Football Weekly – Solanke’s Magic Stuns City and Arsenal Go Six Points Clear

The Guardian, February 2, 2026

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This episode, hosted by Max Rushden with Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay, John Bruin, and Seb Hutchinson, dives into an extraordinary Premier League weekend. Key focuses include: Tottenham’s comeback against Manchester City, Solanke’s wonder goal, Arsenal’s dominant win and position at the top, Villa’s slip-ups, VAR and phases of play, and the revival of “90s football energy” throughout the league. As always, the panel brings wit, deep analysis, and a bit of nostalgic fun.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spurs 2-2 Man City: An Emotional Rollercoaster

[01:11–15:58]

• Atmosphere & Halftime Turnaround:

  • At halftime, Spurs were booed off, described as playing “like it was Soccer Aid but with really minor celebrities.” (Ronay, [01:28])
  • The panel felt the game embodied old-school Premier League chaos and emotion: “It was like Christmas was actually good… the league, it was like the 90s.” (Ronay, [01:56])
  • “The Tottenham team managed to change the atmosphere in their favour at that stadium, which is one hell of an achievement.” (Bruin, [04:13])

• Solanke’s Magical Goal:

  • Described as “improvisation that Jimmy Greaves would have been proud of.” (Bruin, [04:17])
  • Memorable moment: The crowd’s synchronous gasp as the TV replay aired in the stadium – “It’s always one of the great noises when you're watching on telly… you can just hear the crowd swell behind the replay.” (Hutchinson, [06:47])

• City’s Struggles & “Bottling” Narrative:

  • Discussion on City’s form – “From a City point of view, that's one win in six. Are they the Bottlers?” (Rushden, [08:51])
  • Ronay dismisses the concept of “bottling” as an internet/media creation:

    “Bottling doesn’t exist, does it? None of these people are bottlers. The bottlers are people like us sitting here… but people like Ryan Cherki, he’s not Bottler. He’s probably so hard to play under that sort of glare.” (Ronay, [09:01])

• Nostalgic Vibes:

  • Multiple references to “the 90s being back,” with football feeling less robotic, more spontaneous.
  • Comic riff on Erling Haaland hugging the panel:

    “I really want Erling Haaland to hug me ideally. So from behind whispering things in my ear and we're laughing like ghosts...” (Ronay, [10:01])

• Thomas Frank’s Position:

  • Is this match Frank’s salvation? “It felt a bit more elemental than that… players in difficult circumstances having to come through for themselves.” (Bruin, [12:48])
  • Solanke’s quality as a true No. 9 praised as vital: “A grade A talent striker. Obviously injuries have sometimes affected that, but you saw the quality of leading the line.” (Bruin, [12:56])

2. Arsenal’s Big Weekend: Title Charge On

[15:58–27:36]

• Results:

  • Arsenal hammer Leeds (4-0) after being “winless in three.”
  • City and Villa both dropped points, sending Arsenal six clear.

• Arsenal’s Mentality:

  • Leeds away was built up as a “tricky assignment for the bottlers,” but the Gunners were “brilliant.” (Rushden, [00:13])
  • “One thing about Arsenal is that they do have that ability to tough it out against opposition. That’s one thing Mikel Arteta has been very successful at. There’s a lot of physical presence there.” (Bruin, [22:21])

• On Saka’s Injury and Madueke’s Rise:

  • “Drama added by Saka getting injured in the warm-up... Madueke is quite a capable deputy… That’s a hell of a win for Arsenal.”
  • Madueke’s ceiling:

    “They genuinely think he has nothing missing in his game… that he could be one of the best players in the world.” (Ronay, [26:53])

• Title Race Outlook:

  • “Can we say they’re nailed on for the title? No, I don’t think… if City are close with three-four games left, it’s still very much alive.” (Bruin, [23:16])
  • Debate on whether Arsenal’s standout contributor will be from defense/midfield (Gabriel, Rice) rather than attack.

3. Villa’s Disappointment and VAR Drama

[15:58–22:00]

• Villa Drop Points Again:

  • “If I was a Villa fan, I would just be staring at the league table and mentally adding six points… That is just a sort of gutting two games.” (Rushden, [15:58])
  • Uataro’s stanchion goal described as “a beauty” with a memorable reverse celebration:

    “His celebration was to just walk backwards from a standing start. He didn’t want to take his eyes off the [crowd].” (Ronay, [17:22])

• VAR & Phases of Play Debate:

  • Extended philosophical debate about how far VAR should look back in a phase of play:

    “What is a phase, then, Barney?” (Rushden, [20:27])

    • Ronay: “Did that ball going out actually exist or not? Does it matter if we’re not looking at it? It didn’t exist… It’s Schrodinger’s VAR.” ([21:00])

4. Man United 3-2 Fulham: Carrick’s Renaissance

[29:21–38:38]

• United’s Comeback:

  • “You get pegged back to all. What do you do next? You try and win the game… That feint by Bruno Fernandes and the finish by Sesko is what they paid an enormous amount of money for.” (Bruin, [29:28])

• Return of “90s” United:

  • Panel joke about the 1990s energy returning:

    “For one weekend only, the 90s are back. You’re riding a Vespa, you’ve got a pair of [trainers].” (Ronay, [32:05])

    • “Do you know what? I’m going to see Underworld on Thursday… it’s back.” (Bruin, [32:51])

• Carrick’s Simplicity vs. Amarim’s Complexity:

  • “We all knew this was going to happen… Carrick was going to come in and go on this amazing run.” (Hutchinson, [33:32])
  • Team selection made simple: “There’s a very obvious low-hanging fruit where you simplify… that does have a shelf life, but it also has obvious benefit.” (Ronay, [36:26])
  • On future sustainability: “Football managers are insane, obsessed with the game… He has to go into that mode next and then we’ll see if it’s sustainable.” (Ronay, [38:00])

5. Chelsea’s Comeback Over West Ham & Rossignol Debate

[38:41–47:41]

• Chelsea Win 3-2 After Going Down 0-2:

  • West Ham had “so many chances at 2-0 and at 2-2” but let it slip.
  • “That’s the type of game, when it goes against you, you begin to worry that relegation really is going to happen, don’t you?” (Bruin, [39:09])

• Liam Rossignol’s Management Style:

  • Media/online skepticism over his appointment: “Is his CV does it merit this opportunity? This is jobs for the boys.” (Rushden, [40:57])
  • Balanced with desire to see him succeed:

    “He’s someone that approaches the game differently, speaks differently… he’s just cracking on and getting on with it.” (Bruin, [40:12])

  • On British managers and club intervention on team selection: “If we have a British manager in the top job, they are just held to a different standard because it just feels so rare nowadays.” (Hutchinson, [41:28])

• Adama Traore’s “Royal Rumble” Moment*:

  • “He basically throws Cucurella out of the stadium and then Traore pushes him before he’s realized who he’s pushed. It’s like one of those moments, you know, where you punch the henchman… and then he just looks up and stares at you.” (Rushden & Ronay, [45:12–47:41])

6. Liverpool’s Attacking Fireworks

[49:17–52:33]

• Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle:

  • Ekitike’s “transgressive” toe-poke goal:

    “It felt wrong to do it because a) it's a toe poke and that's embarrassing... but it was brilliant because it caught the goalkeeper.” (Ronay, [49:43])

  • Praise for Florian Wirtz (brilliant, “build a team around him”):

    “He is the most talented player at that club… will watch it every week.” (Ronay, [50:14])

• Panel Ranking of Wirtz:

  • “I think he’s top, top.” (Ronay, [51:53])
  • “Top, top, top, top, top, to the power of four.” (Rushden/Ronay, [51:57–52:08])

7. Other Premier League Highlights and Notable Moments

[52:33–58:59]

• Forest 1-1 Palace: Nico Williams’s “Great Handball”:

  • “[It] was a handball of great handballs of our time.” (Rushden, [52:57])
  • Williams’ mistake seen as human and forgivable:

    “He knew what he’d done... It was a guy just really, really trying to do football. And I liked him.” (Ronay, [52:57])

• Wolves 0-2 Bournemouth:

  • New signing Ryan (from Vasco da Gama) electrifies the game:

    “Just every time he got the ball, just direct free running into the heart of the Wolves defense…” (Bruin, [56:33])

• Everton 1-1 Brighton:

  • Beto’s equalizer prompts David Moyes’s dance:

    “David Moyes dancing like David Pleat and then complaining afterward that you can’t leave your technical area… Free David Moyes, I say.” (Rushden, [58:41])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was like soccer aid but with really minor celebrities.” (Barney Ronay, [01:28])

• “It was actually good. And the league, it was like the 90s.” (Barney Ronay, [01:56])

• “I really want Erling Haaland to hug me, ideally. So from behind whispering things in my ear and we're laughing like ghosts...” (Barney Ronay, [10:01])

• “Bottling doesn’t exist, does it?... The bottlers are people like us sitting here.” (Barney Ronay, [09:01])

• "For one weekend only, the 90s are back. You're riding a Vespa, you've got a pair of..." (Barney Ronay, [32:05])

• “What is a phase? How long is a phase? Is it a set number of seconds? Without sounding too much like Barney on this, but I do believe that we need to break down...” (Seb Hutchinson, [19:35])

• “He basically throws Cucurella out of the stadium and then Traore pushes him before he’s realized who he’s pushed. It’s like one of those moments... you punch the henchman and then he just doesn't move at all.” (Max Rushden, [45:12])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:11] Spurs v City, halftime malaise, second-half transformation
• [06:47] Solanke’s goal and the crowd’s collective gasp
• [12:48] Thomas Frank at Spurs and Solanke’s impact
• [15:58] Arsenal & Villa, league table implications
• [19:07] Extended VAR/“phases of play” debate
• [22:21] Arsenal’s win at Leeds and title narrative
• [29:21] Man United 3-2 Fulham, Carrick’s managerial impact
• [38:41] Chelsea 3-2 West Ham, Rossignol debate
• [45:12] Adama Traore’s “Royal Rumble” moment
• [49:17] Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle, Ekitike toe-poke & Wirtz praise
• [52:33] Forest v Palace, Nico Williams handball
• [56:33] Wolves v Bournemouth, new Brazilian star
• [58:41] Everton v Brighton, Beto equalizer and Moyes dance

Recurring Themes, Tone & Panel Banter

• Nostalgia and the “Return” of 90s Football:
  The episode is shot through with affection for energetic, chaotic, emotional games.
• Self-Referential Humor & Media Satire:
  The panel pokes fun at its own tendency to focus on Tottenham and the cyclical nature of media narratives (“Are we back? Is this the moment?”)
• Light-Hearted Critique of Modern Football:
  Whether on VAR, managerial fads, or transfer strategy, the debate is opinionated but playful.
• Memorable Character Interludes:
  Imagining being hugged by Haaland, Traore as a superhero henchman, and “phase of play” as Schrodinger’s cat.

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a lively, insightful, and funny deep-dive into an electrifying round of Premier League fixtures. With detailed breakdowns of big matches, standout goals, coaching plots, and the quirks of VAR, it’s essential listening for fans of English football and the Football Weekly style: knowledgeable, passionate, irreverent, and highly entertaining.