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Champions League Final Preview | Is an NBA Title Inevitable for OKC? | Breece Hall’s Future and the Colts’ Questionable QB Battle
15 Plays1 month ago
In this week’s episode of Who’s Got The Ball? the lads previewed and predicted the Champions League final, before talking through the stunning OKC Thunder’s season and Western Conference finals win and then wrapping up by breaking down Breece Hall’s future with the Jets and the Colts’ questionable QB battle between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.
Gan Seans wrapped up last week with Shane winning by nine points in the first season & there is a final update on the WGTB Multi-Sport Power Rankings for 2024/2025.
We introduced a new section to the podcast this week that will run across the summer, where the lads break down the biggest football transfers of the past week.
Leave a review and subscribe to Who’s Got The Ball? to have every new weekly episode land in your inbox.
Don’t forget to give us a follow across social media too!
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Transcript
Celebrating 20 Episodes and Sports Excitement
00:00:09
Speaker
Alright lads, welcome back to another episode of Who's Got The Ball. This time we are on our 20th episode, so bit of milestone there. Thanks to all of you who have listened so far. and We usually give a shout at the end about giving us a follow or subscribing and stuff like that. So just going to shout it out at the start this time.
00:00:29
Speaker
If you could like subscribe on whatever podcast platform, leave a review. Subscribe on YouTube. It'd be greatly appreciated. We're trying to get those numbers up and give us a follow on social media. But yeah, myself and Shane here again, as usual.
00:00:46
Speaker
are you, Shane? Brent, we're another week closer to Christmas now, so nothing to complain about, really. bo christmas like yeah It's not even summer yet. Yeah, we'll get over to summer and get to Christmas.
00:00:59
Speaker
Oh, Lord. A big Christmas, man, so. i more big beach show I'm a big fan of the sports that happen around Christmas. Everything just seems to all come together once very nicely. There's about 40 Premier League games over the space of two days and everything. So it's the best time of year for the sports, really. christmas day champ chriseri Christmas Day, NFL and NBA as well. So Christmas is the best time for sports.
00:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, that is true. All around December, I think, is probably the
Summer Sports Events Preview
00:01:27
Speaker
best. Yeah. That's not a bad shout, but I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. We have to get through to the rest of the summer.
00:01:37
Speaker
Most of the sports now that we're covering, there's kind of only one big game left, and which we'll touch on in the football. NFL is obviously not coming back till September.
00:01:47
Speaker
And then the NBA is... getting towards the the biggest part of the season, the NBA Finals will be starting and next week. So that's huge. And then that will be that will be done as well. So there'll be a lot of different moving parts over the summer. and We'll keep you up to date on transactions, draft information in the and NBA, transfers in the Premier League, everything that's going
Champions League Final Preview
00:02:10
Speaker
on. But today we're gonna we going to jump into the Champions League Final we're going to give a bit of a preview. i' So, yeah, think...
00:02:19
Speaker
yeah i think It's a funny one this year because like although they're they're two massive teams, I think most people are always used to either like and um watching it when like an English team is in it or either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
00:02:36
Speaker
They're always like the biggest market teams. and So it's nice, I think, for a change to have this. I like like i think it was 2008, the year, or maybe, no, it 2010 was the year I think that Inter beat Bayern Munich in the final.
00:02:51
Speaker
That was really yeah that was good like to have two teams. I feel like it's a similar experience to that, but maybe and i'm a bit more excitement around this one. So what are you most looking forward to in this game?
00:03:04
Speaker
I look forward to watching the the two theyre completely completely different styles. And Inter are kind of the blueprint for how teams should play a back three. and So but but watching their back three come up against Kravitzkalia, Barakola, Due, Dembele, that's the kind of battle I'm really looking forward to, seeing what PSG's forward players can do against that back three of Inter and see if if Dumfries has the ability to...
In-depth Match Analysis: PSG vs Inter
00:03:30
Speaker
kind of sit in as a natural right back for parts of that game because they are going to have to suffer for a lot of that game, I feel. And I think they'll need him more at the back than they will going forward in this game.
00:03:40
Speaker
Yeah. I was looking at the odds. The draw was 12 to 5. I think that might be a great price if a draw after 90 minutes at 12 to 5. Yeah. I think it's going to be very intriguing game of football. I think there's going to, yeah, think there's going be a lot to look at.
00:03:54
Speaker
For me, like, I know the fact of having two different styles, but then I also know... that both teams have very attacking inclined fullbacks. I suppose for Inter it's like a wingbacks, more so wingbacks like you mentioned with the three at the back and sometimes DeMarco will sit in if Dumfries bombs forward, which he tends to do. But I think that's a really interesting one because Nuno Mendes and Hakimi both like to get forward as well on the PSG side. So will that be something that either team tries to exploit the other when there's someone out of shape? I feel like
00:04:29
Speaker
It's more likely that Inter will try to do that because I think PSG, I think Inter are kind of more well drilled and I don't think PSG will be able to exploit that kind of movement because I think, as you said, the way that they do it with three in the back, they kind of move into a four at the back situation. len yeah dumb But I think PSG leave themselves way too open at times and we saw what Inter can do on the counter attack. So I think that's going to play a massive part in this because They're such a good counter-attacking team. I think we're going to see like a lot of goals, to be honest.
00:05:02
Speaker
I don't know, but like I think the opposite. I think this has kind of a 1-0 or a 2-1 written all over it for me. um i think because of how solid Inter are defensively, think they will limit PSG to fairness chances than they had against Liverpool and they had against Arsenal.
00:05:17
Speaker
I think this Inter team is really well set up to play against a team like this PSG team, where even if they do, even if Hakimi and Nuna Mendes do bomb on, they're still coming up against the two wing-backs before they get near the three centre-backs.
00:05:30
Speaker
And I think they're going to find a lot harder to find space out there because they could they could almost... They could have done threes and the right centre-back pushing out as a kind of... The other way we had the wide centre-backs at Sheffield United, I know it's a mild comparison, but if if if you have two pushing on the right and the left side at all times, it makes it a lot harder.
00:05:48
Speaker
Now, we know leaves gaps in the middle, but that's where... their two centre mids will really have to kind of drop in. They'll have to work hard. Barella and whoever plays side, either Shannon Oglu or Mkhitaryan, whoever's in their side is going to have a tough job. But I think it's the complete opposite to the Europa League final where we said that that was the battle of who's not as bad as the other one. This really is a battle of two very, very good football teams. And I think the contrasting side is going to really be telling. It's going to be a really interesting game.
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree with everything you said, because that was kind of similar to my point that I think that there won't be much to exploit there on Inter's side. I don't think PSG will be able to exploit them because they're so well drilled.
00:06:31
Speaker
Whereas I think Inter will exploit PSG, but that's why I think there'll be goals, because I think they'll exploit them on the counter-attack and PSG will have to put like everything into going forward.
00:06:42
Speaker
Kind of a similar thing to what we saw in the Barca-Inter game. um If it was anything similar to either of those, it would be unbelievable. for us Just looking at some of the recent form, like Inter finished second in Serie one point behind Napoli.
00:06:57
Speaker
and Obviously, they won on the last day, but like the big one was dropping. they drop They drew with Lazio in the second last game, and that was because of a 90th-minute goal for Lazio. And then in the Italian Cup, they got hammered by Milan 3-0, who haven't been great this season.
00:07:15
Speaker
So kind of domestically, they've been way off it in the last few weeks after being great at the start of the season. And then looking at PSG, they just cruised throughout this season.
00:07:26
Speaker
They won the Ligue 1 by 19 points. yeah And like they won the French Cup against Rem. So that was against John Patrick, the Irishman. I think he played for half of that game, but or maybe a bit less. But they won that handily enough. They were 3-0 at halftime, ended up winning 3-0.
00:07:44
Speaker
And then in the Champions League, they've been good too. So it's a little bit different in terms of like Inter having had all the happiness in the and the world during their, towards the end of their domestic season. But I think they might actually use that to like fuel them into this game.
00:07:59
Speaker
do do Who do you think is going to win? I'll throw it to you to give a first prediction. I think you see you're going to do it. I think they've been playing the best football in Europe all season. and I think Arnie's thought is kind of moulding his next team based on what he's even doing with the two attacking full-backs and people sitting in.
00:08:20
Speaker
I think what Enrique has done there this year has been incredible. The form he's gotten out of Dembele, Dewey bringing him in and making him a winger. He was a centre mid when he was playing at Rennes. Now he's a winger and he's lightning. yeah I think PSG will have just a small bit too much for Rennes. As I said, it'll be a one ni or a 2-1. I don't think either team is going to run away with this.
00:08:39
Speaker
And I think PSG 2-1. Okay. Okay, I'm going enter the opposite sit way. I'm going with Inter. I just think PSG's openness is going to cost them. And...
00:08:49
Speaker
The fact that Inter has lost have have made it there like a couple of years ago and lost to City a game that they really should have won given some of the chances they had. And then having kind of lost towards the end of this season domestically, I think they're really going to use all of that as fuel and know-how to get over the line. Because obviously you could say and that they haven't got it done in the last couple of attempts.
00:09:13
Speaker
But I think they'll use that to their advantage. And I think PSG will be back definitely... with Enrique I think I could see them winning it in the next couple of years but I just think Inter are going to have it on the night. And I'm going with 3-2 to Inter because I think there'll be a good few goals.
00:09:28
Speaker
and think another I think another big thing is that Inzaghi is leaving after match is that he's gone to Saudi. And I always wonder if that's a blessing or a curse for the team that's losing the manager. Is a kind of like, let's give him one big massive send-off and win this top? Or is it, oh, we don't to listen to him many anymore. If it's this game, let's just go and do our own thing. Now, I don't think it will be the second one.
00:09:49
Speaker
But you also wouldn't be surprised if they kind of... not Not down to it so much, but if they put in 5% less effort than they'd be putting in all year and 5% in Champions League final, it could be massive. If you've even three people playing at 5% to the level, then it could be a massive, massive telling difference, I think.
00:10:06
Speaker
So we'd have to see how that works out as well.
Transitioning to NBA and Team Strategies
00:10:08
Speaker
Yeah, because that could go either way, as you said. um But i i think that i I think they had kind of a good relationship, like the players and the club in general, like with him and the way he played.
00:10:22
Speaker
over the years, or the way he had the team playing over the years that he's been there. and So I could see them doing it for him. But as you said, it's really hard to know like if that could play into your mind if you go 1-0 down or 2-0 down.
00:10:34
Speaker
So, yeah, that's that's pretty much it. That's the big one in the... and In the football now, before we get into a couple of international games over the next few weeks, friendlies and things like that, and obviously the transfer window, we're going to, since Ganshan's has finished up, we're going to cover some transfers from now on instead of that, but we'll we'll do that um after the NBA. So let's jump into let's jump into our NBA topic, and what else could it be other than the Oklahoma City Thunder?
00:11:04
Speaker
Unbelievable. Like, how impressed were you with them? They're just, they're insane. They're just so good to watch. Start to finish, everything they do has a purpose. Everything they go with has a purpose. And even the game that the Timberwolves picked up, they tried something different. They tried blocking Shea getting out to the wings.
00:11:24
Speaker
ah That worked for They blew out the OKC. And then the next two games, the OKC just said, OK, they've tried that. Let's counteract that by doing this. And they just came back and just destroyed him again. And There's so much to like you about them. Everything they do, their depth is incredible.
00:11:39
Speaker
players, the way they shoot is incredible. SGA is quite clearly incredible. like i just think they're hell of a team. We've been saying all year that they're the best team in basketball and not once have they gone out there and said, oh, let's show the two boys they're wrong like every other team seems to do.
00:11:52
Speaker
they've They've actually just just kept going and they've just stayed being good. Yeah. No, I think... one of the best teams I've watched across a full season. and It's very hard to compare.
00:12:03
Speaker
like Just looking at this stat here, they have the fourth most wins before the and NBA Finals, which includes regular season and playoffs of any team ever. like So they had 79 wins across the regular season and the playoffs.
00:12:17
Speaker
The only teams ahead of them were the fifteen sixteen Warriors, the and the So that's the kind of, you know, that's the kind of people they're in there with. And looking at and another record that they've broken was they've had the most double-digit wins in NBA history for a full season and playoff runs with 61. So the 2017 Warriors, again.
00:12:44
Speaker
That was the next season. They had 60 of those after their other incredible season before that. So look, just pointing to how amazing this team has been and how this the way that they've played is just not normal.
00:12:56
Speaker
And for me, i think a lot of it comes from how good their defense is because their offense gets a lot of props because SGA has just been out of this world.
00:13:08
Speaker
And for me, Jalen Williams has also kind of proven... how he can be the number two option moving forward without any doubt. I think some there was a bit of doubt before this playoffs, and he did have some blips.
00:13:19
Speaker
But to come back from you know some of the games he had against the Nuggets, where there a stretch there where he had 10 points, 18 points, and 6 points, and then to follow that up, he had 24 points in the closeout against the Nuggets.
00:13:33
Speaker
in a game that they needed to win in a game seven. Then coming into this series, his first time in the in the conference finals and scoring 22.2 points across each game, six over six rebounds, over four assists.
00:13:46
Speaker
That stands out to me so much for them. But to get back to the defensive point, I think how well that they can just shut teams down. Like you said, the Wolves did something to them that day when they won that game. And I think the Thunder kind of recognized that they were making a lot of mistakes and they didn't play as many minutes for some of their main guys because think they were kind of, I think they kind of felt like, okay, this is one we can throw away and we'll come back.
00:14:14
Speaker
We'll win it out at home if we get the next one. And then their defense just completely locked in in the last two games. The reason they won by so much, so many times is because their defense just stops other team They turned the ball over so many times. Alex Caruso is a menace.
00:14:30
Speaker
Dort was amazing and that in that last game to close out. And even their stars like J-Dub and Chet with how many blocks he had. The list goes on and on. They're just unbelievable defensively.
00:14:42
Speaker
They're just like every single player has a role and they all play it perfectly. Like there are some teams where every team has, sorry, where some teams where every player has a role. for Like take the Rocks, for example.
00:14:53
Speaker
Like Dylan Brooks is meant to go out there and shoot threes. He doesn't do it. He just gets himself technical fouls and says, there's no one on the OKC. that goes out there with an individual kind of mindset. Even SGA goes out there with the team in mind.
00:15:06
Speaker
They all go out, they all play for each other. And that's something that I think it's really hard to instill and it's very easy to break. It only takes one person to go off to go off the rails in one game and everything can just fall out the window. But it's the way they played all season. As you said, 79 wins and 61 of those double digits. That's...
00:15:23
Speaker
insane Like that's absolutely incredible. And like yeah they built this success for themselves. Like they've all come up, kind of come up together last couple of years, losing in the conference finals last year. seventy The 70s last year. The 70s, the 70s last year. And they've come back this year just like a group of men possessed.
00:15:40
Speaker
And they've looked on softball from game one. Yeah. And everybody doubted them as well as another big team. Like they thought that maybe because they're so young, they wouldn't be able to do it. And that was a point that I kind of said,
00:15:52
Speaker
I don't agree with that because, you know, they have some guys who really know how to get things done. Like they brought in Caruso for a reason. He's a winner in the playoffs. He knows what to do in big games. He's a great defender.
00:16:05
Speaker
And then Hartenstein was great in the playoffs last year. They managed to bring him in, which is something maybe down the line they won't be able to do. They won't have the luxury of bringing a guy like him in because they'll have to pay Chad and Jadob a lot more money.
00:16:18
Speaker
But they knew what the gaps were from last year. They filled them, and then the guys were a year removed from you know something that really hurt them losing to the Mavs last year. They just couldn't seem to figure them out.
00:16:29
Speaker
And now this time they came up against an excellent defensive team in the Timberwolves, and they figured out exactly what they needed to do. And I just think all props them. They showed everybody what they're made of. And I don't think there's any reason to doubt that they will win the whole thing now at this point. They just seem to be by far...
00:16:47
Speaker
the best team you know in in the entire thing. With with someone like SGA in his first ever conference finals, just after picking up the MVP trophy, he averages 31 points in his first ever conference finals. And one of those games was he only played 28 minutes because they were getting blown out.
00:17:03
Speaker
So, you know, like over 30 points and in every other game. Like, that's just not normal. And like, do you think now it's kind of inevitable at this point that they'll win it?
00:17:15
Speaker
Surely, unless something wild happens. I can't, like, obviously, we're we're I think we're safe enough to say that the Pacers are probably going to to join them by the time this podcast is out tomorrow. think they'll win tonight. Yeah, it seems like it's going that way. Yeah, and I just don't see how the Pacers can do any more to them than the Timberwolves managed to do, which was very, very little. I just can't see it happening. I think unless they lose someone to injury or something like that, there's no way that they don't see it out now. And it will be another or 4-2. I don't think it will be too difficult for them either.
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah, I could kind of see that as well. and I think if I was to say it now, I'd say the Thunder and five over the Pacers in the finals. But um obviously next week when we know for sure the matchup We'll get a bit more into that and we'll give the Pacers some time because they deserve it for what they've been doing. But slowly right now, we just we just got our conference finals winners last night in in the Thunder and it's really well-deserved. They've been absolutely amazing.
00:18:10
Speaker
And I think it's going to be, this is going to be a dynasty, I think. I know teams don't repeat. They may not repeat, but I could see them winning in three in the next five or six years because they've got...
00:18:22
Speaker
One of the top two players in the league. They've got some good young talent. They've got a deep roster and they've got so many draft picks to just keep adding to this pool. So, yeah, it's scary for other teams in the West, which is which is a funny one to say because the West is much more competitive, but they just seem a level above everybody else.
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I don't see, I agree with you. I think di de it is a dynasty now and it is the draft picks they have, if they can use those rights, even to not even always go and draft, if they can use them to bring in someone to kind of like compliment Shea if he needs to sit out a couple of games or something like that as well. Like they've so many options and so many moving parts nowadays. They could do what they that Warriors team did when they, when the likes of Klay Thompson and Seth Perry were coming through. And I think they could emulate that and maybe go on better as well.
00:19:12
Speaker
Yeah, i I honestly think it could go to that level because it's been it's been crazily good. And I think you make an interesting interesting point about trading that as well. Another thing is how many good young guys they have. Like we talked about rotation players.
00:19:26
Speaker
like The likes Cason Wallace would probably play 30 minutes somewhere else. Kenrich Williams would probably start or at least be a rotation piece in another playoff team. So these guys are are people that if you have them, you know, and you trade them away before their contract is up or before they need an extension, then you can get a lot back for them because they are very valuable.
00:19:47
Speaker
So, you know, I think we might see Lou Dort maybe moved on soon too, because if they do have to pay J-Dub and Chet, it's going to be difficult to continue to pay him. So that might be one, but we'll see. We'll see in the next few years. It's going to be really interesting, but yes, so impressed with them.
Football Transfers and Market Moves
00:20:03
Speaker
If you don't have anything else, we'll move on to our transfer roundup. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, i'll I'll let you go ahead first because one of the big ones, obviously, maybe we'll do two of the big ones, both from Leverkusen to Liverpool. One is nailed on pretty much with Jeremy Frimpong and then the other one, Florian Wirtz, seems to be well on the cards.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think the Frimpong one, as I was just kind of mentioning passing there when were talking about PSG, think it looks like bringing in Frimpong, maybe Kirk as well looks to be on the way too for around 45 million.
00:20:32
Speaker
Bringing in the two of them to be your new full-backs looks to be a shift towards what PSG did to Liverpool with Hikimi and Nuno Mendes just bombing on and you're playing with kind of two at the back or one your centre-mids drops in.
00:20:45
Speaker
And then you have Verth filling in that number 10 role behind, hopefully a new striker, but... The start the loop will have done to the summer. If these three deals go through by the start of June, which they look like they might, that gives you all of June, all of July to kind of just get a centre-back and a striker in and get the others out the door.
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's incredible. Richard Hughes and the rest of them deserve a lot credit if you have to get these three done quickly. Yeah, I think it's massive.
00:21:15
Speaker
Like you said, the speed of it is so big. like And I think the price as well, obviously, that was what was in the Frimpong contract, that that was its release clause. But I said to you at the time, like I couldn't believe how low it was. Obviously, i didn't expect him to be as good when they signed him.
00:21:29
Speaker
But like his ears are now, and you think he would have a bigger release clause at this stage. 35 million euros is nothing for his talent. yeah Looking at his last three years in the Bundesliga, he's nine goals and 10 assists three years ago, two years ago, 14 goals and 10 assists last year, five goals and nine assists.
00:21:48
Speaker
Like, this is from a full-back, as you said. Yeah, it's silly. 14 goals is ridiculous from a right-back. yeah I know he's a right-wing-back. He was basically right-winger, but he was still kind of tracking up and back to score 14 goals.
00:22:00
Speaker
And Domaldo, the other side, was kind of doing the same from left-back. That was where they got their kind of... Their title was won from their full-back scoring goals. And if Arnie's trying to do that, then... more power to him because I think it'll incredibly exciting to watch him going up and down that outside Salah.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's a little more easy easy to do that when you have three at the back and three one exactly the back is one wing back is crossing to the other one. But yeah and you never know what could happen. But you like looking at Virts' stats as well, like last year, 16 goals, 14 assists.
00:22:29
Speaker
And then the year before when they won the league, 18 goals and 19 assists. These are all in all competitions, these stats. But yeah, there's a reason why It's been reported by David Armstead that you he'll be a be the most expensive German player ever and probably yeah a record for Liverpool, a club record fee, which is absolutely... It's sure to be a Premier League record as well, which number's been called.
00:22:52
Speaker
yeah sure to be more than what Chelsea paid for Enzo and Caicedo. How much is it being thrown around around 135 million euros. So whatever that works out at. 150 million pounds, maybe you're mad.
00:23:07
Speaker
Oh, it's less. 120 million pounds. Sorry. Yeah. I'll look at it now quickly. But I think it's the fee is crazy. Yeah. So hopefully hopefully it works out, but I don't see 115 million just in pounds. In around the Caseta money.
00:23:25
Speaker
Wow, it's mad. But yeah, two two massive deals to get over the line. And obviously, if Karkas comes in too, that's huge. and But we'll get on to that one, I suppose.
00:23:36
Speaker
When that is more solid, these two are pretty much done don and dusted, it seems like. Obviously, Primpong is in the door, but the Verts one is pretty much two one and a half feet in the door, I think. at the Yeah, I think so, yeah.
00:23:51
Speaker
A big one that just came in today is Liam De Laap. Deciding to go to Chelsea. So, obviously, we're looking at a lot of young players moving. Obviously, Verts is 22, Frimpong 24.
00:24:02
Speaker
De Lappers 22 as well himself. £30 million hand release clause since since Ipswich got relegated. Decided to go to Chelsea, I think, is because of the European football that they got from finishing in the Champions League spots.
00:24:15
Speaker
Last year in the Prem, 12 goals, 2 assists. They didn't use them a whole lot towards the end of the season. i'm Sorry, that's in all comps. But I kind of feel like they... a towards the end, i I think they knew they were going to have to sell him and they get a good fee for him, so they didn't want to risk him. But what do you make of this move? I think it makes a lot of sense for Chelsea because Nicholas Jackson, for me, isn't the answer. I think we've said this couple of times now. I don't think he is very, very good. so I think he plays a really good role for Chelsea.
00:24:44
Speaker
I know. Paul just rams straight to the keeper like yeah he's just like I just don't think he's very good and I think the lap is very good so I can see why Chelsea want him but I just can't get my head around why so many players want to go to Chelsea no like I just it doesn't make sense to me it just feels like a career suicide the amount of players signed over last two years they're just they're already look like they're on way out the likes of Felix is out Mudrick is out the door I know he's banned at the moment but he'll be out the door like, uh, Pedro Neto, there's talks of him moving on now as well. I just don't know if some way lads are going there for a year, signing to your contracts and making it so difficult to get themselves out to the door again if it doesn't work out.
00:25:24
Speaker
But as I said, it is the Pembley football, but if he was more open-minded and went to somewhere, that might be in Europa League this year and then Joe kind of, they push on next year. If he went to like a Villa or a Newcastle or United, God forbid, like Joe, den there's things that, there's better options out there than Chelsea. Maybe you know that's not a better option than Chelsea right now, but if you're looking long-term, it probably will be again at some stage. like so Yeah, possibly. i think It's a really strange one for me.
00:25:51
Speaker
I think it's, yeah, it doesn't make sense for him. I think for Chelsea, he's, Yeah, I don't know why they keep signing more and more players. Obviously, they do need a striker, and I agree with you about Jackson. I wasn't talking about looking at his two goals. I was talking about look at when he was through on goal last night, and he just gave the ball straight to the keeper for no reason. Just shock and touch. I know he scored twice, so Chelsea fans don't get too annoyed, but like he's just not good enough.
00:26:17
Speaker
and something like that kind of shows it as you said conference league level but I think for Chelsea they need a striker but I kind of said to you about United not getting them and I think this could apply for Chelsea too you don't need another work in progress like you need a player who can actually score goals consistently at a high level and I think United missing out on them while it may some United fans I think they really wanted it because you know 30 million a good market opportunity a good physical young player but you know he could come to United and um be under serious pressure and not score for 10 games yeah exactly the same thing yeah and it's just you're just getting abuse from the fans you know online stuff like that for a young guy you don't really want that I think yeah I think a Newcastle or maybe a Villa would have been a much better option for him
00:27:06
Speaker
or even a step up to the likes of Crystal Palace would have been a bit more sensible because they're in the Europa League and just establish yourself. But obviously there's so much hyper in some of these young English guys that you have to go to a big team.
00:27:19
Speaker
I think... One then that United did get in the door. It seems like it's not fully done. Obviously, similar to the Frimpong situation, just need to sign on the dotted line and get the medal done and all that stuff. But Matthias Cunha coming for £62.5 million. pounds That was his release clause from Wolves, which I think is a good price for how good he was and in the last couple of years in the Premier League. And I think United can pay it over two or three years, which will help with...
00:27:46
Speaker
The financial situation, 17 goals and six assists in all comps last year, 14 goals and eight assists in all comps the year before. Really solid player, fits into kind of any system, definitely fits into the three at the back system as one of the tens, kind of explosive.
00:28:01
Speaker
The type of, I think, dynamism that United need, because if they fail to get like a proper striker that can guarantee goals, if you did have him, and and there's a lot of to talk about Mbuma at the moment, we'll see what happens with that, but if you had the two of them,
00:28:16
Speaker
Behind a striker, you might not worry as much about the amount goals a striker gets. What did you think of this one? Do you think it's a good one for United? I think he's a good player, and I do think it's a good and good move. But I think the issue could be that he is quite hot-headed as well.
00:28:30
Speaker
And it's another hot-headed lad coming into a team of hotheads. And I don't know... like There has be a point where they're so hot that it's a volcano and it all erupts. Now, it might be yeah it might be okay. i do I think it's a risky one, but if he...
00:28:44
Speaker
just continues playing football he played last season and then kind of keeps his head on straight and doesn't rob glasses off coach on the sideline and stuff like that then by way I I do think he's a really really good player and I think 62.5 million for the kind of player he is at his age as well is it's really good business and I think there's a lot of players who will be going for release clauses this summer. I think a lot of teams are going to be looking at release clause players and not kind of getting into big wars over the likes of Giorgiures or Cesc. Just like, oh, he's a 62 and a half million release clause.
00:29:16
Speaker
Let's just pay it now before something comes along. Yeah, 100%. That's all they've still would just say, OK, here's the money. you want this? Yeah, OK, here's the club. 62 and a half million. And as if he's happy to go there, then that's it. Job done.
00:29:28
Speaker
Exactly. And you don't want to get into a bidding war with Arsenal over Sesco or Barcelona over Marcus Rashford, for example. So you just don't want things like that to happen. And I think it's another' a good good decision made, grand and early, but they need to stop playing football matches and just this let the ceiling die.
00:29:45
Speaker
know like The lads don't want to be there at all. They're not trying here to hear me. They're just rotating the whole team, playing all young lads. like That's what the preseason is for. It's just a money grab. I think they'd make £8 million pounds off this, which obviously they 100% need it after missing European football. So look, that's another conversation altogether. But I'm happy with the deal as a United fan. I think it's a good one.
00:30:07
Speaker
um And I think I like the fact that he's like so confident and he wants apparently the number 10 shirt and some of the things he's said already about winning trophies and stuff. You like to hear that.
00:30:18
Speaker
and and There was an interesting one on Talk of the Devils, the Athletics United podcast. They had Wolves correspondent for the Athletic on. And he was he made some interesting points because they said similar things about him being hot-headed to him, like kind of asking, you know, is this something that had happened before? Like, was this in his personality?
00:30:38
Speaker
And he said it was very strange because it never happened before season. And then all of a sudden, he just kind of came out of nowhere and just kind of lost the head a lot.
00:30:49
Speaker
yeah Two times, obviously. Yeah. that's not a one-time occasion, then you can say, look, there's a trend here, but he did say that previous years, there was none of that. And they all thought, you know, he's very well liked. He's very like kind, polite stuff like that. But he did say that he can go on and just like, sometimes the thing with him is he might randomly like tweet something out.
00:31:10
Speaker
And then the next day he deletes it or something that's gone. And you're like, what did he mean by whatever he said? And that's something if you're at United, it's going to come under massive scrutiny. So yeah, it's all going to be things to watch.
00:31:23
Speaker
Um, if we suppose it feeds more into the media circus around United, they'll absolutely lap it up if he does lose the head. So
NFL Player Impact Analyses: Brees Hall and Colts
00:31:29
Speaker
of course, yeah, let's hope that doesn't happen, but this is going to be our new feature. Instead of gone chance going forward, we're going to do like a little transfer roundup of things that are about to happen or, you know, that are seem to be on the way. So, uh, hopefully you enjoyed that. Um,
00:31:44
Speaker
But obviously, Shane, as we mentioned last week, one gun chance. It's officially official now. So congrats to you. And I'll have to come for my revenge next season. Yeah, we'll see. So moving on to our next sport, we've got the NFL.
00:32:01
Speaker
So, you know, ah right at this moment where there was rookie training camps, mini camp over the last couple of weeks, and now we're into like OTAs, mostly or like voluntary, but voluntary a lot of coaches want their main guys there they don't want them to be doing the Stefan Biggs and be off on a yacht with Cardi B and passing around some alleged unidentified type of powder that nobody has fully confirmed what it is but Mike Brable does not seem to be happy about it so yeah that most most people do want their players to be there and I think we're looking at some of the guys who it's going to be big seasons for them or they're big talking points and we've picked one each so I'll let you go ahead with yours first
00:32:42
Speaker
Yeah, I just want to give, just talk very kind of briefly about Brees Hall and the difference he can make to the Jets this year because obviously last year he was poor, the team was poor, but a new head coach now, a new quarterback in, I think if he's going to step up, then it has to be this year.
00:32:59
Speaker
And I think if he does step up to the player we all kind of thought he was at the end of year one, then I can see the Jets finally getting over that playoff barren run and finally making one.
00:33:10
Speaker
So unfortunately last year he was only averaging 4.2 yards per carry and only five touchdowns, which for a player of his apparent talent, it's not good enough for like, especially if you want to be a number one running back.
00:33:22
Speaker
And I think having quarterback like Justin Fields this year who can run as well kind of take a bit to pressure off him, take some of yards off him if needed and just kind of take some of the eyes away from him.
00:33:33
Speaker
If he uses this correctly, he could have a massive year. could get closer to the numbers of the duo at Lions if he needed to. Like Jameer Gibbs was the one I was thinking of. It just took me second to get the name there.
00:33:45
Speaker
If you get anywhere near Jameer Gibbs' levels of kind of beating defenders and running touchdowns, then it could be a good year for the Jets. sport Well, yeah, he could get to that level, it'd be unbelievable. Yeah, not even to that level, but if he kind of got... If he added 50% to what he was doing last year, then I'd be more than happy with this.
00:34:02
Speaker
Yeah. I made the mistake last year of drafting him and Garrett Wilson. Yeah, I know. Yeah, so that kind of was a bit of a um mistake I won't be making again in my fantasy draft. But like you said, his first season, like he only played seven games, but he had 5.8 yards per carry.
00:34:21
Speaker
like 66 yards per game and in those seven games. It showed a lot of explosive ability and stuff like that. Then in the second year, yeah, his yards per carry went down closer to what he had last year and per game closer to what he had last year.
00:34:36
Speaker
and But he was a more of a threat, I think, through the air as well in the passing game, which is something we saw. And then you're like, OK, combine those two, be a bit more explosive on the ground, keep the passing game going.
00:34:47
Speaker
But it really didn't work out like that for multiple reasons, but what was going on with the Jets last year. But I think it's interesting, was reading on e ESPN from a week ago, um Aaron Glenn wants to employ a committee approach.
00:35:02
Speaker
yeah Obviously, we talked about that, but I think it was really interesting that he mentioned having... um Breyland Allen and Isaiah Davis as like a kind of a three back committee.
00:35:15
Speaker
and A quote from him was, he said, I think mentally Hall is in a good place, but I would say that we have three running backs on this team and we're going to utilize them as much as possible. So I think that's an interesting in one. What's your feeling about maybe him kind of shouldering a bit less of the load and and how that might work out?
00:35:34
Speaker
I think even if you're going with a three-pronged attack um of running backs, you still need to have a lead one. You're not giving it 33-33-33 split.
00:35:45
Speaker
like It's going to be maybe 50 and then 225s or 40, 30, 30, whatever. like You still need one to be your lead running back. And I think Brees Hall has got to do everything in his power to be that lead running back because Breden Allen is is quite a big lad as well. so like he He doesn't have that explosive pace. He's not he's not a Derrick Henry by any stretch imagination. like so I think Brees Hall needs to kind of step up this offseason and show he can be the one that you need three yards on it on a fourth and three that put me in there, I'll get him.
00:36:16
Speaker
ah He needs be needs to show he be the one that trusted and then the other two can do the dog's work. They can get their one-yard touchdown runs from in front of the line and stuff. But I think Brees Hall needs to be the number one kneepe number one man he thinks he has this season coming.
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think if Glenn handles the situation well, I think it could work that. You know, if... there is a bit of dirty work that needs to be done. He splits it between the other two guys. And then if Hall is feeling it, if he's confident in game, if he's working, just keep running him and give him like 90% of the snaps in that game. If he, if he feels like he's able and get him in in that way. Cause I know he said he he thinks mentally he's in a good place.
00:36:53
Speaker
I think it's a bit strange to even mental mention like the mental aspect of it. Obviously there were maybe some concerns that way. So maybe ease him in if he's feeling in any way, like,
00:37:04
Speaker
things aren't you know fully right for him. and I think going with an extra couple of backs to kind of help him will definitely work. I thought it was interesting actually when I just you know initially started researching when you said you were going to talk about Brees Hall, I said I'll just throw his name into Google and click on the news section to see what's out there.
00:37:24
Speaker
And there's so much like from obviously they're not very reputable sources, but there's so many things that people like saying about trades multiple teams looking to trade for him. Do you think that's a possibility at all?
00:37:35
Speaker
I think that'd be silly to do because you're leaving yourself down with a kind of two who are still very raw. Brayden Allen showed last year he's very, very raw. You need someone who can just kind of lead and if you're going to trade him away...
00:37:48
Speaker
I just, i don't I don't see the point in all the effort you put into him for the last three years, getting him over but the injury he had, the Achilles injury, getting him over that to bring him back and then, sorry, he tore his ACL, he didn't have his Achilles, sorry.
00:37:59
Speaker
Getting him over that injury, bringing him back in, eating him back in the year before and then throwing him back in last year, then trading him away for something else to reap the benefit of him, I think would be ridiculous. Yeah, I think that's, I think it's not the time now. I think if this year goes badly and they trade him for like, you know, something,
00:38:18
Speaker
big in terms of like a good pick in the draft that they can use or they like somebody in the draft next year and they move on that way. But I think you need to give yourself at least another year, like you said, after coming back from from a big injury. He needs a couple of years.
00:38:32
Speaker
He's still very young. I think it would be a bad idea to do it, right? Yeah, I think so too. And I think that's just probably hope from other probably outlets that other sources yes and follows that team and they think, Oh yeah, I'm going to report that I would like him to come, but you know, there's not, there's not a lot to some of these, but moving on then to my topic, uh, I thought an interesting one is looking at the Coles quarterback situation, which is like,
00:38:58
Speaker
being like they're kind of up the creek with two broken paddles right now um they're in an awful situation after last year and they've got anthony richardson and daniel jones to to fight it out for the number one spot like to me it's just it doesn't make sense and some of the stuff i'm hearing as well as like oh you know daniel jones is going to be the starting qb oh richardson you know He's going to have to beat him out because Jones can work in this system and blah, blah, blah.
00:39:26
Speaker
Listen, um I've been hearing the same thing for years about him at the Giants. um yeah The honest thing is he's not the worst quarterback, but he just can't stay fit.
00:39:38
Speaker
And when he is fit, he's not reliable because he's constantly his head worried about getting sacked because of the injuries he's had before. But he's also, sorry, he's also, he's also, he's also playing, he's also always playing his way back from injury.
00:39:54
Speaker
yeah You never, you never have 100% Daniel Jones. it's he's missed the five games he's back in for this one he's throwing ridiculous balls because he's not match fit for want of a better way of putting this and then gets injured again and just repeat that cycle you'll never get a 100% fit Daniel Jones and that's and putting any player in there who's not 100% fit it just it leads to problems and it leads to errors and it leads to teams losing games yeah 100% I think he's never one that you can fully rely on and I think that might be down to the fact that the Giants O-line was so bad the years he was there. It didn't really help him. But like he's supposed to be a threat on the ground. And just looking at his stats, he does have a presence about him. He can go forward. But from the last few years, like the last three seasons, so he had 16 games in 2022. That was his biggest season, the one when he got the big contract.
00:40:45
Speaker
He won a you want to ah playoff game for the Giants. That whole season, he had 243 rushing yards in the regular season. Then the next year, he only played six games. He had 167, so way more per game. Then obviously he had the big injury.
00:41:00
Speaker
And then last year, 10 games, 172. But in that playoff, that those couple of playoff games, he had 102 rushing yards in two playoff games that 2022 season.
00:41:11
Speaker
So yeah, there's that playoff season, he did it. And then going into the next season, he did it. But then he got injured because of because of not looking after himself properly when he's running into contact and different things that went on. And like looking at his other stats, then that, you know, if you wanted a point to that being an upside, well, but that doesn't explain, you know, that doesn't give you the right to say that's good enough for somebody who threw eight touchdowns and seven interceptions last season and two touchdowns and six interceptions the year before.
00:41:41
Speaker
Yeah. Like that's that's not going to cut at all. But then you look at Anthony Richardson and last year he had eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
00:41:53
Speaker
So what do you really do here if you're the Colts? Like, I think they probably do start Daniel Jones because Steichen seems to be very worried about Richardson and not fully believing in him. But once Jones inevitably does have a run of very bad games, Richardson comes in.
00:42:12
Speaker
What really does that help you? Because his confidence is completely shot at that point. Yeah, it it's...
00:42:20
Speaker
It's just such a strange thing to do. Like, I will never understand teams bringing in two quarterbacks to fight for a number one jersey. Like the Steelers did last year um with Wilson and Fields. And Fields played this earlier when Whitton was injur injured and then straight away they dropped him.
00:42:35
Speaker
yeah And his confidence was in the ground. made absolutely no sense. And this is another version of that, only more exaggerated, because you've literally brought him in and told him, don't know who we're starting. Like every single thing you hear, we don't know who our starter is going to be. Yes. yeah Like you ended up with two not very good quarterbacks who are going to have no confidence.
00:42:54
Speaker
So a no confidence player is only going to get worse. But you're you're actually making their ceiling lower. Sorry, making their ground, their floor lower. by hitting them up against each other. And I know they're not exactly throwing huge money at him. It's 14 million for the year for Daniel Jones and Richardson Seale is in seaal as four years, 34 million.
00:43:12
Speaker
And it's rookie, yeah. Yeah, but like if you put that money to good use... like you trade off to him and kept that kind of money in the bank then go and get yourself someone who can actually throw ball for you I don't understand what they're doing I really don't get it as you said Daniel Jones had a couple of bad games to bring in Richardson what's Richardson going to do like he's going to have no confidence in himself the team won't have any confidence in him it looks like they were losing confidence in him towards the end of last year anyway so yeah I just I can't understand where this idea has come from who thought of it and how they ever thought it was going to be a good idea yeah and I think that
00:43:48
Speaker
To look then, the positive about Richardson, I think, is his ability to run with the ball. Like, the fact he has 11 games played last year with 499 rushing yards, that was something quite good. and But then, obviously, the rest of the stats are pretty damning, the way he played in general. Less than 50% completion percentage, you know, that's really not going to cut it at all. But, like, I think someone like him,
00:44:15
Speaker
we've mentioned confidence. I think you kind of have to stick with him if you're going to go with him. But they really don't seem like they're going to. And I think he'll be gone from there by the end of this year because they really don't seem confident in him at all.
00:44:28
Speaker
The way they moved with this Jones deal and like looking, there's a report on Sports Illustrated today, just mentioning that in their drills today and their drills yesterday, Richardson took the first team reps in the first two segments and Jones took them in the second half and Shane Stikens said after that they may continue rotating in this method because each day each new day often carries a different team for the offense to work on and they want both quarterbacks be able to work on both But like that's just another way of saying, like you said, you're both going for this.
00:45:01
Speaker
And you saw what happened with the Steelers. I think in that situation, it's slightly different because Wilson was always the number one guy. Always going to be number one, yeah. And even though Fields was probably better at the start of the season in terms ah compared to what Wilson ultimately put out there, they still moved off him and they they put Wilson in. I think this one is actually one where it could change just based on which guy plays better. But I really don't see Richardson being there long term.
00:45:26
Speaker
And then what to do? Because they're not going to stick with Daniel Jones long-term either, surely. So they're going have to find a quarterback from the draft. And next year's quarterback class isn't very good. It could be good if if Archie Manning does come in.
00:45:40
Speaker
But that's another one that's up in the air well. bush So then you're giving Daniel Jones another one-year deal and and another £14 million to get you to the year when Archie Manning is available the year after. and It's going around in a vicious cycle of nonsense, I think, and I just can't believe what they've they've left themselves into.
00:45:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think there is some interest in quarterbacks in next year's draft outside of Manning. We'll be a bit more clear on that closer to the time, but always relying on the draft for something that may not work out because you might win one random game like the Giants did or like the Patriots have done a couple of times, like the Jets have done, and then you end up slipping down like four or five places, and then the guys you're actually interested in, you have to give up your whole future to get them.
00:46:21
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It's
Final Power Rankings and Season Reflection
00:46:22
Speaker
madness. So, yeah, I think it's a lot to bet on, and I think if they do go that way, which, you know, okay, organisationally, that might work out in the long run, that you know they get in a good young guy in next year's draft, and he's really good, and that's that, but For Shane Steichen, his job is on the line here.
00:46:42
Speaker
If things don't go well, they're going to boot him out because he made a mess of last year too. And coaches are playing for their jobs too, um more than anything. So it's a really tricky situation over there. And I think it's one to watch as the season unfolds. It'll definitely be... I really can't see it going well. I don't really see any way of this going well for them.
00:47:03
Speaker
But yeah, they're in a pretty easy division. So let's see. They might be able to pick up more wins than we expect. But To me, it's very doubtful. Yeah, I agree. So then we'll move on to our last segment. It's going to be our last power rankings of the season.
00:47:20
Speaker
and So where right now we've had the last week of Premier League, so we're goingnna we're going to wrap it up with these and we'll we'll pick it up then again at the start of next season when the NFL is back for up and running in the Premier League and then the NBA will follow shortly after.
00:47:35
Speaker
and But last week I had... Mine was the Thunder in first, Palace second, Pacers, Spurs, Knicks and Villa.
00:47:47
Speaker
So I'll give you guys my last one of the season now. I'm going with the Thunder to finish top to end the season. I think they're going to win the and NBA championship. They just won the West. They're by far the best team.
00:47:59
Speaker
So much things we said earlier in the podcast all points the way they're top. and For me, in second then is Palace because of their run late in the season. The most points they've ever got in the Premier League, hitting over 50 for the first time and winning the first major trophy in their history. I think they had an unbelievable season and they're going to finish in second.
00:48:17
Speaker
The Pacers then in third, unbelievable first finals appearance it seems like since 2000. It's not nailed on yet. They still have to win one of the next three against the Knicks, but I think they're going to get that done.
00:48:31
Speaker
And that yeah even either way, they've been so good this season. um Finishing at third is a testament to how good Halliburton has been, how good they've been down the stretch. Then in fourth, Liverpool, Premier League winners.
00:48:43
Speaker
Excellent season, kind of cooled off towards the end when there was less to play for, our but very good across the board and and very impressive overall. Newcastle then fifth. I think getting into the Champions League again is massive for them and they won the first trophy in like 69 or 70 years.
00:49:00
Speaker
So that's another one that played into, for me, they had a great season and they're back in into Europe, into the big leagues. And then last was Chelsea for me in sixth because they they just won the Conference League, although it's an easy competition for them.
00:49:13
Speaker
It's silverware. They impressed me towards the end of the season. They did a lot better than I thought they would getting into the Champions League spots and seeing out what they had to in the last few games. So that's my top six to end the season.
00:49:26
Speaker
I think we went along the same lines because my six the exact same, just in a different order. But I just went with the cup winners. I went with the two lads I think are going to be in the conference or in the NBA finals and the cup winners. So my last week I Palace, Spurs, Pacers, Man City, Thunder and Villa.
00:49:43
Speaker
This week I have OKC, Pacers, Liverpool, Palace, Newcastle, Chelsea. The exact same team you. I just went with the cup winners that I thought there to be in there. And then the two teams are going get the NBA finals. And think it makes sense that after the year of talking about we were eventually going to come to a point where we had all six teams the same. So it's good this is the last one.
00:50:07
Speaker
Yeah, that is actually mad. I didn't think about that.
Episode Conclusion and Future Plans
00:50:09
Speaker
We're on the last week after 20 episodes, we've gone for all the same teams. So yeah, that's pretty cool to end the season like that. and Let's see how it goes when we pick up and I think an idea that I had that we might we might run, let's see what you guys think, if you have any feedback on it or or anything like that, what would you think if we did, like say, for the rest of the summer, we did each week a power rankings on different things, like, say, the best wide receivers in the NFC power rankings, like top six, or then the teams that have had you know the most surprising and Premier League
00:50:48
Speaker
seasons and in last year or like certain like random things that could be like the best game of the nfl last year we power ranked like six or something like that might be an interesting one to get some guys uh some people suggest opinions yeah sounds good yeah so there we go that planning on the fly there for you live on air episode 20 we're bringing we're bringing the plan to you and everything but this week's episode a little bit shorter If you don't have anything else, Shane, will we wrap it?
00:51:17
Speaker
Yeah, we'll we'll leave it there. thanks so Again, thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. And we'll be back to you next week. Yeah, nice one, lads. As I said at the top, all the subscriptions and likes and comments go a long way. And thanks for listening to us across 20 episodes, if you have done. And we'll be back for many more.
00:51:34
Speaker
So talk to you later, lads. Bye, lads.