Man Utd Walking was “BY DESIGN” Not Through Lack of Effort

0:00Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance and some pay as little as$0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments.

0:37You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across the U.S. offering both virtual and in-person sessions nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash start now. That's growtherapy.com slash start now. growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

1:20In regards to Gary Neville, I've seen the frustration, I understand it. I think some of that is from a United fan point perspective as well. Most teams would struggle when the opposition set up in the mid-block and that's the perspective I had. Yes, it didn't look great at times when no one's really moving, but Fulham weren't going anywhere at them times either. It wasn't like they were walking and the ball was going in behind or they were passing between lines. It was like passing across the back. no one's really getting to the ball but Follum ain't going anywhere either so it seemed to me like it was by design I believe it was the set up out of possession rather than the kind of willingness or the ability in terms of fitness to actually run I just think Michael Carrick had asked them to be in that set up and that was what they was executing

2:13Joel Beya: Alright everybody welcome to another episode of Rio Presents. Now, it's worth putting out to you guys that Rio is not hiding. There's loads of messages. They're going, oh, where's Rio? Where's this? I think he told you if you were watching the episodes a few weeks ago, he's on a project. He's on a secret project. Steve, has he told you more about the project? Because I'm still waiting to hear. I know exactly where he is. I'm not laughing. Oh, okay, cool. Steve's not a snitch, man. No, he ain't snitching at anyone. But yeah, he's exactly on the project. I wanted to see if he was going to talk about it, but he proved his loyalty.

2:44Joel Beya: But yeah, but it's all right. Last week, you know, we had Ryan Giggs and it went really well. Shout out to everybody in the comments. And this week, we've got the privilege of sitting down with the knowledgeable two-time Premier League winner. My guy, the one and only Mr. Jonian Lescott, former Man City player. And he's coached on all levels at England. What are you saying, bro? How are you doing? Morning. Morning both. I'm good, man. You? Oh, bro, you know. You seem kind of perky, to be fair, considering weekend's results. You're kind of lively. It's international break, baby. We were still second.

3:14Joel Beya: You know what I mean? We've been here before. I don't listen to the haters. Yeah, you've been there before. Yes.

3:22Joel Beya: Good one, Steve. But yeah, you know what? I think we're going to talk about, you know, the topics at hand. Steve, obviously United drawing against Fulham away. You need to let me know, how frustrated were you after that result? We've basically seen the same setup in all of our Premier League games at the moment. it feels to me like Cunha and Bruno are kind of getting each other's way a little bit and when we haven't got a focal point we look really bad we seem to be getting a lot of shots off but they don't seem to be of high quality it's almost like we'll just shoot from anywhere just to say we got a shot off it seems like we can't defend if you'd watched the game you'd have seen that they carved us open time and time again Josh King was having a field day against us what a player yeah he looks unreal at the moment it was only through some good saves from Senna Lemons that we actually didn't concede more from that.

4:13We had a couple of decent shots and Bermuda had a couple of opportunities. Martinez had a decent opportunity, but Leno and the other net was doing his job as well. It's more a case of, it seems like, to me at least this season, the speed of our play is a gear or two slower. Even when we had the opportunities against City's high line, we would make an extra pass or an extra two before getting it forward. And I'm not just saying let's clart it into, you know, 50-50 balls in the wings. But we've got assets there in Rashford and in Imbumo. You've got players that have got pace to burn. Why are we not trying to play to our strengths in that sense?

4:53It seems like we want to overplay almost a little bit. And there's some mad stats have come out. Like we've had more touches in the opposition box than anybody else, which kind of illustrates the point of overplaying. We've also allowed like the fewest touches in our box.

5:06Joel Beya: Jolian, I want to ask, what do you make of everyone talking about Manchester United walking? You know, is there more to that from a coach's perspective? I mean, there were stats that Fulham outrun them. How do you feel about that as a coach? From what I've seen in regards to Gary Neville, I've seen the frustration. I understand it. I think some of that is from a United fan point perspective as well. Most teams would struggle when the opposition set up in the mid block. And that's the perspective I had. Yes, it didn't look great at times when no one's really moving, but Fulham weren't going anywhere at them times either.

5:41It wasn't like they were walking and the ball was going in behind or they were passing between lines. It was like passing across the back. No one's really getting to the ball, but Fulham ain't going anywhere either. So it seemed to me like it was by design. I believe it was the set-up out of possession rather than the kind of willingness or the ability in terms of fitness to actually run. I just think Michael Carrick had asked them to be in that set up and that was what they was executing.

6:09Joel Beya: You're saying that it wasn't a lack of fitness because there's a lot going on about this lack of fitness. How big of a factor do you think that is firstly? I think fitness has changed. Definitely think it's changed from, say, my time. I think now fitness is deemed on, especially looking at how data is used, it's how many times can you replicate your fastest action? So, generically, in the past, it's like how much distance do you cover? and I think that's when it gets misleading. It's like, it's not really that because I prided myself on, well, if I'm covering the most distance, most of them times I might be at a position.

6:44So if I'm in the right position, I might not need to move. Do you know what I mean? Where for wingers now and fullbacks, it's, and I'll use Anthony Gordon as an example, his ability to run his fastest is unique. Like we see fast players, but once they hit three or four repetitions, all of a sudden now their top speed is down. So now they're not as effective. So the fitness argument is different to what the stats suggest in terms of distance. It's how many times is Marcus Rashford running his fastest? How many times can he? And he seems to be doing it. I never look at Marcus Rashford and think, oh, he's running half pace there.

7:22He's flat out every time he's running. So that's what I would judge his fitness on.

7:26Joel Beya: Now, Steve, obviously that's Julian's perspective as a coach. you're looking at it from a fans perspective from home or at the stadium do you think your players look unfit yes or no? A little bit maybe, a little bit like we've been outrun by a couple of teams but I think you know there is an argument to be made when you have more of the ball you don't do as much running I think that's fair but I have seen it I mean there was a couple of times that Fulham broke on us and it looked like they had more pace getting in behind us than we had recovering and And maybe it's also just the, when people talk about stuff like that, who are we talking about?

8:05We're talking about Martinez and Maguire. I'll go toe-to-toe with them in a foot race. Do you know what I mean? You're looking at a midfield of Maynou and Tealmans. That's not Balaba. Balaba would look entirely different if you put him in that midfield. He's going to cover more ground than both of those two because of the nature of that player. Marcus isn't someone that's got that work rate of some of the players around him. I think he has a lot when we're on the ball, but off the ball, I think you can quite rightly point out a lot of times when he does downshift into being, you know, maybe cheating a little bit sometimes when the opposition have the ball.

8:45You know, you're missing the likes of Ahmad and stuff who are just relentless. You know, you're missing maybe Sesko, who is pretty giddy like that. If you play Dargu over Shaw, you're going to look more energetic. is it the players or is it the fitness you know is it is it the personality of who we're picking versus um the fitness of the players and maybe fitness is a real thing i think bruno fernandez does look tired i don't think he looks as effective as he was last season and maybe that's a factor for us and actually on marcus rashford hasn't he created like the most chances in the league or something this year it's something like that so like i'm seeing a lot of people and i mean a lot lot of people, I don't know where this necessarily comes from.

9:27I didn't want Marcus here. I'll tell you that right now. And I'm not trying to backtrack on that. I didn't want him here. And when he was kept here and then given the opportunity to play, I wasn't exactly best pleased about it. But I think he's also been earning his stats. And I think he's been earning his match time. And I think he's been playing well. Now people will go, he's got no goals or assists. No, no, he's not. But sometimes getting an assist requires another person to do their job as well. And even sometimes scoring a goal requires someone to do their job for you as well so you can actually put the ball in the back of the net.

9:59I think he's playing well. And I think people are just looking for what's different from last year to this year. Marcus is back. Well, let's blame him for everything because I feel that's what's being done here. Whereas actually, I think we're pressing differently or trying to. I think we're trying to hold the ball in a slightly different way. I think there's a number of things changed. I think the fact that you don't have Ahmad and Mbumo playing at the moment and Kuna being on the left. Kuna having to play down the middle, no Ahmad, Mbumo has to play week in, week out. That alone is a factor.

10:33Joel Beya: No, I hear you. I mean, also back to it, we're talking about fitness profile. I want to know the strengths that you see Manchester United have and the weaknesses that Manchester United have. Because you've got a unique lens with your experience and your coaching and playing the game. but I want you to start with the strengths first please the strengths I'll probably say the transition which again all of a sudden they want to be a bit more controlled in possession probably nullifies that transition like I think when they're at the best when their wingers are running into space they have an ability to absorb a little bit more pressure because they have Bruno Fernandes that can create a pass force a run like if he's in possession in the middle of the pitch it will force your wingers to run because he was going to put a ball in and he's potentially going to be in.

11:23But when it is Acuna who doesn't want to, he wants the ball as well. That's the frustration. But again, he's got it. Mark Harris has to get a balance of wanting to be a controlled possession team, but also recognising the strengths that he has. But for the weaknesses, I was thinking about this earlier. It was like the weaknesses, they have no super strength. As good as they are at transitions, I don't look at them and say they are the best. at that. Steve?

11:51Joel Beya: Strengths and weaknesses, please. I think we've got a variety of tools in midfield now that you can tailor to opposition if Carrick does tailor it to the opposition, because at the moment I'm seeing the same test answers put in, regardless of what the questions are. I can understand the selection against Fulham. You're probably expecting them to sit on the back foot a touch so you you play Tillmans and you play Manu because they're going to control the ball and you know I don't know if I'm projecting what Michael Carrick was like as a player onto how he might manage teams but like he was a player that wanted control does he want his teams to have control and those two are two technicians two of the best in the league actually at doing that but do we maybe lose a little bit of bite I think every single one of our defenders by Jorreau has basically given the opposition a goal.

12:47That's unsustainable. Like, you know, just the sheer number of goals we've conceded this season is, is kind of testament to that. And it isn't because Lemons has had a bad spell. He's not really. It's because we've just given free gate, free goals to people, like free chances to people. Like we've done it time and time again, real, like once a season errors have happened in every single game this season. and that's the for me that's the biggest weakness at the moment that and you know we spent all summer begging for United to bring in a striker someone is either competition or back up to Sesco and we're seeing just how reliant we are on that because we're having to play people out of position I can't believe he's not tried Marcus down the middle and put Cunha back over onto the left because if you've got an attacking fullback Cunha's going to naturally drift into the half space anyway and by not doing that you have Marcus and either Shaw or Dorgu occupying the same space you have Kunia and Bruno occupying the same space and it was so many times yesterday where the ball came out to Rashford or to Shaw on the left hand side those two are standing literally close enough to hold hands there's nobody in the half space or nobody attacking that half space and you think if someone just made an underlapping run there whether it was a forward whether it was the fullback, it's going to open up some doors for us, but we just look so predictable.

14:16There's a complete lack of movement in the final third and it's just, can we try something else? Like, in all the games we've seen this season, it's been the same problems and that's the worry for me, is that the problems aren't getting addressed. You can make mistakes and you can come up against a problem, can't you? What you don't want to see is the same thing, the same thing, the same thing, the same thing, every single week, because then you're like, well, what are we doing?

14:38Joel Beya: Jolian, I don't know if you've seen the stats, both of you actually. 113 shots in five games, eight goals, 29 shots versus Fulham. I mean, according to TransferMarket.com, only Spurs, Forest, Coventry have the worst shot conversion rates than Carrick's side. I mean, when you hear stats like that, do you worry? Shots and chances are different things. Like when I'm looking at the shots yesterday, a majority of them, there were still five or six players behind the ball for Fulham. So that, how many chances, like even the goal that they conceded United, like there's still at the back four midfielders in, like it's a set and a half shooting or it's a player on the edge of the box with four or five players in front of him.

15:22Like for me, that isn't a chance. How many times you can see them in a season or score them in a season is not the same as if you're breaking lines, cutting behind and cutting back and you know what I mean? So yeah, they should have more goal tally or bigger goal tally than eight, 100%. But not all of them shots equate to real goals.

15:44Joel Beya: No, but it's still 29 though overall. You know, like that's still a large number against one team. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And that's the bit you can be positive about is the number. Like there might be another day where they have six shots and score three goals. Do you know what I mean? So it will balance itself out over the course of the season. And the fact that they're getting that many shots off, it can be deemed as a positive. Right. Still loads to come on this pod. We'll be back shortly after this.

16:19Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance and some pay as little as$0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments.

16:56You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality, licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com. slash start now. That's growtherapy.com slash start now. growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

17:37Joel Beya: Hi, I'm Max Rushton, the host of The Guardian Football Weekly, alongside me, Barry Glendening, my co-host. Hey, Barry. Hello. Now, although every American found us during the World Cup, for the two that didn't, what can they expect? Found us and fell in love with us, Max. they can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis covering the Premier League, Champions League and beyond. Football Weekly is back. Watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

18:05Joel Beya: Steve, you mentioned earlier on the fact that you miss Ahmad, right? Along with Cesco, is that fair to say as well? Yeah, but Cesco was poor Wednesday night, mate. I mean, he's put on some timber over the summer and you was hoping he's going to come into the Premier League this year and start throwing dudes around because, I mean, Jolene, you must look at the size of him and go, if he fancies it, this is going to be a long afternoon, isn't it? But Brighton defence bullied him. Just dealt with him. But don't you think even his profile, like as big as he is, he wants to play more mobile than his profile would suggest?

18:39Like stand there then and pin, like play like probably a little bit more and just be more the focal point rather than, because he's not slow, he's half quick. he wants to kind of he wants to do that as well as the other stuff I'm like maybe just pick one

18:53Joel Beya: for a couple games and just be that guy what's your um thoughts on the JJ uh Gabriel situation as a fan like do you look at that and go he's right or you don't know enough about the situation or do you go what's going on kids coming out and you know making decisions instead of trying to play for Manchester United, your club? I think the first thing I'll say is this is a 15-year-old kid and I think people have to be very mindful that this is a child. The problem is most 15-year-olds don't have conversations that have consequences that end up as backpage news. And for his situation, it is backpage news because he plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world and certainly the most talked about club in the world.

19:41And he's an undeniable talent. Doesn't mean he's going to be the next Messi or Ronaldo. Might not even be the next Rashford. Like, there's a lot can happen between now and becoming a regular first-team player, wherever that is. I think, and everything I've heard, and this might sound a little bit harsh, there's a good chance this gets cut. I think his fucking dad's a dick. And I think that's the major drama in this. There seems to have been a pattern from when he was at Arsenal and every academy in London. There's a lot of hearsay. I don't know how much of it is true, but there's a lot of things come out of the woodwork in the last week or so since this broke about his dad coming and taking him from junior tournaments because they didn't give him the number 10.

20:25The way they've rebranded his name rather than his actual name. They've given him a name which sounds a little bit like South American or something. I can see from the club's point of view, from a pure financial point of view, this is a£100 million player if you can get him into the first team in two or three years, looking at the way the transfer market's gone. You'd be devastated to lose him. But at the same time, you don't need someone who's going to be managed the way he is, because it sounds like no matter what you do, I mean, there was some talk last week that they were upset, and I don't know if this is the player or his parents, I can imagine it's more likely the parents than the player.

21:01They were upset that he hadn't already featured in the league and the Champions League this season. And they were frustrated with how many minutes he got in pre-season. And you're like, you're 15. And yes, you did look all right when you came on, but you looked all right. I don't think you're quite as good as Shea Lacey in terms of the impact that you can provide in the first team right now. That doesn't mean that you might not overtake him in 18 months, two years. But right now is all that matters to Michael Carrick. And that's what you have to sort of accept.

21:31Joel Beya: But is that not the club's job? Don't you think the club should be, you know, in a better shaped position to go, uh-uh, you're 15 years old. You're going to do what we need you to do. This is how it's going to go. I just don't think that's realistic. If you've got someone that's determined to be a bellender, they're going to be determined to be a bellender. Like, you know, look at Ravel Morrison's situation. Entirely different. Should the club not have been able to... This is Alex Ferguson. You know, Alex Ferguson was always credited with, like, if Gazza had played for him, Gazza wouldn't have had his problems.

22:01but the evidence suggests no actually like we had Ravel Morrison that might as well have been Gaza actually didn't hit the heights of Gaza if you want to be honest you know so like it's alright and well saying yeah should this have been managed better of course it should but like if someone doesn't want to play the game with you they don't want to play the game with you in regards to where he wants to play I understand that but he's got to understand it's a different realm like you thinking you can play to then getting out there and that pressure, the physicality, all the elements to it are brand new.

22:37Even the control of your emotion, like your adrenaline control, he's never would have experienced that once he's going to get into a derby or a Champions League game. So there's so many things he's probably unaware of. And like Steve said, he's influenced by that.

22:54Joel Beya: Don't you think that's a little bit different though? They're looking at it going, yeah, but it's not as if Man United are flying. If, for example, those teams you mentioned, Man City sorry even if you look at Arsenal with Miles Moroskely Max like but those teams are flying so it's hard to try to make a statement United are not flying yeah but where's his best position? in a position of Bruno Fernandes so it was it was always the case with and I'll reference Man City because like I said I've worked there when people are saying Phil Foden needs more minutes David Silva was playing like was David Silva playing that bad that Phil Foden should play ahead of him.

23:31Is that what we're saying about Bruno Fernandes? He's just one player of the year, so where should he play? I'm not saying he can't play in other positions, but if he wants to only play in his position, then you have to be willing to wait for that opportunity. But in regards to the way it's been handled, it's hard because when I hear all the stuff, I think about it as a dad, as a development coach, coach and as just when it works in football where fans are the only loyal entity in football players aren't and clubs aren't the day he's not good enough they will release him and we can't sit here and think that man united have never asked a player that they don't deem good enough will they terminate his contract 100 they have done that now it's in reverse it's uproar it's kind of the same scenario with Trent.

24:24When Trent wanted to leave, it was horrendous. But when they wanted to sell Curtis Jones, it's okay. Do you know what I mean? So it's hard for fans to grasp because they are the only law entity within the game. But to everyone else, it's commercial, it's business, it's whatever it is. Jolly, I got a thought here that I'm thinking. We've seen, especially with young British homegrown players at the moment. There was always kind of like that extra little bit of tax, wasn't there, because they were homegrown. But is this now pure profit, PSR, FFP thing, is that impacting players' decisions? And is, you know, there's obviously two sides to this.

25:06Clubs need to bring through players, expose them to the first team so their value goes up to a, you know, a required level so they can move them on. But also, are players maybe going to get opportunities quicker or earlier than they perhaps should have done because of that, because of this weird sort of shadow transfer market that's kind of just emerged with this massively overvaluing of like British homegrown talent. Yeah, I think that in general, definitely. I wouldn't say that's the case for United because they've always developed homegrown talent. They're probably the club that's done it the most.

25:42Do you know what I mean? But we're awful at selling it. When I look at City, when I look at Chelsea, I mean, even what Newcastle sold Elliot Anderson for originally was a big fee for the experience he had. Yeah, that's the management of it. So in terms of creating the value, they've definitely created the value. And their most successful period, and arguably the most successful period in English football, is based on them not selling homegrown talent. So they have to have some credit for that. like the class of 92 created whatever created so much for the club they didn't need to sell most of them do you know what I mean so but this time in this case with JJ Gabriel you would like to think they weren't going to sell him they're not trying to increase his value to sell him if he's regarded as such a high talent surely they just want to develop him have they got the development aspect of it wrong potentially like it's hard because a 15 year old like there's not many that are ready to go into a first team do you know what I mean and even I think we've seen it a little bit with Max Joel like when he made his debut

26:56Joel Beya: I think then he went away for a bit and he didn't feature for a bit because I think we've all seen no 15 year old I don't care who you are should be physically ready like Rooney's probably the only closest and he was like 16 and they ain't Rooney physically do you know what I mean so then you're going to go and think well do we want to crash that because if they put him in and he isn't ready all of a sudden as much as you're not thinking about the value it ain't what you thought it was going to be do you know what I mean Steve mentioned earlier on Elliot Anderson he's someone that you came across when coaching for England how good can he be very very good yeah there's nothing he can't do yeah there's nothing I believe that I've not seen him go and think oh you look lost a little bit there I'd probably say the ability to score goals is his weakest attribute but that's not what we want him for anyway yeah that's what they haven't brought him to do that the other players that contribute for that but in what he's been asked to do I think last season there was a period of time where there was question marks over the legs in midfield, it was Rodri and Bernardo and then Pep brought in Nico O 'Reilly and he generated so much like energy and I think Elliot Anderson is that, I think his ability, with his quality, I don't want to downplay his quality in possession, but his ability to kind of wrap around the box and protect, but his also ability to go and pounce and win the ball half the pitch, I think their unique qualities that not many midfielders have the ability to do.

28:42I just think his all-round game is very close to what it needs to be. And when you talk about say fees or whatever, it's like he doesn't need to do much more. Just stay at his level for a long period of time and it will justify what everyone's paid.

29:01Joel Beya: Who's the closest that both of you could compare him to as a player? The game's changed too much really. to sort of go like for like in that sense. Because he's way more technical than some of the 90s players. A young Roy Keane is probably... I was going to say, that's what I was thinking. Close, but not really the same. Roy Keane was a hell of a lot more aggressive with it and he scored goals. People forget that. But was... And again, I agree, he's not Roy Keane. Let's not get carried away. But is he the version of Roy Keane at Forest? Forest, I think. That we're seeing. A little bit because he was running down the wing a little bit more of Rowe back then.

29:40Joel Beya: But what does he allow other players to do better? Say he can serve energy in possession. You know what I mean? Because his willingness to do the job, wherever it is, whether it's, again, deep or high, it allows Cherki, even though no one's cheating, but it just allows you to go, okay, he wants to do that. He wants to get his foot stuck in. Again, listen, yesterday was a little bit different. It was probably a bigger game for him than it was for others due to his Newcastle connection. But he showed, especially in the derby, he grasps what fans want to see. And fans want to see full commitment in everything, every action.

30:18And what I like about him, he doesn't let the previous action affect him, good or bad. If it's a great pass, what's the next action required? I need to do this. Or if it's a bad pass or a bad tackle, oh, I need to do that. And he's very aware of that. And I think the best players are the ones that can just forget the previous action and see what's next. Yeah, agreed.

30:40Joel Beya: I want to move it on to a somber part of the show. Obviously, Arsenal have lost their first Premier League game since the 19th of April. And all of a sudden, there's an uproar by pundits and haters alike. But to me, I don't see it that much of a problem. I think Brighton were really good. They've had a great week, you know, gross, obviously, full of confidence, etc. Were Arsenal that bad or were Brighton that good? Joden, I'll start off with you. I think Brighton were a lot better than Arsenal were bad. And the fact that it was Brighton, I wouldn't be that worried if I was Arsenal. Do you know what I mean?

31:17Because Brighton are a good team. They ain't basic. Do you know what I mean? If that was, say, Fulham beating you 3-0, who haven't done that, then there's question marks. But Brighton can do that. we've seen them score goals at well and create opportunities where I think Arsenal potentially needed that. I remember when the season, the first season we won the league, like we went for pre-season smashing everyone into Milan and we were like high flying and all that. And then we played United and Cherry Shield, 2-0, last 3-2. And that was like a humbling, like just brought us that back down to earth, like a blessing in disguise kind of thing.

31:55and then all of a sudden you go on a different run. The timing of it is probably the worst thing for Arsenal because now they're away. You want to put it right but in regards to where they'll see themselves they'll remember how this feeling because they haven't felt it like you said Joel they haven't felt this since April. Yeah it's mad. Yeah it's mad.

32:14Joel Beya: Steve the first time you smiled all show talk to me what's on your mind? Oh I've got things to say to you Joel for sure. Let's start with why is Declan Rice not going to be looking at a free match ban. Shall we start with that, shall we, please? That's mad. Mate, no, do you know why I don't agree with that? Because after England got knocked out and Jude went and slapped someone at the back of the head, the Argentinian player, we praised him. Oh, well done, Jude. All of a sudden, he gets a little... No, we're not talking about that. That's England. We're talking about Phil Foden got set off last week for something.

32:47I don't know. That Phil Foden stuff, I don't know about that. Alan Shearer, a match of the day, called Bruno Fernandes, a disgrace. and he said if Phil Foden goes, then Bruno has to go for what he did as well. And then this weekend decides to say, actually, I understand the frustration from Declan Rice. I'm not having it. It's bollocks. Like it's complete hypocrisy. And it's just, Declan Rice at the moment is a pundits favorite. It doesn't matter what he does. No, he's not. He clearly is. Sooners, sooners.

33:21Joel Beya: non-stop and it's I feel I feel sorry for that no one listens to what he says mad takes he's got some mad takes grab sooners nah but you know what I think his voice is a lot stronger than sometimes we give him credit for because now even when I'm watching and I see a misplaced pass by deck I go oh don't let sooners be right like it's it's it's really affecting me as a fan and some of the other fans as well look man I I understand where deck's coming from he's a serial winner okay and when you're a serial winner and you're you look at me steve when i'm talking you don't look away when he's a serial winner yeah when you're a serial winner you'll feel the frustration jude bellendam does it he did it yesterday when he lost against atletico but we clap jude why don't we clap deck i'm just talking about the hypocrisy from the pundits where people have to get sent off last week in the exact same scenario people are being praised for it and another thing gabrielle i wish my wife went down as quick as he does.

34:17Oh my God. Have you ever seen anything in your life? Julian, as a center half, are you not embarrassed? You can't be a hard man. And then...

34:26Joel Beya: The wind gust was serious in Brighton. Do you know what I mean? There's a reason why there's seagulls over there. It was between 20 miles and 35 miles, guys. Every time I watch you lot, I see him checking his shoulder, waiting for someone to come like that. Referees need to clamp down on it. It's simulation. It's a dive. I'm not having it. Especially when you see what he's like at corners when he's absolutely wrestling people to death. And then the second he gets anyone breathe on the back of his neck, throwing himself on the floor. It's a joke, Joel. It's embarrassing. And I'm absolutely sick of no one talking about it.

35:00It's pathetic.

35:02Joel Beya: Wrestling people to death. Listen, man, when it comes to corners, first of all, we've been on our best behavior this season. It's been calm. We've changed the way we play. I just think people want us to like, I don't know what they want from Arsenal. I don't know we used to be soft and that was an issue now we're giving it a little bit that's an issue you've got to pick your truth man pick it just play the game by the rules and have the rules apply to you the same as everybody else because it's an absolute piss take we saw was it Josh King got booked yesterday for a dive well Fergie time was a myth that everyone's been disproven Liverpool had more Fergie time than United during the 90s but let's not let facts get in the way of a good story shall we Josh King got booked for a dive yesterday.

35:46And there was actually contact across his chest from Harry Maguire. Whereas that was way more of a dive. I want to see him get booked. That's what I want. As a defender, the defenders ain't getting done for diving. As much as you're right, Steve, in terms of he's going down too easy. No defenders getting done for diving.

36:01Joel Beya: Anyway, listen, Steve, we're three points behind City at the top. How genuine is Mareska's side capable to compete for the title this season? I think they're going to do what Liverpool did last year. and probably win another couple and then fall off. Because the fact is, they've won every game they've contested this season. The reality is they've been pretty ordinary in all of those games, including United and probably didn't deserve to win. Not all of them. Not all of them. Palace, they were really good. I think they've been slightly lucky. I think they've been slightly lucky in a couple. And they deserve to win yesterday.

36:42What did the stats look like? No. No. What the goals suggest, I agree. I agree they've been fortunate. I don't think it's as drastic as Liverpool last season. I think it was clear Liverpool were, they were scoring like last minute winners, like four or five games in a row. They ain't done that. They're still scoring four, three, four goals, five goals yesterday. So I think, I don't think it's sustainable if they want to defend in that set up yesterday. I think they're going to give away a lot more chances to a lot better teams defending like that. Do you agree, Steve? Yeah. Okay. I told you, everyone's tossed it off this year.

37:24It's just yours lot to win again. That's what's going on.

37:27Joel Beya: I hope so. I hope so. I think Jolien's quietly confident. I mean, we all know as well. I think, do you know why I think you should be quietly confident? Because even though he started better than what we all thought, if I'm to be really honest, like, I didn't think he would get, you know, five out of five. You've got to give him some credit there, Maresco. Seven out of seven, actually. Well, when you include... Yeah, you know, he's done well. He's done well. He has done well. But anyway, guys, listen, that's enough for today. All right. Hopefully, you know, when we come back from international break, we can resume back to regular settings.

38:03Joel Beya: Arsenal doing what we do, you know, all that stuff. Just for everybody watching, Rio is away on a project. He's not running away or ducking results or whatever you guys are saying online. Yeah, we will be back soon. And yeah, hopefully we're going to see a happier Steve. And Jolion, always good to have you on. Your expertise, honestly, insane. Did you enjoy the time with us in LA, by the way? We didn't hear whether you were. I reported back into the buses. I said, yeah. All glowing reports, all ears. Glowing reports. I seen one of the buses last week. Yeah? Yeah. What did he say? unusual circumstances I see oh really oh I heard about that I heard I heard I heard anyway I'm going to do a Jodie and say I'm going now Joel Baer Stephen Housen Jodie Lescott signing out peace

39:06Hi Pod fans

39:07Joel Beya: Max here Barry's here too hello And now the Premier League is back, Barry, meaning we'll be providing incredibly astute analysis three times a week wherever you get your podcasts. Barry, with the remaining 10 seconds of this advert, can you provide some astute analysis? I think Arsenal are going to win the Premier League. And there you are. For more hot takes like that, watch or listen to Football Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.