Spurs expose Man City again, and Dowmania at Arsenal

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0:26Mark Carey: Totally football show. Premier League match day two. Lads, it's Man City. A Spurs win again at the Etihad. Arsenal spank Leeds. Man United stumble at Fulham. At Bramley Moor Dock, Everton Seahawks Seagulls. Well, Graham Potter also in the dock after Hammer Drummer against Chelsea. We get the score on Nottingham Forest's new rivalry. That's Nuno against Evangelos. and on all the rest of the weekend's action in this Totally Football Show.

1:00Mark Carey: Hello, listener, and welcome to this Totally Football Show. We've got Mark Carey in the studio. Welcome back, Mark. Thank you. Thanks for having me back. Well, have you been well? I've been very well. Excellent. Also in the studio, Daniel Storey. Yeah, you go onto YouTube and suddenly I turn up. There you are. That's all it took. Magnificent. No, it's so nice to have you physically present. Lovely to be here. And Adrian Clark, not present. Adrian is also with us, but from where, Adrian? Roles reversed, isn't it, today? Yes. I mean, sunny Leicestershire, as we speak. Yeah. But, yeah, good to be along.

1:37Mark Carey: It's always good to have you with us, Adrian. I know you'll have thoughts on what the Arsenal got up to this weekend. Plenty of storylines in there. 5-0 victory over Leeds. Daniel, meanwhile, you come straight from Selhurst Park, where you saw the game has now entered football law as El Casico, Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest. First off, Nuno saluting the fans at the end after days of intrigue. What can you tell us? It's not over as a story yet. Nuno spoke after the game and said, it's out of my control whether I'll still be here. He wanted to talk more about what Forest need, which he said all summer he wants back-up full-backs because Forrest haven't got any.

2:22And I think part of the issue is that for all the signings they have made, none of them have been full-backs. So he reiterated again he wants those. It was really interesting at full-time. He went over to the fans and got a big standing ovation, the Nuno chants. Morgan Gibbs-White kind of pushed him forward and said to the fans, you know, louder, louder, louder, give it to Nuno. He's clearly very popular with the players. He's clearly very popular with the fans. And if he has fallen out with Edu, the sporting director, then none of what I've just said may matter.

2:52Mark Carey: OK. But for anyone who's thought Forrester had a good start to the season and is a bit mystified at why this whole I am having a bit of a split with Marianakis story broke, what is it? Is it Nuno angling to put pressure on four more signings? Is it some personal issue, as Daniel Taylor was reporting in Athletic, between Nuno and Edu? What is it about and what's the end game? Yeah, I mean, that seems to be the most well-sourced and detailed exact report we've had on the situation from Daniel Taylor. And that would make sense. When Edu came into the club, there was always a question about whether Forrest would be persuaded or advised to lean towards players that he knows, players that maybe his agent, Keir Terabchian, knows.

3:37Forrest have signed two of those players in, Omari Hutchinson and Douglas Luiz this summer. Hutchinson was a final use substitute today. Douglas Lewis didn't come off the bench. It sounds like that relationship has never really got going and Nuno is pretty unhappy with that situation.

3:53Mark Carey: Is this a kind of like Jets against Sharks, kind of Mendez against Jurabchian? I don't think so. I think that is, even for Forrest, I think that is a little bit too much drama. As a supporter, the hope is that there's an obvious route here whereby everybody just calls it for a week. the transfer window ends Forrest are able to keep Edu in his position but maybe move him slightly away from day-to-day Forrest for a while which would allow Nuno to maybe make his relationship with Evangelos Maranakis closer would certainly allow him to concentrate on the relationships that are good he feels are good at the club he did say after the game all we want is harmony and that's what we need to get to that's why he's been briefing yeah it is it is kind of it does kind of as a supporter it kind of makes you want to go and bang everyone's heads together and say, not everybody gets on with everyone they work with.

4:44Maybe just sort it out. And it's annoying or upsetting that it's happening in the public eye. Forrest have got a better squad since Nuno first said he wanted more players. They had a far deeper squad than Crystal Palace, who they played today. They could easily have won the game. They play West Ham at home next weekend, and they could feasibly have seven points from nine after a European draw on Friday. And I hope that's what we're kind of focusing on more than psychodrama off the pitch.

5:09Mark Carey: OK, one last bit of psychodrama. If Nuno were to depart, have they already spoken to other Premier League managers about coming in? They will have... Is there a Portuguese one that you... Well, every club, I think every club now, it's not about being in the ears of managers necessarily, but they will have a shortlist, a dynamic, fluid shortlist. They will sound people out for a job. I don't think that in itself is unusual. As a betting man, I would say there are three obvious candidates. one I think is Marco Silva because he's worked with Nuno before Olympiacos and I think that relationship is pretty good he has also been making noises about the lack of ambition this summer the other is another is Ang Posta Coglu which I think you know those two are quite close I don't know if it's any more than that and then the third name which keeps getting mentioned is Jose Mourinho which I mean if you want to manage us not to fall out with everybody and you know to get on and it will be sweetness and roses then I don't know Maybe if you focus the end of 18 different magnets in opposite ways, maybe they do all just come together in a weird freak of chemistry.

6:14I don't think it works like that. I don't think that would be a good appointment. I don't think that would happen. You mentioned the kind of Mendes, Jouabchi, and Jets versus Sharks. Nuno is a Mendes client. Jose Mourinho is Mendes' most famous managerial client. It just seems a bit off.

6:32Mark Carey: Hopefully somebody bangs their heads together. Or stages a dance-off. Either way, a little bit of harmony. In the meantime, as you mentioned, it was a 1-1 draw for Forrest away at Crystal Palace in that bitter, bitter clash down at Serhers Park. That was Sunday lunchtime. At the same time, Everton were winning their first league game at their new digs, 2-0 against Brighton. Well, a little bit later on, on Sunday afternoon at Craven Cottage, 1-1 between Fulham and Manchester United. Elsewhere this weekend, there were big victories for Chelsea at West Ham on Friday 5-1. Arsenal 5-0 with Leeds the next day and Spurs 2-0 at Manchester City.

7:10Mark Carey: It was 2-0 for Burnley as well against their fellow promoted side, Sunderland. And also on Saturday, there were 1-0 victories for Bournemouth against Wolves and Brentford. Aston Villa, is that everyone from the weekend? I believe so, with Liverpool, Newcastle to come. Still to come. All right, with that in mind, let's begin with Sunday's action. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC Podcast Network.

7:43Mark Carey: We start with Fulham Man United because it's just happened, listener, as we record this, and it's Man United. So, having said that, actually, Fulham, Fulham are 2-1-1s to start their season. They were behind in both. Marco Silva reaching to his bench with immediate results in both. Yeah, well, you look at their record as well. Since the start of last season, I think it's 19 goals from substitutes, which is comfortably more than anyone else. 19 goals out of 66. So that's an extraordinary high proportion. Don't you have a stat about subs and Fulham, Daniel? Yeah, so it's not just that they get lots of goals.

8:20They also generally happens quite quickly. So from the last six fastest goals by substitutes in the Premier League, Fulham account for four of them. Wow. I kind of feel like it makes sense, right? Maybe it becomes cyclical in that you bring off certain players off the bench and they do really well. And then they become your automatic subs and they're also used to doing well off the bench. I can see, almost like up with Arsenal and corners, I can see how once it starts happening, it just carries on happening.

8:46Mark Carey: But that's still a really high proportion. The last six fastest goals by substitutes, four of them are by Fulham. Adrian, you were off recording, I'm guessing, a handbrake off special, were you? So you missed the last 20 minutes of this game and Fulham's equaliser. Can anyone explain to Adrian how that came about? How a game that started with Man United looking pretty lively and like things were maybe beginning to come together, ended up with them hanging on so grimly. Yeah, well, I think the tide started to turn as well when Harry Wilson and Anthony Robinson came on after about an hour. And it was then Emil Smith-Rowe and Raul Jimenez who came on after 70-ish minutes as well.

9:24So it was starting to kind of turn from then on in.

9:26Mark Carey: Did it actually start to turn when Man United were awarded a first half penalty about half an hour in and Bruno Fernandes had issues? Yeah, that was odd. I don't know what the exact fallout has been from from Pundit, but he's using the fact that he bumped into the referee as a reason for putting him off. And it still continued into the start of the second half as well. I think that the referee sort of apologised, which I don't think there was an apology needed necessarily. So Bruno Fernandes had placed the ball on the spot and was backing away. At the same time, the referee and neither of them looking at each other is trying to walk behind him and they brush each other.

10:02Mark Carey: And Fernandes felt that I guess his preparations were disrupted by this. He then skied violently his penalty attempt. And from then on in, it felt like it was all Fulham. Yeah, it was. And I think we saw the issue with Bruno is one of those two central midfielders. I was egged on by Adrian and Mark before the show. We were talking about Bruno and I think they should have sold him this summer already. I don't get why, if what you know you need to do is rebuild a midfield and the pieces you have are Casemiro, Ugarte, Mainu, who doesn't even seem to be anywhere near the frame, why you wouldn't then sell someone whose best position is higher at the pitch.

10:40And you're not really using any more because you're using those two dynamic number 10s who will offer a lot more kind of versatility and changing places, and Bruno's not going to do that. It would have been a bold call, but Manchester United need bold calls. They need to kind of rip things up and go again. And I can't see how he would never come out and say it, but I cannot see how Ruben Amarin wouldn't have been in a better situation than that squad if they'd sold Bruno to Saudi Arabia and gone all out in July on a Carlos Bleib or whoever it is to rebuild that central midfield. I don't think they could look less, they could look more in balance than they do now with Bruno and Casemiro.

11:16It looks really good for about 20 minutes. And then the opposition realised that if Manchester United haven't scored, they can just pass through them. Bruno for the goal, Emil Smith-Rowe is five yards behind him and Bruno just watches Emil Smith-Rowe go past him. Bruno looks around to point at someone and say, what's going on? How has that happened? You're like, that's your job now. When you were playing number 10, you could probably get away with this one running past you and it wouldn't be a problem. Now if that happens 30 yards from your own goal, that player will get a big chance to score.

11:45I feel like I don't want to justify it too much, but I think that Fernandes, the fact that he's playing in a pair as well, Even if you're playing in a midfield three, it's difficult enough because Fernandes isn't naturally defensive minded. But the fact that the system sort of dictates it as well, the way that Amram likes to play a three, four, two, one. It's often a midfield pair. And all you need to do really is be a team with the greatest respect to Fulham, a fairly good team. You can just overload those central areas. Just sheer number alone will mean that you can then start to get some joy in those midfield areas.

12:15you open up against an elite side and those gaps between the midfield pair between Casemiro and Fernandes are just far too big. And that's, to be honest, that's why I think that Amirim likes Mount because Mount in possession is really good at stitching things together and working the ball. But he actually often will plug gaps and try and at least block passing lanes and maybe help Fernandes a little bit before it then even reaches him maybe being a bit out of position. So I can see why, also because Sesko hasn't had enough time to really be fully integrated with the squad and get up to match fitness, etc.

12:44But I can see why Mount is playing as one of those three forwards and will probably continue to do so because it's also helping the players behind him. And then when he went off, things started to fall apart a little bit more then as well.

12:56Mark Carey: Amirim, who was pictured throughout the game staring at the floor and shaking his head while mouthing things, took off Casemiro for Cesco in the second half. United did take the lead through a Fulham-owned goal. I think it was eventually given to Rodrigo Munez, who had been, well, essentially leapt up with his back to the ball and it glanced off him past Bernd Leno. Beyond that positive, anything else that you were drawn for United fans? There was a lot of positives against Arsenal. They looked more aggressive and they looked sharper. There's no doubt about that. But the conversation points that you guys are having are absolutely bang on.

13:34I just want to reinforce it. I just think that until Amarim revamps that central midfield, United can't make progress. They can't reach the targets that they aspire to with the personnel that they've got within that system. Either he rips up the system and he goes, you know, 4-2-3-1, you know, plays Bruno at 10, Cunha to the left of him, Bermot to the right. Unless he does that, I just don't see it working. and this is a manager that's now managed more matches than he's accrued points 29 Premier League matches, 28 points that is absolutely dreadful so I think that Amrim has to make some big decisions with his team moving forwards, personnel wise I think one of those players has to drop out and become an impact player if he's not going to change the set up it's just Bruno can't be trusted when players run off him he just can't be so he does a lot of brilliant things and this is the quandary because Bruno Fernandes is a hero he scores massive goals for them he makes things happen yet in that position he can't be trusted or referees walk past him

14:48Mark Carey: it's an issue United briefly Daniel any sign that they are going to sign those defensive reinforcements that could make all the difference I don't think there is because they're not getting the money in that they clearly now need If they could have afforded£100 million on a central midfielder, I think they would have done that by now. I don't think they can. I think they need to sell now. I think they probably will sign a goalkeeper. And there were moments, again, on corners where, particularly in the first half, Bain Deer really, he was kind of, he had this approach of, if I don't stop moving at any point, then no one can get hold of me or keep me out of the game.

15:21He was sort of breakdancing almost on his own goal line, but then still was in the wrong position whenever the corner came in. that is an issue it sounds like antwerp's goalkeeper lamens is is being lined up but it's again it's 17 million euros it's a kind of you know hope this works out hope it develops sort of signing that's what they seem to be doing they seem to be buying the stopgap signings in positions they really need and the flagship signings in positions that are to me luxury they are to supplement what they have rather than rather than to build it so yeah we will see Just very quickly on Fulham, just to kind of bring it back from a circle, because you could talk about Fernandes letting Smith Rowe run off the back of him.

16:02But Fulham are known to do this. They averaged the most open play crosses in the Premier League last season. We know that they like to get it wide cross. It was a really well-timed run, a really good first-time finish as well. And it's what Fulham do well. So as well as scoring from the substitutes bench, they know how they play and they do it to great effect. So credit to Fulham as well, not just beating down on Manchester United. And Silva made a big decision, guys, in regards to not starting the season with Emile Smith-Rowe. A big signing, someone they spent a lot of money on. And Joshua King, a teenager, has played at number 10 ahead of him.

16:35He's made a difficult call for what he sees as the good of the team. And it's had the effect, I guess, today of geeing up Emile Smith-Rowe who's come on and delivered. So, yeah, that's what managers have to do.

16:48Mark Carey: Certainly is, Adrian. Next up for Manchester United, what they have to do is a trip to Grimsby for the second round of the Carabao Cup. That's on Wednesday. Fulham will be up against Bristol City that same night. Who have Forrest got in the Carabao Cup? A pleasure for you asking, because they haven't got anybody because they're playing in Europe this season. So they don't go into the next round. Do you know what? I panicked for about two seconds there. I thought, I don't know who Forrest is playing. I thought, I know exactly who Forrest aren't playing. All right. So you were at Southhurst Park today.

17:16Mark Carey: I was. I was indeed, yes. Without insecurity? No, there was added security. There were more Met Office police deployed. Some police went down from Nottingham. There were a lot of police around kind of doing the perimeter of Forest team bus to stop any nonsense there. Other than that, and a banner, which I thought was inappropriate, all of the idea of the pantomime, there was a few chance, which there was always going to be, and there wasn't actually a lot else. There was no fierceness or kind of over-spice to the occasion. It was just a, yeah, it was a kind of bubbling along. But no, there was no silliness, thankfully.

17:55Mark Carey: OK, and the game kind of bubbled along as well? Yeah, I mean, a draw, very quickly, a draw was sort of fair in that Palace scored once, Forrest scored once, Palace hit the post once, Forrest hit the post once. Both sets of supporters sang about Forrest's owner and everybody would go home and say that was probably what we thought would happen at the start of the game. Forrest will be more disappointed, I think, because Palace had Thursday night football and Forrest have a far deeper bench now. I think in three or four weeks, Forrest probably win that game, but four players came on to make their debut and it just felt a bit bitty at the end, although Forrest created the better chances in the last five, six minutes.

18:32Mark Carey: Igor, Jesus almost snatching it at the death. Palace, indeed, last Thursday, began their Conference League campaign with the playoff first leg and it was a 1-0 win against the Norwegian side. Frederik Statt, that was at home. Yeah, it was a bad result. It was a bad result because I watched the thinking at that time that Forrest could still be playing one of those two teams. I watched Frederik Statt against Michelin the round before and they got battered by Michelin, who are a decent side in Denmark, but Palace should have way too much. So I thought this would be done by 60 minutes of the first leg and it wasn't.

19:07It's a tricky little, I think it's a plastic, you know, AstroTurf pitch out there. Yeah, I don't like... I think they'll go through, but to not win that game by two or three and give themselves breathing room is, I actually think, really poor result because they had a full team out. Because they're the dominant side. I know they had the majority of the possession. If they're the ones who have to take the game to the opposition, there's less space. They're the ones maybe pinning them back and they thrive in space and that directness and verticality. They did miss a few chances as well. Mateta hit a post.

19:36Yeah, I do think... The one thing I found really interesting today was Forrest having to dominate possession again. 58 % possession away from home just never happens for Forrest. So that change in style is there. The other thing to say about Palace is Glasner all week has been glum to the point that I thought he might walk this week if Gehi was sold. Because he was talking about, you know, I'll play centre-back if we sell Gehi because that's what we'll have to do. I used to be a centre-back, you know, all this stuff. After the game he said, look, I trust the club to find a solution. I'm sure they'll find one this week.

20:07I'm not saying anything they don't know. we're on the same page, etc, etc. So it's not only Nuno who is having to maybe just try and avoid fanning flames of criticising owners and sporting directors because Palace do need some depth. Their bench today was two teenage academy kids, two goalkeepers, points being made about not much on the bench. OK.

20:28Mark Carey: The other game that happened at 2 o 'clock on Sunday was Everton's 2-0 victory over Brighton, The first league game to take place at the Toffees' new ground, Hill Dickinson. Tom Williams went along for the French TV station, Qu 'est-ce que nous avons parlé. We spoke to him after the game and first of all I asked him what he liked most about Everton's new ground.

20:54I think just like the spaciousness, like a new stadium, kind of almost like a surfeit of space. You have just so much room. Pressbox is right at the back of the, let me think, south, north, west stand. So it's quite a climb to get up there, but great view. And the noise when the teams walked out at kickoff was incredible. you know you had the Zedcast theme blaring out blue fireworks going off off the top of the roof of the stadium and you could really hear what a cauldron it could potentially become that said once the game started it was pretty dead for about 20 minutes the fact that Brighton dominated those early exchanges Danny Welbeck misses a sitter Mitoma hits the crossbar you kind of felt a bit of that old Goodison nervousness creep in So good to know that that hasn't been lost in the move to the new stadium.

21:48Mark Carey: Indeed, indeed. Brighton with the very positive early start, hitting the post a couple of times. Everton, though, with a 2-0 win, an emphatic scoreline, which owed a lot to the goal scorers, Ndi and Garner, but above all to the man who set up both Jack Grealish. Yeah, Jack Grealish, who started for the first time in an Everton shirt on the left wing. And it felt a little bit like, you know, the old Jack Grealish. I'm not saying he's back to his best yet, But, you know, he was getting on the ball an awful lot. It felt like Everton's players had been given the instruction to look for him as much as possible.

22:21Lots of big sweeping diagonals from the right side of defence. And, you know, he was just running at his man time and time again. First assist was a proper assist, you know, proper winger's assist, kind of drops his shoulder, gets the cross in, and the eye slides in to tuck it away. Second one was more James Garner's work than anyone else's. But, yeah, he was a thorn in Brighton's side throughout.

22:43Mark Carey: Grealish, I believe, had only had one assist in his last two seasons at Manchester City, getting two in the course of this one game. So Brighton, a little bit unlucky not to get anything from this game. They also had Danny Welbeck's penalty late on, saved by Jordan Pickford. But a brilliant start then. Oh, by the way, you were doing this for Canal+. Yes, I was, yes. And what were the French most... Yeah, it was good fun, actually. Yeah. What were the French most interested in about this? Well, we were kind of crossing our fingers in the hope that Inman Ndiaye would score the first goal in the new stadium.

23:15Because not only did he score the last goal at Goodison Park, but when he signed for Everton, he'd said in one of his first interviews, oh, it's my dream to score the first goal in the new stadium. So he's now ticked off both of those things. I've just interviewed him in the mix and asked him about that. Apparently it was his daughter who suggested that that should be his ambition, that he should be the guy who puts his name into Everton folklore by scoring the first goal in the new stadium. And now he's done it. So he was a very happy bunny indeed.

23:44Mark Carey: How did you say that in French, happy bunny? I didn't use the expression happy bunny in French because I'm not entirely sure I would know how to say it. La pain heureux. I don't think you could... I mean, that would be the literal translation. Next time I interview a French person, I'm just going to drop in la pain heureux and we'll see what kind of reaction it gets. You know, go full John Toshak with it. Absolutely. Magnificent. Tom, enjoy your trip back. and we look forward to having you soon again on the Totally Football Show. Thank you, James. See you soon.

24:18There you go.

24:18Mark Carey: That was Tom Williams of Canal Plus. Very informative. Mark, is there something you want to add to this? Yeah, I mean, I just, Jack Grealish had a fantastic game. I think there was, I mean, Tom mentioned it, there was two sides to the way that he sort of created both goals. If you sort of step off him, he can go to the byline and cross it in, which he did for the first. If you try and double up on him, then you're attracting other players out of position. And then it opens up space for a teammate to score, which is what happened for the second one. I don't want to spin too much of a negative because it was an overwhelmingly positive day for Everton.

24:51I'm just thinking ahead of the whole season. So I looked at the numbers in this and across the attacking half of the pitch, if you go across each third, 51 % of Everton's attacking touches were on the left third. you start to think okay because Jack Grealish is so potent will teams just then start to try and nullify him well they will try to nullify him over time and do they need more of an attacking balance on the other side would that be where the move for Tyler Dibling comes in exactly so then that does then feed into a bit more attacking balance because Ndi was he had a really good game overall but it was quite obvious because when a right footer is on the right the same side they are often looking to to come inside but often backwards as well onto their stronger foot so it It was just a bit unbalanced in that regard, but obviously effective today.

25:36But then I do think having Dibbling doing something similar means that there'll at least be a double threat and there'll be a bit more balanced to their side. And they have got a lot of attacking potency now, considering how much they had such a strong defensive foundation, even though they were not overly strong last season. They did OK, obviously had a change in manager. I think their defensive numbers, if we're thinking about expected goals, my domain, the quality of chances that they give up. I think it was either the fourth or the fifth in the whole of the league last season. Really quite strong.

26:04In a positive sense. In a positive sense, yeah. Pretty strong. So it just meant that you need to add a bit more attacking firepower. And of course they have. But also you need that unpredictability. And when it's just so skewed to one side with Greenwich, it just made me think they do need that more balance. But Dibling's arrival, imminent arrival, should help with that.

26:22Mark Carey: Very, very exciting times these four for Everton supporters. Excellent. After all of that, we'll get on to very shortly what the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal and Spurs and Manchester City got up to this weekend.

26:56Mark Carey: in La Liga, Marcus Rashford has had his first start for Barcelona in a game which saw them go 2-0 down. Him then get subbed off and then they, without him, roll back to win 3-2 against Levante. In Germany, Bayern's opening game of their season against RB Leipzig, their league season that is, saw them get a 6-0 victory with another Harry Kane hat-trick, two goals for Michael Alisse and another one for Luis Diaz. Elsewhere, Eric Ten Hag lost his first game in charge of Leverkusen. at home to Hoffenheim. In Italy, Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne were both on the score sheet as Napoli began their title defence with a 2-0 win at Sassuolo.

27:35Mark Carey: And in France, amongst other things, teammates Jonathan Rowe and Adrian Rabiot of Marseille both got fired from the club for fighting each other. Where can you find out more about all these stories and others? Well, the Totally Football Show's European edition, which will be out slightly later this week, probably Tuesday evening or early Wednesday. Totally Football Show, European edition. And if it's football and Totally Football podcast you're after, we've, of course, got a fourth one this season every week for a week. The fourth one's called Totally Extra. So far, we've done two. The first one was a chat about loads of stuff, including Mario Balotelli.

28:19Mark Carey: And then this week, we got together with Raphael Honigstein and talked about loads of things and Jürgen Klinsmann. I believe we're going to be doing our next Totally Extra on Tuesday about Nicholas Anelka. Is this something you've always been dying to ask about, Nicholas Anelka? I would say with Nicholas Anelka, he is the player who I forget at least one of his Premier League clubs every time I have to write them down. I think there was that very weird Quinell thing that went on. Absolutely. He's a very, I think we would describe him as a complex character, wouldn't we? Yeah, no, there's a lot of story to tell.

28:55Mark Carey: I think... But I totally forgot one of a very major club that he was at, which I know, it being me, is not that surprising. No, no, that one. But we'll see how much our guests, who I believe are Duncan and Julian Laurence, will... Anyway, that's all coming up on Tuesday. Right now, what's coming up, listener, is me remembering that we're going to talk about the title contenders. Title contenders like Chelsea, who hit the Hammers 5-1 on Friday night. Like Arsenal, who were 5-0 winners at home to Leeds. And like, can we include Spurs in this conversation after their 2-0 victory over Man City after this extraordinary start that they're having under Thomas Frank?

29:39Mark Carey: I know that Ange got a 4-0 win at the Etihad last season, but is there something special building there with Thomas? Who knows? Yeah, I mean, they're certainly a different looking team, aren't they? They're going to be infinitely better without the ball than they were last season. So, yeah, he's already made a really, really big impact. He's worked ever so hard on sort of the basics, hasn't he, in terms of the resilience of the team, the way that they work out possession. I think that the signature of this win was the tenacity, the sort of determination, I thought the midfield were really good.

30:16The high press on Trafford. Really enjoyed. I mean, I enjoyed Papsar's performance. I mean, he was the one, wasn't he, that produced that turnover with the press inside the box. But I looked at Papsar's touch map in this game. And he's playing central midfield. And that guy had touches in all four corners of the pitch. And down the middle, of course. He literally was everywhere. I think he covered 11.8 kilometres, which is definitely on the higher end of Premier League sort of runs during the course of a game. So, yeah, he was terrific. Obviously, Palina was great. It's an industrious engine room, isn't it, rather than one that's going to be silky.

30:57But, yeah, that was the platform for the win. They exposed the high line as well, didn't they? City exposed again with runners in beyond for that first goal. So, yeah, I think this was just a little bit of a wake up call for City. and Spurs will take great heart from it. Very quickly on City, I think a theme really of the season so far. We just talked about Man United, the balance of central midfield, not right. Liverpool on the opening night against Bournemouth, balance of the midfield wasn't right. That's why I think they conceded so many chances on the counter. And I think in this game, the balance of City's midfield wasn't quite right with Scherke and Rinders with Nico Gonzalez.

31:37It was more attack-minded and it left a lot for Nico Gonzalez to deal with. So, yeah, I think that's something that Rodri will help to fix for sure.

31:49Mark Carey: Whatever their line-up is and whoever the Spurs is that they face, whatever fellow it is giving them their tactical instructions on the bench, City always seem to have problems against Spurs. Just one win in their last five meetings with Tottenham. Why is that, Mark? Why is it that whatever iteration of Tottenham turns up, they still cause some problems? I don't know. I don't want to pour too much water on the fire because it is an interesting stat. But I never massively buy into the whole kind of record against it unless the managers get overly spooked. It's sometimes a different manager in the case of Spurs, but often so many different players as well.

32:23I don't know how much there's an element of serendipity about it. But then I suppose the way that Manchester City play and at times Spurs have been able to go a little bit more direct against them. I think the high line that Adrian mentioned, I think there was a few occasions in times gone by that Tottenham have exposed City's high line as well. So there's maybe something in that as well, rather than necessarily going toe-to-toe with City and trying to sort of out-football them, if you like. But no, I think they did try and, well, they did with the first goal, really did expose the high line. I completely agree with Adrian.

32:52And there was signs from the first game against Wolves, even though it was largely a convincing win for Manchester City. If I'm remembering correctly, was they're an offside goal for Wolves where they moved the high line and it was a very intelligent one. It's just one of those that there's just, it's a bit of a tightrope at times. It always works until it doesn't. I was going to say that last weekend, Gary Neville, quite rightly on Sky, was praising the defensive line, stepping up rightly. And that's exactly what happens with the offside line. It's like when the linesman gets criticised for just getting a decision right.

33:25It's like, it's brilliant to exactly the point that it stops being brilliant and then it looks awful. And John Stones wasn't that far behind that defensive line when he tried to step out. But if you are a foot behind and you don't get it perfectly right and you are playing that high line, then Thomas Frank is probably one of the best managers in the Premier League at identifying weaknesses in opponents. And it's a really obvious potential weakness at the moment for City. Yeah, and the goalkeeper, I think, a big change there. No, not with Trafford, just very quickly on Vicario. We saw against PSG, he boomed it.

33:59over and over again, often into the wide areas for Richarlison or Kudus. And it worked. And in this game, they did the same. And, you know, it come from a long ball, didn't it, that opening goal. So, you know, that's probably a goal that they may not have scored last season under Ajposta Koglu. So, yeah, it's very visible change in tactics there from Tottenham Hotspur.

34:22Mark Carey: As for City, a penny for his thoughts was the commentary line as we got a shot of Edison in the kind of seats watching on. It's one of those as well but again, kind of like the off-sideline, the process was correct and no doubt Guardiola will continue to encourage Trafford or any of his goalkeepers to play that way because that is kind of what's defined Manchester City under Pep Guardiola in their strong build-up play, their neat passing combinations but it was just the execution and there was a really good reverse angle from behind the goal where if you watch it as a fan that ball was never on It was the pass, wasn't it?

34:55Yeah, more towards the left, it was Cherky I agree. And I don't know if it's sometimes, you know, these automatisms to make sure that this is what we should do, even if it's not necessarily the best option to take. But we'll continue to see that. That won't be a problem.

35:11Mark Carey: Will we continue to see Trafford, I guess, is one of the questions with rumours still are swirling about other goalkeepers who might be on their way. Spurs, though, in terms of points and goal difference, their best start to a season since Mauricio Pochettino 11 years ago. The small sample size, which is Burnley and Man City so far. But if you add in the PSG game in Udine, this is three games in a row they've taken a two-goal lead in. Admittedly, they didn't hang on to that away to the European champions. The thing is, I think how Tottenham will improve under Thomas Fank is very quickly, as the defensive organisation comes in, is the antithesis of what they were last season.

35:48And then there will be a plateau. And it's whether fans, A, where Tottenham are when that plateau starts in the table, and B, maybe how the club and how fans deal with that plateau for a while. But then over time, we saw at Brentford, he is then able to kind of make things gradually better and better with, we presume, more money to spend than he ever did at Brentford. So this first season, I mean, I'm obviously incredibly impressed by this start. We need to see 10 games of it. But then, because I think after 10 games, there will be a sense of, to an extent, when you think you're playing Tottenham, you still think of that mad high line and you still think of Tottenham as quite weak.

36:22They're not now. They are as organised as Brentford, but with better players. So they will be hard to beat. And eventually, within two or three months, managers will say, right, we need to change how we focus and look at Spurs as a team. And then they will have a plateau. And I want to know what happens when that happens.

36:36Mark Carey: OK. As a Forest fan, are you filled with terror at the notion that Ange Postacoglu might actually be taking over there? Or can you see some reason why Marianakis might feel that's a good idea? I think it would be exciting. Mark, you're shaking your head. It's just the antithesis. and you mentioned that word before but it's the antithesis of the way that Nuno plays. Yeah, I mean, look, it wouldn't be my choice. I like the guy. It would be incredible to see him try and win two Europa Leagues in successive seasons with Spurs and Nottingham Forest. Yeah, I don't really, yeah, I don't think it would be a great idea.

37:10But the attraction of it is is that I don't think Forest, famous last words, this is me saying this in public, are a relegation candidate this season. Right. So therefore, maybe you do try and go more expensive. Maybe you don't have the pressure of being expected to finish in the top six, but you do get to have a little fun. But I'm having plenty enough fun with Nuno, thanks.

37:29Mark Carey: Don't think Spurs fans thought they were a relegation candidate. It's our last season either. It's very true. Anyway, we'll see. We'll see. Hopefully Nuno's still at the city ground for a long time to come. Adrian, you were at the Emirates, were you? On Saturday tea time for the game against Leeds? I was, yeah. Excellent. Good fun. So, I mean, there's a lot to unpack, as they say, from this game. On one hand, it was a huge victory. You had Eze presented to the fans, broad grin on his face as they saluted him. You had Goykeres with his first goals for the Gunners, Max Dalman with a brilliant first league appearance.

38:04Mark Carey: On the other, you had those injuries, following on from Kai Havertz last week to Saka and Odegaard this time around, and a fixture against Liverpool a week away. What's your overall feeling about all this? Yeah, you've kind of wrapped it all up there in terms of the storylines. First up with Eza, it was a great moment. You could see how much it meant to him. And the fan base are completely united in sort of joy at the prospect of seeing him. So that was a really nice moment. Jokeres' goal, we've seen him score that exact same goal for Sporting dozens of times, it feels like.

38:58It was just great for him to get that confidence booster that he needed because there was a chance in the first half where Zubimendi turns it over on the edge of the box and he's got time to take a touch and just tap it in and he completely panicked and tried to play at one touch and it was a horrible effort. And I must admit, at half-time, you know, the talk in the press room was, oh, Jokeres looks like he's under pressure already. He just needs to relax. And of course, that goal relaxed him perfectly and obviously ended up getting a penalty as well. So that was great. Dalman was tremendously exciting and an incredible ovation for him.

39:33Outside the ground and inside the ground, I saw so many 56 Dalman shirts. You know, this was a kid that hadn't... He's 15. he's not 16 until December but already there's so many fans wearing his shirt and there's so much expectation around him and let me tell you the hype is is warranted he's a phenomenal talent absolutely phenomenal the world is his oyster he's ridiculously good for his age and he is in the squad not as a piece of tokenism from Mikel Arteta but he's in the squad because he deserves to be in the squad and he got the game time that he got, which was half an hour, because his performances this summer have absolutely warranted that.

40:17And then when he comes on, he takes on his man over and over again, makes things happen, wins a penalty. We're going to see a lot of him. And it's tremendously exciting. But in the end of that game, Arsenal had Dowman, Warneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly on the pitch together. Obviously, earlier in the game, Saka was there too. So, yeah, the Haaland, they are doing some phenomenal scouting and the coaches are doing phenomenal work in terms of their development of players. So, yeah, it was a really good day. And Arsenal didn't play amazingly, but they scored of all five of their shots on target. And there were lots of pluses.

40:56So, yeah, it was a good day.

40:58Mark Carey: Per Mersersak are in charge of the academy. Yes, he is. He's very big on shaping people as well as players. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Saka comes through. He's a very, it's just a great, he's just a great, great guy. Miles Lewis-Skelly is, is, is the same, intelligent, thoughtful, Dowman, completely mentally ready for Premier League football, which just sounds nuts when he's, he hasn't even started year 11 at school. He hasn't started it yet. Like, how can you be mentally ready for Premier League football? But he is. So, yeah, They're doing amazing work at Hayland. Let's keep these prospects coming.

41:43It's also really important because at some point, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are going to have to have their second age, which is when they start having to sell players to reinvest because Arsenal typically have not been great at that. If you look at the record sales by Premier League clubs, it's only Burnley and Sunderland they've got a lower record sale than Arsenal, which is Oxlade-Chamberlain at£35 million. So while all the other clubs are really good at, Liverpool, Chelsea, we've seen Manchester City, really good at selling those players, Arsenal either haven't been very good at that yet or have chosen not to.

42:13And the reason they could have chosen not to is because Haaland is being so prolific that it means they can almost, you know, they can almost sub in. They are spending quite a lot of money and that second age does have to happen at some point, I think. But it almost just buys you time when you can say, well, yes, ideally we would need this, this and this, but we have got these players pushing through. And they are also, as Adrian knows, they are also become shoulders for the other kids to stand on. Don't they? Each time you get one in the team, it makes you more likely to get another one in the team.

42:42There have been three 15-year-olds played in the Premier League and two of them finished the game yesterday in one area in Daumann. The other one, Jeremy Monger, at Leicester City. You know, this isn't normal, but Arteta is happy to use these kids if he feels that they're ready. And the fact that they are ready at this age is a testament to Per Mertesaka's work and all of the coaches and all of the scouts that put in so much hard work behind the scenes. Because, you know, they've identified these kids at a very young age. City have Haaland, Arsenal have Haaland.

43:15Mark Carey: You might say, head of the game at Anfield next Sunday, how worried are you about Saka or Odegaard with the abundance of alternatives that Arteta now has? Well, that's the difference between last season and this season. It feels as if the drop-off from first choice to second choice is quite negligible. Whereas last season, the drop-off from first choice to second choice was pretty big and it definitely impacted Arsenal's performance level. So, yeah, no Arsenal fan wants Saka or Odegaard to miss Liverpool away. But if they do, and I would say, looking at their body language, the likelihood is both will miss that game.

43:51I think there's less fear among Arsenal fans that we can still go there and put on a decent showing.

43:57Mark Carey: And one last thing, if I may, Adrian, on Arsenal. You were talking about the dominant theme being that midfield balance for a lot of the big teams this year. Are Arsene one of the better placed with that fellow Zubamendi who had an excellent game, would you say, against Leeds? Glad you asked that question, yeah. Because it was a point I was going to raise independently because what we've seen is a shift. Declan Rice last season played as a left side eight, but quite high. And he didn't get that many touches, but he impacted games. But he was in a different role. It's now a two with Zubamendi and Declan Rice playing as a pair.

44:34And they both had a lot of the ball in this game. The balance was beautiful. They didn't play well at Old Trafford. We saw that last week, but this was more like it. And they both had good games. And Zubimendi is going to be a hit. I'm pretty confident of that. Very nimble player. Moves the ball quickly. And he mops up things defensively as well. So, yeah, I think with that back four, which we already know about, in place, and those two sat in front, the front four, in my mind, can go and just have a bit of fun and cause more chaos. this season. That is the plan for Arsenal. They've got the defensive platform.

45:10Now, with Eza and Saka and Erdogan, all these guys, Jokeres, go and torment the opposition and go and have some fun. And that's what, hopefully, we'll see.

45:20Mark Carey: All right. Even on the school nights. Brilliant. Daniel, one last thing before we move on. I was going to say on Leeds, who, like, yeah, lost 5-0. I think my main takeaway from watching the game was that, and I think this applies to all the promoted clubs, is that the biggest difference between the Championship and the Premier League, I think, is the amount of time you get on the ball in centre midfield without someone hounding you down and pressing you. And there were two or three times on Saturday evening where a Leeds midfielder received the ball not facing towards the opposition's goals, either facing sideways or to their own goal, and just couldn't deal with that pressure.

45:55It doesn't matter losing to Arsenal. It doesn't really matter losing to Arsenal 5-0. But lots of teams are pretty good at doing that in the Premier League and kind of hounding you. I saw Crystal Palace doing it with Will Hughes today, and he might not be seen as an elite Premier League midfielder, but he will snap at your heels if you take too long on the ball. And I think Sunderland did it a little bit too much, even against Burnley on Saturday. I just slightly worry about those midfields not getting quite the time they want on the ball. Everton didn't try and do it against Leeds on Monday night, so they look really good, but I think other teams will probably take note.

46:28Mark Carey: We've got some good news coming up for promoted sides, light leads and that's West Ham we'll be talking about them next

46:41you're listening to the Totally Football Show with James Richardson now with you four times a week keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy us in glorious Technicolor on YouTube at the Totally Show

46:52Mark Carey: listener if you're excited about Paphos FC and the prospect of them being in the Champions League phase this season. If indeed your name is Jay Harris and you're looking forward to going to the top of a water slide at the Aphrodite Water Park to look down into their stadium, then I'm afraid, listen, Matt gets in touch to say, please tell Mike, who told you that Paphos FC play next to the Aphrodite Water Park, that they don't actually train next to the Aphrodite Water Park. Their stadium is in a rather more mundane part of Cyprus. That sounds like something someone would say if they wanted to be the only one that had watched a game from the top of a water slide, it could be.

47:31He's keeping it to himself.

47:33Mark Carey: Absolutely. We might be seeing Paphos FC in the league phase, which will be exciting in the Champions League, because they're two on up. Daniel, is that right from the first leg of their playoff? One away at Red Star. One away at Red Star. So they've got to bring Red Star to the water park. To the Aphrodite, yeah. Right, OK. So, yeah, well, that'll be fun. And that's for this midweek, I'm guessing, the second leg. Yeah, the first leg was Tuesday, so I suspect it'll be Wednesday night. Makes sense. What else is happening in the Champions League playoff second leg-wise? British football-wise, a massive, massive night for Celtic.

48:06A huge night for Celtic. Brendan Rodgers all week has been talking about, or month has been talking about, the need for investment in the squad, that it needs more. They need to get to the Champions League phase this season. And they drew the home game against Kairat Almaty, nil-nil at home. So they face a tricky old game away from home. I'm actually going to the Old Firm game next Sunday, which should be nice. And yeah, Scottish football is in a funny old place at the moment.

48:35Mark Carey: From the Casico to the Old Firm game. Quite the itinerary you have. It's also a big midweek for their opponents in that fixture, Rangers, who... I think that's done. I mean, they lost 3-1 at home. They looked really poor. They drew 1-1 with St Mirren today. it's a really weird thing whereby the Scottish FA or the Scottish Premiership allowed the teams to cancel games they wanted to Rangers chose not to do so they chose to play their game presumably because they didn't particularly want to go into the Old Film game potentially seven points behind and losing that and ten and maybe the title race is already done that's a lovely idea until you draw 1-1 with St Mirren in the game that you choose to play so yeah it's not looking good for Russell Martin OK, well, a trip to Bruges coming up for Rangers.

49:22Mark Carey: Adrian, in the Championship, are you doing a What the EFL? Absolutely, yeah, be a What the EFL, yeah, for sure. So there's loads to talk about. Mark Robbins' Stoke on top of the Championship. Three wins out of three. They beat Will Stills Saints. They did, yeah. That was a big win, a really big win. It's been a disappointing start for Ipswich as well. They're languishing towards the bottom end of the table. Sheffield United, so close to the Premier League last season. A rock bottom, haven't got any points yet. Middlesbrough, who got dumbed out of the Carabao Cup 4-0 at home to Doncaster, have got a perfect record at the top of the Championship.

50:00So it's been a really weird start to the new season in the second tier, which bodes well because it's become a bit predictable, hasn't it, with the teams that go down almost always coming straight back up. The early sign suggests it could be quite competitive. But Coventry, the big headline makers, smashed, absolutely obliterated QPR 7-1. This comes off the back of beating Derby 5-3. So Cov are banging the goals in left, right and centre. Also a shout out to Coventry, who on Saturday morning it was revealed that owner Doug King had agreed a deal to buy back the CVS Arena from Mike Ashley's Frazers group, which is, I mean, promotion would be bigger than that this season, I'm sure, but that is the only thing that would be bigger than Coventry having a permanent home.

50:52This is a fan base who, you know, they've been to Birmingham, they've been to Northampton, they were worried about losing their stadium and losing the club at one point. So as soon as that news came in, I thought I fancy them to really put on a show against QPR today, and it sounds like QPR obliged themselves, but yeah just a really happy place to be at the moment which is lovely it would also be remiss of me not to say that the expected goals for this game 7-1 was 1.27 which points to some unbelievable finishing oh they are they are really good i was going to say you could question some goalkeeping but no i think it's maybe put it down to some great finishing top bins-esque can you question xg itself so this is a really interesting question and it's one that is it that my colleague connor O 'Neill has covered in relation to this specific game.

51:37The title being Does Coventry 7-1 win prove that expected goals is broken?

51:41Mark Carey: What's the answer? The answer is it's complex. The idea basically being that expected goals comes into its own over a long period. If you look at a single game basis or a shot basis, it's very much not. So we shouldn't look at XG for single games. The sample size is just too small. Correct. Yeah, it's really good at identifying trends over a long period and the differences between it, but at a single game level it's very much not useful but it's still fun to do what Conor did and analyse the single game to show that difference. So it just goes to show that they're not going to be winning by seven goals each or six goals in this case.

52:15Right. So many different kinds of fun out there.

52:18Mark Carey: Daniel, you went to Morecambe last week to watch them not play football. Yes. And then this week they did play football. Yes. And the take-over was confirmed on Tuesday. So a week ago when you went there was a real prospect that they might not play any more football? They'd had the news that a deal was being agreed and they were very confident that it would go through. They actually, at the time, the head of the supporters and the local MP, who I spent the most time with last weekend, they actually would have... Did you do any water slides while you were there? No, no, it's pretty near the sea, but it's not water slide adjacent, the Mizzou Mobile Stadium.

52:55Yeah, they kind of wanted a delay because Morecambe had eight first-team players and had a game in six days, felt like an impossible situation. They were told that the game would be on. They then signed six or seven players last week, hosted their first game of the season, first game since relegation and first game since the ownership change, went 1-0 up, conceded a goal, looked absolutely knackered and then scored the winner in the 98th minute. I mean, go out there. You don't need me to describe it. Go to Morecambe FC's Twitter slash Xfeed and find the commentary of the winning goal and just the celebration.

53:42I just got, there's a guy Tom who I met, I'd met before and I met again last weekend and he just sort of, I went to message him at the end of the game and I already had a message from him saying I'm in tears and I was like this is the good stuff, this is what we're here for. Brilliant. Brilliant for Morecambe.

53:59Mark Carey: Excellent. Excellent. Now, back in the Premier League and way back on Friday, West Ham hosted Chelsea and took the lead. It looked like they might make a real game of it. Even when Chelsea then equalised, West Ham thought they'd once more taken the lead. But that's where things began to get very, very bad for them indeed. Ended up being 5-1 to Enzo Moreska's side, West Ham fans leaving in droves. How good were Chelsea? How bad were the Hammers? How worried should Graham Potter be after this display against his old side? It wasn't good. Yeah, there's some terrible goals conceded. Three from corners, two of which you can absolutely blame the goalkeeper, Mads Hamanson, who's made a really bad first impression among the Iron supporters.

54:51So I feel for him a little bit. It's from shoddy defending. Wan-Bissaka switching off at the far post for one. really stands out as well. So, yeah, I mean, an amazing goal from Pakatar. Absolute rasper of a left foot shot into the top corner. But that was it in terms of positives for West Ham. Potter tried to change it in the second half, switched his formation, went to a back four. But a little bit like Manchester United, I just feel that until he sorts out his midfield, that they're going to struggle. Because I just don't think Socek and Ward-Prowse is going to work. just not enough athleticism in there

55:29Mark Carey: Let me pick up on the point about the goalkeeper Madsah Manson who last week we were hinting is as scary looking as Marilyn Manson and ironic cheers from the home fans as he made you're not here for that kind of thing are you Daniel? Well just it's completely counterproductive I mean you paid your ticket money you can do whatever you want but it's not helpful and also these things feed into each other right if the defence looks uncertain then the goalkeeper feels like he doesn't know whether to come for crosses whether it's open play or not. And if the goalkeeper isn't the weather to come, the defence is more uncertain and those things counteract it.

56:03What you need is your senior players to step up. And West Ham's senior players are basically the three centre-backs. Those three centre-backs cost£105 million to buy. There's a lot of money for West Ham and they just look... Yeah, they can deal with crosses. So embarrassing, really.

56:21Mark Carey: Is there a regime change in store at the London Stadium? Would it make any difference if they were to decide to move on from Graham Potter? No, I think it is a top-down problem at West Ham. I think the club has been starved of investment for too long. I think it's been allowed to drift for too long. I think the move to the London Stadium was assumed by those in charge that it would be this kind of idyll, this paradise, in which lots of revenue would have flowed into the club and they could become bigger and better. And actually, you look at it 10 years later or however many years later and it's just bad football in an athletic stadium and nobody's enjoying themselves.

56:57So it needs some care and attention. It needs some love. And if you don't, you know, football clubs need nurturing. You can't just leave them be and hope that it'll all sort itself out. And I understand why West Ham fans are deeply angry about what's happening.

57:11Mark Carey: Right. Chelsea have had two billion or so of nurturing from Toboli and company. And in this game, I think the effects were quite visible. Is that fair? even with Cole Palmer out Yeah, Esteval came in very good young prospect I actually saw a bit of him before he moved to Chelsea I was at the Club World Cup in the States this summer and he looked very impressive albeit a bit lightweight at times especially against Chelsea I know he scored against Chelsea in the Club World Cup that was my main question mark over him because it's a big move to come from Brazil to the Premier League in terms of the physicality not least being a teenager but he looked pretty strong against an Obligate Assisted one of the was it the fifth goal in this one?

57:50For Enzo Fernandes, yes. I can't remember what number that was. That was actually number three, look at my school sheet. But no, Chelsea are good. I mean, again, having watched some of the Club World Cup, I think the main thing that I see as such a positive, I'm not going to be wanting to predict. I think there's been quite a few predictions being made about whether or not they are title challenges, etc. What I will say, irrespective of that conversation, is that they do look versatile, more so than ever. and they did from the summer as well. They were trying out some new things in that whatever opposition they may come up against, they've got different personnel and broadly the same system, but kind of tweaks on variations on that system depending on the opponent, which I think is going to stand them in good stead.

58:29Mark Carey: Okay. So as you mentioned, Esteval, as Natalie Giedra was coaching us on Tuesday. Esteval coming in on the right and Jean-Pedro dropping into a number 10 role, I guess to fill in for Cole Palmer, but looking great there. Yeah, coming really deep at times, sometimes collecting off the defense at times as well, which he's comfortable doing. I think that ideally you would have Palmer as the number 10. And I think that Jao Pedro, well, I know from listening to Muresko in the press conferences this summer, that he knows that Jao Pedro is really good at coming towards the ball. And we all kind of know that as well, but especially being good in those tight spaces.

59:03So if it's tight spaces in a congested area and he is the number nine against a deep block where they're trying to frustrate Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, sometimes, well, I suppose we did see it as a nil-nil draw against Crystal Palace on the first game of the season. But those games have been quite common. And having João Pedro as that option to try and just flick a ball around the corner, play a little wall pass or a one-touch pass, whatever it is, that's his strength. If the opposition are maybe going to give Chelsea a bit of space, then you've got the channel runs and a bit of a battering ram in De Lapp as well.

59:34So I think that they have got the, within reason, obviously it depends on the performances on the day, but they've got the solutions in personnel and the skill sets to be able to deal with different things as I come back to. But I don't think it would be too common to see De Lapp and Gio Pedro play at the same time if Maresca had his way. But even that shows that there's an element of versatility. Still winning 5-1 without Cole Palmer shows that they are able to be more of a cohesive team and less sort of a bunch of individuals. This is how we've described Chelsea in recent years because we obviously focus on signings.

1:00:04But I think Maresca has said, again, in the States this summer, that he's really liking the fact that we're talking about football and on-pitch things and not all of the Ferrari around Chelsea and the off-pitch things as well, which is good. We're talking about good performances.

1:00:20Mark Carey: Excellent. Performances with an XG 2.74, if you're curious, for five goals. Over-performance. Over-performing. Here's another stat. Only Abraham Grant has a worse point-per-game record than Potter of all West Ham managers in Premier League history ever. Grant, of course, who took the Hammers down. Yeah, I mean... It's only two games, Daniel, but could they? The problem is that if you think West Ham are in trouble, then you have to appoint a firefighter to sort it. And if you appoint a firefighter in September, it's a long, old season for supporters. If what you want to do is give supporters some excitement because that's what they're craving...

1:00:59Let the fire get bigger. Yeah, well then you take a chance on your Premier League survival. Because if the entertainer doesn't get it right, you know, Ange Postoglu took Spurs to 17th last season, West Ham have a poor squad. If they don't sort it out, they might go down. So what do you do? You can't sell another firefighter to supporters. Having twice got rid of David Morey's, having had Sam Allardyce, you cannot go down. And those managers don't, you know, Sean Dyche at West Ham, Can you really sell that Daishi and, you know, we're all going to battle to West Ham fans now? I don't think you can.

1:01:36I think they want something different. And I think that they probably want something different at the top of the club rather than just the manager.

1:01:42Mark Carey: Well, from Graham Potter's point of view, I hope he gets the chance to turn it around. We're only two games into this season. They have a trip to Wolves in the Carabao Cup, second round on Tuesday. And then they're going to be at the City Ground against Forest on Sunday. I'm going to the Wolves game for the kind of early season misery derby. Right, nice. Wolves who lost again, of course, this weekend. They were at Bournemouth. Antoine Semenyot had that excellent game at Anfield, added an assist to Tavania's goal in Bournemouth. One nil win. Also this weekend, Burnley beat Sunderland, which feels significant.

1:02:20Mark Carey: The two promoted sides. Sunderland had a great start. Burnley not so much, but a two nil win for the Clarets in that one. and also, Mark, Brentford beat Aston Villa 1-0. A lot of people have been fingering Brentford as a team likely to fall apart this season. You're not so sure? No, I just think, yeah, again, the narrative before a ball was kicked ahead of the season is that they lost Thomas Frank, they've lost Nberma, they've lost Norgaard, their captain. They look imminently like they're going to lose Visser as well. Are they? I'm the data guy. I don't know about the news too much. It seems like that is the direction of travel.

1:02:55but please do not quote me on it because I'll just run the numbers and stay clear of that.

1:03:00Mark Carey: Still training with them but not featuring this game, which suggests that he's not being reintegrated at the moment. Yeah, and it would be great if he did stay. Do not get me wrong. But I think that as much as anything, Brentford have, again, you can reverse engineer your narrative accordingly. If Brentford do okay, which I believe they will, then you can say that there was a good succession plan in having Keith Andrews and having that consistency is a good idea rather than necessarily making wholesale changes and Brentford being a well-run club. I do believe that that is a wise decision to do it in that way, obviously being promoted from the coaching staff.

1:03:31But they have had some good players come into the building as well with losing Norgard but having Jordan Henderson. Yes, not prime Jordan Henderson, but having someone who's a leader. Even watching the highlights of Brentford, you could hear Jordan Henderson. He is just constantly coaching on the pitch. He's known to do that. So he's a good addition from a leadership level, whether it's on the pitch or off the pitch. Kovine Kelleher coming in in goal, fantastic goalkeeper as well. I think that, obviously, Wattara coming in as well, great addition. He was the one who scored the goal. He can play off both feet, can play anywhere across the forward line as well.

1:04:02Igor Thiago came in last season for a then-record fee. Didn't play much at all. I think it was a knee injury, but a long-term injury. He's now starting up front as well. Mikel Damsgaard has been coming into form since last season and performed excellently yesterday. I think there's so many positives to see in Brentford. And I feel like, you know, they're not going to have an outrageously positive season, but I just don't think they're going to have a negative season that a lot of people have predicted. So I just wanted to just say my piece on Brentford just to give them a fighting chance.

1:04:29Mark Carey: A lot of people, myself included, I think had heard those predictions and then last weekend's results suggested that, yeah, but it's good to have a little bit of a ray of sunshine. Brentford went pretty direct in the game, only 23.9 % of possession. Kelleher, the goalie, made more passes than any other B's player. So they had a clear identity in the game. That said, a couple of their players did finish the match with 100 % pass accuracy. Jan Moliuk in midfield. And Coyote, who had a good game at right back. But Damsgaard was the star. I just wanted to mention Villa, to be honest. And talk about balance again.

1:05:08I think it's kind of a theme of the show. The balance of their team is just not right at the moment. They need a winger. They need two wingers. You know, they really do. McGinn can do a job, but he hasn't. He's not the guy moving forwards. Morgan Rodgers, we saw how devastating he is in central areas last season as well. And he's been pushed out to the left. So I think that Unai Emery desperately, desperately needs a left and a right winger for the close of this transfer window. Otherwise, this could be an unexpectedly challenging season for Villa.

1:05:42Mark Carey: Crikey. All right. so much drama in store then so many unexpected twists and potential dangers and joys always joys excellent but I think that's where we're going to wrap up today's Totally Football Show I know we probably haven't talked enough about your team listener but there'll be plenty of chance for that in the weeks to come many many thanks to Adrian for being with us look forward to hearing you on both the Hand Break Off podcast and also what the EFL going a little bit more in depth on those football league stories. Mark, all your work on The Athletic. Any article we should look out for this week?

1:06:21Well, I've got one that's recently come out, which I loved doing about the La Volpiana build-up. Ah, La Volpiana. I love talking about it. And it's always been a feature of the game, but it was just on show a lot in the first weekend. So I use that as a springboard to just bring a bit of history to the piece.

1:06:36Mark Carey: If you're curious about what La Volpiana is, Mark Carey on The Athletic is the person to tell you. Daniel just before you hop on a train home what can we read from you in the eye tomorrow I've got on the road this week is Tuesdays on Crystal Palace and their kind of lingering sense of annoyance at everything this summer including I think Steve Parish and on Thursday I've got a piece out probably from Molyneux on Tuesday night the Misery Derby probably focusing on Wolves who about this time every year fans seem to wonder whether the owners really care enough. Right. On the slide, like Jay Harrison, a Citriot.

1:07:15Mark Carey: There you go. Aphrodite's all round. Nice. Very good. All right. Well, enjoy your trip, where possible, to the misery derby. And listener, thank you, all viewer. Thank you so much for being with us. Hope you enjoy yourself until next with you. Tuesday, it's the Euros show. Do hope you join us for that. For now, though, from all of us here, it's goodbye.

1:07:36You've been listening to The Totally Football Show, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. For more great podcasts just like this one, including the Athletic FC and our dedicated club podcasts, search for The Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. We're also at the Totally Football Show on Insta and at the Totally Show on YouTube. The Totally Football Show is an Athletic Media Company production.

1:08:03The Athletic FC.