S15E26 - Micky van de Ven

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1:43It's the fighting.

1:47It's a fighting

1:51It's a fighting

1:56Boys, can I shock you? Go on then. I actually quite like set pieces now. I think they're right. Are we the set piece FC? I'll take it. I don't mind being it. When it's you, I don't mind it. It's like having a horrible player that you love. like it's an Eric Lamella isn't it the set piece you know winning games via set piece is like the Eric Lamella of football really and and when you've got him you adore him if you have to play against him like Stephen Hunt um you loathe him what Alex I can imagine you've got a player that you despise who used to play against Tottenham Hotspur you just despised the rationally oh against us yeah well what we I mean yeah I don't want the players you despise do you play for Spurs it well yeah I I mean, there's only a couple.

2:45Against. You got any that you hated, Ben? I got some that I hated that then we signed. I hated Richarlison. I literally couldn't stand him. No, we all hate him. I hate him. And I kind of still do, yeah. I've still never let it fully go, I don't think. We hated the ones, like the piggy ones. Remember the piggy ones, like Chris Brunt. Chris Brunt, I hated him. I hated Ben Foster because of the time wasting. him yeah i hate it and i uh we've uh i don't know if you saw thomas frank saying i i enjoy oh no i i i liked the time it took vicario to take uh he it's a restart the game against monaco and i'm like really he like thomas frank is like probably the one of the most loveliest men in football he just loves all the shittiest aspects of it yeah you think this is a guy that this is a guy that managed Mope.

3:36Yeah. So he's, you know, he's well-versed in the realms of like shithousery. I hate Ryan Yates. Yeah. He's not good enough to be like, what are you doing here? Oh, I've come up through the leagues, have you? Yeah, like, you shouldn't have. You shouldn't have come through the leagues. It's such an honourable story. Yeah, I'll graft it all the way from non-league. It's like, maybe you should have fucking stayed there, mate. We don't want any of you, we're too big for this now. Premier League got too much money and too much kind of scope for you, Ryan Yates. Would you be anywhere near this? Ryan Yates, before, we need brick walls.

4:17You should have stayed a bricklayer instead of being a Premier League footballer. How dare you? Yeah, it's like the guy that we played in against, who is it, Tamworth. He's not giving up his day job in River Island, does he? He's still grafting, selling V-neck t-shirts. He's still there. Who was the little nut they had in midfield? Tommy Tonks the guy with the long throw yeah mate he could get he could get he could get a job in the Premier League we should probably sign him do you think we had this discussion in a group chat the other day do you think a Premier League if Roy DeLapp was playing now do you think a bigger Premier League team would sign him I don't think a bigger Premier League team would sign him I think he'd be crucial for someone like Everton I don't think we would buy Roy DeLapp just for his throw like we haven't played Danso when Romero isn't fit just because he's throw So his friend is fucking insane.

5:05It's a moment in time. Like if you watch, I used to watch not as much these days, but I used to watch a lot of championship and League One football and you would have, there would 100 % be in every championship team, maybe apart from one, where you would always see someone who's clearly just been signed. You know, they're special teams. They're special teams players. Yeah, this is an NFL thing, right? Yeah, yeah. And they would clearly have just been signed because, you know. I mean James Ward-Prowse is basically that but just with a much fancier part of the game in terms of set pieces James Ward-Prowse was celebrated wasn't he it was celebrated as a great set piece like what a free kick David Beckham does nothing else it does a brilliant free kick taker but now because it's a throw in now we all oh we hate it it's bad for the game the game's going backwards when fucking Beckham was curling one in from 30 yards or Ronaldo was hitting one in the screamer that's a set piece it's the same thing it's exactly the same thing just because it's unfashionable I don't really I don't really buy this whole like the Prem is so much worse now and it's kind of regressed as a product and all this kind of stuff like no chance I think with the long throws like football goes in cycles it won't be as much of a because teams will become well much better versed like defending set pieces there'll be generally more of a focus which will kind of probably dilute its impact a little bit like it will be a thing for this season and it won't set pieces will never stop being a thing but there'll be something else that dominates the narrative like people moaned when Pep was like I don't know, tried to play this football and everyone was trying to pat from the back.

6:35Nobody can ever be happy. It's just, it's fine. The idea of it sort of undulating between style of play to style of play is that's relevant because I've seen it happen. I'm 44 years old. I've seen this happen in the Premier League era and it wasn't until, I don't think it was until Pep came in where there was a kind of definite style of play that people should aspire to and it was because he managed to succeed in ways in unimaginable ways playing a brand of football that was really exciting to watch but that's not it's almost like this there's a kind of i don't know what it is like a sort of nebulous hard to define aspect to football that doesn't give a shit what you think it just moves in a direction which is possibly the most successful way to play football and right now everybody loves to throw in and everyone likes a corner and yesterday i fucking loved it i really did and and like we both both everton and tottenham tried to do the same exact same things it was like make the most out of uh uh out of the set pieces um and van de ven was the uh he he was the protagonist in that game yesterday like sensational for his two goals but also his constant involvement in absolutely everything that happened either in Everton's box or Tottenham's box it was he's growing into himself in a big big way like we knew that van der Ven was uh an an excellent defender um so quick and a great tackler brilliant competitor great in his jewels but what he showed yesterday was like a level of leadership that you hadn't seen previously.

8:21I don't know if you ever saw the interview that he did with some geezer, not Ben Haynes. I love Ben Haynes. It should have been Ben Haynes, but some geezer. Hi, Ben. We know you're listening. Alex, I've got to let you go. Your infatuation with Ben Haynes has got to stop. I know, sorry about that. He's a great man. Oh, man, I love him. If anyone hasn't listened to the interview we did with Ben Haynes on The Lab, go and listen to it after listening to this because, like I said previously, it was such a good episode such great insight into um what happened in bilbao but moreover what happens behind the scenes at tottenham and and um yeah ben just speaks so so brilliantly and the point i'm making here is that ben didn't do the interview with van de vent um van de vent did the interview with a bloke i don't know his name and um it's a shame that it wasn't ben let's move past ben haynes for a second van der Ven spoke in that in that interview was like like how unfancied he was at his Dutch football club there was a point where he's going to be released and he went through chronologically his ascendancy to Wolfsburg it was Wolfsburg was it or Hamburg yeah Wolfsburg and even at Wolfsburg it wouldn't necessarily have worked but they they had they had a coach come in who believed in what van der Ven could do and they didn't look back and even when he arrived at Tottenham Hotspur there was this hesitancy from him to suggest the fact that he didn't think he was worthy of a start at Spurs.

9:52Poster Coglu said straight up you're going to start against who did we play? Brentford. Brentford. You're going to play and he had like butterflies and he had nerves and he had like a an element of imposter syndrome about that so what I'm saying to you is 24 30 30 months later he has become um a sizable leader in the dressing room but on the pitch as well I thought he's his display yesterday was nothing short of incredible Al yeah I mean he's one of the ones that has kind of just come in and even in the brentford game i remember thinking okay yeah this you know all very nervous about him starting and and him just being looking like he was gonna be fine straight straight away you know and he's he's only there's been maybe one or two games where we think he's he's maybe come up short a couple of times but other than that he's been pretty in imperilis and i think um there's a lot of discussion at the minute obviously around simmons i'm sure we'll get on to you know kind of moani you know and with other teams works and other big money signings that have come in who you know where people say look you know the adjustment to this Premier League is is difficult particularly coming from the Bundesliga you know and so it's more testament to him that he's been able to come in and do that I think it is easier probably for more defensive minded players to kind of get get up to speed with with the league I think it's probably in the attacking third where it takes maybe a bit of a longer period of time but it it's it's a huge credit to him that he's coming and done and done what he's done and partly because i think last year despite how shit it was players and younger players you know learn so much from seasons like that you know it doesn't do us any heart any great goodness at the time and maybe doesn't do us a huge amount of um favors early in this part of the season but what a lot of those players went through last last year will be huge experiences and van de ven streaks as someone who will take those experiences, learn from them, grow from them, and become a better player because of it.

11:57And I think that's probably what we're starting to see now. You think about the amount of time he spent out as well. Like the first season, he was out for three or four months. Last season, he came back against Elspog, do you remember? And he was playing, and you're like, he's not right. He's not right. And we're thinking, oh, he's coming back. Van der Wijn's back. It was Elspog, wasn't it, Ben? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was hitting the ball, and he was like, It doesn't look right, the way he's hitting it. Didn't we play like Brentford on the Sunday and then he was left out of the squad and it was like, oh, here we go again.

12:28It was. It was literally, it felt like, I might be getting my times wrong, but a couple of months till he came back again. So he's gone through a lot and he's had to watch on for a lot of it. And now that he's not only starting for Tottenham but scoring goals for Tottenham, because I read somewhere he's got five goals this season. not for Tottenham no he's got five he scored Super Cup two yesterday West Ham and then Bodo Glimt I think he scored did he? yeah it was a Porro he got the goal he made it 2-1 against Bodo yeah it was a Porro's cross and he he knighted it in that's the thing he scored he scored goals for us under Ange I remember like the Van de Veer the Van de Veer obviously the one against Forrest where he belted it in from the edge of the box and there was one like a Vertonghen kind of-esque run against Burnley where he wrapped it in the bottom corner he never scored a goal with his head before this season for us I'm pretty sure or a goal from a set piece and obviously we kind of did neglect set pieces quite a bit under-range but it's mental and you've got a bloke that's like 6 foot 4 and he's got the presence that he does that we never really kind of utilised it that much like he scored 5 goals this season and I think I'm pretty sure all of them have come oh the West Ham one was a good finish but the rest of them he's headed them in it's like it's insane really that we've never really seen that as much before.

13:49But yeah, I totally agree in the sense about his leadership. Like Van der Ven, we always have this debate about like, oh, who's more important? Who's better? Romero, Van der Ven. I feel like we're constantly trying to push Romero into these kind of conversations with neutrals because I think most people outside of Spurs would, but they prefer Van der Ven. They like him. They think, oh, he's quick. He's all this kind of stuff. He's more unique. So Van der Ven's always kind of had that striking presence on the pitch because of the incredible things that he can do using his pace. But I feel like maybe some of the aspects of his game that we were slightly more concerned by were maybe actually his defending.

14:25And that's not to say that he was ever bad or fought for loads of things necessarily like in the past couple of years under Ange. But it's maybe an area of his game where he needed to improve a little bit. But yesterday, and I think so far this season, he's demonstrated like so much maturity and so much confidence. And it's like his reading of the game from a defensive point of view feels like it's gone up a level. And I think, I can't remember if it was Ben Haynes, hi again, Ben, in your interview that you did with him or the one that Jack did on Rule the Roots where he was talking about Van der Ven in club facing interviews and you kind of see him in the media and around the training ground.

15:03He was kind of saying, it was either him in your one or Rob Daly maybe that said like, you can tell by the way he carries himself around the club now. It's a bit different and maybe Romero's kind of leadership almost has rubbed off on him slightly. So to have Van der Ven touch wood, hopefully in this period, because you never know what's coming up because you've got Chelsea at the weekend and everything seems to spiral in that game. He's not a good record from an injury point of view there, but it's really good to have him playing like this in a period where we're going to not have Romero. So for him to kind of step up and be more of the leader alongside Danso, who was incredible as well yesterday.

15:36But there's just been a noticeable difference for me in the way that he kind of carries himself on the pitch and just his defending. Like, so many balls, they try and slip in the channel yesterday or crosses they get in the box. It's just there reading it. And with his head as well at both ends of the pitch. Like, it's just incredible. And even like with the... He's always been... I remember seeing him scoring goals under range. Like, he gets... You know, he's well up for it and stuff like that. But the way that he was like roughing up Pickford and then shushing all the Everton fans and stuff like that, You feel like he's kind of really kind of grown into himself quite a lot, I think.

16:06I wanted to talk about that. And I wanted to hear from you, Alex, because this is the side of the game that you really enjoy. Because you played at a high level at Sunday League. It's just the high level bit. I thought 10 years, like 12 years. And I thought finally it's happened. And then I did Sunday League. Sorry, wasn't you playing football at Sunday League? Sunday League is a very different beast. I played to a high level, the end. But yeah, but it was that sort of willingness to get involved. I was surprised because I wasn't aware of the needle that was going on between him and Pickford and others until Van der Venne scored his second goal with the header and he shushed the Everton fans.

16:56And they were unbearable. There is something about Liverpool fans are something, but Everton is something else in terms of their whining and about I love Everton because I kind of see a bit of us in Everton no no I appreciate that but we would never be whining little bitches like that I don't know they are something else like there was nothing quite as good as an Everton boo or like or the crowd getting wound up it's like another level I remember going there a couple of years ago when it was we drew two or when Charleston got that brace and they had do you remember they held all the cards like they held them up yeah and it's like there was a couple of little 50-50 challenges that didn't go against them and they're straight away like Premier League corrupt shut up mate I can't erase it though no that's so too hot you can't but they don't the one thing I do write about it is that like they are that close to that other club which I just despise Liverpool I can't it's really neck and neck between them and Arsenal for me personally and I've had to put all that aside because they've been stopping Arsenal winning leagues.

18:03But I don't know. I kind of rate that they constantly see themselves as, well, this is what we've got. That's their asset that they're constantly feeling like they're... Yeah, but it doesn't come from a place like it does with Spurs, but there's this kind of self-deprecating edge to it. They're just so upset. They're genuinely angry. We can laugh ourselves. I feel like they don't really have that. They are one of the funniest clubs in the world. like when you listen to like their twitter spaces and stuff like that they are such like their fans are hilarious but they i think you're right they don't have that ability to kind of go oh this is all just a bit fucking tin pot and it like they don't have that ability to laugh at themselves but they are funny i do like everton but yeah yeah i see what you mean uh alex i just just just go back to the van de ven stuff and the and the sort of um he's celebration the shushing the everton crowd and there was something going on between the players because jed spence if you've this clip that's gone around it's fuck it i love it i love it because you're seeing a normal human being being a normal human being they're not just sort of glazed footballers right and he and van der Venne schusht them and then jed spencer celebrating and he just turns to the uh everton fans and goes fuck off like i loved it i loved it but what what did you make of that like the fact that van der Venne got so yeah i didn't really notice it at the time it's the same i mean i watched the game yesterday with my old man and i'll tell you what flubber this is maybe an off air discussion there's definitely a podcast in watching football with your old man if you can get two of you two of us and two of our old man watching it and just press record honestly it was some gold last night so it's funny you said it because my dad was pretty silent throughout this game like we so we're going through like a bit of me and the old man watching spurs there's a bit of like we've been damaged that's what it feels like generally our relationship is impeccable right i I couldn't wish for a better father, apart from some of his political views, but I couldn't wish for a better father than him, right?

19:57But when it comes to Spurs, it's almost a look at each other like we've gone through living in the bush in Narm in 78. It's the thousand yards there. The thousand yards there, yeah, yeah. So you look at each other. And at the end, we embraced each other like we'd just met and just, like we'd been separated. Because you're having an argument. No, no, only once. Only once against Brighton last year, and that was all Poster Coggins' fault. but the um no no the then so so we like he embraced me as i so so what happened the the final whistle went we won three nil and um and and i have to then drive to the office and and and record a patreon podcast directly after the game patreon.com forward slash fighting cock um if you want to and add three pods as well just just say that um but we we he embraced me like he'd given me away as a child and only now that i'd rejoined and accepted him as a father and he and brentney the way he held me was just like god this is good not only spurs of of one free meal but i'm getting an embrace from my father i never thought i'd receive in my life thank god we won for a game away nine games into the season see but most different for me because my dad is just uh i mean he's a bristol rose fan i guess but he's more of just a football lover like in general so you get a really nice kind of mix of those political views that you're not a fan of interspersed with him wanting to slag someone off but not really wanting to upset his son because but because he doesn't care enough to upset it massively because it's not his team so he's still going to relatively behave honestly it was just gold why are you spurs if he's bristol ravers uh just because of um other family members right and where i was born but um no i didn't see the ins and outs of it yesterday i didn't really know i didn't feel like an antsy game there was that bit of period obviously after the goal got chalked off um you know like and this probably makes me reflect that you're probably right then that yeah it was very moany um after that but yeah i mean that's what that i'm convinced that that happens in every game and we just don't see it because we're not invested in looking at that for other teams.

22:13Because it is, it's an intense situation and if the Premier League is going down more of this physical route, you're going to get more and more of that because there's not just like, oh, that's mutual respect, that's a nice little turn and a little triangle that they just did there, lovely. It's like, no, he just smashed me, make sure you smash them. And that's what I do enjoy about the game and I hope that that part of it or at least an element of that part of the game sticks around the physicality and the strength in midfield and the football savviness. Like of being able to smell a game and knowing when the game's up there to be won or when you go, do you know what?

22:49Actually, yesterday, performance doesn't matter. You know, it's not been a great run of results. You know, there's a few moans and groans and stuff. You get the job done away from home at Goodison, well, not Goodison Park, but you know, you're away from home, get the job done. You know, doesn't need to be pretty. We didn't press like at all yesterday. like in that second half like you could just see you know all reverted back and that probably is because look you know we need a result today we need a win yesterday was a really important win regardless of performance it was a really important win because of just the noises that were starting to come out and just and just getting back on on track with it third league sorry after nine games after nine games third league so after nine everyone's played nine games everyone's played the same amount of games Okay?

23:37Can you agree on that? Everyone's played the same amount of games? Yes. How many games have they all played? Nine. Nine. Nine, nine. Right, so the league table is to reflect what? The hierarchy of how good teams are. It's the only thing that matters. It's the only thing that... How good are you? The Premier League does not lie. It's never lied. It will never lie to you. And that is something that your father would have always said. that's what my old man bangs on about all the time table doesn't lie it doesn't lie I feel like you two are trying to sell me a timeshare like I should Alex what does this mean tell me what it means this is a pyramid scheme Alex

24:23do I get to take part in this yeah yeah do you want to do you want to do you want to oh it sounds great do you want to be third in the league as well I think I do yeah yeah so it's not bad is it so there you go after nine games it doesn't matter how you play it's how you get the points on the board and the fact is it does sound like a timeshare I've been in one of them rooms and been sold a timeshare I do it every day this is what I do I know real recognises real you're doing a great job could I make a good salesman based on what you've just heard in the last minute yeah yeah absolutely yeah yeah yeah come on board alright so all I'm saying is that everyone's played nine games all the minutes involved in those games have equally shared against every single team in the Premier League.

25:05And right now, Spurs are the third best team in the country. And George, what's strange about that is the narrative around it. Like when I, again, with Dad yesterday, and I was like, you know, talking about, he's like, oh, people feeling about Frank. I was never not sure about him, whatever. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, some moans and groans, but I think on the whole, most people are pretty positive. You know, we've only lost twice this season. He was like, what? I was like, yeah, yeah, we've only lost twice. He's like, no. No. He's like, no, you've lost more than that, surely. what he's heard about Spurs yeah it's like because the general feeling is that oh actually it's not really going massively to plan it's been okay but you know it could be but you know so it's easy just to kind of get drawn into those to that feeling and you know there was a lot of stuff about Frank in in midweek and I tweeted out like he's been here two months like two and a half months and I'm genuinely shocked maybe I shouldn't be because of how quick I went on Posta Coglu after the first 10 games but I'm surprised I am surprised at the level of like oh nothing's changed like it's getting worse every week and i'm like there's no madison there's no kouloskesi there's no solanke there's no romero and no doggy like it's just a start and we knew that we were sure anyway and if you are like me not convinced about people at odabare tell you know i have my reservations about uh uh about simmons but not to the point where i don't think it's going to be a major issue certainly in the beginning though jake what else can you expect really i don't know If the world's biggest soccer tournament has arrived, then you can trade the entire tournament on Kalshi.

26:34On Kalshi, you can trade every match from the opening stage all the way to the final. On Kalshi, 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. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code CUP26 to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I, Kalshi. 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 calci.com slash regulatory.

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27:36Michelob Ultra FIFA World Cup 26 superior access. No purchase necessary. Open U.S. Residence 21 Plus begins on December 1st, 2025. Ends on July 31st, 2026. Multiple entry periods. Visit www.miclobaltra.com slash superior access slash FIFA World Cup 26 for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes, and details. I've said this so many times. This is not the final form of Thomas Frank's Tottenham Hotspur. but if you're third in the league and we're playing the brand of football that we are now I think people's worry is that it's this is it this is the brand of football and that's it do you know I think the problem is and Ben might be better to speak on that overall in terms of having a bit more knowledge about what football fans might feel overall more clubs but I think we had to start looking at not Thomas Frank's Tottenham and Postacoglu's Tottenham whatever about what the direction that the club is going in general because that's where people like teams like Brighton and Bournemouth and Brentford and that type of stuff have continued to develop and Arsenal to a degree you know it's not necessarily about being Mikel Arteta's Arsenal because no one you couldn't really label a style that he particularly has like that's just been a Harambo I think it's called yeah yeah but you know I mean I just think we have to get away from this fact of oh Frank's Tottenham, Potocoglu's Tottenham, Conte's Tottenham like it's a question of and now with all this restructuring of the club I'd like to think that actually this is the type of thing that we're going to do and everyone's going to work towards that now the person who finishes who puts the cherry on that cake or puts the full stop at the end of that sentence might not be thomas frank i doubt it will be but it's constantly moving rather than us having to worry about an individual person's effect on the club what you're saying is trust the process yeah well he said frank said something today i don't know whether it was a pre-newcastle presser or something from last night but he said i think we're in the beginning of building something i'm very happy with a lot of things.

29:18As I said, the defensive side of it, mentality set pieces. But I think there's a bit we need to work on, especially offensively, to be more free-flowing still, which I think is exactly... If you asked 100 Tottenham fans, I think they would... 99.9 % of them would agree pretty much wholeheartedly with that statement, right? I think we are in a really weird place because we've bounced from style to style, like you were kind of just saying, Alex, about Conte's Tottenham, Mourinho's Tottenham. Then to Ange, it's such a massive gear change. And now we've kind of landed somewhere almost in the middle of all of that, really.

29:50And I think the encouraging thing is that Frank is seeing the same things that we're seeing in terms of what needs to improve, but also recognizing what we've done well. I think the frustration comes from him scaling that up to a bigger side with higher expectations and you want things to happen now. so he's kind of got to manage that and you kind of almost want him to fast track the process a little bit of Brentford who also did evolve year after year as a team once they kind of found their feet in the Premier League a little bit and last season they were more aggressive like they were more play on the front foot and I think you kind of even seen that a little bit with the hangover into like Keith Andrews's Brentford like they went for that against Liverpool it weren't just a smash and grab sit deep and great for the best like really good and it wasn't just like because they scored from a long throw people are going to go oh that's how they won the game it's like they peppered Liverpool for most of that second half so you're kind of seeing that still in almost Frank's final form of Brentford kind of still a little bit in them now and obviously it took them what was it four seasons maybe to get to that point but they were a club that just come up from the Premier League um and trying to find their feet in it and they will be so much better in the long run for that like it's really hard to gain stability in this league and I think we maybe take that a bit for granted like we all want to see us play more free-flowing attacking football because we have this idea of like the tottenham way we've had players we've had mavericks that we've kind of been able to get the best out of in the past that can win us games and you know there's this whole like we said earlier like this whole conversation about where the league is at right now in this state of like being reliant on set pieces i get frustrated that we're kind of looking more dangerous from set pieces at home as opposed to getting our more attacking players into the game and kind of playing through them like simmons those kind of guys right but it's a it is a process like we will we'll hopefully get there he has got a track record of being able to evolve teams to improve from an attacking point of view not just sit back behind the ball like we're away from home the proof's kind of in the pudding we're top of the league and i don't really like we've always been like that like even under range people were crying out for us to be a bit more solid away from home so it's like what do we we still maybe don't know what we fully want i guess and we like you know we're all ruled by emotions everything moves on from match day to match day and like just because yesterday was a lot better doesn't mean that you can't be pissed stuff about what we saw against monaco because that was just a that was weird it was like we weren't in europe as well which is always yeah but also i think the game plan against monaco was a weird one because it was like we weren't defensively um i guess we didn't sacrifice enough defensively to warrant conceding the amount of chances that we did and then we offered nothing going forward but yesterday still like from an attacking point of view still much to work on but we were a lot more solid defensively so that's something to be celebrated like i don't know we but at least he's saying the things at least he's recognizing it but it's they want him for the long term.

32:34I want him for the long term. He feels like a good guy to be the face of the club that can create that balance that we all want of being solid and hard to beat, but win games and be exciting. We will get that. I think it's human nature a little bit as well, right? If you're taking a big step up in your career, which, you know, Brentford to Tottenham is a big step up in terms of expectation and media scrutiny and everything else. It's huge, really. I know people want to discredit Tottenham, but it is massive. Yeah. And so, in any of us going into a job where, you know, you actually haven't, you know, you're going to have to make a significant step up or maybe you know change things a little bit you'd get your the fundamentals that you know you do brilliantly a b and c get them nailed in make sure everyone's on board with all that you do that stuff first anyway and look naturally he's probably he is a more you know pragmatic type of coach so he's come in he's making sure that his the fundamentals of what he wants a team to be is done yeah good um you mentioned your old man earlier uh alex um and i'm really sort of thinking about you and when i'm going to talk about what i'm about to talk about but um um did you know that one in five men in in the uk experience changes in sexual performance as they get older well you get better speaking from experience that's definitely what's happened to me is is being quick better i think you're generally in life if you're fastest at something then then uh then it is better yeah you win in a way alex but you're not alone no med express can help you alex and your med express tell me med express uh has been one of the country's leading online pharmacies since 2013 trusted by over one and a half million customers um with a short online consultation their uk-based clinical team will suggest the right treatment for your concerns alex from erectile dysfunction to premature ejaculation Oh, okay.

34:25Those concerns. I've got this to look forward to. Yeah, Ben, you stay out of this. No, me too. I'm young. I'm the youngest out of everyone, apart from Ben. Are you telling me that you've not, when you're laying with your lady, that there hasn't been times where I think, do not come. Do not come. Stop moving. Stop moving. Stop moving. No. not that bit you know there's been times where you know you might need a little bit of extra support you know to get the process uh you know underway yeah you know if you've got no feeling or respect for them whatsoever that sometimes needs an extra i i i categorically categorically have been in a situation where i mean i've premature ejaculated loads oh yeah yeah that's like who says it's premature this is the this is the issue if they're saying it's premature talk to MedExpress if you're saying it's premature then I think you're quite happy with yourself and you'll be fine sometimes it's a compliment if anything you said the quickest wins I thought that was the rule yeah first past post it's nice to know there's support out there yeah you can support you can sort problems out like this like erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation from your comfort and privacy of your own home which is the most important thing because no one wants to go to the doctor and talk about this it's embarrassing so the best part is it's all online you don't have to visit your gp and your medication is delivered straight to your door alex um so it's hard discreet packaging i thought yeah yeah yeah very much so very much so um it's hard to feel like yourself when personal health issues affect you so imagine you're you're laying with a lady but you're worried about whether the old the old chap will stand to attention you don't have to worry anymore because med express will sort you without you having to see anyone in person.

36:16So yeah, they offer a discreet and convenient professional guidance for when you need it most. So visit medexpress.co.uk to check your eligibility and get£40 off, which is the most important thing, with the code TFC. It requires a free online consultation and with a license provided to determine if treatment is appropriate. So Alex, I know you're in denial. I know you keep smiling at me like this isn't a problem. No, no, no. I thought to myself, when you said the code like TFC, I was thinking about what that anagram could be for when you go, this fucking cock. Why wouldn't you work? Stop fucking...

36:59It's so good. This fucking cock. But I... Yeah, I wouldn't... Don't be embarrassed by it. I'm probably the most sexual open person that this podcast or any podcast has probably ever seen. I thought you were going to say the most sexually active podcast not as much these days but there was a definite period where I was and yeah that's happened and the thing is Ben's sitting there he's all smug have you never needed help Ben? sometimes yeah I'm thinking as a way to like if you know I'm still in my 20s I could this is good to think about I can improve while I'm you know I'm ahead that's what the people do you build while you know you already kind of get into that point it's like that's what Tottenham have never done we've never built while we're ahead what Ben's right thinking about now is make hay while the sun shines yes exactly it's literally like what you said there it's literally like an in-betweeners where it's just like every time i don't want one it's there and the one time i need yeah i've had that's definitely a feeling i've had before yeah so visit med express.co.uk to check your eligibility you get 40 pound off with the code tfc the link is in the description below uh support the podcast get an erection uh enjoy enjoy it but make sure that the people you're enjoying it with are also enjoying it like your wife enjoy it but enjoy it by being fucking disciplined as neil warner would say yeah i saw that today that's so good yeah what what what was just a clip you know his ones where he's talking into the dressing room it's just enjoy it but what enjoy it but enjoy it by being fucking disciplined and it's from the channel 5 it's so good if you want to go 20 minutes you have to be disciplined I think 20 minutes that's what of the in and out they don't they don't they don't want 20 minutes I know that I know that as well actually because I want sometimes I want 20 minutes but they don't they're like come on 20 minutes of actual like back and forth in and out yeah absolutely ridiculous well what you say five just until everyone's enjoyed themselves yeah if it's taking you 20 minutes trust me she's not enjoying it it's true if it's taking you 20 minutes to get there i i get it done early i use all the other tools i get that get get she's she's done she's she's she can take that home she's she's done she's got 180s bullseye she's got that safe That's safe, that prize.

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