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- [00:01]
Ayo Akemolere
As you've probably heard by now, we've teamed up with BetMGM this season. We'll be using BetMGM lines to make all of our picks and we'll have special offers for our listeners each week. If you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code TheAthletic and you'll get a one year subscription to the Athletic plus up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. Here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using bonus code TheAthletic. Make your first deposit of at least ten dollars, place bet on any game and claim your voucher for a one year subscription to the Athletic. See betmgm.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C. mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario or Puerto Rico gambling problem call 1-800- gambler available in the U.S. call 877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY 467-369 in New York, call 1-800- NEXT STEP in Arizona, 1-800-327-5050 Massachusetts 1, 800, bets off in Iowa, 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help in Michigan, 1-800-981-0023 in Puerto Rico for first bet offer for new customers only in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code TheAthletic and you'll get a one year subscription to the Athletic plus up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager.
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- [02:13]
David Ornstein
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Adam Crafton
Up for the 5 year price lock.
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David Ornstein
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Ayo Akemolere
Really?
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Adam Crafton
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David Ornstein
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Adam Crafton
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Ayo Akemolere
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- [02:41]
David Ornstein
Other restrictions apply.
- [02:46]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
The Athletic FC welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akemolere. Manchester City made light work of Manchester United thanks to their number nine. So how far can Haaland's goals take Guardiola's side this season? With us for this one he was at the Etihad on Sunday is our football correspondent David Ornstein. And we've also got Adam Crafton just to indulge on some Manchester United chat as well. David, we have to kick off with the emotional day at the Etihad. Ricky Hatton, famous boxer here in the UK and actually probably globally, big Manchester City fan, he passed away. Big shock for boxing fans, big shock for football fans. What was the atmosphere like in the stadium?
- [03:31]
David Ornstein
Yeah, the news filtered through to me just as I arrived at the Etihad at sort of lunchtime. I was there really early for some TV commitments and immediately it sort of filtered through everybody from stewards to people working there in broadcasting, media, staff, anybody you bumped into, fans. There was a real somber atmosphere. It was raining too, which felt quite apt. It was just miserable and there was shock and disbelief and such a sharp and poignant feeling given it was somebody so close to City, so ingrained in the region, the area, the club itself. He would have been there on the day, has a box at the Etihad. Really up there with the Gallaghers as the most famous Manchester City fan, certainly those that are kind of connected to and involved in the club immediately. On a selfish note, my mind cast back to interviews I'd done with him over the years at his boxing gym at Hyde. He was a lovely guy, so welcoming even before that, remembering his title fights, especially the Vegas days, which some of the most iconic in my British sporting memories, and a figure who was sort of universally respected, loved by many that had met him, complicated, of course, and he spoke about that. I actually thought there was going to be silence, just to reflect. But it was applause and that was very emotive, actually. And there was a sort of City PA announcer who was reading through something. I couldn't hear it because the applause was so loud, but he, on the big screens was visibly moved. And then I think it sort of touched everybody to see the Manchester United fans applauding so resoundingly at City's ground and. And for somebody who was so well connected with City, just showed that. That he was a sort of true Mancunian and. And that transcends. And even in today in. In the region, you know, everybody you speak to is sort of mentioning it as something that's more important than this match and. And has struck people in a different way. It doesn't get away from the football and. And everything's relative. But yeah, it was incredibly sad, somber and. And a reminder of how precious the best tribute is.
- [05:39]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Manchester City winning the derby against Manchester United. It's been quite a season for City so far, David. Winning that first match against Wolves emphatically, then losing the next two, going to the international break, getting the result here against Manchester United. Where does this victory leave Manchester City for the season ahead?
- [05:58]
David Ornstein
It's been a disjointed start for both clubs, but City are a far superior side of the far greater pedigree in recent history. It's been a disappointing year for City. Clunky, complicated. They've tried to usher in a new era, really, with their recruitment in both January and the summer. They've got a new sporting director at the club. We'll come on to speak about all of that later. The sort of overhaul of. Of the playing personnel, the churn, as they call it, players in and out, is pretty extraordinary. Questions over Pep Guardiola and. And how long he's going to be continu continuing there. But whether it was the terrible Ricky Hatton news, whether it was the magnitude of the game, the sort of transfer window closing and the penny needing to drop for City, it did click to an extent, aided by a very poor Manchester United team and performance. And they really needed it before Napoli and Arsenal. And it was a reminder of the powers they possess in pretty much every department on the pitch, but also off of it in terms of the recruitment, for example, of Gigi Donnarumma. And they were head and shoulders above Manchester United. There were moments early on where I thought United looked dangerous, as they often do when they play City, but City were never tested. City sort of soaked that up. They probed and as soon as spaces emerged they killed United. The match was. Was pretty straightforward. The importance of it to City and you could say a completely different way, pretty sizable. But it's still such early days that we can't read a huge amount into it as to what it means for the season ahead. Really.
- [07:46]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Yeah. What do you reckon, Adam? This iteration of City, are you convinced so far by what you're seeing?
- [07:50]
Adam Crafton
I don't look at them as see a team that's going to win the league. You know, when I look at kind of the consistency of Liverpool, although Liverpool I've not seen play well yet, just keep winning games.
- [08:00]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
I mean, the Burnley game was hit and go, man. Come on.
- [08:03]
Adam Crafton
And I think they're quite a way behind Arsenal. I mean, might look really stupid by this time next week after they've played each other. The only thing you think you know when they go to Arsenal next week is it is just that Holland factor that gives them. Will always give them a chance both in terms of a title race, in terms of any single game. But I don't see them. You know, man United had a lot of possession yesterday, which you wouldn't really expect when you go to the ft had. I know we've sort of seen United sort of increasingly playing this way, but I just don't see City as having the same level of control over games. I don't get the sense that they really pin teams in. In the way that they maybe did a couple of years ago equally. That might not matter so much, you know, if you've got Haaland running in behind from the halfway line and playing slightly differently. So it's definitely a different City and not quite clear yet how good and consistent the City team can be. And Even yesterday first 20 minutes, I thought United were probably just about better. But you know, I think both these teams at the moment struggle when there's any kind of setback within a game. We saw that for City, you know, both against spurs and against Brighton. I'd be really interested to see how City respond if they go 1 nil down against Napoli or Arsenal. Because yesterday it felt to me very much like almost first goal will win the game.
- [09:23]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Let's talk about Manchester United while we're still here. Much as we made of Reuben Amarim's no tactics. Come on, I have to get you on it. We have to touch it. You can't just ignore United with that. I mean, come on, what do you make of it? Because is it the system? Is it the team? I mean, how do you describe what you saw yesterday?
- [09:42]
Adam Crafton
Very similar really to what we've seen for much of the past year, which is, you know, some square pegs in round holes, positionally trying to do something. I think with Bruno Fernandes, which I think people are getting increasingly confused by, to be honest, you know, turning him, trying to turn him into this almost deeper line midfielder when he clearly doesn't have the defensive positional awareness. You saw Phil Foden run off him for the first goal. It's difficult. You know, people are now saying, oh, Benjamin Shesco is not doing very well. Well, it was his first start, but he seems to be having some of the same difficulties that Rasmus Hojlund had, which is that it's really hard to be a centre forward in this system. So much of it relies on good deliveries from wide, but they don't produce any good deliveries from wide. How many moves yesterday ended in just Patrick Du not quite getting across way? That's a problem for them. They don't have quality in some of the key positions that are essential really for this system to work. Whether that's sense midfield, the goalkeeper, I think is still a problem. I thought you slow off his line for the Harlem Dink and the wide positions. And then, you know, are you making the most of some of your most expensive players, Whether that's Bruno, whether it's Ahmad. So, you know, it's lots and lots of questions. I think Amarim subs within games tend to make United worse rather than better. I think far too often he's almost just like swapping out center backs. You know, sometimes at moments in games where you're like, why? Why are you doing that? And then, okay, Harry Maguire wins ahead of a corner or something. You're like, okay, I can see some sense. But it's hard, I think at the moment to get behind. And there's no real momentum behind United at all. You know, they can't win more than one game in a row. You know, you look at the games they've got coming up, Chelsea, Brentford away Liverpool at the start of October, and it does just start to feel like we know where this is heading, even if we're not quite there yet. You know, it feels like one of these movies that we just do every year at the moment.
- [11:41]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Groundhog Day, I think comes to mind. But you know what, David 14th in the league and Manchester United. Inconsistency, to say the least, is probably a good word that describes them. But were you expecting to see a little bit more from Ruben Amarim's team considering the recruitment that they made over the summer?
- [11:56]
David Ornstein
Yes and no. The loss of Kunya to injury was a significant factor I think because their, their performance levels had improved since he and Mbuomo have come into the team. A lot of their metrics have been up and moving in the right direction this season despite results and kind of manifested itself in the performance against Arsenal. Less so in between. And certainly Grimsby was a mark against. But in terms of a number of different areas that I was shown before the match, they're kind of moving in the right direction from a display perspective. But of course our eyes don't lie. And my mind goes back to that opening game at Old Trafford. I was there too and sort of everybody lauding United's performance. But they lost against a team in Arsenal that was torn apart afterwards by people. The reaction was remarkable of how terrible Arsenal were. Yet they came away from Old Trafford with three points. That for me felt like you absolutely. If you're going to be praised so much for your performance, you've got to nick at least a point. This is Manchester United. We're not talking about a sort of a newly promoted side or somebody that you expect to be back battling against relegation and, and that put massive pressure on them against Fulham. And I think what we have now started to see is in, in this is not, not good at all. But when they go ahead or they go behind, they're feeling a huge amount of pressure on their shoulders and they don't seem to either have the weapons or the ideas or the game model or the structure or the sort of character to, to respond to that as they need to. And so, you know, Mount had shown flashes early on, especially against Arsenal to another injury not bringing in a central midfielder in the window, which seems to be something Ruben Amarim had wanted. Of course they had the well documented pursuit of Carlos Ba. Benjamin Chesko who, who doesn't look quite ready yet. A player of immense potential and talent and, and I'm sure he has a great future ahead of him. But he's what, 22 years old, fresh from RB Leipzig. Many felt he maybe should have stayed there longer to develop or taken a step like New Castle United. Arsenal were looking at him and they clearly veered towards Victor Yokares for, for more experience and somebody who could hit the ground running immediately. He wasn't played early on and, and now maybe you can sort of see why. But United don't really have any other option of course on Derby Day and what United have done in the past, even when they've been at a low ebb, they raised themselves. I remember that Rashford goal the E had. Then maybe you expect more of a spark. Yeah, a greater challenge. Roy Keane and others talking about I Wayne Rooney actually didn't see any tackles being put in. It was like quite a passive performance. Even though Ruben Amarim has talked about he was content with the effort and he sort of put it on himself. The responsibility for this one, with everything that's going on at United on and off the pitch, it didn't massively shock me. I think what happens next is far more important than what happened on Sunday.
- [15:04]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay, well, let's talk about another number nine, the one wearing sky blue. Let's talk about Erling Haaland.
- [15:11]
Podcast Announcer / Sponsor Voice
This is the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akimolera. This is a paid advert by BetterHelp, the sponsor for this episode of the Athletic FC. We've all done it, turning to our barista, our hairdresser, or a random stranger in the bathroom for life advice. As fun as these people are to talk with about everyday topics, when you're looking for help about relationships, anxiety, depression or other clinical issues, they may not have all the right answers. Instead, get guidance from a licensed therapist online with BetterHelp. BetterHelp has been helping people find their match for over 10 years and have a 4.9 rating out of 1.7 million client session reviews. BetterHelp is convenient too, and fits into your busy life. You can join a session by phone or video with a therapist at the click of a button, and you can pause your subscription whenever you need to and switch therapists at any time at no extra cost. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of Expertise. Find the one with BetterHelp because you listen to this podcast, you can get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com fcpodcast that's B-E- Double T E R-H-E-L-P.com fcpodcast One last time betterhelp.com fcpodcast As.
- [16:22]
Ayo Akemolere
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- [17:49]
David Ornstein
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- [18:30]
Adam Crafton
Right there.
- [18:30]
Ayo Akemolere
Ahead of Harland, who starts to run.
- [18:32]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
From inside his own half and has.
- [18:34]
David Ornstein
Miles and Miles himself.
- [18:36]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Erling Haaland.
- [18:40]
David Ornstein
The master of all he surveys.
- [18:43]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Haaland's double on Derby Day puts him on 90 goals in 101 Premier League games. And let me get this right, I think it's also five goals from his opening four Premier League games this season, David. I mean, look, we've been talking about Isak all summer. Should we be talking about Erling Howling once again? Especially anyone who's got in on their fantasy team?
- [19:01]
David Ornstein
Yeah, well, on both fronts, yes. In short, he, he's a phenomenon and we' we've seen enough in him now to know that. And yeah, he didn't have his best season last time around, which was impacted by injury. He was never going to get close to the heights of the previous season. And if he did, then, you know, we're talking about one of the greatest goal scorers ever. And that might, of course still prove to be the case in the interim period. He signed A new contract. So he's at City to stay. They're not stupid. They want him for as long as possible and he's not perfect. He's going to be working on elements of his game to try and get even better. But when, when he's fit, basically he is going to be more than a handful for any opposition, let alone one that is struggling. They're still learning about him at City in terms of the combinations, the playmakers, the firmest connection was with Kevin De Bruyne, who's not there anymore. And so that will have to be rebuilt with the likes of Reinders and sort of Foden, who's trying to come back to the top level. And your docus of this world, Doku looked fantastic yesterday. Savinho when he plays so on. Jack Grealish isn't there now. They. They had a bit of a connection too. So the Premier League ought to be afraid. The way Erling Haaland is, is now coming to the boil. But again, you know, he'll face an entirely different proposition at the Emirates on Sunday. Whether it's Saliba Mosquera and Gabriel, the best defense in the Premier League in recent times and we've seen he can be kept quiet. But when he gets those opportunities, as we saw, if you give him space, he is thirsty for goals and he's lethal, Phil, in front of goals. So good luck to those trying to stop him.
- [20:47]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Yeah, for sure. I mean, but also, does City's success this season depend on him? Adam, you spoke about it at the top, but imagine if he's injured. Do you think there's enough firepower in this team to carry them forward?
- [20:56]
Adam Crafton
He doesn't really get that many injuries though, does he? He's like one of these players. Like, you know, we sometimes say, don't we, with Liverpool, like, what if Salah or Van Dijk get injured? These top players, they don't pick up the little niggles in quite the same way as we sometimes see, you know, from inferior players or less fortunate players. Obviously van Dijk had that one really ser serious one, but that was, you know, the collision. I mean, we talk about like last season he wasn't as good. He still got 34 goals. If Manchester United had a. Did all their players get 34 goals last season? It was only like 10. There's only like 10 or 12 more in the Premier League. So a bad season for Erling Haaland is a season that gets another forward. A 100 million pound move. That is how good he is. In my opinion. He's by far the best centre forward in the world. I think he's a better forward than Isaac. That's no criticism of Isaac. I just think Haaland's level is. Is so far beyond what, you know, what we see elsewhere in terms of that real. Because there aren't that many sort of real number nines. And he's amazing. You know, the. Even the way he took. The way he took both goals yesterday. You know, the. The kind of subtlety of the dink for the first one, the run off the shoulder of the. Of the defender and then the. The kind of brutality of the third one. Just the speed at which he runs, not just off the ball, but with the ball mean Maguire trying to get back with him. I know Maguire is not the fastest center back in the world, but the pace at which Haaland was going with the ball and then the composure, you just never doubted that that was going to be a goal. Probably should have had a hat trick. So, yeah, I mean, there's no doubt and I think it's really good. It is one of the advantages of this expanded World cup that we're pretty guaranteed to see some of these massive superstar names in the World cup next year in a way that, you know, previously we've not seen a Salah or a Haaland at certain World cup because of the difficulties to qualify. So it's going to be fascinating to see him in a less dominant team, you know, in Norway, and see how far he can take them. You know, it's a slightly different form of pressure in terms of, like, the players around him. I thought the encouragement yesterday for City was how good Phil Foden was. You know, Foden, yesterday, he was coming back into the team. He didn't look like a player that's kind of fallen out of the starting lineup with England and is struggling a bit. I mean, he looks like. Like the best version of Phil Foden. So that's exciting for City. And I also thought it was the best game I've seen Docu play.
- [23:18]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
That first score was lovely. Yeah.
- [23:20]
Adam Crafton
Yeah. Like, the amount of times I see him and he cut you sort of, oh, that's exciting. And then you're tearing your hair out because the final product isn't quite what you want it to be. And I kind of wondered if that penny would ever drop. And if it does, that's, again, very scary. But also exciting for Belgium as well, for the World cup, for sure.
- [23:38]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
David, just thinking about the big test. It is for Pep Guardiola to Put all these players, all these pie back together, really, last season, obviously underwhelming by their standards. You know, there've been comparisons to the summer of 2017, but how much does this season differ in the fact that all their rivals also are doing insane business at the same time?
- [23:58]
David Ornstein
Yeah, I was talking to some people close to City and they sort of explained there were many windows in which, you know, City could spend heavily and their rivals wouldn't really match it. And even having done a lot of heavy investment under this ownership in the early days, they sort of of were able to ease off and they were still ahead of the opposition. Manchester United have spent very heavily. Chelsea more recently in Arsenal too. But there was a time that they were sort of kind of on their own and that's not the case anymore. You've got a sort of arms race in the transfer market. United still going incredibly big. Arsenal, massive expenditure. Liverpool too. And we don't need to go into net spends and things on this show because it upsets people, but they're not having it all their own way. I'll give you an example of Florian Virtz. They would have normally had, I think, a clear, ish path to somebody like him and Liverpool trump them. And so we seem to be in a different era here. It's also, we've not seen City invest like they have in 2025 for a long time. If ever there was a January splurge, there's been a summer splurge as well. In many ways, they're unrecognizable from what they were just sort of a year ago. It's a really fascinating moment in this sort of journey with Cheeky Baguirustain stepping away and being replaced by Hugo Vallana, obviously the window run largely by him. And with Pep Guardiola, some feel the real test of Viana will come once he's able to appoint a head coach rather than inheriting one. And that's one for the future. I'm intrigued to see how Pep Guardiola does knit it together. It's a good problem to have. He seems to have had a pretty torrid time, you could say, on and off the pitch, in terms of City falling back a bit, his personal life and he's cut a troubled figure at times, but you just know that we must never write this guy off. He's clearly one of the greatest managers of all time. I've got every reason to think that he'll do it successfully.
- [26:00]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Yeah, I can't help but think, I mean, how does he do it again, Adam. Personally, you know, David might think otherwise, but I just. It's a lot to go back to those heights with a different iteration of a team. But also there's a lot of people in the background who are also changing as well. I mean, he's either got unbelievable stamina or maybe this is just a two, three year thing.
- [26:19]
Adam Crafton
Yeah, I'd be really surprised if he's here more than 18 months from now. I'd be quite surprised if he's here a year from now. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was to leave at the end of this season. I do wonder a little bit whether it's that thing of if he just starts, I just want one more League title. And that just keeps him here for longer because you keep thinking, oh, get it next year, get it next year. But I'd be really surprised if he extends again in terms of, you know, where the team is now. People actually forget City ended last season pretty well. Well, you know, something like, I think 12 wins in their last 16, obviously lost the FA cup final and went out of the Club World cup in slightly farcical fashion. But actually the form towards the end of the season did calm down a lot. I think one of the big tests is actually going to be over the next couple of months, because that's where it fell apart last season. You know, this increased number of Champions League games, Carabao cup games, and it started picking up injuries and it unbalanced itself. And I think that will be a test for them. You. I go back to what I said at the start, which is that Pep Guardiola wants teams that have a huge amount of control over games. And at the moment, to me, they seem to give up too much possession, probably for his own liking. And I think they're also very, very vulnerable within games if things don't go exactly to plan. So, you know, we saw yesterday they got the first goal and then they could kick on from there. But against Brighton, you know, everything looked to be completely okay. Then all of a sudden there's a freak incident and it's one one and they kind of fall apart. Against Tot, a team came with a plan that really disrupted them and they couldn't really cope with that. And I'd be quite surprised if they were to go to Arsenal next week and win. And if they don't and Liverpool win their game, then you're already looking at it and thinking, well, what's that potentially nine points gap by the third week of September? That's pretty big to try and overcome. So in this world where you know, we are looking I think probably at teams that are going to hit 90 points points to win a title like it's already, you know, not much margin for error left. So I think next week's massive actually for both teams because Arsenal as well can't afford to have lost two of their first five games. You know, with this, what we think might be a finished product squad at last. Right? You know this is their.
- [28:41]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Turn into an Arsenal podcast.
- [28:43]
Adam Crafton
But you know, please, even as a non Arsenal fan I'm watching thinking surely, surely now you guys are ready to do it. So I would expect Arsenal win that game, but we'll see.
- [28:55]
Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay, bless Arsenal chat. Let's keep talking Manchester City because we'll talk about Sunday's action once again because this time we're going to be talking about the keepers.
- [29:10]
Ayo Akemolere
As you've probably heard by now, we've teamed up with BetMGM. This season we'll be using BetMGM lines to make all of our picks and we'll have special offers for our listeners each week. If you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code TheAthletic and you'll get a one year subscription to the Athletic plus up to a 1500 dollar first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. Here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using bonus code TheAthletic. Make your first deposit of at least $10. Place your first bet on any game and claim your voucher for a one year subscription to the Athletic. See betmgm.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C. mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem call 1-800- gambler available in the U.S. call 877-8-HOPE NY or text hopeny 467-369 In New York, call 1-800- NEXT STEP in Arizona, 1-800-327-5050 Massachusetts 1-800-bets off in Iowa, 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help in Michigan, 1-800-981-0023 In Puerto Rico, first bet offer for new customers only in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code the Athletic and you'll get a one year subscription to the Athletic plus up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager.
- [30:24]
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- [30:50]
David Ornstein
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Ayo Akemolere
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David Ornstein
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Ayo Akemolere
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David Ornstein
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Ayo Akemolere
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Podcast Announcer / Sponsor Voice
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with Ayo Akamile.
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David Ornstein
What a shot. What a save.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
We're right behind that. That is a hell of a save.
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Adam Crafton
Yeah.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Gianluigi Donnarumma came up with an eye catching save on his Manchester City debut on Sunday to deny Brian Mbuomo David Given they've already brought in James Trafford who I thought was looking to be the number one keeper. How rue useless is it to bring in Donnarumma at this point? But technically you could say they bought him and you can see what you can do.
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David Ornstein
Yeah, they've had one number one for eight years and now they've signed two in the space of a few months and James Trafford was led to believe that he would be number one. I think he was told that when he signed from Burnley. You could say he was for a few weeks and he isn't anymore. It's quite cutthroat. But Donnarumo is is one of the best keepers in the game in the modern era. Had the privilege to watch him a lot and I know people say he's not so good with the ball at his feet and we'll see how that unfolds at City. But my goodness, like you only needed to be at that Champions League semi final second leg against Arsenal last season. I was there also against Liverpool against Man City too, but in particular the Arsenal second leg. He pretty much single handedly stopped Arsenal reaching the Champions League final and and maybe even from lifting the trophy because that's exactly what PSG did. And the opportunity to get somebody like that, I mean that's what clearly changed this situation. His availability. That brought the Edison question to the fore because he had been linked for a couple of years with a potential departure. He'd done magnificently at City, but clearly whether it was more him or City, there was a feeling that right, opportunity arises and replacement on the table, then something could happen. PSG when you spoke to them for some weeks, they said this will get done to City and probably on deadline day. And that's exactly how it panned out. It's quite harsh, I guess you could say, on Trafford especially because he could have gone to Newcastle and likely been the first choice there. However, City is his club. He was there before. I think the chance to learn off Donnarumma will be priceless. I mean, Donnarumma is not old, by the way, but you would like to think there'll be plenty of game time and Trafford can become a better keeper. But we saw on Sunday, you know, just some of his vast qualities. Not only the incredible save from m' Burmo, but also his punching, his command of the box, his communication despite barely speaking English. I could just see it when I was watching him set up for set pieces, corners and free kicks where they were pretty much untroubled. He's a really mature guy for a relatively young keeper. Still completely unfazed by the big occasion. He started the Manchester Derby as his first City game with barely any training for the club. Extraordinary, I think. I saw him chatting on the touchline to Peter Schmeichel at the game and just seemed in his, in his element. He bit a bit of a throwback, I think. Martin Samuel's written about this in the Times today. It's almost like long throw ins are coming back into football. Old school goalkeepers are too. But what Pep Guardiola clearly wanted here was somebody he can absolutely depend on. And maybe with no disrespect to James Trafford, he saw some mistakes early in this season and felt with the chance, chance to get Donnarumma. City can't afford to 1, miss that opening, but 2 allow for more mistakes if they want to challenge on all fronts this season. And Donnarumma may make some mistakes, but my goodness, he will save and earn City many points. A penny for the thoughts of United fans who had a goalkeeping situation of their own that has ended in very different fashion to how Cities has.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay, well, while Donnarumma was making his Manchester City debut, their former goalkeeper Edison was making his debut for Fer on Sunday night. And also to add to that drama, former Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana was at the other end for Trabzon Spor. Tim Spears was in Istanbul for the Athletic as you do. And here's what he made of what he saw.
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Tim Spears
Fenerbahce were at home and it was Edison's team who were happier after a 10 win. Not that he had much to do with it. It was just about the most one sided contest you can imagine, to be honest. I think the final shot count was 29 to one and basically Inana was man of the match. I mean this was billed in Turkey as sort of the clash of the Premier League giants in goal. They're two really big name signings in what's been a massive summer of transfers in Turkey. And even though Fenerbahce won the match, it's Anana in particular who came out with great credit after a really good, confident performance with a string of decent saves. He made eight in total, which is a pretty high, high figure. Basically Traps on sport were reduced to 10 men early on and spent the rest of of the match trying to defend wave upon wave of Fenerbahce attacks. So the rest of the match was essentially Fenerbahce versus Inana. He could do nothing about the winning goal. He actually made a good save from the initial shot and then the rebound was put in for the winning goal and he kept everything else out. Edison did have to make a couple of saves towards the end after Fenerbahce started doing back heels in their own box and made a really good grab at the feet of ex Salanta striker Paul Onuak statue to essentially secure the points and stop his time. But yeah, hopefully a sign of things to come for Inanna after a really rough couple of years as he basically looks to get his career back on track. I mean he was barracks all game by that absolutely nuts home support and came through it really well. As for Edison, yeah, he'll definitely have busier days.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Yeah, I mean, look Adam, I think every football fan's probably looking at this thinking, well Rasmus Hojlund also got a goal for Napoli on his start and Andrea Nana got man of the match in that match. What we saying about ex United players doing better when they leave the team? Team?
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Adam Crafton
You can't make it up really. I mean, to be fair, Jadon Sancho didn't score for Aston Villa, did he?
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay, that's okay. We'll have that one. We'll have that one. That keeps you in the game, that keeps you in.
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Adam Crafton
But no, it's, it's pretty incredible. I mean, because even, I mean, Anana had a really tough international break as well with Cameroon losing in their qualifying, which could be really damaging and he wasn't great for that goal. But it's been clear for some time that Amaroom doesn't fancy him. You know, he was leaving him out of some games towards the end of last season. I think it Was a pretty close call for him to even start the Europa League final. Wasn't at his best in that final and just seems to be another goal, another player whose confidence has been affected. I mean, it's crazy really to think Anana was a Champions League final goalkeeper just a couple of years ago for Inter Milan. So he's clearly an incredibly talented player. But we haven't seen anything like that at Manchester United. United equally. I do think like the Bayern Deer situation is pretty weird to someone who, you know, in his first season when I think he was signed under 10HAG. 10HAG would barely even play him in some of the cup games. He'd choose a nana ahead of him in some of those. So I think it's been pretty strange to see him kind of pushed forward in the way that he has been because he wasn't really to blame for anything yesterday. But I don't think anyone looks at him and thinks he's going to get Manchester United to where they need to be by starting everything every week. You know, there is that set piece weakness that we've seen. I think some of his distribution at times is good, other times, you know, it puts Manchester United in trouble. But I think most goalkeepers would struggle with some of what they're being asked to do from a distribution point of view. And we'll see what the new kid they've just signed will bring in. But again, I mean, that is a huge amount of pressure for a young goalkeeper signed for man's work. There's no Carabao cup game to bet him in. You know, that's out of the window now. It's really a case of, you know, do you throw him in against Chelsea next week or do you throw him in at Brenford away when you've got 150 long throws coming into the penalty area. There's no easy Premier League game when Manchester United are under this amount of pressure. The Donna Roma Trafford thing is fascinating because I think Donna Roma because he's. He's not got the most amount of hair for, for a 26 year old. Sometimes we look at him and think he's like this shadow, he's like 50.
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Ayo Akemolere
Yeah.
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Adam Crafton
We at him and think he's this kind of grizzly 32 year old that's been around forever, you know, because he's won a Euros and he's won a Champions League. He's been in the club World Cup Final, but he's only 26. Like I think it's just about three years between them. So I'm not sure when Trafford's going to think to take over from him.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay now before we wrap up, I need to move on very quickly as we're running out of time ahead of today's show. David, we asked some of the viewers literally listeners questions via YouTube and we've got a couple to quickly rattle through if you don't mind. First one says Manchester City allegedly said that they didn't go for a right back in the summer because there was no suitable option on the market. Are they monitoring anyone for next year in that position? And what does the future hold then for someone like Matthias Nunes?
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David Ornstein
Yeah, I think it was well documented that they looked at that position and it was Tino Livramento. I think that was high on their agend player. They, and I'm sure pretty much every other club at this level really likes and appears to be flying and have a great future for club and country. Be really fascinating to see how he he figures for Thomas Tuchel at the the World cup next summer. But Newcastle had no intention of of selling him and I don't know if it even developed because of that. But I guess it's one to watch for the future because the admiration is there. They will have had other options too, no doubt, but nothing has material realized. Nunes is. Is clearly playing out of position and is not the ideal scenario there and, and they've tried different options. You know, Akanji's played there previously, of course, Carl Walker's not there anymore. Rico Lewis has played there when he's been available. At times they seem to have a. Whether it's a preference or, or just a necessity to playing center backs at fullback, they've not done too badly. But of course that is an area where you could see city looking. Was it Cambiaso of Juventus? I' if he was more left back or right back. But that's a player that Pep Guardiola has liked previously and they looked into to signing from Juve but again it didn't materialize. So perhaps one for the subsequent markets.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Okay, you like this next one? This person says David, you're an excellent journalist who has come to be known for his work during the transfer window. What does your work look like outside the transfer window?
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David Ornstein
Lying down in a cold dark room for a long period of time? Well, there's loads that we can be getting on with pods like this and things that we can't or don't have time for so much in the window. So other projects, interviews, contributing to all the features we do on the Athletic got lots of broadcasting commitments around the games. There's always stories developing from managerial executive changes, new contracts, injuries, international news, ownership situations that we've seen in previous years that often tend to happen in this period or in the period between the January and summer windows. There's also lots of transfer activity that starts to brew as you get towards the windows. Conversations are taking place, meetings, people are drawing up, clubs are formulating their targets lists and somebody in my position. You're also able to do lots more meetings and calls and conversations around topics like this and wider journalism because you've got a bit more time on your hands, whereas during the windows, many of your contacts aren't able to meet and vice versa, you aren't, because we're all so busy. So you snatch a phone call or a text message where possible, and this is a really good opportunity to make up for lost time in that sense. And those moments are absolutely crucial for delivering when you get to the window. It is arguably a more important time now to lay the groundwork and try and live a bit. A bit of social life and restore a bit of sanity to yourself after those sort of crazy months.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Yeah, much respect indeed. All right, Adam, before we go, as ever, it's Monday. It's time for final whistle. You're going to be beating the whistle, but remember, you have a minute to explain what's caught your eye this week in the world of football. Got my phone ready? Go on, Adam. One minute starts now.
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Adam Crafton
I'm worried I won't need one minute for this, so I'm going to do a bit of a preamble where I'm just sort of going through the motions.
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David Ornstein
But Phil for me. Phil for me.
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Adam Crafton
No, my. The. The team I'm worried for is Leeds United, who spent almost maybe just over 100 million euros this summ. They've managed to sort of build a really good defense and really good midfield and forgotten to buy an attack. They've not scored a goal from open play. The money they have spent on their forward line, two free transfers, Calvert, Lewin and then Metra, who scored the penalty against Everton. No, Aqua 4 from the wing we yet to really see much of. But they look really short from a creative point of view and I'm not sure they've given themselves a chance actually to make the chances that they need to win games. They're going to be really competitive in lots of games, but they're not going to be able to turn those into three points. That's what we've seen so far and it's very strange to me because those owners want to be a stable Premier League team.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Mate, that was literally one minute on the clock oi broadcaster extraordinaire.
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Adam Crafton
But he needed the fella.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
You didn't even need it though really. There was substance, there was poise. You got straight to the point. Job done. Jets. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much Adam David and also Tim Spears for joining us from way out in Istanb. Thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.
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Podcast Announcer / Sponsor Voice
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers are Guy Clark, Mike Stabre and Jay Beale. Executive producers are Abby Patterson and Avi Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe the Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company Production.
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Ayo Akemolere
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