Man City Showcase their Best; Liverpool Down and Out; Arsenal's Bump in the Road

In short

The 2 Robbies Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title

Man City Showcase their Best; Liverpool Down and Out; Arsenal's Bump in the Road

Hosts

Robbie Mustoe
Robbie Earle

Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts recap a thrilling Matchweek 11 in the Premier League, covering significant matches, player performances, and implications for the title race.

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Key Topics Discussed

Manchester City vs. Liverpool
Result: Man City 3 - 0 Liverpool
Highlights:
An outstanding performance by *Jeremy Doku*, who played a pivotal role in City's victory.
A controversial moment with a disallowed goal for Liverpool due to *Andy Robertson* being offside, affecting *Alisson's* ability to play the ball.
City's Performance:
Showcased impressive ball possession and attacking play.
Shift in tactical setup compared to previous seasons—more focus on width with fullbacks.
Pep Guardiola's side appears to have regained significant form, closing the gap on Arsenal.

Arsenal vs. Sunderland
Result: Arsenal 2 - 2 Sunderland
Summary:
Arsenal's undefeated run ends with a late equalizer from Sunderland's *Brobby*.
Arsenal had taken the lead twice but were unable to secure the win.
Analysis:
The physical style of Sunderland caused problems for Arsenal.
The hosts held their ground well, revealing potential vulnerabilities in Arsenal's game.
Mikel Arteta's side needs to respond positively to this slip if they are to maintain their title challenge.

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester United
Result: Tottenham 2 - 2 Manchester United
Game Dynamics:
The match showcased a back-and-forth struggle, with both teams failing to capitalize on opportunities.
Injuries impacting Spurs, with players like *Cesc Fabregas* and *Solanke* missing.
Questions raised about *Ruben Amorim's* management style, possibly overcomplicating tactics and player selection.

Remaining Match Results:
Chelsea 3 - 0 Wolves
Aston Villa 4 - 0 Bournemouth
Everton 2 - 0 Fulham
West Ham 3 - 2 Burnley
Brentford 3 - 1 Newcastle
Nottingham Forest 3 - 1 Leeds United
Crystal Palace 0 - 0 Brighton

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Key Takeaways

Manchester City's Statement Victory: Demonstrated their potential to challenge for the title, especially with key players returning to form.
Liverpool's Struggles: Concerns arise for Liverpool as they currently sit far from title contention, needing to regroup after multiple defeats.
Arsenal's Response Needed: A crucial moment in the season; they need to bounce back quickly to maintain their title aspirations.
Injury Impact on Spurs: The team is struggling without key players, raising doubts about their ability to compete effectively in the league.
Emerging Talent: Notable performances from young players like Doku and Sunderland’s new talents highlight the ongoing evolution within the league.

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Conclusion

The episode captures a vibrant week in the Premier League with significant implications for the title race, illustrated by standout performances and the ongoing challenges facing top teams. With the international break approaching, teams will need to reassess and look to make necessary adjustments moving forward.

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Transcript

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0:13Hello and welcome to the Two Robbies podcast, your destination for in-depth discussion and analysis of the Premier League. I'm Robbie Musto, he's Robbie Irland. Here are today's topics. It's a bad cap to the week for Arna Slott and Liverpool as they suffer a 3-0 defeat to a Manchester City side propelled by a superb performance from Jeremy Doku. Arsenal's undefeated run ends at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland's late stunner puts a bump in the road of Mikel Arteta's title chance. And it's on as even after a wild finish between Spurs and Manchester United, which saw both sides walk away with some regrets in a 2-2 draw.

0:49That's what we've got coming up in today's episode. Look at my friend, we have to start this week at the Etihad, the big game of the weekend. Manchester City hosting Champions Liverpool in a game where two big teams chasing down Arsenal at the top end of the table. I think there was a lot of anticipation as to how this one would go, who'd get control, or Manchester City too reliant on Holland and Liverpool playing their way back into form after that impressive win against Real Madrid, the Champions League and the win against Villa. I'd have to say, Rob, in conclusion, it was very one-sided. I thought Manchester City went about their business.

1:35They had the game face on. I thought they looked like they meant business and I thought they blew Liverpool away in football, in energy and in work rate. Yeah, you've said most of the important things there, Rob, and I think, wow, it was such a strong performance from Man City. I thought the atmosphere in the stadium, which we've criticized before a little bit sometimes, it's not bouncing week after week. Brilliant atmosphere. I think City are playing now, Rob, with a hunger, with a quality, which is the main thing. I guess both of those are important, but the quality of the football, Rob, I think was outstanding.

2:14And Liverpool, you know, maybe had a little early press early on, but realised that, and Arnaud Slott said it afterwards, that Man City's use of the ball, their ball possession was so good, that's what made the game hard for Liverpool in the match. So we all know that Pep's teams, when they're at their best, we've talked about it many times, Rob, is when they're moving that ball accurately and they're not making mistakes. They're not getting turned over, you know, to expose the back line. Their football was superb. I thought you said it on the show, Rob, in terms of their set-up. They're different now.

2:41They're not rolling a fullback into midfield. They're not doing that right now. The Pep kind of plan is fullbacks wide on both sides, two centre-backs, and then everybody floods into the middle. Literally everybody. Nico Gonzalez is the holder, the number six. But you've got Bernardo Silva that's apparently next to him in midfield. But it's him, it's Foden, it's Doku, all rolling into midfield to make it a nightmare. When they're moving the ball quickly and there's that many players and Cherky's coming in there as well, that's the other player to add into that mix. I mean, that's difficult to stop and Liverpool couldn't stop it.

3:15Just to that point, Rob, let me just pull you up on, because I think it's a really important point, you know, as I was watching the game scene. It's not the same formula with De Bruyne and Gundogan. It's a little different than that, isn't it? It's not quite the same set-up that that was. It feels like this is a little bit different. Yeah, I think so, Rob, because that was very much a 4-3-3. This is not. That was very much a 4-3-3. So is this him making the use of what he's got and also maybe going through a transition? Is there a stage where this group of players might get to that, the next iteration that we saw Man City play in a different way?

3:59Or has the game moved on in some respects? Well, it might be that it's moved on a little bit. It might be that teams now have figured out 4-3-3 pretty nicely and they know what Pep's kind of old stuff was. You know, like the old stuff for Pep was 4-3-3 and two out-and-out wingers. And he's still done it, and he probably will do it. But when you've got Shirky in the team, Rob, and you've got Doku, I mean, Doku is a winger, but he played in. He played in a little bit. Sometimes he's mostly in. That's different to have Doku, who, by the way, you know, I'm sure he'll get a lot of mentions in this little section, but my goodness, what a performance from Jeremy Doku in the game.

4:32So his positioning, Shirky's kind of quality on the ball. You've got Foden playing well, Shirky playing well. Bernardo Silva always plays well in terms of possession, moving the ball around. And when that's going, it's a nightmare. Can you imagine trying to stop all those players who are good on the ball and the big man up front waiting for through balls, waiting for anything to come through? So that was quite a strong statement. I know that you talked about the statement after the show, Rob, about that from City. You know, we can say things like they're back. Thousandth game for Pep. He's found another iteration of this club and this team and different ways of playing.

5:08And the most important thing, Rob, is the players there now are playing at a level that you would expect. Foden, Shirky, even Nico Gonzalez. The full-back, O 'Reilly was great. And how about Nunes, the right full-back, Rob? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's Nunes, the kid they got from... I mean, he looked awkward as a right-back. Pep talked him up as being a good right-back, and he looked at today, mate. He played really, really well. It's interesting you say that, Rob, because I was reading... There was a line after the midweek game when Phil Foden was excellent, got a couple of goals against Dortmund.

5:40And he was talking about, you know, I think we're getting back to some of the best Phil Foden. He said he looked like mentally and physically he's in a good place. And he said a really interesting thing, Rob. He said, I'd like to feel that Foden's back. And then at the end of when he was speaking, he said, and I'm back. That's always a really telling thing that, like, maybe it's took him 10 games to get his head around. Maybe, you know, the transition and not having the De Bruyne and all that, you know he's had to work it it's almost felt like something's regenerated in him rob and i think we saw that in in the way he performed today and he was at it again he was on the touchline maybe that hunger that we talked about that we kept saying is is the fire gone out a little bit i think today showed us it not and today you know closing the gap in arsenal you know he chucked one out where he said you know i think arsenal could win the title but you know will they have the nerve to stay in the game, just starting to have a little poke.

6:34Yeah, and it's, you know, what you can see now, Rob, as well, and I always with Man City, and it's not a popular opinion or people talk about it much, but they've got no injuries now. Or maybe one. I think Matteo Kovacic, Rob. And I always, you know, and injuries are sometimes blamed by people. Sometimes it's like, well, you shouldn't worry about injuries. Everybody has injuries. The facts are, if you have too many of your best players injured for a long period of time in this league, it does make a difference to how you do in the league standings at the end of the season. And Pep's team is pretty much injury-free.

7:06It's confident. Players are playing in form. They're going to go on a run. I think there's a run coming. Now, whether defensively, Rob, they're as secure to go on a run that's going to win the title from here. We'll wait and see. There is a ton of games left. And, of course, we're not sure how Arsenal's going to go longer term. But it's looking like they're really on track with very few problems in the squad. Just to that defensive point before we just talk Doku and then move on, it's interesting, Rob, again, Ruben Diaz was rested in the Champions League. John Stones played. Today, Diaz plays.

7:41Stones rests. Cavardi Hall's next to him. It looks like, you know, Arke's available. Looks like he's managing those minutes and making sure that he's got, you know, one of his stellar centre-backs there. Maybe not playing them both together on too many occasions. Yeah. Yeah, and of course, you know, we go back to when he's got a full squad. Yeah. There are a ton of rotations, and you have Savinho come on. You've got different. Yeah, yeah. Savinho came on, didn't he? Oscar Bobham thinking of as well as another forward. You've got Marmouche come on to the game, Rob. You know, you're looking at good options now across the whole team.

8:16And, you know, I think it's a big if, but they need to stay fit, Rob, if they can have a real challenge up. If they get three or four injuries, I think it really knocks Man City. But when they're fit and healthy and in this kind of form and the momentum building, they're going to get going, I tell you. They're going to pick up some points. The anomaly, I suppose, the big question is with the Club World Cup, how's that affected them? We might not know what that till after Christmas in terms of time off, rest time. Maybe Pep's trying to manage those minutes now with that coming up. I think we've just got to spend a minute on Jeremy Docku, mate, because he's somebody, I think, who I'll talk personally rather than talking for you.

8:54At times for straight, you know, we know he's got ability. Sometimes the end product's not quite great. It's a bit rushed. You know, you just like a little bit more patience and quality. I thought today, Rob, every time he got the ball, he was incredibly positive and he made something happen. Yeah. And that's not easy to do, is it? This level, right, for a player to pick up the ball and almost every time dribble past players, he was a constant nuisance. And by the way, Conor Bradley, you know, when it was one-on-one. He's just junior in his pocket in midweek. He's just Tafanis just junior. I mean, you have to feel for him to have these two players in the last few days, like, running at him.

9:30And he did a fair job. But even so, I mean, Doku was... I mean, I've always been a fan of him, Rob. There was just a moment, there was, like, a little period where he wasn't playing a lot, getting rotated in and out. You know, we did talk about end product and his numbers and assists and goals. But, I mean, that little wiggle he's got, the Doku wiggle, where he wiggles his backside and he moves inside. He did it for the goal. I mean, he is, I mean, that's such a great asset to have, a player that can beat players and create things. And Doku now, with his smiling face, he picks up man of the match, you know, with everybody else's form.

10:04I mean, that's looking really good. It's another bonus, isn't it? Outstanding. Can I just, again, just chucking one out here, because you were in the studio this week, obviously, watching from home. But isn't the life of a wide player for Pep and Man City kind of a bit? I'm trying to think of Sane, thinking of Mahrez. I'm thinking of those players who've played there. In the way they play and where you're getting it, it's hard to be consistently good all the time, isn't it? And Pep's always rotated them a little bit. Like we'd say, oh, Mahrez's not playing this week. Oh, Sane's not playing. Oh, this one's not playing.

10:37Oh, that one's not playing. He very rarely sort of plays the same wide people all the time. Now, whether that's to affect the opposition, whether that's just change of chemistry on the pitch. You know, so in some respects, for Docu, just as a defence, it might be like, well, with Pep, he knows he's going to be two or three games, and then, you know, Savinho's going to have his little go there. Yeah, it's a good point. It's different, isn't it? I mean, you know, when we played and stuff, and from our experiences, we just got into a routine of being in the team at that spot, game in, game out. It must be odd.

11:10It's something that we never had, mate, did we? We didn't really have that kind of rotation. You were sort of in the side. there was a couple of times that Brian Robson come to me and said how do you feel he played a lot of games midweeks but other than that you're either in it or you get dropped but it's different now and I think people are still getting their heads around that people do get rested rotated and it's not about dropping players a lot of the time but no he was excellent today and whoever plays they've got good options and I think you know Rob when a team starts winning everybody seems to start playing better do you know what I mean it all looks better Nico Gonzalez always looks at play now.

11:47And yeah, it might have been before. Can I just say one thing, Rob, before we move on to Liverpool? Yeah. And I don't know whether I'm being Mr. Negative here, but wouldn't it be typical in our sport and in our league, international breaks upcoming. These 115 charges, you know, our understanding is it's getting really close to someone getting announced. Wouldn't it be blimmin' typical that Man City and the club and the fans, everybody feels great. You know, starting to feel great. And we're going to get something dumped on our plate in the next couple of weeks that's going to, like, that's going to, you know, because, you know, it feels the longer this goes on, something's pretty serious going to happen at the end of it.

12:30Yeah, I know what you mean. I might just be in a negative rally. I think you feel like the international break will be a time when it could be brought out, announced, and then obviously the repercussions are going to be huge and media's going to be over it. And then what can we do? Changes everything. but we'll see. Changes everything for the club. That's something we're going to have to wait and see, mate, and no doubt we'll have a special podcast on Manchester City and whatever happens on 15 charges. So let City enjoy the break as long as the break goes on. A team who won't enjoy the break so much is Liverpool, Rob.

13:00I thought it was quite... Oh, my balls just dropped off. That's tackling. Somebody's tackled. The balls just dropped off. Let's talk about Liverpool, because I think that was quite alarming, Rob. That was as disappointing on a big day as I've seen Liverpool for a while. Flat, lacked energy, lacked real purpose in their play. Front three couldn't affect the game. Got overrun in midfield by the shape you've talked about. And, you know, Rebecca, we know how Bex likes to get us down the road. but, you know, five defeats, you know, eight-point gap, are Liverpool still in it? And I said, listen, Liverpool still can have an influence on what happens.

13:46I'm not sure Liverpool can win the title for me, mate. No, they're out for me. They're out of it. I think, didn't I hit this at the last loss? Yeah, I think we said, didn't you, five or six. Nobody can win a title with five or six. They've got five already. They've won six, they've lost five, Rob. God, blimey, yeah. Plus one goal difference, is it? They're sat, you know, kind of eighth place in the league table right now. I think the alarming thing, back to your comment there, Rob, was the, I don't know, between these two, you expect a little bit more energy, a bit more fight. Maybe, you know, the majority of this team, the Real Madrid performance, it was the same team, wasn't it?

14:18I think, you know, that's hard to go again on an emotional day in the Champions League. It might be now that Liverpool are going to feel good about the Champions League, and they're going to be excited and bring the energy to that, and a little less so in the Premier League, because this wasn't the same kind of energy that you feel as a club that feels like it's got to win every game to win a title. It didn't. It struggled with lots of things. I thought the back line struggled with Man City's forwards throughout the game, wherever you looked along that line. Ibrahim Akinate had a bit of a nightmare, struggled.

14:52He was trying to be a little bit too cute at certain times. I thought they struggled with all of Man City in midfield. And it was, yeah, I mean, it was, I think I expected a little more. I'm not surprised. how this game went, I would have had Man City as favourites to win it. I thought they'd be a little bit tighter and Liverpool would give Man City more headaches, more problems, ask more questions defensively, have a few more attempts at goal. It was the one-sided nature of the game. I sat there watching, I'm like, this is going to be comfortable for Man City and ended up being very comfy. Let me point you to an important moment in the game.

15:28Virgil Van Dijk has a header from a corner, Rob, that goes in. Andy Robertson was in an offside position. the goal was ruled out on the field. The lines of flag went up, was ruled out. It went to VAR and they followed the same line and said that he was offside. The line was, Rob, that he was affecting, in some respects, affecting the goalkeeper's ability to play the ball. Now, we were told you have to be in the direct line of the goalkeeper for that to be... Well, there's two parts, Rob. The one part is if somebody, if the guy's offside and he's literally in the line of sight, that's one part of it, and he wasn't.

16:15The second part is if he affects his ability to play the ball. Well, in fact, the wording actually said, Rob, it was more to do with being directly in front of the goalkeeper, of the player, which is a slight sort of spin on whether he affects the ball. and I know what you're saying because my initial thought was Andy Robertson's right there, the goalkeeper can't dive forward towards it, he's affected by it, but the more replays we saw and when we saw it in terms of the law the goal should have stood Yeah, I think so, I think just I think it's quite tight because and I agree with you, right, so I feel the same way, but I am quite tight on you know, could the goalkeeper if if Robertson wasn't there, would he have dived forward at the ball?

17:04Yeah. And he might have felt he would have bumped into the player. He might have moved his feet a little bit, just a yard to get over. Which affects his ability to play the ball. If he can't dive where he wants to dive. Now, whether because he was there, he dived. Now, again, I'm saying all this, I'm only being devil's advocate, because I think if I examined it, examined it, I think probably he's far enough forward in a way that he probably didn't affect. So isn't that the job of Voh then, Rob? That's the point I'm making. Shouldn't Voh have come to that conclusion? well well they they they suggest that they did didn't they they they were either the line of sight because they said no he's affecting his ability to play the voice offside and it was council but i don't think watching it from behind no i agree that that he was he was donovan was in any way unable to get where he wanted to get because of i think so yeah so i agree so i agree it's a mistake by the officials yeah but i i think it's a tight one um yeah you know i was the same And it's objective.

18:00To be fair, Tim was very good on it. I was sitting next to Tim and I said, no, no, look how close he is. And Tim said, no, as a goalkeeper, I can see the ball, I can dive where I want to get to. Could he dive forward though? Well, yeah. But he said there was enough distance between them. Yeah, I know. But I think it was hard doing it. And it's interesting because would it have changed the game? I don't actually think so, Rob, based on what we saw today. And obviously Seat went on to get a couple of other goals. but that will be something that Arneslott, that will be, you know, that they may look at.

18:30But apart from that, as you say, Rob, there was lots of people who didn't turn up in a big game, which is a little worrying. Flory and Wirt's in the team, Rob, and I know we're slightly, you know, Arneslott's trying to manoeuvre him into the side. We're not getting enough from him, Rob, and I understand, you know, he's a young guy. I understand he's talented. I know he's coming to a new league, but not getting enough from him in a game like that to warrant him starting. Yeah. No, I agree. And listen, we're the sort of people, Rob, that jump at the opportunity to hammer players. We try and be a little bit more thoughtful about settling in, the age of him, speed of the league, the intensity.

19:12You know, you give him a fair chunk of games. I think 11 games in now is a good time to have an initial assessment and that would be that he's been lightweight. He's been lightweight, his little moves, he's a very, very talented player. but when you get lent on by some of the some of the players in the Premier League he sort of gets pushed off the ball a little bit um you know that that skill and that ability hasn't shown itself in terms of really clever through passes or goals and assists um so it's been a struggle and I think Eketike was quiet today Rob and we're both fans of this player um and it would you know I'm not and again I don't I don't want to jump on this but it's like I think at some point if you're a Liverpool fan or an owner you might want to think about the recruitment people that were spent a ton a ton of money um and rob edwards and um richard hughes are the the gurus in the recruitment of this football club and they've done brilliant work uh in previous stints at the club or in different football clubs but i think right now you can ask questions a little bit alexander izak we all know is a little fragile you know he sometimes as it looks amazing then he's out for a little while verts was a very expensive signing that struggled to make an impact in the first team kirk cares is struggled a little bit too at left back lost his place in the side so you know For the first time, I think the football club, whether it's the fans or the board or the owners, will say, well, guys, that was a lot of money we gave to make this team better.

20:36And you've gone for two players in the same position. They're expensive. And could we have used one of those fees for other areas? So, again, I don't want to be the guy that jumps on. Yeah, jumps on. But, you know, recruitment has not been great. I have to say, playing slightly devil's advocate, when that business was done, the reason I went, well, that's Liverpool, that's their title. It was always said, that's what Sir Alex did, go and improve when you're winning. I mean, I suppose the other spotlight might be Rob in that respect. They're not on a slot. Was he too quick to try and get some of these players in?

21:12Now, again, he's a great manager. He's won the title last season when he didn't have to have the integration. So I look at Kerkhez as a great example. Now, I know that relationship between Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk has been built over a number of years, and they trust each other and know each other. Now, I'm not saying that Andy Robertson's a better player than Kerkhez. Maybe Kerkhez potentially... He was struggling, Rob. Robertson was starting to struggle. He was starting to struggle. But when he took him out, the struggle came on Kerkhez as well as van Dijk. So you created a bigger problem than you had at the start.

21:52You've got Ekotike, he starts scoring goals, and then you still continue to bring in Alexander Isak. The big thing with Isak, then he comes into the team, he's not scoring goals, so do you keep playing him? Ekotike comes out, goes a bit colder, he starts scoring goals, and now they've created themselves a bit of a problem when if they would continue to win with what they had, and Robbo played three or four or five games. Then he said, you know what, Robbo, out you come now. Kyrgyz, have a little look. I don't know. And again, it's devil's advocate and it's been wise after the event. But was there a, you know, because the signings are so big and there's so much money spent, did Arnest Lott feel he had to get those players in?

22:34Rob, I remember saying it at the time. My doubts about Liverpool was too much change. Too much change to a champion team. I remember saying four or five of the outfield could be different. four or five of the outfield that's a lot of change to champions so back to the to your question rob is yeah i think there's been too much change and you know i think you could see obviously there's some parts of it were forced change yeah yeah attackers yeah you know the the trend thing luis diaz is interesting a huge fan of luis diaz and i don't know that the rumors around his age and and the contract that he wasn't getting paid much and he wanted more money whatever this i mean I've just been ripping it up for Bayern Munich last night by the way yeah so I don't know again it goes back to lots of change you know and and one thing kind of affects another thing the existing players didn't play so well but they can turn it on and they turn it on against Real Madrid and everybody's saying they're back and this is it's just I think there's too much change and too many issues now and now it's going to start to face a few doubters Rob and a little bit of intensity from those at the club and the media You know how it goes.

23:40I really like him, but I think it's been difficult to keep the expectations or to satisfy the expectations with that much change. But, you know, I don't know. Maybe we'll change our tunes after the next game. But that's a lot on them. But it was a big, disappointing performance that puts them at five losses that, for me, takes them out of the title race. Well, somebody very much in the title race was Arsenal. Went to the Stadium of Light. Arsenal going so well. Don't lose games. Don't concede goals. don't even concede shots. Go to the Stadium of Light, mate, and have to come away with a 2-2 draw.

24:13Drop two points. Late equaliser by Brobby after Sunderland very much were taking the lead through Ballard, Saka and Chossard with a couple of good strikes to put Arsenal in front. And you think, well, that's done and dusty. Then 94-minute Brobby gets the goal. How damaging, Rob, was this? Or couldn't we expect the Stadium of Light that I thought was incredible atmosphere and by the way, incredible on the pitch as well. Is this a place people are all going to struggle at? It's funny, that's a good question, mate. I think maybe not, not all, but I think when there's a big boy comes to town and it's a big occasion and the favourites, the title favourites coming in and you're Sunderland, you're back in the Premier League, you're at home, you've had a good start, you've got the joy of promotion back in the league.

25:04That was difficult. That was difficult. I mean, I haven't seen Arsenal as stretched and as stressed as for all season long by this Sunderland team that had a very tight 5-4-1, aggressive, super aggressive, super physical. The four in midfield are very, very narrow, Rob. They allowed the ball to go wide. Okay, Arsenal, cross it. We kind of got big guys, centre-backs. We can head the ball away. I just thought it was a very direct long balls, long throw-ins. It was everything that we thought it might be, Rob. And to be fair to Arsenal, I got notes here that are like, wow, what a flipping... To take that initial goal and to come back and turn it around and get ahead and match all that physicality.

25:53Arsenal, to be fair, Rob, they matched up pretty well. And we would have said things like, whatever game you want to bring to Arsenal... We can still say it. Whatever game you want to bring to Arsenal, they can roll their sleeves up. They'll fight. And they did. It was a brilliant game of football, a great advert for how the Premier League works, how clubs are encouraged to spend money, which makes every game kind of competitive or hope to be competitive. Brilliant, brilliant game. And I just couldn't love it any more, mate. I thought they were special performances. But just the Sunderland's approach and from the first Wilson Isidore, mate, up front.

26:30He gave Gabriel and Saliba more problem than players in the Champions League have given him. He's a kid, I think we talked about it in Kevin Phillips. We had a quick word with Kevin Phillips, didn't we, at the Fan Fest. He said, there's more to come from this guy. You haven't seen it yet. He's a talent. It was interesting, Rob, because before this game, you're doing your notes. I looked through Sunderland's impressive start to the season. and I thought like, you know, they've won some games at home that some would say are winnable, but, you know, they had to get the job done. I think it was at West Ham the first day and beat people.

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27:07And then I suppose the big result so far was a 2-1 win away at Chelsea recently, wasn't it? They scored a late goal, Talby, and they get the late winner. But I looked through the results, Rob, and thought, this is a team that's going so well, and I kind of put myself in their place and I thought, But what you also want in the Premier League, and you and I will attest to this, is sometimes you want one of them big memory days when you beat a Man United or you beat an Arsenal or you beat a Liverpool at home and your place is jumping and it's one of them that you remember for the rest of your career.

27:43And I just felt that this was the day for something. This was their big memory so far in the season. And the team that many think will go on to be champions, the team that don't concede goals, the team that don't even concede shots, they gave them a proper test, mate. A real proper test. And I also thought it was credit to Arsenal because they stood the test. As you say, it wasn't a footballing test like City. It was an athletic, physical, directed style. This team can play a little bit as well. And Arsenal like to dig deep. Yeah. Arsenal like to dig deep. Arsenal could have easily gone on that day away at Stadium.

28:22you might have, this is too much. Yeah, I mean, there's nothing but credit for both teams, Rob. There's nothing but credit for Arsenal to come back. I mean, in some ways, Sunderland, you know, maybe a discussion for another day, Rob, but is this the antidote to modern football? What we're starting to see in the Premier League, back to long balls, back to set pieces, back to physicality that was in our era. It was a lot more prevalent. There was more teams you played in a team that was probably the best, the most famous of this of all in Wimbledon, the way they did things. They rattled these teams.

28:51That's probably a discussion for another day. But for Sunderland as well, you know, finally, mate, Arsenal, find a way to get back, right? They go 2-1 up. And for Sunderland to go again, I thought was remarkable. For Sunderland to go again. In fact, you know, it'd be so easy for those players like, oh, we've given everything. And Trossard comes up in 75th minute or whatever and knocks it in the top corner. Oh, but they went again. And the goal was an amazing goal. I mean, you couldn't write it. Like the overhead kick nearly kicks him in the head. Fair play to the manager, Regis Labris, Rob. He made some positive substitutes with the game in that situation.

29:27He wasn't thinking about bunkering it off. He made some things. I know, Robin, I think this might be a first for the Two Robbers podcast. Our underappreciated performers are going to come from the same game. Talk to me about your underappreciated performer, Leandro Trossard. Well, you know, I'm sure we've had him before, right? And he's just a little favourite of mine, Rob. and why I give him an underappreciated performer is that he's always there for Arsenal. He's always there. He's always available for his manager. He's always wanting the ball, right? Always busy, wants the ball. He's always looking to be creative.

30:02If you watch everything that Trossard does, everything he does, he tries to play something forward. He always looks forward first. And to step up, and also we're understanding that he's taken on a more leadership role in this team. He's given team talks. And I know that they've got Maduweke and a virtue Eza that didn't really affect it. It wasn't really an Eza game for me. And I'm still, there's going to be games. It's going to be amazing, but it wasn't one of these. But he is such a reliable, consistent performer. You know, different players have come into this front line, Rob, and will challenge his position.

30:33Martinelli was there. He came in as a backup. He's been in all the time. And when he comes inside and drills that ball into the top corner, I'm like, text you. I'm like, this guy. He's my underappreciated performer against Ross. No, you got in early. Kill me. I got in really early because it's like, You expect things from other people. All other people in this team, they get all the adulation and they're the stars of the team. Trossard is a star of this team now and I think the manager knows it. Obviously, Arteta trusts him, picks him most of the time now on the left-hand side. There will continue to be pressure on his position in the team, but my goodness, he's worth his weight in gold.

31:07It's a great shout out to me. Yeah, Anne Hathaway, wasn't it? Remember with the little video from Anne Hathaway? Loved a little Trossard. I just think he's a little underappreciated. appreciated. Even more so, Rob, in an era where you're saying there's a game changing and the physicality and the longs, you've got a little technical player who can affect the game. He's got a big heart, Rob. He's one of those with a big heart. He never gives up. It's a really good shout. So, for the first time, I think, in 2Robbie's history, my underpreciated is coming from the other side, and it's a guy named Dan Ballard, my friend.

31:38He's a 26-year-old centre back, who knows his way around the pounty box at both ends. Both ends, yeah. Looks like he knows his way around the gymnasium. He's got guns to burn, as he shows you when he scores his goal. What I like about this young man is that he's eight years of age, he was at Arsenal's academy. So there is thought that maybe him and Saka were at the football club in a similar time. He didn't quite make it. And that happens a lot, Robert, big clubs. I think our listeners and viewers have to understand that you sign as a schoolboy and maybe sometimes apprentice or whatever they call it now.

32:14but there's many players who don't make it at big clubs and then it's like a big call. What's next? Where do you go to? How do you handle it? Well, he went off on loan to Blackpool and then Millwall. Eventually, he's ended up at Sunderland, Rob. And he's now a Northern Ireland international. I saw him the first game of the season and liked him. He did, yeah. Big, strong, aggressive. The block he made, the game at 2-2 that gives Marino a chance to win it was incredible, was John Terry-esque. It looks like he's got a bit of battle team. And he's got over whatever that disappointment was when he wasn't taken on at Arsenal and looks like he's going to have a decent career.

32:53Yeah, I love it. I love it. I mean, to score and to make that block and to be the linchpin of that back line. And as you said, I mean, redemption story. He's at this football club loving life. He couldn't be loving life anymore. He's in the Premier League and he's, you know, he's getting some adelaide, he's scoring goals. Yeah, it's equally a good shout. And it was, I don't know, maybe, you know, Right up there, probably the favourite game of the season, Rob. Just in terms of adding a bit of everything. And it was a real test for the favourites right now, which are Arsenal. And I thought they did pretty well.

33:24I mean, that's a hard team to score against. Sunderland did it twice. Did it twice. So, fair play. Brilliant game. Absolutely brilliant game. Regis Labris is right up there. He's one of my besties at the moment, mate. I'm all over Regis. Let's go to North London, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tottenham 2, Manchester United 2, a game where if either of those teams had won, Rob, they would have gone second in the Premier League, which is a little bit crazy considering what we know of both these teams. But United go ahead to Umbermo in the first half, fifth goal of the Premier League goal of the season for him.

33:59He was Player of the Month for October. Then subs in the second half, changed the game. Tell came on, scored a great goal. Richarlison gets a diverted header to put them 2-1. and then De Ligt, you know, set pieces again, letting Spurs down, not picking up. De Ligt gets a free header. Share of the points was 2-2. And I suppose in the end felt about the right result, Rob. But, I mean, I think both teams are disappointed. Manchester United probably felt there was an opportunity for them to get all three points in the game, didn't get it. For Spurs to go 2-1 up so late and then let that go, you know, disappointment again for Thomas Frank in this home form where I think they've only had three wins in the calendar year.

34:40Yeah, I mean, I do feel a little bit more for Spurs right now, Rob. There's 10 injuries. Yeah. There's 10 injuries. And most of them, the most creative players, their main striker, Solanke's out right now. And again, I think people don't consider this stuff enough. You know, you see the line-up, you go through the line-up. Oh, yeah, I know him. That's a pretty good team, yeah. But you forget about what they don't have there. So, you know, I do feel for the manager a little bit. I'm not particularly buzzing watching Tottenham at the moment, Rob, the way that they're playing. It's a little bit...

35:10But again, for me, I just do that. Listen, we all know that every club gets injuries, right? And there's one or two little changes, and that's fine. And you've got to keep your main level. But when you've got 10 players out, if you look at a league table of injuries right now, Spurs are way out. They're way out there with the 10 injuries. So I just thought I'd mention that. Matthias Tell, pleased for him to come off the bench, get his goal. Funny kind of game. Spurs fans, I think, don't really know what they should be cheering, what they should be booing. They booed a half-time, didn't they, when they were 1-0 down?

35:38Yeah, I mean, fair play, Rob. You know, they come back. It's an awkward environment at Spurs a little bit because of all the things I've just mentioned. And they got, you know, we talk about character, right? I think when a home team goes down like that and you've got to try and pull up, you've got to try and come back in. Of course, they almost came back late and won the game totally. I think it takes a bit of character, that. Because at home, we know what it's like when it's an awkward environment. and the fans are a little bit booey, it definitely affects players. I thought they got on with it pretty well, got back in it, thought they were going to win it.

36:09They conceded the goal at the end there to Man United team, Rob. And Man United. So it just got me thinking. Again, there's three changes to the team. Yeah. Three changes to the Man United team. No, Sheska was there, which was big news, really. He's dropped. Second after comes on. Yeah, Diallo comes on. He comes on, has a chance. And Mbema played. Mbema, Rob. Played off the left. My question, I'm going to throw a question to you. I'm just going to make this little statement. right? So Cechco's dropped. Mberno's gone from the right side where he's been brilliant all his career. He gets his goal, of course, but he plays on the left-hand side.

36:40There's changes to the team. Subs in the second half made them worse. Made them worse. And I know some were forced because there were some injuries. And he didn't leave one for an injured player. My question to you is, is Ruben Amorim, Rob, over managing, overthinking, over tinkering? Is he overdoing it and complicating things with all these changes that we didn't see coming and well they sit now they sit seventh but they could have been second Rob and so that's the point I think the Chesco thing was interesting him coming out and saying he's not playing very well and he wasn't happy about it and he's talking now about the window I didn't think that helped Chesco at all I'm not sure that's great management the kid comes on and adds two chances He gets played through twice and looks awkward.

37:35And then he's got the knee injury now, which isn't going to do him any good. So that, personally, it was interesting after the game as well, Rob, because he talked about, you know, we were comfortable in the first half and comfortable teams know how to get to chess. And we didn't know how to make the most of that, which was true. But it's pretty obvious, based on what we've seen so far, or Cesc's not going to be part of his plans on big days like they did at the Liverpool game, wasn't it? He did the same thing. Yeah, you know, again, it was... They spent a lot of money on attacking players at the football club, and I think we questioned that at the time.

38:13Like, wow, there's big holes in the team in other areas, and you're going to bring another forward in? I think you made a point after the game, Rob, and I agreed when you said that Man United, when they're winning the game, like, I mean, we just talked about Spurs, the environment. They're there for the taking. They were there for the taking. Go and be dominant. Go and get a second goal, a third goal. Go and put them away. Or possess the ball. Take the sting out of the game. Manchester United at the moment, and this is what probably surprised Ruben Amarim himself more than anything. He's a guy that really wants to dominate possession.

38:48He wants to have possession. And he's finding that difficult in this league for this team to really control the game. Because that's what he can get. His wing-back's high. That's the football that he wants to, that's what he believes in. Not when it's up and down or they're without the ball and got five in a line with four. He doesn't really want to do that. So I'm disappointed that they didn't go on and take control. And a lot of the subs, I don't know, I just thought, I just said sub after sub after sub. Again, I know there's, I think it was. Yeah, he had a few injuries, didn't he? Casimir and Maguire.

39:17It changes everything. And they didn't do well after the subs came on. Yeah. Well, it was one of them games. Do you know, Rob, I said after to Tim both of these teams Spurs and United are both a bit flawed there's good pot elements to them and you can see what they're trying to do but they've both still got lots of issues but United are further on with this manager they're further on they should have made the most of the situation and didn't against a Spurs team they're not particularly good at home we're going to roll it on to just do a quick preview of the North London Derby that comes after the international break.

39:55It's a Sunday game. It's a huge game. It's Arsenal face Tottenham on November 23rd, 11.30 a.m. Eastern time on Peacock, so make sure you're viewing that one. North London Derby, mate, after the international break, both teams coming off a 2-2 draw. Who's better? Bit of spotlight on Arsenal? like with Man City being four points behind I think City could have played couldn't they before Arsenal on that day possibly so yeah they could be like you know right behind yeah I just think this derby is one of those derbies isn't it Rob where it's such a big it's such an emotional game that you bring that into it that brings more energy that brings more aggression that brings more you know derbies what they do is they bring more focus so where you might be a little more casual in everyday games like you're going to check the runner i'm going to make sure i check my runner i want to get wired in because the fans want me to get stuck in so you got a little bit more added if it wasn't that i mean you strongly fancy arsenal i still fancy them anyway to win yeah but the the the aura of city doing what they're doing and it'd be in a derby you know and the spurs fans will demand effort energy and aggression yeah that can sometimes mess a game up They can be stop-start.

41:15But all that being said, you still, you know, it's not as though Arsenal are looking shaky, Rob, or they had a bad performance against Sunderland. It wasn't. It was just a very difficult game. And again, with the injuries that Tottenham have got right now, they're nowhere near their best. Arsenal have got hardly any injuries, really. Well, I mean, I know there's a few to come back, some of the attacking players that are getting kind of close. Yeah, he's hopefully getting a few back, isn't he? Yeah, I think Habits. Yeah, and Maduweke. and Meduake and Gabriel Jesus. I'm also thinking, Rob, and just because of the guy and what we know and how he is, Thomas Frank will have a plan for that, mate, won't he?

41:53His first North London derby, a chance for him to cement himself a little bit closer to the Tottenham fans. If he could go to the Emirates and get one over Arsenal, that's big for him. It would be, but that's a big ask. That's hard to do. obviously the set piece thing is really really important they've got to try their very best to be strong and take that advantage away from Arsenal and I guess in Richarlison he's a streaky player, he's got his real clever little flicked header that he scores in the game against United and he's the sort of player that could go on a streak, he likes to run in behind I think you have to assume that Arsenal are going to control possession big time that means that the centre backs will be involved in the build up play and they'll be really really high which will leave a lot of space in behind, Richarlison might use that.

42:38So, I don't know, I think the subs came on for, Mattel come on, did well, Odebeck come on and did well for Tottenham. So there is a little bit of pace there. But really, you know, I still worry about Pedro Porra, right side, right defender. You know, he got caught out, didn't defend very well. I think he's a brilliant defender at the back post when crosses come in and Arsenal put crosses in from both sides. So I still quite, you know, of course, I'm going to go with Arsenal to win the game, but it could be, and it probably will be a scrappy, tight encounter. Absolutely. And Kudus hopefully will be back for Tottenham as well.

43:11He's probably going to be a dangerous player so far this season. So, Arsenal Tottenham remembers Sunday, November 23rd, 11.30 Eastern time on Peacock. Okay, mate, we just rushed to get through some other results. Chelsea 3-0, Chelsea were another team, a bit like Tottenham, got booed off at half-time, was 0-0 and then got the goals. Gusto gets his first goal for Chelsea. Pedro Neto Joe Pedro gets a goal after Esteval does well and Neto from a Garnaccio cross 3-0 pretty comfortable in the end against the Wolves teams it's managerless we're hearing Rob Edwards is due there any time soon I also thought Rob and I know you're saying with Thomas Sank I kind of felt I had to sort of back up Enzo Maresca a little bit in terms of what he's doing and how he's doing it, Rob, with a young group of players that got the job done, that was finding it difficult to break down a team that was basically sat in a low block, not particularly looking to attack at all, the odd counter-attack.

44:15We've seen teams like City and Liverpool struggling. Sometimes it takes 50, 60 minutes to open them up. I just feel at times Enzo Maresco is one of those coaches who people dislike for some reason. Yeah, and I'm not one of those people at all. I know what you mean. I think the Chelsea fans are still not totally convinced. You know, not a huge background in terms of his coaching. I mean, you know, obviously this football club has gone with a young, kind of progressive, let's find the greatness before it costs a fortune. I'm still very, very excited about Chelsea and this young team. You know, I know that Garnaccio can be a bit difficult off the field.

44:57He had problems at Manchester United. He's a threat. He had a really good game. Estaval comes into the game, Rob, immediately creates a goal. You know, you've Jao Pedro, you chuck in there. You still haven't got the£100 million rated. I think the manager said that Cole Palmer's worth£100 million. Palmer's not playing. Estaval's to come back into the side. You know, whether it's Garnaccio, whether it's Pedro Neto, whether it's Jao Pedro. You know, Enzo Fernandes had one of his best teams, the best games in the field. You've got Moises Caicedo, who's the best defensive holding player, along with Rodri in the league.

45:27So, you know, there's a lot of things to be excited about. Now, I know there's a big headline about, is it 92 changes or something of the team? Yeah, yeah, in games. So I get that. And, you know, I don't love that. You know, I do prefer a team to find a groove and a rhythm. But they're in every, I think they're in every competition. Every three days they've got games, mate. Yeah, they're going to get injuries. They're another Club World Cup team working all through the summer. So he's got to manage many. And they went the whole way. They went the whole way. You've got to manage many. You've got to make those changes.

45:55They're third in the Premier League title race. They're a decent position in the Champions League. They're still in the League Cup. But, I mean, this team, I mean, also, by the way, when you look at the league table now, Robert, I know it's tight, and I know you talked about it a little bit today. They're third, and they're not many points off the top. They're in a tighter race as well. They're in a Premier League title race. They're that close, and with some of the players they've got, and I know it's going to be difficult, there will be outsiders to win it for me, but you've got to put them in it, because this team with Estavao, he's looking like he might be a future star.

46:25Garnacian could do well, Parma's to come back. I mean, it's... That will get better. It needs to get fitter and sharper. It's a good team. It's a good team. It's a decent team. You're right. Used to be the cool, the cold Palmer team, and they're getting results without him. When he gets back fit, it could be good. Let's go to Villa Park, mate, with a result I didn't see coming at all. I absolutely didn't see coming at all. Aston Villa 4, Bournemouth 0. Villa off the back of a win in Europe this week. Buendia with the first goal in honour with a little strike. Barkley and then Mallon getting the full goal.

46:56I mean, I think you and Ollie Watkins go away from having a perfect day for Unai Emery and his team against a Bournemouth team that didn't really get to grips. And we don't know how much it was. There was a horrible head incident with Adam Smith and Tyler Adams. Smith had to come off with a concussion. Adams didn't look 100 % great, but continued on the game. Unai Emery's team starting to click into a little bit more gear now. Really are. I mean, awful start, wasn't it? And we were like, it was just, again, sometimes it's hard to explain how flat they looked initially, how stale the whole club looked was shocking to me.

47:36But fair play to Unai Emery, Rob. I mean, that must be one of the hardest challenges when you're at a club like that and everything kind of went a steady rise to a brilliant job and then the first real kind of depression in terms of their fettle and how they are. And yet he's turned them around. I think they're sixth place right now, Rob, aren't they? Let me just check that. sixth place in the Premier League right now. Playing great. This is a bit of a, not a statement win, but it's like they're definitely back to what we expected. Tielemans is such a good player. He's close now as well, and he played in Europe, got some minutes in Europe.

48:11He's going to benefit the team in midfield. And Arna's scored a great goal today. I love Buendia. I think that's a good story as well. Emi Buendia, Rob, got pushed out of the team for different people at this club, stayed there, had bad injuries, comes back, was a lovely free kick. He's done that a couple of times now. He's got it in the bag. So, no, well done, Villa. He's been smart as well, Rob, just quickly on that one. You know, longer contracts. McGinn, Cash, Morgan Lodges, all side. You know, the key people he wants, he's making sure he's going to be around that football club. So, yeah, good week for Aston Villa.

48:40Let's move to Everton 2, Fulham 0, the Hildikson Stadium. Everton continue to get good results. Gay with the first goal, Michael Keenan, comes up with important goals, 2-0 to Everton. But disappointing from Fulham, Rob, I have to say. They find themselves in 15th place, 11 points. Only one point above West Ham now, who are on 10 points. So, yeah, another good win for David Moyes and his team at home, but slightly worrying for Fulham. Yeah, it's a little bit worrying. And, you know, again, there was a lot of talk made, wasn't it? The manager was not happy, wanted more money, wanted more players to come in to add to the squad.

49:14I thought at the time, I get that, I agree with that, but I kind of like the squad. It's good players in all areas. So I'm a little surprised that they are where they are. I still think, you know, when everybody's fit and they get those forwards fit, I still think it's a good team, a nicely balanced team, but it's a struggle. They're just having a bad run right now and Everton are the opposite. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it? It's amazing. What a new stadium, new manager, a few new players. Ilya Njai is an incredible player. I just love him to bits. Njai, he's my star player of Everton. I know people love Jack Grealish.

49:44I think Ilya Njai right now is more dangerous than Jack Grealish. So, no, Everton, that's an impressive victory and an impressive kind of point where they are sat nicely in the table right now. Impressive victory for Nuno and for West Ham as well. Back-to-back wins at home for West Ham has just given them a real boost. 3-2 win against Burnley. Zion Fleming with the first goal for Burnley. Then Callum Wilson, just before half-time, thought that was an important goal to get them level. Suchet comes off the bench again, gets a goal, as does Walker Peters. And then Josh Cullen gets a late goal for West Ham to make it a little nervy.

50:20but West Ham, six points, mate. Nuno, kind of what we expected, I think, from Nuno going into this club. Yeah, I mean, I think we expected it a little earlier. There was a few, like, team selections that we were like, well, that's kind of a bit weird. But you had people playing in correct spots. I mean, they're going to be fine. They're not a great team. They're a little bit loose, but they've got talent, Rob. They've got a lot of good attacking players, you know, and Paquitar still does his thing. I know I seem to talk about him every week, but he does this creative quality that he still has.

50:51Thomas Suchek is, again, like, you know, if we had a list of all time underappreciated, Thomas Suchek's on that list. He's just a guy that pops up in the box and scores goals. He does a good job for it, yeah. But important. I mean, you see the celebrations, Mark Robson and the manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, afterwards all jumping around. This club, Nuno's got a habit of connecting with supporters at the clubs that he's at, and I think he's kind of doing it again. I mean, Burnley at home feels like kind of, you know, you really need to win that game. He's done that. And they conceded the late goal, didn't they?

51:26But no, I think... And drag Burnley into it now, mate. They're both on table. Yeah, they're going to be right in it. They really are. Yeah. Brentford three, Newcastle one. Great result for Keith Andrews. Eagle Thiago again coming up with a couple of goals, one penalty. Kevin Shardou with the first after Harvey Barnes has put Newcastle ahead. great win for Brentford Rob a little worrying for Newcastle waveform's been really poor I think it's no wins in nine now away from home which is very unlike an Eddie Howe team yeah really worrying actually I know the Champions League is a not a distraction but it's a super exciting thing to be in and we've seen this before from Newcastle where they struggle to you think about Newcastle Rob there aren't many changes is there that they make Eddie Howe they did get some more players and it feels like they've got more options but you know when you watch newcastle it's kind of the same team plays and i think it's just hard and i think they found it hard before i think they found it hard here brentford can be a very difficult place to go and when you see newcastle in the league table it's not great it's not great but eddie howe's got a ton of credit yeah um he's won a tight he's won a trophy with them so and you can the the shambles league is exciting but that's yeah bad result for them no question sean dashes nottingham forest seem to be going in the right direction forest three leads, one.

52:42Leeds go ahead to Mecha, but Sangora equalised. Gibbs White with a header in. Leigh Anderson with a penalty kick. Kind of went as expected. I fancied Forrest at home, and I fancied Leeds a bit like Burnley, Rob, to be in a struggle for most of the season. Yeah, again, I watched a bit of this game, Rob, and Forrest. You know, it doesn't look a lot different to what you might have seen Forrest before. They've just got some good player they've got some good forwards Morgan Gibbs White looks buzzing again he plays in the number 10 yeah they've got they've got they've got enough attacking quality to to get themselves out of trouble Leeds United on the other hand that's where they struggle a little bit the attacking quality and we've just talked about Burnley Leeds and this is sadly a repeatable we've seen this lots of times before yeah promoter teams often have a little boost at the beginning Rob you start getting you start getting into October November December you're on the you know the verge of a long winter and the team start to slip towards the bottom of the table and sadly for these two Burnley and Leeds that's where the way they're heading so all on for those managers to find a way to grind a little bit mate and pick up some pick up some draws or pick up some clean sheets to get the points coming in because this is the time when you can you fight you know and then the whole shoulders go down and the players and the fans are gosh here we go again a relegation fight but I think sadly I think for both Burnley and Leeds it's just going to be that way Rob they're going to be in that top, the bottom five in that area all season long.

54:11Scrap the way out of it. Yeah, they've got to try and scrap the way out. There's a bit of talk on social media as well, not great for Daniel Falker, the Falker out, we're starting, and somebody wants else, but he deserves to be given as long as he can to turn things around for Leeds. Final game at Crystal Palace, Palace 0, Brighton 0, and what does he call them? They do Derby down at that part of the world. M23 Derby, isn't it? M23 Derby. OK, well, yeah, there was no goals in this one today. Plenty. It was quite feisty, actually. We saw, you know, one or two players coming face to face. But, yeah, 0-0 in that one.

54:48OK, my friend, I think that's where we're going to call it a day, on a day when Manchester City gave Pep the performance that he craved on his 1 ,000th game as manager, beating champions Liverpool 3-0, while Arsenal not only dropped points, they conceded goals. Yeah, two goals at the Stadium of Light. We're going to take a break for the internationals that come up with all the World Cup games. So we'll be back on November the 23rd when Newcastle hosts Manchester City on the Saturday. And we have the small matchup, the North London Derby on Sunday. And while we're away, look out for a special Two Robbies podcast with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.

55:24That was fascinating to hear from Eddie talking about Champions League and playing in the Premier League. But for now, I'm Earl. He's mustered together with the Two Robbies. Thanks for watching and listening. and 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 Mustoe and Robbie Earle recap a hectic Matchweek 11 in the Premier League

0:50 - Man City deliver a statement victory over Liverpool on the back of a superb performance from Jeremy Doku, while Arne Slot was left hard-done-by with a disallowed Liverpool goal in the first half
24:00 - Arsenal’s undefeated run ends at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland’s late stunner puts a bump in the road in Mikel Arteta’s title chase
33:36 - It’s honors even after a wild finish between Spurs and Manchester United saw both sides walk away with regrets in a 2-2 draw, and questions arise on if Ruben Amorim is over-tinkering with his squad
43:20 - A roundup of remaining results: Chelsea 3-0 Wolves, Aston Villa 4-0 Bournemouth, Everton 2-0 Fulham, West Ham 3-2 Burnley, Brentford 3-1 Newcastle, Nottingham Forest 3-1 Leeds United, Crystal Palace 0-0 Brighton

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