Liverpool win it in stoppage time…again, Harry Kane stuffs Chelsea, and PSG are still good at football: Men in Blazers Do It Live! 09/17/25

24:39James Horncastle:He wasn't overwhelmed by it. He just trusted in the practice that he'd put in. And that's Kane. And I think people take these numbers for granted. That's exactly right. They look at them and they think, ah, Bundesliga Bayern, the Bundesliga attacks and all that sort of thing. But I followed this Bayern with company last year and they were pretty flaky in the league phase. You know, whenever they came up against teams, you thought, now this isn't the buying of Hansi Flick or Juppine because it's not as good as the buying of old. And yet his numbers, Bundesliga, Champions League, are incredible.

25:16James Horncastle:And, you know, I doff my cap to Lord Kane. Yeah, I think he's going to be. And we're all laughing about this. It's kind of a joker coder to any Kane interview. I think he is going to try and come into the NFL. and that kind of drilled kicking regimen that you need to be a clinical field goal kicker from 50, I can imagine this and I think it's going to be magnificent. Rog, I was in Miami or Hallandale Beach for weeks and weeks on end. The Cotswolds of America. The Cotswolds of America. Yeah, except there are two or three more machine gun ranges in Hallandale Beach than there are here in the Cotsworlds.

26:01James Horncastle:But Harry Kane, he was playing against Boca Juniors for Bayern at the Club World Cup. And he was in Dolphin Stadium or the Hard Rock Stadium. And he was asked exactly that about, you know, maybe one day do you see yourself here? And I think the question was asked, do you see yourself one day playing in MLS? But like him being in the Hard Rock Stadium and seeing all this Dolphin paraphernalia, I think he was thinking, yeah, I could see myself here, but in the NFL and boy do those Dolphins need him right now I think he's going to do the NFL first and then he'll come then he'll come to MLS he'll come it's time for there's time for any Harry Kane I will say I did love watching Bayern fans enjoy themselves by booing Cucurea for the handball not given on a goal band shot at the last Euros which were the Germans knocked out by Spain Cucurea was just that kind of player the fans just remember any opportunity to harangue him One other magical moment today, defending champion PSG hosted the quite incredible, I love this team, Atalanta, and treated them with really the contempt that PSG seemed to hold for all Italian teams, James.

27:12It was a bare-ass spanking, 4-0, opened the scoring within 133 seconds, second goal from Cavaradonna. If you've not seen it, find it. It was so emphatic, so sizzling. I love that little man. He is so transcendent, James, but somehow still feels underrated.

27:29James Horncastle:Oh, yeah. I mean, he has this ability. If you watch his dribbling, which is obviously his art, and the frequency with which his feet move, you talk about the fact that he's still underrated. It's almost like he's walking on water, and there are no ripples on that water as he walks across it. And that's Kabara. He's like someone who is extremely humble. You know, he speaks a little bit of English, but it's very kind of staccato. It's quite a brat. There's no fluency. The only fluency is in his football. And he lets his football do the talking. And, you know, I still think that, you know, it's Ballon d 'Or week, isn't it?

28:15James Horncastle:It's Ballon d 'Or week. And like, for me, this guy is good enough to win the Ballon d 'Or. He was part of the Napoli. He was the difference in the Napoli team that won the league for the first time since someone called Diego Armando Maradona. 33 years. There was this feeling that no one could win it at Napoli without Maradona. And Cavadadona came and done it. And then came and done it. Wow, proper East End there. And then he lost it. He came and done it, didn't he? Came and done it, didn't he? Came and done it. He went down to Paris. And then PSG moves there in January. And they win the Champions League four or five months later for the first time in their history.

29:01James Horncastle:I think Kavara is a man of destiny. Kavara, yeah, I would love to see his little Georgian fingerprints on that golden Ballon d 'Or one day. He's only gone and done it, isn't he? He's only gone and done it, mate. That's what's around. Going down to Blesi. see I went there I did it's alright those dumplings I was going to say those sausages are a bit don't get me started let my Connie accent is probably a 4 out of 10 so let's move on and whip around yesterday's happenings James Arsenal fans rejoice your boys made a winning start to what the hell will be a long long journey toiled in Madrid initially with in Bilbao initially with 7 starters out lots of possession, little in the way of creativity and ambition.

29:51Really an old trope, but then a new one. Strength in depth. On came Gabriel Martinelli and Arteta said, I have impactors. I love that. Sounds like a tooth infection. People who take a second to score a goal, which was a slight exaggeration, Mikel, because it was actually 36 seconds before Martinelli was in behind, rolled home, freed by fellow substitute Leandro Trossard. Must have been a really sincerely lovely moment for Martinelli, who was embraced by his teammates with an incredible mix of joy and relief in equal measure. Jen's been the subject really of so much criticism internally and within the fan base.

30:31Real target for frustration have been replaced by Eze this season. I think the dude really deserved and needed that, James. Yeah.

30:40James Horncastle:And you know what? I identify with Martinelli as being the player where I thought Arsenal are on the right track. And when they signed him, I was like, that is really smart scouting. Look at the player that they found there. A player who didn't have to go to another sort of European league before they signed him to basically check that he was good enough to play in Europe. They signed him. Raw, he made a real impact in those early years. And boy, did he make an impact in Bilbao. the other night. And I think, you know, you should never lose sight of that. There isn't a degree of entitlement as you get better and better as a club to think that the people who got you where you are, okay, we can discard them now.

31:24James Horncastle:We need to upgrade on them. And instead, Martinelli showed, you know, why he's still a Brazil starter. You know, Carlo Ancelotti the other week played him in the 3-0 win against Chile. And when he didn't play him, they lost to Bolivia, albeit at altitude in the past. But Martinelli was not starting that game. He started against Chile and they won. So, you know, I mean, maybe, you know, maybe there's something, there's a bit of luck. There's a bit of intangible about Martinelli. It wasn't even the goal. It wasn't only the goal he scored. The work he did for that second goal. Yeah, an assist. Goal and assist.

31:59By the way, I loved what you said about love the ones that got you there. That's well, never. leave you Beto, I'll never leave you. But he did, he set up the second. New Arsenal, have depth, it was Trossard who finished, right? Options. But at the same time, there's romance to it. The Martinelli goal, the Martinelli assist. But this win really is what happens when one starting 11 from the Premier League costs, I think,$671 million. The other, the Spanish side, costs$40 million, which is less than the Tyler Dibbling for a whole side.

32:36James Horncastle:Yeah, and also it's not just$40 million. It's kind of like we are the Basque club that only signs Basque players. So that narrows our recruitment even more. That talent pool is even shallower. And so it's incredible just to see Athletic compete in the Champions League. It was the first time they played at San Mames in the Champions League for 11 years. Mikel Arteta, a Basque himself albeit one who came with their rivals Real Sociedad you know, fulsome praise of the atmosphere and you really saw first 15-20 minutes there it was difficult for Arsenal you know, I think Timber was talking about how they were losing so many of their duels they just couldn't get anything going it was really tough but yeah, you do see the difference over the long term of that game where a squad that's had the money spent on it that Arsenal has had and Arteta talking about the depth he was asked those players that you brought on you know Trossard and your Martinelli's was it like is it like rugby in how you're managing your squad yeah his starters and the finishes the stars and the finishes but you know I mean what I like about that is you know in rugby I played rugby as a kid you know they have 15 players instead of 11 in football um so i i just i heard that question i thought wow did i actually finished to finish the game with 15 players rather than 11 but uh because it looked that way um and that's what that's how it can look when you have players with that freshness that penetration that impact um that martinelli and trossard gave and kept another clean sheet.

34:22James Horncastle:They're solid. Rog, we've seen every year over the last three years, Arsenal progressed, haven't they? Round 16, quarterfinal, semifinal. Is this the year? Don't do it, James. Don't bait these poor bastards. They suffer, man. Dream on, Arsenal fans. Don't let us bait you. Don't let us bait you. Tottenham won Villarreal nil. Tottenham handed a gift on their Champions League return. Lucas Verbal cross-routine. only for the Villarreal goalkeeper. Luis Junior, I think, chose the moment to audition to be the next Manchester United goalkeeper. He dove to catch across, let it squirm backwards, completely diverted it into his own net.

35:04I mean, Spurs were sloppy, nervy. Thomas Frank's first ever Champions League game held on, sat deeper, deeper second half. Error-strewn, scrappy performance. But as Rascal Flats sings about journeys, life is a highway. I'm going to drive it all night long. I don't know what that means either. Juventus scored twice in stoppage time. James, this must have been a moral victory for you, you Italian superiors, to draw in an eight-goal banger against Dortmund. 26-year-old Englishman Lloyd Kelly netted in the 96-minute. Former Cherry Newcastle centre-back set the Champions League on light. Incredibly, I love this statistic.

35:43Last time Juventus played a 4-4 tie in the Champions League, It was 2002, also against the German team, Hamburg. And incredibly, both current managers, Dormans' Niko Kovac and Juventus' Igor Tudor, even scored in that game. That's just layered history, James.

36:01James Horncastle:Yeah. Talking about history, the Tudor era at Juventus. It's quite something to behold. I was in Turin at the weekend. I was there on Saturday when they beat Inter in the debut d 'Italia 4-3. And I thought no game will be better than that. There's no way Juve can do something similar. And instead that for all, yeah, it's, it's something that Juve's DNA is the one nil win. I always remember talking to Georgia Chiellini and saying, whenever coaches have come to Juve and tried to do something different and want us to basically score more than the opposition, we feel really uncomfortable. We like to get our noses in front, be one nil up.

36:41James Horncastle:And then we love that tension, just sort of like grinding out that win. And yeah, I'm sure people who followed Italy or Juventus over the few years have seen Chiellini celebrating a goal line clearance as if he'd scored a goal. So this is not uncharted territory, but it's joyous. It's like Liverpool tonight. It's just like, you know, I saw one of the best goals I've seen. Actually, I've seen some incredible goals this year, I must say. One from Mastro Antuono in the Superclassico, River against Boca. We'll get to Mastantola and Real Madrid a little bit later, but that Adzic goal, stoppage time, Juventus Inter, and then two stoppage time goals for Juve against Dortmund as well.

37:27James Horncastle:You know, I love you like a goal in stoppage time. I don't have a tattoo, but if I did, I'd get that tattooed as a tramp stamp, I'm sure. But by the way, talking about Juventus being like an Italian Liverpool, shout Oh, to Simakas, who's now at Roma, your beautiful Roma, changed, I think, his Instagram bio to a scouter in Italy, is what it says, which I just love. Marseille, hard done to. Opened the scoring at a Gates Real Madrid, Tim Weyer. Oh, respect. Became the first ever American to score at the Vaunted Bernabeu. Really a Neil Armstrong-esque achievement. I love this quote. He said, in 100 years, I didn't believe I'd play here.

38:10I grew up in Rosedale, New York, playing on a small turf pitch. Coming here was definitely a dream come true. Dude is leaving out a little bit of his Wikipedia, James. My friend the great Zito tweeted, I feel like Tim Weyer can't do this whole, I'm just a kid from a small town thing, considering his father's George Weyer.

38:30James Horncastle:Yeah, his father being the only African Ballon d 'Or winner, scored one of the greatest goals in Serie A history, basically running from his own penalty area into Verona's penalty area and scoring. Yeah, King George. Who me? How did this happen? I don't know how this happened. And the great thing is, Rog, we're talking about George Weyer, the footballer. We're not talking about the president of Liberia who's thankfully out of office by the time the current president of Liberia was in the Oval Office to speak to Donald Trump. And he said, how do you speak such good English? Where did you learn this?

39:06James Horncastle:And he was like, Liberia is an English-speaking nation. That's it. It's a big world. It's a big world. I will say, Tim Weyer, you've got good genes, as they say, in the American Eagle industries. But Real Madrid were resilient, excellent. Mbappe fired back with two penalties, second in the 81st minute. One of the most ridiculous handball decisions I think you'll ever see, awarded against a defender, executing a quite magical slide tackle. if that wasn't a natural arm position, tucked in by the side, I don't know what the handball rule is anymore. It was a very, let's just say, a very Madrid-y decision.

39:44And congratulations to Karabag, who became the first ever Azerbaijani team to win in the Champions League. Benfica let slip an early two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at home. Karabag, from the old Azerbaijani linguistical roots, which I'm sure you know, James, it means Black Garden, which sounds just like an incredible Soul Asylum lost album. Carabag, I find them to be so heartwarming, James. Just 12-time Azerbaijani Premier League winners. Real underdog tale of an ownership group being given$4.5 billion in construction contracts around Baku from the state's vast oil wealth to build a team as a regional status symbol.

40:22Well done, guys. Yeah.

40:24James Horncastle:Good job of you. Good job of you. It's heartwarming, isn't it? No. And their coach has been their coach for 17 years. He's like the Sir Alex Ferguson or the Giroud of Azerbaijani football. And I'm so grateful to Carabao, not only for this incredible comeback that they gave us on Tuesday night, incredible drama, but because they are effectively giving us Jose Mourinho back in the Champions League as the Benfica coach, because Benfica sacked Bruno Large. We're thinking that Mourinho is going to come in and what would his first game be in the Champions League in what, a few weeks time? Benfica, Chelsea.

41:03Yeah, I mean, well done Champions League scriptwriters. By the way, this might be Pete Jose Mourinho. Follow this one. He led Fenerbahce out of the Champions League allowing Benfica to go through. Got sacked by Fenerbahce as a result. Pocketed, I think, around$11 million in severance. Then he only went and joined Benfica to play in the Champions League. The greatest thing the devil did is make human beings believe he didn't exist. That is that kind of thing. But it is lovely to have him back. Well done, Premier League. Before we get to your questions, we do have massive news just in for the Carabao Cup.

41:37Other cups are available. Where the championships yeah, Carabao Cup, probably. They wish in the oil and construction industries. Championship Swansea owned by Snoop Dogg came back from 2-0 down to deny Big Ange Postacoglu, his first women's Nottingham Forest manager. Forest went 2-0 up, only to see Swansea equalised in the 93rd minute. and grabbed the winner via Angie's fellow Aussie, Cam Burgess, in the 97th minute. Really an incredible strike, I believe. Forrest out of the Carabao Cup. Big Ange left to wait for that first win. Been a lot of frustrated mates and downward eye casts in the post-match press conference they face Burnley this week.

42:20And yes, I know it was actually Tom Cochrane. Tom Cochrane, was it, who sang Life is a Highway? No, no, no. No, no, no. I only like the Rascal Flatts version. I won't have any of that crap. Let's get into your questions. Remind how it works on YouTube Live. Scan the QR code or take the old comment in the chat, which has been pinned, and click on it. Come into the Zoom with our producer, Tony. He'll tell you all you need to know. You don't even have to put a shirt on. You won't appear on screen. Let's start with the great Ryan May. Tell us where you're from, Ryan, and what's your question for the great James Horncastle?

42:55James Horncastle:Hey, what's up, guys? Appreciate you having me. I'm from Toronto. So I am a Liverpool fan and I am, I'm curious about a, so I have two things. Is this what we've, this, these late comebacks that we're seeing consistently first five games, is it dark magic or is it good magic? Which side of the, which side of the spectrum is this coming from? And, and the more actual pressing question, is this sustainable? Wow. That is a, the alchemist handbook, James Horncastle, is it dark magic or is it a good how do we even know i spent an hour today watching um a mentalist um which is you know someone who doesn't really do magic but basically pulls numbers or things out of your head uh with no tells no rhyme no reason you can't explain it um i'm my mind is still blown by it but i enjoyed myself watching the mentalist um i had a great time and yeah i enjoyed myself watching liverpool um three or four times um so far this season so i mean i'm a is it dark magic uh no because i think it makes us feel good no i like you know i i don't see anything that is negative uh it's not madrid magic it's not you know sort of getting two penalties out of nowhere where you're just like how have they done that that's not good it's it's feel-good magic so you know i'm i'm is it sustainable probably not probably not but the thing is as i said earlier they've got so many goals in this team um they've got so many options off the bench they've got the belief that comes from winning a league championship when many people didn't think they could win the league.

44:54James Horncastle:And so, you know, I think this... It's not that this team is at the peak. This team has still got a core group that has won and achieved so much with Liverpool with that freshness, that free-spiritedness that comes with the recruitment that they've done. And it's a potent, heady mix that may give you a bit of a hangover tomorrow, but you'll be talking about it for years to come. I mean, I would say, first of all, to your question about dark magic or good magic, dark magic, I believe I'm a bit out of my magic skills are a little rusty. But dark magic is malevolent, right? For malevolent intent.

45:38I'm an Everton fan, so I guess I'm meant to say, yeah, that's dark magic. I mean, ultimately, I do believe that football, particularly in our chaotic world, our dark world, it can be a true force of good and make you feel things, make you feel alive, make you feel connected, make you feel human emotion. So I'm kind of forced to say in this moment, it's good magic for you if you're a Liverpool fan. I mean, it's football for the force. It's magic for the force of good. I then got a little sidetracked while James was speaking and started to Google how mentalists do their crap. Mentalists don't possess actual mind reading abilities.

46:17They use a combination of psychological techniques, hot techniques and cold techniques. I'm going to be Googling this afterwards. Observation, suggestion, misdirection, sometimes hidden props, James. So I'm going to get deep down the old how do mentalists do it, wormhole, and then pull it back. But back to your other question, Ryan. and I don't know if you are a Liverpool fan I'd love to know your answer on the dark magic the good magic in just one second beautiful human being but I'd say that I don't think it will last but I don't think it has to last I think the true definitional reality of Liverpool's season is about that front line and how they gel I thought this was Wurz's best game in a Liverpool shirt that I've seen he seemed to have a confidence he seemed to have a GPS Yes, he seems to have a belief, seems to enjoy being on the ball today.

47:09He's going to be a great key as he, it takes time. It really does take time to understand the difference in time and space in the Premier League. I think he's going to recalibrate and when he does, watch out. But that front line, again, when Mo came on and I did ask him, he came on last year, Mo, and we talked to him about the front line, the front three he played with, And he gave this incredible and beautiful, actually, analysis of exactly where Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez wanted the ball. One wanted it ahead of him to run onto. The other one wanted it. He remembered even the exact foot that I think it was Darwin Nunez wanted it to be played to so he could blast it over the bar.

47:51And in my imagination. And I asked him, Eketike, tell me about how you gel with him. and he said that is a good question. We're still working on it. I still don't know. I love Moe. He's so bloody. I mean, to your thing, Moe is very honest, James. And so Moe is a brilliant man. He will work it out. Eketike will work it out. They'll work it out with Izak. And I think once they do work it out, it will work out. I don't want it to, but it will work out. I think once it does, you're not going to be worrying about the, you know, the need for the late goals again. What do you think, Ryan? good magic, bad magic.

48:30James Horncastle:Well, I mean, the reason I even asked the question, I'm a Liverpool fan. It's obviously good magic from my end, but the reason I asked the question is because I'm in all these group chats with all my other footy fans and the Everton fans and the Arsenal fans. Sorry, there's no other Everton fans. I don't know why I'm pandering to you with that. There's no Everton fans. The Arsenal fans, the United fans, the City fans, they all think it's dark magic. I am not a religious man, but I do believe that there is something beautiful looking over Liverpool this year in the form of a number 20. And I think that's where we're going to see the beauty of the game that you speak of.

49:11You know what? I'd say that was beautifully said, Ryan. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for lolling me in and then giving me strays as you joked about the Everton thing. But I do think it's going to be very poignant, the derby. That was Diogo's last goal that he scored for Liverpool, was to do us at Anfield last time. And so I think there'll be a real sense of that renewed, I mean, just that renewed levels of emotion that we can't even fathom that Liverpool are winning despite all of that mourning, which has made this a very different kind of pre-season, unique and hopefully never to be repeated.

49:48But Godspeed, thank you for coming on, you incredible human being. Let's go to a caller from Australia to the mighty Trevor. Tell us where you are in that great country, mate. And what's your question for King James? Oh, Horncastle. You've got to unmute, big Trev.

50:11James Horncastle:There you go. Sorry about that, guys. Trev, you Australians are terrible at unmuting, baby, just as a nation. where are where are you in australia where are you baby i'm from melbourne actually so i live in victoria i recently actually moved from the united the united states you did where were you in the state i lived in florida but i was a college athlete so i was a soccer player over there in college so i'm definitely in love with the sport love with everything that america has going on in terms of growing the sport over there as well yeah what team just shout out your team in florida yeah so i played for southeastern university in uh florida which is kind of central florida so it's a naia school and i was lucky enough that i got a scholarship to play there so yeah shout out to the fire yeah i was just looking the seu fire this is amazing i'm gonna go i'm gonna google your stats as you ask your question to Hamid.

51:11You're going to be teams

51:11James Horncastle:with stats and I'm on my decline that's for sure. Now I transferred from a school up in Pennsylvania originally up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Is it Trevor Smith? Pardon? Are you Trevor Smith? I am. Son of Laurie and Gregory. Favourite team is Liverpool. What's with this? I am of course. Yeah that kind of goes to my next question that's for sure. I'm going to put myself on mute. What are the stats Rog? what are the stats he's a midfielder hometown naples florida favorite team is liverpool stats i'm getting to uh there are no statistics available for this that's off to the mcl that's off to the mcl oh mate florida in the summer as well oh mate mate mate by the way the fire have a mascot and its name is scorch which i just love i love america how how's your how's your fitness now just tell us now could we how's your health are you back maybe yeah fitness is good fitness is good i ended up coming back here and then i played a little bit of some kind of like equivalent to maybe some div two div three soccer here some semi-pro stuff as well yeah um but just kind of enjoying my time as you probably can imagine the college football arena can get pretty full on so i'm definitely enjoying some time without the physical fitness test that's for sure i'm better mate height six foot one if you're out there scouts but go on what's your question look here he is i'll make that i'll make this bigger height six or one what's your question what's your question trev yeah i just i've been kind of i've been obviously a lifelong supporter as you know um but i'm looking at obviously our front four at the moment and the big question at the moment is how we fit f2tk obviously vert um salah as well as now obviously Alex but keeping in mind obviously we have the likes of you know Cody coming off the bench as well I'm just reflecting back onto our days when we were playing a little bit more compact in this in the sense of when we had the Fab Four so we're looking at Coutinho, Mane, Salah and obviously Firmino I'm just saying like is do you think that especially when we look at Verts and how he kind of rotates in between the spaces.

53:32Do you think that having an ability to keep it compact

53:36James Horncastle:to be able to include the front four is something that we'll see going forward and maybe something that Slott might try? Or do you think that he's pretty consistent in terms of how he wants to keep his formations? Yeah, look, I think, Trevor, that with Verts, it's really interesting because Verts is, in some respects, replacing Trent. because Trent was the creator, was the playmaker. But Trent's nominal position was to be the right back. And he would sometimes come into midfield, spray passes, create from there. And I think it's easier to have a player lose the ball or get beaten out wide in Trent's position than it is in Florian's position.

54:24James Horncastle:Because I think if you give the ball away where Florian does, or if you're light at the moment where Florian is, in the middle of the pitch, the penetration is much more dangerous. And I think that's something that Liverpool are still figuring out at the moment, having to adapt to, particularly in the midfield that plays behind Verts as well. And that is a massive change from your kind of centre of gravity of creativity to come from for a long, long time. the right side of your defense, if you want to call Trent that, to being a sort of classic number 10 or someone who plays off the left or being in those sort of central half spaces.

55:10I think that's where a lot of Liverpool's imbalance

55:14James Horncastle:of the moment comes. And that's just something that they've got to figure out. I will say the only thing I can add, other than the school in Pittsburgh you attended, was Geneva College, the Golden Tornado. 11 games, one goal. Unbelievable, that goal, right? I hope that goal lives in your memory forever. The thing I admire about Liverpool, and it will be really interesting to speak to Richard Hughes about tomorrow, James, in all seriousness, is the profile of the players that they recruit, they're all incredibly tactically intelligent and fluid. Slott is a brilliant, brilliant man. and Izak arriving so late, you know, Eketike arriving relatively late, having that time to work with them, they will, I have no doubt they will work it out.

56:06And I think there's going to be such a tactical fluidity to that front line, far more than the kind of conventional missionary position, you know, front three that most teams have, where there's an alpha in the middle and two flank players. I think once they find that fluidity, it's going to be really really really a fascinating reality

56:29we're going to have owen on uh he's been waiting for a long long time and i love this human being come on up owen tell us where you're from what's your question um well i'm from the island of jersey as opposed to the new jersey the old original place and um i've got a question i think i'll get

56:49James Horncastle:to it eventually. Bear with me, please, if you don't mind, because first I want to talk about something that is almost in danger of being forgotten, like Gregor Mendel's experiment with peas. And that's Juan Carlos Carcedo, who, you might ask, he's the manager of Paphos FC, who today got their first ever point in the Champions League. And so I want to talk about um juan carlos carcedo is that he's doing an amazing job and he's my old student i used to teach him english and he used to be my own assistant before going into solo management a couple of years ago with the mighty ibiza um with whom he had extremely good he almost beat atletico madrid actually uh in the spanish cup but then he he uh for some reason lost his job despite having a wonderful season where he almost got Ibiza to La Liga, excuse me for stuttering over my words, but then he took over at Paphos three seasons ago, first season he won the cup, second season he won the league and lost the cup final but qualified for the Champions League in the third season which is this season, having beaten such you know monstrous teams as if I I can even remember, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kiev, for example.

58:19Yeah. And getting all the way to the Champions League. And after 25 minutes, they had a red card and they were away in Greece. Owen, I'm getting too excited listening to this. Can we save this for our other podcast, which is Pathos FC Today, which is where we do try and get out. I'm very into the P experiment, so I've got to be candid. your school teaching is very interesting the managers you have taught is very interesting but I do want to ask you like what is your question for the great great James and we'll save the other stuff for our other podcast Pathos FC today excuse me excuse me for waffling on I'm getting too excited myself I'm enjoying this greatly go on well um apart from can you please

59:08James Horncastle:can someone please write a book about Juan Carlos Tarseido and his journey in football my question is actually I'm a Liverpool fan and my question is just very simply actually to you Rog do you know what's coming at the derby because it was Florian Viet amazing today but I think the whole team was despite losing two goals again Liverpool are brilliant I'm sorry Rog yeah i mean do i i mean i don't really know how to answer that there's um there's a song by uh will oldman an album i see a darkness um and that's all i can think about when i uh when i do think about saturday i hate the derby um a lot of people i know hate the derby it just matters too much it makes no sense it's like we're not divided by you know geography we're not divided by religion or whatever class as in like Boca River it's just like a mess so it does feel like a boxer going into the ring and just starting to punch himself in the face and it matters so bloody much I realize I've had so little happiness in my lifetime in derbies that's the other thing that I'm musing about a lot as I go into this one so I think Will Oldman I see a darkness Owen I want to thank you you're a noble and beautiful human being never have we had a question about old jersey which I just love that notion.

1:00:29I do want to ask you very quickly, before we get to the great Josh Youngerman to close off the show, can you give us, just tell me about the pea experiment very succinctly, because you had me at pea experiment.

1:00:40James Horncastle:Oh, well, this was, of course, the father of genetics, Mendel, Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian friar, who documented, spent 30 years documenting the principles of heredity in peas and then presented his 30-year work in front of a small group of naturalists who completely ignored him and met him with complete indifference. Like, what the hell is that? That's amazing. What life. My life is nothing compared to his life. 30 years to peas. It's just amazing. I would love, I went to a graveyard recently, and it had, like, incredible people buried there. And there was someone that did incredible stuff with bees and honey, and she had like a bee on her tombstone and right next was somebody who'd done something incredible in like the 1920s with corn and corn stalk.

1:01:34And I went, what would be on my gravestone? Just be like... So God bless whoever did the pea stuff. 30 years in peas. That is incredible. Owen, you're a beautiful human being, but here's another one. A great human being to take us home and close the show. It's the King. Oh, for some Arsenal talk, no doubt. Remind us where you're from. Joshua Youngerman. I don't know how I follow that up. I don't know what we just did. Present some peas. Yes, behold. James likes mentalists. James likes mentalists. So just do some questions about that. I have a question about pea, apparently.

1:02:10James Horncastle:That's what I need to ask. No, no, I'm doing good. I'm in Brooklyn. I wanted to ask. So I remember when James Horncastle, and the only way that he knows how, was consoling me after probably five Jack Daniels in after the loss to PSG and telling me that, you know, really Arsenal didn't – one of the things Arsenal lacked was that they didn't have enough sort of ball carriers and really great attacking options outside of the main striker, right? But my question is now, do you think we have those options? And do you think Arsenal are quite possibly maybe the deepest team in Europe? Because I think we really do have two players for each position.

1:02:57And I think especially when someone like Christian Mascara can put in such an amazing performance like he did, you know, understudying for William Saliba. I'm not sure what other teams have this sort of quality of depth right now.

1:03:10James Horncastle:Yeah, no, completely agree, Josh. To have Eze, Madueke, and then you can bring on your Martinelli's, your Trossards. We forget even about injured Kai at the moment, when Kai comes back as well. Alternatives up front. And then Mosquera, you're absolutely right. I mean, I thought he was, you know, even though Arteta and some of the players yesterday were talking about how they lost a few too many duels in that first half, couldn't really get going. I thought Mosquera, of course, he's played in Bilbao before. You know, he comes from La Liga. We're playing with Valencia. But still, for a player of that age to play with that poise, to come into that defence.

1:03:58James Horncastle:and I think it's not only the depth that Arsenal have. What took them so far last year, and I think will take them far again this year, is the balance that they have at the moment, which not many teams do have, including Liverpool. That ability to basically just play lots of different ways, as Arteta said yesterday. They could play against long balls, very physical play. They could play against Athletic, basically going for them on the transition. They themselves could play against Athletic against the low block. It feels like this Arsenal team, sort of after going to university as undergraduates, after graduating, have done their MA, and they're now in sort of PhD territory.

1:04:48James Horncastle:And I think that's where we're at with Arsenal. They are very well prepared for everything that can be thrown at them. They're really stockpiled for a siege. I mean, Christian Norgard hasn't even got back from fitness again and isn't even being talked about in the depth chart. That's how ample is their bounty. Yeah. No, it's unlike... I think I did say yesterday that he thought Hinkapi, who came in and he was like, he played the best seven minutes I've seen from him. far. That's amazing. That's pretty much all we've seen from him so far. When you're giving out the backhanded compliments, Josh Youngerman, I think you're in an incredible place.

1:05:35And it's really on. They've given Mikel Arteta everything he needs. They were so, so good. Yeah, man. And I wish you joy. I wish you happiness. They're my great, great non-Liverpool hope in every regard. Keep calling in, you beautiful human being. Keep being with us. Talking about incredible human beings, I do want to give a shout out to Christina Stotts of Joplin, Missouri, a regular on this show, dropped in the Discord. She's about to, she survived a car accident a couple of years ago, she's done everything she kept medically. She's about to go through, she wrote, I'm going to have my right leg amputated.

1:06:11I hope you'll help me have a better quality of life. I'm relying on the football and all of you to get through all of this in every regard. When you read that, reminder of what is really important tonight. We're sending you our huge love. You're a large part of this community, Christina Stotts. And I know there's hundreds of GFOPs sending you huge, huge love tonight. That is it for today. We'll be back this Friday with a brand new episode of Men in Blazers Big Weekend Preview, BWP. Looking at all this weekend's narrative, including the Merseyside Derby. Call in your burning questions right now.

1:06:51646 450 9472. It's one of only two phone numbers I can memorise other than my wife's. 646 450 9472. Send us a video. That's right. You can appear on the show. The link to upload those videos is all over our socials. James Horncastle, you're an incredible human being. I've loved every single second with you. I think Alex L in the chat said, James Horncastle is the Pavarotti of football analysis.

1:07:22James Horncastle:Nessun Dorma, as he sang, although it's past 11 here, so some people will sleep, including myself. Can you just give us one more time the graffiti on the wall? A ti amo come un gol al noventesimo. So, yeah, I love you. I love you like a girl in stoppage time. And we are into stoppage time. And I love you all. Big, big love, James Horncastle. Big, big love to all you GFOPs. We'll be back on Friday. Give us a bell. Courage.