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Football Weekly
Liverpool bounce back in Frankfurt and Chelsea’s teenagers thrash Ajax – Football Weekly
00:50:53
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Nicky Bandini as Liverpool turn their recent poor form around with a comprehensive win over Eintracht Frankfurt and Chelsea cruise past Ajax
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- [00:00]
A
This is the Guardian.
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B
Is your business struggling to keep up when the world moves fast? Relying on yesterday's technology will slow you down. Ericsson powers your business with 5G and AI enterprise solutions for from local franchises to global companies, Ericsson helps businesses like yours to operate smoothly, stay protected and keep growing every day. Speed up and stay ahead. Visit us@ericsson.com Enterprise.
- [00:48]
A
Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. A 35% decrease in goals in the Champions League overnight only 28. If that carries on, there'll be none in match week 10. Is there a match week 10? Liverpool get back on the horse in Frankfurt, whose three games have all finished 51 one way or the other. Ekhetike against his former club. Two assists for Wirtz. They needed that. Chelsea score five three goals from teenagers home to 10. Man Ajax is as nice as the Champions League gets a goalless draw for spurs in Monaco. Guillermo Vicario to star for them on a pedestrian night elsewhere. Jude Bellingham gets off the mark and there's another Harry Kane goal. And a cracker from a German wunderkind for Bayern. We'll look ahead to the Premier League weekend. West Ham Leeds on Friday looks big, big. Also at the bottom, Sean Dyche begins at Bournemouth. And could Manchester United win three in a row? Brighton stand in their way?
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C
We'll do all that.
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A
There's a big AirPods update. We'll answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Week. Clean on the panel today, Lars Civiton. Hello.
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C
Hello, Max.
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A
Welcome. Nikki Bandini.
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D
Morning.
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And hello. Barry Glendenning.
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E
Hello. Max Rushton.
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A
Let's begin in Frankfurt, then eintrack1, Liverpool5. Frankfurt did take the lead, so I guess Barry credit to Liverpool given the form that they're in, that they turned it around and then in the end ran away with it.
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E
When Frankfurt took the lead, I was sort of thinking, oh, here we go. This is interesting because the five defeats in a row was very much on for a Liverpool and it was a really, really good goal with which Frankfurt took the lead. Florian Verts losing the ball like at the far end of the pitch near the corner flag. And Frankfurt just played the way through the Liverpool press with ease. And Rasmus Christensen caught inside, shoots through Andy Robertson's legs and his shot went in off the post. It was a really, really good opening goal by Frankfurt. That was it as far as they were concerned, really. Liverpool lined up. Mo Salah was dropped. Obviously this was the big story ahead of kickoff. There was no Ryan Graven Birch. He didn't travel because he was injured so slot set up in a 442 with GPO left worth central and ek right and Sao and Jones were the two sitters. Liverpool just one out of canter from that point. Two goals from set pieces. Florian Verts played a part in setting up two. He got his two assists. I suppose if you wanted to be cynical and really anti Florian Verse you could say ah, but he can perform in Germany. But it was a good performance from him. Mo Salah came on and I think was trying a bit too hard and was a little bit selfish. But a pretty straightforward win for Liverpool in the end and one I'd imagine which brought them great relief.
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A
Yeah, I mean e took his goal so well last Frankfurt's defending his odd to allow him to be clean through there, you know when they're 1 nil up. But. But he is the real bright spot. I loved his non celebration while running running back to the center circle celebration. But he has been the bright spark of these new signings.
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C
He has. And word was after the game that Isaac came off at halftime because of a hamstring thing that he's not 100% fit. And that might make things a little easier for Arneslott over the next couple of weeks because I do think he has to start Ektike now. Like I don't. It starts to become slightly silly if he was gonna persist on not prioritizing Ekitiki because he looks so much sharper. I have to say I saw the lineup and then I was, you know, my primary focus was on a different game but I had the sort of rolling goal updates on a different screen. So I saw the lineup and I saw that Frankfurt had scored and I looked again at the lineup and I thought, huh, Is it possible that our boy Arne has gone a little too Dutch here? Because I feel like this is a thing with some Dutch coaches is that they do tend to occasionally forget that you need to win the ball back as well. That is also a thing. So you look at it, you have Silberslai Szobosl is a good old. Yeah, got a good engine and all right physically but he is more attacking than defensive. You'd say next to Curtis Jones who's a good passer but maybe not like a huge physical presence and then four attackers in front of that back four with attack, all that sort of stuff. So I thought for a second when Frankfurt had scored I was prepared. Oh wow, we're going to have this sort of thing. But the very odd Frankfurt defending as you say, I mean that's the best way of describing them this season. They're scoring a loss but also conceding a ton of goals. Also just extremely helpful to score these set piece goals. I mean, I think, listen, Slot was making these points after the game about how yeah, we scored, we didn't play that much better or worse than we've done on the other games. And yeah, we score a couple of goals and helps them. There's some truth to that. I do still wonder, is this a sensible way of setting up the team against like a little bit more physically capable teams in the Premier League who are a little bit more better organized? I'm not entirely convinced. But against Frankfurt, certainly as we saw it came off, I do think that.
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D
Odd feels like one of those delightfully English phrasings of how we're going to say really, really badly. Really, really badly defending. And it's not new, right? It's the thing. When you saw that first goal go in for Frankfurt, it was such a nice goal and I thought Mario Gertz in the builder pod. I don't think it started a game all season for Frankfurt before this one. So it felt a bit like vintage Gertz on the turn and just doing what he wanted in the middle of the. The traqu the three quarters. The fact that Frankfurt are not good at the back is not. Is not news. They've conceded 18 goals in. In seven Bundesliga games. I mean that is some going in seven games to concede 18 goals. They've also scored 19 in seven in seven Bundesliga games. So they have been good going forward. But. But the defending is atrocious and. And actually this game finished 5:1 and I think you almost could still have said that their goalkeeper etc had had an okay game. He made some saves. It could easily have been more than five. They really were completely just non present at the back.
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A
It felt like yeah, it's mad that their three results have been 5:1. Either way, it's just an odd quirk. It'd be great if they went through the whole thing either winning 5:1 or losing 5:1.
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C
I mean they've had one game this season when they lost 3:0 to Bayern. That was the lowest scoring game they've been involved with. Every other game has had four goals or more, which is mad. Like if anyone who does any kind of betting on this sort of stuff, it's a W run. People at the Waldstadion definitely getting there. Is it the Waldstadion? I think it is getting full value for their tickets. And that's why like I don't want to. It was a much needed win for Liverpool. Obviously it was really important to snap this sort of run and it would be churlish to sit here and kind of urinate on that particular parade. But it's also like I'm not 100% sure what they did in this game will work but good for confidence, good for Verts to get some assists. Everyone feels good and.
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D
Yeah, does everyone feel good and same as you. I don't want to take away from it because great win, right? 151 in Europe, you win 51 in Europe, it's a great result. But I suppose the, the thing that inevitably we're drawn to talking about because of the transfer fee and because we talk about strikers, you might as well even in that five goals, Isaac doesn't score again, right? And Isaac doesn't score again. Does that become a little. I don't know, further, further thing that's going to get brought up? I guess that is the question.
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A
Well, I mean I suppose it is true if you have Barry Isaac and Viets and Virtz did play well, you know, did get two assists. Even if you can only do it in Germany, which is an issue in most of the games are in England, isn't it? But you know, if you've got 200 million pound players that don't work. But we've just seen it so many times. I've said it before but you look at the list of most expensive transfers, there's just no guarantee at all. And I suppose what you have to do as a manager and it must be really hard is if you look at an Isaac's injury, you're right, Lars makes a difference here. But if you look at both of them you say, well, who's playing better at the moment? Who's better for me, I don't care if they're an academy product or they cost a billion pounds, I have to go with who. The pressure to play someone who costs that much money is huge.
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E
There's no guarantee that the Isaac transfer will work out and I guess there's probably no end of people on Tyneside who really hope it doesn't. And you can't blame them for that. He is a very, very good player. I don't think he's in the same class as Mbappe Haaland or Harry Kane, but he is a very good player. He's probably in the class below them. He's probably going to have a couple of weeks on the sideline. Now with that, I don't know if it's a groin or a hammy. It is very difficult to leave out Ekitika who has hit the ground running for Liverpool, whereas Isaac has done nothing of the kind. I think what's interesting as well is Saba's life was superb last night and has been superb most of the season. I think we all thought when first came that would hugely reduce Sabazai's number of minutes. But he's more or less made himself undroppable. Probably helped a little by the fact that Alexis Mallister is not playing well this season. But.
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A
But he's played right back a lot, hasn't he?
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E
Yeah, he has, yeah. So he didn't last night. Frimpong played right back. He got. He did his hammy and then Bradley came on. Szlai has more or less made him indispens himself indispensable wherever he. He plays.
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C
I, I checked in Barry as right. It was a groin, not a hamstring on Isaac. As I said with the thing that was interesting, if I am wrong, which has been known to happen if I'm wrong and this sort of setup can work perfectly well in England as well, raises the question of where it leaves Mo Salah, because he wasn't in the lineup and it seemed to work quite well. And then he came on and had that moment which Barry referred to earlier where maybe he was trying a little too hard to get his goal and he should have squared it. And I again, not watching the full 90 minutes. My first sort of experience of this chance was through the Internet where I saw people going off on. On various things on social media about, oh, it's the second game in a row he hasn't squared at anyone. And one of my current hobby horses is about how like things are bad on the social media. So I was immediately. So I'm sure it wasn't that big a deal. And then I actually saw it and go, oh, yeah, that does look a little bad because that was a very clear like very clearly should have squared it second game in a row. Do you think maybe the pressure, maybe he is feeling a little bit because they brought in these expensive strikers because he's gotten a year older. Maybe he is now mentally a little out of whack and things are not flowing for him. Perhaps maybe he is actually trying a little hard.
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E
Before we move on to Stamford Bridge, I did like yesterday, Virgil Van Dyke is doing ads for Expedia. And the theme of the ad is Virgil's family holiday. So It's Virgil and two kids. I think they might be his kids. You never actually see their faces. They're always conveniently covered by a book or something. Virgil's not a bad actor.
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Is that right?
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He has good acting chops. I was. I. Because I saw, oh, this is going to be terrible. But he, he. The man can act. He has another string to his bow.
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He could go full leuf as possible. He was in the, the Stephen Hawking biopic as a surgeon. And so, you know, it cuts to Frank Le Boeuf and half the cinema are like, that's just a French actor like Mrs. Rushton. And half of us are going, what's Frank Leboeuf doing there? This is ridiculous. So 2 Stanford Bridge, Chelsea 5. Ajax won. The Ajax had a man sent off after 17 minutes. Sort of, you know, fair decision, perhaps unlucky. I don't think he intended it, but probably the right call. And then it was very plain sailing. Nikki, wasn't it, for Chelsea?
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D
Yeah, I was watching this back after and the red card is a red card for me. Taylor, studs are up. They go into a shin. That's a red card. That's. It's kind of as simple as that. It might be that you didn't intend to do it, but that is dangerous play. And, and that's. That's the rule. And for good reason, by the way. So you have that start away at Stamford Bridge and then by the time the second goal goes in 10 minutes later, which is a big deflection and you just see everyone's body language and it's. It's raining, by the way as well.
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It's.
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It's raining. You're two nil down. You've had someone sent off, you've had a rotten deflection. And if anything, I think it was. It was sort of credit to ax that they didn't completely give up at that moment and they did get a goal. Back to two one and, and, and made something for. For a brief moment feel like it could happen. But then, I mean, the, the Vors challenge for the Chelsea penalty is just terrible.
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So it's so funny, isn't it? Can you say it was raining for him?
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E
What I. What I really liked about the V Horse challenge for the penalty, it was like the most blatant penalty you've ever seen.
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A
And he's protest innocent. I got the ball. There was a lot of this, wasn't there? A lot of round ball motion. You're like, okay, Val, I think you went through the player completely before but it was nice to see 10 minutes about Venkor scoring a penalty and then giving one away. Chelsea made lots of changes last 10 and it's very hard to keep up with, you know, all of Chelsea's players. Reggie Walsh has become the youngest ever Champions League player for Chelsea. 17 years and two days pink. So what was number one when ready was born? So I got to watch that on YouTube this morning. Second youngest Englishman behind Jack Wilshire to ever play in the Champions League. Three teenagers scoring. So it's quite.
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D
Chelsea are just.
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They're interesting. They're very hard to work out but they are quite interesting.
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Well that is the thing. As much as we have all made fun of the Todd Bolly blue coat ownership for their very scattergun approach to recruitment and some of the more weird things that have gone on at that club since they took over, the big caveat to that has always been they have actually signed a lot of really exciting young players and there are some questions about how would they have made more sense as a team if they had a couple more experienced heads in. There is the balance, yada yada yada. But there's a lot of good ones like Estebao looks like an actual proper world star in the making to me. You're seeing now. I mean they paid a lot of money for them when they came and it took them a little while but I think both Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are starting to look like actual proper world class midfielders. I know Caicedo played right back in this game but they look outstanding. I mean Gittins I thought was lively from the highlights in this one. He's another dribbly guy. Like there's a lot of quality players in there. It's not always the easiest job in the world I think for Maresca to figure out what's the best XI is. But I do think out of this sort of chaotic first couple of years of Blueco I would not be surprised if like a genuinely brilliant football team were to were to grow out of that chaos.
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A
And can somebody tell me how to pronounce Mar not Mark Gay because it does sound like a computer game who don't have the rights. Mark Gurkh who scored the opening goal for them.
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I would say I don't think it would make made the slightest difference to the result. I thought Tolson Adarabayo was very lucky enough to get sent off. He was on a yellow. He fell after an aerial challenge with Vout and I think deliberately brought his foot down very Hard with the intention of connecting, not necessarily with his face, but that's what he did. He drew blood while being vowed. Didn't make a massive issue out of it. But he didn't come out for the second half. But I think the 51 actually flattered Ajax because Estevao had four very presentable chance. Well, three very presentable chances and a bicycle kick towards the end of this game. Didn't manage to score any of them. And it's just. It's a shame to see Ajax just seem to have fallen so far. I think they're nine points off the pace in the Premier League. They had that collapse last season when they, they. Devon locked it in the title race. They've got Vaighors up front for the first half, Davy Classen up front for the second. Their goalkeeper is 41 years old and to be fair, he didn't do much wrong. Was two penalties, two hideously deflected shots went past him. But Ajax look a real mess.
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C
Yeah, I mean, that was the thing I wanted to add, like, as much as this was a fun day at the office for the, for the Chelsea kids, Ajax are terrible. There's four draws in the first nine, which is disgraceful. So like nine points behind Feyenoor already. Only one win in the last seven now. And I, like, I would expect Johnny Heitiger to not be in that job quite as soon as they figure out what else they're doing, because this is just absolutely not working.
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Given the ages of the people playing up front, you know, and them getting progressively more defensive, perhaps he'll go there.
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Just, just on the, on the ages thing. I mean, this is completely stolen, I think, from Jacob Steinberg's match report. But yeah, Chelsea had Mark Gay, as we were just saying. Sorry, Baz, how did I pronounce it wrong? Please correct me. Thank you. Mark, you was Chelsea's youngest scorer in the competition at 19 and 20. 91 days for 28 minutes. Then Esteval overtakes him at 18 years, 181 days. And then Tyreek George doesn't actually overtake anyone, but also would have overtaken Mark you. So a pretty extraordinary night for Chelsea in that. And Jacob was invoking this idea as well of Ajax always the team whose academy was what sustained them and made them brilliant and made them the envy of Europe. And a bit one of those nights that reflects the. The shifted reality because Chelsea now, partly through construction, partly through just being able to hoover up the best talents from around the world, can, can go out and put a team out that is younger, the youngest in this year's Champions League and, and, and can play with that much swagger. And yeah, I mean I agree that Ajax really weren't good, but I do think that was one of those nights. I think we'll look back on Go. Yeah, there was a team of kids developing there that's potentially quite special.
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A
Tottenham's first goalless draw in 125 games since they. Since the same result against AC Milan in March of 2023. Lars, you had the pleasure, as I did, of watching this game in full about 70 minutes in. The commentator for the international broadcaster said it was a fascinating contest. I'm. I'm not sure that's right.
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C
I mean it got better after that from a neutrals perspective because Monaco had something of a late sprint. Yeah, no, this was poor from Tottenham that they created very, very little. And the thing that's been there been a tendency under Thomas Frank is that they've created not a lot, but they've been quite solid defensively, which they weren't really that either. Here they absolutely got like they had a chance late on with Brennan Johnson, who Ball came into him and he finished with his weaker foot and he couldn't really get behind it. Now just thought, if this goes in, this will be arguably the biggest robbery committed on French soil this week. I know what you're thinking, but I'm sticking with it.
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No, it's good, it's good because really.
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C
Just disgraceful stuff from looking for positive surprise. Vicario absolutely earned his corn here. He was fantastic in goal. He does have maybe some weaknesses in terms of like set pieces and like he's not a perfect goalkeeper, but he is a genuinely brilliant sort of short range, instinctive shot stopper. And that was completely on display here and it needed to be because spurs were very underwhelming and I think like big picture wise, listen, if you're Thomas Frank and you take over Tottenham, who were the worst non relegated defense in the league last season, I think for him to just go, the only thing that matters here is that we need to be more solid, we need to firm up defensively, we need to get more organized. Everything to do with attacking and what we do in possession can kind of wait. Like we'll deal with that later. We need to stop the rot if that's what's happened. Because it sure looks like that's what's happened when looking at them like they are more. They have a better shape off the ball and this sort of stuff, but they very often don't know what to do with it. I think that would be an understandable way for Frank to go about it. But we are now, we're almost in November, so I am. I'm kind of expecting the team to occasionally know what to do when they have the ball, and that doesn't seem to be the case. The bent Ankura Paulinha midfield gives you a lot of solidity, but they don't really progress the ball very well played with Lucas Bergwal as a number 10 for quite a long time here, that didn't seem to work. He couldn't get in the game at all. Xavi Simons came on and looked kind of frustrated and detached from the rest of the team. Most of Tottenham's chances this season, and in this game as well, was the same to the extent that they created any come when they move the ball down the flank quite quickly and the wingers try to get something. Even if Monaco eventually were very good and Akliush in particular was a delight to watch in this game. Spurs are more solid at the back, but they're really not like, good to watch when they have to create stuff themselves. And I think. I don't think it's a problem yet. And I think it's kind of defensible that he's gone about it this way, but I think the clock is kind of starting to tick in terms of like, at some point this needs to get a little bit better.
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E
On the BBC's Champions League show, Chappers highlighted the fact that the Premier League teams in the competition this week won by an aggregate score of 19 2. And Stephen Warnock, who was there as opponent, raised a very salient point that if it wasn't for Vicario, the aggregate score would have been 19 all. I mean, I. I don't think you're quite doing the hiding. Spurs got here justice. He was incredible.
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C
Yeah.
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E
And it was an absolute robbery.
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A
All right, that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll begin at the Burnabout.
- [22:45]
B
Is your business struggling to keep up when the world moves fast? Relying on yesterday's technology will slow you down. Ericsson powers your business with 5G and AI Enterprise Solutions. From local franchises to global companies, Ericsson helps businesses like yours to operate smoothly, stay protected and keep. Keep growing every day. Speed up and stay ahead. Visit us@ericsson.com Enterprise welcome to part two.
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A
Of the Guardian Football Weekly. Real Madrid beat Juve 1 nil. Niki, you were watching this producer Joel saying, if you were watching the goals show like he was, you'd be forgiven for thinking this game wasn't actually happening.
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D
It was, it was definitely. Was it a disappointment. I had quite low expectations of Juventus in particular because I watched them well season but at the weekend against Coma they were, they were comprehensively outplayed by Como at the weekend. So I thought there was a chance they were going to get absolutely drabbed by Madrid, which didn't happen. I was listening to one Italian commentator I thought predict quite well that it felt like one of those old fashioned group games where you've gone away in Europe and you're just trying to keep it tight because you think you can do better at home. And that's the thing is they're not going to play them at home because it's a new group stage. It's not really on the cards. Juventus came out in a, in a. In a 5, 3, 2. I mean they actually, they started the game quite well, had a couple of half chances and in the second half it became what felt more like almost this Real Madrid training exercise where it wasn't just they were camped out in. In. In Juventus half, but frankly just camped out in like the last third of the pitch. But actually even then Madrid were a little bit careless at times and, and did get too drawn up the pitch and there was one really, really good chance for Dusan Vladovich where he gets released and just has the whole pitch to run into and, and could probably should score. And we talked about goalkeepers. Courtois did make a great save and Guillem on that same BBC highlight show that Baz watch was making his case. He thinks Courtois without without exception the best in. In Europe in, in goal. And, and perhaps that's an argument we don't hear as much in. In England but 300 games now for Madrid and he certainly has, has. Has deserved his spot there. But yes, the quality on the pitch was absolutely. It felt like very much with Madrid and it wasn't at all a shock or undeserved when they, they did get their breakthrough which was a lot down to the work of Vinicius.
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A
Yeah. So.
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D
But then Jude Bel the gets the finish off the. Off the rebound.
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A
How, how did. Goal aside and Venicius was brilliant in that moment. Goal aside. How did, how did Bellingham play was.
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D
Interesting and, and I think it feels like what we've probably thought for a bit with this Madrid team. We still haven't maybe they still haven't quite worked out their, their shape and how it all fits together because you're playing with the front three and Then you've got Bellingham behind it and how do you do that and have some balance because he, he does want to be the most advanced that, that midfield. 3. He, he was, he was lively. He was, he was definitely in the game and he was definitely the one who was occupying again that space between the, the attacking midfield. There wasn't that much space because it was so congested. Everything was so far forward a lot of the game. But I think definitely his confidence the world of good to have got that goal. And of course they're going into the classic this weekend as well, aren't they? So he's had some good moments in the classico, so perhaps a chance for him to get a bit of his, his confidence up going forward.
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A
Bayern beat Club Bruges 4 nil. A five minutes in, someone called Leonard Carlton scored an absolute belter, 17 years old, his first Champions League start. Just for fairness, Kushel Song by Snuffle was number one in Germany when he was born. Which is the debut single of the German animated rabbit Schnuffel, in case you didn't know. But blimey, Lars, this guy looks good.
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C
Yeah. So I believe he played. He took part of a couple of pre season friendlies earlier and was sort of. Has been seen by, by people as one to watch. I believe Ian Robin was. Was in the stadium. Look at, looking down on, on this as it happened, which is kind of. Maybe that's a bit of a symbolic type of thing because it was very like. It wasn't quite as wide in the pitch as where Robin would do his thing, but it was that sort of take the ball, control it, go past the man, accelerate into the space and then, then hit a hit up, hit a banger and yeah, very, very exciting. Exciting debut goal. Our first goal for him.
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A
12 years in a row that Harry Kane has scored 20 goals or more. Barry, to do so by October is hilarious, isn't it? I don't the sort of talk, and I presume I'm sure your answer will be why can't we just enjoy them all about, you know, comparing him and Haaland and Mbappe and sort of the possibility of Kane getting the Ballon d'.
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E
Or.
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A
He'd obviously have to win the Champions League or the World cup or both to have that chance. But I suppose he's in the mix, isn't he, at this stage?
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E
Nah, I don't think so. No, no, no. If, if Bayern Munich won the Champions League, he'd be in the mix, definitely. Yeah. If England win the World Cup. He'll be in the mix, definitely.
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A
So he is in the mix.
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E
Well, he's not because I don't think Bayern Munich will win the Champions League and I don't think England will win the World Cup. Harry, as good as he is, he doesn't score in semi finals and finals, Max, does he?
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A
He doesn't. Not yet. This could be the year.
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E
This could be the year. But yeah, we are waiting for the year.
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C
I also just think we. We put too much like the. The Ballon d' or is a popularity contest, right? We. It's not like an exact sort of measurement of sporting achievement. It's a popularity contest for which we now know there's a fair bit of like lobbying that goes on behind the scenes and, and stuff. It's like it's turning into like the Oscars of football or something, which I guess is what they want it to be. But I also just think, like, if it's possible that Harry Kane needs to like bulk up his upper body and do a bit more sort of posing in his pants and stuff and do more sort of moody social media posts. I'm serious. Like, this is what people go for. He is very unassuming and whenever he does like social media stuff, it tends to be like him playing golf with like a golf influencer or something, which is very wholesome content. But really if you want to get the numbers. I definitely think, like, if this matters to him, and I'm almost certain it doesn't, and he's all the better off for it, then I think he needs to. Maybe needs to glow up is what he does.
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D
It's like a different generation of schmoozing. Like being out on the golf course with all the execs. It's like a different. It's a different world. We've moved on. We're all about the influences now.
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C
It's really more my generation than the TikTok generation, I guess maybe if we.
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A
Are to win the FSA this year, we will have to be in our pants, you know? God, no one wants to see that post. Half marathon, Barry. Who knows? Could be shredded. You could be absolutely buff. Anyway, Byron have won all three games very comfortably. Luis Diaz, lovely goal in off the bar. Just hit it incredibly hard. Nicholas Jackson scored one as well.
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E
Yeah.
- [29:55]
A
Galatasarai 3. Bodo glimpsed one. Lars, over to you.
- [29:59]
C
Well, I can keep it brief. Listen, this was. This was a little bit unfortunate, I thought, for. For Boda because. Okay, you go away to. You go away to Galatasrai to the Rams Park, I believe it is now for sponsorship reasons and there's a few things you can't do and one of them would be give away two goals.
- [30:19]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [30:20]
C
So, so okay, you can see the first one because Osterman is left in a little bit too much space and okay, that can happen. But they conceded. The next two they conceded was just from giving the ball away, trying to play out from the back and it's something that Bulldog Nimps usually do really well and I like that they have the bravery to keep trying to do that away to Gas, but you can't like if you make those kind of mistakes, you've got absolutely no chance. And, and Gasseray were the better team across the board. I mean Buda actually had quite a lot more possession, but I guess that's a little bit to do with the fact that Galtasrai took an early lead. But this never. Yeah, it never felt particularly close and, and Galtasseray are a, are a good team.
- [30:56]
A
Galatasaray first time Galatasar have won back to back wins, won back to back games in the Champions League for the first time since 2012. Sporting two, Marseille one. There was a brilliant moment in this game, Baz, when Marseille think they won a penalty when Emerson is fouled. But that is not how it turns out.
- [31:10]
E
No, he went down under a challenge in inverted commas from Max Arahu. The penalty was given to be fair. I thought it was a penalty on first view. Then the ref was called to the screen. It was quite clear Emerson had taken a dive. So the ref overturned the decision to award a Marseille penalty and instead gave Emerson a second yellow card for his dive. And so that was him gone. And then later in the game maxarrah was involved in another controversy. So he, he sort of vigorously chest bumped Benjamin Pavard who went down. I'm not going to say he was holding his face, but he was certainly conveying the impression that he had been headbutted when he hadn't. And Arahu was promptly shown a red card. But the ref was had to trot over to the pitch side monitor again and he had a look, rescinded it and showed Arahu a yellow instead for his. His mini act of aggression. Other than that, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang set up the first goal, crossfield pass to Igor Pashao who curled a lovely shot into to put Marseille 1 up. And then after Emerson got sent off, Sporting turned it around and won it with a horrendously deflected shot agonizing from Alison Santos. Which completely wrong foot of these goalkeepers. Yeah.
- [32:43]
A
Just one way he could see it going in, but there's absolutely nothing he could do about it. I thought it. Bilbao beat Carabag 3 1, their first win in the Champions League. A fun stat if you want one. Leandro Andrade became the first player in major European football history to score in the first minute of three different games. Yeah. He put Carabaga up one nil. Two lovely goals actually from Athletic Club. Robert Navarro's one in the 70th minute was really nice, as was Gonzetta's second. A brilliant volley. And then Atalanta nil, Slavia, Prague nil. A game that happened, Niki.
- [33:17]
D
Yeah, exactly that. Max. A game that happens really. Just a bit. Oh, it's quite dispiriting sometimes watching this Atlantic because they're not Gasparini's Atalanta anymore, who used to be one of the most fun teams to watch. And even Yurich is. Atlanta. Aren't. But there you go. It was a game.
- [33:33]
A
That's what happens if you get Ivan Urich. But nice of you to remind us because I think it. I may have. May have slipped my mind. Even though we quiz each other on every pod. Barry. Right, that'll do for part two. We'll look ahead to the Premier League weekend in part three.
- [33:53]
B
Is your business struggling to keep up when the world moves fast? Relying on yesterday's technology will slow you down. Ericsson powers your business with 5G and AI Enterprise Solutions. From local franchises to global companies, Ericsson helps businesses like yours to operate smoothly, stay protected and keep growing every day. Speed up and stay ahead. Visit us@ericsson.com Enterprise eyes.
- [34:29]
A
Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Leeds West Ham is on Friday night. This is a massive game, Barry. Isn't it?
- [34:36]
E
It is. And if West Ham play even remotely like they did against Brenford, they will get beaten at Eland Road. There's no doubt in my mind. I just wonder, is it possible for them to play that badly again? Leeds have been okay at home. I think that West Ham performance was as bad as I've ever seen in. I think in a Premier League match. It was. They were just dreadful. One imagines Nuno will whip them into some sort of shape. You'd think. But again, I. It's very hard to see past the leads win in this game because they have home advantage. They're. They're not a bad side. They're not a brilliant. Far from a brilliant side either. But I'd say on the evidence of what they saw on Monday, they'll be very much looking forward to this game.
- [35:27]
C
I am almost, well, maybe enjoying the wrong word, but no, I am quite enjoying reading Jacob Steinberg's attempts at kind of suppressing, but not quite suppressing his disgust at the current state of West Ham. He described their performance against West Ham, against Brentford as unspeakably abysmal, which I don't think is a term that's necessarily propped up in a match report in the Guardian before. And yeah, it seems to be very, very bad. This seems to be. Surely this is a job for Nuno though, right? He is the right man for this, I think, to get them into some kind of respectable defensive shape, to get them through this season and then. But it is, it's very bad. And did you also think, like, the fact that the stadium is kind of not a fun place to be at the best of times kind of makes it even more depressing when the team is bad?
- [36:19]
E
Oh, it definitely does, yeah.
- [36:20]
A
Yeah.
- [36:21]
E
When they're playing well, that tends to get forgotten about. But as soon as things start going pear shaped, it automatically comes back to the forefront. And the fact of the matter is, most West Sam fans never wanted to leave Upton park in the first place. But I don't know if Nuno is the man for this job. I thought he was nuts to take it because he could have had a nice little holiday after leaving Forest, something better would come along. But West Ham's owners seem to be dreadful. They have no ambition beyond not getting relegated. And I just, I thought it was a really odd decision by Nuno to take this job and it might not work out for him. He might not whip them into shape because he can't make those players faster. And that is a big problem. They have no speed in that team, apart from Jared Bourne, there is no speed.
- [37:15]
A
It's insane recruitment, isn't it? You think about the amount of analysts and, you know, performance data people there are, to have a sort of one paced squad seems completely mad. Anyway, Sean Dyche plays Porto tonight in his first game in the Europa League. Then he goes to Bournemouth. Not an easy game. At his press conference, amongst other things, he said, I've been put in many boxes, I'm not bothered. I've never tried to hide behind what's effective regarding his style. It's no badge of honor for me. Five years ago, people were going, why'd you rely on set pieces? Now they're in vogue. Skinny jeans, flared jeans, skinny jeans, flared jeans. My daughter hammers Me for whatever jeans I wear. Apparently on social media even I got some stick for my trainers. Walking into training on Tuesday, I couldn't believe that he announced they were Tom Ford trainers. I don't like to mention it. Anyway, Nikki, how do you think he will go? I mean, it's a tough start. Porto and then at Bournemouth away is very tricky.
- [38:10]
D
I don't know. I have a profound take view on this one, Max. I think I agree with you. It's a very tough place to go for your second game. Bournemouth are absolutely playing great this season, so we'll see.
- [38:19]
A
Yes. You don't need to be profound. Every single answer, Nikki. That's okay. Does anyone. Do you have anything profound, Lars, About Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest?
- [38:26]
C
Not so much. Except I just.
- [38:28]
A
Well, about Sean, about Shaun Dyche. About Dyche more. Is there nothing profound to say about Shaun Dyche? Is this what we're discovering? That there is.
- [38:35]
C
It's the kind of decision like getting rid of Nuno because seemingly one of the reasons is you don't like the defensive style, then appointing Ange, sacking him like 40 days later and getting Dice. It's easy to make fun of that sequence of events and indeed maybe we should. But I also think it's kind of sensible. I think this is them realizing just how much trouble they're in. I think this is Nottingham Forest, whether it's Marinakis or people around him is that actually we're getting relegated here. That's what's happening. And we need to do something dramatic to stop that from happening. And any idea we had of wanting to play more attacking football or wanting to increase the potential value of the attacking assets we have. Whatever big ideas was behind the Nuno thing, we need to put that in the bin and we need to bring in someone who will make sure we don't go down and lose 200 million quid or whatever it costs to go down these days. So I actually think bringing in Dice is a. Is a very, very sensible thing to do under the circumstances. Because maybe this is me having too much faith in these sort of old school defensive, mid low block managers. Because I kind of think, you know, we'll figure West Ham out as well. But I'm very, very confident that Dice will get these guys together and make them hard to beat and scratch out enough points to stay up. And that is all he needs to do. And that'll give. And then. And then the bigger question is what happens in the summer? Because the sort of general direction of travel in Nottingham Forest is difficult to tell but I think it's very weirdly sensible. I think that appointment is.
- [40:03]
D
I think what Lars is trying to say is it's not always a choice between skinny jeans and flared jeans. You know you can go for a boot cut. There is a middle ground. You don't have to always talk in these extremes. And maybe that's something we need to remember.
- [40:17]
A
Manchester United could get a third win in a row Barry home to Brighton Will they play?
- [40:20]
E
It's a tough game. Brighton are decent but they're also very flaky. It's hard to predict how they'll do. I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that Brighton at their best are better than Manchester United at their best. But it's never easy to predict whether Brighton will be anywhere near their best. They're capable of serving up some stinkers. I'd probably be inclined to think this is could be a draw but there isn't a particular outcome of the game. A win for either side wouldn't really surprise me but I. I do think Brighton have a better team than Manchester United.
- [40:58]
D
Is it fair to say that Brighton. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I'm being too generous but the Brighton stinkers.
- [41:05]
A
I feel like Brighton Stinker sounds like a really amazing basketball team if you ask me.
- [41:10]
D
I was just thinking in my head is it just not that they had that same thing I bang on about the August football being a bit of a liar and actually just recently they've been good. I mean the last few results have been really good. They beat Chelsea to be Newcastle obviously thumped Barnsley in the cup which is what it is but I don't know.
- [41:27]
E
Yeah maybe I'm just harking back to that seven nil gobbing they got from Forest last season or was did they beat for. They lost didn't they? They lost seven nil.
- [41:36]
A
They lost. They did lose. Yeah. It would be great though if you if the reason you were calling a team flaky was they beat someone 7 n.
- [41:47]
C
That would.
- [41:47]
A
That does seem harsh but there you go. Liverpool go to Brentford. We've obviously talked about Liverpool a lot but I suppose the interesting thing will be about you know whether they keep that shape and bring mo salah back in.
- [42:00]
E
Liverpool have lost five of their last eight away games in the Premier League and they've lost their last four away games against London's sides. So the the omens are not good for Arnes slots men going to the capital that they're a big London.
- [42:17]
A
Ah true. Chelsea, Sunderland, Newcastle, Fulham Arsenal Palace, Wolves, Burnley Villa City and Everton Spurs. Any anything jump out to you, Lars, from those games that you're particularly interested in?
- [42:28]
C
I think Arsenal palace is a really interesting game because break out the sort of Lars mentions XG on the bingo card here now, but I do believe Arsenal and Palace are the two teams that have the best XG difference so far this season. So these are so in terms of like underlying numbers, the best performers in the Premier League so far far this season. So Arsenal already or Arsenal being better by some distance and Arsenal looking like the best team in the league so far this year. Palace are one of the teams who could trouble them. I think in. In theory they're very, very impressive under Glasner. So I think this is kind of like maybe it should be treated as. As. As a top. As a top encounter, as. As a top game. And it's. It's Arsenal but they've been impressive so far.
- [43:16]
D
Plus it's the essay back against palace thing as well. It's nice subplot. I agree with Lars. I think palace are a dangerous team. I think obviously got mate goals in at the moment, but I just think they are impressively so given selling a player. Like I say, right at the end of the transfer window when you don't want to. I feel like they've shown really strong resilience and they a very hard team to be. Arsenal clearly have been extremely tight at the back recently, so that's I think going to be a good test of him.
- [43:44]
A
Tom says a word on the Sheffield Wednesday boycott. Fans are really sticking with it. Impressively, lots of people tonight will have missed a home game for the first time in donkey's years. Yeah, we. We often criticize protests that are walking from the pub to the stadium shortly before kickoff. But the Sheffield Wednesday fans are sticking to it. They lost 1 nil at home to Middlesbrough last night. Wins as well for qpr. Watford under Javi Gracia. It is Javi Grassy.
- [44:09]
E
Yeah.
- [44:09]
A
And a big win for Wrexham. I think they had 10 men as well because they haven't. That's their first home win in the championship this season. Got time for some aob, some exciting stuff as well. A couple on this subject. Adam says hi everyone. I wonder if there might be some time during any other business to mention. Maine's soccer club Hearts of pine broke the USL League One attendance record last night with a crowd of 6,440 going on to win 61 over Spokane. All of Maine is crazy about this club. Thank you again, Adam.
- [44:39]
E
In Maine Kevin, also Jessica Fletcher, a celebrity Maine fan. Did she live in Maine?
- [44:47]
A
It was Cabot Cove in Maine. Was Cabot Cove in Met. Could well have been, isn't it? I mean, the Murder She Wrote that I remember best, I think is the last ever one, which is a feature film set in Ireland where they had managed to find the 20Americans with the worst Irish accents you could possibly. And it's sort of. It's called something like, you know, Jessica Fletcher and the blarney of Top of the Morning, Tipperary, Guinness Land. I mean, it's just the most amazing murder show you'll ever see. Sorry, Barry, you seem primed.
- [45:17]
E
No, but the thing about that Max is quite a few of those American actors hamming it up as Irish are actually Irish actors hamming it up.
- [45:28]
A
That's amazing.
- [45:29]
E
If memory serves, I can also confirm. All right, Cabot Cove is in Maine, but it doesn't actually exist. It's. It's fictional, designed specifically for Murder She Wrote.
- [45:41]
A
Okay, Kevin says this is a. This is about Hearts of Pine Portland as well. Amazingly, Kevin says, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you all to the Portland Hearts of Pine, a new addition to USL Ligue 1. Playing in our inaugural season here in Portland in Maine last night we got the record attendance smashing Spokane velocity 6 1. The teams really brought our small state together. We've rallied around a set of players from around the world who give everything from the badge. From Ollie Watkins, not that one, an Englishman who bounced around the lower leagues in Britain before finding a home as our goal machine. To J.T. kamara, 5 foot 4, 23 year old Sierra Leonean spitfire who loves a trick and seems to work magic every time the ball's at his feet. To Nate Messer, a former US college star whose play at wing back functions as the engine of the team. It's an incredible group with incredibly organic and rabid fan base. My dad passed away a few years ago after a decades long battle with complications of a brain tumor. In his latter years, I turned him into a die hard spurs fan because apparently I'm cruel that way. But he loved the game. And as we sang our songs and screamed along as the parade of worldies flew in last night, I thought of no one more than him. It's only year one and this team already means so much to so many of us. As I'm confident none of you who have a side in the USL League one, apart from perhaps Lars, I hope you'll throw your support behind the boys of Maine. Consider it done. They are in USL League One alongside some brilliantly named sides. Chattanooga Red Wolves, the Richmond Kickers Union, Omaha South Georgia Tormentor, Greenville Triumph, Forward Madison and the Brighton Stinkers, all in there. So that's good. Now, if you remember, Barry, my AirPods, I left them in Perth Airport, correct? Left them in the plane, actually, but I could see them because David O' Doherty had showed me how you could find your AirPods by going find my AirPods. And they were just lolling about Terminal 4 of Perth Airport and we had many listeners saying they could get them. And we went for Ian the Sunderland van, who is an artist who works. His studio is just next to Perth Airport. Anyway, we got in touch and he sent me a WhatsApp with a picture of Qantas baggage services saying, here we go. At 12:24 in the afternoon, he sends me a message. Three minutes later, can you go to Settings, Bluetooth, click on device and tell me the serial number? I hit play sound. You can play a sound. He said, we're not getting a sound. I sent him the serial number. He showed me a box of AirPods about a mile long that are sitting in Perth Airport. I said, what a haul. Maybe say I lost 25 pairs. Then at 12:31 he says, We've got them. Amazing. I felt like I was on my laptop in a cafe. I felt like Simon Pegg in Mission Impossible going, and he was there on the front line like Tom Cruise without the Scientology. Anyway, it turns out we have the AirPods. He's going to send it to me. So thank you to all the listeners who got in touch to say they would get them. Thank you to Ian. He hasn't sent them. They have not arrived yet. But you know, it's only been a few hours and if you. And if you like, his art is great. So everyone go to his website, Ian Daniel and it's so I A Nick and then D A N I E double L art. Go and buy all of his work as a way of saying thank you. Finally, Anger says good morning evening to Max Barry and co Longtime listener, first time emailer. I have had a tweet read out before. He says I am writing as co best man to the person who introduced me to the Guardian Football Weekly. Before that it was his eldest brother who mentioned it around the table back in Bedfordshire in 2006 as a 12 year old. I don't remember getting my head around podcasts at the time. After university he left to work in Germany, first in bins, then Adidas. It was here that I went to visit, seeming first in bins, like in dust bins.
- [49:24]
E
Oscar is a grouch from Sesame Street.
- [49:31]
C
Listen, the way the London real estate market is going, we might all be working in bins soon enough.
- [49:37]
A
Or like he worked in a bin. Lots of open plan, you're saying, Lars, like wework will be in a bin soon and you'll just be there sitting next to someone else on a MacBook. Anyway, it was here I went to visit. He had work tickets to the Allianz Arena. We missed the train. He had to drive. Max had recently taken over the reins of Football Weekly after the glory years. And William put the pod on. I've listened ever since. As I write this Wednesday, I'll board a Eurostar to Belgium and Bruges, where he's marrying his beloved Margaux, a Belgian native who he met at the Three Stripes. I should have written earlier to ask if Barry wanted to attend, but he'd be too busy pavement pounding these days if he has the time from his busy athletic schedule. He would love to have a special Barry blessing. Will would love to have a special Barry blessing. Thanks in advance, Angus. So Will is the man getting married. Edward is his brother who worked in the bins. So it's Will and Margot, if you could bless them, like Will.
- [50:30]
E
I too, like a nice Margot. I hope Edward manages to extricate himself from the bin and clean himself up a bit before the ceremony. Doesn't come in with, you know, rats hanging out of his trousers, his hair covered in bin juice. But yeah, I wish Will and Margot all the very best for their nuptials. I don't. I don't really know. Do weddings in Belgium last? Have they a better success rate?
- [51:00]
A
Oh, I see. What, do they have a better rate? Forgive me. I mean, Lars is the numbers man. What's the. What's the XL expected length of a Belgian wedding?
- [51:09]
C
I presume it's not.
- [51:10]
A
He's. He's not Belgian. It's only 50. It's only 50 Belgian. So I don't know what the divorce rate in Belgium is. You know, it doesn't seem the time to look it up, does it? You know, as we congratulate them, we might as well. But, you know. But look, if you are. Look, if you are a devotee. Listen, if you are a divorced Belgian, I'd love to know how many divorced Belgians are listening to Football Weekly, footballweeklyguardian.com.
- [51:32]
E
Which do we have more of, Turkish listeners or divorced Belgians?
- [51:37]
A
That's a good point.
- [51:38]
C
The Internet says just over one third of marriages in Belgium end in divorce, but that seems pretty good.
- [51:43]
A
No, I think that's about right, isn't it?
- [51:45]
C
Okay, across the board, maybe that's just me being quite sort of bleak. I just assume it's much more than that.
- [51:51]
A
So, look, you got a 2 and 3 chance of making it, and I believe you will. And that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. I mean, look, we've never had an email going. And we've got divorced. We've never had that. We've had so many wedding ones. No one's ever got in touch to update us. If they have, it must have happened. And that'll definitely do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Lars.
- [52:08]
C
Thank you, Max.
- [52:09]
A
Thanks, Nikki.
- [52:09]
D
You're absolutely getting a lot of message this week from people who've got a divorce. I'm so sorry, Max. You invited now, but thanks for having me on.
- [52:17]
A
Hey, only divorced Belgians, no one else. Thank you, Barry.
- [52:20]
E
Thanks.
- [52:22]
A
Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Bill Maynard. This is the Guardian.