Eze’s historic hat-trick sends Arsenal six points clear

0:22Hello and welcome back to the studio podcast. I'm Miso Kwanga. I'm Ryan Hun. Ryan, how are you doing? It might be a bit of a surprise to hear, but I'm actually doing pretty well. Thanks. Well, I'm good, but not as good as Eze. Oh my goodness, that man. First of all, we hope everyone's staying safe and well wherever you are. Second of all, have a suspicion we might get a few people listening today who may not be regular listeners. If you're joining us for the first time, welcome. We are going to talk predominantly about Arsenal and Eberici Eze scoring a hat-trick on his first match. North London Derby.

0:58We're going to do a quick bit of admin. If you are in London and you want to come and see us at the South Bank Centre, we are two and a half weeks away from our first ever live show at the South Bank Centre. Go and buy your tickets. The link is in the podcast description if you want to come and see us at the South Bank Centre. Secondly, Champions League pods this week. There's going to be two Champions League podcasts this week and to listen to them, go to patreon.com forward slash stadio sign up as a podcast member if you just want the podcast membership or if you want the podcast plus a little bit extra and access to the stadio discord and all kinds of perks you can sign up as a stadio social club member every single podcast ad free and in full so go to patreon.com forward slash stadio we've got a little private i'm just gonna say private target that we want to hit in terms of membership numbers before christmas yes absolutely so help us do a membership drive if you've got a friend who listens to stadio who hasn't signed up yet give him a nudge is there any other admin?

1:55No I think that's it that's it Okay Well I think it's time to get on to the football

2:02And there is only one place to begin We have to start there please please Dortmund 3 We're not starting in Dortmund I was going to say we're going to start with Gotham Do you know what let's just shout it out before we move on Gotham FC beating Washington Spirit in the NWSL final to win the championship a Rose Lavelle got a stadio favourite Rose Lavelle goal 10 minutes from time gave Gotham the win and congratulations Gotham FC and all we know a few Gotham FC fans as well I'm pretty sure there's some Gotham FC stadio social club fans so yeah congrats to Gotham but we are going to the Emirates Stadium Arsenal 4 Tottenham Hotspur 1 in the North London derby as a fan of neither of these clubs Musa what was your main takeaway from selfishly I'm annoyed at myself because I thought on the morning of this game, I thought, I think it's going to be 4-0 Arsenal.

2:57On the morning of the game, I've been thinking about it. And like the way I said, Arsenal are due to hand something to someone because of the way they play. It's their patience. Mo Stewart, big Liverpool fan, fantastic analyst for them, talks about Liverpool's tendency for fast starts. But what makes Arsenal so special is the patience of their approach and the way they wear you down and I just felt that if Spurs invited a bit of pressure as I thought they might Arsenal would break them down and just keep doing so and in terms of the actual game I think it played out in that way like Arsenal started really well with good intensity could have gone ahead early and then Spurs to their credit I thought in terms of the fantastic defensive performance for about a good half hour but then when Arsenal broke through we saw the football that they thought people like no let me correct that we saw the football that people were afraid that arsenal could produce there's a lot of talk about set piece fc which i thought was overstated and overrated i feel that arsenal yeah if you open up a little yeah we knew that and i think people that said that the detractors felt that too because what we saw from arsenal actually this free-flowing football this was frightening some of it some of it and if you look even at some of the goals you won't get into them too much but on one occasion because Eze is dangerous either foot you see a player sliding in because he knows Eze can hit it with both feet and has to get to the ball early because Eze might take it with the left as well as the right and that's what Arsenal give you now to see Nani Madueke coming on back from injury getting cheered which is amazing considering the conversation so in terms of Arsenal's performance like long story short we'll get into the analysis later but in terms of what I saw as a non-fan of Arsenal there is talk about a title race but I can say this because I'm not an Arsenal fan.

4:43I have no skin in the game. They are currently, like, this is a procession. This is not a race as far as I'm sitting and consuming. As far, I'm not an Arsenal fan, so I can say this. I've said this to different people over the last few weeks. At this current point, it's not just Arsenal's momentum, it's where the floor is for them. I think this is the scariest thing from yesterday, was that if you look through the amount of players of Arsenal still missing who would probably lock down first team spots it's quite scary or at least have being in the conversation for being part of the strongest 11 I don't want this to sound disrespectful but I don't think Arsenal went any higher than maybe third fourth gear yesterday I don't think this was Arsenal flat out and I think that this was the interesting thing about it from my point of view was that before the game I felt zero nerves and I hate North London derbies you know how much I hate North London derbies yeah I do I do and you know and you've watched North London derbies with me and you know how much it stresses me out it was it used to especially the peak Harry Kane sun years like underpush were just some of the most stressful watches of it I hated it it made me feel physically sick understandably I I kind of I knew I obviously knew the derby was coming up but from a as a fan to feel that calm and it was really calm before the game.

6:13No nerves whatsoever. I expected Arsenal to win and I expected Arsenal to win comfortably which is saying something because this is the level of victory that I expected and yet it's the highest margin of victory that Arsenal have achieved. Joint highest margin that Arsenal have achieved over Spurs in the Premier League. I think it's the biggest margin since those back-to-back 5-2s. The 5-2s, yeah. So this isn't something that happens often. Which were more chaotic as well. This was more controlled than those. Yeah, way more controlled. And I think that the fact that Spurs' first attempt on goal comes from that Richarlison goal, which is absolutely unbelievable.

6:57This one that's going to be one of the great forgotten goals. It's incredible. The really annoying thing for Martin Zubimendi is that, yeah, I think he should release the ball quicker. It's actually weird from him that he doesn't. he's usually very very very good with his timing but the fact that Richarlison doesn't even take a touch the first touch is the strike so good but then also how many times does that actually go in you know totally yeah just absolutely incredible and the the five to ten minutes after that where Spurs started playing football it's the best football that was the the only bit of the game where I got a little bit nervy but other than that it was I think a sign of what Arsenal have been building towards for a good few years now you can miss that many players and that many key players and still maintain an element of control and an element of dominance in a derby like this against the Spurs side who have what was it the best away record in the Premier League before yesterday it's a good Spurs side I you know can I just say with Spurs they're still also missing some players as well worth knowing can I say on Spurs as well I felt like as I'm sympathy for Thomas Frank there'll be a lot of criticism today of course I thought Spurs achieved the The objective seemed to be, to me, take the heat out of this game, frustrate Arsenal, and then be more expansive in the second half, right?

8:10I thought the selection was a little bit too conservative. I don't think the game plan was conservative. I think the counter-attacking options were not great. I think this was the problem. If you're going to invite that much pressure, and I get why you would because you're at home against an Arsenal team that is, you know, doing so well in the league, I thought maybe, out of bet, maybe that was the mistake. having him as the outlet instead of a I don't know a Chavi Simons or whoever or a Brennan Johnson I just I feel like starting or even Bergvau you need someone that's going to actually run the attack run the counter could as can cook but you need someone to like he is a very talented soloist but I don't think he knits together the forward line you know and I saw that and I just thought ah I don't and they're going to cook Frank for this I don't think it's completely fair actually the back three I think in hindsight knowing that Mourinho was the the number nine essentially I think the back three caused Spurs a few more issues than they would have done if they just played as a back four yeah yeah spacing issues were really the reason for all of Arsenal's goals yes Arsenal just managed to find the space and work the space very well that I think may have been a little bit harder to find those gaps if there was just a four it never felt like Spurs Spurs felt fully comfortable in that even when the game was in front of them I think even the chipped pass that you saw Eze achieving it trying it and then Marino trying it these things were on accident I think the fact you've got a back three there you're floating the ball to area and that's a question of like who is taking that and I think there's this thing about trying to be especially with an unfamiliar line-up right a back three where you're almost like you know that thing with Arsenal they would talk about like all being like tied together at the waist to make sure they're in line and the thing about the chip past that's so brilliant is it exposes people who are like we've got to be like all all step up together we've got to and it's brilliant because it just opens up the gap where it's like you know everyone's going to step up at once and you have the space in behind and obviously merino such a clever footballer again look i love this guy merino seeing it work for ese almost and it's like let's try that again let's run it back yeah but of course trossard the delivery the weight merino is such a such an interesting footballer he's like he's like someone who's you know uh if you go if you go to a friend's house and like you know you're cooking up some stuff he's the person who just seems to always be helping out and then he's the guy if you look back actually you look back at like all the kind of like barbecues and whatever and like you know cookouts you have you look back over the last like five years you need a sample so i said hey michael's look like most of them you know you've got like circles of friends and like you know everyone's got these groups of friends where like not all of them overlap but you've got like one or two friends that you could invite them to anything and they'd get with everyone and be like, that's that kind of dude.

10:57The connective tissue. It gets quietly disheartened when you don't call them for help. Yeah, exactly. Oh, I could have done a job there. You could have called me, man. That's fine. Don't worry about it. Anyway, we're digressing. No, we're digressing because I think this is the key to it. You look at the Spurs defence for that half hour period between the Rice attempt, the good save by Vicario, and then the opening goal. that half hour when Spurs just took the heat out of it. And you saw they were almost in this kind of drift defense where Arsenal were trying to go across the top and they were kind of shepherding them.

11:31A bit like the Arsenal Porto game, shepherding them across the face of the back, the back line and they couldn't quite get an inroad. And of course, Mourinho was there to open it all up and that was him dropping deep into space. And this is the thing, like when you have a back five, maybe you're expecting someone to try and pin you a bit more. the problem was you had a back five without that much to do this is the problem with a back five if you withdraw England saw this at the Euros that time in 2000 like you've got a back five and all of a sudden there's no striker then it's like okay then you have to kind of come out at some point and Arsenal were just playing a waiting game their level of patience they take the lead of course it's a great finish by Trossard and then the second goal by Eze that comes quite quickly after that just a gorgeous finish there was talk of an offside perhaps interference because there was another one in the Liverpool game.

12:21I mean, I watched Match of the Day 2 last night and Joe Hart was talking about this. Sorry, it's not Match of the Day 2 anymore, it's Match of the Day Sunday. And they were talking about the Arsenal goal, the Van Dijk goal against Man City that was disallowed, and then the Nottingham Forest goal against Liverpool on the weekend that wasn't disallowed. Out of the three of them, I think the one that should be disallowed the most is probably the Forest goal, but I can understand why it's not. The problem with this is that if you stop it in a straight line, yes, you are impeding the goalkeeper in terms of vision.

12:50But what's actually happening is that you're kind of not in real time because by the time that the ball has left Eze's boot, Trossard's already out of the way. Yeah, yeah. And when you're breaking stuff down to frame by frame, I think it's really different. I think that, and I'm not talking about this from an Arsenal sense, just to prove that it's not a bias thing. There's a really good thing that Andrew from Arseblog always does where he, in contentious decisions like that, he's like, look if that was the other way around how would I feel about that goal standing and if Spurs had scored that goal I would have felt like Arsenal had got away with one if it had been disallowed personally I would I saw honestly I didn't when I saw people talking about offside I was like no I in the flow of the game I get the conversation that's the just to clarify but I think that you can't treat something like this in the same way that, say for example, if someone is stood right in front of the goalkeeper in an offside position and someone smashed it, I think it's a bit different.

13:54The line of sight is blurred or is it, you roll it along one more frame and both Arsenal players aren't in Vaccaro's line of sight anymore but the ball still hasn't really left Eze's boot. God, didn't it happen to Liverpool? Wasn't Liverpool, the Van Dijk against City yeah oh god that was but again I think that was a very lucky decision like to I think so I think so I think so yeah the Forrest one I think that that was the one that should have been disallowed more however Forrest also got another goal ruled out which should have stood so that one ironically was the thing that balanced up I think that was the worst of the lot yeah but yeah anyway I think I don't think it would have shift the needle yeah so that takes him into the half at 2-0, and then Eze gets a brilliant third, the clipped finish with the left foot.

14:43And the goal's kind of, you can almost argue the goal's got better and better, actually. You could argue like, the first finish was fantastic, and the next two are just even better. The left-footed one, this is my little inside baseball theory, because he finishes so well with the left, when you see the defender slide across for the right foot, I think he's going to take it with the left, because he's that good with it. So he just shimmies across it. it makes the slide tackle look worse than it is because the defender looks like he's just completely like lost the plot but I don't think it's that bad then again the finish with the right and then of course he almost gets a fourth I know which is which is I mean it's not maybe six inches to the right it's rare when stuff like this happens I mean it's so rare that you see a hat trick in a North London derby anyway in a competitive North London derby you've not seen one in 47 years Eze is also the first person to score for Arsenal in their first North London derby since Ian Wright and Kevin Campbell did it together on the same game unbelievable unbelievable he's an Arsenal fan growing up dude left as a teenager you know all the story very nearly signed for Spurs ended up signing for Arsenal getting the number 10 shirt starting in his first North London derby that comes up and scoring the first North London derby hat-trick in 47 years stop it's unbelievable it's truly I can't like look there is so much cynicism around in football now and there is so much negativity around in football I feel like sometimes going even more overboard in the stuff that is hyper romantic and positive because it is just absolutely It's mind-blowing It's mind-blowing You know, because the only comparison I can think of when Kylian Mbappe played his first Classico and he got narrowly offside that beautiful chipped finish and he scored a goal God bless him he scored a goal that he had been dreaming about like, and actually Mbappe's gone to be brilliant in Classico so bless him he's done well for that.

16:33But like, Eze scored a hat-trick that he probably reenacted, not reenacted, he imagined that hat-trick since he could kick a football. He said he prayed for it that morning. How many times has he, right, exactly. How many times has Eze scored that hat-trick in his head from a toddler to an adult? And this is the thing, right? They were talking before about players who've been pros for a long time, professionals, and they're talking about basketball contacts where Luka Doncic in the US playing for LA Lakers has been a professional basketball player for 10 years. He has been a superstar for 10 years, right?

17:07Abericier Eze, in terms of the journey he's been on, this is a 10-year journey to get back to Arsenal. A journey at some point he may have thought, he may have doubted he might get all the way back. He's back within the fold. And the thing about this hat-trick is it may be the point at which his Arsenal career truly takes off. He has maybe looked more assured for England than he has for Arsenal because he had the cameos for England. I think Arsenal is still an element of like finding his place in the attack and like getting his reps for sure. Like overwhelming though, that signing. Like how emotional that signing was.

17:37I think it took a little bit of a while just for him to settle down and be like, look, I belong here. I still think he's been quite good actually. I do. I think he's been quite good. Yeah, a lot of those signings, they've all been quite good, the new signings, Mosquera as well. But the thing about this, the fact that this will be the performance that elevates him and the frightening thing with this as well is they did this without the so-called number nine needing to be the main factor. They've got goal scorers across that front line. you've got Madaweka can finish, Saka can finish, my God, just lurking there.

18:04The amount of like coverage that Saka was drawing as well. This is the problem. Saka is dangerous off the ball. They talk about this in basketball too. Like they say, Steph Curry is the most dangerous off-ball player in basketball. And Saka, when he's off the ball, is dangerous because he's just drawing the attention. And then of course, you've got Eze there who can really finish. We've said this before. The thing I said about Arsenal's attack that I found so frightening this year was it was really pick your poison on a counter-attack who do you pick up is it saka is it madueke is it eze and now that eze has stepped up like that and you might even see some of the attack reconfigure around him at this point and as a as and forget all the tactical stuff as a dream scenario right as as purely as a like someone that gets to live out not only the dream their own dream but the dream of frankly tens of millions of Arsenal fans and this isn't a normal hat trick this isn't this is a spectacular like any one of those goals is a spectacular hat trick every goal was a banger it's felt like a long while since Arsenal made a signing that it's like been that connective yes do you know what I mean like Declan Rice was great because it was great seeing like a really really big English player play like signing for Arsenal it's not something that feels like it happens quite a lot but someone like Ebreche Eze was definitely like the most emotional signing that Arsenal have made for a long time.

19:29Like, potentially ever. That's the reward. That's the reward for having identity. Yeah, it is. That is why it's connective, because it wouldn't work. If you just bought Eze in the Smith-Rowe era, the early sack, it wouldn't hit the same, because it would be like, oh yeah, he's an Arsenal boy, but the fact is, it's a culmination. Eberichie Eze has already done things that could get him a statue in South London. He's already achieved. He's completed football in a sense. What he did, like his only challenge is matching what he did at Palace, but he's already done it. But doing it against defences who are going to expect it week in, week out, you know, and like, it's very, very different.

20:08I think it takes... It is different. It takes time to adapt. And I think he's done that actually incredibly well. Some other shout outs, I think, because they will definitely go under the radar. And rightly so when a guy scores a hat-trick in North London Derby. But Piero Incappier making his first Premier League start and just looked chill. Absolutely. Just kept it so, so boring. I love this player. He was a huge get for them. A huge get. Leandro Trossard. Do you remember that? I don't know if it crossed over to non-Arsenal fans in the summer when Leandro Trossard signed his contract extension and got a pay rise.

20:50It was not popular. no and he has kind of been a lock on that you would not get you would not get another Leandro Trossard for 15 million of course you would you wouldn't you just wouldn't look I'm never selling my Trossard stocks never also another shout out William Saliba and the reason I'm shouting out William Saliba is because I just hope you all have people in your life who hype you up as much as William Saliba will hype up a goal scorer it's amazing there must be I hope that there's a montage somewhere if there isn't can someone who has a lot of time and some good video editing skills go make a montage of William Saliba hyping up goal scorers because it's genuinely amazing it's incredible easy easy for Spurs fans I think to be despondent after this performance I get it but also I think this is more a reflection on Arsenal than it is on Spurs the one frustration I suppose might be you come away from that thinking we wish we played a bit more football.

21:54And I think Frank could have done that. I think he could have done more. But I don't think it was by much. I think a couple of different selections and it's a different game. But I think also in Frank's defence, because I like him so much, this just highlights how difficult it is to play against Arsenal. You pick your poison. Do you sit deep and invite the pressure or do you go for them early and let them in behind? And I think a lot of teams are still figuring that out because again, we have not seen really enough goals scored against Arsenal to work out how effectively to come against them. Yeah I mean like what the two against Sunderland and then an absolute worldie from Richarlison from was that the longest distance goal so far this season in the Premier League?

22:36And they'd rather be beaten by goals like that or they'd rather concede goals like that because those can't be replicated there's not like a pattern oh we can break them down xyz way in the way there was last year actually. Let's be frank, there was last year. So yeah, great from them. Disappointing for Spurs, but we move. Elsewhere in the Premier League? Well, so it opens up a six point gap at the top over Chelsea and Arsenal go to Stamford Bridge in the next game, in the next Premier League game. Chelsea beating Burnley 2-0 away and looks fairly comfortable, I thought. Three wins on the bounce now for Chelsea, one of which was against Spurs.

23:13They've not lost since that Sunderland game at home and they're actually putting together some pretty decent performances. Yes. Manchester City dropping points away at Newcastle. Let's talk about this. Yeah, it's such a strange season, Newcastle. They're very different in the Champions League to what they're doing in the Premier League. Maybe the Champions League offers a bit of a breather from the league grind. But in this game, they were, I thought, really impressive. Really good intensity. That midfield three, Guimara, Tonali, Joe Linton. It's always a problem. And I feel like City, their issues are not really defensive now.

23:51Their issues are in terms of getting match control. Yeah, like getting the real match control, the goal scoring. They fixed them in the back line. Like O 'Reilly and Nunez have been great as fullbacks. They've been really, really effective in that context. I just think that City can't get a hold on the games. And there was a lot of talk before about Reinders and De Bruyne and the comparison. but I thought that was always unfair on Rangers because I think you're seeing now just how much the wear and tear has affected City. You know, Bernardo Silva obviously just not quite as mobile anymore and that's not a judgment, just it is what it is.

24:24It's because we put him on the bench and the reliable 11, that's why. There's another thing as well, I think the problem is as well, it's like that generation of City players was exceptional. And to be a successor to that, I mean, Doku I thought was brilliant again. brilliant and doku's playmaking is another level i think the other players to be fair to them in this in this forward line church as well who's just got there and nico gonzalez they're going to need another year i think of learning pet ball before they start looking as good as doku i think the development's coming but for now i think you can understand why arsenal has stolen a march on them they're just not as cohesive and newcastle is so busy right like they're so intense this middle fielder and when harvey barnes is on it i know he missed a good only chance but that first one was wild yeah but but he scores he scores when he's locked in harvey barnes he's a fantastic player the thing i like about him actually funny enough is a miss like that a lot of other players get despondent he just raised another level was it the second one or the first was it the second one the one that city had an issue with or donna romper had an issue with because that actually that finish where he's right he's almost under the under the under the it's actually quite tricky to get that in.

25:36I think he did very well there. It is. Almost do half a backheel. So in terms of the title race, I still think six points isn't a lot at this point in the season. It's not at all. We'll talk briefly about Liverpool in a minute, but were they five points clear after five games and then seven points later, they are. Yeah, the turnaround. Yeah, and I think that while I don't expect Arsenal to have quite a drop-off like that. That was a 16-point swing in seven games. I think what Arsenal... Yeah, exactly. I think what City can do is apply pressure in terms of the goal scoring. There are a lot more goals that come out of that City team.

26:19I think it's the final thing for them. I think when everything is... I think Marmouche, for example, will step up. Cherokee. There's so many goals in that team and I think it will start to click. And I think the thing they can do usefully, if they can go on some kind of mid-season tear of just absolutely cooking teams and put pressure in Arsenal that way, then I think they can, look, City have not peaked yet. I know there's been a lot of talk about them being favourites. I know they won a few games in a row, but I was never fully convinced. I felt like there was a lot of work to be done under the bonnet still, but I can see City, like for example, it would not surprise me at all to see them ending up like the top goal scorers in the division by a decent margin, even now, even now, I mean just like 26 games to go 6 points on Chelsea 7 points on City It's nothing What I'm saying is everyone else at the moment is making really really hard work of some of these victories I think it's tough though It is tough I mean if you look at next weekend for example it's perfectly conceivable that Arsenal can go and lose at Stamford Bridge that then cuts Chelsea like the gap to Arsenal for Chelsea to three points Palace were up to fourth again and Palace have been amazing I think and kind of gone probably a little bit under the radar they beat Wolves 2-0 oh no no we can see no Palace we can see the thing about the difference is Palace and Villa Palace and Villa have been sneaking up see Villa have up to fifth you know the funny thing about this is Palace fans don't mind being seen but Villa fans hate it it's very funny Villa fans we can see we know what you're doing but yeah anyway I think that while obviously it is a very very nice lead to have I don't think it's over by any means and also a couple of weeks ago after Arsenal's draw against Sunderland and then City beating Liverpool that cut the gap for Man City to Arsenal to four points and then a lot of the talk around some of the football podcast stuff that that week was just how it looked like Man City were actually going to like reel they were going to reel Arsenal back in all of a sudden and like oh that's it kind of thing so i just feel like it's it's it's so tricky to call definitively so far and there's so many points left a ton left don't get me wrong yes i just think it's i'm impressed by how businesslike it's been so far from a couple of teams in this division not not just arsenal who are top but from someone's sort of mid-table the way they're handling games you know you include palace in that two palace have been lost twice twice Nice.

28:52So, yeah, it's so, so good. I mean, the job that Glasner's doing there, and again, one of my favourite coaches in the world, and definitely a finalist for Coach of the Year if they keep up. Well, let's pivot from one of your favourite coaches in the world to your favourite coach in the world and talk about Forrest quickly beating Liverpool 3-0 and talk about your favourite coach in the world. What's your dice? First time Forrest have won back-to-back games at Anfield since 1963. Before Clough. Before that dynastic Forest side. Wild. Before Clough. I suppose that Liverpool side was also amazing.

29:26Unreal. Can I just say as well, a quick apology to Forest fans because on most other days you would start with this result. I just think that as well this isn't the Liverpool. Look, it's 3-0 at Anfield. It's an exceptional result. I think we were chatting earlier you and I before the podcast, Ryan, about actually Liverpool were really quite decent at the start of this game. Yeah, I thought they were really good at 0-0. They just can't score. here's the thing that Mo Stewart pointed out shout out to Mo a great stat he came up with he was looking through some of the stats and he actually asked on a schlott this and schlott was taken aback by the stat I don't think he was he had it to hand but Liverpool took the lead in a sort of 22 of the 38 games last season took the lead in the first half hour and they need to do that this season totally they really struggle as soon as they go a goal down and there's an interesting thing here so there was a there's a challenge in like you know just the approach play but also in the finishing they pull on finishing that's nerves or the rushing finishes but the thing about this that that Schlott mentioned he said look last year I subbed off Ibu Kanata and brought on Diego Giotto and he scored very quickly it was one all so that was brave last year this year it would be it would be stupid and I thought even that mention I think I mentioned it as well like that you obviously can't bring on Giotto right and you don't have a striker that gets you out of jail you don't have a finish that does that and i don't think he made it i don't think he was trying to be pointed in that reference i think it was more like oh that just shows you do not have on your bench a get out of jail finisher which in a league that is better than it was last year in a way in terms of the midsection you don't have easy goals yeah you don't have like a lander trossard or a diogo jota or something like that you don't you don't and you see the value of that kind of player that nicks you a goal, that nicks you a result, nicks you a point.

31:19You know, Eketike and Izak should be doing that. I think Eketike has obviously had a much more stellar season than Izak has so far, but he's not been fully up to speed. I think, first of all, from a Forest point of view, this was just an absolute masterclass in going away from home because they didn't force anything. They defended pretty well, I think. They rode their luck a little bit, which you have to in away games if you want to kind of if you want to win against sides like Liverpool. I mean, we could say this season with the form, no, but traditionally at Anfield, it's very, very tricky. And I think what they did very well was

31:58the approach to the game, I think, was really patient because they knew that they would get opportunities. And I think that going to Anfield, after an international break, Liverpool missing a few more players as well, with the run that Liverpool have been on, quite a lot of pressure on them to get a result and kind of get back on it. Forrest, as soon as they went a goal up, and I know that the first goal was the one that was the iffy one. Yeah. But all they did was just wait for the ball to break. And I think that this is where, so look, we've talked a lot about Diogo Jota so far this season. And I've seen a few people being like, look, you can't use that as an excuse.

32:36And I think there is an element to that. I think what you see is though, it makes it more difficult to get out of a run of form like this. It makes it more difficult to get out of those situations. It's one of those where you kind of need to ride this out a bit. I don't think they're going to fire on a slot. I don't think they would do. I don't think they should. It's a period that Liverpool need to navigate. And the only thing I think is the thing that's really alarming is the sheer amount of defeats. It's not the lack of wins. It's the sheer amount of defeats. I think the entire mood around the place is completely different if four or five of those are draws.

33:15That's the worry. Because when Liverpool concede, it's kind of over after that. It's funny how like... The fragility, the city game. But I think that is understandable, right? In the sense that that is where you would see stuff like, fuck man, my head's not really fully in it. This has been a real slog. I know we should be doing better. We all are better than this. It's that kind of like, not again, not again, not again thing. And that takes harder to get out of. But they will get out of it. You were saying fourth, you see fourth. There's still only two points for our fifth. And fifth will probably do it.

33:48So if they were like 15 points off a Champions League spot after 12 games, I would panic. But like, I think that they are still, because that whole, we referred to it as a DRS strain, didn't we? Of the condensed middle bit of the Premier League. It just means that like, they're going to lose ground on the top two, three. but they might not lose ground that much ground on the top four and if they can claw their way back that will be fine that'll be fine i think look i think this is um on liverpool the fragility is the thing so you you feel that once they get like you know like you say you get down and it just gets worse and worse and i know people get tired of the jota talking point i think that's part of the problem i think in a news cycle which is always looking for new stories people get tired and they want to move on and i'm not even saying that players are coming out and seeking that and using that as a reason i'm saying that as a contributing factor a lot of you know tragedy in the summer a lot of turnover now you've lost obviously jota but you've lost also lewis diaz who was another kind of get out of jail player defensive cover so now what you've got is you've got the perfect storm right of players finding their feet and you don't have the easy wins you don't have and think liverpool have not developed yet a kind of um if you look at the wins they've had this year the big wins they've been chaotic right the newcastle win for example it was too noisy it was too busy they don't have a template for let's grind something out let's just win something they actually fun enough they do have that in the in the biggest games like the real madrid game and the arsenal game um where i suppose those are games where weirdly enough they're always the games in the muscle memory comes back where they're so important they're so important that everyone is reminded exactly who they are but those the problem is the games where your muscle memory doesn't kick in.

35:33The games where they're not huge fixtures. The one when Van Dijk actually said, look, Nottingham Forest at home, we should be winning that. But that's the problem. Van Dijk knows what it is because he knows what the business of winning at Liverpool feels like. A lot of those new players don't know what it is. A lot of those players are still quite young and like, you know, Isak, there's injury issues, there's confidence issues that we're probably not hearing about. Sweden, things haven't been great for them. That attack line hasn't blended very well. They've had turnover at like a managerial level for Sweden too.

36:03And, you know, departing Newcastle under a cloud like that, you go from being the hero of the Toon Army to being this kind of like loathed figure. Seeing yourself become the villain. Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. So all of that, like you go from like statue status at Newcastle to like, okay, you've taken the money, now show up. There's a lot of transition there and it might not work itself out until, all in some case some of those players aren't going to click until next season it should be better than it is even with everything but i do think that that presents itself in these little moments that like i said man if like if they if half of those games that they'd lost had just been points i mean for for a start they'd probably be fourth and people would be like oh liverpool fourth you know that's pretty you know they're kind of dropping points but it's fine but it's the sheer amount of defeat.

36:53And you're getting everyone's best shot, Ryan. You're getting like Sean Dyche is coming to Anfield with a point to prove. And we said this before, we said it with numerous clubs. We said it with Real Madrid. As soon as the aura goes, it goes. It goes. Like teams are really looking forward to that Liverpool game because they think that they can get something there. Whereas before it was a bit like, oof. And look, I think that you're also seeing a bit of an extension of some issues that were present last season but weren't talked about as much, quite as much because obviously they kind of cruised the league.

37:26So yeah, look, I mean, I don't think this is the last time we're going to have to have this conversation this season. And I think it's something they're going to have to just ride out. From a Forrest's point of view, it's one of those that, in a way, I think that everyone talking about the Liverpool side of it is actually quite a good thing for Forrest because it means that people might not chalk this up to as impressive a win as it is. And if you think it's off the back of the Leeds win as well when they scored three, they scored three in back-to-back league games they drew the game before that against uh man united so three without defeat in the league now it's funny if you look at like leads you look you know if you look at um west ham and forest with nuno and daish both taking the shape of their creator if you look at them they're both kind of clicking they're quietly both click well not that quietly but both of them are kind of clicking into gear like they're assuming the kind of you see like Dyches imprint on Forest and Nuno on West Ham there's some parallels there in terms of they're playing the football that you can see getting them out of trouble and the thing that excites me I think from a Forest perspective is just like the freedom that Gibbs White was playing with again you know these players that like these Atleti type players that love having not much of the ball because they love being efficient with it and Gibbs White reminds me of that loves being busy would like happily do three or four sprints and not get possession and then like would get one and just would punish you.

38:48And I think, I think a player that must be a delight to coach. And we've talked about Murillo and the rise he's been on, you know, all the way to representing his country, but Forrest, just an absolute, this is a Nuno style masterclass actually. And I know it's a very, it's a Sean Dyche performance. Don't get me wrong. Full credit to him. But this recalls the best stuff they were doing under Nuno. The one that's quite interesting though, I will say this is that Forrest talked about like getting a new coach and like Ange to kind of take them on a level tactically. And it's funny how they've kind of reverted to, they're like, but this is, but weirdly enough, but maybe this is who Forrest are and that's fine.

39:24Sometimes you want to be more expansive and that's not always the thing, right? You know, it'd be like status quo all of a sudden buying a load of modular synthesizers. This nerd nonsense of modular synthesis. Get out of here. I must say it's a bit, I know Gibbs White was considering moving in the summer, but I'm glad he stayed where he was. I really like what him and Anderson are putting together at Forest. Yeah, totally. And I think they've got the chops to really pull clear of where they are right now. Also, shout out to Elliot Anderson, by the way, who that header off the line, basically, could have given Liverpool the lead.

39:59Just the unreal footballer. Right, we've gone super long in the Premier League. So let's just, you mentioned Nuno before, two all draw at Bournemouth, even though they were two up for West Ham. Yes. But still, I think a point away at Bournemouth is a very good result. Proper football weather, by the way. Absolutely. proper football weather Leeds Villa 2 proper football weather there oh my goodness Ellen Road Brighton 2 Brentford 1 another good result for Brighton and a good result for Fulham beating Sunderland 1-0 at home we mentioned Palace Palace 2-0 against Wolves away and if it goes bad we might have to do another show tomorrow because we're recording this ahead of Moosa's beloved Manchester United against Everton at Old Trafford which don't leave me forsaken look man this is the moist arby I might cook myself a lovely meal David Moyes remontada and sit down

40:55you know one of those like dystopian movies where someone just there's no one around and it's all very sterile but somehow they've got like this amazing meal with like a beautiful wine in just a room with a screen I am legend something like that yeah this is going to be me watching Maddie Night in Everton

41:14oh gosh alright so that's the Premier League alright where do you want to go now I think we should probably shout out the Derby Della Madanina we should because it felt quite seismic into nil Milan won at San Siro on Sunday night in I did wonder whether it was going to be another nil nil yes it had that energy actually but it started look Money Mike you know it's funny about his saves they got better and better didn't they throughout the game the penalty save was incredible. The save, you know, the look on Lautaro's face when, in the first half, when he palms onto the post, he saves from Chanoglu obviously later, which is kind of the culmination of the Money Mike act, but the saves get better and better.

41:53And the one where he palms an effort, a brilliant effort by Lautaro onto the post, and you see Lautaro's face and you're like, oh my God, he's in that mood again. Really? We've got to deal with this? You know that look of like, it's almost like some strikers, the look on their faces is like indignation, like, Like, how dare you? United would have this. There were certain times in United at their peak, certain goalkeepers would just go and play out of their minds. They'd clearly had that date circled and they were like, I'm going to pull off a worldie here. I'm going to save 10 attempts and I don't care.

42:21I'm leaving here with a clean sheet. Lautaro looked defeated. Half an hour into the game, he was like, this is going to be a long night. And yeah, money might just be exceptional. The save from Chalanole, it was only the second penalty he has failed to convert in Serie A. Wow. Which is wild. Do you know what was a little bit chaotic in this game though? What was that? The pitch. The newly relayed San Siro pitch, which was causing, I think it kind of went under-reported about how... No, no, no, trust me. When you're watching Luka Modric... The ball's bouncing up and everything. That's not me. So do you know what?

42:59It was really interesting where, so it's obviously newly laid. It looked long and it looks dry. and obviously because you've got it in strips, it provides this like, it's not set yet. So it was really interesting watching this game after the North London Derby because it just felt like a massive drop in tempo, which I'm not even sure if it was. I think it felt like the pitch was just slowing everything up a little bit. I think it made it quite tricky for a few players. There were a couple of moments where, you know, the ball, it took them a little bit longer to get the ball under control because it was moving all over the place.

43:35I mean, it was naturally a bit slower because you've got players who just are not that quick. Modric is going to play the game at a slower pace. And also as well, because both teams counter so well, they counter so well that you have some of the positions they were taking up. Basically, Modric just looked like a third centre-back in defence at one point. And then you've got the soloists. You've got Pulisic and Liao that at any point can put it on you. Pulisic is his third, I think, now in a row. it's his third straight in the derby but like I mean not necessarily you know it doesn't look like a great goal but he was very very busy all game I think was it Salamakis who had the shot but the anticipation from Pulisic was pure number nine it's really great it's excellent yeah Akanji Akanji was on his heels a little bit couldn't get near him but I don't think it was either it wasn't even that Akanji was particularly slow no no he's so quick Pulisic had just got such a march on him his angle his angle of movement was so good yeah it was so good a real number nine you're right real sniffing around for that yeah yeah i thought it was great and i thought the penalty was fair actually there was actually one was it in the city was it he got caught quite badly actually to ram yeah he got quite quite badly yeah but there was one that wasn't given it i was on foden wasn't it in the um yeah i thought that was actually to be fair i thought that was a penalty in the newcastle city game i think these don't get given enough and i think they are no i mean it was funny because i didn't see the initial contact because he hits the cross he brings the ball down really really well he turns his cross really well at first i was like he's just gone down and you see it again you're like no it's it's pretty clear actually um but it actually was a good penalty by chalinole it wasn't a bad penalty it wasn't badly struck it was a good angle um but just you know main arm with a great save and then slapped away to get up and then slap it away again is it to stay locked in because a A lot of people don't, actually.

45:28A lot of people don't. Milan climb up to second. And they're not top because Roma beat Cremonese 3-1 away. Including a Gasparini, a good old Gasparini red. He's so like, I'm here now. Playing all the hits, isn't he? Sule and Kone look great in this game again. Coadio Kone, a player that I've loved for a long time. And a first Serie A goal for Evan Ferguson. Fantastic. Yeah, long time coming. He looked really good in the first game for them. goals tougher to come by since then but um yeah i think i think he's a player who it's the old cliche but if he really clicks then he gives them another dimensional together and they've done all this roma like scoring very few goals yeah this is the really impressive thing there's a lot more to come from them and they look brilliant actually i know cremenes are not you know the most high-flying team but some of the attacking play the passages of play were really good from roma so yeah that's just shaping up really nicely seria as a title race i'm loving got an absolutely mega game next Sunday Roma against Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico good win for Napoli too this weekend very good win beating Atalanta 3-1 they are third so yeah top four in or the top five if you like because Bologna's win over Rydinese took them level on points with Inter Roma top 27 points Milan second on 25 points they host Lazio next week which is going to be another big game Napoli 25 points into 24 and Bologna 24 alright shall we dart around quickly before we get out of here Barcelona are back at Camp Nou they finally got back there in a reduced capacity but they beat Athletic Club 4-0 in the curtain raiser yeah I suppose the highlight is the incredible assist by Laminya Mahl for Ferran Torres outside of the left foot oh my goodness otherworldly man otherworldly it's so funny because there's been so much talk about Jamal like you know and around him and all the rest of it but ultimately when he just like not that he doesn't he's always locked in this is the thing he chats a lot but he backs it up and this is a classic example of that that Barca team man it's so much fun again I can't tell if they can win everything or nothing but who cares it's not the point it's the journey it's the journey they are just a point behind Real Madrid now who drew their second game in a row away at Elche shout out to Rafa Mir doing work over there they were a goal down business they were a goal down as well and they had to come from behind twice to get a point there I think they did more than enough to win the game they did who would look comfortable against that attack especially the formation that was not completely familiar I think it needs more time to gel actually and are those even the are those even the three that you necessarily want in the back three you might want Militao there so again early days and Carreras has been so good as a left back.

48:21And it's not just with the back three, it's then the combination. It's like, who do you have? Like, do you have Kamavinga there as the left wing back, for example, if you can? So I think there's the midfield configuration too. So I'm not sure this is the game to judge it on. But of course, the man Bellingham in the mix. Busy week for him. If you want to hear our defensive Jude Bellingham episode, go back a couple of episodes. last week was it last was it Monday it was Monday yeah because it was the one after it was the Troy Parrott and Bellingham episode but yeah who knew Jude Bellingham was a really good footballer wow goodness me almost worth taking him to the World Cup anyway listen

49:08listen do you know what man I'm not sure if Jude's going to make the squad you know just a thought just a thought I'm not sure if I want like I'm not sure if I want one of the best players in the world at the moment like especially one of the best midfielders i think we might do what i think we might leave him at home

49:26can you imagine can you imagine asking can you imagine asking i'd be afraid to ask tony cross or luca modric that question at like five paces oh do you think you should go to the world are you what the fuck are you talking about get out my face can you imagine asking pedri that pedri be like well sorry i don't are we what planet are you on or Gavi can you imagine Gavi Gavi would be like you people I think Gavi would he attack us I can imagine do you know the lovely thing is I can imagine Gavi sticking up for a player from a rival team on footballing grounds I can absolutely imagine it 100 % totally yeah so yeah that was some drama but yes right speaking of drama quick let's do some Bundesliga yes I know we're doing a bit this is a bit more round up either than we've been for a little while but I feel like there's quite a lot happening this weekend As soon as Freiburg scored their second goal, I knew that they weren't going to win this game.

50:24They poked the bear. This happens so many times with Bayern. Two things about this game. First of all, five different goal scorers for six goals. A brace for Michael Alise. Lennart Karl scored again. And also, Harry Kane calls Lennart Karl, Lenny. That's lovely. Just talking about him in his post-match interview. And he was just like, yeah, I mean, Lenny gets the first. and I was like Lenny of course I'm playing him unreal Michael Elisa by the way in this game was out of this world when he's in this mood actually there's a parallel with Eze where you have a player who is in a team without as many attacking outlets who has to carry more of the attacking burden and then gets into a team where there's other players being marked who everyone else is worried about and you can just thrive in additional spaces and Elisa has that because Kane is there as a problem do you drop deep and pick him up or do you get to the near post to get him Leonard Karl is running at you.

51:18You thought that Jamal Musiala was out, so, oh, we haven't got so much to worry about. Now Karl's coming through. It's just, and Elisa was just like thriving. Genuinely one of the most, you know, you said he was a nominee for the Reliable XI, and this is why. Generally one of the most dangerous attacking talents. And this is a big shout, but I'm seeing like some Angel Di Maria in him now. Like someone that can just really full-on finish, but who can orchestrate an attack. He can do the whole, like, if you need him to be a selfish winger and just go it alone, he can do it. Patient build-up, he can do it.

51:52Finish, he can do it. He's doing all of it. It's wonderful. Dortmund managed to score in the 89th minute and draw the game with Stuttgart. Not real. Three-all at the Westfalen Stadion. There's an amazing slow-mo, though, of the Adeyemi goal, where Finn Yelch from Stuttgart, who's trying to pull down Adeyemi. Incredible slow-mo, go find it. and the great thing is because the camera keeps rolling but he falls like you know like he's just like jumped out of a car he's rolling but the camera keeps so he's like rolling out of shot it's incredible there was a moment like that actually in the derby like with Timber just someone bouncing off him and I'm like this is put someone in the weight room Bayern are now six points clear well they're still six points clear of Leipzig and Leverkusen who beat Wolfsburg 3-1 and now it's third dude he's coaching Hulman has done an amazing job oh man I'm so I'm so happy for him I'm so happy for yeah yeah yeah and some of those players like looking like they're enjoying their football as well dude just a really nice crop of players the expectation was so much after the double and I'm actually glad that's eased off a bit and now they can just get back to it and I just think I would say to any young player looking to kind of apply their trade get some reps and be part of something really exciting Leverkusen has always been a good shout man yeah and take a take a take a little guess at what the top Spield of Ocker is next week on Saturday oh I haven't seen the fixtures yet 6.30 local kickoff by Leverkusen host Borussia Dortmund I was going to say Leverkusen Freiburg Leverkusen Dortmund next Saturday evening oh that's lovely yep that's love slightly well a positive and a negative Union are up to eighth but at what cost a 1-0 win against St.

53:46Pauli in the Milan Tour. However, St. Pauli have now, that's a club, well, another bit of positive from this game. Jackson Ervin made his first start for St. Pauli since way back last season where he got injured. That is now a club record eighth straight Bundesliga defeat to St. Pauli, which is not good. We will talk about St. Pauli a little more maybe in a couple of weeks or so because we're just trying to find the space to talk about what's going on there. yeah just it's so strange compared to the opening three games of the season they looked really really really good i think something weird seems to be going on they're just completely they've lost all goal threat on top of that they haven't been able to keep the clean sheets that they they kept so yeah because they lose the defense the thing is it was so the defensive intensity for sam pauli last year was the key right and yeah second best defensive yes he was a key part of that.

54:41That's the thing, he set the tone and obviously the chemistry is not there as it was. And there's no margin for error for Sampaoli. We said this before, with the lack of goals, they made very, very hard work last year. And I think even with Union, you know, when Union came up, maybe there's a parallel. Union, the set pieces got them out of jail. Those early stages under Uz Fischer, they had the set pieces and they built on the counter and then they got to a place where maybe they're a bit too open, they've kind of stabilised again. But St. Pauli don't have that. And it's always, you know, we always look at the goals for a column and you just think, where are they coming from?

55:15Where's the firepower coming from? They scored seven goals in their first three games of the season. And then since then, they've only scored two. Yeah. Which is not good. Yeah, not good, not good. But yeah, we'll talk a little more about St. Pauli in a little while. Anything else you want to shout out? Do you want to shout out anything from France? Yeah, Paul Pogba's back. So Rennes beat Monaco 4-1. so not a great result for Monaco in that sense. But what was good for them was they came back for the last 10 minutes, Pogba, and looked really good. Looked really, really good. First game in, I think, in over 800 days of football.

55:46Wild. Interesting to see whether he'll be in the conversation for next summer, because he's such an experienced player in the France setup, and he's someone who Deschamps has trusted for a long time, but we'll see. We'll see. It's a long way away. But just, you know, good to see Pogba back in the mix. Yeah, totally, man. Anything else? No, I think that's... I reckon we're good, right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah. Enjoyed that. Do you know what can I just say as well? Before we go, we talked about the Parrot Door, the Troy Parrot Award for the greatest football journey. No, but absolutely Eze is in that conversation.

56:17Of course, Parrot has to win the inaugural award, but we have to say that Eze is a finalist for the Parrot Door. So listen, any of you listeners who've got stories about great footballing journeys, players who've been, maybe who've taken a bit longer to get where they should or players who've come back from the brink in other cases. Because I think everything that excites me most about football these days is the journey. Maybe it always has. So yeah, any journeys, please share. And look, we're a month away. We're a month away from the Football Things to Be Grateful for episode. We're almost a month away, Christmas Day.

56:54And we're all just over a month away from the 2025 stadios. So, Moosa just teasing out some absolutely I've got my catfish of the air nailed in it's changed by the way that's hilarious but I think this one's going to take some take some shaking I'm disappointed because the outfits that I thought were going to catfish me are not catfishing me I hoped they would but they're not giving me a catfish I got a good one I got a good few actually I got like the beauty of football is it doesn't how many options have I got there's too many options how many options oh my goodness alright let's get out of here let's do it thanks for sticking with us if you're still around if you haven't signed up as a Stadio member go to patreon.com forward slash Stadio and you'll get two Champions League podcasts this week that's the only place that you'll be able to listen to them ad free and in full so go to patreon.com forward slash Stadio till next time don't forget to check the Stadio actually play us on Spotify speaking of which playing out on new one by Rathart featuring Kansu Kandamir the track is called Not Tonight anything you would like to add Musa or Gwanga?

58:13actually let me not attempt fate I was going to say Joy at Old Trafford but maybe Not Tonight Not Tonight

58:23I'll leave it there I'll leave it there you know who's at the wheel see you next time Moyes is at the wheel it's the moismobile that's where we're going all right everyone much love members we'll be back with you on wednesday see you then

58:41you

59:00I'm a piece

59:05Can I call you? Can I call you now? To tell you all this I don't know No feelings What's your feeling?

59:19I turn off the lights now I'm making you look around Like one of those nights when the wind rings and you breathe in my room Like when I cross the line

59:41When I cross the line

1:00:15And so this is it.

1:00:26I'll leave you behind I'll leave you behind

1:00:34Oh my baby Oh my baby Let me call you now Let me see you now Cause it's time that told me, baby, let's do what I need And I told him, baby,

1:01:02let's do what I need