Spurs drop points in survival battle and mayhem at Madrid: Football Weekly

22:24It's selling players. So Barcelona's decision was, well, you don't sell players because what that will do in the short term, obviously, but also maybe in the midterm and possibly even the long term, is it will devalue your team. You need to be continuing to compete, not just because that's the fundamental aim of a football club, but because long term, that's the way you continue to get big contracts. That's the way you continue to generate interest that's the way that you continue to to grow and so they they know that they took a risk they know that they effectively mortgaged you know mortgage against some of their future earnings and so on but there's there was a feeling that this would work anyway now obviously you look at it in a financial situation is still problematic they're still not on an even keel in terms of la liga's financial fair play rules what everyone here refers to as one-to-one in other words for every one euro you make you can spend a euro they've been in deficit it against that.

23:09They think they'll get to that this summer, but they've said that before. Does this make the Leavers worthwhile? I think you're right. The question is whether in the long term this has a big impact on them. Their argument would be no, that this generates and expands into the future. Of course, they're a reconstruction of the Camp Nou, which is now 60 ,000 and will eventually be 105 ,000, although that too obviously costs a huge amount of money. But you're right about the idea that it's out of people's minds, because right now it is out of people's minds of course um marcus rushwood scored a brilliant free kick he scored 14 and set up 14 this season which is a pretty good return for him what's the what's been the vibe on his campaign it's well marcus rushwood's this amazing case of the kind of yeah but i think if you look at him as what he is on the surface which is a loan deal for a year he's been brilliant absolutely brilliant and you know those numbers that you are completely incontestable you can't You can't argue with those at all.

24:10The issue really for Barcelona now is would they like him to stay? Yes, they would. But this is a player that's got a€30 million purchase clause, which doesn't seem a huge amount, I think, from Manchester United's point of view. But from Barcelona's point of view, it's quite a lot, plus the fact that, of course, he would be a high-wage earner. So this is the kind of deal that they look at it and think, yeah, our resources, and this goes back to what you were saying a minute ago about pulling the levers, our resources are probably going to be pushed elsewhere. If we can get some sort of deal, than they would like him to stay, but probably not at that price.

24:39And so they're in this position where Rashford, it's curious, because they signed him to essentially be the backup for all three of the forward positions. In truth, he's only really been the backup on the left-hand side. And that's been because Rafinha's been injured too. He's had quite a lot of games. Although in the last three or four weeks, he started to play on the right for the first time all season. He's contributed with key assists. He's contributed with key goals, including this one, but maybe not in the really, really biggest games. And there is still that slight sense of, how do I put this, kind of a feeling that we'd like him to impose himself a bit more.

25:13We'd like him to be in the game a bit more, to drive games a bit more, to do some of those things that Flick wants in terms of pressing, in terms of dragging the game, in terms of going at people. And when he goes beyond people he's got space to run into, he's absolutely fantastic. I think I saw a statistic the other day that in terms of the recorded speeds of player this year in Spain, he's the fastest player in La Liga. But there's just been those sort of moments when there's been a slight doubt, so much so that even when players have been injured, and we've had not that much from Lewandowski this year, not that much from Rafinha this year, numerically I'm talking about here in terms of the number of games they played, an injury to Lumin at the end.

25:47Even in those moments, there's been times when Flick has chosen other solutions rather than Rashford, who's the one that in theory would fill in for all three of them. And he hasn't played at centre-forward, despite the fact that we thought that he might be the one that would, you know, that would play if Lewandowski wasn't available or Ferran Torres wasn't available. so I think the feeling is that if he was to go now which is I suppose a logical conclusion to a year's loan deal it'd be like wow that really worked well but it's maybe not quite enough for them to massively push out the boat to make the deal permanent right and clearly look he's interesting to to our audience but he is not the entire Barcelona squad like and like we obviously we know how good Yamal is firstly how good has he been this season and and secondly who else has performed well for them that perhaps people who don't watch their league a week out haven't noticed?

26:37Well, I mean, I think the answer to the question, if you want a name that you go, really? It's Eric Garcia. Eric Garcia has been fantastic in all sorts of different positions at right back, at centre back, at central midfield. He's played really, really well. And that's what I mean by unusual solutions. So you see the last weeks of the season, the centre back is Gerard Martin. Gerard Martin was the backup left back and he's now the first choice centre-back which I think obviously tells you something about the fact that Flick wasn't sure about his centre-back partnerships. Inigo Martinez left in the summer he was trying to find solutions there and he's ended up with Gerard Martin in that position.

27:10Joanne Garcia the goalkeeper who came from Espanol across the city has been very very good indeed and Lamine I think Lamine's been the best player in Spain this year with one or two potential candidates ahead of him but well ahead of him with him but he's been the best player in Spain in terms of the level of performance and in terms of being consistently really good in that mid part of the season where they pulled away from Real Madrid, where they started to play well in Europe, where you were thinking, OK, this is maybe a really big season for them. The issue with Lamin is that at the start of the season, he had...

27:41I've looked this up so many times and I still don't like it. The translation in English is a sportsman's hernia, like a groin issue, a recurring groin issue, and he was really struggling with that earlier in the season. And he wasn't performing the way he liked it. And he even put out a tweet at one point saying, sorry, it wasn't a tweet, it was an Instagram post, saying something like, I think the phrase was my inner turmoil or something like that. I can't remember the exact wording now. And he said something like, I would love to be the player that everyone wants me to be. And for the first time, you saw, if you like, an expression of the pressure, of the sense of underachievement, of the sense that he wasn't playing the way he wanted to.

28:16And this is in the late autumn, I think early winter. but then from kind of December onwards until about until basically until he got injured three or four weeks ago he's been absolutely brilliant and yet obviously it hasn't taken him to a Champions League final it hasn't been the whole season but he is I think the best player in Spain this season is there any danger of him missing the World Cup he's got a hamstring injury hasn't there is a danger I don't think it's a very big danger so he's got a hamstring injury it was really interesting I thought that Barcelona who as a club don't really have any need to do this they released a statement and they said he's out for four to six weeks but he will make the World Cup.

28:52Now a club doesn't necessarily need to say that about the national team you know that shouldn't be their priority or their concern but I think that told you how important he was. Now the trouble is of course that coming back for the World Cup and that would mean he's ready just about in time is how are we defining ready because this is the kind of injury that coming back from it but coming back from it fully fit fully quick uh sharp and with no risk of of the injury recurring is a different issue so Luis de la Fuente the Spain manager Barca themselves Lamin there's been no real sense that this is a disaster he's not going to get there but there is that nagging doubt that says is he going to get there fully fit now Spain's first two games are Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde and I think there's a feeling that you know maybe he doesn't play the first game maybe he gets some minutes in the second uh and maybe he gets a good chunk of minutes in the third game against uruguay in the group and then plays for the rest of the tournament because you know i was saying he's the best player for barcelona he's he's spain's best player i mean i genuinely think there have been periods this year say from around about december till about april that i watched him play and thought yeah he might

29:59Lars Sivertsen:well be the best player in the world this is a guy who's in in 26 starts he's put up 16 goals and 12 and 11 assists and he is 18 uh any sense that he's not doing it is mad like he it's still an absolutely incredible contribution right yeah absolutely is and and you know as I say that was him saying that and early in the season when he was struggling with that groin issue there was there was a feeling that he wasn't at his best level of I don't know if you remember the class code back in October there was a lot of that was thrown back at him saying you know you talk too much then Real Madrid come and beat you and you you know you've really got to keep your mouth shut And there was a little bit.

30:33Now, everything that happens in Spain, you have to see, I think, sometimes through the divide of Madrid and Barcelona and where the media is leaning and where people are leaning and how that conditions the way that they see things. But what happened, I think, in the autumn was that Laminya Mal went from being Spain's boy to being only one half of Spain's boy, if you see what I mean. And I think that played a part as well. But also, he wasn't playing that brilliantly. But then he came back and did. there was a earlier in the season Laminya Mar was celebrating goals by by crowning himself and there was this real feeling that you thought wow he's he's amazing this this 18 year old kid who far from being worried about the pressure is kind of saying ah bring it on I want this you know there's a little touch of cockiness a little touch of a touch of self-belief that says I want this and yet then those subsequent Instagram posts I think were a kind of a first glimpse of that you know maybe there's a realization that this isn't always fun that this isn't always great and then he came back a quieter version of him at least in terms of his public pronouncements and stuff fewer interviews kind of fewer less exposure for him and his performance level was amazing as you say yeah this is the thing we keep coming back to he's still only 18 and he has there's no doubt about it particularly with Rafinha out injured and I think Rafinha was probably the best player in Spain last season even with Lamin and Pedri playing fantastic seasons with Rafinha injured he's carried Barcelona in terms of the weight of what would you call it, attacking productivity.

31:58Everything he does, scoring some of the goals out of nothing, scoring the same Laminia-Mal goal over and over again, cutting his side, curled into the top corner. And looking at times like you actually can't stop him. People are putting three or four people on him and still not able to stop him. And then this injury at the end of the season, I think shouldn't, but inevitably does, kind of just take a little bit of the edge off his season. But as I say, I think best player in Spain. You talk about which way, you know, people are leaning. regards, you know, Yamal. We don't know exactly how Chermany was leaning on Valverde, do we?

32:31We don't have the official line. Denied they came to blows and Valverde went to hospital because he accidentally hit a table. Like, it's an extraordinary story, isn't it? It is, and it really is. And so much of Valverde's statement was kind of like, you could sort of pick through and go, so, nope, nope, nope. Neither of us hit each other. It wasn't a big deal, which is why you've just been fined half a million euros each. Now, obviously, look, there will be lots of people saying, well, half a million euros for footballers who are earning 20 million euros. It's not that big a deal. But actually, even then, it's a lot of money.

33:06And it was about Madrid saying this isn't acceptable. I think obviously the other thing is it's in the context of a season of collapse and dressing room division and confrontations and problems. And I think what that does is it says to you that this is the culmination of that. And this is partly a product of their defeats, because obviously that brings all this stuff to the surface. But it's partly an explanation for why the defeats have happened. You know, this is broken. And it has been. I'm struggling to think of an example of anything like this in Real Madrid's time. The only one I can come up with is when Graveson laid into Robinho in a training session.

33:42And then Graveson afterwards. And I think, again, this sort of speaks to that idea of dressing dynamics and different attitudes towards, I suppose, towards commitment and professionalism and so on. I remember Graveson describing some of his players as acting like shits. And I think there's a degree of that in this. And it's not good. And Real Madrid is genuinely a mess. And I don't remember a crisis quite like this one. Two years in a row without winning a major trophy. A sense that they can't fit together the key players. There's a headline, and actually it did the rounds again on Twitter this morning, but it's still worth picking up because I think it's funny.

34:18And also because I think it says something about kind of expectation and reality. And it was after they won the Super Cup, the European Super Cup. Mbappé had just arrived. So they were European champions. They just won the Super Cup. And there's a photograph of Bellingham, Vinicius and Mbappé. And actually, here's the kicker. It was actually a photograph of Bellingham, Vinicius, Mbappé and Rodrigo. But they took Rodrigo out the photograph. They cut it. So it was the three of them. and they put BMW, BMW in Spanish, they always use the V, Bellingham, Mbappé, Vinicius. And it said, I think the headline was unprecedented dominance, which was talking about what Madrid had been winning with all the European cars.

34:54But obviously what it was really doing was projecting what's going to happen now. The European champions have bought Mbappé. Wow, they're going to be unstoppable. And the opposite has happened. And obviously there's a very, it's a bit facile, it's a bit simplistic. But of course, a lot of people have gone, hmm, what's the big elements that's changed from being a European Cup winner to now being a team that doesn't win anything. And the team that that player left is now winning it all. Could it be that all of this is Killian's fault? Let's talk about that though, because Philippe was talking about the petition yesterday.

35:21It's amazing, isn't it? I mean, obviously online petitions, you can get signatures for just about anything. Well, that was it. He was actually, because I thought, well, it's obviously just bullshit and it's stupid. But Philippe was saying lots of people are taking it seriously and it's actually a more serious issue than I had given it credence for. I don't know what you think. I mean, look, I don't know how seriously I take a petition. But still, 32 million people is a lot of people. How many of those are bots? Obviously, I don't know. How much of it is kind of silly and people go, hey, our voters get rid of Mbappé.

35:50And then it's forgotten about. And it doesn't really mean much, I think, to sign an online petition. But what it does do is it tells you something about an undercurrent. And I'm going to completely contradict myself here now. It tells you something about an undercurrent, but also tells you something on a very superficial level, which is Mbappé's fault. And as I say, it is simplistic. It is superficial. There is this kind of meme now of Mbappe as the dictator who comes in and orders everyone around and it ruins everything. And this is now a mess because of him. And he does symbolise some of the problems they've got, which isn't the same as saying he's responsible for them.

36:22But there's no doubt that Real Madrid have struggled to find a way to get him and Vinicius to function well together. It's not lost on anyone that some of their better performances have been with one or the other missing. It's not been lost on anyone. And actually, Bellingham said this, I think, in the press conference, I think before the Bayern game. he actually admitted that his role had changed. He had partly been a victim of his apparent versatility, which is possibly not quite as versatile as we thought. So Bellingham's first season when he's amazing, he's playing off the front, he's allowed to arrive into the area, he's scoring lots of goals.

36:52Then he's got to shift because of Mbappé. Then Mbappé and Vinicius are trying to find a place for them. And obviously Bellingham had the injury with a shoulder and didn't play a huge amount. And Bellingham hasn't really re-found his place since then. And I think there is, without any doubt, a feeling that what Mbappé has done is change the environment or the ecosystem, if nothing else. Words like broken, confrontation, problems, crisis, acting like shits. Is Jose Mourinho the answer? Right, well, shall I be really cynical here and read between the lines and be conspiratorial as well? But I must admit, when these, because a big part of Real Madrid's concern, and I actually think possibly too big a part of it, is not so much what happened as how did this get out?

37:36and why did this get out and who is who is leaking stuff now obviously part of the answer to that is lots of people are leaking lots of things it's not always a single person it's very rarely a single person and obviously you know you still had this fight whether it's got out or not is another issue but it does matter that gets out and it does matter that story's told because that tells you something about the way dynamics play out publicly the way that there are more than just players there's kind of interest groups behind them there's people if you like fighting a cause sometimes without even the cause knowing that they're fighting it for them you know and And it doesn't always help them.

38:06And I must admit, so here comes the cynical bit. I did sort of think this and think, who would most benefit from all this stuff coming out? Would it be a Portuguese man who is seen as the guy that comes in and sorts this shit out? And don't worry, I'll deal with it. And we need an iron fist. And actually, for what it's worth, I'm not entirely sure that Mourinho is the iron fist. I think the thing about Mourinho is that we've, I'm sure we've talked about this before, Max, right? At some level, Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid, has always wanted Mourinho back. This is about the only manager he's ever really believed in.

38:41This is a president who thinks that managers are someone you've got to put there, but you'd really rather do without them. That they all think they're more important than they really are. That this is about the players. The only manager that he's really properly warmed to, properly, and I include Zidane and Ancelotti in this, despite the success they have, has been Mourinho. and there's a contradiction there because at heart what he wants is someone to sort out these you know these these these jumped up kids but he also actually thinks it is about the kids you know there is only one Vinicius but there's hundreds of managers out there there's only one Mbappe but I can get another guy to run the team that obviously is part of the cultural problem but there is no guy quite like Mourinho at least from the point of view of the president let's talk about Rayo Vacano getting to the conference league final because you tweeted something to the effect of this is the best thing ever or something It's not a million miles off being one of the best things that's ever happened.

39:33I mean, apart from Robbietta going up with Santi Cattola and having now just been gone down again, maybe not. This is really amazing. Now, obviously, look, I'll do the party poop a bit first. It's not that amazing in that a Spanish team in the Conference League might expect to get to the final. Because, you know, you're talking about a Spanish team. And if you go through the teams that Raul Vallecano have played, this isn't an absolute miracle. Although I did think, you know, in terms of resources and stuff, they might not get through against Strasbourg. But what Rio are, there's a risk of me giving you the really kind of sweet, listen, light sort of Hollywood film version of this.

40:08But Rio are, if you like, sort of the ultimate expression of the neighbourhood team, the working class neighbourhood team, not just in the neighbourhood, but kind of born of the neighbourhood with a consciously left wing, consciously populist perspective of themselves, with a stadium that's only got three sides, that's got flats overlooking the other side, that's an absolute basket case of a club that's got an owner that the fans can't bear, that does so many things wrong. Like the best example of this, I think, is when they played... Now, I can't remember which of the two Polish... They played two Polish teams in the group and I can't remember which one it was, so apologies.

40:44But anyway, the kit man of the opposition team turned up at the stadium the night before and did a video of him setting up the dressing room. And basically the video was him walking around going, oh look we've got one coat hanger oh look the lights don't work oh look there's a plastic chair here isn't that great thanks very much opens a cupboard and there's a pile of towels oh here's the towels they left us and it looks like your granny's airing cupboard and he's opened it and there's like 15 towels of different colors that are now more cardboard than they are cotton you know that it's just and you sort of look at this and this is basically the the kit man of a polish club going what the absolute is this and you know it's a stadium where the water doesn't run properly in the taps that that's an that's crumbling that's falling down where the players and the fans can't quite believe what's being done at institutional level where there's problems at the training ground where they've had to train elsewhere because the training ground pitch isn't in good enough condition for them to train on where the game against Raul Oviedo for example was cancelled because they relayed the pitch and they decided to do it I think it was eight days before the game and they wondered why it hadn't taken yet.

41:48It's just this extraordinary... I mean, it's a bit like the... Right, to use another cliche, it's the producers. Let's see if we can do something that will absolutely bomb and it turns out they're in the final. Because they've got some good players. They've got a great attitude. And I think actually there is a risk of overplaying this, but I think that in a way there is this kind of collective togetherness that goes in the face of adversity, which almost helps them. They've got a brilliant manager who I think understands, manages the players really well, has a fantastically kind of empathetic approach to things.

42:22Inigo Martinez, who was due to be Antonio Edoardo's number two at Bournemouth, but didn't get the work permit. So he became the manager at Rai Vaicano. And they're brilliant. They're absolutely brilliant. It's properly, this properly shouldn't happen. It absolutely shouldn't happen. It is, let's do the Hollywood thing. It is tiny little league team from a marginal neighbourhood in a shitty city somewhere, goes and plays the World Series. Perfect. Thank you, Sid. Lovely stuff. Pleasure. Cheerio. Sid Lowe, out in Spain there. And that'll do for part two. Part three, we'll do the championship playoffs.

43:06But real-time cash flow? Wow. Invoices that chase themselves? Even better. Books that automate? That's a big one. And I can keep track from my phone while I get the job done. No spreadsheet in sight. What a life. Do right by yourself and your business and search XERO for your free trial. Conditions apply.

43:36Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Hull won 2-0 at Millwall. Seb, this was a really good game. I mean, both sides had real spells of pressure, but ultimately it is Hull, probably the least expected of the four who get to Wembley.

43:48Seb Hutchinson:Yeah, a side who got through into the playoff places on the final day, a dramatic final day. I think that the championship was so tight this season, did a fair few games in it. I mean, I really feel for Millwall, but we'll talk about Hull first. I thought their second half was fantastic because the game felt touchy and tight in the first half. You weren't sure. I think Millwall felt a bit of pressure playing at home. They'd had a good result away. They were frustrated about the disallowed Leonard goal from the first match. It was a tense scenario, but I just thought Hull played with a fluency.

44:21They exploited Millwall's weaknesses in the second half.

44:25Seb Hutchinson:When Doughty came on, he didn't seem to be at the pace of the game. They took full advantage. It's funny with Hull because they had a situation a couple of seasons back where they reached the playoffs, they sacked Liam Rossegna, then they were in a relegation battle, they dropped off the pace, and now they're in a position where they could return to the Premier League, which is a fantastic achievement. And I actually thought, in the game, they played, particularly that second half, when I look at a side who, when you go away from him in the second leg, you do have a freedom, and when you play it at the den, there's that area behind the goal which is reserved completely for away fans, and they tend to block out the top, the bottom tier of that stand for obvious reasons.

45:09Seb Hutchinson:And everybody's sort of pushed into the top. But you could hear those whole City fans the whole game and they really pushed the team on. And Bellumi, who scored the goal, his father was a great Algerian player. I mean, I heard somebody say the other day, I can't remember which Algerian player it was, might mean Ryan Knight-Nori, and he was saying that Mahrez is the greatest Algerian player of all time. Algeria went to two World Cups under him. They were very unfortunate not to go further in 82 for the whole situation with Austria and West Germany. To pass that on, it was a great moment for him.

45:40Seb Hutchinson:He's not actually scored that many goals this season, but that was by far his most important. A great finish. And I was pleased for a few hole players in that situation, but I did feel desperately sorry for Millwall. Because I think there's been this sense that a lot of people don't want them to come up for the stereotypes. But actually, a lot of people do want them to go up because there's that freshness. It's a new team in the Premier League. It's like when Luton came up, people had a sense of, oh, this is great. This is what we want. And I think football fans in general like a freshness. They like to see new winners of things.

46:11Seb Hutchinson:They like to see how a team will cope. And I know a few Millwall fans, and they had a worry of, if we go up, would we get battered? But at the same time, there's that joy of, well, we'll see Spurs or West Ham go down, and we'll change places with them. And it's a win-win situation, because if we stay and Spurs come down, it's still great as well.

46:30Lars Sivertsen:So Seb, I was second screening this and having not really watched the championship this year, I looked up some stats ahead as I do. And I noticed with some glee that Millwall have been more or less the team you'd expect them to be like they had the second lowest pass complete ratio in the league this season, but won the most aerial duels. I was like, yeah, right. I know what I'm getting here. But as much as I was mainly watching Spurs, I did watch a bit of this and it wasn't that game at all, really. I thought they were kind of was that because Hull were really clever in the way they approached it?

46:59Lars Sivertsen:because they kind of forced Millwall into a situation where they had to pass the ball around a lot and try to open the lock, which they didn't seem comfortable doing, really.

47:08Seb Hutchinson:I definitely think they caught Millwall by surprise in the second half. Millwall, of course the stats will lean that way, but Femi Aziz has been a standout at times, although not always consistent. They have had a strong core, and they've been relatively resolute and nicked games here and there and been a tough side to beat. I just think the start of that second half, they just went at them. And they never really recovered from that. And the moment they went behind, Hull being a counter-attacking team in that situation just suited them perfectly. Mill have been batting above where they should be.

47:39Seb Hutchinson:You know, they've been punching above their weight for sure. I mean, to miss out in agonising way really on that last day, having felt that maybe we could squeeze over the line, did hurt them. But I would say they've been more than just that, what the stats show, for sure. I think Hull caught them by surprise because they set up in a different formation to the first leg, five at the back. But, I mean, Hull have massively punched above their weight this season. They were among the favorites to be relegated from the championship. They started the season with a transfer ban for three windows, so they haven't been able to pay a transfer fee or a loan fee for anyone this season.

48:19They brought in Oli McBurney, Semih Ajayi, Paddy McNair, Joe Gelhart, Lundström, Lewis Kumas, Ryan Giles, all came in on loans or freebies. And for them to be in the playoff final is quite remarkable. Yeah, that is extraordinary to have a transfer embargo, isn't it? So the third leg of the transfer embargo has been suspended. So if they do get promoted, they will be able to sign players. Yeah, that was a great goal from Bouloumi. He does really well as well to nick the ball off the Millwall centre-back and then set up the winner as well for Joe Galhart. And their manager, Sergei Yakirovic, who I didn't know a lot about, played for Bosnia as a full international, but also played Croatia vets and Croatia futsal vets.

49:05And he said, this is maybe the biggest achievement in my life, my football career. Okay, I won some titles. I had until now a successful career, but in these circumstances to get to the final, I'm very proud of everyone here at the club. And like you say, Seb, they stayed up on goal difference last year like that is a that's an amazing turnaround i think

49:20Seb Hutchinson:the championship's been like that this season and i wonder you know we spoke about if spurs or west ham go down and they do lose a few key players that this this idea that they will bounce back up i think we've seen this season that if you don't get it right you could be in real problems i think ipswich have sort of stumbled their way to promotion weirdly southampton have had this late run and Leicester City have gone down so I mean it's crazy and that's what's made the championship so engaging at times this season yeah they've been on that great run Southampton um uh obviously uh we all know how and I don't know yet uh um they uh you know then they were lucky at Middlesbrough um because they had so many chances in that game but it is goalless so uh yeah that game happens tonight uh seb how do you see it through a newspaper if you'd asked me three months ago i just said middlesbrough nailed on i think the flow's been with southampton in recent weeks and uh i do sort of see them getting through which again would be shape the borough because they've played some great football at times and you do wonder if they'll be able to hold on to important players if they start that's the same case with Millwall with Kramer, the full back who can play centre back, who's been fantastic for them.

50:38Seb Hutchinson:That's always a worry. You wonder if, Seb, you wonder if the EFL are just desperately hoping that Middlesbrough win tonight so they don't have to do anything. You know, because if Southampton get through, then Middlesbrough will be, you know, like rightly aggrieved and will say, well, hang on. And then you've got until the playoff final if you want to make a serious sanction on Southampton, if they are found guilty. But what if they win, Max? What if they then win the playoff final? Then you have whole city complaining about it. You'll have other sides like Wrexham who missed out. This is the thing when you have these things hanging over clubs.

51:08Seb Hutchinson:You just feel like, can we just pause and get it sorted and then before we kick on again?

51:13Lars Sivertsen:Everyone's making these sort of football content shows these days, and I feel like that genre has gone a little stale. Maybe the court drama following Spygate could be the shot in the arm this needs. It could be like a few good fullbacks. It will be like a very tense courtroom drama. You can't handle the truth, that kind of thing. Yeah, absolutely not. Well, I mean, hopefully it's a shorter series than the Man City one, which obviously is yet to be broadcast, isn't it? Susie Rack writing in the paper yesterday that Arsenal England's Beth Mead is going to leave the club after her contract expires this summer.

51:46265 appearances, 86 goals, winning the WSL, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Champions Cup. Seb, you'd have seen her a lot in commentary for the Lionesses. So it'd be fascinating to see where she goes.

51:58Seb Hutchinson:I mean, I've seen her play for Arsenal. I saw her when she was at Sunderland. She was a great young prospect then. But when she moved to Arsenal, it moved her career up to the next level, runner-up in the Ballon d 'Or. She will leave Arsenal as a legend. The reason why she's leaving, essentially, one of the main reasons why, you can feel that Arsenal are going to go in a different direction this summer. They're going to try and bring in younger players. They're always a club that can attract the very best. Bethmead's been in a situation where when she came to Arsenal, she almost had to move out to a wide area and learn that position.

52:30Seb Hutchinson:and she became one of the best around in that position. She's a really clever player. She creates as well as she scores. She's got more, I think, over 50 WSL goals and assists, which is the only player to be in that sort of situation. And her season, I think it was 21-22, she was fantastic for Arsenal. She got into double figures for assists and goals and won the Euros with England. And then had a bad injury. She lost her mother. and it's been difficult for her since she's come back to nail down her England place and I think she's looking ahead now to the World Cup next year and thinking I need to play regularly.

53:07Seb Hutchinson:Manchester City feels like the natural move for her because her partner's there, Viviana Miedemar, who was an Arsenal legend as well, I would say, and that seems natural. I know London City Lionesses would be interested as well with their ambitious project. It feels the right time. She's 31 and she'll want to have a crack at that World Cup. She missed the last one through injury. So I think for all parties, it sort of works and she'll be remembered within Arsenal circles for a long time. She provided the assist that led to them winning the Champions League last season. Yeah, more on the Guardian Women's Football Weekly out later.

53:44Now, there's a great long interview in the paper and on the website with James Wallace, who has interviewed Nigel Martin, who is getting the chance to represent his country in more than one sport as he'd been selected to play for England's over-60s Lions cricket team. So it's the over-60s national team's second 11. He'll get his red cap on Friday for the game against Scotland. If he makes it into the first team, he'll get the blue cap and be able to call himself a dual international. He says, it's a real honour to be selected. I was really impressed at the trial at Loughborough a few weeks ago.

54:14These guys are super fit, really strong cricketers. No doddery old men or anything like that. He said, I'd like to play in a World Cup or a Grey Ashes. as it's called. You never know, anything could happen, but fair play to Nigel Martin for, you know, carrying on. I don't know, I mean, I should read the interview. I don't know if he's a batsman or I presume he's a wicketkeeper, right? I mean, that would be the natural place for Nigel Martin to be. I think he's a batsman.

54:40Seb Hutchinson:Oh, well, wicketkeeper batsman. Wicketkeeper batsman, yeah, okay, that's good. Do you think he just uses an old pair of Sondicos? Says, these will do, wax them on and gets behind the stumps. But yeah, Good luck to Nigel Martin. Sorry, Max. I've just seen Barry's dropped the parakeet into the group chat. And my cortisol levels have just disappeared below the threshold. I feel absolutely fantastic right now. That is lovely. Beautiful shot, Barry. Good to see you're concentrating.

55:07Lars Sivertsen:And it's a special treat for people watching the YouTube video is that you can also see Barry taking that photo on the stream. I mean, surely if the YouTube people are up to anything, and we can put the picture of the parakeet onto the screen so everyone can join in. And that's a great way of driving people towards our YouTube and our Instagram it as well and get some more followers. That'll do for today. Thank you, Barry. Thank you. Cheers, Seb. Thank you, Max. Thank you, Lars. Thank you, Max. Football Weekly is produced by Tayah Papula. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. We'll be back on Thursday.

55:45This is The Guardian.

56:09accounts payable even better all in one place. That's a big one. And I can keep track from my phone while I get the job done. No bills in sight. What a life do right by yourself and your business and search Xero for your free trial conditions apply.