S15E04 - We REALLY Like It

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0:32Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calsheet.com slash regulatory. This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew, well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. This message is brought to you by Apple Card, shave ice by the beach, a trip to the state fair, and a throwback flick at the local drive-in.

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1:55I'm old, shut up!

2:00Well, I've got to say, when the North London Derby was scheduled to be played in Hong Kong, I got a little bit gammon about it. I didn't really like it. I don't think a North London Derby not played in North London is a North London Derby. I don't think that's a fair thing to say. It's not right, is it? It just fucking ain't right. So I was approaching this game going, fuck it, I didn't care. doesn't mean anything but in the world's going come on get in there get in there tottenham get in there mate so good join for for the first time in fucking ages felonious filth how you doing mate hello good to be back all good all good full of the joys of a north london derby win even though um i famously wish yeah it is now even though i famously wish death of the person whose idea it was best idea ever mate do it every year do it every year oh good uh nick how you doing mate yeah i'm good man i'm good yeah full of the joys of uh spring my first interaction with tottenham since we won the final i think just uh been uh self-actualized since we picked up our third european trophy and it's good to be back with a bang here we go here we go um i'm not interested in watching spurs games that don't result in the trophy now like yeah what's the point like the Super Cup's perfect win the game trophy third one in a month or two months I think that's the only way I'm like the Premier League now is just beneath me do you know what I mean it's what even is it you don't get a trophy at the end of the game what why are we bothering that gives me an idea actually I got a season ticket and obviously what's on that our Premier League game maybe just sell all of them and just go to the cup finals yeah just do it that way that's what I'm interested in don't care about anything else I don't care mate what do you want what three points that ain't enough for me I don't care about all that we don't like just give me the trophies like this is how I am now this is it's like oh this is what living this is what living is now now we've sampled that I just think everything else is beneath us it's like when you get a bit of money and you realise you can move out and then perhaps it wasn't quite as nice as you pretended it was for many years.

4:17Exactly. It's nice seeing the trophy memes go to someone in Arsenal as well, especially having it go to Arsenal. Just all the sweeter. Mate, I didn't realise the impact that winning Europa League would have on them. So obviously I get a fair amount of abuse from them and get attacked by them. And they go crazy at that Warra Trophy thing. It sends them nuts. and I'm just thinking, if I'm an Arsenal fan, I could play this Arsenal in the Europa League down. I could find ways to belittle it. It's sentimental. It's sentimental, absolutely mental. It's a beautiful thing. I don't know if you saw that clip with the lad talking to Robbie.

4:58It's been shared around in WhatsApp groups. Two clips, two glorious clips this morning. And then he was basically saying it doesn't matter about all the trophies. It doesn't matter about, sorry, all of the players. We've still got Arteta, and Arteta is just not good enough. And I'm thinking, it's a pre-season. You've just finished second three times in a row. It's a pre-season friendly. What are you talking about? And then I found a... A week. A week. I found a Facebook group, T. Not a Facebook group. It reminds you of stuff you posted years ago. All the terrible, horrible things that you used to say.

5:33And this one said, have I just... I can't remember verbatim. I tweeted it yesterday. 14 years ago, I said, have I just heard Arsenal boo their own team in a pre-season friendly? 14 years ago nothing has changed zero yes zero has changed Nick what did you make of the game as a whole did you enjoy it did you you know we played really well I loved it man I loved it I agree with you boys the sentiment was shall I bother shall I tune in it's the middle of the day I've got shit to do was most of that though fear of watching us get beat or was it do you know what like yeah I'm an optimistic guy but there was a bit of that going on you know what I mean you think like them versus us on paper loads of changes which didn't happen you know really until like we played a good hour didn't we before like the changes that was a competitive game it was amazing it was amazing and to your point as well Arteta's face man he took it more seriously than anyone Frank was I like the way Frank kind of uh man that touchline but Arteta was just fucking brick in it he didn't want it at all did he um and the team our team tottenham mate it all goes back to that philosophy of frank doesn't it you know be aggressive be brave and attack like fucking hell he's drilled that i know we went for it that was full tilt loved it loved it did you did t did you see in the week that there was ricky to his credit spotted all this before ali gold even reported it and he was telling me about it and I was just like I wasn't really listening to him like I was like and then Ali Gold said it and I went right well I will listen to this because Ali Gold but these drills with two goals and they're putting them in in putting the players every member of the squad has to be a part of it and it's about quick reactions winning the second ball blocking putting basically what defensively what Sean Dyche used to do with Burnley is like them defenders for him died for him.

7:32There wasn't... If you was getting a shot off at goal, there was going to be a Burnley body in the way and it kind of... The amount of clearances that... It's like Operation Human Shield. From... That sounds really good. I've got to be honest, there's been a complete radio silence on me on the pre-season. So I've not been following... So you're not aware of this, Sateen? No. So this is the drilling all of them. Completely unaware. And it's about being quick reactions, being there. If a shot's going to get off, then they're going to have to work for it. If they want to hit the target, they're going to have to work for it.

8:06Arsenal had a fair amount of possession. Couldn't get near us. Just snuff them out. And a bunch of players who really understand what the North London derby means. I just saw the needle throughout it. It's just wicked. But those drills, I was picking you up there, what you were saying, Nick, is about the, it's just gaining one percentage points here and there. Like if the team is willing to put their body on the line and just block shots and make the tack and win the second ball, which we consistently failed to do last year, that gives you one or two percent. The set pieces, Andreas Georgeson, who's now in charge of our set pieces at both ends of the goal, that gives us five percent.

8:54And it's just gaining these margins that were just there to be had that we just wasn't there. We hit the woodwork three times in the first half an hour or so. Van der Ven should have scored that. That's the benefit of having another Premier League manager because he knows a league, he knows how to make those marginal gains. And he's probably seen that, you know, you need to put your brothers in the line as defenders and you do need to get the extra percentage with the set pieces. I mean, Arteta, who we spoke of earlier on, tried to remake Stoke, but then teams got wise to it and Arsenal got found out to a degree.

9:31But I'd like to think that Thomas Frank and his staff have got a bit more variation in how we win games, really, because we are short in the striker position. Obviously, we've got hundreds of wingers, but maybe the percentage points might be keeping more clean sheets. We didn't keep that many last season. I do worry that Poirot might break his hand with all the high fives he's given Romero of all these goal line cleavages next season, because last year was like something out of fucking Top Gun where they were hugging each other every time they made a clearance. So I look forward to seeing that.

10:02A lot of personality in the squad if you think about it. You've got Porro, Romero, Vicario. And sometimes that can be a problem. It can be unleashed in a way that isn't helpful to the overall aim. But they seem to love each other. I don't know. It seems to be this kind of good, strong bond. I don't think after winning things that comes. Nick, what was your favourite sort of flashpoint moment from yesterday? Like, was it Romero nutmegging Havertz? Porro shoving Arteta on the touchline? Frank sort of dominant to the touchline? Was it Richarlison just doing everything Richarlison does? I think, to be honest with you, it was Porro on Arteta because that just signified the difference, you know what I mean?

10:44He's meant to be the master tactician, isn't he? But they're on the slide. You see social media today and the way that the fans are turning on him. um we didn't we didn't I don't even think we turned on Ange like that particularly certainly not so so visibly from kind of big accounts but Porro just basically yeah yeah but like I don't know man maybe it's like just seeing it through the Spurs lens but like having Porro just telling him to fucking get out of the way and get back in his box is the one really and I think it's um mate there was just performances all over the pitch though I just I was glued to it you know I mean I want to get up for a piss after about 35 minutes so I just couldn't I was like my bladder's just gonna have to suffer here because this is just quality they really really positive performances across the board and more to come but the togetherness which has got an edge of uh homo erotica as you kind of uh allude to flab flab is uh is wonderful like they look so together I haven't noticed they look so together but the top gun vibes you know like he's saying yeah I'm here for it but they that togetherness is um is hard to come by and I think that's what we were potentially most worried about about Ange moving on.

11:52My concern was about losing that form and that dip in the vibes and it ain't gone nowhere, has it? Because they come out and the hate was fucking real yesterday. I genuinely don't think... I'm conflicted now, right? I don't think a North London derby should be played out of North London. It just isn't a North London derby then, in my opinion. There's just a sort of very grammatical sensibility to that. It just is or isn't, right? It's binary. That didn't look at all like a pre-season friendly. It wasn't played like a pre-season friendly. That was played similarly to the one we'll see at White Art Lane this year, probably.

12:33Is that a good thing? Do we want that intensity? Does that prepare us for the season or do you risk injury? Should you be putting these two teams to play each other in a pre-season at all, do you think? No. no is a short answer I mean obviously it's nice that we've won when I went up to the game they'd bought Yoko Rez and they'd got Zubimendi and I just thought fuck this could be an absolute paste in there and obviously win-win it gives you a bit of a boost before the season starts but it does feel like the thin end of the wedge that we've had it in Hong Kong as a game it was a success I think the ground was full, lots of noise from the crowd so maybe the powers that be are going to be thinking well we can export this to another city with a lot of Premier League support.

13:19So that's not really what I want to see. And funnily enough, I was watching this American show called First Take, which is a sports show. Stephen A. Smith, who's quite popular over there, is one of the presenters on it. And there's a bloke in there called Mad Dog. And he wrote this massive rant about NBA games in Europe. And then they had an NFL game in Sao Paulo, and the pitch was fucked. The players were getting injured. and you do worry that you're going to have our players pre-season on some shitty pitches, has happened, in a North London derby and you could put our players out for even longer.

13:52But I think Karl-Heinz-Minniger made a really good point that this is where capitalism is leading us to. These players are playing so many games, so many big, important games that when it comes to important cup finals, that it'll be a World Cup final, Savage League final, you're going to have 10 players missing because of all the injuries they've got because all these high stakes games are happening. I mean, Flav, look, bring us back to playing fucking Stephen's Borough, mate. Get rid of this, you know, big North London bollocks. You know what I mean? Play Chesson. Yeah, but the players keep asking for more money.

14:25There you go, exactly. I think the players get off scot-free with this. Oh, there's so many games and like Rodri's going, well, you know, and I appreciate you did get an ACL shortly after saying I'm playing too much football, but he was played. You've got a squad, use it. You're playing Rodri because you know you need him, that you're 40 % less of a team without him. But that's your job as a manager, is to maintain the safety of your players. You run him into the ground. Sacco's running to the ground. Does this bring us back to the World Cup final in 1998, though, when Ronaldo clearly wasn't ready?

14:58But because of, well, logic is basically there, because of commercial interest, you can't not play him. Didn't he faint in the dressing room? Well, something like that. But they played him anyway. and obviously Rodri is not someone who's particularly marketable. I don't even know what he sounds like but he's clearly very important to Manchester City and if you're watching Manchester City, you expect to see him playing. So there are certain players who are expected to play a lot of games and even the rumours about Sonny not being able, having to play pre-season because he's one of our main players and this is kind of what's leading us.

15:30I do agree with you, Flev, it is a squad game and us as fans want to see the best players play for Tottenham. for that to happen we're going to have to change ownership and the ownership is going to be probably less than favourable for some people's sensibilities that's just where we are with football now yeah I just want to I was there's more I want to say about this but it's just popped into my head and I just think it's really important that we just give it a minute you know we've been linked with Colin Mwani mm-hmm was he the one masturbating next to Saliba in the dressing room? No. No, it wasn't him.

16:11I've forgotten the guy's name. That isn't me being a little bit, you know, xenophobic. The room is going around that it might be Mwani. And I'm like, if it is him, get him through the door. That's the mentality. Can you imagine if it's called North London Diamond and just reenacted it next to Saliba? Just casually masturbating next to Saliba. I don't think it was him. Okay. Because in some rooms it was him. So it's not on me. Now we're talking about him. Do you like the idea that it's kind of been poo-pooed? Not poo-pooed. The story's been somewhat sort of pulled back because according to Alistair Gold, Frank isn't necessarily looking for another forward player.

16:50He might be looking for an attacking midfielder, but not a forward player. And Mwani would definitely come into that. He'd be playing on the left, right, or through the middle. He was, though, you talked about striker being an issue. if Charleston has to be removed from the football club because I like his energy but he isn't a very good footballer then someone like Moana who at Frankfurt was probably arguably one of the best number nines or most underrated number nines in world football and ended up securing a£95 million deal to go to PSG after that season with Frankfurt that for me feels like a banker if we can get him although he might be going to Juve but if you can get him for 30 million euros 40 million for me it just makes complete sense just do it I don't know anything about him I thought was a midfielder I thought it was a six I genuinely thought it was a six I didn't realise it was an attack Nick I mean actually I get you taking a little sort of football sabbatical both of you have to a certain degree but to think he's a six he's like he'd be the worst number six in the world mate go look at his last season at Frankfurt you'll look at him and go sign him up there's a YouTube video and he just looks like the best he looks like Thierry Henry reincarnated well even even for Juve wasn't it like 16 goals in 8 or something 8 goals in 16 8 goals in 16 sorry well yeah fucking hell 30 million we're playing 60 million but you know I'm not on here for the stats boys you know what I'm saying but it's yeah it's a complete no brainer and hopefully it's more than fan fiction because I think, you know, you're looking at Richie and, yeah, he brings everything that Richie brings, which would probably see him welcome back to Goodison or potentially anywhere, to be honest with you.

18:37But I don't think that he quite fits the profile of the squad that we're building, which, to be honest with you, we've got some fucking players in there, haven't we, boy? After the game, I'm like, do we need anybody? Do we need anybody? Tell me who we need because I'm not sure here, boys. I'm not sure about it. You tell me. I mean, we've spoken about capitalism, but we're getting some depth now. Bring the capitalism, because that's what brings the players, which brings the cups, isn't it? What team can play two friendlies in a single day? And each one of those could have started in the Premier League, those teams.

19:07I'll tell you what the team is. Tottenham, what's the first? Did we hit the target once in two games? I don't think we did, but it doesn't matter. Look at the depth. T, you're laughing. You tell me who we should sign, and I'll tell you why we don't need him. Isaac. We don't need Isaac. Look. Got Solanke at home. Got Solanke at home. Got Solanke at home. Solanke needs a bit of backup. We need a little bit of backup. Isak could do it, wouldn't it? Isak would do it, actually. Yeah, I'll take Isak. Mourani would do it. Mourani would do it, yeah. I do agree with you. I do agree with you, right, a point, though, Flav, that the squad isn't as awful as you've been there to believe, but we do need more players.

19:45We do need a bit of turnover, because the last couple of windows haven't been the greatest. but maybe Thomas Frank can make a silk purse out of us. Who knows? Maybe he can. I hope he can. Yeah, of course he can. He will. But this is why I'm quite excited about what he'll do with Tell because obviously we saw something last season in him. I mean, I think the opinion of Tell was divided in the WhatsApp group last year and I think across the fan base was divided, which is fine. But in my opinion, I saw enough that I thought there's a player in there and we should definitely buy him. you look at what Cochrane and Frank have done with their forward players, what they were working on with Sharder, but also achieved with Mbwemo and Visser.

20:28There's no reason why they can't replicate that at Tottenham. In fact, of course they can. They know how to do it. So I think people like Odebeer tell, you know, Kudus will probably become a better player for Spurs than he was at Ajax and West Ham. So all of that is, again, margins that just weren't there last year. like league league could we all the leagues all the leagues all four competitions quadruple we're in a mall we're in a mall boys mate if we'd have lost 1-0 we would have been a completely different podcast today we would we would but the marginal the marginal the marginal gains we've spoken a lot about marginal gains and that Dave Brailsford kind of method like entering football and I think that's going to continue but also you've got like it's it is marginally creeping up on us this this depth you know like we we want more sign-ins of course we do like dopamine's a hell of a drug like we want we want those big those big names to come in but when you start looking across the positions we are we are developing the depth you know like there there is options there and what it looks like is that frank's able to like utilize those options and move things around as he needs to because the structure of the team and the way that we set out against Arsenal coming out full tilt and running at us and trying to take us on.

21:49We kept that structure and there was options in most positions, you know, like maybe not league winning ones yet, but you've got to let the man work, can't you? Let him cook. Just see what happens. Give him some room to breathe and see what you can achieve. Yeah. And I just, yeah, I mean, this isn't based on the result yesterday. I've been saying this from time.

22:17I said it on the club I went on the episode with the club the other day and I think Spurs can finish fifth and sixth and I was laughed out of the room and I understand why because of what we saw last year but people don't understand that there is quality in this team and if it overperforms under Frank then sixth and fifth isn't crazy look at Aston Villa have done no business they are hamstrung somewhat by PSR. Newcastle can't really do business without losing ESAC. They can do some, but not, and they've been trying to do it, but no one wants to move up there because why would you? So I think there's an opportunity for us.

22:55This rebound, people won't take us seriously. We've lost our aura for a word that the kids use a little bit. We've lost that. We're a different beast now. I think we're much more like the one that Pochettino took over where good players but need work, whereas for a long time you had Mourinho, you had Conte, you had this new brand of football under Postacoglu and winning the first 10 games of his tennis ship. I think things have shifted somewhat, and we've all had to shift with it. And this idea that Frank isn't necessarily the sexiest manager on earth, his approach is much more data-driven and methodical...

23:37No, I knew I was going to fuck that up. what was it yeah there's a method to everything and everything is thought about and so yeah it's a shift but I just think we're going to be better and I think people will feel better about the football club come Christmas time than we have done for a long time because you really right we've had as Spurs fans I don't know how you boys feel about this but five years of pretty fucking horrible experiences like yes and that is like we've been shaped by that We don't feel good about that. Like, being put in prison for five years for something you had no role in.

24:15You were just there. But someone else robbed the bank. Do you know what I mean? It's like, what am I doing in prison? Why am I hurting like this? And I just think maybe this more sort of calm approach will heal. He'll be like a balm to our wounds. We're not in the jungle anymore. That's a vote. Before the season even kicks off, soccer fans are already making predictions. Who wins the league? Who qualifies for Europe and who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Calci, America's number one prediction market platform. You're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position.

24:50For a limited time, download the Calci app and use code CUP26 to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I, Calci. Trade the beautiful game. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calsheet.com slash regulatory. Imagine buying your kid a toy only to find the batteries aren't included, or buying furniture but missing the tools to build it. Frustrating, right? Now imagine the exact same feeling, but you're paying way more.

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26:09You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. That's a very good point you've made there, Flav, because since Pochettino has left, there has been a lot of chaos from one approach to another. And there are shades of Pochettino in Thomas Frank. I mean, I might be laughed out of the room in a year from now when he crashes and burns.

26:45But it does feel like when Pochettino arrived, we had AVB, we had Tim Sherwood. We had the last year of Redknapp's reign in the 18 months before that. So we were kind of in a transit or limbo is the word for that period. And it feels similar now that we had Poster Coglu started very well. You know, in his defence, he wasn't really back last summer. And the team kind of, he could have done better than 17th though, by us, by the by. But Thomas Frank comes into a situation where maybe that's what we needed. We needed a safe pair of hands, you know, just a calming influence, not someone who's necessarily bombastic and makes declarations that you're going to make Spurs proud or anything.

27:28Just a very much common sense approach in everything he does. And hopefully he can make us proud. And I think there's every chance we can finish in and around fifth and sixth place or maybe even higher. It's like a stepdad with a bit of money, isn't he? He's just come in. Whereas your actual dad used to hit mum. You know what? You know those people who've got money, but you'd never know. Thomas Frank. Yeah. you know someone like Mourinho would just come in in like his gold-plated car yeah you know leave the key in the ignition that's how it gives a fuck exactly this wouldn't even care just like it's like tesco bags full of them all over the house but Thomas Frank is just understated you know i mean he's got his little coke spoon in his pocket you know just like he's still into it but just does it discreetly exactly that's what Thomas Frank is don't need to flash it don't need to flash it you know as opposed to fucking andrew's got the scar face plate out um and we called we called for pragmatism didn't we we called for that but like you know if you think about like i think frank has been labeled with the pragmatic uh coke spoon so to speak but like he's also got the aggression he's got the aggression of cocaine as well and that's that's where the two things can collide and you can get over the line in what turned out to be a game like yesterday you know but also i do think that he's going to have the options to lock it down when he needs to.

28:50You know, it's very defensively sound. It looked yesterday, you know, like the wingers dropping in, you know, going to a six where we needed to. But also our wing backs, our full backs just being absolute class and believing in themselves and then being able to mix it. I think it's the right mix. You're not going around him. like you're not you just know he is I'm going to say this and I've thought about it for a while he's certainly the best defensive fullback traditional fullback we have at the football club he's up there with some of the best in the world in dealing with sorry best in the Premier League not going with the world but dealing with one-on-one situations he just he just loves defending and I think about him going up against Ahmad last year about Salah I think about going up against Saka and he's never looked out of his depth.

29:45And if you can stand up 1v1 against those players, very best, it's hard to not say that Salah is the best right-sided forward in the world. But Saka is close behind him and he looks comfortable. What do you make of the potential second new contract he'll get within 12 months? So start talking about it already, T. For Spence, I mean, I like Spence a lot. I feel very highly about him. A lot of, I guess a lot of his personality and his ways probably aren't necessarily appreciated in England because we like people who are humble and stay humble. And Judd Spence is, I wouldn't say it's Aaron. He's clearly got a lot of self-belief.

30:25And I think to play at that level, you have to have a level of self-belief because he would have had rejection at some point in his career, which he has had because he was highly touted. He's had a very tumultuous time. and I think that there were worries about him under Postacoglu because I think Postacoglu kind of said a few backhanded things about him and contested he was a club signing. So the fact he's gone from this, that, to where he is now, yeah, I'm very happy with him. And, you know, he's a Londoner. I think he's the only Londoner in the first team squad, him and maybe Solanke. So it's nice.