In short
Tottenham’s official appointment of Roberto De Zerbi and whether his style can “bounce” the club out of relegation danger, plus Q&A on Spurs tactics, goalkeeper choice, and fantasy implications.
Guests
Baker (host of Above Average FPL pod). The other speaker is the Rule the Root host (Dan Kilpatrick is referenced, but not as a guest). They discuss Spurs fandom and stats; no other guests appear in the transcript.
Key claims
- De Zerbi’s deal reportedly includes a five-year contract with no relegation release clause; Spurs may still offload via internal clauses.
- Spurs’ season is decided by “small moments,” but their biggest structural problem is errors leading to shots: 39 errors leading to a shot (vs Leeds 14; Villa 31; next worst 31).
- Tottenham’s confidence is harmed by repeated defensive mistakes and low “fast break” creation: 13 fast breaks vs Brentford’s 45.
- Vicario’s shot-stopping has been abysmal: minus 5.5 vs expected goals; changing keeper could be enough to stabilize results.
Notable examples
- De Zerbi’s Brighton/Marseille approach: bait short passing but go long when opponents overpress; long goal-kick threat from the keeper.
- Keeper comparison: Pickford is cited as +6 vs expected; Pope/Ramsdale example where Ramsdale saved 11 of 14 shots vs Newcastle.
- Goalkeeper Q&A: Kinski could start if Vicario misses due to hernia; De Zerbi’s system needs a keeper who can play short and occasionally go long.
- Set pieces: Ligue 1 relies less on set-play xG than the Premier League; Spurs may see fewer long throw routines and more open-play emphasis.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VODeserby's Appointment: Initial Reactions
0:45 to 2:41
Discussion of the new manager's appointment and contract details.
“Like, we're all asked every day how we're going.”
The Potential Impact of Relegation
2:41 to 4:35
Exploration of the consequences if Tottenham were to be relegated.
Analyzing Tottenham's Performance
4:35 to 7:49
A look at Tottenham's overall performance this season and challenges faced.
“And virtually every game you watch is tight.”
The Premier League's Competitive Landscape
7:49 to 10:44
Examining the changing dynamics of the Premier League and its impact.
“that's definitely happened this season is a real stylistic change, which actually has brought everybody further to.”
Reflections on Coaching and Team Strategy
10:44 to 14:03
Discussion on coaching strategies and the quality of the squad.
Tottenham's Defensive Issues
14:03 to 15:07
Explore the reasons behind Tottenham's defensive struggles and how luck plays a role.
“because some of the times we got a bit luckier for longer than we should is that kept frank in a job longer than he should and actually but what's actually happened is tudors come in figures don't look good.”
Analyzing Tottenham's Error Rates
16:49 to 20:30
Delve into Tottenham's alarming statistics regarding errors leading to shots.
“Teams like Brentford have conceded 19, half of what we've done.”
The Goalkeeper Dilemma
20:30 to 24:12
Discuss the ongoing issues with Tottenham's goalkeepers and potential changes.
“who do you predict will be the Spurs goalkeeper on the final day of the season?”
Potential Impacts of Managerial Changes
24:12 to 28:00
Evaluate how managerial changes could affect Tottenham's performance moving forward.
“Trevich of Bournemouth conceded 22, saved 19 of them.”
Analyzing Vicario's Goalkeeping Challenges
28:00 to 29:15
Discussing Vicario's hernia issues and their impact on Tottenham's defense.
“the precario hernia thing, like is, you're like, oh, okay.”
Show all 27 chapters
De Zerbi's Control at Spurs
29:15 to 30:18
Exploring De Zerbi's managerial influence and authority within Tottenham.
“We've publicly debased ourselves for this.”
The Shift in Tottenham's Management Style
30:18 to 31:49
Examining the transition from a business-driven to a football-focused approach at Tottenham.
“I quite like the idea of a manager who has a very specific plan and a very specific idea in the way he wants to play football, signing the players that he thinks will best match that, will best fit that.”
Potential Player Transfers Under De Zerbi
31:49 to 32:51
Discussing potential player acquisitions aligned with De Zerbi's vision.
“It kind of is still a little bit, I think, really, if I'm being brutally honest.”
Evaluating Player Fit for Deserbi's Tactics
32:51 to 35:39
Assessing which players might thrive under De Zerbi's tactical approach.
“I don't feel like he really fits too well for Deserby in terms of what he would expect.”
Archie Gray's Role in De Zerbi’s Plan
37:29 to 40:06
Discussing the potential roles and impact of Archie Gray under De Zerbi.
“Like, I just think he's got great football brain.”
De Zerbi's Approach to Set Plays
40:06 to 42:01
Analyzing how De Zerbi's strategies differ regarding set pieces.
“He wasn't, you know, what do they call him in a flake?”
Set Plays and Their Impact
42:01 to 43:39
Discussion on the significance of set plays in Ligue 1 versus the Premier League.
“of the total expected goals come from set plays.”
The Fear of Relegation
43:40 to 45:18
Exploration of the emotional impact of potential relegation and fan expectations.
“I always think when we're doing that throw, you're like, we're actually just giving the defenders time to breathe again and get organized.”
Statistical Insights and Betting Odds
45:19 to 47:14
Analysis of statistics predicting Tottenham's chance of relegation and performance against rivals.
“I noted the other day that the Opta supercomputer has...”
Upcoming Matches and Predictions
47:15 to 49:27
Conversation about Tottenham's upcoming fixtures and the urgency to win games.
“Trying to get my head around both that Chelsea game and then the home game against Everton.”
Defensive Strategy and Player Performance
49:28 to 53:03
Debate on the effectiveness of current defenders and the need for solid performers.
“Jesus, West Ham leads in a FA Cup quarterfinal.”
Managerial Changes and Future Prospects
53:04 to 56:00
Discussion on the implications of hiring a new manager and potential changes to the team.
“I just wouldn't be surprised if we have one of those guys whose job is just boot it, head it, do what you need to do.”
Debating De Zerbi's Appointment
56:00 to 56:52
Discussion centers around the implications of De Zerbi's potential management and fan reactions.
“But I think if we go down, as you talked about, I don't think they realise just how ridiculous and how wild that will be from Tottenham fans.”
Hypothetical Eating Challenges for Spurs
56:52 to 57:42
A lighthearted conversation about extreme eating challenges in the context of Spurs' survival.
“So, I suspect, I still don't expect, I don't expect to see Deserby managing the championship.”
Cucumber Phobia and Culinary Alternatives
57:42 to 1:00:16
Hosts share their aversions to cucumber and discuss creative alternatives for cucumber lovers.
“I'm trying to think about things I would...”
Kids Programming and Nostalgic Cartoons
1:00:16 to 1:01:34
The conversation shifts to kids' television, discussing nostalgic cartoons and current shows.
“there you go Cucumber is a type of melon, if you like.”
Facing Relegation and Future Prospects
1:01:34 to 1:02:26
Discussion about the realities of Tottenham's relegation battle and its implications.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Jack:This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.
0:23Jack:Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Rule the Root podcast. Delighted to welcome to the show today, Baker of the Above Average FPL pod. How are you doing, mate? Lovely to have you on. Very good, mate. Very good. It's been a long time. I don't think we've seen each other for five, six years, maybe. This is probably more a reflection on my poor match going. But still, you know, yeah. We've had kids, mate. We've both had kids. That's true. So that's a big deal. But look, I'm okay. Like, we're all asked every day how we're going. normally by rival fans who kind of want to gloat and revel in it. Yeah, what are we, two days on?
1:02Two days on from a Deserby appointment?
1:04Jack:I mean, we're about half an hour on from the new picture that Spurs posted of him on their social channels. So, you know, that's an event, I guess. That's an event. Sort of, I think. Sort of, yeah. Right, I mean, let's sort of unpack this. This is the first part of Dan since it's been official. I think we all knew it was coming probably. It seemed like the noises around this deal were... I think when you follow football for a certain amount of time, you get a feel, don't you, for something. Yes. It just seemed like this was almost inevitable. I guess first and foremost, are you surprised by the nature of the deal?
1:43Jack:Five years, no relegation release clause. It's quite punchy, isn't it? Yeah, I think it was leading that way. Like it was interesting when we first heard some things around maybe like Daesh a while back when Tudor was still enrolled type thing. Suddenly people started talking about 18 month contracts rather than to the summer. And I was like, oh, that's a bit surprising. Then you're like, oh, they actually have to plan for if we go down, you want someone in place immediately to get us back up because we're harder to sell. And so it doesn't surprise me to an extent that it's long. I think, you know, there's been some surprise.
2:19I think people are saying that Deserby hasn't got himself a relegation release clause. Look, I think we also all know he has a way of combusting to a position where he'll probably find a way of getting himself out if needed. And there's probably enough clauses within it that if we need to offload, then it's probably not five years worth of contracts that we end up losing, isn't it? It's probably like a year or something like that.
2:43Jack:I mean, I can understand it purely on the level that what relegation is going to cost Spurs at least a quarter of a billion pounds or so people project so the thought of chucking whatever it is if he's on you know eight mil a season or something like that yeah it's it's it's less of a hit isn't it really um so I can I can see it on that side of things but it's uh yeah I mean it's it that was a shock to me it was very interesting to see that there was you know even sort of talk coming out from like sammy mockbell from the bbc that he intends to stay even if we get relegated that he sees the potential at the club and he wants to build something you know of course he's going to say that right now isn't he yeah like the reality of of tottenham getting relegated genuinely honestly like there's nothing that the ownership have done like over the past few years really but in particular this past season that suggests they really actually understand football at all and i i really don't think they know what's going to hit them if spurs go down like no it that that final day against everton will be probably some of the grimmest scenes you'll ever see it and i'm not trying to advocate i'm not trying to push people to do anything but it will not be a nice place to be and yeah i i just think this idea that like we're going to go down but we'll still have deserve and all mikey moore's coming back and think that's not going to soften the blow for people i don't think anyway no no as you even now i find it hard to comprehend and as you started saying it i could feel like my stomach turning as you were like happy to be of service thanks cheers mate um i find it hard to imagine the everton game like i i feel like at the moment it is good oh god football cliche it's one game at a time but it it feels like these next three games are the real big block is you look at these next three games and think they're distinctively winnable but then each of the all of the seven games I feel like there is opportunity for us where we could win them they're winnable they're also losable and that's the league that's this league you know as a season you know I was saying to you before we before we started here but you know me in my fantasy football world I have to I have I mean I literally watch every single football game of the season, which has been of all seasons this season has been pretty painful to watch every single game.
5:18And virtually every game you watch is tight. This is the least amount of drubbings there's ever been in a season type stuff, which means that any result can happen, not just for us, but for them each week. And that's really, I think that just leads to as a type of fan you are, if you're an optimistic man you'll be like we can win these next few games and if you're you're not you're going to be like going away to Sunderland's not easy and then Brighton was old club walls are
5:47Jack:getting better it's one of those things is it the so Stadio did a kind of Tottenham special and they were just talking about everything that's that's going wrong and I really enjoyed it I thought it was it was very interesting to hear like a non Spurs affiliated media actually managed to critique the club and be quite you know scathing of the way we operate without defaulting back to these sort of tired spursy type tropes and things like that you know the the i think the lack of i found this season in particular the sort of neville carriga disingenuous sky narrative really quite good there's almost this sense that like it's not surprised Tottenham are in this situation Tottenham aren't a big club Tottenham just have these pretense you know there's this kind of this forced narrative that it's like it's not a huge shock that Spurs are on the verge of relegation like it's it's silly and I find it particularly frustrating um but you know they were sort of going through our end of season fixtures uh and and Musa was saying on there like oh you know it's not a particularly nice run into the end of the season for Spurs and I was thinking to your point I don't I don't think there's you could pretty much pick out any random selection of teams from the Premier League now chuck them into your fixture list and say that's not a particularly nice run of games because and this is to Antonio Conte's point this is something that Dan Kilpatrick has dug out fairly recently not from the explosive Southampton presser but from one of his more sort of milk toasts middle of his uh middle of his tenure type quotes.
7:25Jack:It was around the time Everton were on the verge of going down. And the point he was essentially making is that it doesn't matter what your name is. It doesn't matter what history you have. The Premier League has changed. The Premier League has changed in the past few years. Everybody now is very rich. Everybody's very competitive. Everybody wants to get to the very top. You can't rest. Nobody can afford to rest anymore. Whatsoever. And one of the things that's definitely happened this season is a real stylistic change, which actually has brought everybody further to. closer together you know is is is tactically now set play plays are just huge and that that's the same for everybody like everybody can be great with a static ball the bit that's probably can you know you know less easy to replicate is how many times you get that opportunity so if you're arsenal for example you're going to have more opportunity to to do those set piece routines than necessarily a burnley would for example but but in general the way that the stop start nature of like tactically the game's moved this season has brought everybody together.
8:28We did a pod look at the season with John McKenzie from the Athletic on Tuesday. And one of the things, you know, we talked about was like last season, there were three teams. So if you go to like expected goal metrics, there were three teams that had over 70 non-penalty expected goals last season. It's unlikely that any team gets to that this season. So what you had is you had three teams that would hammer everybody, but you also had three teams that would take hammerings from everybody in terms of the relegated teams. That's not happened this season. So what you end up with is a real short window, basically, between the teams that are even first to 20th, but actually probably if you just take Burnley out of it, then there's nothing in it.
9:20If you take our season and you take Everton's season, so Everton are chasing Champions League. They have created one more expected goal than us this season and they have conceded one less expected goal than us this season. Two goals. We're in the worst season, fighting relegation. They're fighting Champions League.
9:40Jack:It's not fair, is it? It's not fair. But there's so much of that that is happening because games are being decided by really, really small moments this season. And it's going to be those small moments in these next seven games that decide whether we stay up or not. Not just for us, but for the teams around us. I guess this is why it's particularly frustrating, without even making it a conspiracy. It feels like a conspiracy. Well, it does, it does. but while we don't seem to get the rub of it with many refereeing decisions whatsoever um because like you said because these games are so tight and i think even when i reflect on igor tudor's short reign as much as it looks like an absolute catastrophe on paper i think the the the reality of it the nature of it is we we actually played all right until something went against us and it felt like the players heads all dropped and they were suddenly like right that's the same old story this is what's happening to us you know I think about the Palace game when we were really good until we weren't you think about you know the last game against Forest when we played a pretty brilliant first half really truth be told I felt until they scored and Tudor did make a load of kind of strange substitutions at that point but yeah I mean it's difficult and I guess I guess what i want to what i want to put to you to to bring it back to deservey is it his his his track record to this point if we're just looking at it in a footballing sense is that his system is good it can be effective but it takes some time not only to get up to speed but it also requires a certain player of a certain technical level we're looking at a team that i would say the average technical level of this squad is fairly low um the higher components of that are all out injured right now which is also doesn't help and we're also a team that is massively lacking in confidence we're a team that seems to be very poorly coached i think that's something we can say i think he got you know there were there were often bits that would come out from his presses where he's talking about how essentially how poorly coached they've been for quite some time that he was shocked by their lack of fundamentals if you like roberto de zerbi had he been brought in in the say tudor kept us up roberto de zerbi's brought in in the summer again look i know that it's a very divisive issue but please as i continue to talk about this i'm talking about this in a footballing sense i think we would look ahead probably more positively we would say okay right well he's a hot-headed guy but he's got a summer there'll be some impetus to spend some money because we've just avoided getting relegated so on and so forth i don't know this is a bit of a straw man but still bringing him in now to do the dice job to save us with a view to sort of building after that point those things don't seem to tally for me i mean be gladly proven wrong but what do you make of it mate i don't i think that i think that's all correct i and we're gonna have you know because we've got like two weeks to the next game or week and a half next game we're gonna have everyone and tell us like how he's going to play and what he's going to do and all those things.
12:58There are seven games left. Like I also think that potentially maybe just the idea of this is how I want to do this. We've talked, probably all talked a lot about the idea of wanting someone to just put their arm around the players and tell them it's going to be okay and maybe it will be. But I think actually they might not get that through the arm around the shoulder, but I think the idea of that I have some confidence that this guy knows what he's doing and this is, okay, I'm going to have to just sell myself to this idea, that might also work in our favour. You know, we have all felt this conspiracy.
13:36We have all felt that we don't feel like we're getting the rub of the green and all of that sort of stuff. I don't think there could be surely a Spurs fan that doesn't feel that way. Maybe, and it's right, it plays out, you know, is, again, you know, is, one of the things is really interesting is that actually under frank we massively over performed our data for a long period of time so we were scoring more goals than technically what we should have we were conceding less goals than we should have and you were like maybe actually what then happened is because some of the times we got a bit luckier for longer than we should is that kept frank in a job longer than he should and actually but what's actually happened is tudors come in figures don't look good.
14:20But actually, whether it be bad luck, whether it be confidence, whether it just be stupidity or circumstance like, you know, the Fandavend thing, we've not only managed to not look good on paper, but we've actually managed to do worse than what we probably should have done. And you're like, if we somehow just stopped that bleeding, it's probably enough because these games are so tight. These games are so tight. But, you know, one of the things that probably worries me the most is we have comfortably conceded that the most errors lead into a shot in the league. Really? It's pretty bad. Where do we rank?
15:01Yeah, go on, give us that. I'm not sure you even want to see it because it is that bad. We've conceded.
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16:07Jack:And he's ready to buy your son's entire wardrobe right now. Consider your future growth spurt budget secured. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. 39 errors leading to a shot this season. If you compare that to Leeds. 14. Yeah. And actually, a lot of the teams that are like... And they're the next after us, right? No, no, no. Second worst is Villa at 31. Second worst is Villa at 31. But that's quite a gap. 39 and us. Then next is 31. well. But most of the time I'm surprised that it's filler. Sorry to interrupt.
16:48They are a bit dodgy defensively. They do fine ways. Teams like Brentford have conceded 19, half of what we've done. West Ham 20th because it's pragmatic stuff like just dogging in and just hoofing it out, not mucking around. We've we've caused these a lot of those problems there is and the most you know and 12 of those 39 have ended up in a goal for the opposition so it's like we make at least one error every game that leads to a shot and then one in three games we do an error that's bad enough that leads to a goal that's why that confidence just is constantly a problem the the issue being that when Dezerbi joined Marseille in that first season, they were also comfortably the worst team on errors leading to a shot.
17:44And you're like, I don't know what happens when you've got a team that was really bad at it and then you bring in a manager where it normally happens and go, if you put them together, is it like, do they cancel each other out and maybe it'd be okay? Or is it absolutely fine? That's like science, isn't it?
18:00Jack:Isn't that like one of those fundamental laws of physics? I'm going to try and convince myself that maybe that's how it'll work. Negation? i think i think if i if i recall back to my secondary school days but it those sort of things like i i think there's a lot that which gives us some feeling as to the reasons as to why we feel that way like that was ever leading to a shot they just feel like we're shooting ourselves in the fit it just kills us some of the other stuff where we're just weird compared to other stuff is is things like how we how we attack like so and a lot of these now i hope that deserve to an extent comes in and brings some kind of identity that means that hopefully we run with something straight away because we definitely didn't do it under frank yeah so if you think about brentford one of the things that the um anybody in my fantasy football world would know is that Brentford do lots of fast breaks.
18:55Now, why fast breaks are important at fantasy football is you can kind of work out who's going to be on the end of them because you know the quick people that will get there. So the number nine at Brentford always scores lots of goals and the wingers also scores lots of goals and the midfielders not so much because they get forward quickly and do all that stuff. And that's continued this season, you know, is they've created what they would class as 45 fast breaks. You turn the opponent over in your own half and bang, hit the opponent on the break. Whereas us, bottom of the league, 13 fast breaks all season.
19:29And you think about like a fast break when you actually go to a game. A fast break is something where you've turned the opponent over. You've suddenly put them under pressure. It gets the whole crowd off their feet of is it, is it, is it, baying for blood? Because we don't have those moments. These are all things that really just contribute to the lack of confidence in us as a football club. Shoot ourselves in the foot and we rarely shoot another team.
19:55Whereas I do look, again, that fast break, I do look at Deserby and think that was one of the key things that he was great at for Brighton. Interestingly, a lot of times he used to do that was from the keeper. So, you know, quite famously, he dropped Bob Sanchez for Jason Steele, who no one heard of. And you're like, why did he do that? And it was because he could bang the ball 70 yards and Matoma was really good at taking the ball out of the air. and suddenly would just be through. So from under a bit of pressure, he would be happy to do a long pass from a keeper. And you're like, I can't imagine Vicario doing that pass.
20:29Jack:Well, this ties quite nicely to David O 'Kane's question, who do you predict will be the Spurs goalkeeper on the final day of the season? Do you think Kinski will redeem himself or will Vicario get the spot back straight away after his recovery? And I mean, I think Flav had Julian Laurence on the lab the other day, and it was a very good listen. The only thing I disagreed with Julian on was that, Julian, first name terms. The only thing I disagreed with him on was he was saying the Spurs have two keepers that can't play with their feet. And that's not true. I mean, Kinski didn't make a good show of it in Madrid, obviously.
21:07Jack:But one thing that we all know is that he's very good with his feet. It's like quite the opposite. it do you think this could be could this be his redemption arc because i look i've seen some of the i've seen some of the the videos doing the rounds of deservey ball and everything and there's just no way giuliano vicario is is playing that football not a chance i mean it may well be that deservey doesn't play deservey ball this season who knows might be a more regressive hoof ball whatever whatever it is that it takes to to to create opportunities for spurs but But surely this is Kinski's chance now, isn't it?
21:43So I think a lot of people, you'll hear a lot of people talk about the fact of both under Marseille and under Brighton that they predominantly play short with the keeper. And that is 100 % true. So I've seen already some content that have said, well, Vakario will be fine because he was quite good under Ange playing the short one. But what De Zerbe's always done is have the option to go long. and he will try one or two times a game to go long. And the aim of the go long for the knockdown, the aim of the go long is to put a player through, straight through on goal. Because the more you have that threat enables, it releases some of the pressure for where you play short.
22:25So if you're always, always short, so Ange was always, always short, wasn't it? So eventually teams just pressed higher and higher and higher against us. And actually we could never get out. And it was amusing. but Deserby where he does that slightly differently is he will bait both ways. So he'll bait short but actually if you start over pressing he'll look for the out. So you have to have a keeper that not only is good to play short but can go long. And Kinski has the distribution for it. I think in general as Spurs fans we probably do talk enough about Vicario and some of the misses he's had but we probably don't talk strongly enough about dropping your keeper.
23:03and I don't know how long this hernia has been an issue, but not even close from the stats perspective is there anyone in the same league as absolutely abysmal as Vicaria this season. Like it's beyond phenomenal how bad it is. So he's minus five and a half against his expected goals this season. So if you put the average keeper in goal, He's conceded five and a half more goals than the average person that you just stuck in front of it. And next worse is three in the minus. Now I talked about Everton. Pickford the other way around is six up on his expected. So that's like a gap of 11 between us.
23:48So if we just had Pickford and not Vicario, we'd be in the Champions League.
23:52Jack:And Pickford's the type of player as well that, myself included, a lot of Spurs fans would turn their noses up at. I remember. The times we have been linked to him, yeah. you know absolutely but if you just even take under tudor right so so vicario faced 30 shots on target under tudor that's quite a lot six shots five five shots on target a game is a fair amount but he only saved 15 of the 30 shots on target so it's like a one in two just take two shots in one it'll go in if you compare that to like rivals so some of these are less numbers Yeah, but like for Bruggen, they faced 18 in that period, saved 17.
24:33Trevich of Bournemouth conceded 22, saved 19 of them. I was like 15 of 18. Even if you went to like Jose Sarr, and bear in mind, you know, Jose, what Wolves have done is they've changed Jose Sarr and Sam Johnston quite a bit. It's almost like, well, what else do we do now? We'll try that. But he'd save 24 out of 30. 24 out of 30 compared to 15 out of 30. It's just, it's way too big, those numbers. Newcastle if you ask most people at the start of the season would you want Nick Pope or Aaron Ramsdale I think like 99 % of them would say Nick Pope is a better keeper than Aaron Ramsdale but quite simply Newcastle were quite close when we played Newcastle in February if we beat Newcastle we'd have been within one point of them now they're sort of chasing Europe but what they did do is they dropped I think it was for our game they dropped they dropped Nick Pope and put Aaron Ramsdale in he's saved they conceded 14 shots and target he saved 11 of them.
25:26Like, sometimes just changing a keeper can do something. So I'm really hopeful in a strange way that if it turns out Vicario for this hernia is going to miss one or two games, it might just give us some hope that we have no choice here but to choose one. Whether, I mean, he might just come in and choose Austin, mightn't he? He might not even be Kinski. He's always done really well
25:47Jack:in the few chances I've seen him get. I don't really understand that one. There's so much about Spurs that I understand. And I get it, we're not on the training pitch and all that, but still, you know? Every other club around us has chanced their arm on keepers. Yeah, so Leeds started with Perry, now they've gone to Darlow, gone to an older guy, rather than the guy they've spent money on. West Ham have gone for Areola, to Hermansen, so they've chanced their arm, they've gone, let's just try something and hope for the best. I feel like we have to try something with it. But Vicario doesn't deserve it as the lowest save percentage in the league.
26:26And his save percentage since Christmas is 52%. Yeah? Next worst in the league is like 65%. It just doesn't... So if we concede lots of shots and we have less likelihood of saving them, you're fucked. You can't get past it. It might be enough. It genuinely, changing Vicario might be enough.
26:50Jack:It's just a shame that Kinski just looks quite ropey himself. But they say, you know, maybe it won't be. Maybe it'll be Austin. Yeah. The mistake for me was that we didn't try Kinski earlier. I think one thing I will say, yeah, I agree with that. And we chucked him into such a high pressure fixture. I think what he also had going against him was that they dark artsed the pitch as well. You know, there was a lot going against the lad. Will he come back from it? Loris Karius never did, you know, but that was a slightly bigger occasion than this one. I do put a lot of that just on Tottenham because obviously they did dark arts the pitch, but they dark arts the pitch all season, or certainly apparently since the NFL.
27:34They'd repeatedly done it. And in January, we signed a guy from Lafletico Madrid. Shouldn't we have just said, Connor, do they do anything to the pitch? What sort of stud should we wear? We had the opportunity there. Um, yeah.
27:49Jack:But that's Spurs. That's what we've been like for so long, isn't it? The lack of, again, football cliches, the lack of joined up thinking at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. I mean, even the precario, the precario hernia thing, like is, you're like, oh, okay. So we've basically said that he's got a hernia issue. The second you do that, if you're the opposition, you'd be put all crosses to the back post because he's unlikely to come. And how did we concede the first goal versus Forrest? Oh, guess what? Set piece to the back post. I do think at least De Zerbe wouldn't do that. I think he at least would not allow that sort of stupidness to happen.
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28:27Jack:I mean, I would also hope that given his direct nature, shall we say, he's not going to be somebody that's going to be afraid to say, I don't care if you want to sell Vicario this summer, I'm going to play Austin. I don't care if you've just spent£30 million on Kinski. I don't think Kinski or Vicario are any good. I want to play Austin because he looks all right. He looks like a passable goalkeeper until we get to the summer. I'm not saying that's the exact scenario, but my point is it feels as though, especially under Thomas Frank, we had a manager who would probably very much toe the party line, was probably somebody that was very grateful to have the opportunity, but there's a power shift now.
29:07Jack:There's definitely a power shift. Look, in no uncertain terms, we've had to beg De Zerbi to come and be our manager. Yeah, we have. We've had to beg. We've publicly debased ourselves for this. We've given him, I think he's the third highest paid manager in the Premier League. It's been a very public pursuit. It's been a very public on our knees begging, desperate, come and save us. Come and save this football club. So you would imagine what comes with that is not just the big salary and stuff, is him having a lot of control. You know, I don't know how verified this is or not. I've just seen it floating around on Twitter that he is apparently very much a manager dash director of football.
29:51Jack:That's the role he has taken at Spurs. They've likened it to the Alex Ferguson role at Manchester United, where he does have a say in football operation. He does have a say in transfers that will overrule, say, a Langer or a Van Kutenshin or whoever else comes in. I think some people find that a bit old-fashioned and maybe it's a reflection on me being a bit old-fashioned, but sometimes I like it. I quite like the idea of that. I quite like the idea of a manager who has a very specific plan and a very specific idea in the way he wants to play football, signing the players that he thinks will best match that, will best fit that.
30:31Jack:I'm not so sure why that scene is so archaic. And I get it. I know that it does cause problems down the line because we're talking about building a team that you can bring any manager into the fold and have them manage that situation. But that feels almost a bit binary in itself as well. I think the idea that if Roberto Deserbi signs, you know, a couple of Italian players that he really likes in the Serie A or a couple of Marseille players, hopefully not a certain Marseille player, but a couple of Marseille players or something like that, that whoever it is that comes in after that, probably an aging Pep Guardiola.
31:08Jack:knowing Tottenham Hotspur, wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces. You know, I just, the point is, I think that we have needed somebody for quite some time that is going to be punchy. I do think Tottenham have been, Tottenham as a football club, look, this isn't anything revelatory. Tottenham as a football club have been run as a business for far too long. We haven't been run as a footballing operation. We haven't been run as a side that is really truly invested in the sport that makes us the majority of our money. And that has come back to bite us now, like a thousandfold. But the situation that we're in now, you can, this isn't a freak occurrence.
31:51Jack:It kind of is still a little bit, I think, really, if I'm being brutally honest. But there are still breadcrumbs to this point. You can definitely follow the, or should we say cheesecrumbs? We can follow the crumbs to the cheese room. yeah we can follow the cheese crumbs to tottenham's stinky position they find themselves in right now can i keep this any more fromagey i don't know i probably could um billy t says uh what a link up thank you billy um who would who would you be more likely to add into your team now roberto Deserby is manager. There you go. Shall I get me an FPL question out of it?
32:30I mean, in my full-on, let's get behind Tottenham piece, this shows that I am not an FPL expert, I, last week, for the Forest game, brought Richarlison and Romero into my team, thinking they're going to be up for the cup final. Kind of wish I hadn't done that. Kind of wish I hadn't done that. But that's going to be really interesting in the forward position, I think more than anything, because I think under Tudor immediately, we were like, just hang it all on Richie because actually he feels like the guy that's going to get us out of this mud. I don't feel like he really fits too well for Deserby in terms of what he would expect.
33:11I would almost, I would much more expect that Solanke would be more Deserby number nine than I would, would Richarlison. Or be, I don't know. I just, every, time I watched Dom I just don't think just don't think he's right just doesn't feel like he moves
33:27Jack:well at all at the moment he looks all right for England which kind of annoyed me again the other day but you know he looked all right when he came on against the Fletico didn't he like obviously the goal was taken really well and I just felt did but but I know what you mean I think he's completely injury free no and I I kind of feel like he lacks that killer instinct a little bit as well sometimes sometimes dom um but i do think he's a very good player that's the thing he's kind of he's one of those players that i would rather not be facing because i would know that i i i pretty much bracket him almost entirely with dominic calvert lewin i think that i think there's just from my sort of itis where i think they're actually remarkably similar i think slank is a bit better than him well truth be told but i think they're quite similar in that they're neither of them are set in the world alight but at the same time I don't think anybody wants to play against either of them because they're just they're difficult players I think a bit nicer in that sense like you say he is a bit nice for it you know under Deserby from an old FPL perspective the players that you wanted actually So under the sort of like 4-2-3-1, he played March and Matoma as wide guys that really were the output people, the guys that would be involved in the goals.
34:58One of the things that he used to do was a lot of arriving at the back post for both of them. Ironically, probably someone like Brendan Johnson could have done that right wing well quite well in terms of just turn up at the back post and put the ball in the net. but so you know Tao and Kudus could play those roles particularly well for us I think just I'm absolutely desperate to just see Kudus back on the pitch because I think he's probably our best chance of survival
35:28Jack:that's a not so secret weapon isn't it really the idea of him coming back into the fold Kudus is the guy that I'm just incredibly hopeful for that we have back but Kudus and Tao I can see working really well around the striker be interesting to see what he does in number 10 position. So McAllister used to score a lot of goals coming into that 10 role, but he used to come at it from quite a deep role where he would often drop into the midfield in a free, certainly in defense and certainly in sort of build-up, and then arrive late. And I feel like that sort of McAllister role probably is more suited to, say, Bergvau, I think probably more than anybody else.
36:11you could even have to say Gray could do that I think more I was quite interested to ask you yeah
36:18Jack:sorry just what this what Deserby's appointment would mean for Archie Gray because obviously we've seen him deployed in a variety of different positions do you have a steer on how you think he'd best utilise Gray I think it could be that I think it could be one the interesting bit what does it mean for Xavi Simons but he like to have more power almost through that through that 10 role as I said often often coming to meet the ball with a head or rather than necessarily like run onto the shot and I think we've seen it more and more recently with Grey as he's as K-pop Demon Hunters Hajaboy's Breakfast Meal and Huntrix Meal have just dropped at McDonald's they're calling this a battle for the fans what do you say to that Rumi?
37:07it's not a battle So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day. It is an honor to share.
37:14Jack:No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor. No, really. Stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side. A participating McDonald's while supplies last. It's just become like the central point for us of quite often he is turning up in the box. Like, I just think he's got great football brain. Archie Gray, you can feel it, doesn't he? He knows when to drop, he knows when to cover the fullback, he knows when to sit, and I've seen more and more recently that he knows when to get into the box. And it wouldn't surprise me, it seems weird to think of him as potentially like a 10, but he wouldn't be almost listed as a 10.
37:56He would almost be listed as one of the midfield two. But what you'll often see is one of those midfield two will crash the box a significant amount. And that's maybe that he then has, say, Xavi Simons as the official 10, but with more of an instruction to watch Gray. And actually what you'll see is quite often is Xavi Simons is the 10 and Gray behind him. And actually what you'll see is Xavi Simons will sort of drop towards more the edge of the box. So he's still playing more of a creative role and Gray will overlap looking to be almost that support striker. I think that works. I think one of the things is we've seen from Xavi Simons is that he's not particularly strong, is he?
38:40He's kind of not the guy you want in a knife fight in the box. You want someone a bit bigger. So I think that suits Bergvau or Gray. That's probably one of those two guys that would be aggressive in playing around Solanke. So I think one of those two, I don't think it particularly suits Saar. Sar's probably the one when I look at our midfield guys where I feel like I don't I don't see it being you Interesting He might also use Gallagher in this role by the way is if you if you wanted to watch back any of the Palace games where where where Gallagher was at Palace he very often Gallagher played as the number 10 He scored quite a few Palace didn't he?
39:27Huge amount of goals He basically never touched the ball. It was a very strange role that he played at Palace. Genuinely, you know, I remember we used to talk about it regularly, as I said, because we used to watch every bloody game, and you used to be like, is he allergic to the ball? Because you'd look at his stats and there'd be nothing there. You'd look at like heat maps and you'd be like, he hasn't touched the ball. I don't understand it, but he scored. So he was really hard to almost like predict in a fantasy world of, do I get this guy in? Because all his stats look absolutely abysmal, yet he seems to be scoring every week.
39:56and it was actually what he just did was incredible at pressing as a number 10 so he's a really defensive number 10 in that he just hurried hurried hurried hurried hurried and then he would just be a support striker um when the ball was in the box so the only times he would touch the ball would be i'm going to poke the ball in the net um and he was really good at that if you think about all the things that we all criticize him for he didn't do any of those like when he had his best season He didn't do progressive passing. He wasn't good on the ball. He wasn't, you know, what do they call him in a flake?
40:28They called him like the pit bull or something like that. He wasn't any of that. He just bothered defenders and then worked his way into the box when needed. And that really worked around a guy. Zaha was obviously the main creative outlet, very similar to Tell. And I can't remember who was up front at the time. I know he was big. I don't know if it was Penteke. Was it Penteke's time or was he? Had he gone by then? Probably gone by then.
40:52Jack:When was he there? 2021? Yeah. 2021-22. Yeah, I'll work it out. But they definitely had a big number nine. All I'm going to say is, fellas definitely had a big number nine at the time. And he just worked off it. So he could be used in that role. I don't see him using Gallagher as like his sitting number six. Jack C says, a lot of talk on pods that our players need more of an arm around the shoulder, simple style than what Roberto De Zerbi brings. Isn't the main issue that we've been basically doing that since peak Ange? Hasn't this squad shown that it's most effective when committed to an attacking front foot game plan?
41:33Yeah, so I do think the only way we get out of this under De Zerbi is outscoring. Like, it is the only way. Like, I do not see him shoring up at the fence. I feel it will have to be front foot play. It's going to be really interesting because the French league, so the French league has virtually no lean into on set plays like we do. So on average in Ligue 1 is round about 15 % to 20 % of the total expected goals come from set plays. Now, Marseille was 15 % or 13 % sorry, 13 % of all of their goals. creation came from set plays that would be bottom in the premier league um along with man city so it doesn't necessarily mean you're rubbish if you're if you're doing it but but you've got to be good in the open world if if if you're not leaning into set plays but as a league they just don't put anywhere near the focus that in premier league is just set please so so i think there's some things that would just disappear completely would be shocked if we ever saw a dance so long
42:44Jack:throw again i think that would just be like gone it's never worked either it's never i don't think i've seen it once that's just not that's uh medium froze have you seen his agents been piping up again lately by the way no i haven't his agent saying that he's got offers from saudi for 50 million pounds a season or something but he's turning it down because he's focused on playing like real football or something you know just shut up just shut up now mate but yeah that's that's going to be fascinating in a world of you know where everybody else is trying to like slow the ball down and be like i'm going to concentrate on my corner routines and take 10 minutes over doing them and i've frozen so forth deserve is not of that game now that it that could just massively backfire it could massively backfire but it could also be the thing that gets up off our seats because you feel that even if you're watching on tv when we're losing and you're watching dan so rub the towel with the ball and so forth you can't help but get full-on old man of just get the ball in the box um type stuff so i do think there is get in the mixer just what are you doing with this towel boy like just throw it down and kick it in you know i do think there is a lot that might appeal to us as fans when we stop seeing three minutes over every corner, when we stop seeing, and actually that might disjoint opponents as well more.
44:20I always think when we're doing that throw, you're like, we're actually just giving the defenders time to breathe again and get organized. I say that's one of the reasons why we never break on a team because they're never disrupted.
44:38i'm having to try and tell myself somehow it might work i think this is it now isn't it this is
44:44Jack:we just have to all we can do now is just believe pray whatever i i look mate i can't i can't face the idea of spurs going down i really can't and i i've looked at it face on and i talk about it on here but i still kind of if i'm if i'm brutally honest there's still i know there's still that little bit behind my eyes that's like spurs aren't gonna go down spurs aren't gonna go down we can't go down we can't have a year in the championship but i mean it's it's a very real potential now should we say at least like it's not just fanciful it's not just kind of doom mongering we are you We're in an incredibly bad place and we just have to now hope that this roll of the dice that they've made on bringing Deserby in now at this point in the season is going to work, that he's going to surprise us all, that he's going to show that he can galvanize a team and work his magic in a short space of time.
45:46Jack:Because otherwise, you know. I noted the other day that the Opta supercomputer has... Oh, what's it up to now? It's always got something. It's always Neggin Tottenham, isn't it? Bloody robot. Well, it's not. It's gone a little bit of a race. Oh, I know. It's a Deserby appointment. Sorry, I bow to our robot overlords. We were nearly on 40 % chance of relegation after the Forest game. And now it shows us 27 % chance of relegation. And is that a Deserby amendment? I don't know. I can only assume so, because that's what it is today. is so it currently has West Ham with a 57 % chance of relegation and us at 27, Forrest at eight and Palace, sorry, Leeds at six.
46:36It has us expected to get one and a half more points than West Ham and two, but it's two points behind Forrest. So what that is saying is I can't take this, mate. We will be facing into this on last game of the season.
46:56Jack:Oh, God. That's what this says. That is disgusting. That is worse than... This says it's not over. At least it's not Chelsea relegating us, right? That's one thing. At least it's not Chelsea relegating us.
47:15Trying to get my head around both that Chelsea game and then the home game against Everton. I don't think we should be talking about it right now. I agree.
47:23Jack:I agree. I foolishly regularly go on a Forrest pod to do like previews, like opposition view. But that's fun. Well, this season, I think I've been on six times. Once I went on because they asked me to come on and talk about what it's like under Ange. And it's fair to say the Forrest fans did not like that at the time because they were like, no, no, this is a Tottenham thing. And then a few weeks later, they were like, oh, yeah. Oh, right. Yeah. and then obviously I had to go on last week and then we were doing I've gone on and done like a relegation special for them but when you'll then start to play through these games you're like that three games to go period home Leeds, away Chelsea, home Everton I mean we just need like four or five wins we just got to somehow just do something mental and just even just two wins just win this week, next week, whenever it is next week.
48:17Jack:Just win every game win them all win all win all all of the games all of them imagine if we did imagine if we did that where would we finish in the table then finish probably top six did you the same Deserby actually said that was basically he didn't say I'll save us from relegation he basically said I'll come in and we'll work towards as high of the table as we can get for the rest of the season that's that's the sort of that's the chat you need to have isn't it really at this point I wouldn't say I'll come in and he said I'll come in and work as as high up the table as you can for the rest of this season and I was like I just want one more place do you do you because you know there's a lot of the stuff you know they announced a couple of weeks ago that you know Newcastle is going to be moved to a category B fixture next season people said maybe we won't even be playing Newcastle next season we've announced the down under tour yeah we're doing our down under tour it's like a championship club doing a down under tour the championship season starting just a few days after we're supposed to be getting back and as much as i get it i know people are saying this is bad but maybe it's good in a way maybe it's good that the club aren't considering even considering that they might be a championship club next year yeah you kind of have to do that don't you i guess in a way we're doing it ourselves yeah the hilarious bit is we moan we're going to moan about them doing it but we're all doing it we're all doing it we're all just looking at this week the big issue i don't know if you realize this but again i have to look at all the bloody fixtures to know this but i don't know if you know that but west ham play next friday night first game of the week so the problem is is west ham go first and they're home to walls next friday night wolves are on the up so let's hope but if they win by the time we play on the sunday we are cut well adrift in allegations though.
50:09Jack:Jesus, West Ham leads in a FA Cup quarterfinal. What an abysmal... How are we not there when those two are? Oh, we just... I mean, you know when people say they don't wish injury on anyone? I wish injury on everyone in that game. No, ACLs all over the shop. Just, you know. Or maybe hamstrings. That's a bit less cruel, isn't it? A something, a six to eight week grade two hamstring tear. Who are we hoping for? Bowen? Who's that really... Who's that incredible player West Hamer signs that midfielder yeah oh my god what a player what a player Somerville if he's back yeah definitely get him back out decent yeah decent player sorry big Joe Roden but you need to go yeah get rid DCL yeah stack anti-stack you can go let me ask you about this this is because we do have a few more questions but one thing I did want to ask you is that John Bass made a really good point in the fighting cock the other day that Van Der Ven and Romero are pretty good footballers right they're pretty good football I think Romero is an exceptional defender to be honest I know he's frustrating and I know he can be prone to folly should we say but I do think he's the closest thing we have to an elite player probably in our team really um van der Ven not so much personally speaking but his point was that even though Danso may not kind of be as flashy as either of those two Danso just seems like a more solid and I guess this kind of throws back to our goalkeeper conversation we were having earlier that danza just seems to be like a solid really good defender that he would want to see play in all of these type of games i say this because just because you've just mentioned joe road and they're a player who we you know cast our eye over he never really broke through at spurs never made anything of an impression but is having a very good career now at leeds and he's always done well for the for the national team as well are we right now are we in a position where we need just solid performers who aren't flashy who aren't gonna have manchester city or bayern munich knocking on our door for them with no disrespect to kevin dan so there's this there's a certain comfort there's a certain assurance that players like him like ben davis i think has always given us even though people he's much maligned and people are always digging him out and saying he's part of the reason why the club are in this position I couldn't disagree more with that position personally speaking but you know how do you stand on Danso versus say I mean really it's Van de Ven we're talking about isn't it yeah I I think it's gonna be very interesting to see what De Zerbe does in that sense you know the fact that he's got this longer contract now it's not really just a seven game you know shot at this he's going to be looking at guys he can take with him into next season type stuff and that that was like i wonder if that means that he would be more leaning towards dan so and thinking that van der ven's probably off anyway uh like you say i think romero is is almost a non-negotiable i think he will play i do think the idea that we'll play short from the keeper quite a lot more often i think probably leads more to you'd have the left and right guys and so you would have van der ven and and and romero as opposed to dan so i'm in the opinion I really like Danso, and I think he has done an incredible job for us.
53:29I would not be surprised if he plays one of Danso or Pelinia, as in one dogged guy, whether it be, and I wouldn't be more surprised if we went Van der Ven and Romero, but then chucked in old Guy Pelinia in centre midfield, which I think probably would probably annoy more people than necessarily at the moment dropping Van de Ven to play Danso. I just wouldn't be surprised if we have one of those guys whose job is just boot it, head it, do what you need to do. And I just wonder whether... We're in the mud, aren't we?
54:10Jack:We need that. We're in the mud. I think we'll have one of those guys, Earth, Polini or Danso, that you go, we are in the mud and your job is to try and help us get out of the mud. And I just wonder whether it's better to be Paulina than it is to be Van der Ven. Because I think what we'll see is, I don't think we'll see, I don't think we've got the midfielders for a lot of central progression anyway. So even if you went, oh, well, I don't have him, who else do I put in that? What, are you going to put Gallagher in there? I think it's going to, and you're like, well, that's not going to make it suddenly incredible.
54:42We just haven't got a deep line playmaker. That's one of the issues, full stop. So it wouldn't surprise me if you went more baller at centre-back with Van der Venner Romero and maybe Destinian and then Porra outside it and said, actually, I'll use these guys to get that ball down the wings to kudos and tell and just have a sitter in the middle. but I'm never upset when Danso's on the pitch but part of my reason I've not been upset is all I really want Vicario to do when Vicario's on the pitch is just go long just head it, just boot it and what he was able to do Danso fit quite well under Tudor because if you played Richarlison and Solanke you could go a lot longer in all of your goal kicks and just play for knockdowns and move up the pitch whereas actually if you want progression from the back you never felt particularly comfortable when Danso was on the ball and people started to press him, you were like, oh God, what's going to happen now?
55:36Jack:Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. That's very fair. All right, let's... All right, we'll do this one quickly. Fred Gruff says, have Spurs pulled a bit of a masterstroke by recruiting in advance a Premier League manager to guide us out of the championship? I imagine attracting decent management would be a lot harder if we wait until after we were relegated. I mean, that's hopeful, Fred, isn't it? Yeah. I mean this is working on the assumption that Deserby literally doesn't just say no actually I'm out of here I don't care about relegation release clause Yeah look I definitely was not in favour of the appointment of Deserby if anyone wants to see my view on that I did that on our part you can go look at it just go through it we've all talked about it repeatedly our feelings on what's happened my view is if we do go down I mean I'd like Langer and been I to go anyway, really.
56:33That's what I'd quite like to happen. But I think if we go down, as you talked about, I don't think they realise just how ridiculous and how wild that will be from Tottenham fans. And therefore, do I think it ends up that we end up losing everybody in summer? Yeah. Burn the club down time. So, I suspect, I still don't expect, I don't expect to see Deserby managing the championship. I just don't think we need to think about that. We've just got to think about Bloody Sunderland.
57:03Jack:Well, yeah. Yes. Yes. There's a guy, I don't know if you have a comment. John Benfield? John's, we know John. He says, do you? Old friend John, yes. He says, would Baker eat cucumber every day for a year if it meant Spurs stay up? I'm assuming you don't like cucumber from this. I do have quite the phobia of cucumber. Well, that's definitely for another time. Yeah, if I had to. If I had to. I think that I wouldn't. We could definitely do a lot of talk about what would you do for Tottenham staying up right now. That would get dark, I think. We'd get dark. If we were to keep it non-salacious, let's say.
57:46Jack:I'm trying to think about things I would... We talk about things we would eat. Things I particularly hate. Baked beans. I just buy it. I hate baked beans. How much baked beans would you eat? You know when people used to see that old bath of baked beans? Would you do a whole bath of baked beans? Like over how much time? You can't get out of the bath. You've got to be in the bath with the beans. You can't get out of the bath and TV and all the beans. To have eaten all the beans around me. I mean, that's just going to get... Can we exist in some sort of physical realm where the beans stay fresh at least?
58:19Jack:Would you want them warm, cold? I think if I had to choose, I'd want them warm. But then I'm worried about myself in said warm beans. I mean, there's too many variables to this, Baker. What would you eat the beans with if you were in a bath of beans? My hands. I'd have to just get involved and get it over and done with. Get it over and done with. The thing is, the more you eat your hands, the beans would crush up. And then when you've got mushy beans, that feels worse. I want to protect the form of the bean. I'd also start to worry about the beans I'm sat on as well. that because you know that's maybe if i'm sat in the bath and the beans are poured onto me then that would avoid some of that um would i be allowed to have swimming shorts on you know this is another question i guess i mean we had to ask the question clothed or not clothed yeah true i mean i think for hygiene purposes you'd probably say you're you're slightly on a on a better one if you have some kind of speedos speed well yeah a speedo or like a boiler suit Like an American Psycho style boiler suit, you know?
59:21Jack:Yeah. Somebody who's in crock that. Yeah. Yeah. Please don't. No, anybody needs to see that. But yeah, we see what you do. You know, I'm not the biggest fan of cucumber, I would say. But if you are making cucumber, what somebody told me you can do that makes it taste like not as cucumber-y, it's like when you chop them in half, if you scrape the pips out of them, scrape the like watery pit bits out, you chop them up, it becomes more just, you know, celery. the type of celery if you dislike cucumber the worst thing that people tell all the time it's mostly water or it doesn't taste to anything it absolutely stinks and it absolutely tastes to cucumber like it's not it tastes to cucumber yeah it doesn't taste to nothing that's why like people taste like various melons and they go oh it tastes a bit like cucumber you're like you're the same sort of people that say cucumber doesn't taste to anything it tastes plenty see I always say I always say that cucumber tastes to melon but they are related apparently so you know there you go Cucumber is a type of melon, if you like.
1:00:19As your child gets older, then my son quite likes the CBeebies, Roots and Fruits. And you can pick up lots of family-related stuff. That's one for you to get into.
1:00:32Jack:Okay. What, like, as in, like, random factoids and the like? It's like, basically, the Royal Albert Hall, and every day a fruit comes on and sings on stage. Get yourself into a bit of Roots and Fruits, mate. that's that's definite viewing for you it's it's mostly just bluey is the one that people are sort of saying like you know you'll get into oh yeah it's textbook roots and fruits is for the for the weird is that is that real that's that's real like top tier niche art house david lynch style kids what was that old cartoon was it like salad fingers or whatever it was do you remember that i do on what was it b3ta yeah yeah well it's like a version of that but on cbb's roots and fruits that's the one to get to was it joel veitch was it who did salad fingers who was it that did salad fingers i thought it was joel no david firth that's who it was david firth um but joel veitch did similar stuff too all that and you know buffy buffy swearing keyboard remember all that that was always a good one we've descended we have descended um much like other parts of me will when spurs like our football club going into our going into our last game of the season against everton everything will be descended there mate if we are if it if it is as the supercomputer thing says it's all going to come down to that game we're not built for that i'm not there'll be us live streaming it me with a bucket of cucumbers you in a bath of beans getting people to vote if i should be naked or not you know getting my getting my channel perma band all that oh dear um so we're not when this is when we're in a brave new world baker we're in a brave new world but i appreciate you uh coming on and uh being the aladdin to my jasmine and experiencing this with me on my magic carpet ride through Tottenham's relegation.
1:02:26Jack:It's a pleasure. If people don't know where to follow you, don't know where to listen to you, don't know where to pick up FPL tips, where should they do that? So we have a podcast called Above Average FPL which is me and Adam. We do a stream every Sunday night, where we will talk about the weekend's action which is always good when Tottenham are going to choose on a Sunday and then we have to talk about it immediately so yeah halfway on a Sunday if you want to do the sort of like team selection stuff we'll also do that during the week on Thursday night Twitter is at Baker FPL 343 or at Above Average FPL much love mate thank you cheers buddy
1:03:21Thank you.
From the publisher
Jack welcomes Baker from the Above Average FPL podcast to make sense of the monumental news that Roberto De Zerbi is officially the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur. We explore our genuine surprise at the revelation that he has been handed a massive five-year contract completely devoid of a relegation release clause, and ask if he genuinely possesses the ability to hit the ground running to salvage this miserable campaign.
Bringing his analytical expertise to the show, Baker adds a much-needed statistical dimension to the conversation. He walks us through the underlying numbers that paint an undeniably damning picture of the current Spurs side, highlighting the exact areas where De Zerbi will need to orchestrate rapid, drastic improvements if we are to survive the drop.
As it is a Q&A episode, Baker also tackles a fantastic selection of your listener questions. We dive into the ever-present goalkeeping question, debating whether Antonin Kinsky, Guglielmo Vicario, or perhaps someone else entirely will emerge as the undisputed number one by the end of the season. Finally, looking at things from an FPL perspective, we ask the golden question: does the arrival of De Zerbi make any current Tottenham players viable targets for your FPL squads?
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