We are so back! Introducing the new look Stadio, plus the Premier League's return and more!

0:00Ryan Hunn: This is Nick and Jack from The Best One Yet, and we are excited to tell you about Walmart Business. Staying ahead of business trends means moving fast and adapting quickly. Walmart Business helps you simplify operations so you can focus on building the next big thing. Find exactly what your organization needs with their ever-expanding business assortment and everyday low prices. Keep your momentum going fast with reliable shipping and fulfillment. Eligible organizations can take advantage of tax-free shopping, both in-store and online, saving you more while getting you everything you need. It's Walmart built for your business.

0:30Ryan Hunn: Sign up for a free Walmart business account today at business.walmart.com. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show we recommend. Hey, what's up, you guys? It's Drew Afualo, your host of the comment section podcast. Each week, I am joined by a special guest to dive deep into all things comedy, pop culture takes, and the highs and lows of the internet mama. Watch new episodes of the comment section every Wednesday on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.

1:33Musa Okwonga: we're so back we're so back

1:38Ryan Hunn: back again tell a friend tell everyone please we're gonna really need everyone to tell everyone yeah welcome back everyone welcome back yes yes do the official hello and welcome back to the

1:48Musa Okwonga: stadio podcast i'm mr kwanga i'm right how you doing i'm doing fine thanks musa how are you

1:54Ryan Hunn: I'm very well indeed. Very well indeed. I'm good. I want to kind of lean into the podcast like long time no see. It's been, how was your summer? Except that I've spoken to you pretty much every single day. I know how it is. And you know how mine's been. How's it feel being back?

2:13Musa Okwonga: It's amazing. It's amazing. You know, it's funny, like even watching football again, I had forgotten, this sounds like a strange thing, I'd forgotten how to watch football. or I'd forgotten how I watch football specifically. So I was like watching a game back that I hadn't been able to catch. And there were like details I was not looking for before that I was looking for this time. So like no facial expressions, like checking on players and their movement. So actually that was funny just watching a game game for the first time. I also had my first proper kick around in two years recently. And that was wild.

2:43Musa Okwonga: Wow. I was saying different. Well, you say that, but.

2:46Ryan Hunn: Well, we can save that for an hour long episode now that we've got independent. We could talk about boosters Because later, coming up this week on Stadio, we've got an hour on Moose's kickabout.

2:55Musa Okwonga: Because I'm sure you all want to listen to that. It was nothing worth recording, I'll tell you that much.

3:01Ryan Hunn: Anyway, we hope everyone's staying safe and well. Yes, yes. We're back.

3:04Musa Okwonga: We are, we are.

3:05Ryan Hunn: The Premier League is back. Multiple other leagues are back. We hope that you are all back with us. Indeed. In this big, scary new era of Stadio. Goodness me. Which I suppose we should probably go there first, right? because it's technically launch day.

3:23Musa Okwonga: Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.

3:25Ryan Hunn: So yeah, the big news, I suppose everyone is kind of, well, you might have seen the video now. So first things first, if you want to go and check, we made a video. Yes, we did. Called This Is Stadio and it's up on our Instagram, which is Stadio Football. Or if you want to go on YouTube and subscribe at Stadio Films on YouTube.

3:42Musa Okwonga: Yes, we'll have films coming.

3:44Ryan Hunn: It features words written and performed by Stephen Camden, a.k.a. Polar Bear. Shouts to Duval, Timothy and Yusuf the music. Yes. An amazing track called Wood. And yeah, we made a little film which included some images that go with with Stephen's verse and then the second half is submissions from Stadio listeners and some of our favourite people. And yes, please please go and share it far and wide. That's the first thing to go and check. The second thing is we're launching the membership stuff for Stadio. Most people would have guessed that already by what we talked about. So if you want to go to patreon.com forward slash Stadio, there are a couple of options.

4:25Ryan Hunn: If you just want the shows like normal, like last year, twice a week minimum, £6 a month, ad-free. Or thriller, no filler. Exactly. There might be more than two a week when Champions League ramps up and all this kind of stuff. But yeah, the standard kind of Monday, Thursday, ad-free shows, £6 a month on Stadio if you just want that stuff. If you want some more, why don't you join the Stadio Social Club? Why not? now Stadio Social Club is the thing that we've been really excited about because we've been working on this I suppose kind of it's been an idea that we've had for a long time but we weren't really sure how to roll it out without including the shows so for the Stadio Social Club you get an extra podcast on a Friday which will probably include non-football stuff as well most of the time you will also get access to the Discord server if you sign up for a year you get a discount and you will also get a membership pack you will also get advanced like sale and tickets for live shows uh we've got a really really special thing lined up in london that we can't wait to announce cannot wait to announce that uh some merch stuff and

5:27Musa Okwonga: also the membership card for which you'll all get your own exclusive squad number yeah so the

5:32Ryan Hunn: membership pack if you sign up for a year includes a membership card we're gonna if you go to the instagram you'll see that it will be posted on there plus some stickers and uh like a welcome letter and all this kind of stuff we're gonna get them out once we've got a few members and um but The other thing about that is the reason that we're doing the Stadio Social Club is that we want to connect actual Stadio listeners in person, right? So when we did the thing in New York, our classic football shirts, it was kind of a bit of a test run for us as well. Because we know that there are Stadio listeners in all of these different cities around the world and hopefully of a similar way of thinking.

6:08Ryan Hunn: And, you know, people who would like to maybe watch football together and maybe like similar things in football. so we thought the Stadio Social Club would be a great place to find your football people and the cool thing about it is that you only really need two people in the same place. Exactly, to be an official quorum. We'll talk more about it maybe, we'll do an episode on the Patreon feeds this week explaining a little bit more detail about it but if you don't want any of that and you're just like look I like the podcast and I want to just listen to Stadio I don't really want to hear you on anything other than football, that's cool.

6:39Ryan Hunn: Six pound a month on patreon.com forward slash Stadio. you can sign up for a year you get a discount and also you can if you want to do the stadio social club you can also sign up for a year and you get a discount and a membership pack if you're an annual member one thing to note though if you do sign up and you have like the patreon app sign up in a browser before then accessing the stadio stuff in an app because for some reason if you if you do it through the patreon app because of the apple thing it makes it more expensive so it adds that on top so uh best thing to do is sign up in a browser and then if you want to use the patreon app you can access all the stadio stuff and also there is a silly high tier for people who are absolutely bawling and want to just help right right the cool thing about that for us is that the reason we put that in there is for obviously very very high earners because we want to have a load of memberships that we can subsidize to low-income people around the world who want to join the social club but maybe that price point is a little bit steep so yeah i think that's that's everything and you can also pay if you do sign up for a year you can also pay what you want you so you can pay you can pay more if you wish to for a yearly membership so if you if you're like hey look you know i don't mind paying a bit more for this then great it allows us to like i say give out some memberships to to people on lower incomes um because it is a global thing and I've waffled loads about this.

8:06Ryan Hunn: So is there anything you would like to add? We're doing it. Is there anything you'd like to add? No, no, no.

8:11Musa Okwonga: Nothing. Listen, listen. No, no, no. Really like just please do come get involved. We spoke to people about this and one person in particular, the conversation stuck with me in New York, really just wanting someone or group of people to catch games with and not have to sort of shoot out of the bar afterwards or the bar or the pub afterwards and just thinking so much of our lives is spent online and we just wanted to create spaces where people go and take that online connection and go in and build something somewhere else. So yeah.

8:40Ryan Hunn: And you know, a lot of people are on Discord, a lot of people are members of stuff that has Discord, so we thought Discord would be a really good place for that. There's going to be football chat, there's stadio chat, there's other sports, there's all kinds of stuff. We're building it out, so the one thing I would say is that we are going to have some teething problems. It's just inevitable. We're going to try and keep it as smooth as possible, but yeah there might be a couple you know we're still kind of new to this we've obviously been building it over the summer getting it ready to go but if you're on the free feed so the feed that you're currently listening to the Monday ones will still be free everything else will be maybe like a snippet for now so yeah if you want to listen to us go to patreon.com forward slash stadio sign up

9:24Musa Okwonga: oh one other thing if you see the video wherever you see it reshare it please yeah yeah if you're in it show off about it say you directed it say you produced it say it's your music do whatever it takes but yeah look i'll just say um we're really uh happy to be doing this uh really proud to putting this out and we hope you we hope

9:49Ryan Hunn: you join us yeah we really do and we also we also know that change is difficult right so we understand that some people might just be like i hate this we get it maybe maybe you do but like we actually think that for what we want to do with this going forward now with stadio and the things that we the places we want to take it and what we want to want to build it out we feel like this is a this is a really good way to do it and it allows us to keep doing stadio to the level that we've been doing it before but do more of it and do more outside the podcast as well so like really build out the community side of it you know eventually down the line we don't want over promise but we've got plans that we would like to do and expand it into being a you know like a real place for people to feel welcome in a football sense and to connect and to you know get together in real life as well and watch games and yeah so all right so that's our massive massive and that's basically that's basically the show so that's it for today uh we hope everyone's staying safe and well.

11:01Ryan Hunn: It feels like we've gone on long enough.

11:04Musa Okwonga: No, not at all. Not at all.

11:10Ryan Hunn: This is Nick and Jack from The Best One Yet, and we are excited to tell you about Walmart Business. Staying ahead of business trends means moving fast and adapting quickly. Walmart Business helps you simplify operations so you can focus on building the next big thing. Find exactly what your organization needs with their ever-expanding business assortment and everyday low prices. Keep your momentum going fast with reliable shipping and fulfillment. Eligible organizations can take advantage of tax-free shopping, both in-store and online, saving you more while getting you everything you need. It's Walmart built for your business.

11:40Ryan Hunn: Sign up for a free Walmart business account today at business.walmart.com. While every other channel is fighting for your customer's attention, podcasts are where they've already given it. No one accidentally listens to a podcast for 45 minutes. They choose to be here. They trust the voice in their ears. and when that voice talks about your brand, it doesn't sound like advertising. It sounds like a recommendation from a friend. Acast gives you that trust at scale. Digital precision, post-read authenticity, and performance data that proves it worked. Don't fight for attention. Buy it with Acast.

12:13Ryan Hunn: Learn more by visiting acast.com slash advertise.

12:21Ryan Hunn: I reckon we should get into some football.

12:25Musa Okwonga: Let's do it.

12:26Ryan Hunn: Okay. and not even a bit this week there is actually only one place to begin there really is there really is F Fowl Illertissen he's done it again knocking out Nürnberg on penalties in the DFB

12:42Musa Okwonga: you're a monster you didn't

12:44Ryan Hunn: you didn't think that was going to be it no I didn't actually what did you think it was going to be it

12:47Musa Okwonga: no I really thought you know what Ryan he's actually going to start a Liverpool ball hey look

12:50Ryan Hunn: new season new me really I'm not backing down I'm doubling down So you're not going to get any Bundesliga or this, that, and the other. No, no, no. You're getting like Riganal Liga teams. Woke nonsense. Exactly. Woke nonsense. We're going to begin at Anfield. Yes. Let's begin with the champions because Friday night, first game back, obviously a very, very emotional night. Yes, yes. First Premier League game at Anfield. you know we were off air when the tragic passing of diogo jota and his brother andre silver happened an amazing tribute before the game from fans bormouth fans as well yeah thought did a lovely lovely job yeah how did you feel about the game you know it's super interesting so

13:39Musa Okwonga: a couple of elements that stuck out so there was a specific observation on liverpool and a wider broader observation on bormouth i would say and the specific observation on liverpool was there was a lot to handle emotionally and I feel they handled it superbly um not just in terms of the silence but also the tributes after the goal scored to Jota I thought that was wonderful and

13:59Ryan Hunn: the prompt handling of Semenyo's complaint first of all awful this happened and just great that

14:07Musa Okwonga: Semenyo felt empowered to go and just call that out straight away um glad to see him getting the support um or feeling supported you know his Instagram post afterwards great to hear him feeling supported and i hope we can see this as as in a sense a sign of progress and how football which has not been always the most proactive in addressing issues of race they were on the front foot with this um the conversation afterwards about you know like simenio really showed racism i don't actually think that was what that was about really i think he's a brilliant footballer who would have produced moments of magic at Anfield, regardless of what people were shouting at him.

14:50But it shouldn't be a question of, show them that, do the talking

14:56Musa Okwonga: on the pitch. No, actually, you do the talking off the pitch and it's not even the job of the player to do that responsibly. And I'm just glad that in this case, football's infrastructure was there to support him. More of the same place, I would say. Liverpool getting through a difficult fixture. So the specific observation, Liverpool, you you know, great job, four goals. And there's some real firepower. Liverpool fans might think that they don't need Isaac. They absolutely do. They absolutely need Isaac. Like in terms of the options and the firepower Liverpool will need, they're going to need them.

15:25Musa Okwonga: Bournemouth and a general observation there, just in terms of how brilliant mid-table clubs get asset stripped summer after summer, like Bournemouth starting with one player left over from their last back four. Goalkeeper and three outfielders all gone in the summer for big money.

15:44Ryan Hunn: That one player who was left over, like, absolutely should have gone, by the way. Yeah.

15:52Ryan Hunn: As in, not left the club, got sent off. Yes, for sure. How on earth Sanese stayed on the field?

15:59Musa Okwonga: Well, I thought actually, Bournemouth, despite, I thought Diakite, one of the newcomers, played as if he'd been there for years. Yeah. Really good, yeah. Yeah, so Sanasi had a naughty experience. It was fascinating to see Kerkhez against his old teammates because they clearly knew what he was about, knew how he liked to play out, knew how he liked to track him. So that was an interesting little sort of head-to-head.

16:20Ryan Hunn: Yeah, I thought Bournemouth was okay on that right-hand side, actually. I thought so, yeah. Yeah, I thought so. Yeah, Gakpo caused him a few issues, but I think on the whole…

16:29Musa Okwonga: Yeah, I would say one other sort of highlight is that not wanting to sort of pick on anybody, but it was interesting that Slott took off both fullbacks. Now you don't want to read too much into it, start the season, all the rest of it. But I think those players, you know, Frimpong, I think if that's how people play Frimpong defensively, he, he, he could struggle. And I think what I will say is I was slightly surprised to see, given that Liverpool played with their centre midfielders really quite deep. Sobbers fly was really, really deep in, you know, for most of the game. I'm surprised Frimpong didn't push forward more, because I think for him, attack is the best version of his defence.

17:10Musa Okwonga: And if he's going to be there, he kind of felt like a sitting duck at times in terms of the movement that he was instructed to use. And I don't think that's the best of Frimpong. I think as the season goes on, you'll see him more expansive. And I think him playing on the front foot is when you see the best of him. But in terms of it, Paul, so that's all the context of the game. Maybe we'll return to that later in the season.

17:30Ryan Hunn: Sorry, just before you move on, I was going to say, it's felt like a while since Frimpong has played that role.

17:34Musa Okwonga: Yes, yes, very much so.

17:36Ryan Hunn: And it might have been from the Netherlands the last time?

17:39Musa Okwonga: You know, that's a great point. I think, you know, for Leverkusen, he is, you know, this theoretical buccaneering wingback slash fullback. And the more we see of that, the better. But then again, to Liverpool's credit, to Slott's credit, and in Liverpool's defence, there are a lot of moving parts. And I want to just talk very quickly about Florian Witt. So even at nil-nil, early in the game, it's very clear that this is a team which is attacking still finding its combinations. There's a moment very early in the game when Vietz gets the ball fairly deep, lays it off, then goes through a turn pass.

18:15Musa Okwonga: And they don't look for him. And I'm like, this guy is always looking to get on the front foot. And the moment they get that, and Ekotike is already locked in. You can see this, they already have a chemistry. The moment everyone else in that attack works out what Vietz is about, it catches fire. Wietz himself I think forced the game a little bit too much there was a period I think about 20 minutes in where I'm like couple of slack passes and I thought you're kind of trying to make too much happen I think he found his rhythm again a bit after that but I think once he gets his bearings fully in this team like Eketike has it's going to go off I'm surprised actually with Eketike just how good he is already in terms of I saw him quite a bit at PSG I was going to say dude yeah wow right right right like he could he actually is the glue in that attack weirdly enough in a funny way like already in terms of he could play as a second striker he doesn't look overawed i

19:11Ryan Hunn: thought he'd be a little bit overawed or more overawed than he has done um just because it's a big move man they didn't win the game obviously but i think he took real command in the community shield yes yes i thought it was brilliant in moments as well and was like just very dominant in this game.

19:28Musa Okwonga: You know, he reminds me of, he's like, it was an old school NBA center with a pick and roll, like very, like beautiful touch, defensively actually quite proactive and interested in defending. And that's why I think he'd be quite interesting second striker. I think that there's talk about getting Isak in, like obviously, you know, Jota, the tragic, tragic passing, and then Luis Diaz being sold. You then have Gakpo, Vietz, Salah, and Iketike. Vietz could play like off that inside left if needs be and you could have Isak as the nine and Heketike off the shoulder because of the vision that he's got and I'm surprised by just how good he is not only at the finishing aspect but not just the playmaking too but like the kind of traditional old school back to goals there's that bit where he gets the goal for um where he sets up Gakpo and Gakko plays it into him in that little spot and he just lays it off and I thought that is so dangerous that is a nightmare to mark.

20:28Ryan Hunn: I think it's going to take them a while to fully, fully click because I don't think they looked like, even though they've got four goals, Bournemouth were very, very good, I thought. Yeah, yeah. It felt like the only real theme, obviously, it's the first game of the Premier League season, so nothing really means much in terms of predicting patterns or anything, I don't think. Although the only thing I would notice is that every West Ham fan I know is like, we're down. that was the only constant from the weekend but but no it felt I feel like Liverpool sorry what I was going to say was I think some of the themes this weekend were just good wins for teams against opposition that really could have had something from the game or even could have taken something before right so I feel like Bournemouth could have been ahead yes Wolves could have been well they literally had the ball in the net against Man City but it was offside yeah Manchester United very much could have got something from the Arsenal game.

21:24Musa Okwonga: For sure.

21:25Ryan Hunn: I think that home game for Liverpool, for example, as an opening home game is such a tricky one. Totally. Because Bournemouth could really, really do them some damage. In my opinion, with this Liverpool side, from a footballing point of view, I think it's going to take a little while for everyone to get to know each other and gel properly. So that's one thing I think is one reason why I think this result was really, really, really positive is because, you know, it very easily could have got away from him. and the fact that Chiesa comes on, for example, someone who we loved before that horrible injury he got.

21:59Ryan Hunn: I'm really rooting for, actually. I would really love him to play a much more of a prominent role at Liverpool. Coming off the bench and getting a really, really important goal in a game like this is going to be huge for him. I think we will do an episode on Liverpool at some point with a bit more deeper about Diogo Jota's passing and how it's affecting the club, or maybe have a look at that. Because I feel like, you know when you saw Mo Salah at the end, how emotional that was for him. It's so seismic what has happened to him in the summer. And I feel like it's going to come up at various points for individuals at different times.

22:38Musa Okwonga: There's a weight to things. The one thing I would say that occurs to me about all of this is the arrival of new signings that bring the freshness that step into place that is burdened by grief, but also taking on the mantle. You know, one thing I loved about Eketike's performance, the celebration, pointing to the badge and the Jota celebration. And that's someone who can come in and just take some of the weight off. You know, we'll never know and we're not entitled to know. We're not entitled to know what burden someone like a Luis Diaz is bearing. You know, someone who loses, someone who he was close to in the squad.

23:14Ryan Hunn: His celebration in the Super Bowl was a Jota celebration as well.

23:19Musa Okwonga: Absolutely, yeah, all of that. So, you know, the ripple effects of this will be profound.

23:26Musa Okwonga: Again, Liverpool just, you see the performances on the pitch in terms of like the transition, in terms of what they're going to become now with all these great attacking tools they've got in the talent they've got there. And what Viers and Neketika have to offer is spectacular. And I'm really excited, not as a United fan, but as a football fan, I'm very excited to see what they produce. But you're right. It's a great unknown for them. I still do think they're going to produce some pretty compelling football this year.

23:53Ryan Hunn: Yeah, I think the key component is how that midfield starts to function. I think there's a lot depending on Dominic Zomers. A lot.

23:59Musa Okwonga: You saw that from this game, actually.

24:01Ryan Hunn: But I feel like this could be a really good season for him.

24:04Musa Okwonga: Well, look, he played a really, really disciplined role. And look, the one occasion when he did something off-brief, he got punished, losing the ball high up, and then Bournemouth leapt on that. You could argue maybe even the two goals both came from Soboslai being isolated. And it just goes to show, look, he has sacrificed a lot. If you saw him in your previous incarnation, RB Leipzig, a lot more freedom. And his role now is one of real responsibility. A bit like what Michaelis has had to do. But I would say, actually, weirdly enough, Soboslai has sacrificed about as much for Liverpool as Rakitic sacrificed for Barcelona.

24:38Musa Okwonga: If you look at Rakitic at Sevilla, number 10, attacking Barcelona, he was the real engine room. And I think Soboslai has basically sacrificed the greater good. He does have the chops for it. I love there was a period early in the game where he just gets the ball and is like knocking to the centre, knocking to Alisson and playing and taking it back. And if Liverpool succeed this year, it's because he's allowing, he's creating the platform for everyone else to really cook. But I like their options in midfield, to be honest. I like that. you've got a nice little quartet of Jones Gravenberg McAllister Sobber Sly I like that actually I like the options I like the range of talent they've got there so let's see what they produce but I feel good for them about that yeah

25:19Ryan Hunn: Shall we go to the Stadio Derby? Let's do it Let's do it Manchester United Arsenal 1 Old Trafford on Sunday I don't have a huge amount of analysis to give this game apart from I am so glad that that doesn't have to happen again in the league this season

25:34Musa Okwonga: Well actually can I say about this because there'll be a lot of talk and gnashing of teeth about Arsenal and how they performed in this game. It's a win at Old Trafford.

25:42Ryan Hunn: Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I didn't enjoy any of it, but I'm just glad it's done.

25:46Musa Okwonga: No one enjoyed it. The moment the draw was made, Arsenal fans were like, this is a banana skin. We're going to lose this. There was so much doom and gloom. So look, the context and the potential was there for something really bad to happen. The only thing I would say about Arsenal and Manchester United is that Arsenal weren't really like showing off all their new toys in this starting 11. United could have started with Seshko up front right there was a temptation here to be like look at all the players we bought and let's Dunthorne at once but it was very clear that Arteta was risk averse it's very clear that Amorim's you know Amorim's team sheet it told a story starting Mason Mount

26:24Ryan Hunn: it's interesting actually because I thought he would have started I thought if anyone was going to start the new strikers I thought it would have been Manchester United and I actually thought Jokoros would have been on the bench

26:31Musa Okwonga: yes I agree no no it's so funny but I think actually with this starting 11 from Arteta, it was risk averse. Amorim making the point that this is a work in progress. So Hoyland, not in the frame. Sancho, without a squad number. I mean, Amorim, he's nothing if not direct. But I would say this about United. I was really, really impressed by Mbwemo. The directness, the touch, the running. He just looks like a really, really great signing. And there's a humility to United going for a play like Mbwemo, where I think he's good enough to go for Champions League side, don't get me wrong, but he's someone who really wanted to play Old Trafford.

27:14Musa Okwonga: And a lot of people going, they were not excited by him, not the most glamorous signing, but his numbers were extremely solid. They were fantastic, actually. And his performance in this game, he will face easier tests than that arsehole back four. And he gave a superb account of himself throughout. Tireless running. No, it's so funny. he felt like a box-to-box centre midfielder and I say that in the best possible way in terms of the width that he gave United the way that he combined on the overlap Dorgoo looked great as well I just feel like this is a team in progress and the new pieces have been added Cunha sparkled at moments I like this like a lot of people were like oh like you know it's a bad loss United all the rest no actually this is kind of where it's kind of where we are

27:58Ryan Hunn: I think also for Manchester United it was quite like a you know like a spiritual spiritual win in the sense that yeah you lost but I feel like the performance was really really encouraging they could have at least had one I think David Raya was given player of the match which says something he's had he had more saves than any other Premier League golf keeper this weekend and you instantly saw a connection between Cunha and Mbwemo with Cesco in there it has a real potential to be like a trio it felt like a while since Manchester United have had a proper trio. I feel like it's worked and gelled and been like, that is like, we have chemistry, we kind of vibe.

28:41Ryan Hunn: There's a bit of arrogance in there and actually, no, do you know what? Like, we play for Manchester United. I'm a Man United player and I think that, that energy was there from Kunja and from Mwemo, I think. We're like, no, no, we're Man United players. Like, we deserve to be and we're going to like win. Whereas I feel like a few players who have gone to Manchester United in their positions over the last few years I felt a bit like wow I'm at Man United this is cool yeah feels like the last player who came to Manchester United that gave me that feeling that those two did in this game was Bruno Fernandes actually

29:15Musa Okwonga: I knew you didn't it's so funny it's so funny you should say this I was watching the game going this is like a new Bruno

29:21Ryan Hunn: like in terms of yeah someone who just turned up and was just like yeah this is it I'm here oh my god it's so funny

29:26Musa Okwonga: like this is so funny you should say this we should do a podcast we should yeah exactly He went down and was like, Old Trafford is going to love this guy. Taking the mantle. And I think what he's going to do, I mean, I actually liked a lot of what Mason Mount did. And I think Mason Mount sitting in a slightly deeper lying role behind two players that, you know, Kunia and Mwayama do something incredible. They give you room. They give you room to play. Now, here's the thing. If they're giving that kind of room, putting pressure on the defenders, someone like a Mason Mount can come in. And they're trying to get Carlos Baleba.

29:56Musa Okwonga: It's not going to happen this summer. And they were a bit late with it, whatever. but I think that actually they've got some interesting possibilities in the centre midfield area. I think they have not fully explored what they can do with that. And I think Seshko is going to be such a problem for defenders just in terms of the presence. He's going to be really, really good, man. Yeah, I think so. He's also massive. Can I be clear in terms of what I think United will do this year? You know what?

30:21Ryan Hunn: Seshko's base and power. Yeah, base and power.

30:23Musa Okwonga: It's literally... You know what I think will happen with United this year? I think it's going to be, I think it'll be a mid-table season, right? And the reason I say that is because I don't think United have the midfield strength and depth to consistently control games. And when - Midfield is the one. Exactly. If you can't consistently control games, you're not going to end up, unless you've got like a ridiculous counter-attack, like Nottingham Forest, unless you've got a ridiculous counter-attack, which we don't yet, then you're not going to get in the top five. If you're going to be at mid-table, you'll get some good points here and there.

30:59Musa Okwonga: You know what, actually, though, I think that's, for me, that's fine. It's fine. I just want to see more of the Embramo-type energy throughout the season. If we can get more of that from the bulk of the squad, we'll be fine in my book.

31:15Ryan Hunn: I mean, the major advantage that Manchester United have is they're going to play fewer games than anyone else in that top six or seven. Yes, yes, yes. Ruben Aberman is going to have way more time on the training ground with everyone. So I think there are a lot of positives that Manchester United can take away from the game and also look ahead to the season and be like, look, whatever happens, we're not going to finish 16th. Yes, exactly.

31:36Musa Okwonga: Yeah, yeah.

31:37Ryan Hunn: They are a major midfield signing away from, I think, being proper. I think that's it.

31:41Musa Okwonga: That's right. Yeah, yeah.

31:43Ryan Hunn: Yeah, I mean, overall, I think quite positive for Manchester United. From an Arsenal point of view, I mean, we'll talk about Arsenal another time for sure, but I think the win was the most important. Right, absolutely. From a fan point of view, I don't really care how it happened. I think the performance was fine. It was very like first game of the season where Old Trafford kind of thing. Jokeres is going to take a bit of time, I think, to get up to speed. Gabriel had quite a short pre-season as well. So I think Arsenal defensively might just look a bit wobbly for a few minutes until he gets fully, fully fit.

32:15Musa Okwonga: The one thing I'll talk about, one thing I would just say slightly, it's interesting to me. There was a lot of talk about getting Eze and then it cooled off and really feels like Spurs have taken the lead in that conversation. I would just say, that's a bit pain for me. I don't like that. Look, I will just, I hope I'm wrong, but I liked him as an option centrally for Arsenal. I thought actually they needed him there because if you look at that midfield three, which I think is fantastic, Odegaard, Rice, Zubimendi, they are of a type. And look, I actually think Rice does have really good ball carrying ability, right?

32:51Musa Okwonga: I think he does, but it's not something that he's been liberated to do, whereas Eze, I think is. Now, Maduweke, I think is a fantastic signing because I think he has the unprotected ability they need in the wide areas. I think Eze gives you that in the central area. And I'm just, a lot is being asked of Odegaard in a central area, and I'm not sure if, I think you just need a variety of attacking options in that middle, I think. And I I hope I'm wrong about that I hope that Arsenal have enough to carry it but if you look for example at the PSG midfield we've got that blend of you know Vettinio and Ruiz and Neves I just wish they had a bit more of a blend in the central area it's the one thing I think I look at and I go Arsenal have a fantastic squad great balance it's just the one place I look at and I think I wonder if they've missed a slight trick there but again it's early days and I hope I'm wrong

33:42Ryan Hunn: yeah I mean I just love Eze I think he's amazing he's amazing and I would have loved to see him come to Arsenal it's looking less likely now. Yeah.

34:17Ryan Hunn: in-store and online, saving you more while getting you everything you need. It's Walmart built for your business. Sign up for a free Walmart business account today at business.walmart.com. Quick question. When was the last time a display ad changed your mind? Now think about the last time a friend told you about something they loved. Different feeling, right? That's how podcast advertising works. A host who's built real trust with their audience talks about your brand in their own words, in their own voice. It doesn't interrupt the experience. It's part of it. With Acast, you can access the world's largest podcast marketplace.

34:53Ryan Hunn: Choose the right shows, the right audiences, the right format. Then watch the data tell you it worked. You're not buying impressions. You're buying influence. Learn more by visiting acast.com slash advertise.

35:09Ryan Hunn: Talking about midfielders, a midfielder who had a hell of a weekend making his Manchester City debut. oh my goodness

35:16Musa Okwonga: one of your favourite players Reinders this guy this guy what we knew though we knew I mean it was my favourite player at Milan for a while really it was funny because the other ones got the headlines like Liao and so on and Teo Hernandez but he was someone I looked at and just thought that guy what do they say he's the straw that stirs the drink and the way he's kind of been liberated a bit more in this role they've got him playing this freer it's free dude a really really lovely

35:47Ryan Hunn: balance of physicality because he's a big dude but that kind of like athleticism as well as technicality like he helped out in multiple areas of the pitch I think he was just amazing so so good so good great side and Cherokee scoring as well yeah all in all pretty great result for Manchester City that because Wolves scared him a couple of times even though it didn't really look like that if you look at the stats and also just another lovely tribute from Wolves fans for Diogo Jota Fields of gold loved that I loved that. Yeah. Lovely.

36:17Musa Okwonga: Anything else you want to talk about on that game? No, just actually football kind of did itself a bit of credit this week. And it's always nice for us to give credit. You know what I mean? That so many times football doesn't. So many times you're like, oh God. Peering through your fingers at it. But this was, of all the weekends, you know, overall there was a lot to look at and be kind of proud of. Holland got his brace because he always scores against Wolves.

36:41Ryan Hunn: Yeah, absolutely. Standard. Let's shout out Nottingham Forest. Yes. Beating Brentford 3-1 on Sunday at the City Ground. Two goals for Chris Wood. Keeping it moving.

36:51Musa Okwonga: Chris Wood just like moving through the gears. Like, no, no, don't call her comeback. You know, also as well, I think a lot of people have looked at Chris Wood's season last year and been like, oh, can you do that again? And he's like, no, I'm standing on business. He looked great. Obviously. Chris Wood very much with, I've got another album. Exactly. She said the new stuff. There was, you know, a bit of a question mark over Forest, having lost Ilanga, you know, big loss for them. and he looked good actually for Newcastle. You know, maybe could have scored one, but looked good. But Forrest is pretty much carrying on where they left off.

37:24Musa Okwonga: A slight fall off end of last season to be expected. But yeah, a really strong win over Brentford who've obviously lost them, lost a couple of big plays in the summer themselves. Jumping across quickly to Spurs. No, actually, Sunderland, West Ham maybe? Maybe start with them?

37:41Ryan Hunn: Yeah, let's do Sunderland. Shout out Sunderland because... that noise that was it was very loud that's a hell of a win

37:49Musa Okwonga: you might argue in context it's the result of the weekend just because I think so something coming back in with a three-no-win at home three very welcome points against the team I think that will be that will struggle I think this year West Ham I didn't that's like you know that's not that's not breaking news it's not a news flash but I just love Granit Xhaka back in that dressing room I love you know I love about it you know I love about it it's like seasoned vet captain I've seen it all lads but no I love the signing it's a really canny piece of work and they also picked up Mukiele from PSG so you've got some real experience there that's a wild do you know what PSG sold very well there and Sunderland made a great acquisition it's one of those ones where it's a win-win for everyone involved really I think Mukiele gets some Premier League action Sunderland gets some real quality people with like experience and professionalism and expertise, it's exciting for them.

38:46Musa Okwonga: I wonder, you know what, you know like when Brentford beat Arsenal 2-0 at the start of that season and people looked at it and go, what does that result mean? I wonder if this 3-0 is a kind of an indicator of Sunderland actually with a solid finish. I wonder what this fixture means. It might just be, you know, we're saying, we just said earlier in the podcast, nothing really means anything at this stage. But every now and again, among the early season results, you do get one or two results where you're like, ah, I wonder if that's like a sign of, of something quite promising to come. And maybe it's that.

39:20Yeah.

39:20Musa Okwonga: They, they look really great. elsewhere, Spurs beating Bernie three nil. I'm just really happy for Charleston getting those couple. That second one was so good. So good. That was Brazil with Charleston.

39:34Ryan Hunn: So Charleston against Serbia,

39:36Musa Okwonga: that volley. And he does it with such ease that actually, sometimes when he scores, you know, he scores this goal and you're like, yeah, but that's just who you are. For me, the big confusion about Richarlison, I look at him and go, you are a 20 goal season player. Like I look at him and think you, you actually at your best with all the challenges behind you, you could start for pretty much any team. And the Richarlison of Brazil, when he's happy, when he's like on the front foot is, is devastating. I just hope we see that this year. But yeah, credit to him. Credit to Spurs.

40:09Ryan Hunn: Shout out to that midfield as well. that Spurs midfield of Bergwahl, Gray and Saar average age of 20 years old 219 year olds and a 22 year old

40:17Musa Okwonga: and Gray playing where he wants to play this year yeah right exactly

40:20Ryan Hunn: also because Spurs have Mickey van der Ven and Christian Romero fit you know what I mean they actually have people fit again really interested to see what Spurs are like this year yeah very much so

40:32Musa Okwonga: I mean could us like Jao Polinia for example is a great I love that for their squad and even if they start on regular he starts on regular basis and if they can get Eze in I think he is I mean obviously they lost Son but if they can get Eze in and Kulosevsky is back at like you know full full whack they've got some nice pieces there

40:52Ryan Hunn: quick shout Fulham Muniz with a 96 minute equaliser against Brighton an absolutely mega point yes

41:02Musa Okwonga: Brighton did well to hang on to Carlos Billy but well maybe it was never that tough actually but I don't like the in a Continuing the Bournemouth theme, I don't like it when those teams in those areas of the league table just have to have these mass sell-offs every summer. I know the United lost out in this case, but I really feel like Brighton, there were just too many losses last time around. It might have been a destabilised their progress and I'm just glad they can actually build something this year. So yeah, that's a big deal.

41:32Ryan Hunn: Villa, Newcastle, drawing 0-0, Esri concert became the first red card of the season. Only one red card in the Premier League this weekend. There's a pretty classic red that... I can't believe he was just like, no, no, what do you mean, no? I was like, dude, you're out of here. Dude, the Isak, you're out of here. I'd love for us to start doing that. No, you're out of here, okay.

41:54Musa Okwonga: Yeah, obviously Isak looks like he'll be on his way. Just on that, as many will know now, Isak did tell Newcastle that this would be his last season like a year ago. So, you know, there's a lot of conversation about, unprofessionalism but I don't know man like it sounds like I communicated well in advance that I think we should do

42:14Ryan Hunn: I think we should do do that in more depth yeah yeah yeah let's save that for another episode because yeah I think there's plenty to talk about there because it then opens up conversations about like what I mean what do contracts mean yeah no for sure for sure yeah and yeah I think it's got some interesting implications yeah to be honest for sure and our final game we're going to shout Chelsea Palace Chelsea with 71 % possession Palace had the ball in the net disallowed goal for Eze long summer for Chelsea long summer

42:50Musa Okwonga: this is the thing like the world champions people are not factoring this they're the world champions I didn't catch I caught like 2 % of the World Club Cup what I will say about all of this is there are teams playing at the moment and it's very clear they haven't had a full summer off PSG a good example of that I mean to be honest they looked absolutely hosed in the World Club Cup for long periods and even for periods of World Cup please sorry and even for passages of play against Spurs you saw the tiredness so I'm going to be more charitable to the players in that sense and Chelsea as well you know slightly out of rhythm you saw him some of the kind of attempts at finishing it wasn't quite there but again teams are out of sync this is an opportunity actually it's going to take a while to normalize actually like if there's anything I would say it's a chance for some of these teams to steal a bit of a march.

43:39Musa Okwonga: Teams that aren't so jaded or groggy actually look at these early season fixtures thinking do you know what maybe let's get some money in the bank against some of these teams that are a bit tired, a bit leggy.

43:49Ryan Hunn: I think that's why for example the Arsenal result was so massive.

43:51Musa Okwonga: Oh it's huge, it's huge.

43:52Ryan Hunn: Like Arsenal start is not great. Right. Not ideal, not the start you would have picked and just get as much out of that as you absolutely can until you get up to speed. Especially when everything, like you say, everything is all over the place. you've got Man City who have had a very very very like short pre-season Chelsea have had a very very short pre-season Liverpool have got a lot of new additions a lot of other teams have got a lot of new additions and kind of you know it's going to take a long it's going to be a bit chaotic for a little while yes for sure and I think if you look how Liverpool won the league last season they capitalised on that totally they jumped out to that lead early on in the season

44:29Musa Okwonga: Arsenal in crisis clean sheet and three points away from home a traditional difficult rival. Oh no, no. Arsenal in crisis. There is. There's your headline. There's your headline. Clip that for the socials. Stop it.

44:43Ryan Hunn: We've got Everton Leeds on Monday night. Sorry, Everton travel to Leeds on Monday night. I'm really excited about this because Dominic Capitlewood has just signed for Leeds.

44:54Musa Okwonga: I really like that signing.

44:56Ryan Hunn: What about Jack Grealish going to Everton?

44:58Musa Okwonga: Do you like that? I love it. I love it, love it, love it. I just think... I think Everton

45:02Ryan Hunn: have made some good signs.

45:03Musa Okwonga: Fantastic. thing. I think, look, I think you look at what Pakata did for Moyes at West Ham and you think if Grealish can do something similar, where you have other players tasked with the primary defensive responsibilities and then the playmaker who's given a bit more license. And it's something, you know, Moyes and Conte unfairly maligned for having these quite rigid tactical structures. But you look at the freedom that Conte gave Hazard and the freedom that Moyes gave Pakata to really build the play. And I think Grealish needs that love. He needs to be the centre. He needs to be able to roam around and just get the fans excited.

45:39Musa Okwonga: And I think it's a great marriage. It's a great marriage of club and footballing culture and players. So good luck to him.

45:46Ryan Hunn: The only thing I would say about Everton, atrocious pre-season. I don't think they won a pre-season game.

45:51Musa Okwonga: I'm always wary of the pre-season. I keep talking about this, but ever since Atleti catfished me by destroying Real Madrid in the pre-season. I did nothing like that ever again. I'm not, yeah.

46:04Ryan Hunn: You actually haven't been the same since. I haven't been the same. I'm still angry about it. Yeah.

46:08Musa Okwonga: Look what they took from us.

46:10Ryan Hunn: I know. So the Premier League is back. Anything else you want to shout out around Europe? Yes, yes. Talk about the Super Bowl.

46:18Musa Okwonga: Mallorca, nil, Barcelona 3, Laminia Mal.

46:23Ryan Hunn: That number 10 shirt suits him.

46:25Musa Okwonga: He acted like it was, that man's acting like Like he's not even, like he didn't stop. He's acting like he's still playing the second half against Inter. Like he's still out for, he's still standing on business. This man is, is flying. At this point, it's the ease of, it's the ease of the assist. Rafinha as well, another player that just picked up where he left off. I love the attacking options now for Barcelona. I mean, I loved them before, but even more now with Rashford in the mix, him going there. You know, Rashford got that move. I thought that felt like a Hail Mary going to Barcelona. after Rashford missed the PSG chance I wasn't sure a top team in Barcelona a top team in Europe would give him the move that his talents merited I think he's going to be sensational there because he's coming into attack a bit like Danny Elmer last year where the ship is already like in motion and there's not pressure on him to be the primary guy and I think it's an even better setup than he had at Villa where he comes in and just sprinkles his genius here and there he's already like in the flow of games they seem to understand from the pre-season that there's good chemistry between players I'm really excited they still got Bernal to come back Casada was on the bench for Barcelona I just think they're going to be really really fun again and really tough to beat this year and they are the team to beat again and they're champions I know but they are they're the team to beat with returning returning geniuses I'm really excited

47:49Ryan Hunn: You mentioned the Super Cup earlier Bayern beating Stuttgart in the Super Cup great game actually It was yeah

47:53Musa Okwonga: Yeah, Luis Diaz with the winner. Nice winner for him.

47:55Ryan Hunn: Harry Kane opened the scoring for Bayern. Stuttgart got back into it. Came with another trophy. I love that for him. I love that for him. Yeah, yeah. We might potentially talk about some Bundesliga this season. Who knows?

48:06Musa Okwonga: Stay tuned.

48:07Ryan Hunn: I'm going to do my own Bundesliga podcast. It's going to be four hours on a Tuesday. Four hours, three listeners.

48:14Musa Okwonga: Actually, no, you'll get a lot of listeners, actually. Excuse me.

48:17Ryan Hunn: Sorry. Five listeners. It's going to be more than your fucking politics. Yes. is there a way that we can sign up but unsubscribe from music

48:37Ryan Hunn: sorry i'm kidding i'd listen so well no no you turn on at least so yeah that's it i think we'll leave it there for this episode we're going to do a brief episode probably just to like welcome people to the ad free episodes and the stadio social club if they sign up if you sign up for the stadio social club so that'll go up probably tuesday um and just to to so we could keep an eye on those uh podcast feeds as well because obviously they're new feeds so if you sign up on patreon and you can add it to a feed of you know the podcast app of your choice um it gets a bit fiddly with spotify but you can you can do it either via spotify or just follow the instruction through Patreon.

49:19Ryan Hunn: But yeah, everything else like Apple Podcasts or, you know, Overcast or Pocket Casts or whatever it's all. Just copy the RSS link and then you should be, you should subscribe. That should get you subscribed nice and easy. We'll keep an eye on that. Like I said, there might be a couple of bumps in the road here and there, but don't worry, we're going to be very much on it. And it might take us a couple of weeks just to get everything rolling super smooth. But yeah, Yeah, we'll see you in the Discord as well for people who sign up for the Stadion Social Club. See you in the Discord. And I reckon that'll do us for today.

49:54Ryan Hunn: Yeah, yeah. All right, then. Well, anything you want to add, Musa? No, there is, actually.

50:01Musa Okwonga: Go on. The first thing is I want to do a shout out to my beloved SFC and Frida's Eye Unicorns who won their first ever league title a few weeks ago. So hyped about that. And also to Motherland SC, who they came second in the league, Motherland. and it's a team of players of African heritage based in Germany. They're amazing. They're taking a step up this year and there's going to be some teething problems with them too. But I just love the fellowship they showed to each other at a very difficult point in Motherland season. Big racial controversy, getting racially abused by another team in the league.

50:30Musa Okwonga: And just the way that those two teams work together in Germany at a difficult time for the country politically and socially was really beautiful to see. So shout out to both those teams for just representing football at its best.

50:42Ryan Hunn: Speaking of representing football at its best, while we were off air Vermont Green won the title the USL2 title unbeaten can I say

50:51Musa Okwonga: Vermont Green we know it was amazing watching it having obviously been there shout out to them incredible just the journey and every morning I'm like waking up refreshed check the highlights whatever they're going further and further Bernie turning out and like showing out

51:02Ryan Hunn: the Virtue Field now known as the Bernie Bay the Bernie Bay unbelievable just incredible as Spoto Patrick after they won the title like the week after or whatever once I think everything had calmed down a little bit and he was saying bless him he was like do you know what I was thinking I was thinking about when you guys came over and you were talking to Chris the head coach and you were saying like he was talking about how much quality there is and we were like well you better go win it though and then he actually went and did it so yeah shout out to Montgreen as well absolutely amazing amazing season absolutely amazing we're going to leave you with come and get your gift by Nuclear Soul System go check the Stadio Actress place on Spotify and we'll be back with you on Tuesday Can't wait.

52:20See you next time.

52:53Ryan Hunn: A-Cast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show we recommend. It's one of the most high-profile unsolved murder cases. Rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting just off the Las Vegas Strip in September 1996. Now, after nearly 30 years, someone is going on trial for the murder. 63-year-old Dwayne Keefe D. Davis is accused of getting the gun and organizing the hit on Tupac after the rapper and his entourage beat up Davis' nephew in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel. After decades of rumors, theories, and unanswered questions, a jury will decide what is truth and what is legend.

53:37Ryan Hunn: I'm Kathy Kanzora from History of the 90s and I'll be in court in Las Vegas bringing you daily updates from one of the most anticipated celebrity trials From History of the 90s the Tupac murder trial out daily beginning on August 10th available wherever you stream audio Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere acast.com