City cruise past Arsenal at Wembley as Forest win big at Spurs

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1:50The Athletic FC the ball to circling the drain. And Newcastle rue the day again. They cross the Black Cats path. So much coming up in this Totally Football show.

2:05Hi everyone, it's Sunday night and we're laying down a brand new Totally Football show. Hi to you if you're joining us on the YouTube channel to see it all happen. And hello to equally if you're getting the slightly more polished version monday morning or thereafter yes that is a pot plant behind me we've done a we've done a little bit of a glow up in the studio hope you like our new direction who's in well i can reveal that to my right freshly back from the tottenham hotspur stadium is jay harris yeah it was a sunny day and then things quickly went downhill. Right. Not for Nottingham Forest, they didn't.

2:46Not for Nottingham Forest. On the big screen from New York City is Luis Miguel Echegaray. Jimbo. Sports journalist, analyst and author of the book, Messy Mania and also in that mutant zombie flick. What was it called, Luis? Mutant Chronicles. Mutant Chronicles. Mutant Chronicles. All right. Yes. Yeah. Some shuffling horrors. Don't worry. You'll get your residual check very soon. Excellent. Excellent. And also here, Jay, of course, from The Athletic, and his colleague, Tim Spears. Hey, Tim. How's it going, James? It's going well, Tim. It's going well. I'm going to talk about the Carabao Cup final very shortly.

3:26I've got to say, though, Jay, that game that you were at in North London felt almost as big, if not maybe even bigger, than events at Wembley?

3:36Tim Spiers: It feels like that, yeah, especially because we're about to go into an international break. So for the next three weeks, because Tottenham don't play again until I think it's April the 12th, it feels like everybody's just going to be talking about what on earth is going on there. Well, you're going to be telling us what on earth is going on very, very shortly. But we'll begin with the Carabao Cup. Tim, you've watched this. Luis, you did too. It was a big win for Man City. And how it happened is next. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network.

4:08Cherky. Kep has lost it. And O 'Reilly has stolen!

4:20On the hour, the bright young Mancunian has snatched the moment for City at Wembley. Yes, the Nick O 'Reilly final, they'll be calling it. Loads of you writing in on our YouTube comments section saying, where's Clarkie? Where's Amy Lawrence? and making various sympathetic comments about how Arsenal fans will be feeling. Tim, how will City fans be feeling, though, this evening? They were supposed to be here, of course, Amy and Adrian, but me and Joe have been drafted in at the last minute. I don't know what's happened. Yeah, it just felt like almost business as normal for City. That's just how they win trophies, you know.

5:04It was amazing how they sort of just upped that tempo for those 20 minutes at the start of the second half, the game-winning period, and all of a sudden they looked like the City of old again. They were completely dominating the game. Arsenal barely got a sniff thereafter. I think it was a bit of a lesson and a bit of a reminder not to write City off, as many people have been doing. What do you think, Luis, Mikel Arteta is going to be thinking this evening about his decision to start Kepa in between the posts? I mean, I think that personally he's going to be second-guessing that decision, but I think, you know, in public he'll probably defend it.

5:41Obviously, it was a horrific mistake by Ke Parri Zabalaga, but it speaks, I think, largely to the point that Tim was talking about, that, you know, Man City, if you don't punish them when you're meant to punish them, at some point they're going to punish you back. I mean, I thought Bernardo Silva was magnificent. I thought it was probably Mateus Nunes' best game I've seen in a long time, Rodri, of course, but returning to Arsenal, they really root their chances in the first half, Jimbo. I think at least, you know, it was kind of a sticky, almost boring game in the first 45 minutes, but it's the kind of game that Arsenal like, and I think that they should have taken more advantage.

6:17I'll actually say that this is kind of a game that Eberichieze really was born to play in, and of course him not playing was probably a big factor as well. But, you know, yes, Arrizabalaga's mistake was massive, but I think it just snowballed to the fact that And Man City, slowly but surely in the second half, fully took over. Arsenal didn't really have a chance, maybe until that Gabriel Jesus header at the end, since the seventh minute when City's back-up keeper proved to be rather more effective than Arsenal's one. Yeah, they're rarely seen triple save. I think there were only seven shots in the entire first half, and three of them were within five seconds, all saved by James Trafford.

6:57Yeah, that was the big one for Habits. We talk about poor team selections. and I think Kepa, I mean again I wouldn't have started him either, I wouldn't have started James Trafford either to be honest but Havertz didn't really have much of an impact on the game at all but that was his big moment, his big chance to put Arsenal in front fairly early on, he just delays his shot slightly, he's in a great position in the box and that just allows James Trafford to come out and smother him and then two follow up attempts from Saka sort of straight at him but yeah it looks great, triple save for James Trafford and yeah Arsenal thereafter it was very strange they sort of came out in the second half maybe expecting the same game as the first half and the same sort of patterns of play and maybe City to play at the same tempo but you know we saw the opposite City really ramped it up a couple of gears Semenyo, Bernardo Silva, Doku really coming to the fore Pep's team selection paying off with you know Haaland, Cherki, Doku and Semenyo in the same team.

8:00That's pretty bold in a cup final. But they were able to go through those gears and Arsenal just had nothing. They couldn't play it out. It wasn't sticking up top for Giocares at all. Kusinov was giving him the runaround. Set pieces didn't work. Nothing really worked. It was a huge off day for Arsenal. Kepa had a Kepa final and that played a big part of it. But if you only had that one big chance at the start and then nothing really until the final stretches of the game and City were able to ramp up the pressure in a way that they hadn't been able to do in their other big games at all of late.

8:34Who were the other people then who were at fault, do you think, for Arsenal, Luis? For everything that we talk about in terms of leadership, I don't think we saw enough of Declan Rice, just in terms of trying to push on and making sure that the team endured on. I do have to go back to Jokades a little bit because this is the massive question that we've always thought of Arsenal under Mikel Arteta. Can he finally get something going, win the Premier League title, win titles, et cetera, et cetera? And, you know, a number nine, somebody that can get you out of sticky situations when it doesn't work.

9:10I think he's also to speak for as well. I mean, Tim was talking about how Kuzinov was giving him the runaround, and it's completely true. Like, you know, you just, you have to make yourself counted, especially in a final. But I think overall, just collectively speaking, nobody really showed up again echoing what Tim said you know they're so reliant on set pieces they're so reliant on dead ball situations that wasn't working out and then look for we can talk about day in and day out all about how many players have come in ever since the winter of last season for Manchester City in order to create this overhaul but they are the right players to come in to create that overhaul you can't say the same thing for Arsenal who are winning who wanted to win the first piece of silver Antoine Semenyo was really delivering Jeremy Dock who of course was doing the same thing on the other wing.

9:53And there weren't no answers from Arsenal from the other side. Even when Gabriel Martinelli came in, there was just nothing that was clicking at all. It was actually to the point where, you know, I thought that, you know, Man City, you can keep on scoring here because it was just such an uncharacteristic sort of dominant performance from Arsenal. Because even when you're not playing well creatively, at least you're showing your stature. And that definitely didn't happen. And it definitely didn't happen in the second half. City don't go trophy-less for a second straight season. Yay. What is this going to mean, do you think, Jay, for going forward with the other titles and trophies that are up for grabs with Arsenal and City both in contention for them?

10:32Tim Spiers: I think from Arsenal's perspective, it is a psychological blow. I'm sure there'll be lots of Arsenal fans saying, don't care about losing the Carabao Cup final as long as Arsenal win the title. And that's fair enough. But they've still not won a trophy under Arteta since that first season with the FA Cup. And I think just to put down a marker against Man City in a cup final would have been quite significant for them to do that. I wasn't able to watch the game or only caught snippets of it. But the sort of performance that everybody's describing, it's just more quite boring football. And the fact that they've just not been able to get over the line, I think is a real disappointment.

11:07Tim Spiers: And obviously, Tim's touched upon the backup goalkeeper situation. But I still also think, you know, David Ray is a fantastic goalkeeper. there are going to be many many big high pressure games towards the end of the season this is also a high pressure game just put him in keep that consistency in so I think it's strange all around for Man City especially after what's happened in the last couple of weeks against Real Madrid that will just give them a little bit of a psychological edge because they'll know we are in Arsenal's heads a little bit now we've seen it doesn't take a lot for Arsenal fans to get on edge and to start thinking that everything's going to go wrong and the world's going to implode.

11:45Tim Spiers: And City fans will probably be playing on that over the next couple of weeks. All right. It might be that they get into Arsenal fans' heads, not necessarily they get into the players, but beyond what they do to Arsenal's psychology, how much of a boost will this be for Man City's own morale and self-confidence, Tim? Well, they've had a very underwhelming season, very underwhelming in recent few weeks as well. I guess it justifies the path that Pep is taking them down for Arsenal to be the hardest team in the country to beat this year. And they've beaten them resoundingly in a final. And yeah, we sort of saw the best of the last two versions of Sissi in terms of they dominated possession, controlled the game really well, just like they sort of used to, but also had that ability to go through the gears and sort of with vertical passes and really stretch Arsenal out, one-on-ones, dribbles, you know, Dock and Semenyo coming to the fore.

12:34So it's a real sort of mix of his last two teams, I thought. and it was interesting okay it's a cup final and of course they're going to be delighted to win it but Guardiola's celebrations were just really noticeable I mean it's nice to see for a start he's not putting it on you know he's like running down the touchline he's running up the stairs to get the trophy like it's great you know Viva Carabao it's like I wouldn't want to read too much into it in terms of his future but I think if City go two seasons in a row without winning a trophy I don't see him leaving on that note so it's easy again psychologically to see how this affects sort of Pep and his future whether one final trophy was kind of what he wanted to go out on right one final Carabao Cup that's it legacy and he's fifth as well he's the record winning manager now in the competition well there you go his place in history is finally secured there you go Luis what was your favourite moment of the final I think when he got when Pep Guardiola got the yellow card after celebrating just going all over the place with his turtleneck and his tweed trousers which by the way I love his career.

13:37The thing about Pep Guardiola, and he's done this throughout his career, Bayern Munich, of course, Barcelona, Manchester City indeed. But any possibility, any tiny little opportunity that he can to psychologically have a boost over your counterpart, he will take it. And I think it was a very deliberate move to get that yellow and celebrate like crazy over that goal. Not because he was just happy. And obviously, yes, it's a League Cup, you know, a one-up on the League Cup victory. but it's because he psychologically wants to tell Manchester City and his fan base that, look, they may be, you know, top of the table right now, and it's going to be difficult to try and overtake them.

14:15But today, today is Manchester City's day, and we need to make sure that we remind them of that. And I think it speaks to the volume of what he wants to continue to do. I mean, he is the ultimate competitor, and he's going to be regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. And part of it is because of how psychologically he plays this game. It's these tiny little nuances that he does in matches. that he tries to make sure he overtakes over the other manager. And in this case, being Mikel Arteta, of course, a former student of his. So, you know, it's very deliberate, all those little things that he does for sure.

14:46All right. Well, sometimes he overdoes a little bit, those little things in the big games. But today it all came right. Just some comments from people watching on our live stream. Chinchilla says, who's watering the new studio plant? Nick Wolgar says, Adrian's tears. Tom Joe that's not funny come on Tom Joe it says was is it the biggest miss for Arsenal which I think was that Luis was that yourself Luis was making that point his ability to pick up the ball and drive from deep might have got the gunners up the pitch and into dangerous positions in the second half Thomas Callen reveals that Carabao is the second most popular energy drink in Thailand don't know what the top one is

15:41Well that was another good Pep moment when he just solemnly shook his head I mean it was the 65th minute to be fair it was very very early for keepy uppies I take a fanatic he always seems to get his comments mentioned I don't know how says keeper aside Arsenal still had a strong team game kepper maybe the scapegoat but questions of artessa question mark i mean you know i would have liked to have seen max damon i don't understand why when you're chasing a goal and you need someone to produce something special because it was that kind of game i thought at halftime it was it was your classic this is going to need something incredible or a mistake because they were so well evenly matched and they were both defending so well um so you needed someone like max damon but we never saw him i don't know i don't know why really i thought that was the sort of ideal stage for him at this moment in time.

16:31We haven't really mentioned the match winner too much. He deserves his strong mention for, well, it's just a remarkable thing. And another really nice story in a League Cup final after Dan Byrne was the sort of local hero last year, it's Nico O 'Reilly this year, scored with his first two touches in the box and just ghosted him brilliantly both times. And he's proved almost invaluable for City this year with his versatility. you know they spent a lot of money on Ryan Aitnori last summer as a sort of specialist left back but he hasn't adapted to Pep's sort of tactics and systems anywhere near as well as O 'Reilly is and Thomas Tuchel watching on I think he's got to be a shoe-in for that England squad and yeah like I said he's adaptability anywhere down that left side and in central areas he's um just looks so composed and so mature for his age brilliant got an update on that number one energy drink in Thailand by the way I did try and google that but yeah oh really no no it's not the one that you think it is oh it's m150 according to calum's 959511 anyway thanks for that francois connor says there's a woman behind you oh behind you that's guest producer lucy francois that's guest producer lucy i thought it's one of those horrible things when you get a picture developed and there's a ghostly figure in a not that at least i take it that you're talking about guest producer lucy that's it from the carabao cup final it quick straw poll jay says it will have an impact on the title race.

17:57Luis, impact on the title race, yes or no? No. No. I think it galvanises City, but I still think Arsenal will win that. Alright then. While all of that was going on over in Wembley, there was Matchday 31 of the Premier League taking place and some big, big games in that as well. We'll get on to those next.

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20:27Tim Spiers: This 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 Piers, Oli K and the very best football writers around. Matchday 31 of the season, some big, big games. On Sunday, Forrest, who hadn't won a league game in eight attempts, went to their relegation rival Spurs and beat them 3-0. West Ham, meanwhile, simultaneously losing 2-0 at Aston Villa, who were the only team in the top seven in the Premier League to actually win this weekend, Villa, which is pretty huge news for them and for Luiz and for their Champions League place ambitions anyway.

21:09Also on Sunday, on Tyneside, Sunderland came from behind to beat Newcastle 2-1 at St. James' Park. Newcastle are now winless in 11 meetings with their rivals in the league and Sunderland also go above them in the table too. On Saturday, mentioned the fact that none of the top five contenders won unless you count Everton, who should now be in that conversation after they beat Chelsea 3-0 with perhaps their performance of the season. Two goals and an assist for Beto. Chelsea stay sixth. Everton are now only two points behind them. Liverpool lost Saturday 2-1 at Brighton. Danny Welbeck scoring both goals.

21:48Liverpool with no wins in three. Man Utd thus, who themselves only drew 2-2 this weekend on Friday night away to Bournemouth, extend their cushion thus over some of the other contenders. And Bournemouth, by the way, following that draw with United, become only the second team in Premier League history to have had both an 11-match unbeaten run and an 11-match winless run in the same season. Remarkable. Oh, two other games. Fulham came from a goal down to beat Burnley 3-1 on Saturday. And Leeds, Brentford finished 0-0. We're not starting with that game. We may well finish with it, but we are going to hear now about Jay's experiences in North London, Sunday afternoon watching Tottenham against Nottingham Forest.

22:35Jay, first of all, the build-up. The build-up looked amazing.

22:38Tim Spiers: Yeah, the build-up was amazing and we should, it's been a difficult day for Spurs fans, but we should give them a lot of credit. They basically, a few of them got together and decided that regardless of what happened this season, whether Spurs stay in the division or get relegated. They were going to support the team as much as they could. So they basically organised to greet the team bus when it came into the stadium, really near the Bricklayers Arms pub and near the Son Heung-min mural. And I mean, there were people swinging from lampposts. There were people standing on top of the rooftops of bus stops.

23:13Tim Spiers: There were flares being let off. There were just thousands upon thousands of people. And it goes without saying, It was the best atmosphere at that stadium in a long time. It felt like it was a cup final. There were loads of flags and banners in the south stand. Everyone was just really, really pumped up. And I think the way Spurs started the game reflected that. There was a lot of energy, positivity, and it felt like everything was heading in the right direction. Igor Jesus scores just before half-time, and then they just completely crumbled after that. Right. They started pumped up, and then they ended up just pumped.

23:48basically 3-0 in that second half. We should, at this point, salute Forrest getting their first league win under Pereira. What a week it's been for them. They came from a difficult position in the tie with Michelin, eventually put them out on penalties to tie up a first European quarterfinal in 30 years. But this performance here, how impressed were you with Forrest?

24:09Tim Spiers: Yeah, I was really impressed. I think in the first half, like I mentioned, Spurs were definitely the better team. Although Ena was having a really difficult time sort of getting hold of Matisse Tell. Matisse Tell was Tottenham's best player by distance along with Archie Gray. But Forrest sort of just kept at it. And I think in the second half, Morgan Gibbs-White became more involved. Elliot Anderson played well. I think he needs to give a shout out to Nico Williams because his delivery was excellent, especially for Taiwa Amani's third goal. So there were just so many individual moments where Forrest players just stood up and were counted and some of Spurs players didn't stand up and they weren't counted.

24:45Tim Spiers: I think that's a big factor as to why things went wrong. OK, a lot of comments about downing tools and that kind of thing. This was the one game that they could not afford to lose, having not won a single game in the league since the turn of the year. So why were they so flat in the second half? Can you think? I'm laughing at you saying this is the one game they couldn't afford to lose because I feel like I've said that so many times over the last couple of months. It's very apparent that this team really struggles to deal with setbacks and it's been that way for some time now. So the other example is what happened against Crystal Palace, where Van der Ven get sent off.

25:16Tim Spiers: They concede three goals in seven minutes. You know, they concede just before halftime here. Igor Tudor reacts by making two. I don't know if they were necessary halftime substitutions, but quite drastic substitutions by taking off Mickey Van der Ven and Jed Spence, just changing the team. When actually what you had been doing had worked for 45 minutes. You just switched off at one corner. And then the players just didn't quite know how to react. and the second goal went in from Morgan Gibbs-White, the air was completely sucked out of the stadium and the Spurs players just didn't know what to do.

25:47Tim Spiers: Tudor brought on Kolo Mouane and Xavi Simons and the Xavi situation is something I'll get into in a minute, but it just had no impact on the game whatsoever. It was just drifting. Spurs weren't really creating any chances. And so, yes, they had two positive performances, but expectations were really low going to Anfield last week and they surprised everybody. by getting that 90th minute equaliser. Yes, they played well against Atletico Madrid, but were Atletico ever in any serious danger being knocked out of the competition? No, the expectation, the pressure around this Fora game was much different and they couldn't handle it.

26:22Interesting. Tim, you were watching this as well. I mean, it was just remarkable seeing, you know, the sort of contrasting emotions. You could see it coming a mile off. You really could. And like Jay says, there was no pressure on the last two games. When that pressure's on, they just wilt. and the whole game was bigged up massively by the club as well. The club are putting out a clip from Christian Romero before kick-off, bigging it up like it's a Champions League semi-final. And yeah, it's hard to, just when you think they can't get any worse. I mean, I heard the Crystal Palace home game called one of their biggest league games in sort of a generation and they lose that 3-1.

26:59This was then dubbed pretty clearly their biggest league game in a generation and they've lost 3-0. and it's just they're at their lowest Edford well certainly in my lifetime I don't remember the Edford their lowest Ed so far Tim yeah exactly yeah but just watching them I don't know they're just so sort of one dimensional they put 30 crosses in the box in this match and Forrest just lapped it up the back four was so compact Milenkovic heading everything away for fun the midfielders were just tracking back and sort of making a block of six in the Forrest box so all these crosses were just pointless and I know they've got sort of two up front Richarlis and Solanke and that's the game plan they've picked.

27:36But again, you look at Igor Tudor's sort of odd selection. Van der Ven at left back. Porro right wing. You know, if Bergvall's fit to play 45, I don't know why he doesn't start. Xavi Simmonds, I don't know why he doesn't start. A doggy for Witt. I don't know. It's just strange.

27:52Tim Spiers: The argument with Van der Ven, a few people had argued for him to start at left back and I do think that was the right thing to do because Danso is probably another player who does escape this game with some credit because I thought he was magnificent in the first half in particular. So Van der Ben's been very erratic. A doggy's fitness issues mean I don't know if he can be trusted to play 90 minutes and to start. So moving Van der Ben to left back sort of made sense because when Spence plays there, because he's predominantly right-footed, the team just doesn't connect very well. But you hit the nail on the head.

28:23Tim Spiers: The Xavi thing is just bizarre at this point. Clearly, Tudor does not fancy him for whatever reason. Xavi's not lit up the Premier League the way people may have expected him to when he joined from RB Leipzig in the summer. But pretty much since mid-December onwards, he has played well. He has been a bright spark. It's looked like he's adapted to the physicality of the league more. He gets two. I know the second goal was a penalty against Atletico Madrid, but the way he won that penalty with a one-two with grey was exceptional. And obviously the first goal was incredible as well. He's just someone who can draw two or three defenders towards him, which creates space for other people.

28:58Tim Spiers: He can win free kicks. He's dynamic. He's just got something a little bit about him. He wants the ball when the pressure is on. And so for Tudor to consistently not pick him and, like you say, play Porro at right wing, then in the second half move Porro to right back, it's just so messy and clunky. And it just means the responsibilities players have are constantly changing in games. And at the moment, you're just not too sure where they're going to get a league win from. So they've got three weeks until their next match. Jay is the talk that the club might be considering Tudor's position again so the slight complicated factor about this which I should mention is that Tudor didn't do the post match press conference because of a family bereavement oh so it was his assistant coach Bruno Salter so we sort of need to see what the outcome of that is because obviously that's a very serious situation and we hope sort of Tudor's family is dealing with it in the in the best way possible but it does feel like at some point when the situation settled down people are sort of just going to revert back to the conversations they were having a week ago about whether Spurs should get Harry Redknapp straight from Cheltenham Festival and putting back in the hot spur way right they're not seriously talking about that as an option I don't think we can rule anything out in the world of Spurs can I make one more point by the way before I forget so Spurs in the summer the three players they missed out on were Morgan Gibbs-White, Ebreche Eze, Antoine Semenyo.

30:29Tim Spiers: And I'm sort of laughing because this is just Spurs at the moment. It's just so ridiculous that I'm going to say this. Eze scored five goals against Spurs this season. Semenyo scored a 95th minute winner in his last game for Bournemouth and then scored in a draw with Man City in February. Morgan Gibbs-White scores today. It's just, you just couldn't make it up that these guys who Spurs were so desperate for in the summer are now just contributing to their downfall. So the scouts are working. The scouts are doing their job. Yeah, the scouts are doing their job. The people above them are not doing their job so well.

31:00Well, who's going down? Them or West Ham? Tim or Forest? Or Leeds. Or Leeds. And you're right enough Burnley and Wolves? Hmm? You're right enough Burnley and Wolves just for the record? At this point? Okay. Yes, Spurs. There's only one way it's going. That's the trajectory. Really? They were in the worst run for 91 years. They've won this year. Right. Spurs have picked up one point from their last seven games. Yeah, and now they've got seven left. So you have to call that they're getting relegated at this point. Something has to change.

31:30Tim Spiers: Every week something happens in the world of Spurs. To be honest, every hour something happens in the world of Spurs. So we haven't even mentioned, you know, first-choice goalkeeper who didn't cover himself in glory today, Vecario, is going to have a hernia operation in the international group. Right. Remind me why they couldn't use the backup instead. Well, because Antonin Kinski's confidence is shattered after what happened in Atletico. It just always feels like something mad is going on. And like Tim said, they've taken one point from their last seven games. The games that they've got to play at Molineux against Wolves, at home against Leeds United seem absolutely massive.

32:08Tim Spiers: But you just don't trust them to get anything from those games. Because every time, as we already mentioned, Crystal Palace is built as the biggest game in a generation. So is this game against Forest. They just don't deliver. They just can't seem to cope with it. And it's just been heading in this direction for a long, long time. I think before it almost felt like they were sleepwalking towards relegation, whereas now it just feels like they're just completely free-falling and heading in that direction. West Ham are the team who are currently in the bottom three alongside Burnley and the Wolves.

32:38Luis, you saw them on Sunday afternoon away at Aston Villa, where Nuno Espíritu Santo had to make last-minute revisions to his lineup after an injury in the warm-up. But we're getting to West Ham and their prospects in a second or two. First, a rare opportunity to say, well done, Villa. A great week for them as well between Europe and this. After a very, very tormentous, dreary last few weeks, I mean, you can even go all the way back to the end of January, Aston Villa finally get a victory. I mean, there's a lot of factors towards it, and we can break it down. But overall, the most important factor is that Villa won at Villa Park, not conceded, a second consecutive win in all competitions, and most importantly, a six-point buffer over Chelsea and a five-point buffer over Liverpool before the international break.

33:27So it was a wonderful day for Villa, that's for sure. Excellent. And you also had McGinn continuing his recovery. You had Tielemans coming on. So those vital midfield components. Yeah, it's a massive factor. I mean, look, we can go deep into why Villa have been suffering so much, but one of them, a major factor has been the simplistic one. When you don't have strong personnel, you'll have weak results, and that's what's happened. I mean, we've seen it across the board out of any team, not just Aston Villa. But Aston Villa missed the three most important players in the midfield. Bubaka Kamara, who, in my opinion, is Aston Villa's most important player, full stop.

34:05He's out for the whole season. And then John McGinn has only returned recently. The captain and his perseverance, his aggression, everything that he represents has been missed so much. He obviously scored today as well. And then, you know, the other component is Uri Tillemans finally, which is ahead of schedule because he was meant to return after the international break. Uri Tillemans returns. He comes on as a sub. And already you can see not just the confidence in Tillemans because he's back, but in the entire organization. Douglas Luiz is playing better. Amadou Nanna was fantastic. Obviously, Oli Watkins got his goal.

34:41Morgan Rodgers is feeling more fluid. When you strengthen that Villa side, it becomes so much better. Because remember, this is a team that's trying to get Champions League football that doesn't have a Champions League squad, not in the likes of Manchester City or Arsenal or Liverpool or even Chelsea to that regard. So every single body for Villa counts. And the fact that they're slowly returning is massive. But most importantly, getting those three points and getting that aforementioned buffer that I was talking about was really significant. Six points ahead of Chelsea in the first of the likely non-Champions League positions.

35:15Also, the potential route to the Champions League of winning the Europa League, which Emery has some experience of doing. Villar after defeating Lille 3-0 on aggregate in the last 16, will be up against Bologna in the quarterfinals, which is probably a favourable draw. Oli Watkins, Luis, there was much made of his goal and the fact that it somehow answered his critics or was a reply to not being called up by Thomas Tuchel for England. If you were England manager, would you take Oli Watkins? Not right now. I think Danny Welbeck deserves it more than Oli Watkins at this point. But Oli Watkins knows it.

35:55And I think the goal was, in essence, a reaction to not being picked. And he knows that he, especially, you know, 30 years old, he's at a point where he needs to really, you know, deliver and do more. I will say this about Ollie Watkins, which quite rightly and from a, you know, justified situation, Villa fans have been very frustrated with him. And I think that his issues this season have been multifunctional. It's not just Watkins. Of course, he is part of it because I actually think Oli Watkins is a winger disguised as a striker. He is somebody that's much better when he comes off another number nine and he can either go from the left or the right.

36:38And with his instinctive runs, his aggression, he can score goals. But under Villa, he is the sole number nine. And Villa under Una Emery are actually a team who prefer to play without the ball. We like to go on the counter a lot. We like to play in rhythm when we don't have the ball. And once the opponent loses it, we push with Morgan Rodgers on one side, perhaps Emiliano Buendia next to him, Leon Bailey on the other side, Uri when he's fit, of course, and so forth. And when things are not working out, when opponents are figuring out Aston Villa, they play the low to mid block, they just hold and the struggles happen, which is what's happened in the last month and a half, then your striker is going to suffer because he doesn't get the right productivity.

37:20So part of it has been Watkins. He's done some second-guess thinking because at the end of the day, the most important tool for a striker is his confidence, and he doesn't have it. There's been moments where he's wanted to take it from his right foot to his left foot instead of just quickly finishing, which never, ever happens under Watkins. But now he slowly, especially today, he was playing more of a poacher role, feeding of Morgan Rodgers, and that helped him. So hopefully, after the international break, the fact that he wasn't selected by Tuchel is probably going to be a good thing for him.

37:50Because he's going to have this time to really just think about what he wants moving forward in the last few weeks of the season. And hopefully fight for his place for the World Cup. Because let's not forget, this is Aston Villa's all-time Premier League scorer. He is a tremendous serviceman and somebody that works so hard, especially off the ball. He is so useful when he's on form, not just for Villa but for England. But it was great to see him score today for sure. OK. His 10th goal of the season. So it's not like he hasn't scored any others. Very good. Well, congratulations to Villa-Louis. Still to come, we've yet to hear about Everton's phenomenal 3-0 thumping of Chelsea as their week goes from bad to worse.

38:28And also events in the Tyne Weir derby and so much more. Off to St. Jason's Park probably next.

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41:28You're listening to the Totally Football Show with James Richardson. Now with you four times a week. Keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy us in glorious Technicolor on YouTube at The Totally Show. Futa Siddiqui promising for Sunderland. Le Fay making his run into the box. Force wider than he wanted to be, but keeps on going. Here's Brobby! Brian Brobby in the 90th minute! and there is absolute delirium high up in the away end Tim Spears, the early game on Sunday Ooh, a lot of build-up to this as well Comparable perhaps to scenes outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Yeah, but a bit more angsty Edge, a lot of edge Yeah, police escort for all the Sunderland fans to walk into the ground and lots of stuff being thrown at them and to the team as well the team was sort of pelted with bottles and stuff In the coach?

42:23Sorry, yeah, in the team coach, yeah, on the way in. I mean, yeah, if you've been to St James' there's not much room to sort of separate fans outside that ground and it was, yeah, it's pretty tasty. Well, in which case, given the pressure that the build-up might have left them feeling, given the fact that they were without their first-choice keeper, they had, I think, three defenders out, three first-choice defenders, was it, out? They've been in a really bad run of form, Sunderland, and then they gifted Newcastle the opening goal. it was a pretty phenomenal performance from the Black Cats to come back.

42:54Yeah, unbelievable. I mean, you know, derbies like this, it's a proper derby between two not sort of great teams. So you're not expecting a great match. And both teams are probably at their lowest ebbs of the whole season, I would say. Newcastle, obviously, they've just been thumped, conceded seven in the week. Sunderland, four points from the last six matches, got dumped out of the FA Cup. So you're coming into this game in the absence of one team being sort of vastly superior over the other and able to play them off the pitch. You're sort of relying on those sort of classic derby sort of attributes of like commitment and desire and winning duels and running more than the other.

43:32And that's where Newcastle just came up woefully short. I mean, this was a deserved win for Sunderland. Yeah, Newcastle just went really flat. They had no energy whatsoever, no ideas, barely any shots in the second half and they're booed off at full time. and Eddie Howe's getting an enormous amount of grief on social media, like a lot. And it's the complete opposite for Sunderland, just a remarkable day and caps already. A fantastic season. I mean, they're safe. They've been safe for weeks and they've beaten Newcastle twice after what they've been through the last 10 years. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.

44:07And the scenes reflected that at full time, obviously with a late winner as well. It was just, yeah, it was glorious. Speaking about fans on social media, Here's a comment from an A. Shearer who says, a pathetic, weak, lazy, limp second half from Newcastle again. Of course, there was the second half away in Barcelona and you can find probably extenuating, you can find some mitigation for that. But this second half, again, a bit like the Spurs description, this was a game, particularly after Barcelona, that they absolutely had to perform in. Did you see that from them? And why was it absent? I mean, I guess in his defence, it's their 51st game of the season, I think.

44:53Right. And, you know, he's had issues. So the fatigue is a subject that comes up, and the Athletic has mentioned it a lot. And the reaction below the line is always, don't mention the fatigue. What's Eddie Howe not doing? Why is he never inspiring his team into any kind of second-half performance? Yeah, and the team selection was quite odd. Volta Marder back in midfield again Johan Wisser comes on in the 89th minute you know in a derby game a must win game the most important game left for the rest of the season in the league for Newcastle so yeah other than sort of you know Dan Byrne and Gordon and Joe Linton you know nobody was nobody was playing this match like it was a derby match or like it meant anything really and he has look he's had problems managing his squad We've seen this before with Newcastle when they've been playing in multiple competitions.

45:47And I do have some sympathy for him there because, you know, they brought in a few players last summer. But before that, they went two years without signing anyone. They're not, you know, you can't just paper over that with a few signings, some of whom have not proved to be good enough. Right. And then expect to compete in four competitions as they have been until recently. They went to the semis of the Carabao, fifth round of the FA Cup, and they've only just finished the European season. so to come out of that sort of 51 games in with nowhere near a good enough squad and having to play Anthony Gordon up front in Howe's mind shows you that it's a bit of a mess there really

46:18Tim Spiers: Bringing on Visser in the 89th minute is to me bizarre I've not watched Newcastle a lot this season and I know that Visser had that knee injury which sort of completely ruined his start to the club but this is someone who got I think it was 19 goals in the Premier League last season I used to watch him week in week out of Brentford very intelligent player fantastic finisher if it's a tight 1-0 game he is someone who is very good at knowing where the ball is going to land in the box just use him and the more you don't use him he's never going to become the player that you want him to be if you're just sort of leaving him on the touchlines but I remember speaking to people before that say Eddie Howe does sometimes sort of struggle to integrate new signings he has this sort of trusted lieutenants and I think I do wonder if this is sort of falling into that unlucky what's the word type where he's just not trusted, not seen as very valued, but there's a very, very good player in there.

47:10I think part of the reason as well is when I look at this lineup today against Sunderland, for example, and you know, the 51 matches, of course, are a factor, but I think Eddie Howe doesn't do himself any favours when he puts on a midfield that there's not one midfielder, and I get it, Tonali wasn't there, but there's not one midfielder in there that's going to hold for you, that's going to give you some kind of stability. Villa fans know all about Jacob Rancey, tremendous talent, but he's not that. Joe Ellington is a forward turn into a midfielder, a tremendous serviceman, but he's also, you know, he's more of a physical presence as opposed to an architect play-by-play.

47:46And then Vultima is a striker. So, you know, when you have the likes of Wiesel or you have, you know, Barnes up there and Elanga, they're going to need much better service and consistent play-by-play service that also calms the waters in times of the game where things are not going your way. Because sometimes, especially at St. James' Park, I feel that Newcastle United are just one gear. We need to just go all out and try and penetrate. Go wide. Look for the target man. Go wide. Look for the target man. Go wide. Look for the target man. If we lose it, let's all just track back. And sometimes that's just, it's not enough, especially if you want to be a Champions League worthy team.

48:23I think there's a lot, you know, for sure the fatigue is a factor, but I think some fans are right in questioning, Look, Eddie Howe needs to really rethink sometimes what kind of Newcastle he wants them to be, especially in a very big game like the one today against Sunderland. Well, for Newcastle, the season is pretty much over now. As you say, Sunderland have done kind of everything they could have wanted at the start of this campaign. Newcastle, not so much. They're in 12th place currently in the Premier League. Looked like they're out of the running for European spots and out of all three knockout competitions as well.

48:58Possibly the only consolation is that there are other clubs doing really badly as well. One of them being Chelsea. Go on then, Luis. Tell us about Everton's best day at their spanking new stadium so far. Yeah, I think that's where we need to begin. Let's talk about Chelsea, but let's begin with Everton. I thought it was their best performance, definitely at Hale Dickinson. I mean, they were magnificent. They were aggressive. And very simplistically, they wanted it more. They pressed every time they didn't have the ball. They didn't allow Chelsea to have any kind of rhythm. And even when Chelsea had a sniff and going into their own box, like Everton were there, you know, going one after another.

49:35It's no surprise to me why the likes of James Garner is getting so much attention. He was wonderful today as well. You know, great to get his England call up as well. Beto, of course, with this with his two goals. But Everton were so good. And now look at Everton, the three points of fifth. you know and I think it's David Moyes just speaking to this team and saying make yourself counted for which is the complete opposite of Chelsea and this has not been a surprise to me I mean obviously they're going through a rut right now it just speaks to the fact that well number one we were talking about I've always thought Robert Sanchez was a good goalkeeper above average goalkeeper not a great one and we even saw issues with distribution when it came to playing under Enzo Marezka but it's not just him I think there's something to be spoken for about accountability and when you're a young team sometimes that doesn't exist and and it definitely showed today and if we have time I'll tell you a little bit about what's going on with Enzo Fernandez as well because his future looks very fragile at Chelsea obviously they're going to try and make some money out of him, but he is not happy.

50:44Well, lots of people are not happy with him as well. So that's a potential topic. But before we get anywhere near him saluting James Gunner, that through ball, it was exactly the kind of ball that Chelsea got done by against Newcastle last week as well, Tim. Yeah, that was one of the worst defended goals I've seen in many years last week from Chelsea against Newcastle. Until? Well, no, this one wasn't quite as bad. This one required more accuracy on Everton's part and sort of speed and precision from Garner. And a great finish as well. Yeah, and a superb finish from Beto. Just sort of dinks it beautifully over Sanchez.

51:22But yeah, Garner was great. He was sort of everywhere. He was tenacious. And, you know, this moment that kind of, well, there were so many moments that sort of typified Everton's approach. It was very sort of old school v. new school, I thought. And it's so easy to say that because it's David Moyes against Liam Rossini. But that's how it played out. you know the values that Everton embody they just they were surrounding Chelsea the two or three of them oh how ironic well see they did something new with the huddle this time it didn't work either so when the huddle which was just a little bit off center circle this time when it finished they all did a sort of an American style arms in at the end just for a bit of extra motivation right but that didn't work and did you see that team spirit no no not at all but they look like a team of individuals to me particularly going forward you know you don't see them attacking in groups other than Jao Pedro they've all disappointed all season I was watching this

52:14Tim Spiers: game with a couple of mates and I do really like Caicedo but he just has no discipline does he right they just constantly charges into tackles etc my friend sort of said but who is he supposed to to lean on because he's still a very young player right and there's just not enough experience in that team that's why a couple of years ago when Thiago Silva was still there he had such an influence because he could sort of just offer that guidance and leadership towards the younger members of the squad. But that's what you need someone now to sort of grab hold of players like Kaysedo and say, you know, you don't need to go charging into tackles all over the pitch and conceding free kicks and giving teams like Everton the chance to just launch set pieces into the box, etc.

52:51Tim Spiers: So just so many things. And they're constantly throwing themselves to the floor. I mean, they do, every Premier League team does it, but they did it so much. They're just constantly looking for fouls from the slightest of touches. It's like, just get on with the game. You're 3-0 down. Everton's third goal was a beauty. Tim, on a positive note, the Illuminati one. Oh, yeah, gorgeous, gorgeous shot into the top corner. I think it was a Beto flick on from a goal kick. Just, yeah, very simple, something that Chelsea wouldn't even think to attempt, I'm afraid. The amount of times they tried to play out from the back in the first 15 minutes, I counted five or six.

53:25Dreadful errors. They were all doing it, just giving the ball away. And, yeah, Everton just the complete opposite of Jai. It was a beautiful finish. You also have to mention Pickford's save from Fernandes' half volley. Did another wonder save. it's a corner that sort of he pushes out a corner at the near post he's sort of level with the post and then the ball is bouncing to Enzo Fernandes who hits it on the half volley and Pickford saves it in the middle of the goal he's got to cross half the goal in one movement and somehow finds the strength to push it out with his right hand as well it's an incredible save and then a nice little celebration afterwards as well Superb Chelsea then this their fourth defeat in a row in many ways it feels like each performance has been worse than the last.

54:06They've conceded 14 goals in their last five matches, which is almost three goals a game. Again, there's the suggestion that not all the players are particularly committed to this project going forward. Lewis, you were just talking about one player's imminent decision about his future. Fernanda's actually talking, I think, after the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain about what might happen with him and Real Madrid. Was that what you were referring to? Yes, but there's also other reports coming specifically from Argentina. And there was another interview he did midweek as well, where he was talking to, perhaps we're talking about the same one, but Juan Pablo Sorin, the former player, works for TUDN, the Mexican Spanish-speaking sports network here in the US.

54:56And, you know, when Argentinians come together and they interview each other, sometimes they say more than they don't want to. And Sorin's question was essentially, what happened with Maresca? Everybody's, you know, why? Were you happy about it? Whatever. And obviously, Fernandez was trying to be very diplomatic about it. But he was very frustrated, clearly. And he said, we don't know what's going on. I have no idea why it happened. Obviously, we had an identity under Maresca. We had a way of playing. Everybody understood things in training. And now we don't know. I don't think he was throwing Liam Rossini under the bus.

55:29It was more to do about the decision for Enzo Maresca to leave. And then the conversation went obviously on about, you know, his future and everything. But the latest report specifically from Argentina is that he really is weighing his options, but that's not really a shocking surprise. Enzo Fernandez also is very good friends with Julian Alvarez, who is loving life in Spain with Atlético de Madrid. And, you know, there's also perhaps a talk that Dibu Martinez might leave and Kuti Romero. We might see an Argentinian exodus in the summer, Jimbo, and Enzo Fernandes might be one of the leading players doing it.

56:02But yes, not everything is rosy with Enzo. Obviously, his price tag is massive with Chelsea. And to your point, it's not like he's exactly delivering consistent performances, but he's definitely one to watch out for in the summer. And Real Madrid, as always, are going to be a major contender, especially if they lose La Liga, they don't win the Champions League. Florentino Perez is going to make a statement in the summer and he might be one of them. All right, one to keep an eye on. Boos, by the way, at this game, not just, I think, from some Chelsea fans at the end, but also from the home supporters who, when the Premier League anthem was played at the start, had a go irate about the fact that they got hit by two separate points penalties for breaches of spending, profit, and sustainability regulations previously.

56:49And Chelsea, of course, this week had their penalty announced and it was 10 million and some suspended sentences and no point deduction whatsoever. Can't help but notice that all the teams who were in the Champions League really struggled, particularly in the second halves of their games this weekend, with the exception of Manchester City, who very much were and didn't. But Liverpool were another example, away at Brighton. 2-1 they were beaten. Liverpool are just a team this season, again, not a shocking statement, that have no fight and no real sense of aggression, especially away from home. And, you know, Brighton, I think, were very good, very determined, very happy for Danny Welbeck.

57:38As we talked earlier, I think he's done wonderfully this season and he would be a great, you know, contender to hopefully if he can make it to the World Cup. He took his goals well. But Liverpool, I think what's happened with them this season is obviously, aside from the overhaul and the transitions and the exits, is that they are so predictable in how they play that whenever they're faced with any kind of animosity or turmoil, especially away from Anfield, they don't have any answers because there's no direct aggression coming from them. One perfect example is that I don't think they did nearly enough to try and hold on to somebody like Lucho Diaz, who's now creating record numbers with Bayern Munich.

58:21My point being that they don't have enough of those players. So against Brighton, the goals were very weak. I thought Konate and Virgil van Dijk were not as good as they usually are. Konate obviously has struggled this season, but Virgil van Dijk, the perennial leader for Liverpool, was really at fault for a lot of it. you know obviously the Ekitiki injury didn't didn't help things but they were just not clicking in any way possible and when they didn't have the ball they they they didn't not they didn't have an answer for Brighton and they were so narrow that there was just no exit that was just too easy for Brighton once again it just goes to show that it's it's alarming to me to to see this kind of performance from the defending champions even this late in the season and yes I think the Champions League might play a factor but I think we've seen this time and time again.

59:10They are just a completely docile Liverpool definitely towards these last few weeks. Yeah, after the midweek performance against Galatasaray it was back down to earth with a bump against the Seagulls who've now won four of their last five and tend to produce quite a lot of chances, don't always finish them. On this occasion they did. Danny Welbeck, should he be on the plane? Tim? I think we probably make too much of these things. do you think? Harry Kane will play 90 minutes of every match if he's fit and fine. Right. It's a big tournament. I mean, it's a long tournament. Yeah, but it probably, probably won't matter too much.

59:45Right. But I do think, yeah, in a 26 man squad, he's probably deserved it. But then when Calvert-Lewin was scoring seven and six at Christmas, you'd say that he, he would have to be in there. Solanke, I don't know. He's a, I think, what was he? 65 million striker for a reason. You know, there's plenty about him. So it's not sort of cut and dried, but yeah, he'd be, in my 26.

1:00:04Tim Spiers: The argument is do you benefit more from having someone who offers you a completely different profile? So to use the last Euros you take Tony and you know that he is going to come on and score you a couple of crucial penalties which is exactly what he did in the victory over Switzerland in the quarter finals. So yes, Welbs Welbs Welbeck is a good guy and he's probably very good for camp camaraderie etc. Would you be better off having someone that offers you something completely different. So to use Solanke as an example. Vibes. Solanke is doing his best in a very, very bad Spurs team, but he's still contributing.

1:00:43Tim Spiers: He's still getting a few goals, et cetera. And he is also someone who can drop deep, running behind defences. His all-round game is probably more complete than Welbeck's. So I'm not saying you should pick Solanke over Welbeck. I'm just playing devil's advocate and saying you have to sort of weigh it up as, yes Welbeck if you're giving him service it's going to be around the box and attacking and scoring goals but actually would you benefit from having someone who's a different type to Kane I hear you he is the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League with 12 goals he also produced a quite astonishing hurdle did you see this when he hurdled Louis Dunk in his goal celebration Louis Dunk who's 6 foot 4 he went clear over the top of him what can't Danny Welbeck do?

1:01:26make the plane to the World Cup. Maybe, I don't know. Dunk, by the way, his significant contribution to this game or a significant contribution to this game was the Liverpool goal. Was setting up Milos Kerkes for the Liverpool goal. But it feels churlish to blame him too. It was a brilliant piece of... It was an inspirational bit of improvisation from Kerkes, no? Yeah, lots of Brighton fans saying, well, well done, because he does that a lot. Oh, does he? Yeah. So he'd studied tape, basically. According to people on social media, Lewis Dunk does head the ball backwards towards his keeper blind quite a lot.

1:02:03It certainly looked that way from the way that... Because Kirk isn't in that position very often, is he? Right, right. It must have been pre-planned. It's brilliant. Genius. Liverpool, as we say, coming down to earth with a bump. They've had four wins in their last 13 league matches. Quite extraordinary. There you go. So they do slip back a little bit with regard to Man United in third spot. United, who themselves dropped points, but did manage a draw on Friday night away to Bournemouth. A game that took a while to get going. We have Bournemouth coming from behind because Man United twice took the lead.

1:02:41In fact, across the two ties, Bournemouth have come from behind five times against United this season. However, United fans, and indeed here's one writing in at Podrick, says when we get on to United v Bournemouth, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this weird media narrative that United still get decisions. Where is it coming from? I think it was 1-0 at the time when Truffaut gets his hands on Ahmad and it did look like a penalty. The referee didn't blow for it immediately. Bournemouth went up the other end and, of course, they scored, at which point would I be wrong in thinking that the pressure on VAR became so much that what might have been a call became a much bigger call, i.e.

1:03:28they'd have to reverse a goal and they'd give a penalty. We've seen it happen, but it does make the whole thing a little bit more high pressure. What do you think? When Ahmad Diallo went down, I thought it was a little weak. It's one of those tricky things because to me it's also about how strong is the player that you're sort of pushing off to get the ball and the Madiala with all due respect is not the strongest so it didn't look like a penalty to me and then you know if it forces VAR to to ask the ref to look at it I think a second hand it would have probably been given so that that's the issue like you said it's it adds an extra added dose of pressure uh to VAR to to assist at least and and give a decision to make it happen I personally thought that the ref made the right call by not giving it.

1:04:14Well, that's all right then. There we go. Is there a media narrative that United get decisions? Tim, you're in the media. Sure. Yeah. But that's legacy, isn't it? Yeah, historically. I feel that's less relevant in the VAR age. Very good. Bournemouth, we salute the fact that they have had 15 draws in total. The last five games have all been drawn. Drawn. And that they are the second team in Premier League history to have an 11-match unbeaten run in the same campaign that they previously had an 11-match winless run. That is streaky, isn't it? Do you know who the previous team were to do that? Only because I just looked.

1:04:54Did you just look? It's Liverpool, 2002-2003. Yeah. Anyway, there you go. It was a very exciting game on a Friday night. Also quite exciting, and on a Saturday afternoon, was Fulham-Burnley, which the only one of us who could actually watch because it wasn't on TV. It was the only game this weekend that wasn't on TV. But luckily we have a correspondent who's there in the States where you can watch every game. So, Luis, did you tune in for Fulham Burnley? You didn't see it? Nope. Jimenez got the third goal for Fulham, who came from behind after Gian Fleming opened the scoring for the Clarets. His manager, Scott Parker, was looking very spiffy.

1:05:39He's always done up, but he switched his usual attire. What was he wearing? He was wearing a... I need to look it up now. He might have been on his way to a function.

1:05:52Tim Spiers: He always looks like he's on his way to a... A different function. A different function. Anyway, there we go. We had Josh King with his first goal in the Premier League, equalising after only about five minutes after Burnley had taken the lead. Harry Wilson. everyone's favourite player Harry Wilson got his 10th goal of the season and then as mentioned Jimenez converting the penalty late on he looks like he's you know dropped him from a wedding like he's done a best man speech maybe because obviously Parker used to play for and manage for them maybe he felt like he needed to dress up in press make a big point possibly so possibly so he wore the face of a man who's seen his former beau marry another guy I would say as this game as so many have this season slipped away from him a match that he wasn't able to enjoy in every sense probably a description you could use for Leeds Brentford as well which happened at 8 o 'clock on Saturday night which doesn't seem particularly fair to anybody really Leeds have been a win away from safety for a while but they're still not there are they Tim you mentioned this before how many points are they off the bottom three?

1:07:05So four four points They've just been struggling on for some time, like you say. Fairly hard to beat, but not good enough to get that win. Not attacking enough for the Leeds fans, that's for sure.

1:07:16Tim Spiers: Right. I think I mentioned this when I was on the pod earlier this week, but it's just a continuation of Brentford really slowing down because they've obviously dropped points against Leeds and Wolves in their last two games. Drew at Bournemouth had that mad win over Burnley. Lost to Brighton. so yes they're in seventh which is remarkable for them but actually they've lost a bit of momentum and if anything if they'd sort of butt their ideas up a little bit over the last few games could be even higher which is mad to say but they need to make sure they don't sort of let this opportunity to get European football slip out of their grasp OK they presumably have a bit of a break before their next game yes what with the internationals and FA Cup and that yeah I now need to check who their next game is against all right Everton at home oh OK Everton who are themselves so they're level on point Oh, all right.

1:08:07For any of that, we've got internationals, which is going to be pretty dramatic as well because it's the World Cup playoffs all over the world. Aspiring nations are going to be coming up against each other with that dream of making it to the World Cup when and if it happens in the States or anywhere and competing in the greatest show sport can offer. We're going to be talking about that in the week coming up because they start on Thursday night, the World Cup playoffs. It's very, very exciting. Luis, that's where we come to the end of today's rainbow, though. So thank you so much for being with us there on your Sunday afternoon in New York.

1:08:45What are you going to go out and do now? Something really New York, I hope. Well, you know, it's funny. There's a pizza place really close to my apartment called Keste, and it's where the local New York Roma fans get together every Sunday or every weekend. So I'll be going there to get a slice with my wife, and then we'll come home. But it's some of the best pizza you'll have around my area for sure. That name again, Luis? Keste. Keste. How do you spell that? K-E-S-T-E. Keste. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. All right. Thanks for the tip, Luis, and thank you so much for being with us today. Jay, many, many thanks to you.

1:09:26Thank you very much. Look forward to catching up with you again soon on the Totally Football Show. Tim, thank you for coming in. Many thanks as well to Ghostly Woman. There she is. And also to long-suffering video producer Jake, who's a Spurs fan, but is seeing the funny side. Excellent. Thank you for being with us, YouTube viewer and podcast listener. We're back with a Euro show on Tuesday morning, so perhaps you might catch up with us then for now from all of us here it's goodbye

1:10:04you've been listening to the totally football show part of the athletic fc podcast network for other great podcasts just like this one including the athletic fc and our dedicated club podcasts search for the athletic in all the usual places we're also at the totally show on insta and at the totally show on youtube the totally football show is an athletic media Company production.

1:10:30The Athletic FC.

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