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- [00:00]
Rob McElhenney
This episode is supported by FX's welcome to Wrexham. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. Welsh Football Club has made history, becoming the first team ever to achieve three consecutive promotions. Watch history unfold this season as Wrexham climbs higher in the pyramid. With their eyes set on the Championship league, the stakes get higher with a new level of intensity, competition and costs. FX's welcome to Wrexham Thursdays on FX, stream on Hulu. 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. Take 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 hopeny467369 in New York, call 1-800-next step in Arizona, 1-800-327-5050 Massachusetts 1 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 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. I'm not saying I'm obsessed with basketball, but my neighbors definitely know when there's a new doc on prime video because I yell at the TV like I' the team. And with Amazon Prime, I can always count on fast free delivery when ordering a mini hoop, ankle socks and three different headbands because style matters even when you're missing layups. Prime is my coach, my hype man and my gear guy all in one. Whatever you're into, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.com prime to get more out of whatever you're into. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.
- [02:29]
Duncan Alexander
Welcome to the Athletic FC's end of season awards for the 2024, 25 season. It is a time to celebrate the best of the best in the Premier League, the WSL and Europe. We will be naming our player, young player, manager and team of the seasons in our respective categories and joining me to guide us all through it from the Athletic Data and Tactics editor, Duncan Alexander. How are you, Duncan?
- [02:57]
Jacob Whitehead
I'm very good, thank you.
- [02:58]
Megan Farringer
How are you?
- [02:59]
Duncan Alexander
I'm good, I'm good. Are you ready and ready to go?
- [03:01]
Jacob Whitehead
Very much so.
- [03:02]
Duncan Alexander
Are you armed?
- [03:03]
Jacob Whitehead
I'm semi armed with numbers, but also memories, which I think are very important at this stage of the season.
- [03:09]
Duncan Alexander
They really are. They really are. Women's football writer Megan Farringer is. Is also here. How are you?
- [03:14]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I'm good. How are you?
- [03:15]
Duncan Alexander
Very good. Yeah, I'm ready to go. And our third panelist is football writer Jacob Whitehead. You haven't got the data, but you've got memories as well, haven't you?
- [03:26]
Megan Farringer
Just vibes, really, and willingness to make an argument out of relatively tenuous sort of facts. So, yeah, I'm up for the challenge.
- [03:34]
Duncan Alexander
Perfect. Before we get into the awards, I just wanted to check with each of you because this can be good, bad or ugly. But what's your favourite moment of the season?
- [03:43]
Jacob Whitehead
Well, I'm a man who's all about niche things happening in football.
- [03:46]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah, you are, aren't you?
- [03:47]
Jacob Whitehead
And I think in November, Justin Kluiver scored three penalties in a Premier League match. First time that's ever happened. And not only that, but Evan Nielsen won all three and that was the first time that had ever happened. So two unique events colliding into one even more unique event. That made me very happy.
- [04:04]
Megan Farringer
Jacob, I'm sorry to break your lovely format so quickly, but mine's going to happen in six days time. We're recording just before Everton play their last game at Goodison park. And as an Everton fan, I really can't see any way in which 20, 24, 25 is going to be remembered for anything other than that. I mean, like hell, we aren't even going to be relegated this year, so really that's going to be the dominant thing. So come back to me.
- [04:25]
Duncan Alexander
Are you fearing the farewell, though?
- [04:27]
Megan Farringer
Yeah, to an extent, I think.
- [04:29]
Duncan Alexander
Step into the unknown.
- [04:31]
Megan Farringer
Very excited about Bramley Morn, the way they've done it and what its sort of positioning on the docks means for the City as well. But of course it's Weird. You're both looking forward, I suppose, to sort of the notion of the event, the day, the emotion it's going to bring, the probably elements of catharsis there'll be as well. But also, yeah, it's a goodbye to so many people at times.
- [04:51]
Duncan Alexander
So do you know what my favourite memory of Goodison park is?
- [04:55]
Megan Farringer
Watford winning in 1984 there or something?
- [04:58]
Duncan Alexander
No. Well, we didn't win against Everton in 1984, of course. We lost the FA cup final to Everton. However, it was Watford winning at Goodison Park. Five, two. And one of the locals walking past the press box and asking one of the journalists whether he knows how to spell the word shite.
- [05:15]
Megan Farringer
Was that the Josh King game?
- [05:16]
Duncan Alexander
Yes, it was. Which was absolutely fantastic. I know we've sworn, but it's fine. Hi, everyone. Meghan, what was your favourite moment of the season?
- [05:25]
Ryan Reynolds
So it's less of a moment, more of a movement. It's got shades of Everton as well, but when everyone was getting the memes of Shawn Dyche and it was like, it's just woke nonsense, I enjoyed that because it got to a point where it was just a brick wall with some flowers laid against it and everyone knew what it was and it was just this universal acknowledgment. I loved that.
- [05:44]
Jacob Whitehead
I walked past a green brick wall the other week and I actually just immediately thought of Shawn Deitch. I think what's interesting about that meme is it crossed to America, didn't it? People don't really know who Shaun Deitch is, but that meme was so powerful.
- [05:56]
Ryan Reynolds
That he's transcended, which you wouldn't normally say that about. About Shawn Dyche, but he has. So that's my. That's my little favorite moment movement sort of thing.
- [06:04]
Duncan Alexander
I like it random as well. Good. Right, let's get on to the awards. And just to let you know, the player of the Year, the team and the managers were selected by the athletic writers. This is more of a disclaimer so you can sort of point your criticism towards. Towards different areas. The young Player of the Year can't complain about them because they were voted for by subscribers. And we have one other award coming up later on, which I'll tell you all about then, before we actually reveal who the award winners are, what makes an award winning season for you in general? Meghan, let's start with you. I know obviously we want big achievers, but it could be something else, couldn't it?
- [06:44]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I think a player that kind of lights up the league a Player that kind of takes people by storm usually. I like when there's someone that maybe doesn't come from a traditional top side, someone who makes you sort of look down the table. I think that's someone who deserves an award. But also people who have kind of like a redemption arc that they're on. I love to give awards to those kinds of people because it's kind of human nature to root for an underdog or to root for someone who needs a second chance. So for me, that's an award winning person or award winning player.
- [07:13]
Duncan Alexander
You said redemption story. A team lower down in the league. I'm just thinking, Ange Postecoglou, this just sounds like the perfect recipe for him to win manager of the year. That isn't going to happen. Spoiler alert, ladies and gentlemen. What makes an award winning season for you, Jacob?
- [07:26]
Megan Farringer
Yeah, I'm totally swung by narrative, how that play out or that goal or whatever's made you feel in that season. I don't want it to be four years. Looking four years back and thinking, well, this player managed to produce x many goals in the aggregate. That's not what we're in the business for. Well, maybe Duncan is.
- [07:42]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah. I mean, I don't know how long your legs are, but you're literally treading on Duncan's toes here. This is his bread and butter.
- [07:48]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, it's an outrage, to be honest. I mean, I think the one thing I always think is football seasons are really long. We're obviously celebrating the 24, 25 season here, but there's players that were probably really good and really good form in the autumn and less so now vice versa. And I think, I think people that can transcend a whole season. It's actually quite difficult to do, you know, certain if you think of like the Gareth Bale season or you know, maybe an Eric Canton, our season from the early 90s. But it's very hard to really sort of stamp your mark on a season. But I think we've got some names coming up that probably did do that.
- [08:20]
Duncan Alexander
Let's get into them then. And just a reminder to everyone, we are actually recording this prior to the climax of the season, prior to the English FA cup finals, the European finals. It's a very busy time in the schedules for everyone. So if we miss something key, it's not that we've dropped a ball, it's just that the ball hasn't necessarily been kicked as yet. Right, let's start our awards in the Premier League with our player of the year. I'm Tempted to ask everyone to do a drum roll but it's cool, we'll leave it. The award for our Premier League Player of the year goes to Liverpool's title winning top scorer Mosanna.
- [08:59]
Rob McElhenney
Sunshine and champagne.
- [09:02]
Jacob Whitehead
Mosanna.
- [09:03]
Duncan Alexander
And the cop as well. Quite right. Do you not agree, Duncan?
- [09:08]
Jacob Whitehead
I do agree. I mean if on a number of metrics, you know, Megan mentioned memes earlier and I think there's a sort of minor opt to style meme which is essentially only Mo Salah as in only Mohamed Salah has more XYZ than players because he's just constantly a point of reference. And I think this season he's set a new record for sort of goals and assists combined. 46, the most ever in a 38 game season. Kind of beat the, the Thierry Henry and Erling Haaland high water marks which a lot of people thought couldn't be done. And he had that spell probably between sort of what, October and early or late winter when he was pretty much unstoppable. And I think he was the driving force at that point that Liverpool built the lead that has seen them win the Premier League quite comfortably. And I think as we said earlier, I think he probably has ended the season slightly slower than he was for much of it. But that's why these awards are looking at the whole season and I think we need to recognise that for a man of his experience and I guess even his age now, he's showing no signs of slowing down. He's been absolutely outstanding and obviously signed a new contract and I would imagine he'll be almost as productive next season as well.
- [10:16]
Duncan Alexander
And Megan, you know, I suppose, I mean Duncan mentioned there that he signed his new contract. A lot of this season was sort of built around the subplot of will he stay or will he go. So to have been doing it with all of that distraction as well was quite something.
- [10:30]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I think a lot of players you see, they get distracted by the noise outside or then they think okay, well if this club isn't going to support me, maybe I'm just going to down my tools, whatever. Throw your, what's the phrase that Brits use? Throw your toys out the pram?
- [10:41]
Duncan Alexander
Toys out of the pram.
- [10:42]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, that kind of thing. And he just didn't. And you know being professional is quite a cliche but it's not that he just was professional. He continued to be better and better and better. I don't think that's very easy. And against Arsenal yesterday because we're recording the day after the Arsenal game, I think it was first goal, second goal, he provided the pre assist. He didn't get a number for that, you know, but still like if he doesn't make that pass in behind Arsenal's back line, that goal doesn't happen. So I just think he just exists in this world between numbers like quantifiable and unquantifiable brilliance. And I think that's really cool.
- [11:11]
Duncan Alexander
Two things to you, Duncan. I mean if we included his pre assists we'd be here all day. His numbers would be even more terrifying, wouldn't they?
- [11:18]
Jacob Whitehead
That's why they're locked in a vault where they can never be accessed. Yeah, I think also the other thing with Salah is he's so associated with the Jurgen Klopp era. I think a lot of people thought that when on a slot came in this year that he might, you know, his numbers would decline or he would be become less important. I think what slot cleverly did was kind of change the way he played a little bit. You know, his runs that he's made are slightly longer but less often. So I guess that rests him a little bit. But you know he's come close to sort of equaling the long standing Premier League assist record which is 20 in a single season. He's not quite got there. He may still do so in the last couple of weeks but he kind of perfected a sort of ball to the back post as well. Curling in which you know, he's still adding himself to his game essentially which I think is really impressive again this far into his Premier League career and.
- [12:01]
Duncan Alexander
To at the moment be closing in on achieving his best season for Liverpool in comparison with his previous best which was in his first season. Shows his longevity and I guess also shows why Liverpool have wanted to extend his his contract for for two more years.
- [12:19]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, I mean it's unusual I guess for for a player of his age to get such a big contract at this stage, albeit just for two more seasons. But he hasn't shown any signs of dropping off. He's showing signs that he's adaptable and if Liverpool are able to strengthen the other players up front, not playing that well for them this season, if they're able to strengthen there this summer, that should only really help him next season. So yeah, I mean it's one of the most impressive individual seasons in Premier League history and so he's a rightful winner.
- [12:47]
Duncan Alexander
He is indeed a worthy winner. But we must mention some of the other runners and riders and just to let people know there was a massive majority amongst the athletic writers for Mo Salah. But Alexander Isak of Newcastle and also Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest came in second quite a long way back. Jacob, in terms of Isak, would he have been your player of the year or not?
- [13:13]
Megan Farringer
He wouldn't have been my player of the year. I think I'd have voted for him in the top three probably. This has been his best season for Newcastle. It's been one where he struggled for least of injuries as well. But I mean he's just a player who I think would get into pretty much every team in the world whether it's playing up front or off the left. And he's another one like Salah who both look like they're enjoying it. Salah sort of plays with this joy on his face. Isaac sort of plays this idea like he's just sort of toying with you a little bit. It's almost like a sort of sadistic cruelty with which he enjoys it. Whereas Salah's just a straight up kind of boundless optimism. But both brilliant to watch.
- [13:45]
Duncan Alexander
And Chris Wood, I suppose sort of fits in with your narrative of someone coming from nowhere. And you would have. It would have been great if. Yes. If Nottingham Forest had finished in the Champions League places, for example and he'd been the top scorer in the league. But it has drifted a little bit for him.
- [14:00]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. And I don't think it's totally his fault. We could go into the nitty gritty of what's going on with Forest. But I loved his season. I think if you're a fan of just football and you're a fan of just watching someone come out of the blue and no one expected it. And what's more fun than sort of an unexpected star? But also he's older. He's not just like this young kid who's coming in. It's just something. I don't know. It's wonderful to see and I think it's one of those stories that people can get excited about and watch. Especially in the beginning when it just didn't really make any sense either. Like people kept writing like is this real? Is this actually happening? And he kept doing it, which, I.
- [14:34]
Jacob Whitehead
Mean, he started scoring goals a little bit like the original Ronaldo for a bit. And you could make that comparison and it did seem ridiculous. But he sort of was doing that.
- [14:42]
Ryan Reynolds
And it wasn't just the headers. He was doing some really technical stuff. And I guess the cliche with him was always he was just lump it up, big man kind of stuff. But that wasn't the type of goals he was scoring regularly. So that was also really great to kind of see him constantly kind of defying everyone's expectations of him.
- [15:00]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah. And he's now the top scorer at both Burnley and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. I mean, it's probably not the double that kids grow up dreaming of, but it's still a valid thing that he's got tucked on his resume.
- [15:12]
Duncan Alexander
We will move away from our Player of the Year and we're going to head into our Young Player of the Year and as we mentioned before, it is voted for by subscribers. So thanks very much for getting involved in that. Our young Player of the Year in the Premier League is Aston Villa's Morgan Rodgers. So congratulations to him. Tell us why he has finished above the rest, Duncan.
- [15:35]
Jacob Whitehead
Well, it's obviously been a pretty good season for Villa. I mean, you know, they obviously could have got to the Cup Final. They maybe could have knocked out Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, but overall, I think it's a very solid season for them. And he's probably been their most impressive player. I mean, he's come from sort brought in to someone that Unai Emery really relies on. And the way he moves with the ball, you kind of don't really see players carry the ball the way he does centrally much anymore. Kind of almost like a throwback to someone like Paul Gascoign back in the day. I think only sort of five or six players have carried the ball further than him in the Premier League this season. He's the first player in Champions League history to scored twice in the first five minutes of a game. He's sort of become their sort of clutch player, really. And I think a player that other people on the Villa team really look at as someone they can sort of drive them forward and change matches, which, given his inexperience, he's from that same sort of youth team as Cole Palmer obviously did very well last season. And yeah, I mean, I think he's only going to sort of flourish further and probably play many more times for.
- [16:34]
Duncan Alexander
England as well, playing beyond his years, isn't he?
- [16:37]
Megan Farringer
Yeah, totally. And you can see that from the trust that Emery puts in him. Like, this isn't a manager who just sends a team out and asks them to go and play and express themselves. He's someone who has these really exacting instructions and there's loads of competition in this area of the pitch for Aston Villa. And the fact is, I think he's the second most outfield minutes in the whole Villa team. I think only Teleman's ahead of him and only narrowly so. The fact that here, Rodgers at this age is trusted to basically be the implementator. Is that a word of his instructions?
- [17:06]
Duncan Alexander
I like that.
- [17:07]
Megan Farringer
And the other thing is just kind of on the eye test. It's what he does in his first few seconds on the ball. It feels like he takes it and it's an immediate positive touch forward. I liked what Duncan was saying about he moves slightly different. He's just sort of always swaying when he has it, which I quite like. He's always balanced, but never perfectly balanced on two feet and steady, but it always works. He takes that touch forward and beats a player or brings someone else into play. Opens up his body gorgeously to receive on his back footloads as well. Lovely silhouette to him.
- [17:34]
Jacob Whitehead
Rodgers, good feet, still going. Rogers, it's good play and he's still going. Pulls it across. Excellent run from Rodgers.
- [17:46]
Megan Farringer
The other thing I just wanted to mention about him, which I think we might get on some other players who this applies to as well, is just quite how well the EFL still prepares players to actually come in and immediately perform in the Premier League. Like maybe talk about Liam de Lapp later, for example. But he's another one who's immediately come in and looked to the Manorborn. But I think Rodgers is the perfect example of that. And when we talk about physicality being a really good part of his game now, as well as all of his technical skill that's been honed lower down to divisions and is why in a way, I think English football has so much of an advantage over other leagues we may see see around Europe.
- [18:17]
Duncan Alexander
Let's just talk about a couple of other contenders. In second place was Arsenal's Miles Lewis Skelly. I think he would have been a lot of people's pick, wouldn't he?
- [18:27]
Jacob Whitehead
Well, I think this goes back to the point we made about football seasons being long. I think if we'd have done this at a halfway point, most people have been like, sorry, who? Whereas I think did it for the second half of the season, I think, you know, his levels of improvement have been extraordinary. The way he played in both legs against Real Madrid, you know, to go to the Bernabeu age 18 and not just handle it, but kind of look like he enjoyed it, you know, sort of filming, speaking to his mum before the game. And it just looked like, you know, casually trotting out the Bernabeu to play Real Madrid is the most natural thing. But yeah, I think he's clearly a great talent. I mean, possibly in the future he's probably going to play midfield, but I think he's brought that sort of, you know, inverted full backs are very en vogue and he's able to do that because he is essentially a midfielder. But he does it in a way that maybe someone like Zinchenko, when he plays a full back, does look a little bit physically overawed. Whereas Louis Skelly can handle players. He's got a really, really good way of sort of receiving the ball and turning and holding off an opponent and, you know, either getting away or winning a foul. So yeah, it's been a real bright spot in a season for Arsenal that hasn't really gone the way they hoped.
- [19:37]
Rob McElhenney
This episode is supported by FX's welcome to Wrexham Rob McElhenny and Ryan Reynolds. Welsh Football Club has made history, becoming first team ever to achieve three consecutive promotions. Watch history unfold this season as Wrexham climbs higher in the pyramid with their eyes set on the Championship League, the stakes get higher with a new level of intensity, competition and costs. FX's welcome to Wrexham Thursdays on FX, stream on Hulu. 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 and 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 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, 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.
- [21:21]
Caitlin Clark
Welcome to Money Moves brought to you by Amazon Business. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has continued to make her team the hottest ticket in the wnba. Indiana led the league in attendance for the first time in history last season, with the bump not only occurring in Indy, but on the road too. This season the Fever are set to play road games inside larger arenas against the Chicago sky and Washington Mystics. And if you can't get tickets, don't worry. You'll be like millions of other fans who now watch the Fever on tv. Last season six different television partners set viewership records with all six coming in the Fevers games. Championship expectations now follow the team, but a business boom does too. Bring your vision to life with smart business buying tools and technology from Amazon Business. From fast free shipping to in depth buying insights and automated purchase approvals, we deliver everything you need to achieve your goals. It's not easy to send out from the crowd. Simplify how you stock up to get ahead. Go to amazonbusiness.com for support.
- [22:32]
Duncan Alexander
It is time now to move on to our Manager of the Year and this was hotly contested. Once again voted by the athletic writers and our Manager of the Season is Nottingham Forest's Nuno Espirito Santo. Duncan, I'll come to you first. Why is he our Manager of the Season?
- [22:57]
Jacob Whitehead
Well, the raw facts are Forest finished 17th last season. A lot of people had them as possible relegation candidates this season and we don't know where they're going to finish, but they've still got a pretty good chance of getting to the Champions League. They're going to be in Europe. He's going to take them back into Europe. First manager to do that since Frank Clark back in the mid-90s. So in terms of extraordinary improvement to a team, it's one of the best upticks we've seen for a long time and it's been built on an incredibly strong defence. Only Liverpool have kept more clean sheets. He's got like an incredibly strong foundation. And then as we talked about Chris Wood, players like him and Elanga and Gibbs White, they can do what they do further up the pitch. But it's been really impressive and I don't really, if Forest don't make the Champions League, I don't think it undermines what he's done and I don't think it undermines their season. I think to Finish in the top seven is still really impressive. And yeah, he's had a funny career, hasn't he? Because obviously he did have that few months at spurs and it didn't really work out, but what he did at Wolves, you know, really established them as a Premier League team. And now at Forest really marks him out as almost like the perfect upper mid table Premier League manager. And I think he deserves the plaudits.
- [24:08]
Duncan Alexander
Megan, from your point of view, I can bring in, you know, the. Arne Slott finished second, Eddie Howe finished third. That said, do you think that Nuno Espirito Santo is in the right position as the winner of this award?
- [24:19]
Ryan Reynolds
I feel like I'm going to get people in my DMs. I actually agree, I agree with Duncan. It's that relative comparison of 17th up to where they are now and also doing it with the team that he has. It's. I don't want to call it a motley crew because that is an insult. These are still Premier League players and they're still very, very good. But I probably wouldn't compare the Forest squad to, let's say Liverpool squad. They are two different squads and to be within top three for quite a long time is something. And I think one of my favorite things about Nuno and when you read about players who speak about him is that ability of him to kind of instill in them this idea of it's us versus the world. And I think he had this sort of quote about making habit and so constantly doing the same things on the pitch, making sure that it just becomes second nature. But then I think it's not just about like, oh, passes become second nature. It's that idea of like, what your mentality is has become second. Nature. And I think he does that really, really well. I think a club like Forest responded well to that kind of management style, whereas maybe spurs didn't. I just think this is kind of, yeah, a perfect collision, I guess, of a squad and a manager bringing in.
- [25:24]
Duncan Alexander
The, the managers that he's beaten. Does you know the fact that he has converted Nottingham Forest from a side that finished 17th to one that is, you know, chasing European football? Is that a bigger achievement than coming in after a legacy manager like Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool or bouncing back like Eddie Howe has into the Champions League? Do you think that he's a worthy winner? I'm not trying to talk him, I'm not trying to talk Nuno out of this award. I'm just playing devil's advocate when we.
- [25:53]
Megan Farringer
Think about wage Bill being such a predictor of how well a team does, I think, yes, of course, Forest have signed a lot of players, but I still think they're about 14th or 15th in that. And let's say that they finished sixth or seventh this season. That's an absolutely huge over performance. You sometimes get underperformances. If we're looking at Tottenham, perhaps or Manchester United, but that level of over performance, there's a nice throwback, I think, to Arne Slotting. The idea of a manager just coming in, no signings, no excuses and just going in and Biff winning the league in the first hit is quite good. I think that Eddie Howe is still chronically underrated. And the other thing I wanted to mention was in the second half of the season, if this was just an award for sort of 20, 25, we'd have all sorts of managers come into it. We've had managers like David Moyes and Vita Pereira who have come in halfway through, who've done an absolutely brilliant job since coming in at taking their teams away from the relegation zone. We've had Glasner at Crystal palace over recent months. It really shows, I think, how these peaks and troughs of the season unfold. And to go back to Duncan's earlier point about how long it is, I think at various points, and especially maybe if you let the season go on another month or so, you could probably get about six or seven names into there. It's generally been a really high quality.
- [26:59]
Ryan Reynolds
Season of coaching and just a quick one. But a lot of times the conversation around management is about sticking to your philosophy or not. And Nuno has been pretty tactically flexible. I know he's still got a philosophy and a style that he's still trying to do, but on the whole he has been really flexible. I think he went to a back three for the first time in his Premier League career. With Forest this season, he's told Sells the goalkeeper to like try to change up, like his style of kicking from the back. And I don't know, I just. I think that that's really important too, if you're going to become like a manager who's going to compete in the top half while also having like a lower budget squad. You have to be able to adapt and be more flexible. And I think that's something he's probably learned over the last couple of management careers that he's had. So I really like that aspect of him too.
- [27:40]
Duncan Alexander
Let's move on now to our team of the year. And this was once again voted by Our writers. I'm going to get Duncan to run us through. Maybe the goalkeeper in the back four. Do you fancy doing that for me?
- [27:51]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, I can do that.
- [27:52]
Duncan Alexander
Can you do it in a sort of a football reporter voice?
- [27:55]
Jacob Whitehead
I don't know actually I've never tried that. Okay. In our team of the season. In goal, Matt Sells as mentioned by Megan a minute ago, from right back across to left back. Let's go. Trent Alexander Arnold Gabriel, the goal scoring machine Virgil van Dijk, title winning captain and the Bournemouth left back Milos Kirkass.
- [28:14]
Duncan Alexander
Do we have any. Do we have any sort of disagreements over that that goalkeeper and back four. Before we move on to the. To the midfield is there any other contenders that you'd like to throw into the mix? Jacob?
- [28:24]
Megan Farringer
I definitely agree with the goalkeeper and centre backs. I think on the full backs I think there are quite a few different players who could potentially come into it. I'm not. Kirk is. I like but I'm not.
- [28:36]
Duncan Alexander
Right. So this is basically Trent Beef from Jacob. What's the problem?
- [28:40]
Megan Farringer
I'm just not certain if this has been his best season in Liverpool colours. Of course he's still a brilliant player and creative and Liverpool are going to miss him.
- [28:47]
Duncan Alexander
But can you fight his corner?
- [28:49]
Jacob Whitehead
I think to Jacob's point I don't think it's his best season by a long shot but still the numbers are decent and I don't think it's been a great year for full backs in the Premier League. You know look at City have ended up with like midfielders playing at full back. I think Jurrien Timber's probably got a good shout of being the right back of the season. But we're not going to be able to get Trent in there next year, are we? So we might as well get him in now.
- [29:10]
Duncan Alexander
He might plop into our European.
- [29:11]
Jacob Whitehead
We just don't know.
- [29:12]
Duncan Alexander
We don't know.
- [29:13]
Jacob Whitehead
We don't know.
- [29:13]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I was going to say kind of on the basis of the other fullbacks in the competition. While it hasn't been his best season, it probably hasn't been the best season for other fullbacks. So I'd still argue that he's probably had the best and he's popped up with really important goals. As much as Liverpool fans want to boo him right now, there have been some like very important goals and even the goal to clinch the title. That's Trent so. Or Trent Alexander Arnold. I don't like calling him Trent. I feel like that's really weird. I don't know. It's like I Don't know him over familiar.
- [29:41]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [29:41]
Ryan Reynolds
But anyways, like, that's where I think he. He has had a really good season. I think that deserves to be acknowledged. And I know everyone's going to talk about his schoolboy defending and. And whatever, but I still think what he brings to the table offensively outweighs whatever negative defending people are going to moan about.
- [29:55]
Jacob Whitehead
I think his defending has actually been better this season as well than it has been because he hasn't been as attacking under slot. I mean, we talked at the start about sort of memorable moments. Him putting his shirt on the corner flag at Leicester. Tick, memorable moment. And then do you remember that pass he played away at West Ham where he's sort of outside of the foot and dissected, you know, two players and that's what he can do. I mean, you know, in a sense, football's about memories and special moments and he still comes up with quite a lot.
- [30:23]
Duncan Alexander
He's made for real Madrid, isn't he, really?
- [30:25]
Jacob Whitehead
He might be if that's where he ends up.
- [30:27]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah, absolutely. Well done. Right, let's rattle through the rest of our team. Jacob, would you like to take our midfield?
- [30:34]
Megan Farringer
Sure. We have Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch and then Arsenal's Declan Rice. For me, the biggest omission is I'm surprised there's no Newcastle midfielder in there. I think as a unit, they're arguably even the strongest unit, I think in the league as a trio. So for me, if I want the sort of team of season to be a bit of a story of season, I'd maybe replace Graven Birch with either Guimar Reyes or Sandro Tonali, who I think have been excellent.
- [30:58]
Duncan Alexander
And our forward three is our three that were in contention for the player of the season. You can run us through those, Megan.
- [31:07]
Ryan Reynolds
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Newcastle's Alexander Isak and Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood.
- [31:13]
Duncan Alexander
Okay, we have completed our Premier League lineup. Our European awards will be coming up a little bit later on, but next we're going to be focusing on the wsl.
- [31:28]
Jacob Whitehead
The Athletic FC podcast, proudly sponsored by Betfair.
- [31:32]
Duncan Alexander
So this is the part of the show where we look at how teams and players have been playing differently with our partners. Betfair. Alex Boys is here once again, the final weekend then of the Premier League season and really the only show in town is the battle for the European places. What do the numbers tell us as to how we think it's going to go then?
- [31:53]
Alex Boys
Yeah, it's the only Part of the Premier League puzzle left to solve, isn't it? Who will be joining Liverpool, Arsenal and Now of course 17th place spurs in next season's Champions League. We've got five sides competing for three spots and the added spice of Forest hosting Chelsea at the City Ground is one of the fixes this weekend. We'll come on to that game in a moment. But looking at the odds on the Betfair sportsbook, first and foremost the market is predicting man City at 33 to 1 on to do the business at Fulham and qualify. They of course only need a point to do so. Newcastle one to five. The Magpies. They're at home to Everton on Sunday. They have to bounce back from that defeat at Arsenal last week. And Isaac may miss this game as well through injury. Chelsea there 47 to be playing champions League football ahead of Villa who are odds against at 6 to 5. To qualify, Villa of course head to Old Trafford. They'll fully expect to take three points there, you'd imagine following Man United's Europa League defeat on Wednesday. And then Forest, the surprise package. They're now 7:2 to make it into the top five. Not only do they need to beat Chelsea, they of course need some results to go their way too. But they're very much in this mix. You know, it shouldn't be lost that they are guaranteed to post the highest top flight finish since 1995, regardless of what happens. And to that game we go now Chelsea, they won three two here last season. But that is Chelsea's only winning five Premier League games since Forest were promoted a couple of years ago. And Forest have scored in each of those meetings as well. And what people maybe don't know is that Forest have the joint best home defence in the Premier league, shipping just 15 times this season, which is the same number as Liverpool. And you've also got the added wrinkle of Matt Sells looking to win the Golden Glove. He's level with David Ray coming to this one. So with all that, where should we look for a bet? For me, Forest, they're bigger than 2 to 1 to win this game. That looks juicy to me anyway. But if we had Forest to win to nil, that jumps up to nine to two and they've beaten Man United, Man City, Spurs, West Ham, even Liverpool and and more all to know this season. So that could be the way to play this one. Whilst for a bet builder Morgan Gibbs White is in fine form in what has been a terrific season, hasn't it for him? He scored in back to back games he was. He was actually booked in each of the four matches before that, too. And at Betfair, we have a score or be show the card market in which he's priced up at 7 to 5. But if you like the idea for him to score and be carded, that's coming out at 14 to 1 on the Betfair sportsbook.
- [34:08]
Duncan Alexander
That was Play different brought to you by Betfair. So now it is time to focus on the Women's Super League. And as we did in the Premier League, we're going to get straight into it and we are going to name our Player of the Year. And why don't I let you name our Player of the Year? Meghan, you go right ahead. Go on.
- [34:31]
Ryan Reynolds
So Player of the Year is Arsenal's Alessia Russo. It's been really contentious this year who's been winning Player of the Year. But Alessia Russo's had a phenomenal season, and it's worth remembering that she had an absolutely terrible start to this season, especially like it was during sort of the fracas of the Jonas Aideville end of his tenure at Arsenal. She could not find the back of the net no matter how hard she tried. And then suddenly she went on this run of four that was impeccable. And we started to see the Alessia Russo that you'd see kind of in snippets throughout the last couple of years. But this was just kind of next level for her. I think she's ultimately the reason why Arsenal sort of got back up to near Chelsea. They're in the Champions League and they're in the Champions League final against Barcelona. I thought she's been absolutely wonderful this season.
- [35:15]
Duncan Alexander
Who will he fall to?
- [35:16]
Ryan Reynolds
Oh, it's another one had. Alessia Russo has got another one.
- [35:21]
Rob McElhenney
And Arsenal have well and truly turned this around.
- [35:25]
Ryan Reynolds
She's shown a lot of creativity. She's been able to, like, hold the ball up really, really well, bring in the other forwards around her. But ultimately, like, her goal scoring and her finishing this season has been next level. And I don't really think anyone in the Arsenal squad has been able to compare, except for Mariona Cal Dente. She's had a really great season and I think she could have been Player of the season. I don't think anyone would have been upset about that.
- [35:45]
Megan Farringer
Jacob, this really is the classic Fehringer redemption narrative, isn't it? I see why you like that one. It's been pretty open, hasn't it? In the sense of I was looking. Are we allowed to Mention arrival awards, the FWA awards, of course. There's 39 different votes given to players for player of the season on that, which is like a huge number. That's like four teams worth. We drafted that a few weeks back and I guess Megan could probably be able to speak to just kind of how that, I guess, reflects on. It's just been a really open battle, I guess, who's actually going to win it. You could make an argument for so many players.
- [36:14]
Ryan Reynolds
Well, yeah, because Khadijah Shah is also. She's one of these players that should have been in, but then she got horribly injured in the last couple months, about three months ago, and so she just hasn't been able to score. She's actually still level with Alessia Russo for goals scored this season and she's had less matches, so the two of them tied for the golden boot. But she just hasn't been around the last three months and that's kind of where Man City have fallen off. And then. So because Man City's form has fallen off, Khadijah Shaw hasn't been around. You can't necessarily give it to Shaw, despite the fact at the start of the season she was. I thought she was going to be the reason Man City were going to pip Chelsea to the league title. She was playing so, so well. So, yeah, it's been really, really open this whole season. It' also kind of interesting that Chelsea, who've won the title in record form, aren't mentioned really here. And it's because they've. They're like the very cliche epitome of greater than the sum of their parts, which is crazy to think about because they've spent a million dollars on one player and all of their parts are unbelievable and yet none of them, I think none of their forwards got more than four goals this season. So, you know, I think that's where play of the season sometimes is a little bit warped because really Chelsea were the best side here yet. I think Alessio Russo stood out amongst all of it.
- [37:21]
Duncan Alexander
Cal Dente, as you said, could quite easily have won it as well and has chipped in with important goals herself.
- [37:26]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, and then just defensively too, she's been playing a little bit further back than maybe a lot of people expected her to. But the way that she is off the ball and on the ball is, I mean, I think the reason why Arsenal are so kind of terrifying to come up against and play against. I mean, I think her assists and her goals this season are up there with what the forward line should be producing and yet technically she's playing further back. So she's this player that's all around. So if you're gonna go up against her, you don't really know where to sort of force her into because either position she's gonna end up making you hurt in some possible way. So for me and coming in, obviously this is her first WSL season. A lot of people say your first scene in the WSL is gonna be your hardest. I mean she's totally defied that.
- [38:04]
Duncan Alexander
Just for the record, Khadijah Shaw finished second and Cal Dente, as we were discussing, finished third in our poll. So congratulations to Alessia Russo of Arsenal into the Champions League final as well. Let's move on to our young Player of the Year. And you can do the honours as well, Megan.
- [38:23]
Jacob Whitehead
Why not?
- [38:23]
Ryan Reynolds
The young Player of the Year is Liverpool's Olivia Smith. And I absolutely adore watching Olivia Smith play. There's a reason why now so many of the teams in the WSL but also in Europe are looking at taking her away from Liverpool. So she arrived in Liverpool last summer for a then club record fee from Sporting. Not many people sort of expected her to do too much, but she's got this history of coming into a league just lighting it up, taking away records. I mean I think she's won player of the season in almost every single league that she's jumped into. So again, like to go on one young player of the season is kind of on par for her. But the way she plays, she, she puts her head down, she attacks, she terrorizes defenses, she like oozes confidence, but then her touch in front of goal is perfection and sublime. I think all she needs is a tiny, tiny bit of molding, honing and then the next few years she's going to be a really, really special player. And Liverpool too, they didn't have a great season. They sacked manager Matt Beard because they just weren't performing well. There's zero creativity in that team. And Olivia Smith scored seven goals in 20 matches, which doesn't sound like too much, but equally she was producing and creating most of those chances herself. So it's a player who will genuinely take the game by the scruff of its neck. And I think there's a reason why people really like watching her.
- [39:44]
Duncan Alexander
Okay, let's move on to our WSL Manager of the Season award. Meghan, go on, fire away. Keep the run going.
- [39:52]
Ryan Reynolds
It's Chelsea. Sonja Bambasta. Chelsea have won their sixth WSL title this season. Just over the past weekend they did it. It's phenomenal and I know a lot of people are going to probably compare this to Arnes Locke because he didn't win this award and that's fair. But equally sundry ambassadors come in and she's made Chelsea even more terrifying than they were before. Granted, she didn't win the Champions League, they ended up getting knocked out by Barcelona, as Chelsea have historically seemed to always do. And that was ultimately like why she was brought in. But equally to not just win the WSL title once again, but to do so with a record 60 points. Invincible season and she's done it without some pretty big names. Lauren James has been out regularly throughout the season. Sam Kerr hasn't really been in. Guru Reitn's been out as well. They lost Kadisha Buchanan, their central defender, pretty earlier in the season. So she has had to navigate quite a few bumps and she still managed to do an invincible season, winning against all of the top sides as well in wsl. And I know Chelsea fans are really upset that they are very rarely mentioned in much of the team of the season and a lot of the team of the season's award throughout the WSL that are coming out, Chelsea isn't really mentioned too much. So that is also credit to Sonia Bombaster. To create an invincible winning team, but also so to do so without a star player, I think that that is probably one of the biggest compliments and also I think that's kind of winning at football, if you will. I mean, I don't know how much better a manager can be if they can just go, none of you are going to be the main star here. You're all going to work in a perfect solar system. I mean that's amazing for there not to be an actual sun, for there to just be this orbit. I think that's pretty impressive too. So yeah, she definitely deserves this award. 30 to Chelsea.
- [41:34]
Duncan Alexander
Chelsea, the treble. The third trophy for Sonia Monpasso. What a season, what a team and.
- [41:43]
Jacob Whitehead
What a fantastic display today.
- [41:46]
Duncan Alexander
Okay, let's get into our team of the season. And there are three Chelsea representatives in the team of the season. Four from Arsenal, two man City, one from Manchester United and one from Liverpool. Do you want to run us through it and tell us why they're in there along the way?
- [42:00]
Ryan Reynolds
So goalkeeper is Manchester United's Fallon Tulis Joyce. She's replaced Mary Earps at the start of the season and not many people expected her to do as well as she has. The 28 year old is now a US women's national team international because of what she's done with Manchester United. She tied with Chelsea Sanehampton for the Golden Glove this season, but it's the way she's gone about doing it. I think I'm gonna use some nerdy data stuff, but she had like a post shot expected goal. There we go. Of 22.8 in the WSL, which meant she was saving ridiculous shots, whereas Hannah Hampton's was only 15.2. So while they had the same number of clean sheets, Tula's Joyce arguably had like much harder shots to defend. And I think she's the reason why Manchester United are in the Champions League next year. Into our defense, we've got Arsenal's Emily Fox at right back. Chelsea's Millie Bright and Manchester City's Laa Alexandri make up the center back pairing. And then Katie McCabe. Arsenal makes up the the final of the back four. And then when we go to midfield, we've got Arsenal's Mariana Cal Dente, Chelsea's Aaron Cuthbert and Chelsea's weak captain again, Kyle Dente's there because we've already spoken about her. She had a great season, deserves to be in it. Cuthbert very rarely gets the recognition that she deserves, but like her vision, her awareness, her ability to be in the right spaces at the right time. A lot of players, when they talk about who they want in their own team, all of them will mention Aaron Cuthbert in their midfield. So there's a reason why that and then captain had a really great season this time around under Bombasta. She was kind of a new player. Not many people knew what to expect, but she was one of those young players who came in and really, yeah, just stepped into the role and did it seamlessly. And then forward line, you've got Liverpool, Olivia Smith's, Manchester City's Khadijah Shah and Arsenal's Alessia Russo.
- [43:49]
Duncan Alexander
Is there anyone that you think has been missed? Anyone that has a decent shout?
- [43:54]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I personally think Sarah Holmgaard from Everton deserves to be somewhere in that backline. She's had a really great season and Everton have not had a really easy season by any stretch of the imagination, but she's been one of their better creative forces. She's also been great at defending, so I think she's a little bit unlucky not to be mentioned here.
- [44:12]
Megan Farringer
Fullback's such a difficult position to do that from as well when you're in a struggling team and for her to produce so well. And Megan, we mentioned she's done a brilliant piece with Sarah and also her twin Karen as well. Just exploring basically how their syngie have been. They've been assisting each other a ridiculous amount but it's been Sarah Holmgard who's really stood out. But I'd also like to see in the back line.
- [44:32]
Duncan Alexander
Okay, so that completes our rundown of WSL awards and next it is our men's European stars.
- [44:46]
Rob McElhenney
This episode is supported by FX's welcome to Wrexham. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. Welsh Football Club has made history, becoming the first team ever to achieve three consecutive consecutive promotions. Watch history unfold this season as Wrexham climbs higher in the pyramid with their eyes set on the Championship league. The stakes get higher with a new level of intensity, competition and costs. FX's welcome to Wrexham Thursdays on FX, stream on Hulu 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 offerings 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 your first bet on any game and claim your voucher for a one year subscription. Description 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 467369 in New York, call 1-800- NEXT STEP in Arizona, 1-800-327-5050 in 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 TheAthletic and you'll get a one year subscription to the Athletic plus up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager.
- [46:30]
Caitlin Clark
Welcome to Money Moves, brought to you by Amazon Business. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has continued to make her team the hottest ticket in the wnba. Indiana led the league in attendance for the first time in history last season, with the bump not only occurring in Indy, but on the road too. This season the Fever are set to play road games inside larger arenas against the Chicago sky and Washington Mystics. And if you can't get tickets, don't worry. You'll be like millions of other fans who now watch the Fever on tv. Last season, six different television partners set viewership records with all six coming in the Fevers games. Championship expectations now follow the team, but a business boom does too. Bring your vision to life with smart business buying tools and technology from Amazon Business. From fast free shipping to in depth buying insights and automated purchase approvals, we deliver everything you need to achieve your goals. It's not easy to send out from the crowd. Simplify how you stock up to get ahead. Go to amazonbusiness.com for support.
- [47:41]
Duncan Alexander
Okay, let's start this European men's section with our Player of the Year reminder. This was voted for by the Athletic FC writers. Our European Player of the Year is Barcelona's Raphinha.
- [48:00]
Rob McElhenney
Ferrari is for Barcelona running right in the classical.
- [48:07]
Jacob Whitehead
It's him again.
- [48:09]
Duncan Alexander
Why is he the player of the year? Duncan, he's very good at football. That'll do, thank you very much. Let's move on now. Carry on.
- [48:16]
Jacob Whitehead
But I think people always knew Raphinha was good at football, but maybe not to this extent. I mean, as it stands, he's scored or assisted 56 goals in all competitions this season, which yes, he plays for one of the most ridiculously attacking teams I've ever seen, I think. But. But at the same time, he's amongst many other good players. He's really turning up every week and he's almost in a very young team. He's taken on a bit of a leadership role as well. I think people saw this coming. I think he always felt a bit like a signing at Barcelona where he was kind of brought in in a transfer window where they couldn't really attract the biggest names. I mean, we'll see if it's sustainable, but it's one of the great, great seasons. I guess it's a shame he couldn't quite fire them to the Champions League final, but he did almost do that with that late goal at Inter.
- [48:58]
Duncan Alexander
Just to let you know, the second place in that was our player of the Year in the Premier League. Mo Salah and then Ousmane Dembele and Lamina finished joint third. So disappointment for Lamine Yamal finishing third in the Player of The year. Let's name our young player of the year, though, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, everything's come up roses for Barcelona's Lamine Yamal. 17 years young. He turns 18 in July, and no surprise here that he is the young player of the year.
- [49:33]
Ryan Reynolds
He'll finally be able to get a.
- [49:34]
Rob McElhenney
Curling shot up and score for Barca.
- [49:38]
Duncan Alexander
The big bad for the big occasion. Lamin.
- [49:42]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah, I think a lot of people might have had him as player of the year. I mean, he's ridiculously consistent, he's ridiculously talented. I mean, I mean, that first leg against Inter was one of those performances where I think people that don't even like football could have sat down and watched that game and gone, oh, this guy. His kind of ability to dribble past players is probably the best we've seen since Messi. And I don't think Messi was as good as Yamal is at this age. We can't see his legacy, we can't see his longevity at the moment. But if he stays fit, which is a big question if you played this amount of games when you are 17, but that's another question, then he is on track to be one of the greatest players of all time. And there's kind of no higher praise in that, really. He's the sort of player that you watch and you're like, they can do anything. And it's genuinely thrilling to watch him.
- [50:25]
Ryan Reynolds
Also in, like, the era of social media where you're constantly scrolling and you want that, like, immediate dopamine hit.
- [50:30]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah.
- [50:30]
Ryan Reynolds
Watching him for 90 minutes, you. You get that, which you don't normally get. Like, that's kind of football's big existential crisis right now, where, like, FIFA's trying to figure out is, okay, how do we keep, like, getting the young people involved? Like, just watch lemiene Mall for 90 minutes and you constantly feel like you were just getting a highlights rule, which is just really special because you don't usually tend to get that. But I remember the Inter game. I just sat there with my mouth open the whole time, just shocked by what this kid was doing. And I know we worship him a lot, and the rest of his team is also really important. But for someone to constantly feel like he has to be worshiped in the way that he is, that is telling of what his talent is to build.
- [51:08]
Megan Farringer
On what Megan was saying. Yes, he's this highlight player, and we think back to someone who emerged at 17, 18 with similar sort of skill set. Someone like Neymar Yamal, I think, is far Better in the sense that all of his skills are so functional. You see the end point of it, there's nothing being done for the sake of the skill itself. It is all with the aim of getting, of scoring, of having an assist. He's quite say that's an example. I think generally he's pretty unselfish. The amount of times that he clips it to the back post. What's really kind of, in a way shocking about this award is did you say quite how young he is? I mean, he could qualify for this for the next three or four years. He's not up against weak opposition at all. I mean, Desiree Douay could win this quite easily. Joao Neves at psg, there's so many in the fact that it's just so cut and dried. I think if anyone voted for anyone other than Lamin Meow, I'd sort of look at them and Boggle a little bit.
- [51:55]
Duncan Alexander
Well, you mentioned Douay and Shah Neves and they were number two and number three. So they were in the mix, but they were beaten by the better man who is only, well, only active.
- [52:07]
Jacob Whitehead
Not a man.
- [52:08]
Duncan Alexander
He's actually going to just be a man this summer. Let's move on to our manager of the season and it is Paris Saint Germain's manager, Luis Enrique. Domestic success in France, but into the final of the Champions League and quite rightly that there, Megan.
- [52:26]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I think 100%, especially because this PSG team, historically, even someone who maybe is coming into football late or, or might not know too much about it, everyone would associate PSG with just these like high profile star players, you know, people that aren't necessarily clicking or whatever. But he's come in and change that and he's turned them into, again use the phrase like a greater sum of their parts. I think as well, like listening to different podcasts and reading different things about him, it's that, that ability that he came in and he said, okay, these are the things you have to do. And I heard that he makes him sign in before practice, you know, things that you would do with school children when they're 12, because you need to put in a little bit of discipline. And he's done that at psg and it seems like everyone's really bought in. I think it takes a lot for a manager to come in and do that at a club like psg and I know that that's psg. They're trying to change the whole model and their whole philosophy and their ethos, but to find a manager that is Willing to do that. Not only willing to do that, but has executed it in the way that he has. I think it's phenomenal.
- [53:22]
Duncan Alexander
And it's right that he's finishing above Hansi Flick in second and Simone Inzaghi of Inter in third.
- [53:28]
Megan Farringer
I'd have gone for Inzaghi personally.
- [53:30]
Duncan Alexander
Oh really?
- [53:30]
Megan Farringer
I really rate Lewis, Enrique and I mean I remember being in the Santa when Newcastle ripped him apart and thinking this guy's not going to turn this around and how quickly they've done that. But Inzaghi doesn't have some of the luxuries which Enrique has. He's in a really tight and well fought Serie A. He can't rest players. He can't optimize his players in a way for the Champions League. He came into that semi final against Barcelona having lost three games in a row and they still turned out and put in that performance. He can't spend money at the same rate that some of the other European super clubs can. Like some of their key players are free transfers who people thought their careers were basically done. I mean like Henrik Mkhitary and what he's done with him. Hakan Chaninoglou. Not many people wanted Marcus Turam and look what he's done with all of them. And he plays with this great distinct style. Like it's really imaginative what he gets his center backs to do. Like a Serbia at 37 bursting forward into the box and still managing to get back to Kobe cover and not even for the goal, just in terms of her actual normal patterns of play. I think he's been so impressive and if Inter Milan can cap it off with Serie A title, I think for me I'd.
- [54:33]
Jacob Whitehead
Jacob sort of convinced me actually. I actually think we should use.
- [54:36]
Duncan Alexander
Do we need to re record?
- [54:37]
Jacob Whitehead
Yeah. Scrap everything. No, I think ring up UEFA. It's not the Champions League final, it's the athletic European manager of the Year playoff. That's what it now is.
- [54:45]
Duncan Alexander
Right, let's go through our. Our team of the season. We have five representatives from Ligue 1, all from Paris Saint Germain, three from the Premier League, two from La Liga and one from Serie A. Ingol Tibor Courtois anyone? Any complaints on Courtois being in goal?
- [55:04]
Megan Farringer
Not a complaint. Just a mention for Milei Civila at Roma who has been outstanding.
- [55:09]
Duncan Alexander
Is that a bit hipster there or.
- [55:10]
Jacob Whitehead
Are we a bit hipster but we'll allow it. I mean Regency Byers is online too saying, you know, Donnarumma and Jan Sommer are both. Both excellent goalkeepers. So I think it's been quite a good season for goalkeeping, actually, and we talked earlier about them not being outstanding full backs in some divisions, but I think goalkeeping has generally been in fine.
- [55:30]
Duncan Alexander
Fetal back four Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint Germain, Alessandro Bastoni of Inter, Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool and Nuno Mendes of Paris Saint Germain. Are we happy with that?
- [55:42]
Megan Farringer
I'm pleased that Bastoni has got his flowers here because he's a player who sometimes is ignored. Not ignored, that's not fair. But he's a player who often isn't talked about at the very top level of European centre backs when I think he should be. Over the last three years, he's been so consistent and see him kind of really flourish into this leadership role even amid such sort of, I guess, experienced centre backs where he's the leader. He'll be doing it with Italy, I think, for the next decade. So, yeah, it's good to see him in this company, I'd say, for the first time at the end of the season.
- [56:08]
Duncan Alexander
In the midfield, Pedri of Barcelona, Vitinia of Paris Saint Germain and Declan Rice of Arsenal. Any controversy there?
- [56:19]
Jacob Whitehead
I don't think so. I think Pedri's, like, you know, phenomenally underrated, even though he's, you know, well regarded because he's so. So calm, so metronomic and brilliant. Obviously, Declan Rice has been outstanding. His display of both Real Madrid games was, you know, extraordinary. I mean, those two free kicks will live long in the memory. Fatini is obviously the really interesting one, given that, you know, he was in England at Wolves, scored a good goal against Chorley in the FA Cup. Not sure that would have got him into this team, but, you know, really has just been an extraordinary presence in the middle of that PSG midfield. So.
- [56:50]
Ryan Reynolds
And there's that story too, of, was it Messi who looked at him and was like, oh, sorry, you're not very good, when he was at some PSG practice, and now here he is in the team of the season. Obviously, that's his biggest accolade. But also, yeah, what he's managed to do, which I just find that hysterical. The idea of, like, Messi turning to you and saying, you're not very good. I would have withered on the spot. I would never have continued playing.
- [57:11]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah, that could quite easily kill a career.
- [57:13]
Jacob Whitehead
I'd have got out the FA cup goals of the month. But, yeah, each their own, right?
- [57:17]
Duncan Alexander
And our front three, Mo Salah of Liverpool, Ousmane Dembele of Paris Saint Germain and Raphinha of Barcelona, who was our European Player of the year. Is there any other shouts or are we okay with that front three?
- [57:31]
Megan Farringer
You could always have Lumino Alen there, but it's deciding who goes, isn't it?
- [57:34]
Duncan Alexander
Absolutely. Would you, would you have Lamine Yamal in that European team of the Year? If you consider the impact that he's had and obviously yet still doing it as a 17 year old. But also you would want to watch him. If you had an opportunity to build the team, you'd have him in that team, wouldn't you?
- [57:51]
Jacob Whitehead
You would. I mean, it's him or Salah, I guess, in that position. And you could argue that if this is European team, that Yamal got Barcelona much further into the Champions League than Salah did with Liverpool. I mean, Salah was a bit disappointing in the PSG game. So.
- [58:05]
Duncan Alexander
Yeah, okay, so who are you picking?
- [58:06]
Jacob Whitehead
I'd probably go Yamal.
- [58:08]
Megan Farringer
Yeah.
- [58:08]
Duncan Alexander
Well, that is all we've got time for. Thank you very much to Megan, to Jacob and to Duncan for guiding us through all of those awards. And you can read much more about all of our 2024, 25 season awards winners right now with dedicated articles on the chosen men and women who have finished on top. Just check out the Athletic on the website and the app. Thank you very much for listening and watching on YouTube and we'll catch you again soon.
- [58:37]
Jacob Whitehead
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast.
- [58:39]
Rob McElhenney
The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroo and Jay Beal.
- [58:42]
Jacob Whitehead
The executive producer was Aidy Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.
- [59:01]
Ryan Reynolds
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Jacob Whitehead
It'S fast delivery for last minute watch.
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Ryan Reynolds
Scenes content between games. For me, following the leak isn't a.
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Jacob Whitehead
Hobby, it's a full time passion.
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Rob McElhenney
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Ryan Reynolds
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