Arsenal dominate, the Carrick renaissance continues at Manchester United, and a wild Tottenham comeback against Manchester City: Men in Blazers 02/02/26

20:26Roger Bennett:You're a nicer person than me, Rog. I thought it was a terrible goal. From a defensive point of view, it was genuinely pathetic. Leeds had been relatively obdurate until that point. And, you know, the first goal there, undone by a moment of quality. The second goal, there's a lot of bad luck, kind of knocking about. That third goal is awful. strike dives into a tackle he doesn't need to make Martinelli gets all this time to put in this cross which Joe Roden the other central defender just decides not to head and then Bogle completely forgets that he's meant to be stopping Jokeres I think Bogle thought Roden was going to head it clear You missed Darlow having the ball hit right at him but Mercy letting it in Darlow kind of falls away from it because he thinks this might hurt it was a yeah I'm pleased Victor Jokeres scored I don't think anyone should take I don't think anyone comes out of that situation well.

21:17I'm just rooting Chesco vibes. Just Chesco happiness one day for you, Victor. I can't stand the big signing, just the mockery, the derision. It really, really makes me ache. Gabriel Jesus scored his third goal in his last four games in Raw. I will say, immense restraint, not showing whatever beautiful piece of theology was undoubtedly on his T-shirt. Incredible stat. Jesus has never lost a game he scored in. 64 games, 59 wins, 5 draws, 0 losses. We were told that Alan Road would be a true mental and physical test for this Arsenal. It felt like watching just someone waft the dandruff flex off their shoulder.

21:55That's how beautiful and easy it was. Really a thumping handed out to Fox. Marble just seemed completely out of their depth, ultimately tactically limited. Completely out of their depth and really tactically limited all of a sudden. For Arsenal, 3 points, 4 goals. Jocheres scoring, Erdegaard assisting, Maduweke starring, really delivering an emphatic win on hostile territory, clean sheet to boot. Raw, I don't like to tempt fate, but for Arsenal, I feel like everything worked for one day. It was almost perfect happiness. We did find out later that Mourinho is going to be out for some while with a foot injury.

22:35But what will the Arsenal haters and also the Arsenal self-haters, Will they be silenced for one week or will this performance actually they'll find something to crash out about?

22:46Roger Bennett:No, I don't think you can pick any flaws in it. It was advertised as a mental and physical and psychological test for Arsenal. And they passed it in every which way. Yeah, you can pick out the third goal. Leeds didn't cover themselves in glory. But by that stage, the game was over. Arsenal had killed it. And they'd done it in a way that I think listening to Daniel Farker afterwards was really interesting. In that situation, managers will sometimes try and not make excuses, but they'll kind of over-egg the pudding a little bit to make it sound as though they've run into an impossible-to-resist force.

23:23Roger Bennett:But Farker just sounded very sincerely admiring of what Arteta's built. And he was talking about what it's like to try and hurt Arsenal. And he basically said you can't do it. They can drop deep and squeeze space. They can press high and disrupt your rhythm. They can play compact, they can be narrow, they're perfectly happy to get into one-on-one duels in wide areas. And his view seemed to be, you can't touch this team, there is nothing that we could have done. He didn't seem like he thought Leeds had played especially badly, and I think that's probably true, even though they maybe created half a chance.

23:58Roger Bennett:But I think, in Farka's mind, and I'm inclined to agree with him, to do that against this Arsenal team probably takes some doing, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of smarts, a lot of ability. I think he looked at them and was in no doubt that they are champions in waiting. And my mind just started a spiral when you said, over egg your pudding, went to some incredible places there. It's Rog. If you haven't noticed, I absolutely adore New Balance and all that they create. And although I'm not a professional footballer, I still love their boots worn by some of the greatest in the game, such as Bakayi Osaka, Eberichi Eze, Jeremy Frimpong, and the legend James Rodriguez.

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25:18One that came on the 10th anniversary of Pep Guardiola's arrival at Manchester City in his three-piece suit, no less, swooped in. We knew he was great. I'm not sure we knew how long he'd stay, and we didn't know that he would transform English football to such an extent in that moment. similar but different to Thomas Frank and his arrival, Son's three-piece suit, I should add, at Spurs, who had just two wins out of 12 at home. Their stadium, a palace, their form, that of paupers, contending honestly with challenges on every front, an injury list that could fill an entire series of the pit. Madison, Kulisevsky, Koudis, Van der Ven, Benton, Kerr, Berg, Valporo, Davis, Richarlison, Danso, Jed Spence all out.

26:05And also with Manchester City, the one true challenger to Arsenal's title charge, Thomas Frank pre-game had to spend a lot of time answering journalists' requests to respond to a sector of Spurs fans who wanted their team to lose to City in order to dent Arsenal's title chances. Modern football, Roar.

26:26Roger Bennett:It's a complication. And, you know, after the coffee cup incident, Thomas Frank kind of had to prove he'd got the club and the most Spurs thing to do would be to make sure that City won so that Arsenal didn't go seven points clear at the top of the table. Yeah, but you know, the coffee doesn't drink itself. I mean, the game was sloppy at the outset, for being honest. Spurs couldn't live with City's press. They were skittish. Honestly, there were worse than Bill Belichick snub in the Hall of Fame. City sprang to life with ease. 11 minutes in, Bissouma coughed up the ball in the middle of the park.

26:57Arlen Pounce fouled by Bissouma on the way back. but Cherki just took possession, whipped the ball home with such ease raw. It felt weird because just all the air went out of that giant stadium. It honestly felt like a goal that was scored at the beginning of fanless football. Thomas Frank, poor man, there was a shot of him in the moment just reeling away in utter agony. His team seemed so feeble. It all felt so lost. It felt like me getting into the octagon to UFC it up with Islam Makachev. City toyed with Tottenham. I mean, it could have been four or five up before Semenya pounced on some Tottenham self-sabotage.

27:32Fourth goal in five games. The boos that met his finish roar and the cheers that met his stumbling from his attempt to the celebrity head over heels gone wrong. Felt that moment that that was all Spurs fans were going to have to cheer on the day.

27:46Roger Bennett:Yeah, it was a nice moment, though. I did enjoy it. Not because Antoine Semenya failed to land it, but because it was a moment of actual good humour. so the Spurs fans cheered it in a someone dropped something in a restaurant type way and then Semenyo laughed he laughed and you could tell that actually the rival fans and the opposing player were sharing a moment that wasn't outright hostility I thought it was really sweet Yes because Semenyo didn't fear them your team were toothless we got this a laugh out of charity and mercy and sadness for you but I think it really helped Thomas Frank because it meant that the boos were cut short.

28:23Roger Bennett:Because that could have been 30, 60 seconds of pure booing. But instead you got a sort of snatch of booing and then it was laughter and they didn't come back to booing. So in a way it took the, it drew the sting from the toxic atmosphere. I don't know where we are in booing right now. I thought we decided the booing actually helped inspire teams to come back. Because if they didn't boo then, they did like 60 seconds later at halftime when it was Spurs fans who wanted City to win too. Spurs fans who didn't come to boo at their team off a half-time nil. I've got to applaud Spurs because that boo, the fans' boo at half-time was just pitch perfect.

29:03It was low frequency. It was sustained collective harmonising. Just no notes. They really have practised that booing well and it was state of the art.

29:13Roger Bennett:Do you think because of the amount of practice they've had and also obviously Everton's move from Goodison, is that now the preeminent booing location in English football? I think it's state of the art. I do think it's the gold standard, which is what they probably imagined when they moved into the new stadium, what the acoustics could deliver. Do you understand the architects doing loads of acoustic tests? What will it sound like when they've lost several home games in a row and the boo is at this level? How will that ring around the stadium? I did actually interview once the architect and he went on about 25 minutes to me about the acoustics.

29:44And now I do wonder whether genuinely they work so hard, that team on perfecting the acoustic capture um it we're a bit in the bowl to make sure the sound stayed in and didn't go to the heavens and i'm sure they never dreamt of the havoc that they've

29:59Roger Bennett:they've wrought on their own team i think there's a there's an ai app you can download that shows you what an architect's render might look like on like a wet wednesday in november which i think is a really good idea because obviously when you see the pictures of new buildings they're all it's always sunny and everything looks perfect but that's not how the world looks so it's inherently quite funny to think that the architects of that Spurs stadium were like, how will we make sure the cheers are as loud as possible? And it never once occurred to them that it would also be used for booing. I like that.

30:25Roger Bennett:What will that beautiful building we just built in Liverpool look like on a Friday night at 2 o 'clock in the morning when someone's urinating against the side and some poor girl is up checking everything that's gone into that? You know what? God bless that app and whoever invented it. But for Tottenham, GFAP at Goldfinch in our Discord route, Ange, Spurs killed the man, but they didn't kill the idea behind his football. I mean, Spurs was so hopeless in that first half. But Thomas Frank came out, he changed the set-up, went four at the back to begin that second half. Sar slotting into midfield alongside Basuma and Gallagher.

31:04And they did at least cock a fist. Dominic Solanke showing great desire and strength to hold off both Kutunov and kind of kick through Gehi to raise the spectre of hope and force Spurs fans to remember what that, what's that word, cheer? What was that all about? I mean, Tottenham's first half was dry January. Tottenham's second half was them on the lash. 70th minute, Conor Gallagher arced a curve of a cross into the Kenny Loggins danger zone. It's actually behind Dominic Solanke, but the striker, I mean, it was quite brilliant, instinctive, stunning his reaction roar. The improvisation of it all.

31:41It's like watching an incredible stand-up comedian just drop a killer bit with the world watching. In a turnaround weekend filled with him. This, to me, was the maddest of them. All the scorpion kick that Donnarumma, by the way, somehow got his hand to still. But even he couldn't keep out.

31:57Roger Bennett:Yeah, a version of a goal that's been scored by Zlatan. I think he got one for Sweden in the European Championships. Olivier Giroud, Premier League legend. I mean, just casually. I think 72 % of his goals were like that, weren't they? Just casually, but also very handsomely pulled off in a way that neither Solanke or Zlatan could hope to match. An incredible bit of improvisation. Really, really inspired bit of thinking. Instinctive from Solanke. But also for Thomas Frank, maybe quite a good way of saying to the board, if I have my players fit, we are better at football. By the way, this moment, as you've described it, stunning.

32:32But in context, the Thomas Frankian, the Manchester City foot on their foot, all of it. I would have been less surprised in that second, I swear, than if I'd seen someone dead come back to life. The fact, yes, that it was Solanke, a childhood Arsenal fan, but just the drama of the moment, and the fact that it came from Spurs. We were told they had flatlined.

32:56Roger Bennett:But it's interesting, isn't it? And I think this isn't just Spurs that this applies to, but it does seem that in the Premier League at the moment, one goal changes the momentum so conclusively. that even if City had been three up, you wouldn't have ruled out Spurs getting back into it as soon as they get that one goal. I take your point that it's weird that it's a Spurs team who we all assumed were basically treading water until Thomas Frank got sacked. But to me, it's because the margins are so fine in the lead now that once you get one goal, once that noise comes, once that belief comes, once that momentum kind of appears, it is almost irresistible, I think, regardless of who you are and who you're playing.

33:37I mean, it's amazing. Ultimately, we're not talking about players. We're not talking about formations. We're not talking about tactics. We're spending 70 % of our time talking about atmospheres in stadium. I actually asked the other guard, does the atmosphere in the stadium affect you? And he didn't want to say yes, but he said, yes, it does. You boo your team. They feel like crap. That negative energy weighs them down. Lift the team, which Spurs fans did in that second half. Those that stayed. And they feel it and they feed off it. This was, for me, one of the most astonishing comebacks of the season.

34:08For all the negative narrative, for all the broken performances, Frank Squadro still has fight. This is job-saving for a beat, this. Tottenham still have to play a renewed Manchester United next weekend. Newcastle Arsenal at Seb SB tweeted, have Tottenham compiled the highest brilliant goals to general misery ratio in Premier League history this season?

34:32Roger Bennett:Yeah, quite possibly, actually. They're always good for a moment, Tottenham. They produce plenty of moments. Whether they can string them into results, I don't know. I still think Thomas Franck's job is delicately poised, if I'm completely honest. I think this obviously saves him for this week. It offers encouragement. And it's something that the players obviously are playing for him. You don't produce a second-half performance like that if you've given up on your manager, I think. But they do have this difficult run. and it does feel as though those boos will come back as soon as they run into another problem, another sticky spell.

35:08Roger Bennett:But for the time being, it's something to cling on to. If they can play like that, then maybe they're not done this season and maybe Thomas Frank's not done. Let's talk about Manchester City for a moment. They have now just won one of their past six league games. It was incredible how poor they were in that second half. You can explain it. They do have a trend of fading and conceding constantly in the second half. But this performance at second half, flat-footed, reactive, just not antagonist at all. In a game that they could have been 3-4-5 up in that first half. Yes, the Tottenham curse continues.

35:44But they were complacent, unable to execute. Haaland, no shots on target, no goals in open play in, what is it, like seven league games? Pep said post-game. Well, Pep went off on the refereeing on the first goal, which is fair. But the truth is City should have been so far away. But for Donnarumma and some insane saves he pulled off, they could have bloody lost this. And you and I chatted about this last week. What's crazy to me about the Arsenal, the kind of self-fear, the turmoil, the doom panics. It's just Manchester City who are chasing them. And they themselves are so bloody vulnerable. It's like being terrified of being attacked by Michael Serra.

36:24poor Michael Cera. I love Michael Cera, but you wouldn't be like, oh my God, Michael Cera's really angry and he's going to beat the crap out of us. We've got to watch our back. You'd be like, oh, Michael Cera, we can talk this through. We can talk this out. He's a rational guy.

36:38Roger Bennett:He's a lover, not a fighter. I think that Arsenal are afraid of ghosts in more ways than one, aren't they? And it's that sense that you still wonder if City have got a run of seven or eight straight wins in them. And there's no evidence for that. this season. There is nothing to suggest this season that they are going to suddenly click into gear and be able to be incredibly consistent. But you kind of know that they've done it before. So maybe it's the reverse of the Arsenal can they win the title thing. Maybe it's you know that City have done it, therefore they have the experience of it, therefore it is possible.

37:12Roger Bennett:It exists within our Overton window, do you know what I mean? City winning 10 in a row is a thing we have all experienced. So we know it can happen, so you have to worry about it. But based on, you know, I say this advisedly they don't they're at Anfield next week but based on the experience of this season and last City are a work in progress they they won't stay in this this run of poor form forever they'll break it eventually but they don't look like they can put enough wins together to trouble Arsenal given the gap at the top ultimately Arsenal the real winners of this game now six points clear.

37:48Okay, to even more headless fare, Manchester United 3, Fulham 2. We came here to see how far the interim to the interim bounce can go. Michael Carrick 2.0. They'd already delivered two quite epic wins. Pure energy, good vibes, just positive everything. Fulham though, a very different kind of test. First opponent Carrick was expected to beat. And a Fulham who'd lost just once in their last eight games. United without their latest Arsenal slaying hero, Patrick Dorgue, out for a number of weeks after injuring his hamstring. Didn't matter in the early exchanges. United asserted themselves, rewarded a penalty when Cunha was brought down by Cuenca.

38:28A penalty, Vardov. But Carrick's United don't need dodgy referee decisions in their favour, as in times of pomp of old. No, they score their own goals the authentic way with Guile and Kraft. Upstep the quite brilliantly giving Bruno. delivered really, I can only describe it as essentially, clip cross, inviting that human cube, Casemiro, on his last dance tour to head home and force Jamie Carragher to publicly about face on this quite astonishing declaration two seasons ago that Casemiro should leave the football before the football leaves you. Raw pundits, social media hot takes, meet Manchester United, collective resurrection, and it's marvellous.

39:07Roger Bennett:Yeah, those comments haven't aged well, but I think at the time they weren't ridiculous from Jamie Carro, to be honest. Because Casemiro did have and has had long periods of struggle in his Manchester United career. He hasn't looked like the player that United thought they were signing. But what he does now is give them an experience, a composure, a sense of calm in midfield. I think he's quite important for their shape, even if he himself doesn't look like the kind of fearsome engine room midfielder that he was at Real Madrid. He's got the perfect shape. He's always the perfect square. He does have the perfect shape.

39:40Roger Bennett:and he's had a good autumn to his Manchester United career. I think that's true. I think in the last few months, maybe the last season, he's done much better. I'm not sure he will go down as a player that everybody kind of talks about for decades at United. I think Real Madrid was very much the peak of his career but he's been important to them for a little while now. I'm only raising this because this resurrection is so unbelievably, almost ineffable and Casemiro's resurrection within that, wheels within wheels, is also deeply beautiful, but almost as inexplicable. Fulham, we knew, had gone one down the week before against Brighton had come back to win, and they did take a grip on the midfield.

40:23Lamans had to be sharp when called upon, and when the game did seem to be turning, United found a way to assert themselves, confecting a stunning goal off a tired Anthony Robinson clearance, a crafty Casemiro pass to Fricuna at the tightest angle, hit the ball, as hard as a boxer trying to knock his opponents to pay off. Fulham had a goal notched off after a Poulon var for a shoulder being offside. Margins. They did score late on. Maguire gifted him and as a penalty which he stutter-stepped converted. Stay with me here because this was mad. Nine minutes of extra time. Game so nervy. For good reason, it seemed.

40:5823-year-old Kevin picks up the ball, lashed home deliriously with the fearlessness of youth. A stunning moment as they Fulham address the cameras with just a cocky swagger. We've done it. at Old Trafford. Felt like a bubble bursting a little bit on the Carrick Nascence, but raw. In a weekend of wondrous footballing moments, two minutes, 18 seconds after conceding, wilting really, United stepped up. It's almost like hearing Carrick be like, if you think that's a knife, this is a knife. Through Chesko, poor, maligned Chesko, $99 million transfer who'd been deemed by consensus a bit of a dud, received the ball, span round, Finish no look.

41:39Use the defender as a screen. The relief and joy of that moment, Roar. Cunha, Casemiro on the bench, subbed out. Even they didn't know how to look. They looked as confused, as shocked, as shattered as the rest of us. And it was football. It's just wonderful chaos.

41:54Roger Bennett:It's amazing, isn't it, the way the mood around a club can change so quickly. It's not that long. It's, what, three weeks maybe at most since Michael Carrick replaced Amarim. In fact, replaced Darren Fletcher as interim manager. Three weeks since, it seemed as though United were destined to waste another season, caught in a holding pattern, trying to get through till May and then start again. And in three games, they've kind of shown everything you'd want. They were superb tactically against Manchester City. They showed incredible grit against Arsenal. and now they played well against Fulham, then played very poorly, threw it away and suddenly found a way to snatch it at the last.

42:39Roger Bennett:This is the sort of thing that gives a team belief and that is really important. I think that's really important that you believe that at the end there's going to be a goal in injury time and you're going to score it. That's a good thing to think. There was a beautiful shot of Sir Alex Ferguson in that second. He also was gobsmacked. Like, if only late at Old Trafford, Manchester United wins had a name roar. I mean, this is incredible. Back to back to back wins. But ultimately, and you've kind of pushed me there, I feel it. These wins echo history of United. I think that's what's so key for the United fans who've been so dedicated behind this team, even when all evidence.

43:16I mean, they've watched slop at times. But this, seven Premier League games unbeaten for the first time in, I think, four years. Michael Carrick, three straight wins. Fourth place now. he said post-game, not getting carried away, been in this game a long time, don't take anything for granted. But Roar, this was a United win, a victory that honestly echoed the collective belief, as you say, of great years past. We are within our rights to lose our minds, aren't we, Roar?

43:46Roger Bennett:Everyone's within their rights to think that something has changed at Old Trafford, that something has turned. because it seemed under Amarim and Ten Haag before him and even Solskjaer, apart from in occasional moments, it looked as though it was a whole club treading water that had lost its sense of confidence, its sense of self. And you're right, they're kind of playing the hits. That's what they're doing. Against City, we said that they scored Manchester United goals. They attacked like Manchester United attacked and they scored goals that Manchester United score. Against Arsenal, that was a full-on United trick.

44:19Roger Bennett:I remember that from my childhood where they really shouldn't be in a game. They stay in it and then a moment of brilliance steals it for them. Same with Fulham. They managed to find that grit, that resilience, that character to lift their way through. Three wins on the bounce in this Premier League is really rare. They've got a massive advantage in the race for the Champions League, which is that they have a Champions League ready squad. They've got lots of players and they're playing once a week. They won't, United, have played anyone at any point this season who has played less football than them because of Ruben Amirim's great work in getting them knocked out of both domestic cups.

44:52Roger Bennett:They should make the Champions League from here. There is no question. Just as Arsenal should win the league, United should make the Champions League. It's there for them. And that's transformative because Manchester United back in the Champions League is a club that players want to join. Can I just say, talking about players want to join, God bless Chesco. I'm so happy for him. He'd come on and almost instantly headed the ball against the bar and in agony lifted up his shirt to his face and you saw tattooed on his stomach he has the phrase god's plan and i do hate big money signings who just do not deliver just their human agony really really affects me and seeing that you know you don't put god's plan on your stomach unless you you know unless you you know you are suffering in moments um to see him deliver It was humanly magnificent to more and for United fans.

45:47I'll just say, haircut booking, incoming, question mark. To your defending champions, Liverpool Football Club 4, Newcastle United 1 in the Alexander-Ezac Memorial Derby. Reminded, Liverpool won the battle, that battle being a transfer one for£172 million. kind of lost the war. The Reds hadn't won a Premier League game in 2026 because all we care about is calendar years, right? We're actually winless in five for the first time since I think the Neolithic age. This was always going to be a grudge game with a simmering undertone. Early exchanges were spicy. A lot of tackles, a lot of elbows, everything flying in, mostly in and around the vicinity of Anthony Gordon, who I will say is decision-making in the first 20 minutes.

46:34Was pretty worked up there, like his decision-making evidently in the barber's chair. Liverpool's best chance came when Soppa Slice sprung. Oh, beautiful Mo Salah in behind Trippier. He had a half-field charging on goal, but was run down like a tired unk as he tried to cut inside. Liverpool's midfield looked a little brittle, little player-thruable in the early exchanges, and on the counter, came to pass. Anthony Gordon played through, 15 yards out, and he drove through Kerkers. I'm pretty sure the ball brushed his ball bag on the way through. should have counted double. Raw, no celebration from Anthony Gordon.

47:09A Liverpool fan as a child was in their academy until he was released at age 11. Is there some kind of new rule in football, Raw, that you don't celebrate against a team you want desperately to move to?

47:21Roger Bennett:Possibly. When I saw it, I did wonder whether there was a little bit of let's not create any bad memories just in case I end up coming back here a little bit more regularly. But also, I wasn't sure whether it was, a no celebration celebration or if the celebration itself was the no celebration, which are different things. You mean like he was trying to be Anthony Gordon don't celebrate, does the postman celebrate when he delivers the letters? That kind of vibe. Or is it more like Anthony Gordon has actually read the script and knows how this game ends so I'm not going to look stupid afterwards.

47:55Roger Bennett:There's a difference between not celebrating, like making it very clear that you're not celebrating because it's a former club or a club you want to join and then there is doing a celebration that is not celebrating and I think it might have been the latter so this is where we are now this is what we're in that moment I was just like Anthony Gordon to Liverpool here we go you heard it here first I want to say the goal more than anything just stung Liverpool slot coiled over for a moment felt very hello darkness my old friend narrative itself had a foot on the big bald heads throat but my god we always say the measure of a team is how they respond to time of challenge and Liverpool's response is both immediate and deeply, deeply impressive, even for this hater.

48:40They upped their tempo. Two of their new signings clicked at superlative levels that we imagine Steve Coogan and Eleanor Bollam Carter will click in White Lotus Season 4. The tune couldn't live with them. First, Verts found space where there was none in a packed penalty area. Pants two defenders caressed it towards Eketike with the touch of a tender lover. Hugo did the rest. Two of them, oh, just developing what we call chemistry. Within three minutes, Kerkhez went long bomb to release Eketike in on goal. He ditched Chow, went slow, fast, slow, caught Pope out with a tight angle. A delicious finish, Ror.

49:19It was like a toe poke of a master craftsman just feeling his confident serve. 23-year-old, Newcastle had tried to sign him. Well, they tried to sign everyone apart from Beto, didn't they? But Steven Gerrard, on English.com said, highest praise. He reminds me of Fernando Torres. If you give him space or run in, you can't catch him and he's deadly.

49:38Roger Bennett:Yeah, there were a lot of those comparisons over here after that goal. And I've got to admit, I don't know to what extent they hold water. Surely any elite striker, if you give them space to run into and they're deadly, that fits everybody who's been a top-class striker for the last 120 years. I'm not sure that there's a deeper parallel with Torres. I suppose Eketike has dyed his hair blonde, which maybe helps. But there's something thrilling about seeing a player streak away like that, breeze past the defender and conjure a really inventive finish. Whether that makes him Torres or not, I'm not entirely sure.

50:17Eighth goal of the season for a gent who signed as the undercard to the big moves of Wurz and Isaac, but has defined himself really as the son of Moon. He's out watching on, injured from the bench. Dictionary definition, NPC. Second half, really gripping. Both teams, 10 out of 10 for effort. But for all their skill and endeavour, both had vulnerabilities in moments. Liverpool low-ice the game. Salah sprung on the right in a position. Honestly, Primo would have cut inside and smashed home, but he rolled it back. Two are charging verts. Is it six Liverpool goals, three assists in the last 11 matches?

50:51It's happening. Finish, stunning, crisp. in off the post, ecstatic, made something very difficult, look honestly very easy. Game became a little bit project, get Moe's goal, bore in on goal, stubbed his best chance wide, but we don't care about that because let's talk about the stunningly beautiful moment of the weekend. Canarte had been impressive throughout, really a challenging season for him defensively, I thought it was magnificent on this day. Off it, he'd been on compassionate leave since his father, Hamadi, passed away in January. I think the funeral was eight days ago. 93rd minute, Liverpool corner, muffed by Pope.

51:30Ball came out to Canati, kind of scuffed at home, just about rolled over the line. But the beauty of the moment was in inverse proportion to the actual aesthetics of the finish. First game back, since the death of his dad, he knee slid, was mobbed by the entire team. Even Alisson came out. You look at Chiesa's face as he hugs him. It's really beautiful. And then proud verge by his side. He just broke down in tears. A reminder that we always do need, we shouldn't need it, but we do need it for all the pressure they play and for all the toxic social online-ism that these people receive. Footballers rule.

52:09They are human beings too. And I'm a horrible person, but even I found it truly, truly beautiful.

52:14Roger Bennett:It was a really moving moment. And I think it was the reaction of the crowd, the reaction of the players, the fact that you sort of get an insight into the sense that they are more than mercenaries who happen to play for the same club who wear the same shirt. There is a real camaraderie, there's a real team spirit at all football clubs, not just Liverpool. And yeah, to see Canate have that moment where he broke and to allow himself to feel his emotions in that public forum was really touching. It was hard not to be touched by it. And I actually think, to be honest, he had a really difficult couple of months October, November, but he's been pretty good for a while, Canate.

52:53Roger Bennett:now his form's really turned around I'm not sure if it's been noticed outside it takes a lot longer for those perceptions to shift outside a club than within it for every again for every team for example I think if Canate plays at Bournemouth Liverpool probably get a different result but the he is an important player for them he is an excellent defender had a dip in form at the start of the season if I was Liverpool I'd be pretty determined to make him sign a new contract I've got to admit I think it looks like he will be replaced by Jeremy Jacquet the Ren defender who Liverpool have pre-ordered for the summer but some people pre-order thank you for your pre-orders it makes all the difference they want him to be a New York Times bestseller and that looks like a straight swap that you know Canarte goes to PSG on a free transfer and Jacquet comes in but I think Liverpool will miss Canarte when he's not there partly because he's an incredible defender when he's on form but also he's a really big character And I think that's the other thing that kind of shone through in that moment, quite how much affection his teammates have for him.

53:56Yeah, and Liverpool win for the first time in 2026. TK and Virch, Sean, Canate's poignant, emotional showing, I think will long live in the memory, capping off that terrific performance. First league win in six games, ecstatic Anfield once again, a place to commune and worship. That's what it felt like again, make memories again, even if it was just for one night, which begs the question, how much should we read into this? We've seen Liverpool play at lumbering pace of late. We've seen Virts struggle early in the season. We've seen the Reds unable to control games. The opposite occurred on Saturday.

54:33But next week, Liverpool play Manchester City. Where are you between understanding this was just like a great one-off and declaring that something wonderful is cooking in Arna Slott's kitchen again?

54:45Roger Bennett:I don't think it's the second one, Rog, to be honest. I think they've still got three really difficult games this month. I mean, and this is a team that's made every game look difficult for quite some time. City at home, then Sunderland and Forest away. So I don't expect them to be... I don't think they're about to turn a corner. I don't think this was the, you know, from the 41st minute of the game against Newcastle, that was suddenly Liverpool thinking, oh yeah, this is what we're meant to do. I think they will have ups and downs for the rest of the season and I think they will miss out on the Champions League.

55:12Roger Bennett:That is how I would see it as things stand. Are you just speaking out your worst expectations to manage the pain? Or do you really feel it? No, I mean, logically, I think that is the likeliest conclusion. United, as I said before, are playing once a week. They should make it. Villa and City, you could maybe see one of them slipping down a little bit. I'm not saying the race is over. But Chelsea have got a bit of momentum behind them now under Liam Rossini. United are going well. So Liverpool have a genuine problem to qualify for the Champions League. The one bit of hope is that I think inverts in Eketike.

55:47Roger Bennett:You're suddenly starting to see the beginnings of an actual partnership that might be able to settle a few games by itself. A terrible day for Newcastle. I think the low point watching Eketike subbed out reminding Newcastle fans of the scoreline when he was subbed out. All the more painful because it's his kind of clinicality that really Newcastle are missing terribly. They've won just twice in 12 road games and have not won at Anfield for over 30 years, which is astonishing. Another barnstorming game, Chelsea 3, West Ham 2. Chelsea coming in off the swagger of a 3-2 win at Napoli midweek. Liam Resenia, the bespectacled Ora King, had won five of his last six, made five changes from that game.

56:34His team subsequently just lacked complete chemistry in the opening exchanges. and West Ham, relegation zoned, but still showing signs of like, I think they'd won three straight, just were walking on sunshine in that first half. Scored from a Shas from Jared Bowen. By the way, when Olivia Dean won the Grammy last night, we posted that she's a massive hammer. And at SSNIT or does wrote, Man I Need was actually written about Jared Bowen. Lots of people don't know that. Wan-Bissaka then burned down the right, pulled back for Somerville to net his fourth goal in January. By the way, Garnaccio not tracking back on either goal.

57:102-0 lead. Felt like just bubble-filled delirium. But for Chelsea, I was shocked in that second. I mean, Rossini's got this team on an incredible winning run. But the mood roar. I mean, Stamford Bridge felt seething. There's so much unhappiness, we have to say, about the speculative approach to ownership that the owners have in the way they run the club. Fans booed their team off at halftime. I think in the NBC studio, Lee Dixon called Chelsea shambolic. Robert Sanchez had to tell Chelsea fans to relax as he walked to the locker room. It felt mutinous in that moment. It kind of caught me, cold cocked me to be candid.

57:48Roger Bennett:But you've been saying this for a while, haven't you, Rog? That it feels as though whatever Rasenia does, it's going to take a long time before he's out of the phase where he needs to win everybody over. And I think to his credit, he really recognises that. He said that. he knows he will know and the players will know that at the first real sign of of doubt there's a lot of people who are ready to turn that they just don't feel as though they trust this to be honest I think it's partly his kind of the way he presents is something that English football will have to get used to but also it's the fact that he's been appointed from their sister club Strasbourg by an ownership group who a lot of Chelsea fans don't trust and they don't like the way they're running that club as a business Yeah, I mean, there are unexpected leaders there, like Joan of Arc, how old was she, 13, 14?

58:36But at a certain point, the French soldiers were like, all right, we're in, we're doing this.

58:39Roger Bennett:She can do a 3-4-2-1, it's fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you think the French were just like, yeah, constantly like, yeah, but she's just 13, 14? At a certain point. You have only been leading armies in the French First Division, you cannot compete here, you know? Ligue, Ligue. It is a famous league, famous league. By the way, God bless. I want to get back to Rosinha, but he did ring in the changes. Halftime triple sub. Buon Jao Pedro, Cucurea, Fafana against a West Ham bat line that had not kept a clean sheet since August. And it all worked. 57th minute, João Pedro went go, go, gadget. The header, I love this goal.

59:16So deft, so intelligent. Went right back across goal from an acute angle. To think about it is one thing so quickly, but to actually execute it, another entirely. Five in five for him. Chelsea kept coming, 70th minute, chaos, Liam De Laap's header, crashed against the bar, it was Mark Cucurea, tiny Mark, swooped into play hero, dove in low, headed home, spinned it back to the centre circle, we're here to win this, lads, you almost heard him say, 2-2, and Liam Rosinia, you can almost imagine him shouting, he didn't, I didn't read this, but I bet you he was thinking it, you can't come back if you don't go behind, lads, I'm sure he wrote a little note to somebody with that on it, but he knew, to the 92nd minute, Pedro Neto pulled it back for Enzo Fernandes's late run into the box.

1:00:03And Fernandes has become unbelievably clinical, rifled it home to make it 3-2. Stamford Bridge Raw just utterly erupted when Enzo stripped off his shirt, revealing that he's looked at Christian Pulisic's tiger tattoo and said, I want that on me back. It was scenes raw.

1:00:19Roger Bennett:Yeah, given the contrast as well from where Stamford Bridge had been at half-time to how it felt at full-time, it's extraordinary. I suppose it helps that it's only West Ham and it also helps that you can throw on players of the quality that Chelsea did. But just as for Man United, it's a moment that kind of engenders belief. Another moment that probably engenders slightly less belief. Beef on the streets in the few seconds that remained. Kukurea and Adama Traore got involved in some super Iberian gripple grapple. All kicked off at the end. Just a totally frustrated West Ham. Just got the collective red mist about them.

1:00:55if you've not seen it don't watch it but João Pedro's face when he realises he's squared up to Adama Traore is just deeply deeply human ultimately West Ham reduced to 10 I will say watching Adama Traore roar throw Cucurera aside a grown man as if he was a used tissue should have been worth at least a point though Adama Traore seems to have got bigger

1:01:21Roger Bennett:and I didn't think that was possible but he was already the biggest football and now he is bigger. Yeah, no limits, it says on the Adamo Chauwe gym wall. When that final whistle went, halftime boos transformed into utter joy, raucous joy. First time in Premier League history, Chelsea have come back from two goals down at halftime to win. They finished the weekend in fifth place. I do want to ask you about Liam Rossini. Of course I do, Roar. Watching him leap up when those goals went in, celebrating with his assistants was really lovely. We've seen managers out of depth in the Premier League this season.

1:01:58Ange Postacoglu in Nottingham Forest, Thomas Frank at Spurs. We did expect that Rossini would be somewhat similar, but he is fascinating. You've hinted at this. He is a different kind of football personality. Yes, he's young. Yes, he's inexperienced, but he's self-effacing. He's self-aware. At times, he's self-mocking. We don't see managers do this a lot. Jacob Steinberg wrote in The Guardian, Is Roosinia a lucky manager or a tactical genius? Chelsea's head coach has six wins from seven games, but few have been convincing. The recoveries are becoming a theme. Roar, where are we? Is there any part of you wondering if the Chelsea front office knew what they were doing in appointing this Roar young ambitious gent, and that we football masses know nothing, or we still like we only know his true level when he's experienced a surprise loss and that media pile on in shoes?

1:02:48Is there any part of you that thinks, Bloody hell, maybe he is a natural. No, I think you can tell he's a good coach.

1:02:55Roger Bennett:There was never any doubt that he's a good coach. It's whether he could translate that not so much to the egos in the Chelsea dressing room, but to the environment that he has to operate in at Chelsea, to whether he could stand up to or stand up in that kind of overly scrutinised, utterly saturated ecosystem. I think it's really hard not to look at his first seven games and say, okay apart from losing one game to Arsenal which is completely legitimate yeah they haven't been great but most teams in the Premier League are not dominating games now and he's won six out of seven of them and that is to be honest the difference between being a tactical genius and being lucky after a while is irrelevant because what you really need is your players to believe in what you're doing if your players are with you if they think that you can help them then And whatever you try might work, especially if you've got players of the quality of Chelsea.

1:03:45Roger Bennett:So every win that he kind of adds to his tally gives him those credentials that he needs to survive. And there will come a point, and relatively soon, if he keeps winning, where it doesn't matter whether he started off being lucky or started off being brilliant, it'll all get him to the same place. God bless. It is one of the most remarkable stories of the season. And for West Ham, Nuno Espirito Santo insisted they can stay up. Six points behind, 17th place, Nottingham Forest. They lost Lucas Paquetta. What a strange legacy. Went to Flamengo for 50 million. At Brazilian has skill, so creative, joyous, obviously controversial.

1:04:24His legacy probably captured by the fact that he kissed his badge six months ago and did the weird, don't listen to rumours about me leaving. Was it just a couple of months ago? and has now checks notes left Roar if we can't read too much into player sellies what life truths do we have to cling to you have to look at what the managers are wearing

1:04:45Roger Bennett:that's the next thing that's all that's left that's all that's helping us cling onto sanity people stay with me here as we plumb into Aston Villa 0 oh no Brentford 1 Aston Villa taking a week off week on approach to announcing themselves as true title challengers This was very much a week off. Somehow conspiring to lose to 10-man Brentford. Utara smashing home with an exclamation point. It was Villa who managed all the shots in this one. I think they had like 27, but were so woefully unclinical. Second half returning here, Tammy Abraham thought he made an instant impact for the injured Ollie Watkins, only for Vart at the side.

1:05:27Then 19 seconds before the goal, winding it right back, Leon Bailey at the opposite end of the field was deemed to have failed to keep the ball in play when they gave it a tight microscopic scrutiny. They said the ball was out, quote, within the attacking possession phase, APP. Roar, was Villa screwed?

1:05:45Roger Bennett:No, the ball went out. The ball very obviously went out. And the assistant referee should have seen it, Rog, to be honest. I think it's unfortunate, and if you were a Villa fan, you'd be furious, but the ball is out of play. It was a throw-in. Leave it to Villa to lose to Brentford three times in a season. Their squad now so thin, Even Harvey Elliott's getting minutes. That's what it's come to. Huge respect to the quite tenacious B's. First ever win at Villa Park. One goal of just two shots on target, down to 10 men. Roar, title chasing Villa. Wobble. They've lost to Everton and Brentford. Two successive home defeats for the first time in two years.

1:06:21A wilt. I mean, I would say perhaps the greatest compliment to what Unai Emery and his thinning squad have achieved is their dip. And it is a dip. has not led to any kind of massacre in the tabloid media the same way it would if it was, say, Arsenal or Liverpool. Yeah, and there's an awareness, I think,

1:06:36Roger Bennett:that Villa are punching above their weight and that they have been more consistent than probably five of the traditional big six. They're now a point behind City, but given the difference in resources, that in itself is amazing. But there are plenty of crises to choose from at Chelsea, at United, at Liverpool, at Tottenham. you don't need to add Villa being third to one of them but that said I think Unai Emery will be really annoyed because if they beat Everton and Brentford at home which are two games they should win they are a point behind Arsenal and that is Arsenal against Villa in an actual title race and I think that ship has probably sailed now Yeah I love your theory that even the tabloids have a bandwidth for the crisis mongering Too many crises Yeah, not everyone can be involved in our crises in other games.

1:07:27Nottingham Forest won. Oh, Crystal Palace won. Premier League's new weird spike game. We talked about that on Friday in our preview. Forest, of course, took Crystal Palace's place in the Europa League after the Eagles were cruelly demoted to the Conference League, which has kind of led to this tailspin of darkness and building a really septic feud, which was expressed in this quite feisty game. Forrest opened the scoring, but were then down to 10 men, where Nico Williams went full Luis Suarez, saving a goal-bound shot by diving full stretch to palm the ball wide, getting sent off, despite writhing on the floor, trying to make it seem like the ball had hit him in the face, which was raw.

1:08:06Just an astonishing collision of in-the-second decision-making and thespian chops. I didn't know Nico had, but if I'm Chalamet, and I know he's a football fan, he will have been watching this I'm thinking, my God, I was so close to getting the Oscar, but Nico's done me. This kid's got something. It's a this kid's got something.

1:08:26Roger Bennett:I'm always slightly surprised, Rog, that players don't do that more. Don't instinctively stick a hand out on the line. I think it must be so... They're in green. It must be so tempting. God, if you've watched Jay Kelly, it was genuinely watching Nico Williams act here. It was just like the Clooney audition scene. I know you know, if you know. Palace had all the ball but couldn't score other than Sars scoring the resulting spot kick because, well, they're in this strange striker purgatory waiting for Mateta to leave and Stran Larsson to arrive. Their winless run extends to nine games. Forest and have six points clear of West Ham in 18th.

1:09:06Wolves, talking about the relegation zone, Neil Bournemouth too. All hail your golden war cherries. I will say Kruppi has been one of the sleeper stars of the season. 19 years old. Look at this goal if you've not seen it. Flicking and volleying home. Eighth of the season in just 10 starts. Alex Scott scored late to ensure Bournemouth held on to just their second away win of the season. Second straight win in the league. Lifting them from, I'm old enough to remember, three weeks ago when they were worried about a relegation fight. They become European-placed challengers again. This mood swing of two weeks.

1:09:40That, to me, captures this season's Premier League. that one minute you fear death and the next you're like, oh my God, we're going to cities that are only known to arms dealers and narcotics entrepreneurs.

1:09:50Roger Bennett:Yeah, but I don't know whether it's because the lead itself is volatile or because our reactions to everything is so volatile. That's the... Can two things be true? Maybe it's both, Rog. Maybe it's both. Yeah, what me? Hyperbolic and volatile. Raw. Wolves, 17 points from safety. Richard Osman tweeted, if Wolves and West Ham go down next season, it will be the first in 137 years in which there are no clubs beginning with the letter W in the top flight he is underestimating West Brom's ability to recover from what has been a largely dreadful season and get promoted to me I heard that and I'm like hmm that's Wrexham's music God don't take me there I'm dreaming honestly when I watch them I do I watch now Wrexham weekly and it's they partially play football and they partially kick a ball around in my head to Journey's song, Don't Stop Believing.

1:10:45Talking about that, Burnley, channel that spirit. They face Sunderland this afternoon. Still jackal-less Sunderland up the Clarets, which leaves us with Brighton 1, Everton 1.

1:10:57Roger Bennett:Did you watch this, Roo? I did not. It was one of those games that was not on television in England, but you had quite the dramatic denouement, Rog. Yeah, I mean, God, it was not on television, probably because your equivalent of the Surgeon General said, this has a health warning. It was not the greatest game I've ever watched. It was the Crisis of Confidence Classic. Okay, Brighton, just one win in 10. Everton, two wins in their last eight Premier League games. Everton opened with Jared Brantway back. Welcome back, son. Moyes decided to play four giant centre-backs spread out across the Everton final third, which was a statement of intent.

1:11:34And by intent, I mean deeply negative intent. The Seagulls finally broke through. Stunning goal, actually. Matoma step over, left Pascal Gross, just rejoined from Borussia Dortmund. Having spent seven years at Brighton before that, and he finished clinically joyously. First goal of his second spell. It seemed to be enough because Everton had barely cocked a fist. It was honestly, I'll be honest, it felt like work to watch this game. Just a busted grind of sordid football. But that is football like life. 96 minutes of woeful, abject loneliness, really. Oh, God, don't take away my loneliness. Then on 97 minutes, O 'Brien fired low and true.

1:12:14Verbruggen parried straight up the gut and in swept. Beautiful, beautiful Beto. On his 28th birthday to boot Roar, slapped the ball into the net. I don't like to be hyperbolic. Man is erotic. I tweeted in the moment, name a better striker in the league than Beto. Okay, stop naming lots of names and just enjoy the moment. Roar, it was beautiful.

1:12:35Roger Bennett:My nipples felt electric. A brilliant moment for Beto, who does, for all his problems, does seem to have obtained cult hero status, hasn't he? He does, because you know what? No one is more surprised when Beto scores than Beto. And I love it. There's no striker better than him whose name begins with B and ends in Eto. I'll go to, genuinely, I'll go to my grave for leaving in that. Bebeto. That was the equivalent of you just punching me so hard in the downbelows. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Even now. Even modern Bebeto. How many children does Bebeto have? Well, he kept doing the celebration, didn't he?

1:13:15Roger Bennett:So probably quite a lot. So he's definitely in the top 100 footballers whose names begin with B and end in Eto 'o. For Brighton, another frittered win, lost and given away following last Saturday's last-ditch defeat at Fulham. Shockingly, now one win in their past 11 Premier League games. And Herzl, that shiny newness, wearing off, fraying patience there a little bit. The European dream evaporating. For Everton, the week began with the dark news that Jack Grealish's season is over with a stress fracture in his foot. Get better soon, Jack, you beautiful man. Please be healthy and back on the football field.

1:13:52The world's happier football-wise when you are enjoying yourself. But we needed this, Roar. Highlighting my week in a world that needs more joy, we're seeing David Moyes dance on the sideline. He was booked for it. And then he said, I bloody will do it again. In fact, if I'd been a bit more mobile, I would have done a knee slide.

1:14:09Roger Bennett:I'm with the officials on this one, Roger. I think you shouldn't be allowed to celebrate when good things happen to your team. I think it's outrageous wanting to be happy by a football pitch. Wanting to go to an entertainment and leisure activity and enjoy it. No. Yeah. Come on. No fun league. It's time to wrap this one up, Roar, with a letter from a GFOP, Sally Wesley. Ah, do the honours. Rog and Rory. This weekend was one of the best I've ever watched in my six years of loving the Premier League. It was like the script writer's version of The Wire, season three's Middle Ground, or the Sopranos' Pine Barrens.

1:14:39Roger Bennett:But not to ruin the magic and astral magician how they do their illusions, what is causing no lead to be safe and these crazy turnarounds is it too much football and the players are just tired af uh that's a piece of slang i don't know uh love sally in denton texas are born with golden war cherries fan if you go to these matches you definitely know af uh you've heard it we wouldn't say af i think i guess sally's just very very very polite and we're definitely five minutes in uh at ellen road and she'll be spitting it out loud sally i've actually been to Denton. I went to classes at the University of North Texas there when I hitchhiked across America when I was 18 and it was pretty magnificent but what a question which I think you've partially answered yourself but Ru, ruin the magic.

1:15:25Tell us how the magician saws his assistant

1:15:28Roger Bennett:in half. Do you know what, I think it might almost be the opposite. I think it's the fact that the players are so fit and that all the teams have got five substitutes which means that later on in a game as long as it's kind of in the balance a manager can roll the dice throw on attacking players of immense quality and yet maybe take advantage of the of the opposition tiring just a little bit I think that's why Anthony Gordon actually said this last week that he said that Premier League games kind of increasingly resemble basketball games in the sense that they're very athletic it's end to end all that stuff I think they increasingly resemble basketball games in that you kind of only need to watch the last 10 minutes that i think is is is the better parallel because for the most part the games are pretty close until relatively late on and then in those last few minutes everything can change look at united and fulham where fulham are two nil down haul it back and then still find time to lose it that it's a combination of fitness quality of player and the number of substitutes you can make, I think.

1:16:33Such a fascinating point though, Roar. Would I have enjoyed Everton's game more or less if I'd just tuned in for the 97th minute? Do I not have to sit through the 96 minutes of agony, self-hate, just general, general doom-laden despair to truly appreciate that one moment of the money shot?

1:16:53Roger Bennett:I think the glory of football is that you have to watch all of it just in case it doesn't work out like that. That's what I would say. and I'm being slightly glib about basketball and I don't mean to be. But most basketball games are still pretty close in the last 10 minutes. You know, there's a few straws in it. Whereas football, it can be over within 15, effectively. You know, some of those teams who've kind of marched the Premier League titles will be 3-0 up after 20 minutes. But it does seem to be a pattern now, as Sally says, that like most games that you watch, you feel all it takes is a moment and the entire momentum can shift.

1:17:26Roger Bennett:Spurs is a great example of that. Spurs were done at half-time. They were completely done. They have one chance through Destiny or Doggy, and then they have another, and then they scroll through Solanke. And all of a sudden, the whole place feels different. It's like you are watching a different football match. And that is happening a lot at the moment. NBTE, never boo too early. I think it's fascinating, really. I mean, there's a lot of reasons you've hit, but it is the amount of money in the Premier League. It means that even mid-table teams, it is unprecedented, have talent, the talent that they have.

1:17:56Also the depth to be able to change things off the bench. Even, you know, you look at Bournemouth, who they bring on. There is also the exhausting amount of football that the big teams play. You hit Manchester United and not playing in Europe. So, you know, it's a bit of a leveler on the truly great teams. Watching City have to play Kuzinov and Alain at times at centre-backs because of injuries as a result. We've talked about how the teams just don't have enough time to tactically prepare other than duels. as they used to. Even Palace, by the way, have had like 14 games since December, which is insane.

1:18:32But above all, to me, the biggest change rule in the Premier League in the past like six, seven years has been the coaching. You know, English coach, Premier League used to stubbornly, you know, great coaches didn't come. You know, we stubbornly, the mid-table team stubbornly stayed on with the Allardyces and the Deitches and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, we talked up top about how this is 10 years of Pep, watching him come in, transforming football, being a pathfinder for other great coaches. He almost gave great, great, great coaches to pour in. And we have Ira Ola, Glasner, Marco Silva, Reggie Labris, the returning Unai Emery, men who can make deeply intense tactical adjustments in the midst of a game and just totally, totally flip it on its head.

1:19:20We didn't have that 10, 15 years ago across the whole league. And to me, that's what's changed it. The league began with big money. Then there was the era of the big players. Now we've got these big brains that can just change everything. It's they more than anything who are like the David Simon, the David Chase, the JJ Abrams of the Premier League, that managerial big brain in the bottle.

1:19:42Roger Bennett:Yeah, that's right. And yeah, there's definitely an element of managers who can spot problems and solve them. and listening to the managers in the lead, what they think is unfolding on the pitch is different to what we're watching. They see it as a kind of strategic battle in which pieces and intentions are forever changing on a kind of almost minute-by-minute basis. I've done this, you've done that, I'll do this now. And I think that is true, and you do see tactical shifts making major differences because if the opponent can't adapt, the momentum, the energy changes completely. but to me I'd probably say the the biggest difference is that the quality of player they've got at their disposal means they can do all that stuff and it work because I think if you have worse players less tactically sophisticated players those ideas can't be put into into practice and without without sounding a little bit sort of cynical Rog I'd say being able to throw five five extra players on during the course of the game helps as well especially when one of those players begins with B and ends in Eto.

1:20:46Thanks for your letter Sally. Come and see us in Houston. We can raise a glass in person. Keep writing to all of us here at menandblazers at gmail.com. I try and answer everything that comes in. That's it for today. We're headed to San Francisco for our sold out show. Head of the Super Bowl with Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day. And Andrew Luck amongst others. I can't wait to be with you all there. Raw will be back on Friday. huge huge love to you

1:21:13Roger Bennett:you beautiful human being thank you man it's been a pleasure this is Rod saying let's not take a second of watching football together for granted and courage