Can Villa do a Villa against Arsenal?

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1:54Liam Twomey: Tony Football Show Thursday edition the one at our other studio around the back of the Premier Inn some Premier rubbish some top bins and some unwanted takeaways kind of sums up our week one experience is more of the same on the way in week two.

2:15Liam Twomey: Week two sees Arsenal down memory lane or Emery Lane as they visit Villa. Mark Gay does a Prince Harry and goes back to the palace. Will Ryan Cherky be Meghan? And as Michael Carrick's United face another of the new sides, Ipswich, the question is, promoted too soon? And what about Ipswich? All that and more in this Totally Football Show. Thursday, 27th of August, this Totally Football Show. Duncan Alexander's here. Hello. Tom Williams is here. Hello. And also speaking to me, literally. Lee. No one has made that joke before. Hello, James. I also get Chuckle Brothers to me, to you. Ah, yeah. Yeah, that I can see.

2:56Liam Twomey: Liam, to me anyway. Lovely to see you, Liam. Lovely to be back. It's funny because a week ago, maybe eight days, the self-same four of us were here in the studio. Correctly predicted pretty much everything. We got a lot wrong. We're going back together. Let's not check. So much has changed since then. A lot of our predictions for a start. Also, I came in this morning to hear the extraordinary news about Bradley Barcola. Bobby, as I like to call him. And he's 100 and how many million? Something. 120? 100 on the table with achievable 20 million on top. 120 million for Bradley Barcola. Got to put down 100 million just to get a place at the table these days in the Premier League.

3:41Is it unfair to say what would he be worth if he could finish? I mean, that is one of the reservations about him as a player, like a legitimate reservation. He's one of these players who you feel like the more time he has to think about what he's going to do when he attempts to finish, the less likely he is to score. But like a wonderful player, like a real kind of throwback dribbler, very kind of sinewy, kind of spins past people with ease, He's really direct, super quick, very consistent, very durable, doesn't get injured very much. So, yeah, I think he'd be a welcome addition to the Premier League.

4:20The Barclay Premier League. Yeah, a bit of Barclays, if you like. A Barclays man. How do you think he will fit in with Iriola's approach? Whose place is he going to take the team, Tom? Yeah, well, I mean, when he first burst onto the scene at Lyon, he played on the right wing. and basically just would run to the byline and cross it for Alexandre Lacazette. And that was the formula. He's invariably played off the left at PSG, where most nippy right-footed attacking players tend to play. He's more comfortable on the right than most players of his generation, I would say. But yeah, I guess he's going to be competing with Cody Gakpo, Rewun Gumoa to be that left-side attacking player.

5:07I mean, Liverpool are still very short of right-sided attacking players. So, you know, perhaps you could see him there. But I think you get the best out of him on the left.

5:16Liam Twomey: Excellent. Lots of things since our last show, not only the week one results, also Michael Cox writing a lovely piece about how everyone gets things wrong when they react to week one results. And the classic example was a year ago, everyone, Noel Gallagher in particular, raving about Tajani Rheindeers, however that's spelt, Tom. and his impressive debut for Man City. Where is he now? He's in Saudi Arabia. Also to flag up, if you're hungry for something to read, John McKenzie, who's breaking down the numbers on week one. He points out eight of the nine winning teams from round one, and it was very nearly nine out of ten if Newcastle hadn't conceded that late goal, had significantly less possession than their opponent.

6:02Liam Twomey: When I say significantly, less than 42%. possession. What does that represent? What does that herald, Duncan? Well, I think we've moved past an era where dominating the ball is the sort of key to success. I mean, if you go back in time to your uncle at a barbecue in around 2012, when he was like, boss, I'm going to keep the ball. Who cares? It's like, now it isn't important to keep the ball. So your uncle was a visionary? Well, not my uncle, no, but many uncles at the time were very stringent about such things. My uncle's name? Jürgen Klopp. Gag and uncle but yeah I think it's interesting because you know teams are so good out of possession now that often you know counter pressing and winning the ball back is the most sort of productive moment of the game for them so yeah I think it augurs well for an exciting back to basics campaign Love that Chelsea are on that list and that was a game which took place Monday night of course Chelsea's visit to Craven Cossary which also saw you Liam there on the banks of the Thames Yeah, I always loved going to Craven Cottage.

7:06It was a lovely evening for football, must be said. Not too hot. Lovely Thames breeze, evening sunshine. That jacuzzi in the new stand must have really, really slapped. And maybe that explains why those two teams ran more than any of the other Premier League teams in the opening weekend. By quite a margin, I think. They were both up in the 120 kilometres range, Fulham slightly more. So Chelsea outrun again, as they were regularly last season. Right. But they do look a lot fitter. And I think that's a big difference. And Cole Palmer's back. And Cole Palmer looks healthy and confident and free. I mean, having 39 % possession meant that he, Morgan Rodgers, João Pedro, got a lot more opportunities to attack in transition.

7:50Yes, yes, of course. Because what is football now if not a vehicle for references to high finance? But yeah, the game panned out exactly as Chelsea wanted it to, taking the lead after 30 seconds.

8:02Liam Twomey: Early question from the thicky on the right. Why JP Morgan? Well, it has confused me because people are thinking Jao Pedru and Morgan. Right. But I think the P stands for Palmer. Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay. Drown, Palmer. Slightly. I don't think it was. It's not quite MSN, is it? Well, that feels like the peak of the... Do you think? I would say Magica. Yeah. Do you know Magica? Yeah. The MSN and the BBC. BBC is strong. Like at the same time. Although these... Yeah, anyway. Well, it was Christiana rather than it didn't work for them. Yeah, I mean, yeah. The logical choice by linguistic rules would be PRP, but then you're implying some kind of injection, which we absolutely do not want to do with any kind of elite footballers.

8:44Liam Twomey: Interesting. We'll hear more about Fulham Chelsea and indeed those two clubs' prospects this weekend. Let's quickly check on the fixtures in matchday two. It begins on a Friday night again. Palace hosting Man City, five games on Saturday. As mentioned, Liverpool get the Saturday lunchtime slot at home to Forest. 3 o 'clock, Coventry-Hull is a Premier League fixture. Hull, of course, fresh from their week one win over Man United. And Bournemouth facing Everton, also at three on Saturday. Then at 5.30, Tonali up against his former Toon teammates as Spurs host Newcastle. On Sunday, two games at two, Leeds-Brentford and Sunderland-Fulham.

9:19Liam Twomey: And then at 4.30, Man United up against another promoted side, Ipswich Town. Monday night, perhaps the game of the round, arguably. Aston Villa, who were dismal last weekend against Brighton, Facing champions Arsenal, who are, of course, Unai Emery's old side. Can we start with that game? Them losing so abjectly, was it the second Premier League side ever to concede four goals, lose a player and score an own goal? That's one of the four. And what an own goal, by the way. As disastrous an opening to the season as you could imagine. Well, I kept a clean sheet in the second half. Yeah, yeah. facing Arsenal, who looked like the handbrake is off, etc., and so on.

10:03Liam Twomey: And yet, why is it there's that sneaky suspicion that Villa might do Arsenal this weekend? Well, because, I mean, Arsenal lost their last season. I mean, it was in the midst of Villa's are-they-in-the-title-race era, roundabout Christmas. Emi Bandia scoring late on. But Una Emery loves a challenge, whether that's rebuilding a squad with three days to go over a transfer window, or setting up against really good teams. Right. I think Arsenal will head into this game confident, but also realistic that it will be a tough game. And Villa will have less possession, which is the new law of the Premier League.

10:37Liam Twomey: That's so true. His record against Arsenal, he's beaten his old club in two of their last three visits to Villa Park. Also, Villa have beaten the reigning champions at Villa Park in each of the last three seasons. So setting up against the big clubs, but transfers. Of course, we need to talk about those because since match day one, Oli Watkins, who refused to play against Brighton, has gone also to Saudi Arabia. And Villa have agreed a deal to bring in Nicholas Jackson from Chelsea, Liam. Is that good business? Yeah, I think Nicholas Jackson's a really good player. And Unai Emery absolutely loves him, worked with him at Villarreal and has, I think, wanted him at Villa for a while.

11:18He's an erratic finisher, maybe not as reliable in that aspect as Oli Watkins has been. But his link-up play, his ability to spin defenders, to carry the ball. I think much more suited to a team that attack with Villa's speed. And Emery will know exactly the situations to put him in to amplify his best qualities.

11:39Liam Twomey: Okay, do Villa have a busy few days before Tuesday's deadline trying to get some more bodies in? Yeah, I think they will. And I think what happened at Brighton is only going to sharpen their focus when it comes to addressing the various gaps in the squad. At the same time, as we said on the preview pod, Villa tend to start quite slowly under Emery. We know he's an exceptional coach. At some point, you suspect things will come together in some way. So I wouldn't have thought it would be outright panic in the Villa Park offices. But yeah, they'll definitely be looking to get some work done, I would have thought.

12:16Liam Twomey: One of the summer signings, Jean Gomes, not available, of course, after his brilliant debut against Brighton for the game against Arsenal. Arsenal, who could well be fielding Esri Conza, who they bought from Villa. Emi Martinez looks like he's heading out the door to Chelsea, Liam. That could be a significant move. Yeah, it's not done, but he's been offered to Chelsea. They're considering it. And he would address their biggest problem position, certainly coming out of the Fulham game, where Robert Sanchez once again showcased his inconsistency and why most Chelsea fans lost trust in him a long time ago.

12:54Now, I did look up the Opta data. Over the last three full seasons, Robert Sanchez has made seven errors leading to goals. Emi Martinez has made six, albeit in about 20 more games. So it's not as if you're going to a completely safe pair of hands. It's not hard to find bad mistakes from Martinez, but he is a big game player. We've seen this. He's a huge character. incredible saves for Villa over his career. And Chelsea just need someone that inspires a bit of confidence at that position. And Sanchez hasn't ever really done that.

13:28Liam Twomey: Right. And I don't know why. I feel like moving to a new club might light a bit of a fire under him as well. He's always felt like he's got a chip on his shoulder, Martinez, ever since he didn't get his chance at Arsenal. Right. But certainly, I think the way the last couple of years have panned out, where he's had a couple of moves that he's thought were happening, not happen, and now Villa have moved on while he's still there. So I can imagine him taking a few things personally if he does get a chance at Chelsea. From Arsenal's point of view, great start for them. Gabriel Martinelli. Does the move for Oli Watkins to Al-Hilal mean that they won't be buying Gabriel Martinelli?

14:05Liam Twomey: Is that too logical? No, I think that's all but done now. Oh, that's to also be happening. All right. Excellent. Gunners who are still in for Julian Alvarez? Not so much. I mean, I think they would still sign him if they could. But the issue is that, you know, Alvarez really wants to go to Barcelona. So it's a sort of a tricky triangle, isn't it, really? But I think that Barcelona are probably happy enough with what they've got. I mean, if they sell Martini, obviously, then I guess the left side of the attack is the area they've not strengthened. Right, Solis. Yeah, but they've got rid of Trossard and Martini.

14:39I mean Solis, if he plays like he did on the opening week and stays fit, then that's absolutely fine.

14:45Liam Twomey: Anyone see Villa doing a Villa against Arsenal? It's hard to imagine them doing it against this Arsenal, who just seem so sure of themselves. Right. Who seem to have shedded all of the neuroses that had haunted them in recent years. I can see it being quite a close game, but I just think Villa, the leap in performance level that they will need to achieve from what happened at Brighton to get to being able to even compete with Arsenal is so substantial that I suspect Arsenal will be okay. And this looks like a good time to play Villa, doesn't it? If this game was happening in a couple of months when they've got Johan Manzambi fit and available, Nicholas Jackson in rhythm, maybe their defence has adapted to not having Konza there.

15:30It could be a different game, but Arsenal are already... 24 hours before the Chancellor window closes as well, which is always fun because if a team does get hammered, then 24 hours to fix it.

15:41Liam Twomey: So nobody sees Villa continuing their excellent record against Rainington. I think they could get a draw, yeah. Okay, all right. They'll be pinning this segment of audio-visual content at the dressing room wall. Piping it. Yeah, absolutely. The team that spanked Villa last weekend, Brighton, will be facing Chelsea. Liam, just while we're here, what were your big takeaways from that to Fulham Chelsea performance? Well, the front three looks great and will be a threat to anyone, I think. But behind that, Alonso has quite a few issues to address. I mean, they didn't have Moises Caicedo against Fulham, their single most important midfielder.

16:17At the press conference at Cobham on Wednesday, Xabi Alonso said he's hopeful that Caicedo will be there, which will give Chelsea's midfield a very different look. But the left half of their team kind of struggled defensively. Levi Colwell's having to adapt to being on the left of a three with Maxence Lacroix in the middle now. Didn't look super comfortable there. Jarrell Hato is a wingback. That's not really his game. So Chelsea aren't... There are a lot of moving pieces that haven't quite settled there yet, especially with all the new faces this summer.

16:49Liam Twomey: Okay. And Brighton have a terrific record against the Blues. It's almost as if there's an extra bit of needle for them in facing Chelsea. Chelsea and Hove Albion as it's been at times in the last four years. Yeah, they always feel like they have to give a little bit extra against Chelsea. More at home, I would say. I've been to quite a few games at the Amex where Brighton have absolutely mugged Chelsea off. At Stamford Bridge, they've had a couple of bad defeats, but they did also come through and win their last season after Chelsea got a man sent off. So, yeah, I'm expecting a very, very lively game.

17:24Liam Twomey: OK. Both teams are in action on Thursday night. Brighton will be at home to Tromso in the Conference League playoffs. It's 0-0 from the first leg, whereas Chelsea hosts Jack Wilshere's Luton in the Carabao Cup. And if they win that, they will be taking on Leeds. in the next round in a week or two's time. Before we move on, on the transfer front, yes, Spurs have been added again. New players didn't work out last Saturday. Let's buy some more. They've picked up Marmouche and Savio from Man City. Oof, not sure what that takes their total spending to. Lots. I think if... Well, I suppose it depends on whether you include Marmouche, which is going to be a loan with an option to buy, isn't it?

18:09but they're definitely getting up towards£400 million. Wow.

18:12Liam Twomey: So this is a Spurs side who were famous for buying late and little, or indeed not at all, under Pochettino famously that time. How is this, and probably this has all been done already, but I'm still perplexed, how has this suddenly become within Tottenham's potential? Partly because they haven't spent a lot for a long time. So they've had a very big piggy bank. A little bit. They also have the ground that brings in the most revenue. Right. They also have all the Beyonce and NFL stuff as well. So they do have a lot of wriggle room. Beyonce millions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it is a bit of a gamble as well.

18:52You know, this is, they can't do this in the next window, I wouldn't think. So these transfers have to work. And if you look at the profile of the players they brought in, like we said last week, they probably overpaid for a lot of them just to get them in the door. It's like the post-Gareth Bale splurge, which famously went really well. Although I do think it's interesting that by and large they have just bought from Premier League clubs and they have gone for like, you know, Premier League proven players. Obviously Savio, as he's now known, scored on his debut last night in the caribou. Looked brilliant.

19:22Albeit against Charlton Athletic. Tottenham have always had money behind them. I mean, they are owned by a billionaire in Joe Lewis and Enick. It's just it was always Daniel Levy holding the purse strings. So that's the difference. Well, the handbrake is off. the human handbrake that was Daniel Levy, who would always look for the best deal. Occasionally, you haggle maybe a little bit too hard and win the deal at the expense of two months of the season. That's not there now, but they are taking huge risks the other way because you kind of feel like maybe they're spending two, three years' budget in one window.

19:56But it does look like they've got an insanely good squad.

19:59Liam Twomey: Or not? Yeah, I mean, they've strengthened where they needed to strengthen. they've got a brand new centre-back pairing they've got a brand new midfield and they've now basically got the best part of a brand new attack but I think as Duncan was saying the other day Marmuch and Savinho sorry, my apologies Savio haven't yet proven themselves in the Premier League Mateus Fernandes he was the most exciting player one of the most exciting players in Europe yeah, but we haven't seen that from him yet we saw it a little bit at the end of his first season at City Yeah, and obviously he's got some incredible qualities.

20:35I mean, he could catch fire, but it's not guaranteed. And then Mateus Fernandes, obviously a wonderful footballer, but you're paying a lot for potential. Sandro Tenaglia, I think, is fantastic. It leaves some people a little bit hot and cold. And then as we saw against Brentford, we always get excited by the transfer window because lots of things happen. But you can pay lots of money on lots of talented players, but throwing them all together doesn't necessarily work. Well, my favourite tweet from the opening weekend was after Brentford dismantled Spurs, someone saying, why didn't Van Hecker and Sanessi use their progressive passing maps to stop the defence?

21:12You know, it's very easy to win the transfer window. It's harder to win Premier League games.

21:17Liam Twomey: Well, we should see somebody win this game, Duncan, because it is the most played fixture in Premier League history to never record a 0-0 finish. That feels right. It's on brand, isn't it? Newcastle have brought in midfielder Nico Gonzalez from Man City who that must be a very empty team bus, the Man City one well Gonzalez came in the same window that Marmouche joined City it's one way to avoid dressing room frustration just sell all of your substitutes it's almost as if they're loading up for a big transfer maybe for a midfielder oh alrighty Enzo Fernandes isn't it Neil yeah excellent we'll talk more about what's coming up a little bit of Man City of course some Liverpool and also the fixtures that have caught our pundit's eyes in match day two next

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23:59Liam Twomey: exciting victory list for match day two. Duncan what what grabs your attention? Well I feel ashamed to go for the Super Sunday slot the most obvious slot but it's quite an interesting game I think Manchester United Ipswich because United looking to become the first team or to avoid becoming the first team in Premier League history to lose their open two games to promoted sides. Right. I mean statistically this game is it's famous it is famous because and this is an almost unbelievable run can you do this in a Jonathan Pierce uh match the day intro voice Ipswich haven't won at Old Trafford since the reflex by Duran Duran was number one in May 1984 another day to make my stand United may feel that kind of thing yeah well I think you've just done it yeah statistically I mean I love this stat because it seems insane that it's still carrying on.

24:51But the last time United led at half-time at Old Trafford in a league game and lost the match was against Ipswich in 1984.

24:59Liam Twomey: May 1984, that match. Yeah. And they've come close on many occasions, particularly in the last few seasons. I mean, Bournemouth almost did it last season in a game at 4-4. But, yeah, wouldn't it be something? 12. Ipswich circled the square or squared the circle or however you want to do it. But I'm impressed by Ipswich and I think they've spent a lot of money and they spent wisely. I think Gary O 'Neill is a manager that can get you to 14th, 15th, which is perfect for them. And they'll go to Old Trafford pretty confident, I think. United Ipswich, of course, was also the 9-0 game in 1995, which was for quite a while the record score.

25:39Well, still the joint biggest winning margin in Premier League history. and Andy Cole chipping in with the first ever five-goal haul, I believe in. So, you know, something for Ipswich to avenge, perhaps.

25:51Liam Twomey: How many five-goal hauls have there been since Andy Cole? It's been a few. Sergio Aguero got one. Jermaine Defoe. Jermaine Defoe. Wigan, Wigan, Wigan won. I think off the top of my head there's been six. But it's been a while. It's good. No one's got a double hat-trick. Just like no team's ever reached ten goals since the much-hated Boxing Day 1963. Don't speak of it, Dan. I don't know. Too early. Never mentioned its name. That's genuinely the last team to score 10 in an English top flight game. And yet quite a few have scored nine. Well, my favourite of all the nines of recent times, the best one was Leicester when they won down at Southampton because they're the only team I've seen who they knew that 10 was up.

26:32Vardy was incandescent. Yeah, someone missed an easy chance and Vardy lost his mind. Because when you get to nine, people chant, we want 10. Quite ironically. but maybe they should chance it with a bit more fervour because the players need to get the message. There you go. Never thought of scoring another goal, did they, the team? No. Only the crowd suggested it. Just worried about the scoreboard, aren't they? Like it might not tick over. Yeah, like a millennium bug. Is that why they hold back? Yeah. Look, lads, just one last thing. If we score nine today, just remember, the scoreboard doesn't have that.

27:05This week is our product.

27:06Liam Twomey: It'll become nil-nil if it was 10-0. Like the millennium bug of scorelines. Yeah. Tom, A game that you picked out for us from Matchday 2 is? Coventry versus Hull. And we were talking about how game week one results can skew perceptions of teams very quickly. I think the feeling about Coventry pre-season was, it's going to be difficult, but they've recruited quite well. It's obviously a fantastic team spirit there. Frank Lampard has really built something that feels like It's got momentum behind it. You know, in with a chance of staying up. If things go right, Hull, no chance, forget it. They're going to finish bottom, having conceded, you know, a million goals.

27:51And then, you know, a few days later, I mean, I don't think you can draw too many conclusions from the way that Coventry lost at Arsenal. But yeah, Hull with that incredible result at home to Manchester United. Minimal possession, couple of goals from set pieces in the first half, some excellent defending. and yeah, then followed that up with a win on penalties over Stoke in the League Cup in midweek. Coventry also won at Plymouth 4-2, Taiwo Awenii getting his first goal in Sky Blue, but they did look a little bit scratchy. I mean, both Hull and Coventry rotated quite a lot, but Coventry, I think, they go 2-0 up and Plymouth pulled it back to 2-2 and then ended up winning 4-2.

28:32These two teams familiar with each other from the Championship last season,

28:35Liam Twomey: and both encounters there ended goalless. That's why I'm looking forward to it so much. Do you think Hull can follow up their magnificent opening fixture? I mean, on paper, Coventry are clearly a superior team, but I think beating United in the way that they did will have given Hull such a lift and such a boost. And it kind of, you know, this is still an important game. But if you'd said you're going to take three points from your opening two games, they would have taken it. So, yeah, I think it will be a nil-nil draw and I cannot wait. Nice. It feels like we're only one or two sort of Hull corner free kick goals away from features being written about.

29:15Who's their set piece coach? What are they doing? Who's their set piece coach? I don't actually know, but I think we will find out if they can. Philip Larkin. The poet. Was he from Hull? Oh, yeah, yeah. There's a statue of Philip Larkin in Hull station. He worked at Hull. Hull library.

29:30Liam Twomey: Loved it. Is that right? Loved it. Yeah. Okay. Had a productive sideline in incredibly intricate set piece routines. Yeah. Not surprised to hear it. If anyone, if any 20th century poet, Larkin surely. Liam, your chosen fixture this week is? Leeds Brentford. Partly because my career has actually never brought me to Ellen Road. I've only been there once in a personal capacity. It was for a stag weekend a few years ago. Okay. For Leeds Brentford in the championship. Full circle. where I was abused by Uwe Rosler. What? Not on a personal level. A context to this. Right, please. Because it requires some background.

30:11Liam Twomey: So Uwe Rosler was Leeds manager at the time? Yes. He had previously been Brentford manager. Okay. He hadn't gone directly. He'd gone via Wigan. Right. But he'd left Brentford in the midst of a promotion charge from League One. It was all very acrimonious. He came back, tried to poach some staff and players. And so when Brentford finally got promoted and went to Leeds, I think this was the first time they'd gone there. Rosler wasn't at Leeds for very long, but he was there when this game happened. And they were giving him all manner of abuse from the start of the game. Were you in your party? Were you amongst the away fans?

30:45Liam Twomey: We were. Were you there as Brentford supporters or just randomly? Well, there were people in the Stag party that were Brentford supporters, quite vocal. Who was getting married? One of my friends. Yes, yes. One of my good friends. Okay. Yeah, just one of my good friends. But yeah, there were a few Brentford fans in the group. And Rosler was getting sort of the name of a certain disciple. He was getting a W word, six letters, not winner. So he had some provocation and Brentford took the lead, which didn't help. And he was kind of laughing. It seemed like he was taking it in good spirit. But then when Leeds equalised, he turned and made some kind of gesture, which I cannot repeat, along with a cascade of words.

31:36At your group? Specifically at the away end. He knew exactly where they were. We weren't very far from him. I've never seen a coach do that in a technical area. Didn't even celebrate the goal. Just turned around and, yeah, gave us a piece of his mind. He's a human being, isn't he? He is. He is. I mean, it was understandable in context. but it's just, it's always stuck in my mind. After what his granddad did to Old Trafford as well. What else happened on the stag shirt, by the way? And his song? I mean, that was the highlight. The rest of the weekend was obviously stag activities that you'd expect from a weekend in Leeds.

32:12I don't know what. I really. Other German football managers to barrack. Yes. Yeah. But sadly, he was the only one that we found. Certainly the only one that gave us something back.

32:21Liam Twomey: Wow. When you said Leeds-Bredford, I thought it was going to be about Mamadou Sangare. How wrong was I? I mean, I like him too. And it should be a fun game. They both won on the opening weekend. So two very confident teams. Brentford also had a 6-1 win midweek in the League Cup, away at Tom Brady's Birmingham City. Callum Wilson off the mark. Yes. As a B. All right. Leeds are terrific at home. Since the start of December, Duncan, am I right? Only three teams in the Premier League have taken more points at home than Leeds United. We haven't talked about Man City much yet or Liverpool or lots of other sites.

32:58Liam Twomey: Let's redress that next.

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34:21Liam Twomey: Already in there. Three angles no competitors using right now. Just need your approval. Approved. Thanks. Oh, agents, where would we be without you? Hmm, somewhere with a lot more tabs open. Create your first Monday agent in minutes at monday.com. In a world where AI is changing every role in every industry, knowing who actually has deep expertise matters more than ever. Upwork connects you with the highly skilled freelance professionals with proven track records, so you can hire with confidence. Upwork gives your business fast access to highly skilled specialists with deep expertise, so you can fill critical skill gaps, launch projects faster, and scale support up or down without committing to full-time headcount.

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35:40Liam Twomey: Upwork.com. Hey, Friday, we're doing a totally extra back at base. You'll be there, Duncan. I will be. Daniel Storey will be ringing in. And Raphael Honigstein will be joining us. Ian Wright glancing at screen. Hand on. Yeah. The reason is we're talking about that game in Munich, England 5, Germany 1. What a night. What a night. Somehow, and I don't believe this is true, but somehow some people are saying it's 25 years. Is it 25 years? That's why we're doing it. All right. Famously the launch pad for England to go on and win the World Cup. Yes. Well, all right. We'll get into all of that. That's hard.

36:22Liam Twomey: You were an England fan in those days. I wasn't. I'd never been an England fan. I was an England fan very briefly at the age of six. If you've got any thoughts on that and you see this in time, by Friday morning we'll also know who's in the Champions League phase. League phase. League phase. You just can't say Champions League, league phase. They've got to change that, haven't they? It's just league phase. Success is legal. And you have to do it in Europa League and the conference. Go back to European Cup. You can have European Cup league phase. It works. But just phase is such a bleh. Anyway, taking place at stage would be better.

36:57Liam Twomey: Phase, it's just a phase. You've still got the double league, haven't you? I think that's the issue more for me. Anyway, they're doing the draw for it. Good luck to them trying to get around that on Thursday. The robot does it now, doesn't it? Yeah, they just press a button. I mean, it's life. Is it that robot from the Robot Olympics who ran into... He comes running out with the bowl full of balls and just brings himself against the wall. Oh, no. It might be a welcome development if the robot that broke Usain Bolt's 100-metre wall does the draw. Speed it up a little bit, yeah. What times we live in.

37:31Liam Twomey: There are going to be 36 teams in the league, 29 of them already qualified as of the end of last season, and seven places still being determined by the qualifiers. I know who's not in it, and that's Celtic, who for the second year in a row crashed out in the playoffs. They were 3-0 up from the first leg, though, Duncan, at home to Lask out of Linz in Austria. Job done. And then did they not take the lead? They did. Putting themselves 4-0 up on aggregate. Start booking the flights. But? But Lask, all they had to do was win 4-1 to take it to extra time and they were 3-1 up by the hour mark. Oh my goodness.

38:13But Celtic rallied a little bit but then letting it go on the 90th minute so it went to extra time and then in the 109th minute Lask went 5-1 up and friend of the podcast, Martin O 'Neill didn't look happy. All right. What Lask defending? Is that their most embarrassing

38:29Liam Twomey: European defeat ever? I think with Game State taken into account as well. I mean, if you're 4-0 up away from home on aggregate. Dangerous lead. It's a dangerous lead, yeah. But I mean, Scottish football is trapped in this sort of doom loop now where if they don't get a team through to the league phase, then that impacts their, you know, their coefficient a bit. And obviously they used to get a team straight through to the league phase or the group stages it was. Now they don't. And it's, yeah, for a country that used to be so powerful in football and obviously Celtic as former European Cup winners, It's not a good look.

39:07Liam Twomey: Well done to Hart, who have at least done their bit for the coefficient by beating Rapid Vienna on penalties on Wednesday, which means they will be in the Europa Conference League league phase. Excellent. Anyway, also League Cup draw was on Wednesday night, highlights of which include Liverpool getting a second round draw against Spurs. Chelsea has mentioned if they beat Lund tonight, they'll have Leeds. Man United will be up against Brighton. Holders Man City host Norwich. Fleet, with the only fourth-tier side still in the competition, will get Sheffield United. Now, we've not talked about Man City yet particularly much or what's left of them.

39:46Liam Twomey: They're going to be at Crystal Palace Friday night. Pissage, that's his home debut in the Premier League, and it comes amid transfer turmoil with Jean-Philippe Mateta taking the club to any available authorities to try and end his contract with them. and Liverpool apparently getting set to whisk away their top scorer from last season, Ismail Assar. Who always scores against Liverpool? Classic recruitment team that is like, who's that player who scores against us? Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, I mean, it'd be a great signing for Liverpool, I think. We're talking about the most Salah-shaped gap on the right side of their attack and Ismail Assar being a relatively rare example of a modern right-footed attacking player who's probably happier playing on the right, I think, than he is on the left, or tends to play a bit more narrowly for Palace.

40:35But yeah, it would be pretty... Could we create a Salah song as well with Salah? Salah. It works. It just works. But yeah, if they were to lose Salah and Mateta a few days out from the end of the transfer window. Problems for Sarge. Yes, indeed. Well, it'll be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like at Selhurst Park because I think it has built a reputation in the Premier League as maybe being the best, most consistently good atmosphere in London Whenever I've been there, it's been rocking, but they're particularly low-ebb right now. They do have Axel De Zassi, though. I think very solid centre-back.

41:11Been actually good on loan the last two years. Is he a very solid centre-back, Liam? I think he has his moments, yes. He makes mistakes, but in general, I think he's physical, rugged, good leader, seems to be a nice guy, plays the piano.

41:26Liam Twomey: Less relevantly, perhaps, but producer Charlie points out that this game may be the point where most fans realise that the white kit that Palace wore at Everton last weekend is actually their home strip this weekend. So I hope you liked it, Palace supporters. Have you seen their away strip? No, I've not. It's blue and red stripes. Is it really? Seriously? Whoa. It's like what kids do on FIFA Online to guarantee a kit clash. Not that I know what kids do on FIFA these days, but that was a trick that was important. Okay. What would be the benefit of doing that? If you've got a less good team, a bit of a leveller, isn't it?

42:05Yeah.

42:07Liam Twomey: City have signed Ayubwadi, who we enjoyed at the World Cup. Yeah. Were you enjoying him in Ligue 1 last year? Yeah. Yeah, everyone was. I mean, he's a phenomenal player. I've written a piece about him. Okay. What did you say, Tom? I think that you can read. I mean, he's quite apart from being an exceptionally precocious footballer. He's just a really interesting guy. He's super smart. He did very well at school. He's studying towards a mathematics degree. Played the piano? He doesn't play the piano, as far as I know, but played all sorts of sports. You don't get that when you review footballers very often.

42:43Did well at school. But I mean, as in a sort of, you know, as an adult. It's not a modern thing. Not even like did well at school, like for a footballer, no offence, but like did well at school by like any standard. He averaged 18 and a half out of 20, which is the peculiar French marking system, which is unheard of. What is it with France and marketing systems? Le Keep? Yeah, they love slapping a rating on something. Right, you can't just add

43:06Liam Twomey: no offence unto an offensive statement. That's how you just... Well, you can in the sense of like there's been footballers who have been known as prof in the dressing room because they've got a GCSE. Because they were once seen reading a newspaper. Yeah, Graham Lasseau reading The Guardian in the Chelsea Dursuit. There you go. But yeah, he's brilliant. I spoke to one of his former coaches at his first club, AFC Crea, just north of, what, between Paris and Lille, and was talking about how, as a kid, the scouts from the big French clubs didn't necessarily notice him because he wasn't flashy. And as we know, the Paris region in particular, but France in general, produces an awful lot of extremely skilful footballers.

43:48And Bouaddy wasn't really one of those types of players, but all the coaches who worked with him knew that he was the guy that made the team tick. and that was the case at Lille. It's the case with Morocco, as we saw at the World Cup. And I think that's what City are hoping they're getting, someone you can just plug into your midfield, despite the fact he's only 18 years old, who will just keep everything flowing. Not an identical profile to Rodri, but someone plays with the maturity you'd expect from a player 10 or 15 years older.

44:19Liam Twomey: Quite a prospect then. Let's see, Man City mentioned they're going to be at Palace. Liverpool are up against Nottingham Forest. Forest have had two games so far under Oliver Glasner. They've both been against Leeds, curiously, and they've both ended in defeat. The latest one coming on Tuesday in the League Cup. They have moved to strengthen their side by signing Liam De Lapp for Checks No Tool, a club record 45 million. So, Liam, there'll be some people who are not whelmed by that news. Why should they be? Well, I might be the wrong person to ask. Why? I've been quite sceptical all summer that Chelsea would be able to get their asking price.

45:02They would be able to get rid of him, but they've been asking for about£50 million all summer, which is£20 million more than they paid via release clause from Ipswich. And there was nothing really in his performances last season to merit such an increase in price. But that is what they've got. What have Forrest seen then? Is it the kind of Chris Wood Mark II theory? I think they are different players in that Chris Wood has become such an accomplished kind of hold up man. We saw him, you know, we saw him setting up goals for New Zealand in the World Cup with little chess layoffs. There isn't really that level of subtlety in Liam De Lappe's game yet.

45:38But what he does have is a lot more mobility. He's got the capability to, in a more direct team, to bundle defenders out of the way to kind of cause panic and create chances for himself as well as being set up by the people behind him. We saw a lot of that at Ipswich. We basically saw none of it at Chelsea. He was quite good at the Club World Cup when he signed, at least in the early phase before João Pedro signed and completely outshone him. And then he got a hamstring injury, which meant he didn't play for the first two months of the season and was just never... He never settled really in that Chelsea team.

46:14And it was always the wrong kind of style of football for him. Okay. And stylistically, he feels a much better fit for Forrest. a counter-attacking team. You go back to that season with Ipswich in the Premier League, a pretty wretched Ipswich team, and he scored 12 goals in his first full season in the top flight. It's obviously a real nuisance, a real handful of a centre-forward. So Price does feel a little bit steep, but you can understand... Could feel like a bargain. As long as he can stop elbowing players in the face. Yeah, that is not ideal in the VAR era. Obviously his dad played a lot of games for Derby, so you know but Christmas dinner could be tricky yeah just saying Liverpool do you reckon they just lob each other where it comes this circus here's a take of it and he's like don't want it

47:01Liam Twomey: it's a thought isn't it it is a thought Liverpool obviously with one or two issues from their opening game the two to draw away at Newcastle also this weekend Bournemouth taking on Everton who beat Preston North End 4-0 during the week with Tieno Barry getting his first Everton hat-trick. That's exciting. They're going to be up against Wolves in the third round. Bournemouth here with their first home game under Marco Rosa, of course. And the other game this weekend is Sunderland-Fulham. You were impressed with Fulham despite their loss. Could easily have taken a point against Chelsea on Monday.

47:37Yeah, they were OK. I mean, they're clearly at a very early stage of their build with Alvaro Arbaloa as well. But they were very expansive. maybe more so than they should have been against Chelsea but against other teams their ability to keep the ball they had nice little rotations going on in wide areas that's how Josh King got in to score the equaliser yeah so there are some interesting tactical things that are below is doing there and if he gets a little bit of time to refine it they could be quite interesting I like Gonzalo Garcia as well he looked you know with players like that you don't know he's not obviously played tons of Real Madrid you don't know how they'd slot in but he looked like he'd played in the Premier League for ages yeah he pressed like a demon and looked very physical actually so he should be able to settle quite quickly but now he's got to go to Sunderland it's like yeah welcome

48:26Liam Twomey: to the Premier League are we going to see as many surprises this weekend as Manchester 1 and what do you think the biggest surprise is going to be? all 10 games end goalers yeah the team with more possession wins every game yeah wow I guess we can't have as many surprises because like the surprises of Game Week 1 have kind of removed the element of surprise with a lot of teams. So like if Brentford beat Leeds it'd be like well we know Brentford they shifted expectations a different way. Yeah. We'll see. We should just be grateful that our league is back and as good as ever. Perhaps even better.

48:59Liam Twomey: Perhaps even better. Brilliant. Duncan thank you so much for being with us today. Look forward to seeing you when you are next. Oh of course Friday morning when we do Totally Extra. Liam are you off to follow Chelsea this weekend? I'm not. No, my next Chelsea game will be Arsenal away. I'm looking forward to that one. Next weekend? Yes, next weekend. That's huge. It will be. Wow. And Tom, you're off to Paris this weekend? Off to Paris on Saturday, but I'll be back and I'll be in the studio on Sunday. On Sunday, how nice. Excellent. Well, I hope you'll be joining us for Sunday's live edition when we round up events so far in match stage two of the season.

49:38Liam Twomey: And, of course, as mentioned before, that Saturday we'll see our special Totally Extra with Duncan Daniel and Rafa on England 5, Germany 1. For now, that's it. So many thanks to producers Charlie and Jake. We'll catch up with you soon. From all of us here, it's goodbye.

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51:33the CMO asked for?

51:35Liam Twomey: Already in there. Three angles no competitors using right now. Just need your approval. Approved? Thanks. Oh, agents, where would we be without you? Hmm, somewhere with a lot more tabs open. Create your first Monday agent in minutes at monday.com.