The Salah situation, some World Cup draw thoughts, big admin and more!

0:22hello and welcome back to the studio podcast i'm me sookwonga i'm ryan hun Ryan, how are you doing? Doing all right. Thanks, man. How are you doing? Good. I mean, only just recovering from that lovely first event at the South Bank. Study a Life podcast. And I say only just recovering because it was such a busy weekend that I barely, barely, like, yeah, got my sleeping patterns back. But well worth it. And so lovely to see everyone. Such a joy. Yeah. Yeah, I was going to touch on this a bit, but let's do it now. I'll sit there and say thank you to everyone who did make it down to our first show at the Southbank Centre on Thursday.

0:59It was lovely. Really great to see everyone. During the show, we announced that we're going to have a guest for the second one. Yes. And we can announce it on the free feed now to everyone. Yes. Sunday, March the 1st is our second show at the Southbank Centre. Tickets are on sale now. You can get them via the link in the description. And we're going to be joined by Nish Kumar. cannot wait cannot wait very excited about that such a joy going to get him talking about your beloved Manchester United I'm just going to mediate for you both

1:36a therapy session can't wait very hyped about that so if you want to come along get your tickets now and you can get them via the link in the description but yeah lovely to see everyone on Thursday it was loads of fun and then you were off we're going to talk about it a little bit later but you were off on Sky News doing the World Cup draw that's right yeah I did a live review of the draw and the surrounding events the surrounding drama melodrama pantomime as all of that came in yeah so thanks to Sky for having me in very much appreciated I'm glad you watched it all because I wasn't going to watch it all well you said I could watch well it was weird because I was watching on the ticket in and out because you know they're not going to show BBC in the Sky office right so you have to then like find it you have to follow the ticket online um so yeah it wasn't as easy as that but um yeah i was i was like now i'll i'll read the i'll read the roundups i'm not sitting through that anyway before we do the rest of the admin we hope everyone's staying safe and well wherever you are a couple of other bits of very important admin so stick around for this so first of all it's that time of year it's time for you to all send in the football things that you were grateful for this year ahead of our traditional Christmas Day episode that's going to be going up.

2:54We're going to probably record that a few days before Christmas. We'll give you another bit of warning before there's like a final one to get all your submissions in. But yeah, you want to send in a football thing that you've been grateful for this year. Hello at stadio.football is the email and put a grateful or football thing to be grateful for in the title. And yeah, we very much look forward to reading the submissions because it's one of our favourite shows of the year, I think, to do. Yeah, absolutely. Christmas this year is on Thursday. We've decided that from next week, so from Monday the 15th, if you sign up to the Stadio Patreon just as a free member, you don't have to pay anything, you'll get all the shows for the rest of December ad-free in full, like...

3:43paid memberships because we don't want people to miss out on the full football things to be grateful for episode or the full version of the stadios because i think they'll probably either be like shortened versions or or smaller ones on the free feed so patreon.com forward slash stadio and from next monday you'll get all the shows ad free and in full for free for the rest of the month and that means you can listen to the football things to be grateful for episode ad free and in full you can listen to the stadios ad free and in full which i can't wait for which cannot wait we're gonna do on patreon this year maybe it might be like longer than the world cup draw is that possible musical interludes goodness me so yeah patreon.com forward slash stadio you can sign up as a free member and then from monday the 15th for the rest of december you'll get all of the episodes are free it's our little just Christmas offer as it were other bits of admin you and I have got a trip coming up this week we do we're going to Venezia Monza on Saturday and then we're going to be at Milan Sassuolo on the Sunday so if there is any stadio listeners in Venice or Milan and you have any top tips I mean food is always welcome it's not about the food give us a shout very excited to go to those two games first it'll be my first time at both of those stadiums actually mine too mine too yeah so there you go today we're going to talk about the mo salah stuff we're going to chat about a couple of other results very quickly and then we will talk a little bit about the world cup draw which when we got to it was super interesting yeah we actually got to the draw i know i know i was actually no no no when we got to some actual matchups i was like i really like some of these groups no no i love the groups i I thought you meant the actual like.

5:34Oh God, no. Oh no, oh no. Anyway, let's get into it. Let's do it. There is only one place to begin. There is actually. Yeah. Highest foul, Werder Bremen. He got it. With one of the goals of the season. One of that's a Puskas. That could be goal of the year. Ever since you opened the wormhole on like, I think I've seen the Puskas. We've seen, oh no, no, no, no. We've seen another one almost every week. Incredible. Luka Vuskovic for Haas Vau. Fabio Vieira's assist after Albert Sambi-Lukonga had opened this or scored Haas Vau's first goal equalised against Werder Bremen in the derby. Incredible goal.

6:17Go and check the highlights out of this game. It's unreal. It's exactly as good as you expect. Actually, another postcast candidate. It's not going to be, it won't be a finalist, but one of the best team goals, Harry Wilson for Fulham against Crystal Palace. It'll be one of the great forgotten goals because they lost to one of me and Fulham, but what he's been doing this year and also just that goal in particular, that team goal. Hey, but also stayed in the Bundesliga, Connie Lima with a little back heel flick finish as well. And have you ever seen someone look like going like this was my guilty pleasure?

6:48I'm free. Yeah. His face, the look on his face and he scores. He's like, Oh my goodness. Who's reliable now? I don't want to be reliable. I want to be mercurial. Exactly. Lovely goal. So happy to be so far forward as well. I know. like genuinely delighted to be that far up the pitch the thing you know we used to laugh at the Tony Rudiger thing where he'd take the 30 yard shot run back giggling halfway it was similar similar energy yeah Harry Kane got another dryer pack not a German hat trick his 10th hat trick in the Bundesliga 10th he's only been there two in a bit years what he is doing is not this is not normal like again as a control experiment Sadio Mane went there not far off for Ballon d 'Or level season and really struggled as a nine.

7:32What he is doing is not easy. It's not easy. And he's absolutely cooking. It's unbelievable. It's fine. Look good, man. Beats Stuttgart 5-0. Really good. Just quickly while we're on the Bundesliga. St. Pauli stopped the losing run. A late Ricky J. Jones goal in his first competitive game for St. Pauli. Great point. He's been injured for pretty much all the season. 94th minute. They equalised away at Cologne which is a massive result for St. Pauli. That's a good result at any point anyone getting a point at Köln in that stadium that context is a good result that's yeah quick one Leipzig beating Frankfurt 6-0 Wolfsburg beating Union 3-1 Heidenheim beating Freiburg the news just very quickly on the Leipzig thing Jan Diormande the second youngest player to score a hat-trick in the history of the Bundesliga wow which is worth just mentioning that's wild yeah 19's like quite old to be the second youngest but it's got a hat-trick though yeah that's the thing you realise how hard it is to actually get Hattie to the top because this is the problem you know who I blame for this it's Laminia Mal they've completely broken football you've got 70-olds taking penalties for Barcelona so that 19 now feels old and Jude Bellingham they've ruined it Pedri's captain yeah these prodigies Pedri's an old head Dortmund beating Offenheim 2-0 in the final game of the Bundesliga weekend so it's as you it's not as you it is as you were at the top the top three all winning opening up a five-point lead over by Leverkusen in fourth.

9:04Right, enough of the Bundesliga because we weren't actually going to start there. We're going to talk about Liverpool. We're going to talk about Mo Salah. Yes. So after Liverpool's 3-0 draw against Leeds, Mo Salah did one of his mix zone things and decided to push the button. I mean, technically he pushed all the buttons, really. He pushed all the buttons. This was a maximal interview. My first reaction to this was just, oh no. when I saw the quotes I was like oh no it's such a heavy loaded I think quite complex situation that has now become a kind of like a Salah versus the club kind of thing and I'm intrigued to see what you think about it because I know I have quite a lot of thoughts I have a lot of thoughts I think this day was always coming and I think the tragedy of of Diogo Giotto's passing in the summer is a catalyst for all of it.

10:03And the situation is just, I think it has increased the toxicity of a situation that would already have been toxic. Because I think, look, here's the thing. The problem that Liverpool had was their sluggishness in looking at the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah. This was the problem, right? And I tell you why, because there was absolutely no way that Liverpool could have allowed Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold to live in the same summer. Because there would have been no counterfactual. right? They could not have allowed it to happen. So they had to give him the next contract because you cannot get rid of a player.

10:33If you bring in new players, right? To replace Mo Salah after a Ballon d 'Or season, after a season for the ages, then Liverpool fans and not blame them for this would be like, hang on a minute. We're struggling. We won the league. It wasn't broken. Why did we fix it? Yes, Trent has gone, but we've still got Van Dijk and Mo Salah was a goal threat right there. Now we're bringing the new players. So Liverpool kind of, they were kind of trapped and giving him that contract. They had let it happen, right? Now, Diogo Jota passes in the summer, horrifying, and you have this double problem of, you have like this grief in the dressing room and the players just have to get on with it.

11:09And you also have, you know, what he was not only as a personality, but as a footballer, a get out of jail card. So you lose all of that on and off the field. You lose this incredible human being and this incredible footballer. That creates a mood behind the scenes. We don't know. And we every now and again get bits and pieces about what's happening behind the scenes. You get Andy Robertson talking about you know before like one of the biggest games of his life a World Cup qualifier can't stop thinking about Jota like that's how that was a mess that's how present it is and Andy Robertson is just you know you had Mo Salah after the first game of the season in front of the Kop that's the emotional clip they're running at right now for Mo Salah to come out and use the word like I've been used as a scapegoat he didn't mention any of the summer at all the Jota stuff at once but a scapegoat is such powerful language because Liverpool struggles this year indivisible from all the things that happened this summer.

11:58You know, not just Trent, but this new Salah contractor, the new players brought in. And to say scapegoat is such, the language is so loaded because it's basically saying all this terrible stuff happening has been put at my door. Now, I don't think that's actually... I don't think that's actually true either. And I think, I will say this, and there's more I'll say, I'll let you get in obviously now, but I think that use of language is calculated to create the maximum possible focus. But what I will say before you get in is this. Both Mo Salah and Arna Shlott absolutely knew that something like this was coming.

12:42I fully believe that as striking and shocking as this interview was, I totally believe Arna Shlott was like, something's coming. Do you know who I don't think knew it was coming? Was the Liverpool press guy who stood behind Mo Salah, I think, who seems to kind of realise what's going on and just starts texting furiously. Oh, yeah. Oh, unreal. Mo Salah's really interesting because when he speaks, he speaks for a reason. There's a couple of things at play. I think that this is a club and this is a team and these are certain individuals to various degrees, varying degrees, sorry, who are so clearly grieving.

13:21And they're also in a difficult situation. And we have all been in situations where we have been grieving and we've had to continue life because you have to. But there are moments when you don't feel like you're at your best. You know, life seems to move on so quickly. It can cause you to struggle. It can cause you to not be your best it can it can cause you to re-evaluate what's important and the things that seemed like the most important thing to you sometimes just can't and I can imagine there's a lot going on in that dressing room and at that club where they're just like I don't want to like they're stuck in this we're not we're not even playing well and that's making it more difficult and it's like it can probably I imagine feel like it's really difficult to come up for air having said that I still don't think this is something that Mo Salah should have done and I think he is experienced enough to know what would happen and the repercussions of doing something like this right so I'm in that place of being like look I think I decided very very early on in the season that I was going to kind of give Liverpool the space to be whatever they were going to be this season and i know that for some people that's just not like they're just like no you spent a load of money do this do this and that's look that's also fine i'm not saying that that's an invalid take at all but i feel like with the departures that they had in that attacking three anyway and trent alexander arnold in addition to the passing of Diogo Jota and then who they brought in.

15:03Incredible players. And I feel like, I don't want to go over this because we've been over it quite a lot of times, but I'm just reiterating that with regards to what's happened with Salah. It actually, you take away all that efficiency and you add in a bunch of grief and you add in like a real struggle and it can just feel like a spiral that you can't get out of. And I think that, I looked at the video of Mo Salah doing this and I'm not like saying, I don't know Mo Salah, I don't know what's going on in his head. But this just felt like someone just being like, like, fuck it, actually. Does that make sense?

15:37It makes total sense. The funny thing is I'm thinking as you speak of what Mo Salah's end goal was, right? I think he wants out. Yeah, I do. And that's like, you know, I think he's calculated the way out is to burn all the bridges. The way that, you know, for him to even say, look, I know that Jamie Carrick is going to go and say what he says. he's giving him an invitation to do that right here's the interesting thing i think there is a path and i don't think this is a path that necessarily he would have considered but or who knows there was actually a path out of this there was yeah he could he could actually have said gone to the club's administration gone to the executives and said do you know what like all of this is too heavy i know i've signed this contract we're only a few months into it but it's only a two-year contract.

16:26It's not like it's a seven-year contract, right? End of next season, end of this season, there's still going to be a conversation about renewal. And frankly, you're not going to want to renew the form that I'm in right now and the place that I'm in right now. We could actually call it quits. We could actually go to, look, we had an offer on the table from whoever, whichever club in the Gulf was offering or whichever clubs are offering. Let's do an auction and let's make this a clean break because it's all too much. And I funny, weirdly enough, I think that this is maybe me just like, spitballing here a club that understands grief and the impact on people and understand i think weird i think there was a conversation that could have been had about it's not like you know you know everyone knows how much i love this club that's clear everyone knows how much you know the respect there and what we've done together what we've achieved together but it's just i can't give my best anymore i'm just not in that place i think there's a path there because what you're going to get now i think more and that might sound a bit but i think and i've said this before i was saying in the chat i think this is an opportunity fun enough for the fan base to moderate this you've got anna schlott and mo salah who are the focal points of this by by design but the focal points of this conversation for better or worse both of them have achieved remarkable things in different ways in the last few months anna schlott winning that league straight after Klopp departs, managing that transition so well, hopefully that buys him a lot of credit with the fan base and the executive level and the wider punditry.

17:56And then Mo Salah, who pulled out one of the greatest individual seasons that modern football will ever see, will ever see, will ever see. There is almost a role, I think, at some level to kind of de-escalate, I think, among the fan base, not a role, but yeah, a role. There's a role and a possibility to de-escalate and go, look, these two people are fighting and that's awful and that's also okay. Yeah, because actually this is where the fans hold so much of the power. I think they hold a lot of power. It's them who are going to have to pick up the club after Mo Salah, after Arna Schlott. Also, the thing is that it's not just any player.

18:32No. I'm with you. I think that there was probably a way out of this that was amicable. I agree. But then again, we don't know whether they've had conversations. We don't know what's gone on internally. You just don't know. I mean, in an ideal world, it would have played out exactly like you said, where there would have been chats internally. But you don't know what's gone on between Schlott and Salah, whether they were actually that tight last season. Especially because I know that Salah had that one outburst about Klopp. But also, I think that they were so comfy in their relationship that it was like lashing out at a parent, almost.

19:12Do you know what I mean, with Klopp? There's something else as well. You know when you see comments, you know when like Virgil van Dijk came out and talked about leadership and was really like, I know quite strident. He's not one that normally does that stuff. And Virgil van Dijk was really up for it. And I thought to myself, this is the problem with punditry, right? And I love Wayne Rooney, right? I think he's not only a great football, I think he's actually a really good pundit too. The one thing I would say is he has no idea the emotional work that van Dijk's been doing behind the scenes. We see nothing.

19:39And this is my thing. Yeah. when pundits say that so and so can't lead they don't understand what van dyke is leading the dressing room through and you see it in patches you saw like i mentioned the newcastle game before when you basically have van dyke like as an assistant referee in that game calming everyone down people flying into challenges it's super emotional like him getting frustrated more than i've seen him in a while and that's not because of his declining physical powers it's because people are disoriented and not doing basic things right and it's all a bit of a mess right new players, new systems, new focuses of the attack and defence, but also just like the Jota conversation.

20:16So when people talk about leadership and professionalism, it's like, if you understood the work that was being done behind the scenes, you'd be more gracious. And I think that triggers people, rightly so. Anyway, all that being said to say, we've said that Liverpool deserve a bit more grace. And it sounds strange to ask for a moderate conversation when so much of this conversation is geared up for maximum clicks and memes. And you know, you've got Sadio Mane on Twitter, like, you know, posting a kind of shrug type image as in, ah, interesting, you know, internal dynamics at Liverpool going haywire.

20:56But again, with Sadio Mane, we didn't know what, we didn't know, we don't know, this is the thing. I think this, this throws into focus how little we know about what goes on behind the scenes at a football club. Do you think that was basically like, I know where you're going next kind of thing? Could be, yeah, could well be like, see you in Saudi soon. But again, here's the thing about Mo Salah finding a way out of Liverpool. If any, and the thing about the Saudi Pro League that's unusual, before, this had happened like 10 years ago, there wouldn't be a club that could pay, that could afford Mo Salah just after signing a new contract in the summer.

21:30Yeah, well, I mean, PSG. PSG, maybe. Or PSG or Man City. 10 years ago. Yeah, maybe, maybe. But that kind of... Oh yeah, PSG 10 years ago, that's 2015, yeah. Yeah, they could, just about. Yeah, yeah, they could. Oh yeah, of course, the Neymar stuff, yeah. So maybe only PSG. But this actually, I think is even better because Mo Salah going outside Europe, a clean break as quickly as possible, I think is the best thing for both club and player. Yeah, because Liverpool aren't going to sell him on the cheap. No, nor should they. No, no, not at all. But also, but also the same time, like he's going to AFCON soon and then if nothing happens through that then he's going to want to play football so I don't think it's 100 % right that's it, he's done No, but if there is going to be I think it's like 97.7 % done The sad thing that we're going to forget in all this Liverpool were 2-0 up at Ellen Road which a place is not easy to go then 3-2 up they were resilient enough to come back and they showed some really encouraging signs again without Mo Salah on the pitch and I do not believe and this is not because I think he's a fantastic player I literally wrote a poem about Mo Salah and that's a United fan.

22:39For a United fan to do that. Yeah which I don't know if it's hope it hasn't been Moosa truly showing that football can unite the world Yeah absolutely We'll come back to that I'm glad someone's staying true to that I just I don't actually think that Mo Salah is a core part of Liverpool's tactical future no when we chatted to Neil Atkinson we were saying that look the signings that they made in the summer were clearly for the it was clearly the Mo Salah succession plan right but it kind of looked like with Eketike for example he started so strongly that it looked like the future had arrived a little bit sooner than they'd planned and so I think it made it I think you saw the signs earlier on in the season that as great as Mo Salah is was like I'm not sure he'll be quite that level again you never know but who will but yeah but that's just natural that in that stage of your career you could see what a future Liverpool would look like without him in the side yeah he knows that as well so I just wonder if maybe it was a slight look just one of those like we said like just kind of fuck this I think he thought look he's a smart enough guy to have calculated all the angles and the possibilities including my woke solution amicable solution and just actually the only way to extract myself from this is just to like to hit like you said press the button I mean look man like we don't know the conversations that have gone on in that club we don't know what every player or staff member is thinking it's been a very difficult situation my initial like I said my initial reaction and I'm not a fan of the club I was just like this is just like sad it's really sad this is sadness this is why I'm talking it's why I'm not going in on his comments because I'm like I don't feel that way we're not Liverpool fans right so it's just like each Liverpool fan you're a fan of that club and you've been as attached to it as you are as a football fan it's going to feel however it's going to feel right so you don't need us to be like hey here's like you know it's just it's just it's just an observation because that level of fandom with it you know for example we've all had players who have been I mean there's one going on at Manchester United right like your feelings about Kobi Maynew's involvement in Manchester United will differ massively probably to someone else who has no connection with the club and to be clear I'm not policing anyone's reaction no no we're not I'm not saying that we are I'm just saying that that's why like look that's just you know I think there's going to be rightly so because there you know there will be in situations like this people are going to feel differently about it like load of fans are going to feel a certain way load of fans are going to feel another way because it's a really emotional situation we're seeing already the reaction from a lot of people, which is, you know, pundits and like Liverpool fans we're seeing already, like just, you know, just because it's Liverpool fan base is basically a, it's a continent, right?

25:31It's a whole collection of people. Some people have view that, you know, this, this of all seasons is the time to really pull together. And actually it's bigger than that. And it's not about the contract or how you're playing or not. It's just in a season like this, we all pull together. And I, again, I'm not telling anyone how to feel. It's more that I look at a situation like this and I'm not not a Liverpool fan but I am a member of a big family and I do know from that if I made all that analogy de-escalation a situation like this I just think yeah my first instinct is my first feeling is sadness my first instinct is rapid de-escalation and then resolution that's it really yeah I mean I think I think the whole situation would be different if their footballing results were better.

26:20But we did say that they needed to start getting draws. So at least they didn't lose a game. They did. They did get the draw. I did joke in the Stadio Discord even when Liverpool went 3-2 up there was still time for Fortuna Düsseldorf legend Al Tanaka. I knew a goal was coming. I knew it. I knew it was coming that late though. I was quite proud of myself. Me neither. But I knew I just had a feeling. I love a finish from Tanaka. It was. It was. Put it into the ground actually so there was no chance for alison to get to it and what a game anyway what a game for one thing uh ekatike with two goals viet's looking sharp um some great movement soberslize finish was fantastic great step over from michaelis to take them three two up silly penalty from canada just it was so silly it was a really it's a really really clever dummy though the cross yeah nanto crosses the dummy on it is smart i felt the penalty review is really harsh careless challenge yeah whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa I'm literally down I thought I was like this is the worst thing about these the ref doing the announcements thing it's just like look are we doing editorial now I'm already giving a penalty I'm already giving a penalty away don't diss me in front of 30 ,000 people 40 ,000 people if you're going to diss me don't sneak diss me do you know what you do do a spoken word gig do a spoken word poem about the morality the ethics of careless fouls give me a poem next time don't throw rock and hide your hand give me 16 bars give me a sweet 16 can i be honest this is not to make about myself but since we started why not finish if it goes to var i'd love to like be reviewed on var then run to the camera go no no i did it it was me can you imagine a confession a tearful confession yeah that's our sign to get off Leeds as Liverpool.

28:07It was me, it was me. Yes, yes, yes, it was you. Anyway, congrats to Leeds. It's a great week for Leeds. Very good week indeed. And if the Mo Salah thing hadn't happened afterwards, we would have spent a lot more time talking about that game in general. And what a great result it was. We would have also spent a lot more time talking about Aston Villa. But last minute, well, last second winner from Emi Wendia, which I'm not going to lie, I felt really sick. I felt really sick and I turned the TV off and I was like, look, I have a choice right now. This can either ruin my day or it can end now. TV went off, made a cup of tea.

28:48I engaged in zero discourse. And then that was it. And that was wise. This was everything that Arsenal fans feared it would be. And I think it was everything that Villa fans who've been looking at the indications of the recent weeks hoped it could be. Not hoped it might be, but hoped it could be, given the way they were being resilient. No, it's interesting though, because if you look at the game against Brighton, the two areas where Arsenal may be vulnerable, where like Villa were yielding something, you know, the right flank in particular, I think there was a tactical error. There was a lot of talk about, if we can briefly look at the game, there was a lot of talk about like Arsenal being leggy and I get that.

29:28But I also think there was a slight tactical challenge with Arsenal giving them a lot of leeway down that left flank. you see a lot of the time well Davila right Eze coming inside combination play all very good but I think funny enough I think the attacking brief and this is not a knock on Eze I think his tactical instructions to hit the byline more often he did it a couple of times but just do it consistently because Matty Cash before he scored his goal had a really good sight before and I think if you allow a player like that to build up ahead of steam or get confidence in those spaces it's a problem and I think also to be fair to Arsenal this unfamiliar centre-back pairing was also a factor because if you see them drifting across towards the right flank that doesn't happen if Saliba and Gabriel are there I just don't think it happens the organisation at the back yeah I mean look Marino and Eze played a lot of football in the last few weeks and played some pretty intensive games this I know hindsight's great but this struck me as a Martinelli and if Jokeres was ready to go maybe a Jokeres game to start and then you bring on Marino and Eze yeah but look I actually think that it's obviously a massive gut punch to lose right at the end of the game.

30:34I think a point would have been completely fair. I don't think either side was, you know, I think statistically it was pretty balanced. I think balance of play, there were periods, I think in the early, like Villa came out very intense, which I, you would imagine them to be in a home game like that. I thought Arsenal came out in the second half and it looked like they were miles better. And when Trostov got the goal back, I expect Arsenal to go on and win the game. That's how dominant Arsenal were at that early period of the second half. But I think a point would have been fair. Villa made great adjustments.

31:03I thought the Marlins And Sancho swaps were really, really good. Great subs. Yeah. Really good subs. But again, it's just a little, it's quite tiny details. It wasn't, you know, I mean, from an Arsenal point of view, there's nothing to get too doom and gloom about. You can't win a league or push for a league title without having games like this. And from Villa's point of view, look, I think that they've capitalised on some really, really good results and some good performances in a run of games that I feel like they probably would have wanted to take a certain amount of points. I think they've probably taken one or two more than they would have expected to over that run.

31:36They've now beaten Man City and Arsenal at home. Yeah. Following off the back of the Brighton result in midweek, which was kind of mad as well. I think the really, really impressive thing for them was the fact that in the last few minutes, they weren't happy with a draw. They kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Yeah. And this is the sign of just a really, really good football team and a sign of a team that has genuine belief. And the position that they're in in the league at the moment doesn't lie. Like this is a really, really good football team. They deserve to be where they are. Can I say as well, shout out for the Villa midfield, which I absolutely love.

32:12And it's so complete. The range of those five players that they have there, I'm almost thinking this is a bit of a hot take. I don't actually even know if Villa need a conventional striker. Because the fluidity of what those players have, you look at what Sancho and Marlon give you. And this is not a knock on Ollie Watkins. it's just saying that I think that that fluidity I wonder if that's something that Emery leans more even more into as time goes on because he kind of had that anyway when they absolutely were a holy terror against PSG Asensio and Rashford dropping in and around it was total chaos so I wonder how that evolves over the course of the season So Villa temporarily went second but then Man City went back second after their 3-0 win over Sunderland an amazing assist from Ryan Cherky for Phil Foden in this game.

33:06It's funny this, because Pep said afterwards, you know, yes, I was encouraging him to learn from Messi because Messi does the simple things well. And these things are great if they come off. Just get a left foot. No, was it get a right foot? Was it? Hang on. Which foot was it? He did it. He did the Rabunna with his right foot, right? He wrapped the... Didn't he wrap the left? Didn't he wrap the left? He cut back in. Oh, yes. okay cut back in right foot rubana it's actually a really good header from foden because it comes it comes at a height where he has to like steer it it's a great assist obviously but it was just funny for pep being like oh like the showboating i'm like do you know who ryan chirky is the thing about him is chirky combines that style with an end product and pep's just gonna have to live with it sorry you just happened to buy like a material genius yeah yeah yeah enjoy it so with the fun Pep It's that when Capello Portsevicevic like this is not the player that you would buy naturally but he's going to help you so enjoy it embrace it Docku on one flank and Cherk in the other Chaos Yeah absolute chaos Well look if you keep it dead boring in the middle you can have a little bit fun out wide Totally Alright quickly we need to whiz through these because we haven't got time unfortunately but Palace up to fourth after their 2-1 win away at Fulham which he shouted out we shouted out the Palace fourth I know Palace fourth overtaking Chelsea Coach of the year Chelsea who dropped points 0-0 away at Bournemouth Everton were temporarily up to fifth they beat Forest 3-0 Gisbury Hall doing work Brighton drew 1-0 with West Ham a ropey Brighton goal for the end or they needed something they've had bad news on and off the field recently oh yeah well the Tony Bloom stuff is starting to ramp up yes yes that's very quickly on that we won't dwell on it because there's a lot still to come out I'm sure but yeah Tony Bloom just putting a pin in that Tony Bloom betting allegations we'll wait till more comes out but yeah that is a conversation that's very much developing.

35:01And Brighton banned the Guardian from Stabedum over their reporting of it apparently. Not a good look. Newcastle beating Burnley 2-1. Gamache goal from a corner. Olimpico. He scored an Olimpico. Yeah it was great. And Spurs. Spurs win a game at home and they beat Bremford Thomas Frank's old club. Xavi Simons with his first. This was a big game this. this is a big result for Spurs. It is. Xavi Simons with a great assist for Richarlison. And then a lovely goal. Pressing close. It's such a Thomas Frank goal. Such an Mbumo goal. Brilliant closing down the middle of the pitch and then driving through the centre and a really strong finish.

35:38I love that this was his first goal for Spurs. I love that he didn't get a tap and I love that he got a goal that basically was the epitome of everything that he brings to the table. Really great pressing, really aggressive tackling the middle, looking for options and driving through and finishing. Someone that can create, can initiate, but also finish. And I'm really happy for him that he can put himself on the map. And you could see from his reaction how much this meant. Really, really happy. And that's all the Premier League. It is. All right, man. So before we get on to the World Cup stuff, a couple of other shouts in the weekend.

36:10Well, first of all, got exciting after a tricky run at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Hearts beat Celtic at Parkhead 2-1. They were three points clear again. They were level on points. Celtic have got a game in hand but a great win it was a great game it was a good fun game to watch actually proper football weather absolutely pissing it down which was amazing in the Arab Cup Palestine progressed top of the group I think for the first time they've got out of the group in six appearances in the tournament which included a win over hosts Qatar Syria also qualifying from that group unreal also just a quick one for the WSL Arsenal women saved the day from an Arsenal point of view beating Liverpool 2-1 Everton ending Chelsea's 34 game unbeaten run in the WSL with a 1-0 win at Kings Meadow the stats of this game were wild it was like 79 % possession for Chelsea 30 shots but 1.5 xG not even like a cumulative xG weird giving them bad looks what a win for Everton though unbelievable immense Manchester United won 2-1 against West Ham and Man City beat Leicester 3-0 that's what they're 6 clear now yes it's clear at the top of the league MLS Cup this Inter Miami well sorry first of all congratulations to Inter Miami on defeating Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in the final of the MLS Cup Jordi Alba's final game as a professional along with Sergio Busquets yeah and you can see the emotion as soon as the whistle went just what this meant to win this trophy with like some of your best footballing friends and probably even best friends off the field too especially the Alba But the Alba-Messi connection in terms of goals was incredible.

37:53And actually it was a feature again for the third goal. You had the classic Alba switch to Messi and then Messi putting in for the winner of the final goal. But then this game was fascinating because Leo Messi, they talk about Leo Messi walking and this was almost a parody of it. This was incredible as someone who just waits for a moment in a match. Messi basically intervened three times two of them was winning the ball high he intervened he intervened basically two or three times and each time was decisive and he had to be because I thought you know Vancouver did some really great stuff in this game I thought Thomas Muller was so so good especially in the first half the first half the kind of stuff that he was doing there's quite a few times when he played these passes and was looking for the return and like it's not because these players aren't in sync with him it's because Thomas Muller just sees stuff that other people don't and his movement his anticipation was really really strong throughout and Inter Miami having said all that just looked like they just had more you could just see them even when Vancouver made a run at it you were like no they're managing them it really felt they were just picking them off the entire match actually I thought yeah they seemed to start playing stuff in the second half I thought the first half was not great from either side actually Vancouver had that run of those run of chances in the second half and that one where they hit the post it was like a double post and out and then they hit the post again with the follow up they got back into it level and then there was a couple of chances to take the lead and then Messi winning the ball laying it off to Rodrigo Dupal and then six minutes since the stoppage time Allende nice finish that yeah yeah but Messi the architect so first MLS Cup for David Beckham and Inter Miami they're going to move to their new stadium now champions so yeah congratulations congratulations to Inter Miami do you know what though real MVP of the MLS season.

39:47Thomas Muller's glow up.

39:52Guy looks like he's got a VW, oh sorry, I'm going to do it properly because he is German, a Falve camper van. And he just goes like surfing on the weekends. He's looking so well. The glow up, it started in the final Adidas campaign that Muller did. I think it was beginning there actually. We saw the transition. Saw the signs. Do you know what it's like? It's like when a, you know when a young like UK like acting star has a breakout role and theatre then ends up like doing a Netflix thing. Their first red carpet afterwards and they're like, whoa. There. I think Muller was going, he was not Hollywood.

40:30He wasn't Hollywood, but you could see the aesthetics changing. We'd love to see it. In Serie A, Napoli beat Juve 2-1 on Sunday to stay top of the league. And the rule is if you want to glow up, leave Manchester 9th and then go to Napoli because Rasmus Hoyland has scored again Roma lost to Cali Reyes back-to-back defeats for Roma now and they've slipped a fourth Milan still got they've got a game in hand on Inter they can go above Inter if they beat Torino on Monday Inter beat Coromwell 4-0 on Saturday so yeah Napoli still top and Inter currently second in La Liga we're not going to have time to go into it too much today but I think we're going to probably do it on Thursday after Real Madrid's game against Manchester City.

41:13Real Madrid losing 2-0 at home to Celta Vigo, two red cards. I think there's going to be a lot of rumbles out from this in the next couple of days and especially with their game against Manchester City in the Champions League. If that goes wrong then but two goals for Svedberg for Celta gave them a 2-0 win at the Bernabeu and that means that Barcelona are now four points clear at the top after their win away at Betis. Barcelona got one of the worst penalty decisions I think I've ever seen in this game against Betis. It was so bad that the handball the penalty that they got given a penalty for was right in front of Marcus Rashford and he didn't he didn't even appeal.

41:56Awful, awful, awful. So weird. Came off another part of his body. Yeah, like Ricochet it was just terrible. I know, I know. Fern Torres hat-trick over their win over Betis. Another Pedri masterclass but what's new? That guy, man. He's too good at football. He is, he is. He's way too good at football. It's true. Right, let's talk about the World Cup draw. Yes, the World Cup draw, wow. Any groups that stand out to you that you look a - looking vibey? I think - Do you know what I love about this? What I love about it is that they - Kat Verde gets such a spicy fixture. I love that for them. Again, look, any of these teams are going to get like a big club to play against, a big country to play against.

42:36but there was something about Curacao playing Germany and Cap Ferd playing Spain so there's groups group H and group E that I absolutely love my favourite group I mean it's a cliche but it's going to be group I because that includes France, Senegal and Norway the matchups there I don't think the football will necessarily be the best but I'm looking forward to the narratives England's group group L England, Croatia Ghana, Panama that's not it's not nice that is not a nice group at all. I don't think it'll be high scoring. I don't think it'll be enjoyable. I think the narratives are going to be awful.

43:12The press is going to be awful. The best food... Have we got a food? We've got a food one. Can I just say, when I was in the sky thing, I did actually say, the food in that group is going to be unbelievable. So I got that in. Stadioism. That's self-referential but I apologise. So Group A, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea and then the UEFA playoff D will be the final one there. Any groups that stood out to you in the draw? The groups that stood out to me, Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland was the first one that caught my eye. I hope Scotland fans are okay with running back these groups because sometimes if you're at a tournament for the first time in ages, it's nice to have some variety, but I actually think this is quite a good group for Scotland.

43:55I think there's some gains there, actually. That's a very well-coached team, some great players, battle-hardened, and this is not the Brazil of yesteryear. Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland is... That's doable. They can get out of that. Although I do feel a bit sorry because Scotland have got one of their games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. And the temptations will be many. Scotland fans going to that, like just... I bumped into some Scotland fans, you know, on tour, you know, obviously the Euros. I would just say, be judicious about the connecting flights that you book after that. In terms of...

44:30Just don't schedule them too close. Yeah, just don't schedule them too close. close from the uh final whistle that's all i'll say yeah yeah give yourself a day at least

44:40um so the actual drawer itself i mean look um it was a fever dream wasn't it there was part of me that thought we should do like a whole thing about this about this but then i just thought well actually it's so far removed from a reality that i recognize that it was an out-of-body experience wasn't it we had a question like just very quickly we had a question in the live show just about like something similar with football at the moment and it's like the whole thing is gross the whole thing is grim it's not even like a if you voted for them or not or where your politics lie it's just like it's it's really cringy it's cringy it's so cringy I mean just look at Infantino's own words it's just very briefly like okay look and I was asked about this and they were like oh what do you think and I said well can I just say if if you're awarding them I think we should all have FIFA Peace Prizes because I think...

45:36I'm sorry to cut in, but this specific awarding of that prize is about as logical as awarding me the Ballon d 'Or. Seriously, give me the Ballon d 'Or because I am as worthy of winning the Ballon d 'Or as that awarding of that prize. No, because there are fewer people in line before you win the Ballon d 'Or than there are to win the FIFA Peace Prize. Do you know what? I appreciate you saying that. The reason why the timing of this made me laugh. in a way, in a bleak way. The recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize, you all know that individual's name, the recipient of the Peace Prize, currently enjoying some of the lowest approval ratings of any president in modern American history, minus 19, minus 19, down 0.6%, these are stats from The Economist, awarded a Peace Prize.

46:23The Economist, not even like a... The Economist, awarded a Peace Prize, someone is currently enabling or initiating conflicts in... three different continents? Three different continents. Like that, okay. And look, Infantino, look, we know all this conversation proves to me, all this award proves to me is how little time either of them spend anywhere near the real world. Yeah, with actual people. Yes. I can't remember the last person. These people probably don't know how to pay for gas. I don't know if they know how to swipe. I don't know if they know their bank cards are. I don't know if if they have bank cards anymore, I don't know what, but these people just don't inhabit the same reality.

47:04And to be honest with you, and I'll say the same thing I said on Sky, wow, what a relief. We've actually got some football. That's actually, like, they had to extend the show. I was meant to be there for a second at the time. They had to extend the show, Ryan, bless them, because they were like, they hadn't done any draw yet. They spent so long. Don't get me wrong. We know that, we know the opening ceremonies have preamble, but the thing about this was so ridiculous. It was like, we talked before about like those bags of crisps that you get at the gas stations where you open them up and they're like a third full this was that but it cost a bit though that bag of crisps cost you a billion pounds can i just say the if this individual i just i'm just a little bit nervous got an award for having the most nutrition in any food you know i'm nervous i'm nervous about i'm nervous and i'll say this i'm nervous at the world cup final now not even at the halftime show i'm nervous about if there is one i'm nervous about um people are going to miss their last trains people are going to miss their flights because if this is the pre this was the preamble for the award can you imagine what the pre the world cup pre-match is going to be like the world cup final pre-match it's gonna be unbearable set your timers i would just say this if the kickoff time is 8 p.m then like set an alarm to wake you up at 9 p.m because the game won't have started i love the world i love i love the world cup but like but this my god the stuff around it and also just look if you ever get anyone that asks you to keep politics out of football ever again just send them a highlight reel of this draw and that's where we are yeah and so here's a respectfully i would say respectfully if i'm meant to keep politics out football please find the football please find the football because this wasn't a politics show so don't worry football's safe because there wasn't any football in there wasn't football in the show good luck finding it they've kept the football away from the politics they put so much bodies the football

49:03like i said i didn't sit through the draw because a i wasn't getting paid to do it and b it was a friday afternoon and i had better things to do frankly and also i think i don't know i think that like i'm trying to i think we should all try and just like pick and choose a little bit what we engage with for our own sanity with football and um yeah we'll have plenty of time to talk about the rest of it can i say when i was doing this guy i can say this now uh because i feel it's relevant now i saw someone comment i wish the grant wall was around for this and when i went in and did my preparation i thought what would grant do how would grant navigate a situation like this how do you navigate a conversation on sky about football and the draw.

49:47And I thought, what would Grant do? Grant would go chapter and verse. He'd look for the stats. He would criticise the negatives and he would celebrate the positives. And he would enable us to look at the best of what football could be and the best of what communities could be through football. I really just had him in mind on the way into the studio. And I can say that now because I was absolutely thinking, okay, if Grant was here doing this, because I think that's part of it, isn't it? That's the mantle. This is somebody who believes so much in the goodness of football that he ran for president of FIFA.

50:15It doesn't get more legendary than that. So yeah, I think, yeah, thanks. Thanks to Grant really, because that was, uh, that was my inspiration for, for my approach. And I hope it will be my approach throughout the tournament. Three years and a few days since you passed away. Yeah. Yeah. All right, man. We will be back on Wednesday. Don't forget, email us hello at stadio.football with your football things to be grateful for and sign up for at patreon.com forward slash stadio you can sign up if you want to just give it a try on a free membership and from next Monday so Monday the 15th for the rest of December you'll get all the shows ad free and in full on Patreon.

50:58So you get two weeks basically and that means you can hear the stadios in full and you can hear the football things to be grateful for in full and ad free. And if you're in the UK please come and see us at the South Bank on March 1st. It'd be lovely to see you. Yeah, for our second South Bank show with Nish Kumar, special guest. Cannot wait. It's about to get 50 % more woke.

51:21Can't wait. That'll do us. So yeah, until we speak again, Musa. Don't forget to check the study out. Just play us on Spotify and today we're playing out on Papa Roncon track called San Juanito Chachi. Anything you'd like to add, Musa Kwonka? Nothing further. all right everyone much love back with you in a couple of days see you then

52:09Thank you.

52:39When I come to the sun, when I come to the sun, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you. The piña hacia a middle, the piña hacia a middle, me las están muy rias, me las están muy rias. San Juanito viene, San Juanito va. San Juanito viene, San Juanito va. Todo lo que trae, altura será. Todo lo que trae, altura será.

53:31Thank you.