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- [00:03]
Sam Lee
What's the best time of day to get a deal?
- [00:05]
Adam Leventhal
All day with Jack in the Box's all day. Big deal meal.
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Sam Lee
You get to choose from four entrees.
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Adam Leventhal
Like the supreme croissant and five tasty sides, plus a drink starting at $5. So hurry in or take your time. You've got all day at Jack. Every bite's a big deal. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate First. Like you know to check the date of the big game first before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.
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Sam Lee
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Adam Leventhal
Treating yourself without cheating.
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Sam Lee
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- [01:37]
Adam Leventhal
Hi there. I'm Adam Levanthal. Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast. Coming up, we'll preview the weekend's action in the Premier League. But first, let's reflect on the big news from Manchester City.
- [01:55]
Sam Lee
Dear Defenders, I've been reflecting on these last few years together. Like any relationship, there's been ups and downs, highs and lows. That's natural. So all I have to say is, sorry, I'm here to stay early.
- [02:21]
Adam Leventhal
Yes, that's how Erling Haaland and Manchester City announced that the Norwegian striker has signed a nine and a half year contract extension. Our Manchester City writer, Sam Lee is here and the Athletics football correspondent David Ornstein, who broke the news, is also with us. David, let's start with you. Just outline the the key details. It's a big. It's a big one, this one, isn't it?
- [02:46]
David Ornstein
It's a seismic contract the like of which we've not really seen before, if at all, in the Premier League and rarely throughout the world of football and sport as a whole. It's thought to be one of the most lucrative deals in sporting history. And I don't think we can Underestimate the magnitude of it. It stretches nine and a half years to be precise, but essentially it's a ten year contract. It covers ten seasons and they've been negot on it for quite some time. It will tie Erling Haaland down to City until the summer of 2034, at which point he'll be about to turn 34 years old. So he's committing the vast majority of his career to Manchester City. It's jaw dropping when you think about the numbers. One really important point to note is that any previous exit clauses that were contained within the original deal he signed when moving from Borussia Dortmund to City in 2022 have been removed. There are already reports of new clauses being put in there. I don't know about that at the time of recording and we'll have to do some digging. But what I am absolutely assured about is that this is a very firm deal through to 2034.
- [04:06]
Adam Leventhal
Sam, what's your reaction to this?
- [04:07]
Sam Lee
It kind of changes the landscape for City going forwards because, I don't know, this might be a strange thing to open with for somebody who's got so many goals and is probably now going to break Alan Shearer's record. But sometimes, sometimes I think they might be better without him. And I know I'm wrong. I know I'm wrong because they won the treble with it and he was a huge part of that. And when he doesn't play, like even like this season when they've been struggling recently and he's not having many touches, he's not very involved, which sometimes is the tactical plan for him not to be involved, but it doesn't look like it contributes a lot. And I personally think from a kind of pure tactical point of view, the best Guardiola team was the season before he came, when they had the false nine. They were so fluid, they had so much control, which is what Guardiola wants. And sometimes I just feel like, oh, you know, well, if Haaland were to go to Real Madrid this summer or next summer or whatever, maybe they could go back to that. But all that thinking needs to change now because he's going to be there long after Guardiola. Every coach is going to have to find a plan for him. He is going to be a fundamental part of every squad going forward. So it changes the whole landscape. In that sense, I think the City fans I've spoken to and the reaction I've seen this morning, everyone's delighted about it. So maybe they're not all as Kind of dubious and wrong as I am, I suppose there's the aspect of Cheeky Baguirustein. He's on his way out in the summer. He's going to be replaced by Hugo Viana. He's got a bit of criticism recently because obviously City's bad run. A lot of fans think they should have invested in the transfer market last summer and before that to stop the squad getting to this point. But if you look at the business they're doing elsewhere, with three signings coming in and possibly more, Bugueira Stein's kind of doing everything he can to leave City in good hands. And then obviously there's all the commercial aspects as well. Haaland is very focused on the commercial aspects. He put himself in Clash of Clans. That was his team's idea. And obviously City, they're always trying to grow and market and sell more tickets, and they got the Club World cup in America this summer. So all of these things, there's so many implications to it.
- [06:03]
Adam Leventhal
David, I wanted to come back to you on the sort of the technical detail, and I know that you said that at this point we don't know the precise release clause and we don't know the exact details of that contract, but you did mention that the previous release clause has been removed. Do we know what that previous release clause was at what level that was, or not?
- [06:27]
David Ornstein
No, I don't know the fine detail of it with certainty. A lot of reporting has taken place to suggest that it would allow him to move to Real Madrid under certain conditions, and his contract was due to expire in the summer of 2027, that that's not far away from now. And so there would have been potential for a move to, say, Real Madrid to be facilitated. And that's why over the last couple of years there have been so many stories linking him with Real Madrid, who tried to sign him before Manchester City stole a march and got a deal over the line.
- [06:59]
Adam Leventhal
David, let me stop you there very briefly, because when I mentioned the release clause, Sam, you went. Yeah, go on. I want to add something here. What did you want to add?
- [07:07]
Sam Lee
Well, the only thing is that people at City have never wanted to be in a position to have to confirm any release clauses. Like David says, there's loads of reports about. There was maybe one at the end of the first season, one at the end of the second season. I reported about nearly two years ago. It was when City were in Munich on the treble running, so about April 2023, that one of the clauses I understood at the Time was linked to Guardiola's future. But when Guardiola had signed his new contract during the World cup in 2022, that was wiped out. And I think from that point, that was like City going, right, well, that's out of the way now let's get contract talks on the way. And obviously it can't be easy deal, can it? Nine and a half years and all the image rights and everything. But they've gone from removing that first clause to this point now, where all those previous clauses, they're all gone.
- [07:57]
David Ornstein
Every conversation I had in the buildup to breaking this story suggested that it's a case of him genuinely being here to stay through to the end of that deal, provided everybody wants it to happen and it goes to plan. You never know if things can change in the interim, but immediately when you hear about this sort of thing, you think, oh, but there'll be a way for him to leave in a couple of years. That's definitely not the case and it kind of underlines his commitment to Manchester City as a club. Manchester City have had a tough time on the pitch in terms of this season. It's not gone too well for them or for Erling Haaland. Not sure he's striking fear into the centre backs he's writing to quite in the same way he was previously. But secondly, off the pitch, City are battling the Premier League on a couple of fronts, most notably the alleged breaches of financial rules allegations. They deny we should hear an outcome, a verdict in that case in the months ahead. And that's going to have huge ramifications on Manchester City, on the Premier League and probably on the sport of football as a whole. But irrespective of that, Erling Haaland has decided to commit to them. I don't know if we're going to see him playing in non league football for Manchester City, but of course they are completely confident that they're going to be exonerated in all of this. And certainly if the players and Haaland in this case are anything to go by, they have faith in what they're being told by the club and what the path ahead might hold.
- [09:21]
Adam Leventhal
And on that point, David, and it is very important, and I completely accept what you're saying in terms of the club's confidence, that it's not going to be as grave a punishment as perhaps some of the rival fans would like it to be for Manchester City. Perhaps. But they ultimately, Sam, have to protect their investment, don't they? Be it from a bigger club like Real Madrid coming at any point in the future, but also if there is the need, if it doesn't go to plan with the Premier League and they are demoted, relegated, whatever, the punishment could be that they would need to sell and they would need to have that investment protected.
- [10:01]
Sam Lee
Yeah, from the club side, you could read into it that way. But obviously from Haaland's side, if he was unsure, just give it a couple of months. If he was thinking, oh, I'm not sure what's going to happen with the charges, I don't want to play in League one, I don't want to make it harder for myself, for me to leave if I'm in League one, way too much. Sign it then. So from the club's point of view, yeah, you're absolutely right, they're protecting the asset. If they need to sell, they're in a strong position.
- [10:25]
Adam Leventhal
But.
- [10:25]
Sam Lee
But from Haaland's point of view, I don't know why he had signed up to that if he had any doubts. Now, obviously, people, it's hard for people to get their head around, but from day one, when the charges dropped, all the city big weeks had a meeting with the squad and they said, look, don't worry about it. And basically since then, the message has been the same. When players are being brought in, like new players arriving, not even sure how much is even brought up, but if it is brought up by the agents, the club are like, look, we've got no problems. Whether they lay out the case or they just say, look, trust us. And then it's obviously up to them to trust them. So, look, maybe Haaland's wrong, but Haaland trusts them. The players that are being signed trust them. There is a kind of feeling of confidence radiating out. So personally, I would take the Haaland deal and the other business they're doing as a sign that you're planning for the future without worrying about any kind of point deductions or relegations.
- [11:13]
David Ornstein
Sam, can I just throw a question over to you? So I'm reading here from a documentary, Harlan the Big Decision documentary in 2022, his father Alfie says, I Sterling wants to prove his abilities in all leagues. And he goes on to say, then he can stay there city for three or four years at the most. He could be, for example, two and a half years in Germany, two and a half years in England and then in Spain, Italy, France. Right. So what might have happened here to change that?
- [11:41]
Sam Lee
Maybe the change in landscape of European football, psg have kind of gone away from galacticos anyway, we don't know what's going on with Real Madrid, but maybe they didn't show that interest. But then, you know, if he plays in Italy, where from the same kind of money, same kind of standards, certainly it's not happening. But look, I mean, did you see what Alfie said last month? He spoke to France football. He said he could stay at City for 15 years because he's very comfortable there and they are a great club.
- [12:05]
David Ornstein
Oh, wow.
- [12:06]
Sam Lee
But then he said, but I think he wants to prove himself that he can win in any of the big leagues. And he went on to say he could maybe do two and a half there, two and a half there, three there. So he did the same message again, but obviously he would have known that that 15 years was basically closer to the truth than him Moving on. It's always hard to tell when a Haaland is joking. Like they've got a very kind of dry British humor, but with a kind of even drier Norwegian twist, basically. But, yeah, if that was the original plan to jump around the different leagues, then I think what's changed is the depth of the bond that Haaland has got at City, how they look after him. If, after all, Alfie Haaland wasn't just being tongue in cheek in the first place.
- [12:44]
Adam Leventhal
Two more quick questions on this one to David. And it does reflect on what Sam said there, that we shouldn't just see this as some sort of fairytale situation where, you know, Erling Haaland has signed this wonderful new contract and everyone's shiny and happy because we know behind the scenes, and we saw it even when he was signing for Manchester City in the first place, there was a little bit of a circus around him touring Europe, et cetera, and going to different clubs and where is he going to end up? So there will have been some pretty hardcore negotiations going on behind the scenes. When was it that you first sort of caught wind of this, David?
- [13:23]
David Ornstein
Yeah, these things don't happen overnight, Adam. He's represented by Rafaela Pimenta, who has kind of carried on the Mino Raiola stable in slightly different form. And Raiola did the original deal, or much of it, with Manchester City, and he was at the forefront of the tour that you mention. It came down to Real Madrid, Manchester City. Sam kind of outlined that have been a really complex deal then, and this one will be too. So I started hearing that things were moving towards a positive conclusion and getting very close in and around the September point of 2024. And of course there was A lot going on with City at the time, because we broke the story early in October that Cheeky Baguastain would be leaving as sporting director at the end of the season. It then emerged that Hugo Var would come in to replace him. There was uncertainty at that point about Pep Guardiola's contract, so they had to very rapidly finalize that. I think that happens much quicker because when Pep decides he wants to stay, you draw it up and get it done. This is more intricate, definitely. I think it was pretty much towards the end of the year, December time, from what I'm hearing. And then obviously the announcement now in the new year. And clearly they see him as being at the heart of this rejuvenation, transformation, evolution of the squad. Pep Guardiola, even internally, was thought to be signing a new contract of one year, if at all he was going to stay. There was a chance he was going to leave. England had confidence that they could appoint him. But if he was going to stay, everybody thought one year. For him to stay for two years was a shock even to people close to the situation. And it showed that he saw a rebuild needing to take place. And now we know that right in the core of it, and somebody that's going to sort of transcend the generations and iterations of City's team, even post Guardiola is going to be Erling Haaland.
- [15:23]
Jacob Whitehead
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Adam Leventhal
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Jacob Whitehead
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Sam Lee
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Adam Leventhal
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Sam Lee
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Jacob Whitehead
Who you think they talk about?
- [16:00]
Adam Leventhal
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Sam Lee
You're right, I'm not.
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Adam Leventhal
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Jacob Whitehead
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Adam Leventhal
Come and get me.
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Jack Pitt-Brooke
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Adam Leventhal
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Sam Lee
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Adam Leventhal
Rated PG13, this film may be inappropriate.
- [16:22]
Sam Lee
For children under 13.
- [16:26]
Adam Leventhal
Well, now it's time to look ahead to the rest of the weekend's Premier League action. And let's focus on two sides in desperate need of a win. It's Everton against Tottenham, and here to help Us look through that game and also the other action is the athletics. Jacob Whitehead. How are you, Jacob?
- [16:48]
Jacob Whitehead
I'm good. I'm feeling very sparky on this Friday morning.
- [16:52]
Adam Leventhal
Oh, excellent. That's good to hear. And also our Tottenham writer, Jack Pitt. Brooke. How are you, Jack?
- [16:57]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Amazing. Never been better, thank you.
- [16:59]
Adam Leventhal
Excellent. So let's focus on this game then. Everton against Tottenham on Wednesday day. David Moyes first game back at Everton. It ended in defeat, that one nil defeat against Aston Villa. They're currently a point above the relegation zone. They do have a game in hand, albeit that is against Liverpool. Jacob, let's start with you. That defeat was, it was a stark reminder that there is a lot of work to be done for David Moyes at Everton. This isn't just going to be a harmonious sort of gradual incline up to the new stadium and Premier League safety and it's all just going to go swimmingly. There's. There's lots of work that has to happen in between.
- [17:37]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, geez, way to dampen my spark. Yeah, there's a lot. In some ways I think the first game against Aston Villa of the Moyes reign wasn't sort of. It wasn't too depressing based on what happened before. At least there was a bit of hope there. You could see some stuff which has improved. There's a bit more intensity. It wasn't quite like his first game, Everton when scored through David Unsworth after 30 seconds. But I mean one could only hope. There's a lot of problems on this side. There's a lack of goals throughout the team. There's a propensity because of a lack of sort of build up that they can get stuck in their own box and just invite pressure onto them. And lots of that in a way is a sort of confidence thing. It feels these are players who never actually really quit on playing for Sean Dyche. They're still playing. They're just desperately short of both. Yeah, I suppose ideas and confidence, I mean the two play off each other almost the only way you get that back is through results and it's almost getting that first win on the board under Moyes is going to feel so, so significant.
- [18:36]
Adam Leventhal
It's interesting you mentioned it was more of, you know, there was more intensity in the, in the game against Aston Villa. That's what you would expect with a new manager sort of giving, you know, barking at you or patting you on the back as you go out. Go on, show me what you can do. Was there anything else in particular that was distinctly different from A Sean Dice side Or do you think that having been so well drilled by Daish to do certain things, it's going to take some time to. To free themselves up in. In some way?
- [19:06]
Jacob Whitehead
Not massively. I mean Moyes when he came in it wasn't a particularly long build up to his first game and he copied a lot of Daishes. Yeah, I guess not so much tactically. More methodology in the build up to the game he sort of had them travel to the game in exactly the same way. I think the team was largely sort of building on work which Leyson Baines who had been the interim was doing during the week. It's probably not the time to rip stuff up. With only a two or three day build up that change will come. I mean they're not hugely different ideologically. There's a bit of a difference I suppose it's just more how do you work with a group of players? What do the group of players need? It's their methodology of doing that rather than the on pitch product which is a majorly different thing. There are some players who feel as if they can build into quite a Moyes like style like Moyes for example often quite likes a midfielder or even an attacking midfielder who's a really big sort of physical presence. Whether it was Fellaini and his first spell at Everton was Thomas Suchek when he was at West Ham and he's got kind of that figure a bit I suppose in De Cor who you'd expect to come back in and he played in the hole behind the striker against Villa so you could see some signs of that thing which he's really missing, which he's always had throughout his career. So bombing fullbacks, whether it was, I mean Baines coaching, Coleman's still in the squad but that was 15 years ago at West Ham he had those as well. Those players are not in the squad now and those have usually been the key to him unlocking sort of the attacking potential of the sides. And so it'll be interesting to see if he can adapt and work out a different way to get this Everton team to score goals.
- [20:31]
Adam Leventhal
Let's bring in the other side of this equation. Tottenham beaten 21 in the North London Derby. They're 14th currently in the table. They're only seven points above Everton at the moment level with Crystal palace without a win in their last five Premier League games. And Ange Postecoglou pretty critical of his players post match after the game at the Emirates and said that their form can't be accepted by anyone. What's your take on, on things right now, Jack, with. With Spurs?
- [21:03]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Well, my take on things right now is that they are extremely bad. This is the worst Tottenham League season for I'd say about 20 years, maybe more. You probably have to go back to the worst points, the 1990s for like a Spurs season that was this, that was this bad in, in the league. I think it's 1997. 98 is probably the closest they are. Yeah. They are having an injury crisis. They're currently without their first choice goalkeeper, their two best centre backs. They've had lots of problems in midfield and up front all season without their first choice left back as well. Destiny. Doggy. But I think that despite that injury crisis, I still think they are much worse than you would expect them to be. Maybe not so much in terms of performances but certainly in terms of results which have just been awful all year. They are still in three cup competitions and it might the only way they can have any success this season will be via those because the league season is clearly a complete write off and I, I just hope that they don't sort of sleepwalk into an even worse league situation, you know? Right. And I hope, I hope. I can't believe I'm saying this but I hope they don't end up in a relegation fight.
- [22:14]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah. I mean it is almost unthinkable that, that, that that could happen. But yeah, if Everton, if Everton win, the gap is, is cut from, from 7 to 4. Obviously. You know, we mentioned Ange Postecoglou and him being critical and it shouldn't be accepted by anyone. Is he willing himself more into the firing line or is he trying to be savvy with, with what he's saying at the moment or do you think what he's saying at the moment just. It's not carrying enough weight because it's not changing the way that the team are playing.
- [22:47]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
I don't think that anything he said recently has had a huge impact. I actually think the biggest predictor of how Tottenham play at the moment is the competition they're playing in. Their last two good. They've beaten Manchester City, Manchester United. They've been Liverpool in the League cup this season because they're, you know, the players are really motivated to win a competition in the Premier League. I feel like they're sort of drifting from game to game, to be honest. They almost, it almost feels to me as if the league games are just something they do in between the cup games, which they get really up for. And I think you know, they've got a huge month of cup games next month. They've got the League cup semi final, second leg. They've got FA cup fourth round Aston Villa. They've obviously got two more Europa League games month before they go into the knockouts. So there's, there's still a lot to play for, and I expect them to raise their level in those cup games. But what we don't, what we haven't seen recently is Tottenham raising their level at all in the Premier League.
- [23:42]
Adam Leventhal
Okay, let's get the thoughts of Michael Cox, who's been speaking about how and perhaps why spurs have been going wrong on the Athletic FC tactics podcast.
- [23:54]
Michael Cox
I think Tottenham do have to go long and, you know, we, we can't kind of not talk about the way Tottenham played yesterday and divorce it completely from how they play overall. And they are just too committed to the style. And the reality is, if you look at the launch percentage of goal kicks in the Premier League this season, which is a launch is more than 40 yards. Tottenham's is at 5%. There's no one else in the league that is, is 17 or below. So it's a massive outlier. And the problem is that they aren't offering any unpredictability. And, I mean, there's a Johan Cruyff quote for everything in football. He always used to say, to do what you want in football, first you've got to do the opposite. Right? And if they just launch a goal kick long two or three times, okay, it might not get them anywhere, but it creates doubt in the mind of the opposition. And if you're an opposition central midfielder who knows that every time you push up to the edge of the opposition box, there's a chance you're going to win the ball, you keep on doing it. What you don't want is it to go over your head and you have to run 50 yards backwards. So if you offer a little bit of variety, then you create the space and you can play out. And I think that's the, that's the issue. And it's only really postecoglou that is doing it like this. I mean, there's lots of other managers who want to play out from the back, but they do realize you need the variety to create the space. The problem with Tottenham is not the fact they're playing out, it's the fact that they're so predictable in the way that they do it. So, yeah, I don't think you just have to kick long to relieve the pressure. You kick long once in a while so that you can actually play the football you want.
- [25:19]
Adam Leventhal
It's interesting, Jack, isn't it, that he's being accused of being too fixed to his philosophy and results are struggling. We saw the images of Daniel Levy even sat in the stands at Tamworth with his hat pulled down over his face. We're getting into that phase now, aren't we? Of how long is he going to last if this goes on? How long is he going to last if this goes on and he doesn't get this second trophy, he doesn't stay in the Carabao Cup, Europa League starts to sort of wane or he goes out of the FA Cup. What's your sort of prediction on this?
- [25:58]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Well, there's no. Our understanding is that there's no immediate threat to his job at the moment. I think Tottenham are very understanding of the context that he's working in and how difficult it is. That said, my, my prediction is that he will probably have to win something to continue as Tottenham manager. I think the league position is pretty damning. I think the league position alone is probably not enough to keep him in the job for next season would be my expectation. Equally, there's, I think everyone at spurs realizes there's nothing to be gained from sacking him now. Like, remember when, you know, they, when they sack Nuno 10 games into a league season, it's because they had Antonio Conte ready to come in. You know, when they sat Mourinho at the end of the, or towards the end of the 20, 21 season, it's because they only had a few league games left and they wanted Ryan Mason to help them get into Europe. You know, there's no good managers on the market they can get and they're not within touching distance of the European places either. So there's no, I don't think there's any, there's any rational case for sacking him right now, but clearly I think he needs things to go pretty well between now and the end of the season to have a long term future at Tottenham.
- [27:08]
Adam Leventhal
Final one on Everton and their side of things. Jacob. You know, spurs without a win in their last five league games, but they've still scored seven goals during that period. Everton have scored just one goal in their last six Premier League games. Just looking down the table, Southampton have scored 13. They're going down, they've only got six points. Probably one of the worst Premier League teams that we've seen in quite some time. Everton have only scored 15. When is this issue of Everton not being Able to score goals, going to be resolved and who's going to potentially help David Moyes to start hitting the back of the net.
- [27:44]
Jacob Whitehead
Well, his options have actually reduced this week. Brosier got injured in the FA cup game against Peterborough. He's out for 10 to 12 weeks. And Moyes has even hinted he might go back to Chelsea to free up another loan slot, which would potentially give the option of another third option coming in. But dealing with what there is, there's Beto who is really low on confidence and there's Calvert Lewin who's even lower on confidence. I mean he had multiple chances against Aston Villa, a really good chance late on a prod towards goal as well, which was cleared off the line. He's been underperforming his xg. So you could say that there may be goals coming, but he's been a player who's underperformed his XG for the last three years. At which point you've got to say that that is the player he is, he is missing chances. I guess in the immediate short term you'd hope that against Tottenham there's maybe an opportunity here because it is, I guess weakness on weakness with Tottenham's makeshift defense versus Everton's nervous blunt attack. And a player like Calvert Lewin with his physicality could cause some problems for Dragons in and Gray. They have had success in set pieces before against Tottenham, which with a new goalkeeper and again a slighter defense for his ways, which they could cause some problems this game but in terms of the medium term, they're probably going to have to go into the transfer market to get another option which actually causes worry for other Premier League defences. And they might have a little bit of money under the new Friedkin Group ownership, but all very up in the air.
- [29:06]
Adam Leventhal
Let's get your predictions. They're probably quite up in the air as well, Jack.
- [29:09]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Nil. Nil.
- [29:10]
Adam Leventhal
Brilliant. Thank you. Can't wait for this. One Jacob.
- [29:13]
Jacob Whitehead
Two one Tottenham win.
- [29:14]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Wow.
- [29:15]
Adam Leventhal
Two one. Tottenham win. Okay, we will see. So as we know, Arsenal were 21 winners on Wednesday. The North London Derby at the Emirates and they capitalised on Liverpool dropping points in their one all draw against Nottingham Forest, who are still third continue to impress in the Premier League and they're at home against the whipping boys of the Premier League Southampton this weekend. By the way, Liverpool have another difficult test this weekend. Brentford 3 o'clock on Saturday. Brentford. So impressive at home. Let's hear from the Athletic's James Pearce speaking on the Walk on podcast on his thoughts ahead of this one.
- [30:02]
Jacob Whitehead
This is a game that Liverpool have to win. This is kind of like you can't keep on saying well that's a good point.
- [30:08]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Showed, you know, powers of recovery to come back again.
- [30:10]
Jacob Whitehead
And like, you know, if Liverpool are going to win this title then Brentford away is the kind of game they have to win. And you know, in Visser and Buemo, you know, there's two big threats there that again I think Liverpool have to have to tighten up defensively. They can't keep on shipping chances like the one that they pretty much gift wrapped for Forest.
- [30:36]
Adam Leventhal
Any cause for concern, Jack, on how Liverpool have fared over the last couple of games or is it just a natural moment in the season? Yes, they lost against Tottenham in the Carabao cup but they've still got a second bite of that cherry they drew against. Forest have been going well, any sort of of wobble or not.
- [30:56]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
I don't think they're playing brilliantly at the moment. I don't think they're playing at their absolute best. But then they were probably. They probably overperformed a bit in the first half of the season. So it was I think inevitable that there would be a little bit of a correction. I still think that they have. I still think that. I think they're cushion. They have a healthy cushion over Arsenal and I think they will probably. I think they'll probably get at least as many points as Arsenal over the back half of the season. So I wouldn't be especially concerned even though they're not at their best right now.
- [31:30]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah, they've got that four point advantage and a game in hand on. On Arsenal. So they're still in the. In the box seat in the Premier League. Just a quick word on. On Brentford. Jacob obviously came back against Manchester City and I guess they'll. They will have great confidence that they can cause Liverpool problems. Especially at the G Tech.
- [31:48]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, James alluded to it. It's in Buemo and Vissa. They're so dangerous. I think Brentford's front three have the second most goal contributions between them to Liverpool in the whole Premier League this season. I would say that Liverpool's defense is probably a decent matchup. They're so athletic and so much of Brentford's danger actually almost comes from that lateral movement between the front three. And Liverpool are quite well equipped to deal with that. I mean I suppose you could say there might be a bit of space around the fullbacks but. But Liverpool have played tough away games this week in Oskam Forest which actually probably puts them in quite Good stead for this. And so I'm sort of expecting a confident Liverpool to come out.
- [32:24]
Adam Leventhal
Let's switch to Arsenal who host Aston villa this weekend 5:30 on Saturday. Here's James McNicholas speaking on handbrake Off. Yeah, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough. When I looked at this week, I mean you won't be surprised to hear I fancied our chances against Spurs. You know, we know what they're like. But also stylistically I thought they were a pretty good fit for us. I always looked at this Villa game, particularly off the back of what was almost certainly going to be a draining north London derby, as really tough. They're a good side. Got a decent result. Goodison park, didn't they? 1 Nil win up there. They've got great goal scorers as well. I remember the game at Villa Park. Morgan Rogers ran us absolutely ragged, didn't he? I mean he was really good that day as a player I also really, really like. So I think this is going to be a big test and a big test of that group. You said, Jack, that you think that Arsenal will stay the course. Do you think that they should be making any alterations considering their, their injury issues as well during this, this window that could give them that spark that might really try and turn the screw on, on Liverpool in the, in the title running?
- [33:32]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Yeah, I certainly do. I mean I think that. I think on a completely even playing field with everyone fit, Arsenal are still the best team in the country. Like I think they are better. I think Arsenal with everyone fit on their day are better than Liverpool. But I think at the moment they came into this season underpowered up front and now they've got, you know, Sack is out with an injury. Gabriel Jesus has just done his acl. Like they're in. They're really, really thin at the moment. I just don't think they've got, they've got the firepower to score as many goals as they're going to need to overturn Liverpool. So I certainly think that they should sign a striker or someone who can play in that front line during the January transfer window. I don't know what their plans are at the moment, but I think that. I think that would be the bare minimum if they are going to compete.
- [34:18]
Adam Leventhal
Well, make sure you check out the previous episode of the Athletic FC podcast. It is all about Arsenal and whether Mikel Arteta has made them too predictable. We have to stick a flag in the fact that Newcastle are continuing to go along Great guns in the Premier League at the moment. They take on Bournemouth in the early kickoff on Saturday. Nine wins on the bounce in all competitions. Alexander Isak. Just the fourth player to score in eight consecutive Premier League appearances. Scored two against Wolves in midweek. We started this show talking about Erling Haaland and where he fits in after his new long term contract at Manchester City. Do you see Isak Jacob as being as important to Newcastle's future as Haaland is to City?
- [35:15]
Jacob Whitehead
Yes. I mean completely. He's undoubtedly proven this year that he is one of the elite strikers in world football. And that's going to come with questions. Especially as Newcastle aren't currently in the Champions League. I mean this creates frustration for Newcastle fans who don't like seeing their striker linked away. It should be said that Newcastle have brought an element of this on themselves due to the fact that due to their PSR mess this summer, they briefly explored moving him to Chelsea to. To pass that. Which means the question is always going to be there the long running. I mean Arsenal have been interested in him for over two years. I would say if he continues scoring, the question kind of answers itself. If Newcastle qualify for the Champions League next season, they have far less reason to sell him. Their look of be generating more revenue through the prize money from that. They won't need to sell anyone or they're less likely to need to sell anyone to pass psr and Isaac's more likely to be happy. It just means that the next five months are sort of I guess huge to their long term prospects of keeping him in black and white.
- [36:12]
Adam Leventhal
Manchester United go into the weekend 12th. But Diallo's hat trick against Southampton has edged them on now Jack to three games unbeaten which is pretty good for Manchester United at the moment. And they have picked up two good results prior to that. Southampton win the. The draw against Liverpool in the league. The FA cup win against Arsenal. Do you see this being a gradual push now for. For United to the. To the European conversation by the end of the season?
- [36:45]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
They're even ahead of Tottenham now, aren't they? They're two points ahead of Tottenham in the. I think this is. This is the battle in the table that I think everybody needs to be most excited about out.
- [36:54]
Adam Leventhal
It's making it fun though, isn't it? It's different. It's something different about this Premier League season and it's great.
- [36:59]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Yeah. I mean I would not. I would probably not bet on Manchester United qualifying for Europe. I think they are quite a way off the pace. And while I do think that Amarim is very, very slowly turning the oil tanker around. They're going to lose a lot of games. They're going to draw a lot of games. They're so far away from what Amarim would want them to be. I don't think people should set too high a bar for expectations over the last 17 league games of this season. And not being in Europe might be good for them next season because it gives them more time to trade, more time to work with the new players who I'm sure they will buy in.
- [37:35]
Adam Leventhal
The summer if they are going to get into Europe. Obviously beating Brighton would do that bid a lot of good because Brighton currently ninth going into the weekend and they are five points ahead of Manchester United and Brighton are in the conversation very solidly for European football. So we'll keep an eye on that one this weekend. I wanted to check in on on Chelsea because it's not quite going to plan at the moment without a win in their last five Premier League games. And it is worth mentioning the teams that they've not beaten in those five games. Everton away, Fulham at home, Ipswich away, Palace away and Bournemouth at home. They've got wolves at Stamford Bridge on the Monday Night Football. Jacob, what do you think is behind the wobble at Chelsea? Because this is a wobble, a proper.
- [38:28]
Jacob Whitehead
Wobble, without going into any huge tactical detail exactly what it is. I do feel that often this is the time of year that new managers at a club often start to have that wobble in the sense that there's enough matches on tape for other teams to start working out what they want to do. They've had so many games over festive periods, which is a relative novelty in the Premier League still, compared to other leagues, that managers who are new to it are still trying to work this out. The focus is so squarely on the Christmas period that after it can be sort of pretty fraught. There's cup games to think about and I just think that can create a perfect storm, which you're seeing a little bit with Liverpool, though they're weathering it well. You're seeing it definitely with Herzler's Brighton at the moment. You're seeing it as well here. I think with Maresca, it's something they generally seem to work out when the schedule gets a bit better, when they work out a way to re. Evolve.
- [39:24]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah. And do you think that they'll be able to do that, Jack, from what you've seen of Chelsea?
- [39:28]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Yeah, I do. I think they've got a lot of good players, they've got a clear way of playing. Teams are going to have up and downs, particularly in the first season of a new project. Given all the turmoil they've had behind the scenes and frankly, given their league finishes in the last few seasons, which have been poor, getting top five in Champions League football would be a big achievement anyway. So I don't think they need to be. I don't think people need to get too upset about the fact that they've fallen away from Liverpool and Arsenal a bit. I think that was always going to happen.
- [39:57]
Adam Leventhal
Jack, thank you very much for your time this weekend. Jacob, thanks to you as well. Do hope you have have a great weekend. Enjoy all the football wherever you are heading and don't forget to check out all the other podcasts available from the Athletic. Take care. Have a good weekend. You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroot and Jay Beal. The executive producer was Ailey Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and Audi places the Athletic FC Podcast is an Athletic media company production. Hello, I'm Ian McIntosh and I'm the host of the Daily Football Briefing. What is the Daily Football Briefing? It's a special 10 minute daily show designed to bring you up to speed with the most important stories from across the football world. Except on Monday mornings when it's 15 minutes and we try to cross in the results standings and stories from the top 10 leagues on the planet. Or at least the top 10 leagues that I run on a football manager save. Follow this show today and you'll never miss another big story again. Whether it's news that the Athletic has just broken David Ornstein, what happened? News from outside the Premier League that other podcasts might ignore.
- [41:14]
Jack Pitt-Brooke
That is a difficult one to explain. So let's go bit by bit.
- [41:17]
Adam Leventhal
Or it's Champions League week and you just need someone to put it all into context.
- [41:20]
Jacob Whitehead
It's made for a very useful away point in a difficult game in a difficult week.
- [41:25]
Adam Leventhal
Listen to the Daily football briefing in 2025. It's out every weekday. Wherever you get your podcasts.