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The 2 Robbies Podcast - Episode: Eze's Mega Derby Day, Liverpool's New Low, Guardiola Frustrated by Newcastle
Episode Summary In this episode, Robbie Mustoe and Robbie Earle discuss the notable events from Matchweek 12 of the Premier League, focusing on key performances, managerial decisions, and implications for the league standings.
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Topics Covered
- Eberechi Eze's Hat-Trick
- Match: Arsenal 4 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur
- Highlights:
- Eze scores a hat-trick in the North London Derby.
- Arsenal displayed a dominant performance, continuing their strong form.
- The goal that broke the deadlock came in the 36th minute, changing the game's momentum.
Key Takeaways
- Arsenal's system allows full-backs to play more offensively, enhancing their attacking presence.
- Eze's development into a goal-scoring threat was emphasized, showcasing his growth under the current management.
- Mikel Arteta's tactical preparations contributed to Arsenal's success, particularly after the international break.
- Liverpool's Struggles
- Match: Liverpool 0 - 3 Nottingham Forest
- Manager: Arne Slot takes responsibility for Liverpool's poor form.
- Analysis:
- Liverpool's defensive issues and inconsistent performances remain a significant concern.
- A lack of grit and determination in defense was noted, with multiple types of goals conceded.
- The team’s midfield structure appears loose, leading to vulnerabilities.
Key Takeaways
- Slot needs to instill a stronger defensive strategy and motivate players to regain focus and competitiveness.
- The loss marks Liverpool's troubling trend, with fans questioning the team’s direction.
- Newcastle's Victory Over Manchester City
- Match: Newcastle 2 - 1 Manchester City
- Highlights:
- Harvey Barnes shines with two goals, helping Newcastle secure a crucial win.
- Pep Guardiola expresses frustration with the loss, as it hinders City's title aspirations.
Key Takeaways
- The performance from Newcastle showed their ability to compete with top teams, driven by a passionate home crowd.
- City’s inconsistent defensive performance was highlighted, showing vulnerabilities that could be exploited by opponents.
- Current League Standings
- Chelsea's 2 - 0 victory over Burnley places them second in the league.
- The round-up of other key fixtures included:
- Leeds United 1 - 2 Aston Villa
- Wolves 0 - 2 Crystal Palace
- Bournemouth 2 - 2 West Ham
- Brighton 2 - 1 Brentford
- Fulham 1 - 0 Sunderland
- Upcoming Matches and Predictions
- Anticipation builds for the upcoming match between Chelsea and Arsenal, with Chelsea aiming to close the gap on the league leaders.
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Under-Appreciated Performers
- Elliot Anderson: Noted for his potential and impressive form, particularly in the context of his previous club, Newcastle.
- Andres Santos: Recognized for a mature performance in midfield against Burnley.
Managerial Insights
- Discussion surrounding the need for clarity in managerial philosophy, particularly with Tottenham's current manager Thomas Frank, who has yet to establish a consistent style.
- The contrasting approaches of different managers, with a focus on the effectiveness of established systems versus reactive tactics.
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Key Concepts
- Tactical Evolution: The importance of adapting strategies in response to player capabilities and opponent styles.
- Team Identity: The necessity for clubs, especially those with rich histories like Tottenham, to define their playing style and identity to maintain competitive advantage.
- Youth Development: Recognition of young players stepping up and making significant contributions to their teams, which can be pivotal in a long season.
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Conclusion The podcast highlights the shifting dynamics in the Premier League, with impressive performances from emerging stars and the ongoing struggles of traditionally strong teams. As the season progresses, the analysis will continue to focus on tactical adjustments, player development, and managerial decisions that impact the league standings.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:12Hello and welcome to the Two Robbies podcast your destination for in depth discussion analysis of the Premier League. I'm Robbie Musto, he's Robbie Earle, and here are today's topics. What a day for a Berger Ezzer as he nets a North London derby hat-trick and a convincing 4-1 win for Arsenal over Thomas Frank's Spurs. Arnaud Slott claims responsibility for Liverpool's messy 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield that leaves the Reds in the bottom half of the table. And a Harvey Barnes brace gives Newcastle a desperately needed 2-1 win over Manchester City, which left Pep Guardiola fencing his frustrations.
0:47At the final whistle. That and more in today's episode. OK, my friend. There was only one big game of the weekend, really, in the North London Derby. Arsenal looking to continue to fire towards this tight London, Mikel Arteta. Thomas Frank, his first North London Derby experience. Spurs a bendition on the road. I think they've got the best away record in the Premier League against an Arsenal team that were in good form themselves. Rob, give us your overview on a quite stunning performance in the end and scoreline for Arsenal. Did you think that they could go into the game and win it 4-1? No, I thought it was going to be tighter.
1:36I think these derbies are often tighter. There's often times when we think there's a superior team and yet the derby aspect of a game just narrows that gap. I thought it looked like that for the first 30 minutes. You know, we've seen what Thomas Frank does with his systems. Yeah. We went with the 5-4-1. And, you know, of course it didn't work out. We'll get into the details. But I think, you know, you can't... We understand why he did it, given Arsenal's form, given it's away from home, given that Spurs themselves have got a fair few injuries, they're a little bit on the back foot. I kind of understood why he did it.
2:12Now, again, we'll speak Spurs a little later and what they might do going forward. But I just think the quality of Arsenal came through in the 36th minute with the Mikael Marino chip over the top. And Chossard kind of takes it, gets a bit of deflection. But that was really the key moment of the game, Rob, because it's always the hardest bit is to break down a stubborn defence that's encouraged because they're keeping it tight. Arsenal looked fairly, well, they struggled to penetrate Spurs a little bit. And I thought Thomas Frank must have been after 25, 30 minutes pretty happy. goal goes in, changes everything and then we saw the difference of the two teams, Thomas Frank's team had to come out and play a little bit more, change the system Abraja Azza of course was the top man of the day hat-trick for him, could have had four could have had maybe even more than that and Arsenal kind of just showed us a little bit that they're more than just set pieces and relying on set pieces they play in a really clever way, Mikel Arteta Rob needs a lot of credit or deserves a lot of credit for subtle changes to this team that makes them build up really, really well, control possession with the game with possession.
3:24Little Martin Zubemendi, there'll be a few I want to pick out, Rob, but I think his role in the team, he's neat and tired. He did get caught on the ball for the skeleton goal. But him dropping way back, Rob, in between the two central defenders allows the full-backs, Galafiori and Urien Timber, to basically play like attackers. The key to this Arsenal system is that his full-backs play like build-up midfield players and attacking creative players. And there aren't many teams that do that, that are constantly... Those two players, Rob, they're involved more in the attack of Arsenal than anything else.
4:02They do more attacking than defending. If you've got two extra attacking players, Out of your back four, Rice and Zubomende kind of play a little side to side pretty much. I mean, Rice does get forward at times and so is Zubomende, but the two of them really give the base for the full backs to get involved. And there's so much overload in the middle of the park, Rob, that we're seeing with Man City, we'll get into a little later in the podcast. But that's kind of the theme with Arsenal, mate, is that they're flooding midfield through the centre and teams are struggling to live with them. So I'll pick two things off what you said there.
4:34and one was we did the interview with Mikel Arteta after the game, Rob, and it was really interesting that he said, you know, it was a big game. It's been an international break. He said, I've had like 10 days, two weeks to prep for this game, which, you know, and I thought, wow, that's interesting. He's obviously one of these really smart football minds who's thinking of different ways that he's got to challenge for us, and he said he probably thought that Thomas Frank would come with a back three, that, to be honest, I wasn't so sure he would do that, but obviously that's the way he went bringing Danso in as an extra centre-back.
5:11But I just thought from what he said, Rob, you know, for all that prep he's done, he's probably got two or three days with the players by the time they've returned from international duty, flying all over the world. There isn't that much time to get that work in, but they did it well. And where I sort of see the first 30 minutes, and I kind of make a little bit of a comparison to Pep City at their very best, where I know you said the game was a little bit flat and tight and Spurs had a bit of a shape and five at the back, four midfield just with Charleston. It was tough to break down. I almost feel at times with Arsenal's football, Rob, it's a bit like I think there's such a belief in what they do.
5:50It's almost like, OK, we're going to have to wear these down a bit. So we're going to pass and we're going to go down one side and we're going to keep possession and go. And they kind of keep working the ball a bit City-esque in a certain way where it's almost like we'll keep working till a crack appears. And once a crack appears, and that was Mourinho maybe dropping in that little space, which is really clever. You know, he's a centre midfield player anyway, so that's a nice versatility. Then you've got your Chosod, you've got your Calafiores or your Saka's flying in from wider areas. You know, Chosod does it this time, gets a goal.
6:24But I almost feel, Rob, part of the game plan is, for certain people, we have to go through that first 30 to get a reward later. I don't think they get maybe as impatient as maybe us watching it do. Yeah, and I think Arsenal, I mean, sometimes, you know, there's been criticism there that they really do struggle for that penetration, Rob. And the patience is there, and it has been there. And oftentimes it's a corner kick, and it gets them out of jail. Yeah, today there's no set pieces, was it, to be fair? Yeah, no set pieces today in really good football. But back on that point about the manager making a plan for the game, I mean, if you think about it, Rob, right, and I always think this with three central defenders.
7:04If I'm playing against three central defenders, I really would love my striker to come away from those three because that's three players marking nobody at the back. Now, oftentimes, you'll see a centre-back go in all the way. And I don't know why Spurs didn't do that. But, Marina, we saw it a lot, Rob. Obviously, for the first goal, he's dropped in there. Nobody's with him. There's three centre-backs. Three. If one goes in, there's still two to cover the spaces or cover any runs. So that may be the piece that he thought. Yeah. Mikko Marino, get him to come into midfield. You know, that leaves three at the back.
7:40I mean, it's just a numbers. It's a numbers game. They can't have three spare. Arsenal can have three spare somewhere else. And they loaded the midfield and the quality was there. Aberture Ezra, Rob, was interesting. Of course, we can eulogize about his performance, about his goals. He said the most interesting thing afterwards in his little interview afterwards. and he was obviously thrilled all his family there to see his goals. But I don't know if you picked up on it. He said, I've been working on getting into scoring positions. Love that. I mean, you know, because sometimes you watch him and, you know, he's floating around.
8:13He wants to get involved in the play, show for the ball. I just wonder if a manager in the club and coaches of Arsenal have just thought, you know what? Like, you've got so much quality and finishing and little feet in tight spaces. Love you to get a bit further forward. And I think that's something that was obvious in this game. It's something to watch going forward, Rob. In subsequent games, his closeness to the front line. And I think that was a very interesting comment. A big game for Ezza. A big game for him. His quality and the way he can sometimes glide. But getting closer to goal-scoring positions, I like that.
8:47Yeah, we talked about productivity, haven't we? Back-tastic, actually. He's 26, 27 years of age. This was like, you know, I talked before the game, I did a little piece on him and I said like, I still feel these more will come from me. He almost needs a big game and like to, you know, to really announce he's signing for Arsenal. I mean, it doesn't get much bigger than the only Premier League hat-trick in the North London derby. It's a pretty good way to go in his first derby, Rob. But you're right in terms of, I think, the goals, the contributions, the little bit more involvement in the last third.
9:20At times, I think he can have a little bit more responsibility. Sometimes I think he can work harder to get on the ball. You know, when they are building up through Rice and Zubimendi and the wide players, sometimes I feel like it just needs to be, you know, that extra sharpness to go and give angles, demand the ball, get it in those areas where he can hurt people. But I do think with the way he plays and how they do, Rob, I think he gives them another option. I think there's an unpredictability about him that is just not quite like the others. It's not quite Odegaard, who's a beautiful technician.
9:57It's not, you know, the Declan Wright. It's not Chos Ardu, who's got those lovely little, you know, reverse passes and the little runs. He comes, you know, those little scoop balls over the top, the little lovely feet. He glides, as you say, past people. I think he gives Arsenal a great option. You know, Odegaard has been missing for some time now. He hasn't necessarily been missed. I'm not sure right now he gets back in the team. I love the blend of the midfield. And back on to Eza, Rob. Also, when you think about Arsenal recently, there's getting more and more match winners. It wasn't a Saka game today.
10:35Trossard gets his goal, but you've got another potential regular scorer potentially, and Eza, another match winner, apart from your strikers, apart from your set-piece goals. That's what Arsenal's midfield needed, Rob, wasn't it? A kind of regular scorer. Now, again, maybe you can't consistently score like that. That's four, isn't it? It's a big game to do it in. Yeah, that's a big game to do it in. It was interesting. Bex asked a really good question, Rob, when she said, at 26-27, why has it taken him so long and the journey's been in? Why do we feel it's taken him so long to get to this point?
11:13England international scoring there, very much looks like he'll be part of Thomas Tuchel's team. now holding down, commanding at a place in a team that's looking to challenge a title. And I sort of said to him, Bex, that some players, in my view, that some players mature at different ages and come into their own. Sometimes you get these star kids at 17 or 18 who get in the first team, look a million dollars, and sometimes by 23, 24, their careers sort of tailing, plateauing a bit, and you get somebody a little bit later, 22, 23, who's maybe been around, hasn't, you know, and all of a sudden it sparks and you get that later development.
11:53I kind of think that Ezra might be more of the latter, that, you know, he's been around, he's seen the other side of football, not being at the glamorous top end. And right now, you know, he's good age, control of his body, mature, international footballer, playing with the confidence. You know, it isn't always that, you know, the teenage kids have the great careers all the way through. Yeah, I agree with that. I think what I'd add to that as well is Crystal Palace. Like, you know, it's not... Sometimes when you're attacking flair player, Rob, and you're in a team that... I mean, recently, of course, they're doing great.
12:26And that's maybe why he's looking great. Better and better at Palace. He gets his move. If you're a really talented flair player in a team that doesn't boss games much, or have that much possession, it's harder to show your skills. Maybe he's not great without the ball, and he has to do a lot of that. So I think there's a couple of reasons for it. But there's no question. That was a standout for him today. Rob, I don't know whether you want to get onto Spurs. Let's talk about who else stood out for Arsenal and then we'll get into Spurs. Who else you kind of give a big tick to today? Well, I've picked out Zubimendi.
12:55Mick Amarino, I think, does a sneaky good job. Not my underappreciated performer, but he ain't far off. Clever from him. So, you know, I think we've talked enough about defensively with this team and how the full-backs play. Incapier coming in, Rob? It's steady, yeah. It wasn't a difficult game for him, was it? No, didn't. you'd expect him to, I mean, it's pretty hard to mess that up if you're playing. I mean, I don't, yeah, of course I want to give him credit, but he's an experienced player. He's done a lot of things in his career already. Obviously a big game for him at Arsenal, but he looks comfy, left-footed.
13:27Yeah, nice balance, yeah. Arsenal control, they control the ball so much it makes it hard for teams to have any possession against them. Teams that have great defensive records isn't because they've got the best defenders a lot of the time, it's because they have the bloody ball so much. They have the ball and other teams don't get a chance to build up or create many chances. So what about for you? Who's your star, guys, apart from the obvious? Well, Little Trossie is a little diamond, mate, that we love. He's an honorary, underappreciated player of the week. I did a little, you know, we did a little players on the rise and looked this week and just said, you know, the goal he scores at Sunderland, the assists he makes, the clever little runs he plays.
14:07I just think of him, Rob, at the start of the season, he's probably not thinking he starts in the first 11. He's probably thinking he's going to have to come up the bench. They get Madweke comes in. Martinelli's back in the side and that. But, you know, he's another, Rob, you know, as you say, the Odegaard. With the balance and how it's going right now, he's a starter in that Arsenal team. And the other good news for them is Nani Madweke came on up. He was excellent for Arsenal, got injured. He's now available again. You know, it's getting stronger and stronger. But you're right, it's going to be interesting.
14:38On that left-hand side, Trossard's made it his. for now. But in that attack, of course, we know the games they've got coming up. Is it Bayern Munich they've got coming up Robben in Champions League? Yeah, Bayern Munich, haven't they, yeah. I think it's on Wednesday, isn't it? So, I mean, there's going to be some rotations. Martinelli. They've been Fulham. They played Fulham at home that week, yeah. But they're looking strong, aren't they? They are. They are looking strong. Let's turn it to Tottenham Hotspur, mate, because it's interesting. I was listening to the Thomas Frank press conference on a Friday, you know, we get them in and listening to And the overriding factors, how excited he was for his first North London Domain.
15:14It's like an entire kid. Couldn't wait for it to come and all that. Not sure he was quite as excited after the game. He went with the back three and the five at the back, predominantly four across the midfield, one up front when he didn't have possession. Didn't have any real threats in the first half. I mean, Michalston scores a wonder goal, a brilliant goal that stands on its own right. but at 3-1, didn't mean that much in the game. First of all, just explain, I think you've touched on it, Rob, why you think he went the three. And this is sort of, again, I try to pick up a bit of thought from some Spurs fans out there who are probably thinking, he's Spurs manager.
15:57At Brentford, I can understand why he does certain things. Maybe it's Spurs, Rob, when I'm a big six manager of a big six club. Should I be totally changing my whole team to suit the opposition? I think that's the crux of this discussion, really, Rob, isn't it? It's the crux of it. You know, like, and we've talked to this before, so, you know, fear of repeating myself, I still don't know what the identity of the Spurs team is. Is it going to be a team that reacts to the opponent? You're talking about reactive. He's a reactive coach. He's reacting to what Arsenal are doing. And we've seen him do that before to great success.
16:30I think what I think we'd all love to see, particularly when you're at a big club, is like, you know, what are we? Let's see what we are. Let's beginner style a philosophy that here it is. I think you could, you know, an example would be Enzo Maresco at Chelsea. Very set, very set approach. Dominant, ball dominant. That's the way they're going to play. At Spurs, there's been a bit of everything so far. Granted, there's 12 injuries at the club. You know, many of their best attacking players are not available. Yeah. listen you go there and he gets his 5-4-1 he keeps a clean sheet till half time maybe he gets a counter attack maybe he gets something of it but and to be fair Arsenal took their chances pretty well a little bit of deflection on the first goal you know both of them I think so he's then on the back foot and then there was nothing from Tottenham when he opened up a little bit Javi Simmonds you know and I know he hasn't got many other options we know Kudusevsky and Madison are out right now Javi Simmonds mate I mean I I don't know.
17:30I've seen very little to convince me that he's going to make them a better team going forward. Maybe he's one of them that needs time. I just, you know, I don't want to use cliches, Rob, about Thomas Frank going into Spurs. It is a big club. He was at Brentford. Them Spurs fans, there's a few more bad ones. I think they're down to ninth place in the Premier League table, Rob. And his is gravitas will start to come into the equation. Come on. Yeah. You know, take control of this club. Give us a pattern of play and something we can get used to. I heard a really interesting argument on the radio last night, late on, and it was a couple of journalists, I think, and a couple of fans had phoned in.
18:12But it was interesting in suggesting, they say, I kind of think the outcome was that, you know, you can manage Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford and be a certain manager, do things a certain way and get certain success. But then when you move to a big six, and Graham Potter would be the first example, and then Irreola's one of them that people are looking at, and can he take that next step into a big six club and do it? And that then isn't just about, well, your football tactics. There's a lot more to the job. They were talking about, you know, you've got to be good in front of the media, you've got to work the media well, you've got to know, you've got to chat to you, you've got to deal with the dressing room.
18:51this different mentality of players, players who are star players, players who are all top-class internationals, et cetera, et cetera. My kind of thoughts with Thomas Frank is, I think he can deal with most of the things. I think he's a brilliant communicator. He looks like a good leader of men. What's disappointing me, Rob, and I suppose it brings it back to more of your point, is I think he needs to... He's got no system of play. And I know that he was a bit pick-and-mix with Brentford. sometimes they go long, they can play through the lines, they could drop off and counter-attack you. And I don't say you can't do those things, but I think with a Spurs team, they want to be a bit more possession-based and mid-blocks, Rob, and all that stuff, which are the general turns, but have the ball a little bit more.
19:39Rob, is there any great team, well, great team, a really big team that you can ever remember, I've just been thinking of you and talking there, that has the approach of we're going to change from week to week. Think about Arsenal teams, Man United teams, Liverpool teams, Chelsea, Mourinho, whoever it is. And I don't just want to say the champions. No, I know. Iriola is a similar, Rob. I'm not saying all big clubs, but he goes in. There's a defined style of play. Unai Emery goes in at Villa after Steven Gerrard. There's no question. No question about the style of play. Now, they don't win every game.
20:16They went on a run. but you kind of see what they are, who they are, what they're trying to do some days better than others. I'm just not sure that Thomas Frank has gone in. Now, maybe it could be because of the injuries, because he hasn't got the right players, he maybe needs more time, but that's probably been the most disappointing. I don't see a true identity to this Spurs team yet. Even if you said that Mikel Arteta, Rob, we all know what Arsenal do, and they look totally Arsenal today, but he made subtle adjustments. Thomas Frank's got to find out what his overriding philosophy, shape, system, setup, structure is, and then make his little smart adjustments around it.
20:53Not have it totally different. 4-2-3-1 attack, 5-4-1 defensive. And I think that is the, you mentioned it, Rob, I think all we heard from Thomas Franco afterwards about he lost the duels. We kept losing duels. He made a great point. When you're getting suffocated and counter-pressed, then good luck when there's lots of players around your players. If his system of play enables a bit of play through some of that pressure, then everything changes when they're more on the back foot. So that would be, I think we're on the same page, Rob, that we want to see a bit more of a familiar structure that this is Tottenham, however it is, there's a zillion ways of doing it instead of chopping and changing and players being in and out.
21:32Did he make five changes? Was that the game this weekend? I think he made five changes. Unless there's another game, my head might have gone there. But there's so many chopping and changing and it didn't work today. And I think a club like Spurs are going to want to see a bit more of a consistent approach, whether it's proactive, front foot, trying to demand the ball and create and score, or a counter-attacking style like other managers have done at all clubs, including Spurs. Well, there was only one winner today. It was the team in red, 4-1 winners at the Emirates. And a bit of work for Thomas Frank.
22:08and I think just trying to get a system in place that his players buy into and he can start to build on over the coming time. Let's go to Anfield, mate. There was a game at the weekend. Liverpool hosted Forest. Forest were the only team to beat Liverpool last season in the Premier League at Anfield. They went to Anfield again under Sean Dyche this time around and won the game 3-0, my friend. Could have actually been four with a goal that was disallowed by Igor Jesus. I didn't particularly see a handball. but this mate has now started to get messy this has started to be serious for on a slot in this group I think it's 60 feet in their last seven Premier League matches for a guy who came in Rob as a problem solver I'm going to ask you a really tough question where do you start?
22:58Well I don't think it's a tough question actually I know exactly where you start you stop conceding goals Rob and I know it's very tempting when you're Liverpool that you want to play your way out of it and you want to start connecting and scoring. I mean, they did have a lot of... And I know he's talked about it, but he's not silly enough to blame it all on that. But they had some opportunities where they could have scored. They're not taking their chances right now, Rob, in summarising. They're not taking their chances. And defensively, there is a lax about Liverpool. After yesterday's game, mate, I went back and looked at several goals they've conceded this season.
23:33And they are conceding every type of goal you can score. They're conceding it. And we saw most of them in this game. They started the season conceding lots of counterattacks, transitional goals, not being what the buzzwords is rest defense. So when you have the boy, you're resting, but you're thinking about stopping the counterattack. They're not doing that very well. Obviously, the set-pieces goals was another one. No typical. Everyone's stand watching Marillo scores. And the most concerning, Rob, was the Savona goal. The goal when Nico Williams, one fullback, crosses it to Savona. I looked at that multiple times, and there was so many things that were so telling in that goal.
24:15First off, Alexis McAllister goes over in the build-up to it. Yeah, he misses this ball. He misses the tackle. And I'm only talking these little subtle differences that when you're on edge, right, and when you're going for something, and when you're flipping totally focused, there's no way he gets past McAllister. He gets past McAllister. The next little detail is Cody Gagpo. Cody Gakbo is alongside the goal scorer, Rob. So once McAllister gets beat, he's slow to react to the passing and Savona gets in and scores. You know, these little details are, you know, so telling of a team that's not quite got the same grit, the same desire, the same hunger to do well, to stop goals, to win games.
24:58And a little bit less effort is a massive difference in effectiveness. You've heard that quote before. I quote my old manager, 5 % less effort is 50 % less effective. And I think there might be reasons for that. We know about the tragedies at the football club, whether that is part of the little bit of detail. But you take that away from the finishing part, you take it away. And we have top examples, this game, of just a little bit less desperation in defending and the conceding goals. This is a shocker. This was an absolute shocker. It was alarm bell stuff. but I kind of look and I've said this before I look through the units which we call the defence the midfield and the attack none of them Rob are functioning none of the units are functioning in the football club now let's just for a moment concentrate on the back four and I know we all understand that defence isn't just about a back four, it's about a team it's about your positioning, it's about controlling the opposition's possession but just let's for a moment talk about a right back that you let Trent Alexander Arnold go because one, he wasn't a great defender.
26:05His contract's up. Everybody said he couldn't defend. Doesn't look like he could have done a better job than what's happening now. I know Frimpong's injured, but Zobber's lie right back. When I think he's your most energetic, might spark something going forward. You've got a problem with left back with Kerkes who comes in and hasn't quite settled. Let me stop you there on Kerkes, Rob. And please, let me just real come in quick. Kerkes did nothing wrong in this game. He did nothing wrong. Had a good game. Was good on the ball. Got substituted late on. Andy Robertson embarrassingly beat for the third goal.
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26:40So when everybody thinks that Robertson should be playing, look at that third goal, how he got beat inside. Kerkhez did nothing wrong in this game. And I think sometimes people are very quick to... And I'm not saying you now, but you mentioned Kerkhez, and I want to jump on it. Because people... And I know he hasn't looked great, but he had a reasonable game for a left fullback. Robertson comes on and gets beat on the inside, and that's the third goal. Yeah, Amari Hutchinson. Yeah, listen, I'm just saying to you, we've got a question mark on the left back. I think there's a question mark about the relationship as much as his ability with Van Dijk.
27:14You've got a centre-back pairing that's gone to pot. Canarte looks like he's done, mate, to be honest, and I don't know whether waiting to sort his contract out is affecting him or whether he's going to be one of those who's going to move. I look on the bench, Rob, and I say, there's a fellow there who's been at the football club for 10 years and probably should be at some point an underappreciated performer. Joe Gomez has played every position in Liverpool's back four. And if I was wanting somebody who I just know is consistent, is going to defend, might not be the best footballer, I'd put him in my team.
27:47I'd stick him in my team, Rob, to get some of those clean sheets. He could play right back. Play right back and get Zobbers to lie in the position he wants to play. and just, as you say, pare back some of our quality, you know, the flair, pare back some of our, okay, let's just go for, yeah, let's go to the clean sheet system and then we've got plenty up top that can get goals. That's my back full line. The other thing that came out of this game, Rob, was Alexander Izak got the vote of confidence to start. We know it's a huge fee. We know the circumstances in which he's come. But in some respects, Rob, things could get almost worse under his hat because he becomes like the lightning rod, doesn't he?
28:31He becomes a guy, oh, another game. He doesn't score. We paid this much money. We're now down to how many touches he has in the opposition box, which was two. He had no shots on target. Yeah, he looks like a deer in the headlights at the moment. Nothing. My note on Isaac was very quiet and offered nothing. I think he was taken off. Yeah, he could kick him on, didn't he? So he's really struggling. to settle, to feel comfortable, to feel important. And Newcastle, he was a top man. He knew he was a top man. The team knew he was a top man. The fans knew he was a top man. They gave him the ball whenever they could.
29:03It's different. If you look at Isaac, he looks for the ball and there's other good options. It goes out to Salah. It goes out to different players. And he looks a little lost at the moment. Now, we know on his day he can be a great player. But making a jump from a big club in Newcastle United to Liverpool, even that with a huge fee is looking difficult. we've heard the manager say before Rob he wasn't fit and then Arnestot said now you can start judging him he plays, he gets injured again so you know this was he has a history of being a little delicate we said it lots of times we've seen it this season maybe it's going to come, maybe we're going to see him in his sweet spot for five or six games, maybe he'll get injured again, maybe he'll go on, at the moment that's doing nothing for the team, Ekotike looks bright, comes on I think in his first touch you think he beat somebody down the outside, we've crossed him like there's more.
29:54So, that's something that Arnestlott's got to figure out. You know, he did an excellent job last year and I'm not one of those that's quick to sort. I mean, it's incredible. I was going to go there because you know what the end, you know, the conversations I heard and I was getting you listening to the radio so you take stock of where the opinions are coming. But a lot of Liverpool fans were kind of going, they think, well, he's getting to the end. It's, you know, he's got to change it sooner or else we're going to have to change the manager. He came into the team last year. The team was going nowhere.
30:29The Jurgen Klopp thing was over. They were spent in many departments and he kind of put them back together again. Didn't do a lot. There was a lot of change from the recruitment side of the football club. Sporting director, spent a lot of money. We talked about it. Lots of change. And that change, players being struggled to settle and the tragedy. and which may have caused the existing players to not quite be at it. This is all a combination of stuff that's resulted in where they are right now. What I would say is on a slot, all right, you drop down to 11th place. Now it's time for him to shut the door in the dressing room.
31:09Let's have a little chat. Let's have a little chat. And he's got to re-motivate a little bit like Unai Emery has done at Aston Villa when they started as flat as a pancake and he somehow, over the weeks, slowly turned them around to get the excitement going again, which we'll mention. He's on that path now, Rob, and he's got to show us he can do it. He's got to show us he can get the lads together again, re-motivate them, re-organise, make some team changes that you've talked about, play the players looking fresher and fitter, and try and get some of the chances finished early on. And defensively, back to the start of this conversation, he's got to get some structure in the midfield where there's protection they're more compact there's less difference between the lines the back four are less exposed now which they are that midfield's a little loose and Gravenberg's trying his best but McAllister's not in there wow, lots to do but let's give the guy the benefit a little bit of the credit that he's earned and let's see because it's important now mate top four is their target top four or five depending and there's work to do for that target.
32:17Absolutely. Can't afford him to get rid of this. Before we move on, mate, I want you to give us your under-appreciated form of the week because I believe he plays for Nottingham Forest. Oh, I did give you, I almost forgot. Yeah, I did give you the heads up here. Elliot Anderson, my friend. Now, I don't know. Obviously, maybe the England fans that listen to our show are fully aware of Elliot Anderson. Yeah. He has been excellent for the English national team alongside Declan Rice. Correct. And so to that group of people, I know he's kind of getting appreciated. But for others that may be a little less aware of this guy, he came from Newcastle United.
32:54And by the way, how they decided to sell him is one of the mysteries. It was PSO, wasn't it? I don't care. I don't care. I think they actually might get him out the door. I don't care. I don't care if it's PSO issues. Sell somebody else, take a fine. Take anything. What, points deduction? Take a couple of points deducted. I mean, he's going to be... You're not his agent, are you? I'm not. Yeah, but Rob, as a player in the same position as me, he is another Declan Rice. He's another huge quality. It's a big shout, mate. I know it is, but I'm talking about reliable, determined, brilliant attitude, great injury record, great mentality, and he's playing on the national level, the English national team being the star of the show.
33:42Thomas Tuchel loves him to bits. He is a real star, one of the best. And I haven't thought about it, but in terms of central midfield players, he's on one hand in terms of the best in the Premier League right now. I think. Really? He's that good. I mean, he's not far off the deck. And Rice, Caicedo, Rodri, give me some others. Tonali. Caicedo. I'd rather have him than Tonali. I wouldn't, I'd rather have him than Corsedo. I'm telling you, yeah, Corsedo up there, absolutely. Corsedo, Declan Rice, Rodri, there's three. I don't know, there's many, I'm just saying. I think he's... He's got a little bit to do for me yet, Rob, to be at that level.
34:24I understand, I like what you're saying, he's good age, durable, as you say, and looks mature. You know who he reminds me of in a footballing sense? And he's one of those players that some fans, people might look at and go, you know, he's okay. You know who used to be like that? Michael Carrick. Reminds me of Michael Carrick a little bit. He's really good at a lot of things. Technically, tactically, good football intelligence. He's got energy, he can defend, he can pass. Yeah, yeah. I just need to see a little bit more of him to go into the Declan Rice thing. I think that's a bit early. It's a bit premature for you.
34:57But I'm with you. I appreciate the form of the week. And let's talk about what they're like to Man United and others. Chelsea, I think, have been named$100 million worth of business in the summer. Sorry to Nottingham Forest fans, but he's not going to stay there. He won't be there next season. You're killing the podcast before we get going, mate. No, I'm saying, he's that good. He's going to be in the World Cup. He's going to be an important player for England. And the big boys, Man United, he's absolutely perfect for Manchester United. Energy, legs, leader, keeps the ball. is that type. I feel very strongly.
35:38Listen, I appreciate him and maybe don't quite appreciate him as much as you, but that's why he's your underappreciated form of the week. Good shout, Elliot Anderson. All right, mate, let's talk to you about his former club. Newcastle United hosted Manchester City, City team. They just got a really good result against Liverpool before the break. Newcastle, not in a great vein of form in the Premier League. Done pretty well in the Champions League, but league form wasn't great. I think they were sitting deep on the table before the game. Just felt it was one of those days, and again, listening to Eddie Howe before the game, somebody asked him, is Man City at home a good game to get you back to the levels?
36:15And he said, I can think of better games, because obviously City carry a huge threat. But he said, I take him what you mean. There'll be an atmosphere. It's against former champions. We've had a few good battles down the road. Generally, Eddie Howe doesn't do well against Pep Guardiola teams. but his team came out on top. I thought they were excellent, Rob. I thought the crowd played their part and I know it's a bit cliche sometimes, all that Saints-James' crowd, but they didn't add something and bring a fire to the team. They're like Joe Ellington and Bruno and Harvey Barnes. It's almost like it gives them energy.
36:53Yeah, I mean, we've talked about the two modes of Newcastle United. The first mode being where they're so aggressive, they're so intense it was one of those games and you're like for Pep's thinking oh boy here we go because he can sense it that crowd there and with Newcastle on the front foot with the way that they press and make it aggressive I mean it was a great game of football mate I mean now it was nil-nil at half time so many chances and like amazing chances good goalkeeper saves some good defending bad misses bad misses but Newcastle are capable of that Rob aren't they Newcastle are capable of that sort of performance the hardest thing for them is to consistently win games in the Premier League and play in European competition without playing 110 million miles an hour of football.
37:38That has been the challenge, that continues to be the challenge, but now and again you get these huge performances against the big clubs when the conditions are right and they can upset anybody. Harvey Barnes, another one that should always get mentioned for underappreciated performer, always been a big fan of Harvey Barnes, missed that sitter in the first half and then comes on score two goals after that um i think man city rob you know i really like i really like what they're what what he's trying to do with this team and i think we've talked about the way that he floods midfield that was giving newcastle lots of problems really and the the crisp football's back with city the possession the really good football which gets them up the field is there they've got a striker that's getting the goals um it's just because because pep wants that control it's so attack tilted the team yeah it's so attack tilted that when something doesn't quite connect the poor back four you know i feel like rob man city's back four get quite a lot of criticism when i think they're all pretty good blimming defenders right now it's a very settled back four the two fullbacks i mean what chance when you've got bernard of silver and shirky and everybody running forward they don't get much help They don't get a lot of help.
38:51It's just Nico Gonzalez generally, isn't it, to try and get himself across the pitch. Yeah, and Rodri's better at doing that. Rodri helps a little bit more. But as long as they've got all those attacking players in there, there's going to be games when they're going to get caught out a little bit and going to get caught defensively. I think as well it was a day when you say chances are. Holland goes through early as a one-on-one and misses a target, expecting maybe to go around. Foden had two or three really good looks where he expects him to score. If any of those go in, it looks and feels different and he'd probably control the game in a different way.
39:22Just like to mention, sorry, just quickly going back to Newcastle, Rob, and two young players who are really... Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, two fullbacks. Really bringing energy, they get forward, they defend well. That's the future. And Malik Chow as well, Rob. Kind of like the look of him as well. There's some good parts to Eddie Howe in that Newcastle team, despite always looking at the bigger names. Yeah, I totally agree. It's a great point. And you add those full-backs that love to get for both of them, but the midfield three that we know is excellent, and there's other options in there as well.
39:57Valtimata could have scored the header in the first half, gets a good header, and they've got good wingers. I really like the parts of Newcastle. I think the full-back is a really interesting and maybe really important part to get a consistent... Those two young players can play, and they give you great width. I mean, Dan Burns is an amazing player, and maybe he plays a central defender, But the extra ability and speed and dynamic nature of these two full-backs is better than someone like Dan Byrne in the left back. So, yeah, they were excellent. Yeah, good win for Newcastle. Disappointment for Manchester City, obviously, before the Arsenal game, lost ground on those at the top of the table.
40:38OK, mate, let's look to some of our other results. We're going to start at Turf Moor, which was the early kick-off. It's a Chelsea team that we've seen, I think, third or so in the league before this game. A bit of a test for a young team, you know, come off international duty. It was a terrible day in Lancashire at Turf Moor. But Chelsea got the business done. Goals from Neto and Endo Fernandes, who continues to be an assistant performer. And it was a team, Rob, that was picked, I think, very much with the Champions League in mind. Haven't they got a big game coming up? Is it Barcelona this week?
41:12Barcelona. Barcelona at home on Tuesday. Yeah, on Tuesday. So no Malagusto, no Caicedo, no Garnaccio. Esteval, whether he would start on that game, was another on the bench. So I think it was definitely a team picked with Tuesday in mind, but a team that came out with all three points. Yeah, it worked out, didn't it? I thought they struggled in the first half, Rob. A real slow start from them, which we have seen from Chelsea before. But second half was a lot better. Controlled the game, bossed the game. Burnley were really energetic in the first half. made it tougher for Chelsea to play. They made many changes to the team as well.
41:48I'm not sure about Pedro in behind Liam De Lapp, but that's how they started out. I just think Kukurea deserves a bit of credit as well. And the way the manager plays him, he pops up in the little pockets in behind. He helped for the goal, didn't he? The first goal. Yeah, he pops up. Yeah, really good. I mean, clearly Chelsea Football Club are in the title race. They're clearly one of the best three teams this season in the Premier League, with all the changes, with the issues of trying to develop this young team and playing the Champions League, I think they're very exciting. I've said it a long...
42:22I'm a fan of this project. It's very different. I know it's controversial for many Chelsea fans. But it's another example that they... Sometimes, Rob, can look like winning games pretty easily when they find their groove. Found the groove in the second half. Pedro Neto scores a nice header. Enzo Fernandes is getting more and more into the attacking box with the way the manager sets them up. You know, they've got some week. I mean, they've got some week coming. They've got Barcelona, they've got Arsenal, of course, on Sunday. Sunday, yeah. Which we're previewed, by the way. We're going to preview that game.
42:51Yeah, I was going to say, just as we move on from this one, we are going to preview that Chelsea-Arsenal game at the end of the podcast. So make sure you hang on for that to see you. I'm going to go to my under-appreciated performer of the week, my friend. And it comes from this game. And it's somebody you probably wouldn't have thought in the game one. I'm not sure where the fans. And Andres Santos a young Brazilian midfield player on a day when there was no Caicedo Enzo Fernandes who plays off at the start in the team sheet as a 6 but often gets forward playing in the 10 and actually get himself forward as he does get his goal I thought Andres Santos was the epitome of maturity Phil you talk about Cucurea and a couple of times Rhys James who came down for a half time I believe that was managed for his own self-health and making sure they keep him in good nick.
43:44But whenever the full-backs went on, he just drops into that defensive slot, mate, and gives them a bit of insurance. I thought he's passing. His first pass was always quite positive when he won the ball. Got it into midfield, players let them play. I thought he backed the play up well. He's technically really strong. He's a tough little so-and-so. Puts his body into people. He's a player, Rob, that hasn't got no headlines in Caicedo and Lavias is also at the football club and, you know, another in that spot and Enzo can play there. Andre Santos is another little diamond that they've unearthed, Chelsea.
44:17He was at Strasbourg with Liam La Senior, part of that, you know, the multi-club stuff. There's another little diamond there, mate, that I think, given the right progression and given the right time, could turn out to be a very, very important player for the club. Robbie, first off, it's a great shout. One of my top notes is Andre Santos, very good in central midfield. So I'm on the same page as you. I saw the game. I think it's probably his best game I've seen him play for Chelsea. You just mentioned the other midfield players that they've got as well. I mean, that's three when they're all fit.
44:50Excellent options as a defensive-minded midfield player. So I love that shout, Andre Santos in the midfield there. Yeah, and you talk about diamonds. They're collecting quite the bunch of diamonds. and that's the whole philosophy. Some aren't going to work. Mikhail Mudrik's one rough top. There's going to be playing that don't work, but there's going to be, we're seeing now Esteval, you know, we know about Colt Palmer. You know, I think Kukreya, other players. Garnaccio's looking a little bit more consistent now, isn't he? Yeah, Garnaccio. I mean, Cacero's a little different because he was so much money, but the philosophy of trying to find the best young talent and not pay top dollar for it, that's the whole idea.
45:32and Andrew Santos, as you mentioned there, might be another one of those. So it's a very good shout. He had an excellent game in midfield. What nice options they've got. Apart from Rhys James playing in there sometimes, if he wants. In a position where most teams are struggling for that guy, or you talked about how important that guy is. Yeah, they've got three of them. And Enzo continues to do well from there. They're looking good. Andrew Santos, my under-priced performer of the week. Let's move to Leeds United, mate, who I think it was one win in six coming into this game, probably one of the out-of-form teams in the Premier League, facing Aston Villa.
46:06Unai Ami's Aston Villa, who were on the opposite run, one of the in-form teams in the Premier League. And it went to form in the end. Leeds United 1-0 up at half-time, two Morgan Rodgers goals after Unai Ami changed Marlon and Mattson came on for Dina and Buendia on the left-hand side. And all of a sudden, the shape was different, a little bit more attacking threat. And they get the win, Aston Villa. But let's talk first Leeds United, Rob, because there was a few rumblings before the international break about Daniel Falker. I think they'd lost two straight away from home and the usual rumblings that happen at clubs that get promoted and Leeds sort of going in the wrong direction.
46:48Another defeat today. I'll just say, too, we asked Rebecca Lowe in the lowdown whether she thought Daniel Falker would still be at the football club at Christmas, and unfortunately she said she didn't think so and would like to see him at least given that time. I know they've got some tough fixtures coming up next five or six weeks. They've got some tough games coming up. But, you know, what do you see for Leeds? What do you see for Fork in the future? I see a decent Leeds team. That's what I see. I see a decent team that are trying for his manager, that the fans are still behind, that gave Villa a very difficult game in the first half, made it very hard for them.
47:23It's a decent team. I wrote it down. Like, the final third, they lack a little bit of quality. I just sometimes think, Rob, like if I'm looking at a team, and we've seen many of them that look out of ideas, you know, the relationship looks wrong, it's bad, the energy's bad. Leeds look decent to me. And I know where they are on the league table. This is a very hard league to survive in. You know, Burnley leads now to the promoter in the bottom three. So it's not always the manager. But I understand it. I get it. If you're in the bottom three, at some point they'll say, well, it looks like we've got to change a manager and see if he can make a difference.
48:01That's not yet for me. It's just not. And I know the game's coming up. It's going to mean that they're going to win a few points. But I watched a team in this match that they ran out of steam in the second half. I get that. And Villa made the changes and really took control and were impressive. But I don't see an awful Leeds team. Just maybe, Rob, that all the teams, maybe bar Wolves, are decent Premier League teams. and someone's got to be down there. Not much between them, is it? Yeah, there's not much between them. It's not always, particularly the manager, of wide teams in the bottom three.
48:36The nature of promotion into this league is very difficult. Even in run of games, you can have three or four really tough games in a spell. You lose three games and people are talking their pressures on. The midfield's good, Rob. The midfield is strong. Joe Roden was one of the... I was thought about him for underappreciate. They lost the game. They didn't go for it. He had a really good game. Ampadu's strong in midfield. We know about the other, Andre Stack and the midfield players. And they just lack a little bit of, I know Dan James came into the game and just lack a little bit of that. Albert Lewin came on, didn't he?
49:05I'm not sure why he didn't start the game. Well, Metro, I guess he likes Metro at the moment. So, I don't know. I don't see what anybody else can do right now. Yeah. But another two, you know, unlike with managers, if they're in and around, if they're in the bottom three coming in towards January, then maybe. Christmas. Maybe they're going to, yeah, but I didn't see a bad team. And I thought Bex made a really good point on this one. She said sometimes if, you know, others will look around, you know, Wolves have made a change, West Ham have made a change, you know, teams have made a change. So it almost becomes, we need to make a change just to turn things around.
49:41Not necessarily, you know, thinking that's the right way. Let's see what happens at Wolves. Wolves have made a change. Let's see if it gets them much better. I think West Ham is a little different. Yeah. They've got a much more experienced, better squad. Forest, much better, biggest, better squad. Leeds have got what they got and I think he's doing alright. I know it's not amazing for the Leeds fans, but I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they get somebody else in and takes over and they climb to mid-table. That would be amazing, but I think it's going to happen. Little mention for your mate, Mr.
50:06Morgan Rogers, who continues to shine. He's pushing Jude Bellingham, apparently, for place in the England national squad. He continues to get his goal, continues to be a threat. They've got him on a long-term contract now, Rob, so Villa fans can mess a little bit easier. He's a special talent. He is. I spoke, you know, and he's just signed a long-term contract to Aston Villa, which is great, great, great, great for them. What I want to talk about, Rob, is these free kicks because we're seeing something different. We're seeing something different that, and you'll correct me, I don't think we've seen before.
50:43Let me go into that a little bit. There's new footballs this season from a company called Puma. Yeah. and I think we've seen a lot of spectacular goals from outside the box. What I'm trying to say is when a free kick is just outside the 18-yard box, we have seen in the past and we commentate, well, it's a bit close. It's the hardest to get up and down. So that's why you have the draft excluder, the guy that lies on the floor because often the only way is to roll it underneath or smash it to the goalkeeper's side of the wall. I don't think we've seen any consistency where from 19 yards out, the player can strike the ball in such a fashion that it travels quickly and it doesn't go very high, allowing the goalkeeper to get over.
51:33It's that side foot, open the side foot, in part in just a tiny bit of topspin, but it punches the ball through the air. The Villa Vans called it a dippy, and they practice it, by the way, because I don't know if you saw on the show, Buendia did one a couple of weeks ago. I saw it, yeah. In the win. Same thing, Rob. Really close to the line, the 18-yard line. That's new, mate. We haven't seen that. And as it beats the wall, it's already starting to go down. Yeah. It just gets to that height and stays there, but it's travelling quickly. Whereas if me and you in our day, we'd clip it in a different type of strike, and because it's got to come down, you can't hit it very hard.
52:08Yeah, yeah. And it sort of floats in the goal. You can't put any power behind it, yeah. I mean, if they can master that technique even more, I mean, they've shown they have twice. Tim was saying as a goalkeeper, you're basically nullified. Yeah, and we haven't seen that before from 19 yards out, like just outside the box. So are we thinking it's a ball? Are we thinking it's technique? Is it a combination of both? I think it's got to be a combination because players will try every technique. Maybe something about this ball, when you punch it in the middle of it, you can't hit the underneath of the ball because that puts a bit of bottom spin and makes it spin up a little bit.
52:40But they're punching it in the middle of the ball with a side foot. Yeah, it's a lot flatter, isn't it? It's flatter and quick. Yeah. Anyway. Free kicks 101. Yeah. Set-piece coaches get to work on free kicks. I mean, I think it's fascinating, mate. That's new. Absolutely. Okay, mate, let's move it on a little bit quickly. Wolves nil. Crystal Palace two. Rob Edwards back at Wolves, but couldn't change their fortune. Munoz with the first goal, and Pino with a beautiful goal for second goal for Palace two nil. I think Palace move up to fifth in the Premier League, mate, under Oliver Glasner. You can guess there was certain somebody in the studio was pretty happy with the way things were going.
53:20Was there two screams? There was two loud screams of joy that you know that Palace are winning 2-0. Let's go to Bournemouth. Bournemouth 2 West Ham, good game this. Callum Wilson with a couple of goals in the first half, mate. I read a really interesting article about Callum Wilson saying that he hasn't given up on England and that he still wants to get himself scoring goals. So he got a couple of goals, Rob, which was interesting. and then he got taken off. I think it was only into the second half and I'm not sure if it was something arranged or he's got injury or the manager's trying to protect him.
53:54But as ever, we said, I hope that's not one of them that come to haunt you and Tavernier gets a penalty kick on 69 who now comes on and gets an equaliser and from 2-0 up, West Ham have to be sort of satisfied with the point. Yeah, I saw their 2-0 up and I thought, wow, they should go on and win that game. that's not great when you're in the position they're in Wilson's interesting Rob because a few games ago I thought he looked ever so slow ever so sluggish I guess you know I know he's been out the side and he's been struggling to get in maybe he'll sharpen up a little bit now sometimes when you're away from first team action you just you drop a little bit didn't you but he's still a goalscanner he's still got a lovely feel for goal and knows where the net is yeah well done him and maybe he'll go on a bit of a run now I still think West Ham even though they didn't get this win I mean, I'm still confident they're going to get away from the relegation zone.
54:46Yeah, Nuno will get this sorted out. I think so. Brighton 2, Brentford 1 at the Amex. Goals by Thiago with a penalty. No surprise, Welbeck gets an equaliser. 71 minutes for Brighton. Hinchawood, who came on as a sub, gets 2-1 ahead. And then Thiago had a second penalty that was saved. 90 plus 4 minutes on the clock. So from possibly getting a dual, Brentford end up losing 2-1 to Brighton at the Amex. Yeah, I think Brighton are one of those teams, aren't they? They're a little inconsistent. Same as Brentford, you know, the three Bs. We've talked about them. They've gone off the boil a little bit over recent weeks, I suppose.
55:26But no, well done, Brentford. And last game here, mate, is Fulham 1, Sondland 0. Huge win that for Fulham, given where they got to in the league. Yeah, things weren't going particularly well, were they? I think they're on a real bad run of form five out of six or something defeats. And obviously, there's talk about Marco Silva's talking about a long-term contract, but nothing's been agreed on there. So, our old friend Raul Jimenez, knowing where to be in the box, just gets his toe to the ball, knocks it past Robin Roos and enough to give all three points to Fulham. So, that pretty much rounds up this match week 12, mate.
56:01We have got on Monday, don't forget any of us, Here's a Monday night viewing. It's Manchester United versus Everton. That's 3pm Eastern time on the USA Network. I'll be in with Cor and Danny Higginbottom looking at that game. Obviously, Manchester United in a bit of decent form. Everton still is a little bit patching and inconsistent under David Moyes. So, a big game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Sorry, to Old Trafford, actually. Manchester United at home to Everton. Ruben Amman looking to keep that run going. OK, Matt, we're going to wrap things up as we said we would. Look forward to next Sunday, November 30th, 11.30am Eastern Time on Peacock.
56:43And that's Chelsea versus Arsenal. First versus second, or second versus first, I should say. Chelsea at home, that young team. Most people, I think, would say Chelsea aren't really in a title race. Well, the second mate, they'll go three points behind Arsenal if they win that game. Can Chelsea win the title? Yeah, they can win it. They can win it. Yeah, they can. It's going to take great consistency. Probably have to win this game to have the belief there, to pull Arsenal in a little bit. I think they're talented enough. You said, can they? They can. Will they? I don't think they will. I still don't see anybody beating Arsenal this year.
57:30but they could, I could be wrong and they could go on a run and this, please I hope Chelsea fans don't take this in the wrong way and it's not men do you think, so you're saying Enzo Moresco you believe has the capability of steering this young team to the top to a title, to a title maybe not this title maybe not, but it could be but maybe not, but absolutely you know, growing, maturing it was a young team thrown together all the changes it's got many to pick from, they're all going to mature at different times, you're starting to see it with certain players they've got some real real top talent in different areas of the team Rob, it might be they need another goalkeeper maybe another striker, a real classy I don't know Defensively, I'm a little boy it's always I tell you, those centre-back pairings don't ever quite get me But they're a team Rob, that defend with the ball I also remember there was a lesser team with Wes Morgan and Robert Hoos that went on to win a title, mate.
58:30You know what I mean? Yeah, and they're so good with the ball that they don't defend that much because they have the ball all the time. So, fascinating game. I mean, I would imagine Arsenal would go in with the attitude of, because Arsenal got so much strength in different areas, I would expect a physical Arsenal. A physical Arsenal. Okay. Who, you know, may be dominated. There's area teams, they won't dominate Moses Caicedo in the middle of the park. They won't dominate him because he's a blimmin' beast of a player, brilliant midfield player. But the intensity, the quality, it might be too much for Chelsea.
59:03But what a game. What a game. Arsenal are finding that City are losing, Liverpool are losing. OK, Chelsea, let's see if we can put them away a little bit. I mean, it's a big game for the team. They go and put Chelsea away and put nine points between them. It starts to look a little bit rosier. It does. But again, the two smart coaches, Rob, tactically very smart. and Arteta, he's talked about having time to assess the game against Spurs. He ain't got up the same amount of time. They're in the Champions League, but both of these teams in midweek. So, you know, he's got to come up with something because Chelsea, the way that Chelsea play are awkward.
59:39It's awkward the way that they structure the midfield and morph into that diamond or a box at four in midfield. Arsenal have got to be ready for it or try and do a similar themselves. So I can't wait. Looking forward to that. I'm in next weekend with you, I think, isn't it? Next weekend. Yeah, next weekend, yeah. Then Arsenal got Bayern midweek and then they go to Chelsea. So it's a big week for Arsenal. It's based on North London, Derby, Bayern, Munich, Chelsea. But this is what you've got to do, mate, if you want to be the top dog and top of the table. And they were the top dog this week, mate.
1:00:13So the North London is definitely red as Arsenal. I thought gave Chelsea a lesson at the Emirates. On a weekend when both Manchester City and Liverpool lose, It's Chelsea that carry the fight now to the Gunners. Six points behind Arsenal. And they meet next weekend. We'll be back next Sunday. That's November 30th to review Match Week 13. All eyes are on Stamford Bridge in that game of Chelsea hosting Arsenal. Just like I say to all our American viewers and listeners, a very happy Thanksgiving that's coming up next week. Absolutely. We don't see you before. But for now, I'm Earl. He's mustied together with the two Robbies.
1:00:49Thanks for watching and listening. Be safe. Stay healthy. it's a good night from me and it's a good night from him good night
From the publisher
Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe recap Matchweek 12 in the Premier League
0:55 - Eberechi Eze has his day at the Emirates by bagging a hat-trick in the North London Derby, where Arsenal swept aside Spurs 4-1 on a weekend where others faltered
22:17 - Arne Slot takes the blame for Liverpool's free fall as the Reds hit a new low with a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield
35:46 - Manchester City are left stunned by Newcastle as a Harvey Barnes' brace takes some momentum out of Pep Guardiola's side in the title race
40:37 - Chelsea sneak their way into second in the table with a 2-0 win at Burnley as they enter a massive week ahead for Enzo Maresca
45:57 - A roundup of other results: Leeds Unite d 1-2 Aston Villa, Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace, Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham, Brighton 2-1 Brentford, Fulham 1-0 Sunderland
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