Ruben Amorim fired by Manchester United, Enzo Maresca leaves Chelsea and much more!

0:22hello and welcome back to the studio podcast i'm mr konga i'm ryan hun brian how you doing all right thanks man how are you very well indeed very well indeed very well Well, Fed, I have to say. Listen. Fed from the news cycle. Listen. I'm nourished spiritually and otherwise. Yeah, man. Like, obviously, bad news at United. But I'm happy because I just got back from Rabat, which is obviously hosting the final of AFCON and quite a few of the games leading up to it. And the atmosphere there was just unreal. It was incredible. Yeah, incredible. Well, we'll touch on AFCON a little bit. but before we get going we did do a quick new year's day episode last week on the patreon for members but we want to say happy new year everyone and we hope you're all staying safe and well let's just say 2026 hasn't exactly got off to the most chill start so we hope you're all doing okay feels like today specifically football is very much first day back in the office yeah totally or not as the case may be oh my god honestly what the hell some admin two more shows this week Thursday and Friday just to cover all the midweek football so if you are listening to us on the free feed and you want to listen to every single podcast ad free and in full go to patreon.com forward slash stadio and you can sign up as a podcast member or you can join the stadio social club which gives you all the podcasts plus access to the stadio social club discord other perks so yeah patreon.com forward slash studio and i think that is all the admin so today have a little guess what we're going to be talking about we're going to talk about the departure of ruben amarin we were going to originally just do this episode about enzo mareska and chelsea but that is now so news so last week but we will talk a little bit about enzo mareska leaving chelsea and we'll also touch on wilfred nancy even celtic and we'll wrap up a few results.

2:17And I think that will do us. But there is only one place to begin.

2:25Oh no. Oh no.

2:30Where? What have I done? Birmingham City 3. Commentary City 2. Because since we put Frank Lampard in our nominees for the Manager of the Year Award, he's lost two of his last three. Manager of last year. Manager of last year. Good point. Very good point. I think commentary will be fine. They've still got a six point gap at the top of the championship. Absolutely. If any of you ill-wishers want us to shout out praise teams you don't like then you're welcome to do so because it seems like we're so good at cursing them. Anyone we praise just falls off a cliff. Really wild. Let's start with AFCON because we're going to do more AFCON stuff through the knockout stages, but they are underway.

3:16They are indeed underway. And fascinating too. I suppose the standout results are Mali beating Tunisia on penalties after going out to 10 men, 10 players, and playing basically like the bulk of the game, like three quarters of the game with a player less. They defended superbly and won on penalties. Very, very classy. Penega from Diakita, you've got to check it back. Like a short back and side, lovely bit of fade. and then also Morocco edging through against Tanzania a goal from Brian Diaz it was 1-0 there and it was nervy work though and Tanzania actually Tanzania made two big mistakes a big miss and a goalkeeping error that basically it's sad because the kind of mistakes that those players have probably never made in their careers like players of that level but I think that speaks to the pressure of trying to beat Morocco in Morocco it's something the intensity here around football is something else they absolutely they're wild for it over here but yeah you're not there anymore you can't stay over here you know what i'm still spiritually i'm still there do know what it's something about being i know your your flight was delayed but something about but you know it is you know i gotta say this is like when i get all emotional something about being like in africa again after a while that like it's different man it's different just going through you land you go through the border you go along on the ocean that that ocean like you think about rabat right is that you can play football on the ocean front there's like cages you could and you don't have to book you just basically like turn up and if you reserve the spot it's yours you'd have to book the court really nice cages like right alongside the waterfront and it's it's epic and just being connected to it and knowing that like all this great stuff's going on there they're they're holding the world cup in 2030 um alongside spain and portugal and they're lobbying really hard to host the final in Rabat.

5:09And whether they actually get that or not, it's going to be unreal. And I said this before, but the food. I bet. Yeah. Morocco are going to face Cameroon in the next round in the quarterfinals, sorry, because Cameroon went through against South Africa. Huge look for them, yeah. Two of the quarterfinals are set. Mali are going to face Senegal in one of the four. And currently, we're just recording this during the Egypt-Benin game. and that's 2-1 currently to Egypt in extra time. It looks like Egypt will probably be through to face Côte d 'Ivoire or Burkina Faso. They're playing tomorrow. We'll touch on more AFCON stuff probably on next Monday's show because I think the quarterfinals are Friday and Saturday this week.

5:53Yeah, and actually while we're on AFCON very briefly, just a quick shout to Sudan who went down 3-1 against Senegal but who were brilliant this tournament and gave Senegal a real chasing, actually went a goal up. that wasn't an easy, um, easy time of it that Senegal had. So yeah, shout out to them, especially everything happening in Sudan right now. It was, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great performance from them. Uh, sorry, I should shout out the other potential quarter finalists. They're going to be Algeria, DR Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique. DR Congo was staying in a hotel. We drove past actually. Really?

6:23Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, sick. Cause yeah. Listen, these, these are, oh, I might go, man. I might check the flights and go over just to just hang out. Dude, don't mess about get involved you know who kind of didn't mess about and got involved Manchester United's hierarchy goodness me wow wow so Ruben Amarim is no longer well he's definitely not the Manchester United manager anymore and he's well he was never the Manchester United manager and he's not the Manchester United head coach either this was really wild I think looking back at the comments after the draw against Leeds where he was talking about I'm the manager you know if in 18 months they want to fire me then they fire me blah blah blah Carl did a great piece a lot of the guys on the athletic other guys on the athletic did great stuff as well about around this we can get into the whys and the hows and the what next but i'm interested to see what your initial thoughts are because i genuinely think this is wild i'm going to be honest i think the strange thing about this is it was all exactly as broken as it looked from the outside like there are no surprise in a way it's it's wild right it is wild but it's also like amurim told us exactly what was happening and it was just to be believed like it was all as difficult as it seemed you know we were saying like you know he was too much the style of communication was a bit too abrasive it was too open it was too this it was too frank this is going to rub people up the wrong way the way he's talking about the role the way he's on the club the infrastructure the way he's not promoting players like he's upsetting this person that person this doesn't fit all of it was true i think it's so strange it felt like open heart surgery where you're like no the patient can't be this ill you know no no this patient's really this ill open heart surgery we keep dropping stuff in there a piece of a piece of metal oh there we go sorry about that yeah it's it's so weird because it's it's like where does it it's worse for amirim than it is for manchester united because do you think so yeah because it's the churn I'm not so sure because it's the churn like Amorim okay in terms of where he if he wants to manage in the Premier League again or anywhere else I mean I don't think he will I don't think he wants to do you know what actually I think that is there's something about this I sent you a text actually about this this morning just considering the concept of the show and like what to talk about and this thing of like it's not me it's you when managing a Premier League club is too toxic an enterprise and managers start looking for a way out and they start saying stuff about the infrastructure, like, you know, Maresca as well, like being very clear because they're looking at the next job going, I cannot have this attached to me as a stain.

9:05This job is a basket case and I have to make it clear. I have to fix the narrative around my dismissal. Even to a lesser extent, Thomas Frank, who is, you know, he's doing that job and he's doing his best there, but talk about not enjoying it. And he said it in a more positive way. that's a bit of a pull quote but the overall context is it's reminding as managers reminding people outside the club you think this looks easier than it really is and if you knew how hard it was behind the scenes you'd be a lot more charitable in your analysis and i think the reason i mean amaran look there's there's a there's a range of places he could go and work now and with that huge payout he hasn't got to work for a couple of years well that dude looked so happy when he got papped this morning dude the man looked he's just like i'm out of here was that that andy dufrayne in shortshank redemption where he's like in the water like looking up at the sky like just like it's hard to think it's so weird because the whole project it's so broken like the players that were brought in it's a good it's it's an uneven squad it's an unbalanced squad but i still think actually ryan there are some really good players in there right let's talk about this let's get into it because i think that a a binary is this the right thing to do or not was he the right man or not all of this kind of conversation about it i think isn't really applicable to manchester united so first of all i think take the the internal politics out of it from a footballing point of view i think this is a bad decision and the reason I think it's a bad decision isn't because I think Ruben Amaroum is doing an incredibly faultless job at Manchester United.

10:43We have talked about the pros and the cons and the upside and how confusing they can be, how they're actually this season. I do think that overall they are vastly better than they were last season. I think if you look at the XG table, they're actually fourth in the league. They're fourth. which is why you don't even need to go into underlying numbers stuff that's an improvement they are three points off a Champions League spot at the moment like now this side was miles away last season miles that's true and look they're not going to win the league this year but they're not going to win the league in the next three it's obviously not gone great there are always fallouts let's say with certain players when new managers come in who want a specific direction.

11:36Happens everywhere. Happens absolutely everywhere. Are they as good as you would have expected them to be at this moment in time? I'd argue actually, yeah. It's not great to watch. It's not unbelievably fun, but in terms of quote-unquote, are they good or not? They're not that great, but compared to the rest of the Premier League, they're alright. I think this, from a football point of view, could potentially, it could actually, it could be totally fine. You never know. Someone might just come in there and Martin O 'Neill, you know what I mean? But I think this could potentially put Manchester United back even further.

12:22And it's another, it's like, you know, just landing on another snake on a game of snakes and ladders. Do you know what I mean? And that's a great analysis, you know, because if you think of like who Amaran, maybe I'm getting too much into the nuts and bolts of it. He did want another midfielder this summer, for example. And that has been a key area, like midfield control. And I'm not going to lie to you. I said, I'm surprised at how well they've done because I think I said at the start of the season, without the ability to control games, I can't see them being a top half club or a top eight, I think.

12:54I can't remember what example I used. But if you can't do that, and they just felt like United were not controlling games, but they've somehow found a resilience that's got them in that league position. And it is an unusually chaotic league, right? And even like some might criticise his transfer business or the players he was after. But it was a known thing that United needed more firepower last year. They didn't score goals last year. And this year, these forwards are still starting to fire. Seshko hasn't really taken off yet. That can still happen because he's very young. He's a very good player.

13:24Kunja is finding his feet. And Bumo, of course, was there straight away. But the idea was we've got to bring in players that can actually score. and what did he bring in? He brought in basically like two of the best XG players, all the ones that are outperforming, but he brought in a couple of like real gunners, right? And he was in the process of building something. Now, the problem with United is, what's that, you know, on the surface of Jupiter, there's that storm that's like three times the size of Earth. The storm's been going for a thousand years. You know that one, like it's just like the red spot.

13:55You go into space for analogies. It's the red spot. Imagine that it's boardroom or the toxicity is basically the red spot. and the problem is there's like you've got you talk about landing there's managers coming into land and it's like where is the firm ground actually i think weirdly enough the best thing is a lot of talk about darren fletcher taking over not the worst thing because darren fletcher was an excellent footballer he's but it's not like it's not simple as he knows the club he knows the club but is attuned to he's literally i mean he's working at the club currently yeah and i don't I don't mean that in some kind of like weird, nostalgic heritage hire.

14:32I mean, as in these are personalities that he's accustomed to navigating and the communication about the players, you know, there's one thing is an easy win Amrim could have done. There's a lot actually funny enough Amrim did. The comms aspect of this, a lot of this was disastrous. I think funny enough, if Amrim had actually talked differently about the job he was doing and about the players he had, hot take, I think he's still in the job. I don't think he wanted to be. Yeah. Like the stuff about Dorgoo, the stuff about Mainu, none of this stuff had to be said. And even the stuff about like not changing my tactics ever.

15:10There is no manager in the world good enough to manage in the Premier League and just use one formation or use variations on one formation. There's no manager in the world good enough because it's as a league, it is just too, there are too many good coaches. There are too many good players. and people figure out what you do and they'll come for you. And that's why a team as good as Bournemouth have struggled. Because if you have the same kind of approach and if you have, also Bournemouth have lost a ton of good players. So Bournemouth fans don't worry well on that too. But you get predictable and then people know how to come at you.

15:44And actually maybe some might say, well, maybe it's a credit to Amrim that they're still fifth, given they have some very identifiable weaknesses. The thing I want to know actually on this, beyond all sort of what this means for United, is I want to know which players get in touch with Ruben Amarim just to say do you know what So Harry Maguire posted something saying like cheers boss You know even private he'd be like do you know what thanks like yeah it didn't work out but you know like when you talk about Jürgen Klinsmann at Hertha Berlin and like there were some things that he did you know you mentioned that like there's actually there were some green shoots you know you mentioned the green shoots Yeah there were it wasn't like you know we didn't have a full allotment going but there was a couple it was more like we had a pot we had a pot on the windowsill for a good for a few months and finally we had a couple of things but just as we saw something start to sprout I accidentally knocked it off the table with that kind of vibe but like something like Mason Mount Mason Mount was returning to something like himself right well this is the thing I wanted to touch on with Amarim in that it's not been an amazing run of form but it's not been a disastrous run of form it's been against there have been some winnable games that they haven't picked up maximum points and that you thought they would have Wolves at home is a prime example we talked about how Wolves have been giving people games and they won their first game of the season on the weekend right So they've picked up four of their six points this season in the last week.

17:00So this is not an amazing time to play Wolves, let's say. But if you think about who was missing on the weekend for the Leeds game for Manchester United, Ahmad, Masraoui, Mboumo, Maguire, De Ligt, Fernanche, Manu, Mount. I didn't watch the game live, I had to go back and check what was going on with it because all I saw being reported was how defensively minded the starting XI was. And I was looking through it and I was like, who else is he going to really play? Like, is he really just going to put Shea Lacey up front? Do you know what I mean? Is that what you're saying? Like, all of a sudden you want, you know, if he'd started with Mantato and Lacey on the pitch, he would have got absolutely cooked.

17:47Yeah, yeah. Like, for doing that against Leeds away, right? so he's picked the most experienced line-up that he has you know Aidan Heaven for example has been playing pretty well but he shouldn't be playing this amount of games for Manchester United yet and it's because they've got injuries right so I feel like this to me doesn't feel like a football indecision it feels like there's some beef going on behind the scenes I think it's probably to do with potentially recruitment in January because it feels like all of a sudden he's decided to ramp this up now I know that he and Manchester United won in Semenyo and not getting Semenyo I think is a big deal because I think I know that you know he's going to do fine at Manchester City if that's where it all ends up but you put Semenyo in that Manchester United side and it actually looks pretty it cooks it looks a lot better a lot quicker but also you're not getting Semenyo this is the thing exactly yeah you're not getting Semenyo look this is the thing about all of it I think they fell out and it becomes unsustainable and I think Amarim at a certain point was, you know what, we need to like just stem the bleeding because my managerial stock is going to fall severely.

18:56If I don't get the players, if I don't get a respectable looking lead position, this is going to harm my future employment prospects, which I think is also the Maresca thing. Like Maresca went into Chelsea and there's, you know, there's talk about like how effective that strategy has been. Look, they've thrown a billion at the wall. Both of them. A billion, a billion. There are some exceptional players in that Chelsea squad, right? I saw some commentary about like you know Chelsea and uh the job that's being done they had no manager against Pep and they they're not those those players in that squad are not clowns there are there are exceptional options multiple options at several positions for Chelsea in that squad right like the problem again is not necessarily the personnel it's the churn at the executive level and you've got and again like it mirrors kind of the rest of the world in a sense like you've got unaccountable executives running around and freestyling and people can talk about the Chelsea model being effective it's not effective how can it do I tell you why it's not effective right because people aren't happy a club that's won a conference league and a world championship right and has finished high up and it's got all this brilliant players should be happier than this yeah but you know why it's because I mean we should probably wrap up a mansion and then move on to Chelsea a little bit but I think from a Chelsea point of view it's it's the temporary cycle of everything half of those players probably aren't going to be there next season because a load of them are going to get flipped and then they'll buy a load of a similar profile maybe one or two years younger and thus continues the cycle right i think that there was an element of that with mareska i think mareska is a tricky one right because i think that he i think he did well to get the chelsea job you know that's a big that's a big jump i think i think i think i think mareska benefits from an exceptional set of references.

20:47Yeah, and working on Pep's backroom. I think, yeah, obviously the Leicester job, you know, he did there, it put him in the picture, but I think also, I mean, which is in itself impressive. And also, I think there are some managers, I think, who, I think Mareska's one of them, where it's like, if you give him better players, or players, then his performance level, like he gets the best out of the top end. Maybe that's the argument about him, right? Because I think, look at Vincent Kompany, for example, at Bayern. Like, you give Kompany the quality of player, and Kompany does get extra performances out of these excellent players.

21:25I think that Mureska, I think he is that type of coach, actually. I think he is someone that brings things, extra elements out. Look at the Marlo Gusto use in midfield, for example. I think that's worked really well. So there are some really good managerial tweaks. But I think also, there's a thing we're in now, and this is to connect to Chelsea United to an extent. you understand that when you're in a job in the Premier League now, you're not only doing this job, you're auditioning for your next one in a way that you weren't 15, 20 years ago. I think it's a different thing like the cycle, the managerial cycle, the turnover, the churn.

21:57You're not just managing your club, you're managing expectations and future employment options. I really think that's part of the decision matrix, which it was before, but that process has accelerated. if that makes sense. I think that's part of it. Yeah, I think with Maresca the one thing I would be not concerned about but I'm interested to see is if he gets a job. For example, if Maresca gets the Manchester City job how he handles or maybe the Manchester City one is actually the anomaly in a potential list of jobs that he could get because he's been there fairly recently. So I'm assuming that the senior professionals at the club and the senior players in the squad already know him and he's probably got a decent relationship with them.

22:42But that's always been the thing for me for Maresco is like, how does he deal with a 30 plus year old like captain or part of like captain's group or leadership committee who in a club that is like pushing for the very, very, very, very top titles? Because at Chelsea, the squad was so young and obviously there was such a huge amount of turnover. I think that does leave a bit of a gap there in terms of not like resume, because obviously he did really well at Leicester but I think it's a different goal pushing for promotion from the Championship as opposed to what happens if you're away in the Bernabeu and you're 2-1 down in the Champions League with 15 minutes to go or something.

23:27Senior pros who have been there and done it and gone to finals of Euros or World Cups or Champions Leagues. I'm really interested to see how he manages those players in a senior role. Well, because Pep transformed the job. That's the thing. That was not the city job before Pep got there. And now the city job is a job where you kind of have to come in having one big stuff, I feel. Like, you know, there are certain jobs where, like you say, giving instruction to a set of players who've done it all already is a lot harder when you're kind of learning in the job yourself. Or you have to be someone from a personality-wise who people just go, this guy's amazing straight away.

24:08and that's where someone like Iriola comes in. And I'm not convinced Mureska is that person. I tell you why, because I saw a lot of commentary about Mureska doesn't care what the press say. And I was like, I don't know if that's true because I seem to remember that when Enzo Fernandez was in the middle of that storm over singing that song for Argentina against France, Mureska's first choice was to go and make him captain and he wasn't even the best player in the Chelsea midfield. And I thought, if that is someone who doesn't care what the press think. That's not the appointment you make. That's a very much like, that's not a move you make when you're indifferent to what the press or the media are saying.

24:45You're doing that as a kind of like, screw you, this is my club. But that isn't, it's a different thing saying I don't care and like I'm not mad and being like, I'm just going to do my thing naturally. And I don't think that was actually even the best move for the dressing room or the club as a whole. I thought it was a big mistake. I thought it was a terrible mistake. I mean, Mariska did that thing that they, Bizarre. when they qualified for the Champions League, I said what does he say like I have a message from my critics I'd say f off to all of them or something it's bizarre so it's like he definitely not he does care I think I think the Maresca one is I think he's going to City or I think he thinks he's going to City because otherwise I think you stick it out at that job if that's not on the table and he's chatted to them apparently he's chatted to them already I don't think he tries to blow it up at Chelsea like that unless he thinks he's getting the City job at the end of the season.

25:39And I think he's been given indications that he's... Because I think if you look around at some of the jobs that will be available come the summer, I don't think he falls into the category for a lot of them. A lot of them are the Premier League jobs. And I don't think a lot of people would maybe go after Mureska in a Premier League sense, or he would take that job. For example, Liverpool aren't going to hire him. Clubs lower down the table might try and get him, but he's probably not going to want those jobs after he's been at Chelsea. It's kind of like City or nothing really. And that's where I find it quite interesting because yeah, there's clearly been a massive breakdown.

26:18I read a lot of the, you know, the Athletic do those really good pieces when usually when managers leave like the day or two afterwards, like inside the whole like... I cannot wait, I cannot wait. I'm primed for it. I'm so waiting for the Aberun one. The Aberun one is going to be... No stones unturned, man. Yeah, shout out to the team over there, man. they're doing standard work over there. They're great. It's the best. I'm kidding. It's just like new inside the final hours just dropped. Notifications. My notifications are on. Let's go. Dark mode activated. Airplane mode on. Cup of tea. In the back cave.

26:53Here we go. So we think he's going to City next, right? Yes. Okay. From a Chelsea point of view, they went and drew at City on the weekend, which was an amazing result. a great result for Arsenal as well I think we'll probably save such let's maybe save some Chelsea chat until there's a new appointment because I would like to do a little more on what Chelsea are up to let's go back to Manchester United before we move on from this stuff where do we think this leaves them now as a club? Let's do them first and then we'll touch on where we think next for Amorim and then we can move on to some other stuff quickly uh where do you feel do you feel that they're in a better position now than they were when they fired ten haag yes and that's a big part to do with amirim and i think amirim has set them up for the next stage of their development i do believe that because when they got a back four right when he got a bit more flexible they just immediately looked a lot happier.

28:01You look at Dorgou, for example, you saw like the elements and then you saw the changes. Actually, good friend Paul wrote to me and said, look, I'm actively critical of Amirim now because the changes he made after they took the lead against Newcastle and they looked in control, like messed up the flow. And I just think there's Amirim's tactical stubbornness, I think is what did him in the end. I don't even think chewing out the players publicly or calling them out was so much of the problem because Dorgou showed that you can come in and still thrive after like he's kind of said you know every first touch you take makes you anxious but um i think if a manager comes in and doesn't add a huge amount i think whoever comes in just don't tear up the floorboards players that do look a bit happy with the back four that's fine get some players scoring get another midfielder in and just kind of build like whoever comes in be like actually don't touch too much it's tweaks here and there i don't think i've asked them out extra is needed to make this team, because if you look at the spread of results they've had, they've beaten Newcastle, they see it, and Sunderland, right?

29:04They've beaten Liverpool, Crystal Palace. These are not clown results, and they've drawn games they maybe should have won, right? And that's all good, I get that. But I think that there are some margins, I think there's 10 to 15 % more in this current set of players that come from slightly greater tactical flexibility. And it doesn't, I don't think United actually need a... world leading boss at the moment. They just need a coach who comes in and just keeps it quiet for the next six months. Well, it looks like it's going to be Fletcher potentially for the rest of the season as an interim, and then they're going to move in the summer.

29:40And if that's the path they take, I think it's Glasner. Honestly, I think that's it. I think that's where it all lines up for me. If United are fortunate enough to get a coach of his calibre, that would be something. I mean Rio Ferdinand says Mikel Arteta would consider taking the Manchester United job yeah I think it's Glasner that's my gut if there's an interim to the end of the season I think it's someone like Glasner the only thing that they're really really going to push for is domestic competition they don't have to really travel anywhere this season because they're not in Europe I don't think there's much point going for another manager now long term I think they'll get stuck in the same cycle again I think you wait until the summer the tricky thing about that though and this is why I think like more and more I do wonder if we're going to really see how political it got inside the club with Amarim and Wilcox for example because football wise in a World Cup year when you've got a really short pre-season and everyone's away that's a that's a big ask for another manager and also if Wilcox is apparently Jason Wilcox has had some issues with Amarim playing three at the back now they play obviously they play very different ways yeah but still you know I don't think it's three at the back I think it's solidity I think if if Pep plays three at the back no one's complaining this is the thing man it's not it's not it's about like the gaps that it leaves because it's a formation people don't like they're not comfortable with but Pep played three at the back and it was lights out it was brilliant and it was actually like innovative and it changed the direction of how other people are playing out I think it's the rigidity and Glasner we've seen his genius we've seen what he's done with players like Wharton um we've seen him lose key playmakers and go on to even greater heights I've praised him many times I think he's I think he's amazing I think he's exceptional do you think that do you think he does what Redknapp used to do and he just he'll go and take a load of them with him so all of a sudden you'll get like Gaye and Wharton rock up at Manchester United next season and everyone's just like, ah!

31:49Oh my God. I think he'll try and take someone like Wharton. Yeah. Because, but I think he'd be lucky to, I think he'd be lucky to get a player like Wharton, frankly, given Wharton's trajectory and the players. And this is the challenge for United, actually. Can you get the calibre of player that you want to get? Then again, I think Matt Glasner, he's a brilliant coach. So he'll bring people. He does love falling out with people as well, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He does, he does. especially players especially a management that doesn't act he falls out with execs who don't match his vision well this is a great time I think to get you in finally as sporting director ha ha ha ha alright take it in a second and also actually shout out to Seb Stafford Bloor who they re-shared his piece that he did a couple of months ago about how Premier League sporting managers are just you never hear from them they're silent whereas you go to like in the Bundesliga for example a lot of the times they're even sat on the bench but they were walk through the mix zone and chat afterwards yeah they chat and they're very much like yeah and i i'm i'm totally down for the premier league becoming like that i would love to hear more from sporting directors like post-game and there'd be more of a synergy between those departments and that because it you would feel like in theory that could provide more um like friction but i don't think it works that way in the bundesliga it seems it leads to a fair assessment of the manager i think so when you see like you know bion has gotten a bion's got like a notoriously nosy executive level but i think when you look at the job because bion had been spoken at board level for so long when company took that job i think people initially were just immediately more understanding of the combo is the combo of him and able as sporting well he's i think he's technical his actual job title is board director of sport or board director for sport but him and Abel being there, as opposed to before when it was like Nagelsmann or Tuchel and Salahamizic.

33:49Salahamizic. Oh my goodness. Main character energy. Fucking mad. Oh my gosh. Wow. There was always that thing where we joked about like Tuchel left Chelsea because of that WhatsApp group that started and then he went from one extreme to the other. Oh my God. Or one extreme to the same extreme. Oh my God. Don't get me started. Don't get me started on Tuchel at Bayern. All right. So where next for Amarim? do you know what go and sit on the waterfront and chill eat some good food eat some good food and I think then after that I think Bundesliga I think Bundesliga actually see I've got a feeling he'll go to Italy oh I think he'd be great at the right club funny because obviously Gasparini is obviously at Roma but I think that's quite a good landing place for someone like MRM um or like one yeah i think i think actually yeah i mean this is funny because those clubs like atalanta roma they're obviously like they've got very much they've got incumbents so i think will be there for a while but those the kinds of profile of club i think he could he could thrive um yeah anyone in the top eight clubs in seria i think amram could do a really interesting job at uh and again look i think he'll be fine in the long run and i think united will too actually the trigger is not to get to in both cases Amarim and United just keep it simple I think wherever they go next Do you know who he got done the most this weekend?

35:25Harrison Reid because Harrison Reid's got an absolute world to equalise in stoppage time for Fulham against Liverpool and no one's talking about it Absolute banger absolute unreal unreal unreal strike that just so clean so i really feel for him and the other week that's the headline news but that's how wild the premier league is like like i said we didn't even mention wilfred nancy yeah 33 days at celtic and he's out after losing in the old firm derby to rangers i mean you can't you can't gonna run like he's been on and survive unfortunately so feel for him but in any other week in terms of football news these things will be bigger but united got a united Should we save Celtic chat for another day?

36:11Absolutely. Because we should try and do something on Celtic because what's going on there is completely wild. Yeah, yeah. Let's quickly round up the Premier League. You mentioned Chelsea going to the Etihad and what an amazing day for Callum McFarlane, young coach who took charge of Chelsea for this game. Late equaliser from Enzo Fernandes. I think gave Chelsea a deserved point I think they were they were good for it yeah yeah yeah and very good result for Arsenal who had gone to Bournemouth the night before and got out there with a 3-2 win the Declan Rice evolution continues apace that guy has every every tool in the Arsenal man in the Arsenal he's got every that was not that was not deliberate oh he's back wasn't deliberate it wasn't that actually I'm so sorry I mean Rice there was a touch and go to play at one point yeah he had a knee injury and he missed the game in midweek I mean look those two games back to back a win over Villa and then Bournemouth good week for Arsenal man yeah handling your business at a good Christmas frankly handling your business while other teams struggle to do so and you know it's funny because we talk about the late winner for Villa against Arsenal how Arsenal looked crushed after that and City looked as if they'd lost like they equalized against Chelsea just seeing how dejected they were so I don't know man this title race whatever we're calling it it's there's still dropped points ahead oh it's not yeah so many dropped points ahead the thing I can't deal with is people now saying that the title race is over when two weeks ago they were talking about well City are down breathing down Arsenal's neck and it's Arsenal are going to drop points that lead is going to either go away for a bit and come back or extend and then get short it's going to move all over the place but yeah I just can't complain for Arsenal I think the The amazing thing from an Arsenal point of view is just, I think I said it last week, just navigating that period with those injuries and maintaining or extending the gap.

38:15Yeah, they responded so well from that defeat to Villa, actually. Some might even argue, actually, it was the only blip. Either side of that, already quite healthy. The draw at Sunderland, for example, I think is fine. Yeah. I think with these things, to be honest with you, I just think... these are the levels. That's how good City are. They push you to the point where any slight slip-up is really picked over because everyone knows how good that team is when it gets on a run. And City have looked like they are not returning to their old selves because there will not be a City like the one that had that core of Edison, De Bruyne.

38:54I just don't think you're going to get that in the next couple of years. I think it's going to take a while to get back to that level of aura. But they've looked in recent weeks like they are getting more cohesive and the strikers are playing with more freedom. So yeah, I think it's just Arsenal's stumble against Villa got magnified so much just because everyone knows how good City are. They get firing. Yeah, that's it really. Leeds, great point against Manchester United. Yes. I actually think it was probably a good point for both teams. I agree. An amazing win for Brentford away at Everton. Shout out to Thiago.

39:26Three goals for Igor Thiago. Yeah. A great win for Newcastle at home to Palace, 2-0. Spurs drawing 1-1 against Sunderland more boos at home for Spurs and Thomas Frank we touched on Man City Chelsea Wolves we mentioned getting their first win of the season 3-0 against West Ham I think Nuno's in trouble I think West Ham are in trouble I like Nuno and I feel for him but that is I thought he was going to rest a slide he only first took over against Arsenal he looked like instantly just more structure. Very organised yeah I just I don't know I think the issues go deeper than unfortunately the issues go deeper than Nuno's appointment I think it's tough for any any coach going in there to help them out of that slump and they they look like they're in a bit of trouble really do yeah Brighton 2-0 against Burnley on the weekend Pascal Gross is going back to Brighton how nice a place like home and Villa started the weekend off beating Forest 3-1 at home Villa just can't stop scoring him from outside the box.

40:30Oli Watkins. Oli Watkins outside the box. And then McGinn, like McGinn's second one as well. Awesome. Way off his line. But yeah, man. So Premier League, Arsenal six points clear of Man City and Villa. And then Liverpool are fourth. Just great to, on that, just a flying bit, shout out to him. He's got a couple now in the league. Yeah, looking a lot more, a lot more comfortable, confident. Who knew? He's quite a good footballer. Always believed. Always believed. We didn't touch on it because we were kind of just about to pause for the Christmas break but shout out Pellegrino Matarazzo he's at Real Sociedad and he opened his account with a one-all draw at home to Atleti Atleti, yeah I just, I mean La Liga I mean it gets dominated by those two clubs well and Atleti as well but Barca, Real Madrid like the Diopoli it gets a lot of talk but there's some really exciting stuff happening elsewhere in the league and Real Sociedad is just just a great job if you want to just go and get left alone to coach the hell out of some very good young players emerging players I love that hire actually so I'm quite hyped about it it's a quick shout for Gonzalo Gonzalo Garcia who got a hat-trick for Real Madrid as they beat Betis and that's a big look because Mbappe was out and Madrid really are looking for another they've been looking for another saviour and I think that Garcia hit brilliant over the summer for Madrid and has not really featured since then to the same extent.

42:02But this hat-trick, especially the second goal, if you get a chance to see a chest down and volley from Valverde-Pers, passes out this world. Serie A wins for Inter, Milan and Napoli. So very much kind of as you were at the top of the table. Milan had a bit of a stumble against Sassuolo, as we saw. We were there to witness it, but they're looking good again. Napoli with a 2-0 over Lazio, who absolutely lost their heads. three reds in this game two for Napoli sorry two for Lazio one for Napoli but Napoli keeping their heads in among all the chaos to come away with that just goals and red cards I suppose very much the typical stadio game but a couple of these tackles are quite nasty actually I've got to say Milan with a 1-0 win over Caleri and that was Raphael Liao popping up and it's funny I wonder if it's going to be on those seasons where Milan just have a couple of soloists who carry them to the title just off the back of a couple of brilliant performances because it's such a strange thing it's really anyone's league at this point and they've got three such different teams I still think it's those top three I still think it's Inter Milan or Napoli that will be the one to carry it Juve are up to fourth now by the way at that point against Lecce because of Roma's defeat Roma lost to Atalanta and that's three defeats in the last five for Roma Gasp going to his old home There's a funny thing with Roma as well it's a bit like Atalanta's title challenge last year the more you start paying attention to it the more it falls away and also like Roma still haven't drawn a game played 18 won 11 drawn none lost 7 that's yeah I mean Roma getting Champions League this year would be fantastic I think and that'd be absolutely fantastic it'd be awesome yeah back to back wins for Como took them sick so they're closing the gap on they're only three points behind Roma and three points behind Juve as well so they're still pushing for Champions League but yeah that'll do us for Serie A what have we got coming up this week?

44:04we've got a full round of Premier League so that's why we're going to do Thursday, Friday because a load of the games are on Wednesday night, West Ham Forest is on Tuesday they've also got some Serie A this week as well Wednesday night in the Premier League, Bournemouth Spurs Brentford Sunderland, Palace Villa Everton Wolves, Fulham Chelsea City Brighton, Burnley Manchester United, Newcastle lead. Barcelona Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Super Cup and on Thursday you've got Arsenal-Liverpool Milan-Genoa Madrid-Derby in the other semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup and you've got PSG-Marseille in the French Super Cup Oh my goodness.

44:48That's a feast That's a real feast While we're doing a quick round-up actually shout out to Egypt while recording have just confirmed they've gone through to the quarterfinals 3-1 Mo Salah with a goal in the final minute of injury time of extra time to take them through 3-1 again it's been into the quarterfinals it's a very tasty looking set of quarterfinals now in the AFCON but yeah like great week of football it feels like this year has really started with main character energy well the Premier League started was it New Year's Day and it was just draws 0-0 one one no no one one it's clearing its throat just it's like man just hung over so hung over it's back on business i reckon we'll do that'll do this for today yes do you do we hit everything on the amirim stuff i'm sure there'll be more fallout that we can talk about another time there's look there's i'm sure there's plenty more to come i'm sure there'll be some deep dives and reporting um but for now i'm just just happy he's out there he's out of there farewell my sweet prince i believed i believed so what happened to amram's at the wheel he's at the wheel he's at the wheel of the u-haul what if he's pivoting to like manager removals he's like oh yes i moved out quick and you can too with amram removals hit me up if you need to get out of town in 24 hours here's how to do it Ruben Amarin more like Ruben I'm out of here

46:26alright let's get out of here ourselves let's do it we hope everyone stays safe and well wherever you are if you listen to us on the free feed and you want to sign up as a Patreon member get all the podcasts ad free and in full go to patreon.com forward slash stadio and don't forget to check our stadio address place on Spotify speaking of which we're playing out on Lightning Hopkins and TNT a track called Lightning Jump anything you'd like to add Moose or Gwanga? how can I follow a week like that no absolutely not all right let's get out of it before we get fired let's do it all right everyone much love back with you on Thursday see you then that's what I'm talking about

47:05go ahead on and dance

47:16I see you there

47:21Back up a little Dance like a man

47:30Take your girl around clear and level

47:39Now you're dancing right

48:06Yeah, I ought to be dead. I just knew I had to do the difference in two.

48:24Yeah, I know.

48:36All night long.