A vanload of John Barnes (Spain Preview)

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1:46hi everybody welcome to this week's preview podcast it's me al with seeds kitro not available today but he did guilt trip us Sid into recording this podcast oh my did he ever it's we've had some discussion let us know your thoughts listeners as to whether it makes sense to a preview pod when there is no La Liga to preview we've gone back and forth on this we're doing it because look we enjoy we like having a chat we like talking to you guys yeah I don't know how interested you guys are in listening when we're simply talking about a World Cup qualifier between Spain and Georgia. A single game? It's not even like we've got

2:21Alex Kirkland:a spread of weekend games to cover. Yeah, especially now that Sid refuses to even contemplate the Segunda as you stand on the abyss of returning to it quite soon. That's the thing. I want to be allowed one year of ignoring it before I'm inevitably thrust back into it. Do you know what? Actually, there's a slight lie there. Shall I admit what I did last night? Go on. I looked took the Segunda fixtures and thought, I wonder if there's anything I could go to this weekend. Oh, you miss it. Admit it. You miss it terribly. Tonight, Valladolid against Las Palmas tonight. I was really tempted. I thought I could just get in the car.

2:57Alex Kirkland:It's only a couple of hours. Go and see Las Palmas play. Las Palmas, who's not so much their manager, but their assistant manager is, I wouldn't push it so much as to say a friend of mine, but certainly someone I know and very much like. They're doing very well. They're third in the team. They are doing well. Although as usual, there's five points between first and eighth in the table. Exactly. And I think their manager, Luis Garcia, will at some stage end up at Real Oviedo. The problem is, of course, you think that because it'd be a step up for him. But of course, by next year, it might not look like a step up for him anymore because we may have changed places.

3:28Alex Kirkland:A bit like happened to carry on. So maybe us and Las Palmas will just kind of keep swapping managers. Yeah, but we're not going to talk about the Segunda. Sid, you were at Luis Rubiales' book launch last night. It sounded like a quiet affair. Not much happened. I wasn't there, unfortunately. I know. Unless what you're saying is the hooded man throwing eggs at the table. The mysterious figure who threw three eggs at Luis Rubiales. Yeah, I'm sure you might have seen this. That did happen at Luis Rubiales' book launch last night. Sid, has it crossed your mind, as it's crossed mine, that this might have been a setup to generate publicity for the book launch?

4:01Alex Kirkland:100 % it's crossed my mind. Because we wouldn't be talking about it if someone hadn't thrown eggs at him. Do you know what I mean? Do you know what? I was actually tempted to go to this book launch last night. You know, there were three book launches in Madrid yesterday at the same time. This is classic international break. Everyone thinks, oh, international break. Nothing's going on. We'll organise our things then. And what happens is they inevitably organise their things on the same night. There were three book launches in Madrid yesterday. I was invited to all three of them. And I went to none of them in the end.

4:29Alex Kirkland:Because the one I really wanted to go to actually was Gal de Regera, who's brought out a book. It's a really nice collection of his writings about kind of football and the meaning of football. and its sort of societal significance. Then I did think in truth that from a news point of view, I probably should go to Rubiales's. And I also had an invitation to go to Diego Vardicala's book launch with him and Relano and Jorge Valdano talking about a couple of books about one book because the 10, the Browns were just history through 10 goals and the other one was just the history of football through 10 goals.

4:58Alex Kirkland:In the end, I didn't go to any of them. It's terrible because I was still chained to my desk writing and I just didn't get out in time. They're all quite early for Spain. Seven o 'clock is very early for Spain, isn't it? What's that all about? Anyway, Rubialisis was good because someone threw three eggs at him. As you say, there's so many jokes. Which of the many, many jokes should we go for first? I mean, is it that, you know, the person in the audience just got a bit confused when the fans started singing Echel Euevos? Is that the first joke to go for? Yeah, I don't know. As I say, three eggs were thrown.

5:29I think one of them hit the target. a man reportedly one of his uncles has been arrested an uncle who I believe is an actor by profession which adds to this conspiracy theory that this whole thing might have been a

5:42Alex Kirkland:and if you look at the picture of his uncle in his various acting poses looks like he might be an actor in really weird films in sort of really like low budget local local production zombie stroke zombie stroke erotic films it's just kind of a bit strange well let's let's let you know the justice system do its work. But I've got my, I'm sceptical about all of them. Me too. Anyway. Presumably, by the way, this is a different uncle to the one that he fell out with who was working for the Federation. It's not the one who worked at the Federation. Exactly. I think the Rubiales family is quite extensive.

6:15Yes. And troubled. Expensive.

6:18Alex Kirkland:I was going to say extensive is not the word I would have used. I also love the idea that the two happiest families in Spain, the Rubiales family and the Del Nido family, and in both cases, the people fighting each other actually have the same name. In both cases, it's Luis Rubiales versus Luis Rubiales. And José María del Nido versus José María del Nido. You might say there's some sort of space issue identity things going on. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we'll be giving away some copies of Luis Rubiales' book later in the show. No, we won't. So will he. Don't read Luis Rubiales' book. Do you know what?

6:48Alex Kirkland:I actually think we should. I'm quite interested to... I mean, I genuinely am interested to see his... Well, no, you can imagine it, can't you? I don't think you need to. Oh, I think you can. I think you can. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's also been adopted by kind of the, well, the sort of right or far right of Spanish politics as a sort of some kind of freedom fighter against political correctness, which is also quite interesting. The other thing is that in that, of course, part of the reason for that is, you know, this has gone, we're going to go not so much Rincon Cultural as Rincon Política, here which is which is that part of what started vox really and truly part of its main ideological strands was was actually anti-feminism almost more than any of the other things now obviously they've segued into where they were inevitably going to end up which was anti-immigration they were always going to end up there but it actually started as this kind of folkloric sort of you know portomis huevos kind of thing again the eggs again making an appearance yeah Exactly.

7:53Alex Kirkland:Lots and lots of eggs. The other joke, of course, to make in this, see how fast Rubiales was flying across the room. He never moved that quick when he was playing. Again, yeah, if you haven't seen the footage, he leaps up and sort of seemingly goes for this guy. Almost in a way, again, that makes me, it seemed a bit too kind of, I mean, he said afterwards, I thought you might have had a gun. There were kids present. Like, again, it just seems too good. Like he thinks he's, you know, Bruce Willis in Guy Guy or something. exactly that i love that i love i love the idea that he loses his head and he acts as if it's because he's defending the the the did you think the best bit of it have you seen the little bit of footage there's some camera work from the other side and a woman slaps her husband in the face there's some sort of marital dispute going on yeah it's i mean the whole thing is yeah anyway let's not let's never speak about this man again no let's do let's let's put the whole podcast based on this i gave us something to talk about for the first seven minutes of this podcast i guess We should talk about Spain at some point, Sid.

8:53Sid, I've got on board Kittro's Spain are going to win the World Cup bandwagon. I had to do a little thing for ESPN last night where they got a bunch of us writers just to, you know, name. You had to choose right now which team is going to win the World Cup and give us a few words on why. And I went for Spain. I looked around. I looked at the options. I looked at the Spain team. I looked at their records. You know, this 29 game unbeaten run that they're on, European champions, the players they've got, what other countries are doing. and I couldn't find a reason not to pick Spain, to be honest.

9:24So I found myself trying to look for potential weaknesses and then even sort of the weaknesses I found, I started to question quite how weak they were. I was saying to myself, okay, if they really got a proper centre-forward that you'd really want to be your centre-forward going into a World Cup, then you look at what Yacobal's done in the last year in terms of goals scored for Spain. You look at the alternatives, what Michael Marino's done in terms of goals scoring for Spain. Even something like that, I had a hard time turning it into a weakness. I know there are some questions about who is, for example, the first choice centre-back pairing.

9:54I guess the one genuine worry right now, and maybe it won't be come next summer, but right now is fitness, right? Because, of course, we've got, Pedri's got his injury problems and we've got no Lamine and no Nico Williams in this squad. And this Spain, without Lamine and without Nico, certainly is a very different team. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's the key part for me.

10:18Alex Kirkland:As you said, right now, you can't see a weakness. I think the weakness right now is what's happening right now. It's this Luminium R thing, which obviously has two or three reasons why it's a weakness. One is the potential kind of tension that it creates. And the other, of course, is the fundamental base fact of it all, what underlies it all, which is that he's not fit and that risk that he might not be fit. But you're right. You go through the squad and you just think, well, they're strong all the way through. I agree with you, though. I think if their two first-choice wingers aren't there, I don't know who they go with.

10:49Alex Kirkland:Because you go through the squad and you think, OK, so if it's not the players it currently is, who plays wide? Well, in fairness, you could have Alex Baena as a full swinger coming in and being... He's been playing sometimes on the left for Atleti. Exactly. And I think he's very good there. I suppose you could have Ferran Torres. As I've said before, that he's like David Villa. And obviously, please don't take that to mean he's as good as David Villa. What I mean is that the run he likes the most is the little dashing inside from the left-hand side into a central forward position. And he scores a lot of goals.

11:18Alex Kirkland:And his goal-scoring record for Spain is brilliant. Ferran Torres is 22, I think, in 50 games. You could, in theory, play Dani Olmo as a sort of false wide player. But I think one of the things that's made Spain interesting and better again is not playing with false wide players anymore. It's going for you. So then you say, well, so who is it? Is it Jeremy Pino who's in the squad? Well, he's the only other one in the squad right now. I mean, I haven't seen... Apparently, he's doing quite well at Palace. I haven't seen enough to say. But I must admit, I'm not convinced by him as a wide player running at people.

11:47Alex Kirkland:I'm not convinced by Jorge de Frutos as that wide player running at people, much as I really like him. I'm not sure if that's his role. He's not here to hear this. But as a wide player going at people... No, no, he's not doing that for Rayo either. He's playing more centrally. Exactly. And then so you think about who are the other people who've been in and around the squad. Well, maybe Jesus Rodriguez. And let's see how this season goes with Cuomo. And I think he does look like he's a very exciting player. and then I suppose the two Bryans. But then let's go back to your original question. If you want to win the World Cup...

12:18Alex Kirkland:It's such a drop-off. That's such a drop-off in quality. That's like a... That's... You've almost... I'm starting to doubt my own thesis. Yeah. Exactly that. That's exactly where I'm going with this. If your original question is, can you win the World Cup and your two wingers are the two Bryans? Now, I like both of them on their day. No. But how often do I think their day is their day? And even on their day, they're nowhere near the level of anyone else. And so, you know, I feel like one of those might go. I think Brian Hill doesn't go. I think that's totally ruled out. Right now, I don't think Brian Thadagotha goes either.

12:49Alex Kirkland:But if he has an amazing six months or so, he's the kind of player that maybe shakes a game up for 10 minutes. But that's all. I don't think, literally. So I think you're right. I think the one thing that makes you wonder about them is the strength in depth and is the fitness of Nico and Lamine on the two wings. Because if they don't go, or if they're not fully fit, then actually they don't have that player. As I said, I think one of the two wings could be an inverted winger, but I don't think you can have both of the wings as inverted wingers. By the time the World Cup comes around, I mean, unless, of course, injuries can happen, but you do anything to get that player fit and available.

13:25And there'll be no shenanigans, you know, by the time the World Cup comes around. It's not like, you know, Barca are going to win GX Lamin the day before the World Cup, are they?

13:33Alex Kirkland:No, but it doesn't need to be shenanigans for it to be a problem. They might just play him into burnout. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I mean, let's not assume that Barcelona will reach the Champions League final. Let's not assume that Barcelona are fighting to the very, very end. But it's reasonably likely. Not the Champions League final thing. I don't think he's very likely. But it's reasonably likely that Barcelona are competing to the very end of the season. So I think it is reasonably likely that Lamin gets dragged through to the very end of the season. And actually, he's not in great shape at the end.

13:59Alex Kirkland:I think it's reasonably likely that happens with Nico as well. But we're in November. It's very early to say that. Despite it being early, by the way, and I think actually this speaks to your point. I don't know about you, but I think the squad is relatively clear already. Yeah. I think you look at the current squad and you think there's probably only four or five changes from that and those are almost all about injuries. So the four or five changes, I think Lenormand goes in, who's not in yet. Yeah. Because he's injured. I think Carvajal, if he's fit, goes in. Yeah. And he's not in yet. I think Pedri, obviously, if he's fit, absolutely goes in.

14:33Alex Kirkland:I think Rodri from Man City, if he's fit goes in, although I'm starting to have my doubts about whether he ever gets fit and goes in. And basically that's it. I don't think there's anyone else except his outside - Well, and we've mentioned, we've mentioned obviously Lamin and Nico. So then you're - Yeah, of course. But I'm assuming that they make it. Exactly. I'm assuming they're sort of already in this squad, if you see what I mean. That the only reason they're not is because in Lamin's case, he dropped out at the last minute and Nico, it was actually said by De La Fuente, you know, he wasn't quite ready.

15:03Alex Kirkland:But I think of the ones that sort of, actually weren't in this squad. I think they're the only ones, depending on fitness and so on. And that feels very stable. If your business runs on five different apps, 12 browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch, it's probably time for Odoo. Odoo is an all-in-one business management software that connects every part of your business into one powerful, easy-to-use platform. So instead of wasting time switching between disconnected systems, your entire business works together in real time. Your team moves faster, your data stays accurate, and you can actually focus on growing your business.

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17:09Alex Kirkland:One other question. Here's one for you. Go on. Is there a chance that one of the three goalkeepers changes? If Joanne Garcia has a great season? No, because I think that De La Fuente is so committed to an ICM on as the number one, seemingly to Alex Romero as the number three, and David Rye's brilliant, so he's in there on form. I feel almost like whatever John Garcia does this season, I don't think he gets in. I think maybe you make that change after the World Cup and then he gets in. My feeling with John Garcia... But only because of the stuff that you've said about Romero being seen as being so important to the squad.

17:41Exactly.

17:43Alex Kirkland:And also, in a way, this is going to sound very dismissive and I don't intend it to, but sod it. What's the point of doing it for the third goalkeeper? No, he's there for the vibes, basically. And he's still got to be able to play. And obviously, Romero is a very good goalkeeper. And I actually think with Joan Garcia, I think two things, right? I think with Joan Garcia, it's almost all or nothing. If you're bringing him in, it's because he's actually going to play. If he's not going to play, then what's the point? And the other thing is, and whisper this, and don't let Barcelona fans hear me and get upset about it, or maybe even Espanol fans, I think we've got a little bit overexcited about Joan Garcia.

18:17Alex Kirkland:Maybe. I mean, he was the best keeper in the league last season. He was, by far. By far. And in that sense, I would like him. But what I mean by this is the idea that he is definitely Spain's goalkeeper. I don't think he is. I don't think he's... I don't look at him now and say he is absolutely better than United. I mean, look... I don't look at him now... I'm biased. I think David Wright should play, obviously, because I see a lot of him and I think he's brilliant. Not a lot, Robert. And I think United is fine. and he plays on seniority more than anything else. I also think he doesn't make mistakes apart from that hilariously good one against Real Oviedo, which unfortunately was ruled out for offside.

18:55In terms of the midfield, it's a shame that Pedri's not here for many reasons, but partly because we still need to work out what this midfield is going to look like when everyone's available because you've got Fabian, Zubimendi, Mikko Marino, who seems to kind of have this sort of number 10 position sewn up. Presumably it's going to be Fabian and Zubimendi at the base. in at least one of these two games. I mean, you've got Pablo Barrios there, you've got Fornals, who's playing in a double pivot for Betis.

19:21Alex Kirkland:Yeah, I feel like, I mean, you're looking at squad and we're talking about the four or five names to go in. I think you might have just named two that might fall out, Barrios and Fornals. I think, I certainly don't think Fornals makes it in the end, but we'll see, maybe, maybe. And I actually have really liked Fornals playing deeper with Betis. Yeah, me too. Than playing further forward. I really like him there. And I must admit, I'm surprised by how much I like him there. I think the shape of the midfield I think you're right, it's going to be 2 plus 1 but depending on who those 3 are, if one of them isn't Marino, then the great thing about Marino is he allows you to play 2 plus 1 and actually also play 3 because he has the intelligence and the shall I use an Englishism?

20:01Alex Kirkland:the engine to be able to do both things to be able to drop into both places and I think that's really valuable which is something that maybe Dani Olomar doesn't do now Olomar will come in and play but he won't come in and how do I define the difference? He won't come in and occupy the space. He won't come in and solidify. What he'll do is come in and keep the ball and use the ball. And actually that does help solidify as well. I realise the two things are not mutually exclusive. And I think the shape probably will be Mourinho in front of people. I think it's not impossible that Mourinho occasionally even plays as an out-and-out false nine.