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- [00:02]
A
The athletic fc. Welcome, everyone, to the Athletic FC's end of season awards for the 20, 25, 26 season. It's time to celebrate the best of the best across the Premier League, the Women's Super League and Europe as well. We're going to be naming our player, young player, manager and team of the season in our respective categories. And alongside me to go through it all in is Duncan Alexander. How are you?
- [00:33]
B
Hello. Good, thank you.
- [00:34]
A
Excellent. Megan Feringer is here as well.
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C
Hi.
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A
All set?
- [00:38]
C
Yeah, all good.
- [00:39]
A
Good. And Tim Spears.
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D
Hello.
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A
How are you?
- [00:42]
D
Great.
- [00:42]
A
Great to see you.
- [00:43]
D
You too.
- [00:44]
A
Before we get into the awards, there are quite a lot of them. I just wanted to check in with each of you about your moments of the season. And that can be good, bad or indifferent. Let's start with you, Duncan.
- [00:58]
D
Yours.
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B
Kind of a split decision, I think, in terms of a moment where you watch it and you're like, well, this is going to be replayed many times in the future on Premier League years and things like that. I think Max Downwind's goal against Everton.
- [01:11]
A
Yeah.
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B
Because a, it's rare to see a goal when you know a player's going to score for, you know, 8 to 12 seconds before they do it. And it was such a huge goal in the context of, you know, a career that we expect to be pretty stellar. So that was quite special. I know a lot of people that were there that said it was, you know, really kind of amaz moment. On the flip side, a moment I was at was Bolton Wanderers v. Wicker Mondras, where Wickham were 2n up with two minutes to go and lost 3 2, which is the first time that's ever happened in the Premier League or efl. So again, realized I was witnessing history. Didn't like it quite as much.
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A
Yeah, yeah, I can see why. Megan, yours.
- [01:51]
C
It's more of just a sweeping moment, but Man City winning the wsl, just having a new WSL winner, it's just been really refreshing. Like every year we have to write the same piece. How like, great Chelsea are. So, yeah, my moment is Man City just finally getting over the line because we've had a lot of conversations about bottling in the Arsenal men's side, but Man City have done that quite a few times in the last few years.
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A
Does feel a bit weird to be celebrating Manchester City winning, though. They've had enough of that, haven't they?
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C
On the men's side, not the women's.
- [02:18]
A
Yeah. Okay, good. Okay.
- [02:20]
D
And Tim, like Tonki said, when it dawns on you that something special is happening as you're watching it. I would say when Paul Tierney looked to camera as the Chelsea players were surrounded and gave a little like David Brent kind of wink, I was like, we're never going to forget this moment.
- [02:36]
A
That was classic. Very much so. North London as well has had a mixed time as well this season. So I think my moment would be just watching the bitter despair of Tottenham and that goes all the way, obviously, until the last day of the season. Meanwhile, Arsenal are loving life, so I guess those would be my picks for the at the moments of the season.
- [02:59]
D
Looking forward to the comment section on this one, this particular podcast. Yeah, well, you know the season. Spurs been miserable.
- [03:05]
A
Okay. Right, let's get stuck into our winners for this seventh annual awards. We've been doing this for seven years. I remember the first one I did, it was during lockdown and I was dressed up in a tuxedo from the waist up and I was in my kitchen doing this. So it's good to be in the studio doing this one. Let's start with our Premier League Player of the Year. Is it going to go to one of the title winners? Is it going to go to one of the runners up or is it going to go elsewhere? Who knows? We do. It is going to go to the athletics. Premier League Player of the Year goes to Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes. So many congratulations to the man himself. And before we get the panel's thoughts, let's hear from him. Hi, everyone, it's Bruno here. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone at Athletic that voted for me as Player of the Year. I really appreciate that. I'm very happy with it and let's try to keep it up and make more beautiful murmurs in next season. Why has Bruno won it, Duncan?
- [04:12]
B
Well, the simple answer is that he has equaled one of the Premier League's most iconic records, the assist record set By Thierry Henry 200203 Back when assists were a newish concept and then equaled by Kevin de Bruyne in 2019. 20. So those two players, obviously iconic Premier League players. And then. Yeah, to do that in a season where United have been very much a mixed bag, particularly a season where Bruno Fernandes played for half of it sort of as a defensive slash box to box midfielder.
- [04:45]
A
Have you got the breakdown of like his, his Amarim Carrick data?
- [04:51]
B
Yeah. So he got seven of the assists under Amarim, one under Michael Carrick. Sorry, I'll say again. He got seven of the assists Under Amaram, one in the brief Darren Fletcher era that we all remember fondly.
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A
Yeah.
- [05:03]
B
And then the rest of them, 12 of them under. Under Carrick. So, yeah, definitely the position he's playing under Carrick has really opened that up. And I do think that obviously you can't assist without having good players in front of you. And United's business last summer, they probably. We can now say who won the transfer window and it probably was Manchester United. I mean, all of their players they signed last summer have pretty much come good. I know Mbuemo ended the season a bit. A bit waywardly, but those players in front of Fernandez have kind of given him that opportunity to be the creator that we always knew he kind of was. And I think he's really relished it. And it's also been quite good. I think he's done interviews where he's really said that it's been a target for him. Now, I know some people have said that shouldn't be a target for a professional footballer, but I think, you know, it's a sort of landmark moment that should be recognised.
- [05:51]
A
Yeah, I suppose people would argue it's an individual target rather than a team target, but thankfully for Manchester United, they have risen again and they're back in the, you know, the mix for Champions League football. Do you think that it benefited Bruno not having European football this season?
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D
Yeah, absolutely benefited him and Man United, but, yeah, I think he's a very deserving winner. I don't agree that it has to necessarily be a player who's won the league or been in the title race. He's been head and shoulders above any other Man United player and creative players in the league. The list of chances created from open play by all players, I'm going to give you the top five.
- [06:27]
A
Oh, yeah, go on there.
- [06:28]
D
Sirky's in fifth with 50. Then there's three players on 57. Chances created from open play. That's Enzo Fernandez, Doku and Foreign Wirtz on 57. Bruno Fernandes top on 95. Yeah, I mean, it's just. And that's open play. It's not. It's not set pieces, which I think would make a difference. So you can't argue with that record. It's phenomenal.
- [06:48]
A
This one was voted for by our writers here at the Athletic. And just to let you know, Bruno Fernandes got over 50%. Just above 50%. Are you happy with this, Megan?
- [06:59]
C
Yeah, I was one of the 50 percenters, so, yeah, I definitely voted for him. I also got a picture with him last night, so that was pretty cool. He's really nice. Like, I think every, like, you know, on the pitch, he can be like. People might have their opinions of him and stuff, but as a human being, he's awesome. We took a picture and they looked at it and asked if we could take it again because he said that the lighting should have been better. Like, what a guy.
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D
Well, yeah.
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C
What an assist.
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A
Excellent.
- [07:22]
B
I mean, Andy Mitten did a good piece for the Athletic recently about Fernandez and his impact at the club. You know, he's the captain and he is. Yeah, he can be a bit obstreperous on the pitch, but he off the field is an amazing captain, helpful to younger players, really good at sort of liaison with supporters. So I think, yeah, he's a good guy. And it feels like this, you know, end of the season is kind of, you know, a reward for a very tricky start.
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D
And he's cut down on a lot of that stuff. You know, the wine in the play at him. I feel like he's really taken the responsibility of being Man United's captain on his shoulders. And, you know, from what we. From what we know of last summer, he had potentially the option to leave, which would have been quite the blunder on Man United's part if they were willing to sell him, which he kind of suggested they were, but it was him who decided not to take the Saudi money. And. And, yeah, he's reaped the rewards of that. So, Man United.
- [08:17]
A
So congratulations to Bruno Fernandes, the winner of the Premier League Player of the Season, following up his Football Writers Association Award as well. Let's now move on to the WSL Player of the Year, and the honour goes to Khadijah Shaw of Manchester City and Meghan, tell us why.
- [08:40]
C
I mean, there's no other answer, really. Like, Bunny's had such a phenomenal season. She always does. But this is her third successive WSL Golden Boot, and everyone knows her as this very clinical goal scorer. And I think a lot of times she was reduced to just that, as this sort of poacher, this. This very tall, physical presence in the box. And yet this season, I think she's really shown that she has so many different dynamics to her game. She's still an incredible goal scorer, though. Like, she's had. She has 21 goals in the WSL this season. I know she was trying to break to 22, which is the WSL record. And, you know, on the final day, she had a brace against West Ham and there were like, Two opportunities for her to get the ball and her teammates and pass it to her. And you could tell she was a livid because like you, like of all the players to have had that record, you would assume that bunnies had that. She tops the metrics for goals scored for like chances or xg. And then you've got also like the missed chances too. Like she's significantly above everyone else. And I think that's a really important metric to actually be on top of because it shows she's getting in those positions and she's constantly doing it. But I remember there's been a few games I've seen her play and the way she'll drop deep and she'll connect players in front of her and she'll get her wingers involved. I think a lot of people just don't see that side to her game and her passing this season has been really great. I think the new manager, Andre Yeager, deserves a lot of credit for kind of unshackling her even more than we, we've already sort of known her to be. So she's, yeah, head and shoulders the best player in the WCL at the moment.
- [10:10]
A
Duncan?
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B
Yeah, just on those numbers. She's done what a season where she's got 21 goals, as you said, but the XG is 21 as well and the XG on target is 20, which is the most statistically neat season I think I've ever seen. Which is. Which, you know, speaks to your point about how consistent she is and just effective. So, yeah, it's really impressive.
- [10:31]
A
And at time of recording, we still don't know if this is it for her at Manchester City. We saw her speaking after the last game of the season on the pitch and it was all a little bit muddled and I do want to stay, but, you know, it was all a bit. Just spit it out. What do we think's going to happen?
- [10:48]
C
We don't know, to be honest. That's the crazy part. We reported about a month or so ago that she was likely to leave Chelsea were the ones who had offered her the. The million pound contract. That's kind of the threshold really for what we're expecting. But there's so many different sort of nuances to why she hasn't renewed at Citi. There's a lot of things that are going into the contract, like the little negotiations of contract length, things like that, like they're having to get through and there just hasn't been much agreement when it comes to the parties involved. She's Wanted by so many people. And I think, you know, from a PR standpoint, City losing the best player in the WSL definitely doesn't look very good. And there's going to be some huge questions asked after just lifting the WSL title for the first time in a decade. So, yeah, we don't know. She did say she wants to say and that Manchester City's her home, so we'll see what happens. But I, like a lot of people were sort of resigned to her going to Chelsea a month ago. I still think there's another twist in the tail. I wouldn't be surprised if we have more drama that unfolds the next week.
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A
Okay. But at time of recording, we still don't know.
- [11:49]
C
We still don't know.
- [11:50]
A
Okay, fine. Right, so Bruno Fernandes, winner of the Premier League Player of the Season, Khadijah Shaw, Bunny Shaw, winner of the WSL Player of the Year. Now it is on to the European Player of the Year. And that award goes to the goal machine that is Harry Kane of Bayern Munich. 58 goals in 50 games. Duncan, it has been outstanding from him, hasn't it?
- [12:19]
B
Yeah. And just how outstanding it is is shown by the fact that, well, let's look at the other player, other English players to score 50 or more goals in a season. And it's Dixie Dean in 1927, 28, Vic Watson in 1929-30, and as everyone knows, Pongo Waring in 1930, 31. Now you can bracket all of those in. Oh, it was good when they changed the offside law in 1925. So, you know, it's basically unprecedented in modern football or modern English football, what Kane's done now. I guess the caveat is, you know, a lot of those girls come in the Bundesliga, but he still has to score them. I think the range of finishes that he's done this season, there's been a couple of finishes that have just been just outstanding, just like cutting across the ball and putting it back in the net. And he, and he did up until maybe the semi final second leg, perform just as well in the Champions League. And it was a shame that Bayern didn't really get going in that second leg because obviously everyone remembers how good the first one was and, and Kane was integral to that. And as part of a, a front three that have sort of dazzled, dazzled watchers all across the continent.
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A
It could have been a ballon d' or year, couldn't it, if it had gone to plan in the Champions League?
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D
I mean, it still should be in my, my opinion. But no, it probably won't be unless. Unless it was the World Cup.
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A
Oh, yeah, that's a good shout. Not gonna happen though, is it?
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D
No, it's not. But, you know, let's think about that. Yeah. Yeah, I. We had a thing on the Athletic recently. We were asked for our most underrated players in European football or just in football in general. And I said Harry Kane. And I got a little bit stick from it, actually. People, oh, well, you know, obviously he gets a lot of attention and praise, but not enough, in my opinion. Duncan just pointed out how unique his achievements are. And the guy gets better with age. I mean, he's 31 now. His goal scoring numbers are getting better and he's just everything, you know, as a striker.
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A
Is he getting better or has he moved to an easier league to score goals in?
- [14:07]
D
Well, he's certainly getting better within the easier league that he's scoring goals in year on year. I think if you look at the fact that he scored in both legs of a Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid and both legs of a Champions League semifinal against psg, that doesn't get much of a higher level than that. And I think we'll see at the World cup this summer. Again, he'll do it on the biggest stage of all.
- [14:26]
B
I mean, the big issue he's had in his career probably is, you know, getting injured too often, particularly at sort of the business end of the season. And that's been something he's sort of avoided for much of this year. I probably just massively jinxed it for the World Cup. But yeah, he does look leaner, fitter, a bit more sort of wiry. And he kind of has to be because he drops so deep now. You know, you'll often find him just slide tackling on the edge of his own penalty box and then pinging a 30, 40 yard ball to. To start a counter attack. So he is, he's such a huge player and to Tim's point, I, he is the most important England player. He will make that England team work if it does. And if he did do something major at the World cup, then yeah, I think he is in the Ballon d'
- [15:08]
A
or conversation not to get too sidetracked with with England at the World Cup. How does he make that England side work now when everyone's saying that he was the big problem in the last major tournament?
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B
Well, because I think he wasn't fit at some of those tournaments. I mean, we've seen when he gets injured, he does take a long Time to come up to speed. Once you get him up to speed, he purrs. But we need to keep him, though
- [15:32]
A
nice, without getting sidetracked and becoming Top Gear. Then what's your take on Harry Kane? Because you can sort of stand one step removed a little bit from our sort of England bias.
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C
Yeah, I think he's phenomenal. I do think there's a level of sort of he's maybe not appreciated as much as he could be. I also think that comes down to personality a little bit. His personality naturally sort of shies away from that limelight, and so people almost feel kind of maybe like, not the pressure to. To give him that kind of appreciation. But I think Michael Elise, too, probably deserves a little bit of a shout here. Like, he's. I think 11 of the assists that. That Kane's had come directly from him and he's come from Palace. Like, I don't think a lot of people expected him to have the season that he's had, and I think he's been phenomenal. I think he was named Bundesliga's Player of the season. So I personally, like, I think he might have taken my vote, but I do think Harry Kane has been really, really great. And to your point about England, I do think if England do anything special, it's probably going to come down to Harry Kane being a very important part of that sort of system.
- [16:43]
A
So, three down, seven individual awards to come before the team awards later on. Both of the Young Player of the Year awards are decided by a public vote, which adds just a sort of a frisson of maybe unpredictability to it. A little bit. A little bit. Let's start with our Premier League Young Player of the Year. Not really much of a surprise in this one. It is Nico O'Reilly of Manchester City, and he received just under 60% of the vote, ahead of Ryan Shirky on 20% and Junior Croupie of Bournemouth on 11%. Megan, let's come to you on Nico O'Reilly First. It's been an astounding season for him. His breakthrough season, this.
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C
Yeah, and it's just phenomenal, too, because he's sort of nominally a left back, but he's not a left back. Right. Like, he's doing everything that sort of traditional left backs don't do. And I know we've seen under Guardiola, you have these inverted fullbacks or whatever, but this guy's playing almost all the way up in the front line at times, and Guardiola has completely, like, sort of changed the system in order to accommodate him and to let him play the way he is. And I think one of my favorite moments from the Premier League season is after the Chelsea game or the FA cup game, the Chelsea manager even admitted, like, I was trying to figure out a way to stop Nico O'Reilly, like, so this is one of those players that you have to take out of the game in order to win. And they still didn't do it. But I've loved seeing him play. The number of times he's come in so clutch and he's so young to be able to do that. And he is such a Guardiola player. And I know Guardiola is now going to leave, but it's not just that he's technically gifted, but he's big, he's strong, he's tall. It's kind of like sort of the perfect player for Guardiola. So maybe this is Guardiola's sort of final present to Manchester City as this player.
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A
Tim.
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D
Yeah, I'd add composure as well. He just looks so mature for his age. What is he, 21? He's had a phenomenal season. Nine goals and six assists in all comps. That's a great record. He's played in six different positions. You know, real sort of utility player. And the fact that they spend, I think, 45 million on a specialist left back in Ryan Oak Nori last summer, who you expect to be the left back for the season, but he's comfortably outperformed him and he's a midfielder, so. And obviously he's worked his way into the England squad. I think we'd probably expect him to be on the plane and the Carabao Cup Final, you know, it's been a. Been a hell of a season.
- [19:08]
A
What have we missed out?
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B
Well, I just think how tactically adept he is. I was at the Carabao Cup Final, and yeah, nominally he was playing left back, but he was drifting. He was essentially playing as a second center forward, which is, you know, each year Guardiola kind of gives us something different and like sort of, oh, my left back's also a sort of hulking number nine is a. Is a whole new gambit. And, and it was great because obviously they've got Haaland as well. And this was a pep Guardiola team with two big lads up front, you know, and everyone feeding off scraps. But O'Reilly, he's so composed, you know, he doesn't rush chances. It feels like he's got a huge future. And to Megan's point, I think there's been players like Rico Lewis that have come through, that have been clearly super talented, but maybe a little bit small for the Premier League. O'Reilly just looks custom built to dominate and yeah, an amazing talent.
- [20:03]
A
Congratulations to Nico O'Reilly, our young player of the Year in the Premier League. Let's move on now to our WSL Young Player of the Year again decided by a public vote and we had a Manchester City winner for the Player of the Year and we have another Manchester City player winning this award. And it goes to Aoba for gino who got 40% of the vote. 21 year old, 5 goals, 3 assists this season. Just tell us how outstanding she has been.
- [20:37]
C
She's been so important to Manchester City's entitle title sort of charge and I think a lot of people didn't know what to expect from her. She was sort of unknown when she came into the wsl. When she came into City, she's started out on the wing kind of replacing Carolyn, who's had a lot of injuries up for the kind of the first few months of the season. And she's sort of just enabled City to be in a position where they could title challenge for the title once sort of Carolyn and Lauren Hemp and everyone came back. So you have this forward line that's just, you know, oozing with talent and goals and assists. But Fujino has been just such a fun player to watch. She's very good at driving at defenses, but then defensively she tracks back. She gets really stuck into to all of the pressing, um, and she's just, yeah, just been really exciting to watch. I think a lot of the City fans have just really appreciated what she's done because I think at the start of the season, especially like I said with Carolyn being out, a lot of people didn't believe City were going to be in a place where they could even be in a top three sort of competition, let alone the title. And I think Fujino was absolutely key to making sure that they were there.
- [21:42]
A
So yeah, she won the award ahead of Olivia Smith of Arsenal who got 25%, Alyssa Thompson, Alyssa Thomas of Chelsea with 12%. And also Fujino had a great Asian cup win as well. And just give us a bit, a bit of background to the sort of the dominance of Japanese players in the WSL as well at the moment.
- [22:04]
C
Yeah, I mean, I think if I were a WSL director of football, I would be making sure that I have at least one Japanese player in my team. The best teams at the moment. They all have at least one Japanese player in their midfield. They usually have one pop, possibly in the back line. And just there's a technical brilliance that comes with the Japanese players. They understand the game really, really well. A lot of the managers that we speak to who have brought Japanese players in, they say there might be a literal language barrier, but there's no barrier when it comes to actually playing the game. Like, they understand all of the directions probably better than a lot of the other players. And two, like the Japanese influence, it comes from the way that they've brought up and developed talent back home in Japan. They've got these three really, really strong academies where these girls just focus on playing football. And, yeah, it's sort of coming to fruition, all of the great things that they're doing. So I think there's going to be more Japanese players who come into the WSL this season, mostly because you need them to win. But Fujino has been so fun and she's that. Been a delight to watch the season.
- [23:09]
A
Excellent. Okay, let's move on to our men's European Young Player of the Year. And the award goes to. It's not an unknown name, you might have heard of him before. It is Lamine Yamau of Barcelona. He just keeps going from strength to strength, doesn't he, Duncan?
- [23:30]
B
He does. Although strength equals fitness sometimes, and that's been his issue. Yes, of course he's going to miss the first game of the World cup for Spain, but should be back after that. But, yeah, I mean, he's obviously going to have a few growing pains, but his level just keeps rising in terms of technical quality. Obviously, Barcelona won the league. He was a key part of that. Yeah, he's just. It's funny, isn't it, because he's still a teenager, yet he feels like a sort of established superstar. Almost feels a bit weird having him as a young player because, like, we know who he is, but he is just extraordinary talent and one of those players that, a bit like Michael Elise. You don't entirely know what they're going to do when they get the ball, but when they do it, you're like, oh, yeah, that was good fair play.
- [24:15]
A
Yeah. He turns 19 just a couple of weeks before the. The World cup final. This has been his most prolific season so far for Barcelona and I'd like to cross now to our burnout correspondent, Tim Spears. Of course I remember. Of course I remember. You do get worried about players and it is interesting that, you know, he is such a star name. He's going to be eligible for this Young Player of the Year award for quite some time. But there are already signs that, yeah, it is maybe too much. So young, I think more if you
- [24:46]
D
watch Barcelona, certainly that period that Raffini was at recently, like, it's him or nothing. Everything goes to him and it's often, let's give him the ball and see what I can do. And 90% of the time it's something incredible. I mean, he's unbelievable to watch. He's almost up at the kind of Messi Ronaldo level of, like, you need to go and see him play. Like you want to plan a trip to Barcelona to go and watch him. Like, he's that good. But, yeah, it's a lot on his shoulders, isn't it? It's not sustainable, Adam.
- [25:15]
A
No, it's not. I was lucky enough actually to go and see him live against Newcastle in the game that they won. Was it 7:2 in the end, wasn't it? You lost. Lost track. But, yeah, within the first minute, just a little drop of the shoulder and you just went, wow. And it was, yeah, it was great to see him in, in the flesh. So congratulations to Lamine Yamal and hopefully we will see a lot of him shining at the World cup this year. Let's move on now to the insiders signing of the season. And this was also decided by a public vote. So which signing? Not necessarily the, you know, the. The most big money one, but the best one. And it goes to Senna Lomonds of Manchester United. 18 million pounds A snip from Royal Antwerp.
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D
Do you agree?
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C
Completely? Yeah, absolutely. 18 million is such a bargain. I mean, in today's age, like, I mean, I. I don't know. I don't have. I don't know anyone who actually owns £18 million. But, like, for that level, that's, yeah, absolutely amazing. And I think he's been so key to United just having a bit of stability. Like last season we were sort of. It became laughable, really, just how chaotic they were at the back and how chaotic it was constantly seeing them in goal. And this season that really hasn't been the case. And I was at Hill Dickinson when Man United played Everton. And Everton kept trying to go at, like, right underneath. They were putting all the crosses and all the corners just underneath his goal. And he did so well to get rid of it. And I don't think last season that would have happened. I think Everton would have won like 4 nil or something. But instead he was just so, so good. And that game, to me, just completely Epitomized why he's been such a great sighting.
- [27:01]
A
Unflappable. That's what he is, isn't he?
- [27:04]
B
He looks calm, like some goalkeepers look a bit crazy, some look a bit agitated, but he just exudes his air of sort of, I'll be alright. You know, I've seen worse in Belgium, which he may well have done. And yeah, that Everton game was in a season where the Premier League was dominated by corners and set pieces. That was almost the sort of the comic version of that because Everton just went, all right, we'll turn everything up to 11. And yeah, you're right, he dealt with it. But yeah, I think again we've mentioned Manchester United's transfer window from last summer, but he was the one that sort of went on the radar a bit and they took time to throw him into the team. Obviously didn't start the season with him, but as soon as he came in it was like, all right. And Manchester United in goalkeepers is a weird thing. They obviously have some iconic keepers like Peter Schmeichel and Van der Sar and stuff, but they, when they get. When they lose a good goalkeeper, it can often take them quite a while to find the next one. And it really feels like Lammens is, you know, the real successor to David De Gea, who's going to be there for a decade. He just seems totally at ease and yeah, really impressive.
- [28:05]
A
Not in the top 10 in terms of clean sheets though, in the. In the Premier League. So we're judging him more on obviously the impact doing at a young age for a. For a goalkeeper as well is impressive.
- [28:18]
B
You can look at goals prevented, he's prevent sort of, you know, go on,
- [28:22]
A
underpin it with the day.
- [28:23]
B
Come on. Yeah, plus four, which is. Puts him into the upper echelons. It's not an amazing figure. It's not know Jose Sa, who occasionally pulls out mad over performance. Not always, but sometimes. But yeah, it's a solid first season and I think he can build on it and I think he just makes defenses calmer, which is what you want from a goalkeeper.
- [28:42]
D
I would add he's very good signing. But I would add that if Anana hadn't been as terrible, we might not have noticed it as much.
- [28:48]
A
Okay.
- [28:48]
D
Because he's been good, but he's not. Not the best keeper in the league. You wouldn't say.
- [28:52]
B
I don't think it's only David Raya.
- [28:54]
D
Yeah, but he's, he's. He's one of those. It's good because you don't Talk about him like a good referee, you know, you don't. You know, he's not making like outstanding, unbelievable saves like other keepers, but he's just very, very solid at everything. He's like 7 out of 10 in every area. You know, I think there have been better signings personally, in terms of impact.
- [29:12]
A
Do you want to hear? Well, go on. You see if you match up with the. Because I've got a lovely little pie chart here which tells me. That tells me the votes for the other one. So you, you go on. What other ones are in your mix then?
- [29:22]
D
Someone I'd throw it in. Granit Xhaka.
- [29:24]
A
Yeah, he got 16% of the vote.
- [29:28]
D
Okay, you've got the obvious Man City, January signings, Mark Gay and Anton Semenya and Shirky from last summer.
- [29:35]
A
Shirky came in second, 23% off the vote.
- [29:40]
B
Alexander Isaac up there. Is he?
- [29:42]
A
Yeah, yeah. He says not even a sliver. Not even a sliver.
- [29:46]
D
I think if Ryan had joined at the start of the season, you who would add him into the list for Bournemouth and then the other one would be Dominic Calvert. Lewin, who not many were prepared to take a chance on. And he scored 14 goals and without those, you know, where are Leeds?
- [30:01]
A
7% of the vote. And he did well. It didn't look like he was going to do well though, did he?
- [30:07]
D
No, he didn't. He just made a really slow start off. Obviously he wasn't fit. Took a long time.
- [30:10]
B
He also had that amazing goal map in about November when he'd scored five or six goals and they all come in a straight line. Yes, I remember it. I think of it often.
- [30:19]
A
Yeah, I can imagine. You do you think? Yeah. Illustrative data. Wonderful. Right, let's move on from our insiders signing of the season to the Premier League Manager of the Year. Can you remember who you voted for, Tim? Before we get to the.
- [30:38]
D
The winner, I think I voted for Unai Emery. I think.
- [30:42]
A
Oh, okay.
- [30:43]
C
I'm pretty sure I voted for whoever's won.
- [30:46]
A
Oh, yeah. Okay. Duncan, can you remember?
- [30:48]
B
I think I went Iriola.
- [30:49]
A
You went Iriola. Okay. Well, the winner of the Premier League Manager of the Year is Regis Labris of Sunderland. Many congratulations. An amazing season for Sunderland. Teams that get promoted don't often finish in the top 10 of the. Of the Premier League, do they, Duncan? And he is. He's on the verge of achieving that, but I mean, basically they were only aiming to finish 17th.
- [31:20]
B
So.
- [31:21]
A
Yeah, jobs are good.
- [31:23]
B
Yeah. I mean, no one saw this coming.
- [31:26]
D
No.
- [31:26]
B
Sunderland fans I mean they signed approximately 4,000 players last summer which never normally goes well. We'd obviously come off the back of two seasons where the all three promoted teams went straight back down. A few people thought Burnley might stay up. Most people were not confident about Leeds and particularly not confident about Sunderland. But they, they kind of adapted to the Premier League in a way that you kind of have to when you've got that sort of squad and that sort of profile. You know, the autumn in particular, the stadium alight. I think it was the last stadium to see a home defeat. They obviously got that draw against Arsenal which was, you know, the most sort of whipped up atmosphere, you know, throw ins being celebrated. It was, it was proper and it was great to see a club, a historic club like Sunderland who, you know, back in the Premier League and performing like that. I mean the, the home derby as well, the own goal from Volta Mater, the noise on that goal and him was pretty outstanding. And yeah, it's been, I'm sure it's been beyond their wildest dreams. They probably going into the last week of the season have a slight outside chance of Europe as well, which probably wouldn't be good for them in terms of, you know, game management next season, but what an achievement it would be. And yeah, Labris obviously took them up and kept them up pretty good.
- [32:40]
A
You voted for him.
- [32:41]
C
I did, I did vote for him. I just think what he's done is over the last two seasons too. Like I think what he did in the championship, taking a team that finished 16th, this sort of ragtag, not reaching their potential team, got them promoted and then again kind of just started from, from the bottom again and was like, right, Blake Page, I'm going to do a whole new thing with a whole new team. And I think what he's done is, has been nothing short of phenomenal and I think it's really great. I think, I think they've got a win or a draw against every side in the league apart from Fulham, which is like kind of a crazy. Also flex for Fulham, like congratulations, did the double over Newcastle. I mean it's just been such a wonderful season for them and I always think of the adjective fearless whenever I watch them play. Like they just don't care. Like a honey badger, like they just do not give a crap and they're just going to go for it. I like that, I like that energy because I think a lot of clubs like Duncan had said, they, they go up and immediately they are looking at the bottom. And Sunderland never felt like they were Doing that. And yeah, they could go for Europe.
- [33:39]
B
And in a season where long throws became a thing and lots of teams tried it and most teams have got one player who can kind of get it into the box, it doesn't really do much. Makieli's throws are like unbelievable. He puts them in a trajectory and a pace that actually makes them really dangerous. So yeah, they kind of maximize all their skills and. And go what they deserve.
- [34:01]
A
Before I get Tim's thoughts on what is a honey badger.
- [34:03]
C
A honey badger? Yeah. So yeah, it's like this animal that. I don't know how to describe it. It's. It's like this little rodent thing and it just attacks things that are much bigger than it, like snakes.
- [34:14]
A
Okay. And also that's why it doesn't care.
- [34:16]
C
That's why it doesn't care. Yeah.
- [34:17]
A
Okay.
- [34:18]
D
Tim, I think for this award in terms of like managing a team and getting the best out of your team.
- [34:23]
A
Yeah.
- [34:24]
D
You know, you look. That's why I mentioned Unai Emery because you know, their recruitment's been non existent almost for a couple of years, but what he's done is phenomenal. Like Daniel Farke, he'd have to mention the changes that he made in sort of November, December onwards, you know, really managing and getting the best out of your squad. But that's why Libris is, is probably deserving of this because if you look at XG, he, Sunderland, 18th in the league for goals scored for XG and
- [34:46]
B
16th, you're not allowed to mention that. But yeah, they don't like it.
- [34:50]
D
And 16th for goals again. So you know, he's getting the very, very best out of this group. And I remember saying so halfway through the season they as you sort of saying they play as I would want my team to play. You know, they give absolutely everything. Yeah. To like the 96th minute. He did get every. And you know the way that the stadium all buys into it as well,
- [35:13]
B
they've got 22 points from losing positions this season, which is the best.
- [35:17]
D
So they give everything in defense and attack. It's like really wholehearted stuff.
- [35:21]
A
Regis Labris won obviously, as we know, got about 28% of the vote. Just to let you know your vote, Tim, unai Emery got 14%. Andrews was very, very close behind Regis Labris and he was my vote. So I would have taken Keith Andrews in terms of the transformation and the expectation of getting relegated behind Brentford. I think that that was, that was. It's interesting how close it was.
- [35:53]
B
Well, I'm ashamed to admit that I was one of those people on podcast at the start of the season saying, brentford, they're in trouble now. They weren't in trouble. And I like the fact that they appointed their set piece coach as their manager and their set piece goals went down because he's now cheering and playing open play goals. So fair play.
- [36:10]
D
But it is interesting with them and I don't want to do down the job he's done because it's very good, but everything is set up there. You know, all the staff at senior level above me, I've been there sort of a decade. They've got the, the tried and tested recruitment model which obviously in house and also a familiar sort of way of playing. So he's not had to sort of change much or get involved in recruitment. He's obviously done a very, very good job. But in terms of other managers having to do more with what they've got, you know what I mean? Like, the conditions there for him are perfect is what I would say. That's why he wouldn't get my vote.
- [36:39]
A
Sunderland going to the last day of the season, 10th in the Premier League. The last teams that were newly promoted to finish in the top 10. Can you, can you name them? You can, you can name one of them, can't you too? Yeah, go on. Wolves.
- [36:56]
B
Yeah, Southampton.
- [36:57]
C
You said that so meekly.
- [36:58]
D
So it's really sad, you know, now that. Because it's a few years ago now and you know, things aren't great. They were the good old days, the
- [37:04]
A
good old days for wolves in 1819. You didn't get to the cup final though, did you?
- [37:12]
D
But we did make Europe instead of Watford. That's where you're driving.
- [37:15]
A
Yeah, no, I know. I always forget that we got battered six nil in the final, but yeah. Leeds 20 21, Sheffield United 1820 and Wolves 18 19. So it is, it is quite a feat that Sunderland have achieved. Led by Regis Labries, the Premier League Manager of the Year. Our WSL Manager of the Year is, it may not surprise you, is the man who led Manchester City to the title and that is Andre Yeglec. The Swede expected to win this. Just tell us the job that he's done because it is, as you've, as you've alluded to before, it's. It's a big achievement for them to go to go top.
- [37:56]
C
It's a huge achievement and I think Andre's biggest sort of strength that he's given to City is changing this mentality. Like I'd sort of alluded to. They've bottled the league before. There was a, there was a moment two seasons ago, it was Emma Hayes, his last season at Chelsea and they lost 4, 3 to Liverpool. And Emma Hayes on live television was like, yep, we're done. Like that's the end of it. Congrats City. Like you've done it. And then City went and somehow conspired to, to throw it away and give Emma Hayes sort of a last WSL trophy as she sort of sauntered into the sunset. And that sat really heavy on, on people's minds at City. And so even this season, like Andre had to come in and he starts talking about winning but like was really big on. He'd go into his press conferences and he would not talk about players in a way that was going to put pressure on them. He would sit and he sits with them and like talks to them and has like very encouraging mental conversations. And anyone who's talked to him and like in person, he's the most engaging person that you'll ever see. Like he looks deep into your soul as you're talking to him. And I had, I did an interview with some people who knew him and they had said he'll never talk to you about the weather. So he's not sort of a superficial conversation guy. It's always like these deep tissue conversations. So he's been, he's been great but then tactically he's very astute. This is a guy who's been coaching in men's and women's football for 20 years and he won the European cup back in 2004. But again before he came in no one expected much of him. We just didn't know much about him and he's kind of just flourished underneath kind of the anonymity and yeah, just also just a really good guy as well, so very deserving.
- [39:29]
A
And is it likely that this is going to be a period of continued dominance?
- [39:34]
C
That's the mission, that's what City wants. I think under Andre it's very possible but I mean you've got Khadija Shah potentially running out the door. So we'll see. I think Citi, they've got a pretty big plan in place. They're definitely wrapping up like sort of their recruitment but like also the academy, they're putting in a lot of money there. They just opened up a 10 million pound training facility for like just bespoke women's training facility. It's really, really special so they have the potential to do it. But we'll see. I think Andre, if they do it. He'll be key to it.
- [40:06]
A
Okay, now we will move on. Our last individual award before we get to the teams is the European Manager of the Year. And that award goes to Vincent Kompany of Bayern Munich. And that gets a big nod from Tim Spears. Why?
- [40:28]
D
I was nodding because I knew it was him and I was like, yeah, Adam's read it out.
- [40:32]
A
Correct, I've read it out.
- [40:33]
D
Well, that was the only reason. I don't know. Secret should be him.
- [40:36]
A
Oh, go on then. Let's go in two footed straight away.
- [40:38]
D
Go. Was this a public vote or who's
- [40:40]
A
this was voted for by our writers.
- [40:43]
D
So presumably before the second leg of the Champions League or before they got Champions League, basically. I think if you were to do that vote now, he wouldn't win it personally.
- [40:52]
A
Okay.
- [40:52]
D
I think you'd probably get one of the two Champions League finalists in there instead.
- [40:56]
A
Okay, so you go with. You go with Mikel Arteta.
- [41:01]
D
It's hard to ignore the Champions League winners in this. Obviously we're recording this before the Champions League finally. I just don't think it's that difficult to win the Bundesliga, especially with the team that he's got if he didn't win the league at Cancer with that. With that side. Yeah, you know what I mean? And. And obviously they got to the semifinals of Champions League and beat Real Madrid along the way. But psg, kind of relatively comfortable in that second leg in Munich. So I feel like I'd have Luis Enrique as a better manager. And they've also won the league and may win the Champions League. Okay.
- [41:31]
B
I think Enrique sort of tricked him then after the first leg and he said, we'll play, we'll just do that in the.
- [41:35]
D
Well, he had that handshake, didn't they? After the first leg. See you next week.
- [41:39]
B
And he was like, great, we'll do it again. And Enrique was like, actually, we're going to defend really well. And it's like, what? I mean, I know what Tim's saying about the Bundesliga, but only Pep Guardiola has got more points per game in history than company. Now he has gone in and kind of, I think, taken Bayern to a new level. And he's sort of taken players like, we knew that Luis Diaz was a great player. We knew Michael Lisa was a great player, but we didn't know they could be this good. And I think he is very good at kind of taking sort of seven, eight out of ten players and making them nine out of ten players. And you know, everyone. When he was appointed Went, hang on. He just took Burnley down and thought it might be a really temporary thing, which I think he's kind of building something there that's building a reputation that, yeah, maybe in the future he can manage Manchester City or someone like that, given his history.
- [42:28]
A
It's easy though, isn't it, to win the Bundesliga?
- [42:31]
B
I don't know if it is. I've never done it.
- [42:33]
A
34th title for Bayern Munich, four games to spare. 16 points clear. And they've beaten the previous goals record, which was 101. They're on 122 as they finish the season. It feels that feels. It feels easy. You're absolutely right to pull me up on the, on the, on the fact that I have not done it and I probably would. I would probably struggle. I would probably struggle to sort of keep the egos at bay. Technically I'd be fine. But it does feel like, yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe the timing of the vote, and that is interesting. Tim, you've raised that the timing of the vote can sway these things sometimes. So who would you go for?
- [43:15]
C
Meghan? I think I voted for Louis Enrique. But I always think these things are really difficult because you see the caliber of competition in the Premier League each week and then it's difficult to then compare that to the Bundesliga, the French League. Like it's hard. And I think a lot of times maybe we look at that and go, well, it's not as hard as the Premier League, so maybe it's not deserving of something. I think we do have to check our, our biases there. I think I would have gone for Louis Enrique personally, just because of what he's done in Europe or done sort of in the Champions League and getting the team and the way that they've played in order to get there. But I'm not knocking what Vincent Company's done because Byron have been really fun to watch the season and I don't have an HBO Max subscription, so I do have to go out to the pubs to pay to go watch and I am never disappointed that I have to pay to watch a Steam play.
- [44:07]
A
So we've done all of our individual awards and congratulations to our winners. Let's run you through our three the teams of the year in the Premier League, the WSL and our European Team of the Year. Let's start with our Premier League Team of the Year. And Tim, you can take charge of running us through the goalkeeper and the back four to start in.
- [44:33]
D
So in goal, it's David Ryan. Look down the camera.
- [44:36]
B
Very good.
- [44:37]
A
That's good. Very good. Won The Golden Glove. 19 clean sheets this season. Six more than last year, deservedly.
- [44:47]
D
So our back four is right back. Well, it's Arsenal heavy.
- [44:51]
A
It is Arsenal heavy. Yeah.
- [44:52]
D
So it's urine. Timber. Right back. And then Gabriel and William Saliba at centre half. No one'd be surprised by that. I think we know who's gonna be a left back.
- [45:01]
A
Indeed. Nico O'Reilly, our young player of the year as well. Do you want to take midfield? Our midfield three.
- [45:10]
B
Yeah. Classic three.
- [45:11]
A
Yeah.
- [45:11]
B
We've got Declan Rice.
- [45:13]
A
Quite right.
- [45:15]
B
We've got Ryan Turkey and we've got Bruno Fernandez, who we've obviously spoken about at length. I think all three of those players have had outstanding seasons. Yeah, I think Cherokee's probably been better than people imagine when he joined. You know, I think there was obviously a bit of a clamor last summer for Wirt and then Turkey felt a little bit like the sort of, you look like you didn't buy Wirtz, but you might like Ryan at Turkey. And then Declan Rice is just. The consistency has been outstanding. I mean, there's that stat about how much more football he's played than the PSG midfield, which may impact the Champions League Final. It may not, but I just think he's kind of elevated himself into such a leader and just sort of the figurehead of that team, really. And, yeah, super impressive.
- [46:06]
A
And our attacking three, Megan, we've got
- [46:09]
C
Igor Thiago, Anton Semeno and Erling Holland. And I. I think Thiago is so fine. I really. I'm so happy that he's included in here because we were talking about Brentford and we're talking about how they've kind of surprised a lot of people. Everyone kind of expected them to be in the relegation zone. And I think he's a microcosm of Brentford season. No one really expect him to be able to replace Ivan Sony. And he's done it with such an amazing sort of season that he's had. And I think he fits the system really well, too. It's about being clinical because, you know, they play sort of defensively and then they go on the attack and they counter very, very well. And his ability to score when he needs to has been phenomenal this season. I think he's got 22 goals, one assist in 37 appearances. He's good at generating chances as well, so it shows that he's not just sort of tapping in at the back post. So, yeah, I think he's been wonderful. And then obviously Semenya and Haaland have been both outstanding for Manchester City. You wanted to say something?
- [47:05]
B
No, just think about. It's just both baffling and lovely that Brazil have got a Brentford striker at the World Cup.
- [47:11]
D
I mean and one from Bournemouth.
- [47:13]
B
Yeah, we didn't. Didn't see that in the 90s and 70s, did you? In 80s.
- [47:18]
A
Do we feel a bit bad for Joao Pedro by the way, that he's not in the Brazil squad?
- [47:22]
D
Yeah.
- [47:23]
B
Arguing this team as well in some respects he's been great and we probably chose his only bright light this season. But yeah, maybe a spot for heritage Cannon against.
- [47:33]
A
Yeah, perhaps. Are there any complaints about that, Tim? Because I'll come to you for complaints.
- [47:41]
B
Ireland.
- [47:42]
D
No. What. What?
- [47:45]
A
Why would he not make the team of the year? And who would go in instead of.
- [47:49]
B
I would say is this with Erling Harden? He's such an outstanding player that is. Is his season above or below par?
- [47:56]
D
It's slightly below par for him but he's still got more goals than anyone and more gone involvements than anyone.
- [48:01]
B
Yeah.
- [48:01]
A
So in my sort of quite basic sort of. Is that number higher than another number? Sort of research prior, you correct me if I'm wrong, if this is. If this is wrong. 26 goals so far going into the final weekend wouldn't have won the last three seasons Golden Boot, including his 36 in his first season, but it would have won seven of the previous. So in terms of levels, he set that high benchmark and we're rating him against that rather than rating him against all of the other strikers that we've seen in recent times. So in that sense he should be in there. Is that right or not?
- [48:38]
B
Yeah, possibly. And I think it's the age old thing of. Remember when he did score 36 in his first season, everyone did that thing of like wow, if he's done that in the first season, what's he going to go on to do? And often a player's first season is their best season in terms of raw numbers. But I mean clearly he's an outstanding player and again could. Somebody could have a really impactful World cup. But I just think there was that period in sort of January, February, March where he didn't really score from open play and that was when City were dropping points and sort of falling away in a tighter race a bit. So yeah, it's just. It's semantics really but I think he'll have hope for a little bit more.
- [49:14]
D
I think the only one you could slightly quibble with is maybe shirky. I think the fact that he's ended the season out at the team at City is quite telling. You know, Guardiola would interest him in the cup final or at Bournemouth in midweek. I just think there are a couple more candidates who I'd have in there instead.
- [49:30]
A
Yeah, go on. Who?
- [49:31]
D
Well, I think Granit Xhako has been outstanding.
- [49:34]
B
Yeah.
- [49:34]
D
I would say Szobozlai has been sort of the Fernandez equivalent at Liverpool. Maybe not in the last sort of month or so, but certainly for most of the season. You can also look at the Forest pair, Gibbs, White and Anderson. Just, just. Yeah, Shirk is a great shout, but all, all the other 10 are nailed on for me. He's the one you can sort of debate on.
- [49:53]
A
I think he's gone in for fun as well, hasn't he?
- [49:55]
D
He is fun and he's in his outstanding. And one of the signings of the season at 34 million was. It was just incredible given his talent.
- [50:04]
B
Yeah, I did keep you ups in the League cup final. Which is good or bad?
- [50:08]
D
Yeah, good point.
- [50:08]
A
Yeah, that's good.
- [50:09]
C
Yeah.
- [50:10]
A
We like entertainers.
- [50:12]
C
I say, I say good. There's like, there's such a pursuit for perfection and with that it becomes sterile. And I think he's just on a subject.
- [50:18]
B
Or is it disrespecting Carabelle?
- [50:21]
A
Well, anyway. Right, let's run through our WSL Team of the Year. Do you want to go on, rattle
- [50:29]
C
through it for us?
- [50:31]
A
Let's hear it.
- [50:32]
C
And goal. We've got Ayaka Yamashita, who is the Manchester City goalkeeper, also well known for dyeing her hair multiple different colors throughout the season, including blue once City decided they were going to win the season.
- [50:43]
A
That's fun.
- [50:44]
C
She didn't win the Golden Glove, Hannah Hansen did because the last day of the season they. City did concede a goal to West Ham. But she still, to me, she's probably been one of the best keepers in the. In the league. I do think though, if I were going to do this team, I probably would have said Brighton keeper, she's been wonderful. And probably the big reason why Brighton have had so many big scalps against like Arsenal, Man United, Manchester City as well, and then make it to an FA cup final. So she kind of deserves a shout. Out in the back line we've got City's Kirsten and Kasparai, spurs is Toko Koga, City's Jade Rose and then Arsenal's Katie McCabe. Kirsten's had again like one of the best WSL seasons for a fullback. She leads a WSL4 assist. She's had seven. Toka Koga. Fun fact. For those who don't know, she was in the door at London City Lionesses and Spurs former director of football Andy Rogers gave her a call and said, you need to come to spurs. And he convinced her and here she is.
- [51:41]
A
Nice.
- [51:42]
C
Jade Rose came over from Harvard and now she's at City and she's been very, very good. So can have a good one there. I think this has been Katie McCabe's probably one of her best seasons for Arsenal, so it is kind of insane that she's going to leave this summer and potentially go enjoy in Manchester City. In midfield we've got City's Yui Hasagawa, Arsenal's Mariona Cal Dente and Spurs is Olivia Holt. For those who like, have never seen Yui Hasakawa play, like, please go look her up. I just, I cannot recommend that enough. She's really fun. And then the forward line, Austin Villa's Kirsty Hansen, obviously City's Bonnie Shaw and City's Vivian Miedema. And Christine, Christine Hansen's a really fun one because she. No one expects her to have the kind of season she said she scored 12 goals and Villa like, again, she's normally playing out wide. She somehow brought in as a number nine this season. Yeah, she's had so much fun. And then Vivian Minerva has had probably one of her best seasons since leaving Arsenal and yeah, she's looked really, really good sort of playing as number 10 behind Bunny Shaw.
- [52:44]
A
So seven Manchester City players in that, in that lineup. What do the other teams need to do to get up to that, that level of dominance?
- [52:52]
C
Chelsea need consistency. I think this is one of the first seasons where they don't have a player making this team and it comes down to consistency. They've had, I think, one of their worst WSL seasons in recent history. And it's just because it's, it's a bit of a mess at the moment. Like we don't know what they're trying to do stylistically under Sonya Bombasta. The dressing room is in this sort of state of churn. They're moving between sort of the old guard to the new guard and it's. That's reflected in this Arsenal, they need a little bit more consistency from their best players. I think a lot of times we see them being sort of a 6 or 7 out of 10, but not that 8, 9, 10. So they just need a little bit more from, from them and then the rest of the pack. It's about chasing we still have pretty like, notably a top three of City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Man United kind of holding on as tightly as they can. And then you've got Spurs, London City and Aston Villa and Brighton kind of trying to catch up. So, yeah, I gotta spend a little bit more money, really.
- [53:50]
A
That's what it all comes down to. Right, let's move on now to our European team of the year. And this is a vote for the best players in Europe. Okay, so I'm sure this will raise questions, but let's run you through the team. Let's start with. Let's do as we did before. Goalkeeper and back four from Tim Spears.
- [54:18]
D
So in goal is David Ryah.
- [54:19]
A
Yeah.
- [54:20]
D
Again, probably a deserved pick. Not sure we'd quibble with that. Sorry, am I just supposed to run through the.
- [54:26]
A
No, that's fine. No, it was a nice bit. It was a name leading into a discussion. I liked it. It was good.
- [54:30]
D
You make it look so easy, this presenting luck.
- [54:32]
A
Yeah. If I. Go on.
- [54:34]
D
So the back four is three players for psg.
- [54:37]
A
Yeah.
- [54:38]
D
Traffakimi, Marquinhos, a center back, and Nuna Men is at left back. And then Gabrielle gets in there, a center half from Arsenal.
- [54:47]
B
I mean, we should specify maybe that this would have to be European games, wouldn't it? Because Marquinhos has very much been reserved for continental adventures this season. He started more games in the Champions League than he has in Ligue 1, which is, yeah, a sensible tactic from PSG, but not something that Michael Arteta has been able to do with his defense.
- [55:09]
D
And then you look at him in the semi final, the second leggings, Bayern, he was absolutely outstanding. So that's where that pays off.
- [55:16]
B
Midfield, midfield, we've got two more PSG players in a Real Madrid interloper. We've got Vitinia, former Wolves man, scored against Chorley, I'm led to believe. We've got Jao Neves as well. And then Federico Valverde, who has been pretty consistent, but obviously the hat trick.
- [55:37]
A
Yeah.
- [55:37]
B
The thing that I think sticks in people's minds, he was outstanding that night.
- [55:42]
A
And our forward line, the guy that you wanted in is in.
- [55:46]
C
I'm. I'm just really happy that he's here. That's why I didn't kick up that much of a fuss.
- [55:50]
A
Yeah.
- [55:50]
C
Earlier. So I was like, well, he's. He's got his recognition. Yeah. Bayern Munich, Michael Elise and then Lamina Ma and Harry Kane, which, yeah, I mean, I'd be scared to play against that front three. So there we go.
- [56:03]
A
Is there anyone that should be in there. Out of. That's out of it.
- [56:09]
D
I'm not sure really Luis Diaz would get in most seasons but it's hard to make a case if he drops out for him really.
- [56:16]
A
And is there anyone from the. And I know you know, we've talked about sort of one eyed Premier League bias. Is there anyone from the Premier League team that should be forcing their way into that European team along with David Ryer and Gabrielle, you know, from that Arsenal side, a Declan Rice perhaps into. Into the midfield.
- [56:36]
D
You feel for Valverde, I would say. Yeah, yeah.
- [56:39]
A
Valverde got the hat trick vote, didn't he?
- [56:41]
B
Very much for the hat trick fans. Yeah, it's a trick one because if it's European football then you could look at a Villa player like Ollie Watkins has been great in Europe as has John McGinn. Why don't we just slot John McGinn in there?
- [56:54]
D
Mateta?
- [56:55]
B
Yeah, you know, so yeah, okay. But yeah, probably just get a load of PSG players easier, isn't it?
- [57:03]
A
Final point to this awards special on the Athletic fc. We obviously now know who has won the, the Premier League. That is Arsenal. Congratulations to them. At point of recording we don't know whether it's going to be Tottenham or West Ham going down with Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers. But I just wanted to throw ahead to next season. And who is going to win the Premier League next season? Oh no,
- [57:36]
B
I think Arsenal, I think just they're in, they're in a very good position because they have got a team that's reaching their peak. Yeah, a lot of players in their mid-20s and all the rivals they have are kind of in a bit of a state of flux. We don't know how a new manager at Manchester City is going to do. It's very hard to replace a long term manager. Manchester United, yes, they've improved but they didn't have to play many games this season. They've now got Champions League football back. Liverpool, who knows? Chelsea again. See, see above. So I think Arsenal, I think last year it felt like Liverpool, it felt like a bit of a free hit when they won the league it was a bit like a sort of the, the, the old gang have got one more heist in them. Whereas with Arsenal it feels like a start or something to me, Tim.
- [58:22]
D
I think they got the potential to win it quite comfortably next year for all the reasons that Duncan's just, just outlined. It's, it's very, you've got to say the City will dip next year. The influence that Pep has had on the whole of the sport, let alone that club, it's really hard to see them not having a dip next year. And yeah, I think Carrick will have problems at United dealing with four competitions and yeah, Chelsea, God knows. So I think you'd expect more from a few Arsenal players as well, certainly in attack. Gyokarez, I'd expect to maybe kick on a bit next year. So yeah, it's obvious to say but they are the safest bet for sure for the title.
- [58:57]
A
And we've, we've spoken about the WSL and you know, the fact that Manchester City have won is going to have annoyed certainly Chelsea and, and Arsenal and they need to get a, a grip on themselves ahead of next season. But in the, in the, in the Premier League, who's going to win it?
- [59:11]
C
I, I do think Arsenal, I think with the defense they've got that is just the, the most solid foundation from which to build. And like Tim said, I do think like some of their attack has kind of been limited and, and sort of underwhelming this season and I don't think that comes down to the quality of the player. I just think some of them just haven't really hit it and that, you know, there's been injuries and whatnot. So I think if they can just get that well then they are going to probably be the most consistent team and consistent wins title. So I think that's it. And for WSL fans, I do think Arsenal next season have a very good chance of doing it. Like the summer business they've got going on is phenomenal. Like bringing in Georgia Stanway from Bayern Munich is such a good call. So I do think next season Arsenal could be celebrating like multiple trophies.
- [59:52]
A
Excellent. And it may well be that the club as a whole goes in with another Champions League title after the women's success of, of last season might be Arsenal's men winning it. We don't know as well. So good luck to them in the, in the final. Megan, thank you very much for your expert analysis today. Tim, to you as well. And good luck to Wolves getting back up into the Premier League next season.
- [60:20]
D
That's in. You mean sincere?
- [60:25]
A
Not really. And to Duncan as well. Thank you very much.
- [60:29]
B
Thank you.
- [60:31]
A
And thank you very much for listening watching on YouTube as well. Do hope you've enjoyed the show and we'll catch you next week.
- [60:41]
D
You've been listening to the Athletic FC podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroo and Jay Beale.
- [60:46]
B
The executive producer was Aidy Moorhead.
- [60:48]
D
To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free.
- [60:51]
B
Search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.