Hand Back Those Medals! | Rio on Man City Punishment + JJ Gabriel Advice

0:00Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

0:37When I see Julian, I'm actually going to go to his house and just say, listen, hand it over. You've got to put yourself in their position as players. I know that they're not inherently to blame themselves because it would be powers that be above them that make all the decisions, but you can't really sit there and say that you were champions, can you?

0:59Yes, guys, welcome back to another episode of Rio Presents. I'm back now, guys. I ain't going nowhere. I'm here live and direct, man. Joel Baer, Steve Housen, always as usual with me. Listen, man, we've got loads of stuff to go through today. So make sure you stay tuned for that. And we're going to get right. Rio, Rio, Rio, Rio, Rio. Great to have you back and stuff like that. You look great, by the way. Tan, I want to hear more about it later on. But did you see the sit-down we did with Giggsie and Jodie Lescott whilst you were away? Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. Real football talk, man.

1:31Two guys very kind of at ease with in-depth conversations about football and just not the surface level stuff. So it was nice to see, man. You enjoy being with them guys? Mate, I started AI and Tops of me and Giggsie together, brother. I need to show you the group shot. I saw. Don't worry about that. I saw, mate. I saw. A couple of people sent them to me. Oh, man. But you know what? But right here, right now, I think we need to discuss England. It's obviously international duty at the moment. England's performance against Spain, whether Anthony Gordon was right in his comments about his playing style.

2:05Also, outside of international duty, Manchester City are in all sorts of trouble. 115 charges found guilty on almost all of them. We need to dig into that as well. So next time, Joey and Zoni, you better bring my bloody medal. That's all I'm saying. I don't think the footballing world has ever been so united before. we want the trophies back but that's actually a question I want to ask Rio would you actually want a medal if the punishment was to go ahead do you think they should be stripping him off their titles I saw your message to Aguero that went viral he replied do you want the titles back yes or no if you're found guilty then I think you should have to give the medals back the problem is is how far does it go is it there'll be teams that got relegated those years that will go hold on but we got relegated by one point and City was one of those points that we would have had if we didn't have to play them.

2:57They got us relegated. And how far do you go? So I think it's going to be difficult. They're definitely going to have an asterisk against their name. I think in Italy that happened when Juventus got relegated. But, bro, when I see Jolian, I'm actually going to go to his house and just say, listen, hand it over. Hand it over. You can't really sit there and say that you were champions, can you? Or you won that. I hear what you're saying, Rio. But what about City players that we know, you know, and they say, look, Rio, I train every day. We want all these games. We knew nothing to do with it. Just like you're saying, they're nothing to do with the finances.

3:33They shouldn't be treated harshly. What do you say about that? No, they're not going to have to pay any fines. They're not going to get relegated. Just hand over the trophy. Hand over the medals. Hand over the trophy, simple as. Again, it's not going to hurt your bank balance. There's no retribution, retrospective fines and bands, etc. The club will have to deal with all of that. Steve, the floor is yours, my boy. Right now, I'm seeing a lot of cope from City fans online. I'm seeing a lot of nonsense from City fans online. I saw something this morning. Name them. They don't need naming. Four reasons City can't be relegated.

4:12Billions of people will stop watching the Premier League. No, they won't. Don't worry. No, they won't. Two, the Premier League will lose relevance because people will lose interest in it. No, they won't. No, they won't. Don't worry about it. Three, the Premier League won't be able to compete in Europe anymore Yeah it will, don't worry about it Four, the Premier League will lose billions in revenue Because City has the strongest fan base in Europe No it don't, don't worry about it Off you go Listen, I see a lot of people saying What happened wasn't on the pitch You can't deny what happened on the pitch But the reason that those players were on the pitch Is because you cheated And I also think the biggest complication That the Premier League is going to have to come up with And I've got a couple of ideas about how I would apply these rules, actually.

4:53And I would apply the punishments to Manchester City. The first one is to relegate them immediately, right now. The rest of your season is done. We're only going to play... There's only 19 teams in the league from now on. So all the games that have happened so far, no points if you beat them, no points if you lost to them. It's just the game didn't happen. And they're relegated right now. So the players just turn up at the Etihad campus and play five a side for all I care. Doesn't matter. The other thing that I would do, dissolve your club group immediately and ban Manchester City from being involved in a club group for the next 10 years.

5:32Because I don't think you can just ban one club from it. I think you have to put a punishment in there. It'd be unenforceable if you didn't. Because they've benefited from buying a player via one of their other teams and then bringing them into the Manchester City group. So because that's been a way to circumvent the rules, you lot don't get to do it anymore. do one the other thing what they've been found guilty of or what they've been doing is hiding owner funding through sponsorships and getting it into the club so i would put whatever the fine is i would make sure the ownership is not allowed to pay that fine manchester city needs to pay that fine how are we going to pay a billion fire sale lads everyone's up for sale we need to sell everyone otherwise we're not going to be able to compete you need to raise that money yourselves you can't have your owner pay your debt for you you need to set because that's why you're in this mess in the first place so if you want to pay the fine Semenyo's up for sale Elliot Anderson's up for sale Mike Gay's up for sale everybody's up for sale if you want to pay the fine and the final thing I want 114 4g pitches for community use being built across the country with the money that they've been fined that's the best one yet that one that's Steve's five point plan for sorting this fucking shit show out hey Steve I'll do a video on that later I'll go into some depth hey you know what you guys it almost feels like people are going hard on this Tony Pulis himself he said he wants the FA Cup medal from 2011 when they beat do you reckon he should get that as well guys yep yeah oh man could you still admire the City team if obviously they are officially found guilty long term after the appeal?

7:17Listen, there's no doubting that they've been a great team. The last 10 or so years, they've been formidable. They've been the best team in the country by a country mile, right? And they've had the best manager here. But again, if found guilty, there need to be relevant punishments and that's what has to be put in place. So we have to just sit and wait again. The killer for this is that it took this long. That's been one of the bad things in this whole situation. We've known about it for many years now and it just it took this long to get there thankfully we're there but again the appeal's going to take a long time as well so I heard from Armstein I don't know if this is accurate but this is what I heard on Friday that they can put the sanctions in pending the appeal so like they can start sanctioning them now and they can listen to the appeal whenever they get round to it okay alright well we'll see it's such a there's so many grey areas and he said she said business in this.

8:11You don't know where or who to believe. But back to your point about can we still admire some of the football and some of the moments that they had? Of course you can. You can still admire. And again, I'll reiterate, the players aren't to blame in this. There's people that are in much more powerful positions and authoritative positions within the football clubs that make all these decisions. So I wouldn't place any of the blame on any of the players' shoulders, but they're going to be looked at differently, and it's inevitable, because that's just the way it is because a lot of people like you see the reaction from all fans around the game is one of what the hell was going on here how the hell why who what where a lot of questions unanswered anyway we'll talk about Anthony uh Gordon's comments in a moment Rio I want to move it on to England um I don't know if you were around because you've had these projects and stuff like that but I was at the England camp earlier on this week I managed to speak to Anthony Gordon and some of the players around are caught up with Trent etc but I have to say Anthony Gordon he played well for England against Spain it seems like he's taken his game to another level since moving to Barcelona you know how impressed have you been with him so far he's definitely something different to what they've got he's running off the ball he's pressing again his ability to be very selfless in that team and not want to be the star just integrate is a huge weapon for them and I think nobody could foresee that his impact would be straight away and as impactful as it is right now in that team and so there was no surprise I'm sure and I need Barcelona players in that Spain squad to see him pop up with a goal and play the way that he did and I think him knowing the language is a huge, huge, huge benefit for him I think I see a lot of players that struggle when they go to new countries because the language is an issue he's already been a fluent speaker of Spanish for a while now which he showed when he signed, which is a surprise to everybody, but a great card to have up his sleeve.

10:11And listen, I met him a while ago and I met him on the beach last summer, the summer before this one actually, and just speaking to him, he is a very insightful guy. It's refreshing actually the way he speaks, he's very open. He obviously is very diligent in the way that he approaches the game on all levels, whether it be training, whether it be his mindset. but his whole approach is very one of someone who doesn't want to leave anything any stone unturned he wants to make sure he gives himself the best opportunity to be the best he can be always and I think he's gonna have a wonderful career because I think when you work as hard as somebody like he does and is so diligent is what he is you get your rewards I have to agree Rio because uh again when I saw him I asked him about his Spanish he said he's been learning it throughout the majority of his life no one told him to he's now taking extra lessons he said but he's not going to be doing media in Spanish until he can get what he wants to say across the way he would say it.

11:08And I thought that just goes in line with what you said. He's a very thoughtful person. He keeps a diary he was telling us about every single day. He has a diary about what he writes. And I remember you saying when Frank Lampard was at Everton, he said to you, didn't he? That's the guy. That guy's going to go to Chelsea. That guy should go to the heights. And Jolion also gave us an example in this show of a modern footballer's elite fitness levels that should be that high. And he's the kind of guy that can replicate top speed over and over and over again. But what do you make of Anthony Gordon's quote, Rio?

11:45After the game, he said, we don't have that strength like the Spanish, where we control games like they do. It's not in us. We know how to keep possession, but it's the decision making of certain players in Spain. which it just, it's just not an actual thing. I even look at some of the decisions that they take on the ball sometimes and I think, I'm not sure how you've seen that. Now, Steve said he's obviously giving manager vibes there as well, but do you agree with what Gordon says? I just think it's a sensible take. I just think when I look at, for instance, this Pep era and Spain era have been dominant and successful, right?

12:22From the grassroots all the way through to the Premier League again and teams around the world in different leagues are trying to replicate it. The replica is never as good as the original. So why are you trying to be the replica? I think the goal that we scored against, that Gordon scored against Spain, is a great example of what England could be and what it shows the brilliance of England and the strengths of England. Speed, power and decisiveness. If we can have that at a good rate in the big moments, then we've got a chance always. If we try to go out there and replicate and do what Spain do, we'll get slapped every time we play against Spain.

12:56If we try and do what France do, we'll get slapped. If we try to go and do what Mexico do, we'll get slapped because it's not our game. Play to your strengths. That's what Man Utd had done. When I played at Man Utd, I heard Gary Neville say the same thing the other day because it was so prominent in our minds because the manager always said it. Do you know what I'm most proud of you boys today is? That their managers come in and told us that we run like a second division team. Because they run through brick walls, your team. but the talent they have, that's not even the main thing. He was so proud of that.

13:28And it is that. That's playing to our strengths. We knew that if we went into Europe and tried to run teams over physically, we'd have a better chance because they can't do it. They could do it for 30 minutes. They could do it for 45. 70 minutes comes and they were still running at full pelt. They're not doing that. They're looking for a way out. So that's playing to our strengths. And I think England need to be proud of who we are. Italy have always done well when they've played to who they are. Italy are a team that were always strong defensively. The Dark Arts was part of their game and they had one or two players that could go and win a game.

14:03Right? And there was a real team cohesiveness about them. The moment they go against that, they're rubbish. They become an ordinary team. Yeah. Steve, I want to ask you, why isn't counter-attacking football celebrating in the same way as other styles? That's a good question. I don't know because Jose Mourinho's got a brilliant quote on counter-attacking if you don't like counter-attacking football you're stupid it's a great quote and it's seen as lesser for some reason because you're giving up possession but I often think that if you've got the strengths and certainly the pace that England's blessed with in the front line if you've got a team that's going to sit back against you at times.

14:51One way to create the space in behind them is to let them have the ball and let them creep up the pitch as long as you're prepared and ready for that transition. At the moment, I think in 2026, the biggest sort of moments in games outside of shots, obviously it's always going to be shots. It's transitions. Yeah, it's like, that's the biggest thing in games. It's who controls the transition. and if you're a team that can you control where the transitions happen now that happens by pressing or blocking doesn't it so that's the two options that you've got i thought spain tried a very very very aggressive press and i thought it paid dividends for them because they they managed to force turnovers in really dangerous areas and get shots off of in you know spain are known for these really intricate 15 16 18 pass sort of sequences but what did their goals come from they came from taking a ball off england and like one or two or no passes and just putting the ball in the back of the net like how you build up and where you hold possession doesn't necessarily have to relate to how you create your chances but the the transition and where those things happen i think that's what the game of football has become at the moment and i could see what england were trying and sometimes i think i think there's an arrogance with the english media and I think I can maybe see this a tiny bit clearer because I don't actually care about England as much as everyone else does.

16:20I see that there's this expectation that the world champions can just get turned over by England because it's England. How about have a little bit of respect for how good the opposition is at times? And sometimes you're not going to have it all your own way. You might have to play. I agree that you should play to your strengths, but I also think that you should take into account the opposition strengths and find a way to beat them with your strengths rather than just going, we're going to play our way and whatever happens, happens. Right, man, we've got loads still to come, right? We'll be back shortly after this.

16:57Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course can leave you more depleted than you realize, and plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where Liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

17:33This January, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship takes over the ocean. The inaugural Brews Cruise sails from Miami to the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Three straight days with pool deck bare knuckle fights in the Caribbean. Massive parties, beach events, DJs, cigars, tequila tastings, and non-stop action. The lineup reveals coming soon. Cabins are disappearing fast and the prices won't stay this low. Reserve your spot with just$200 down at BKF SEA.com I saw a quote from the manager saying like about the DNA of the England team. The moment the manager mentions the DNA and talks about it, that gives you absolute clarity and you can rest assured that I feel comfortable and more comfortable when my manager is saying this is who we are and that's what we're going to do.

18:27Gives the players no way out. This is us. I've told you this. Go and do it. Deliver. but Rio you're speaking about ways of winning and the best teams doing this and that how much of a gap do you see between the world champions and England there is a gap 100 percent they're they're such a thing I mean their best striker weren't even on the pitch until the end and he gets the winner but like they're a they're a formidable team because it's not even about their first 11 or their first team squad. All of their kids are playing a particular style of football that they all adhere to. They all totally understand from a young age.

19:11So there's no confusion about who they are. They've not got an identity crisis. They've not got no question marks about what they're meant to do. Like they're all conditioned to be in a Spain shirt and do this, programmed to do this. and the only probably likes of Pedri and Lamin-Yama are allowed to kind of deviate from that because they're so good and they got that little bit of extra spark where they can unlock things. But that's the key to Spain and that took years to build. So England, listen, England are getting to the last stages of the tournament consistently now. But to get to that next bit is, there's different reasons as to how you get over that next line.

19:52But having clarity about who you are, do not underestimate how important that is if you're going to win because no confused teams win but you see how you say that i i totally understand and you've also mentioned in the past those skulls and carrick controlling games from man united literally dictating but why is it different when it comes to playing in an england shirt i mean these guys they do it for the look jude bellenum he's yes he's run games as well for england but what is it man why does it not click the same? The difference is, right, them two players you mentioned there, Scholes and Carrick, yes, they ran in midfield for May United for over a decade each, right?

20:30But Scholes played left midfield for England and was never given the keys, really, to be the director and dictator of the game, and Carrick never got on the pitch enough. So, you had Gerrard and Lampard in there, and Beckham, for instance, who none of them ran games, really, or were identified as the people to run the tempo of games for their clubs. Lampard and Gerrard were Roya de Rovers, finished games and won games for their team and had big moments, right? Could run a game, really, if they wanted to, but that wasn't their job. And Bex played right midfield. So the players that were consistently doing it in the Premier League who were English weren't on the pitch or at least weren't in the right positions.

21:11You talk about Jude Bellingham. Jude Bellingham's not a dictator of football matches. Jude Bellingham is a guy who defines football matches with big moments and has great moments within games and knows how to do that. And you look around the England squad, which of our England players run games and that's their job in their team, to run games and run the tempo of a game within their football team? That could arise. No, he doesn't do that. Odegaard does that. I just wanted to throw his name in there, to be honest with you, but you're right. Odegaard does that. Kobe Mayne. He doesn't control the tempo.

21:41Kobe Mayne, but he's only just started playing again, so I'll get why I did it. Run in the squad anyway. But yeah, but so there aren't enough. Also, one player doing it ain't going to be enough. Especially if your DNA isn't absolutely nailed on and efficient and been working through the ground upwards to the first team. So it's very difficult to find a way that we're going to be running games. But I don't think England need to run games. I think we've got that many players who can hurt teams. And if we relied on our strengths, we don't need to run games. It's not the way we've ever played football.

22:20Unless there's a massive overhaul of our teams and the way that we play completely and all the youth teams are doing it and the first team are replicating that as well or vice versa, then it makes sense. But I see some of our young teams, yeah, they dictate games and they win games and they slap teams. Yeah, they do. But our first team don't play that style of football, I don't think, where they're dominating possession and keeping teams penned back for 70 minutes of the game. Our first team don't play like that. He's right. England don't dictate games, but it's the same thing. I don't, is it not boring of talking about this that we're picking the biggest names again?

22:57You know, picking Anderson and Rice is just picking Lampard and Gerrard again. You know, rather than finding out the players that are actually going to be able to like, why do we not see Wharton in an England shirt? If you want to do something like that. You know. Kobi Manu. Yeah, Kobi Manu. I mean, obviously he was like the one player that didn't get a single minute at the World Cup, which is outrageous for me. I think Gibbs-White is a great option. He's not going to play over Jude Bellingham in a 10. I actually agree with what you were saying before. Jude Bellingham's not someone that's going to dictate a game.

23:27I actually do think he's closer in profile of a player to a Lampard or a Gerrard. And I think it probably works having one of those in rather than two of those in. If you've got people that are going to control and do stuff in there behind him, if that's what you want to do. I think you almost have to decide what you're going to be as a team and then maybe have a plan B where you can flip to something. But when I look at, the Spain game is probably a really good one to look at because there was parts of that game where England looked like they were quite capable of executing the things that, obviously Gordon's goal being a great example of that, that is playing to their strengths.

24:07And it's the thing that I've said for, however long we've been doing this show, when you've got pace like that, that's why you use it. That's why I would have took the likes of Bowen to the World Cup because that is absolutely lethal on the counter. And every team is, like there's not many teams that play a different blend of football now. Everyone's almost like a copycat of each other. So as soon as anyone gets on the ball, they all move into a 3-2-5 shape. Everyone pushes up to the halfway line. They go and ask their defenders to try and defend 1v1. But if you've got undeniable blistering pace on the counter, you've got players that can deliver it over the halfway line.

24:40Why would you not use that? I think there's a lot of players that just get picked because of who they are, who they play for. And that was the problem all the way through the 2000s and beyond, rather than picking the best players. Because the best blend for England, when we was champions of Europe in 2008, should have been Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes. That midfield was champions of Europe. That midfield played together week in, week out. That midfield could dictate games, play on the counter and do anything a midfield wanted to do. I bet it never played for England once. And by the way, England didn't even fucking qualify for the Euros that year.

25:18You know how embarrassing that is? There was 10 English players that started the Champions League final in 2008 and England weren't even at a fucking tournament in the summer. Make that make sense. Listen, Rio, I have to say there's quite a few players that obviously pulled out. Cole Palmer being one of them. Roy Keane said he's got too many bad habits. And Tuchel actually said this. This is his quote. He misses way too many camps with injuries, and I only want to rely on what I personally witness and what I see within my team. And for that, you have to be in the camp. Kino's quote was, I watched his last game against Brentford, and if you think he's going to get England to another level and win trophies, forget about it.

25:59He's a talented boy, but he's got far too many bad habits for me. I don't think there's a squad that gets picked for England that Palmer shouldn't be in. I'm sorry. I just think he gives you something different. He gives you that ability to slice balls through any defensive unit that's set up. He has the ability to see that pass. If you're looking at someone like a Cherokee for France, Palmer's the equivalent of that for England. He does something that none of the others can do. As great a player as Benham is, he can't get on the half turn at any range and find a pass the way that Cole Palmer can.

26:37I'm sorry, to set up chances like that. Like, Palmer's like, he's a precocious talent. But I think that you need to have him in and around it because I think he's a locksmith. He can unlock things at any point. He's the last player that scored in the final for England in a tournament. That can't be sniffed at. He's a kid who, on the biggest stage, he doesn't get phased. Got an arrogance about him. I think, yeah, I think you can, that being fit and being part of the squad and having that harmonious vibe within a squad. I get that. But this kid is like, I don't know, in years gone by, you make way for someone like him to come in and just be a part of it.

27:20I'm not saying he has to start, but boy. Agreed. I find it hard not to put him in me. I think he's a wonderful footballer. If you get him going in an England shirt, listen, Roy might have seen him having a bad day against Brentford. I don't know. but what he can do with a football man this kid he does something that there aren't many if any players in an English are able or even have the audacity to do Rio the way it's going it almost feels as if he's going to end up like a peripheral of great players that never really played for England in your generation but I want to discuss a few sorry there's games though that Joe when you look at him yeah why couldn't England start with one number six and then have two tens there's so many other than playing against the top four, six teams in the world, England have got the team and the players to be able to do that.

28:11You don't need two defensive midfielders in there or two conductors. If you've got a minute at 10 with Drew Benham, you line up against that, you're saying, oh my God, guys, we're in for a long day. Scary. It's true. Completely agreed. Completely agreed. I want to move on to some United topics at the moment. Now, Rio, I don't know how much we can say about the project, etc. But I know you've been busy. Have you been watching your team thoroughly during this moment? Yeah, man. I caught up with some of the games, yeah. We're one or two decisions away from being further up the table with more points on the board.

28:54The offside goal, Haaland, was comical. I can't even go into it. It's that comical and it's gone now. but absolutely it was farcical what we saw there. Yeah, that's the 160th draft. And the referee should have a game, they should have a free game ban now for the referee and the people on bar. 100%, get them off, get them out and go back to the drawing board. The key thing since you've been away, JJ Gabriel announced he wanted to leave the club. Now, someone who's, you know, you've been a young player, you've come through the ranks at such a young age, you've done things, you was a wonder kid yourself, let's just say it as it is.

29:26Would you make it a whole situation because you spent some time with him in Ireland this summer. Yeah, I did. I see him. By the way, first and foremost, what a talent this kid is. Crazy. And that's why it's getting all of the news articles and the media rapping about it consistently because the kid is just... We talk about Palmer being a precocious talent. This kid has got... I don't know where his ceiling is. And I've seen him play. I've seen him train. I've listened to people that have watched him day out and coached him for a number of years at Man United. And it's like the kid is going straight to the top.

30:01There's no denying that. I don't know. I think we need to understand the reasons why he wants to leave the club. He's saying he doesn't want to play now. Well, his parents are probably... It's a family thing, isn't it? A 15-year-old isn't making that call on his own. It's a family who have probably mulled over this and have got their reasons as to why. Before you can have a fully-fledged view on this, I think you do need to understand what the family and have the detail from the family. Like, what are the reasons? We're hearing his impatience. Are they feeling entitled that he should have played already?

30:38He should have had minutes already. Are they disgruntled by that? Were they promised that and it hasn't been delivered soon enough? I mean, I watched him train and he was training, just him and Bruno doing a shooting drill. That's the PFA player of the year. One of the best midfielders in the world and he's doing a shooting drill with him. I mean, like at 15 years old, if I was doing that, it would have been enough for me. But he's got aspirations and he might have wanted to have played already. If he played now, he probably goes out, I think he does go down as the youngest player to have played for Man United.

31:09And with a talent that's been on show over the years through the academy, that's like some feat in itself. But I just feel Man United can't be seen to be bullied by a young kid who's 15 years old, no matter how good he is. So whatever the outcome has to be, Man United have to remain strong in this to the end because whatever decision or whatever the way this plays out, there'll be kids coming after this or be using that as a reference point and you can't be seen to be weak in this situation as a football club. But I reiterate and I say again, I'm not going to sit here and try and hammer on the kid or pick apart what's going on because I don't have the facts about how they've got to this situation, how we've got to this end point.

31:51so it seems that JJ Gabriel is demanding to leave him and his family are demanding to leave what's going on in between that to get to this point is the big question that needs answering and would love to hear now Rio here's one for you because you're a parent as well and it's out there you know you've got boys that play professionally etc they're on their way up do you think it's right that a player or his family demands clarity from the club about his pathway to the first team when he's only 15 years old did you do that for your boy as well or your boys um I think that's a tricky one as a parent I'm the same I want to know what's the what do you what do you think of my son and how do you see him getting into the first team and how long do you think that's going to take but I know that nothing is guaranteed in this game because there's too many different layers and there's too many different things that can alter your journey and change your journey, whether it be injury, form, timing, players, confidence, etc.

32:53Right? So if a club says to me, so for instance, about my boys, we think your boys got a chance of getting in this first team. I think he could do it this year. If he didn't make it this year, that doesn't automatically make me go, you told me this year that he was going to play it on this date and this giving time. right I'm going to take him out I'm not saying that's what's happened with I'm not saying that's what's happened with JJ Gabriel but I don't hold a club or somebody at the club to their word exactly on my son getting in and around the first team because there's too many variables that can change that and you've got to be open to the fact that things can change at football clubs and listen, no matter where he goes, things will change He might have been promised certain things at other clubs.

33:47Trust me, it will not go as perfectly to plan as is promised before you sign for that club. Because things change in football. It's an ever-changing landscape. I want to move it on as well to Bruno Fernandes. Obviously, you've been keeping an eye on him thoroughly this season. Portuguese manager said he's playing with a complicated problem in terms of an injury. now how worried are you with uh with the current form that united are in i wouldn't just say it's the current form united and i'd say the current form he's in to be honest i don't think he's had a good season so far and i think that has translated into united not having a good season so far because we are extremely reliant upon bruno fernandez to create chances and help score some goals if he's playing through an injury yeah can i ask why what important part of the season are we at in September that he feels he has to potentially harm his chances of finishing the season strongly by playing on through it right now Steve we are five games in when you say he's had a bad season it's five Premier League games it's seven how many goals has he got you never judged for your first five games I don't remember anyone's first five games defining a season like and I think he's done that well for that longer period of time to deserve a little bit of grace.

35:11I'm not saying like drop him, do this and over. I'm wondering, is his form linked to this injury? Is he playing for an injury and is it affecting us? And if that's the case, just get him rested and get him fit. Like we are reliant on him. So, and Portugal are. So let's be sensible about this and not like, there's nothing being won for us, maybe all season, but there's nothing being won for us right now. And the same with Portugal. Is this Nations League that important to everybody to risk whatever's coming down the line? I don't think so. And if he was in absolutely blistering form and playing through an injury, that's one thing.

35:51But when he's poor, is that the mitigation for him being poor? And if it is, fine, you're allowed to be, but let's get you out and sort you out. Steve, where were you on the players walking and the uproar that went surrounded that those people were going oh my god I can't believe it's the worst I've seen them and the way they were walking and the attitude of the players where are you on that? Gary Neville said it was the worst 15 minutes he'd seen since he was five years of age well for starters it wasn't the worst 15 minutes that week because we were definitely worse against Brighton so I'm not having that for starters secondly I'm not sure there is a definite change in the tempo of where United are playing this season but I feel like some of it's personnel, I think.

36:35And I think some of it is game state. Like we've had so many times when, the Fulham game not being one of them, but we've had so many times this season, because this is in relation to the fact that the stats are getting pulled up of the United being bottom of the running. But we've got some of the highest possession. like what people aren't showing you is manchester city right next to us in that table in terms of like the least amount of running and they're top of the league won every game until they get relegated um so i think sometimes people like to try and blow things up out of purple i really don't know what gary novel was looking at when he said it was the worst 15 minutes i'd seen from manchester united since he was five years of age really because i watched us at old trafford when When Liverpool put five past us, every bit of that 90 minutes was worse than that against Fulham last week, for starters.

37:32And I'm pretty sure he was on commentary. Do you know what? When I looked at it, I looked at it and was thinking, are we just playing a different way than a lot of other teams? It was a reaction that, we're not used to this. We're used to teams pressing high. The high presses there. It's like we've come to a bit of a middle block and said, right, okay, come on to us. Come on, you come on to us. We're going to wait. And because that's so alien to people's eyes now, because everyone's about pressing, trying to win the ball high, trying to create transitions early in turnovers to be nearer to the opposition's goal.

38:02It just looks so alien to what we're used to seeing. Everyone was like, oh my God, they're not running. Well, sometimes if you're told to stay and stay in a block, a mid block or a low block, you do stand still and wait. It does happen. And it's not as pleasing on the eye now because of how used to people are to seeing teams pressing so high and so quickly. Can I ask you, how Manchester United have conceded goals and chances this season? Can you remember? Crosses, crosses. And individual errors, I would throw in that as well because it seems like every single one of our defence has basically got an assist.

38:36How many times have you seen Manchester United carved open by a team this year? It's not happened. Okay. Do you think those two things could be linked? Yeah. Under Ten Hag and Amrim, how many times did we just get opened up through the centre? Open. Transitions were getting destroyed. And I think what Carrick's doing is he's trying to play to the strengths or trying to cover the weaknesses of certain players' profiles within the squad. For us to go and play, I said this for ages, if we go and play high and a really, really high press and we have Maguire and we have Martinez, we have Luke Shaw and Dallow, for instance, right?

39:14Out of those four, who out of those four are absolutely dominant? 90 % of the time in physical duels where it would be covering ground and being able to be dynamic across the pitch. Luke Shaw a lot of the time could do that but the other three, that's not their perfect first super strength. You look at Arsenal now, the way that they play right back, Timba was a centre-back but physicality, one of his super strengths. The two centre-halves physically as good as you're going to get anywhere in the game right now. Cover big spaces. And the left-back Calafu is the centre-back before, but also physically capable.

39:56Getting up and down. Dynamic. Like, it's no coincidence that they can go on a high press or they can drop back. They can do anything. Man United to go on a high press and try and win the ball high all the way through to every game makes them a vulnerable target when there's a transition and a turnover. A million percent. So I understand why he's coming back into a middle block some of the time. to try and retrieve De Bois, to try and give them a chance to show the best version of themselves. But he's obviously getting hammered because I said, like I said, that's an alien look now for most teams because everyone's on the front foot trying to create transitions early on the pitch.

40:29Do you think there's a little bit of it as well as it's just down to personnel? Like if you put Tevez on and swap him out for Berbatov, it looks different. That's not necessarily tactics. It's just that person's different. Like Dogu and Luke Shaw play the position different. Maynou and Tillmans play the position different. So like if you put Balebra on, people are going to go oh we've changed tactics no we've not we've just put a different bloke on he runs different we haven't got Ahmad at the moment he would help that Jodian also said that it was by design I don't know where you guys stand that's what I'm saying that's my whole point because of the personnel and profile of the players he's taken a step back and said right come on to us we're not going to be chasing you and actually we're not going to give you the big spaces especially behind our defence and in and around our defenders to exploit so we're going to play a different way and we're going to try and get the ball back off you in a different way.

41:19But you have to sometimes play with what you have. Agreed. Listen, guys, I know there's a back and forth on United and I'm so glad my club's not going through all of this. But for everybody watching, just know that Steve and Rio are off to look at the finances at Manchester United. Okay. And that's the video that's going to drop on the channel very, very soon. You're going to have Laurie Whitwell as well involved. Please make sure you stay tuned. it's going to be a good one. Okay, look, I'm off to enjoy myself a little bit. Enjoy the rest of my birthday. It's birthday weekend for me, guys. I'm expecting the wishes in the comments.

41:56And yeah, make sure you keep on watching the channel. Rio, so good to have you back. Steve, so good that you're in a good mood today. We'll see you guys. When is the video dropping? You said some point this week, Rio. Do you know? Yeah, it'll be dropping this week, maybe tomorrow or Wednesday, latest. Tomorrow or Wednesday. Okay, cool. Well, stay tuned, guys, and make sure you're following us across socials. signing out. Peace.

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