Arsenal go atop (for now) with Eze's stunner, The FA Cup Final nobody asked for, and Spurs are finally victorious: Men in Blazers 04/27/26

21:14Roger Bennett:Go on. I traded in my CBE for supermarket club card points. Did you really? I've got some crypto. It's so much crypto in a CBE. But the other thing is that Pep loves his trophy tally. That is the thing you have to remember as well, that he is industrially harvesting trophies. Because the thing that matters to Pep, and this is not a criticism, is his own greatness. It's proving his idea is superior to all of the others. and he does that time and time again. But my main response, I've got to admit, is we've heard those stats a lot this weekend over here, as you can imagine. 24 Wembley appearances, eight straight semifinals, four straight finals.

21:53Roger Bennett:That's not great. It's not good for the competition. It's not great for football, to be honest. There's meant to be a little bit of kind of variety in who's in the FA Cup final. In the same way as every time you hear like, oh, someone has broken the international scoring record for some country and you realise it's because they play far more games than they used to against Liechtenstein in Estonia. No offence. It sort of devalues the... There's something about the regularity with which it happens that sort of showcases how much these handful of clubs dominate everything. So as much as you have to admire Pep's achievement, because it's not his job to think about the well-being of football as a whole, there's something slightly dark about how much City have dominated the FA Cup in the last four years, I think.

22:37Dynasty. Asterisk 115 charges is what you're saying. Six wins on the bounce going into nine straight days of rest. I'd absolutely hate to be the next team City play. Let's try and remember who that is, Ro. Oh, yes. Everton versus City Monday, May 4th at the Hill Dick. 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 Bukayo Saka, Eberichie Eze, Jeremy Frimpong and the legend James Rodriguez. Whether it's the Fioran or the Takella, both boots are made for performance.

23:21Fiorans are crafted for speed, features a new speed control stud, the sign for sudden stop shot, pivots and moves used by the fastest players on the field. and T 'Kella provides superior touch and control to bring your vision to life, reducing the space between the foot and the ball for a close, intuitive feel. Grab yourself a pair today at newbalance.com slash soccer. To the great snoozer in the sky, Chelsea 1, Leeds United 0, the no fun league. And so the burning embers of the Liam Rossini era begin. Under the interim leadership of perpetual temp leader Callum McFarlane, Talked at length. And if you want to find it, find Friday's show about the madness and the ignorance at the heart of this wannabe content platform, disrupt a curious football club that is modern Chelsea football club.

24:11Only thing they're disrupting kids is themselves building a squad that's asset rich, but culture and tactical fit poor, making the worst managerial decisions I've seen. Really the worst footballing decisions I've seen since it was a story out of Everton. under the last ownership, I was speaking to a team who was selling Everton a player. They were getting pissed off of Everton mucking around. So they just said, hey,$40 million, take it or leave it. And Everton called back and said,

24:38Roger Bennett:$45 million. And they were just like, what? Negotiations don't really work like that, but great. Raw, you're Chelsea now. World champions, 287 days ago. Life comes at you fast. As they stumble into this one, looking about us together and sage in decision-making as Adam Sandler near the end of Uncut Gems. From a Leeds perspective, this was a Leeds final first in forever. Was it 39 long years? Magnificent seeing all the Leeds United fans storm the capital, drink it dry, marching on together. Did you fear them? I think Leeds would have preferred it if Liam Rossini had still been in charge. That sounds really harsh on Liam Rossini.

25:20Roger Bennett:I don't mean that to be the case. Respect the ball. You wanted them to respect the ball. You wanted them to really, really respect the ball. I was looking forward to the huddles and stuff. No, I think that the sacking of Resenia and the appointment of McFarlane probably indicated from a Leeds perspective, and obviously I am Leeds adjacent, Rog, that people at Chelsea had realised how bad things were. And Leeds' view would have been, that's fine for Chelsea to realise that. Could they not have waited a week? I mean, you saw this in the game as it played out. This is really, I think, the story, the hidden story that we need to see come out of the game.

25:57Both teams began optimistically. It was very open in the early exchanges. Beautiful Brendan Aronson. God bless. Oh, an agony. Allowed Robert Sanchez to kick save. He'd been sprung through by similarly beautiful DCL. Then Chelsea just kind of ratcheted up the grip on the midfield. Started to play through the Leeds press at will. First, João Pedro hit the post from close range. But then Robert Sanchez went long over the top. Struck. Dallied under the ball. dispossessed by João Pedro. Great team play, really. Viciously ruthless team play. Pedro Neto whipped in a cross and Enzo Fernandes given the freedom to head home his 13th goal of the season.

26:34It's a team goal roar. I mean, any kind of goal for Chelsea, who would have thought we'd live to see the day? It was a first in five long games.

26:42Roger Bennett:And it was from the player who maybe came to encapsulate rightly or wrongly kind of the last days of the Resinia empire that Enzo Fernandes, who sort of gave an interview saying that he wanted to move to Real Madrid at some point. No, not even that. Would you say Madrid curious? Yeah, Enzo Fernandes who gave himself the impression of being Madrid curious. Or running for mayor of Madrid. Or studying campaigns of runners, one or the other. Maybe he listens to European nights. Maybe he's aware of all the restaurant recommendations we've done in Madrid. Maybe he knows it's a great place to eat. But in that interview itself, and then obviously in Rosinia's reaction and the club's reaction to that interview, that was in a way the kind of that seemed to be the stimulus that meant that we all realized okay things are not right at Chelsea there is something wrong here there's a disconnect between players management and and hierarchy the fact that he's the player who scores the goal just sort of illuminates the big question of this whole performance in this whole game Rog which was why didn't they try this hard sooner which is the real question rule that I want to get to in this game because was this first half performance which was insipid from a leads perspective truly disappointing as the as the minutes ticked on was it a matter of leads players being awed by the occasion number one or chelsea players almost freed of the nonsense of the aspirational liam rosenia era just coming together and being like thank god we're managerless thank god we got rid of that supply teacher we used to call linkedin liam let's just step up i mean the u.s team when you speak to a couple of them when they've had bad managers they'll say that some of the players will tell you that we'd listen to the team talk then we'd go off into the tunnel and say okay sod all that here's what we're going to do was this a case of the players just be like sod that here's what we're going to do let's show with our quality with our freedom that is and that is the Chelsea way famously that's how they reached the 2008 Champions League final under Avram Grant the dressing room decided actually we'll sort this out we don't like this guy I don't know if that was the like the full extent of it there was definitely an element of Leeds being overawed not really been able to kind of show the form they've shown in recent weeks and I think that was partly because of Leeds I think they they froze to an extent on that stage my my really cynical interpretation Rog is that the players realize that when you've been through two managers in a season when the interim guy who you saw before when one manager got sacked when he's back because another one's gone you probably realize that he's not the guy who's going to get in trouble if things go wrong it's maybe you and that tends to inspire even kind of players who aren't the most committed who aren't always the most sort of dedicated or intense tends to inspire them to remember that it's kind of their job to perform god that's so funny responsibility and accountability through fear or maybe they're just like god if we don't step up and show we can play they are going to finally wilt and get john terry in clear lake capital probably thinking hmm could we be the first managerless team in a post-manager world.

29:37Roger Bennett:What's more disruptive than just not having a manager? Wouldn't it be amazing, first day of next season, if Chelsea just had a little rumba in the manager's technical area, just a statement. We're going managerless. It's the future. Leeds, God bless, did make more of a fist of it second half. They inserted Joe Roden and Anton Stack made them intrinsically better in possession. A stack drive, a DCL header ensuing. But Chelsea worked out to take the sting out of the game, which means fair and gamesmanshipy. And that was really it. Down the last 20 minutes, you said to me, Ro, almost nothing happened, right?

30:12Roger Bennett:Yeah, I was really surprised that you were expecting some sort of surge from Leeds, some sort of sense of, OK, this is urgent now. We're losing our chance at a first FA Cup final in forever. We better get on with it. And I think partly it didn't come because Leeds couldn't quite figure out how to make it come. but it partly didn't happen because Chelsea kept stopping the game and the referee did very little about it and I don't know whether that's me being slightly kind of Yorkshire tinted about it but it was surprising to me how stop start those last 20-25 minutes were I can't really remember there being a shot there certainly wasn't a chance You can't really remember anything apart from him panicked right at the end, Willy Neonte wondering whether he should take the long throw which he was completely incapable of taking at the death It was so gorgeous.

31:00And unbelievably, for the very first time, we have a Manchester City-Chelsea FA Cup final. I can't think of another match at RAW that is less romantic for the FA Cup, the team who brought in the oligarch era to English football against a team who ushered in the upping of the arms race and brought in the nation state.

31:17Roger Bennett:Yeah, it's a very modern football final, isn't it, really? And I guess that it sums up maybe where we are in terms of the Premier League, where we are in terms of English football, where we are in terms of the FA Cup, that City will go into the final thinking that it's at best like a consolation prize if they don't win the Premier League. And Chelsea will see it as probably not even enough to save their season because of everything that's happened in the Premier League. I'm not sure that it's going to be the most compelling FA Cup final I can remember. I would have been much more excited, I won't lie to you, Rog, by Leeds against Southampton.

31:50God, I've got to tell you, I just realised the way I'm going to get myself up for this is wondering whether Pep Guardiola is going to be matched up against a Rumba or a Waymo in the opposing coaching box. Make it happen. Back to your Premier League with your defending Premier League champions, Liverpool 3, Crystal Palace 1. This happened. Yeah, no trophies for Liverpool in this dank title defending year. Further potmarked by fan protest over ticket price raises, but they did beat the Crystal Palace curse. So in not nothing, that'll teach Oliver Glasner for talking about the possibility of beating Liverpool four times in a single season in this press conference before kickoff.

32:28This was a game in which some of the shiny new players finally clicked and one big legend limped off in true agony. Let's start with Alexander Ease at Raw. Opening the scoring and in doing so going from being a complete NPC to a real contributor. First goal since December for the Swedish finish. Wrong foot, controlled the ball, instinctively bounced past the scuffer, past the despairing dive of Henderson and then demonstrating, I think, just as much human control to resist the urge to do his signature sell the aviol. He's not quite there yet, Ru. He's not quite that brazen, confident, returning.

33:02Or it could be that he's just like an out-of-practice gamer trying to remember the combos and what the buttons actually do.

33:08Roger Bennett:It was an important role, though, for Isaac. It does feel a little bit like there's not that many stories around Liverpool's final five games of the season. The big one, obviously, is making sure they qualify for the Champions League. I think Chelsea's incompetence will allow them to do that, whatever Liverpool do to an extent. But Izak is the closest there is. They need to start thinking about next season, regardless of who the manager might be or what signings they might make. The guy they signed for$150 million is going to start up front. Izak needs to use these games as much as possible to kind of work out his teammates, to work out his role in the team.

33:39Roger Bennett:And to be honest, yeah, to score a couple of goals, scuffed or not, to give the fans something to look forward to seeing next season. He's also got a World Cup to think about, Roger, which is probably quite important to him as well. The key thing, though, I think, is that he starts to show a little bit of what Liverpool fans might see from him next year. Because he's got a lot to prove, not so much in terms of the fee, but probably to himself, that he is not narrowed down in history as the British record transfer that was a complete and utter flop. It would soon be two. Third-string goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

34:11And what a day. Fine save for Mateta. 1-5 on the day against his boyhood club. Ended actually in tears as the cops sang his name. What a beautiful moment that was. Liverpool broke. Livewire Curtis Jones slapped Robbo through one-on-one. I think Henderson oddly rooted to his line. Robbo slotted home. But then the agony. Mo Salah pulling up with what we've been told since is a hamstring injury. Commentator said quite aptly, Everyone in red hopes his time in Liverpool won't end like this. Salah stood on the field for a couple of minutes talking to the trainer and then walked off himself. Applause from all four sides of the stadium.

34:48Really, we all pray he'll be back. You do wonder, Roar, what will go through his mind as he try and push the comeback for that final game at Anfield? Or does he just think about the World Cup?

34:59Roger Bennett:Yeah, the World Cup will be the forefront of his mind, Rog. My instance is because he walked off, hamstring injury is about four weeks. I have a feeling the next time we see Mo Salah in a red shirt, also the last time we've seen Mo Salah in a red shirt, will be as a very late substitute against Brentford on the final day. And if Liverpool have got Champions League qualification tied up by then, if they aren't losing the game, if there's nothing riding on it, I think even if Salah is, even if it's a little bit early for him, I think he gets to come on for the final 10-15 minutes and say goodbye to Anfield properly.

35:29That's this episode of Dr Rory, Apply the Leeches. Wouldn't it be amazing if he just very theatrically got subbed on late in one of those scooters that you have your knee up on? Just kind of like the centre circle. It would also be like him giving the finger, like, sod it. You know what I mean? I'm going out my way and I'm going to come on, take the applause, but I'm going to give you nothing else.

35:51Roger Bennett:But it's a reminder, isn't it? The whole season for Mo Salah has been that you don't get to choose how he said goodbye. So he obviously wouldn't want it to leave Liverpool on the back of his least prolific season out of nine. where he's kind of lost his place in the team, where there's been all this kind of off-field drama. And even when he does try and take control of the narrative by announcing that he's leaving, by seizing the story and making it and shaping it the way that he wants to shape it, injury intervenes. Football is life and you can't always, you can't determine its path, Rog. You never get to choose how you say goodbye.

36:24That is a live truth. There was controversy. Palace got back into the game. Daniel Munor's incredible chip, actually, over the defenders' heads when Woodman was down injured. Legal, but not really in the spirit of the game. It's interesting hearing Glasner say afterwards that if Woodman had gone off, he would have forced his team to concede an own goal almost immediately. But, and more so, also, but what a chip. Florian Virts, though, killed it all off with a stunning, humming, moving strike on the half volley. Almost$340 million worth of Liverpool players combined for those three goals. and that's when you threw in less than$10 million for Robbo.

37:03Raw, Palace, bigger things to fry. They've got the Europa Conference League semi-final loading and everybody supporting them in that pursuit. Three consecutive wins though for Liverpool. Jump over Villa into fourth on goal difference. Eight points clear of Brighton chasing. But despite the scoreline, Raw, it's still a team, a lot unconvincing. I think Palace won the XG. Liverpool 0.95, Palace 2.64. the attack feels very obvious everyone knows Gakpo is going to cut inside, it's like his catchphrase, it's his love language, there weren't that many moments in that three game run when you're like, yes, this is something to build from, we can take this, this is the identity, we're going to be ready to compete next season.

37:46Roger Bennett:Yeah, that's what's missing Rog, that you can't complain about winning games and they were lucky in the derby, I think that's probably not a sentence you'll disagree with, they weren't great against Palace. I think the XG on this one is a little bit misleading. Palace had two quite big chances. But it's not like Liverpool were clinging on for dear life, particularly. And if we're all completely honest, Daniel Munoz's goal shouldn't have counted because it was a morally repugnant thing to do. And I don't mind saying it. It wasn't morally repugnant. It was such a good chip. It was a great chip. Does great chip not make it morally right?

38:21Roger Bennett:And I sort of get... You've got to separate the art from the artist. I sort of get Glasner's point that if Woodman had gone off, maybe that's the point at which you say, okay, he was seriously injured. We have to kind of concede the goal. And I choose to take Oliver Glasner at his word there. Would Oliver Glasner have wanted to see X-rays before he made that? When he's in hospital, I will... Maybe Oliver Glasner would have told Palace to concede a goal against Liverpool next season to make up for it. No, I thought it was... I saw the broken ribs X-ray. I finally got proof that he was out for three weeks.

38:53Roger Bennett:No, I think it was obvious that Woodman had hurt himself. It obviously wasn't bad enough for him to go off. And I think in most circumstances, their players are pretty good at saying, OK, this isn't sportsmanlike. I would agree with Arnaz Lark that it's on the referee to do it, though. It's not the Palace players' fault necessarily, but the referee should have stopped the game. But you're completely right. The three wins have put Liverpool in a really strong position now to qualify for the Champions League, which is the bare minimum for the season. I think in terms of Slark's ongoing trust from the fans, they're probably not seeing enough yet to say, OK, I get what this guy's going to try and do next year.

39:29Roger Bennett:It still feels very much like they are cobbling things together. They're a moments team. They're capable of doing quite special things occasionally, but they still don't look coherent. They still look very patched together. And that's troubling from a sort of medium to long-term point of view. On the weekend in which the Boston Red Sox fired Alex Curr, a huge Liverpool fan, maybe slot to the Red Sox could solve a lot of problems. I'm just saying, by the way, the referee was probably like, great chip plus against Liverpool morally right I think that's how it works in our day and age all I know is Manchester United against Liverpool next Sunday bring it on quick word on Fulham 1 Aston Villa nil because that's all it merits it was a really stodgy game that would be forgotten outside the storehouse of knowledge Unai Emery had a perfect record and he'd won six straight Premier League games against Fulham as Aston Villa manager but perhaps the Europa League semi-final upcoming on their minds I never really got going here none of their chances and the difference was Fulham took theirs on the stroke of half-time Ryan Session sweeping home to give the Cottages their first win in over a month.

40:33Villa really blew an opportunity here to go third they've got a healthy 8 point gap on Brighton, doesn't everybody up there but the memory of last season where they lost that Champions League place in their last game, probably still torment, but I want to talk about Fulham quickly, Roo. Fulham are, Fulham, I mean And they're just like, we joke every week in our Premier League table that we put on Instagram where we kind of try and describe the essence of every team's feeling. And every week it's just Fulham. They're just Fulham. But they're not just Fulham Roar. They're a point away from Europe in that mid-table glut which goes down to Sunderland in 12.

41:10And it's fascinating watching Marco Silva, their manager. He's got four more games to go, out of contract at the end of the season. Does he stay and attempt to rebuild an aging squad? or does he take his guile and his kind of seething intensity somewhere else? Such a fascinating man. He's almost like a low-key brand, like a white label of managers. But that shouldn't undermine just how bloody good he is.

41:33Roger Bennett:Yeah, he suffers a little bit, I think, from the fact that no one really pays any attention to Fulham. And I know that that will offend at least one member of Men In Blazers' staff. But they're so under the radar. And their success is always relative, isn't it? So it's really good to get... The fact that Fulham are in the race for Europe is a really kind of impressive managerial feat. but it's not sexy, it doesn't end with a trophy it's not them getting into the Champions League or winning the Cup Silva's at an interesting point though because his body of work is really impressive with upwardly mobile mid-table sides and Watford and Hull basically, he's proved he can do it, he's a big Premier League he's got as much Premier League experience as you could ask for a manager I don't know whether he would get any of the bigger jobs that are up this summer, so if he wants to move into that top echelon does he maybe have to look abroad?

42:23Roger Bennett:Does he have to start taking maybe the Vincent Kompany route that if you want to go from mid-table Premier League team to top four, top five Premier League team you sometimes have to go via like Germany or Italy or Spain rather than taking that leap. I think Silva's in a really curious position. Spurs fans, we'll get to your boys and their glorious first shiny victory of 2026 in just one moment. But first, we've got to clean up the bottom feeding situation in the bowels of the Premier League. Touch up on Sunderland 0. Nottingham Forest, Farleaf. I think if we were writing that down, we'd have to write the word sick.

42:58After it, children Google it. Four times a charm for your tricky trees, aka all hail Vitor Pereira, who came in and saw, and didn't exactly conquer, but he did effectively stave off relegation. As far as have scored the most goals in the league since the Pintsmaster joined February 15th, which is incredible. And in the space of 20 spectacular first half minutes at Sunderland, Forrest absolutely bellowed. What do we say to the god of relegation? Not today. I mean, this is a chaos season for Forrest. It's dark. It's been an agony domestically. Almost self-soiling folly. All of it felt like it was erased in that first half.

43:39Just a tornado of goals. I think there were four score between the 17th and 37 minutes past a punch drunk Sunderland. highlight at the end of the game, young Elliot Anderson, born in Newcastle, down the road, honouring his late mother's memory, netting and pointing emotionally to the sky after her passing. But the hero again, all three names, Morgan Gibbs-White, unplayable again. One exclusive end to the season he's had. It's almost like the scriptwriters are like, we blocked his move to Tottenham Hotspur and now let's have him have seismic impact for both clubs' finales.

44:13Roger Bennett:Yeah, they really like that plot point, Rog they're really proud of it they love it it's such a great callback in the same way as the early Harlan goal at Anfield the one that was ruled out because too many people had been sent off or something I can't quite remember Sobersly had pulled him back it was when they it was right at the death right the goalkeeper they were 2-1 up Alisson had gone forward City broke Cherky rolled it into the net Harlan and Sobersly both pulled each other back Harlan put it in but it got ruled out for reasons that I still do not understand for slapstick that could be the goal that decides the title, the fact that that one didn't stand.

44:48Roger Bennett:In the same way as Morgan Gibbs-White relegating Tottenham, having pulled out of a move to Tottenham on the eve of the season. It's great character drama, Rog. It's what HBO, it's what all the streamers are after. It's the sort of complex, layered writing. You get in euphoria. Do you know what I mean? It's David Simon-esque, man. It's Thoreau. It contains multitudes, man. Yeah. It's Twin Peaks, but it's got Morden Dibs White in it. With more dream sequences that I don't understand, Forrest, Europa League semi-finalists on 39 points now. Not mathematically safe, but enough to secure Premier League safety in each of the previous 14 seasons.

45:27However, everyone under them who counts won this weekend. We will find out if it is enough. So let's stay in the Midlands and get into Spurs glory. Wolves nil, Tottenham won. A footballing match really representing both ends of the spectrum of grief. Spurs still in denial. Wolves in complete acceptance. I think Wags in England called this game El Clasico. L for losers. Wolves already relegated. Tottenham shocked that they're trying to battle the same fate for the first time since 1977. The Forest win on Friday meant that the stakes were incredibly high. Both West Ham and Spurs kicked off at 3pm UK time Saturday.

46:09Spurs two points behind the Irons. They hadn't won at all. I'll need to remind you this has called set up since December the 28th. And after the heartbreak of that last second draw that felt like a loss, the Zerbi had said, I think we can win five games in a row, Raw. or I've got to say the evidence of the first half, which had zero shots on target. I wonder if he revised that opinion. It was grim to spectate.

46:34Roger Bennett:Yeah, he's very much a manifesto, Roberto De Zerbe. I think that's important. He's speaking things into existence. I can imagine De Zerbe being like a regular reader, probably of the book of taper, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. He has to say they can win all five. I don't know whether he believes it, but he needs the players to think it, Rog, and that is what matters. I want to get into that before we close, because I think it's a really important football point, a really important life point. But into the second half, highlight for me was Wolves fans chanting, you're going down with the Wanderers, which is just incredibly doomed, dark fare, like the drowning man, just making sure they take down everyone else with them.

47:14It got darker for the Spurs. 62nd minute, Xavi Simons went down near the end line, agonisingly clutching that knee. He'd be forced off, full extent of the knee injury. still to be confirmed. But you look at what De Zerbe's inherited since he took the job. I think Vicario, Romero, Kudus, Saar, Udogi, Solanke went off in the first half of this one and now Simon's injured. Is that not goal, Fint said in the MIB Discord? De Zerbe looks like that guy at work who's constantly saying, I don't get paid enough for this crap. But then in the 82nd minute, from a corner, it's Wolves Motto out of darkness cometh light.

47:53Ball fell to Richarlison, scuffed a shot on goal.

47:56Roger Bennett:Is that Richarlison's surname? What, beautiful Richarlison or scuffed a shot on goal? Scuffed a shot on goal. I want to have Richarlison slander on this show. By the way, if you start Richarlison's spurs, you will survive. Get that man a flair and he turns into prime, prime Romario. But I digress. João Polinha redirected with a stab past Jose Sarr. Flag stayed down. Former Spurs man, Mac Doherty, keeping the Portuguese on side. wants a spur, always a spur, scrappy stuff, Raw. But I think if they survive it or rank up there it's one of the most important in modern Tottenham history. Oh yeah, it was an enormous goal because it's not just the points, Rog, it's the psychology of it.

48:35Roger Bennett:That they would have looked at Wolves doomed, already relegated Wolves away, nothing to play for. They would have looked at that and thought that has to be a game that we win. Otherwise you are effectively relegating yourselves. So from that point of view, the psychology of it, I think it was vital to win that game. Kinski, brilliantly clawed out a Wolves free kick. So incredible. And a lot of the Spurs players said this post-game. Madison, a beautiful, I think, insta-post. He used a different word to confidence. But, you know, the Champions League night of horror, to repress that, suppress that, and play a dominant role in this win, just humanly magnificent.

49:10But the headline is this. Spurs win a Premier League game for the first time in 2026, ending what's turned into, I'd say, a very extended dry January. It was beautiful watching them at the end. I mean, even though the win, yes, was against a relegation flatline at the celebrations, the wonder. This is where we are now. Celebrate what you can when you can, holding on to the evidence of a reason to believe for the really stunned fan base. Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton are left for Spurs. De Zerbe, we talked about it earlier, Roar. The optimism that he continues to preach, Roar. It's what he has to do, even losing Solanke, even losing Xavi Simons to an injury list that's like 49er-esque.

49:51Next Sunday night's trip to Aston Villa looms ahead. And as Zerbi said quite poetically, we need to stay strong in the head. On one hand, you got four points from two games. That is forward propulsion. I started to read about what optimism is. And there's a definition of it that I really like. It's not naively believing in a good outcome, but it's believing in your own skills, your own abilities. so that you can navigate difficult challenges. I've got to say on this day, Ru, Spurs proved they have that, didn't they?

50:21Roger Bennett:They kind of did, yeah. It still feels a little bit like they're forcing it to some extent. The celebrations at the end, I think, were at least partly deliberate from De Zerbe to try and build a bond between the fans and the players, which is legitimate and is necessary and they will need in the next four weeks. 100%. But also was a show that we're fighting for this. we're ready for this and I think there is an element of I was joking about manifesting earlier Rog but I think there is an element of he's trying to manifest a fighting spirit into a team that had lost it completely over the course of these this bleak long winter even by British standards Villa's a tricky one next week it's maybe not quite as tricky as it looks because that will be in the middle of a two-legged all Premier League Europa League semi-final with Nottingham Forest for Villa so they may well not go full strength that is another opportunity for Tottenham I think the situation they're in means they do need to have complete faith in their own abilities.

51:18Roger Bennett:They can't have a naive hope they can get out of it, but they're also going to need the universe to shine on them a little bit. And the timing of that Villa game might be one example of it. Manchester United host Brentford this afternoon, which means we can close this show by returning to the Anals. And I really mean that for West Ham too. Everton Football Club won. in the David Moyes Memorial Derby. First game for David against West Ham since 2017. First since he'd left them. And they've been a hot, hot mess for much of the two years since he departed after he delivered European glory to them in Prague.

51:55Could he do them a solid once again? Deliver Hammers' victory when they needed him? Even though it would be detrimental to his own side's European pursuits, ringing up his 750th game as matters. It's quite incredible, this roar. You've got Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. those are the only two others who've done that but they won things 750 games for Moyes in the Premier League an incredible mark but also I love the man but when you think about that it's a tiny bit masochistic it's almost Sisyphusian

52:29Roger Bennett:sort of and I'm sure Moyes would think when he comes back to look back on his career he'd have wanted to have won more things and he deserves to have won more things to be honest although the conference lead with West Ham And that is not a small, that's no laughing matter. Enormous. Football struggles with relative success. And David Moyes has had an incredible career at a level of the Premier League where what he's done is really impressive. It just doesn't kind of get weighed appropriately by football, which is too obsessed with gold and silver and what have you. Moyes has earned every single one of those games.

53:01Roger Bennett:He has mastered the Premier League. Given the resources he's had available at most of the teams where he's worked, he has outperformed them consistently. he's improved every club-ish that he's been at. That warrants respect whether he's won trophies or not. This game, so often a draw in the Premier League, a stalemate, began nerving London Stadium, holding their breath, collective gulp evident over the whole first half. Everton began with all the possessions, something that were really not built to use. My kid texted me at the end of the first half, we'll never get those 45 minutes of life back.

53:34Second half it happened, 52 minutes off a bowing corner. That old Czech warhorse, Thomas Suchek. Really, if David Moyes was given the chance to build the model of an ideal dream footballer, it is Suchek, I think. Left over Barry and Tark to head home. Cue bubbles and noise. I think I'd written in the Discord about five minutes before when the game was boring me that Everton would need two goals to counter the inevitable Bowen strike and a Suchek set-piece scuffer. And I realise in that moment, Raw, sometimes you watch so much of your own team you know exactly what's going to happen and when it does it doesn't even hurt you

54:14Roger Bennett:yeah i think you're probably anticipating you you know the patterns you know you you know the feeling that you get in your gut when something's about to happen and yet the the sight of thomas sucheck nodding in a corner for west ham and ex-everton was no great shock to anybody rog yeah it was like i didn't normally whenever i can see it i'm like oh i'll make some kind of animal noise i just went i was like of course he did of course he did west ham then set back Of course they did. The Moyes DNA lives on deep in that team. Everton tried to pressure them. I've got to say, Tariq George, beautiful, beautiful, evil sacker.

54:44Such a game changer when he comes on. Why don't we play him more is one of the agonies of this season. I think Suchek headed off the line from Barry when it comes to sending the Spurs down. Suchek turns into Tony Cruz in his prime. There was another episode of I don't even know what a handball is anymore. But then it happened. Oh, it seemed to. 88th minute, Kinn and Jusby Hall smashed home, European dreams back on, West Ham, they'd been cruising, but then Everton scored, I think Spurs had gone ahead at Wolves, and West Ham had suddenly plunged from four points clear of Tottenham to 18th place in the relegation zone on goal difference, there was really just doom in the blink of an eye, that is football, that is life, but suddenly eight minutes of time added on, the Ham has sprung forward with aplomb and energy, an enormous naive hunger, Suddenly a stunning ball headed down by Tiny Bowen.

55:33And in came, of course he did. Kellen Wilson slapped his finish home. Man always does this. It's raw. Nine goals in 12 games against Everton. And the ecstasy that broke out across the stadium. True euphoria. An agony for Spurs fans. I know hard for Everton fans to take. But I've got to say, you watch those West Ham fans. You know how much they've suffered. It is the kind of joy the world needs right now.

56:00Roger Bennett:Yeah, and from an Everton perspective, obviously not pleasant to see your team lose to a 92nd minute goal, but Everton states are not as high as West Ham's at the moment. For you. And that is something to be grateful for, Rog. I'm going to quote my son on this one, actually, because we watched the highlights on Match of the Day on Sunday morning, which is a little ritual we share. It's a highlight show in England, listeners. Yeah, regardless of which games I've watched the previous day, as long as Liverpool haven't lost, I will watch it with him. And obviously we'd watched the West Ham-Leeds FA Cup quarterfinal a few weeks before when, you will remember, the fans all left with West Ham 2-0 down and had to try and get back in and there were the shots of the West Ham fans locked outside the London Stadium.

56:45Roger Bennett:So we're watching Match of the Day and the highlights are rolling on and Dewsbury Hall equalises and the next shot it cut to was fans leaving. Yeah, I know, I didn't want to mention that because it was like a handful and they won anyway but again I was like oh my god you guys well even my son said when he turned to me at 7.15 in the morning watching Match of the Day and went dad don't they ever learn and he's quite right they think they changed the fate almost by leaving like lads let's play our part let's leave in disgust and the team will turn it around but is the natural conclusion of that superstition not that you should get into the stadium and then leave immediately that's what do you think that's what Nottingham Forest fans did that's where it's heading for West Ham yeah 5-0 lads because we left in the first minute we did that.

57:26Roger Bennett:West Ham Arena is going to be the first team in football history to sell out every game, but play against a backdrop of empty seats for 90 minutes. I think we've cracked it. Again, clearly, if you're listening, no manager and no fans, and you'll win the effing league. That's what your son said to you. Tell you what my son said to me. I got a text at the final whistle from my eldest son, Samson. And this is a true quote. He texted me at the final whistle after the Liverpool loss in the last second last week, and then this he said dad you are an effing and paraphrasing he said dad you are an effing terrible dad two weeks in a row we lost to 90 minutes plus i mean i'm not sure your parental responsibilities cover marking from set pieces do they i think that's what he's i think that's what he's implying then my second son bear chimed in and he said this is another proper text he said the whole shtick this is it the whole shtick minimising my working you know lifestyle the whole shtick of supporting this team is we've been told implying by me we've been told it makes the great moments feel even greater but dad when do those great moments happen?

58:36But then it's

58:38Roger Bennett:it's the end of the season it's like nearly May Everton might get into Europe they might not everyone's got the same amount of points between 6th and 15th or something think about it from a West Ham perspective think about how much that goal means. And also, Rog, think about it from my perspective as someone who does not have a horse in the race in the relegation battle and how entertaining this is going to be for the next four weeks. Listen to you, Uncle Rory, even though I don't quite feel in alignment with what he said spiritually. Look, enormous victory for West Ham United. Tenacious, audacious, resilient, tough games ahead.

59:11Brentford, Arsenal, Newcastle and Leeds to come. I think the fans here experience every single emotion Their team dug deep, summoned victory in that bubble-tinged ecstasy. I hope it carries on. Four games to go. It does feel like a forest implosion. Either them or Spurs will go down. Right now, the Irons have their fate, their life in their own hands.

59:37Roger Bennett:I'm not quite so sure, Rog. I think if you look at... Don't throw Leeds under the bus again. Do you know what? I'm going to throw Forrest in. I'm going to throw Leeds in. And I'm going to throw Palace in. What? Because I think that... If you look at the fixtures, I think a team could well go down with 40 points and possibly 42. Obviously, West Ham and Spurs are in the most peril. But I think the next few weeks, I think it's going to really oscillate wildly. And if I was any of those teams, I'd be thinking we need to get as many points on the board as possible. Are you just like, have you read The Secret as a book on tape?

1:00:07Is it you that's manifesting? I'm manifesting. You are? Stop manifesting.

1:00:11Roger Bennett:A relegation battle for all time, Rog. That's what I'm doing. We're going to get to your mailbag, but before we do, I want to raise my third first Michelob Ultra of the day to one of the single greatest promotion battles we may ever see. Stay with me here. York City of the National League face Rochdale. Rochdale needed to win to pip York to promotion to League Two promised land, the fourth tier. And they thought they'd done it when they scored in the 95th minute. Cue pitch invasion of Rochdale fans, one of whom even had the temerity to do the L dance in a York City player's face. Find this clip.

1:00:44It is humanly remarkable. But then cue football. Bloody football. York City equalised in the 14th minute of stoppage time. Stoppage time added on because of aforementioned pitch storming. And it was they that secured the National League crown and the coveted promotion to the football league. incredible that it took the slimmest margin after 46 matches 4 ,140 minutes of football went down to the last very second queue to chaos another pitch invasion reversal of emotions and then you truth of football roar you should never ever storm the pitch too early never take your shirt off too

1:01:21Roger Bennett:early never get on the pitch too early only do it when you're certain when will people learn roger It was, obviously we've got the Premier League, the Champions League, the whole World Cup to come this summer. Everything's going to have to do really well to top that as a moment of drama because it was, forget the level, forget the teams involved, forget the fact you've not heard of the players. It was genuinely astonishing. Come on, the minstermen. Let's end with a letter from a GFOP, the mighty John Hite, who wants to go deep and literal on football phrasing. Roar, do the honours. This is an incredible letter.

1:01:57Roger Bennett:It's an absolute doozy. John writes, I am a bottler. Great start. Grab them with your lead. That's important. It's good. My dad was a bottler. It's getting better. My granddad was a bottler. We're proud bottlers, all of us. So it makes me sick when I hear people talking about what Arsenal are doing as a bottle job. Take it from someone who knows bottling. This ain't it. I'm not trying to argue that Arsenal aren't suffering some sort of collective meltdown that speaks to a certain lack of grit or mental fortitude. What I take offence at is the use of the term bottler. Bottling is important. Do you enjoy a good beer?

1:02:34Roger Bennett:Comes in a bottle. Do you like wine? More bottling. And good bottling makes a difference. My grandad was a master bottler. That is a weird sentence to write. And you've got to say it right as well. He died over 30 years ago. And once every five years, we still break out one of his old beer bottles, crack it open and enjoy a good brew. And let me tell you, it's as good as the day it was bottled. Does that work like that? Does it not go off? Why are you asking questions? It's his memory, his experience. Let me tell you. John's the bottler. He knew his craft. My dad too. He died a few years back.

1:03:12Roger Bennett:And every year I opened up one of his bottles. Not one of them has gone off. He knew how to do a good quality bottle job. And it has nothing to do with what Arsenal's up to. Now, if you want to call them canners, I have no problem with that. I think we can all agree that canning is an abomination. That pfft sound when you open a can makes me sick. Makes me angry. And don't get me started on juice boxes or me, John. I'm with you on those stupid paper straws. Come on. But bottlers, no. Let's leave that sort of talk to the canners. Well, that's us told. Do appreciate you, John. I just throw in the canners, the whole canner industry, and I cannot wait for the flood of letters from angry multi-generational canners incoming.

1:03:52But, Ro, you're a linguist, so I think you're going to get the right to reply first.

1:03:56Roger Bennett:I have nothing to say, Rog. It's the most perfect email anyone has ever written, as far as I'm concerned. Calling your granddad a master bottler is just... As a compliment. Yeah, as a complete compliment. Let me tell you about my granddad. He was a master. No one, at the end of the second syllable of that phrase, when you've said my granddad was a master and you're not finished, people are worried. People are really worried. Bottler is unexpected, but it's excellent. Now, I think my main reaction, Rog, is isn't it amazing how people find tribal rivalries wherever they can, if you'll forgive the pun, which wasn't intentional?

1:04:29Roger Bennett:Like, it wouldn't have occurred to me that there was, like, some almost religious hatred between cannas and bottlers. But apparently there is. Sharks and jets. Bottlers. Cannas. The cannas. Hashtag team canna. How people contain liquids is important, Rog. Religions have been built on less. Do not undermine the legitimacy and the contribution to democracy of us canners. That's what's coming in. Look, I want to get into this a bit deeper because I do find it quite fascinating. I did look up the etymology. I didn't know the origins of bottling, did you, Rog? Do you know what it is? Is it not Tim Flowers?

1:05:06Roger Bennett:What? I would have assumed, Rog, that the origin is, in the phrase having bottle, something taking bottle, which John would approve of because it's positive. If something takes bottle, it means you need nerve and grit and steel and all that stuff, the courage to do something. And there's a famous interview from 1996 when Blackburn won the Premier League. They'd had a bad run of form late on in the season, and Manchester United were chasing them down. and their goalkeeper Tim Flowers gave this famous interview in which he said, if you want to talk about bottle, we've got bottle. And I've always assumed that the football kind of use of it, that bottling something, came from that.

1:05:45Roger Bennett:So he's saying, we've got bottle, that's good. So how are you a bottler? How does it turn into something negative? Because I guess the meaning is sort of transmuted into having a lack of bottle means you're choking. God, so the internet, I did look this up, Ro, The internet seems to think bottle comes from Cockney rhyming slang. Stay with me here. Bottle and glass, ass. And the ass is related, I'm guessing, to the quite visceral emotion, who amongst us hasn't, of crapping yourself. So bottle is actually a euphemism that makes something quite fecal. Sound a little lovelier. I would take issue with that, Rog, only on the grounds that English people, even Cockneys, the least English of the English people, do not say ass.

1:06:29Oh, that's interesting.

1:06:31Roger Bennett:Oh, no, but hang on, they say in Cockney it would be bottle and glass. Yeah, they'd be a long eight and that would be ours. So that's fine. There you go. Stay with me here. I actually hate it. I prefer mine. Not because I come from a proud generational lineage of biblical lineage of bottlers, John. I just find what Arsenal are trying to do, I still think, Roy, it's incredibly impressive. I really do. They're not just trying to win the league, which is incredibly difficult. How many teams have won it since the league was founded in 1990? It's like seven teams, isn't it? I mean, it's hard to win this league, 34 years, seven teams.

1:07:03But more because I've thought a lot about this this week. English people, if there was an Olympic sport for scorn, I think they'd constantly gold medal. They'd own it. It would be like Chinese table tennis domination. English people love to keep you down in your place. I was always struck when I was a kid about how American soap operas crashed over Dallas dynasty. and they were like, oh my God, rich people having aspiring, successful lives. That's incredible because English soap operas were, what are they, Coronation Street and EastEnders. They're about what? Working class people in misery and suffering.

1:07:39Roger Bennett:They're about how bad can things be? One in the north, one in the south. Let's compare. And then there's the sort of third one, which is Emmerdale, which is how bad can things be in a farming community? That's what we like. There used to be Brookside, how bad can things be in Liverpool? I mean the core message was the same for all of them and they were very successful which is you think you're struggling shut up these people are truly struggling so enjoy their suffering and their pain and shut up that's kind of what it was in the same way stay with me here I believe Arsenal have always become the nation's soap opera you know for English fans who love your pain because it takes away from their own and puts theirs into perspective let's laugh at them even in our own agony and to shatter that collective laughter Raw, which means to win the bloody league, to play through it whether it's bottling or canning or juice boxing, I don't give a crap, whichever is going to catch on now I think we'll all say canning now Raw I hope they can do it not just win the league but I think overcome the most collective schadenfreude that ever schadenfreude is in English football Juice boxing sounds like something that should come with an NSFW sticker Does it really?

1:08:47Roger Bennett:It sounds like something that Peloton would try and market, it's like the new exercise trend And who are you, juice boxing? Yeah, I just can't stop. I love it so much. I think you're right that there is an element of kind of watching Arsenal as a psychological drama for the rest of us. And what I find really ironic is that they are being marked by fans whose teams are much lower in the league than them. That's amazingly true. Which is an odd... That's weird. Yeah, we're bottling, you're canning, and you don't want to be juice boxing, let me tell you. I can't believe your team is bottling the title while we're 15th.

1:09:18This is just...

1:09:19Roger Bennett:Yeah, it is a weird thing. But you're home off to be 17th and just canning. And that's it for today. Ah, canners, multi-generation canners. Our email is meninblazers at gmail.com. Send us your reposts. I want to give huge thanks to Bank of America, official Bank of US Soccer and the FIFA World Cup 2026 for supporting the Men in Blazers media network. Discover what's possible in sports and in life. What would you like the power to do? Before we close this out, a reminder, we've got two incredible live shows coming up fast. 1st May 12th at the Franklin Musical in the land of a thousand cheesesteaks, Philadelphia.

1:09:56I cannot wait for that. One of my favourite bands in the world are going to headline that. And then we drop deep into the heart of Texas for another World Cup countdown show. That'll be 22 days out live from Dallas at the Longhorn Ballroom. May 20th come. If you live in these iconic American cities, come and raise a pint with us. Talk about this moment with those who love it too and get ready for a life-changing summer. tickets for both found in the show notes below Rour, where are you off to this week?

1:10:24Roger Bennett:I've got a quiet week Rog which means I can devote all of my attentions to what I should be doing at this stage, which is thinking about nothing but the Champions League semi-finals and canning, we're headed to France this afternoon, we're filming with Hendrik in Lyon and Tim Weyer in Marseille let us know where we should eat and drink at meninblazers at gmail.com and those two incredible cities, we'll be back tomorrow for European Nights, Friday for Big Weekend Preview until then real big love and thanks thank you very much let's not take a second of watching football together for granted, courage