentford, apart from that Chelsea away game, they've won the other four of the last five, Wolves, Everton, Villa, and now Newcastle. And the move that led up to the penalty was a brilliant move, wasn't it? I don't know if it was a penalty or not. I can't have another handball discussion.

33:46Meanwhile, Wilson, Eddie Howe, after the game said, look, I've always said the pressure I put on myself couldn't be more extreme because I demand really high standards. I know how he feels. I'm obviously not doing my job well enough at the moment. I obviously don't know how that feels. I'm annoyed with myself, angry with myself and blaming myself. I've got to take full responsibility for everything you see on the pitch and I've got to work out solutions. We've sort of talked a few times about whether he's under pressure or how much pressure he's under, but like things are not working at the moment.

34:14No, I mean, I think they're equidistant from Champions League qualification and relegation. I think they're 10 points off both. So realistically, they're going to be mid-table. And that feels like stagnation. After last season, when they won a trophy, when they got in the Champions League, they are still in the Champions League. They could have a run in that. They're still in the Cup, so they could have a run in that, which could salvage the season. But it feels like a bit of a nothing season. Obviously, their summer was ruined by the whole Isak affair. But even beyond that, you look at their signings.

34:41Lange's done nothing. Jackie Ramsey's done nothing. following Walter Marder after a good start has sort of regressed to where you know people who'd seen him play in Germany sort of thought he was of I mean he's only 23 he may well develop but you know not quite being at the level you'd be paying 65 million quid for him it's very hard to say the squad's in a better place now than it was this time last season and I think an ongoing sense that the Saudis have kind of lost interest in the project I mean the the stadium move nothing seems to be happening even the training ground development doesn't really seem to be to be going on so you know it's very hard to look at them and see anything other than the club is just sort of treading water a bit at the minute which after winning the carlin cup winning it winning our first trophy for 70 years it's a little bit like palace they win something and that's great and you have a great euphoria and obviously you know that's a great thing to win and in 10 20 30 years people look back on that with with great fondness it hasn't actually changed the club in any any real way yeah that's interesting i like how you said you know voltamada may develop he's only 23 and i i like the idea that he might grow even more and actually keith andrews keith andrews actually said of django batara he's he's growing every week and i was like he's quite big anyway like if he's doing that every week it'd be like a sabutio corner kicker burney nil west ham two massive win this for West Ham it consigns Burnley probably to the championship Scott Parker was booed the players were booed he was pretty upset about that afterwards but we should start with West Ham I guess three wins in the last four three points off Forest six points off Leeds and Spurs they could get out of this yeah they absolutely could can I just give a shout out as well to Wilson because you called it the Carling Cup I love it when we all just show our age just let it slip out oh come on well come on it's very much the milk cup if Wilson's showing his age yeah for him yeah I was thinking more Coca-Cola Cup or is that the wrong thing Rumbelos for me Clive it's absolutely like it's an enormous win for West Ham but you could kind of see it coming couldn't you I think West Ham in recent weeks have played some good football and they have gotten some results they're sort of energized with the signing of Tati Castellanos and a couple of others and even I've got to say by the way I think Wan-Bissaka coming back from AFCON has been a big deal for them I think he's done very very well and there was even a point say against Burnley after they took the 2-0 lead like I think he made a he made a block on the line and maybe this is just me having a defender's bias like that was a big moment because it was quite early in the second half and if that's goes to 2-1 then Burnley have a bit more belief and it's like a different sort of game for West Ham as such but to be able to go on the road and collect points doesn't matter who you're playing against because as somebody who unfortunately has looked at the bottom half of the table as a player for a lot of his career sometimes when you look at fixtures you can't help but assign yourself potential points.

37:29And being at home to West Ham is definitely one of those fixtures for Burnley. Even if they hadn't won for 20 games and another one was like 15 or whatever, you'd say, well, West Ham at home, that's where the run's going to start. So for it to not only not start there but to lose by a couple of goals, to have your crowd booing you as players, booing you as the manager, everyone that turned up that day would have had a belief that they could and maybe should be winning that game. You want to test yourself against those teams who are down there. So whereas West Ham have got momentum now, Burnley pretty much, they've got nothing, you know, 11 points back with 13 games to go, having won, I think it's three games all season.

38:07It's horrible for them, but for West Ham, it's a really good three points and a much needed three points. And now Forest, like even Leeds, Leeds winning that game against Forest on Friday was massive because now, you know, they've got a six point gap to West Ham, but West Ham are three points away from Nottingham Forest. This is one of those, finally, after a few years, one of those like relegation dogfights where you could actually say oh maybe it'll take you 40 points to stay up you know because one of the teams down there is actually winning some games of football as opposed to just essentially just counting down until the end of the season Don't say that I don't know where Spurs are getting 11 points from I don't want to think about that five in a row for Crescente Somerville actually both goals I thought were really brilliant the Fernandes pass for Somerville was like inch perfect his finish was great and his little Somerville's little flick to was it Juve on the left he put in a brilliant cross like Wittara's cross It was so good for Castellanos.