Xabi Alonso to Chelsea, Man City's FA Cup win and Celtic's dramatic title

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0:58Hello and welcome back to the Stadio Podcast. I'm Miso Kwonga. I'm Ryan Hun. Ryan, how are you doing? Doing all right, thanks man. How are you? Very well indeed.

1:06Ryan Hunn: We hope everyone else is staying safe and well wherever you are. Quick bit of admin, very, very quickly. You wrote a piece for the Kickback Soccer newsletter that went up last week, so we're going to put that link in the description if you want to go and check that out and follow all their stuff through the World Cup and some stuff that we've done with them as well. there was some stuff went up last week from Venezia where we did collab posts with Stadio so if you want to go follow Stadio Football on Instagram you'll see those go and follow Kickback Soccer if you want to sign up to Stadio on Patreon you get every episode ad free in full including the episode we did last Thursday about Florentino Perez's wild press conference last week and the situation at Real Madrid so if you want to go and sign up get 15 % off annual membership patreon.com forward slash Stadio You can sign up as a podcast member or a Stadio Social Club member.

1:54Ryan Hunn: Southbank Centre live show. It's the Thursday after the World Cup final. We're going to be joined by Nish Kumar. We're very excited. So if you're in London and you want to come along, Thursday the 23rd of July, the link for tickets is in the description as well. And I reckon that's all the admin. So today we're going to shout out a couple of things that happened this weekend. We're recording this on Sunday afternoon, so we're going to swerve most of the football that's taken place there. We're going to do a couple of quick shout outs from the football from Saturday. but we're mainly going to talk about Jabby Alonso.

2:24Ryan Hunn: As it was confirmed, he will not be the Chelsea head coach. He will be the Chelsea manager. Fascinating. Which is very interesting. Listen to everyone, that's how you use your leverage in a job negotiation on the way in. That is how you use your leverage. Wow. That's a power move. A power move. Love to see it. But before that, should we talk about the FA Cup final? Because weirdly, in the week that it was, it really felt like it was off the radar in the build-up. There's a reason for that. There's a few reasons. I mean, look, I think with the mood around Chelsea, a lot of the fans, including some of those in our community, I think felt a bit underwhelmed, not just by the season, but by the occasion.

3:10And there was a sense of despondency about the club's general direction, which is, I mean, you look at them now and you couldn't be happier really with that guy coming in.

3:17Ryan Hunn: We've managed to get a few reactions from some Chelsea fans that we'll talk about with the Javi Alonso thing. Yeah, the FA Cup, I think. I think when they first got to the FA Cup final, the mood was markedly different to what I think it's going to be in the next few weeks, given the appointment. And then obviously for City, who are chasing this kind of, the most low-key domestic trouble, I think, of recent times. Because they could win a treble, but it doesn't feel like any of it. At no point do they feel like they've been in charge of their destiny, which is a strange thing to say. Interesting season from there.

3:47Very interesting. So yeah, they arrived with fairly little fanfare. I think because as well, just to sort of tie this up, a couple of the teams that were like making the run towards the final, like Port Vale and Southampton, were quite excited and were kind of giving people the feeling back. Leeds. Yeah, Leeds too. And they gave them, you know, those teams were giving them the feeling back. But yeah, so again, arriving without a huge amount of fanfare. and then we got the final yesterday which you know if you want to take us away how did you

4:20Ryan Hunn: feel well i have to admit that i had to watch it back or watch extended highlights back because i had it second screened i was watching the uh saint pauli wolfsburg game because it was it kind of overlapped in the bund because it was the bundesliga final day men's bundesliga final day yesterday frown bundesliga's final day today but we'll talk about those on the next show but yeah it felt very much, it felt quite odd. It felt like Chelsea had a couple of moments in the first 15-20 minutes or so but it felt overall like a, not an underwhelming cup final but a cup final that wasn't destined to be a classic and then I think it came alive a little more in the second half and Manchester City just started to really get their moments and the goal from Semenyo, I think this is I mean, a goal worthy a big cliche but a goal worthy of winning any cup final.

5:11It's so good. If you watch the winner back, if you watch the goal in isolation, you'll think the game, you'll think that was out of place with the game itself. It felt like a moment that didn't belong to that game. And it was funny because we were talking in the chat and the discord about this match. And one of the Chelsea fans said, I, I'm surprised they went with the back five, which I thought was really interesting, right? Because the formation was actually three, four, two, one, but it felt like a back five. It wasn't meant to be back five. Those players, Malo Gusto and Kukurea, have the chops to push high up, but they didn't.

5:43And there was this strange thing where, how do I put this best? I had this producer I used to love listening to years ago, and then he started collaborating with someone else. And this person just took all the edge out of his sound and just smoothed it off. And watching the Chelsea midfield, I felt like it was like that. All the rough edges, all the abrasion, all the things in that Chelsea midfield, which on paper is actually quite a good midfield. all the elements of that midfield which should give them an edge should make them good at progressive passing surging forward it felt like the whole thing had just been smoothed out and muted and actually the Chelsea team was set up to absorb shock not to initiate attack and it's sad to say it but it kind of felt like the overall effect of the game was it was extremely passive performance which some might say look we don't want to get blown away at Wembley I get that but I think it was just lacking in a bit of risk.

6:40I look maybe at like, and look, okay, in Chelsea's defense, they were missing Esteval, who I think would have been a great addition to this team. The thing was when you had Cole Palmer, who's just not been in the best of form and Enzo Fernandes behind Joao Pedro, who I thought was really quite good. You just didn't have much attacking heft. You didn't have much creativity. And, you know, we know that Xabi Alonso, not to jump ahead to do that too quickly, but one of the people he's looking at getting in must be a playmaker. must be a playmaker because I just don't think that is going to cut it, that range of options.

7:14But yeah, that's how I saw it from a Chelsea perspective. But credit to City because City were the ones making them sit that deep. I don't think that was McFarlane's intention.

7:23Ryan Hunn: No, I agree. I think I was going to jump in when you said that because I think there was a moment where Rhys James, Chelsea were playing the ball about in that kind of right back position. And usually there's that pass down the line. You see it quite often. And all of a sudden, even though City didn't have a huge amount of personnel there just the way that they positioned just got Chelsea in trouble and they won the ball back and I think that was when was it when Haaland crossed the ball? Oh when he overhit it a little bit yeah yeah yeah You know there was a moment or two in the first half where if Chelsea it's imperative and this is a huge cliche I know but it felt like the way that Chelsea was set up was to nick a goal and then protect Yes and I think because City did have quite a bit of trouble in getting clear cut I mean there weren't a lot of clear looks in the entire game I think there was only five shots on target in the entire match.

8:07Ryan Hunn: Four from City, one from Chelsea. So, you know, apart from some of the ones that they had, the one where it took a deflection and Sanchez saved it onto the post, it didn't feel like there were many really, really clear-cut chances from City. Because Erling Haaland hasn't scored at Wembley yet, right? But that is also because he doesn't get the looks. The thing is, it's really sad, it's a bit of a paradox with City, right? But the type of chance on which he thrives, central areas and in behind, those gaps just don't appear they don't appear because what you've got you've got basically like a midfield you've got a five then you've got two sitting deep so there's no way through for Haaland it's no coincidence that he's responsible for the match-winning moment like he's he provides the assist in two phases firstly wins the ball back brilliantly um inside high up inside the Chelsea half or quite in the halfway line and then spins into space for Bernardo's overlap pass really good movement and across with his wrong foot or weaker foot for Semenyo.

9:04So Haaland was still doing work, but you saw his frustration at the end when Cherky doesn't give him the ball because he's like, I just want to get off the mark. And it's like, yeah, because that was his first, the only time Haaland is going to get a chance in a major final is when the game opens up. And there's lots of talk about this with like Henri, Henri being like, you know, not scoring major finals. These players are so heavily supervised. They're so heavily supervised. like it just doesn't those gaps don't appear for elite players it's almost a compliment for them so I want to mention that because there'll be a lot of narrative around Aral Haaland hasn't done it well okay show me the chances show me the positions he was given the ball in because frankly this City team is all designed around the wingers hurting you which is exactly what happened and it's probably what Pep told them before the game Pep probably told them actually we're likely to get something from those those wide areas or from our wingers the other thing to say as well Matthias Nunes huge role because the Kukurea role, right?

9:58That was where I think Chelsea were hoping for more joy, but because he was so assertive and aggressive down that flank, you know, this is shout out to him because he's had to really adapt his game. You know, he arrived as a ball carrying centre mid and has really played really well as a right back. Got caught offside actually for what would have been a Haaland goal by being too eager on a Semenyo pass. And actually if he times went slightly better, I still think he gets there for that assist. But because he was so assertive, it meant that Kukareo is basically just firefighting the whole game.

10:28So I think that's credit also to City because I don't think McFarlane wanted to play that deep, but what can you do? You've got those people flying at you. I think the only disappointment I think for City is, I'm just not seeing the chemistry in the relationship between Marmouche and Haaland. that front too I think it just doesn't quite have the coherence maybe I mean we've talked about Foden and Haaland in those gaps but Foden's out of favour and I think that also frankly defensively Mahmoud and his movement give whoever's in front of him more of a problem defensively than Foden does so I think you know it made some question I think it made sense to start like that then of course Cherki came in afterwards but yeah I mean look at the options they've got and Rodri of course Rodri just like ice skating through midfield I mean that guy just

11:23Ryan Hunn: He looks like he's kind of not returning to the form that he was at that season that he won the Ballon d 'Or because I think that was just his season but he's he's getting it looks like he's getting closer to the kind of old Rodri which I think is it's good man because there was a point where it looked really are we going to get is Rodri going to be back to the level that he was at before I think a lot of that is also structural yeah you're right a lot of that was Rodri getting caught there was a fitness issue and also I think the team around him hadn't really cohered and when Rodri not fully fit gets isolated like that all of a sudden a five yard gap becomes a ten yard gap and then you're getting him to turn and Rodri is not quick he's got many gifts but acceleration over five ten yards isn't one of them you know no criticism just is what it is and he was in a bit of an island but the island is gone now So 20th trophy for Pep as Manchester City manager which is quite wild however I think we'll maybe hold some pep chat and Manchester City chat because it feels like it's going to be a big week in the Premier League I mean it is literally going to be a big week in the Premier League so we will hold off the Premier League chat for now apart from we'll maybe pivot to Chelsea okay actually on and we'll do yeah sorry maybe pivot to Chelsea two more things in this game just very quickly I just want to give a quick shout to Nick O 'Reilly because I thought he was brilliant and just I think we take his genius for granted sometimes not on this podcast but generally and I think Kusinov you're a very lucky boy because I think that was a penalty on Draftat I did as well do you know what maybe we'll save this for our end of season wrap up but I feel I feel like I don't know ball anymore man I think it's got an innocent I think Cusnard's got an innocent face because there was one in the Celtic Hearts game as well which I thought I know like I'm like what are we doing I know what are we doing there's no other way where else can he put himself I know You've got social dialed in.

13:18Search is doing its thing. So why do your marketing results look the same as six months ago? That's because you're fishing in the same pond as everyone else. Podcast listeners are a different audience entirely. More engaged, harder to reach through traditional channels, and ready to act when someone they trust makes a recommendation. We're Acast, and we put them right in front of you. Browse thousands of the world's leading podcasts book host reads or run your own ads and track every conversion in real time same skills you already have brand new results a cast a cast.com slash advertise let's talk about jabby alonso because i think this is a really really surprising appointment and i mean it's i think

14:06Ryan Hunn: it's really interesting and semi-hilarious that Chelsea put this out the night that they'd, well a few hours after they'd lost the cup final just 10 out of 10 crisis comps from Chelsea but Jabby Alonso is set to be the new Chelsea men's manager not head coach, manager and he will officially start his role on the 1st of July I have to admit I didn't see this coming a few weeks ago i think it's whoever made the call at chelsea whoever had the vision to contact chaby alonso i mean whoever had the kind of i mean look not a club known for its reticence but whoever had the vision to do that and also like credit to chaby alonso for him coming in and using his leverage from the leverkusen years to come in and be like if i come in things have got to change because the whole thing about the chelsea job the reason it was a horrible job okay here's the thing the Chelsea head coach job is a horrible job still is but it's not the one he's got the Chelsea manager job is a very different proposition because with the control with the leverage to be responsible or to have a say in signings acquisitions I think is key because if he gets that which which you will get contractually I think it's enormous because then I think you can build something very very exciting and that actually if you look at Manchester United that a season out of Europe has done wonders for us as a club.

15:36You haven't heard anyone really complain, oh my God, we weren't in Europe this year.

15:40Ryan Hunn: Actually on this, sorry to cut in, but I saw something, I was looking at Carrick, because it looks like Carrick's going to be the permanent manager. He's only had 15 games in charge. Yeah, 15. Which is wild when you think about it. A total atmosphere change. And not just because Amram's not there as a palate cleanser, he is responsible for generating that feeling. He's given us that with the performances. And I think Xabi Alonso comes in in a perfect position, right? Expectation at Chelsea, I think, has never been lower. In the modern era, like in terms of the time these last few, the expectations of what they can do with that squad are really, really low.

16:16I think there's a couple of personnel issues there. I think there are some individuals that should be moved on, actually, sooner rather than later. I think there's a lot he can trim out. I think there's a lot of players that should just go in the summer. The core of who he has to work with, I think, is exceptional. And I think he could look at doing a kind of hybrid of like almost, I think, I don't know what Chelsea's constraints are financially. I'm not sure exactly how constrained they are in the transfer market, but Leverkusen is a model that people look at. But I also think there's an element of PSG.

16:47And what I mean by that is not necessarily in spending the big money. I mean like, look at the young players, look at the academy. me I think he could do something really exciting there because it feels like he's been given the closest thing to a blank slate that Chelsea coach has been given in quite a long time actually well a Chelsea manager sorry which I think is a very interesting distinction I think that the profile of player that Xabi Lancer will ask for because he loves coaching right this is the thing there's taking a job like this is where you just love coaching the hell out of players and he can do that.

17:21Ryan Hunn: I think this is where it's really interesting where you have a squad the age profile of this squad is so young it's probably the worst one of the worst squads if not the worst squad in the Premier League to have had multiple managers in a season because you're really missing out on like quite a key developmental period in these players careers. There are some players in that in that side like people like Cole Palmer for example when there is a lack of structure or a lack of cohesion or a lack of consistency around you it gives you a little more leeway to just be like just give me the ball man like it doesn't really matter there's nothing going on here and we've seen it at points with Bruno Financi at Manchester United since he's arrived where the system hasn't been super coherent or there have been real issues and he's just like right just give me the ball and let's play hero ball a little bit but the problem is that I think that when someone like Cole Palmer's form drops off and he has an injury problem like the recurring injury problem like he has done this season there isn't really anything to the thing that's really interesting about Jabby Alonso arriving is that it's quite strange to see someone who is such a beloved, who's so beloved to another fan base who are in need or kind of crying out for a manager themselves, thinking that it was going to happen in terms of Liverpool.

18:34Ryan Hunn: You know, for ages it looked like Liverpool might part ways with Arna Slott in the summer. Jabby Alonso would come in there and it's kind of, you know, he's working again with two players that he's, he had so much success at at Leverkusen with Vietz and Frimpong kind of snatched away from one fan base and another fan base that hasn't actually you know Jabby Alonso never played for them there's no real ties there emotionally as a player it's not as painful as it would have been for me personally but it's not even someone like Cesc Fabregas turning over there who actually played for the club it's really weird I think but from a coaching point of view he's got so much gravitas that pretty much anywhere outside of the realm outside of Real Madrid weirdly dressing rooms will listen to what he has to say i think and especially a dressing room that is in the current position that chelsea are in which is let's be frank like struggling they a club that has had this amount of investment should not be ninth in the premier league at the time of recording it's the it's the perfect job without european football next season and this is actually something i wanted to touch on quickly because we asked a couple of people we asked a couple of people in stadio discord and i also asked my oa quadri just because i think it's really i I find the Chelsea fans' perspective on this super interesting.

19:50Ryan Hunn: So I asked Maioa, and he just said, it's a shame about the club doing the announcement as a PR move, but he'll demand authority from the players. Him being named manager is nice in the right direction. Got a track record of making decent players look great. Conference League would be horrible. Best bet is no European football like you mentioned, and he has time to coach. Would love to see what he does with Cole Parman, who will be his striker. Celebrating us getting him instead of Liverpool, isn't something to celebrate for Mojava, he says. Chelsea ball move like spoilt and just try to get everything first, which I thought was a really interesting point of view from a Chelsea fan.

20:30Ryan Hunn: Fingers crossed there's a sign of change. Also, rock and roll football with a lack of discipline in our squad could be dangerous. Hopefully he brings some stability. So I thought that was actually quite a nice summary of it from a Chelsea perspective. And there was a couple of others in the Stadio Discord, if you want to... Similar things though, Matt. and Babs backed it up but saying pleased and pleasantly surprised he decided to move to Chelsea best manager on the market clear ability to work with young players and build a strong culture word with a back three squad's built up for a back three is ready for a back three and there's one point that Matt made where he said a mini player clean out needs to occur which feels ridiculous to say and may be forced upon them anyway with a lack of European football Jabby has to have a say in that and the last line I thought was quite interesting I finished the season extremely disillusioned after having some false hope coming into it but this appointment has given me a flicker of excitement let's see what happens and Babs said pretty much sums up all my thoughts as well so it is interesting Fascinating you know it's so funny because I'm not I'm not a Chelsea fan but from the outside that's kind of my estimation of it in the sense that there are players in that squad who are desperately looking to be coached Cole Palmer needs this it's actually so important that he gets this coach at this point in his career it's so important actually so I was going to say something mischievous should put it a bid for Phil Foden as well play them as two eights no no no to be honest I don't think that's a wild do you know it's not wild take because I think I think that actually there's a I think Phil Foden's next move now could be somewhere like a Chelsea because I think that I think Xabi Alonso is going to coach the ass off that squad and I think the player I'm most excited by in that team is Romeo Lavia I think he's amazing I think he's absolutely amazing you know that when someone comes into a club you're always like which players are they going to love and you know certain players when Poch came into like I don't know Spurs you're like I know what a Poch player is or whatever I think that with Chelsea Chabby Lancer is going to come in having a look at the squad and being like I love this guy Hato for example I think is a player he's going to love who played some really good stuff in the final some of his passing through the gaps was outstanding there were some players and actually one thing I would say with Mayo were like decent players that great I don't know I think he brings out the greatness I think it's there I think he looks at that Chelsea squad and was like and this is not to critique what Mayo said I think the genius of these coaches like Alonso and Klopp is they just bring out things that other coaches just couldn't or can't couldn't see and I'm excited as a football fan first and foremost I think there are performance levels in some members of this squad that people are going to be absolutely shocked by in a good way.

23:15Yeah, I think it's great. And actually, who his strike would be? I think Charles Pedro is great.

23:21Ryan Hunn: I think... Well, I think the... So I think the striker thing is a good question because he used so many different types of configurations at Leverkusen. Thank you. Can I say, okay, there was a lot of talk about back threes. People compared the back three of Amorim and the back three of Xabi Lonson. No, they were light years apart because the fluidity you had Vietz as a false nine Boniface playing as a support striker Adli you had them all you had the front three that had maybe like five people that went into it and at different points in that front three you had like you had players that were target men playing as support strikers and vice versa it was complete it was a kaleidoscope and the thing is what Alonso will give people is attacking chaos in the best way it's going to be a really really exciting thing I remember I've talked about this before but that front three they had of like Mount Havertz and Werner like the front three they start the Champions League final Chelsea which was just like weird and impossible to pick up because what do you do with it I think you're gonna get versions of that with Alonso actually but you look at the front three that doesn't make sense and then you're like well good luck defending it check this out so the the front three that started the final game of the season in the season they went unbeaten the 2-1 win over Augsburg Bonnie Face up front Jonas Hoffman and Amin Adli so that was the three and then before that I mean obviously they were going for the Europa League then as well, right?

24:44Ryan Hunn: Before that, Patrick Schick, Teller and Boniface behind him. That's what I mean. I love it. I love it. It's so fluid. And everyone comes in and gives you different looks, different movement, different problems. And then you've got a couple of games before that where they beat Vered, I think, 5-0 and Viet scores a hat-trick. And they absolutely cook. Like, it's just... It's really, really exciting as a coach. And the thing that's so clever about it from a Chabby-Loncer point of view, right? which is what he's done earlier in his career. He swerved big jobs, not big jobs, he swerved certain jobs when it wasn't right for him.

25:18Liverpool, there might have been the right fit, I suppose, from one perspective, but the underlying numbers, the underlying issues and stories, Chabby's got people in the know around Liverpool set up. The toxicity there, it's too much, even prior to recent months. Yeah, yeah, I think it's too much. I think it's too much.

25:34Ryan Hunn: He could have gone into that Liverpool job this summer and had just the biggest runway for goodwill throughout next season yeah but Goodwill runs out quick man like I think it's different though I think it's a little bit different because I think that what they I think what Liverpool the sense they get from Liverpool fans is that they want another era to start believing in and Arnish Schlott despite winning the league last season and all the difficulties that we've said that he's had this season I still I get it I get it I know the defeat on Friday was disappointing you know I still think we said at the beginning of the season look if they just get the Champions League I think with everything that's happened that's fine you've got the Mo Salah thing now happening again even though he's leaving the comment that he made on Instagram but then again by all accounts Liverpool never made contact with him about it didn't contact him didn't contact him so you can't you can't go you can't take a job that no one's offering you so this is what I mean about the toxicity something is wrong at board level if a club is not aligned with itself if something if a club is not aligned with itself enough to look at something that's good for him good for good for it then then doesn't make sense like it's not moving the right way yes it's a great club we know that Liverpool's an incredible club and also it's not moving the right way and if you put if the approach is not made correctly then you're like like the underlying stuff to fix in that you know in in that club and that squad and like Mo Salah coming out with with the tweet stuff like that it's really bad it's really bad like I'm sorry but like it's it's I think it's terrible because what there's no need i'm a bit i'm a bit no need for it and a few times now most of us done this there's no need for it just popping out look and i i have to say because when things are terrible like it's not like he makes himself available for press conferences when the club's at its lowest it's not like he does that it's not like he's thibaut courtois when madrid are getting pelters and thibaut courtois who doesn't even create the pelters doesn't create the problems goes out and like takes it he doesn't do that and so it's this destabilizing effect.

27:36I don't like it. I gotta say, I don't like it.

27:39Ryan Hunn: It's just a bit of dunking on a manager who's already having a hard time. I am not entirely sure, despite the money that they spent, I'm not entirely sure many managers do better given everything that's happened this season. It may have happened differently, but I'm not entirely sure that they're second or third. Can I say what's funny as well? The fact that Mo Salah called for a return to heavy metal football, show me a club in Europe at the elite level that is prospering playing heavy metal football right now someone should take the Liverpool squad right from the start of the season and run online simulations with heavy metal football tactics and then show us where they end up in the league table I bet it's not above eight I bet playing that style of football you get absolutely cooked if you do that if you play the kind of like Roger's ball like you just yeah which was amazing I mean you know Liverpool have conceded the joint amount of the joint most amount of goals in the top half right 52 goals how much more heavy metal do you want so so actually maybe they they could have leant into it a little more and just gone and tried to score 80-90 you know yeah right I just think this season honestly man we will talk more about it at the end of the Premier League season I just think the Premier League is a bit it's not even like a normal motorway at rush hour it's like the M25 at rush hour like you can keep extending the lanes and it's still chock-a-block it's the North Circular it's the A406 it's the A406 my least favourite my least favourite road in the world actually it's the A406 oh no those those who know those who know the North Circular know what I'm talking about that's my least favourite road ever all time it's the worst so let's wrap up on Jaby Alonso so how I mean very very early to call in terms of how it's going to go highly dependent on what happens in the summer it's going to go well I think it's going to be do you know what though it should go well in theory I'm just a bit worried if stuff isn't popping off by like October what happens because we've seen that just everything is so I think it's going to go well because he comes in you know what it is if you've come in and negotiated that manager You're telling me when you say that, not only you want to have say in who arrives, but who leaves.

30:06That to me is a very clear, I think he has looked at that from the outside and he has his suspicions about how he needs to dress for him to be. And don't forget, he's coming for a job where his job was sabotaged by players and he's coming into Chelsea and none of the players that would try to sabotage him have the profile of the players. Right, right. And this is what I think. I think he's coming off the back of Madrid. if I was a player that was an agitator in that dressing room at Chelsea I'd be very afraid I'd be very afraid at this point

30:36Ryan Hunn: I think it's highly dependent on who they get rid of as well as well as who they sign I wonder if they go maybe there's a couple of Dangle Carrot a couple of the Real Madrid players that he likes I think a couple of the Real players Can you imagine if Mastantuono rocks up at Chelsea Stop Stop I mean he should stay though because I think he's going to be part of the he'll be Mourinho will love a player like that hard working winger who doesn't stop running even when he's not scored for like 10 games. Marino's going to love a player like that. Ardegula as well, I think he'll love. I mean, look how much he loved Mesut in the early eras.

31:08Yeah, I think those players should hang around. I think Chelsea should go for a couple of Bayern players as well.

31:13Ryan Hunn: Oh, really? Yeah. Try and get Michael Aluse back. Oh, go on, no, no. To restore the feeling. No, no. Michael's gone, gone. But yeah, I'm... I'm hyped for them. They should try and hijack the Gordon move as well. it would be so Chelsea to get Anthony Gordon yeah I'm not entirely sure that they'll get a lot of players like that at the Premier League there's better value there's better value abroad there's players for what Chelsea need within their constraints I think they can get really good value abroad actually I'll tell you what as well though as a destination which Xabi Alonso appointed now the agents who will be looking completely differently at Chelsea yeah I think my gut feeling is that there are going to be a lot of them that are just going to be watching what happens next season before making the move.

32:00Ryan Hunn: That's interesting. If they qualify for the Champions League and they look legit next season, then I think they're a spot again because he's got a four-year deal, right? Yeah, that's interesting. The four years, isn't it? Yeah. I'm not entirely sure that the plug will be pulled quite as quickly on this appointment. No, no. It's the first appointment in the last couple of years. I mean, the Maresco deal just felt too long. That was strange to me. And Resenia too, those contracts felt a bit long. but four years for Chaby Alonso felt right and we'll see how it goes next season disappointment at losing the FA Cup final but then a little bit of excitement for next season a cup final you can't really have been expecting to win I think it's one where you go and just give your best and you know you try your best to win it but with everything that City have and with their performances in major finals you're up against it but yeah to get Chaby Alonso and after that goodness you've got social dialed in Search is doing its thing.

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33:35Ryan Hunn: All right, man, should we go to Scotland quickly? Because it was the final day of the Scottish Premiership, early kickoff. Celtic 3, Hearts 1, Celtic win their 14th title in 15 years. After coming from a goal down to beat Hearts 3-1 at Celtic Park. Controversial. end to the game but which we will talk about very quickly but Martin O 'Neill man steadied the ship got it done he did and congratulations to Celtic because you know they lost two managers this season Rodgers and Nancy and felt they were absolutely out of it but ended up second top scorers and with the second best defence and in the end I mean those final 20 minutes when it was one all and hearts were clinging on because a draw would have brought the title a goal felt fewer goals have felt more inevitable than Maeda's goal with three minutes to go of normal time that goal felt that it was just absolutely relentless absolutely relentless they were very very good in that second half they were they were very good yeah yeah they started pretty pretty well but I thought hearts despite maybe being a little bit tentative I thought managed the first half pretty well I thought so yeah yeah got the goal went ahead through Shankland and just before half time and it was just really key for them to get to half time a goal up conceding the penalty just before half time which we talked about this before I think it's really handballs like this I think are just harsh I just think there's not really anything you can do and the punishment is so massive for the crime that's what we were saying earlier I think in 2026 the fact that this is still it's wild it was gutting for them it was like everything that could have gone against Hearts went against them like in terms of I don't mean like any of the surrounding stuff I mean like just the injuries for example yeah yeah Bananguimeh regular in midfield has to go off after like 50 minutes they lose Altena like I think he gets subbed off just after half time that's like a key part of their like their starting 11 just gone and they have to adapt to that and they have to make all these changes.

35:54So they kept having to change. Celtic grew into the game, felt their way into the game and Maeda just was just an absolute tornado. Just the movement, the touch, the intensity, the dynamism, they couldn't cope with it at hearts. And there were just times when at certain points, I mean, the pitch started quite small. There was a moment actually when I think Maeda breaks after they win possession. It was like five players were basically converging on a 50-50. Celtic win it, which was a theme I think throughout. They break. Maid has an effort that goes narrowly wide in the first half. That's when the pitch felt small.

36:32By the end of the game, the pitch felt enormous. So big. The way that Celtic was stretching hearts.

36:40Ryan Hunn: But wildly, I think that hearts started to put their foot down a little bit towards the end of the game instead of just consolidating a little bit. They didn't park the bus. I actually think there were points when they made the game a little bit too transitional towards the end of the game. Now, I know that this is partly forced by Celtic, but Hearts didn't need to win the game, right? And that was the only kind of real criticism I had from them. There was a period late in the second half where I feel like they made, or they contributed to making the game feel a little bit more expansive than it needed to be, whereas they hadn't actually done that in the first half.

37:15Ryan Hunn: And I saw a few people criticising them for not being as expansive potentially as they could be. But I don't think they needed to. I thought they were expansive. I thought they were open. They brought on Chesnikov, right, with 25 minutes to go, playing some great stuff. But if you're going to do that, you know, you were talking or joking earlier about if Liverpool are going to go heavy metal, then really go heavy metal. It felt like Hearts didn't really go at it. So Chesnikov came on. His first couple of touches was quite assertive, quite aggressive. And I was like, you have to keep on that. If you're going to do that, then overload a flank and hammer one of the fullbacks really go in but it was almost this tentative like we're high up but we're not really going to hit the byline and you that tentative nature it's the half stepping that gets you got in the end because I think hearts they didn't fully assert themselves in that attacking context and I part of me was watching this going of course in my United head on I was like this is where they are crying out for a Roy Keane figure they're crying out for someone and i don't mean someone to thunder into tackles i mean someone to go in and just organize and be like okay lads what are we doing what is the policy here where are we going to actually like waste time rest in possession because actually hearts didn't there was no gamesmanship there wasn't time wasting there wasn't actually like there was no real there was no this is maybe a credit to them but also there was no real shit housing like if you about it does that make sense the stoppages in the play the flow of the game celtic were allowed to develop a rhythm and i was talking to um not talking to i was talking to someone yeah i was talking to someone about i was talking to someone about um different tennis players and what made alcaraz different to sinner at a certain point because sinner now has adapted but there was a point in sinner's career where sinner would be predictable and the reason alcaraz at that point last season it's changed now but Alkraut's last season was so good because he never allowed you to settle he was always throwing new looks at you and I think Hearts if I was going to be critical of one thing it was like should have given should have made it a bit weirder for Celtic you know yeah if I'm going to if I'm going to look at just the tactical context of it I mean in terms of like how the game played out in the end I think Celtic were good value for the win yeah it was a neutral it was because this felt like a real it could have been a real moment as well and I think especially because of the taking that extra step in the Champions League that could have potentially kickstarted a really interesting period in Scottish football well at the top of the Scottish Premiership it's going to be really interesting to see what happens in the pre-season well in the summer and then next season because I feel like for example Hearts are ahead of schedule it will be interesting to see what happens in terms of how much money they can generate with players going out whether they can replace those players in the squad and have the same impact that they had this season.

40:07Ryan Hunn: Someone posted a really funny thing, which was Martin O 'Neill was on Talk Sport earlier on in the season when he wasn't Celtic manager. And he said, I think Hearts are going to win the league this season. And someone reposted it saying, oh, what does this guy know? Which I thought was quite funny. But just quickly at the end, there was a real shame, I thought, just in terms of the occasion that the game was stopped before the end of stoppage time. because fans were on the pitch and then there was allegedly some kind of verbal and some physical abuse towards some of the Hearts players who went straight down the tunnel and the Hearts squad left pretty much straight away.

40:48Ryan Hunn: They left in their kits. In their kits, they got out of there, didn't do any media. They've released a statement today or yesterday criticising what happened. I imagine that there will be some rumblings going on about that, but I feel like we know what happens in football, right? pitch invasions happened it was clear like straight away it looked a bit gnarly and and it's really not cool seeing players and staff not being you know not being safe and I think that it just got it's happened a few times this season and as a neutral it kind of felt a little bit like oh that was a just a bit of shame It's a horrible end to an incredible season for Hearts Yeah a horrible end you know a team that's not won the title since 1960 1960 60 and has come so close on agonizing cajans i mean well not so close i mean 86 as a mid 80s is the the heartbreaker before this one then you have um the romanov years that don't quite amount to what they wanted and burley comes out flies out the trap but then it doesn't end well and hearts have played some glorious football over the last few years one thing i would say even though this is not the youngest um team what hearts have done is put themselves on the map as a destination where there can be some really exciting football, there's investment coming.

42:04And I don't think this is, this is not the end. This is the beginning of the story. If we look at what Tony Bloom has done with Brighton and his use of the stats there, his recent investment, I think actually for Hearts, if there's any positive to be taken from it, they can say this is just the beginning. And actually, funnily enough, because this is not the youngest squad, there's a pathway to young players wanting to come in, freshen things up and make a name for themselves. and I think there was a thing what Hearts have done I think what will worry I think the reason why Celtic is celebrating so much not just because they won this title against you know maybe some mid-season odds that weren't promising but because they were like this is a potential challenger and they're dangerous because even though the wage bill at Celtic is far greater than the wage bill at Hearts with what Tony Bloom has done at Brighton he's shown you don't need actually the same amount of money to be a real problem and I'm fascinated of course I'm a neutral I can afford to be fascinated I'm fascinated to see how everything plays out with Hearts the next five years because they're going to be a problem again

43:05Ryan Hunn: yeah they're going to be a problem yeah I mean it's also interesting just because of that stuff that happened with Bloom early on in the season just where how that all well I wonder if like Scottish football as a focus for your energies when you're getting a heat elsewhere might be I don't know I think there's something about Hearts and there's a story it's a romantic story and I think a lot of neutrals got behind them and we're rooting for them. I mean, I was rooting for them from the perspective of anything that's not won for that long. Yeah. I will always have a sympathy. Yeah, always have a sympathy.

43:34Come on, I mean, 86 years.

43:35Ryan Hunn: I mean, so, you know, 14 in the last 15. 86 years. You won it again. You won it again, guys. We've got a few friends who are Celtic fans, so we should say happy for them, though. And again, like, just to say one more time, props to Martin O 'Neill. Yeah. We were having a chat about this last night. It probably won't get the credit for the job he did there. He's the Ancelotti of Celtic. Totally. Yeah, there's not many people that could have come in and done that. Arguably, he's the only coach that could have done that. It's funny, right? Because he deserves props for that. But if you look at how Celtic are set up, even with all of the mess behind the scenes this season, they are still set up to dominate that league.

44:13Ryan Hunn: And Rangers should, should, should be very hot on their heels. I think that's what makes the Hearts thing even more impressive is you just go and look at the wage structure and stuff. It's wild. the improvement was so so sudden that you know feels like only he could do it really and that sometimes feels like we were talking about Ancelotti on the episode on Thursday and a very similar thing about how he went back to Real Madrid and kind of felt that way with O 'Neal this time around really because he was only really going to do it as an interim yeah it's the only job that you do yeah yeah let's see how long he hangs around let's see yes just quickly before we go actually I've got a quick shout go on Gambit Sarka beating Al Nasser in Saudi Arabia the AFC Champions League 2 which is the kind of second tier competition.

44:56So the equivalent of the Europa League. Huge for them to win that there. Because the closing stages of that tournament, the knockout all played in Saudi Arabia. So you're really going up against it. To win as they did, super impressive. So shout out to them.

45:12Ryan Hunn: Can I shout out Gasp quickly? Because he won the derby. Roma won the derby. And it looks like, well, with one game to go, Roma beat Hellas Verona next week. They qualify for the Champions League. It's been a bumpy ride for Gasparini this season at Roma. When is it not? But yeah, they could end the season in the Champions League thanks to a hitting form at just four straight wins now. Goals and red cards, goals and red cards in that one. Yes. Was it quite late for the season? They hadn't drawn a game. It was like... Yeah, yeah, it was wild. Really far into the season. It was hilarious. Yeah, absolutely wild.

45:48It was the anti-Wolzberg. I like Wolzberg when you were just drawing every match at the site. it's like similar

45:53Ryan Hunn: oh wasn't that the Glasner at Wolfsburg yeah because he was turning because Glasner was turning defeats into draws that was the thing that's what was happening there very very sensible he just came in and got very sensible so sensible we will touch on Premier League next week and we will also wrap up some other stuff in midweek on the Patreon this week there will be either one show or two shows depending on what's what happens on Monday and Tuesday in the Premier League so keep an eye out for those and if you want to sign up go to patreon.com forward slash stadio and we're going to get out of here.

46:27Ryan Hunn: Yep. We hope everyone's staying safe and well wherever you are and don't forget to check the stadio out just placed on Spotify and speaking to which we're playing out on another new one from Martin whose album is out and you feature on it Moose but we're playing out on the tune called Hypnotoxic Laser. So go and buy us out now on 3024. Go and buy it on Bandcamp. Anything you'd like to add Moose up on? Character that will. We're going to win the Champions League. Oh God. Alright everyone much love back with you later in the week.

47:22Thank you.

47:52Thank you.

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