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Hammering Away Ep #38 - Manchester City & Transfer Window Review
80 Plays11 months ago
On today's episode of the podcast, Jack and Joe discuss West Ham's 3-1 loss to Manchester City, how to get the best out of Mohammed Kudus, Tim Steidten's first summer in full control of transfers, and more!
Music by: @ANTlll
Blog: Hammering-Away.blog
Twitter/X: @Hammering_Away
Instagram/Threads: @HammeringAway_
Tiktok: @hammering.away
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Transcript
Podcast Returns with Man City Focus
00:00:18
Speaker
Welcome back to the hammering away podcast. This is episode number 38. And it has been way too long since we've done one of these busy summers, busy summers, but we're back. Um, so I think what we're going to do today is we're going to talk about demand city game. Um, just cause you know, that's obviously what just happened. Then after that, we'll branch off into all of our thoughts about the summer transfer window, about all the fixtures in August as a whole. And we'll just wrap it all up so we can head into the rest of the season with a clean slate.
00:00:48
Speaker
ah so yeah What's up? What's up? Just really excited to be back. The the fall of hammering away has now begun. It has begun. It's gonna be a summer. Dude, it would have been a summer of hammering away. If Sutton didn't make five signings in 13 days.
Man City's Dominance and Controversy
00:01:07
Speaker
30 seconds. Yeah. I want to say the fall of hammering away because it sounds like we're like collapsing. Because it's like the opposite, it's like the rise of hammering away.
00:01:18
Speaker
The autumn the um autumn, the autumn of hammering away. The the season of hammering away. The season of giving. The season of giving. So the season of hammering away, first episode starts off with a loss. Yeah. want to Crossing never had a chance. Yeah, just a defeat where every time you thought we might have a shot, a robot named Erling Holland put just took those chances away. ah He's like, I have an issue with city and I'm not trying to like, oh, like be like salty or whatever, but they're cheating. Yeah. Like, and they're going to get charged and like peps not signing a new deal. Um, De Bruyne is not signing a new deal. Like multiple other players have like angled their way out or tried to angle their way out. like
00:02:13
Speaker
Bernardo has been trying to get out of there for, maybe that one's not related, but like, Edison, Pep had the like, confidence to say. I mean, Pep not signing a new deal is a big one, right? So it's like, I think that they have put off and appealed and done whatever it is that they do with all these charges for as long as they can and that their comeuppance is
Fan Base Comparisons: Man City vs Others
00:02:34
Speaker
coming. but And to be honest, like a relegation is the only, uh,
00:02:42
Speaker
correct punishment for them. I retweeted as much as I could find about it on the Hammering Way. everybody no Everybody should go give it a read because it's a it's interesting and it'll open your eyes to the nonsense that's going on over there um because they just like they've been cheating for like almost 20 years now.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah, whatever happens, it's going to be historic because I mean, nothing really has ever happened like this in sport. I mean, I guess Juventus got relegated, but like, I mean, I think that that's going to be nothing compared to what happens. but like does serve Is it going to be historic though? Like on my worry is that they're kind of just going to like slap them on the wrist because, you know, they bring in revenue and people are Man City fans, but how many American Man City fans do you really know?
00:03:29
Speaker
one. No, it's it's so artificial. It's it's like they have no authentic fans, even fans in England say the same thing is that nobody shows up to these to these things. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to disrespect their like core fan base that was there originally, like before the takeover and stuff because like, yeah, like, like that, those people did nothing wrong. That fan base did nothing wrong. And that club up until that point did nothing wrong. But like, my point is like the the fan base abroad, like the foreign fan base is that these big six clubs they think bring in. ah to I see more Tottenham fans, at least in the United States.
Tactical Analysis Against Man City
00:04:04
Speaker
Oh, for sure. so like If you're talking about the top six, like easily Man City is bringing in the least. Yeah. i could probably like I can name a name for every team besides them off my head. Yeah.
00:04:19
Speaker
So it's like, like in real life people that I know. I actually like have met more American West Ham fans than Manchester City fans. Literally. Like outside of us too. No. Yeah. Same here. Newcastle. Like there's such a nothing club, but anyways, that's that mini rant out of the way. If we're just talking about only in between the white lines, the white lines, I think that we played pretty well.
00:04:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. and we We did just just about as good as we could against who was an insurmountable opponent. Yeah, yeah. insurmountable is the perfect word. I mean, we we started off well, then it was 15 minutes of just hell. ah And then we do it. What we do best not what we do best, but we do something that we are actually pretty good at doing. And I think It's something that will stay with us from the Moyse era. And I think Lopategi, you know, how we've talked about how him and Moyse have a lot of similarities in some ways, just the desire and like the, just like the quote unquote, try hard and buy in part of like how much effort they get from their guys. Um, and like the never giving up that kind of thing. We always seem to have those little goals out of nothing in us. Oh yeah.
00:05:41
Speaker
Like we score a handful of the goals that we scored, of the goal that we scored on, um, on Saturday, a season. We score a few of those and that was one of them.
Kudus: Position and Strategy
00:05:50
Speaker
Um, and it all starts from kudos. Who is just, he's unbelievable. I don't know how much longer you can justify playing him on the left. I don't know if you can even justify it for one more game. Something needs to give. And I think we, we can have this conversation now, I guess, uh,
00:06:12
Speaker
In my opinion, in my opinion like it's got to be... Bow and Ghost plays Striker. You have to try it. And Kudos goes on the right and Somerville plays on the left. Because it's just like it's so it's such a tease to watch Kudos just breeze by whoever's in front of him and ah have like no idea what to do after that. Because he's just so like unaccustomed to being there. And I don't think...
00:06:39
Speaker
like more experienced playing on the left is going to even, even help him in terms of like creation and like, you know, make turning those completed take-ons into chances. I think his crossing would get better over the course of a season, but overall, like, yeah. Cause the other thing about it, and I think I said this before the game on Saturday, and which is funny cause he almost scored in transition, but it's like, if he's going to play left wing for an entire season, his,
00:07:09
Speaker
Cause we need output from him outside of Bowen. He's our other big output guy that we know that we can rely upon. 80% of his output. If he plays on the left is going to have to come from transitional opportunities. Yeah. And while he's one of the best players in the world on the counter attack, that seems like hampering him. And if you watch the game against city, especially everything that he did well.
00:07:38
Speaker
And he played well all around. I thought he was man of the match, but like the goal comes from him saying like, forget being on the left. Like I'm going to come deep. I'm going to get into areas that I'm more comfortable in and I'm going to create like a opportunity for
Team Formation and Player Investments
00:07:51
Speaker
us to break. And that's exactly what he did.
00:07:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's been the story, though, since last season when he's been playing on the left. like All his success while playing on the left comes when he just like leaves his position and just decides to take over the game, which is not just that it's just not a sustainable role for a player. You know, um I don't know, it's just.
00:08:13
Speaker
even Even when you're like in transition, and that's like you know where he's going to score most of the time regardless, even when he's ontra in transition from the left, we saw yesterday when ah I mean on Saturday during you know that three on one where he hits the crossbar He doesn't score there because he has no angle to score if he's on the left if he's coming from the right ah On his on his left foot, you know, he has both angles to go to Whereas on the left he has like this he had to like fit it into Like a golf a golf ball size. hole He he did so well with that and it's not a shot at both I mean the pass was
00:08:50
Speaker
Just a little bit. Like if his legs are like two inches longer, maybe he did really well to keep it where he got it with the touch. But yeah, like I understand what you're saying. It just, it doesn't look natural for him just being on that left side of the goal. Um, but yeah, I agree. And the thing about it is I feel like when we've all talked about these teams, like you're like, Oh, well, like we just signed, we just signed full Krug. Like, well, he has to be in the team, right?
00:09:17
Speaker
And like, oh, like, yeah, we signed Somerville, but like he's supposed to be kudos as a placement one day or whatever. But like all these guys are supposed to compete. But something that I came to the conclusion of is like, we should against Fulham do the bow and up top thing kudos, right. Uh, in Somerville left, because look, what X says about full crook is that we paid well below the 27.5 million pounds. That's reported. We paid 25 million plus add-ons for Somerville.
00:09:44
Speaker
And apparently full Krug's wages are not that astronomical. So he's probably only on a little bit more than Somerville. So it's like, technically, Cresencio Somerville is the player that we invested more in. So technically he shouldn't be the one getting, at being left out. I mean, if you just want to talk about it in the sense of, well, you invested in this guy, so you have to play him. We invested more in Somerville. So like.
00:10:12
Speaker
Maybe it is time to try Bowen up top. And I think Bowen today is a lot more comfortable in those central areas than he was a year ago. Yeah. He showed that against Bournemouth. I thought that even outside of like the fluky goal that he had, that he he looked pretty good. And that was a good sign because it shows Lopategi's willing to play him there. And we knew that Lopategi was going to be like really adaptable when he came in. So that's like, we're like seeing that now. So hopefully like, you know, we get to see this, this, this switch after the international break. And, uh, to your point about, you know, us investing in Somerville more than full crew, how about the amount we've invested in, in kudos, not only the transfer fee, but the amount that we resisted and selling him this summer. I mean, if we're, if we're going to, you know,
00:10:59
Speaker
deprive ourselves of an 80 million pound payout by keeping this guy. We better we better maximize this guy's yeah um know his value on the tole pitch. Not only are we depriving ourselves of 85 million this summer, in a way we're relying on getting 85 million pounds for next summer. ah he He better look like he's worth 85 million pounds. And he still does on the left. Anyone who's watching. he Yeah, but he needs the the numbers and the output to back that up to that kind of fee, especially, you know, we just saw transfer fees come down a lot this summer, which was refreshing. But if we plan on making 85 million pounds off the sky, you know, he better be hovering around 20, 25 goals in a system. Well, well, nobody's, not every team has Tim Stiden at the, at the negotiating table. So the fees that we paid it aren't indicative of what's out there.
00:11:59
Speaker
Um, but the other thing I would say is I, I don't think that we're going to see the Bowen striker Somerville left the wing experiment just yet. I hope that we do. Cause I it's probably gets the most out of each of our lead attackers, right? Especially considering.
00:12:19
Speaker
I don't think that Lopategi wants to play Paquetta on the left necessarily. um As good as he is there, it just doesn't strike me as something that he wants to do. And I also don't think that ah he really wants to use Paquetta deeper. Yeah. So that only leaves a 10. He's not going to drop Paquetta. I don't think that he's...
00:12:48
Speaker
that keen on using bow and up front i think that he likes with bow and gives him a lot on the right wing which honestly more power to him i get it um so i do think that we're probably going to see full crook up top against full him with the same three behind him, but he's got to find a way to just tweak whatever he's doing with kudus a little bit more. Just get him a little further inside or allow him more freedom. And maybe that's what he did against it. Maybe that's why he found himself where he found him. Sure. It was no accident. But I mean, listen, I have nothing against full crook. I think he's going to be a great signing. Yeah. Yeah.
Transfer Strategy and Budget Management
00:13:21
Speaker
Yeah. This isn't. But the but the question is, you know, whoever you're putting up Tom and whoever you're forcing kudus out left for.
00:13:29
Speaker
You just have to ask yourself, is that person making up for the limitations, the shackles you're putting on kudos? And it's going to take a damn good striker to to say that, yes, that's worth it. And the other thing about full crew that we have to remember is while Somerville was brought in as the eventual successor to kudos in terms of you know his ball carrying ability, um you know goal and assist output from the wing, and as a complement to Bowen,
00:13:58
Speaker
I think the other thing we have to remember is full crew while he was brought in to be the main striker this season. There's a probably in a hundred percent chance that we're back in the market for a striker next summer and that we're looking for a big name. next Like crew was signed because they like his qualities. Like they know, we know that he's good. We know what he's good at. He's good at bringing these other wingers in the play, kudos Bowen and Summerville all compliment him and he compliments them more importantly, incredibly well.
00:14:27
Speaker
But they were also looking for somebody who was more on the value side. So they think that they can get three to four years of him being a quality like competition piece in the squad. And I mean, obviously they think that he's going to start this year, but at 31, you have to assume that they're also like, okay, then he'll play second fiddle or be competing with a younger guy. When were I big time? Yeah, he's, he's, he's not an, he's not the end.
00:14:55
Speaker
is He is purely bought brought in as a stopgap for insert next to young striker that we take a chance on, whether it is ends up being Duran or somebody else. So I wanted to ask you that, um going away from the city game now a little bit on the transfers, where do you land on this whole Duran thing? Where some people are really upset that we didn't meet the 40 million pound valuation. I have my own theories about it, which I think are backed by just like reading everything that happened.
00:15:26
Speaker
Um, but what do you think about that? It's, it's things that we couldn't get this done, dude. I don't know. Like, you know, I was busy all summer. I'll admit, I don't know, like the true details of what went down during these negotiations, but I knew what he was and we all knew what player, what kind of player he was, even if he just showed it, showed it in glimpses last season, man, is he a good striker? And it like really sucks that we didn't get him.
00:15:56
Speaker
His goal catalog is crazy. And it's going to continue to get crazier because he has like elite ball striking. It's like top 1%. And he's so young. yeah he's He's so athletic and he's bigger than I remember him. I don't know what it is, but when I saw him play against us, I was like, I don't remember. Yeah, he's massive. He's huge. Listen, I don't know about the attitude thing, but if he's scoring, I'm sure he's having fun. yeah I bet he, I bet he gives Ollie Watkins a run for his money this season.
00:16:26
Speaker
Starting to look that way with the way he's playing and the way walk is playing. My thing about the Duran saga is that we always had issues. It was like reported throughout every single bid that Villa had issues with the way that we were trying to pay the fee, whether it was that there was through too many add-ons or the structure of the payments, things like that. And they wanted 40 million. Our best bid was 32 million Orford.
00:16:55
Speaker
and a 20% sell-on or 35 million and 20% sell-on or 10% sell-on, whatever the sell-on clause was. And those are the full packages. So we don't know if we were offering like 27 million plus like 8 million to get the 35 or if we were trying to pay it over the course of however many years.
00:17:18
Speaker
So my personal theory is that they love the rant and you know, Fabrizio report to X report. We are still huge fans and hopefully he goes cold. Things get sour at Villa again and we can swoop in next summer. It would take a miracle, but you know, can't hurt the dream. But my theory is that they stood firm on their valuation at 40 million. We thought that they would cave to us a little bit because they were desperate to sell him at one point. We thought that they would cave.
00:17:47
Speaker
um I think that the Diabi deal didn't help us. um We thought that they would cave. They didn't cave. And as was reported by X mainly throughout the entire summer, we had strict um budgets on each position. So if our budget ah if our budget for Striker was like 30 million,
00:18:11
Speaker
And we're pushing like, you know, two, 5 million above that and like trying to do it with add-ons. Then we never truly got that close to Asinville's 40 million pound value down, right? So my thought process is that they've basically gone out and got folkrogue for almost half the price because they didn't see anybody else on the striker market like Duran that they liked, especially at that price point. um And i'll I'll call it 22 million for folkrogue.
00:18:41
Speaker
that 27 and a half reported, X says it's much less. I'll call it 22 and a half. And then at that point, if that allows you to get the Tadebo deal done, to get the Somerville deal done, to get the Wambasaka deal done, especially with the wages and how everything went down with that signing. If that allows you to get all that done, I think I can live with it. But every time I watch the Ram play, I like it. It's so sickening, dude. It's sickening.
00:19:11
Speaker
What do you, what do you think? I see people on Twitter saying like, Oh, like, like we, we signed Guillerme and now we're pinch and pennies. Like this, this was like a luxury signing. and like Yeah. That's the one that's things. Right. Like, honestly, ah I probably would have preferred to spend that 20 million on the random. Um, but the, the issue with it really is that.
00:19:41
Speaker
Stuyten spent David Sullivan's money on all these work trips. He was in Brazil for the fifth time. He he had to come back. bla like That's actually what it is like he like, like, yeah, and you know what you can like, I'm not with this whole like taking shots at Stuyten thing like, we're both well documented Mois guys in this podcast, like, love David Mois at death.
00:20:06
Speaker
But also like I liked him side then and he's shown at Leverkusen and now at West Santa. He has an ability to recruit and to sign players. So like let's just let's just all calm down and like not not analyze things disingenuously.
Importance of Player Mentorship
00:20:23
Speaker
like People are getting upset that we're going through Joel Matip today. get it Get a fucking grip. He's gonna play like six times. And you know what? like it's like Those minutes, I would love for them to be Kaitlyn Casey's, but Matip might be better for Casey than Casey playing 190 minutes across four Cup games.
00:20:46
Speaker
If that, that's like a dream scenario. Seriously. Listen, Casey's still extremely young. Was he even 20 yet? He's 19. He's 19 years old. We'll have his day. Joel Mattson is on a one year deal. This team, as David Moyes stated last year, needs leaders. Since he said that our manager left and our old head in the locker room also left, Angelo Guana. Angelo Guana, yeah. That role has not been replaced. This is still a lot of new faces, a new coach. You know, it, it, it seems like we retained a lot of the identity that we had last year, but I imagine, you know, midway through the season that we might, we might be searching a little bit and having a guy like Joe Matzip, who not only is still talented,
00:21:46
Speaker
He is a Premier League winner. He's a Champions League winner. He was one half of the anchor to one of the best defenses this league has ever seen. And he's going to be a good locker room guy. He's going to be good for Tadebo, bringing him into the league. He's going to be good for Casey, who's, you know, if we really believe in this guy, he needs a mentor. So there you go. He's he's going to be ready off the bench.
00:22:14
Speaker
He doesn't need to play 38 games and get injured. He needs to pay he can but it is' an easy play games to be valuable, really. Yeah. No, I mean, I i totally agree with all that. He can help Kilman in ways too. Like Kilman, you know, has been spectacular. We actually are going to need to talk about him.
00:22:36
Speaker
like on in an extended note. But like, this is Max Kellman's first time, like being the guy, being the leader in a back four. At least the way that we know it, because we'll send all we need is Dawson XM, all we need is Cody XM. First three games, Kellman is the guy that those four in the back look to for assurance, and he's given that and then some. But this is a long season. There's going to be tough times. There's going to be times when we're soul searching.
00:23:04
Speaker
somebody with that kind of pedigree, that kind of head on their shoulders is good to have around the locker room. He still has quality. It was three seasons ago now. I mean, two, if you forget about the last three games, 21, 22, Joel Matip paid like 4,000 minutes for like champions league finalists and domestic double cup winners like Liverpool. Like, you know, not that he's that guy anymore, but He's more than capable of being the fourth center back for us. The Tadebo thing is huge for me. I think he would be great for Tadebo.
00:23:35
Speaker
um And yeah, like, Kaitlyn Casey, like, this isn't really blocking a path for me. If anything, it's creating one, because by bringing in Matt Tipt, you're saying, okay, well, now that spot's open again next year. Absolutely. we didn't We could have easily brought in another random young guy from a random league.
00:23:54
Speaker
they could bring an Egan on a two year deal, three year deal. massive is much better. It's actually a clear vision of like wanting to bring in youth and like, like ah a true like mentor for this side. He's gonna be a great guy to have in training.
00:24:16
Speaker
He's, by the way, like this isn't just like, oh, he's great to have around because he's Joel Matip, right? Joel Matip, throughout his career, specifically at Liverpool, was somebody who was loved around the club. And in almost a similar way that like we love LaVonna and things like that. This is a guy who like is truly loved at Liverpool. This is somebody who these young guys can look to. And not only young guys can look to like Jared Bowen.
00:24:45
Speaker
yeah He's in his first year as a captain. He's going to need help. Like Lopategi as a first year coach at a new club, he's going to need another voice. Kilman does that. Matip can do that as an older head. The same way James Milner, we've seen him talking to the media about, um how do you say his name? Herzler. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Breton. He's been talking to the media about him and James Milner is doing that for him and helping him get his message across. Like these little things.
00:25:13
Speaker
across such a long season where the minor details are so important are huge. And I just, I think it's silly to turn your nose up with Joe Matip because always 33 and you just towards his ACL. Who cares? ah data He'll play six times. And I bet he'll be good in those six games.
00:25:32
Speaker
i butt And that's the other thing, I bet he'll be spectacular. It's almost to the point where like, I love to give him like a one plus one, right? Like a team option, like a, like a one year contract with like a team option where it's like, you know, if this guy does well, why not? Yeah. Like we're in no rush. Casey will be two years from today. Caitlin Casey will be 21 years old. He has time.
00:26:00
Speaker
I would like it if Kaitlyn Casey makes his primarily or his his senior team debut next to Joel Matip. I think that'd be pretty cool. That'd be awesome. And that would make a lot of people yeah pretty dumb. But yeah, like, you know, and that's another thing that we have to remember about these young guys. We're so excited about this group, who's the best group of kids that West Ham have had in a long, long time.
00:26:25
Speaker
But we have to remember just how young they are in two years. So it's 2024 in 2026, in September, 2026, George earthy will be 21 years old. Caitlin Casey will be 21 years old. Lewis Orford will be 18 years old.
Youth Development and Talent Pathways
00:26:44
Speaker
Lewis Orford will be 20 years old. Ali scars will Ali Skarles can't talk. We'll be 20 years old.
00:26:55
Speaker
Like these guys are really, really young. We need to be patient. And it's important that Stuytenant and Lopatec have a plan for them, which is, you know, if you want to talk about the Guido Rodriguez signing now, that's why I love that one. You bring in Rodriguez, 30 year old on a two year deal with an option for a third. You're creating a pathway for POTS and for Orford by doing that.
00:27:26
Speaker
So layer on the loan, you're keeping that spot open. I think that I have, I think that they'll just look for someone better next summer in that spot. Somebody who's more combative out of possession and still brings those qualities in possession. But like there, there's a vision there. Yeah. I mean, this, this massive signing is in the same vein as that. And I think that's a beautiful way to put it because.
00:27:54
Speaker
you can really see like, when once you like start reading between the lines of the signings, like, there is like, the pathway is there. And there's, ah there's, there's a, there's a clear development plan here. And a lot of like the moist critics, and I think rightly so. um You know, criticize him for not having a pathway for youth. And they they have a point. But the alternative to that can't be just like, okay, throw them throw them in the room to the walls, because that's going to to have the opposite effect. Because it's it's like the inverse. If they don't play, they lose confidence. If they have no confidence. If they play too early, they'll they'll lose confidence. So you really it's like um very, very tricky. um This game is a game of you know mentality. If you shatter a kid's mentality, it's hard to recover.
00:28:48
Speaker
so they It's one of the hardest things to do in sports. is to go from a Premier League Academy to a Premier League. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's incredibly, incredibly difficult because having that combination of talent, IQ, and just mentality. It's really like not many people are built it's the hardest league to play in the world.
Season Signings and Tactical Evolution
00:29:14
Speaker
So you have to be gentle with these kids. Um,
00:29:19
Speaker
I do want to open it up a little bit to talk more about transfers. Um, and we'll talk about the rest of the August games too. I mean, the two breaks for the goals against palace were unbelievable. And one of the guys that you may bring up right now as a reason, we'll talk about both of them, but I w I want you to tell me who your favorite signing out of everybody that we signed is.
00:29:43
Speaker
Oh man. Or.
00:29:47
Speaker
You can tell me your favorite or who you think will win signing of the season. I think Max Kilman won will win signing of the season, but I think my favorite. It's gotta be one of Osaka. I just think about him. I get giddy. Like it's like, doesn't even make sense how good he is for us.
00:30:10
Speaker
Dude. the waasakco link i I mean, you can tell everybody because I don't, I mean, I want it. It's not tooting my own horn. It's actually calling myself like a little insane, but that sign was dry. I wanted it so fucking so bad. Like, and.
00:30:28
Speaker
Man, I was freaking out, they were, like, the Tadebo stuff was breaking, and I was like, what is happening with Aaron Wambasaka? It was like to the point where I'm like, all right, like, we know who this guy is. Like, he's he's not that, like, he's not amazing. Like, you think that, like, oh, like, Mbappe is, like, getting linked with West Ham. He's, like, pushing for the deal. Like, but it but it really is like that. Like, Wambasaka is, like, a true revelation. he's He's, like, added, like, a brand-new dynamic that I didn't even know was possible to this team.
00:30:58
Speaker
It's just the fit is so perfect. And like people think he's bad with the ball. He's not bad with the ball. He just has bad end product. And that's okay. Like that's okay. Like we can we can figure that out because this guy is a freak athlete. I mean, he's huge. Like when you really think like you don't see fullbacks who are built that way. I mean, the at least not playing for us. We saw against City.
00:31:26
Speaker
where Pep was just like, okay, we like have to like realign our entire team to like make sure that our like ball carriers are not running at him.
00:31:38
Speaker
Dude, they like Grealish, that whole game, if he ever got it, I think he took on Wampusako once and actually did well and beat him. But like, when Grealish would pick up the ball, it's just turning inside. I mean, that's what that's what he does anyways. But that's why he was the one on the left. And also,
00:31:58
Speaker
something that has been weird with us is we get really narrow and it's almost like we invite teams to put the ball out. Like we, we want teams to cross it, I think. Um, but like there were so many times where it's like, it's just like De Bruyne is out there all by himself and they're still like not even thinking about walking near the box. They, they want no part of him. And this is like the greatest team on that has ever graced this earth.
00:32:27
Speaker
He's like, darre he really is like, you're just, he's just not getting targets. Like they're just not going near him. it it It was a little crazy to watch, but like, I mean, the the intricacies of his play, like his understanding of space and angles and like build up and like understanding to try, it's just, and as good as coup fall is, or was, is, was, whatever word you want to use. Like having,
00:32:55
Speaker
a right back, or yeah, right back, because Emerson can do it, but like a right back who can just yeah play.
00:33:04
Speaker
it's It's incredible. Not only just play, that that's like really underselling, I think, what he does out there. Like he's just an elite ball carrier. And he like, he he gets us, and this is another thing, not to cut you off, but this is another thing. He's another guy who gets us up the pitch. Because if we truly want to like make this transition,
00:33:24
Speaker
from the moist stuff. It's not that we're not going to be compact anymore. It's not that we're not going to sit off anymore. It's that that sometimes our way of being pragmatic is going to be playing with the ball at our feet, then without the ball, right. And the other thing that it's going to be is that there's going to be more of a mix of when we go long and when we don't go long. And when we do build up, sometimes it's going to be through the middle more. Like, Moi's teams don't really build up through the middle that often. um But weve we already saw against City, like, you would find Mombasaka, like, standing where you'd expect to see, like... Yeah, like, tucking inside, inverting, like, linking with people, like, who is this guy, Trent, or Mombasaka?
00:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, but that gives us so many new opportunities and new ways to get us up to pitch. Like, we don't have to go long to get into the final third anymore. When you have Juan Bassaca, when you have Max Killman, when we bring Tadebo into the team and Mavropanos has done a great job when you have Guido Rodriguez. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, it's not, it's just not a necessity to go long anymore. And it, and like, actually seeing us bring in players who, and you know, it's like praising them for what they're supposed to do. But like Saitan and Lopategi, like actually identifying, okay, like who are the guys who have to go on? And who are the guys who can play, right? So Alvarez can play, Emerson can play yeah out of the back. Like Mavropanos can do it if he's asked. Suchak is a great plan B, but you don't necessarily want him getting you up the pitch by
00:35:05
Speaker
you know, receiving the ball with his back to defenders. You want him getting up, you have to pitch by winning knockdowns higher up the pitch. So Kufal, he loves that ball down the line, but Kufal, he's like really shy. Like he doesn't want to play inside. He, it's like his hips like freeze whenever he has to play inside. So watching Wambasaka, I mean the buildup for the goal against palace, he was playing these little triangles against Bournemouth against city. like It's like watching a new position. Yeah, it's like literally adding another player to your team. It's crazy. It's, yeah.
00:35:46
Speaker
He's my favorite signing of the window too. I wish I had one, but he, man, I wanted him for so long. I remember the first day those links got like ah solid. She's yelling at people. Oh, Lopategi fullbacks need to overlap and need to provide with upfront. Shut up, man. Like shut, shut the hell up. And he can do that because he's a freak athlete. That's another thing with Kufo. Kufo works his ass off.
00:36:12
Speaker
We'll always love him for that. But Aaron Wambasaka, at his level of athleticism, can actually get up the pitch and provide that width and also have the ability and like the lungs and the speed and like the strides to be able to make that ground let and get back. Like this is like the modern fullback. You have to do both. The perfect example is the second goal against Palace, right? Who bought one's goal?
00:36:42
Speaker
He busted his ass to get up there and provide the overlap, which just creates that split second where the defender sees him and he goes, is he going to go? And then Bowen who shifts and a done he looks like him bopping. And then the other side of it is against Bournemouth. I mean, I don't know what it was from exactly. So maybe he wasn't up to pitch, but goal saving tackle against Bournemouth. Like just totally saves us.
00:37:10
Speaker
and Like it's just it's a luxury. he He is a luxury to have Especially like if we do want to play expansively. This is another thing that people have to understand if we want to play expansively Having defenders who are Elite in space is so important and I want to say this on his podcast Something that I love about our summer transfer window the two things I love the most are that Well, it's a how ruthless we were with getting rid of certain players, you know, like whether it's harsh on word Prowse or whatever, the ruthlessness I still like because it shows that they have a direction that they want to go in and they're going to stick to it. But the main thing is ah like, we all know Titans more analytical, bubble blah, blah, blah.
00:37:56
Speaker
is that you can see it in the numbers and the eye test backs it up, where you see the clear plan and direction within the profiles that we sign. We've always signed players in positions of need, but watching the actual profiles of players that we sign have such a clear direction is like heartwarming to me. Because these three, or I'm going to say these four, right? I mean, Rodriguez is not athletic, so I'm going to leave him out of it a little bit. But Kilman,
00:38:25
Speaker
to Deebo and Aaron Mamasaka, all three of them are athletic freaks who are comfortable defending in space. and are dual winning monsters. All of them win such a high percentage of their duels compared to, you know, their peers. I don't have the stats on hand right now, but I've looked at them enough times to know that these guys, this is what they do. They win duels, right? And they're comfortable in space. The same goes for Guido Rodriguez, who's also a monster in the duels. And he compliments Alvarez because he's kind of,
00:39:00
Speaker
And I want to say surer on the ball than Alvarez, but like he, somebody said that Guido Rodriguez is the perfect nuts and bolts defensive midfielder that you can find. And I think that's such a perfect way to describe him. His area of influence is smaller than Alvarez's, but it almost complements each other because Alvarez, you know, covers such a large space, but Guido is more disciplined and has such a high impact in the spaces that he does. Right. Yeah. That was, that's like the main like criticism of Alvarez is like,
00:39:30
Speaker
you know, sometimes he's positioning is not perfect. Like he like takes more risks and that leaves us a little exposed, but with like Guido, like much more like positionally, you know, disciplined, he's going to, you know, you know exactly where he's going to be. Um, he's like very short on the ball. He's aggressive in the tackles, like for free. Yeah. Sure. This guy, that's the other of thing. Like this guy, this guy was going to Barcelona. yeah like We should not forget that. Yeah. And we got him for nothing.
00:40:00
Speaker
he's And he doesn't disrupt any development plans we have but for the youth, not that we should really should be worrying about that. But yeah. But we should be, and we are. He's he's doing a good job. He's he's doing the job. So I wish. like I love that signing. Yeah, it's it's ah it's just a very, very smart signing on a limited budget. But yeah, those those three at the back, like very specifically, like just to go back to them,
00:40:30
Speaker
Those two things, it's the the athleticism, which I've always said under Moyes that we needed to be a more athletic team. It was something that I always thought that we lacked way too much of. Just ah in this Premier League nowadays, like you just, you need athletes.
00:40:45
Speaker
Right. And that sounds like obviously, like obviously, but like you need the elite level athletes among the elite level athletes to be successful. Yeah. And then Kilman, Kilman to Deebo and Aaron Wambasaka, all three of them are obscene athletes at this level. Like they stand out athletically at the highest level of the sport. Yeah. And you compare them to the guys who they replaced. I mean, Zuma was at once a great athlete, but he couldn't walk.
00:41:16
Speaker
Aguirre, we don't have to talk about him. Uh, soft, ah weak, feeble. Weak and soft. And Kufal, who like has like the physiognomy of like a Czech peasant, like a a peasant farmer, like very, very tough man, but you know, he's great motor, tough tough as nails, but he's just like an average human at the end of the day.
Defensive Lineup and Player Adaptation
00:41:41
Speaker
Like you you replace them with. with Kilman, who's a monster, who just eats. He moves so smooth. He eats ground, dude, he eats it. He's like a Cadillac.
00:41:57
Speaker
Dude, he moves so smooth, man. Like, you know, there's like a lot, of like, I thought his like, futsal, like, so background was like, you know, just like, commentary trivia. But like, he really looks like he's just like an all around dude playing center back. It's crazy.
00:42:15
Speaker
Dude, he's just like, he's 6'5 and he moves so fluid. Like NFL scouts would love this guy. His shuttle time would be crazy. dude like He moves so fluid.
00:42:28
Speaker
And like, Oh man. And he passes the ball so smoothly. Like it's so crisp. Like, Oh dude, the the assists are Bowen's goal. I've never, have I ever seen a center back act like that before. And any shirt dude, forget that ends product. Like, what is he doing to like dribble past three guys and then see Bowen's run, which was not an obvious run by the way. And like put it in stride for him perfectly.
00:42:58
Speaker
And it's like, it's not only is the past like perfect, it's like also aesthetically pleasing. So it's like, like we've seen great attackers at West Ham where it's like, ah, well they look a little funny while I do it. Like dude, like you look like Paquetta and you see Paquetta's reaction after the goalie runs straight to him because of, because of course he does. But like, we'll talk about that guy too, but like, Oh my God, man. And he had.
00:43:27
Speaker
He just calms everything down. Like I watch him and I was always so high on him and then these Wolves fans, they made me nervous. They made me question myself. I was like, do I know what I'm talking about? Like, do I actually know who this guy is? And it's like they they tell you that like he's nervous that he needs like somebody holding his hand next to him. He can't play in a four. I can't. The last time I was this sure of a center back,
00:43:53
Speaker
three games in was when we signed Zuma he was that first month with Zuma. He was already far more established. He was already an established guy. And like obviously Kilman is established. This is a far new role. And it's he had he had one little sequence right against Palace.
00:44:14
Speaker
Where and he he's done this a few times and you know, you can call it a risk and he's he's gonna make a mistake well eventually It's gonna be ugly. It's gonna be ah like and it's gonna suck But that's but that comes with the territory of playing like him playing out from the back whatever but he he does this thing and I'm gonna reference one time against palace where like we're trying to build the ball up out of the back and And, you know, things get a little like loose and like, maybe the ball is bouncing around. Maybe it's like in the air, maybe it's in an awkward position. Maybe it's not like coming straight to his foot. Like, and he has to like be on the stretch to get it. And he just calms it down with one touch. the So the ball is like bouncing back to him um and Palace are pressing and the ball gets like played back to him. Like it's bouncing. It's an awkward one to deal with. Most center backs, you know, you just hoof it. Just get that the hell out of here, right?
00:45:10
Speaker
but he just like, with a little touch, just kind of loops it over the on rushing defender straight to Emerson's feet and that an hour away. Just like things like that. And it's why big clubs and why I think we eventually will like, it's why they look to find goalkeepers who can do that and who can ping passes and punish presses. Like, like Emmy Martinez, as much as I hate him punished us and the way that we tried to press asset Villa in that first game.
00:45:38
Speaker
And that's why those big teams look for goalkeepers like that. And it's the same thing with Kilman and center backs where he is creating advantages for you just by having a little bit of calmness. Cause you break that first line of the press and now it's it makes all the difference. the And that's another like common thread among the the guys that we signed to play center back this, this summer, um, to diva and Kilman, they're so hard to take the ball.
00:46:08
Speaker
And they're so sure of themselves. you can't press us They're so sure of themselves with the ball at their feet. they like you'll You'll very rarely put either of them in a position where they need to huff it down the field. like we so We saw it with Tadebo. A lot of people have things to say about um his performance against Bournemouth. It's nothing to talk about, in my opinion. But what I did notice is a very strong positive is that, given the space, he's going to punish you. He's going to eat it up. he's goingnna you know, drive through that space and make a good pass. And he's not afraid. And he was just trying to make pass. He's getting his feet wet. Yeah. I mean, first 45 minutes in England, we so we saw like what he is about and what he tries to do with the ball and without it. And I think that he's going to fit in very well with the vision that Lopategi inside and have in this defense.
00:47:05
Speaker
Absolutely. No. Yeah. I mean, like that's, yeah. And you you said it like, how do you press this team? Like Aaron Wambasaka, that that's the trigger yeah out of those four. He's the trigger. God, God bless. Good luck. You know what I mean? Like, and the the one guy you have to worry about is, is Alphonse Ariola. Basically.
00:47:30
Speaker
because the though especially when he tries to go along he gets he's fine when it's short as long as he's safe um but when he tries to play like a ping like he just he doesn't i'm gonna use the word crisp again he doesn't have that crispness to it and yeah but i don't i don't care it's fine he adds us so much value in terms of shot stopping that like it's fine that he's not in yes and in goal you know as long as he is average everywhere else and the shot stopping is still at a comparable level. Yeah, which it is. Dude, that De Bruyne save where he tries to cheat the front the the near post. And he comes back. I don't even think Alphonse has played that well these first few weeks. No, yeah. I mean, he had some crazy saves against City, but other than that, he's been pretty pre par. I mean, Villa, I just didn't think he commanded the box well at all.
00:48:28
Speaker
It's like fine. It's nipping. We know who he is. I love that guy. Yeah. um So whove we've talked about folk road. We've talked about Somerville. We've talked a little bit about Guido Rodriguez. We've talked about Tadebo a little bit. I mean, well, let's talk about the Tadebo saga. Where were you when ah you saw that we were trying to do this. Because that's what's always funny about these transfers when they happen. And this is, ooh, is this the craziest transfer saga I've ever seen in West Ham be a part of? I think it might be the most impressive signing I've ever seen us pull off. Because obviously, you know, when we sign guys like Pyatt, it wasn't like we were competing with anybody and they had to sell.
00:49:21
Speaker
And, you know, in some ways, like with Demi, it's just pure luck. Um, Paquetta, we got a free run at, kudos basically at a free run. nut yeah right And, um,
00:49:41
Speaker
and then after, you know, Paquetta and kudos, like in terms of like transfer market pedigree, like. I can't think of many others. We've signed at that level of interest. Yeah. To think about how unlikely it was at a certain point that it was just like, we had moved on. We had started looking at it. Roshain said it was impossible. Which like, it really seemed that way. Like, Fabrizio was saying like three times a day that Todibo only wanted Juventus.
00:50:17
Speaker
That, that, so that was when I gave up because I, in like early July, I was like, maybe. And I was getting my hopes up and I was like, I remember thinking if it gets to August 1st and he's like still going to Juventus, like it's over. Right. And like August 1st came and I was like, yeah, is it over?
00:50:41
Speaker
And then the language change where Fabrizio was like to debo wants you vent this to, to debo only wants you meant this, which I think was probably a desperation move on the party agent and like trying to rush them. And then a few more days, maybe a week past of that.
00:51:00
Speaker
And then obviously we're hijacking the deal now, apparently. Didn't even know we were hijacking it. I was like, hijacking, we've been here for a while. um But yeah, I mean, it was just funny to read that word because usually it hijacks like out of nowhere, but we we were just kind of on the prowl. And I thought it was fake. Yeah.
00:51:28
Speaker
And I had been, I had given up on any possibility of that deal. Obviously, I mean, in our group chat, we were arguing because, uh, West Ham football, Claire and you, Sean, Sean Whitestone, whatever you want to call it, had said, Oh, it might be there. Right. Like, yeah, right. Sean, like shut up. Like, but yeah, that was a crazy 24 hours. I don't know. I couldn't believe it. And.
00:51:58
Speaker
I knew so it's the kind of thing like, you know, when you watch transfers from a bar, and you know, like, when it's done, it's done. This was one of those as soon as the hijacking to like, it's done. We had like, six but every but every second, like, oh, Stuyton's trying to sell them. I was like, please. And it's like, is he on the plane? Like, is he gonna sign like, and then you they are calling him up by the way.
00:52:23
Speaker
We never actually went back to that and we said that we would. How funny is it that they were calling him and his agent relentlessly during his like videos of his announcement? Dude, it's just crazy. Juventus. Juventus were on the phone. The Italian Giants, we had them on a string. Well, he's at the ball. And this guy desperately wanted Juventus, but they're just not big enough. See, they're clowns that the way that they handled that transfers ridiculous, by the way, it's, it's insane. Oh, they're, they're a total joke club. It's funny because, um, you know, basically the same language at the same time came out for it to devote to Juventus as Fofana to Milan. Uh,
00:53:17
Speaker
And the only difference is AC Milan is the serious club and Juventus is a bunch of like broke keys. Absolutely. and But like, the like, how do you, like, I understand coupe miners, whatever, but that Tadebo deal fell through because they didn't want to offer them an obligation as short as we did. And they didn't want there to settle on cause whatever. And maybe it's like 20%, maybe it's something a little ridiculous. so ah Anything over 20% will be peeved, but honestly,
00:53:48
Speaker
It was, it was worth it. But like, like, you vent this, like they held this deal up over minor details with the sheer arrogance that they were going to make a guy wait two and a half months to go play for them. No.
00:54:07
Speaker
And like good for Tadebo for like drawing a line in the sand and being like, no, like enough is enough. Like I'm i'm done. Like I'm not doing this anymore. Yeah. And in my, in my, in my opinion, he's a, he's in a better situation here for his career.
Enhancing Club Image and Market Value
00:54:25
Speaker
He's 24 years old. He does not like he obviously going to event this playing champions league football, maybe by some miracle, they're good again. They win the league. We'll see about that.
00:54:36
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see if they can qualify for the champions first again. Um, like he's, he's going to be in the primary league spotlight. All these big, you know what I mean? Like he's at a club where we used to not let our big players go, but after the rice stuff, you know, obviously pick up the would have been a man city player. Kudos has a highly publicized release clause, like And with Stites in here now, like there's probably some more trust from the football world, you would think, that we're here to better these guys and then send them on their way and then reinvest that money. And we're trying to become a club that, cause if we can target guys as like our top signings at the pedigree of Paquetta, Kudos and Tadebo, that we're going to, you know, give, we're going to give them that Premier League spotlight.
00:55:33
Speaker
to like enhance their image and then get them that big move that, and by the time they're done with us, they'll be ready.
00:55:42
Speaker
That's only a good thing for us. And it's only a good thing for them. Yeah. I mean, that's been like the clear vision of like, you know, what we're trying, we've been, let me, we've been trying to do this for a long time. The only thing is that we keep telling guys that depreciate and value once they get here. Like, like that was probably our plan with, you know, Felipe and Halle, like,
00:56:03
Speaker
those guys were like ah pasta maka as well. But I mean, it's, it's, it's like a clear, you know, talking point or like selling point from side and now it's like, like you're coming here. You're ah going to help us achieve our goals. And in turn, and the world of football is going to see you. And there's like even more evidence for that now.
00:56:31
Speaker
with like, you know, kudos has a release clause. Paquetta had a release clause, like, these guys are like, being sold that this is like the platform to showcase your talents. And kudos Paquetta deck when he was here. Like, we didn't used to have players with that kind of high profile in this like,
00:56:54
Speaker
These guys are superstars. Literal superstars. Like relative to us, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, deck was just a straight up superstar. Piquet does a huge name in the Brazilian national team. And Kudus is the best African player. The best player on his continent. Besides. Yeah. I'll put him top two. Yeah, I'll give it back to Oseman once he gets his win. No, I'm talking to Sala. I mean, ah forget about that. Oseman doesn't count. We don't count players.
00:57:24
Speaker
Give me a break. We don't count Turkish. We don't count Turkish League players either. So put him top three. Top three. Yeah, but you know, I mean, like, that's like, he, like, Kudus is a huge name. He's the face of African football. or rather Regardless of whether he's the best, he's the face of, you know, when African, when the African combination comes around, he's going to be on the poster boards.
00:57:55
Speaker
Yeah, dude. And he's the face of his of Ghanaian football. He's the hope of Ghanaian football. He's the great like centerpiece of a golden generation.
00:58:09
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And Ibrahim Osman did not want to be a part of it. No, he wanted to be here so bad. i'm It would have been cool. you It doesn't matter now. I'm, I'm happy with, uh, Christ, NCO Summerville. Who apparently we tried to sign him in January. That's funny. I mean, that's, that's really funny. If leads would have even considered letting him go. That would have been a cheat code. If we got that one. Can you imagine style? Like Sidon boys would be, he would literally would be here. If studying could get rid of Ben Raman for now while bringing in Summerville.
00:58:47
Speaker
Like we would throw a parade on February 1st. Dude, I would have gotten whiplash. No, like legit. Like I would have been like, car from like watching Ben Rama get like sent off against ah Bristol city. So like watching Somerville against Sheffield the United, like I would have like been nauseous. Dude, Somerville looks good. Somerville looks. Dude, he's, he's, he's pretty good. He almost scored against city.
00:59:18
Speaker
almost scored against Bournemouth. He's just like a positive, positive player. You know, and you know what, dude, I was thinking, like, yeah, well, that's the one thing is that everything he does is going forwards. But I was thinking when he came, I was like, okay, another winger likes to cut in. Something I think that helps him a lot is that he really plays with his head up, which like he's willing willing to make that little like drop off pass, like,
00:59:49
Speaker
He's not as tunnel vision, like I'm running at my defender. Um, but I was thinking I was a guy like all these wingers who like to cut in. Like, I hope like he has something else, but like he like something about him. I don't know how he does it. I think maybe he gets like more curl. Cause the way that one curled against Bormuth that just missed was crazy. Um, but he really finds a way to create that angle for himself. Yeah.
01:00:16
Speaker
He's like, he's like probably a grand total of like nine inches away from like two goals in the space of three days. Yeah. Ben Rama never could do that. Ben Rama like never been Rama. We try to cut in.
01:00:33
Speaker
And would like have to take like two or three more touches. Cause he's a fat slob and like, couldn't like get himself where he wanted to with each. Oh God. I'm so glad we don't have to watch him anymore. Oh my God. Every time I are like remember that he's like somewhere out there, like playing football, like pisses me off to no end. Dude, I still follow him on Instagram. I see pictures of him and the Leon kid. It makes me laugh. He just, he got, he just got
Tim Stuyten's Influence on the Club
01:01:00
Speaker
replaced. but Yeah. By, by Zaha.
01:01:06
Speaker
What is going on with him, man? to Why did they buy him? stidden like I don't know what he says or does to people, but he could sell water too well. he's like He's in a different headspace right now.
01:01:24
Speaker
Dude he's probably been asleep for like days at a time like it's like September 2nd now He probably went to bed after the city game and like hasn't he looks like he has like he like sleep He like hibernates in between games when he's on like touchline. He's the shovel does anything Dude, he he's a funny guy. You see what he said this summer. Yeah, they're on the plane from Amsterdam, the London and he's telling him that he cannot be average and like What are you talking about, man? You're scared. Yeah, like he we already know he's good. like He's had a very like good Premier League season before. like You don't need to be like i kiss like... He's challenging him on the plane to go sign, to not be average. If you're not kudos, you're fucking walking to the games.
01:02:14
Speaker
like Like I don't even get it like you're not the coach man and like I like I love it for the record I don't care that he's on the field like let him be on the field with these guys as long as Lopategi's cool with it The players are cool different games, but like it's just so funny to me It's like to be in one of those points Because you know, as I've been wondering that especially with the Tadebo one has all the competition for his signature. It's like, like, what is he saying to him on the plane? Like, do they talk on the plane? Is it, is it like headphones in, like you' watching, like watching a movie or something, watching a movie? Like, like what is the vibe on the side and private jet? Dude, I vibe like ever like a make-a-wish. I like, that's my dream is to like be on like the side and jet. That's the thing is like, like, because the only, the only thing that we know about it,
01:03:09
Speaker
is that he takes a picture with them, which I've always wondered, how how does he initiate that? Like, especially with Tadebo. Like, hey, like, I know that like you wanted to go to event this for like two months and we're trying to like steal you from them. But do you like have a second for like a picture? And then he's like, they take the picture and like if the player's like looking over his shoulder and he's like sending it to for retail and he's like, give me credit. Like tell me I did good signing this guy. So the only, it's that and it's him telling Somerville that he better not suck.
01:03:46
Speaker
That's the only things that we know about. God only knows what he told Kurus. Maybe he told Kurus, like, you better not suck. Like, it it's a saved script. yeah He's got a script. He's got he's got he's got lines. To Kurus, he was like, you better read Paquetta. And then now to... yeah He challenged Somerville to displace Paquetta and Kurus. What is he talking about? like He's crazy, man.
01:04:12
Speaker
He's a sicko, man. That works. But, like, that's the mentality. Yeah. He's got a crazy main character syndrome, I gotta tell you. Like, no technical director has ever made it about him. way he dude This is for real about him. He, like, he saw the limelight at West Ham.
01:04:37
Speaker
Like the way we we were being covered, like, especially when he first got hired and like, also, and he, he just, he thought like, that could be. He's like, this is like my like FM, like career mode dream that like, like the headlines are going to say Tim Steiden builds a masterpiece. The world dominating team. We don't even call it good. Call them managers, they're coaches, they ain't sure about me.
01:05:05
Speaker
We were we were getting ready for like a Premier League game against Crystal Palace. And he was flying Reuben Amorim into London. Like very publicly, like Reuben Amorim had to apologize publicly, like two sporting stands. What is wrong with him, dude? Like,
01:05:31
Speaker
Whoever stops doing his job. Oh, he's gonna look at like the biggest clown in the world Do the key better hope that these signings continue to look good because if they if like if he has a bad summer Like he imagine like one of the guys that he takes like a good jet pic with is just terrible and ah Like Mavropanos is fine and he was like it was first summer. He's getting the splits off But can you imagine like like imagine like to debo just sucks dude? That's he'd have to go into hiding like legitimately witness protection program Like dude Is he gonna like he better not do another another interview, I'm sure he's I'm sure he thinks International break, he's got one lined up with Puttenberg or whatever that guy's in. Oh no, I mean like ah like a video, like recorded interview. Oh my God. Like he did when we hired Lopategi. Do you think he'll have like an end of season, like like sit down with Sky Sports? Oh my God. hopefully but Hopefully they have a reason to. Hopefully we're not just like 10th or whatever. he He would do it if he finished 10th.
01:06:52
Speaker
Nah, we want to make a big noise. shot the Just the beginning. yeah
01:07:01
Speaker
And he he always is on the cameras, you know what I mean? Like, I feel like there's definitely a way that he could be on the pitch. And like, he wouldn't just end up on the cameras. Like, maybe I'm crazy. But like, remember after the palace game?
01:07:14
Speaker
It's like two seconds after it ends, like how get all like the best players of the game. Like he knows where the cameras are going to be. like Like, but it's like, he's usually up in like the penthouse dude, like in the, like the pos sheets, like in the box is out. He's a little more comfortable now. He's a little more than tell me about it. And dude, and the funniest thing about him is every time he's like around.
01:07:40
Speaker
It's always like he's always on the cell phone. Remember a January deadline day. He was on the phone in the tunnel and he's talking to boys and he's on the phone in the tunnel. When we were in Florida and the game got delayed, he was on the phone. He's just, oh my goodness. I could have never predicted when we hired him that he would have this big of a personality. Right. Can you name another sporting director in the Premier League?
01:08:12
Speaker
Yeah. um
01:08:16
Speaker
Dougie, Dougie Freeman at Palace. I don't know how that is. He does a good job, but like I couldn't like I i would recognize Tim. He was like a casual guy who just like, you know, follows her. You know, you know, like that's you know who Tim Simon is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He out after Paquetta.
01:08:42
Speaker
And I guess Antonio, like he's probably got like the biggest personality at the club. Which is crazy. Cause he has like, essentially nothing to do with like the he's a technical director. Like I, like, why do I know? Like, why, like, why do you have a personality? Why have we spoken more about him than like low Pategi by far?
Conclusion and Future Outlook
01:09:04
Speaker
Because this is but that but that's the thing is it because that this is his project. This is him, dude, which honestly, it's the way that it should be. Like, I'm cool with that. Because like, I, I've been saying this is like 2017. I want like a director of football. And I want a head coach because that's the way that all the best clubs are run. But usually it's still like the narratives about yeah seriously and like the narrative becomes about the technical director, if they're doing a bad job or a good job. But it's not like Like, this is him, man. Like, like he, like, like head coach or manager, that guy is the face of the club. He's like the representative. He is. He's the guy. Mm-hmm. But it's if it's good. You know, like it definitely like takes less pressure. Like, I think it takes pressure. off Yeah. tell And like, e from a fan standpoint, it's like, if like low Pategi doesn't do well, like there's like life to this project beyond him.
01:10:01
Speaker
It's not square one. If you like, God forbid something happens. If it will be tell you it doesn't do well and it's because of Stuython signings, they're going to do, they're going to fucking find him. Oh yeah. He's nuts, man. He really is. Like he did an interview and for anybody, like just to make a comparison, the New York Knicks president of basketball operations, Leon Rose,
01:10:31
Speaker
Um, does the same job as Tim Staiten and in the NBA, like your technical director, general manager, whatever you want to call them, um, is expected to speak to the media before and after the season. At least the Nick's version of Tim Staiten has not spoke to the media since 2020. He did. He did one like prerecorded.
01:10:59
Speaker
sit down with like the team's own media for five minutes and gave like the most corporate answers and that's all we've heard from him. There were like ups and downs over the last five years. ah Tim Stuyten is like
01:11:20
Speaker
Like, why was he, like, why did he do it? and Like, why was he at Lopateki's opening interview? Like, I've never seen a technical director at an interview in this sport, ever. And like, I want to be clear, this is not complaining. This is just genuinely, this is like, it's just the funniest thing I've ever seen. He's crazy, man. He's crazy. All right, I'm gonna wrap it up there. We're happy to be back.
01:11:49
Speaker
Expect more. We'll be back on a on a weekly basis, maybe besides the breaks. We'll see if we can talk about this. This is kind of the break, isn't it? no I guess not. No, it's not. It's the city game. But we'll be back after Fulham for sure. ah Thank you everybody for listening. We'll see you next time.