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The Totally Football Show with James Richardson

1 Sep 2026 · 1h 9m · 26 chapters

Episode artwork

Kane on his game, Bellingham at his best

In short

The Totally Football Show European edition covers Harry Kane’s “my game in my words” interview, early-season Bundesliga and Ligue 1 storylines, and early Serie A/La Liga/transfer chatter. It also discusses how Bundesliga highlights are being distributed on YouTube/other platforms, plus a few notable match moments (Bayern 5-1 Stuttgart; Monaco 2-0 Marseille; Real Madrid 4-0 Malaga; Roma/Fiorentina/Frosinone).

Guests

James Horncastle (host, in-studio; recently back from Italy). Tom Williams (co-host). Seb Stafford-Bloor (co-host; provides Bundesliga/Ligue 1 and other football analysis). No additional named guests appear beyond the hosts; Kane is featured via a pre-recorded interview clip.

Key claims

  • Kane says he doesn’t plan to slow down; he stays available through recovery work (including acupuncture) and durability, and he links his output to Bayern’s high-press system.
  • Monaco’s Paris Brunner is emerging as a German “number nine” despite earlier low visibility.
  • Fiorentina’s poor start is blamed on too many new signings and lack of chemistry.
  • Mourinho’s Real Madrid are using Bellingham in a more advanced, attacking role behind the striker.

Notable examples

  • Kane interview: details on his “craft” and a specific Luis Díaz assist/pass.
  • Brunner vs Marseille: two goals, including a solo finish after holding off Condogbia.
  • Constantinus injury: ACL after a strong Super Cup start.
  • Bellingham goal vs Malaga: compared to George Best’s run-and-cutback style.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

0:18

Hosts and Guests Introduction

Meet the hosts James, Tom, and Seb who share their excitement for the episode.

“We've definitely been there and that's why we use ZocDoc.”
2:26

Hosts and Guests Introduction

Meet the hosts James, Tom, and Seb who share their excitement for the episode.

3:20

Interview Insights with Harry Kane

A detailed discussion on the insights gained from the interview with Harry Kane.

6:04

Discussing Football Series and Favorites

The hosts talk about various football interviews and their favorites.

“seb staffer bloor which is a little bit contradictory it is a little bit but then Harry Kane, my game in Serb Stafford, this is this opportunity to kind of plug the rest of the series.”
6:34

Fiorentina's Centenary Celebration

Discussion on Fiorentina's centenary and the new president's style.

“We're going to be talking about Bundesliga.”
8:01

Monaco's Strategic Moves

Monaco's recent success and player acquisition strategies discussed.

“But it feels like he's modeled his whole way of speaking.”
14:00

Emergence of Young Talent in Ligue 1

Discussion on players finally getting their chance in Ligue 1 after being overlooked.

“and people kind of just forgot about him and he wasn't ever spoken about until he peaked his head above the parapet in Ligue 1 this season.”
14:37

Janis Constantelius' Transfer Saga

Overview of Janis Constantelius' difficult transfer to Borussia Dortmund and its implications.

“We'll get on to the start of the French season very shortly.”
16:36

Bundesliga Season Preview

Preview of the upcoming Bundesliga season and the teams involved.

16:50

Elversberg's Remarkable Journey

Discussion on Elversberg’s rapid rise to the Bundesliga and their first match.

“And this team called Elversberg, who, I'm going to ask, who are they?”
Show all 26 chapters
18:58

Bayern Munich's Dominance

Analysis of Bayern Munich's strong start to the season and their recent match results.

“But as a result, he was able to kind of rocket power their progress through the leagues.”
23:02

Harry Kane's Performance and Fitness

Exploration of Harry Kane's impact on Bayern Munich and his training regimen.

“It's also really, really difficult to shop for a Harry Kane backup because he never comes off the pitch, really, and you don't really have a fighting chance of taking his place.”
24:22

Interview Insights with Harry Kane

Insights from Harry Kane on his performance, fitness, and expectations.

28:01

Ballon d'Or Controversies

A discussion on the merits of various candidates for the Ballon d'Or and past trends.

“There's no outstanding candidate, is there?”
29:22

Jamal Musiala's Health Update

An update on Jamal Musiala's health following his fainting incidents.

“So Jamal, of course, fainted in consecutive preseason games.”
34:35

Bundesliga's Media Strategy

Discussion about Bundesliga's innovative approaches to broadcasting and accessibility.

“thing from the world of German football.”
36:53

Real Madrid and Mourinho's Strategy

Analysis of Real Madrid's performance under Mourinho and Bellingham's role.

“is he hosting it himself i haven't seen the product yet i haven't seen it into him oh yeah In Philadelphia, where he was coming from doing exactly this.”
42:01

Jose Mourinho's Impact at Roma

Discussing Mourinho's successful management at Roma and team mentality.

“But it was Roma's first trophy in 14 years and he got them to a Europa League final the following season.”
45:02

Fiorentina's Struggles and Team Chemistry

Analyzing Fiorentina's poor start to the season and issues with team chemistry.

“Romy, you touched on there, who were fantastic after our last show in that defeat of, what was it?”
49:15

Transfer News and Team Adjustments

Exploring recent transfers and their impact on Italian teams' strategies.

“Their worst start to a Serie A season ever.”
56:01

Transfer Talk: Rafa Liao Moves to Turkey

Discussion on Rafa Liao's transfer from Milan to Galatasaray and its implications.

“So, Raffaella is one of those players who perhaps divides the fan base, a bit like you were saying before.”
1:03:06

Transfer Talk: Rafa Liao Moves to Turkey

Discussion on Rafa Liao's transfer from Milan to Galatasaray and its implications.

1:03:18

Ligue 1 and Super League Updates

Analysis of recent Ligue 1 matches and the performance of various teams.

“And at the end, a wildly celebration for Matteo Ganduzzi.”
1:10:00

PSG's Struggles and Comeback Drama

Learn about PSG's recent matches, their comeback from 2-0 down, and player performances.

“So yeah, they are specializing in coming from 2-0 down to rescue 2-2 draws in improbable circumstances.”
1:11:56

Goalkeeper Controversy at PSG

Explore the situation regarding PSG's goalkeeping decisions and player trust issues.

“I was like, oh, Chevalier must be playing or something.”
1:14:09

Upcoming Matches and League Insights

Discuss the implications of PSG's next match against Monaco and its significance.

“Safanov, I think he's kind of mid-late 20s, but it wasn't seen as this guy's going to come in and take Safanov's place.”
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Transcript

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0:58So you can find the right doctor or dentist and book instantly. Taking care of your health just got easier. Download the ZocDoc app today and book that appointment on your to-do list. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C, ZocDoc. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. It was a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight, we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees, may apply. It's the Totally Football Show, European edition.

1:54Bundesliga is back. There's a 5-1 in Munich, I guess who, and we find out who are the Elvisburgers. Nothing to do with the king on the john. Italy, Cornwall Cihatti as Ces Sexy Lakemen down Napoli and Florence Nottingham as Fiorentina cannot score and have already shipped seven. France on pole in Monaco and PSG in the pits. What's going on in Ligue 1? It's all in this Totally Football show.

2:25Unbelievable, unbelievable this Well, it's Monday the 31st of August And it's a special IRL edition The Tony Football Show European edition Yes, because here in the studio James Horncastle, back from Italy Lovely to see you Tom Williams is here with us Hello from the studio, James Hello to you from the other side of the table And in the flesh, Seb Stafford Bloor hello james hi seb what brought you over transfer deadline day see a few people a bit of a change of scenery nice are we a few people no you don't really count i mean you're you're your acquaintances and i i am literally no attempt to soften the blow there is it no no no no no clip that up when i when i talk about coming over here for this i talk about it as a single entity rather i'm coming over to podcast rather than i'm coming over to see james james and tom right

3:17James Horncastle: do you a favour since you're here since you're here don't get any ideas this is purely professional you can tell us about some Bundesliga later on because they I sure can it's back it's back it's back yeah and also you had a lovely sit down I thought it was lovely anyway with that Harry Kane yeah when you said sit down I went Sopranos you know I sort of mentally why what do they do I don't know I mean I you know organise a sit down with you know Johnny Slack our families knees a few days we need to have a sit down to harry you're in a great front of four there you go some of your goals but i did yes i sat down literally and spoke with harry paying about some of his goals and says right how was that by the way the piece is out now on meanwhile on this the kids i love the way you shift the ball here and your left foot to your right talk us through that in your own time so you can hear harry who disappointingly doesn't speak anything like that in where you can yeah and she can probably i don't know if i'm sure we're putting clips there but you've got the interview up already i didn't manage to read everything because it just dropped just before we came in the studio but it's it's no you're just so cynical i read i would think it's quite long it is quite long it is quite long i read quite a lot of it for example the whole dr congo gold business yes and then he breaks down oh the diaz assist in the game against parisantia man yeah yeah and it was really fascinating to hear him talk because Cain's not somebody who at least to my mind in post-game interviews for example necessarily seems like he wants to open up that much but in here with your magic touch well it was one of those where you just turn on the recorder and get out of the way because he was great I think sometimes what you see on television is what you get if you're asked quite mundane questions whereas what's your assessment of that performance Harry?

5:08but this is the thing right I said to him right there's no there's no video element to this interview we're just going to talk about some football we're just going to show you some clips he lit up he was he was great and uh he what you realize is at the very top of the game these guys are kind of craftsmen because the level to which the level of detail with which they they think about the game how much they process every split second with what's happening around them in their periphery you mentioned the the diaz goal in the part of the prince the things that happen in two or three seconds in a professional footballer's brain are kind of mind-blowing yeah i was on tfc this morning talking about this and i i can't type and take phone calls at the same time right uh but it was it was enlightening and i kind of i left thinking i i'd love to hear more from that harry kane yeah but he was fascinating and i learned a lot good if you'd like to learn a lot it's called harry kane my game in my words by seb staffer bloor which is a little bit contradictory it is a little bit but then Harry Kane, my game in Serb Stafford, this is this opportunity to kind of plug the rest of the series.

6:16Okay. We've had quite a few of them. One of my favorites is actually Declan Rice. Oh, yeah. It's a really, really good. Did you do him as well? I did not. That was Stu James. That was Stu James. I love Stu James. That's the absolute masterpiece of an interview. Really? Yeah. But you can't go wrong. It's a good series. Great. Fantastic. We're going to be talking about Bundesliga. We're going to hear a little bit about Paris Saint-Germain's problems and what Monaco are up to. And of course, City are. Let's get a moment of the week, though, to start, James.

6:47James Horncastle: It's Fiorentina's centenary, James. So we'll get to the game a little bit later. But after the game, there was this big tribute featuring the new president of Fiorentina, Giuseppe B. Comiso, who I'm obsessed by. Oh yeah? Because he's come from nowhere. Rocco Camiso, who passed away earlier this year, he has essentially, the club has been left to his son's family. And there was another son who was in Florence a lot, and everyone expected that he was going to be the next in life. The Kendall. Yeah, but actually, I think this one is Kendall. Oh, really? Okay. Except, and I would encourage all of our listeners to go out and watch video.

7:45James Horncastle: Bob was expecting me so. Because if there was a kind of factory that was making Donald Trump imitators. Okay. Right. And the thing about him is he's not doing a Trump impression. Right. But it feels like he's modeled his whole way of speaking. Not just his way of speaking, but the way he uses his hands on Trump. It's extraordinary. Yeah, it really is. You've seen it, too. Yeah. And there have been a couple of occasions this week which have kind of just immediately made me want to go and speak to this guy. There was one where he was in one of the squares in Florence because there was this beautiful night where all along the river, there were flares lit in Florence for the centenary.

8:38James Horncastle: And then he gave a speech in one of the squares in the city. And he's sort of doing it in this. It reminds you of, do you remember the Luce film reel from Italy? it's like Pathé Luce was a film real company back in the 1920s so you can imagine the kind of speech it was kind of given the context his style is like a mix of that and Trump so he's doing this and he seems to have such a strong sense of his own not popularity but just like importance, that he gives this big rousing speech. And then at the end, you just hear a Florentine. It's going, I love for you, Lord. His mom, Catherine, is by his side and she understands, turns, is shocked by it.

9:41James Horncastle: And then again, at the weekend, he does the same thing. He's out there on the pitch. And I don't think he speaks fluent Italian, but he's prepared a speech in Italian. gives it and if you ever wanted to know what donald trump sounds like in italian this is it it's unbelievable cuesta sera james had he been had he been public facing before no last way the first sort of outing yeah and he he um um at the end of the season and it was you know it was a season that almost ended in relegation for for fiorentina he did this uh address down the camera and you know in our own podcast you know we think that brevity is an important thing ironic you should say that podcast should only be a certain duration yeah and particularly for social if you're clipping stuff up you know it should only be like 30 seconds 90 seconds max this guy gives an address to camera at the end of the season from a desk yeah uh which i mean it it must have been like 10 minutes long jeepers i'm surprised you haven't come across this i'm not I've seen pictures of him and thought, oh, interesting.

10:53But now... You've got it. Yeah, exactly. It's, yeah. Sensational. Yeah. Tom? Well, I had to follow that. Yeah. I'm going to go for Monaco v Marseille. Yes. Sunday night summit in Ligue 1. 2-0 win for Monaco. and one of the main storylines in Ligue 1 this summer has been the enormous exodus of talented footballers because the TV rights deal means that almost none of the clubs in the French top flight have got Toussaint team to rub together and so they're all flogging their best players and consequently having to rummage around in cupboards and storerooms to find players to replace them something that Monaco have done very successfully and one of the players that they've come across you know looking around in the basement or whatever is a guy called paris brunner sensational name sounds french actually german oh very talented very prolific german youth international who monaco signed from borussia dortmund in 2024 and he's called paris he's called paris yeah right seb is there a i don't know his mum's from the drc so there's this kind of a francophone connection there right were his parents passing through the french capital wonders 20 odd years ago you know maybe this is a guy who sounds french but is

12:19James Horncastle: german but he's german i'm pretty sure there was another kid who came through at monaco a few years ago who's now signed for leche who sounds german but he's french called william goebel possibly the most unfortunately moniker footballer in the french game wow not much propaganda about him yeah yeah for for good reason anyway so they found Paris Brunner or Paris Brunner as the French commentators are eventually calling him yes turns out he's really good um and he scored both of Monaco's goals against against Marseille second goal was a beauty Eric Dier just punts a goal kick downfield and Brunner holds off Geoffrey Condogbia uh and then cuts inside him cuts inside in by fainting to shoot.

13:04Former Burnley man CJ Egan-Riley, Condogbia's centre-back partner, comes across. Faints to shoot again, gets past Egan-Riley and then sticks the ball in bottom left. You know, goes off celebrating and that's Monaco two wins from two, top of the table and with a new hero to get excited for. He's very interesting because a couple of years ago he had an excellent youth tournament performance for Germany and there's a big dearth of centre-forwards in in German football and has been for the best part of a decade. And it was kind of, here's the guy, right? Here's the guy. This is the next number nine for the German national team.

13:40And he left Brissett Dortmund under a little bit of a cloud with some suggestions about bad attitude and a little bit of entitlement. Believed he was further along than he really was. It became a little bit of a culture war within the punditocracy. And people kind of got ridiculed for supporting him when he went off to wherever he went to. and people kind of just forgot about him and he wasn't ever spoken about until he peaked his head above the parapet in Ligue 1 this season. So it's great. The talent is clearly there, right? But he's been at Monaco for two years. First season, he goes out on loan to Cercle Brugge in Belgium.

14:14He doesn't really do a great deal. He was at Monaco for the entirety of last season, I think made seven appearances in Ligue 1, didn't score any goals. It just wasn't being talked about. But because the shelves are getting so bare at the top Ligue 1 clubs, these guys are kind of being given their chance to shine and many of them are taking it. Necessity being the mother of invention, as they no doubt say in France in some way, shape or form. There is a Paris then on top of the Ligue 1 standings, but it's not the one you would expect. We'll get on to the start of the French season very shortly.

14:46But Seb, your moment of the week. It's going to be a somber one, Jimbo, because one of the big transfer sagas this summer was Janis Constantelius' move to Borussia Dortmund. so for context a year ago Constantinus nearly moved to Stuttgart there was an agreement between the two clubs only for his club's altruist Pauk in Greece Thessaloniki they protested so dramatically that the deal was kind of called off. Dortmund had another go at him this summer, were able to convince the club who are owned by Ivan Savidis, remember the guy with the gun who came to the pitch, he's their chairman and owner, majority owner they reached an agreement uh pav fans not take it that well they occupied their own stadium a couple of them got into the club's offices within the stadium demanding to talk to the owner not quite sure whether they were successful anyway he comes across deal completed had a really good german super cup in dortmund's 2-1 loss to to bris to buy munich at which point the yellow wall kind of fell in love it was in the west final stadium and it was just lovely touch great technique good creativity played against hamburg on saturday um scored his first goal 55 minutes tore his acl oh so that's the season probably yeah don't know yet dormant have just said you know it's going to be a long time we wish him the best we'll stand behind him but if you think about all the things that go into transfer not just moving club but moving city moving country bringing family over you settled in and also from dormant's perspective suddenly you've got all the flair that a lot of fans would would say has been missing for quite a long time and you've got this new player shiny new toy very talented boy it's gone devastating i wonder if that's gonna have some impact on the german title race well that's the other thing right it was another reason to believe in potentially potentially right tenuous you think right okay but it at least made lorman much more interesting it's just been taken away all right good because we're going to start with the bundesliga today

16:49Bundesliga here we go to recap Bayern Munich were champions last season coming up from Bundesliga Zwei Zwei Bundesliga Zwei Bundesliga does whatever a Zwei Bundesliga can

17:08Schalke back after three seasons Paderborn who beat Wolfsburg sent them down In the relegation playoff. In the relegation playoff. And this team called Elversberg, who, I'm going to ask, who are they? Because not only do they come from, I think, the smallest town ever to be represented in the Bundesliga. That's right. Smallest even than Hoffenheim. Well, so technically, Hoffenheim, they play their games in Sinsheim, but it's not really where they come from. Okay. So that's a yes. But smallest anyway. Yes, smaller anyway. population of 13 000 spice and elversburg yeah so it's the same size as four far athletic in scotland as their kind of base and remarkable but anyway them they came up they were in the fourth division what four years ago so they started the 21 22 season in the regional league which is fourth yeah and they're now in the now in the bundesliga so they went uh they've got their promotion in 2022 they then spent a single season in the dritter liga got promoted from that couple of years in this weiderbundsliga year before last they actually lost in the relegation playoff heidenheim very very unlucky like the 93rd minute they're devastating but uh came back new coach straight up into the osterbundsliga beat leverkusen well and so for their opening game in the big time they take on Bayer Leverkusen.

18:37Well, yeah, the other thing here is that their stadium actually holds more people than their town's population. So the Ursa Farm Stadion, that, I think the capacity has just been renovated. So I think it's up to 15 ,000 now. And as you said, the local population is 13 ,000. And they went, well, they went 1-0 up. And then 61 seconds later... Within eight minutes, they were 2-0 up. 2-0 up. Within 15 minutes, they were 3-0 up. They played ever so well. then it became a little bit nervy as Leverkusen kind of remembered who they were Elfersburg remembered where they were and they sort of held on a little bit towards the end but a first Bundesliga appearance in the club's history first win first goals and so what people will say here is that it is a very small side they have the patronage of a pharmaceutical company called usafarm so the chairman of this company is also the chairman of Elfersburg and German football likes to be a little bit pedantic about these things and kind of categorize its fairy tales properly yes um and so they have spent a bit of money but a lot of it has gone on infrastructure rather than this is no hoffenheim erby leipzig situation it's so leipzig everyone will know the red bull thing of course hoffenheim it was a software million yeah so hoffenheim are a village team um and they were they're under the patronage of someone called diegmar hop who who is a billionaire who earned his money in software.

20:04And because he had been along, because of his relationship with the club and because of how long it had lasted, they were granted originally an exemption from the 50 plus one rule, which as you'd imagine in Germany was none too popular. But as a result, he was able to kind of rocket power their progress through the leagues. Do they have an exemption from the 50 plus one? They did for a long time and now they conform for 50 plus one rule so that's who elversburg not hoffenheim oh right don't um so the this is not a case of a benefactor this is just a sponsor with money right um they are still they conform to 50 plus one rule they are majority owned by their supporters and members uh but there has been a bit of money then in that not huge amount so when they in preparation for this season they spent around somewhere between nine and ten million euros in new signings signed um cole campbell from from briscia dortmund the young american forward for i think around six million which is not a lot in kind of championship to premier league terms but in bundesliga terms that is quite a big spend for a newly promoted side is it yeah yeah um it is a lot of money not to the point where it's cynical and we should start saying you know this isn't an interesting story but there's that little caveat which uh were a german to be sat here uh would insist upon Excellent.

21:23Well, I mean, it was, I would say, the shock of the weekend in Europe. Of course, Bundesliga's fullest prizes is another one. Bayern Munich won this weekend. They were playing Stuttgart. Funnily enough, this was the second time in a row that these two teams had faced each other in a... Well, no, because Bayern had the Super Cup last week against... Yeah. But at the end of last season, they also faced each other. And that would have been the... That would have been the FV Pokal final. Oh, the Pokal final. so that day it was a 3-0 win hurricane hat trick for Bayern with a hurricane hat trick yeah this time around how did it go it went 5-1 in Bayern's favor so initially it actually was pretty competitive so Diogo McConaughey gives Bayern the lead 1-0 and then Bayern are a little bit sloppy they had some new parts so they had um Nene Brown who they signed from Eintracht Frankfurt he's very versatile to a fullback he was actually playing in the kind of the number 10 role which was quite interesting and and it worked and he's he started his bank career really really well uh kim and jay was in central defense instead of jonathan tar so there were a few little sort of to work out um joshua wagnerman equalized right one one and then bion kind of ran away with it thanks unfortunately to probably the worst own goal you'll see again from wagnerman kind of sipped over no one around him he's in his own six yard box and just punts into his own net and it's Just, I don't know what to say.

22:47Poor Joshua. Poor fellow. A 5-1 in Munich. Yeah. Today, I think it's the 25th anniversary of that 5-1 in Munich. Just throwing that in there. Very nice. Very nice. So, also, a couple of other notes in there. A competitive debut for Ismail Saibari, the Moroccan from PSV, who has kind of been signed, I suppose, probably more of a number 10 at PSV, but he's a kind of all-purpose forward in the system and fits the Finlayson company picture pretty well because there's so much rotation and flexibility in that forward group. It's also really, really difficult to shop for a Harry Kane backup because he never comes off the pitch, really, and you don't really have a fighting chance of taking his place.

23:30So what they've done is put their money into that number 10 role with a player who can play as a centre forward. Anyway, Sabari came on in the second half substitute, got his first assist, really, really nice breakaway. World Cup superstar. World Cup superstar. It looks very much worth the money. Really, the fans have taken him to him almost immediately. So, pretty good start. Excellent. Harry Kane didn't score. Didn't. Laid on a beautiful pass for one of the goals. Was he playing in a slightly different position? It wasn't a goal, actually. It wasn't for a goal. He put Luis Diaz through on goal in the first half.

24:06And I think Diaz had his shot saved. Okay. Instruct me, though, because in your piece... Yeah. in fact I think we can listen to a little bit of your of your interview right now actually courtesy of producer Javi you know there's so much talk and all athletes about once you get to your 30s about slowing down and um yeah one of my heroes Tom Brady played until he was 44 and it's like I think sometimes is it just a perception thing is it uh you put everyone around you saying that you should be slowing down you start to think it yourself whereas I'm I'm the opposite until I start seeing it in data and I start seeing it in my performance you know I'm just going to keep pushing and see where it takes me but yeah I think you know especially with this boss now here here at Bayern with Vinny the way we play the high press the winning the ball back high it's been a big reason why I scored a lot of goals as well but also just me I feel I'm covering over 11k in a lot of games and yeah I feel good for it I think it is part of my game and again you don't always associate you know i guess stamina running with a striker because it's more about how fast you and especially in today's game with some short bars of the top players and yeah does he look fast i guess i don't look fast but uh in terms of a game i've got a lot of good physical aspects that allow me to you know help the team from minute one to minute 90 but also i think you know our biggest biggest strength of the top players has been available in 95 of the games and durability yeah and uh i take a lot of pride in that and you know some people who are a lot some people but i work extremely hard behind the scenes to make sure i'm available as much as possible and um like you said for the last six years that's been a big part harry kane said but it's almost really interesting mentioning tom brady because i'm curious if if brady has in any way influenced although they're very different disciplined not really so harry's uh approach the way he runs and guns i think the one area during our interview where sort of brady didn't come up by name but american football did is we were talking about that wonderful pass for luis diaz in the parc de prance during the champions league semi-final lucky enough to be there which is just amazing as an experience anyway the laces were out the laces were out but we were talking about the pass and And he was talking about how in American football, like quarterbacks have that pass where it's not drilled, it's not powered, it's just floated over the top of the defenders, the cornerbacks, the strong safeties, etc.

26:43And that was a kind of, that's a passing technique that he has. It didn't really, yeah, it wasn't necessarily kind of, it wasn't derived from American football. No. The style is very, very similar. but there was no reference to kind of what he does um having been influenced by brady in terms of his fitness and conditioning he did say that after he suffered that really bad hamstring injury in i think 2019 where he he tore the muscle off the bone pretty much he uh he got into his acupuncture he met a new uh doctor who believed in kind of yeah acupuncture and i'm kind of exhausting my understanding of acupuncture someone who wants to how do we not have someone knows something about it in this room i mean why what's the question for yourself sir well no but that's what i'm saying i i i've introduced the topic this is how this podcast works and someone jumps in with a little bit of knowledge we're listening to what you're saying about the acupuncture okay well he so he got into acupuncture acupuncture has really helped him and ever since um obviously he's got older he's focused on recovery which i guess was part of brady's career as he got older i imagine the tv method right letting the air out of balls he's that as well?

27:48He's no. He's no cheating at all. Is that acupuncturne? That was deflate gate, wasn't it? It was, yeah. Yeah. Is he going to win the Ballon d 'Or? I hope so. Is he? I don't think anybody has a stronger... There's no outstanding candidate, is there? There's lots of very good candidates.

28:10James Horncastle: I wouldn't be surprised if Rod really were to win it again. Really? Outstanding player at the World Cup. Yeah. Yeah. I really hate hate that though i just think that's don't go seb let them know how you feel don't go and i also want the athletic to remove every single person's going to cover that event on in solidarity yeah because that's just that that's that's just an award for winning the world cup again isn't it because there hasn't been as there's not a a particularly i don't think it's a particularly compelling domestic season attached that story it's just a he was excellent but then you look historically that's often how the winner of the Ballon d 'Or has been chosen I mean you win the World Cup and you're the you're the either the star man or the player who is most closely associated with that success and you get the Ballon d 'Or as a kind of like bonus guy I love Rodri I think he was great at the World Cup I just don't it's not very exciting is it no but I don't really agree with it I think over the body of work from Kane over the past year is more impressive um yeah I'm biased I've just interviewed him also Tottenham fans though He's going to be in London as well, so we'll be on home soil.

29:18All the biases. All the biases. All the biases. He would get my vote if I had a vote. All right. Is there any news on Jamal Musiala? So Jamal, of course, fainted in consecutive preseason games. And the club, after the second one, said we're aware of the issue, allowed Jamal to make an announcement on his Instagram account where he said he's been suffering from neurological dysfunction and he's there's no problem like he feels like his health is fine he reassured people he will be back he's not afraid of his of his career or anything like that but he hasn't been included in a matchday squad since he was left out of uh the super cup squad and then the first game against stuttgart no news yet on when he'll be back they're just gonna take their time with this one did bion say that they felt that the issue had arisen because he changed his medication so this was a pre-existing condition that's right yeah so it hadn't been an issue um bion said i forget who i think it was company said in a press conference it might have been company or either max ebel the for sport so that yeah there'd been a change of medication and that was kind of the the cause of what has happened but yeah and bion and Jamal Masialo have moved to reassure people and fans.

30:36And I think quite understandably, given the stakes are pretty low at the moment, everyone's just taking their time, making sure that his health obviously comes first, right? And he's had a difficult few months and probably a difficult year actually because he had a terrible injury at the Club World Cup, which broke his ankle, collision with Gianluigi Donnarumma, didn't really recover his form, had a little bit of a car crash, minor one in Munich last season. and now this didn't have a good World Cup at all like nobody in the Germany national team did really. And now this, but obviously hope is that he gets healthy again and ready to resume his career.

31:14Okay, that's Bundesliga week one. Next up, let's touch on one or two other topics and head down south to Italy.

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34:34Hey Seb, one more thing from the world of German football. Yeah. Bundesliga. Yeah. After last season, it's praising everybody with that's football and the overlap. The overlap getting the rights to show Bundesliga games. on their YouTube channels. This season, you can watch Bundesliga on Jamie Vardy and Romario's, this is a separate channel, Jamie Vardy and Romario's YouTube channels. Wow. Jamie Vardy is having a party or something. Nice. Wow. Yeah. So the idea here is that the Bundesliga, with their UK rights package, what they could have done was just renew it every year with in a marketplace which for all the streamers the emphasis is now gone from being let's accumulate signups and new members let's you know a couple years ago they were just picking up rise packages overspending and now the market's different so the bundesliga would say here that the emphasis is on becoming discoverable not being behind a paywall or a subscription service they want as many different people to be able to find the games but also to cater to different types of fans so that friday night rights package which jamie vardy got seven games mark goldbridge has i think he has a about double the size i think roughly but don't quote on that and then it's also on sky no so so no saturday nights are on sky okay exclusively uh sundays are uh on amazon on prime sport on a view basis but that friday night package is split three ways so it appears on bundesliga's youtube channel uh on the bbc yes uh on the iplayer and it's shared either on uh mark goldbridge's uh that's football or on jamie bardie's jamie bardie is having a party which is the name of the yeah so previously the overlap was uh the other rice holder but then the overlap over the summer acquired uh mark goldbridge's youtube properties right and the overlap as far as i understand it they'll continue to show supplementary programming interviews and and such like technical analysis but they won't actually show the live games and and yeah so these are bold steps they're interesting ones and you mentioned romario romario has one live game per match day in brazil okay the is he hosting it himself i haven't seen the product yet i haven't seen it into him oh yeah

37:04James Horncastle: In Philadelphia, where he was coming from doing exactly this. I think he must have had some rights to do post-game interviews. Right. And so he was sitting down with Vinny Jr. when he walked past me. Small, wiry man. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's really very wiry. Still see footage of him doing, you know, the odd five-a-side game, bit of beach football. Looks him decent, Nick. Yeah. Yeah, good. His body fat percentage must be... Minus. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Minus. Magnificent. Paul's not with us today. He'll be joining us again next week just to flag up that Atletico Madrid are off to a great start. Doesn't look like Julian Alvarez, as things stand, a bit of a hostage fortune even mentioning this.

37:51Doesn't look like he's going to be moving, although Jonathan David will be going to Atletico Madrid. Is that right, James? Might that nudge things along?

38:01James Horncastle: No, I wouldn't think so. I think there are other situations at Atleti, like what to do with Alexander Soloth as well. So it's not exactly linked to Julian Alvarez. And it's not guaranteed that Jonathan David goes to Atleti either. Joubert have been looking to sell him because they have this straight jacket of a UEFA settlement agreement, which means they are very limited in what they can do in the transfer market. So they need to get people like Jonathan out. but it remains to be seen if that happens James. Okay. Paps are in to Juve as well. Paps are in midfield scrabbling along for a striker in the last 48 hours of the window after signing Colomuani who Spalletti panned after one game where he missed that sitter against Frozionne and he said well if the guy hasn't played for two years there must be a reason.

38:58I mean he played quite a lot for Spurs last year which was... In a sort of inverted commas kind of way. Yeah.

39:04James Horncastle: It wasn't great. It wasn't great. Spillity then came to his pre-match press conference at the weekend with a list of all the good things he said about Colin Warnham. Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah. So, like, written down. Written down, yeah. He's like, I went back through my archive. I've said loads of good stuff about this guy. I don't know why you're all focusing on one thing that I said last season. Last weekend. Good sense of humor. Good listener. Yeah. And I am looking for another striker. So don't, you know, don't take anything don't read too much into that but no they are they are looking at Zerks and Valtimada right Fiorentino also looking at Zerks for reasons we'll get no not anymore not anymore whilst we're recording this Beto no Beto Beto out of Everton Beto yeah that'll solve all their problems Everton's Beto is going to play for really Fiorentino really okay there you go just on the subject of football in Madrid though one.

40:01Let's go off to a good start. Jose Mourinho's Real also very much so. Top of the table three wins out of three. Wednesday last week they beat Real Sociedad 4-1. Hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé and another from Vinicius Junior and an amazing goal from sorry not goal assist from Jude Bellingham and then Bellingham this week impressing you in particular Tom with his sensational goal in the 4-0 win over Malaga. Yes a goal that reminded me but perhaps not everyone of a famous goal that George Best scored against I think it was Sheffield United at Old Trafford kind of picks the ball up quite deep in the inside left channel and just keeps running right and each time he nudges the ball further to the right he beats another defender and then just hits it back across the goalkeeper from an impossible angle in George Best's case and like from a very tight angle in Jude Bellingham's case and it was interesting after the game he spoke about the role that Mourinho has given him he's much further up the pitch than he was last season.

41:02I think that was, you know, we know one of the main headaches that Real Madrid coaches have faced over the last kind of 12, 18 months is how do you fit him and Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe and all the other players into the team? And basically Mourinho is doing everything he can to put Bellingham in his best position as a number 10 behind the centre forward with a licence to attack the penalty area. And as apparently told Bellingham, I don't want to see you kind of back covering for the left back. you are primarily an attacking player in this team and I want you to play in that way. And Bellingham has spoken about feeling like he's playing with more freedom and, you know, Madrid are reaping the rewards at the moment.

41:41There you go. Real Madrid looking great and very exciting for Jose Mourinho. So we're going to be seeing them in some interesting ties in the Champions League because their first two fixtures in the Champions League league phase pit them against teams where he's won trophies. Inter and Roma in weeks one and two.

42:00James Horncastle: Yeah. Travel with Inter and obviously he's been back to Inter more recently with Roma and the Conference League with Roma, the first ever Conference League, which, you know, a lot of people outside of Italy and outside of the Roma fan base, they're quite sniffy about. Are they? They are. But it was Roma's first trophy in 14 years and he got them to a Europa League final the following season. So as much as the football was not appealing to everybody. And as much as he never qualified for Champions League, although they would have qualified for Champions League if they'd won that Europa League final penalties, Jose was very much considered a success in Rome.

42:46And it was a reminder to me that he is very good at bringing dressing rooms together and forging a mentality as much as

42:57James Horncastle: there has been like he's a corrosive influence he's toxic um i heard gasperini after the fiorentina game so roma's first game of the season where they absolutely tonked uh fiorentina a gasp said this the mentality within this group is one of the best groups I've ever worked with. And a lot of that mentality was forged by Jose. Right. In turning not average players into winners at a relative level, but people who believe they could be a good cup team. And so, you know, when he got this Real Madrid job, you look at the talent he's got, you look at the skill set of the players. I think it all suits Jose's way of playing.

43:43James Horncastle: And I don't see why they can't win La Liga this year. They've started scoring lots of goals. Their best players are performing Mbappe during the week because they were playing a catch-up game. Incredible hat-trick. And to Seb's point about Harry Kane has to be the Ballon d 'Or winner, Jose is actively campaigning in every press conference for Kylian Mbappe to get the Ballon d 'Or. It's not even close. He's stratospheric. Bellingham is a great player, but Mbappe made history at the World Cup by becoming not only the top scorer in the summer's tournament, but the all-time top scorer. And so he's got their best players doing great work at the moment.

44:29James Horncastle: It's still early days. And he's having a bit of fun with the Madrid media, which is great. It's very tongue-in-cheek about them saying, there was a reporter who asked him, Jose, they tell us around the training ground that you are, you're kind of a much more relaxed presence than you were 13 years ago. And he like looked at him and said, ah, you've told me something really important here, that you've got context in the training ground. You've got a mole. But he did it really smile on his face. And so look, things are going great. Excellent. Excellent. Romy, you touched on there, who were fantastic after our last show in that defeat of, what was it?

45:114-0 defeat of Fiorentina. with Donjon Marlon scoring a hat-trick, hat-trick of assists from Paolo Dybala, who was very much on it. And a lot of excited talk in the capital about how they can win the title. This is week one of the season.

45:24James Horncastle: By the time this goes out, they'll have lost to Lecce. So they play this evening, as we record, it's Monday. They're taking on, as you say, Lecce, a team who have some, who've caused some problems in the past, famously. Anyway, but as it stands, most of the teams have played two matches and it's Inter, Milan, Juve and Lazio level at the top of the table. Lazio, of course, now under Gennaro Gattuso and they beat his former World Cup winning teammate, Daniele De Rossi and Genoa. Meanwhile, another of that Italy 2006 World Cup side is at the bottom of the table, poor chap, with Fiorentina. Last week we were talking about how Fiorentina might actually be quite good this season, but so far they've lost 4-0 to Fiorentina, I'm sorry, to Roma, and now 3-0 to newly promoted Frozzinone.

46:19What's going on?

46:20James Horncastle: It's one of those things where you can buy too many players. Ah. And they have, at the time of recording, bought nine. Yes. By the time this goes out, they'll probably bought 11. Ooh. At the weekend against Frozzinone, they played seven new players in the starting lineup. And you could just tell that they haven't figured each other out yet. They don't have chemistry. There isn't a team ethos about how Fiorentina are at the moment. So there are massive spaces opening up all the time, which teams are taking advantage of. Right. The keeper, De Gea, didn't seem to be too comfortable this weekend. Yeah.

46:56And De Gea, remember when he left his last club, Man United,

47:01James Horncastle: he was out of work for a year. And some thought that he wouldn't come back. And he came to Fiorentina and he had an excellent first season. But last year, he had a bit of an iffy year. This year, he hasn't started greatly, although it would be wrong to put all of Fiorentina's problems at David De Gea's door. But on paper, their sporting director, Fabio Paracci, has put together a really exciting team. But Grosso, he had a great way of explaining this yesterday. day um he said you know it's all well and good having some nice paintings around your house yes but if you don't have walls on which to hang them right paintings are pointless um and so it looks like you know they've got some great artwork yeah franco mastantoono at uh and others um but what about the foundations what about the what about the wall what about the ceiling yeah um so i mean he's absolutely right isn't he so yeah so um but it is surprising because um they they almost got relegated last year they then um spent some money in in january and this is the thing fiorentino spent an awful lot of money the last two years the big surprise about how they found themselves in the position that they did last year because they'd spent 90 million in the summer and then in order to rectify it they basically got peratici out of tottenham over December, January, where, you know, he did some moves that, you know, somehow involved some Spurs players and some did not.

48:47James Horncastle: And then, you know, everyone was like, why are you taking this job when you've been working in the Premier League? Well, I mean, the Camiso credit card, I mean, it looks unlimited at the moment. Extraordinary. They've spent another$100 million for their centenary. This is a team that's not in Europe. and yes, clearly expected that they will be starting the season in a better way than a 7-0 aggregate scoreline, having that scored, having zero points, being bottom of the table. Their worst start to a Serie A season ever. Yeah, and having to... And the thing is, their really lovely training ground, which they built, they had this party before the game where legends of all the past came to be there for the centenary, including Manuel Rui Costa and Batistuta.

49:34James Horncastle: So there's a lovely photo of them at the stands of the Artemio Franci embracing quite emotionally. And then they had to sit through a 3-0 defeat to Frozionale. My word. Never mind Beto's arriving and who else? They've signed a winger from Torino called Inji, who when he came on against Milan looked very lively. Okay. But yeah, so there's... The expectation is if Beto passes his medical, he will be one of the strikers. They were in for Zerk, say. Yeah, Nonto as well? I think NG will be the player instead of Nonto. Okay. But yeah, that team has to come together quite quickly. I like Grosso. I think he's a good coach.

50:23James Horncastle: Right. You know, he got Frozionne up a couple of years ago and then took the Lyon job when it was a bit of a nightmare at Lyon. he then came back Sassuolo got Sassuolo up kept them up last year so he's kind of earned the right to be with Fiorentina and I think you can just see that in trying to ensure that they don't find themselves in the same situation that they did last year they've spent very heavily to upgrade the team but this team yeah they're all getting to know each other it's a little bit like Spurs you know at the moment bring a load of players in and Spurs have Everything is Spurs.

51:01James Horncastle: Yeah. It's almost like Parathici is the link. Another bit of Prem to City Air transfer news. Omari Hutchinson joining Milan. That looks like it's going to be done today. Yeah, he flew in yesterday. I think he was having his medical yesterday as well. Ruben Amorim has been playing, as you might expect, kind of a 3-4-2-1. the squad was already kind of well adapted to that because under Allegri they played three at the back last year but more attacking accent on it under our dear friend Ruben so for example Samuel Chukwazer who's a winger plays as a wingback for him so Amari Hutchinson will compete with Christian Pulisic for one of the 10 positions on the right-hand side.

51:54James Horncastle: He's a left footer, good at getting crosses in the box. They feel that they've solved the striker problem that they've had the last couple of years since Olivier Giroud left because Gonzalo Ramos, even though he missed a couple of chances against Venezia, scored on his home debut. Extremely busy. And Amarim says it's like having two strikers in one player. Really? Yeah. So Hutchinson will be there to attract defenders away from Ramos and get the ball in the box for Ramos. Okay. Yeah, I think they're quite excited adds to the number of british players there in in italy another of them uh making his last weekend curtis jones who came on for inter away at calgary a 1-0 win that was a fairly soft strike by hack and shell and oglu early on which earned on the three points there the big game of the weekend there was napoli up against como allegri against fabregas no love lost there after to some of Allegri's comments last season about the Como manager.

52:56James Horncastle: How do you do it? This little upstart. Yeah. Yeah, anyway, Cesc Fabregas with a fine 2-1 win away at the Maradona. Yeah, first time he's beaten Allegri. Oh. And it was, I don't know whether because of the context of last season's Coppa Italia game where they had this tiff, but Fabregas very complimentary of Allegri beforehand saying how much he can learn from him. how much has Allegri won over the years and all this sort of thing. But I think what was impressive about this display was Como show how they have matured. Because last year in some of the big games, they would outplay their opponents, be it Inter, be it Milan, for long stages.

53:41James Horncastle: But they wouldn't come away with all three points. They would get a little bit carried away. They would keep playing when they needed to actually sit back and defend their advantage and that sort of thing. So he had about an hour of Como absolutely dominating Napoli and then Napoli bringing on Kevin De Bruyne, David Neres and other players like that and then sort of then adjusting to it and then going five at the back and then just seeing it out, which Fabregas in the past said, I will never go five at the back. And yeah, he did. He was unashamed about it. He was just like, this just shows how far we've come.

54:18James Horncastle: And we needed to do this to get a win away at a team that was champions two years ago. And still has a lot of players who were champions twice with Napoli. On the Spalletti and on the Conte. And so he was very proud of his players. And looking forward to their first ever Champions League campaign. Where they'll have Paris Saint-Germain, Man United. so yeah they're yeah excellent excellent game from uh from colmo who when i spoke to sesc at the end of last season he said one of the reasons that they went on this run that got them into the top four was because they didn't do anything in january he was finally for the first time i've seen since i've been here we've not been always sort of like scrabbling around the transfer market trying to upgrade the team for our new ambition uh but this summer's different because they didn't expect to be in the champions league and it's like okay right we need to get players who are not champions league established but can give us the depth to play in the champions league some of the players have arrived at you know different stages of the transfer window some early some late you've got players coming back from the world cup which you know nico pas got all the way to the final didn't play a lot but you know was there and batterina was was with croatia there were you know a few players that they've got and um he's like you know so he was not expecting the team to be this well-oiled against against Napoli we saw them dysfunction there was some dysfunction to their performance against Lutonese last week but they've signed this this I was gonna say kid from Spain he's not a kid he's 32 he's called Luis Miller oh yeah from I think Osasuna or Getafe can't remember which one sorry Spanish football fans but um Sesky's like you know everyone focuses on your Pedris your Rodri's and your Gavis but there are lots of players like this in spain who play in that way and we've got this really underrated 32 year old who's essentially doing that for them brilliant it's just amazing how miller lewis miller yeah all right excellent where's he from spain no but i mean it's miller spelled m-i-l-l-a it's not roger miller yeah and louis or liam miller l-u-i-s or uh yes not l-e-w-i-s M-I-L-L-E-L-S I thought there was some Scottish promising Scottish there's two year olds another of the many promising Scottish Serie A excellent stuff, there you go Como continuing there upward much it would seem oh one other thing in transfer on the transfer side of things with Italy is the fact that finally Rafa Liao has left Milan and he's gone to Turkey, he's joined Galatasaray.

57:06Galatasaray. So, Raffaella is one of those players who perhaps divides the fan base, a bit like you were saying before. His numbers are, to many degrees, impressive. He's had great times. He was MVP, I think, the season that they won the league. But there's probably a lot of Rossoneri supporters who are happy to see the club finally move him on.

57:33James Horncastle: yeah although I think there is an element of what could have been with Rafa right because certainly when they won the league and it was unexpected that they won the league that year he had three incredible months where the tactic just became give the ball to Rafa and he will do something and he was able to win games on his own and so everyone expected him to kick on from there and become one of the best players in the world and I remember when they signed him to a new contract they were they were like wow that's it's big that he's committed to us right but i think maybe in hindsight it was like he's probably a little bit comfortable um and you know certainly there was a sense that you know he was interested in making his own music and stuff like that um but you know i think he was never considered a bad apple it was just there's so much potential there and everyone could see it he didn't seem determined to fulfill it I think he's one of those players who's so naturally gifted as a kid he's never had to try hard and so that is why he's going to Turkey at age 27 although Turkey, going to Turkey is an increasingly lustrous destination one thing, he's a really lively attacking player wonderful dribbler but um city air has not lacked for goals this season so far first time in six years no nil nils in the first two weeks of the season really uh first time in 41 years no penalties no so var is very much no penalty at the moment it's just like yeah super leaguer oh sorry super league is it back no there's oh good the turkish one who needs who needs the super league when you've got the turkey super league we'll touch on turkey and hey a little country called france perhaps you know next

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1:03:18FUNEBASCHI FUNEBASCHI Super League and Ligue 1 came oh yeah face to face last midweek with the the playoff Matteo Genduzzi so this was the playoff for entry to the Champions League and Lyon were up against FUNEBASCHI it was 0-0 the first leg 1-1 1-1 sorry so all square and then And in the second game, Leon lost. Yes. Yeah. And at the end, a wildly celebration for Matteo Ganduzzi. Very out of character for Matteo Ganduzzi. Usually so shy and retiring. So, yeah, Leon fall 2-0 down quite early on in the return leg. Ainsley, Maitlet, Niles partly at fault for both goals, quite the achievement. They pull one back through Malik Forfana, who'd also scored in the away leg, but end up losing.

1:04:09and as a consequence, players like Forfana will now have to be sold because Lyon are desperate for the cash that they would have otherwise received from qualifying for the Champions League. And yet, Matteo Ganduzzi makes something of a spectacle of himself in all sorts of different ways. He was doing the sign of Jules, the Marseille rapper. There was actually prior to the game... He's a former Olympique Marseille player. He's a former Marseille player, so he was getting it in the neck and he's quite an antagonistic footballer. Right. So he was getting it in the neck even more than an ex-Marseille player playing for the opposition against Lyon would expect to get it.

1:04:45So he'd shown the Lyon fans the middle finger in the warm-up. He said he was being barracked and insulted and people were saying horrible things about his mum and his family and things like that. And then after the game, he just goes mad. He was shouting, allez l 'OM! into all the cameras. He was giving it the Joule symbol, the Marseille Ruppers' Joule. And how did Lyon respond to this? They did not like it at all. the entire stadium is just transformed this is shot so you see him shouting alleluia into the camera and then the next shot is everybody's streaming off the leon yeah and then there's a point at which it all just completely kicks off and gendouzi is just surrounded by a scum of people and he's got his hands in the air he's just like oh what me huh what anyway looks like it's calming down he finally having been ushered away from trouble by some of his teammates is heading down the tunnel and as he enters the tunnel one of the leon goalkeeping coaches comes running out of the tunnel and karate kicks him absolutely mad antonio ferrera who is now in big trouble right uh with uh with the football authorities is like i'm not having this don't know why i don't know whether he's gone back and was hiding in the tunnel to wait for him yeah there's this incredible footage of gendouzi finally disappearing you think he's you know being forced off stage.

1:05:59And this guy goes running out of the tunnel and just absolutely cantonized him in the chest. So lots of criticism. Quentin Anteliso, the Lyon captain, was quite critical of the way Guendouzi had behaved. And Guendouzi was inevitably asked about it in the mix zone and said, look, they were insulting me right from the start. I got it in the first leg and I got it throughout the game tonight. I got it in the warmups, insulting me, saying disgusting things about my mother, members of my family. If you give it out, you've got to be prepared to take it. And I think there was a degree of justification.

1:06:29Like, he really went for it. There was another thing I've not mentioned. In addition to the LOM and the, sorry, I should have packed this. The Joule. Okay, yeah. And the thing. He was doing this, like, mad-like gallant across the pitch. Like this. Like a horse. I pray that you're watching the YouTube version of this. Honestly, that's to be seen to be what Tom just did. The horse thing, I don't know. I think it was just like, oh, I've won. This is after the game. This is all after the game. But I think there is some justification in what he says. If you give it out, you've got to be able to take it.

1:07:01He obviously went too far. But if you're a Lyon fan, and Lyon's fans are no shrinking violets, and you've been hammering this guy and saying disgusting things about him for 90-plus minutes, if he then goes around and does a weird horse impression on the pitch, yeah, maybe that's just part and parcel of the game. Wow. Congratulations anyway to Fenerbahce who are thus in the league phase. Yeah, for the first time in quite a while, I think. Yeah. But I mean, their team on paper. 18 years comes to mind. Well, James is a big fan of the Fenerbahce team, I think. Did you not describe it as the most Super League side ever?

1:07:33James Horncastle: Yes, yes. I can't remember. I tweeted about this with their line-up because Romelu Lukaku was a bench player for them. I know he's not had a pre-season. He sort of only joined from Napoli, but it was... I mean, they're starting 11 against Lyon. You've got Edison in goal, Nathan Ake at the back, midfield pairing of Gendouzi and N 'Golo Conte Mason Greenwood all sorts of former on the bench Talisca my man as Jules would call him you mentioned Greenwood didn't you you know yeah it's well they're going to be in the Champions League and it's going to be interesting not everyone from the Super League was so successful last week in the European playoffs the Europa League qualifying clash between Mo Salah's Trabzonspor and Ferenc Varos saw Trabzonspor lose 5-0 after which their manager attempted to resign and had his resignation rejected.

1:08:35Crikey, what a world. On what basis was it rejected? They said... You don't get many rejected. No, indeed. They said that the club said the decision stemmed from the intense emotional impact of the defeat. Therefore, they felt that he was God, that's so emasculating. thing you you try and resign no they're saying no think again no no i know but it's like you you won't even let me fall on my thing is i think this happens quite often doesn't it it just doesn't get

1:09:02James Horncastle: reported or doesn't the club doesn't comment on it i mean certainly watching the pep documentary on prime like khaldun uh is with pep at one moment where it kind of lists all the times he's sort of had to talk Pep out of Quits. Oh, really? Yeah. So, yeah, City, be more like Travison. You know, we've rejected Pep Guardiola's resignation. Yeah, go for it. Again. Now, Ligue 1, Tom, where Monaco are two points clear after beating Marseille 2-0 this weekend. Two points clear, as I say, of the team from Paris, but not that team. It's Paris FC who are up near the top, but your PSG are all the way down in 11th place after back-to-back 2-2 draws.

1:09:48This time around, it was away at Lille. They're now four points. Well, they're already four points off the top. And it could be seven by next Sunday because they face Monaco. Yes, they do. So yeah, they are specializing in coming from 2-0 down to rescue 2-2 draws in improbable circumstances. The previous weekend, listeners slash viewers may recall, they'd been 2-0 down with 20 minutes remaining away at Rennes and Ferran Torres who came off the bench at half time rescued them with a couple of goals in the last 20 minutes this time around at Lille they're 2-0 down going into stoppage time and Lille had scored two beautiful goals both of which were created by Olivier Giroud the first with this fantastic really intelligent reverse pass he has the ball played into feet and he drags William Pacho out from the PSG back line and then plays a reverse pass into the space that Pacho has just vacated.

1:10:44Hakon Haraldsson, Lille's Icelandic number 10, strides onto the ball, curls a shot inside the right-hand post on the edge of the box. And then towards the end, I think six minutes remaining, Giroud switches play to Dylan Bakwa, recently of Nottingham Forest, back in Ligue 1 on loan at Lille. He scores a beautiful shot, left foot curler, top left corner. And you're thinking, right, that's PSG done. it was only once in the last 60 years in france yeah has a team been two nil down going into time added on and come back to rescue not lost yes but now make it twice because yeah so vitina reduces the areas with a beautiful left foot shot from the right hand corner the penalty area into the top left corner and then minutes later and about a minute beyond um the end of what should have been stoppage time vitina gets the ball on the right hand side of the penalty area dinks across into the back post and marquinhos the captain so often the savior for psg in these big moments comes crashing in with a header um and finishes to to luis enrique and his assistant rafael pole crazy celebrations on the touchline so psg are still to win a domestic game this season lost one nil to lance in the trophy de champion right two two two draws in ligue but i don't think there's any great sense of panic they started the season quite slowly last season and we all saw what happened it does create yeah and all that i mean i think we were expecting them to maybe start a little bit more strongly this time around but you know they had a lot of players

1:12:16James Horncastle: at the world cup etc etc are they still backing safranoff he had a nasty that was a terror clash in the warm-up yes yeah yeah i was then surprised to actually i saw i was following on x and i I watched the video of Safrinov coming for a cross in sort of a warm-up and then just clattering into... His neck was at a horrible angle. Yeah. So I didn't expect him to then play. I was like, oh, Chevalier must be playing or something. But their goal... I mean, I know they won the Champions League last year. But are they not looking at addressing their goal? Not currently, no. Well, they tried to sign Zion Suzuki, who ended up going to Aston Villa.

1:12:56and I think the thinking was that he would then have been loaned either back to Serie A or loaned somewhere else. They obviously have no faith whatsoever in Lucas Chevalier and it's a real shame because, I mean, 12 months ago he'd just arrived at PSG, was seen as a French number one in waiting and since losing his place in the team to Safanov in January he just hasn't featured. But they seem happy to go with Safanov for the time being. I mean, you know, he's the goalkeeper they won the Champions League with and as much as he is very unorthodox and prone to doing slightly unusual things in the champions league in particular he was pretty solid yeah so that i think they are you know they've decided to stay with him which perhaps explains why despite the fact he had that extremely frightening you know collision pre-game they were happy to let him run out rather than turn to chevalier who they've decided is just never to be trusted ever again to keep going.

1:13:51So is this a kind of full-time commitment to him or does he remain a placeholder until they can find something better? Safanov? I think for the time being, yeah, I mean, the Suzuki thing was interesting, but that was seen as like succession planning because Suzuki is, I think, about 23. Chevalier is a similar age. Safanov, I think he's kind of mid-late 20s, but it wasn't seen as this guy's going to come in and take Safanov's place. that you know for all that Safanov is a slightly erratic unorthodox goalkeeper I think the feeling is that he he kind of you know he proved himself last season he was there were a couple of errors in Ligue 1 matches but in the Champions League he was very solid he was good enough so yeah um also felt like Chevalier didn't really recover from that Super Cup against Spurs when he his debut really yeah yeah but this is that classic thing of a player and particularly a goalkeeper he was i mean he was faultless at lile he never did anything wrong he was so consistent and then as soon as he goes to psg he starts making mistakes when they lost marseille in the first half of last season he's responsible for the only goal um and all of a sudden it just kind of feels like this move has come a little bit too soon he's he's clearly got enormous talent he will he will bounce back somewhere but you know probably not at psg but all right luke knight is that how his name would translate as yes it would pretty much very nice very nice indeed PSG as mentioned will be hosting the team that they currently trail by four points in many many places Monaco next Sunday oh no no it's Friday it's Friday another Friday night game yeah so tune into that on a YouTube channel somewhere Ligue 1 plus there you go £9.99 a month in the United Kingdom what and you can watch every single game that you want and you can watch them all back.

1:15:40If you like your Ligue 1, James, it's a great deal. You think they should be giving it away, James? Is that what you're saying? Well, that's the new paradigm. I'm sure Mark Goldbridge and his cronies. When Jamie Vardy's heard about the great footballer.

1:15:50James Horncastle: I can't believe Vardy spent a year in Serie A and then just didn't buy the rights for, you know. Yeah. Shocking. Indeed. Well, there you go. So somewhere, potentially on Ligue 1 plus, plus, you can watch PSG Monaco on Friday and they're not panicking now but I wonder if they lose that game if the Jitters might be paying a visit to the Poc de France anyway that's the subject for next week hey when we reconvene but wait Tom's got something more Patrick Beach watch Patrick Beach Patrick Beach Patrick Plage as he is now applying his trade for Troyes another excellent performance Troyes got their first win of the season away at Lorient he produced one fantastic one-handed save early on to deny Mamadou Kone young Lorient striker 6 out of 10 from L 'Equipe he's currently the third highest goalkeeper in the L 'Equipe goalkeeper rankings and seems to be taking to life in France just as smooth as he took to life at the World Cup very nice maybe he could get a PSG yeah they've already got a Paris Plage so this I mean you know what you mean when they put the sand by the sand yeah yeah yeah that's where they do the unveiling photo So nice.

1:17:06I mean, it just, it writes itself. It does, doesn't it? It really does. Excellent. Further developments next week. Do stay across the Athletic for all the transfer deadline day news. Of course, Seb's going to be weighing in with some of that. We shall catch up with you soon, Seb. Tom, many thanks. James, lovely to see you. Many thanks to producer Xavi as well. And to you. Join us again in a week's time for now. From all of us here, it's goodbye.

1:17:33The Totally Football Show podcast is available three times a week, bringing you all the football news you could reasonably be expected to care about. We've got views, we've got stats, we've got analysis, we've got some of the best football writers around, and the whole thing is absolutely free. So have a listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or all the usual places by clicking on the link below.

1:17:57Labor Day deals are looking good at Lowe's. Save$10 on one-gallon cans and$50 on five-gallon pails of select interior paint via rebate. Plus, get two 2.5-quart or 3-quart mums for just$8. A fresh look and savings? Even better. Labor Day deals are on now at Lowe's. In-store and online. Valid through 9-9. While supplies last. MUM sizes vary by location and exclude Alaska and Hawaii. See store at Lowe's.com for more details. Hi, I'm Jack Cravici, Kramer host of The Best One Yet. At T-Boy, we're always talking about small decisions that can have an outsized impact. One of the simplest is staying hydrated.

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1:19:11Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, TNCs and Sweeps rules for details. Hello, this is Catherine from the Tennis Podcast. Now, AI was supposed to take over the parts of the job you hate. Turns out it made your job even harder. Instead of doing the work, it gave you homework. ServiceNow's AI specialists get work done from start to finish. Cases get resolved, loops get closed, no extra work for you. with ServiceNow you can do the parts of the job you're best at and delegate the rest to put AI to work for people

From the publisher

The Three Lions are roaring on the Continent, and the Euro team are here to talk about it.


The Bundesliga is back and with it comes another potential record-breaking season for Harry Kane at Bayern Munich. The England captain has spoken to Seb Stafford-Bloor, who joins Jimbo, James Horncastle and Tom Williams. Can anyone stop Bayern from a 14th title in 15 seasons? And what’s going on with Elversberg? The Bundesliga debutants shock the nation by beating Bayer Leverkusen in Matchweek 1.

 

Jude Bellingham is doing Jude Bellingham things at Real Madrid, and PSG are making another stuttering start in France.

 

And in Italy, Juventus, Milan and Inter have all won both their opening games, but it’s Fiorentina’s worst ever start to a top-flight season.

 

Producer: Xavi Bird

 

TIME CODES:

 

15:00 – Bundesliga with Seb

37:00 – Serie A with James H

55:00 – Ligue 1 with Tom

 

Get in touch with the show:

 

Email: [email protected]

X: @thetotallyshow

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The Totally Football Show is with you four times a week this season, giving you all the football news you need to know - and plenty that you don't. We've got views, stats and analysis from the very best football writers around. It's smart, it's funny, and it's totally free – so listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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