West Ham’s VAR Heartbreak Boosts Arsenal’s Title Push

7:45Robbie Mustoe:he's a good player he's four yards out from goal with the whole

7:48Robbie Earle:goal to aim at and David Raya's professionalism is focus and if you watched him I like the angle from behind the goal where he's he sets and he ages his weight forward and he quickly spreads himself right at the last second doesn't commit himself early and makes the biggest save I think we've seen in the season, maybe for many seasons, for Arsenal. In terms of what it meant,

8:10Robbie Mustoe:in terms of Arsenal going 1-0 down at that stage, Rob, I don't think that... I know there was enough time. I don't think they come back in the game. That was the 78th minute. I don't think they come... I think it demoralised them. They might have got a draw. They might have got a draw, maybe the set piece or whatever. But I'm telling you what, that would have took a lot away from Arsenal. They weren't on top of the game at that point. He's broke through and saying... And, I mean, he would have been my undappreciated problem. He's gone already. That's 18 clean sheets. He's already won the Golden Glove.

8:39Robbie Mustoe:I mean, he should be in the running for player of the season. Won't be because, I don't know, he's not star, he doesn't get headlines and not on goalkeepers. But I'm telling you, that is as big a moment for Arsenal as the downman that we saw in the late goals at places like Newcastle. In all those moments, we said, wow, this is defining. That was incredible, mate. incredible i'm on the other side of it if you're a western yeah there's your moment in it that's

9:06Robbie Earle:what you've worked for rob to go above back above tottenham hotspur with the advantage again going forward if you could hang on the three points i mean even a point helps them out in terms of the running now at the end of the season but that moment i just in the studio time stood still yeah when he went through yeah oh oh oh here we go yeah he's got the whole goal and he's

9:28Robbie Mustoe:He tried to beat Lyle a little bit with the eye. He's not going to the big side of goal that's open. He's tried to whip it in the near. Goalkeeper's kind of waited, waited, waited.

9:36Robbie Earle:And then brilliant, brilliant.

9:38Robbie Mustoe:I mean, it's just brilliant TV and great football.

9:41Robbie Earle:Odegaard coming onto the field as we get close to the next part here, the goal. You know, a little bit maligned Martin Odegaard. He's had good moments, he's had bad moments, he's had injured moments. He's the captain of the club, etc. He was heavily involved, wasn't he, with the goal?

9:57Robbie Mustoe:Well, I'm going to actually go straight to it. He's my underappreciated performer of the week, Rob. Because of the things that you say, another one, splits opinion, a bit divisive, a little bit like, what does he really do? What's his end product? Does he give us enough? I thought today, when Arsenal needed a little jolt of confidence in the middle of the park to get on the ball, to get turned in quality, play forward, and start to... I thought he took it on himself, Rob, to do that. He passes the ball to you in a way that you're going to get it and give it me back. So people start to enjoy it at the moment.

10:35Robbie Mustoe:It wasn't a sack a day. I thought he was quiet and really poor. Jocarez was having a fight with the centre-backs. Three centre-backs. It was difficult. I thought he just came in into the hazard position, Rob, and knitted the game together and gave him a chance. And his run and the set-up for Chosar is perfect. The little man comes up with a little bit of magic that he does every now and then. and there's your goal. If Odegaard doesn't get on the pitch and bring that confidence to the team, I'm not sure they win.

11:02Robbie Earle:You know, it's brilliant. And, you know, Arteta would feel like Abera Ezer, Rob, is more of a goal threat than Odegaard. And he's scored good goals for Arsenal, important goals, and he's got his brilliant shot. And he often is the man, but he made the call today at the right time. You know what? It might be Odegaard. And I always liked Odegaard. I liked him, Rob, from when we went to one of their games when we were at the pitch side. Yeah, we saw him. Two or three years ago, when this team was coming together,

11:26Robbie Mustoe:and I'm being live, I'm like, wow, Arsenal are good and Odegaard's a brilliant player.

11:31Robbie Earle:So I get and I enjoy what he does well. I also understand when he's been a little quieter, when he's been out on the side. But that change, again, from Arteta, this is a good substitute. I mean, he's got great options, to be fair, off the bench, was a big part of Trossard's goal. I mean, Trossard, just a quick line on him before we move on again. What I like about him, and I said it in the show right at the end, there's something about some players I think that kind of overcome they take the moment a little bit we all know how important it is but he so often in big games comes up with something that's really important an assist or a goal or just some involvement he's got, I watched him closely today, he runs back to help out defensively and he's just got himself there, he got himself there with a shot deflection and that's a huge goal

12:16Robbie Mustoe:In terms of raw materials and things Martin Allis will be ahead of him He's quicker, probably got more skill.

12:23Robbie Earle:But he's not because of the things you say, Rob.

12:25Robbie Mustoe:I'll tell you what I loved about him today. It was like late on when somebody went down and had a block and he went and blocked a ball out for throwing. He turned around to two or three of his teammates and he gave it to Rob. Come on, we've got to defend. He's a little guy, but he's got a real big heart and fire in his belly.

12:43Robbie Earle:Yeah, it's the software. It's hardware. Other people have got better hardware. He's got good software. The manager trusts him, loves him, plays him a game like this and he came up good for the team and for the manager. What's your fourth? The fourth is the VAR. The VAR. Cool. Oh, gosh.

12:59Robbie Mustoe:By the way, just in terms of, before we get to the actual position, Callum Wilson comes on, mate, has a volley that Gabriel does a brilliant block to go for a corner. The ball comes in from the corner. There's the incident. And then Callum Wilson hits a half volley

13:15Robbie Earle:with his left foot that flies into the back of the net.

13:17Robbie Mustoe:The referee gets the watch vibrating. thinks it's a goal, and then we go to VAR.

13:23Robbie Earle:Should Colin Wilson have come on earlier? I think West Ham fans might say, you know what? I said to you when we were watching, didn't we? I said, I think he's three goals.

13:29Robbie Mustoe:He's come off the substitute bench three times and scored. And this is 80th in the minute.

13:33Robbie Earle:And I'm thinking, get him on. Castellanos, yeah.

13:37Robbie Mustoe:But it's physical. He knows the league. He's got... He's a score. He's got an instinct around the box. But anyway, let's get to the big talking point in the game. Let's start. 1-0 at...

13:50Robbie Earle:What have the Arsenal fans in motion when the referee points, when his thing goes off on his side? Yeah, and he points to the...

13:57Robbie Mustoe:I mean... Let me also tell you one thing, that Mikel Arteta deserves an Oscar. Because he was on the side with the straightest face of Evergreen going like, no worries, it's a hand. He's holding his hand. He's holding his hand. He was playing it so well. David Riot. David Riot, yeah. Yeah, like, oh, he's no problem.

14:19Robbie Earle:We've got this. But there was such a melee there, Rob.

14:22Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

14:22Robbie Earle:We've got to Houston not like, okay, is there something in there? There's so much going on there. There might be something that will stop this goal being awarded. And it was Pablo that, I mean, there's plenty of people around David Rai. David Rai tries to come out. It looks like he tries to catch a ball, Rob. Looks like he tries to catch a ball, yeah. Which, you know, you think he might have punched it. Yeah, whether you think he might have punched it. But I think the one thing that the PGM will have said to us on private, these calls that we have every few months, is that if a goalkeeper is impeded from using what he's there to use, his arms, holding down or not allowing him to jump, or if a goalkeeper's in the air, if you nudge him when his feet are off the ground, that's going to be a foul.

15:01Robbie Earle:So they're quite hot on this. And when we saw it, and Pablo's arms across his neck a little bit, and then grabs his arm.

15:08Robbie Mustoe:He grabs his arm to stop him catching.

15:10Robbie Earle:I'm like, that's probably going to be called out here. I mean, David Raya, also Oscar, because he knew it. And then he died down. Made sure that the referee had seen it. But there was a holding.

15:23Robbie Mustoe:There was a holding. It was a foul for me, Rob. The arm across is bad enough, but then when I'm grabbing the other arm to hold down. You're literally stopping me using his arms. So you're stopping me the action to use my arms and to catch the ball. I'm a goalkeeper. You're not allowed to do that.

15:37Robbie Earle:Again, it's important to say that the P. Jomuel, the head of the referees, did say that to us about the goal. And maybe there's a discussion for another day. whether this whole grappling and I'm sure that there's West Ham fans right now. Yeah, I'm so sorry. There will be other instances in the league where goalkeepers have been held a little bit

15:55Robbie Mustoe:and be allowed to play on.

15:57Robbie Earle:Yeah, and the whole brings up the whole argument of VAR. Should it be still humans that do the decisions? It's still the referees call or whatever. But I think it's important for us to say. And again, I got so many West Ham fans. I'm so sorry. But I think it was the right call. I think it was the right call. It's a clear error or a mistake or an unseen incident, whatever you want to call it.

16:17Robbie Mustoe:But just to balance that out as well for the West Ham fans, there were West Ham fans who would say there was some holding by Declan Rice of Mavropanos. There was another challenge in front of Trossard, was it? Trossard, I think, was somebody. Was holding somebody. So there were three incidents that happened in that six-yard box at the same time. Now, I think my understanding is the goalkeeper's position takes almost like presidents in that situation.

16:45Robbie Earle:If the ball was right, that's the closest to it.

16:47Robbie Mustoe:If he's going to be able to catch that ball and then nullify other things, then you look at those secondary, I think.

16:53Robbie Earle:We're into territory now, Robert. Quite honestly, I ain't quite sure. If Rice is holding something at the same time, it's just that the ball is closer to that. Yeah, closer to right.

17:05Robbie Mustoe:It's almost in his hands, isn't it, as being pulled down.

17:08Robbie Earle:Could you argue that had more impact on that two seconds of football there than the Rice holding? I don't know. I mean, again, we're into things here. We need to consider the picture on well. What happens when there's three fouls at the same time?

17:23Robbie Mustoe:Which one gets president of the other?

17:25Robbie Earle:Yeah, so, again, it has got to be painful for West Ham. I thought it was excellent, really excellent against a team that obviously are going to try and win the title, that had their game plan, that had probably their best squad I mean, Geryn Timber, of course, has missed it right back. Unbelievable. Yeah, the bench was stacked, wasn't it? What drama, Rob. What drama. And I think we all realised that was going to be the biggest hurdle of the roster. That feels like the big hump, doesn't it?

17:50Robbie Mustoe:What do you feel like now? Yeah, I said it a couple of times today, Rob, and I've been saying it for a few weeks. I always felt this gay. I think if they win this game, I think you can see... Burnley at home. Burnley at home has got to be goals and then Palace away.

18:04Robbie Earle:They've got a European game three days later.

18:07Robbie Mustoe:I saw Palace today, and we'll talk about them a little bit. They're still not having a go.

18:11Robbie Earle:They're still, you know, the Saur and the Matetas. But when he gets three days away, Rob. Well, three days away is different. No, half of them won't be seen.

18:18Robbie Mustoe:And from Arsenal's point of view, again, you've got to beat Burnley and you've got to beat Palace away to win a title. It's on you.

18:26Robbie Earle:It's on you.

18:26Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

18:27Robbie Earle:But we've been around too long now to not rule out.

18:30Robbie Mustoe:It's not a given, yeah. We can't rule out any last run. A draw at Burnley or a woman.

18:34Robbie Earle:There's very few that when they're so tight, there's not a little bit of extra drama in it. We saw a ton of drama today.

18:41Robbie Mustoe:And to the point, it also has to be said, Rob, for maybe an hour of the game, Arsenal were tight today. They were tight. It wasn't the Arsenal we've seen in the last couple of weeks. It was the tightening up Arsenal that didn't quite look like the creativity was going to come.

18:57Robbie Earle:I put it down two things. Nuno Espirito Santos. Team plan, brilliant. Wing backs, tight on the wing, stop those guys. three central defenders, extra height for set pieces, and make it very tight in midfield as well. I just don't think Ezer did a good enough job of being the extra man in midfield. He was a spare man. He was a spare man. And they couldn't get it to him enough to hurt Palace. And the other thing was the substitutions and stuff. It was full of drama. Full of drama. And we'll see what happens next. I mean, it's back a little bit to Manchester City to see if they can keep winning.

19:30Robbie Mustoe:Let's talk about City. They hosted Brentford at the weekend. It was a late game on the Saturday. It took him a while, it took him 60 minutes, but the man came up for him, the man of the moment, Joey Doku, hat-trick of beautiful, bending goals in the space of the week. Harlan comes up with 26. I think that's now for the big man at the top end of the pitch. And Marmouche, who was a late substitute, gets the three, which helps them in terms of the goal scored and goal difference. It still might come down to if we get to that position. it was City getting the job done in the end the football found a way

20:05Robbie Earle:yeah I mean it wasn't brilliant it was in the first half I thought Pep continued his belief in the wide areas was the way to get behind them yeah Dokor on the left hand side and Semenya who was better Rob he created the goal for the second goal because he took Cherky off

20:20Robbie Mustoe:didn't he and left Semenya and we were a little bit like Semenya hasn't really done that much he's got Mamouchi brought into the centre got his goal got Phil Foden

20:27Robbie Earle:so I think he wanted more attack in the centre but keep going on the outsides. My underappreciated performer actually comes from Man City and it's hard to think of a City player that's underappreciated. But Jeremy Doku is, or was, by this club, by the manager who said not long ago he's never going to be a big goal scorer. Since then, Doku has, as you said, three brilliant curling goals in the last two games. We watch him dribble past players all the time and don't think anything of it because there hasn't been an end product.

20:59Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, like he's a dribbler, but he doesn't quite know when to release.

21:02Robbie Earle:Should that mean you give up on the player or you think, you know, that he's not capable of improving that side? You can mature into that, can't you? Remember Cristiano Ronaldo when he first came to English football?

21:11Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, that's true.

21:11Robbie Earle:He was a million tricks, not a lot of end product. So Alex Ferguson obviously got a hold of him, and then the end product came and he enjoyed scoring and assisted,

21:19Robbie Mustoe:and then he flew.

21:21Robbie Earle:I'm not saying that Doku's going to be a new CR7. But I just think a lot of talk about Erland Haaland,

21:28Robbie Mustoe:That's a good chap.

21:30Robbie Earle:Cherky, Semenyo, Mark Gay defensively, all the players that they've got, Rodri, there isn't a ton of talk about Jimmy Duff.

21:36Robbie Mustoe:No, no, it's true.

21:37Robbie Earle:And he has stepped up big time. He's keeping City in the title race.

21:40Robbie Mustoe:One of the things I would say about him, Rob, to your point, is he's that good a player. I don't know which is his strong foot. Is he stronger? Right, when he comes in on his right. Well, you would never know. He does stuff with his left foot. You're thinking, that isn't your swinger. And if you're a fullback, Yeah.

21:57Robbie Earle:The worst thing you want to face is a player that can go both ways.

22:00Robbie Mustoe:We tried to show, didn't we, in the studio, we did a little mock-up of, like, I'll be the defender, I'll be Coyote, you'll be Doku. And, like, really, wherever I stand, I can't really affect where you go.

22:15Robbie Earle:You can attempt to send me a certain direction. Yeah. And that might persuade me, but Doku's so sharp and quick. He can run past me. I'll still go inside anyway.

22:24Robbie Mustoe:Or he can run past you on that. I can't show him one time.

22:27Robbie Earle:He just runs past me. Yeah, and he takes you out the game.

22:29Robbie Mustoe:Takes me out the game then. I eliminate him then behind him. I can't touch him or he's going to get a penalty.

22:33Robbie Earle:The sharpness in his acceleration over the first five yards is what makes him special. And if you bring in finishing and shooting, now, again, I don't know if we're going to see... How long can he keep that going?

22:44Robbie Mustoe:Is that a season's long or is that like a month?

22:46Robbie Earle:It's probably, yeah. I mean, I don't know. But I just want to give him a shout out. Yeah, it's a good shout. He's not often... He's not a star named, obviously.

22:53Robbie Mustoe:...or a star name at Man City. No, it's true. and he's kept him in the tire race basically so yeah so man city um three nil rob marmouche comes

23:00Robbie Earle:on erlang comes on um i mean it was job done for them one big celebrations with pep at the end i

23:06Robbie Mustoe:think that you know they know that the clean sheet and the goals were important i mean it was then obviously them throwing it onto arsenal and and you know it was a great shot one there of pep in his press conference come on you irons it's always was great from him and just shows that listen we're all the same. We're all watching. We're all kind of working out. We're enjoying the drama. He's enjoying the drama as well. It's a rare sort of two-horse race. It looks like it's going to go all the way to the end.

23:32Robbie Earle:We don't have many of these, Rob, where it's like...

23:34Robbie Mustoe:It's usually been done, hasn't it? The Liverpools, the City's in the past. Got it done. This is great. This is real great.

23:42Robbie Earle:3-0 helps their goal difference. Yeah. I mean, they still need Arsenal to drop points.

23:48Robbie Mustoe:Arsenal to drop points now. but they've just got to do their business now, haven't they, and get as many out. Let's go to Anfield, mate, where things aren't as rosy as maybe one would think to the reigning champions. It was Liverpool won, Chelsea won, Gravenberg with a lovely strike to six minutes, Enzo Fernandes with a bit of a strange free kick that goes straight into the goal without anybody touching it or anybody from Liverpool in the path. I mean, the goal, the scoreline is one thing, Rob. I think the big story coming out of Liverpool, and I don't think we overplayed it because that's easy to do, but there seems unrest at Anfield on a number of levels.

24:25Robbie Mustoe:Unrest with the performances, unrest with the substitutions, unrest with the way the team are playing.

24:30Robbie Earle:Mostly, I think, unrest at the way the team are playing. I think there's 11 Premier League losses so far. 18 all season, which is a lot of games. We have to go back a long way to get that amount of losses. We all know what happened last year and what a great team it was and what a good job we did as manager. I have the same thoughts, Rob. I'm probably repeating myself from certainly the show or maybe the last part, that all the changes in the squad is the major factor. But then that's when the Liverpool fans might differ. They might say, yeah, I get that, Rob. I agree. We haven't got Diaz and Trent and Salah's not been the same player, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

25:03Robbie Earle:But we've still got to be better with this group. And I'm still not seeing a style of football, a progressive, exciting, even though they might not be as good because they're lacking some of the individual quality they've had last season. I think that will be the Liverpool fans' argument. This is drifting. It's slow. What are we trying to do? We don't see anything that's dynamic or consistent. And I kind of agree. I just still stay on the side of, let's give him the benefit of another window because he's hinted and basically said, there's going to be a lot of change.

25:37Robbie Mustoe:He said it in his past confidence. We need a lot of change. And he absolutely does.

25:39Robbie Earle:There's a ton of areas in the team that's nowhere near the level to be. So where they are now in fourth place, Rob, given the way the squad looks and the injuries as well they've had and some of these star players that have not come for different reasons they're in an awful fourth place even though the football is nowhere near what they expect

25:57Robbie Mustoe:they lack the control that they've had last season which I thought was one of their strengths I think the balance hasn't looked right in the team certainly in midfield

26:06Robbie Earle:Those Liverpool fans, right? And we know, I mean most fans but certain fans of certain clubs in England they get it Yeah, they understand their football club better than journalists and pundits. They know their team, their players, their manager.

26:20Robbie Mustoe:They watch it every week. They read all the local stuff.

26:23Robbie Earle:So I always listen to GameStop.

26:28Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, you get radio and see what's...

26:31Robbie Earle:Are they trying to force a hand here a little bit? Are they trying to make it untenable? So I was going to go down the same. So my sort of angle is, Rob, is this more than football on the slot?

26:42Robbie Mustoe:Is there, and I'm not saying it is or there isn't, I'm asking the question and putting it out there. Is it something to do with the personality?

26:49Robbie Earle:He's not on a slot. He's not... He's not...

26:53Robbie Mustoe:Sorry, sorry, I'm on a slot. He is on a slot. Yeah, he is on a slot and he's not Jurgen Klopp. He's not soundbites. He's not cuddly, huggy, relationship.

27:02Robbie Earle:He's not fiery, he's not emotional.

27:04Robbie Mustoe:No, you don't see that personality that Klopp gave,

27:07Robbie Earle:which is Liverpool Football Club. Is there a bit of a personality mismatch between the two? Do we need to go back on Tinder and swipe right? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's hard when you've just won the title.

27:20Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, which you would think, Rob, and that's my point. You've just won a title. OK, we've had some injuries. Players have dropped off. Yeah, we've understood that. But Jurgen Klopp didn't get what Arnest Lott's got. So what is the reason for that?

27:35Robbie Earle:The drop-off is stronger.

27:37Robbie Mustoe:Yeah. and the football is less attractive less attractive

27:40Robbie Earle:less familiar less consistent less enjoyable let's be honest about it it's kind of slower and it was last year but they had the stars to do the business and win the league it's going to be interesting and there's a lot of rumours out there and we don't often talk about rumours and stuff but there's lots of talk that it's not going to continue feels 50-50 to me yeah based on well what I'm hearing maybe you're always going to hear that I'm hearing more that he's not going to be there I think it's Charlie Alonso, Rob, as long as he's out there, available, I get that the Liverpool fans will think, hmm, there's a connection in there.

28:15Robbie Earle:I'd quite like to see that. I'd quite like to see that. On the back of what you're seeing from slot, it feels like that's what they would prefer. But maybe that's not all of them, but that's the sense I'm getting.

28:25Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, that's a good shout. Let's get to some of the other games this week, mate.

28:31Robbie Earle:Bournemouth go to Fulham, and they're becoming a bit of a story, my friend.

28:34Robbie Mustoe:And Ryan gets another goal, the Brazilian. I think it's three goals and assists in his last four. It was a game of two red cards. Christie with a clumsy challenge, really, that I didn't think he needed to make. And then Jorik Manson with a, I think it was a horrific challenge. I don't even know why he's even trying to argue with it. Yeah, 90. Yeah. Flying in.

28:55Robbie Earle:The way that midfield players, I think they used to do. Protect yourself.

28:58Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, like go over the top of the ball. Yeah. Put your studs up. You're not going to get hurt. I thought it was a terrible challenge.

29:03Robbie Earle:Yeah, old school. It was a terrible challenge.

29:06Robbie Mustoe:We can't get away from Bournemouth and only Iriola handing over a club to Marco Rosa that could be in Champions League football. I mean, that's the biggest gift of all gifts, isn't it? He literally went too early.

29:18Robbie Earle:I mean, can you retract that? I know, or not now. Another guy's been given the job or whatever. I did a lot, of course, for every game. We do a lot of research. And I totted up what was happening in Bournemouth. I never got the chance to get this out there,

29:32Robbie Mustoe:which is annoying.

29:34Robbie Earle:They sold players, Robbie Earl, in this season, right, the summer and the January. Yeah. They sold players at the value. This is Bournemouth. Correct. They sold players to the value of$366 million.

29:45Robbie Mustoe:Mm-hmm. And they spent a chunk. Yeah.

29:48Robbie Earle:But they sold players of$366 million. And they are now sitting in sixth place with a pretty good chance of playing Champions League football. I mean, you tell me about a performance from a club that sold most of their best players. Semenyo in January and still find a way to be

30:05Robbie Mustoe:Heysen to Real Madrid and yeah I mean just incredible Kürkez to Liverpool the two centre-backs

30:11Robbie Earle:that won one won to Juve didn't they or of course Heysen to Real Madrid yeah

30:15Robbie Mustoe:and then Semenyo

30:17Robbie Earle:I mean that amount of money in terms of profit I think they spent about 150 or something

30:23Robbie Mustoe:yeah yeah

30:23Robbie Earle:so a big net gain and their sixth place Robbie Ola ahead of Chelsea and all these other clubs well

30:29Robbie Mustoe:it's remarkable recruitment mate and that's your favourite the R word is your favourite word you go and get Kruppi by the way

30:36Robbie Earle:Junior Kruppi he's 19 years of age another 19 another 19 year old

30:41Robbie Mustoe:let me tell you how much Kruppi costs by the way 15 million dollars one at five I mean I can't be right can I 15 million dollars plus some bonuses like James he's got 12 Premier League goals and he's 19 he's got 12 Premier League goals he's 19 and he's a star he plays in the 10 role or wide and he's a star Ryan the kid You sell Semenya for about£70-80 million, you buy him for£40 million. Half the price is going to be another one. It's going to be another one.

31:09Robbie Earle:Alex Scott in midfield. Tyler Adams is a little bit in and out. Yeah, can't quite hold a shot. Because they're so good now. Ryan Christie's in there.

31:15Robbie Mustoe:Yeah. I mean, Justin Kluivert. True Fair, the left back is a player. This is all without Kluivert. He's a top goalscorer last year.

31:23Robbie Earle:James Hill's done a very good job coming into the central defender to play some of those that have gone out to these big clubs.

31:28Robbie Mustoe:It's a remarkable story.

31:30Robbie Earle:And I don't know, Irola. But if there's one thing at the end of the season, I hope he stays in the Premier League.

31:33Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, it'd be great, wouldn't it? There'll be teams that will come to it. If I'm Chelsea, I'm going to go talk to him. Now, he might decide, and people say, oh, he wouldn't go to Chelsea, he's too smart for that. I could go to Chelsea and say, listen, he's a coach, Rob. You see, he improves players.

31:47Robbie Earle:I'd like to see him at Chelsea.

31:48Robbie Mustoe:But I'm assuming he's got a structure behind him at Bournemouth that works for him. I don't know. I don't know how he would get that structure at Chelsea.

31:56Robbie Earle:Well, you'd have to fit in with their structure. I feel at Chelsea that you're here for us. We're not here for you. We're the decision makers.

32:05Robbie Mustoe:But isn't that part of what is Chelsea's problem? Do they not have to get somebody who...

32:10Robbie Earle:Yeah, and say, right, what do you want? Yeah. What do you need? How do you need to build this thing? How do we...

32:13Robbie Mustoe:You know, stop me paying 100 million for every player. Go and find me a croupy for 15. Go and let's have the recruitment that's set up.

32:20Robbie Earle:Yeah, I feel like there it's like, you know, you're here to make me happy. Yeah. I'm not the other way around. It should be like, OK, what do you need? You're the guy, yeah. You can make it successful. So I don't know whether that's going to happen. I just want to... He's brilliant what they're doing in the football club now. And you're the beast.

32:34Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, we go to Brighton. Next, we know we'll win against Wolves, as you would expect. Jack Hilton, I don't know if we've had him before, but I do like him. Eight-year-old, he came in the academy. Eight years of age. He's all over. Right back, midfield, number 10.

32:52Robbie Earle:And their recruitment's also superb, but they can make their own as well. and the header was a very Robbie Earl.

32:59Robbie Mustoe:Thank you, my friend.

33:00Robbie Earle:I mean, it is, isn't it? Please go on there online and check out Robbie Earl's World Cup goal for Jamaica. Arriving in the box. That was tech spot. That was what you did.

33:10Robbie Mustoe:Great. Give him the ball, put it in the box and run up from the penalty spot, mate. It's pretty basic. John Rudd taught me when I was a kid and it stays with you.

33:17Robbie Earle:Yeah, that's good. Just a quick word on Wolves, mate, because Robert... I'm surprised. Yeah, they dropped off. A bit late to the story.

33:24Robbie Mustoe:And then Rob Edwards had a proper blast at his squad. Didn't hear it. Big old blast, a bit like, half of these I don't want with me. When are we going to... It was like, you know, from the Rob Edwards who we saw running down the touchline against Villa and Liverpool and getting some results. Looks like that's gone. Looks like that's gone. Which is a worry for Wolves.

33:43Robbie Earle:Like, if you've got that down with Kainer's final into the champ... And he's doing well, Rob, to keep it high.

33:48Robbie Mustoe:Keep it high, and OK, it's been a poor season, but we're going to go again. Just feels like it's dipped a little bit. I want to keep an eye on my friend.

33:55Robbie Earle:I know exactly what it's like to be relegated. I know what it's like. And the nastiness can start. And when one person, once it starts, then somebody else. Then somebody else. Then somebody else. And all of a sudden, it's a broken dressing room. Yeah, it's a pitted. There's a lot of repair needed. Correct. People are going to have to leave if they don't want to stay part of it. Wow. Yeah, I missed that one. But yeah, Wolves, 18 points. Wow. OK.

34:17Robbie Mustoe:50 ground, Nottingham Forest won, Newcastle won. Newcastle go ahead through Harvey Barnes. and then later on, I'm just going to set you up with this, a player named Elliot Anderson, apparently he's pretty good. I know Robbie Mussel's in love with Elliot Anderson.

34:31Robbie Earle:Yeah, I mean, this is funny because it's Newcastle United who had to sell him because of financial rules. Again, I'll never understand that because, oh, take a fine. I mean, he was so good.

34:46Robbie Mustoe:You can't have too many good footballers in your club, can you?

34:48Robbie Earle:I mean, I know their midfields are very good.

34:49Robbie Mustoe:Yeah, and a local boy as well.

34:51Robbie Earle:Bairley Anderson really drove through midfield. He drives by Bruno Gamaris, Rob, to score that goal. He stretches so much, he gets immediate cramp at that equalising goal. He looks up into the head and he just recently said he'd lost his mother on Mother's Day. So, an excellent performance from him and a team that looked tired, Rob. Yeah, absolutely. Newcastle looked like the better team. Yeah, they did. And found, and to be fair to Pereira, I think he managed it pretty well. I'm assuming that some of these players are exhausted. Mentally and physically, because they've been in Europe, haven't they?

35:20Robbie Earle:They just got beat 4-0. But then you have Amari Hutchinson comes on.

35:24Robbie Mustoe:Yeah.

35:25Robbie Earle:You have Chris Wood comes on. McAtee comes on. And they were better in the second half. Yeah, football's better. Football's better and they're better with their better players, obviously. And that's one disappointing for Newcastle. When it just felt like they're just having a little bit of a moment to get back into some form. That will hurt them. And particularly their former player, Elliot Anderson, hurt them back.

35:42Robbie Mustoe:For sure, yeah. But a good point for Forest. It almost means they're safe now, don't they? Yeah, they're not going down. In fact, they are safe now, aren't they?

35:48Robbie Earle:West Ham losing, pretty much they're safe. Premier League football next season for Forrest.

35:55Robbie Mustoe:My old manager used to call this after the Lord Mayor show for Aston Villa. Burnley 2, Aston Villa 2. Goals for Anthony with a finish after a bit of an Emi Martinet's mistake. Barkley gets ahead and brings them that level. Ollie Watkins continues his good form, gets a goal. And Zian Fleming, who's come up with a number of goals, mate. I think that's double figures for him now in the Premier League. 2-2 for Burnley. still continuing to give it a bit of a go. But for Villa, probably expected after the highs of Europe in that 4-0 win at the weekend.

36:26Robbie Earle:Yeah, I think if you're Aston Villa, you look at the league table and they could get caught. Two games to go. They've got a four-point gap in the sixth place. So, I mean, they still might get... I mean, Bournemouth wouldn't want Villa to go above Liverpool because if Villa wins the Europa League, that takes away the sixth spot. I mean, it's mega complicated. But for Bournemouth or Brighton or Brentford, who haven't finished in sixth place, to get in the Champions League, Villa have to remain at fifth and win their Europa League.

36:58Robbie Mustoe:I think they will. And Bournemouth got Man City, I think, isn't it? Their next home game. I think it's next week. Bournemouth-Man City. They want to stay in that spot. They want to stay in that spot. They might need something against City. So it could be a really interesting game. Palace 2, Everton 2. Decent game. Two teams. Tarkovsky, again the goals, Ismail Assar, 20 goals in all competitions, incredible return again from him. Beto gets himself, I think his ninth of the season, big JP Mateta comes on as a sub. Pretty even game this one, mate, you know, as you would expect. Everton quite decent in possession, Palace after their European.

37:31Robbie Mustoe:We're quite a strong team, actually, I've got to admit that, you know, Oliver Glasner just keeps them going, and he doesn't relax on his players.

37:37Robbie Earle:Well, the recent games there, Rob, again, I'm thinking about Arsenal. they played Burnley I know it's at home but Burnley's still trying a little bit and Palace even though they're in a great situation conference final they're still trying too they've still got good players and even though some of these guys might not start in the last game of the season they might come on to get a little bit of training ready for that game three days later so yeah it's good to see Everton as well I'm really enjoying what David Moyes is doing and I never forget when he went into that club and did an interview and said like and they're right on the bottom of the league and said this isn't us, this isn't what I want I want us to be fighting at the other end of the table looking to play in Europe and they're not far away from it a bit of a blow a bit of a blow, that Mateta goal there just takes away the three points but no, still pretty even

38:25Robbie Mustoe:Final game we've got for the weekend Sunderland 0, Manchester United 0 actually it wasn't a very good day for Manchester United I watched a bit of this game and it's Sunderland who looked the better San Alamans came up with a really couple of good saves from Manchester United's point of view It was a day when the celebration for Bruno Fernandes was virtually the Football Writers Player of the Year. People have been a bit split on this. I thought it was a good call. I don't think you have to be always winning. I think somebody who's an individual who's taken a team on and made them so much better in terms of the way he plays, the creativity, I think his responsibility for the football club.

39:03Robbie Mustoe:If Bruno Fernandes hadn't had the season he had, And Manchester United wouldn't be sitting in the table with a Champions League spot.

39:11Robbie Earle:Yeah, I really appreciate what he's done. I mean, I think if Arsenal go on and win the Premier League title, there'll be a huge clamour for somebody from Arsenal. Probably Declan Rice. Yeah, he'll probably win the PFA Player of the Year, though, Declan Rice. Yeah. Based on if he wins the title, because that's voted for at the end of the season. Yeah, and then we all know about the title at that point. I'm a big fan of Bruno Fernandes. I just love his quality, Rob. And he'll be, he still, for me, will probably be my player of the year. Even if Arsenal win it. I love... It's funny though, isn't it?

39:40Robbie Earle:People don't particularly like Bruno Fernandes.

39:43Robbie Mustoe:He's a bit of a general... At times I know he has a go at referees or other players. But I think that's part of because he's got such a big drive. I think he's hard on himself and I think he's hard on his teammates.

39:59Robbie Earle:Yeah, I got it. That's so... In terms of things that I'm... It's down here. Yeah, he's horrible. So what? So what he's horrible. Sometimes he looks horrible to be around. He's a brilliant... But I see that player, Rob,

40:10Robbie Mustoe:and I look at Arsenal, even to a certain degree, Man City.

40:14Robbie Earle:He would go in there... Of course. He would go in there and make them better. And a lot of teams in Europe. Yeah. He's brilliant. He's a magnificent through-ball, vision, awareness, weight on the ball, finish up.

40:23Robbie Mustoe:If he was in some of those great Manchester United teams that we've seen from the past, he'd be another level.

40:28Robbie Earle:Yeah. He'd be another level. Yeah, I absolutely agree. He's a big player.

40:32Robbie Mustoe:Don't forget, tomorrow we've got Tottenham versus Leeds, mate. That's 3pm Eastern time on USA Network.

40:38Robbie Earle:I mean, Tottenham get the win, mate.

40:42Robbie Mustoe:If they continue on, they deserve it. Leeds United is pretty much safe. All the drive for Tottenham, who aren't particularly good at home now, mate.

40:49Robbie Earle:I know they aren't. Yeah, all I would say is, and this is a Robbie Earle, if they win this game, that's it. They're good. That puts them four points ahead, two games left. I mean, if West Ham are not going to win both, because if they get four points and Spurs lose their last two after winning tomorrow, their goal difference is so much better. So much better, Rob. It's like a plus.

41:12Robbie Mustoe:West Ham away at Newcastle and then home to Leeds. I think it is.

41:16Robbie Earle:I mean, I just don't see it. So massive tomorrow for Tottenham Hotspur. Against EGN who deserve credit for being in the league again next season. Great, they can build on that. But if you're a Tottenham Hotspur fan after all of them, oh, this season.

41:30Robbie Mustoe:Exhale, mate.

41:31Robbie Earle:And you can say we have a home game in front of 62 ,000 people. To stay in there. With a manager that's legit. The team has got a little bit of confidence and belief and some energy in them that they should.

41:42Robbie Mustoe:Can I just stop you there? This is Spurs.

41:45Robbie Earle:This is Spurs.

41:46Robbie Mustoe:And whenever something's laid out, we know what happens. And also it's a Premier League, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, even today. The craziness in that game.

41:53Robbie Earle:Oh, mate. It was incredible, wasn't it? Oh, I did. I did. Yeah, I did.

41:57Robbie Mustoe:Listen, mate, we're going to wrap it up for this weekend. The Gunners left it late in a chaotic finish at London Stadium. Doku inspired Manchester City to keep the pressure in at the top of the table while they're hammers. That loss against Orson means they remain in the bottom three and are praying for a Spurs loss tomorrow. We'll be back possibly on Wednesday, depending on how things go in those midweek games, as Manchester City take on Crystal Palace. If not, it'll be next Sunday, May 17th, to review all of the games. But for now, I'm Earl, he's Musty, together with two Robbies. thanks for watching and listening be safe stay healthy it's a good night for me and it's a good night good night

42:56We'll see you next time.