Premier League Review: Arsenal miss chance to extend lead

Summary

The Athletic FC Podcast — Premier League Review: Arsenal Miss Chance to Extend Lead

Date: January 9, 2026
Host: Matt Davis Adams
Guests: Kerris Jones, Reuben Binder, Andy Jones (Liverpool correspondent), David Ornstein (exclusive), James Mackey (Betfair)

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Overview

This episode provides an in-depth review of the midweek Premier League action, focusing on Arsenal’s goalless draw with Liverpool—a result which allowed Manchester City and the chasing pack to keep the title race alive. Key talking points include Arsenal’s attacking stumbles, Liverpool’s defensive resilience despite lacking firepower, major transfer and contract updates—including a Bukayo Saka exclusive—plus broader discussions on Manchester City’s emerging problems, managerial shake-ups at Spurs, Chelsea, United, and the ever-evolving relegation and top-four races.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool: A Missed Opportunity & Liverpool's Defensive Steel

[01:54–10:25]

• Liverpool’s Perspective (Andy Jones):

  • Despite historically poor attacking stats (first PL match since 2010 without a shot on target), Andy describes it as "a lot more positive than people thought":
    • “Given where Arsenal are, people thought it was a foregone conclusion that Arsenal would win. So...a lot of positives to take.” (02:16)
  • Liverpool's approach is “compact shape, low events—basically safety-first. Limiting the opposition but not creating much themselves.”
  • Cites missing strikers (Ekitike, Isak, Salah) and context: “You're going to struggle to have goalscorers…they were playing against the best defence in the league.” (02:46)
  • On mentality/fight: “It’s looked like a team willing to battle and fight for the head coach.” (03:24)
  • Attack is an issue: “Lack of threat, lack of creativity…has been a little bit boring if you like.” (03:53)

• The Martinelli-Bradley Incident:

  • [04:26–05:30] Martinelli kept playing with Conor Bradley injured.
    • Arne Slot’s response, via Reuben Binder:

      “I’m 100% sure that if he knew what the injury might be, he would never do that.” (04:34, attributed to Arne Slot)

    • Reuben: “He’s been a lot more charitable than I would have been…” (05:11)
    • Martinelli later apologized on Instagram.

• Arsenal’s Attacking Issues (Kerris Jones, Reuben Binder):

  • [05:30–08:27]
  • Arsenal’s execution “just off. Few misplaced passes. Victor Gyökeres wasn't really firing...I think the idea was there, but the execution was lacking. A lot of credit to Liverpool for setting up to stifle them.” (Kerris, 05:43)
  • On Gyökeres (one goal in 10, only a penalty): “Some of us had concerns before he started the season...Premier League defences are better…he doesn't provide enough when he's not scoring. Arsenal are top despite this form from him, so they've been spreading the goals.” (Reuben, 06:52)
  • On potential striker changes: calls for Jesus to start, or return of Havertz: “Arteta is yearning for the return of Havertz…”
  • “A really nice, eloquent and balanced way of saying ‘I told you so.’” (Kerris on Reuben, 08:19)

• Liverpool's Tactics and Personnel:

  • Discussion on lack of attacking options and the positive impact of Jeremy Frimpong’s pace: “He added so much dynamism...really lacked pace this season.” (Andy, 08:49)
  • “There was very little in the box, and even the people in the box were not typical.”
  • Draw viewed as a much-needed boost under pressure for Arne Slot.

Arsenal Exclusive — Saka’s New Deal (David Ornstein)

[10:31–12:53]

• Saka set to sign a new contract through 2031:

  “An agreement has now been reached for Saka to sign a new and improved contract until the summer of 2031...it’s a five-year extension that will stop any potential speculation about a possible move away.” (David Ornstein, 10:40)

  • “This...continues the feel-good factor around the place...but all of that will perhaps pale into insignificance if they don’t finish the season with some trophies.” (11:58)

Manchester City’s Stale Form/Emerging Issues

[12:53–16:39]

• Draw with Brighton marks three-straight stalemates; newly signed Antoine Semenyo expected to revitalize the attack.
• “We’re playing fine, we’re just not scoring goals...when your goal burden is so heavily carried by a few players.” (Kerris, 13:30)
• On Semenyo’s fit: “He likes running into space, and City traditionally don’t have a lot of space for their wingers...players of Fantasy Premier League will be very familiar with the perils of Pep roulette.” (Reuben, 14:56)

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Mid-Table & Relegation Battle

Spurs in Crisis, Bournemouth Resurgent

[19:05–24:04]

• 3–2 Bournemouth win snaps their 11-match winless streak.
• Spurs manager Thomas Frank under fire. Reuben jokes about “cup-gate” (Frank drinking from an Arsenal mug):

  “I don’t know how much longer Frank can really last in that job...they're not creating anywhere near enough chances … dragged Spurs down to the style he coached at Brentford, but not even as well.” (Reuben, 19:30)

• Club atmosphere described as “fractured and divided:”
  • Van de Ven clashing with fans, Romero’s fiery social media post calling out ownership (“only show up when things go well to tell a few lies,” edited later), and fanbase unrest discussed. (Kerris, 21:26)
• Bournemouth’s planning for Semenyo replacement emphasized; cautionary tales of transfer windfalls: “These are great examples of why it’s so difficult to replace your best player…you have to try and replace in the aggregate.” (Reuben, 24:04)

Brentford’s Success in Succession Planning

[25:03–27:58]

• Brentford currently 5th, their striker pipeline praised:

  “No-one’s really managing to do it like them; they’ve built a squad...not necessarily integral to how they play.” (Kerris, 25:30)

  • Igor Thiago breaks records as highest-scoring Brazilian in a Premier League season by January.
  • "They are the kind of recruitment model that is the envy of the rest of the Premier League.” (Reuben, 27:01)
• Newcastle overtake Sunderland; Sunderland surviving AFCON absences is highlighted.

Markets Update — Betfair Insight

[29:16–32:31]

• Arsenal heavy favorites (1/5) for the title, City’s odds drifting.
• Brentford’s rise impacts top four odds, as does Villa’s good form.
• Igor Thiago now 2nd in Golden Boot race—a 275/1 outsider at the start—remarked as “just a remarkable season.” (James Mackey, 31:27)

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Managerial Turnover and Club-Specific Challenges

Chelsea’s Red Card & New Regime

[32:42–37:03]

• Chelsea’s seventh red card of the season for Marc Cucurella (last-man foul):
  • Kerris: “It’s not great…they can’t ignore [the discipline issue]…the manager has to set a precedent: if I can’t trust you to stay on the pitch, you’re not going to play.” (Kerris, 33:23)
  • Likely focus on young player development under Rossinha.
  • Winner/loser speculation: “Running theme is definitely young players because that is something Rossinha is well known for...only potential loser tactically was Robert Sanchez [keeper], who could be exposed if asked to play out more.” (Kerris, 35:00)
  • Runner-up moment: “It will be fun watching Sanchez.” (Reuben, 37:03)

Manchester United: The Sir Alex Shadow

[37:29–41:55]

• New “interim interim” manager in Darren Fletcher after Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim’s departures.
• Structural malaise highlighted:
  • “Their problems on the pitch root back to hierarchical issues...muddled thinking...still deferring to Sir Alex Ferguson...But nobody really knows what Manchester United’s DNA looks like.” (Reuben, 38:04)
  • “Do the hierarchy have the guts to stick to [an interim]? That’s how Solskjaer ended up with the job full time.” (Kerris, 40:18)
• No clear permanent option, Carrick mentioned as possible sensible interim.

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Relegation Zone Reality

West Ham & Wolves

[43:52–46:47]

• West Ham: “Seven points adrift, not looking good now… I assumed when Nuno was hired, he’d shore them up, but only two wins… only Burnley have a lower xG.” (Reuben, 44:08)
• Wolves: “14 points from safety, but at least the football is a little more enjoyable.” (Kerris, 46:00)

Silliest Red Cards — Lighthearted Moment

• Highlight: Michael Keane sent off for hair-pulling (“a black and white red card in the rules ... it's painful and dangerous”), plus shout-outs to infamous moments like Gerrard, Fabregas, and Grealish. (Kerris, 47:26)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Given where Arsenal are, people thought it was a foregone conclusion that Arsenal would win. So...a lot of positives to take.” — Andy Jones, on Liverpool’s resilience [02:16]
• "I’m 100% sure that if [Martinelli] knew what the injury might be, he would never do that." — Ruben Binder relaying Arne Slot’s post-match comments [04:34]
• “He doesn’t provide enough when he’s not scoring...so Jesus should probably start ahead of Gyökeres.” — Reuben Binder [06:52]
• “This...continues the feel-good factor around the place...but all of that will perhaps pale into insignificance if they don’t finish the season with some trophies.” — David Ornstein on Saka’s extension [11:58]
• “Not good times for Thomas Frank.” — Reuben Binder on Spurs’ struggles [19:30]
• “They're not going to try and get a like-for-like, because you can't...you have to replace in aggregate.” — Reuben Binder on replacing Semenyo at Bournemouth [24:04]
• “They are the recruitment model that is the envy of the rest of the Premier League.” — Reuben Binder re: Brentford [27:01]
• “Nobody really knows what Manchester United’s DNA looks like, other than how Fergie’s teams used to play...” — Reuben Binder [38:04]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Arsenal-Liverpool debrief (Andy Jones): [01:54–10:25]
• Saka contract exclusive (David Ornstein): [10:31–12:53]
• Man City’s form & Semenyo signing: [12:53–16:39]
• Spurs, Bournemouth, and player unrest: [19:05–24:04]
• Brentford’s striker succession: [25:03–27:58]
• Betting market snapshot (James Mackey): [29:16–32:31]
• Chelsea’s discipline issues & new coach: [32:42–37:03]
• Man United in transition: [37:29–41:55]
• West Ham and Wolves in relegation fight: [43:52–46:47]
• Silliest red cards recap: [46:59–48:26]

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Conclusion

This packed episode blends tactical analysis, transfer news, and club insider perspectives, with The Athletic’s trademark depth and wit. Arsenal’s missed opportunity and Liverpool’s dogged defense headline, but the episode’s scope reaches from the top of the table to the frantic struggle to avoid relegation, with trademark asides about silly red cards and a critical lens on managerial churn at several big clubs. For fans seeking narrative and nuance well beyond the weekend’s scorelines, this is essential listening.

Transcript

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[Matt Davis Adams]

The Athletic FC welcome to the Athletic FC where today we'll be delving into the big talking points from the midweek Premier League action and looking ahead to the remainder of the this season. Joining me today we've got Keris Jones. Ceris third pod of the week for you is it with me that means you get to take the match ball SL microphone home I think.

[Kerris Jones]

Way delightful.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Ruben Binder's back on board too. How you doing Reuben?

[Reuben Binder]

Yep, not too bad, thank you.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Lovely stuff, right? On Thursday night Arsenal hosted Liverpool and that's where we're going to start today. And joining us for this section is the Athletics Liverpool correspondent Andy Jones. So let's start with Liverpool then Andy. Positives and negatives to take from that performance look solid but also first time since March 2010 that they failed to have a shot on target in a Premier League game.

[Andy Jones]

Yeah, the stats aren't great but I think overall it was a lot more positive than I think a lot of people thought it was going to be going into the game given where Liverpool are. Given where Arsenal are, I think a lot of people thought it was a bit of a foregone conclusion that that Arsenal would win. So yeah it was a. A lot of positives to take. You know there's a lot of, a lot of things that we've seen from Liverpool's play in terms of the unbeaten under the binomages 10 games now it's not been particularly impressive but it's that compact shape, you know, low events basically safety first approach where the limit in the opposition but also not creating much themselves. But I think when you look at the personnel that they had available to them there was very little for them to be able to create. When you're missing strikers like Hugo Ekatike, Alexander Isaac and Mohamed Salah you're going to struggle to sort of have goalscorers in your team. And also I think ultimately they were playing against Arsenal who are, you know the best defence in the league. Then Liverpool have struggled at the Emirates regardless of form, regardless of personnel over the last few years. So it was always going to be a tricky game. So I think given, given the expectation I think Liverpool definitely exceeded it. Even if it was a nil, nil.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Draw and maybe shed a bit more fight than they have done of late.

[Andy Jones]

I think, I think the fight's been there in this unbeaten run. I think it's more the attack and threat and the general play which has been the frustration for fans. There's obviously been times when they've. You sort of the collapse against Leeds for example away from home where there's been frustration with individuals and, and. And how they've had a wilt. But I think generally it's looked like a team that's. That's been willing to battle and been willing to fight for the, for the head coach which you know there was a lot of question marks around that after the. The Forest and PSV defeats and how heavy they were and, and sort of the body language of, of. Of the team basically. So I think the fight is generally been there through this run but it has been the question marks of too slow when, when they're in possession, the lack of threat, the lack of creativity. So it has been a little bit boring if you like. And there wasn't much difference to sort of other performances against Leeds and Fulham in the way Liverpool played last night. I think the difference was there was a different expectation of the amount of threat they were going to pose which is why it felt like a much better performance in a way and much more positive than the other ones have.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Well, the Martinelli Bradley incident has dominated much of the discourse on the slot. Gave a measured take to it at full Time let' what he had to say.

[Reuben Binder]

I don't know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy and I think the problem for him is, and that's a problem in general in football, that there is so much time wasting and players pretending that they are injured in the final parts of the game or during the game that you can then sometimes be annoyed if you want to score a goal that you think that player is time wasting. I'm 100% sure that if he knew what the injury might have might be, that he would never do that.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Ruben, that's quite refreshing, isn't it, actually, to just say, yeah, you know, that wouldn't have happened if he knew that he was seriously injured and not make a big deal of it. That doesn't feel very Premier League managery.

[Reuben Binder]

He's been a lot more charitable than I would have been in his position. I thought, yeah. So fair play to Arne Slot for not making it a big deal. And obviously Martinelli has since apologised on his Instagram story, which I think was necessary because it was quite the move. Obviously, emotions running high, but not very nice when Bradley was, I thought, quite clearly in agony.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Well, as for Arsenal, still six points clear of Manchester City. They and Villa held to draws against Brighton and Palace, respectively. Keris, I'm not sure if you'd call it two points dropped. Therefore, did Arsenal offer enough to actually win the game?

[Kerris Jones]

I don't know that it was necessarily. I think the frustration sometimes with Arsenal, such as in the loss to Liverpool earlier this season. They were criticised for not kind of going for it enough, not being brave enough. I don't think that was so much their issue in this game. I think the execution was just off. There were a few misplaced passes. Victor Yokorez wasn't really firing at all. It wasn't so much the setup and the way that they tried to approach the game. I think that the idea was. Was probably there, but the execution was lacking. And also I think a lot of credit goes to Liverpool for that, for the way that they managed to set up to stifle them in the first half and then in the second half kind of offered some threat of their own to balance the game back out. Had had the second half persisted as the first half had, then I think Arsenal probably would have have got something from the game. But it's credit to Liverpool that they managed to turn the momentum a little bit.

[Matt Davis Adams]

The Ocharez thing's an issue now, right, Reuben? One goal in his last 10 appearances. That was a penalty getting toward the time where you might think Jesus would become the first choice. Obviously Havertz has been rumored to be coming back for quite a while now. But yeah, you expect more when you spend £75 million on a striker.

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, I mean some of us had concerns before he started the season in terms of a stylistic fit and what made him so effective in Portugal might not apply in, in the Premier League. Whether that's how much time he gets to get his shots away because he does maybe take more touches than necessary when he gets them. Obviously like you said, only eight against Liverpool because Premier League defences are better, you know. And his last non penalty goal was all the way back in November 1st against Burnley. You'll be shocked to hear heading in from a set piece. But yeah, he doesn't, he doesn't provide enough when he's not scoring which you know, Arsenal are top of the league despite this form from him. So clearly they've been spreading the goals around quite often. Gabriel from corners and Declan Rice and you know, Saka's chipped in with a few. But still it does feel like there's something lacking when his main purpose seems to be to pin centre backs and maybe drag them around, try and get them out of position to create space for other players which is an important role for an attacker to do. But yeah, it's, it's not really enough. So Jesus has been coming off the bench a lot recently, hasn't he? So I think we should probably see him starting games ahead of Gyokores in the very near future. Maybe Mikel Mourinho might get another go which we've not seen of late despite the fact I thought he did pretty well when he's been needed there. But obviously I think we all know Arteta is yearning for the return of Havertz. He's definitely his favorite forward for everything he does out of possession as well as his link up play with the other forwards in the team.

[Kerris Jones]

It was a really nice kind of eloquent and balanced way of effectively saying I told you so. At the start there some of us had concerns of how he was going to adapt.

[Reuben Binder]

I prefer not to speak.

[Matt Davis Adams]

First goalless draw between the teams in more than a decade. First time, 600 matches. Liverpool had a shot on target in a Premier League match. Andy, did you expect it to be quite so Cajun? And you mentioned the missing forward players there. I wonder if Mo Salah was kind of watching on from his hotel and rubbing his hands and saying see, I told you I hoped it would be.

[Andy Jones]

As cagey as it was from a Liverpool perspective. But yeah, it didn't necessarily surprise me because I thought Liverpool were going to set up in the way that they did as I said before, to be that low event team and try and stop anything happening in the game to try and reduce it to few chances for either side. And you know, if Conor Bradley's effort in the first half is a couple of inches lower, you know Liverpool take a lead and you wonder where the game goes after that. Yeah, I think it's fair to say all of Liverpool's attackers will be looking at, at the game, Liverpool's games currently and thinking well I could make this a lot better salad included and you can see how there's a pathway back into the team for him. Although I would say that Jeremy Frimpong who played in this position last night was probably the pick of Liverpool's players. It shows what pace can do to a team. Liverpool have really lacked pace this season in attack and he added so much dynamism to Liverpool's playing a real out ball which, which they required and once they eventually started using him because you saw in that first 20 minutes they were pending and couldn't get out and eventually they started getting Frimpong into the game. But yeah they are just, they are just missing attacking players. There's only so much a lot of midfielders can do. You were missing that focal point last night. There was, you know, Frimpong kept getting into crossing positions and you'd look up and there was very, very little in the box and even the people in the box were not the typical eight, you know, people you aim for in the box. I was hoping that it would be this type of game because I thought that was Liverpool's best way to get a result rather than going toe to toe for Arsenal. And as I said earlier, the Emirates has been really, really difficult for Liverpool regardless of the system or setup. Just to come out of it with with a point and a positive performance was definitely what Arne slot needed because there has been a lot of scrutiny over his position recently.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, we're going to let you go there Andy. Know you're a busy man today. Appreciate your time today. We'll catch up with you again soon.

[Andy Jones]

No problem. See you soon.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Now then, we've just had word that David Ornstein has an exclusive story surrounding the future of Arsenal's Bukayo Saka. Here he is with the details.

[David Ornstein]

Well, for many years Arsenal were infamous for struggling to renew the contracts of their most important players. But in more recent times that has changed, with one after the next committing their futures to the Emirates Stadium. Somebody who has always done that is Bukayo Saka. But his current terms were due to expire in the summer of 2027, so you could say it's into squeaky bum time with 18 months to go. However, he has been in talks with the club over fresh terms and those talks were always expected to reach a positive conclusion because Saka has only ever wanted to be at Arsenal. And on the Athletic we revealed exclusively that an agreement has now been reached for Saka to sign a new and improved contract until the summer of 2031. So it's a five year extension that will stop any potential speculation about a possible move away. Now there wasn't much because all of his potential suitors, and there would be many at the very highest levels of football know where he wants to be playing. But that won't stop him being remunerated as one of the leading players in the Premier League. You could say in Europe and for the English national team as well. I'm sure it's a very handsome deal and and you would probably say deservedly so. This is great news for Arsenal to start the year with, especially as they're fighting on all fronts for silverware under Mikel Arteta. He's owed credit for this as the manager. So to the sporting director, Andrea Berta, the ownership, the Kroenke family, it continues the feel good factor around the place right now, but all of that will perhaps pale into insignificance if they don't finish the season with some trophies in their hands. But certainly this is another step in the right direction that will not only strengthen their squad for the immediate term, but for the medium and longer term as well. Bukayo Saka, he's at Arsenal to stay. They're just now in the process of finalizing his new deal and then it will be announced.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Thanks David. Some positive news for Arsenal fans after the disappointment of last night. Then as for Manchester City, their 11 draw with Brighton made it three stalemates in a row for Pep's peeps. Thursday's FC went deeper. City, if you'd like to listen to that. They have this Friday morning confirmed the signing of Antoine Semenyo. He signed a contract till 2031. He'll wear the number 42 shirt previously sported by Yaya Toure. Kerry's three points from three games against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton. Not what the Guardiola ordered Defensive debilitation goals have dried up too early to say they're out of the race, but a six point gap is hardly insignificant.

[Kerris Jones]

Yeah, I think Guardiola's been very clear post match after Brighton about what he thought the issue was. He was just like, well, we're not scoring goals. He went, we're playing fine, we're just not scoring goals. And he's right. It's not the most kind of intricate analysis, but he's got a point, you know, when your goal burden is being carried so heavily by a few players. We've just spoken about how Arsenal are able to be top of the league despite jockers underperforming in front of goal. City have the exact opposite problem where they have a striker who is one of the best, if not the best strikers in the world and is able to pull them through most of the time when he's not firing, they look a little bit kind of sparse. So that six point gap is. It's not insurmountable. And you know, City have shown before that they don't mind being the sort of chasing pack and trying to breathe down Arsenal's necks. But yeah, there'll be definitely pressure on Semenya when he comes in. I think there'll be a lot of excitement around his arrival and pressure on him to kind of try and refresh that front line a little bit and drive up the outputs. A lot of what they're doing in possession is fine and is the stuff that has won them games in the past, but the final third is where they're letting themselves down.

[Matt Davis Adams]

As a Premier League ready player, Ruben, does he go straight in or does he get the Pep treatment of right, you play a game, I'll tell you everything you did wrong and we'll take six months to rewire you.

[Reuben Binder]

It's difficult to predict, isn't it? Especially with wide attackers. A lot of them maybe take a year or so to fully adapt or be fully trusted by him. What interests me about this signing is that Semeno is very much. He likes running into space and City traditionally don't really have a lot of space for their wingers to run into, which is why they favor kind of tight space operators like Shirky and Foden and Grealish, for example. Although Grealish, you know, he had to adapt as well. That was a big story at the time because of how differently they played to his Villa team. Also this season, Pep is deploying his wide attackers quite narrow in almost like a Christmas tree formation. Maybe that's to get the best out of Sirky and Bernardo Silva. Obviously not the quickest, like maybe that's dictated by the personnel. And now that he has another more direct, quick winger in addition to Doku, maybe Semenya will play differently to those players. But I do think it will take a little bit of time for him to adapt to from quite chaotic irreliable to very possession dominant. What my colleague John McKenzie would call protagonist football. So he'll probably go straight in because he's played a lot of Premier League football already. But players of fantasy Premier League will be very familiar with the perils of pep roulette. So I think it will take a lot of rotation to begin with, but at least it's another goal threat on the pitch who is famously very two footed. That's probably his best weapon. He can go both ways. He's actually taken more shots with his left foot this season than his right foot I believe, despite I think being quite obviously right footed. So that's a great weapon for a winger to have in that kind of system. Pep will obviously be hoping that they can share the goals around a bit more.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Couple of cup games up for City next Exeter at home and the first leg of the League cup semi final at Newcastle on Tuesday. Their next Premier League assignment is the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford. Let's take a little pause here. When we come back, we'll talk more Midweek Madness.

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[Matt Davis Adams]

On to Manchester United and Chelsea shortly, but results and cup sets dictate that we have to start with Bournemouth, who are on an 11 game winless streak in the Premier League until they beat the flat Whites of Tottenham 3:2 at the Vitality on Wednesday. Ruben as if it couldn't get any worse for Thomas, Frankie was spotted drinking out of an Arsenal cup pre match. I guess you might say that's how things have been going lately. Or Latte Lee for Tottenham and Frank.

[Reuben Binder]

Sorry, I'll try and come up with another coffee pun while I answer this. Yeah, it's not the best look, is it? The athletics? Charlie Eccleshare tweeted that it was something akin to a hapless politician, like from the thick of it. You know, the sort of thing that would have set Malcolm Tucker off from a PR perspective. Perspective that. That cup gate. Yeah. I don't know how much longer Frank can really last in that job. They're not creating anywhere near enough chances with the ball. When he moved there, there was a lot of, you know, people were wondering, will he step up to, you know, kind of change the way he manages now that he's at a much bigger team with different expectations. And the reality seems to be that he's almost dragged spurs down to the style of football that he coached at Brentford, but not even as well. And I wonder how much of that is to do with the atmosphere and the expectation of Managing a much bigger club with loftier expectations, but also missing a lot of his key attackers. In stark contrast to last season when spurs were missing all of their best defenders all the time, the pendulum seems to have swung completely the other way. But either way, fans are really not happy and understandably so given how much they pay to watch this team that seemingly have no idea is in possession. It seems to be sacking season and if I had to pick, well, maybe further down the table, maybe Nuno, but other than that, I think yeah, Frank's got to be in real danger if performances don't improve because they've picked up results here and there. They're obviously in the bottom half, which is not where they want to be. But it's the performances that are the main problem, I think. So, yeah. Not good times for Thomas Frank.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Spurs no Madison, no Kuliszewski, no Solanke. No surprise they're not getting an extra shot. That was the only coffee pun that I could think of. So again, apologies for that. Kerys Mickey Van de Vent rallied with the fans at full time. Christian Romero calling out the ownership on social media feels like things will get worse before they get better kind of scenario.

[Kerris Jones]

Yeah, it's not. It's never great to see a player kind of seemingly offering out the away end at the end of the game is not really what you need. And then Romero's social media post I think was, was interesting for those who kind of didn't see it. It was a bit an apology for the result and so on. Said at times like this it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't. They only show up when things are going well to tell a few lies. And then I think he edited it to get rid of the tell a few lies bit. But I mean the sentiment kind of very much still stands. You would have thought he would have learned from the experience of certain recently sacked managers to not make kind of quite thinly veiled comments that appear to be pointed at club ownership. Thomas Frank was asked about it afterwards and you know, he said he's done. Romero's done a lot. Well, on and off the pitch he was gave a really good captain's performance and you know, had a conversation with him, but he didn't. The reporter was sort of pushing along the lines of is it fair to say this doesn't help? And there wasn't a lot of pushback to that idea. So the irony is of course that quite a lot of fans on social media have been very behind that post, whereas on the other end of the spectrum, you have fans rowing with Van de Ven, you have fans attacking Thomas Frank. So it's very fractured at the minute and divided. And I think the problem is that, as Ruben's kind of alluded to, spurs are giving fans kind of moments to celebrate. Like Tell's goal, I thought was well taken. Keeper should do better, but it's a nice finish. And then obviously a fantastic overhead kick from Pollina. You know, there's some quality moments, but they're just getting lost in the kind of sea of the rest of the football that the fans are seeing. And it's not enough for them to get behind. And I don't really see Thomas Frank turning it around.

[Reuben Binder]

And it's going to get worse. Right, because Muhammad Kudus is now injured for a few weeks. They sold Brennan, Johnson, Benson, Gurr injured as well. Yeah. And like Kudis absence has opened up an opportunity for Tell to play and score, and he's taken that. But given that their main tactic to progress the ball is Poro, just kind of clipping it down the line and hoping that Kudus can fight off a couple of defenders. Doesn't bode well.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah, Kudos out until March, apparently, which is not great. Bournemouth wise, then Ruben, nice little parting gift from. From Antoine Semenyo, but feels key that they've got his replacement already lined up because, you know, we're already 10 days into the. The transfer window, but people now know how much money they've got to spend on a replacement and he's not going to be an easy player to replace.

[Reuben Binder]

No, it's always tricky. Obviously, in a slightly higher profile example, the one that I always think back to is when Barcelona had 220 million euros burning a hole in their pocket and wasted it all on Dembele and Coutinho.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Gareth Bale, spurs for me.

[Reuben Binder]

Ah, yes, the famous Seven. Only one definite success from that lot. So, yeah, I mean, these are both great examples of why it's so difficult to replace your best player with a team like Bournemouth. You assume that they're not going to try and get a like for like. Because you can't. Right. Because if. If there is a player as effective as him out there, then he's not going to join Bournemouth. That's the whole reason why Semenya's left. So you have to try and kind of replace him in the aggregate and find other ways of scoring. So Krupie and Evan Nilsen started together in that game, which I think we'll probably see more of. You know they both scored croupie especially. He's got that kind of Jermain Defoe esque gets his shot away really quickly characteristic. But yeah, it will have to come from the collective rather than one individual.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Well, also on Wednesday we had that 4:3 thriller at St. James's Park. Harvey Barnes winner in their 12th minute of stoppage time, sinking Leeds, taking Newcastle up to six. Brentford moved up to fifth with a 30 win over Sunderland. There was some dope on this podcast predicting they go down as recently as two weeks ago. Keith Andrews has navigated them through a period of tumult though, after losing Frankenbermo, Vista, Norgaard, etc. Keris, did you see this coming? I won't believe you if you say yes.

[Kerris Jones]

No, I absolutely didn't. I think I did our predictions roundtable at the start of the season and they were the side that I predicted would suffer kind of the most significant drop off, I thought largely as a result of the combination of losing Thomas Frank and losing all those key players. But I mean we've just spoken about how do you replace your best player. And I think Bournemouth are such a case study in succession planning in the Premier League at the moment. No one's really managing to do it like them because they've built a squad where they have some outstanding quality players, but any one of those players is not necessarily integral to how they play. And also they constantly are kind of stocking up in the background with recruitment. There was a really good piece on the Athletic earlier this week about like their striker succession planning and how well they've done that. So yeah, I mean, I got it wrong. You got it wrong as well. So huge credit to, to Keith Andrews who can do a big I told you so.

[Matt Davis Adams]

That striker succession planning is particularly impressive. Right, Ruben. Igor Thiago obviously missed pretty much his entire first season, didn't he, through injury. But 16 Premier League goals for him. The highest scoring Brazilian in a single Premier League season. A whole season. And it's January. It's so impressive the, the way that they've been able to go from Watkins to Tony to him. I mean even Neil mope before then. They managed to replace him pretty successfully. They are the, the kind of recruitment model that is the envy of the rest of the Premier League, I guess.

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, absolutely. Like, yeah, you think back to their championship days, it was a Mopai with Watkins on the wing. And when Mopai left, I think Watkins moved into the center and when Watkins left, Tony and you know, Whisa also followed that path of moving from the wing to the center. And Burmo was able to play as a kind of in a front two or on the wing. And I like everybody assumes, well, when you've lost in Burmo and Visser and your captain and your manager, then surely it's going to take a bit of a nosedive. But like you said, Igor Thiago was waiting in the wings. None of us really knew much about him given that he missed last season injured. And now he'll surely be knocking on the door for a place on Carlo Ancelotti's plane to the States in the summer. I think, yeah, incredibly impressive. Maybe now if that pattern was to continue, Igor Thiago would have to go to, I don't know, Chelsea or Man United. And then Charda moves in and he'll be the next one scoring 20 goals next season.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So Newcastle winning, Sunderland losing means Newcastle are now ahead of the Black Cats. I think we probably all thought that that would happen before January. Keris Sunderland, I guess be glad to have some AFCON participants back by the time their next Premier League game rolls around.

[Kerris Jones]

Yeah, definitely. And I think we knew that it was going to be hard for their squad to withstand sort of the sheer number of players who were going off to afcon. So a drop off in form isn't. Isn't necessarily a surprise. But you know, the fact that we're talking about Newcastle moving ahead of them at this point in the season, like you say is a surprise, is not how anyone would have anticipated things kind of panning out. So that's again huge credit to Sunderland for, for the way that they've done. I think even from the kind of limited amount that I've seen of them while they've had those players absent, like the execution of what they're trying to do has obviously gone down, but they still look a decent side. They've not been, you know, I wouldn't say like found out or anything in inverted commas. So again, credit to how they've built their squad and I think that they have probably, famous last words, you know, done enough to get themselves out of any relegation conversation now, which is a massive feat at this stage of the season.

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[Kerris Jones]

Right.

[Matt Davis Adams]

This is the part of the show where with the help of our partners, Betfair, we show you how you can play in a different league this season. James Mackey joins us after that midweek action. James wanted to get a temperature check on how things are looking in terms of the title race.

[James Mackey]

Yeah, it was a cracking midweek action, wasn't it, for a few clubs, but for the league winners market. Well, Arsenal, they're very short now at 1 to 5 to win the league from their price at 9 to 4 at the start of the season. Matt, the gap is still six points, which is not quite home and ho's territory yet. But City have dropped points of late and made it a lot easier for Arsenal with their draw to Brighton. They were clipped back into 72 from 9 to 2 though, just after the draw with 6 points. Like I said, not being all that much, Aston Villa are just about still in the hunt. Were as big as 66. One at the start of the season. Now a much shorter price at 28. 1. But Arsenal in the driving scene at 1 to 5. They're a short price to go and win the league now.

[Matt Davis Adams]

And in terms of top four qualification, Liverpool fourth at the moment. But it's so tight, isn't it? I'm just looking at the table now. Only six points between Liverpool in fourth and Everton down in 12th.

[James Mackey]

Yeah, no one wants that top four spot this year, do they? Liverpool currently occupy that fourth spot and we're as short as one to 16 to finish in those Champions League spots at the start of the season. But now a bigger price at 4 to 9 still odds on. And you expect them to be sitting in fourth at the moment. Brentford now sit fifth in the league having been 200 to one at the start of the season. They are now into 181 to get into that top top four, which just shows what an unbelievable job Keith Andrews is doing. Aston Villa are firmly in the picture this year looking to cement that third spot. We're as big as 92 actually at the start of the season to finish in the top four. Now as short as 2 to 13 on to do so after some of the other teams. Well, Newcastle are now up to six, making a big charge for that four spot. Were three to one to do so at the start of season, but now five to one. Man United, they just can't take their opportunities when they've had them to move up the table this season. They're 6 to 1 now from their prize of 3 1. And Chelsea, they're going through a tough time. We're as sure it's 2 to 1 to finish in the top four. Now out to 11 4. So Villa and Brentford are the current stories in the top four market.

[Matt Davis Adams]

As for top scorer, nobody saw Igor Thiago making a run at the Golden Boot or at least I didn't think so. But you're going to tell me a couple of people did.

[James Mackey]

It's astonishing really, when you look back through this date and we have this segment, we've had it a few times through this season that you see some of these knowledgeable punters that they've been clicking on before we even have. So look, there's only two names to speak of in this top goal scorer market this season. The first is obvious. Haaland, who recently went through a bit of a dry patch for him. What was it, two games he didn't score in. But he got on the score sheet against Brighton in midweek to make it 20 Premier League goals for the season. And having been even money at the start of the season, he's now into 1 to 18 to regain his golden boot. But as you mentioned, the other name and just four goals behind him now in the golden boot stand is Igor Thiago for Brentford, who has five goals his last two games and now has 16 for the season. He was 275 to 1 at the start of the season, Matt, but can now be Back to shorts 14 1. It looks unlikely, but there's a long way to go. And at the start of the season we saw 24 backers of Igor Thiago at 275 to 1 with one punter with a 10 pound stake to win 2,760 pounds. So he'll be hoping he can keep his good run of form going. But it's just a remarkable season when they lose Visser and BMO and they bring in Thiago who's just banging in the goals left, right and center.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah, my tip for them to go down not looking so great. All right, James, we'll leave it there for this week. Pleasure to talk as always. We'll catch up with you again soon.

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[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, sacking season is well and truly underway with Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amarim's recent departures grabbing the headlines. Interim interim manager Darren Fletcher took charge of United's two all draw at Burnley ahead of interim manager. Hey, another old United player who is still enthralled to Alex Ferguson to a slightly creepy extent. Coming in until the end of the season, new Chelsea boss Liam Rossinha watched on from the stands as Kerris did as the Blues lost at Craven Cottage midweek. So, Kerrys, you saw Mark Cucurea become Chelsea's seventh red card of the season. Fair to say that one of Racinha's biggest challenge is going to be fixing his side's discipline problem.

[Kerris Jones]

Then, yeah, I was sat next to another journalist who I know who was putting together his red card, starting 11 from Chelsea. So we had a bit of fun with that. But jokes aside, it's not great. The Cucurea one, I think, is probably one of the more excusable ones from this season. That sort of last man challenge where the. The player has a difficult decision to make and is going to have to risk a red card by making a challenge as opposed to sort of, you know, a, a serious foul play or a violent conduct or a double booking for something silly like. Those are the ones that I think are much more of an issue. And in fact, you know, the, the three yellow cards the Chelsea players picked up for arguing with the referee about Cucurea's Stonewall red card, I think are much, much more of a concern. So, yeah, I mean, Rosinha will have to come down quite hard on this. I think there's been an insistence sort of throughout at Chelsea that this isn't a wider issue, it's not a cultural issue. The numbers speak to something being worse at Chelsea in terms of discipline than other Premier League clubs and they can't ignore that. So it's now on the manager to set a precedent which is a, you know, if I don't think I can trust you to stay on the pitch, you are not going to play. They've got a deep squad for this reason and I think that that's sort of the best way to go about it at this point.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So you've got a piece up on the Athletic now looking at Chelsea's biggest winners and losers after Rocinha's appointment. You've got Liam delap and Andres Santos on there who have played for Rocinha before, but a couple of other picks which I like. Tell us about those, please.

[Kerris Jones]

Yeah, I think it was. It's harder to do a kind of winners and losers piece like this when the manager is not someone who is going to, say, come in and switch from a back four to a back three or something like that. They're often, if, you know, suddenly your wingers or your full backs are being asked to turn into wing backs overnight. There's much more obvious winners and losers in that situation. Whereas Chelsea aren't expecting like a massive tactical change, I think the differences in how they play will be quite subtle. So the majority of changes will be sort of. Who will those subtle tactical differences make a difference to? I had Jamie Gittins as One of those picks. I think the way that Rosinha likes to kind of pull the trigger a bit more quickly in attack and try and strike on the transition when the wide players are in space, that could be something he benefits from. I think he's struggled when he's found himself directly up against players. There's also an element of the kind of the players that Rocinha is maybe willing to trust a little bit more. The the younger raw talents such as sort of Marc Guillau hasn't had tons of chance. The plan was for him to be on loan at Sunderland this season. He got recalled after Liam Delap's injury but still hasn't played very much. I think the new head coach will like his energy, his pressing and kind of what he can offer and might be a bit more willing to give him more of a go in the team. So a running theme through it is definitely young players because that is something that that Rossinha is well known for wanting to develop. The only potential loser in terms of tactical style that I had in there was Robert Sanchez. Because anyone who's watched Strasbourg will know the amount that Mike Pender's their goalkeeper is expected to come out and play with his feet basically as part of the backline. That strikes quite a lot of fear potentially into Chelsea fans. So it will be interesting to see does Residue try to bring in that same approach with Sanchez and if so, can he adapt to it? He's been playing very well this season and it would be nice for him, I think to maintain a bit of confidence rather than be exposed to more difficult situations.

[Reuben Binder]

The one Strasbourg game I watched this season was Strasbourg versus Crystal palace in the Conference League and I was struck by how often they did that and used the keeper as like a centre back in build up, almost try and get that man advantage. And on two occasions it led to open goal shots which. Well, I mean neither of them went in but still the danger was there. So yes, that will be fun watching Sanchez.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right. Penders pending maybe is Chelsea's number one for next season. We shall see. As for Manchester United, that draw at Burnley means they failed to beat all of the Premier League's bottom seven since the start of November. I guess Ruben Shesco at the double a positive for them. But the fact that they're looking at former players with patchy managerial records, one who's already been their interim and they didn't want to give him the gig full time, another one who their made manager and then sacked him, shows that there's still, an awful lot that needs to be put right at Manchester United before things are going to get better, doesn't it?

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, it's not a new or original take, but obviously their problems on the pitch route back to hierarchical issues. All the things that came out from the Amarim sacking about disagreements between Jason Wilcox and Reuben Amarim and kind of, you know, input from Ratcliffe just all paint the picture of very muddled thinking. And that, you know, is obvious when you look at the coaches that they're now looking at to kind of steady the ship for the rest of the season. I find it incredible that they're still kind of deferring to Sir Alex Ferguson or Elise. The coaches that they're approaching still have him in the back of their mind, like, asking for his blessing. A complete legend of the game, obviously one of the greatest managers of all time, and having him in some kind of ceremonial role at the club is fine, but he shouldn't really be having any input now and then. I don't think it helps that the punditocracy in football are, you know, a lot of players come from his teams, you know, and constantly speak about DNA, but it's such a vague term because nobody really knows what Manchester United's DNA looks like, other than how Fergie's teams used to play, like fast wing play. But it's so vague and really doesn't have much substance at all. I thought, obviously, you know, they created quite a lot in Fletcher's first game, albeit against Burnley. Like you say, two good goals for Cesko. The second one particularly was a brilliant finish. They really benefited from having Bruno Fernandes back without him. They looked so blunt in attack, to nobody's surprise. So, yeah, I predict a slight upturn in form based purely on, like, vibes a la Solskjaer taking over back in. What would that have been? 2019, 2020. But after that, you know, will they make the same mistake and give the interim to the interim the job again? Who knows? Manchester United, the circus that never ends.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Probably not going to be Roy Keane as the next interim carries, based on what he said on sky yesterday about Alex Ferguson hanging around like a bad smell. In terms of the United supporters that you speak to, is there a preferred candidate? Are they going to go for somebody rogue who used to play for United, like, I don't know, give it Nanny or Fabio Silva or something, just to. Just to change it a bit.

[Kerris Jones]

I think what Rubens just hit on there is something really interesting about the influence that Sir Alex Ferguson still has in many ways. I think you can root so much of United's struggle to stick with a manager back to just how influential he was because they want another Sir Alex Ferguson and there isn't one. So the question then becomes like, how much time are you willing to give someone? Again, I'm aware this is not a new take, this is a conversation that's been ongoing for 13 years now. But in terms of kind of if it seems that the main candidates at the moment are those sort of Manchester United alumni, that's something that I think the fans like to get behind. Bringing Solskjaer back would feel strange because of by virtue of the fact that he had the job full time and he was sacked. So the major question for me choosing between say sort of Solskjaer and Michael Carrick is I would view both of those as interim options and the question is do the hierarchy have the guts to stick to that if their teams are playing well? You know that's how Solskjaer ended up with with the job full time in the first place. But if you know there's an option to go full on for someone like sorry Ruben, but Oliver Glasner, then it is I would argue not worth sticking with a Carrick or a Solskjaer who has got the team playing well for a few months. So I think Carrick is probably feels a more sensible choice just because it's more of a clean slate than rehiring someone who has had the job on a permanent basis before.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah, and he's at two and a half years at medals per hour, isn't he? Carrick. Anyway, we'll wait and see on that.

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[Andy Jones]

Right.

[Matt Davis Adams]

On Tuesday, West Ham were beaten 21 by Forest, leaving them seven points adrift of safety and Nuno Espirito Santo in a lot of trouble. Is there any way, Ruben, that West Ham can turn this around? I kind of think there is, but that's only because I'm a pessimistic Forest.

[Reuben Binder]

Supporter with seven points now, isn't it? Which looks a lot bigger than a few weeks ago, especially when it's Leeds who are above Forest. You know, if it was Leeds that they were chasing and Forests were further up, I would maybe feel differently about it, but I think it's really not looking good for West Ham now. I assumed when Nuno was hired that he would kind of shore them up and they'd be, you know, very boring, but just grind out results. But he's only got two wins. I don't think they've won since November 8th. You know, is he under pressure? Yes, but who else do you get in? You know, I can't think of a obvious coach that would be a quick fix. And partly that's, you know, West Ham are quite a unique case because their atmosphere is so prone to getting quite toxic and understandably so. I don't blame the fans for that. When they're good and winning, it can actually be a really great atmosphere at that stadium as well. It just doesn't happen very often. So it's very like, it's very obvious when people leave early and when it's quiet because there's so much distance between the pitch and the fans. And I think that all plays into kind of the nerves and negativity around the team. Their underlying numbers are also very bad as well. Only Burnley have a lower XG than them across the season. West Ham's is worse than Wolves. You know that. That's what Nuno was meant to fix, but nothing seems to have got that much better. So, yeah, this I appreciate. West Ham fans won't have enjoyed listening to any of that, but it does seem like they are probably going to go down.

[Andy Jones]

Yeah.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Amazing to me that he didn't get to bring his backroom staff with him from Forest. Such an important thing for managers that. As for Wolves, Keris, the form horse in the Premier League at the moment, drew at the dick. Five points from their last three games, 14 points from safety, so surely they ain't going to stay up, but looks as though they'll at least beat Derby's record of 11 points.

[Kerris Jones]

Yeah, we soon can probably stop tracking their points per game to see if they're still on track to. To come ahead of Derby or not. But yeah, it feels like it's just too little too late. The damage has already been done in terms of the relegation battle and they've just given themselves way too much to do. But, you know, the faint positive, which won't be loads of consolation for Wolves fans, is, you know, at least they have slightly more enjoyable football to watch until the end of the season. And Rob Edwards does seem to be having a genuine positive effect. So if they are in the Championship next season, maybe it won't be too hard for them to get back out. But, you know, it's quite grasping at straws for positives for Wolves at the moment.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah, Newcastle and Manchester City next for them in the Premier League. Carys, you've been busy this week. You've been writing about silly red cards. Michael Keane got one of those against Wolves in the week.

[Kerris Jones]

Yes, this was a fun little piece I wrote yesterday. Keane was sent off for. For pulling Akodori's hair, which is something that, you know, people who only watch men's football on Twitter seemed incredibly shocked and of the view that the game was very much gone. Because how was that a red card? I think anyone who watches women's football can tell you because it obviously comes up more often. Like, that is a black and white red card in the rules. It happened at the Euros this summer, it's happened in the WSL this season.

[Matt Davis Adams]

And it hurts, right? If someone pulls your hair like that, it's not like, oh, yeah, that's funny. It's actually really painful.

[Kerris Jones]

It hurts and. And it's dangerous. Like, it can really do your neck as well. So, like, it is. It's justified in being a red card. And also it's something that is blatantly, like, usually quite obvious that it's deliberate. It's quite hard to watch one of those back and be like, oh, maybe he didn't mean to, or maybe she didn't mean to, it's quite clear. But yeah, that and Jack Grealish's red card not long after for having a bit too much solidarity and being booked for dissent twice in about three minutes. That went onto the list as well. And I was tasked with the 10 silliest Premier League red cards. We had some fun, you know, Steven Gerrard, Cesc Fabregas for accidentally potentially booting the ball at Chris Brunt. There was a lot of fun ones in there and it was fun to chat to colleagues and hear their personal favorites.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So yeah, head over to the Athletic and give that a read then. And that's where we're going to leave things for today, though. Many thanks to Andy for joining us earlier, to Kerris, to Ruben, and to producer Jay, but mostly to you for listening. Enjoy the weekend's action. We'll catch up with you again soon.

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