In short
Football Weekly Extra covers three main areas: England Women’s 4-0 win over the Netherlands (tournament bounce-back and “proper England” grit), PSG’s 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid in the Club World Cup semi-final (setting up a final vs Chelsea, with Rudiger’s high-profile errors), and transfer talk across the Premier League and Europe, plus Paul Watson’s Champions League/qualifiers travelogue.
Guests and backgrounds
Barry Glendening (Guardian football reporter/host), Max Rushden (podcast host/commentator), Nikki Bandini (Guardian women’s football writer), Paul Watson (football writer, “World of Football” segment), Tom Gary (Guardian contributor, reporting from Switzerland).
Key claims
England’s tactical shift (Lauren James moved right; Alex Greenwood left back; Jess Carter in central role) fixed balance; Hannah Hampton’s distribution and Russo’s movement/work rate were decisive; Netherlands were tactically and chance-wise poor. PSG’s collective strength and midfield overrunning, plus Real’s lack of defensive graft, drove the rout. Transfers discussed include Arsenal’s pursuit of Madueke/Eze and Spurs’ Mohamed Koudas; Sunderland’s big spending; Lyon relegation appeal affecting Palace.
Notable examples
Lauren James early strike; Stanway’s goal before half-time; Wales’ Jess Fishlock scoring first major-tournament goal; Rudiger miskick; PSG’s 11 different scorers.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOEngland's Performance Recap
0:45 to 2:30
Discussion on England's impressive performance against the Netherlands.
“PSG demolished Real Madrid to set up a final against Chelsea.”
Tactical Insights on England vs. Netherlands
2:30 to 5:20
Analysis of the tactical changes that improved England's play.
“And it actually really summed it all up.”
Players Making an Impact
5:20 to 8:10
Highlighting individual performances from the England squad.
“time England had a left back who made the position their own for a period of multiple years in a row.”
Comparative Analysis with France
8:10 to 10:40
Comparing the performances of England and France in the tournament.
“all three were perceived to be relatively even.”
Reaction to the Netherlands' Performance
10:40 to 13:30
Discussion on the Netherlands' disappointing game and coaching issues.
“whether it be maybe some of the aerial work or the set pieces.”
England's Performance Review
14:00 to 15:00
Analyzing England's impressive performance and key player contributions.
“She wasn't giving the Dutch midfield any space at all.”
Stanway's Leadership and Standards
15:00 to 16:00
Discussing Stanway's press conference and her call for higher standards.
“It's a long time since they've played that well and maybe there was a slight overreaction, I have to France, but it's just because we know what they're capable of.”
The Unique Dynamic of Miedema and Mead
16:00 to 17:00
Exploring the personal and competitive relationship between Miedema and Mead.
“And that's probably more like they're in camp now.”
Miedema's Impact in the Game
17:00 to 18:00
Reflecting on Miedema's performance and its implications for the Dutch team.
“I think people were almost expecting her to say something along the lines of that she would go easy on her partner.”
Celebrating Jess Fishlock's Goal
18:00 to 19:20
Celebrating the significance of Jess Fishlock's goal for Wales.
“Yeah, I mean, they probably get bored of the questions, but I think it is quite interesting.”
Show all 28 chapters
Wales' Journey in Women's Football
19:20 to 22:00
Discussing the history and development of the Welsh women's football team.
“It's almost hard to think of another player who you could say the same for at that level.”
VAR Discussions and Controversies
22:00 to 22:30
Examining the role of VAR in the recent games and its implications.
“And the players in the team think really highly of her, the way that they and their people close to them talk about her when the microphones aren't on is quite reassuring that they're really complimentary about her.”
Rian Wilkinson's Coaching Impact
22:30 to 24:10
Analyzing Rian Wilkinson's influence on the Welsh women's team.
“We know they had a supremely difficult draw, so I don't want to be too harsh on them.”
The Role of the Brass Band
24:10 to 25:30
Discussing the presence of the brass band at matches and its reception.
“He's not going to criticise a brass band, is he?”
Analyzing PSG's Dominance
28:01 to 29:46
Discussing PSG's performance and their position in European football.
“He can't be the problem, but he kind of is the problem.”
Xabi Alonso's Challenge at Real Madrid
29:46 to 31:29
Exploring the challenges Xabi Alonso faces at Real Madrid after their defeat.
“I do think there are huge questions for Xabi.”
Chelsea's Prospects Against PSG
31:29 to 33:39
Examining Chelsea's chances against PSG and their midfield dynamics.
“It feels like this is just the story that we already covered and now we're just almost getting it rubber stamped or something.”
PSG's Generational Team
33:39 to 36:11
Debating the quality and impact of PSG's current squad in football.
“Look, Bayern Munich gave PSG a decent game.”
Luka Modric's Move to AC Milan
36:11 to 38:13
Discussing Luka Modric's potential transition to AC Milan and its implications.
“And while I am a bit like, perhaps maybe I'm just, again, too jaded from a full season.”
Updates on Arsenal and Tottenham Transfers
38:24 to 42:01
Analyzing transfer activities of Arsenal and Tottenham during the window.
“There's this almost expectation with Arsenal that they'll find a way to not do this deal that seemed like it was done and it will all go wrong.”
Sunderland's Ambitious Season Ahead
42:01 to 43:08
Discussion about Sunderland's recent signings and expectations for the coming season.
“I mean, I've gone from certainties to go straight back down to, hmm, this is not bad.”
Lyon's Legal Victory and Its Implications
43:09 to 44:08
Exploration of Lyon's appeal against relegation and the potential effects on Palace's Europa League chances.
Champions League Preliminary Rounds Begin
44:09 to 45:44
Overview of the Champions League preliminary rounds and notable stories including Kairat's support.
“That would be the biggest away trip possible in UEFA if that happened.”
Shelbourne vs. Linfield: Key Qualifying Tie
45:45 to 47:18
In-depth look at the upcoming match between Shelbourne and Linfield and its financial stakes.
“uh premier division in the republic of ireland linfield are the champions in northern ireland and they got drawn together in the first qualifying round.”
Logistical Challenges for Welsh Teams
47:19 to 49:23
Discussion about TNS and Penebont facing unique logistical challenges ahead of matches.
“And it's Shelburne are halfway through their season, or more than halfway through their season.”
SJK and the Sausage Minute Tradition
49:24 to 50:48
Highlighting SJK's unique tradition involving fans and sausages during matches.
“So when it gets to that minute of the game, the crowd are all yelling, sausage, sausage, sausage.”
Bruno's Magpies: Gibraltar's Best Pub Team
50:49 to 52:08
Discussion about Bruno's Magpies and their rise to prominence in Gibraltar football.
“I mean, we should get Mark Langdon one of those shirts.”
American Food Culture and BBQ Insights
52:09 to 53:08
A humorous take on American food culture, specifically about ribs and diners.
“Adam says, Dear Max and Co, long-time listener from the States, love the show.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is The Guardian.
0:30Nicky Bandini:campaign underway. Lauren James did some excellent repaying the faith with a brilliant early strike and a great performance. Also in Switzerland, a wonderful moment for Wales and Jess Fischlach. Their first goal at a major tournament, not enough to trouble France, but something to remember nonetheless. Over at the Club World Cup, how many times do you want to watch that Tony Rudiger miskick? PSG demolished Real Madrid to set up a final against Chelsea. There's transfer news, Arsenal lining up Madweke or Eze or both. Spurs agreeing a fee for Mohamed Koudas. Paul Watson's world of football takes us to Kazakhstan, Finland and the far reaches of somewhere called Ireland and I appear to have made a huge mistake when discussing eating ribs in diners in America's Midwest all that plus your questions and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly
1:13Max Rushden:on the panel today Barry Glendening hello hello Max I thought you might follow FIFA's lead and get Michael Buffer in to go let's get ready to rumble why would I oh did he I didn't
1:27Nicky Bandini:see that bit yeah i didn't see the uh oh god yeah i mean i'm so glad we've gone there that didn't get but that didn't get to my highlights feed nikki bandini hello morning paul watson welcome hi max and joining us uh from uh zurich i presume unless you've gone somewhere else quickly after the game yesterday tom gary hey tom good morning max no zurich is where you find me very happy as an englishman after last night's performance yeah and i mean it made a mockery that performance tom of people who might have spent a long time on a podcast yesterday predicting the fallout had England lost but you know there's nothing to see here um it was so much better wasn't it yeah it's the performance that we've known these England players are capable of for a really long time we've seen it in flashes and it's why we get so frustrated when we see them play poorly against France or when we see them lose in Belgium or or sort of limp to a lackluster draw against Portugal a few months ago because we've known they're capable of playing football like this and to be honest with you it was as a reporter reporting on England's women's team it was one of the great evenings you know sun shining happy crowd every England player putting in a good performance 4-0 against the Netherlands it's sort of exactly the kind of idyllic scenario that you might imagine that it would always be that easy to go and watch England I thought they were great to watch and they they talked in a bit about this kind of proper England this phrase the players have apparently coined around grit and determination and getting stuck in, as well as also being purposeful with the ball.
2:57And it actually really summed it all up. They were winning their battles. They were winning the 1v1s. They were... Carter and Stanway, for example, just completely outfought the Netherlands with the intensity. And there were so many good performances. We could talk about Hannah Hampton's distribution, which was fantastic. We could talk about Russo's wonderful movement and work rate up front to get three assists and overall their best performance probably since the World Cup semifinals. They were terrific.
3:24Nicky Bandini:Yeah. Proper England, it's almost impossible not to say in Cockney, isn't it? It feels like this thing that they decided they wanted to sort of build as a narrative. And it could, right? It could become a thing, right? What did you make of the performance, Nikki? Yeah, I mean, it was brilliant, wasn't it? I was wondering, obviously, with Lauren James scoring the opener and a bloody brilliant opener too, like I was wondering if Tom thinks it's oversimplifying to say that that move of pushing her out to the right was just the right one for getting a bit more of that balance in the midfield because it felt like that was the big talking point wasn't it after the first game was whether or not the team would just have a bit more I think options in midfield perhaps because she was drifting out to the right anyway in that game one so letting her just play out there and and use that space then obviously she cuts inside to score but it felt like the balance was a bit better well yeah that was the big talking point from the first game tactically and whether Serena Vigman maybe had got it wrong by playing Lauren James in the number 10 against France who's very, very energetic and sort of intense midfield and moving her out to the right-hand side worked to perfection because it kind of enabled Lauren James to go and do her thing, caused the Netherlands left-back Esme Brooks all sorts of nightmares and in centre instead we had Ella Toon who was working really hard off the ball, was always giving options and the balance looked a lot better.
4:43I also like the tweet they made in the back where they, in the France game, had had Jess Carter at left back. As a right footer, that must have been quite awkward for Jess Carter to play against one of the best wingers in the end of his cell and Delphine Cascarino. They shifted it round this time so that Alex Greenwood was left back and Carter was in the left central back role. And they both looked very comfortable by comparison. And I think England will probably now finally found their back four combination that they'll stick with. They have had a left back problem for a generation. He probably will have to get all the way back to maybe Rachel Unit, where it was the last time England had a left back who made the position their own for a period of multiple years in a row.
5:26If you think back to the Euros three years ago, it was Rachel Daly, a striker, who was playing at left back. We've had brief spells where it's been, Demi Stokes had the role for a little while, but generally, even when England made the Euros final in 2009, Casey Stoney, a centre-back, was at left back. And they've had to wait a long time. But I would hope now that this is the back four they will stick with for the tournament because the balance looked significantly better.
5:50Nicky Bandini:Yeah. After the game, Jess Carter was asked, you know, why were you switched? And she went, I don't know. I was just told to go there. So I went there and I thought that was sort of a great explanation. It's proper England. Yeah, exactly. It was. I don't know. Just go there. Don't ask any questions. She sort of said, I don't ask any questions because I just trust what Serena Vigman tells me. and I suppose that's quite a good way to be unless Serena Vigman didn't want to say, did you watch the France game? That's quite interesting, isn't it? I mean, that Lauren James strike bats was so perfect, wasn't it?
6:22Nicky Bandini:And such an important moment you sort of feel after everything that had been said after the first game. Yeah, England, the players,
6:30Max Rushden:I mean, we were very sceptical yesterday and part of me wanted them to lose just to see what would happen next, just out of curiosity. But if you want them to lose because you're Baz and you always want England to lose. I was going to say. Well, no, that's not true. I want the England women or the England men's team to lose. I want the England cricket team to win. I don't care about the rugby team and the women. I'm pretty ambivalent. But they insisted they would deliver and they did. And Lauren James is their standout player. She set the tone. arrowed in that beauty from the edge of the box. And I think Andres Junker, the Netherlands coach, he seemed quite shell-shocked afterwards.
7:18Max Rushden:And he said, we weren't expecting this. We thought we'd be able to give them a game, and we just weren't. And he didn't seem to have any explanations as to why the Netherlands were so poor. But I'd take my hat off to England. They were hugely impressive. So we've seen what they're capable of against France, and we've now seen what they're capable of in a better way against the Netherlands. And they do show bounce-back ability in the face of setbacks, and this was another example of that.
7:48Nicky Bandini:Yeah. For context, Tom, like France, the Netherlands, and England, because if you watch this, you just, you know, and if you'd come from having not watched the women's game until major tournaments, you'd say, well, France are obviously that much better than England, and they're that much better than the Netherlands. But is it not that simple? Because I thought England made the Netherlands look as bad How does France made England look? Yeah, you're right, though, that coming into the tournament, all three were perceived to be relatively even. And certainly that was reflected in the Nations League meetings that they'd had.
8:19You know, last summer, France won 2-1 at St James' Park. And then England went and beat France 2-1 in St Etienne a few days later. And they were quite closely fought matches. Similarly, in the previous Nations League cycle, England had lost narrowly in the Netherlands. And then England had beaten the Netherlands 3-2 at Wembley. And all the contests were quite close. So I came into this tournament thinking, goodness, this is going to be fantastic. There's going to be these head-to-head games between France, England and Netherlands that could all be on a knife edge. And as it's turned out, there's been a thoroughly deserved winner in the two we've seen so far.
8:54The Dutch media attitude was fascinating last night. It was quite tetchy. Junkers, of course, leaving after the tournament to be replaced by the England assistant, Arjan Vierling. kind of, he's made it clear he's not particularly happy about that. I don't think he really wanted to leave. But the Dutch media were criticising him last night. Some even asking him, wouldn't you be better off to accept that you're not as good as these teams and approach games more conservatively? He then did a bit back and forth, sort of insisting they were still in a world-class bracket. But the tone of it was clearly very dejected, to say the least.
9:30And I was very surprised how poor the Netherlands were in terms of creating chances. Miedemaard barely had a sniff and they didn't start Daniel van der Donk, which didn't go down very well at all with the Dutch media. So maybe England caught them at a good time, but I still want to go back to how good that England performance is. And can I just throw one shout out for that pass from Hannah Hampton, the goalkeeper for the first goal, which reminded me of sort of a professional golfer playing the perfect drive off the tee where she managed to kind of dissect that gap between four Dutch players, a bit like finding a very narrow line between three bunkers and a tree.
10:08And it was just the perfect ball out from the back to pick out Russo and kind of criminal that she doesn't get an assist for a pass like that, isn't it?
10:16Nicky Bandini:No, it was. She strikes the ball beautifully. I would say what the one Dutch centre-back's doing, sort of trying to win that ball when it's obviously they can't. I thought it was sort of pretty woeful defending. But yeah, her distribution actually is a key part of her game, isn't it, Tom? And she did that brilliantly. Yes, and it's one of the things in her armoury that served in her favour when I think Serena Vigman was choosing who would be her number one goalkeeper for this tournament. Because there are still other elements of her game to improve on, whether it be maybe some of the aerial work or the set pieces.
10:44But her distribution is really seen as outstanding. And that was helpful to England's game last night. I was surprised how often England played long balls. They had huge success going over the top. didn't they, behind the Dutch defence. And then we all thought at half-time, well, surely Jönke's going to perhaps change tactics a little bit, maybe play a deeper line or maybe just be more alert to the idea. But then again, second half, England were still finding Russo with balls over the top, pacing behind the centre-backs. And yeah, tactically, Wigman sort of got one over her old colleague there.
11:19And they're very old friends, Jönke and Wigman, and they spoke a lot about that in the build-up. But she, I would say, came out on top significantly on the tactical battle between the two head coaches. Absolutely. I feel like in amongst that, maybe just my Arsenal buyer shame, but proper shout out needed for Alessi Russo with a hat-trick of assists as well. I mean, she was flipping brilliant, leading the line. And yeah, just felt like we hadn't given her enough love yet for that.
11:45Nicky Bandini:No, no, you're totally right. It's interesting, Paul, isn't it, with tournament football, how quickly you can go from this is a disaster to oh we're going to win the thing isn't it yeah and I did I did want to have you know a little word there that I get saying England were disastrous against France like it was by no means how you want to start your tournament and I think for about 70 minutes that game it was pretty disastrous but my feeling was that there was a comeback and then at the end I genuinely think that could easily have gone to 2-2 had you know the game had another 10 minutes I think England were the ones who were going to score so in a way like I think it was just one of those sluggish starts to competitions that that you know a team will have sometimes but I do think if that game had ended 2-2 people wouldn't have been talking in obviously wouldn't have been talking in these disastrous terms and then it kind of set the sowed the seeds for this the start of this Netherlands game where they just came out and had obviously got rid of the nervousness maybe the sense they weren't quite physically ready for this and they were just brilliant so I don't know I think there was a slight overreaction in my opinion to how bad the France game was it's you know France very good team it's a bit of a group of death and they just started a bit sluggishly I thought and Russo did have a goal disallowed right at the start of that game right and goals change games obviously always so yeah I think that's I thought that as well a little bit a little bit of every action to that one Tom is there anyone else you want to pick out I thought you know Georgia Stanley was really open about how she didn't play well in the first game and I don't know I I thought I thought I don't know I didn't hear every reaction I thought England really bad in that opening game.
13:13Nicky Bandini:And Stanway said she wasn't good enough, the team weren't good enough, and she did play really well in that game last night. And actually her goal, even if it was deflected, was a key moment, isn't it, to be two up going into the break? Yeah, well, Stanway looked like a different player to me, but we have to remember that she hadn't played very much football since Christmas. She'd been out with a knee injury and was only just sort of coming back after the end of her club season with Bayern Munich. She was only just coming back into fitness with England and internationals at the end of May, start of June.
13:38So perhaps she needed a game like the France game just to kind of build up that match readiness. Against France, she was being beaten off the ball. She lost almost all of her jewels. She looked a little bit sluggish compared to the intensity that we were seeing from Guillaume and Cachawi with France. And then last night, it was completely the opposite. Stanway looked like she was first to every ball. She wasn't giving the Dutch midfield any space at all. And then the first time finish for her goal was so emphatic. And Elan needed that quite badly because they'd been so on top in the first half, it would almost have been a bit of a travesty if they hadn't gone in 2-0 up.
14:14So to get that goal before half-time was crucial. And I must say, Stanway spoke superbly in her press conference on Monday, sort of set the tone for England's performance in that she said, we know we weren't good enough. Like, we know we deserve to go home if we play like that again. We're going to sort it out. You know, we're going to demand higher standards. We're going to be gritty. We're going to be, as she called it, proper England and she was excellent. I also want to say how well Lauren Hemp played against her Manchester City teammate, Kirsten Kasparai, who probably went to bed and had nightmares about Hemp last night.
14:50She looked like she was going to beat her every time she went one-on-one down England's left and that was the kind of stuff we've been hoping to see from Hemp for a long time. We could praise all of the 11. I really do think that. It's a long time since they've played that well and maybe there was a slight overreaction, I have to France, but it's just because we know what they're capable of. And we do see it every now and then. So when we don't see it, it's kind of exasperating. And maybe we're a bit unfair to expect them to be at their best all the time. But when they play like last night, that's why we say that England are capable of going on to win the tournament.
15:27Because they are good enough. They've beaten Spain this year. They've shown last night that they can be right at the top of their game. And I hope now they can stop that streak. They're on a streak of win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win. So now we don't want them to go back to the loss in the next game. But there's no reason why that should happen now. They should take confidence going forward.
15:50Nicky Bandini:Tom says, how frosty will the atmosphere be in the Mead-Meadamard household right now? I think it's quite interesting, Tom, isn't it? They're parents and clearly they'd have played against each other, I guess, last season once Meadamard left Arsenal. And that's probably more like they're in camp now. That's probably more in club football that they would probably end up in the same house after the game. And that must be sort of strange to be an elite sport and to play against each other and live together. Yes. And particularly for two players who are such high profile stars for their teams. Miedema was asked so many questions about this in the pre-match press conference.
16:22And she essentially said that their golden rule as a couple was that they would never talk about matches like this. So she said, I would never know whether or not Beth is starting. she will never know what our plan is and so and so and so and so but it must be quite hard must be quite tempting to discuss things surely you know as a couple you you would talk about the game it would be what are you up to tomorrow well oh yeah i've got a game on but but i did i kind of loved what medium i said pretty much that if it's a bad day for beth that's like a good day for me like you know if i have to do something that hurts her tournament i don't care i'm here to win for the Netherlands.
16:58Clearly it didn't work like that, but I did quite like the way she brushed off all those questions. I think people were almost expecting her to say something along the lines of that she would go easy on her partner. Her mind was absolutely not. No, if I have to tackle her, I'm going to go fully in, et cetera. So I sort of respected that a lot, but it is an unusual thing in competitive sport. Couples in the women's game are relatively common, but to be in the opposing sides like that is a very unique situation. And clearly one part of that Miedema household will be very, very happy now. Miedema, to be honest with you, I barely noticed her in the game.
17:38I was doing player ratings for the Guardian website and I made notes on all the players. And Miedema's little column was like almost blank after 60 minutes or so. I realised, oh gosh, I haven't got any notes on Miedema. I sort of turned to Susie next to me and we agreed that she hadn't really been in the game. So I hadn't forgotten anything that she'd done. But yeah, you're right to flag it because it is such an unusual, interesting psychological concept in elite sport.
18:08Nicky Bandini:Yeah, I mean, they probably get bored of the questions, but I think it is quite interesting. Did you go full the keep and give me tomorrow one out of ten or something? Or were you more generous? No, some of you will know our Football Special Products editor, Marcus, who's very lovely. And he advised that a one or a two is almost unheard of on Guardian football ratings and very frowned upon. So I think I might have actually generously given Miedema a five. But there were quite a lot of Netherlands players who you could have given a three or a four just because they performed so poorly as a team.
18:42And it was striking to see them make three changes at halftime. that sort of panic button mode of the triple change. And nobody in the Dutch team got higher than a six. Let's just put it that way.
18:53Nicky Bandini:Joachim says, when was the last time you saw someone celebrate a goal like the Welsh team scoring their first ever goal at a major tournament? Paul, it was so wonderful. And I don't think it's patronising to say like that. I just think it was such a glorious moment for them. Yeah, and the fact that it would be Jess Fishlock to score the goal. You know, we always have this cliche of you couldn't script it. But genuinely, if anyone ever deserves to score a goal in any game ever, it's Jess Fishlock scoring that goal with the contribution she's made to women's football in Wales. It's almost hard to think of another player who you could say the same for at that level.
19:28So, yeah, I was absolutely delighted, especially because it looked like it had been disallowed, which I was like, you know, it seemed like the gods are just saying there's no magic. But no, what a moment. And actually, I didn't know a lot of this. I've come to this fresh and I know a lot of people will know this, but I was reading about the battle that the Welsh women's team had to even exist and how recent that was. And this is a brilliant piece, actually, that I read by Megan Faringa in, I think it's The Athletic or The New York Times, about the fact that these three women, Laura McAllister, Michelle Adams and Karen Jones, had to write a letter that they kind of went in to basically fight to have the right to have a national football team.
20:12and the fact that was so recent, you know, it's kind of incredible how far Welsh football has come and regardless of any result on the pitch, it's an incredible moment, I think, and what a perfect moment for them to score that goal.
20:26Nicky Bandini:Yeah. She made her debut 19 years ago in Switzerland. It's almost an argument for VAR, isn't it, Barry? It's almost all the things that are bad about VAR. Without that, then this goal wouldn't have stood.
20:37Max Rushden:Yeah, but at least they got to celebrate it twice, So that's one benefit, I guess, from the fact that it was almost chalked off. I don't think anyone from Wales was expecting much. They, they, it's all about Jess Fischock did an interview for the Guardian before the tournament. She, and I've seen various other interviews she's given and she's all about, look, we've broken through a ceiling. uh welsh girls can can watch us and see what what is achievable and as recently as 20 years ago this this kind of thing wasn't achievable and i've seen you know various packages tv stations have done from the wales camp and they almost can't believe the luxury it would and the way they're being treated you know they've got this lovely coach lovely hotel lovely camp and they're clearly not used to that because this is their first major tournament and they're going to want more and
21:41Nicky Bandini:more of it yeah um tom it's i think rian wilkinson their head coach she's canadian she she i think she's really impressive tom yeah she's really well thought of in coaching circles in terms of the way she sets teams up i i think she speaks very eloquently and says i said all the right things in this tournament about Wales and Welsh football and what it means. And the players in the team think really highly of her, the way that they and their people close to them talk about her when the microphones aren't on is quite reassuring that they're really complimentary about her. So Wales have got the blueprint now to kind of build something to get to future tournaments.
22:21The challenge they're going to have is that they really need a bit more quality up top if they're really going to start to threaten some of these teams in tournaments going forward. We know they had a supremely difficult draw, so I don't want to be too harsh on them. But there is clearly a big, big gap from France, Netherlands, and I suspect we will see a big gap when they play England on Sunday. That said, I was so happy that they'd see them get a goal. You will not find anybody in global women's football who wasn't smiling when they saw that Jess Fishlock was the person who got that first goal for Wales.
22:54She's kind of given her heart and soul and her whole life and career to this team. And as Barry was alluding to there, you only have to go back. I think it was the qualifying campaign for Euro 2005 when Wales sort of pulled out and didn't take part in the qualifying because of a lack of funding and resources. And the FA essentially said that they weren't prepared to step up the cash for things like away qualifiers in Kazakhstan or wherever it might have been. You know, they weren't prepared to fund it. So the difference to now is fantastic to see. And they can hope, even though they will exit this tournament early, I hope that the legacy is going to future tournaments and it starts the ladder of something a bit more special.
Read the full transcript
23:35Nicky Bandini:Guardian Women's Football Weekly is out three times a week during Euros. So listen to that. More of Tom, if you like Tom. Oh, your hand is up, Barry. Yes.
23:43Max Rushden:Well, no, I just wanted to ask Tom. I don't know if they've always been there, but it's only in this tournament that I've noticed England have an annoying brass band. And I wanted to know if their annoying brass band is the same as the one that follows the men's team or have they got their own annoying brass band? I believe that it is the same personnel who travel around for both the men's and the women's in very dedicated fashion. They're not to everybody's taste. The one they've been doing. Are they to anyone's taste?
24:20Nicky Bandini:Hey, come on. We know Tom's too nice to do this. He wouldn't give anyone below a five. He's not going to criticise a brass band, is he? Can I say I do quite like the twist on that tequila song, where instead of saying tequila, they've been chanting Serena. And that works quite nicely because it's sort of for a saxophonist, isn't it? And instead it's for playing on the brass band. But I know what you mean. There have been games when I've just sat there thinking, oh, please with the band, please just shut up. But I didn't mind last night. I didn't mind because it was just such a it was a lovely atmosphere all the way through the evening.
24:56So a shout out to the Dutch as well, who did a sort of a two mile walk to the stadium, which behind a bus, the bus, I would say the only way to describe it was the bus was playing sort of 90s disco party anthems and ABBA. back to back all the way through to the stadium but about 4 ,000 Dutch fans were having a great time and it was clearly illegal not to wear orange because every single person was in orange which I love to see but yeah maybe I'm being on the fence too much but I might join Barry and say I'm not a fan of the band there we go
25:28Nicky Bandini:okay cheers Tom thanks for coming on mate great to see you all take care Tom Gary there out in Switzerland and that'll do for part one part two will do PSG demolishing Real Madrid in the club World Cup
25:46Nicky Bandini:welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly so psg4 real madrid nil i mean psg were brilliant took the lead in the sixth could have been two up by that time anyway courtois making a couple of saves and who isn't here barry for some real slapstick real madrid defending
26:00Max Rushden:yeah uh this was a demolition uh psg won four and it could have won by double that amount i think and Real Madrid quite apart from being demolished by PSG didn't make life easy for themselves because he had very high profile comedy mistakes from Asensio and Antonio Rudiger Rudiger's air shot was just something else there would be pub footballers all over the country looking at that going oh yes
26:33Nicky Bandini:thank god it's not just me
26:36Max Rushden:but I think it's critical to notice that or to make the point that those mistakes were forced. You know, he was under pressure. He was being pressed and harried and that's, that's where the mistake came from. I expected PSG to win this game. I didn't expect them to win as comfortably as they did. A harrowing evening for all of Madrid players and, and Javi Alonso who's been given plenty to think about after six games in charge. And he is a big problem now. He said after the game, I leave here with lots of certainties and next year will be different. This game and this competition has told me lots of things about what we are, what we need to improve, the changes there will be.
27:22Max Rushden:And he's probably learned good things about his new team and he's learned bad things that. and there's going to be fingers pointed at Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe. They are a problem.
27:37Nicky Bandini:Yeah.
27:37Max Rushden:Not every team that Real Madrid, almost all teams that Real Madrid will face will not be as good as PSG, but their disinclination to put in the graft when their side doesn't have the ball is a problem.
27:52Nicky Bandini:Yeah. And it's so fascinating, Nicky, that because we sort of alluded to it yesterday, but when you think about great forward lines, that press like Salah and you know when the Salah Mane Firmino three right and even the front three from Liverpool last year but they are brilliant footballers who also did the work and actually thought by having to get Mbappe into this side and obviously Trent was injured so Valverde goes into right back so there's a few there's not as much legs in midfield but Goula goes deeper he's been really good playing off the left Mbappe isn't bad at football like we know that right It's so ridiculous to say he's the problem.
28:30Nicky Bandini:He can't be the problem, but he kind of is the problem. Well, I think we'll see. I do think Xabi Alonso said it well when he said after the game, this is not the start of 2025-26, this is the end of 24-25. And to be honest with you, this whole tournament, and I think this has been part of my problem with it, there's many problems I've had with the tournament, but one of them is definitely the feeling that, especially now, especially now that um Chelsea have seen off the last non-European team it's like well well I know Paris Saint-Germain are the best team in Europe they've shown me they're the best team in Europe they smashed everyone in the Champions League so now it's like okay well here we are seeing a story that I already knew like a they won the final 5-0 and Real Madrid got beaten by Arsenal who got beaten by Paris Saint-Germain of course it doesn't always work like that in football of course like a team can beat a team and someone else can can can go the other way like it's not that simple but also it kind of is that simple with this Paris Saint-Germain team because they were so emphatically the best by the end of that tournament that I don't feel like I'm learning a lot new about that so I think that um the fact that they were much better than Real Madrid didn't shock me I think that um Xabi Alonso is entitled to say look this was I showed up and I went straight into this now I've got the summer to go and actually start doing my work properly um I think that's all totally fair to say.
29:53I do think there are huge questions for Xabi. And I think that this is kind of, even when I talk about it not being new, this is kind of feels like it's just the forever narrative of Real Madrid. Real Madrid are always the club, have been the club since, as long as I can remember watching them. They are the Galacticos club. And of course they have times when it's a bit more or less, but still the narrative of this club is the great individuals more than the great collective, whereas PSG's narrative right now is very much about the collective. And I think that what will be really fascinating to watch is whether Xabi Alonso can impact that in a different way.
30:33Because actually, when you look at certainly the recent history of Real Madrid, the managers who've achieved the most in terms of winning things are the ones who've been a bit more laissez-faire, who've been a bit more able, like an Ancelotti or Zidane, to go, you know what? You're all really great. I'm going to take a slight step back and let you guys be really great. Whereas Xabi Alonso is much more hands-on, is going to want them to play more like a collective, is going to try and make them into more of a team that will put that work in and be a bit more selfless for each other. And we'll see how that plays out.
31:05There's been all that, up until this point in the tournament, there's been all that positive noise about how hands-on he is in training. We'll see what that looks like. I don't know if it's just me. I don't know if it's because the Euros are on and I'm more excited about them. I don't know if it's something else. It's really impressive how good PSG are. It's not stopped being really impressive. Luis Enrique has done incredible work there. I just don't know that this feels like it's a new story. It feels like this is just the story that we already covered and now we're just almost getting it rubber stamped or something.
31:39I don't know.
31:40Nicky Bandini:No, you're allowed to not be that bothered about the Club World Cup. It's sort of weird when big games are happening. you think well this is i'm obviously excited to see this game and then i'm i don't know what time it starts and am i going to watch all of it etc i mean the the third goal was beautiful port i was a bit sad that ruiz didn't hit it first time it was one of those moves that you know he scored you can't criticize him but i just wanted it to be bang bang bang bang bang rather than oh don't slow it down mate but yeah yeah that's something to work with training there i think if i was going in I'll be like forget that win never do that again wasn't it there's a manager isn't there who I can't remember who is but who'd always tell players to hit the ball immediately regardless which foot it came to and one like player who he was coaching scored a wonder goal but had taken an extra touch to avoid hitting it with that foot and after the game instead of any congratulation he just went in and was like never do that again to that player that's what I would do Max yeah Yeah, that's John Beck substituting Steve Claridge for cutting inside.
32:42Nicky Bandini:You know, like, I think he might have scored, but it didn't matter. I mean, it is worth just re-emphasizing if you haven't seen the goals. The first two, Raul Asensio, it's not just dawdling on the ball. He basically just turned himself off for about five minutes. And Dembele's there. I think Courtois said something like, I pointed at Dembele and said, he's good at pressing. Like, he didn't know, you know. And then Rudiger's missed kick. it does look very much like someone who has never played football before. But we've all been here saying, oh, this tournament's unrelatable. You know, this is the most relatable thing I've seen in the whole competition.
33:14Moudica's biscuit was just, and his reaction to it was like mine. It'd be like, oh, I have this vision of the ball moving and it hasn't happened. And you just stand there in disbelief.
33:23Nicky Bandini:Well, I think he just touches it with his left foot before he tries to kick it with his right. It's one of those classic, and then he might, the worst is when you do that and pull a muscle because you've kicked nothing and you're sort of, like you're expecting something there. delightful. Paz, do you give Chelsea any hope?
33:37Max Rushden:No, I don't. Look, Bayern Munich gave PSG a decent game. That could have gone either way, I think. Chelsea need to have a look at that one and see what did Bayern Munich do right. I suggest Moise Casado may be injured and I think if he misses the final then forget it. But PSG have a habit of overrunning teams in midfield so that's something Chelsea need to address a half-fit Casado. Is a half-fit Casado better than a no Casado? I'm not sure who would come in. If PSG have an off day, yeah, Chelsea could beat them. But on the face of all available evidence, you'd have to say it's PSG's. They're going to win this.
34:23Max Rushden:Their goals come from everywhere. They've had 11 different goal scorers in this tournament. 10 from their own players or 10 of their own players have scored at least once and I think an own goal from Seattle Sounders that's remarkable remarkable, they're so dangerous in every area of the field people are starting to talk about them in the same glowing terms as Pep's sort of 2011 Barcelona side and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they're almost that good there's no weak link in that team I feel like I want to come back in having been so like down on it and just reinforce that I mean from PSG's point of view this is amazing and also like yes I can sit here and say well we know they're the best team in Europe and we do but I mean what a summer to make of it where you're almost like crossing off the list like all the people who you wanted to stick this point to oh Leo Messi who of course had his infamous moment where he basically when he was at PSG told Vettinia you're not good and you're dragging me down well Vettinia sticks that in his face with into Miami and almost it looked like drove Messi to the point of trying to punch him oh Kylian Mbappe who thought he was better off going to Real Madrid well get stuffed smash you four now I mean they really are doing the the global tour of of sticking it in everyone's faces how good they are and they are they are really good I mean they are exactly as Baz said I think this is a generational team coming together and And I think that when Luis Enrique at the end of the game says, oh, Dembele deserves to win everything, they deserve to win everything.
36:00They deserve to get these trophies. I'm not trying to rain on their parade at all. They are, as a team, spectacular. And the football they are playing is absolutely brilliant. And while I am a bit like, perhaps maybe I'm just, again, too jaded from a full season. and maybe it's because again I think the Euros deserves to be the number one story right now and and we led on it obviously today um I uh I can still appreciate that the football is brilliant and look there was like three million views on the um highlights of this game when I looked on YouTube this morning so other people are clearly far more uh excited about it so don't don't let me being a Debbie Downer kill that I think your point is really but Nikki I think your point is exactly right in that like it feels like a story that's done like okay they're the best team in the world we got that before it's like after this do we need a universe club world cup in which they
36:53Nicky Bandini:again beat everyone oh you'd love that let me take you to the outer reaches of zargon i've watched this team 500 times here we go i see what you're pushing for here tune on a tuesday night tough place to go but but you know what i mean yes it's the equivalent of like you know do we need to keep reinforce the point this is a fantastic team and I don't think you're overly negative Nicky I think it's yeah Nicky I just wanted to ask you about Luka Modric to AC Milan his last game for Real Madrid not a perfect one for him but him in an AC Milan kit feels nice yeah it feels like a throwback almost to that that chapter where we I feel like early in my career one of the things I was just writing about relentlessly was Milan Lab and how they get these older players in and turn them into get another few years out of them I kind of love it.
37:43It's certainly going to be really fun to watch him playing in Serie A. It's an intriguing moment for Milan with Allegri back there and seeing what his project's going to be like. We're getting a few of those very, very big names who are at the tail end of their careers in Serie A this season, of course, with De Bruyne at Napoli as well. So, look, as long as Luka Modric is playing football, I'll enjoy watching Luka Modric play football. he's a fun player to watch and we'll see what impact he can have all right that'll do for part two uh part three uh we'll do some transfer stuff welcome to part three of the guardian football
38:23Nicky Bandini:weekly uh so apparently arsenal have made contact with chelsea over signing noni madueke uh chelsea won about 50 million they're apparently in for sa as well so yeah we can roll out the wilson ipad analogy from monday's pod so nikki arsenal's transfer business looks starting to look quite good isn't it zuby mende yokarez not over the line yet nor guard seems a sensible signing and then it can't be both madwaka i don't know but like how are you feeling currently yeah i think maybe a lot of arsenal fans certainly i am still kind of waiting to just Yoko Riz gets done or a striker gets done it feels like all of this stuff around the outside it just feels like is that the point is that what we're supposed to be like most worried about what was the biggest issue for this team at key moments last season it felt like to me it was um the absence of that number nine and just that reliability putting putting the ball in the net so I think until that one gets across the line it feels like maybe it's it's pessimism um that goes all the way back to things like the Luis Suarez incident where you feel like a transfer is going to get done and then it doesn't.
39:33There's this almost expectation with Arsenal that they'll find a way to not do this deal that seemed like it was done and it will all go wrong. And I think that even with someone like Madueke, there's this feeling of, okay, but like, we do the important business first and then maybe we can do this as well. But yeah, that they are certainly spending, certainly spending the money. Certainly it's not a passive summer, is it? It's a summer that speaks to, okay, we've recognised that things need to be done and we need to show that ambition. And I think that's encouraging. But yes, I really want to see the number nine get across the line personally.
40:11Nicky Bandini:I think there are lots of neutrals thinking, wouldn't it be hilarious if Arsenal didn't manage to get a number nine by the end of the window? Spinola says, have Spurs just bought Rule Fox Mark 2? All dribble and no end product. Agreed a fee of 55 million with West Ham for Mohamed Koudis. Set to have a medical. No player completed more dribbles in the Premier League in the last two seasons. But where did he dribble to, Paul, in that West Ham shirt, I suppose, is the question. I messaged Lars last night going, is he good? And maybe that's a sign if you're having to ask that. But I suppose, you know, Thomas Frank and Tottenham is different to playing for West Ham.
40:47Nicky Bandini:He's a wonderful player. yeah I actually I really rate him actually I think he's a really good player but I do I do get I do get the point of the end product um I think he's a decent signing I think they're perhaps overpaying from the figures I'm seeing quoted but that's pretty much across the board what everyone's doing for every player and I'm also very old so when I see a figure for a transfer I'm still looking at it as if it's 1996 and Alan Shearer is worth 14 million over three quarters of a million and you're like, what? This is mad. Yeah, what? What are you doing? But yeah, I know. I actually think he'd be a pretty decent signing.
41:20And also, Rule Fox. Please, let's not have any disrespect to Rule Fox. What an absolute legend of a player.
41:26Nicky Bandini:Tottenham apparently also exploring a move for Johan Wisser from Brentford. They had been linked to Mbomo, but he appears to be going to Manchester United, although they can't agree on a fee at this stage. Barry Sunderland have spent big again. Cemsdine Talby from Club Brugge for£20.5 million. one of the fastest players in Europe, apparently.
41:46Max Rushden:Right, I thought you were going to say that signed Simon Odinger from Brighton, which is the one I saw. Had they? Yeah, Mr. Club Bruggemann, the speed merchant, completely passed me by, I'm afraid. Oh, Odinger, I think, is a great signing. He's a really good player. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've gone from certainties to go straight back down to, hmm, this is not bad. A few good signings here. and now I'm convinced Sunderland are going to be up there duking it out for the title. Yeah. And all that's happened in the space of about a fortnight.
42:21Nicky Bandini:Yeah, 150 million quid that they will have spent. They've signed a left-back, Reynaldo Mandava, on a free from Atleti as well. So, yeah, exciting times at the Stadium of Light. Robin says, I hope Barry is psyched to be talking about the legal minutiae of Lyon's non-relegation and what it means for Palace. Yeah, so Lyon will play in Ligue 1 next season after the French side won their appeal against relegation. Could affect Palace's chance of playing in the Europa League next season. UEFA could rule on Palace's situation by the end of the week. I did see somewhere that they could, I mean, it's not fudging it, is it?
42:53Nicky Bandini:But they could swap Palace and Forest. So Forest go into the Europa League and Palace go into the Conference League, which I guess Palace could win. So it could end up being good, but on the face of it, feels bad. But anyway, let's just wait and see what happens with that. Paul Watson's world of football the Champions League has started Paul yeah it was a long wait Max 38 days a full 38 days it took what phase are we in now well these are the preliminary round games so the first game was in the 8th biggest city in Finland and it was Cups of Finland against Milsam Orhei of Moldova they were the first game to kick off in the Champions League the first team to be eliminated will be next week and because of the fact the games aren't scheduled parallel it will be one of Kairat from Kazakhstan or Olympia Ljubljana from Slovenia will be the first team to be eliminated and they'll go out before most teams have even sort of got back from pre-season training they'll be out of the Champions League but Kairat made some headlines in this one because they had one fan at their game against Olympia Ljubljana and all the players went up into the stands and gave this guy a hug and it was they had a they had a shot that looked like a team photo but it's just this one fan in the middle and they're all hugging him and the reason is not because they got a rubbish away support it's because the distance from Almaty was about 6 000 kilometers um so he's a pretty hardy guy um and potentially if Santa Clara from Portugal who play in the Azores like in the islands in the middle of the ocean, if they were to meet Cairo, the distance there would be 8 ,103 kilometres.
44:40That would be the biggest away trip possible in UEFA if that happened.
44:47Nicky Bandini:It reminds me of when I did Fantasy Football League with Paul Merson. And we would get, you know, we'd just say it was free tickets for audience members to come. I think like Mike and O 'Neill was a guest and like the entire, every northern irish person in near london came like it was enormous and most guests you'd get a few and i and and there was one show where one person turned up in the audience and it was like oh like we almost didn't want to tell the guests and i don't think i should name them it doesn't feel fair that you know this is the audience we just sort of gave him a like a pair of headphones and like a you know like a like a just something to make him look like a clipboard to make him looked like he was just part of production so it didn't look like there was just one person coming to watch this guy talking about his life and his career uh anyway jimbo says any mention of uh shelbourne v linfield would be appreciated you wanted to talk about this game barry yeah
45:44Max Rushden:this is an interesting one so shelbourne are the reigning champions of the league of ireland uh premier division in the republic of ireland linfield are the champions in northern ireland and they got drawn together in the first qualifying round. So it's a two-legged tie. It's worth 1.7 million euros to the winners. The losers get 960 ,000 and go into the Conference League qualifiers. So it sounds like peanuts, but that's big money for those kind of teams. and Shamrock Rovers were in the conference league or Europa League last season. They got nearly 7 million euros for getting to the knockout stages.
46:30Max Rushden:But what was interesting about this was Shelburne were managed by until very recently by Damien Duff. and between the draw and the game, he resigned after a very public and coruscating takedown of his players and what he perceived to be their lack of motivation and effort in a game against Cork City. So his assistant and very good friend, Joey O 'Brien, formerly of Bolton Wanderers and West Ham, he's now in charge of shells. David Healy, Northern Irelish legend, he's in charge of Linfield. So they met last night in the first leg at Tolka Park in Dublin, which is a stadium I used to visit very frequently when Shamrock Rovers were sort of tenants there when they were homeless.
47:21Max Rushden:And it's Shelburne are halfway through their season, or more than halfway through their season. This was Linfield's first competitive game of the season. So So Shelburne were expected to win because they're just more fit or more match sharp and whatnot. And they did win 1-0 and were the better team. But it's nicely poised for the second leg going back to Belfast.
47:48Nicky Bandini:Paul, you wanted to mention TNS. Yeah, well, I wanted to mention two. No fewer than two Welsh clubs having shirt-related issues this week, which is pretty amazing. So TNS, the New Saints, the Welsh champions, they had this moment in their game, which went quite big on social media because you could see the guys on the touchline scribbling a number 18 in pen on the back of a shirt to give one of their players who ran on. And what had happened is they had an injury to Rory Holden and he got blood on his shirt. So he wasn't allowed to come back on with his shirt with blood. But the only shirts they had on the sideline were blank shirts.
48:28So they had to have a number on him. So they literally just wrote it on in pen and pushed it back on, which was great. It caused a lot of confusion. People were trying to work out who was he? Is he some mystery player they've like bought on the spot or something? But it was just the same guy. And the other one that's happened is a brilliant one. There have been pictures circulating of Penebont's team about to play against Kano Zalgiris in Lithuania, having to go shopping at the equivalent of Sports Direct because the airline have lost their luggage. So they've all had to buy. I think they've got, they probably have their team shirts, I think, but they've all got to buy new boots.
49:04So they put a post on social media saying, like, you know, team arrived, tick. Airline lost luggage, X. Players have worn in new boots, tick. So they're like genuinely having to do what, you know, everyone's done over the years.
49:18Nicky Bandini:How did they get on? Yeah, that's tonight. Oh, right, okay. tonight so that's a conference league clash got it yeah two welsh teams having sort of logistical issues because new boots you want to you know you want to get in the bath you know you've got to mull them to your feet you've got to do all of that stuff that's gonna there'll be some blisters there'll be some blisters tonight in uh lithuania was it in lithuania lithuania yeah talk to me about a finnish team with a scottish coach and a sausage obsession yeah so this is um sjk signer yorki in finland and their boss is stevie grieve he's a scottish coach very relatively young still um didn't actually play football one of these coaches who came through very data driven like a great kind of tactician he's doing an amazing job at this club they're playing kia klaxvig of the pharaoh islands but the thing that that caught our mind when we did the sweeper podcast is that signo yoki have this thing called the sausage minute and it's because they um they have a like tie-in with a meat company that if a team scores i think it's in the 78th minute if they score in the 78th minute of any game, everyone gets a voucher for a free hot dog for the next game.
50:22So when it gets to that minute of the game, the crowd are all yelling, sausage, sausage, sausage. And apparently it even starts to impact the team's tactics. Like, I think I saw an interview where they're like, yeah, like there's a pressure on them to launch shots in the 78th minute. It actually impacts the tactics of the game. So, yeah, they're playing, as I say, Kea Klaxvig of the Vero Islands. and it'll be interesting to see how that goes. That's tonight as we record.
50:50Nicky Bandini:That's so good. I mean, we should get Mark Langdon one of those shirts. He'll be there. The 78th minute. By the 75th minute you start just doing it quietly. Sausage, sausage. It builds up minute by minute by minute. Who are Bruno's Magpies? Bruno's Magpies, they are widely known as the best pub team in the world. They are Gibraltar's powerhouse. Just signed Rudiger. They've just signed Tony Rudiger. Yeah, they'll be scouting him. they were because they were technically founded by an 18 year old in his grandparents pub which is bruno's bar in gibraltar since then they've gone from strength to strength to strength and become you know one of the biggest clubs in gibraltar they're in europe pretty much every year um and they're playing against paeda of estonia um and one question from moonlight hanger says uh was that a go-karting track behind one of the sides of the pitch where floriana were playing haverford west county which i was just thought was a service station uh in the europa conference league first qualifying round.
51:47Nicky Bandini:This is surely testing your knowledge here, Paul. The go-karting tracks of Floriana. I've got to be totally honest. I don't know. But the annoyance is that Lee, who presents the podcast with me, was at Floriana last year. So he would have been able to tell you. And if I had been able to let you know that, I would have sounded like I knew everything about every stadium in the world. But I'm not going to try and pretend I know. No, I don't. For more stories like this, listen to Paul on the excellent Sweeper podcast, which is brilliant, Paul. Thank you for doing it. And everybody go and listen to it.
52:17Nicky Bandini:Adam says, Dear Max and Co, long-time listener from the States, love the show. I fear you have misled your listeners about a crucial element of American food culture. In a recent discussion of the Club World Cup, you said that players had an unusual amount of freedom between matches. You suggested that they could go to a Midwestern diner so they could drown in ribs. This is frankly terrible advice. A Midwestern diner is no place for ribs. Stick with eggs, hash browns, coffee, pie, etc. If you want ribs, you have to go to a barbecue joint, preferably one in a building that looks like it might fall down in the next strong wind.
52:47Nicky Bandini:There are some top ribbed destinations amongst the host cities, including Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte. I hope that in writing this, I might save fans and perhaps players from a disastrous rib-based decision. In the spirit of international friendship, Adam. And I should say, not the only ribbed correspondence we got. There were many people telling me how incorrect I was. The best barbecue when I was living in the Midwest, Kansas, was in a gas station, literally a gas station. so good whenever me and Mrs. Russian we drove through the middle of the states and she loves a diner like the aesthetics of a diner so she wants to go to every diner but she hates everything on the menu she's so excited to be in there to be on those you know those the red table that's stuck there the booths and then there's there is no poke bowl you know there's no tuna salad anyway yes Barry
53:39Max Rushden:I've always been amazed they haven't taken off over here those kind of diners with the you see in movies and whatnot with the booths and the counters and the bottomless cup of coffee if I had one nearby my house I would eat breakfast dinner and tea in there or breakfast lunch and dinner
54:00Nicky Bandini:I'm not sure you should have every meal in a diner without wanting to upset the diners of the Midwest or any part of the United States I think every meal would be pushing it anyway that'll do for today thanks everybody thank you Paul thank you thank you Nicky thanks cheers Baz thank you Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove our executive producer is Phil Maynard
54:26this is The Guardian
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