Arsenal’s Old Trafford victory, Man City’s depth & Liverpool’s chaos

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1:10The Athletic FC.

1:19Toty football show today, big match day one verdicts. Gunners win at Old Trafford. City bring in a new Trafford. It's Kje Sarra Sarra at Liverpool. The Black Cats are feline fine, while Hammers' Mats Hermansen play more like Marilyn. And with Frank putting his stamp on Spurs, there's lots to talk about in this Totally Football Show.

1:52totally football show all the way live for you on a sunday night on youtube all the way through the season it's very exciting today it's sunday the 17th of august we've got daniel story here with us hey Daniel good evening James all right Daniel good evening to you Matt Davis Adams fresh back from Stanford Bridge back from Stanford Bridge not very fresh but yeah okay Adrian Clark is in as well howdy yeah Adrian you were all over Man United Arsenal tough watch okay Adrian you're also now a YouTuber yeah in your own ride I know it's exciting isn't it it is tell us about your I can't believe it. Just thought, let's have a go this summer.

2:33Let's make a channel. So, yeah, I've just been talking about Arsenal and lots of people seem to be watching, which is brilliant. Wow. So, hopefully, it doesn't have to be exclusively Arsenal, but at the moment, that's where we're at. I'm so excited because we're going to be getting you on, well, the Arsenal performance against Man United and also the Man United performance against Arsenal, right? Daniel, of course, is Chief Football Writer of The Eye. Daniel, where were you focused this weekend? I watched Forrest earlier in Manchester United. Arsenal actually went to Morecambe on Saturday. Nice.

3:07A parody of myself went to a postponed match on the second weekend of the season. But yeah, we've heard on Sunday evening, as we record, that their takeover has gone through. So the headline is Morecambe FC have been saved, which is great. Excellent. Well, there you go. Start off with a little bit of good news. Matt Davis-Adams. And on the subject of good news, You're now the host of the Athletic FC's totally football show rivaling Friday preview podcast. Different days, same theme. Yeah. You know, there's some cross-pollination there. Right. We have Tim Spears on the debut show on Friday. Yeah.

3:44Yeah. But no, yeah, do check it out every Friday. Looking forward to the big game. Excellent. In the Premier League, which disappointed massively this weekend. But yeah, hopefully better to come. Okay. Throughout the season. Which one of the previews was most befuddled by the events that ensued over the last couple of days? I think we were trying to big up Manchester United versus Arsenal, whilst all the time acknowledging that this was the biggest game of the weekend maybe 10, 15 years ago. And now is a game of the weekend, which is steeped in history, if not quality, certainly on the evidence of what we saw on Sunday.

4:16There was lots of other nice things the weekend. It was good to welcome the Premier League back. Daniel, what was the most significant thing for you over the last couple of days? It was Sunderland winning. I think everybody as a relative Premier League neutral is wanting one, two or three of the promoted clubs to put up a better fight than last season. And Sunderland were bestowed with a fixture that looked better and better as the game went on and an opponent that looked worse and worse. But they were everything we wanted the opening day to be for them. It was, you know, stadium light was rocking.

4:47Some of the new signings looked brilliant at driving forward and carrying the ball. Granit Jacker was holding up midfield. They scored three in the second half. So, yeah, that felt like the Premier League needed that as well as all of us. Excellent. Adrian, there was so much to enjoy, wasn't there? There was new faces, new music on Sky Sports, some great goals. It was brilliant. Yeah, I did co-coms on Liverpool, Bournemouth. Very exciting game. Very exciting game to work on. Obviously, there was a real stain in that game, an awful incident involving Semenyo and the horrible racist abuse that was aimed in his direction.

5:23But I thought it was an absolute triumph for his character and for his ability to sort of park that for the rest of the game and go out and, you know, single-handedly, you know, torment Liverpool for long spells of that game. It's a brilliant match. And yeah, I kind of hope that the rest of that Premier League weekend would follow with as much excitement. It didn't quite live up to it, but it was a great start. OK, a weekend that saw innumerable heartfelt tributes to Diogo Jota, not least at the Anfield game. Also, the Wolves-Man City match as well. A lot of really spectacular knee slides, which Duncan Alexander on Thursday was suggesting were very much a thing for the winter, but not according to this weekend.

6:05Also, and this is one thing I like about the new season, it's the first use of the new year. So as of this season, 2026 is now a reality. and I find that exciting when you first start talking about the season 25-26 it sounds future everything's viewed through the prism of the World Cup right isn't it so and so needs to move because it's a World Cup yeah he'll be desperate to impress because it's a World Cup year you want to avoid injury because it's a World Cup year so yeah 2026 big for that but I mean it feels like it sort of progressively got worse the weekend as it went on didn't it from Friday through to Sunday but some brilliant goals and now this podcast I mean, TBC, but sure.

6:46But yeah, I mean, some fantastic goals. That Rinders scoop pass, that was the first kind of, oh, moment of the season, wasn't it? Yeah, plenty to enjoy. And there's a many solo run, reminiscent of some other classic ones of yesteryear. Just briefly, before we actually get into the games, on the basis of the 2.3 % of the season we've had so far, who's it going to be a long campaign for, Daniel? I think in our preview shows, we said that if promoted clubs were going to kick on and show something more than they have in the last couple of years, then the triumvirate of Wolves, West Ham and Brentford were the three clubs most at risk.

7:26And they lost by an aggregate of 10-1 this weekend. Wolves will slightly forgive because they played a brilliant Manchester City team that suddenly looks like, you know, oh yeah, remember us. but West Ham and Brentford were both appalling and there is already like it's the ultimate damnation with faint praise from co-coms they say well you know it's too early to be making snap judgments and then go into absolutely laying into the team that they're watching Pat Nevin did it in typically eloquent fashion on Five Live on Saturday afternoon about West Ham and he's absolutely right because it might only be one game it might only be 2.3 % but if West Ham keep playing like that they'll go down so things need to change And also, it's not just one game with West Ham, is it?

8:07It was the start of last season under Lopetegui and then the second half of last season, and that was a continuation of that. So, yeah, I mean, you could say Burnley as well, based on what we saw on Saturday, but their expectations are quite different to West Ham. So, yeah, West Ham for me. All right, results this afternoon, Sunday, as we record. It was 1-0 to the Arsenal at Old Trafford. Intriguingly, the Gunners lost seven victories at that ground. and have all been by that same scoreline. Elsewhere, Palace continued their excellent form, holding world champions Chelsea to a goalless draw. There were big wins for Man City, 4-0 at Wolves.

8:43Spurs 3-0 against Burnley. Sunderland also 3-0 against West Ham. And Forrest 3-1 on Sunday against Brentford. Liverpool 4-2 winners against Bournemouth, conceding two goals for the third game in a row, including the pre-season matches, and thus needing late, late strikes from Chiesa and Salah to secure the three points. And there were draws for Brighton and Fulham and Villa and Newcastle. And of course, yes, Chelsea and Palace. All right. Leeds going to be up against Everton on Monday night at Ellen Road, which could see a possible Toffees debut for Jack Grealish and maybe also for Leeds, Dominic Calvert-Lewin against the club he's just left.

9:26So that'll be exciting. Anyway, that's to come. Hopefully it bucks the downward trend that Matt was just referencing. Let's begin, though, with the nadir so far, which was Man United-Arsenal. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. Rice delivers right under the bar and in!

9:51Calafiori right on the line! A magic Arsenal set-piece! Riccardo Calafiore there from the Declan Rice corner. Arsenal winning. But if it wasn't for the three points dropped and the fact that he generally seems quite a miserable guy, you'd say Ruben Amorim would be the happier man at the end of this game. Would you, Adrian? Oh, happy with the performance. Yeah, Manchester United deserved probably to win the game, didn't they? This was not a good performance from Arsenal. But if we start with United, yeah, they were more aggressive, which was good. they made life much more uncomfortable for Arsenal than they have done in recent visits to Old Trafford.

10:33Umbermo and Cunha have obviously upgraded them. And I think both had some really good moments in the game. I mean, they were finding Umbermo a lot, particularly in that first half. I still think the central midfield is garbage, really. Without the ball, I just think that it's so easy to play against. It's crazy. Even Arsenal playing, I would say this was a three or four out of ten Arsenal performance. Even playing at that level, sliced through their midfield on numerous occasions. You think how many times Erdogan got the ball in the little pockets with space to run forward. So they just didn't make best use of it.

11:09So there's work to do, but they look punchier this time around, don't they? Amazing stat. The producer Charlie mentioned, Matt, 22 shots for Man United, which is the most the Red Devils have had against Arsenal since they beat them 8-2. Yeah, and you can take comfort from that and you can say that David Rea played well and Bermot and Kunio, when they settle into their new team, then maybe they'll be able to hit the target rather than hit the goalkeeper or shoot wide. But it's the midfield that's the issue, right? This is what we were speaking about on the preview from The Athletic on Friday, that they've spent£200 million on attacking players.

11:44We also talked about it, just to mention, on our Thursday. OK, great. A day early. But yeah, we're in the final year of Casemiro's massive, bountiful contract, aren't we? And he probably wasn't the biggest issue for United today. But certainly at that age, he made things much easier for Arsenal to kind of work around him, I think. And it does feel strange that that's been so neglected, that area of the pitch for them, whether they think that Ugarte is still going to come good at some point. Well, I thought Ugarte put in a truly dreadful substitute performance. in what was a promising display for Manchester United overall.

12:22But I do think without the ball, I think there are still big improvements to make for United. You worry about the midfield. You worry perhaps about the man who took Onana's place between the posts, Ruben Amarim, confirming before the game that both Onana and Hoyland were fit but were not going to be taking any part in the match against the Gunners who won with a goal which I think Bayern dear, by popular consent, had some culpability for. Yeah, definitely. I mean, they were probably asking for a foul, but there wasn't a foul there. I think Saliba was there. They were sort of all bundling each other.

12:56Saliba was actually maybe fouled himself. Yeah, he messed it up. Not in Gary Lineker sense, I hope. Definitely not, no. But yeah, Califuri couldn't miss. And Califuri, actually, I was pleased with the selection because I think inside both boxes, he's got the height. But he's also a buccaneering spirit, isn't he? And I think that he sort of did take Arsenal upfield quite nicely in that first half in particular. And, yeah, he's an exciting player to watch. He's quite fun, Califuria. And it was nice to see him score again. All of his goals for Arsenal have come on the road. So, yeah, it was a set-piece goal.

13:31Surprise, surprise for Arsenal. But, yeah, in open play, Arsenal have to pass the ball much better. They have to be less flustered, really, in possession. I thought they were surprisingly shaky, put under some duress by Manchester United. Why do you think that was? Was it United's aggression from the start of the game? Definitely in part. Early season rustiness, I think. They just weren't really at it. Felt a bit sorry for Victor Jokeres. First time he didn't have a shot in a league game since he played for Coventry. So it goes back, I think, 69 league appearances. He's had at least one shot on going this game.

14:12He did nothing fail his way. He fed off scraps, really. So, yeah, you're sort of scratching around for positives from Arsenal's performance. You're probably looking at David Raya. Actually, producer Charlie disagrees with me on this, but I actually thought Zubimendi played quite well. I think he was one of Arsenal's better performers. He felt that Zubimendi was the biggest disappointment, and what was? No, I didn't. Yeah? Yeah, I just didn't. I just thought he passed it nice and quickly. He brought Erdogan into the game a lot, broke up play quite well, didn't really gave it away. I just thought he was pretty good.

14:47But the bar was low today. Arsenal didn't play great. OK. All the new faces on display, Daniel, were part of the attraction of this fixture between Kunjan and Bömer and Zubomendi and Goykeres and Cesc. What did you make of the various debuts? I thought of the crop I thought Mbremo was probably the best certainly in how he managed to pick up space in the first half find those pockets my concern for Manchester United is they had 22 shots as you mentioned earlier which is the most in a long time against Arsenal but the total XG was only 1.6 which very basically suggests that they had lots of shots but not very many big chances and they didn't have a single big chance as defined by Opta And I just worry, maybe Sesko changes that when he settles in and they will hope so.

15:38I just worry that with Bruno in that position, the temptation for him, and I fully get it, is he's used to playing higher at the pitch. So Manchester United having lots of the ball and lots of shots, but not creating big chances. If you're Bruno Fernandes, you think, well, all I need to do is go 15 yards higher at the pitch here and I can be the one to create a big chance. And he probably would. But that then leaves Manchester United being broken on. and Casemiro, if he's going to be first choice, is not the guy to be a one-man midfield. And what disappointed me most about Arsenal actually was how they didn't make the most of those counter-attacking opportunities.

16:09The run or the pass just seems slightly off or slightly slowing down the move. If a team gets that right, and we watch what Bournemouth did at Anfield on Friday night, which we'll come on to, if you've got Semenyo playing as he did at Anfield against that Manchester United team with Bruno caught high up the pitch, they'll lose 2-3-0 because it's so easy to slice through. That's my concern. Maybe Sesko, that presence in the box. It felt like a lot for the lot of the game, Manchester United had not enough players in central midfield and also no players in the penalty box. I was trying to kind of work out where all their players were.

16:41Again, maybe Sesko changes that. He's certainly a presence, but he'll need to be. Maybe one or two other players might change that, whether it's Belaber out of Brighton or Adam Wharton from Crystal Palace or somebody else for the midfield. Early doors anyway for Man United. but three points for Arsenal. Sunday's other games were both played at 2 o 'clock. Chelsea's goalless draw with Crystal Palace and Forest's 3-1 win against Brentford. Matt, you were at Sanford Bridge for the goalless draw, which did see a brilliant free kick from Eberici Ezi, which was disallowed for reasons. Can you explain those reasons?

17:18Not familiar with Law 13. Pretty obvious, isn't it? Apparently, and I wasn't until Darren England came on the mic, which is the first time I've been in a stadium to hear the referee talk, which was kind of fun. But Martin Gurhey, who was trying to move a Chelsea player out of the way, ended up getting too close to the original wall. So you have this thing nowadays where there's a wall here. Opposition players can't be too close to it. They often form a separate wall. In trying to create a bit of space for the shot, he ended up pushing himself too close to the Chelsea wall. So he was within a metre of it, which is why the goal was disallowed.

17:50Initially, we assumed it was for a foul by Gurhey. for him pushing Cossado encroaching on Chelsea's wall which is designed to stop the free kick I didn't know that was a thing no I mean you suspect that we'll never see it again in a Premier League game it was a real one-off but yeah it was a very very strange thing I mean it saved Robert Sanchez blushes because initially when I looked at it I thought wow he's hit that really hard nobody would save that but it was straight out the Chelsea goalkeeper and he should have saved it it was a foul though wasn't it I think it probably was the right decision yeah I'm not sure it was a foul but he was definitely too close to the wall so for one way or another The goal was correctly disallowed, I think.

18:25But yeah, unfortunate for Palace, who were excellent in the game. Really, really impressive. Yeah, you know, they've been on this fantastic run from the back end of last season, obviously going through to the FA Cup final and the Community Shield. But just a brilliantly organised team with one real flair player and one creative fulcrum in Wharton. And obviously, as you mentioned, James, both have been linked with moves away. But yeah, hugely impressed with Palace all over the pitch from Matata to Munoz to Goethe as a just fantastic. Probably will feel that they could and should have won this game, even though Chelsea had all the ball.

19:04They were a bit toothless in attack today. And as is going to be the case, I think throughout the season, at the start of the season, people will say, well, this is because Chelsea haven't had a preseason. And later we get into the season, they'll say it's because they went all the way in the Club World Cup and now they're tired. So, yeah, excuses at the ready. I would say they definitely missed having either Levi Colwell or Tosin punching some passes into midfield and helping start things from there. Cole Palmer, pretty anonymous today in this game. And, yeah, Palace just really effective at shutting down Chelsea and will be disappointed that they didn't win the game.

19:36But for what has been one of the most one-sided fixtures in Premier League history, I think Chelsea won 13 on the spin against Palace. Now they've failed to beat them three times in succession. So a bit of a redressing of the balance there. Wow. Colin Miller pointing out, as you were referencing, Crystal Palace's last 10 games have included Arsenal away, Liverpool away, Chelsea away, Spurs away, an FA Cup semi-final against Villa, an FA Cup final against Manchester City and a Community Shield against Liverpool. And in those 10 games, they are unbeaten and have won two trophies. Oliver Glasner, ladies and gentlemen.

20:10Daniel, were you able to see much of this game? I watched extended highlights afterwards, yeah, between the two games. Yeah, I mean, in terms of Glasner, I just think that the greatest achievement of today was managing to deflect all attention away. You're kind of dealing with the game in its own bubble outside of all the noise around transfers and the emotion around the UEFA and Kass verdicts. It sounds like Eber Echeze was pretty close to not playing today. It sounds like there are still noises around Mark Gehi. and even if he does stay, I think he's probably made it quite clear he would leave on a free next summer.

20:46That's not easy to deal with as a manager, particularly when you're a manager who you see the videos of Glas in the dressing room. That togetherness and that spirit is pretty much what this is founded on as well as some pretty decent players. So to manage to kind of park all that to one side, fair play to Ebro Ocezi for playing and playing well because there are other players in the Premier League who are linked with moves that haven't happened, who haven't played this weekend. So good on him for doing that. It did look at full time a bit kind of thank you and goodbye, dare I say, which is a shame because they are half the team without a Barat-Chezze.

21:22It's going to be really difficult to replace that kind of creativity and that kind of Crystal Palace spirit, that kind of you are one of us, we're all together. You just don't get that the same, I don't think, when you buy a player with a week left in a transfer window. Right. Where do you think Eze might be going? Arsenal and Spurs of late? increasingly? Yeah, I doubt both. But yeah, I mean Spurs seem to have pretty obviously stolen a march. When we heard that he might well not be playing on Sunday, it was because of a deal agreed with Spurs. I don't know if there's a hitch in that or we don't know if Eze would have just preferred to play the game, not be seen to have pulled out from his potential last Palace appearance and then the move go through.

22:06It might well be that it gets done in the next two or three days. he will go with fans blessing which is very rare when a player leaves for a player of his quality leaves for what 50 60 million he's a fabulous footballer and he will be missed but he's gone about things the right way he's a brilliant player he's absolutely outstanding and if he does go to Spurs he's not what Arsenal are missing yeah would that not be perfect for Arsenal I would love him at Arsenal I think 99 out of 100 Arsenal fans would love him there I think his shirt would sell out I don't know if this is a silly question but the one that wouldn't, is there a reason why you think?

22:40I think the reason at the moment Arsenal haven't gone in for him is that they think more of an out-and-out winger is what they need rather than a central attacking midfield player. Now, he can play on the left. We know that and he can drift in and make things happen. And if he played for Arsenal at Old Trafford today, I'm pretty sure that on those counter-attacks, he would have made better decisions and he would have split that defence and he would have been maybe the match winner. He's sensational. And I would love to see him in an Arsenal shirt. There's a feeling that Mikel Arteta and the board are potentially worried about blocking pathways for Ethan Wan-Aeri, who's just signed a new contract, plays as a number 10, brilliant prospect.

23:22And of course, Max Dowman, 15-year-old, who's just a phenomenon. He also really plays in that same number 10 position. So if that's where they see as a playing, I get why they wouldn't go for him. But potentially losing him to Spurs would be pretty gutting, I think, for a lot of Arsenal fans. I think he would be a big upgrade, even if he was to play on the left. I just think he would make a difference because of his quality. All right, well, it would be pretty gutting for Palace fans to see him go wherever his destination is. Daniel, Nottingham Forest against Brentford then. What a lovely start to the season for Forest.

23:58Tell us. Yeah, it was. It was more dominant than any supporter could have wished for. It's been a slightly odd pre-season for Forrest, not least because they only scored one goal in seven games and drew five of them nil-nil. And then this week we had the interview by Nuno with Sky Sports in which he kind of just said, it's really worrying. I wanted players in early. They know I like getting players in early. We had them last year when we went to Spain. We haven't had any of that this year. We're miles off it. And then on the opening day, everyone sort of goes, don't worry about it. Real business has started now.

24:30The quick explanation for that is I think Nuno played two up top. in all of pre-season because he wanted Forrest to be able to be more dominant on the ball this season. He thinks that maybe they got worked out a little bit in the second half of last season and by going back to last season's formation but being more comfortable on the ball, Forrest looked better than last season quite frankly albeit against a very weak Brentford team and I went back and looked because Forrest had 55 % of the ball today. The last time they won a league game with 55 % of the ball or more was against West Brom in the Championship in April 2022.

25:03So it has always been about soak-up pressure and counter. And what Nuno wants, and with the players they've bought, he wants to be able to be comfortable on the ball because he's got, in Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, two of, I think, two of the top 20 players in the country on the ball. And both were absolutely magnificent to date. For those who haven't seen Elliot Anderson's kind of intercepto pass assist for the third goal. This is Matt Davis Anderson's favourite moment of the weekend. I actually made Jimbo come and sit by my laptop to watch it. And Jimbo, you were wondering whether a pass can be rifled and if ever there was this was it.

25:41He has got to be in the England squad, hasn't he, Elliot Anderson? My goodness me. Having conducted things for the under-21s of the Euros he is just sensational. Daniel mentions pre-season there. I had the misfortune to commentate on five of Forest's pre-season games and they were absolutely atrocious and the whole mood around the club felt very different to how it did 12 months ago but he has been the standout throughout okay earning the plaudits as well in this game was Chris Wood who scored a brace he's now scored more non-penalty goals in the Premier League than anyone since Nuno took charge at the City ground Dan Andoy fresh in from Bologna he was on the end of I think Gibbs White's lofted cross brilliant assist as well yeah and yeah and Doy who got the winner for Bologna in the Coppa Italia final, right?

26:29And all of a sudden with Amari Hutchinson as well, you go from kicking off... James McAtee. Yeah, interesting to see where McAtee's going to play. But I think with having lost Alanga and now it looks like Callum Hudson-Odoi is going to extend his contract rather than leave at the end of the season. It seems like Forrest have gone from being depleted in wide areas to almost having an embarrassment of riches. But I mean, other than West Ham, I think Brentford is the team you want at home on the opening day of the season with, you know, Keith Andrews might turn out to be great, but he is the guy who went for the MK Don's job a couple of months ago and didn't get it.

27:00And he was a set-piece coach last season and they conceded a goal after six minutes of this game from a corner, so that's suboptimal, I would suggest. Daniel? The other thing Matt talks about, the rotation, and Forrest were knackered towards the end of last season. They were running in treacle. And they do have the Europa League this season. They will have eight group games. I think what playing with more of the ball allows you to do and Adrian probably is more into the tactical side of this than I am. But to my mind, playing with the ball makes it easier to rotate because players are, I think it's easier to bring a player in when you're used to playing with possession than when you're having to be perfect without possession because any lapse of concentration effectively can cost you a big chance against you.

27:44So I think what Nuno wants to be able to do is get them used to playing with more possession. And then if you do bring in, you know, McAtee for Gibbs-White or Hutchinson for Odoi or a new central midfielder for Ibrahima Sangare, who was excellent today. I think it just feels easier to do. And Forrest see themselves now, rightly or wrongly, as a team that can dominate against weaker teams in the league. And Brentford seems to be one of those weaker teams. So for various reasons, this felt like a pretty important afternoon at the City ground. As Matt says, there was some negativity, but early goal and suddenly everyone takes a breath.

28:18And some of the kind of one-touch play between Gibbs, Wyatt and Anderson and Hudson-Odoi on that left-hand side was like, it was football that Forest didn't produce last season. Because last season was all about three passes from our own box to the opposition box. This was infinitely more pass and move than Forest have done in years, basically, with the caveat that Brentford were absolutely terrible. And Keith Andrews is going to have to, he's obviously going to have to improve, but Brentford are also going to have to support him. because their attackers today were aged 20, 22, 24, 24. I think they've got about 65 Premier League starts between them and Lewis Potter is about 55 of those.

29:00They looked so raw. They looked spooked. Kelleher looked a bit spooked on the ball. The wing-backs didn't look right. Coyote and Rico Henry. Henry was better, but they just looked like it. They looked like a newly promoted team, actually. They looked like a team who looked overawed by the level, which is pretty worrying when you've been in this Premier League for four or five years. Well, huge opening day win then for Nottingham Forest. Next up, let's look at another team that had a potentially hugely significant home win this weekend, the Blackhats.

29:35Accenture is working together with the NFL to drive international growth by evaluating markets, developing audience insights, and creating new ways to engage fans in cities around the world. The NFL is building a global game, and Accenture is helping make that vision a reality by striking the right balance between what makes the NFL beloved in America and tapping into the passions and preferences that make each market unique. Accenture, the official business and technology consulting partner of the NFL. Learn more at Accenture.com slash NFL. Hi, I'm Nick, co-host of The Best One Yet. You optimize your workouts, your portfolios, and that rando startup idea that hit you in the middle of the shower.

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30:49This is the Totally Football Show. Part of the Athletic FC podcast network. The Athletic is the only place you can read articles by Daniel Taylor, Amy Lawrence, Phil Hay, James Pearce, Oli Kay, and the very best football writers around. Totally Football Show European Edition is out. First thing on Tuesday, first one of the new season. We've got James Horncastle in, Julian Laurent, Paul Ballou, Seb Stafford-Blo, Ligue 1 discussing the opening weekend there. and in La Liga, where Marcus Rashford made his debut for Barcelona. In Germany, there was the Super Cup. Luis Diaz scoring for Bayern as they dispatched Stuttgart.

31:30Anyway, there'll be all that kind of chat on Tuesday morning. You should mention as well that with the return of the Euros show, we're now at four shows a week because we've now got this new Totally Extra show, the first of which went out on Saturday, but you can listen to whatever you want because it's completely not in any way connected with the week's events. It's just a bit of chat about stuff. Super Mario was the talking point. Super Mario Balotelli, Adrian, was the big talking point this weekend. In and around that, there were some other important discussions. That was amazing, yeah. Do you think?

32:06Have a listen, Adrian. Perhaps you'll enjoy it. You know, a bit of pasta chat, some nostalgia. They were just talking about things that make us happy. Is that wrong? I don't know. Check it out anyway, perhaps, or don't. Mario Balotelli's 35. I know. Oh, man. Why, do you think that's old? Yeah. I mean, it's older than he was, but he's been a thing for a while, hasn't he? I know, I know, but just, I don't know, footballer's age is always something that depresses me. That's what Matt's saying. Yeah, yeah. Well, we were talking about Harry Maguire. I shocked you with Harry Maguire, having been shocked myself in the past.

32:42Let's talk about Sunderland, one of the big winners this weekend. A team that hadn't had a Premier League win, hadn't had a Premier League match in a long time, but hadn't had a Premier League win for a significant time before even that. Coming up with a mighty 3-0 thumping of West Ham on Saturday afternoon. Glorious pre-match display at the Roker end. I don't know. I wasn't aware of the legend of the Lampton Worm. Were you aware of the Lampton Worm? the Lambton women was getting stuck by a, I'm not sure who the knight in question is, but there was a big thing saying the man, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

33:23And you know what? They're not wrong. They thought they could. And they did. Sorry, I'm rambling here. How big a win was this for the Black Cats? The reason that it's so big is because of what happened to the three promoted teams last season and specifically their home form, right? Ipswich and Southampton won one home game each all season. and Sunderland are one from one. Now, it's a great fixture for them. But coming up at the stadium, they've got Brentford, Villa, Wolves, Everton. So potential for them to rack up some points early on. And you feel, it's easy to say this now that they've won 3-0 and Burnley got beaten, Leeds haven't played as we record.

34:00But you feel like with them, there's a stability in terms of the manager that the other two promoter clubs might not have or baggage at least. Daniel Farker and Scott Park have both been relegated from the Premier League before. I think received wisdom is that Daniel Farker is up against it in terms of keeping his job anyway. Whereas Regis Labris walks on air at Sunderland, right? And they kind of came up, not via the back door, because they were in the playoff places for ages, but their form tailed off dramatically toward the end of the season. They snuck through against Coventry, didn't they, in the semi-final and then were kind of second favourites against Sheffield United in the playoff finals.

34:32They've come up on good vibes and then massively invested in their squad without going away from the kind of model that's taken them to promotion in the first place, i.e. primarily signing young players, but then chucking in a bit of Granit Xhaka in there as well. And it all seems quite joined up to me from Sunderland. And yeah, one result, early days, etc. But the fact that they spent a load of money and then got three goals from their three key men last season can only bode well as well, I think. God love that, haven't you? One of those clubs outside of Newcastle, nobody's got a problem with Sunderland, right?

35:05Most people are pleased to see Sunderland back in the Premier League. I think especially after so long away and because they form a companion piece to the Magpies for most of us. So, yeah, it should this result, though, have a kind of Brentford-esque asterisk next to it because West Ham and the West Ham keeper played no small part in it. Mads Hermanson, Daniel. Yeah, I mean, every West Ham player, bar Jarrod Bowen, played a part in being terrible. Graham Potter sets up this 3-5-2 which asks a lot of the wing-backs in terms of creativity and they had loads of touches those wing-backs in the final third but barely did anything with it and as a complete contrast Tri Hume and Ray Nildo for Sunderland were playing as full-backs and didn't get forward anywhere near as much and yet were putting brilliant crosses into the box and creating chances if you play a 3-5-2 the wing-backs need to get high and your wide players ahead of them need to tuck in and create.

36:07And Jarrod Byrne was just a one-man attack. Nicholas Fulcroft barely impacted the game. For Sunderland, I thought Habib Diarro was really good because one thing they're going to miss, and Matt and Adrian know this from their EFL work, is Joe Bellingham last season was really good at picking up the ball and just driving straight forward. And Habib Diarro basically took on that mantle on Saturday. Every time he picked the ball, you just can't catch him as soon as he gets on the ball. The decision-making was slightly off and that will come, but he looked a really direct threat. And West Ham, yeah, they just had nothing.

36:40Look, the back three central defenders for West Ham cost£105 million, and two of the goals came from just not simple marking errors in the box. You can talk about managers needing time and managers setting things up wrong, but at some point players, international footballers, have to kind of work it out between themselves. And West Ham were just terrible. It looks pretty bleak because, as Matt said at the top of the show, this is not one game in isolation. This has been coming for a while. And I think the squad has got weaker over this summer. Although they have got Pakitar back and available for selection now.

37:16Yeah, yeah. They'll have to play better to get him on the ball and make him effective. Look, they've got good individuals. Pakitar, Bowen and Falkirk will have their moments. But football's a team game and you've got to work hard as a team. and you've got to do the dirty work and you've got to run hard and harry the opposition and make runs. And Sunderland were easily the best team in that department. There's a stack called pressures that they now sort of give us in terms of making a run to go and pressurise the opponent. Sunderland had 121 in the middle third, right in the engine room there. 121 pressures.

37:56West Ham had 44. So 44. Ward Prowse and Guido Rodriguez, they can't get around the pitch well enough. They're pedestrian. They're slow. And even the Granit Xhaka's not quick. That midfield of Sunderland, a brand new midfield, never played together in a Premier League game before, absolutely dominated through effort and making life difficult and running hard. So I think for West Ham to improve, to improve. They're going to have to improve their physical output as much as anything. OK. Is it Burnley next up for Sunderland? Is it? I think it is, yeah. Burnley, who themselves were involved in a 3-0 this weekend, but the wrong end of it.

38:40Saturday afternoon away at Tottenham, who picked up a win for Thomas Frank in his debut home match in the Premier League and a clean sheet as well. Brilliant game for him. A brilliant game as well for the footballer, that Elias Burke calls one of the Premier League's most exciting enigmas. He's referring to Richarlison, of course, as Elias points out, a player who's led the line for Brazil at a World Cup that's scored 13 goals in 16 Premier League starts but still splits opinion within the Tottenham Hotspur fan base as regarded as a social media joker with possibly the most goofy celebration in England and yet could just be the answer to Thomas Frank's questions about who to field up front.

39:30What do you think? Is Richarlison the man? Well, he's certainly going to put pressure on Dominic Solanke, which is all that Thomas Frank can ask. He said after the game on Saturday, I want two top-class strikers. And, you know, he sort of intimated, maybe I've already got them. I think Richarlison, because of his, can be kind of come across as quite sulky. I think people overlook that he is like a really, really hard worker off the ball. He will chase things down. If anything, he can almost do that a little bit too much and waste quite a bit of energy. Because if something goes wrong when he's on the ball, he tends to sort of sprint from side to side to make up for it.

40:08Slightly immature in that way, tactically. But that really works for a Thomas Frank team. That's what he wants of a striker. He wants them to be able to hurry down players and then also have the confidence when in the box to take your chances. And I know Elias says that the goal record when starting is pretty good, but we've not seen that Richarlison for a long time, that it's kind of touch-bang or I'm spotting opportunity and acrobatic bang-goal. That's new. That's new. I don't know if it's new under Thomas Frank. I don't know if it's new just for Richarlison feeling more confident and having a fresh start, but it's certainly new.

40:43And it really, really helps Thomas Frank because suddenly that front line can work in different ways. He can play Richarlison off the left, and he can play Kudu centrally, or he can play Richarlison and Solanke if he wants to. He's got different options for different opponents. I thought Brennan Johnson was also good at the weekend. He's almost, not quite the same, but he's almost in that sort of, oh yeah, they've got Brennan Johnson as well category. And his goal record is really good for Spurs, who's top scorer last season. So when Dejan Kulosevski comes back, they've really got some options there.

41:15They're all, I don't think any of them are top bracket options, But as a unit, I think it can probably work really effectively. Kudus could become a top bracket option. I think Mohamed Kudus is class. When he's on it, and I saw a few games at West Ham last year, one at Arsenal, he was unreal. Couldn't knock him off the ball. He runs hard. He's a brilliant dribbler. Obviously, in this game, I think, well, he got two assists, didn't he? Four of Richarlison. Five chances created. You had Porro down that side as well, who had a good game. So everything that was coming down Spurs right. It was really impressive.

41:49You got the asterisk that it's Burnley. It's a newly promoted team. But they looked good against PSG a few days before. They did. No, it's been a good start, I think, for Thomas Frank. They're going to be harder working, more industrious. They're tougher to beat, tougher to score against. So, yeah, I think they should feel quite confident. But, yeah, Koudis and Richarlison were fab in this game. Yeah, as an Arsenal supporter, I feel quite annoyed that they managed to pick up Koudis. because I do think he's capable of being a real game changer for them. And as well, to go with it. Just stop it, Matt.

42:28I don't want to think about it. Yeah, I was just going to say, Scott Parker's answer to losing Egan Riley and Trafford and being really good at defending last season seems to be to try and be even more defensive. He played a 5-2-2-1 on Saturday. And they were actually pretty good between Spurs' first and second goals. but Hannibal and Lyle Foster were two of Burnley's most attacking players on Saturday and between them they touch the ball every four minutes when they're on the pitch if Burnley are going to play that defensively and try and soak up pressure and concede one goal a game rather than the three they did on Saturday the attackers that come into that team are going to have to be incredibly efficient with their chances if they're to pick up points because that is we talked about Jogares dealing with scraps that really was scraps if you don't really touch the ball.

43:17And there wasn't really an outlet other than Anthony on the left. And yeah, I understand why Parker almost is saying, I want to be stuck by being boring. But as soon as they go 1-0 down, I'm going to look out for Burnley all season to work out how many points they pick up from losing positions, basically. Because they looked at the weekend like a team that, as soon as they go 1-0 down, I think, I don't really know how you're going to get back into this game. Yeah, they need more punch up front, definitely. Breuer obviously is there, so he might provide it. I think they could probably do more. I don't think they'll play back five every week.

43:52I think it'll be a horses for courses, a little bit like Thomas Frank. When they play the tougher teams, he'll go back five and he'll play back four in the other games. Who, by the way, had Michael Oliver on their bingo card to be the first to punish a goalkeeper? For the eight-second? For the eight-second rule. I think that was nailed on. He must have been a very short price, Michael Oliver. Yeah, he loves, I don't know. I'm excited by that. I like it, though. It's good. I like it, too. Today in the Old Trafford game, I found myself counting the seconds, which you needed something to keep going in bits of the game.

44:26We're all doing that from the second half onwards. Indeed. It's that extra touch of jeopardy. I reckon they should, yeah. Get the most out of that way, Kanjenberg, because give it three weeks and it'll be totally forgotten. All right. Let's move on ourselves then, because there are other big games to discuss. You've got Man City beating Wolves 4-0. Daniel, you said you thought they looked terrific there. Liverpool with a slightly more complex performance to decipher in their 4-2 victory over Bournemouth. Which do you fancy having a chat about? We should talk about City, shouldn't we? Yeah, I was talking about both.

45:00Yeah, well, yeah, definitely both. But it was a brilliant performance. Obviously, one of the best debut performances in the Premier League for a long time from Tjani Rinders. I thought he was fabulous. great energy but also superb decision making on the ball he's going to it's going to add a lot I think to their midfield what stood out to me as well was City how good they were without the ball I think last couple of years they've definitely got a little bit lazier just not quite as much effort in terms of winning that ball back as soon as they used to lose it bang they were on you they'd win it back and I think they've gone away from that bit in this game they were good at it pressurised Wolves well And I looked at the running stats.

45:42Wait for this. Wolves ran 108.06 kilometres. Respectable. City ran 117.6 kilometres, which is exceptional. So this is a really committed, athletic effort, I think, for Manchester City that kind of just lays down a marker to your Liverpools and Arsenals to say, They're like, we mean business this time around. There was some sumptuous football in there, wasn't there? Very good. Yeah, I love the goal where Trafford had the bravery. Because obviously Edison's amazing at that. But Trafford, he's a modern keeper, but he's no Edison. But he had the confidence to just clip that ball into space for Rinders to then go off and maraud forward.

46:30And they helped set up that goal for De Bruyne. So that was a brilliantly worked goal because they meant it. Right. Yeah, like the wing-back was on the touchline. The striker was right up front. They created that space for him to clip it into, and it was perfect. James Trafford, who was given his City debut after re-signing for the club that he was previously in the academy of as a 12-year-old. That's seen by many as a sign that Edison will be heading off now from Manchester City. Talk of him moving to Galatasaray. Also talk of Man City being in for Gigi Donnarumma, who's getting frozen out from PSG for his troubles.

47:09It doesn't sound the most obvious match, that, Gigi Donnarumma and Pep Guardiola, but who's to say? Anyway, there were four Norwegians starting in this match. Did you know that, Daniel? I do now. You know one of them? Yeah, I will name, try to name all four. It would be Larsson, Harlan, Bob and Wolfe. Yes. Yes. I was going to say about Oscar Bob I mean the cliche of early new season of like a new signing I'd forgotten he was there he spent so long out injured last season and just the way in which those younger City players look like little Pep Guardiola robots means that like it's good and of itself in the starting team but it also means that when they bring on players you know Phil Foden wasn't in the squad at the weekend Rayne Shirky came on and looked really good Omar Mamouche came on and looked really good.

48:03So it means that it's almost like a placeholder in the team, which is not an insult. It's a compliment. It means they immediately look comfortable with what they're doing. And yeah, he looked excellent. And yeah, it was, as Adrian says, it was absolutely a marker to the rest of the league because you could pick a pretty decent 11 with Edison not in the team there of City players who didn't start. You know, Ake, Akanji, Gavardio, Edison, Rodri, Gundogan, Marmou, Shirky, Foden. like it's a phenomenal second choice team that didn't even play against Wolves and that strength in depth is like nothing else in the Premier League Good Lord All right, City have lost their title of course to Liverpool who also scored four goals this weekend in that tremendously thrilling 4-2 performance against Bournemouth back on Friday Let's get on to that match next

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49:51You're listening to The Totally Flippable Show with James Richardson. Now we do four times a week. Keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy us in glorious Technicolor on YouTube at The Totally Show. Mohamed Salah. Oh, lovely ball. Jones nearly got onto it. A bit of a mess. And in from Chiesa. Federico Chiesa. His first Premier League goal. Still ringing in my ears. The Dean Martin. Yeah, yeah. It's gorgeous, isn't it? Really enjoyable. Can we hear that? There's a little bit of it there. Yeah. and let's enjoy it now before it gets kind of bastardised by every other club in the Premier League and this is the way it always goes with chances but yeah really enjoyed that especially after How's it going again?

50:34Well it's when the when the first time You can hear them crying in cheering Federico There's a bit of swearing He's here to win I like it It's nice It's good Yeah and yeah all the sweeter for the fact that he hooked in a lovely goal that after on commentary Jamie Carragher had said don't get this substitution at all as he came onto the pitch. He then accused him of kind of scuffing it and then on the replay he said, no, actually that's a brilliant finish off the outside of his boot. The goals in this game were absolutely sensational. He's all six of them. Yeah, you had Eketiki who opened the score and Cody Gagpo with another lovely goal after a glorious kind of move involving various components of this pretty phenomenal Liverpool front line.

51:19But then, as Adrian was mentioning before, or Semenyo dragging Bournemouth back into it and leaving the scoreline at 2-2 in the 88th minute when Chiesa hooked that one in. Yeah, look, I think Liverpool are just going to outscore teams, aren't they, this season? That's the aim of the game. When I saw the starting XI land, I was like, this looks ultra-attacking. You know, it's almost Aussie Ardiles levels, wasn't it? Like, who on that starting XI would classify themselves as a defensive player, you'd probably say Canarte and Van Dijk. That's it. The fullbacks aren't. Sobberslay isn't. McAllister really is better going forward.

52:04You know, he can do very well off the ball as well, but none of them really are defensive. So it was super attacking. So therefore, should we be that surprised that Bournemouth were able to slice through them so easily on the counter? I don't think so. That's what they do best. It's just something they're going to have to work on. Gravenberg will obviously tighten them up a bit. But yeah, it was a thrilling game. Absolutely intoxicating. And just very quickly on Liverpool, Hugo Eketike massively impressed me. I thought he was brilliant. His link play was class. Got a bit lucky with the run of the ball for his goal, didn't he?

52:41But I thought it was a top performance from him, which bodes well. And it does make you think, you know, what happens if they do get Isak? Like, see, this guy have to go on the bench, you know. But I suppose that's what strength and depth's all about. But he looks good enough to lead the line for a title chasing Liverpool team, to me. Palace fan Ruben Pinder calling this game a great one for Mark Gay's market value. Although, as you referenced, possibly not for Alexander Isak. So, Daniel? Yeah, I was going to say, on the Liverpool kind of lack of defensive balance, between the start of last season, and winning the league or having the title confirmed, Liverpool played 17 home league games last season.

53:23And over those 17 home league games, they allowed 17 chances in the next year of higher than 0.2. Against Bournemouth, they allowed four of those chances in 70 minutes. So it is completely different to last season. It is chaos football for now. And I'm sure Arnaz Lott will be trying to work out ways of, you know, keeping the good stuff without, you know, keeping as much of the good stuff as he can. but he cannot be happy at seeing a team with a 2-0 lead. Given the whole thing last season was control, right? He cannot be happy at the way that Antoine Semenya has 40 yards of space to run into because the full-backs are 30 yards behind him and can get nowhere near him.

54:01That is going to become a problem at some point because it's very unusual for a defending champion to know their weakness so early in a season. It normally takes us a while to work that out but we kind of saw it against Palace in the Community Shield and in pre-season because all of that was televised as well. This is the weakness and teams will work it out. This was the most debutantes, by the way, part of this whole transition feeling that a reigning champion has ever named in a Premier League starting XI. No less than four new faces in there, which given the way Liverpool performed last season is remarkable.

54:33A lot of it forced on them by the most tragic of circumstances and other player moves like Luis Diaz and that. What do you think? After doing your big season preview on Friday, Where do you feel now about the balance with Liverpool and Man City, Matt? I think it was interesting that for all the new faces who we've spoken about, Canate and Van Dijk both look like the weak links for Liverpool, don't they? So you wonder if the purchase of Gay might have been accelerated because of that and whether that might be a difference maker for them. But Liverpool didn't play in the Club World Cup for half of the summer and that might end up being a fairly significant factor.

55:10It's hard to retain the Premier League title, isn't it? and we don't know whether Isak's going to end up there and that's a great unknown as well at the moment. But for all that we're criticising, the way they're defended at times in this game, they were breathtaking going forwards. They scored four goals like Manchester City did and they played a better team than Manchester City did as well. And it's probably worth praising Anthony Iriola who goes into this game without what probably is three best players last season in Heiss and Zabani and Kerkhez and still manages to put forward a pretty impressive performance anyway.

55:42So, yeah, I make Liverpool still favourites to win the league ahead of City. I think we need to see a bit more of City. The forward line were brilliant, weren't they? I think Wirtz was a little bit quiet. He had a lot of the ball, but he didn't impact the game as much. But they did look dynamite. You referenced, Daniel, the backup at Man City. Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Elliott, Ramadashvili, Robertson, Naoni, Ngomoa, all good players. But it's not City depth, is it? It's not even remotely close to City depth. Last year, they kind of got... They did lose players to injury, but not too many. They're relying a little bit on that, aren't they, this time around?

56:23If they lost key players in their team at the moment, they do not have the depth, I don't think. So they do need ease at them. Well, one of those key players. I think more so at the back. I think they need depth in defensive positions, definitely. These forwards are all brilliant, aren't they? And look, Isak would just obviously add to that. But it's just, do they need another top-line striker? You can never have too many, I guess. Never have too many. Yeah, I don't know what I'm saying, really. Of course, you know, they have a right to go for Isak. But I don't think their depth is as good as City's.

56:59And it's not as good as Arsenal's either. OK. Isak, who wasn't part of Newcastle's game, sat at a lunchtime away at Aston Villa. Newcastle had 16 shots in this match. Their home side had three. Nobody scored any goals whatsoever. Newcastle, though, have since the match announced the signing of Jacob Ramsey from Villa in a deal with 39 million, with a further 5 million in add-ons potentially, etc. And so on. So there's that. Of course, there's going to be loads more of these moves announced. We've got, what, a week left in the transfer win, is it? A little bit more, I think. A little bit more. Cry two weeks.

57:40I think they played well in the game. Better than Villa, weren't they? Yeah, Newcastle were better than Villa. And not many people were expecting that ahead of the game. So, Eddie Howe got a tune out of them. They reminded everyone that, you know, they're a decent enough outfit. And I think that they do have the players to cause Liverpool problems next time out. We talk about Semenyo. But Alanga's rapid, isn't he? Gordon, Barnes. And they've got a strong midfield as well. So that is going to be a tough one, I think, for Liverpool. Newcastle up next for Liverpool. Is that on Monday night? Monday week?

58:13Monday week it is. And the other game this weekend, Brighton drawing 1-1 with Fulham. Fulham equalising in the 96th minute. Crikey. That's so Brighton, isn't it? I feel like most of the games of the Amex last season, you're just watching away limbs as they concede a late equalising goal. Apparently they let the lead slip five times at home last season. and Fulham have been one of the bad vibes clubs over the summer, right? Marco Silva complaining about not getting any players and it felt quite significant that they didn't start their season on a downer. Having got a 96-minute equaliser, that could be big in terms of a mood shift.

58:53Although from a player who might well be heading out, it is said. We shall see, as you see, two weeks of transfer potential moves still to go. Matt and Adrian are you going to be doing a What the EFL this week amongst your many other activities we sure are yeah we're hoping to take that onto YouTube aren't we we're going to try and do that what's the what's the you know for our totally football show listeners who are busy people what's the gist from round two or weekend two in the football league yeah Wrexham two defeats out of two we try not to be too Wrexham focused it's easy to be quite Wrexham focused I think I think we're We're kind of bemused by Stoke not being all doom and gloom at the start of the season.

59:38Remember Stoke? Premier League, long throws. I'm happy at the moment. Stoke City, which is nice for them. Birmingham are flying. I was at their game at the weekend. I'll probably do a little scouting report on a West Brom player. They were at Blackburn. You went all the way to Blackburn. I went all the way to Blackburn and it took a long, long time to get to Blackburn. But you were rewarded. Fantastic win. The perfect winning goal. If you sort of describe the most dramatic winning goal, it would be it's level pegging. The team throw, they have a corner. There's an earthquake. They throw everyone up for the corner.

1:00:13They're desperate to score the goal. The corner's rubbish. It's cleared. Yes. And they race up the other end and score with the last kick of the game. Demare Gray and that break could be on for Blues because Ethan Laird's latched onto this. And look at the red shirts flooding forward. Demare Gray will get onto this on the right-hand side. Laird was tripped, but the referee plays advantage.

1:00:39It was very exciting. Excellent. All right, so Birmingham, they're doing well. Stoke, as you mentioned. West Brom. Ryan Mason's West Brom, they're doing well. But you tell me what's going on. What are the other headlines? All about the West Midlands, really, then, isn't it? I mean, Coventry, not too far away from that as well. Big win for them. I predicted that would be a very drab, low-scoring draw on a different podcast. Not a drop, but a low-scoring game. 5-3. Stoke, top of the table, had a... What was their win against Sheffield Wednesday? They won 3-0 away to Sheffield Wednesday. Yeah, they've got a guy on loan from Man City.

1:01:16Two goals? Oh, yes, from a player with a great name. You want to say it? No, you do, because I don't have to pronounce it. Millian Manhoff. Millian Manhoff. Yeah, it's pretty good, right? And Divine Mbama got their other goal in that game. No. Yeah, so sensational work. Jonathan Walters is their... What is he? Director of football. Or they've just signed Stephen and Zonzi back. There's a lot to enjoy there, basically. Fantastic. Daniel, anything else you want to chuck in, fresh back from Morecambe as you are, from the Football League? No, that piece will be out on Tuesday about Morecambe. I am at Leeds Everton on Monday evening.

1:01:49Oh, lovely. Which I'm looking forward to as well, back to the Premier League. And you're going to be here in the studio next Sunday on the Totally Football Show, which we're looking forward to. And at the Cass Derby at Southhurst Park between Palace and Forest on Sunday afternoon. All right, wearing your half-and-half scarf. Lovely. Lovely. I look forward to that. I think that's where we'll wrap it up for this edition of the Totally Football Show. As mentioned, Tuesday there'll be the first Euro show of the season with you, so do join us for that. And then on Thursday we'll be having a look forward to the weekend in the Premier League.

1:02:27Matt, you'll be doing that on Friday as well because you can never have too many previews like Strikers, really. Yeah. So that's grand. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed tonight's show, whether you've been live streaming it on YouTube or listening to it at your leisure. Many, many thanks to Adrian, to Matt, to Daniel, to Jake and producer Charlie in the booth. And above all, you listener stroke viewer. do hope you'll join us again next time for now from all of us here it's goodbye

1:03:28The Athletic FC.

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