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In short
Football Weekly panel discusses (1) FIFA leader Gianni Infantino’s alleged misconduct and a joint UEFA/AFC/CONCACAF open letter calling for independent review and possible boycotts, with concern for the next Under-20 Women’s World Cup; (2) football governance power dynamics (“one nation, one vote”) and how money and influence affect small federations; (3) Liverpool investment chatter involving Jeff Bezos and FSG; (4) Jose Mourinho’s Netflix documentary and his second Real Madrid stint; (5) Italy’s failed World Cup qualification and the chaotic managerial search; (6) a Lars Sivertsen quiz about European transfers.
Guests
Nicky Bandini (Sweeper pod), Paul Watson (Sweeper pod), Lars Sivertsen (quiz host).
Key claims
UEFA/AFC/CONCACAF accuse Infantino of “trust broken through deception” and threaten to boycott FIFA events; smaller nations can’t easily break ranks despite equal votes; FIFA money can disappear into “black holes” (example: Djibouti facility never built); Mourinho’s Real Madrid setup may implode due to star-player tensions and his scapegoat pattern.
Notable examples
Montserrat (tiny FIFA member) voted against the proposal despite FIFA-appointed normalization committee; Northern Mariana Islands kept out of FIFA; Liverpool loan signing Ronald Araujo (55m euros, option to buy); Italy’s shortlist included Guardiola and Ancelotti, blocked Pirlo due to Fondbet ties, ended with Roberto Mancini; Lars quiz includes Julian Brandt to Ajax, Alan St-Maximin to Charlotte FC, Aubameyang to Deportivo La Coruña, Ismaila Saibari to Bayern, Griezmann to Orlando City.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOInfantino Under Fire
0:46 to 3:18
Discussion on the recent open letter criticizing Gianni Infantino and the implications for FIFA.
“civinson quiz could this be our chance to break into shiny floor saturday night tv we'll take your questions and that's today's guardian football weekly On the panel today, Nicky Bandini, welcome.”
Confederations' Threats
3:19 to 5:06
Panel explores the significance of confederations threatening to boycott FIFA events.
“Yeah, that doesn't seem to be happening.”
Smaller Nations and Power Dynamics
5:07 to 7:59
The impact of FIFA's governance on smaller national football associations is examined.
“I think that would be a good and pragmatic solution for it.”
Democratic Representation in Football
8:00 to 10:29
Discussion about the fairness of one nation, one vote, and its implications in football governance.
“I think no regular listeners will know this.”
Corruption and Accountability
10:30 to 13:20
Exploration of potential corruption within FIFA and the importance of accountability for funds.
“They're not being told, you know, you get free reign here, you know, go and pick a third side.”
Montserrat's Unique Football Situation
13:21 to 14:00
Insight into Montserrat's football structure and challenges, including their normalization committee.
“And it all comes down to are people good or not?”
Montserrat's FIFA Oversight
14:00 to 14:48
Discussion on Montserrat's normalization committee and their recent voting actions.
“The funny thing about Montserrat, as you mentioned them, is Montserrat are currently under a normalization committee.”
Bezos and Liverpool's Investment
14:48 to 15:40
Exploration of Jeff Bezos's reported investment in Liverpool and its implications.
Liverpool's Transfer Strategies
15:40 to 16:49
Analysis of Liverpool's recent transfer activities and player acquisitions.
Concerns and Expectations for Liverpool
16:49 to 20:50
Discussion on Liverpool's squad dynamics and potential weaknesses heading into the season.
“then you have a chance to sort of try, does this work?”
Show all 18 chapters
Mourinho's Netflix Documentary
21:26 to 24:22
Hosts discuss Mourinho's documentary, his character, and past narratives.
“Part two, we'll talk about Jose at Real Madrid's.”
The Chaos of Mourinho at Real Madrid
24:22 to 28:00
Discussion on Mourinho's potential impact at Real Madrid and current squad dynamics.
“Yeah, and if you've got a dressing room that is notoriously explosive and toxic, the man you want coming in there is definitely Jose Mourinho, isn't it?”
Mourinho's Scapegoats and Career Reflection
28:00 to 31:10
Discussing Mourinho's tendency to create scapegoats in his teams and reflecting on his managerial legacy.
“So maybe it's still, you never know, he's got new opinions, things to say.”
Barcelona's Transfer Strategies
31:10 to 32:50
Analyzing Barcelona's recent transfer activity and its implications for the team's strategy going forward.
“I'm a big fan of Michael Duff, of course.”
Italy's Managerial Turmoil
32:50 to 39:50
Examining the chaotic situation regarding Italy's national team management and the implications of recent decisions.
“Nicky, can we talk about the Italy manager situation?”
Tribute to Franco Baresi
39:50 to 41:40
Paying tribute to the legacy of Franco Baresi and discussing his impact on Italian football.
“It's a pretty huge standout success in that chapter.”
Where Are They Now? Football Quiz
42:22 to 47:20
Lars Siversen leads a quiz about European football players and their transfers.
“You know, it's this time of the year when we've been in a World Cup bubble and lots of things have happened in European football that we have not noticed.”
Crisis in Greenland Football
47:20 to 52:44
Discussion about the challenges facing Greenlandic football, including travel issues and tournament changes.
“does all this, the football that we don't cover.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is The Guardian.
0:30Nicky Bandini:mean they stop paying tax we'll do the more interesting how will liverpool do this season chat we'll talk jose at real madrid we'll talk jose's netflix documentary amaze someone so shy and retiring agreed to be the subject of such a thing there's the haphazard attempts to get a new italy manager paul watson's world of football and ladies and gentlemen the first ever lars civinson quiz could this be our chance to break into shiny floor saturday night tv we'll take your questions and that's today's guardian football weekly
1:01Nicky Bandini:On the panel today, Nicky Bandini, welcome. Morning. From the excellent Sweeper pod, Paul Watson. Hi, Paul. Hi, Max. Don't tease it too much. Lars Simonson, quiz show host. That's all the information I have is Lars wants to do a quiz. You've gone big there. You've gone big, Max. That worries me.
1:16Lars Sivertsen:I mean, it's a slow week, but we'll see what we can do.
1:19Nicky Bandini:Okay, excellent. Charlie says, is the plan now to give us loads of podcasts so that Infantino will leave just after you've recorded one? The latest on, Jannie. Basically, as we finished recording yesterday, there was this joint open letter from UEFA at the AFC, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, calling for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it. They accused Infantino of trust broken through deception. They've started preliminary discussions about organising new competitions further to UEFA's repeated threats to boycott FIFA events. Nick Ames reported that next month's under-20 Women's World Cup could take place without European teams.
1:52Nicky Bandini:Alternative options are being sought. So that letter was signed by Alexander Sheffrin, UEFA president, the AFC counterpart, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa and the CONCACAF president Victor Montaliani who as Matt Hughes mentioned yesterday is a candidate to replace Infantino. The three presidents called for an independent review conducted by a body outside of football into the affair. Like I said in the intro, Nikki, in any normal world this would be a huge deal but I just can't work out if it is a huge deal or not. I think it is a huge deal. The threats being made by the Confederations is a huge deal.
2:24The fact that there's serious talk of boycotting events is certainly a huge deal and I do feel like this is the part of the story that's certainly being brushed over sometimes certainly a huge deal for all those players who were looking forward to playing in the under 20s World Cup coming up and part of me thinks unfortunately would this be being treated the same way if that was men's players not women's players it's a frustration of mine I do think that's being a little bit brushed under but it is a big deal where it's going to end I still don't know I think lots of us still don't know and and we do feel like god this goes beyond football doesn't it?
2:55We're in an era where scandal just doesn't necessarily mean anything anymore. Scandal for prominent individuals doesn't necessarily mean they're going to end up out on their, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to fall on their sword. Well, there's certainly Infantino shown absolutely no inclination that he's going to fall on his sword. And so where it's going to lead in that picture, I don't know, but I think it's a big deal. I can't remember any point in my time watching football where you've had several of the biggest, richest confederations so openly at odds with the the leader of the body that notionally represents
3:30Nicky Bandini:world football yeah we're so far away from you know that comedy sketch whatever you know like the old Tory MP standing outside his house with his family going I made a terrible mistake and I must resign aren't we I guess Lars what I mean by is it a big deal is as Nicky said will it make any difference for me it's a big deal if eventually she only goes hang on people you know maybe for the good of the game. I should walk, but clearly he won't.
3:54Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, that doesn't seem to be happening. What I think is significant is that UEFA are really not letting up on this. There is this steady stream of punchy statements, and there was the mistress allegation. It's clear that But Sheffern and whoever else, but probably just Sheffern at the top of the way if I have decided that we're not having this anymore. And I think they seem, reading the tea leaves, being devoid of actual insights in this case, but just reading the tea leaves, it does seem that they're very insistent on not letting this drop into a situation where it's just business as usual. Like we've made our stand, we've said our thing, and then football just continues because that's what tends to happen.
4:39Lars Sivertsen:but they seem to be coming up with things and being very punchy about stuff and intending to follow through. It would be very unfortunate if something like the Women's Under-20s World Cup ended up getting stuck in the crosshairs of this. And I have made the suggestion that they should make some kind of arrangement that underage competitions should just kind of not apply when it comes to the boycotts and the whatever. Let's just keep the underage stuff out of that. I think that would be a good and pragmatic solution for it. But even so, you have Women's World Cup qualifiers coming up in not that long.
5:13Lars Sivertsen:So that would be a very temporary fix anyway. But I am kind of heartened by the fact that there seems real determination behind UEFA's push to just kind of dislodge this man. Because I do think he needs to go.
5:26Nicky Bandini:Andy says, can Paul give any insight into the stranglehold that FIFA and Infantino have over the smaller national FAs? This seems to be the key to FIFA, Infantino controlling the game for their own ends. And we sort of touched on this yesterday, Paul, this idea that if you are a tiny nation and you have, you know, you have a vote that's as big as vote as Brazil's or England's and you get money, which in relative terms means so much more to you, that all these smaller nations are probably happy with the status quo. Yeah, so the smaller nations thing is a weird one. This whole one member, one vote, it sounds like it's brilliantly democratic and it gives this amount of power that's equal to the likes of the San Marinos, the Anguillas, that they're all out there being treated as equals.
6:11but the reality doesn't quite play out that way. They actually don't necessarily have a lot of choice themselves. They're effectively kind of whipped into line by a continental powerhouse who tells them, this is our stance, you will go with us on this stance. So theoretically, Montserrat could break the CONCACAF stance like I think Mexico have, haven't they? But they don't have that same clout, so they would probably just be ostracised. They'd lose a lot of their beneficial relationships they have with their neighbours. So I think really for the smaller nations, this has been quite a good sign of how little they can break rank.
6:44None of them can just go, we'll take that 40 million. Sorry, everyone, we're going to go with it. Because actually, they're kind of just being told what to do by the bigger powers. And if they piss them off, they're in real trouble in that confederation.
6:56Nicky Bandini:And so because the sort of the general vibe from people I speak to is that this one country, one vote thing isn't really democratic because Samaritan have the same power as Brazil. You're a member, say you're San Marino, you're in UEFA, you naturally are going to spend most of your time in meetings with people in UEFA. You're going to need beneficial relationships with the other people within your confederation who are more powerful, who can help you with various aspects. And so you're going to build that kind of relationship. It's a massive thing to then cross the picket line in a moment like this.
7:30There's also a sense that maybe if they did try and do that, it wouldn't work anyway. and they'd be left in this incredibly awkward situation where they'd burn all those bridges and then the rest of UEFA just sort of drowns them out. And then they're just those guys, you know. I just don't think it's a problem that it's one nation, one vote. But like anything else, it's only as strong as those nations can be, you know, in saying, I'm going to stand up. And they just can't.
7:56Lars Sivertsen:Can I throw out, as someone who is, I think, instinctively on the side of the underdogs, I think no regular listeners will know this. I tend to think that the big clubs and the big money and the big stuff is the root of all evil in football. I have to say, my stance on the one country, one vote is being challenged, I feel, because especially watching Infantino describe it as perfectly democratic, it just kind of gets my brain working. And I'm wondering, is it democratically logical for Montserrat to have the same pole in the world of football as Brazil? Does this actually make sense? Isn't this the equivalent of like the smallest city in the UK having the same number of MPs as London?
8:35Lars Sivertsen:Like it just doesn't make any sense from a democratic perspective.
8:39Nicky Bandini:Even though that is the case, that isn't, they don't have that power.
8:42Lars Sivertsen:I mean, I'm minded to agree with you, Lars. These clusters of tiny nations ended up having massive amounts of power, which is even worse. The problem with all of this is when you start throwing these sorts of ideas around, what is that fair and should be, what's your alternative? And I think it's worth reminding ourselves that if we want to talk about confederations and how they act, UEFA is no beacon of moral purity. We've had plenty of issues with how that's been run down the years. And I'm certain if my attention was more focused on the different confederations, I'd probably find similar things elsewhere.
9:16My work is mostly in and around European clubs. What is certainly true with the current setup is when you have this wild disparity in not just the size, but frankly, just the wealth and the earning potential of different nations' representatives, it does leave open the possibility on the nefarious side. And to be clear for our lawyers, I'm not suggesting anything specific in this case. Say corruption, Nikki. But it also needs to open the possibility for things that are short of corruption, such as when Infantino is talking about whether if we sign this private equity deal, we get to give everyone X amount of money.
9:50Well, that amount of money means a huge amount more to a poor small country's football confederation than it does to a rich country's confederation. And therefore, you can certainly manipulate people's intentions much more easily when there are less wealthy representatives who have an equal vote to the wealthy representatives. And that's a very complicated thing. And that's why I'm trying to dance around it a bit. Because I don't think that equally, I don't think that it should be might makes right. It shouldn't be, oh, well, you're the rich country, so you get to speak loudest. That's not how it should work either.
10:27Basically, they're being asked as a playground squabble and there's two big bullies fighting it out and they're being told choose one side or the other. They're not being told, you know, you get free reign here, you know, go and pick a third side. They really are just being whipped into a line one way or the other. I think you're totally right, Nicky. There is this real like, you know, powder keg here that you have nations where their development budgets are tiny. We were talking about the Comoros in Africa and their budget, their entire sponsorship budget last year was 150 ,000 euros. So then you're looking at 40 million or whatever it is.
10:58That means a different thing to what it means if you're Belgium or whoever, you know, Italy. But on the other hand, this is the only time these nations actually are courted by people. If you start to allow the rest of the football world to say, let's just push these guys to the sidelines, they're not really ever going to be heard from again. So I remember talking to a guy who was president of a small federation. He said, the only time we ever feel like we have any say, any voice, is when a big vote is coming up. And then that's basically what happens. And it's where you draw the line, isn't it?
11:28Nicky Bandini:What's corruption and what's looking out for your nation? You mentioned Montserrat. If you land in Montserrat, there are just suddenly like 50 amazing 5G pitches. You know, like other examples of where the money has really made a massive difference. You know, this idea that Infantino has given money to smaller nations to court their power. Are there examples of like amazing football academies, you know, in the Northern Mariana Islands or whatever it may be? Northern Mariana Islands have done a brilliant job of development. They're actually being kept out of FIFA at the moment, despite they're a full continental member of AFC.
12:02They're doing a brilliant job. So no, I won't tar them with any of this. But what I will say, I mean, there's countless examples of FIFA projects that have just never existed. The latest one I saw a picture of was in Djibouti, where huge amounts of money was put towards a facility that just literally never got built. And if you look at it, it's just fences. And so there's the question of where do these millions go? So there are lots of examples of where money that is given to these kind of nations disappears into a black hole. But I will also say there's this assumption that this money couldn't be spent well by lower ranked football members.
12:34And I think that is unfair. The head of the Bhutan Football Federation came under a little bit of fire because he was one of the few that's really come out in favour of Infantino's proposal. And someone said to him, I think it was a very good journalist, John Durden, BBC journalist, said to him, what would you do with this money? And he basically said it would change every single facet of football in my country. I could draw you up a plan. I could tell you exactly five, six, seven, eight, nine departments of our nation that we would change immediately. and all these amazing things we would do.
13:04So there is this assumption that, yeah, you couldn't do anything with 40 million in Bhutan. I'm sure you could. And I'm sure if it was properly regulated, and this is a lot of where the problem is, FIFA pumps this money out. It doesn't keep an eye on where it's going. That is partly FIFA's fault too, right? So I don't know. There is more complexity and nuance to it. Sure.
13:22Nicky Bandini:And it all comes down to are people good or not? You know, picking other tiny, tiny kind of Eritrean FA is a great person. then they don't squirrel a bit of the money away from themselves. And if the head of FIFA is a great person, then he doesn't try and sell the World Cup for his own end. Like, you know, this is a story about life, I guess. Maybe we're all corruptible. It's just nobody's offering me 40 million to do something. Yes, Lars?
13:47Lars Sivertsen:I am particularly intrigued by Monstrat, which, as Paul Watson will know, is the tiniest FIFA member nation with a population of around 5 ,000. And interestingly, a total GDP of around 85 million. So if you add another 40 to that, a third of all economic activity in the country is handouts from Gianni Infantino. It's incredible. The funny thing about Montserrat, as you mentioned them, is Montserrat are currently under a normalization committee. So their FA's failed so badly they've had to bring in a FIFA-appointed normalization committee to get them back on their feet. So the vote that Montserrat were being asked in CogCath, will you back this proposal, was being made by a FIFA-designated group.
14:27And they voted against it. so in a way a real like a real sign that normalization committees kind of can be trusted because fifa have put these people in and said look we're you're independent do what you
14:38Nicky Bandini:think is right and they all voted against it we did something on trinidad and some really lovely secondary school teacher who'd sort of acts it's almost like a movie someone had just said look someone needs to to go for the head of the fa against the fifa stooge and he did and he won and then they instantly brought in a normalization committee because he wasn't their guy but so that's really interesting that you know these guys have had the you know that they've managed to vote against it anyway it's fascinating and uh i'm sure this story will not go away on to the consortium including jeff bezos reportedly close to a 1.35 billion pound 30 stake in liverpool the owners fsg confirmed last month they'd expressed interest in a minority investment in the club the group is led by the british indian millionaire businessman amit Batia who I used to play squash with and also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin Bezos his first investment in football he'll receive equity as part of the deal and Amazon has live UK rights for 20 Premier League games each season for six seasons until the end of last year broadcast the Champions League in several European countries I mean I don't know and I look at you and by all means answer blankly I can I can talk about how Liverpool are going to do this season I think that's a much more interesting conversation for our listeners but does anyone have any thoughts on what this means beyond somebody with lots of money investing in Liverpool This is the real romance of the game podcast here isn't it we're going straight in for the things that make everyone love football All I had on it was does it mean Liverpool get players delivered faster if they get Bezos It's a very good point isn't it well it depends if they've got prime you imagine that'd be annoying if they get you know can they get Barcao tomorrow free delivery next day or do they have to wait until Monday and pay $6.99 for a delivery fee I don't know look we can do Liverpool itself Ronald Araujo joined from Barcelona in a loan deal yesterday 55 million euros with an option to buy is that a good can I say it's gone is that good thing for them to have done I'm a big option to buy enthusiasts I
16:46Lars Sivertsen:I think that's like when you can get those deals done, then you have a chance to sort of try, does this work? Is this good or no? And then if it doesn't, then it's not a total disaster. So Araujo, at his best, is an incredible defender. He's very physically capable, very assertive, at his best, very confident. But he seemed to lose his way a little bit. He has always been a little gaffe prone, and he's made some high-profile errors at Barcelona that's kind of destabilized him there a little bit. and I think someone yeah new beginning at a new club certainly someone who has all the tools to be a very good defender in the Premier League as well and the fact that you're getting this try before you buy deal means that you know worst case scenario if it doesn't work out you're stuck with
17:27Nicky Bandini:a season of his wages and that's fine and I think Nicky they are one of the many actually interesting sides going into this season and that there are a lot of unknowns how Iriola will you know begin if he can cope with the pressure because it's obviously different those players that were there last year that you know didn't have great seasons but are really good footballers like Florian Wurtz etc it's sort of very hard when you're trying to predict what happens this season they are one of a number of clubs it's quite hard to have any certainty to Yeah Jonathan Wilson's been writing has me about the end of the big beast era for different managers and who's going to be the next one who steps up and establish himself and I really like Ereo as coach which obviously did amazing work before this at Bournemouth.
18:14And I think it's a great appointment, but you're right. We don't know exactly what's coming. And I'm certain, to bring it to the actual news, it's a very natural fan reaction to when you hear about your club getting new investment from extremely wealthy person at extremely high valuation to wonder, oh, well, what else could there be done? What else, who's going to come in this window now? and it feels like, do you know what? I was going to say it feels like we're a bit late in the day for that, but maybe we're not. There's still quite a lot of this window left. I've definitely heard in the last couple of days Daniele De Rossi was calling, I think he used the word abomination about transfer window going two weeks into the season.
18:56So who knows? Maybe this deal does yet mean things in terms of the squad building that will go on at Liverpool as well.
19:02Nicky Bandini:Yeah. And Barclay coming in, I guess. How big a signing would that be, Lars?
19:07Lars Sivertsen:I mean, it would be big in monetary terms. he'd be very expensive. I think he's a player who fits English football because he's a winger, but he's quite tall. He comes from the French League, so he's used to being kicked around. He's quite direct in his style of play. He's got good sort of searing straight line pace and likes to just go straight at it. So I wonder if one of the reasons Luis Enrique kind of likes Desiree Douai a little bit more in that position is that he's just a little bit more delicate and better in small spaces, whereas Barcola kind of exceeds when he has space to run into.
19:40Lars Sivertsen:Also, Barcola at PSG has kind of been undone by the arrival of Quariscale and the success of Quariscale because Barcola is definitely better on the left. He's not being bombed out of PSG for being bad. He's a very good player, and I think he would suit the English League, and I think he would suit Liverpool. I only wonder a little bit about, is the attack where you're spending 100-plus million right now? Because you do have some good attackers, and I worry more about what's going on at the back. I mean, Araujo is an interesting one. That could be a solution. They also have, I mean, the young French defender, Jeremy Jacquet, and the young Italian defender, Giovanni Leone, who unfortunately missed all of last season with an injury, but they've spent big on two young defenders, hoping, I guess, that one of them will turn out to be the Van Dijk replacement that will be needed at some point.
Read the full transcript
20:25Lars Sivertsen:But there are question marks, I think, more in that end of the field that if I was a Liverpool fan, I'd be hoping would be addressed. and they do need wide players as well, I guess. But yeah, is that where we're spending a hundred and something million? Midfield is the one I feel kind of good about. Gravenberg, Soberslay, McAllister still there. Harvey Elliott is back. I don't know if he's going to be playing football. Hard to say. Sure, you know, Curtis Jones and Verts can play.
20:52Nicky Bandini:Curtis Jones is a really good player. If Curtis Jones is there, I mean, again, transfer stuff, he's been linked a lot, hasn't he, with going to Italy, actually, we'll see. but didn't he miss the friendly the other day against Monaco? I'm not certain. He walked off a pitch looking annoyed about something at some point when I was having my sort of break from football so forgive me everyone. There's too many friendlies and I'm not going to act as though I've seen all of them so I'm just going to be realistic about that. Have you watched all of Tottenham's one-all training ground friendly with Getafe?
21:24Nicky Bandini:If not, get out of here. Alright, that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll talk about Jose at Real Madrid's.
21:37Nicky Bandini:welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly um has anyone watched any of jose's netflix documentary marino has anyone uh because i i i had the chance and i watched death in paradise new season last night instead and a man had fallen off a roof um but did he fall at the time They all thought he fell or not. And did lots of people say, sure, I had my beefs with Darren, but do you think I'm capable of murder? Anyway, that's a different podcast.
22:08Lars Sivertsen:Lars, you look like you'd raised your hand about the Jose documentary. Well, no, I'm intrigued by the Jose documentary because when I saw the trailer, I rolled my eyes so hard they went all the way around. because I'm like, I don't know if I need three hours of Jose telling me his version of events in my life. You know, he's such a, he's just one of the least, like, he's an incredibly fascinating character because he can be extremely charismatic, but I would see he's also the least reliable narrator in all of the book. I really, I'm including Johnny in this. So, like, I think doing a big documentary on him puts a lot of pressure on the people making the documentary.
22:48Lars Sivertsen:Because this is clearly with his cooperation, so you can't fully piss him off. But you also have to have some relationship with the verifiable truth and not just the Mourinho narrative. And it's very interesting because we already have this, one of the stories that are already coming out is this idea that he had an agreement to go to United when Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down. Whereas previously what had been reported by someone like Diego Torres, the ever controversial Spanish journalist, was that Mourinho at the time cried about not getting it, that he was rejected in favor of Moyes. And this was just unfathomable to him.
23:26Lars Sivertsen:Here we are almost 13 years later and Mourinho is claiming that the deal was there. I could have gone.
23:33Nicky Bandini:And who knows what to believe?
23:35Lars Sivertsen:and and this is why i'm fascinated to see this because i do know the guys who've made it are are good people it's uh they're the guys who did the fifa uncovered documentary on netflix which i thought was much much better than i had any anticipation of it being uh so so i'm intrigued to watch it but i haven't gotten to it yet yes fergie was interviewed and he said early evening he phoned me jose phoned me and he was crying this is what sir alex said and he said alex i
24:01Nicky Bandini:can't take it i've given my word to chelsea i'm not going to break my word a man of honor jose say uh the reason he gave to me i could understand but i was disappointed um i mean i don't know if there's if you want to do that you know i wonder how different it would have been um in the sliding united it's not like that yeah that's true happened we can't we can't miss that kind of airbrushed him i mean literally can't remember anything that happens in the uefa cup somebody did win something uh at manchester united didn't he maybe he won more than that but um yeah so three years later he he took over from louis van hal he is at real madrid for his second stint and and this paul will be so fascinating won't it just like yeah that's the thing about him as as lars says he just he he draws you back in in a way that perhaps he shouldn't yeah um but him at real madrid is sort of perfect for for like a casual football fan who isn't invested in real Madrid.
24:59Yeah, and if you've got a dressing room that is notoriously explosive and toxic, the man you want coming in there is definitely Jose Mourinho, isn't it? I think, I mean, you mentioned Death in Paradise. I'm pretty sure that's what the Amazon, you know, whatever the documentary is going to be. It's going to end up being a murder mystery. I think they're going to find Mbappe's body and Mourinho is going to have to be the one who unpicks who it is, who's done it. Yeah, I mean, honestly, you couldn't have a better recipe for I guess for just chaos really especially when you look at the way that team's built the team just isn't built like a football team in some ways it's built like a collection of all the people you would name if you didn't really know much about football but you could name a few footballers
25:43Nicky Bandini:It's like Dead in Paradise, they've just got some famous people from old other shows and you've gone oh look they were in that and they were in that and now look at them together And now they're going to put them under the trusty hands of Mourinho. I think it's really likely to implode isn't it I think it's really likely to go horribly and nastily wrong. But I have to say, as a complete neutral, I would love to watch that. About as much as I'd love to watch a documentary where Mourinho keeps missing out on jobs to David Moyes. I think that'd be a great sitcom, wouldn't it? That he keeps turning up in prestigious places and David Moyes is being unveiled.
26:16Nicky Bandini:I cried outside the London Stadium where they unveiled David Moyes. It was my dream. Is the set-up of their squad, Lars? because we've always talked about how unbalanced it is is it is it getting more balanced or not
26:31Lars Sivertsen:i don't think so like i'm very confused by recent events because earlier in the summer not just a couple weeks ago there was like ah venicius jr is flirting with arsenal you know he's thinking about leaving and i was like that makes sense because as much as you can play them in different positions you can play in bapa front and venicius on the left they do occupy a lot of the same space like they both do their best work sort of coming in from that left channel and it's been very clear that since Mbappe joined as much as Mbappe have scored a lot of goals you know Real Madrid have won no trophies and and I don't I'm not convinced that those two will ever play their best football in the same team I'm not sure how you get that to truly work so I thought him moving on Vinicius moving on to be the main man at Arsenal was like yes this is logical I also saw Real Madrid linked with Rodri and I thought yes because the other thing that's happened in the last two years.
27:22Lars Sivertsen:I mean, two years ago, Mbappe joined and Kroos retired. So you lost the sort of strategist in midfield and Luka Modric eventually left as well. So you went from having two of the most high football IQ midfielders of the last couple of decades to having none of those. And instead having a lot of extremely gifted players, don't get me wrong, but you don't have that sort of strategic brain to control things in the middle. So you have this problem, two Galacticos that don't make sense together, no massive brain in midfield, and you're thinking about selling one of the galacticos and bringing in a big brain i was like yes i can see it it works and then what happens venetius signs a new contract and apparently rodry's going to barcelona now so this is not it's not making sense anymore yeah and rodry was such a good idea to them it was it would make sense but i mean he's going to make sense for barcelona as well i mean maybe that's what barcelona realized i was like oh god we if he's willing to go to spain we should we should make sure we get him instead of those guys well i haven't not seen this latest um marino documentary Do you remember where I feel like I've watched other Mourinho documentaries or at least documentaries about his teams and I've heard his opinion on why things went in certain ways before.
28:27So maybe it's still, you never know, he's got new opinions, things to say. But I do think one of the consistent themes of Mourinho is that he pretty much always finds a scapegoat within his teams, right? You find someone who's going to be the villain and that person is then becomes the enemy within around whom some sort of competitive tension can be built. He did that at Inter. He did it at Madrid last time. He's done it everywhere. And the only question is with this Madrid team, like you say, they're all superstars. Who are you going to do it with? You can't hand Vinicius a new contract and then make him into the bad guy.
29:05You can't make him into the one. You can't go out and sign Diamande as this hugely expensive wonder kid and make him into the bad guy. Maybe you can because you're Mourinho and you'll just then make it into somehow somebody else's fault and somebody else's problem. But it does raise that question to me because there is this unresolved tension of how do you get the best out of Mbappe and Vinicius when they're in the same team. They want to do some of the same things. They're both brilliant footballers, but how do you make it work? and so the obvious thing is to make one of them into the bad guy but then how how do you do that with two of the world's best players in absolute um so presumably it isn't presumably it's someone else um you know i i do think it's worth just throwing into this conversation because it hasn't been said yet and and you know i'm big on people having chapters in their careers having different moments in their careers and maybe josé is about to turn around and prove that he's got old dog can learn new tricks but it is a long time since we knew prime jose for me prime jose of course italian lens but winning the trouble with inter that's 2010 um you look at what's been won since then yeah there was there was a premier league title at chelsea there was i mean that's 2015 premier league title at chelsea so that's still more than a decade ago there was uh You mentioned Man Utd, Max, it was 2017 they won the Europa League with Mourinho.
30:31Then there was Roma, a Europa Conference League, which, listen, I talked about at the time. That was a big deal to that club at that time. But it's not what Real Madrid are going for, put it that way. It's not in that ballpark. It's really slim pickings for more than a decade now for someone with this reputation. Maybe you could say it's not slim pickings by a generic manager's reputation, but by a manager with a reputation that Jose comes in with. I do think he's got a lot to prove. He's got a lot to prove all over again. Not that he won't be remembered as a great manager because he did incredible things earlier in his career.
31:06But I don't think we've seen it for a while.
31:09Nicky Bandini:Yeah. Steve Evans would take those trophies. You know, Michael Duff would. But, you know, you're right. I'm a big fan of Michael Duff, of course. Am I a big fan of Steve Evans? I think he's done all right. Meanwhile, Barcelona have bought Anthony Gordon. Adeyemi's in as well. They want Rodri. I thought they pulled all the levers.
31:30Lars Sivertsen:There's always another lever, my friend. What's happening? In fairness, they have sort of completed the redevelopment of the Spotify Camp Nou, as it is now known, and that has given them some more wiggle room and some more levers to pull. I mean, Robert Lewandowski has left, so that's a big chunk of salary off the wage bill. So there's stuff to do. I do think the Gordon deal was a little wild in terms of the transfer fee. I'd be intrigued to see if there are any sort of business dealings between Barcelona and the Saudi Public Investment Fund in the next two or three years. That's something I'd be interested in keeping an eye on.
32:07Lars Sivertsen:It seemed like a big number to me. But the footballing side of it, Anthony Gordon and Adeyemi coming in, certainly tells you that Hansi Flick wants guys who can run. because Anthony Gordon, God bless him, he's a hard worker. He has a good movement off the ball. I think he is a good player. And Adeyemi is a guy who has had a lot of talent when he was young, came through at RB Salzburg and sort of moved to Dortmund and was seen as the sort of next off the production line there. Has never quite reached those heights, but good lord, he can run. He's extremely fast. So I think this is sort of Hansi Flick wanting more energy and more running power on his front line maybe to cope with the sort of high intensity of the way they play going into a new season.
32:50Lars Sivertsen:And there is logic to that, I think.
32:51Nicky Bandini:Nicky, can we talk about the Italy manager situation? So Italy obviously failed to qualify for the third World Cup in a row. Giovanni Malaga was named the new president. Multiple new board members were brought in, including Paolo Maldini and Leonardo. Maldini then told the press he'd spoken to Carlo Ancelotti and he and Pep Guardiola were their main targets. Pep ruled himself out. Ancelotti's staying at Brazil. Maldini over the weekend said Pep was close he said they had lunch and were talking about details of stuff right down to the under-17s the new board then attempted to replace Gennaro Gattuso with Andrea Pirlo that's a like-for-like midfield Pirlo's appointment was then blocked because of ties that he has to a Russian betting firm called Fondbet two weeks after their appointments then Leonardo and Maldini both left the following day Roberto Mancini was announced as the new head coach agreeing to be Italy manager for a second time.
33:43Nicky Bandini:Claudio Ranieri replaces Maldini as technical director. There's so many different threads to it. So to wind it back to a tiny bit before the start of your time in there, of course, Malagor only took over the role as the head of the Italian Football Federation this summer. There's been this pause after the World Cup qualifying failure with the old team all stepping down. There was this wait for this election. And Malagor, who's got a lot of credit in the Italian system because he's been the head of the Italian Olympic Committee for more than a decade. He was the one who got the successful bid to have the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina and then delivered it as well, which was, by most feelings, quite a positive, successful Winter Olympics.
34:24People were very happy with it. It felt like it was a nice moment for Italy, especially when we talk constantly in football about dilapidated stadiums and all the rest of it. The fact they put on this great Winter Olympics and it all went off well was really seen as a success. So he comes in with a lot of credit and he goes out and he gets Maldini. He's almost increased his status by losing his job at Milan. Obviously, he's got a certain status just by being who he is. Of course, iconic Italian football player, iconic member of an iconic family whose father was also an iconic football player, someone who's perceived already as having a very strong moral compass and firm ideas and being someone who the country could get behind.
35:01And at Milan, because he was a director there and a huge part of their last title win brought in, or certainly credited with bringing in a lot of the players who helped them win that last Serie A title in 2022 with players like Raphael L, Mike Magnan, he was credited with building that squad. And then he left Milan about a year later with the general telling of that story being basically he gave some public comments saying we need to make a couple more signings and we'll be ready to compete to win the Champions League. And the perception was that then basically Milan's owners said, you're too big for your boots now.
35:37We're not spending this money for you and out you go. and so Milan fans have held on to this idea that Maldini was the the chosen one who was sent away and he had it all right and and everyone was wrong to chase him away and it feels like Maldini has now had this moment with the Italian national team where he comes in and he's had his idea of how things are going to go which of course initially was Guardiola and as you mentioned they did have lunch with Guardiola and apparently he drew up his starting formation and everything for them he was very into it, but just was too not the right moment, tired from his sabbatical in the telling.
36:12Maldini himself then throws out the name of Ancelotti in an interview, which was not officially on the table, only for Ancelotti to be, well, you know, I've already said I'm staying at Brazil, don't know where this has come from. Then there's the Pirlo situation, which you've already touched on. And yes, I mean, there's a whole tangent to go into about the Russian Betting Federation and certainly a lot of talk in the Italian press about the hypocrisy of betting adverts being sold for football matches, but then also players getting these bans for betting on illegal sites. And then this separate thread of, okay, but this isn't just a betting company, it's a Russian company.
36:52And where business ties are not allowed, there is a lot in that, which I think I shouldn't get into because it's a lot. But suffice to say, a lot of people go, hang on Pep Guardiola wow one of the best managers in the world Carlo Ancelotti one of the iconic managers of Italian football has won the champions they go over and over again Andrea Pirlo who's who's not done much in his career he's done a PhD though
37:19Nicky Bandini:hasn't he he's done a football PhD if I remember all Italian managers great hair they do of course of course but Pirlo who ended Juventus' run of nine consecutive league titles not by being someone else on a different team by being the manager who was in charge of Juventus when they stopped winning nine league titles. I don't want to completely, you know, I think sometimes we can go too far as well. Pirlo, it wasn't just his fault they didn't win that year. And he made some bold choices in his next managerial steps, which were wrong ones. But certainly a huge step down. And then basically after the Pirlo move collapses with this story about the Russian Federation, and Maldini flounces and quits and the version and you know what happened essentially is Malagot again this guy who's now in charge of the Football Federation basically said you've had your go, now I'm going to pick the manager and just over the weekend Maldini has given this huge interview to Correo della Sera, a really big interview which he's his version of events, this is like the Mourinho three part documentary it's a really long interview and And in Maldini's telling, he'd basically been promised not just some small role of picking the manager.
38:35Maldini was going to be the head of Club Italia. He was going to oversee like a decade long overhaul of the whole system. And he's really pulling on that thread of what all Italians, every time you speak to a Greece with this, the whole system needs some reworking. And he named Cruyff and mentioned how the Spanish system got overhauled. He's positioning himself as the Cruyff that Italian football needed. And maybe that will fly with some people, especially given the Milan fans already had that feeling about him. I think some of us, and this was put really well in a piece I was reading by Emanuele Arturo from Ultimo Warm-Up, a great writer, he was saying, if that was really how you felt, the important thing was a decade-long project, then why would you flounce and leave just because you couldn't get your manager right now?
39:20If it's a 10-year project, fine, suck up that you can't have your manager right now and think about the 10-year project. So there's a whole thing going on with Maldini and whether or not he was the right ideas. They've ended up on a manager, Mancini, who probably isn't the worst choice, but certainly isn't.
39:42Nicky Bandini:It's not the testimonial you want, though, isn't it? He's not going to put that on his poster. Yeah. Well, listen, he won the Euros and Italy have failed to qualify for three World Cups. It's a pretty huge standout success in that chapter. But it certainly doesn't feel like anything systemic has been done to fix at the moment what we've talked about for a long time. These are systemic problems. Can I just ask you about Franco Barresi? You know, we paid tribute to Kevin Keegan yesterday and we talked about sort of legends of the game. And he passed away at the end of July. And just, I don't know, in my mind, you know, you have this image of the ultimate Italian defender.
40:20Nicky Bandini:And it is Franco Barresi. and his record for Milan, I was just reading that he didn't see football until he was 10. That's an amazing story, isn't it? When you think about, you know, kids now being handed a ball at two and you have to be doing keepy-ups on Instagram when you're four or you've got no chance. And, you know, sort of ball on this farm and never saw a game until he was 10. But what an amazing career he had. Extraordinary. Extraordinary footballer. Extraordinary individual. Actually, it was one of the things that came up in the interview, of course. Maldini was talking about Brazzi and a connection on the pitch.
40:54And I think that could be seen as a bit cynical, him trying to link himself to Brazzi, but I think it wasn't. I think that was just genuine human connection and what they meant to each other. But yeah, it's hard to think of something to say about Brazzi that hasn't already been said in the last few days with all the beautiful writing that's been done about him. But he was a defining defender in an era when And Italian football went through this evolution, actually, of moving away from just having man marking everywhere and the free player behind two zonal marking and this different interpretation of how you would even defend.
41:32And then became this core idea for a Milan team that completely dominated. And then, of course, a World Cup win as well. He's an absolutely towering figure in Italian football and no age at all again, 66 years old.
41:48Nicky Bandini:yeah great shame may he rest in peace all right that'll do for part two part three we'll begin with the big Lars Siverton quiz
42:03Nicky Bandini:welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly I mean if this was a radio show now Lars I'd have I'd have spent all morning putting a big theme tune together maybe production can do that Feel free to bring in something 80s and something shit as we go now, ladies and gentlemen, for the Lars Siversen quiz. And here's your host, Lars Siversen. Take it away, Lars. Hey, hello.
42:23Lars Sivertsen:The idea for this came to me. I was looking up some things. You know, it's this time of the year when we've been in a World Cup bubble and lots of things have happened in European football that we have not noticed. I was terrified of coming on here today and having my Barry Sergio Ramos moment. so I spent some time looking up like where people are because there have been transfers what you've done is now you're going to throw it at us yeah exactly I'm here for it I'm absolutely here for it the first edition of the quiz where am I okay we should go through some European players some English players that have left this summer where are they all right I'm going to start anyway with I'm Julian Brandt because I have at long last left Dortmund after never really living up to my potential death.
43:05Lars Sivertsen:Where do I think Julian Brandt
43:07Nicky Bandini:would have gone?
43:08Lars Sivertsen:Julian Brandt. I now find myself at a different place. Has he gone up or down? I am Julian Brandt. Where am I? Ajax. I'm Ajax. Did you look that up? No. Damn it. You're right. Max has got one.
43:22Nicky Bandini:That is amazing. There we go. I'm quitting. I shouldn't like that because I didn't get it, but that is a great advert for the quiz right there. It could have gone better.
43:32Lars Sivertsen:Okay.
43:33Nicky Bandini:Right.
43:33Lars Sivertsen:Here we go. Could I get all five? So I charmed a lot of people here in England during my spell at Newcastle United because my name is Alan St. Maximan. And then I went off to Saudi. I played in the French League last year for Lens, but now I'm somewhere else. I'm Alan St. Maximan. Where am I?
43:51Nicky Bandini:I reckon he's in Ligo, Mexico, but I don't know any teams. Okay, he's at the Colorado Rapids. Do they exist? That's a very good shout. He is at Charlotte FC, but I'm almost inclined to give you half a point
44:03Lars Sivertsen:for picking MLS out of the bag there. You're doing pretty well. Yeah. Surprisingly good.
44:08Nicky Bandini:I spend a lot of my time doing terrible quizzes, Nicky, on various radio shows and podcasts. Okay, here we go.
44:15Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, I have a surprising number of England caps because once upon a time I was the coming man, but my name is Harry Winks and I am no longer the coming man. Caliuri. Como. Where am I? Caliuri, yes. He's at Caliuri. Very good. Very good. Okay, you guys are doing too well at this. Let me show you some one you might not get. Okay, speaking of guys who used to be big deals in the Premier League. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still knocking around. He has left Marseille, but he's still part of the European football sort of... Anabtiala Spohr.
44:44Nicky Bandini:Something Spohr.
44:45Lars Sivertsen:Good shout, but it's not correct. Have I managed to stump you at long last? He's at Deportivo, which is a very cool transfer. I'm a huge fan of it. Deportivo La Coruña back in La Liga, and Aubameyang has gone there. Love that. Okay, we're running out of time, I guess, But we have one of the sort of big sort of, maybe not surprises, but the positive players from the World Cup. Ismail Saibari from Morocco scored three goals, looked really, really good. He has moved somewhere this summer. My name is Ismail Saibari. Where am I?
45:16Nicky Bandini:Sevilla.
45:17Lars Sivertsen:He's gone to Bayern Munich. And that was actually arranged before the World Cup. Bayern were clever. They saw that this guy could have a big summer and they got the transfer wrapped up early as the canny Germans they are.
45:27Nicky Bandini:Listen, Lars, it's a good question. it's hard to run it through the season because, you know, by March, we should know where everyone is. I've got a couple more. Okay, go on. I'll take two more. Go on. Okay.
45:38Lars Sivertsen:Maybe people have forgotten this. So Antoine Griezmann has left Atletico Madrid at long last and he has gone somewhere, but this happened a little while ago so people might have forgotten. My name is Antoine Griezmann. I've got great hair. Where am I?
45:51Nicky Bandini:LAFC.
45:53Lars Sivertsen:It's not correct. Does anyone else want to try?
45:55Nicky Bandini:Nope. Is it MLS?
45:56Lars Sivertsen:This really is a hammer blow for the idea that signing these guys is amazing PR for your MLS franchise. He's gone to Orlando FC. Orlando FC. Yeah, big Disney enthusiast, maybe. I don't know.
46:08Nicky Bandini:Okay. Last one, last one.
46:10Lars Sivertsen:There's a sneaky one. I used to be another one who used to be a coming man in European football until things took a wrong turn and kind of bottomed out at Swansea, I think. My name is Renato Sanchez. Where am I?
46:24Nicky Bandini:I mean, I don't know where Renato Sanchez is. And I'm trying to think, are enough people interested that they're going to... Because you wouldn't switch off, would you? You'd be like, the thing is, I'm not enjoying the quiz, but I still want to know where Renato Sanchez is. He passed to an advertising hoarding, didn't he? I think he is set-piece coach at Al-Ali.
46:47Lars Sivertsen:So the reason I bring him up is that he is technically at Paris Saint-Germain, which might blow your mind a little bit. They took a punt on him in 2022 and have really regretted it ever since. He's been out on loan to Roma, Benfica and Panathinaikos, but he is, as we speak, back in Paris. See, I thought like Max, we were going for another profession here. I thought we were like, you know, an electrician in Watford. He's a tree surgeon in Basics. Anyway, look, Paul. Nathan Ake. My name is Nathan Ake. The quiz is over.
47:13Nicky Bandini:We will never know for this whole season where Nathan Ake is. Paul, you wanted to talk about, obviously, the excellent Sweeper Pod, does all this, the football that we don't cover. You want to talk about Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and the Coupe de France. I do. I do. I love the Coupe de France. I love it because all the nine, they have nine overseas territories that send a team to the Coupe de France. And they just get entered in alongside the kind of provincial French teams. And one of these nine places is Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, which is tiny archipelago off Newfoundland, just off the south of Canada.
47:49It has only 6 ,000 people in the entirety of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. But there are only also three clubs in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. So there are three clubs. They play a tournament every year where one gets a bye and they play a final. And the winner goes to mainland France to play in the Coupe de France. And there are, as you might imagine, two main islands, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The team that has gone ever since it started in 2018, The team that has gone has always been from the more populous island, which is actually the smaller island, as we all know, St-Pierre. Whereas Miquelon has never sent a team until this year.
48:27Yes, come on, Miquelon. When AIS Miquelonese won on penalties.
48:32Nicky Bandini:Great on a sandwich, isn't it? I know. With a bit of cheese. There we go. And they won on penalties to book their place. And it was just lovely. There were just lovely scenes. They won 7-6 on penalties. Players piling on on the pitch. And all the fans were in their cars honking their horns because apparently it's just so windy and cold that actually the fans tend to just watch from inside their cars. Which reminds me, I've told this story before, but it's so good, of an amateur ref who used to ref the Manchester Leagues. And if it was raining or cold, he'd just park his car on the halfway line.
49:07Nicky Bandini:And then he would beep his horn for a free kick and indicate which side it was to. Such a nice image, isn't it? What about musk ox hunting season wreaking havoc for Greenland football? Yeah, and this is a scandal. So as most people will be aware, there's two main musk ox hunting seasons in Greenland each year. I mean, it depends what you classify, but I don't want to make this into musk ox weekly. But basically there are two main hunting seasons. I mean, the thing is, Paul, we know you do want to turn this into. Yeah, I've pitched that, but I haven't had a response yet. But basically, yeah, there is a hunting season really important at the start of August.
49:47That is also the only time of the year where Greenland can have an outdoor football season. So all the teams from the island get together for this one week in August. They rotate the location around Greenland. So what it means is a lot of players are absent from tournaments because they're out hunting muskox and also, to a lesser extent, reindeer. I'll hold my hands up there.
50:06Nicky Bandini:And so it's great in a WhatsApp group, isn't it? You know, is anyone around tomorrow because Dave is hunting muskox? Muskos. Yeah. And so this is this has been a problem. A bigger problem, arguably, is that it's really, really hard to get flights anywhere in Greenland. They get cancelled very regularly. They're incredibly expensive. So the problem they had this year, the tournament was being played in Manitsuk, which is off the west coast. It's about 140 kilometres north of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. There were supposed to be 10 teams because of these hunting seasons, but mostly because of transport issues and the costs.
50:38They actually ended up with four teams turning up for their tournament. And what it's done is it's caused a bit of a crisis point where they're saying, look, how are we going to keep doing this? Because there are no roads between settlements in Greenland. So you either have this option of really hard air travel, which often flights get cancelled, or boat trips, which can be pretty harrowing. So I spoke to the captain of the winning team. They are the powerhouse of Greenlandic football, B67. Their captain, Patrick Fredrickson, said he was actually delighted this tournament was being played in Manitsoc, B67 from Nuuk.
51:14And he said, it's an easy six-hour boat trip. And I was like, Jesus, God, you've got a different idea of what easy is. They're all on exercise bikes, you know, as you're on the boat, right? Exactly. Just keep warm, lads. Well, the reason he said this, I think, is because in 2022, so 2022, there was the only recent title B67 didn't win was in a place called Ilulissat, which means icebergs in Greenlandic. It's beautiful. One of the most beautiful pictures in the world. You sometimes see pictures on sites that take content from sites like The Sweeper and don't give it any credit. And they put photos up of Ilulissat's pitch because it's just so beautiful.
51:51And the problem that B67 coming from Nuke had is that their flights were getting cancelled due to the weather again and again. So he had to, Captain Patrick had to scramble players onto various different flights. They only actually had 10 players when the tournament kicked off. And Patrick Fredrickson, the captain, was the last man to turn up because he was sorting everyone else's flights. He turns up in a taxi mid-game in kit, runs onto the field, 35 minutes in. And this is a national championships. And they ended up losing in the final on penalties in this tournament. And it felt like everything was against this team.
52:25But yeah, Greenlandic football has hit a crisis point and they're going to have a meeting very soon where the president, Kenneth Kleist, is going to outline what he says are extensive changes to the tournament structure. So it feels like Greenlandic football has hit a bit of a crisis point over the last month.
52:41Nicky Bandini:So many listeners will have been in kit late for a game, getting changed on the train, you know, running out. um always remember um playing for the poly before rolling subs and we only had nine and three of our best players were arriving late and so our skipper dom we started with eight and hunter on the bench and he was like okay this is a sign if i'm not if i'm not starting because we're waiting for three of our galacticos to turn up we start with eight and one on the bench that is harsh that is ruthless management. Ruthless management at the amateur level, isn't it? Poor old Hunts. Anyway, that'll do for today.
53:21Nicky Bandini:Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Nicky. Thanks. Thanks, Lars. Thank you, Max. Cheers, Paul. Thank you. For more Muskock stuff, of course, the Sweeper pod, go and listen to it. Football Weekly is produced by Rory Simon and Jesse Howard. Our executive producer is Danielle Stephens, and we'll be back on Thursday.
53:40This is The Guardian. you