Crystal Palace Take Down Liverpool for Community Shield : Men in Blazers 08/11/25

26:21It felt incredible. How do you build on that? How do you draw people in? It can't just be about winning. You have to kind of go on a journey as well. And I think with Ekotike and Virts as a partnership and with Ekotike as an individual, there's something worth tracking there. and that's quite an exciting It can't just be about winning it's like you're saying Severance season two they had to be like we've got to take the take the viewers on a journey It's all about being on a journey now Roger Yeah Eketike in that moment it went from we're not quite sure about this don't know how this will go to hang on I was not familiar with your game Mr Eketike you human palindrome I will say it was ecstatic it was remarkable I felt such a deep sorrow for Crystal Palace in that moment I mean that first five minutes of football in which I think they had 18 % possession.

27:08They could barely, never mind possess it, they couldn't get out their own half. You were watching professional footballers just belt the ball downfield like NHL stars just helplessly icing the ball. It did, I felt very dark for them. You know, 85 days ago, winning a trophy, the biggest players rumoured to be leaving, the manager making noises about going if they go, being the great Europa League journey which they were promised probably, possibly depending on the appeal. The appeals happened, they've not got in. Oh my God, such bastards, man. Having that Europa League journey, which they worked so bloody hard to make a yearning, a dream real, ripped from their hands and being, I mean, almost made an example of in a way that other clubs have not been by being flung down into the conference league, which I hope, by the way, they go and win.

27:58I just felt like that euphoria burning off. It all felt a bit dark. And I was watching this Liverpool, this Liverpool in which there were four new signings on the field and it wasn't just Wurtz and Eketike you had Kürkez, you had Frimpong again, why are they not taking time to bed in? How are they purring? How are they flicking the ball around so ensuingly? There was a flick by Eketike near midfield to release Salah that was honestly better than any of the goals I think that Everton scored last season It was better than most of the goals that anyone scored last season it was a real moment and you had it throughout the game where you saw what this Liverpool could be.

28:36And you realise, going in, you knew it would be a work in progress. You know there's certain unalterable truths about football. And one of them is that when you have lots of new players, it takes a bit of time to get used to each other. But you saw in that moment in particular, and there were a couple, certainly in the second half, early in the second half, where you thought, this feels and looks different to last season. I can see what just glimmers of what Slott might want his second version of Liverpool to be. By the way, I love how positive you are that you're focusing completely on the optimistic.

29:08Because we also saw some of the works in progress aspects, which I will dwell on in great depth. Do not worry, fellow haters. God bless football. You talk about football truth. I think the greatest truth and the thing I love most about football is it makes fools out of each and every one of us. Palace, I think they won just one of their last 16 meetings and lost 12 against Liverpool. But form be gone. Suddenly they countered. Mateta charging through the gut, stopped by Alisson quite excellently. But the Palace came again, saw a cut inside their gut. Virgil brought him down ever so softly and upstepped.

29:45Oh, the great Jean-Philippe Mateta, a gent who once admitted, I have supported Liverpool all of my life. The penalty roar. I've got to say that technique was utterly exquisite. The planting foot on a penalty is often a lot of keepers say it's a tell. Wherever it points is where the ball's going to go. When you look at Mateta's technique, he's learned how to almost point his planting foot straight and then swing his kicking foot last second. He almost dislocates his own hips so that both feet are almost operating independently as he did. So it's just like hip dark arts. Do you want to hear a theory, Rog?

30:22Are we ready for a theory this time? The first theory of the season. I'm always ready, baby. I think that the taller a goalkeeper is, the worse they are at saving penalties. That's why Pickford's so just tiny, tiny Pickford. We're giving the ending away here. There's a bit of a spoiler. I think Dean Henderson is the right size to save a penalty. I think Alisson is not. So, yeah, Mateta does this. By the way, I think that's just BS. I think you're diminishing the power of the hat in that analysis. You're diminishing the hat. We're jumping ahead. how do you factor in for different what people are wearing it's all about wardrobe penalty that's so amazing just like groucho marks why does the goalkeeper in a penalty not just be like you know what I'm going to put on the groucho mark nose moustache glasses unironically stand there what I would say about Mateta's penalty in open play during the game not in the shootout I think if Alisson waits he saves it because I don't think it's that good a penalty It's not in the corner.

31:23It's not high. It's not low. It's not a brilliant penalty. He disguises, as you say, the way it's going. That's one of the more ridiculous things you've ever said. If he waits. The genius of the penalty is that it's sending signals to the goalkeeper. The player is in complete control of the goalkeeper with that penalty. You know, I could say that about any penalty. If he dived really far to the right, he would have saved it. If he'd sprung into the far corner with just like Olympian speed, he would have saved it. That's the genius of the Mateta hip dislocation. I am famously not an elite goalkeeper, Rog.

31:55Yes, clearly. I'm worried about your under seven coaching in this moment, man. I don't do the goalkeeping. Under sevens can't. The problem with under seven goalkeeping is that players walk right up to the goal and then kick it as hard as they can, and you can't stop that. Yeah, but they're all tiny. They should, by your philosophy, be incredible penalty savers. No, no, there's an ideal height. Three foot two. I can't be beat. That would be amazing. There is an ideal height. You know, like, Louis van Gaal, he's the substitute out goalkeeper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, if he just, like, in the biggest penalty show of his life, just put on a three-foot-two child, because Rory Smith's theory is, smaller you are.

32:31My theory isn't being misrepresented, Rog. My theory is not the smaller you are. I think there is an ideal height. Van Gaal's switching out of goalkeepers was purely psychological. He put on a worse goalkeeper, and everyone else would think, oh, this guy must be good at saving penalties. It was a trick. all penalties are mental and it's a test for the goalkeeper I still think my grouching marks idea is just amazing just stand still for as long as you can if they're going to put it in a corner you're not going to save it anyway and I think Alisson goes too early on that penalty because if you look at it it's not in the corner Mateta, dark arts, hit work, respect Liverpool though, tenacious took that on the chin 20th minute while their fans were applauding the memory of Diego Jota they just rolled downfield Sobber Sly, artfully it has to be said, freeing another debutant, Frimpong.

33:18I think the word is he stood one up on the far post. But the spin, I mean, I've got to say it's slightly unique body shape in that moment when he hit the cross. The angle, maybe the wind trajectory, I wasn't there. Combined to turn into what looked like an artful, brilliant chip over the keeper. Should have been wearing a hat, wasn't wearing a hat, and it span over his head. Cue Frimpong just bounding away with his dancing bear Sally. It was a really glorious moment, raw. Cross or shot raw. It was a combo, right? It was what we used to call a crot. It was a cross, I think. And I'm not quite sure how the spin happened.

33:56It was described on the TV in England as being a kind of really unusual, unique goal. But that happens relatively, relatively often. A player gets a cross slightly wrong. and the goalkeeper just happens to be stood in the one exact place that means they're kind of caught out. You say it a few times a second. I think English commentators have to say that right now. After the World Cup in which Ronaldinho did Seaman. But that wasn't a cross. No, he meant it. That was definitely a cross. He meant it 100%. So after that, commentators no longer trust their judgment. So they always leave a little wiggle room.

34:26They don't want to be, everyone remembers that dickhead who was like, Oh, I'm looking for Seaman. And, like, genuinely, I do notice more commentators will hedge in those moments. Especially if it's a foreign player. They'll think, he's not one of ours. One of these foreign players with their trickery. No, I think it's across. It looks like he's aiming towards Tody Gatpo, I think, on the far post. And it just happens to get that slight spin, which carries it into the far corner. Timing of the goal, 20 minutes, 20 seconds. So unbelievably beautiful and fitting. Sometimes football is just greater than anything you could write or conjure.

35:00I think it was sincerely moving for every Liverpool fan that I know. And I think the season is going to be full of these kind of moments. Palace were game. Will Hughes quickly flinging himself into battle, going redder and redder and redder in the sun. But with so few new players incoming, the quality gap in that first half, Roy, it did seem completely evident. We've got to talk about Florian Wurtz in this debut, particularly in the first half. What did you see? to take a midfield and I talked to Slott about this that had just won the bloody league and be like I'm going to add this crazy wizard filth to it he seems so unbelievably intelligent positionally astute his work ethic out of possession is always in an 11th Yeah there's a lot of positive signs with Virts I think it was it was a really encouraging first performance just because of the intelligence of the passes that he plays I don't think Liverpool had a player like that last season I don't think they've had a player like that for a while and I'm not sure.

35:56De Bruyne is a slightly different case, but Virts is more akin to like an Odegaard, a David Silva. You don't know where he's going to sit in that kind of hierarchy yet, but he plays passes that other people don't see. And the number of times that he did things on the ball, even if they didn't lead to anything, that were just a clever little reverse ball that you wouldn't necessarily have thought was on and it gets through and suddenly it opens up a whole kind of new vista on the pitch. That's great to watch. It's like a German Kieran Chusby Hall is what you're saying. Eketike, by the way, also, as you've said, electric on the board, just trying to make things happen.

36:30That's what shocked me about him. There were easy passes that he took. I'm not going to make them. I'm just going to go total commitment, total confidence. Amazing to hear chants of Hugo, Hugo, Hugo from the travelling reds. He's already kind of beloved. He's already taken that mantle. By the way, he could have scored a hat-trick in this game, in a way. And I want to underline this. I have to throw this caveat in at this moment, dear listener. Three years ago is Community Shield. Just do not read too much into Community Shield. The headlines coming out of that one. I think Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 in that one.

37:04I popped this into the Men in Blazers Discord chat, the headline from it, because I remember it really, really well. The headline was Liverpool 3, Manchester City 1. This is BBC's website. This wasn't a tabloid. It was Darwin Nunez comes out on top. Erling Haaland struggles. and we all wrote hard. I think we even laughed. The tabloids laughed even harder at one of his misses in particular. He then went on to score, was it 10 goals in his first six games in the Premier League? You can't read too much into Community Shields, can you? No, you can't. Nunez was great in that game and went on to be kind of hit and miss for Liverpool and Eketike could still go the same way.

37:41But I think it's legitimate to look at it and think there have been things about that performance that are encouraging. That's okay, but that's all it is. It's all it can be at this stage. With the Amex Gold Card, earn four times points at restaurants and enjoy every night out to the fullest. Apply today at AmericanExpress.com slash Explore-Gold. Terms and points cap apply. By the way, we do take a quick segue at this moment. Say farewell to your beloved hero. Officially completed his move, Darwin Nunes from Liverpool to Saudi Pro League side, Al Hillel. well possibly Eketike will be starting alongside him in three seasons who knows but incredible business for Liverpool listen to me 71 million dollars for him made eight starts I think in the Premier League last season well I mean I remember him for his quite goated ability to hit the woodwork I think he hit it 14 times in his career more than any other player it's almost like he was trying an XG meltdown 11.1 % in terms of his shot conversion rate which is by some degree the lowest of all Liverpool forwards.

38:47Yeah, he was chaos in human form. We remember him for his ecstatic winners, late winners, big winners. We remember him for the way when he was injured, he flung himself down the stairs and hurdled over the hoardings to celebrate goals. He was just an emotional human wonder. And he leaves strangely, for me, he's why we watch. I really, I admired him. I loved watching him. He was like a human out there on the football field. He kind of leaves strangely as a flop and a cult hero. Yeah, you can't say he's an out-and-out success. That would be an exaggeration. But I think flop is harsh. I think we...

39:23I mean, maybe I wouldn't necessarily say this. I'd like to think I would say this if it was a different club, a different player. I think I probably would. I think I'm fair enough to do that. I think that there are more than two categories of transfers. There's not just flops and successes. Nunez was somewhere in the middle. You know, he was... They probably paid too much for him. But he wasn't... It's not right to say he was a disaster or a failure. That's not true. He was a valuable squad member, but maybe no more than that. And he didn't do what Liverpool expected him to do, what they wanted him to do.

39:51But my prediction for Darwin Nunez, Rog, would be this. I think in three years' time, he will come back from Saudi Arabia, a very rich man, to a European club, probably not an English club, to a European club, Napoli, AC Milan, that kind of ilk, and he will score a lot of goals. God bless. You'll see Grylls at Everton. You'll see Beto. he'll be like, yes, let's do it, lads. Revenge tour. By the way, I love him like I love Cousin Richie in the bear. Just the humanity of that man, and I will miss him. Godspeed, Darwin. Second half, the interplay from Liverpool continued. At times, that midfield, Sobberslay, Verts interchanging with Eketike and Gakpo.

40:32It's like watching a gamer kid do a Rubik's Cube on YouTube in three seconds on TikTok or whatever. It was mesmerising. The one Liverpool player who I enjoyed his work the most, I think it's going to take longest to bed in and was a vulnerability for much of the game, Kerkhez, an undisputed athlete. I mean, the engine on him, he's got three lungs. His decision-making still very much at Bournemouth settings in terms of when to stay, when to go, was caught inside often. He just looked like a pair of baggy shorts caught upfield. I mean, he made Munoz look like Dembele at times. I'd say trying to tame his very aggressive, ultra-aggressive decision-making is going to be quite a story of the early part of the season.

41:17Yeah, and that's the most difficult bit, I think, for slot, as it would be for any manager to kind of get right, is that you have all these new partnerships taking place. Football is about partnerships. And Kyrgyz at left-back and Frimpon at right-back have to operate not just with the centre-halves, but with the midfield as well. And it looked like Palace had worked out that Liverpool in those wide areas were leaving a lot of space behind and also that the back line was playing really high up, which is what you expect. And Palace are great at switching the play and they're great at going over the top.

41:50From about the 10th minute, they hurt Liverpool continually by doing one of those two things. I think some of that was Kirchges and some of it was Frimpon and some of it was just a lack of gelling within the team. Lack of gelling, it's why we watch. And you can see why the Liverpool ongoing conversation about needing centre-back cover, the rumbling connecting them to Palace captain Mark Gahey, who's just got 12 months left on this contract, will not go away. But the game did for a period start to be drifting. The questions in the Men in Blazers media network Discord included the old goat wondering, why do goalkeepers wear hats but never use the eye black on sunny days like in American football?

42:31But what does the eye black do? you're asking questions that are above my panel it makes you look bloody cool is what it does it makes you look cool it makes you look like you're ready it makes you look like you want some I've often wondered why the goalkeepers when I came to America a lot of the outfielders used to wear these flip up sunglasses in the outfield which were like also super cool I didn't quite understand them the moments when you wanted shade and moments when you didn't but I would love to see the first goalkeeper I'm very much in the Groucho by the way Groucho Marks flip up sunglasses get them on get your agent to call me I'll get you a deal at Everton Raul asked another incredible question this is one for you Ro I wonder what SPF level on a slot uses for his head if it's higher than 50 he'll be using it the answer's probably not enough for 90 minutes I did look at him and I personally like ate for that man if we're kind of dwelling on minor irritations and quibble this is not minor mate you've got hair so you think it's minor where's your empathy the new Wembley as we still must call it, despite the fact it's not that new anymore.

43:34The new Wembley costs an awful lot of money. Yeah. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a big old stadium, a big investment. The National Stadium of England, Rodgers. I sense a buck coming along. It is. It's a source of pride to the entire nation. You know how patriotic I am. Is it? Why on earth would you build it so that half the pitch is in shade and half the pitch is in sunshine? To spite the bald man. At three o 'clock. To spite the bald man. The last... I mean, other than gingers, were kind of the last unprotected minority. It really annoys me.

44:03It didn't happen with the old Wembley, Rog. Did it not? Nope. We should never have moved. They shouldn't. It's just they flipped the pitch. They flipped the pitch 90 degrees. Mate, I've got to tell you, the answer to the question about this, whatever he was wearing, it was not enough. That is genuinely one of the great fears. If you want to have some on-a-slop ball conversation, which he sprung on me at the end, very interesting, I did ask him, I asked him a sincere question at the end of that interview. What would it be like to have your big, kind of beautiful head on the end of that great Liverpool banner of their biblical lineage of great managers and he what he does in those moments I realized I'm annoyed at myself he played he does a little Dutch joke right if you want to try and get something emotionally profound and he doesn't want to go there he doesn't like to put himself in that lineage so instead he did ball bits for me what did he say um he said you're not going to say I thought he said I thought you were going to say that I'm a bald man um like when he said big beautiful head he balled and then he He said, you and I look the same, moving me away from the conversation.

44:58I said, you could be my son, Arna. He's like, look at you in the mirror. I was like, in my head, I'm like, really? You're a very handsome man, Arna. But I didn't say that. I tried to get him back to the flight. But he doesn't want to go there. He doesn't want to go there. He did ball bits to me. Talking about another man that I was worried about in the sun, Will Hughes. I mean, he really did bloody change the game, ultimately. That man gets no respect. He harried Gakpo into cuffing up the ball. Adam Wharton, that ball he played into space. My God. Again, another player I don't think that gets enough bloody credit that we almost take for granted.

45:31It was instinctive. It was sensual. It was the tender touch of an experienced lover. It looked like he'd been trained in La Masia. I mean, it was ecstatic. I woke up this morning, I felt exhausted. To get myself in the mood, I watched that pass over and over and over. He freed Sarvan, Dijk charging out to try and catch him offside, I think. and so he just rambled into the what Kenny Loggins calls the danger zone called Banks, slapped it off the post and then levels of gobsmacked for you how rocked, how rocked I feel like Piers Morgan as I'm saying this because we're in studio and I'm like back how rocked were you on the couch you need to point your finger at the table how rocked were you give me some pleasure in your misery not rocked in the slightest because it was really obvious it was coming, Palace deserved it by the hour mark Liverpool had a couple of chances early on in the second half Eketike particularly maybe could have done better once or twice but after about an hour Palace were the better team as you say I think Hughes was really important in terms of the combativity Saar looked really dangerous throughout Munoz always in space they had that kind of switch on it did drift for a little bit but Palace were the better side in the drifting and so by the time they equalised you kind of looked at it and thought well yeah this is about right it feels like a two-all draw at the moment I think there are reasons for that some of them to do with Liverpool one is we talked about the Jota sort of emotional impact there's also a physical impact Liverpool's pre-season was delayed they staggered the players to come back to try and allow them a little bit of time and space I don't think Liverpool are physically where they would ordinarily want to be I think they lost a lot of direction when Eke Tike went off it didn't seem as though they had an outlet at all it didn't seem to have an attacking plan they weren't pushing Palace back I think the other thing that will be missed a little bit in the coverage, there were four new players on the pitch, Rog, but there was also an entirely new central midfield partnership.

47:26Gravenberch was absent because of the birth of his child, which is very nice. Alexis McAllister's still not quite fit. They're managing his minutes. He did come on. But Sobber's Lion-Jones, both established squad members, but not a midfield partnership. And I think that, more than Liverpool's defence, was the issue. There wasn't a cover in midfield. It reminded me a lot of the Klopp team in 22-23 when the midfield just stopped pressing. The Fabinho-Henderson midfield just ran out of legs and all of a sudden Liverpool were exposed constantly. It's not my favourite Liverpool midfield all the time, that one.

48:02And I think the other thing that's really important to say is Palace, they kind of found the openings. They found the bruises and they just punched them repeatedly and eventually it paid off. so I wasn't I was disappointed they conceded obviously but I wasn't surprised just by that stage Palace deserved it Palace were relentless Palace were deeply organised Palace had an idea of football that idea of football started to work on repeat and every time they took possession at the halfway line you were like this this is interesting it was remarkable to watch and a huge tribute to Oliver Glasner the way he thinks about football he's been linked to Tottenham job he's been linked to Bayern Munich oddly he's been loyal loyal thus far what was fascinating to me was just how much he wanted this game his emotions on the side after that all they've been through being screwed out the Europa this was no like just the community shield to him he was living and dying and I kind of loved it but even if he had gone in thinking with that weird kind of duality that you have around the community shield which is that it is an honor it is the sort of thing that a lot of clubs count in terms of their overall kind of trophy halls but it's also a friendly there is that duality but as soon as he stepped out into Wembley and he saw the Palace fans, he would have known this is not a friendly.

49:16They are amazing. The Palace fans are one of the best things about the Premier League at the moment. The UEFA Mafia display was incredible, but the noise, the joy, the kind of passion that they bring, which is really un-English. They are by far the most European fans in England. I think that would have made it clear to their players, no, no, no, no, no, this is not a friendly. This is a chance to win the second honour in our club's history and it seemed to transmit to the players. I mean, if you are in London, that is the stadium I would recommend any travelling fan get themselves to see. It really is a remarkable, deeply local, ecstatic experience.

49:54Also for Glasner, I think victory gives him a tiny bit more leverage with the board. Get me these transfers. I need this. I deserve it. Game finished wildly openly. I don't want to quickly acknowledge Mo Salah had the best chance to win it. late on, hit an open chance by his standards right at Dean Henderson. Raw, just the denial of that ability to rip off his shirt and show us all his summer tan. I mean, that was almost restraint. Yeah, Salah wasn't great on Sunday. I think that's fair to say. He seemed a little bit kind of peripheral in the first half, which may have just been because of the way that Liverpool were attacking down the left.

50:35and second half he looked a little bit rusty and obviously that you know that came to the fore just after the final whistle when he had to take a penalty I'm sure that that ring rust will wear off and that Mo Salah will come back but obviously it's football Rog so we have to write him off immediately based on 90 quiet minutes God you know what I mean if we can't be don't take away our knee-jerk condemnations it's why we watch Raw we also watch for the penalty shootouts why don't we play football why don't we just go to penalties this one it was headband against baseball cap, which obviously felt in the moment as if we go down to which goalkeeper could find the other goalkeepers' penalty instructions on their bottle and just toss it, Hannah Hampton style, into the fans.

51:15I did love how Dean Henderson secreted his bottle in the towel, thinking they'll never look in here. Whereas, God bless, Mo Salah stepped up, skied it, two penalties hit over the bar by Mo. I think inside a week, Mateta did his foot placement swingy thing. oh if only Alison had read that one rule that one was a better penalty Mateta got it right the second time very gracious of you McAllister seemed to take forever to place the ball down too long he went right, Dean Henderson was down to parry and then hat tipped, I mean an instantly iconic image I can hear we're in King's Cross I can hear across the river in South London the TIFO makers sewing away that Oh, you tip our hat to us.

52:02We tip our hat to you, Hendo. That was really a beautiful moment. It was a very, very memeable moment. And it was brilliant that he did it. And obviously after the game, Rog, he stopped by a pub and put a grand... He's an amazing man. But also, if you're a penalty taker, you've got like, Hendo believes in us. Because ultimately, he put his head on the chopping block. If Liverpool went on to win, Alisson, Reggie Miller once did that against the Bulls in a close game. he mined that the game was over. The Bulls actually came back last second to win it. And I think it was Scotty Pippen, if I remember, did the same action back.

52:36Part of me was like, God, if Liverpool win now, Alisson will take off his little headstring and mock him in his face. But it gives, the penalty shootout is all about confidence. Psychologists who study it, you know, down to the minute, the player that celebrates with the home fans gives an increased percentage of the players who follow him are thinking that they too can score. To see your goalkeeper locked in in that moment, pulling it off is just remarkable. Gakpo converted, Sar, sensational. Javier Le, again, took forever to put the ball down, which is like basic technique. When I say basic, we've all read the same psychologist manual on this stuff.

53:16Iced himself, missed. Sosa then did the same. Sobbersly converted up step. Young Northern Irish international, Justin de Veni, 21 years of age. I'd say many expected him to be overruled by the moment the way you're smiling I'm wondering if you what you were going through I've got to say it's an exquisite penalty he lashed it home walked off shrugging like Michael Jordan Palace win 3-2 on penalties you've already said it they deserved it Liverpool lost control of that game the longer it went on and their penalties were honestly the ultimate homage to Darwin Nunes they really were the Deveni is an interesting one is when he stepped up, you did think, that's a big call.

53:57But then my second thought, Roger, and this is completely honest, was this kid must be amazing at penalties. Because you don't give him the fifth penalty unless he's really good at it. Chris Richards was right there, baby. I assume he was sick. I assume Chris Richards would have been taking the first sudden death penalty. Yeah, yeah. I got you, guys. If you've given your 21-year-old kid a substitute, the fifth penalty, it's because they're really good at it. Yeah, this is reversed. This is like Monday morning quarterbacking. This is us projecting after he did that. I mean, my God. Just you'd have expected that to be Mateta maybe taking the touch kit.

54:29I was honestly, it's so funny. I was like, well, that's interesting, Cole. You were too. You went decision tree. He must be really good. I really was. Thank God it's not Chris Richards. I don't know if I could take it. God bless Palace. Second piece of silverware within three months. That feeling of winning must be just utterly ecstatic for their fans, particularly with this demotion. Just sense of injustice, which is there. the worry that Eberichie Eze will go before the end of the transfer when the Gehi is almost certainly now Steve Parrish briefing the press 12 minutes left on his contact almost inviting offers Glastner too I mean this brain in a bottle coach has said that strange quote of his well not that strange he's put it out there and my fate is tied to Mark is a quote the fact that Palace could lose their greatest asset this gentleman the idea of football the confidence the man management I mean, he's pointing to this team.

55:21It's almost a feeling roar. And Palace's win kind of diminished it briefly. The happiness outside of the big six is inevitably fleeting roar. No matter when you feel that ecstasy, that euphoria, it's soon going to be replaced by exhaustion, by malaise, by anti-climax, which is humanly pretty crappy. Yeah, we've seen this summer actually a little bit of a kind of reassertion of the big six. That last season, I can't remember if we've talked about this, Rog, but last season was all about the insurgents. It was Newcastle winning the Carabao, Palace winning the FA Cup, Forest competing for the Champions League and then somehow finding a way to get into the Europa League, even though maybe they shouldn't have been.

55:58It was a season for challenge to that kind of established order. And what the established order has done, as they tend to do, is look at it and think, right, well, we better not let that happen again. So they've kind of plucked Bournemouth bare. They've taken Brentford's best player and their manager. Liverpool are trying to buy Alexander Izak from Newcastle. Manchester City have taken Ryan Aitnori from Wolves. Everyone has said, right, no, no, no, no, no. Beto's still a blue. We quite like it when all the best players are at the same six clubs. And that is a real shame. I think, realistically, I'm going to try and be positive here.

56:36I think Glasner, there isn't a vacancy for him anywhere else. So although he would obviously be really upset to lose Gae and Eze, I don't think he will step away at this stage. Gay, because his contract's only got 12 months left on it, what Steve Parrish said is that they can't afford to lose him for nothing. So there is a point at which they have to think, look, we need to... And that point's now. The big question mark to me is Eze. Because he... You know, we talked about Grealish at Everton being the sort of player who a mid-table club really cherishes. It feels to me from the outside not being Eberreche, Eze, not knowing his exact circumstances, not knowing exactly what his commitments are, what he has to do, the number of people he has to take care of.

57:20I would look at it from a football point of view and say, actually, the best place for Eze is Crystal Palace. He can be the icon of this team that is kind of everyone's second team now, to be honest, Palace. He is a widely beloved player. Oh, Brighton fans. Maybe not them. At a very well-liked club who are established in the Premier League. They're not going to get relegated. They're in Europe. they should win the conference lead to be perfectly honest I think it would be sad for him to go to Arsenal where he would be he'd just be a number he'd just be another player he'll always be a poet so I think it would be a shame for Palace to lose all three and I think they won't but for Liverpool dot dot dot what does it mean if Enic Verge said before the game he said something like if it's the League Cup, FA Cup, London, Premier League or Champions League normally you win something in the end of the season now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season.

58:10And I thought the word something was really altered. What is the Community Shield? Well, it's something. It's not nothing. The stat that everyone's banding around, I think only one team have won the Premier League title after winning the Community Shield in the last 14 years. In fact, four of the last six sides who've lost have gone on to win the Premier League. So what is the Community Shield roar? Is it just a MacGuffin? Is it almost an act of Premier League misdirection? The trophy itself is meaningful. to the team that wins it and not meaningful to the team that doesn't. In that sense, it's fairly unique.

58:45Like the Florida Cup. A bit like, very much like the Florida Cup to you. A lesser. Do you know what? The Community Shield is what you think the Florida Cup is. That's what it is. It's like a lesser Florida Cup. All right, let me ask you the serious question and Liverpool kick off the Premier League season against Bournemouth on Friday. It'll be an Anfield awash with emotion. Slott admitted post-game that his team looked better at creating now, but they have to fix the way they are defensively vulnerable and leaking goals, not just one, but two, twice. Do you think Andoni Ereola, the Bournemouth manager, looked at that Liverpool performance and thought, OK, I smell weakness on that Liverpool left, Semenyo going to do them?

59:24But this is the thing about the Community Shield, although the trophy itself isn't necessarily that meaningful, the things the game shows you are real. So those events happen. Liverpool do have weaknesses at the back. The midfield isn't giving the defence enough cover. that is the challenge facing Liverpool on the pitch ahead of the start of the season they are not quite there the question I guess is how long it takes to fix it and that is called a season cliffhanger we will go deeper on this in our Premier League previews which are still to come but in other news quickly Arsenal Football Club keep reminding us we are in a time of peak knee-jerk reaction Victor Jokeres, the$86 million man, laboured against Villarreal last week, leading to quite panicked headlines about him falling short and same old Arsenal.

1:00:15Cue the weekend, a 3-0 win against Athletic Bilbao and the 27-year-old scored his first Arsenal goal. I was told he didn't do the headers, but the way he nodded home Martin Zubomendi's fine-arcing cross home before the ecstasy of a first signature Bain celebration, no one cared until I put on the mask. Worth pointing out, Jokeres didn't score a headed goal raw all of last season. English football's got to him already. He's learnt the key skill. Heading the ball is all English football's about. No, I think there's lots of reasons to be excited as an Arsenal fan this season. Not least the way Liverpool played in the Community Shield, to be perfectly honest.

1:00:54Arsenal look like they have solved the one problem they've had for years, which is no out-and-out number nine. They've added Zubimendi in midfield. They kind of look ready. Zubimendi, we have to have a quick word on him because he looks like the prince who was promised Roar I mean a gent who can regain possession but then make the complex look incredibly simple the way he, his decision making, the way he passes I think what he's going to make them is so much more unpredictable going forward There's a lovely balance to that midfield him, Dettlin Rice, Martin Odegaard that is a top class midfield From one striker, poised to storm the Premier League to one who, well, was just signed for Manchester United.

1:01:36Benjamin Sesko just arrived from Arbe Leipzig for$104 million, choosing United over Newcastle. Of course he did. We'll talk about Newcastle at the moment. Negging Newcastle in 2025, I think is what Hot Girl Summer was, to 2024. The deal will take United Summer spent to$288 million. He could fix a lot of holes and a lot of roofs with that money raw. 22-year-old Slovenia International. He's got the build of an NBA player, 6 '5", been much buzzed about, a lot of hype about him. Despite the fact that he only scored 13 times in the Bundesliga last season, expected to be the fulcrum of Amarim's attacking plans, along with Kunian and Bumo, it's going to be fascinating watching him play role for the first time professionally outside at a Red Bull group of clubs.

1:02:24But it is a lot of money for a gent who was not exactly burning up the Bundesliga. For those who haven't watched him, what do we have in store for him in Ruben Amaro's beloved 343? What's interesting about Cesc O is that lots and lots of clubs looked at him who needed striders this season, Arsenal and Liverpool amongst them, and they all passed. That's the one little bit of a red flag that there might be. Why did they leave him be? In Arsenal's case, apparently it was just they felt that Joterez was ready now. Sesto might have a higher ceiling but Jokeres could plug and play effectively Sesto I think is not quite the finished product it will be really interesting for United fans to see him develop because if he does fulfil his potential they've got an incredible player, he's tall, he's powerful he's got an incredible shot on him when he gets it right, I think he will offer them something but the really exciting thing for United is that they have signed three players to go straight into the first team and I'm not sure I can remember the last time they actually kind of I saw a friend of mine from Stratford Paddock, which is a United fan channel, making this point the other day.

1:03:29Not sure if I remember when United last went out and said, right, we don't like our front three. Let's get a new front three. Mbwemo, Cunha, Sesko, that is your Manchester United attack for next season. Whether they all fit into that system, I don't really know. And it is the only system. There is no other system, Rog. There can never be. So Sesko's the spearhead. he's the number nine Cunha will play behind him does Mbwemo play behind him what does that mean for Diallo on the right they still don't really have a left wing back where does Bruno Fernandes play do you play him deeper I'm not sure you should be doing that it still feels a bit like Ruben Amorim might need to come up with another system and he really doesn't want to do that we have to touch on Newcastle very quickly their standoff of Alexander Izak goes on their list of targets announced and then missed is honestly truly woeful James Trafford Jao Pedro, Liam DeLapp, Hugo Eketike, Dean Housen, Brian Mbumo.

1:04:27Yes, they've signed Anthony Alanga and Aaron Ramsdale on loan. I mean, he is like an addiction to relegations. Eddie Howe is now, I mean, I feel for Eddie Howe. He looks so forlorn. He's got a front office that's in transition. He said this week that he, quote, doesn't know what the future holds. I mean, in May, Newcastle parted a company with their former sporting director, Paul Mitchell. They've been there like a minute. And without him, the targets have been what one would expect. I mean, it is fascinating. They've been gazumped almost at every single stop. And we've talked about the challenges of geography, that players don't want to move north of the wall.

1:05:05We've talked about, you know, they have a reputation. Fabrizio made this point when he came on the show. They have a reputation for not wanting to sell young talent. So young talent is not ready to kind of stop off there. But this is a humiliating summer, in which they have Champions League football, they've got the Carabao glory that's kind of worn off. I'm fascinated why some teams, Brighton, Liverpool, for different reasons, are very good at getting deals done over the line, and others, like Newcastle, are just so self-soiling. I think in Newcastle's case this summer, it's the lack of a front office.

1:05:37That's the issue, that there is too much churn there, there is no long-term vision to get those deals done. And the worry that I have for Newcastle is that it looks an awful lot like they are signing third, fourth, fifth choice players. That's not great. One of the lessons of Liverpool, and I'm sorry to cite them, Rog, is that if the right player's not there, just don't sign anybody. Keep your powder dry until the right player is available. I think if you look at the striders Newcastle have gone for, you can make a case that they are all kind of much of a muchness. Would you rather have João Pedro or Sesco?

1:06:09Similar, really? You can make a case for either. similar with Liam De Lappe it would all make sense I think Johan Wisser is a smart buy for Newcastle if they can get that over the line but my worry is that they're looking at this thinking we just have to sign somebody and if you're thinking that you're much more likely to make a mistake I love your theory the baseball theory sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make in which case Newcastle have done a lot of them this off season it's going to go amazing they are said to covet Johan Wisser of Brentford but he's also connected to Liverpool so it goes they continue to be linked to Nicholas Jackson lots of lols because if they signed him he'd miss the first game due to a red card he got playing against Newcastle last season which is just too luck at the moment very very quickly Everton Football Club historic day this weekend final test event off on you Hill Dickinson Stadium on the banks of the River Mersey full capacity crowd for the first time it's incredibly emotional to be honest Chris Beasley in the Echo wrote depending on where you want to start This was a day either four years, nine years, or even 133 years in the making for Everton on the banks of the Mersey.

1:07:18The stadium, you know, despite all the kind of test technical learnings, let's say cues for food, not enough pies, I mean it, received as an experience from the fans, rave reviews. It is a stunning piece of architecture created by an American, Dan Meese. Peter Drury in comms called it a purpose-built fortress. I said this to the club when I toured it earlier this summer. It's the most unevitable thing I have ever seen in my lifetime. It's that beautiful. In the sense that it's kind of modern and fancy and flash. Is that what you mean? No, it's just good. It's just really thoughtful. It's beautiful.

1:08:01The architecture on the outside, the heritage, the city, the port, the history that they've layered in beautifully. The outside is very emotional. It's just stunning. And then the bank behind the goal, just the 39.9 degree bank, the steepest it can legally be. It's beautiful. The locker room. When you've gone to Goodison, the Goodison Park, it was like walking into a public bath from the 1920s. I don't know how professional football is. The shower pressure was so poor. Many of the players didn't even shower in there after games. It was so low rent. This is sparkling. Are you saying you think they've got good shower pressure?

1:08:37That's all the matter. Why do we watch football? for the shower pressure roar. To the game, the opponents were Roma. The Italian one is also owned by the Houston Friedkin family, our friend James Horncastle texted me and called it Elfried Kino, which I don't think is going to catch on, but it's amazing. It's not been the happiest of pre-seasons. Players still need to come in. Jack Grealish coming. Kieran Duesby-Hall, he actually purred. I think he's going to be the stealth great signing of the season. We look slow. I think we only won one pre-season game and that was behind closed doors against mighty third-tier Port Vale.

1:09:13We lost this one, 1-0. At JD Knowlton tweeted, few boos at the end of the Everton Roma friendly. Good to see. Some traditions being kept alive at the news. Would it not be the Corollico? Is that not the better? The Freakins money is in Toyota, right? We all drive Toyotas now. The Southwest premier Toyota dealership. So the Corollico, there must be something. Horncastle's let himself down there. Has he really? Yeah. Breach, you know, is just rubbish. I love a Siena. It's a great economy, fuel, etc., whatever the words are. I don't know a lot about cars. Let's be positive, Blues fans. I've got to say, the big dick is so mega.

1:09:50And apart from the early kinks in the matchday experience, the mood, what I realise, is inextricably going to be connected to the football. We can only pray. But I did read this quote from Dostoyevsky this week. pain and suffering are inevitable for persons of broad awareness and depth of heart. The truly great are, in my view, always bound to feel a great sense of sadness during their time on Earth. I found that strangely liberating. Let's close this very quickly with a letter from a GFOP, Sally Redness from Salt Lake, Utah, who wrote the following. Do the honours rule. Roger and Rory, thanks for all you do to bring joy and insight to us on a weekly basis.

1:10:28It means more than you will know. I type in the week in which the Premier League returns to our loving arms, as Rog would say, kicking off on Friday. How do you feel? Not as fans, but as people for whom this is work. Do you feel an excitement that the Premier League is back, or do you feel like weightlifters about to attempt to raise an enormous weight over your head that to welcome back the football is to bring back a torrent of work? Thank you either way. Sally, I was actually talking to J-Dubs about this today, Rog, before you arrived. I feel as though you might need, you know, in your interest as a friend, I'd like you to have a vacation but I just feel as though there's no time for you to have one.

1:11:03My wife actually went away with my daughter this summer which is wonderful and a bit sad. For them. Yeah. I mean, it's been a very crazy summer so the football doesn't, it never kind of went away. I don't think it will do after the World Cup. I mean, I'm fascinated by your answer because I had a mate of mine who worked at Everton not under this ownership but about 10 years ago, you know, childhood blew. And he left pretty quickly. He said the greatest way to hate Everton is to actually work there. And, you know, what he meant was something changes when you actually work in it rather than just, you know, pursue it as a fan.

1:11:43You know, the hobby, the greed of the business, whatever. How do you experience it? I still have that, like, childlike excitement at the start of a season. Like, I am looking forward to the season starting. I was really up for the Community Shield. I wanted to watch it. and that diminishes over the course of the year. There comes a point around March where I'm really struggling to care, and then you kind of pick yourself back up because all the games suddenly mean so much. It's periodisation. Exactly. You've got major finals, and the occasion kind of brings you through. But yeah, watching football in the sunshine is one of life's great pleasures.

1:12:17I think what I struggle with more and more are the bits of the game that I just feel are kind of obviously wrong. there's been a lot of stuff over here this week about the weirdness of Al-Hilal buying Nunez when Liverpool are trying to buy a player from Newcastle Al-Hilal who were owned by PIF are giving money to Liverpool essentially so they can pay Newcastle to take Newcastle's best player away and that becomes this debate about nation state ownership and PSR and is this right we talked about it last week in depth yeah and I just I find those issues really kind of emotive because it's so obvious to me that clubs shouldn't be owned by countries, that's clearly the kind of conclusion you should reach to me.

1:12:59But I know at the same time that there's another kind of nine months of arguing about it ahead of me, and that bit I find a little bit like a big cloud gathering above my head. Like, going through so many of these debates about VAR or about the bloody handball rule, I don't know how up for that I am, because it just seems as though it never kind of makes any progress. but the football itself, the stories that it generates and this will sound like I'm kind of playing to your gallery, Rog but I would love the idea of Jack Grealish going to Everton and being reborn as a story that I would find that incredibly uplifting that's what I love about football the stuff around it, the way the game is kind of leeching itself the way the game kind of sells itself and all of that governance stuff that feels a little bit more like hard work yeah i mean you've said it poignantly you've said it beautifully i mean i do find enough nourishment uh more than enough so much it's unbelievable just as i did as a kid it's neither work nor a hobby for me sally to be candid it's kind of like um football is the life force despite that rule it remains the life force it's it propels me animates me it's how i see the world how i understand the world i think most importantly it's how I connect to the world in the deepest, most emotionally enriching way.

1:14:23So the past three weeks in which there has been kind of scant football, we've had the gruel of friendlies. It's been quite hard for me. I can't wait for Friday. I was just with Tyler Adams yesterday and he was talking about how excited he is to play at Anfield. I said, how are you feeling about playing against Milos Kerkas? He said, I can't wait for that first tackle, was his words. I can't wait to watch the Premier League. It is the greatest telenovela, watching along with other human beings. That's what makes it for me, being acted out live without a script, without a safety net. I can't wait to watch Leeds just utterly clip Everton on Monday night.

1:15:01I love it all. I'm so lesser as a person without it. Without you, Ru, honestly, without you listeners, I mean it. When we finished taping with Mikel Arteta or Virgil this week, I am fully aware there's 330 million people in America and only we get to do this together. So I'd never take that for granted. Bring on the football. Bring on Beto. Bring on joy. Bring on agony. I want it. I need it. Just give it me in the face. Sally, I loved your letter. Enjoy your football. Send us your postal. We'll send you a patch. Keep sending your letters and questions for Rory and me to men in blazers at gmail.com.

1:15:41That's it for today. Again, I want to thank the GFOPs at Yeti, at Duwador, everything they create with such style for making this year's football holiday possible. We're going to be interviewing some of the biggest names in the Premier League, two special preview pods with none other than you, Raw. In a moment, we're going to move. I'm going to put on a different sweatshirt so it looks a bit different in a second, but I'm letting my secrets out. We're going to break down every move, team by team. Those will come out Tuesday and Wednesday. Can't wait to hear your insights. It's big Tyler Adams interview Thursday.

1:16:12He was on Magic 4. As are you, Raw. Big, big love to you. Crown Prince of Harrogate. It's just really nice to be sat in a booth with you, Rod. I love this. I never want to leave. This is my new home now. Kings Cross. One quick note. We're launching a new show. Big weekend preview. Every Friday you can video yourself. Do it. Come on, listeners. Do it right now. Asking your biggest question of the weekend's football. Send it in to us. We'll answer as many as possible. Send them by email. Men in Blazers at GMR.com. But we'll answer the best ones. This is Rog sending you big love, let's not take a second, of watching football together for granted and courage.