Matchday 37 Preview

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1:34Sid Lowe:Hi everybody, welcome to this week's Preview Pod. It's me, Al, with Cid's this morning. Hello Cid, how are you? Good morning Al, how did I get on last week? Do you know what Cid, confession time. Normally, while you and Phil record the Preview Pod, I make a note of each prediction, so we've got them there to look at as the weekend unfolds. last week i was actually doing other things while you were recording wasn't listening never went back and checked so i've got no idea maybe a listener can get in touch okay 10 out of 10 100 records incredible quite a turnaround well done but no look as you flop yeah i'm what sorry for any small children listening um i'm not making fun of you anymore uh ever since me and Kittrow had to do the predictions and we did even worse than than you and we're talking match day 37 in La Liga all the games being played on Sunday nine of them being played simultaneously one being played two and a quarter hours later and we'll get to that in a second first seat just a quick reflection on the end of midweek match day 36 we had three games yesterday which we haven't discussed the other games were talked about on the bonus pod for patrons with you and Kittrow but last night we had Valencia won, Rio won, Girona won, Real Sociedad won and at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid 2, Real Oviedo 0.

2:57Sid Lowe:Now, I mean, the real excitement is at the bottom of the table in the relegation battle, which continues to be absolutely fascinating and some big results in midweek. Rio are now safe, mathematically, which is good news for Kittrow. Sid, both you and I were at the Bernabeu. I was there for ESPN. You were there along with many, many, many fans of Real Oviedo. I can't tell you how many Oviedo shirts I saw outside the grounds before the game and inside, of course, as well. The fans making a lot of noise. It was great to see that. We won't go too much into your experience of being there as a fan because you did a diary for patrons over at patreon.com forward slash TSFP.

3:35Sid Lowe:You sent me about 56 voice notes telling us about your experience. And at some point, I will put it together. It's a bank holiday here in the city of Madrid today at San Isidro, so the kids are off school. It's quite a busy day, but I'll get around to that at some point. We do need to talk about quite incredible stuff from Kylian Mbappé after the game. Mbappé, who was whistled really loudly by the crowd. Now, normally, Sid, you and I are all over the post-match pressers and mix zone at the Bernabeu for work. Last night, it just so happens, you were there as a fan, and I had to go on air for ESPN immediately on the final whistle, So I wasn't in Arbeloa's presser and I wasn't in the mix zone.

4:15Sid Lowe:And then I was told all about what had happened. Mbappe, who, like I say, had been loudly whistled, came out in the mix zone and said that he'd been told by Arbeloa. He said, the coach has told me I'm the fourth choice forward behind Gonzalo, Mastantuono and Vinny. He then, you know, the usual platterstutes, I'm not angry. It's the coach's decision. You have to respect the coach's decision. I'm, you know, I'll have to work hard to win back my place. But those words, the coach told me, I'm the fourth choice forward, were explosive. They were then, minutes later, put to Alvaro Abelhoa in his news conference.

4:53Sid Lowe:Abelhoa, who hadn't heard this and was sort of learning of this for the first time, I think, in the presser. Abelhoa denied it, said, I didn't say that. He must have misunderstood me. He must have misinterpreted what I said. He said it was the logical thing to do, given the fact that he hadn't played in the Clásico, to start on the bench in this one. We've got another game on Sunday, he said. He'll start then for sure. I mean, that choice, the fact that Mbappe, I don't think that he says anything by accident. I think he's a very smart guy who chooses his words carefully. What's your analysis of what Mbappe said?

5:25Sid Lowe:And then our belowist response as well. My analysis of this, Al, is it's all our fault.

5:29Alex Kirkland:It's the media's fault. Please do tell us how it's all of our fault, how this crisis at Real Madrid is purely because the media is out to get you and it's all a conspiracy. That's my analysis of this. Thank you very much. Off we go. I mean, I just think, you know, it's another indication of something that we've been saying, which is that the departure of Xabi Alonso was seen by some people as a lost opportunity.

5:51Sid Lowe:I think Mbappé was clearly one of those. I mean, I should say he said he said that again in the mixed zone as well. He was asked about Xabi. He basically said, I really like Xabi. Everybody knows that. He said in the first half of the season, I'll quote it because I've got it here. In the first half of the season, we had a playing style, a structure, and we lost it. That hurts.

6:11Alex Kirkland:Yeah. And I think what this tells you is that some of those divisions that we've been talking about were there already. Some of them were created by the departure of Alonso and some of them were exacerbated by the departure of Alonso, which then, of course, become exacerbated even more when things start to fall apart under Álvaro Álvaro. Now, for what it's worth, I think Álvaro Álvaro is entirely in the right yesterday. Yesterday. And Mbappé is entirely in the wrong. Álvaro quite rightly says, if you weren't fit enough to even be in the squad four days ago, how do you start tonight? And Mbappé, I agree with you.

6:40Alex Kirkland:I think he's bright. I don't think he says things by accident. That said, I think he's done a few things recently that suggest he's not quite as bright as we first thought, or at least he is more provocative and destructive than we first thought, perhaps is a better way of putting it. And for whatever reason, he's decided to go down that route. I think this tells us something about the division. I think this comes in the context of something very, very, very important, which is that Florentino Pedeth the night before had said that Embape is our best player and Vinicius is one of our best players.

7:08Alex Kirkland:It's not the same thing. I think it's feeling increasingly like the division between those two players, which I am not even convinced is about a frontal division between those two players. I think it's about different postures and a different sense of who you back if you think that these two players don't really work together. And I think all of the evidence so far is that they don't work together. Now, that's not to say in the future that with the right manager, with the right structure that it couldn't work, but it doesn't. And I think what Emma Paye did yesterday is very, very incendiary. I think what Arbala responded to him was the response of a manager who's deeply disappointed, who has also, in truth, been disappointing because the results haven't been good with him.

7:47Alex Kirkland:I think what Emma Paye says about the structure is broadly true, actually. And I think what it tells you is that there's a real problem and that this is lots and lots of people pointing the finger at each other as things start to collapse. Now, what happens, obviously, is this process begins at the end of an era, in this case, a managerial era or a season or a sense of this is a project that is now going to be ripped up and started again. Of course, these kind of problems don't necessarily need to continue into next season if it's dealt with, if it's handled and if it's managed in the right way.

8:21But right now, as it falls apart, to use the obvious metaphor, as the ship starts to sink, people start to abandon and point the fingers at whose fault it was, who it was that didn't see that absolutely enormous iceberg.

8:33Alex Kirkland:And so you can have people, shall I murder this metaphor a bit more? You can have people playing the violins on the deck as it goes down and saying there's nothing to see here and there's no problem here. But mostly you have people trying to save themselves and trying to blame others. And that is what is happening. and that tells you something about the divisions, but the divisions are exacerbated, of course, by the situation they're in. If they had somehow got through this and were winning, then some of those divisions would have been mitigated. Some of those divisions wouldn't have come out and this wouldn't look as bad.

9:02Alex Kirkland:But internally, there would still be some of these fault lines. But again, I think the most important conclusion is to say that it's the media's fault.

9:11Sid Lowe:Okay, good. Yeah, we listened to Mbappe's words and we communicated them to our audience. Okay, let's move on to Matchday 37. But that was, like I say, pretty explosive stuff from Mbappé. So I had to start the pod talking about it. On Sunday, Seeds, which game are you going to be attending?

9:29Alex Kirkland:Well, I mean, we're going to be attending Sevilla Real Madrid, which I'll be honest with you, I thought was the right decision. With the results in this week, it may well not be the right decision because Sevilla's 3-2 victory against Villarreal puts them on 43 points and puts them very much in a position of almost safety. In fact, I think it's plausible that Sevilla lose their remaining two games and still survive. I think it's plausible that 43 is enough anyway. Had they not won that game, and I know you all know how a league table works, they'd be on 40 points, but let me explain what that would have meant.

9:59Alex Kirkland:From 19th upwards, it would have gone 39, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40. And Sevilla would very, very definitely have been it. And that, of course, is huge, a club that big. As it turns out, I think the game of the weekend is Mallorca-Levante. And do you know what I'm going to do now, Al? Do you know what I'm going to do now? Yeah. I'm going to break my own rules. You know that one of the things I rail against, one of the things I rage against, is the use of the word final for big games. But I'll tell you what, this is about as close. This is about as close as it gets. I'm going to say this now. The team that loses this game goes down.

10:36Alex Kirkland:The team that loses this game goes down. And I think if they draw, they both go down.

10:42Sid Lowe:Yeah, it's massive. It's massive. But anyway, you're going to be at Sevilla. I'm going to be at Atleti Girona commentating the game with Kittro for the La Liga World feed. What a treat that's going to be. Yeah, I know.

10:53Alex Kirkland:And that turns out to be massive because Girona is still in trouble. Yeah. Although I think that's a lot of fun. I think the size floor is big for them though, don't you? Haven't commentated with Kittro for a long time.

11:02Sid Lowe:So looking forward to that. Anyway, let's run through these games. I've got them open here on my La Liga app. I think we'll go through just in more or less alphabetical order, because as I say, nine of the games are kicking off simultaneously. okay sit put your prediction hats on here we go i'm starting off with athletic club against celta

11:22Alex Kirkland:well do you know what i think these are two teams who've given up now um yeah um and it's weird that athletic have given up because they're only one point behind real softy dad um they're only four points behind getafe but you know and esto valverde said it after the the defeat against espanol he said this is inexplicable it's inexplicable how bad they are um so i think this is one of those where they just play it's a 3-3 draw this game actually no i can't i can't see athletic scoring three i can see celtic scoring three um uh what should we go for let's go for let's go for celtic to win 3-2 celtic to win 3-2 so that because the because

12:07Sid Lowe:the shackles are off, it sounds like it's going to be fun. I'm just going to make a note of these predictions. No, two-two.

12:14Alex Kirkland:I've changed mine. Two-two.

12:16Sid Lowe:So that we know what they were. Okay, so it's gone for a draw. Next up, the game that Kitra and I are going to be at, Atleti against Girona at the Metropolitan. Like you say, a big deal for Girona. For Atleti, this is the last home game for Antoine Griezmann.

12:30Alex Kirkland:Yeah, and I think that the quality of the Atletico Madrid side, the fact that it's a last home game, the fact that it actually does matter for them a little bit and the pressure that Girona are under. Three weeks ago, I'd have said Girona go there and they get something because, of course, we've seen that with Atletico playing a B team and all that sort of stuff. I think Atletico win this and I think it will be down to Girona, Elche on the final day, which really could be a final. Woof! Sid, you've let loose. You're just dropping finals left-right centre. Finals all over the place, but I'm going for Atletico home win.

13:07Alex Kirkland:I'm making a note of this one hour because, you know, I thought I should just in case. We're doubling up now, having not. Having allowed me to lie and pretend I got 10 out of 10 last week. Yeah.

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14:20Alex Kirkland:You don't wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's up big. And you definitely don't shave during the playoffs. When things are working, you don't change them. That's why when you drink Jägermeister, you drink it ice cold. Anything else? Well, that'd just be bad luck. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jägermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jägermeister liqueur, 35 % alcohol by volume. Imported by Mass Jägermeister, U.S. White Plains, New York.

14:50Sid Lowe:Next up, a team who are very much in trouble against one with European aspirations, Elche against Getafe. and very much a clash of style as well.

15:00Alex Kirkland:I mean, about as clear-cut a clash of style. And I also think, by the way, two managers who sort of don't like each other very much, partly because they're so wedded to the style, and partly because in Bordelassi's case, he really dislikes people pointing out the, shall I use the word that everyone's using these days, which I find baffling, the harem ball football of Getafe. When did we stop calling it shithousery? I preferred shithousery to harem ball.

15:22Sid Lowe:I think that's, well, I think it's not quite the same thing, I think. I think shithousery applies more to the kind of... I think harem ball is more how you play football. Shithousery is more the off-the-ball stuff. Do you know what I mean?

15:36Alex Kirkland:It's what the Spanish refer to as the other football, elodrom football, whereas harem ball is actually the football. It's just the way that you play it.

15:43Sid Lowe:I mean, look, I'm happy to be corrected, but I kind of... So, Xhidave are both.

15:49Alex Kirkland:They're both harem ball and shithousery. They're just bordelas, pure distilled bordelas. Do you know what? I think Elche are in trouble. And I think this finishes with a draw. And then Elche would have that incredible final on the final day.