652: Kings of Anglia: Is it time to make some changes three matches in?

26:11Everyone knows it's kind of, if you give him the ball, he can make stuff happen because his passing range, and he showed that in this game, was really good. And at times he had no help at all. Like he had nothing around him. He would, apart from just being swarmed by red shirts, but he still was able to kind of turn and turn and turn and work his way out of pressure and then release that by making the right pass and stretching play, doing stuff like that. Just knitted things together quite nicely. Lukic, another one who found periods of this game hard. I just think it would be a nice partnership there.

26:42I think that's something that will work. Yeah, I like lots of it. I think he won the ball. It might have been like the most of anyone on the pitch. The way he regained possession was really, really good. So yeah, if this is a sign of things to come, that's really promising and I would also like to see it happen against midfielders that aren't among the best in world football

27:05Mark Heath:yeah and that's what we're going to get to see isn't it in the next three games certainly how about the other debut maker and I hesitate to ask you about this because obviously you're massively biased 10 out of 10 yeah yeah yeah perfect 10 remarkable we're going to talk about his press conference actually later on because obviously it was the first meeting of you two football friends since since Millwall. Clearly, Emerson started. I thought it was the right thing to do to start Emerson. Fleming comes on in a difficult situation where they're chasing the game. Emerson hadn't really had a lot to work with.

27:35What did you make of Zian, though, in this game?

27:37Mark Heath:Could you form any opinions of him? I guess you saw what you expected from him, did you? A little bit. Again, he still feels like he's turned into more of a target man. The season I covered him at Millwall, he was a 10. This is the first time I've watched him playing as like an out-and-out number nine up front. And he's much more kind of industrious and physical. He really got himself about. And the one thing that impressed me, and you maybe don't get this as much from Emerson, where Emerson is like, you know, you're going to get the height and the build-up play and the movement and stuff like that.

28:10Fleming presses. He will run and he will run. And if the centre-back's on the ball, he will barge them over. And if he fouls the man, then so be it. And if he doesn't, then great. And that's what I liked about him. He has that physical edge. and he likes to showcase it and he likes to get himself about. It was a very difficult game for him to come on in. Had one shot that I think he curled into Alisson's gloves. Again, when he has more kind of space and time to operate with or kind of on the ball, I think he'll get better. But early doors, I think he definitely feels like he's the right physical profile and he kind of complements Emerson quite well and that they're very different, I think, in terms of their physicality.

28:52one who's got that height who can move very nimbly but is also good with the ball at his feet and one of them he just feels like a bit of a bruiser as well yeah i mean o 'neill mentioned him as a target man but i like that he's got that aspect to him um as well there's almost a bit of dilap in him i don't think he's got kind of like the recklessness that dilap had um but i think that he's kind of got some of those physical traits in the ways but he's not that massive is he's not like that at all but he's kind of got this kind of muscly low center of gravity which i think works quite well um and we saw some of that in this game yeah you have to mention his muscles every time every time but he is you yeah you've seen him he's he's built he's he's a bit of a unit

29:35Mark Heath:isn't he yeah yeah uh that was a bit like a bull in a china shop wasn't it a runaway train um yeah yeah interesting uh okay i want to talk to you next the next talking point is um what i'm calling the Jack Clark conundrum because it's pleasing alliteration. What do you make of this Jack Clark situation? We've talked a lot about Jack Clark over the summer and my concerns about him being a player that can succeed in the Premier League. Now we sit three games in. He scored the winner against Sunderland. I think he's looked dangerous every time he's come on. I think I saw a stat that said within the first five minutes of coming on against Liverpool, he'd already touched the ball more than Dyson Maeda had.

30:16um and yet i can't ever see him really starting because he doesn't bring what myda does which is

30:23Mark Heath:the you know the incredible non-stop pressing he's much i'd say he's faster than jack clark he's not skillful he's not as good a an attacking player as jack clark but in the premier league obviously that pressing that that constant motion is is really important isn't it um and jack clark isn't going to give you that i don't think so no well where are we with the the jack clark thing because you've also got then got tossed in of course jayden philagin who's going to come back into the mix and where does he do where's he fit does he start you know that kind of stuff because again i don't think he he will do the sort of work that my day will do so where are we with this uh left wing problem headache i don't think yeah i don't think any of us expected ipswich to have these three players on the books going into the season i think we all expected kind of midway latter stages of summer that jayden philogene would be moving on um but it looks like we'll have all three fit and firing and available and again another real headache for uh for gary o 'neill to try and piece this puzzle together i think i agree in terms of jack clark not being the man who's going to be starting at least week in week out i think if you're going to have him if you're going to have him as a starter it needs to be a game that you feel confident that Ipswich will have either the majority of the ball or just kind of be the more dominant side because obviously his off-the-ball qualities aren't as strong as Dyson Maida in terms of, as you mentioned, the pressing, but also the defensive work and aspects of things like that.

31:58And that's why I think Maida will be the man to play, especially the kind of the top-tier games, games like City, games like Liverpool, United, scene and it's tricky because I've kind of come away from these games I can't really remember, he had a shot against United I can't remember what else he did to be honest in any of them and part of that is because they're not kind of utilising him as someone, it is literally just run and run and tire out your fullback and then when that fullback's tired we'll bring on Jack Clark who can then run at a tired Premier League fullback and then we'll create those chances, I think that is actually quite a nice balance to have with Jack Clark like have him come on against tired legs.

32:39Maybe that will work with Jadon Filagene as well. It doesn't feel to me like Ipswich are still playing to Maeda's strengths. It doesn't feel that they're using that space and opportunities that he has to go down that left side on the counter. It feels like every time they're playing on the counter, it's all going down Fatou's side. It's all down there, and I just want them to be able to use that other flank a little bit more because that's what he's got. He's going to be one of the fastest players in the league. He's going to be so suited. to this counter-attacking play, but I just feel that Ipswich are struggling to get him into these games at the moment.

33:13And that is a bit of a shame, I suppose. I hope it will come again with time. But I still think the best structure to have is with him starting games, with him running at defenders, hopefully getting more opportunities, hopefully with Ipswich working to get him into games more. And then you can bring on a Jack Clark who can dribble and doesn't have to worry about the defensive side as much down that side towards maybe the latter stages of the game if it's such a chasing, an equaliser, a winner. And then Jadon Filagene, where does he fit in? That's another headache to have entirely when you've got all of these players and you're now also having the debate as well.

33:49When these guys come back, how do you fit them all onto a bench? Because I don't know where Azul Matasiva is going to go at the moment. I don't know where Jadon Filagene is going to go. Who are you taking out? Do you take Casey McIntyre out? But then he's your only other right-sider. Poor Sindra Valariegelli didn't even make the squad against Liverpool, the team that he supports. What happens with Nunez? What happens with the defenders? Yeah, it's a real tricky balance to find. But the left-wing solution, I think, will be Maida starting and Clark and Philogene in more of a supporting role. But who knows, is really my view.

34:25Mark Heath:It's an interesting one, isn't it? Because Philogene, clearly last season, was one of Town's stars. He had that goal of the season competition with himself. and you say that he can be a difference maker in the Premier League, but probably not in the way that Maida is. Are they physical enough? Do you think they're physical enough in terms of that, like as starting players? I don't think Clark is. I've said that before. I think Jadon's probably a little bit more, because he's faster, isn't he? Probably has a bit more to add to that side of things. But still, I think you're right in that if you're going to start them, it needs to be games where you're confident that Tan are going to have more of the ball.

35:03Yeah, I just feel that in some moment, you can see that Maid is a little bit stronger. He's stronger. Oh, yeah, he's definitely stronger, yeah. He, again, sorry for going back to it, he's well built. He's got muscles. He's got big legs. Yeah, big legs. He's a powerful runner. And when you're coming up against Premier League right-backs, the majority of them are very athletic players. now that's a very it's a very different situation then when you are coming up against them from the start of a game compared to the end of the game because obviously towards the end you're more tired you're unlikely to change your right back i would say over the course of the 90 minutes they're likely to play the entire match and then you've got a situation where you can then bring jack clark on to have more of that kind of run against a top end right back who just might not be quite as sharpen on it and that's where for example you saw jack clark against munia i think he was still on the pitch at that point and he was looking a little bit tired towards the latter stages of that game and on the opening day and then he comes inside beats one beats two tired defenders opens the space takes the shot and scores but I don't think that's going to happen like if you put Clark on that left wing spot up against Araujo on on Friday night against Liverpool I don't think he would have had any more of a sniff than uh than Dyson Mider did

36:20Mark Heath:yeah I just wonder how because you want players on the bench don't you to come on they can't come on and change the game and clark and philagine both fit that but the problem is they both play the same position they both can't both can't come on in left wing we had this debate last year when we were talking about starting one and benching one now you're talking about starting one and benching two at this point that's that's the the the balance that you've got to find and i mean here as well take it back to the back five debate right if you're taking one of those players out one of the attacking players to fit in another defender that means you're going to have another attacking player on the bench you can't just have a bench full of attackers like someone's going to have someone has to come out of the squad and then you look at the attacking options and i mean sorry to say but we probably both look at casey mcateer as the one that would stand out and then you're saying but then if you take him out who's your natural right sider jayden villagene's not the same on the right nor is jack clark so um the squad gives me a headache still that is the best way I can put it so I don't know how Gary O 'Neill feels just trying to balance all of these things together and deal with prioritising play time, he's probably, sounds bad to say he's probably quite happy that Jadon is just out of the picture a little bit he's got to knock it up to worry about how I'm going to balance all these left wingers together I don't know and it's going to be fascinating to see how the minutes are spread out and how places on the bench even are spread out over the course of the next 3, 4, 5 games I can imagine he goes as well isn't it because, you know, Jake Philogene thinks he should be starting.

37:52Mark Heath:I imagine Jack Clark thinks he should be starting. A lot of these players think they should be starting. So, interesting. And that's, of course, why he gets paid the big bucks and we're sitting here talking about it. AJ, I want to have a little period of flexion now. We're three games in. The three points on the board, there's been plenty to be positive about. We could, as we say, certainly Friday night, I thought was a little bit of a step backwards. Maybe because expectations were higher than they perhaps should have been, you know previously when they're last in the Premier League home game against Liverpool you'd say oh you're probably not going to win that we'll get anything out of it this time I felt genuinely like they could get something out of it so maybe it's that kind of giddiness of expectation but sitting here now three games down they've got a win on the board the next three as you say are huge in terms of the context of the season how are you feeling about things how would you kind of sum up your feelings are you more optimistic than you thought you'd be at this point Have you seen more things to like than you thought you would have done?

38:50Mark Heath:Are there more things that you're worried about than maybe you thought you wouldn't be?

38:56The boring answer is I think we're probably on course at the moment for where I thought they'd be and where I think they should be. To be honest, to play devil's advocate, you're betting in 14 players, 12 of them new signings. That's not easy into a new squad. I appreciate Hull have done more of that and have got good results but it's not an easy thing to do especially when they're trying to play a very attacking style of play not very attacking but quite an attacking style of play as a newly promoted team that's not an easy thing to do because it is very much a case that by the looks of it they're not looking to go up and sit deep and strike on the counter and win games 1-0 they want to play football and entertain and get bums off seats and stuff like that so overall I think that they're in they're in a pretty good spot because as I said in preseason they need to one win one of those opening five was what what I said they did that on opening day they've won the game against Sunderland and they've lost the following two which is probably what a lot of us felt would be the the case when when we looked at the fixtures in preseason that that felt like a good return and we can kind of have the points in the bank and then have your baptism of fire I suppose against the other two so I think it's all quite positive things are gelling nicely, individuals are doing well, we've been impressed by Inciso and Fatou and Emerson and Palacios, they're not all going to have great performances all the time but I think we all feel quite buoyed by what we've seen so far this is now the test, this is the big point now is how they're going to go about these next few games I think that lessons have to be learned from the last two, because if they're going to get points against top teams, they have to realise, Epswich have to realise they just can't do what they've done in the last two games, which is go toe-to-toe with them, because they will lose.

40:52They will lose those games. As good as the squad is, Epswich have, they cannot go toe-to-toe with Liverpool and win that game where they are as a newly promoted team. And it's the same with United, and it'll be the same with Chelsea and Arsenal. I just need them to be more sturdy and resilient and a bunch of hard bastards, basically. in those games. And now is going to be a test of how they can stand toe-to-toe, because I'm sure they will, against Palace and against Everton and against Fulham. And these next three feel very, very significant in terms of dictating what this season is going to look like, especially in my mind, the Palace game and the Fulham game, because they look a little bit chaotic, I think is the best way to say.

41:32Fulham have lost all three of their opening games. At least they've got points on the board, and at least we don't have to have this debate of, God, when's that first win going to come? And it comes in November away at Spurs and then the next one after that was Chelsea, wasn't it? We've avoided that. They've got the points on the board. They've got the monkey off the back. It's now about managing that narrative as well because a lot of it coming off the back of these last two games against Man United and against Liverpool has been tuning into the match of the day. I watched it with the audio off on Saturday night and I'd imagine that a lot of it was going to be, well, you know, two naive from a newly promoted team, clearly going back down, no lessons learnt from last time, spent all this money but definitely getting relegated that needs to be blocked out and Ipswich need to very much control their own narrative and storyline when it comes to this, but if they're going to do that they're going to need to be very competitive and pick up some good points from the next three.

42:27Mark Heath:Yeah I do feel like they can, and I think as you say, getting that win on the board I think is already a massive kind of thing to have, a mental tick if you like because even though they've lost these last two games, they look at the table and there's still three points on the board and they're above a bunch of other teams. What were you made about the rest of the league? Because we're always, who can they finish above? Now, Coventry have lost all three. You say Fulham have lost all three. So they're struggling. Are there sides, do you think it's going to be, last time it was kind of like they got cut adrift, didn't they?

42:58Mark Heath:Do you think it's going to be a lot closer this time around in terms of the teams that are going to be dragged into it? We've already talked about Palace and Fulham. I think so but we thought that in the early stages I remember going to into that Palace game in December 2024 and I remember saying this is a big opportunity against a team that they realistically can catch and drag down there and Palace won that horrible game I think it was 1-0 I spoke about Mateta wasn't it when you got that yeah Mateta was it 1-0 I think it was 1-0 yeah yeah 1-0 and I remember saying on the pod the biggest thing that stood out to me is that they had a load of beefy centre-backs that were all about 6 '4", and they just swatted Ipswich attackers away with ease, and Palace went on to finish, come to be a mid-table in that season.

43:47So it's very easy to say yes at the moment when you're looking at Fulham and Coventry and teams like that. I think Coventry, about where I expected them to be, I always really expected that they were going to struggle, and they feel very Ipswich of two years ago. And I think they're going to try and play a little bit too much as much as they did actually do very well at Man City over the weekend. But I just think this is too big a step up with the squad they've got. The interesting thing is we've spent the whole summer saying they're going to finish above Coventry and Hull and then they just have to find one other.

44:17Yet Hull are currently third with seven points from three games. Their next game, they've got some of them. They've got Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham. So again, we'll reassess in a few weeks' time. But at the moment, they're really impressed. They've yet to concede a goal, as I said. Fair play to them. And then they've now got all these snazzy new signings. They signed like seven on deadline date or something ridiculous. So fascinated to see them. And then it's a case of now, if you're saying commentary are probably likely to go back down, who do you find at the moment? Tottenham are 18th.

44:49Is there going to be another case of trying to track down Tottenham? Fulham, as I mentioned, in pre-season are the ones I thought would really struggle when it's looking that way, having sold off a lot of their experience and gone with young players. Then you're looking at Palace as well as another one. Sunderland, I suppose, but got a really good result over the weekend. It is hard when you're saying, you look at it and say, what teams can they finish above of? And many of them are looking pretty good at the moment. So, yeah, very difficult to assess so early on. But it's just a reminder of what this league is like, isn't it?

45:26Mark Heath:Yeah, we're going to have a much better idea, aren't we, after the next three as to where they're kind of sitting and what they can actually achieve, I think. The timings are really interesting as well, aren't they? Where we talk about the next three and going into Fulham, but it's two and an international break. It's not just any international break. It's a three-week-long international break, three weeks in between these games. That's a hell of a break to have. And I'd almost like the Fulham game to come before that so you can have these next three, and then you get to the international break and you say, right do we need to panic do we need to tear up and start again tactically or do we need to can we say this is what we're doing really well let's now focus on refining what we're doing but it's difficult to kind of judge it off these next two i almost just want that extra fulham game to get a better picture of it um and i suppose the other tricky thing is when you look through the team about eight of the starters are going to be off on international duty as well it's not like gary o 'neill's gonna have any time to work with them so yeah let's wait and see but certainly these next three games feel like teams who could all be in the mix, although Everton seem actually to be quite good, despite everything that happened in the transfer market as well.

46:38Mark Heath:Is it a three-week international break? That's complete nonsense. So it's two weekends, so it's basically three full weeks without... Yeah, I know, but it means that we only have one. We don't have another one in October. Remember, it used to be September, then October, and then November, whereas now we just have this big one and another one in November. But yes, I hate it and I can already see the panic setting in about how we're going to fill all this stuff during the international break without any games. Can't wait. Exactly. Yeah, we've just had a summer where we had that same problem. A transfer window open either.

47:14Mark Heath:Okay, I want to talk about, and I've seen today, AJ, that Inbetweeners 3 is in progress. They're shooting it, which is good because you have your football friend, Zian Fleming, who you met at the press conference last week, I think probably the first time since the Millwall days. Lots of people on Twitter and social media wanted to know how that went. Me and her are speculating that he doesn't just blank you, he does actually remember who you are. So how was it reuniting with your old friend, Zian, your old Dutch pal, your buddy, your chum? Because he was in good form, wasn't he? I mean, I've already seen people picking up the F-bomb and falling in love with him and he just seemed to be quite a compelling character.

47:57Yeah, I'd imagine that him seeing me again, you know that bit from The Office where Ricky Gervais does the, they're in the pub and turns around and goes, oh no, that one. I assume it was a bit like that, probably. He did know I was going to be there, to be fair, so he was well prepared. But, yeah, it was good to see him again and it was a traditional Zeon Fleming press conferences i think i mentioned a couple of times he dropped f-bombs in at least three interviews that i did with him during millwall days and also then did one live on sky where he got chastised live on air at blackpool by the presenter he had a real massive go at him i spoke to him i gave him a call on the monday for a chat and um he was like i don't get it i don't understand in holland we can do you can just say whatever you want basically so um yeah he genuinely has struggled to get to grips with that side of things but god he's confident isn't he that's the biggest thing there were some incredible highlights from this uh graham asked him from bbc radio stuff who's your biggest inspiration he just went myself and there was the silence for like three or four seconds as he just looks out it was great i thought that was fantastic um there's kind of i think there's a little naturally a bit dutch kind of confidence that's kind of a dutch characteristic but especially within him.

49:18I mean, he spoke about being in the Dutch national tour. You know, I said to him, you haven't been called up. Is this going to be a name for you? He said, I don't really want to get into it again. I've done another press conference on it, but I was the top goal scorer of any of the Dutch players in the Premier League last year. So I already expected to be in there. Yeah. Fair enough. Strong answer. Yeah. Just lots of punchy lines from that, which are really good. Yeah. Sorry,

49:42Mark Heath:go on. I was going to say it gave me Snoop Dogg energy. You know, when Snoop Dogg introduced into, I think it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something. And he said, I'd like to thank me for basically doing all the work. But he's not boastful at the same time. It doesn't feel like he's coming along. Like he said, for example, he was talking about his comparison with Bradley Barkalup and, you know, say, oh, you're both making your debuts this weekend. And he said, well, yeah, apart from the fact he's a million times better than I am. Like he knows where he is, but he's also kind of realistic about his aspirations.

50:13he spoke to me, I asked, was it always going to be the Premier League? And he said, well, one of my dreams is to go play in the Champions League. I still think I can do that. He's 28 years old and he's playing for a newly provided Premier League team, but he still has an aspiration of playing for one of the top teams in Europe. He's constantly mentioned in this, he likes feeling like he's at the bottom of a mountain looking up, which I think was quite a nice comparison. And of course, the big takeaway was the question I asked, the last question I asked, is he going to bring traitors to the dressing room?

50:43He did it at Millwall, he did it at Burnley, he played this to try and build some unity in the dressing room and get the new players to bed in and everything I've heard from all the players who've mentioned about it, there have been some YouTube clips and stuff like that, fantastic so I'm really, really hoping that they'll get everyone on board and they'll play that, especially with Celebrity Traitors coming later this month Town TV get recording, I want to see this Who would be Claudia though?

51:13Mark Heath:He is Claudia He's Claudia, is he? He is Claudia, he does this role he is so kind of meticulous in it, I've heard all these stories you can see him going around and picking the traitors and he'll be the one who comes into breakfast and he'll read out the announcements and who's been killed as a WhatsApp group, it sounds great and he takes it so seriously and I love it, it's great yeah celebrity traitors is coming back mate into the month gonna be great oh yeah serious big hitters in there again Harry Hill isn't it I think he's in there no is he in the other one is he in that one I can't remember either way he's also doing the last one laughing I don't know if you've ever watched that I have I do quite enjoy that yeah he's in that as well I think I don't know if he's in the traitors no he might be in the other one Richard E.

52:01Mark Heath:Grant and Michael Sheen and all those kind of proper big names Bella Ramsey's in it Bella Ramsey that was the last thing to love they're hitting some real real A-listers in there as well they've got some money haven't they clearly looking forward to it anyway anything else to mention AJ in terms of general thoughts feelings and reflections about anything before I do the sponsor push we've got a shout out we have to give because Ross has WhatsAppped us instructions which I'll do if you haven't got anything else to discuss in terms of the football stuff not massively I think we've done a nice breakdown of everything and a look ahead to what's to come.

52:39I'm sure we'll do some more later in the week building up to the very important games. I keep forgetting there's Arsenal. There's Arsenal like a week. Oh yeah, just the Premier League champions coming to town. Just have that in the back of your mind somewhere. No, are we going to do... I feel like we should do our own Traders podcast. It would be great. I'm just assessing it after... I know we shouldn't, but I would really enjoy it.

53:03Mark Heath:It's definitely going to get brought up at some point when that starts rolling again. uh, so we're traitors is, is one of the most fun formats as well. Right. Um, sorry. Nope. All good. No, I thought you were going to jump in. Okay. Crack on. We had a little message. Ross is off today. Uh, and he sent us a message into the group chat saying, give Richard the poster a shout out on the pod today. He's a big listener and KOA subscriber. One of the 29 pound a year subscribers as well, which we very much enjoy annual subscribers. Um, he says he just bumped into him in town. He says, thanks to us all for the content.

53:34Mark Heath:and he's taken a selfie with Ross, which Ross I'm sure would have enjoyed, to show his wife, who always says you're watching the guys again. So Richard the Posty, much appreciated. Thanks for your support of KOA. Thank you, Richard. I hope you've enjoyed getting a selfie with Rossy and your wife is suitably impressed. Friends, just a reminder then, just for our sponsor, use the code KOA10 at molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all their excellent car cleaning products. and also if you'd leave us a five-star view on itune just helps lift us visibility wise in the charts and helps more people find us um and also follow us across all social media is kings of anglet on youtube instagram twitter slash x facebook tiktok i think that's all of them isn't it uh and me aj and ross all on blue sky as well if you're on there come and join us um yeah and i am going to be taking a little leave friends i am on holiday uh well not from now but for the next week or so I'll be in Italy what's that I hear people saying not another holiday yes another holiday I deserve it I work bloody hard so I'll be going off to Italy I'll leave you in the capable hands of the boys who are obviously going to be back later on this week to build up to the big game a big game at Crystal Palace and then several big games coming up over the next few weeks so hopefully when I return from Italy we'll be talking about big wins big results for it's town until then friends have a great start to your week a great weekend and I'll see you soon ciao arrivederci Thank you.

55:33Thank you.

56:02Thank you.

56:49We'll see you next time.