Why Sesko will be different to Hojlund | Would Calvert-Lewin be a good signing?

0:04Yes guys, welcome to this episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents and we are here, we've got the band back man. With the band are back, Ste and Joel in the house for the new season. New settings, but same old story man. Ups and downs, highs and lows, crazy expectations, delusion, you're going to get it all this season. But what I would say before we get into our season predictions and what not, We're coming a day later. We dropped the interview with Harry Maguire while we was on tour. We'd done the interview with him. And a really, really good interview, mate. I've got to be honest with you. I was actually a little bit nervous going into it, just based on the history between us that was unspoken, but still there, if you know what I mean, guys.

0:48He came and stuck it on me and McCullough in the mix zone. Did he? One of the games, yeah. He didn't say anything, but he just came over and just said, how you doing? But name-checked us both, and we both went like that. Weird Did he have a stern face on when he said it Or did he look in the eyes What did he say No he was being pretty chill Pretty friendly McCullough's just done a 180 on him And he's like I'm all Harry Maguire in now And I'm like oh okay No you know what It was actually good to do it I think obviously We talk about roller coasters in careers Or in times at clubs But he's had that He's gone from being like a ridiculous Huge feat to get there and then goes to be captain and then the captaincy's taken off him.

1:33He's been ridiculed. He's been memes galore. Just to get into all of that and add to that, pundits like myself and others have been critical of him, just how he's dealt with all that stuff and just going... And I had to ask those kind of difficult questions in that sense. Like, what's it like when someone like myself is talking about you and how do you react to the media? What was his toughest moment coming to the club? and while he was going through them moments, he goes into that in quite depth, which was really interesting. And you get to see it from his point of view, which is good, you know what I mean?

2:03I think we always feel that we know how, we guess how people are feeling, but to see him talk and open up around that. You know what? Another one, losing the captaincy. Like, do you know how embarrassing your ego, your pride is battered with stuff like that? Because we all want to be the guy. We all want to be, we set out to be the main guy at the beginning. So to have that ripped off him and then talk about his relationship with Bruno, I think was telling of the man Harry Maguire is and his response to that. Because even when Gary Neville was captain, Roy Keane was captain, I was captain, Giggsie was captain, Vida was captain, Patrice was captain when I was at the club.

2:44There was always a nucleus of other leaders around that, that kind of served as that good sounding boards or were part of keeping a tight ship at the club and keeping the standards really high. So, no, it was loads of stuff. Even tactically, he goes into stuff, which was like, it was telling how clear it is to him now and how important the pre-season is for him. So, there's lots to go out. So, listen, make sure, if you haven't seen the interview, guys, make sure you go and check out the interview on the channel. It's there. It's live, direct. Keep your notifications on. Make sure you tell a friend, let's go, man.

3:15But speaking of centre-backs who play under a lot of scrutiny, I've seen a lot of people talking about Virgil van Dijk and his performance in the charity shield, the community shield. Can I just say, guys, before we get into it, community shield does not mean a thing. I don't know a community shield game that I play villain. Rio, Rio, stop it. The community shield. Zlatan said it counts as a trophy, and so did Jose Mourinho, some of the biggest figures in football. Yeah, and so does your deluded manager as well. Would you say sorry? So does your deluded manager as well. There you go. Do you know what I mean?

3:50It counts. It counts, man. No. It's not a trophy. It's a pre-season friendly at a big stadium. That's it. I reckon the Community Shield is probably the game I was most nervous for in the season. Maybe bar a final. Because all I was worried about was getting through the 90 minutes without being embarrassed because I lack a fitness, I lack a sharpness. I'm not ready yet the pace of the game like we normally we go on tour say to Asia or someone and play a load of like Asian teams and stuff or play a couple of teams like Real Madrid or Barca or whoever but playing a Premier League team physically is very different so you're thinking I haven't even played a Premier League team yet that's going to be a different test altogether physically am I ready so you're searching for fitness and you're going to be a little bit shabby you're going to be a bit sluggish and yeah Virgil van Dijk will come off that game and say I could have made a better decision here or there that's not this stage of the season before the first game of the Premier League, that's normal.

4:49So don't... People say, oh, has he gone? I'm seeing people say, is he finished? Are you crazy? Yeah, pundits were saying, pundits were saying you could see that he's slower than he was before. You know, like... I don't know what your thoughts are, Steve, because I saw you making a little bit of a funny face when Ria mentioned it in the beginning. If you can enlighten us. Yeah, I saw all the memes about it and stuff yesterday. Again, it is one game to judge on is an interesting one. All I'm here for is hoping that Liverpool's football manager cheat code of a transfer window just completely upsets the apple cart somehow.

5:27Sometimes you can have too many big signings with too much expectation that all want the ball, all want to be the main man. Does Wurz come in and take a little bit of shine off Salah? does the way Fring Pong plays, does that take a little bit of effectiveness away from Salah? On paper, probably not, right? And it probably makes them even stronger and they're probably favourites for the title this year. But it's Liverpool and I have to find some coping here somewhere that they're not going to be as dominant and good as they were last year. So I'm here hoping that the wheels are going to fall off.

6:00That's the game. Saying that though, Eketeke, I've been watching him in the pre-season games, right? And I thought, oh, he misses a bit. One or two chances here and there. yesterday, the way you took his goal. My goodness, like coming in, receiving the ball, laying it back, receiving it, one touch out, finish outside the box, bottom corner. Like, that's the kind of stuff you see in a training session, not against another top opposition. Do you know what, Joel? One thing, he's not going to be starved off, and that's opportunities. I think if you're a young player, young forward going to Liverpool right now, one thing you know you're going to get is you're going to get chances.

6:35Nunes only didn't succeed at Liverpool and is open to going to another club because it's not that he hasn't played well, it's just missed chances. He's not being clinical. So, if he can finish, there's goals there for him because the amount of times they get the ball up into the final third, the amount of opportunities there. Salah's getting two on ones all day long. Two defenders having to come out and play against him. So, what happens then? There's space somewhere else for another attacking player. And if he gets that and he can finish, you get chances it's just about whether we can be cold blooded in the hot heated situations Either way credit to Crystal Palace the way they they were resilient Jean Mateta like Rio at one point I thought this guy is the worst striker I've ever seen in the Premier League but no I did I'll be honest with you and I am I was wrong and I look at him now and I go he's one of the best I even saw Steve happy when United were linked with him earlier in the transfer window I'd have talked him all day long Let's move on from that.

7:35Arsenal, your team, Joel, play Man United opening day of the season at Old Trafford. Last week, you wasn't very confident at all. You was quite a morbid character last week. You were so downbeat, I was actually worried about you. Where are you at now, a week gone? I'm not trying to go too high, as Steve always says I do. I'm not trying to go too low, as I am at the end of the season. Because your socials have been very positive since last week's recording. Yeah, your Instagram stories don't seem like they were being all cool and calm. I have to say, bring on United now. Because what I saw in that friendly, right, against that athletic club, oh my goodness, Glock 14, Giocares, he's in the house now.

8:20What a header as well, man. That's all we've needed. We've needed a striker that can finish. The fact that Moreno was banging in goals, like banging in goals last season for me was criminal. Now we've got a guy that just, as long as he's in the box, the ball will go in the goal. And Zubimendi as well. I looked at him and I thought, Rio, you were right. You were telling me about him a few months ago and you were like, he's a good player, him. And I wasn't quite sure you want to see it for yourself. But after seeing that friendly, yes, it was one friendly, I'm confident we're going to be up there.

8:50If not, we're going to win. So just pinpoint what it is exactly that makes you more confident at this stage of the season compared to last season. Competition. Really simple. Before we got to the stage, especially at the end of the season, you're looking around your team and you barely have any players. Like, you know, when people get injured, you're going, what's going on? If you don't have a striker, Havertz is out. You know, Saka was out for long periods of the season. Now, if Saka's out, you've got Medueke. At the end of the last season, Rio, we had on J. Henry Francis on the bench and we had Kavya.

9:23So these are young boys. You know what I mean? Like, crucial parts in the season. And you're thinking they're probably going to end up being good players. But what are they doing there? Now, you know, we have options. When you have Max Dalman there as well, I can play. Who do you start the season with? May United, who do you start? Your starting team? Ryer in goal. Gabriel Saliba at the back. Lewis Skelly left back. Right back, I would go Timba in the middle. Right now, I'll go Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard. Even though Norgaard has done exceptionally well. and I'm very surprised with him. On the left, at the current moment, I'll start with Martinelli, just to start with left forward.

10:05On the right, Saka, up top, Glock 14. You know what it is. Go on. Come on now. We're beating anyone with that team. We're beating anyone with that team. When that doesn't happen at weekend, make sure you tag me in those clips. Steve, so what are you saying then for United? Are you more confident after the three signings up front we've got this season in the chance window because you spouted last season before a ball was kicked I must give you credit you said goals a lack of goals will be a problem and it proves to be that because we scored 44 goals between us the whole squad last year we've now got strikers in the building we bought three and they amount to 48 goals from last season so that's more than our whole squad how confident are you now and what is the big difference for you?

10:51You've gone and got Premier League proven in two out of the three and you've got a little bit I would have preferred Ollie Watkins I think there's people that will disagree with that and that's fine but just to think people want to build for the future all the time I feel sometimes but managers don't really have the opportunity to build for the future because they get sacked after two years like you don't have what's the point in bringing in teenagers that aren't going to get to maturity before you get the bullet like there has to be a balance Amorim is required to be successful this season that doesn't mean win the title this season but there has to be like monumental leaps forward in terms of competitiveness from United.

11:32And that's why I would have gone with Ollie Watkins. Do you need to replace him in three or four years? Yeah, you would. But that might be, you know, if you didn't, you might be looking at two more managers down the line anyway, if you don't have that sort of mentality. So we've gone with Sesco. I'm very happy with the business that we've done so far. It's mad because now we're almost kind of getting a little bit greedy and going, okay, credit to Ineos, because they looked at what we did last season, they saw what we all saw, which is like, man, this team needs goals, and they just went and completely revamped with three new starters in the forward line.

12:06So that's a huge step forward. Now we've all gone, okay, midfield's not very natural for this system. Can we bring another midfielder in? I know obviously there's a lot of noise around Balaba at the moment. I feel like it's just far too much money. Sir Jim has absolutely honeydicked us he spent the last year telling us that we're skint and then he's just dropped 50 million on a new training facility 200 million on a new front line and we're still talking about signing other players like for once United feel like they've acted smart and blagged it a little bit in terms of like not gone out there and told everyone the truth about what the situation at the club is which is a good thing we've got to change the reputation in terms of how we sell players We've got to change the reputation in terms of how we buy players.

12:53But in terms of making the squad better for next season, we've done it. Agreed. Rio, I want to focus you on Benjamin Cesco, who obviously he's arrived. To me, it was a bit of a shock, obviously, because I thought, whoa, what's going on here? Steve's right. You guys have really done well, hunted in the market, and you've got your striker. You've got your main man. What's your thoughts on him? He's got big potential. he's got all the attributes you'd like to see in a striker he's big, he's strong, he's quick enough he can shoot from all areas of the box he's a number nine he can come off even sometimes but he's a he's got the right profile of a striker that you want at Manchester United right now about this time, you've got two other guys who are a bit more mobile are going to move around, he's going to stick up there more than nine and be a focal point and occupy two centre-halves and you know that if the ball drops in the right areas in the box, anywhere in that box, he can finish.

13:51I think that's one of his strong points is that he's not afraid to hit the ball from anywhere. If you've seen any clips of some of his goals, he scores some outrageous goals at times. But I want to see some of them ugly goals as well, by the way. I want to see the goals where he's running across the front post, where he's being almost a decoy at times, where just understanding that number nine's nuances. And that's again, that takes him back, and again, I sound like a broken record, That takes us back to an older number nine coming in and not having to be shown the ropes of what to do as a number nine.

14:21He has experience of playing there and knows that when the chips are down and when things aren't going well, what do I lean on? Experience and knowing certain things to do, certain nuances of a striker that you can fall back on to make sure that it's not a rocky road or not as long as a rocky road as it could be. And that comes with experience. Now, we've got someone who's not as experienced, but who's more experienced than Erasmus Hoyland. He's played probably almost double the amount of games that Hoyland came when he came. He's two years older than when Erasmus Hoyland signed. And he's shown that he can score goals.

14:56He hasn't gone and blitzed it and scored like a ridiculous amount of goals. But he's a kid. He's young. Again, we can't expect that. And I don't see him coming in and scoring 25 Premier League goals. I don't think that's... or 20 Premier League goals. If he comes and scores between 10 and 15, I think that's an unbelievable return. So what gives you confidence that Cesc will experience a more positive time at United than Highland? I'll start off with you, Rio, because everyone was positive when Highland came in. And obviously, you know, it didn't quite go the way he had planned. Well, I think it's more hope at the moment.

15:28I think we've got to wait and see, man. I think because you look at it and go, when Highland came and when Amarim came during the season, it's a new way of playing, a new style, a new environment. The manager's finding his feet and also you've got a number nine trying to find his feet. So under Amorim, that's the way it's been for him. So hopefully there's a clearer picture, a clearer identity given the free season that we've had. There's more goals, like I said, than players that understand the Premier League and they're more experienced up in the top end of the pitch. And you'd like to think that counts for a lot going into the new season to help a new number nine coming into the building.

16:02The difference is that he's actually got some movement. Hoyland's movement is embarrassing. Hoyland's movement is so predictable. Rio, in your state now with a bad back, you'd mark him out of a game and be texting with your other hand. He's so predictable with his running. He's so straight with his running. He's never heard of a double movement. He's never heard of running on a blindside. He's so basic in his movement, if he can be bothered even making a run, because he's lazy with it. and not only that he's too preoccupied with hand fighting and trying to win this sort of like shirt pull battle with defenders rather than just getting away from them and making runs into space like he's completely changed his game from his first I don't know what Benny McCarthy was teaching him in his first season to whatever he was getting taught last season but it's night and day This is where I think I'd be unreal and I think there'd be loads of ex-players saying this but this is where I think that I would have unreal input into players at a football club because I'll be showing him what hurts defenders, what defenders don't like.

17:08Defenders like when you're fighting them, really, because they know where you are. I know. The moment you come into contact with me, unless you're an absolute brutus who can bully me out of the way, like a Lukaku. Yeah, and he ain't. You take that contact all day and he's not that. So I think he should be playing on the shoulder of people, to the sides of people. Your touch isn't great anyway. the moment you're having to fight and think about holding a defender and then think about your touch your touch goes from if it's a six goes down to a two Carlos Tevez wasn't the biggest right he was strong but even him he didn't really want a load of contact right he used to play hide and seek with you he'd stand behind you while the game's developing so you're doing that all the time the moment you keep doing that you're taking your eye off what's in front of you so you don't the picture changes every time you turn back round I've got to recalibrate what's going on that's That's seconds.

18:00They're milliseconds that are important. If he's doing that, then the defender's got less time to think about him. Just little details like that. Opposite movements. Ian Wright, one of the best. Pretend to go long, come short. Pretend to go short, go long. I don't see him doing enough of these basic fundamentals like that that are going to give him the extra time that he needs to start rebuilding the confidence when the ball comes in. It's just, these are simple little things that I think sometimes, just because you're a professional, you don't get told. how easy is he to mark when he's standing in front of you trying to play the hold up and he's getting a hold of you you must be rubbing your hands together as a centre half going like not a problem I can get both my hands out here he ain't going past me like simple as that what he's doing he's actually getting in a position that is probably his weakest area of his game and probably the defender's strongest because I can just see him this is the best scenario for me worst scenario for you he does that often in games and I'd love to be able to kind of just make him think a little bit more simplistic.

19:00But Rio, that to me sounds like a coaching issue. Everything you're saying, Steve, sounds like a coaching issue. Why, like, is he to blame for that or is it the coaches? Because I don't understand how we can all see it on TV, even as fans and whatever, and the striker himself can't. It's one of two things, I think, sorry, Steve. It's one of two things. It's either he's not being coached at or he's not being coached the right thing from a coach's standpoint. one of those two things and the other thing is either he's being coached and told these things but he doesn't digest and translate to the pitch do you know i mean and coaches used to say we've coached we've been on the video we've done a training pitch we've done it on on the board and it doesn't get it might have kicked in later in career but it's just it's just the way some players need to be communicated in in a particular way for it to hit home i have to be honest though I'm seeing a lot of similarities in them as players.

19:55I mean, obviously, the age isn't too different. You know, you've got Cesko, who's two years older, when he's signed, by the way. And when you're looking at their goals, Hoyland had nine goals, he's got 30. There's still a lot of similarities there. But is there room for all three of them, Zerski, Hoyland and Cesko, to play together? If not, who would you let go, Rio? I don't know. I don't think it's all about personal kind of preference who wants to be there and play number two or three striker if whoever isn't happy doing it hold your hand up now and we'll get rid of you and we'll get you out you can go and loan or something or if you can be sold that's where I'll deal with it John may I tell you the truth here's what needs to happen Hojland gets boshed into a cannon and sent that's what he gets he gets rocketed out of the gaff we go and the fact that he didn't play against Everton in the last game and we didn't bring him on against Fiorentina tells you that's exactly what's happening.

20:51He is getting loaded into the cargo hold of a plane and he is getting sent away from Old Trafford. You know what? That's what needs to happen with him because he's not been good enough. And you say, whose fault is it? You talk about the coaching, this, that and the other. Rio, whose responsibility is your career? Yeah, yeah, I agree. It's you. It's down to you. I agree 100%. But what I would say sometimes, Steve, Steve, there ain't a player out there that doesn't want to do well and be successful. It's just sometimes they need to be guided and cajoled into thinking the right way about their game.

21:24Sometimes they get caught up in thinking about, look at the amount of data and information these guys are taking in today. A different breed to what we was. There's like a 10-point plan every time you get the ball before you play it there. If you can't play it, there's 10 other points where you can go. We just played off the cuff and you got that one, that little solution there, that's it. So there's a lot to think about. A lot goes into this. There's sometimes overcomplicating it for certain people ain't right. Out of Xerxi, out of Hoyland and out of Sesco Do you know what you do? What? You get rid of Hoyland You bring in Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free Because he's got the experience that they don't have And he's got a different way of playing And you have Xerxi's not really a centre forward Xerxi probably needs to play in one of the wider positions And play off someone Xerxi needs runners He can't be the runner He's got great feet He's got great vision Dominic Calvert-Lewin What are you chatting about, bro?

22:14Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a better centre forward injured than Rasmus Hojland has been on his best day. Dominic Calvert-Lewin can't stay fit. Exactly. He doesn't need to stay fit to be better than Hojland. So why are you bringing him into this club then? Because he only needs to play about five or six games a year and give Cesc O 'Neill the night off. Rasmus Hojland's not going to sit there and do you a job. This is what I'm saying. This club's built on the academy. You've got Chido Obi sitting there. Play him if you're going to think about five or six games. Not somebody who's older and can't stay fit.

22:46He ain't ready. He's too raw. What? He ain't ready. He's what? That's why he needs five or six games. I'm not talking about 20. Yeah. Five or six. I've still been covered Lewin in. He's a free man. He's a free man. He's a free man. Free transfer. Better than Hoyland. Get him in. Nah. Strength impact. Sorry, I disagree massively. I disagree massively. What signal does that send to the rest of the league or to your squad, most importantly? All right, well, flip it the other way, right? The window closes in four weeks' time. Cesaro gets injured and you go into the season with Chido and Xerxes. You're looking at the same thing that you had last season.

23:20At least if you had Calvert-Lewin, you've got something that you've got as a backup. Right, man, we've got loads still to come right out on this pod, but we'll be back shortly after this. Anyway, listen, I want to stick in with the game coming up, Man United versus Arsenal. I need to know your starting 11, please. Steve, as you're on a mad one, you might as well go first. Go on. So it should be Tom Eaton in net. I don't think it will be. I think it'll either be... This sounds like they're going to do a behind-closed-doors game this week to give Onana a run-out. But it'll either be Onana or Bayern Dibber.

23:51It should be Tom Eaton, because he was good the other day when he played on tour. Defence is a sticky one for us. Jor-O is the first name on the team sheet because he was excellent on pre-season. He looks like he's levelled up, both physically, mature-wise. He's reading the game, has took a level up, and he offers us so much because of the pace that he's got when we get transitioned on. De Lick should be the one that plays in the middle and then it's that left side centre half role going into the season I was thinking while Martinez is out I probably would have played Masraoui but the fact Masraoui's not played and Aidan Heaven got injured yesterday or Saturday I don't know who's going to play left side centre half I think if I had to take a guess it might be Luke Shaw who hasn't looked terrible but he's also not looked great but I think it probably end up going to be Luke Shaw Dogu left wing back I think it'll be Ahmad right wing back and then probably because we're expecting to maybe not have the ball loads Ugarte probably plays and I think he goes with Casemiro alongside Ugarte and I think Bruno and Cunha and Sesko and we see him bring more off the bench.

25:14How are you feeling about Mason Mount this season? I think it's a huge season for him, you know. I think he's a... Fitness has obviously been his biggest enemy since he signed for Manchester United. If he stays fit, he's like a brand new signing and the energy that he brings to the table. In two or three games I saw last season before he got injured, he was arguably the best player. 100 % the best player out of possession and was a catalyst for a lot of our pressing and winning the ball back very high up the pitch which gives us more opportunities to get chances and goals I think he could be a hugely important player if the manager can get him in the team and he stays fit he's got to be better on the ball though he's not really been getting on the ball and making things happen in the manner that we saw him do with Chelsea not seen any of that really from Mason Mount but there are some people that affect games without the ball you know that Darren Fletcher was one of those players you only have it for three minutes people go Fletcher he ain't this good on that sometimes you don't need the football at your feet to affect the game.

26:12Your movement and your runs, your intelligence, your movement without the ball can be as telling sometimes and as impactful. So let's hope he stays fit and we can see the best of him. Predictions, guys. What are we saying? Don't hold back. I think we lose. They've gone quiet. They've gone quiet. I think we lose. I'm going to draw. I'd take the draw, I think. this stage score draw or like what I'm going to go score draw yeah I think score draw what score we don't keep clean I'm going to go for 1-0 1-0 yeah score draw 1-0 with our attacking play yeah yeah by the way what did I say last season you lot was gagging for a striker you alright and what I said all last season is if you bring in a striker that's going to play on the shoulder that's not going to get involved in the build up it's going to fundamentally change the way that you play, right?

27:08And from what I've seen, the little bit that I've seen, that is absolutely going to be the case. So, you might be a bit more potent with less football, but I think that the way Arsenal sort of suffocate teams and hold possession is going to completely change with Jokeres up front rather than having Havertz. I say this from the bottom of my heart, mate. We don't care. We don't care because we've got our main man. This is what we've been missing. No excuses from us now. We're ready to go. Okay, so you just said no excuses from you. So if the$12 billion Arteta has spent in the... How long has he been there now?

27:45Like seven years. If he fails to deliver the title this year, does he get a bullet? Steve, he has to win either the Premier League or the Champions League. Whatever happens outside of that. And when he doesn't... What do you mean when he doesn't? Come on. You can't... What do you mean when he doesn't? Well, he's had like what? What I would say... 15 goals at it so far. What I would say though is I think you're closer. You're closer to it now than you've ever been with a striker on paper. I agree with Steve. My biggest concern is are you going to be able to maintain pressure and territorial advantage the way you have done in the last three or four seasons with teams and just pen teams back with one less player involved in your build-ups play?

28:28You've had Havertz most of that time who comes in and creates the overload and the extra player brings touches, etc. Gercroes doesn't want to do that. Is he going to be asked to do that and change the way he plays? Or is he going to be told that you're number nine, just finish chances? I agree. That's going to have a difference. Kind of, it could have a big difference in the way your season pans out. I hope for you guys it goes the right way. But bigger picture. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. My prediction very quickly. 3-1 Arsenal. Only guy scoring for United is obviously Bruno. Giocares on the score sheet.

29:01You can throw in Saka, who I don't really care. What happens if we beat you? What did you say? We're not ready. What happens if we beat you? You're not going to beat us. But what if we do? But you're not. But what if we do? We'll see then. Rio? Mr Confidence. Mr Confidence. I'm going 1-1. But listen, let's make a picture. Let's go predictions for the season. What are we going, guys? Top four. Arsenal, Liverpool, City, Chelsea. In that order? I said it here first. Didn't stutter. Go on, Kosti. Who are you going? It is what Joel just said, let's be honest. That you would assume... Arsenal winning the league?

29:40Oh, no. Not in that one. Liverpool winning this league. Liverpool winning the league. Say that again for your Liverpool audience. Liverpool winning the league. Brilliant. Please, Tom, George, clip that up. Thank you. I'm going to go Liverpool to win the league as well. I'm going to go Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea. I think United are top eight. Anything above that is like, I think he's just like a ridiculous like wow, wow, wow, wow compared to what he was if we don't bring anybody else in we're top 7 if we bring in Balaba and like there's some talk of Donnarumma which I I can't imagine we get both of those done this window I can't imagine that's a reality if we got both of those done I think we crash the top 4 because one game a week that's powerful man we saw it with Chelsea under Conte in his first season just one game a week that you've got to focus on I think we go top six And I think that's mad progress From finishing 15th last year So I'll take that Right moving on Top goal scorer Our mind changes every week Haaland Haaland Haaland It's Haaland innit You can be a bit about it But it's Haaland Salah don't get a shout Nah it's Haaland man I think Salah's going to drop off You know this year I think the way Frimpong plays I think they're going to be In each other space a little bit Yeah I'm going to go Haaland I've gone Haaland I said Isak if he joins Liverpool but I don't think he's going to go there so we'll see Haaland by the way if Isak does join Liverpool Lucas will probably need to be looking at Calvert-Loon because he might be the only player they can sign it's hilarious they are getting pied off everybody I don't know why does no one want to go there?

31:23you know what the North East here what a place to play football man if you said to some players you're going to walk out at St James's full house every week being supported to their hip mate it's an unbelievable atmosphere there crazy relegated team Leeds Leeds I think Wolves are going down I think they've lost too much quality Leeds Wolves you think Burnley will stay up? I reckon Burnley I say Burnley Sunderland and Brentford Burnley Sunderland and Leeds all go back down for me come on Rio nah I think one of them because there's been every single season it's the three that come up go down I think one of them sneaks through I don't know Scott Parker maybe could get his team out of it maybe nah he's getting sacked we'll see biggest improvement this season will be Man United I reckon I'm going to go out and say it Man United will be the biggest improvement 100 % that's not hard is it like you can't go they can't finish where they finished last year although So, you know, Champions League, is that going to have any impact with them?

32:36We'll see. I don't like this first manager sack business. I don't like that one. I don't like that question. I don't want to see people get sacked, really. There's always someone in the first six weeks, though, isn't there? It's mental. I don't know what owners are thinking when they think, like, how did you see this season going? And then someone gets the bullet in the first six weeks, especially when it's one of the newly promoted teams. Like, did you think he was going to be top of the league, you dickhead? What are you on about? Yeah, it's true. Nice. I always think that. I always think that when a newly promoted team goes up and they're not doing that well near Christmas, that go, I will sack him.

33:02What were you expecting him to be? Like, it just doesn't make sense. It's going to be, for me, it's going to be Brentford manager because that guy, Keith Andrews, he's got no experience. He's a set-piece coach. No disrespect to him, but... Wow. You know he watches the show, you ain't really talking about business. I'm just saying, yeah. Set-piece coach is the only reason you lot did anything last season. No, no, no. I have a bit of respect. Hey, Joe, you know the Leeds manager last year, when they got promoted there was rumours he was getting the sack so he could be first you know Daniel Fark okay yeah I say it's going to be Keith Andrews and on top of that they've lost Mbwemo they've lost it's not going to be easy could be losing Wissard they've lost Norgard he's got a tough job at hand man I agree I agree alright well listen man what a show first show of the season or first real show with a team with a band back together it's good to see you guys you know yeah nah it's true the chemistry is still there as well.

34:00Stee's still hopefully wishing that Arsenal don't do well whilst Manchester United. You're still deluded. Obviously. But yeah, it's going to be good. I'm really looking forward to it. Guys, I want to say thank you very much for joining us again. Everybody watching, we are back. Rio Ferdinand presents. Do not forget to check out the Harry Maguire interview. Big, big, big things. And obviously the other interviews as well that were done during the pre-season time. We've got Rooney on the road, Michael Carrick, loads of And Buemo, it's been hectic on the channel. So please, if you haven't subscribed, please make sure you do so.

34:35Good to have Steve back. Rio, good to have you here as well today. And of course, myself. Thank you very much. And yeah, we'll see you soon. Peace.