Fiery London Derby, Man United Stunned, Liverpool’s First Victory

12:02Robbie Earle:Again, a quick point, Rhys James on the Havertz goal. Yeah. And this is our position, particularly mine, where when Havertz comes inside, right, as a central midfield player that's played there a long time, you're thinking this is in my area. You've got to block him, you've got to get across. You've got to squeeze, you've got to get a challenger. I think Caicedo or Rice or Elliot Anderson is naturally in that position. Now, if you look at it from the back, Rhys James is kind of jogging back into that spot as Habits comes inside. I think a Caicedo is probably going to be there to stop that. It's a good point.

12:35Robbie Mustoe:There is a bit of talk that in front of that back three, Brighton exploited it a little bit last week. They got shots in there. Moises Caicedo makes it different. Unfortunately, Robbie came on last week, got injured. The one thing with him is we don't know if we're going to see him every week. I don't think Chelsea fans and the managers shouldn't be too down. I thought they'd give a good account of themselves, mate. and Arsenal are going to be Arsenal. They're going to be tough. They might not have got the centre forward, but they have not got a decent defence. Yeah, they have.

13:03Robbie Earle:Don't go anywhere. We'll break down both the red and blue sides of Manchester. One celebrating an important win, the other left with a dramatic draw. That's next.

13:15Robbie Mustoe:Think about when you're up before the city wakes, watching a Premier League match from your kitchen or catching highlights on your commute to work. Those early mornings are what make Premier League fandom in the US so unique. Barclays shares that passion. For more than 25 years, they proudly sponsored the Premier League, supporting the game and its fans through every unforgettable moment. And that same commitment drives how they support their customers, with financial products and services designed to help you reach your goals. Whether you're planning something big or managing everyday expenses, Barclays is here to help backing your future and the goals that matter to you most.

13:57Robbie Mustoe:Visit BarclaysUS.com forward slash Premier League to learn more. Barclays, the official banking partner of the Premier League.

14:08Robbie Earle:Robbie Earl, Everton 2, Manchester United 2. What a game, by the way. Brian and Bermode scores the first goal. Tarek George then equalises Seshko and Ainsley Maitland-Nars with a thunderbolt. Amazing goal at the end that we'll get to. I thought the first half, Rob, was a little, a little drab. I think Everton are going to naturally set up to be just a good shape. It's David Moyes, it's Man United coming to town. I thought Man United looked good. And I'm liking what I'm seeing from the midfield and from the attack. I think defensively, second half, we'll get into that a little bit. But what did you think to the first half and how these two teams set up and started?

14:47Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, I thought Manchester United were good without quite turning that possession into creating. I thought there were some encouraging signs with Tielemans, with Bruno Fernandes, some clever positions that gave Everton problems. That combination play we saw down the side. Marcus Rashford, Rob, I thought was excellent in that first half down the left, whether he was running in behind or playing in Luke Shaw or looking to join the front players. So I thought that was really encouraging. and as I'm going through the game I'm thinking United look in good nicky it looks like you know that win against Ipswich has boosted them certainly in the attacking areas of the pitch

15:23Robbie Earle:yeah I thought second half and particularly when Everton went down that it's a different Everton yeah yeah and that's typical Moyes like as soon as he needs something it does look different they're on the front foot they're prepared to have an open game where Moyes isn't initially unless they go down so I kind of liked Everton when they're more trying to attack more and try and get back into the game naturally. And I think we know David Moyes long enough now to know. I mean, I might have said, why don't we see this from the start? And I think he's smart. No, he's not going to be that guy. I think he's been in it long enough to know that this is the way that he does things.

15:56Robbie Earle:I think he's a little bit anxious about the size of his squad right now. But he did make substitutions, Rob. And Jack Grealish did come on. Hayden Hackney came on as well. And Tariq George changed from the right side to the left side. And he got back in the game. Is that more on well done Everton or is it a concern on Manchester United when they need to kind of, OK, let's be strong here. They seem to wilt a little bit, Rob, I would say.

16:22Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, they didn't... What would be the word? They didn't look like they controlled it. They didn't look like they were ready to go where they needed to go to make sure that goal wasn't coming. And that's a little bit of a worry, Rob. You know, David Moyes, as we know with teams, his tactic generally through games, it will be to stay in games for an hour. Patient, patient, patient. And then with half an hour to go, he'll turn the dial up and he'll put on maybe a few attacking players. For Manchester United, when the dial got turned up, a few melted, mate. Yeah. A few melted, which wasn't good.

16:57Robbie Earle:And you're right about Marcus Rashford. And I'm here for the new Rashford 2.0. I'm here for it. Yeah. Really like that. When he's sharp, he's taken on defenders. They can't stay with him. No. He's getting the byline, pulling the ball back. He's helping back defensively. Here for it. But in that second half, pretty early on, I think it was the second half, he's grabbing a little gel pack for extra energy. He has to come off the pitch to get subbed out. And Kobe Maynou, I thought, was excellent. And I'm really enjoying Maynou and Tiedemann. It's more technical and less robust than you might normally expect from two central midfield players.

17:28Robbie Earle:But is there a case that, and again, I'm speculating a little bit, but there's a sense that when the season started, they weren't quite ready. Is this more example, Rob, of some of these players that aren't at the 90 % fitness levels that they should be?

17:42Robbie Mustoe:When you're watching, maybe it's wrong to make the comparison, but when you're watching Arsenal versus Chelsea, it's not just tactically, not just technically, there's a fitness level difference between the two sides.

17:56Robbie Earle:You're not even looking at players that look anywhere you're tired.

17:59Robbie Mustoe:No, who are looking to take gel things. You're looking at people who are now, I don't know what's been done over the pre-season, I don't know what work's been done. I don't know if it's the kind of thing that's going to... But we're going to find out with Manchester United, mate, because in the next ten days, they've got four games with Champions League, Premier League and League Cup. We're going to start to find out a little bit more about Michael Carrick and the group, you know, the questions that were asked last season. He had no European football, so he was going week to week Premier League games and he had a brilliant run and well done.

18:27Robbie Mustoe:But now this is different.

18:28Robbie Earle:Yeah, it is different. And he's got to trust his squad. I look at the squad and, you know, you've got Hayden Evern, you've got Andre Santos. or they didn't start, Jorou, Xerxe, Mason Mount, Masraoui, Sheshko. He's got to trust them. You know, in this first European game, you know, maybe an opportunity against Sabah. Sabah? Sabah, yeah. Uzbekistan. Yeah, we were looking for where that was from. So I think, you know, in this campaign, he's got to be smart, Michael Carrick, and when he uses certain players and when he doesn't. I think just finishing on Man United, really, Rob, again, that is what I expected.

19:00Robbie Earle:Midfield and the front is good. I like it. It's good, right?

19:03Robbie Mustoe:We know that the defence needs a little work.

19:05Robbie Earle:And the defence needs a bit of help.

19:06Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

19:06Robbie Earle:Can that come from... Is that going to get better during the season or is it something that needs a window? I think we're waiting for a window

19:12Robbie Mustoe:and probably be next summer before we really see that. But they'll mention for Everton, by the way, mate, because it was a terrible window. We know the Balogans scenario. Ross Dilliman and Jai couldn't get anyone through the loss. Beto, you know, Tiena Barri is now the only centre-forward in the building. It's so David Moyes, isn't it?

19:30Robbie Earle:It is so David Moyes.

19:32Robbie Mustoe:and for anyone who fears, he's still the most important person in that building. As long as he's there, Everton will be all right.

19:39Robbie Earle:You've got Tariq George looking good. You've still got Brennan Johnson that will do things and Jack Grealish. And the Ainsley Maitland-Niles. I mean, take a bow, son. I mean, what an amazing... Well done. What an amazing shot.

19:50Robbie Mustoe:Only second ever Premier League goal, I believe.

19:52Robbie Earle:Huge, huge bonus. OK, Man City, Rob, let's get on to them. They did beat Commercia City 1-0.

19:56Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

19:57Robbie Earle:Erland Haaland, no surprise, gets the goal. I'm so excited with this team I'm so excited with the squad and what was done very late in the window I remember saying wow they've got to do some business they did do some business we saw the new players Ily Minanjai Enzo Fernandes started after Nico O 'Reilly went off with a back problem before the start of the game but I was a little underwhelmed I remember you saying

20:23Robbie Mustoe:I think you sort of said awful and then you sort of said sometimes that happens the word comes and you go I don't mean awful Like TV when you're looking for a word.

20:31Robbie Earle:Yeah. Yeah, it was a bit harsh, but I was disappointed. I understand what you said. It was disappointing in them, generally.

20:36Robbie Mustoe:When you've got that much creativity, when you've got Ileman and Jai and you've got Phil Foden who can sit on the bench and you've got all the others, you know, you've got Cherky in the hole. Having gone 1-0 up, Rob, I'm expecting them now to, you know, get the second, get the third, put the game to bed. I've got to be honest in this respect, and the word awful, I understand what you meant. But in some respects, if Donnarumma doesn't come up with a couple of big saves, by the way, there was the one-on-one with Awani, there's the Rodoni header at the four post if he makes a save, and then Ellie Sims, Rob, is a centre-forward, one-on-one.

21:09Robbie Mustoe:If he hits it either side of the goalkeeper, he gets a point for Comedic City, and it would have been a very different look on Manchester City, as great they are. I want to go to one point because you talk about this group, and it's an incredible talent that this club have now. and I'll tell you one thing for Mureska, they haven't had a bad team by the way. Bad team mate, giving them the tools. Everybody's been going on about Arsenal and the one thing, let me tell you about the one thing that I was looking at today and it came back to me. Erlen Haaland my friend is a wonderful player in a powerhouse and got his third goal, 300 club goals already, incredible.

21:47Robbie Mustoe:If he gets injured, if he gets injured, just like we're saying at Arsenal, they haven't got another centre forward. They're so mummish, he's gone out the building, They'll have to go false nine, which is fine. I think it might be all right for a short period of time.

21:59Robbie Earle:Harland out for two months or more, that's going to be a problem. But I think there's enough talent there, Rob, to throw somebody up there and have a false nine situation, have somebody arriving in the box to try and get those goals. I'm more, again, I know what they've got going forward. It's almost like a Galactica. You look at one side, Illyminja's doing his dribble, Semenyo's doing great things, he pulls the ball back to brilliant, cross. You've got Foden that came on, you've got Xerqui, you've got... Doku to come back. I mean, it's so much talent going forward. I'm looking again at the Arsenal difference.

22:33Robbie Earle:Can they get defensively stronger?

22:34Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, it's a good point. And Ruben Diaz, I think, is one of them, Rob, where he's just at that level. I just feel like he might be just going...

22:41Robbie Earle:You think he's creaking a little bit.

22:42Robbie Mustoe:A little bit creaky. I might be wrong and I might be doing a disservice. Just one question before we move on in. We're going to preview the mighty job that comes up next week. Phil Foden, my friend, was playing on the right-hand side early in the games. He then wasn't involved yesterday. It didn't start, I should say. He came on and still played in more of a 10 when Shirky came off. Could there be a situation where Mareska is not as enamoured by Phil Foden? Where, OK, we know he's a Manchester boy and he's played 10 years under Pep. Could there be a situation where Phil's not a go-to starter?

23:19Robbie Earle:Well, he hasn't been under Pep. He wasn't under Pep over the last season. I think, you know, I thought, wow, that's harsh on Phil.

23:26Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, if you put In-N-Gai in.

23:28Robbie Earle:He had two assists in the last game, wasn't he? They won 4-1 against Crystal Palace. They look really, really good. I mean, I expected, like, you know, you've done well, carry on. He didn't. Now, the only thing I'm thinking is that Ily Man-N-Gai obviously is a wide man. And Phil Foden doesn't want to be wide. Maybe Phil Foden is, I don't know if he's OK not starting, but he wants to go for the number 10 spot. There's an obvious number 10, which is Ryan Shirky right now.

23:50Robbie Mustoe:So those two are vying for that spot.

23:53Robbie Earle:They're absolutely going to vie for it. And they're going to share it, Rob. There's so many games. They're going to share it. And maybe that's a really nice situation, by the way. For the manager, it is. Shirky's not one that you're going to rely on week in, week out. Yeah, yeah. Every three days.

24:04Robbie Mustoe:Some days you say, yeah.

24:06Robbie Earle:I think those two are going to be interchangeable. You've got wingers. You've got the big man up front. It's just, again, you know, they've got a clean sheet in this game. But I tell you, they were lucky to get a clean sheet, given the chances that Coventry City had.

24:18Robbie Mustoe:They go to Old Trafford next weekend, mate. Manchester United and Manchester City next Sunday, September 13th. That's 11.30am Eastern Time on Peacock. Always a great game. Always a big game. Always matters. Manchester United... Well, we've seen them score five against Ipswich. We saw them today play with decent football, but give goals away. If they defend like that against Manchester City, they'll get blown away, won't they? They will get blown away. I mean, what a game, Rob. I mean, I love the Premier League so much.

24:49Robbie Earle:And this time of the season when people have shaken, teams have changed a little bit. This is going to be a great match-up. You're absolutely right. When you think about that Man City attack, and particularly away from home, Old Trafford, the home team's going to want to be on the front foot and want to attack. And we've enjoyed Dienermans, and we've enjoyed Kouméa, and everybody else, and Bruno, and Cunha. By the way, Cunha drops back in. It's almost like a square box in there that's away from the central defenders. How are City going to handle that? And if they handle it pretty well, How are United going to handle when they attack through their excellent wingers?

25:18Robbie Earle:There's been criticism for the Manchester United full-backs. I would favour Man City, but love this game. Big derby game next weekend. Absolutely can't wait for it.

25:27Robbie Mustoe:And it's off the back of Champions League, like we said. Both of them in the Champions League. Both of the Champions League, so again, squads might be looking at rotations and people who play. But yeah, always the one to look forward to, isn't it?

25:38Robbie Earle:Fantastic game. OK, stay with us. Coming up next, we'll dive into Liverpool's first victory of the season, that along with Spurs and Aston Villa's struggles.

25:51Robbie Earle:Welcome back to the Two Robbies podcast, presented by Barclays, the official banking partner of the Premier League. Ipswich Town 0, Liverpool 2. That's more like it from the Reds, wasn't it?

26:01Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, certainly first off. It was absolutely Irreola's type football. It was high press. Remember the first goal, Kerkhez gets his foot in. You saw Irreola on the side of the pitch pushing forward. Gakpo picked it up, slides a beautiful ball through and Isaac is more like Isaac. It's more like Liverpool, it's more like the Isaac we've seen at Newcastle. The pacey, balanced, skillful, you know, can change his direction of his runs. Yeah, I think that would give Liverpool and fans and Iriola a little bit more comfort that they're moving in the right direction. Big step forward for Liverpool.

26:37Robbie Earle:Obviously the sign of Barcola we'll get to in a second is going to give the fans a boost. But I think the way that Ira Ola plays, we saw it for the first 20, 25 minutes, something like that. He even said himself that after that, it dropped off a little bit. And I think that's natural because the team has struggled to kind of get to grips with the physicality needed to play in this way. But that's what he's trying to do. He wants to play. I remember him saying in pre-season, Rob, in an interview, I think maybe it was his first interview as a manager at Liverpool, where the aggressive bit, the forward bit, and also a bit he said, we want to play the game and the opponent's half.

27:10Robbie Earle:and I always like that because as a player it's easier to play in a half and not go from all the way there and all the way back again. So that's always good and to do that you've got to squeeze them in a little bit and I thought they suffocated Ipswich, I thought they pressured them when you might expect the energy to be with the home team,

27:28Robbie Mustoe:a newly promoted team.

27:30Robbie Earle:They absolutely smothered that pretty early and Ipswich Town looked exhausted. towards the end of the half-time.

27:36Robbie Mustoe:Will there be a case, or is it possible, though, to fluctuate between that high press and then have another system style of play? Because I just feel like there may be some players who, you know, it took a while for Bournemouth, you know, I think it was eight, nine games before he got his win. I remember Dominic Solanke talking about it and how difficult it was initially to deal with. I just wonder, at Liverpool, can I have a little bit more possession and control and then when I go and press, go and press and then I've got another mode rather than, a bit like, remember we say a little bit with Eddie Howe at Newcastle, that high intensity, but you can only go with it for so long.

28:16Robbie Mustoe:He didn't have much of a plan B.

28:17Robbie Earle:Yeah, is there another option, is there a, you know, another side to Liverpool? Well, there might have to be, Rob, I think it's a good point.

28:25Robbie Mustoe:You know, those midfield players keeping possession and building up the pitch and then Maybe once you're in the half, then we press.

28:33Robbie Earle:Then we stay. Well, it's a great point, right?

28:35Robbie Mustoe:And I've got to say, Bournemouth, no. No, Bournemouth didn't. No, Bournemouth didn't. I'm saying that.

28:41Robbie Earle:So whether this will be something a little different where he says to this team and this squad and this club, we can't... The energy needed to play like Bournemouth, I think it's difficult with the Champions League and everything else.

28:53Robbie Mustoe:But isn't that where you're playing more, I want to steal the ball off you rather than I want to have the ball? Do you know what I mean? The Bournemouth thing is, the opposition can have the ball and we'll go and nick it off you and then we'll go to goal. He loves that though.

29:04Robbie Earle:He still loves that now.

29:05Robbie Mustoe:And I'm not saying that's wrong. Teams are going to say, no, no, no, you have it. And at times, yeah, Liverpool have the ball. Liverpool should have more possession maybe than he's been with his other teams. And that might be right. And maybe the pressing and the without the ball stuff

29:19Robbie Earle:will ease a little bit. But even when they have the ball, Rob, I still think he's a, I don't want to mess around with it. Yeah, they want to get to goal quickly. Slot's very patient. Let's have the ball. it's nice to have the ball where he's like forward forward and then we saw it in the game yeah we saw absolutely saw it in the game for the first goal win the ball back yeah absolutely play the ball forward he did perfectly for for isaac and and he's like he's that was more like he's that

29:40Robbie Mustoe:was yeah yeah he was i was trying to pick out star players uh how about the the fullback arauho which is not the easiest name in the world to say yeah but we saw him at newcastle didn't we and and And then he played right back. We know, listen, he's a bit of Barcelona. He's played top class level, whether right back and centre back. I thought he... No drama.

30:07Robbie Earle:I thought he was all right. I thought it was a no drama right back,

30:09Robbie Mustoe:which hasn't been the case for Liverpool for a little while. Yeah, and by the way, other teams play with no drama full backs. Yeah, yeah. And centre backs who play in that position.

30:17Robbie Earle:You think of Kuzinov at Man City. You don't have to be world beaters, do you? Just do a good, steady job. And also, in modern day football, you're seeing one of the full backs, and that will be Kerkhares. go on, go and play and go and get involved and the other guy, sit back.

30:29Robbie Mustoe:I mean, Araujo,

30:32Robbie Earle:when we saw him, Rob, he's a giant, isn't he?

30:34Robbie Mustoe:He's a big man.

30:35Robbie Earle:He's got the biggest legs in the history of football.

30:37Robbie Mustoe:I don't want a 50-50 with him. I don't want to meet him down the dark alley.

30:41Robbie Earle:But you're right, he was at Barcelona and I thought he made some good blocks, some good challenges. He ain't going to be particularly silky on the ball but I thought he did okay. I thought the midfield was better. I thought Alexis McAllister. McAllister was...

30:51Robbie Mustoe:Probably best he's played for a little while.

30:53Robbie Earle:I was so disappointed with him from last year. Virts was a bit of a quieter one for me. And let's get to our little Barclays underappreciated performer of the week. And it is...

31:05Robbie Mustoe:Cody Gakpo, my friend. Cody Gakpo, who, in different circumstances, might have been wearing the blue of Man City or another team, the white of Tottenham. There was talk that he was going to go out the door if they got somebody in. Barclays did come in, talked about him after. But, I mean... He's so underrated, Rob, because whether he's scoring goals, he's had three assists this season for all the Isak goals, he does a good job, he'll work back, he's honest, I think he gives you everything he's got. He's just one of those players who I don't think fans, don't think the media particularly, rate him as highly as him.

31:44Robbie Mustoe:I think he's an important part of your team.

31:46Robbie Earle:I love him for bits. You always know what you're going to get. Always know what you're going to get. Now, it's a little bit different now. And he showed his quality, by the way,

31:50Robbie Mustoe:in the beautiful second ball outside of his right foot.

31:53Robbie Earle:But it looks like now, and we're bringing Bradley Barkler now, Rob, to the conversation, that Cody Gatpa will be asked to play on the right-hand side. And Barkler will play on the left because that's where he's super dynamic. I mean, I'm sure they can play any other way. And Ira Ola, by the way, wants his wingers to be able to switch. Interchangeable. He talked about it, didn't he? We did change about it. We talked about it because at Bournemouth, we were like, well, he played Semenya.

32:15Robbie Mustoe:Tavernier and Brooks. Yeah, Semenya before that.

32:18Robbie Earle:menu yeah um so i think that's going to be the key but it's exciting to see bradley barkler oh i mean it's a sign and they absolutely desperately needed they did get over the line yeah 24 years

32:30Robbie Mustoe:of age rob all the profile of the speed the change of direction apparently the high press he wants to be at liverpool football club there was all that talk that you know that was something they want to do not quite up to matt speed that hearing that he's trained but he hasn't played in the game since the World Cup final. He's not quite plug and play. No, he's not quite plug and play. I think it's in and out, in and out, but he's going to be an exciting player for them, Rob, and something they desperately needed. And all of a sudden, that could look exciting, by the way. That's a good front four.

32:56Robbie Mustoe:Isaac, Borkley, Gatpo, Vietz. If we can get Vietz on another level. A couple of vips.

33:03Robbie Earle:Vietz is the first if. And if Isaac can stay fit, then that's really good. And the midfield is good too. I know he's big money. Is Borkley an if? he's 24 years he's played French football I know he's two times Champions League

33:17Robbie Mustoe:winner

33:18Robbie Earle:anybody coming into this league is a let's wait and see I don't care who it is when you bring Enzo Fernandes from Chelsea across the no there's no worries there there's a few of them I remember Elliot Anderson of course going to City no we know what he can do he's from a different league and that does bring its slight concern whether the intensity of the league could hurt him but on what I've seen it looks pretty He looks pretty good.

33:42Robbie Mustoe:He's going to be a really good addition to the Liverpool team.

33:45Robbie Earle:Strugglers. Let's talk about some strugglers.

33:46Robbie Mustoe:The Tricky Trees and Tottenham Hotspur. 0-0, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham. Forest unhappy, and I saw Oliver Glasner say he thought that they were guessing at a decision with a handball that Nico Williams is brave to go in. Puts a ball into the back of net, whether it caught his hand. He didn't have a really conclusive view of that. I did the replay on the... I did the highlights on this game.

34:11Robbie Earle:and we see it sometimes real quick. It wasn't one of our feature games. And it's like, I can't really see. From the angles that we had, it was a guess. It was a guess because there wasn't definitive that we saw because you can't score a goal with the hand. And he's so brave to go in there. It's on the line. It's a brilliant challenge. It looked like a good goal to me. And that's just one of the things with the current officiating. It is detailed. and you've opened a can of worms and you're in there to check, well let's check, does it hit his hand? I mean, I get that from Glasner and Forrest, that was a little unfortunate.

34:48Robbie Earle:Any worries for Spurs? Still haven't scored a goal my friend. Let me just go back to the point you just made.

34:53Robbie Mustoe:Spurs, I think it's ten signings, all the players came from Premier League clubs so they've all got Premier League proven experience.

35:00Robbie Earle:Yeah, so you kind of know what you're going to get.

35:02Robbie Mustoe:So isn't that, shouldn't that be plug and play? Shouldn't I know a little bit more? For all that was spent, was it nearly half a billion, somewhere near half a billion dollars worth of transfers? Shouldn't we be a bit better than one point, no goals scored, 18th in the Premier League? Yeah, I mean, Marmoush is the main forward that you're hoping to make something happen. Savio is new.

35:25Robbie Earle:Yeah, I mean, I still, I'm still patient enough to wait for this to start to happen.

35:30Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

35:31Robbie Earle:You know, and when you go through the back four, the goalkeeper, it's good. That's a good back four. there's plenty of players in the complain the middle of the park the Savio and the Marmouche thing is really interesting and Solanke when's he gonna I mean yeah does there be not not fancy I mean because he's decent by the way yeah

35:49Robbie Mustoe:he's just yeah with people around him he's getting good service yeah it gets

35:52Robbie Earle:good service yeah but that's uh yeah I mean that's that's a bit scary like where they are right now in the league three games in yeah they got one point

36:00Robbie Mustoe:there's I think they were the next week they are at home to Everton David Moise which is not going to be easy. No, it's not. It's not going to be easy. And Tottenham at home are not great. So, listen, I agree. I think when you've got that much quality and you've got a manager of the calibre of De Zerbe, good things are going to happen,

36:18Robbie Earle:but they kind of have to start happening soon. I'll tell you what didn't happen. Hull City versus Aston Villa. And this is one of those head-scratchers for me, Rob, because we watched the game. Yeah. And it was slow football. It was, oh, Hull City are going to give you the ball. And yes, I get there's going to be five across the back, four across the middle, one striker that comes in deep, which is Oliver Burnie. And it's not going to be easy to break down. But please ask more questions, Aston Villa. Please be a little bit quicker. Please get the subs into the game a little bit earlier. I think 75th minute and onwards the attacking players came on.

36:51Robbie Earle:So I was really disappointed with Aston Villa's kind of approach and attempt to try and break down and score against a good defensive whole city. But when Unai Emery spoke afterwards, Rob, he was very playful.

37:04Robbie Mustoe:with the control and uh it's not like him i generally you hear what he says and relate that

37:10Robbie Earle:to the game and think yeah are we missing something i don't know if that's one of those where

37:14Robbie Mustoe:he wants to keep a bit of confidence in the group he doesn't want to be be having it's a newish group rather they're putting them together aren't they and whatever i mean a little bit credit for for hull who actually mate should have gone on and won it monty mcburnie has a chance right at the end of the game where he slashes at ball that could have been there but i mean what for where They're sitting third in the Premier League, yet to concede a goal. Seven points from two games is an incredible start. And if they can batten it down for another couple of months

37:46Robbie Earle:and double their points, mate, they're going to give themselves a chance. Absolutely right. And that's what they're going to do. He's got a big squad now to be able to rotate and give some fresh legs to be able to do that. And they'll be patient with their chances. Well, you know, we'll take what we get. Because in all games of football, you do get a little counter-attack and you get a chance. All of them at Burnley was thrown on goal. and shanked it as bad as I've ever seen a striker shank a ball. But that shows you that definitively strong and looking for something on the break is often not bad policy when you're Hull City and you're trying to stay out of it.

38:14Robbie Mustoe:I like Yakovic. He's got something about him. He's good with the media. Looks like he's good with his players. And Hull City, yeah. Only team in the Premier League not to concede a goal, my friend.

38:25Robbie Earle:Yeah, amazing. Amazing where they are right now.

38:27Robbie Mustoe:All right, mate, that's the end of segment three. Don't go anywhere. We'll recap the remaining results from Match Week 3 and break down all the biggest deals from a blockbuster 2026 summer transfer window.

38:41Robbie Mustoe:OK, Rob, let's have a quick round-up of the remaining games.

38:45Robbie Earle:Four games just to quickly hit in this segment. Newcastle 2, Bournemouth 2. Newcastle 2-0 down. Come back with a beauty from Harvey Barnes and a late one from Jacob Ramsey. Newcastle United, the energy with that draw still continues in the excitement under Yaisler. Mathias Yaisler, the new manager, has got the club going, hasn't he?

39:03Robbie Mustoe:Absolutely. He's become my new Regis Labriche. You know, I get attached to one early. I just feel that this guy, you know, odds were against him. Everything was down and negative. And he's come in, Rob, from 2-0 down, which he wouldn't have liked. He gets a point. You know, they do 2-2 with Liverpool on the first weekend. Beat Spurs, so they're unbeaten. And he's got a bit about him. There's something there. His subs comes on a second time. subs have come on and scored goals. And I just like the way he is. I like the way he conducts himself. I like the way he is on the side of the pitch. He looks like he understands the game well.

39:40Robbie Mustoe:I think he's in addition to the Premier League. He looks like he's excited. Yeah, he's excited about the job and the opportunity. And that gives me a lot of pleasure.

39:47Robbie Earle:Yeah, it is. And I think his football will evolve and he'll get better. I think, you know, initially he wants to be, and maybe he always wants to be, but he's straight and counter-attack. and that's been brilliant with Wieser and Ilanga but when they go behind, he's got a bit more than that

40:03Robbie Mustoe:and to be fair, they did.

40:05Robbie Earle:In the second half, they found a way to get these goals and they did get a draw out of it. So, fair play. Just a quick mention, Rob, and this is just a random one and when we look at our games, we do look at players and sometimes think, what a good player he is that doesn't get much of a mention. Marcus Tavenier is the one that I'll give. A quick mention right now, just as a little shout-out for Undappreciated that we're only doing one each episode now, but just as a shout-out of somebody that's a good footballer. I mean, he's a two-way player.

40:32Robbie Mustoe:He can play loads of positions, anywhere across the front. He can play defensive midfield at times and does a good job.

40:38Robbie Earle:He's got a great shot. He's got a great cross. I mean, just a really, really good player. Alex Scott as well was excellent.

40:43Robbie Mustoe:The only thing I would say about Bournemouth, Rob, it's like a lot of points from winning positions. It's something they've got to address. You know, because if you're 2-0 up, away from home, you shouldn't be drawing 2-2. No, it's happened a few times now

40:55Robbie Earle:and I like what they're doing. It's a little different. It's definitely more...

41:00Robbie Mustoe:Have a look at them.

41:04Robbie Earle:They spread the play, which I like that, but you've got to find a way to... This league, hang on to things if you get goals.

41:12Robbie Mustoe:It's so hard to score them. Let's go to Craven Cottage, my friend. We're two teams who hadn't particularly started the season well. Fulham 2, Crystal Palace 3. Pierre Sarge gets his first win for Crystal Palace. Josh King puts Fulham ahead. Tewik Mitchell gets a couple of goals. You don't usually see that from him. Palacios gets one back. And then Ben Chilwell, just signed late in the window, comes on for Crystal Palace and gets a late winner. Yeah, great for Crystal Palace. Gosh, they needed that. There's a lot of doubts about PSA.

41:43Robbie Earle:How are we going to go? But we were worried about Fulham at the start of the season. And it's not that they haven't got some really signs and really good young players, exciting players and really nice footballers. you have a lot of them in a team and you have Abuelo that comes into the league and he knows the league, he's played here before and stuff that as a manager you immediately think please respect how hard it is be careful if you're going to be expansive if you're going to really try and play, play, play because if it turns over you're going to be running back towards your own goal a lot which we've talked about and it did happen in this game as well so there was some boos Robert Fulham on the final whistle with his defeat are we looking at a guy that's under pressure, the first guy that could be

42:21Robbie Mustoe:under real pressure yeah i think so and i think we we talked in our first pod before ball was kicked that he's going to be under pressure this guy and sometimes rob you've just got to be solid show things up make sure you're not giving goals away and there is a bit of talent he's brought a couple of boys from from madrid josh king is is another little diamond who's playing um so there is talent there but you know you've got to keep some clean sheets and and you know give yourself a chance another team rob that we really liked on the other weekend was brentford

42:49Robbie Earle:Brentford won, Sunderland won. A Lafay penalty quite late equalised it for them. And Vitaly Yen outscores in the 57th minute. Are we surprised that Brentford aren't powering on? Or is this the nature of the league? Sunderland certainly no pushover.

43:04Robbie Mustoe:No, and I think they had a goal disallowed, didn't they? Where Robin Roos had hands on the ball. I think Jadon Anthony put it in and it was one of those. Dan Bullard had a goal.

43:15Robbie Earle:There was an offside player, wasn't there?

43:17Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, Danso was offside in that situation. Two decent teams, no problems with them. Some of them have got European football coming up.

43:24Robbie Earle:Brentford, you know, want to get European football, they make Keith Andrews, you wouldn't be surprised. Last one, Brighton won, Leeds United won. Bogle for Leeds United, Voscovic for Brighton. Again, hard to see all the games, didn't see a ton of this game. But Leeds United, I think there's some stat, like they haven't lost many games in the last, like, 40.

43:42Robbie Mustoe:No, since back end of last season, halfway through last season.

43:46Robbie Earle:They just haven't lost many games for a while, So fair play to them.

43:49Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, keep getting the goals and keep doing more, yeah. Okay, my friend, we're going to finish off this podcast with a little chat about the transfer window that came up. It closed on Tuesday, didn't it? There was some drama. There was plenty of dollars spent. Manchester City, mate, would you say they won the transfer window? I think so.

44:11Robbie Earle:I mean, you can argue that. I think, and it was a late flurry to win it. Yeah. With some of the guys that they've lost, of course, big, big players have just gone and just think, how are they going to replace a Rodri or Bernardo Silva or other players, John Stones at the back, when there's so many that end up going to Gianni Reinders. They've basically changed the whole midfield. And I really like what they've done. And I mean, it was a huge amount of money they've spent. And Enzo Fernandes are bringing him in as well as a creator, a scorer, an assist-making player that really wanted to move to Man City and work with Enzo Mureska as manager at Chelsea.

44:44Robbie Earle:Yeah. Was quite the winner. So I think they won it. Any arguments on that from you?

44:48Robbie Mustoe:I suppose my other argument could be Chelsea. Not just what they spent, but what they gained. What they got back in their business. And probably a billion dollars worth of buying and selling, which is an incredible... You know, this... I don't know, project that they have going, now with a different manager, with a little different ending, might just be the way for them to go forward.

45:08Robbie Earle:Yeah, we're hoping they're going to be steered by this guy. Guys, yeah, we're a good business, but we want to win. Correct. And so hopefully that's going to happen. Bradley Barkler was the big news, Rob. Yeah, of course he was. 167 million dollars to Liverpool, good age, good speed, built for that counter-attack in the quick vertical football that Irreola wants. That's kind of the biggest news on the final day, wasn't it? Yeah, joint record, British record fee.

45:34Robbie Mustoe:The player they wanted, top-class player, mate, from PSG. There is a talk that the very best players go to Barcelona or Real Madrid. Well, we've got one in our league, we should be happy to have him. He's going to be exciting, isn't he? I think the Liverpool fans are going to love him, mate, from that left-hand side.

45:49Robbie Earle:We want to just talk about Everton and their deadline day. My goodness, they lost Beto and Ilyamal Njai, their best player, on deadline day. And they were scrambling. They thought they were going to get Flo Balogun.

46:01Robbie Mustoe:And I want to quickly talk about this because it's really hard to get to know what's impossible. But we won't know unless at some point he comes out and says what's going through his mind. I just we said it Rob on Friday's show where like

46:15Robbie Earle:what an opportunity what an opportunity to go and be a starting striker at Everton Football Club a brilliant club historic club new stadium playing against Manchester United this weekend I don't know what the reasons were but if it was his decision not to do it yeah I mean there's all kind of rumours

46:32Robbie Mustoe:about you know data and the knee and medically and how he was going to play and he didn't like how he was going to treat all that and we don't know it's all speculation what I would say Rob and I'll go back 30 odd years, I know you ran a goal 34 years ago,

46:46Robbie Earle:and you think, God, was it that long ago?

46:48Robbie Mustoe:What I would say, and I'm sure you'd think, we were blessed to be able to play in the Premier League,

46:54Robbie Earle:and it was a very different league then, not as much money, not as much glamour,

46:58Robbie Mustoe:but it's still the Premier League. And when you get a chance to play in it, you've got to really think hard and fast. I just think somewhere down the line, Balogun might look back at this and think, that was a really poor decision. I don't know who's advising him or whatever. Again, we don't know the details of it, but what a chummy.

47:14Robbie Earle:Go back to Monaco and do your thing. And I'm sure maybe something will happen in January. Maybe, maybe.

47:20Robbie Mustoe:Maybe he'll reconsider or a deal could be done up to that point. Number nine at Everton, Rob, in a team that's built to get centre-forward goals. I mean, you're going to play, aren't you?

47:29Robbie Earle:You're not going to sit on the bench. You really are. Why don't we start and finish this podcast with Arsenal?

47:35Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

47:36Robbie Earle:We saw them play Chelsea. Really, really great. did they miss a trick in the window late? We thought they might, well, we knew they were going for Vinny Jr. and some other big names. I mean, we've seen him play today and everything's great. Is Zolish going to be the answer on the left-hand side or should they have done something?

47:52Robbie Mustoe:We don't know. Zolish, we'll see how he develops and, you know, there's good bits to his play. Eza, I think for me still, there's more to come from him. my concern for Arsenal is that if they got a couple of injuries at the top end of the pitch it might leave them a bit short if it was me I might have kept hold of Martinelli I know it was a lot of money I might have just kept him as a security as an insurance just a pacey

48:23Robbie Earle:he can nick your goal

48:26Robbie Mustoe:he played well in Europe for them last year I might just have done that Mikel Arteta will have his reasons what I would say is they've got Konza in another centre-back to make him even stronger there. They can rotate in that front area and maybe he just feels he's got to get the right guy, Rob. I think personality in that is also important to Mikel Arteta. He isn't going to upset that group and you've got to find the right character as well as the right footballer.

48:52Robbie Earle:I think as long as Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka continue as bright and as effective as they are right now and Haberts gets his goals and Jokras can come and contribute, and they get stuff from Solis and some of the midfield players, then I think it's going to be OK. But you're right, if there's a couple of injuries, or if Saka goes off a little bit, or Odegaard goes off a little bit, which is not, you know, it's possible that could happen, then I think that squad is very good and can go on and...

49:18Robbie Mustoe:He's also got a little Diamond in Marino, by the way,

49:20Robbie Earle:who comes up with big goals. Max Diamond as well.

49:24Robbie Mustoe:OK, mate, Manchester City and Arsenal, they sit top of the table with maximum nine points, and guess the only team who's yet to concede a goal? the mighty Tigers, Hull City. That's it in third. So if you listen to us, be sure to follow the Two Robbies podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review. And if you prefer to watch us, catch the Two Robbies podcast on YouTube, NBC Sports Network and the NBC Sports Now. Thanks all for supporting the Two Robbies podcast presented by Barclays. But for now, I'm Earl Hees Musty together with the Two Robbies.

49:56Robbie Mustoe:Thanks for listening. Goodbye from me and it's goodnight from him. Goodnight.

50:04We'll be right back.