Pressure mounting on Man United + Spurs this weekend?

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1:36Hello, Sandra. I've just been shouted at in the street. Won't deter me, though, from my mission of football truth. Here's Thursday's Totally Football Show.

1:52Carabao Wild, Man United, collapse against Brighton means mood fails too. Arsenal, wonder goal from Max Dowman and Fleetwood in the next round means unique headline opportunities in four weeks' time. Getting us in early. We talk Shobas Lai, Sunderland RZ, Man City's class of 22, West Ham, what happened next? And what awaits this weekend in the Premier League? Thursday, the 17th of September. And in our special Thursday studio, we welcome Duncan Alexander, Hi. Hi. Welcome back, Dan Kilpatrick. Hello. Lovely to see you, Dan. And you. And look who's here, Benji Laniado. Jimbo. Woo. Oh, CEO of PicFair.

2:33Yeah, thank you, Tick. All right. Any PicFair news? No, it's just growing and growing. It's a lot of people still taking photographs. There's a massive comeback in compact cameras. Have you noticed this? People actually get, because of like AI and the kind of startling, scary pace of technological progress. People are going back to crappy point and click cameras. It's happening. Digital ones. They're now retro. Struck me on the way in that Benji, you're a West Ham supporter and Dan leads towards the Tottenham end of town which means there's a unique kind of sliding doors or flip reverse style kind of moment.

3:10If you think back to May the 24th had things worked out different, had for example West Ham scored 12 goals against... Who were you playing? I can't even remember. I've deleted it from my brain. Last game of the season. It could have been Dan facing Millwall this weekend. No. We... I can't remember. You obviously... We were playing Everton. You were playing Everton. Who were you playing? I don't know, but we won. I think we won like... Yeah, but if Spurs... If Spurs won... Leeds, that's right. And we thought actually... We thought Leeds might be involved and then they weren't. Right. But my point is...

3:41The one thing you never enjoyed much of last year. Exactly. All right. Thank you. But yeah, it could be Dan facing Millwall this weekend with Spurs and Benji kind of lording it up in the Premier League. And Jimbo, I'd ask you, who's happier? I'm here. I'm smiley. The water is warm in the championship. Is it? There we are sitting at the top, crisis-free. Joint top. Yeah. You had a 6-0 win over Wrexham last weekend. Yeah. Meanwhile, over on White Hart Lane, not quite as much fun. I'm not saying that relegation is better than staying in. How many league goals have West Ham scored since Spurs last scored a league goal?

4:19Quite a lot. We've scored a Premier League goal more recently than Spurs, just to be clear. If you can have that fun season in the Championship, I feel like Newcastle did it. Yeah. If you go down and just dominate and you can score loads of goals, you don't have VAR, you can come back up. Maybe there's something to be said for that. Oh, yeah. You can't guarantee that it will be at that point. But yeah, that's the thing. Or in five years' time, you'll still be sitting here trying to claw your way out. I can't believe we've got so much championship chat so early. This is great. I wasn't expecting this.

4:48It has been lovely. The Lacovar is fantastic. And the rumours are true. It is like an incredibly entertaining league. Okay. Well, the dropping quality is very stark. And, you know, Jared Bowie in the championships, like Pavarotti turning up at a karaoke night. He's just having the time of his life. Nuno's playing 1-5-1. Yeah, I'm having a lovely old time. It is classic where football fans will be. I've seen loads of West Ham tweets and stuff People going I've just sort of fallen in love with football again Is that connected to winning and scoring loads of goals? Yeah it might be It is People should be jealous of us I'm jealous of us That kind of thing Makes you think though doesn't it?

5:27Fine margins Just those 12 goals that you didn't score Alright anyway West Ham were in action midweek of course Although that one didn't go quite so well Benji will perhaps tell us about it later on That was in the League Cup Because it's been a busy midweek For the various cup competitions And indeed league competitions Premier League League Cup and Europa League all with fixtures since our last show Premier League on Monday Leeds battered Newcastle 4-1 three goals in 13 first half minutes to demolish the previously unbeaten Magpies and Leeds going third in the Premier League Wow Tuesday and Wednesday brought the rest of the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday Liverpool beat Spurs 3-1 Liverpool will face Chelsea in the next round while West Ham came from behind twice against Fulham but ended up losing 3-2 Oscar Bob with the winner there for the Cottagers.

6:16Arsenal beat Ipswich 4-2 with a brace for that Max Dowman. He is now the first Arsenal player ever to score multiple goals for the club before turning 17. How long? Dot, dot, dot, dot, question mark, etc. They face Fleetwood, as we mentioned, in the next round. Fleetwood, who on Wednesday saw Sheffield United. Wednesday also saw Villa, 3-1 winners at Coventry. They'll have Bournemouth next. Everton beat Wolves 1-0. They'll get Newcastle. And more trouble for Man United, who blew a two-goal lead at home to Brighton and lose 3-2. Brighton will face the winners of Thursday's Man City Norwich game.

6:52As for Man United, that's the first time in 50 years that a visiting team has come from two goals down to win at Old Trafford. Yikes. Now, also on Wednesday, there was the Europa League, which saw Sunderland win the winners against AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie. Also in the Europa League on Wednesday at San Siro, where the Blackhats will be heading in December for a Europa League fixture, Milan lost 2-0 to Marco Silva's Benfica. And the bookies already have Milan's manager on borrowed time. His name? Ah, yes. Ruben Amorim. Wednesday night, Old Trafford. Man United taking on Brighton. Dan, you were watching this for us.

7:30I was so impressed with Brighton. Yeah, I mean, I got in a bit late. United were already 1-0 up. My enthusiasm dipped for the game. I thought this could be a bit routine, especially when they scored the second. But Brighton were just brilliant after that. And the way they controlled the game at 3-2, I think, was absolutely outstanding. You expect United, particularly when they brought on Bruno Fernandes and they brought on Maynou, they brought on Xerxi, they brought on Mbwemo, and you thought, OK, there's going to be at least a chance or two for United to get a third and level this up, take it to penalties.

8:02But Brighton were just so in control. it's kind of unfair how good they are at just recruitment and seemingly getting everything right I mean bringing back Pascal Gross if United or Tottenham or you know a dysfunctional big club had thought oh we'll bring back 35 year old Pascal Gross right it would obviously have been an absolute disaster but he was just outstanding kind of running the game I think got the second goal He did. To level it. And from that point onwards, really, you sensed Brighton, we're going to get a third or at least get chances for a third. They were creating at will. And then, yeah, from 3-2 up, you never really felt that United were going to get the leveler.

8:48Brighton, as you say, watching them, it's a bit like Butch Cassidy and Sundar. Who are those guys? Who are these guys? I said to you guys in the new green room, I was watching, I was like, I don't know who that guy is. Who's this? and you know they sold Belieber they sold Van Hecker they didn't have Mitoma or Minte in the squad they didn't have Rutter Pinchwood's out yeah and you're just thinking okay a massively depleted side they can't have loads of really brilliant technical players who are going to tear up Man United albeit a change Man United but it turns out they do they do they can't keep getting away with us yeah no absolutely it's not fair they need to be a bit more chaotic and dysfunctional so right other I mean they do that teams can have a chance What's interesting, well, one of the many things that's interesting is the way you speak about them controlling the game, because I think the chaotic element has been there, has been that kind of side effect of their approach to the match.

9:42So United had a brilliant start to the game, including a wonderful goal from 19-year-old Shea Lacey. Yeah, no, it was a really well taken goal and you really felt for him because he had very much done his part. And I think he was taken off before the collapse or certainly during the collapse. And the camera kind of panned him looking a bit sad on the touchline. Well, United have kind of ruined his big moment. But, you know, United made changes and I think they started very well. It kind of felt like they'd stunned Brighton a little bit, who weren't quite prepared for the intensity and the tempo they played at.

10:16But as we know, two nils a dangerous scoreline. It was one of those games. Isn't it? It's a very dangerous score. Every 50 years, it's ridiculously dangerous. It felt like one of those games where if Brighton got the next goal, then you feared for United. It's so deflating for United. Because after 10 minutes, they're two nil up. A youngster, given his opportunity, has just scored. And there's been all this nonsense about JJ Gabriel over the last few days, complaining about being a youngster and not getting his chance. So for United fans, that must have felt pretty fantastic. Brighton, this comeback here, in the league meanwhile, they are the top scorers and they are facing Arsenal this weekend.

10:59What do you think? Well, I think Brighton look like a team that have so many ways to score a goal. I mean, what they were doing really well last night was pressing United, stopping them playing out, winning the ball back in really dangerous positions in the United half and then just pouring men forward in dangerous positions and that's how certainly they got the equaliser and I think the then the third goal I think was was a really clever transition like a quick break down the side so they've just got ways to score and I think it will be a big test for Arsenal as we know Arsenal are just very good at kind of squeezing the life out of games when they want to and I think yeah I'm not sure Brighton are quite an unstoppable force yet but Arsenal do have that unmovable object sort of I think if they sit on Pascal Gross I think that might be the sort of one-to-many way of of holding the back I've adored Pascal Gross so far this season and I love this kind of mini trend of like returning mid-30s central midfielders we saw Granit Xhaka last season who came back from Germany Jordan Henderson is another one well bernardo silver did it he sort of was was um yeah you're right he was in his mid-30s and he'd come further back so yeah it's they are players that i think younger supporters is going to be very patronizing they're going to be like what the hell are these players doing in the premier league like why on earth would you have a 35 year old in the middle of midfield for for you know an elite football team but they are so experienced so clever they don't need to be fast they just know how to control control a game as you say like right That final 25 minutes or whatever it was, Pascal Gross was a massive part of that.

12:42Sam Matterface from ITV compared him to Zidane. Right, well, we've all done that. Yeah, precisely. The obvious comparison to make. He was literally kind of showboating. I think more than once he did a kind of pirouette. And you could just see the confidence flowing through this Brighton team. It's been said so many times over the years that the kind of fear factor is gone from Old Trafford. And you won't find a better example than that game and the way Brighton played when they were 3-2 up. Well, let's talk a little bit about United and their position now. Also this week, some interesting VAR news post their Derby defeat in Haaland's goal in that.

13:22But Benjamin Sesko in this game, how would you define his performance? There's one moment late on where he seems to almost have a kind of mental shutdown, where he seems to almost forget how to football. Do you know the bit I mean? No, you don't. He wanders up towards the Brighton. The ball is passed him and he advances towards the Brighton goal. And at this point, it seems like the software shuts down and he goes into a kind of holding pan. And eventually, the bewildered Brighton players kind of wander up and take the ball off him. I can't recall the moment you're thinking of. But I think, again, just the kind of toothlessness of United when you were expecting this kind of lit onslaught was quite striking.

14:10And they had one big chance. Predictably, Fernandes came on and immediately touched it through to Rashford, who went one-on-one with Jason Steele. He made a really smart save. And that was, I think, the moment they could have levelled the game. but I think they were so in control at 2-0 they should have been so in control at 2-0 but Brighton were starting to getting behind them already and you just kind of sensed that there was this fallibility there Right so is that a carrot question then? I think any team at this level being 2-0 up at home in a cup tie against an opponent who okay I loved watching them and they're obviously a really fabulously coached side but you should be expecting to kind of be comfortable from there or at least be in command from there but it just never felt that way from the United perspective and it was just so kind of predictable seeing Bruno Fernandes warm up and you're like oh here we go he's going to have to try and do another rescue mission here and it just seems like so often that is the fullback right get get this guy on the clutch go and get Bruno yeah go and get him this weekend as mentioned Brighton take on Arsenal while Man United make the troop to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, which is 18th against 13th in the Premier League.

15:24Fulham have not had the best of starts. United, though, would be, I think, significantly higher were it not for the activities of Sunday's VAR personnel who allowed a goal which everybody and their dog was screaming at the TV on Sunday going, that's offside. They did then release the audio. Did that help for you, releasing the audio? Did that illuminate your... Brought peace to me. Did it? No, it actually genuinely made me feel sad for the people involved because you can hear the stress in that job and the fact that when they were going through, the pressure to get that decision out as quick as possible.

16:02You hear them going quick, quick, quick, because they were spooling through the earlier move and they wanted to make sure, you know, they forgot that Fernandes was offside. You remember the trust the process from early last season? Yeah, well, two seasons ago. Was that two seasons ago? Yeah. Okay. It kind of really drove home the point that, you know, for all the talk of robots and machines, it is just some men in a room in a business park. And then if they can't do that job, then they probably shouldn't. Then what we need is a review for the VAR, a RAV VAR. Yeah. Yeah. But then that will need a, you know.

16:38Well, by Monday, they were able to come to the correct conclusion, which is that they'd forgotten to look at Enzo Fernandez. nobody noticed him stealing in there trying to head the ball. But it makes you wonder how many other instances where they just forgot something. And if they're going to do that, you might as well just not have that. Benet, Enzo is famously inconspicuous as well. Yeah. Keeps his head down. Yeah. It's not that they misjudged the offside Enzo Fennel's impact on the goal. They just failed to consider it whatsoever as Howard Webb admitted on Monday. I think Old Trafford does have some sort of energy for this.

17:13Do you remember the Bournemouth game, the last game of the season, a few seasons ago, where they had a fake bomb in the ground because they'd done a test in the week? And I bet that guy whose job was it to collect that probably woke up and went, oh no, I've forgotten. So it does feel like it causes forgetfulness, apart from maybe the 1990s. Just give me a little bit more detail, Dan, about JJ Gabriel, who I wasn't that aware of. He's 15, and that seems quite young to be saying, I'm not getting enough game time at Old Trafford. Yeah, they are getting younger, aren't they? It's not worrying. I mean, I guess, I think Max Salmon is like a really unhelpful example for Man United.

17:49But he hasn't played that much for us, huh? Well, he's played enough, hasn't he? Your mom was playing at 15. Yeah, and I think... Is JJ Gabriel that kind of level? Well, I don't know. I'm reliably informed Andy Mitton has watched him more than 20 times. Oh, yeah. He's the man to ask. But he's obviously, like, everyone is in agreement. he's a really special talent like he's obviously one of those players that there's been buzz about for years and he's kind of justifying that buzz at the level he's playing at which i think is under 21 level which is still a big jump for a 15 year old and i think he feels or the people around him feel and i might have to be careful what i say here that you know he should be getting more opportunities and he's not being fast-tracked enough by united hence asking to terminate his agreement with them and wanting to leave and it feels like the direction of travel is that that is going to happen although i think united are as we speak kind of still trying um fighting a losing battle i think it's vegetator it looks like he could be on the uh martin odegaard super highway which is going to real madrid at 15 or whatever it is yeah not getting much game time uh but then going to sort of associate that and others and eventually becoming a premier league winning captain.

19:04Real Madrid. There's the pathway. Real Madrid, among the teams interested, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, all trying to sign him. All right, well, we shall see. Let's get on to some more midweek action next.

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21:28Tuesday in the Carabao Cup saw Liverpool beating Spurs 3-1 again Dan you watch this Duncan as well ooh some nice goals in this particularly the third from Liverpool from Dominic Schlobberslein I mean just absolute quality I mean everyone knows you can hit free kicks but this was obviously a bouncing ball and I mean there's a lovely someone's cut up frame by frame so like a nice image. From which angle? For me, from behind. Oh, from behind. How many times have you watched that? I mean, 56. And it, just the technique he has to do that is just, and the fact that he doesn't even hit it that hard but he just cuts across it and it's just the perfect amount of bend.

22:11It's so good. It causes Gakpo to do a knee slide. You don't often see a player that hasn't scored do the knee slide. It was, yeah. Some beautiful knee slides in that game as well because Mechanus is up to his goal, unless I'm getting confused, I think it's the one where he knee slid right up to the camera. Beautifully done. Perfectly slicked pitch, presumably. Harry Maguire I think is the best slider. He gets a kind of little flick at the end. He turns like a go-kart. Yes, he's a brilliant knee slider. Alright. Because you'd think with him it'd be quite dangerous, the kind of top heaviness of it.

22:48Well, also the aerodynamics exactly, yeah. And yet he is It's like a seriously underrated. OK. No, but it's beautiful. It's more panache than you'd expect. I like a knee slide when the player then comes back up again at the end. Well, you know my view on knee slides. They shouldn't be done before November? Before the clocks go back. OK. Similar. But to Dan's point, if the pitch is slick enough in September, go ahead. So Liverpool were facing Spurs in the Carabao Cup. And McAllister scored the first. Then Cody Gakpo, who could have been turning out for Spurs, had events again. Flip reverse sliding doors, turned out different.

23:26Makes it 2-0. What a player he's been since not leaving Liverpool. Gakpo is a classic example of someone who got a lot of criticism. And it wasn't really his fault. It was the way he was being asked to play by Arnaud Slott last season. And I think Arnaud Slott knows how good he is. And kind of, I guess, as a fellow countryman, probably relied on him a bit too much. And Gakpo became a bit of a lightning rod. So the difference now is? Well, I think the system that Irelia plays suits him much better. If you look at wingers at Bournemouth last year, I mean, look how good Semenya was. They're a lot more vertical.

23:58I mean, Gakpo's been playing left and right. I think he's been probably player of the season for Liverpool so far. Spurs, this may sound familiar, but they started brightly but weren't able to convert their chances and confidence seems to be an issue. Yeah, I think confidence in front of goal is obviously a big issue. and they created a couple of brilliant chances. Kudus, I think, fired over from about five yards. Bergman had the shot saved by Mamadashvili, which he really should have buried. It was about seven, eight yards out. Goalkeeper saved it with his leg. What save that was. Yeah, I mean, it was a great save.

24:33I think it felt like a great save on first view, but when you see it back, you think he's got a score there. It's kind of gaping side of the goal. So, yeah, I mean, I think the thing with Spurs at the moment is there are obviously positive signs and it's kind of an inverse of this time last season when Spurs were playing badly under Frank but getting results. Now it feels like they are moving in the right direction. They are playing some nice stuff, but the results are coming. So I think the question is, to what extent as a Spurs fan or not, can you kind of put faith in these positive signs? Is the click going to come?

25:08And I think they were a bit unlucky against Liverpool. They won the XG. They were undone by three really good finishes. They couldn't finish their chances. Does that sound like the last three or four Spurs performances? To an extent, yeah. Yeah, I think so. And my deep concern is that they just haven't really got a goal scorer and that they probably should have spent the Tonali money. This may look like a silly opinion if he really steps up in the next few months, but they probably should have spent that money on Gagpo because they've already got Benton Koehl, they've got Bergvall, they've got Fernandes, who I think looks like the pick of their summer signings.

25:48Did they need another kind of defensive-minded eight? Probably not, but they desperately need a striker. Why didn't Gakpo go in the end? Was that them not spending the money or was it Liverpool deciding not to? I think it was a combination of things. Like maybe if Spurs had been able to cop up the money sooner, he might have gone. And you could see it to Duncan's point last night, how useful he would be. he plays the same kind of position as Richarlison like from the left or as a centre forward. Richarlison's not even in the squad. So useless. And then also Bargain of the Century came along which, you know, Marmouche and Savio for only 150 million.

26:25So you can't, you can't. Yeah, quite. And they have both looked really bright in the last couple of games. And Marmouche also produced a great save for Marmadashvili with a deflected shot. Oh, that was unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, he really reacted to that brilliantly. But they don't have great records of scoring in the Premier League. I think Savio scored two goals for City. Well, that's two more than Spurs are managing. Well, yeah. When Conte was Spurs manager, he sort of said, you have to be a killer. And I'm like, who's the killer? Who is the guy who's going to capitalise when Spurs are having these good spells?

27:07I don't think it's Solanke as much as I like him. I don't see any of the wingers doing it, so that could be a problem. A concern Spurs will be hosting Assa Villa in the Saturday lunchtime game. Benji, you've been a bit cheeky. You said that you felt this already had a whiff of El Sakiko about it. That's so wrong. Well, is it? I think it is. Unai Emery is surely not under pressure. I think it's slightly different with Emery. Can I explain my thinking here? Go ahead. So De Zerbe, first of all. Yes. like it isn't being talked about enough that he's mad like he's got an amazing track record of being mad yeah and he often is really good early on he's a great short-term solution he proved to be for spurs he kept them up and then the medium term comes along yeah and things get complicated like you know he remember how he left marseille he basically said i don't understand any of these players i can't get through to them anymore like i can see spurs pulling the trigger if necessary because eddie howe's right there you know they could arguably get him in he's a much more reliable un-mad manager.

28:08With Emery, this, see, I, again, I'm not sure it's being talked about enough how much he has been betrayed by Aston Villa. Like, he is one of the best managers in the world. He wins them the Europa League. They get into the Champions League, again, they were in the Championship seven years ago. And congratulations, Unai Emery, your, your reward is, we're going to rip out your entire spine. We're going to sell your top scorer, Ollie Watkins, your best player, Morgan Rodgers, your best midfielder, Yuri Tillemans, your best defender, Esri Konza, your golden glove winning goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, and we're going to replace them with a bunch of kids and sort of hope that Uncle John McGinn can look after them.

28:47If I was even Unai Emery, I would walk. I think it's outrageous what he's had to put up with. I don't think Villa wanted to rip the squad off. I think it was financially but there are ways of saying no, as our good friend Marinakis has shown us with Morgan Gibbs-White, but it may be a bad example, but you don't have to just sit back and let them all go. I don't think Emery would say, I'm going to do that to keep Martinez over Suzuki, who looks better. Suzuki looks all right. Yeah. Fair enough. But come on. Lucas Jackson looks as good, if not better, than Ollie Watkins. Not the case. Also, Lucas Dean gone.

29:23Daniel Marlon is tearing it up. Yeah. And they let him go for like 20 mil. That was Emery's decision. Slight city attacks on that, I would say. Yes, maybe. It pains me to put it that way. I think Emery likes the turmoil. I think he loves rebuilding teams. And you see it each season where he gets a load of new players. Villa take a few weeks to get going. He's a massive... It's funny because he is the one manager... He's going to last special break last season. He's the one manager who never likes to change his outfit. And yet, in some ways, you say that he does. Well, apparently, according to Jacob Tamswell, he does sometimes Carabao Cup presses in trainers in tracksuit, which could sort of show his disdain for the competition.

29:59Did he un-gel his hair recently? Yeah. What? Honestly, you look it up, it's mad. Yeah, pre-game, two weeks ago, big head. It's real double-take sort of like what? Yeah, it's kind of like Buffon. Good Lord. So this is it. Again, when I saw that, I was like, oh, head's gone, literally. I think to Benji's point about Deserby and Emery, the reason I don't think it's an El Sakiko is because although Deserby had that spell at the end of last season, it does kind of feel like he's a new manager almost starting again. He's got all these new players. He's completely changed his approach. so last season it was even in the way he deals with the players last season it was like arm around the shoulder you know you guys are the best and now it's balling out Mattis' tail on the pitch he completely feels like a new start so I think you've got to give him time he's got he kind of behaves a little bit like Mourinho and yet he's not actually ever won anything right he also like first game of the season you ask a thousand Spurs fans who's going to be captain first day of the season Archie Gray playing at right back and next game he talks about how he can't buy mentality game after that he's doing this weirdness with Matty's tail.

31:01It just doesn't feel like this ends well. Oh, I totally agree it's not going to end well. Dan, can I? That's kind of baked in with Deserby at some point and he's going to blow up. But I think it's too early to... I think most Spurs fans are kind of out of the view. What about you? Because you hated the last guy. Yeah, I couldn't wait for... Basically the last... How many was it last season? Two guys? Three guys? Okay. Tudor. Who was the last Spurs manager that you enjoyed then? Oh, I liked, I mean, I liked Ange. You did? Okay. Yeah, I mean, I like Spurs managers that try and play the right kind of football.

31:36How do you feel about De Zerbe? Do you think he's going to come good? Benji's right, it doesn't end well, but I think it doesn't end well possibly in November next year. Yeah. You know, I think he's got some legs to go, yeah. and I think before then I feel like he will be able to produce like an exciting football team in the not too distant future. That's not to say that... At Spurs. At Spurs, yeah. And that's not to say that I don't think there are problems with the recruitment and I don't think this is a particularly special squad but I think it will improve. And if he does that then another manager can come in and build on that.

32:14Look at what Brighton have done. Very true, very true. Anyway, it's Villa at the weekend who have won, let me check my notes, It's five of the last seven visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Spurs are tourists. Everyone wins except for one team, of course. What else from midweek? Duncan, you clocked the 4-2 win for Arsenal against Ipswich. How special was the Max Dahman brace, the first goal in particular? The first goal was magnificent because he picks up the ball about, I don't know, 35, 40 yards from goal, runs with it. Obviously, he's a left-footed player, but it's very similar to the thing he did when he scored against Everton in the Premier League last year.

32:53He's got a kind of Messi-esque ability to knock, in one stride, knock the ball with both feet and kind of move it. And he kind of gets past the Ipswich defender by doing that. And then with his weaker right foot, just bangs it into the bottom left corner. And I mean, it was one of those goals that makes you go, yeah, probably is world class. 16. Follum beat West Ham 3-2 in the League Cup. Peterborough got through their League One all-league one tie with Barnsley on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Brentford beat Reading 2-1. Did you hear the incredibly depressed press conference from Peterborough manager Luke Williams afterwards?

33:31No. Interviewing him and they were like, you know, we're through to the next round. Who do you want to get? He's like, I don't care. And they've got Bradford, a team. Like, they've got an away draw at a team in the same division, which is arguably the least exciting thing you can have. They're probably good for them. Brentford are through to the fourth round after a 2-1 win against Reading with Callum Wilson on the score sheet. Villa, 3-1 winners at Coventry. A brace from Tammy Abraham. Good for him. Everton beat Wolves with Andy Burnham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And leader of the free world.

34:02Leader of the free world, Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, also there. It's lovely to see, and obviously love Mark Carney, great UK-Canada relations, but is that the best use of 90 minutes of those two people's time? Well, you don't know what happened. True, you don't have the conversations that were happening. I love the way you said you love Mark Carney. You've got a ranking of statesmen. He's the man. He's the man. Listen to him speak. He's captain, my captain. Did you like him when he was governor of the Bank of England? Oh, yeah, very much so. Yeah, I've been a big Mark Carney fan.

34:35He's done his badges at the Bank of England. Give him a big job. If you get a chance to listen to Mark Carney speak, he brings a bit of hope in a world with not much of that. All right, Benji. Yeah. Look at you. Peddling hope again. Yeah, sorry. Stop that. Fleetwood beat Sheffield United. They're the lowest ranked team in the competition. Yeah. And they will be facing Arsenal in the next round. Bybury and all that. Landslide for Arsenal if it's a big win. Landslide? How does it go? I'm sorry. There's been a landslide. A landslide something. What's your favourite Fleetwood Mac track? Landslide.

35:11Is it? Yeah. You got one, Duncan? I mean, you can't knock the chain. oh yeah might be the chain let's get on to oh some of the delights awaiting this weekend in the premier league next during lowe's pro savings days my lowe's pro rewards members can save up to 20 when they buy more job site materials save 20 when you buy 30 or more select bats and rolls of fiberglass insulation 24 more cartons or pails of joint compound tape and bead or when you spend $200 or more on 3M painting and job site essentials. Members get more at Lowe's. Valid through 925. While supplies last. Selection varies by location.

35:52Program subject to terms and conditions. See Lowe's.com slash terms for details. Subject to change. This ad is sponsored by ZocDoc. Hi, it's Danny Pellegrino from Everything Iconic. Have you been putting off that annual doctor's appointment because you don't want to make the call? Or maybe you've been meaning to find a new dentist, but you have no idea where to start. I find that's especially true when you move. It's hard to find your people. I've been there, which is why I use ZocDoc. Now, as a busy podcaster, parent, and someone who's always juggling a million things, I love anything that makes life easier.

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37:02Big weekend around the continent as Europe's subdivisions wheel out the big fixtures before the international break. Mysterious. Fix your computers all linking together. In Spain, there's the Madrid Derby. Liga, by the way, which saw Barcelona, Liga leaders, put seven goals past Rating Santander. Two little things in this. First of all, really annoying not to see Anthony Gordon get a minute. I thought it started really well there. Yeah. Second thing, almost the greatest goal celebration in the history of football. Okay. Rafinha and Yamal do a kind of like, you know, hand, hand, fist up in the air type thing.

37:41Okay. But a second before they lift their fists up in the air, flashes of lightning go across the new camp. So if they just sped up a tiny bit, it would have been clap, clap, fist in the air, lightning bolt. Boom. So years ago, we were doing World's Strongest Man in Malaysia, and it was a dark and stormy afternoon. and I think it was the one where they put, there's various different names for this. It's called Conan's Wheel, something like that. You lift up this bar which is connected to this incredibly heavy basket with rocks in and you have to walk it as many times around this kind of central pin, as many revolutions as you can.

38:21Anyway, the winner gets up on the podium afterwards and lifts his hand and at that moment, it doesn't hit him, but just on the TV shot, this fork of lightning comes down. Who was that? Thor. Unbelievable. Thor. Yeah, it was an extraordinary moment. That was great how you involved in that, James. That was premium TV, World's Strongest Man. Yeah, yeah, very much so. Yeah, I mean, none more premium. Is it Invidal? He used to present it? Did it? No, I think he... Was it not? That was for me, no. In Italy, Inter, who on Monday came back from two goals down for the second game in a row to defeat Udinese 5-3, take on Roma, who are the only other team to have won all four of their matches so far in City.

39:04That's going to be huge. Were you suggesting, by the way, that the fixture computers are kind of talking to each other, like those AIs that went rogue and conspiring to produce good weekends? Well, further evidence to that, the Premier League's computer has come up with let's see, ooh, Fulham Man United as our big send-off for the international league. The Premier League one is still maybe independent because it's gone for a quite low-key superman. Although, I think the way events have transpired this week, narratives building around that game. Anyway, it all begins this round in the Premier League, match day five.

39:37On Friday evening with Brentford against Chelsea. Saturday, Spurs-Villa is the early game. Then you've got Brighton against Arsenal, which is fifth against first and the highest scoring in the division against the best defence. At three, there's also Everton-Ipswich and Newcastle-Hall at tea time. Forest host commentary. On Sunday, four games. Bournemouth-Liverpool. Ooh, Antonio Areola up against his former side. Leeds, who are currently third. Madness. Take on Crystal Palace, who are very much not. Man City face Sunderland, who haven't won at Man City since January 1998. What was number one? We'll find out soon enough.

40:11And then Sunday, 4.30, Fulham. Man United Fulham, who have now had a goalless draw away at Anfield, and the victory midweek against high-flying West Sam in the Carabao Cup. So perhaps signs of life from them. Could this be another positive move from the coaches? We shall see Sunday afternoon. So, Brian Tech on Arsenal, which is going to be fun, while Arsenal's title rivals, Manchester City, face Sunderland. City are playing this evening as we record Thursday in the Carabao Cup against Norwich. But ahead of this weekend, this game, Benji, you've got something that you put together for us. Well, it's not, it's sort of doozy.

40:44Do you know how Man United have got a class of 92? I've never heard of that. Have they? They should do like podcasts. Well, City have sort of got a class of 22. All right. Except the upside down bit is that none of them played for City anymore. So all of the following players were at Man City in and around Man City's first team squad youth team in the summer of 22. This was hinged by seeing James McAtee playing really nicely for Forrest, doing a kind of good impression of Anderson. So James McAtee was there, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rodgers, Liam DeLapp, James Trafford, Romeo Lavia. So these are all currently playing in the Premier League.

41:23Shea Charles, just gone to Fulham. Taylor Harwood-Bellish, just gone to Villa. Pedro Porro, lest we forget. And then, of course, the boy who lived, Phil Foden, who's still there. So it's incredible. He's the only one of them. Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, Nico O 'Reilly would have been there sort of, you know, down in the youth team. That's mad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, which, you know, explains to me the big question, where did they ever get their money, Man City? It's from selling all these players, I thought. Quite a lot of these players went somewhere in between. Yeah, so they haven't made any money from these guys.

41:54A bit of research was done. They got Parma, they got£40 million for him, but Rodgers went to Borough for nothing. They sold Trafford to Burnley for not very much and then bought him back for double the price. Yeah, as you say, mostly it's the club who've taken the players from City and then sold again, who've made the money here, like Rodgers to Lavia even, yeah. Phil Foden is going to be suspended this weekend as they take on Sunderland. But that is remarkable, isn't it? It is. I guess you could do like a Chelsea one as well. Probably, yeah. Sort of gay, Solanke, Abraham. Probably over a longer time period.

42:30What I found amazing about this is they were all there at the same time. Yeah, it's incredible. And, I mean, so many of those players, I had no idea were Man City connected. But, yeah. Sunderland are the opponents for Man City this weekend, which Duncan gives me the opportunity to ask you to tell us about Sunderland's historic return after 53 years to European competition on Wednesday night. And it was historic. And it was a lovely night all around. the atmosphere looked great they had a special tifo which i think a two-tier tifo um which a rare but it was good in what way well i think it went down normally they just cover one bit but this was like kind of really yeah it was good um and then they got a win i don't think the result was important it was more the sort of occasion but um yeah they uh it was they didn't look perfect RZ could have equalised the penalty that they did eventually get was a little fortunate and Zé Lufie sort of kicking the defender then he put it in the same corner as he did against Arsenal at the weekend, went in, that was good but I just think overall it was a really special night for a club, there's a really lovely piece on the Athletics Day actually by Chris Weatherspoon about Sunderland going from the depths of League One back to Europe for the first time in the long term as you say and I think you know that bit at the end of days of Thunder where the rival team manager is like why are you pushing that car and they're like it's my engine in that car that's what my boys are pushing but as someone who was at the 2022 playoff final and saw Wickham basically roll over and let Sandland win to get them back in the championship I feel like I felt a connection with them their fans are superb that day who's still there Luke and Iron um he's the one they always talk about yeah Luke and Iron formerly of Wickham a man who can rescue dogs from drowning, which is a great skill.

44:17That's great. But yeah, I felt I've sort of, since that day, I've been kind of invested in Sunderland and getting back. And this felt like the sort of, them ticking the final box in a sense. It's Days of Thunder. Is that now iconic? I mean, it's being remade. It's going to be remade. But this is the second time I've been in a podcast recently where it's come up. Cole Trickle. Cole Trickle, yeah. Rowdy Burns, all the lads. Wow. What else is happening this weekend in the Premier League, apart from Sunderland's visit to Manchester City. As mentioned, you've got two Yorkshire sides, A, two Yorkshire sides in the Premier League, which doesn't happen all that often, but they're both in the top four.

44:53Leeds in third and Hull, remarkably, in fourth spot. They're going to be at Newcastle. Hull have made the third best start by promoted side ever in the Premier League. Is it going to continue away at St James'? What do you think, Dan? Well, I think it serves us all right because everyone was predicting Hull were going to finish 20 weren't they? Well I certainly was in my pre-season predictions and yeah they've just been a bit of a revelation they seem to have a sensible plan for all their opponents which is a kind of obvious but seemingly quite underrated skill in the Premier League just like adapt to who you're playing and try and stop them I think yeah I don't see why not in terms of continuing at Newcastle who have just had obviously as you touched on earlier their first major wobble under Jasler and I think we'll be fearing another Yorkshire side Leeds who wobbled Newcastle in a very real sense on Monday night will be hosting Crystal Palace who are themselves not looking the most upright and rigid under Pierre Sarge their new manager Leeds as well, what an extraordinary turnaround the predictions for Hull will start but so were they for Leeds about this time last year.

46:11They'd bought Dominic Cavett-Lewin on a free and a lot of people were sniggering about that. Daniel Farker, you probably had him as first on your El Sakiko spreadsheet, didn't you, Benji? They've kind of done in an, I don't think they're going to win the league, but it was sort of Leicester when they had their season. It was like they picked up toward the end of the previous year and then they just carried that into the following season. And I think to Benji's point at the top of the show, like you thought Leeds were going to be dragged into the relegation battle and they just weren't they were really solid and consistent and got wins and they've just built on that going forward they were so urgent on Monday it was amazing can we have a moment of appreciation for Dominic Calvert-Lewin because his career has been so interesting and wild with a funny bit in the middle so he started at Sheffield United yes another Yorkshire club ends up no Man City for him no funny enough he's one of the few players that wasn't playing at Man City over that period he goes to Everton and then there was the kind of rise and rise that culminated in 2021 when he scored 1670 goals in the premier league and went to the euros of england and then he went a bit fashion the catwalk years well but the thing i remember at the time and i looked this up he hired a guy called harry lambert who was a stylist and harry lambert um was very sought after at the time he only worked with four people at a time Really?

47:33One of them was Harry Styles. Okay. There were two other like serious A-listers. And the fourth was Cavaloon. And he was on the cover of magazines carrying sort of pink Gucci handbags. And I've sort of loved him ever since. I love a footballer with a hinterland. Unfortunately, that's when he kind of dropped off a cliff and stopped scoring goals. Injuries as well, yeah. Had a couple of injuries. But he is this kind of like, when he's on form, this kind of proper rumbunctuous centre forward. Right. He is going to hurt your centre backs. And he had a goal taken off him on Monday, which was bang out of all the way.

48:05Give him back. Is it? Yeah, give him back. He's got two now. Two from Monday. Anyway, and I think Farker deserves so much credit because, as you said, people like me were probably saying he was going to get sacked last year. And now he's absolutely flying with the leads. They look brilliant. They destroyed Newcastle. 4-1 flattered Newcastle. Was he at Everton at the same time as Tom Davis? Yeah, they were friends. He went quite fashion. They did it at the same time. I think he went along. together yeah Tom Davis sort of must have like went along where's his redemption art Tom Davis he's back at Sheffield United is he so I'm not quite sure yeah well you know good luck to him but but to the point of Yorkshire yes you know a county that knows what it likes and likes what it knows that Harlan leads the two lower I think the lowest possession and pass completion and passes per game so you know they're just showing you don't have to we're in it I think this season as we said in the previous, a season of flux, like a new chapter.

49:00Right. I think any approach a season can work and they're showing that, you know, go old school. There you go. Also this weekend, as we move towards the wrapping up stage of today's podcast, you've got Everton against Ipswich, which Benji, you feel is of interest because... Just I think, you know, this is eminently ignorable, but I think Ipswich might have the sort of attack that could get them finishing in the top 10 and I actually think I would... So they've got Fatahua and Jack Clark. Jack Clark has scored 16 goals last year in the championship for Tyra we've talked about on this pod as a really really good player beats a man and they've got and Ciso behind either Fleming or Emerson who we know both of whom can score in the Premier League and I actually think if you look at that strike force you've got Maeda off the bench as well I'd probably take that over Villers Everton's I'm sorry I'd probably take over Spurs at the moment Newcastle's only Arsenal City Chelsea and Brighton have scored more than Ipswich so far good lord yeah so I could I could see them sneaking into the top 10.

49:58Possibly getting three points this weekend away at the Hill Dickinson. Do you know who has scored more goals than anybody else in the Premier League in the calendar year 2026, Benji? Is it Morgan Gibbs-White? Yeah, you knew that. Lovely player. Yeah, he and presumably he will be part of the Forest side that takes on Coventry, who've lost their first four in the Premier League. That's Saturday tea time. You've also got Bournemouth Liverpool Sunday at two. Again, that, of course, for Andoni Iriola and Brentford against Chelsea, which goes galore, you'd imagine. Well, we've been talking about how sort of the three B's that everyone wants to be, Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford.

50:37And Brighton just doing Brighton-y things again with QEA and Costoulas. Whoever they might be. Bournemouth, this conveyor belt of centre-backs. They had Housen and Zabani and now Silva's come along looking really good. Brentford, I wonder if next cab off the rank in terms of, you know, big move over the summer because he's got three goals in four games. He's a really, really good player. And I think, yeah, he could be one of their stars of the season. There you go. In fact, probably go to Chelsea at the end of it, won't he? Yeah. Feels Chelsea-ish, doesn't he? Wouldn't be far, would it? Well, quite.

51:13Just down the road. We'll have a live edition of the Toadley Football Show Sunday evening straight after the events at Old Trafford between, no, at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Man United. Can I do a little and finally? Yeah. You mentioned Comfrey. Obviously, it's been a bad week for Tyro Awanee, who got sent off for the weekend. But also quite a good week for him because breaking news from the University of Portsmouth. Okay. Tyro Awanee has just picked up his third degree. He's got the third degree. They've given him the third degree. Well, in a way. So he got a post-grad diploma. This is with the PFA in sports directorship.

51:51Okay. There were loads of actually other people that picked up this degree this week, including Kieran Kinn and Dewsbury Hall, another currently playing Premier League player. But like Tim Cahill was there, Fabio Berini, Nathan Redman, Azpilicueta, Angelo Agbona, all getting these degrees, right? But actually, he's already got a diploma in business marketing from the London School of International Business and a BA in business management from Buckinghamshire University. I was wondering, is he the most qualified Premier League player? What I'm wondering is if they're going to name some student accommodation after Keenan Dewsbury Hall.

52:22Yay! Very good, Jimbo.

52:28Yeah, I'm not sure how to follow that. But, I mean, I did a tiny bit of digging into qualified footballers. Yes. And I just want to give you some of the ones that I really, really enjoyed. So, maybe top of the trees, Vincent Company got an MBA from Manchester Business School whilst playing at City. Ian Dowie has got a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. Yeah. Slavin Bilic has a law degree. Shaka Hislop, BSc in mechanical engineering. Simon Mignolet got a BA in political science whilst playing for Sunderland. My favourite, which I did know but I remembered, is that Andrea Charvin, in his early days at Zenit, got a degree from the University of St.

53:02Petersburg in fashion design. Is that right? How about that? Yeah. How about that? Dominic Cavalini. Well, that's it. They could team up. Launch a brand. Honorary degrees, I find. No, no. I excluded those. These are all... Well done to them. Well, Taiwanese must be the smartest guy in the league. Smartest guy ever in all. More degrees than goals. Well, it wasn't particularly smart his lash out at the weekend, was it? Nicely done. Very good. As I say, we're here on Sunday. Just to flag up as well that prior to that, from Saturday, we'll have one of our Totally Extra Retro podcasts. This week, it's going to be all about Frank Reichard.

53:35Whatever happened to him? Find out in our latest Totally Extra. And this just in, if you're an NFL fan, there's very exciting news from The Athletic. The Athletic Live, which is presented by Google Gemini. That's a brand new YouTube watch along on NFL game days. That's a great idea. Featuring the biggest and best beat reporters The Athletic has to offer. And you can be part of the show in the interactive chat. The Athletic Live presented by Google Gemini on YouTube sometime on Sunday. Look it up anyway. That's it for us. Do join us on Sunday ourselves on YouTube for around 7.30. For now, thank you, Benji.

54:12Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Duncan. Thank you, you. And from all of us here, it's goodbye.

54:42More on 3M painting and job site essentials. Members get more at Lowe's. Valid through 925. While supplies last. Selection varies by location. Program subject to terms and conditions. See lowes.com slash terms for details. Subject to change.