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Is the title race over? Is it over for Pereira at Wolves? Who's best - Newcastle or Sunderland?
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Join Nick Britten and Nick Bird for the latest Premier League chat as they discuss whether anyone can catch Arsenal, are Wolves going down and who wins the battle of the north east?
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Global Sports Podcast Network
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Transcript
Introduction and Weather
00:00:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Welcome then to the Daily Premier League podcast. It is Monday the 27th of October. Here in the UK it's getting very cold and very dark. It's one of those funny things. I left the office today and it's only about half past four, quarter to five, and it's already getting dark.
00:00:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
So winter seems to be
Ken's Absence and Local Production
00:00:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
setting in. It's a good job then that we have such an exciting Premier League to keep us warm and to keep us on our toes. ah My name is Nick Britton. I'm your host today. No Ken today. He's off rehearsing for his role as a yeah as a murderous plumber in his local Amdram production.
00:00:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, I say murderous plumber. I don't know that he's done it. It's a bit of a whodunit. And he won't tell me whether he's done it. I don't even know whether he knows he's done it. Because as of last week, none of the actors, and I use the term very loosely, by the way, ah none of the actors had seen the third act, which reveals ah the whodunit. But he's off rehearsing his role as Dudley the Plumber.
00:01:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
So I'm delighted stepping into
Arsenal's Performance and Title Race
00:01:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
his shoes. Nick Bird, Arsenal fan, podcaster of GSPN, and you'll recognise him, you'll know him, ah but he's looking particularly smug today as Arsenal run away with the look.
00:01:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
How are you, Nick? Great to see you.
00:01:28
Nick
Very calm about ah my football club, finally. So very happy after this weekend's football season.
00:01:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
I bet you have. Everything seems to be falling into the place. And one of the things that we're going to be talking about in today's show is exactly that. Is the title race already over? It's not even November yet, but is the title... Can i oh can anybody can anybody catch Arsenal? I mean, Liverpool have fallen off a cliff.
00:01:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Man City are up and down. They're realistically the only two challenges. Or are we going to get a challenger out of absolutely nowhere? Very keen to get Nick's thoughts on... Arsenal and where they
Wolves' Struggles and Managerial Issues
00:02:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
all are. We're going to start with Wolves in just a moment.
00:02:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And, oh, deary me, everything that's going on there, that's an absolute nightmare for the Wolves fans. They're having a terrible time. And we're going to finish the podcast by looking at our two North East clubs, Sunderland and Newcastle, and asking a question.
00:02:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Who is the better team and who's going to finish higher in the league? Because Sunderland have got off to an absolutely cracking start. And how refreshing is it to see a promoted side shaking things up, doing well, and even very early in the season? Yes, I know there's a long way to go.
00:02:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah You know, disrupting the the top four or five. But we're going to start with Wolves. And, oh, it's all going wrong, isn't it? It's all going wrong. If you have a look... At the Premier League table, there they are, down at the bottom.
00:02:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Nine games played. Wins? Hmm. Zero. Two draws. They have got a couple of points. And couple of points in the bag, but a very damaging defeat at home to Burnley on Saturday.
00:03:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Nick, what's your assessment of what's going on at Wolves at the moment? And is there hope for Vito Pereira, do you think?
00:03:12
Nick
This Wolves team or just the club generally feel like a club who have potentially the lowest ambition amongst their owners of any team in the Premier League. It feels like season on season it's the same story where they have a manager who starts the season, is gone by December, and then this guy has to kind of do a rescue job and it's then they'll sell his best players in the summer and not replace them and then try and scramble again in January after they've sacked him before December.
00:03:47
Nick
And we're we're into that cycle where the manager is about to get sacked and they'll try and scramble in January. But for once, the ah promoted teams are here and fighting. So it feels like it might be too far gone and it might be an an indictment on myself more so.
00:04:07
Nick
But you look at their starting lineups and You're wondering who half the players even are, which is maybe more to do with their reputation because not necessarily so names I don't recognise, but you just have no feelings towards quite a lot of their players.
00:04:24
Nick
The only ones who stand out maybe are Strand Larson because he had a good season last year. So squad feels really, really bad. And I know even before the season kicked off, Wolves fans were very pessimistic about this season and thought they'd be going down. And mind-blowingly, they gave the manager a new contract a month ago, three-year contract, when they hadn't won a game yet this season. And now we're a month later and they've still not won a game.
00:04:54
Nick
it's He was shouting at the fans yesterday and he's not turning that around.
00:04:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's not.
00:05:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
we we're coming we're going Well, I'll come to that in just a moment. I mean, look... Look at the players they lost in the summer. Matias Cunha, Ryan Nouri, I think Nelson Semedo is a big loss as well.
00:05:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then so slightly sitting behind him, Guedes was a decent player. Fabio Silva, hit and miss, but but you know when he was playing well, he was on his game. And if you look at the players they brought in, I mean, Strand Larsson was there last season, but he signed after his loan period.
00:05:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
Beyond that, you've got Tolu Arakadare. ah Zero goals. He's centre-forward, by the way. Signed from Genk for €26 million. euros He's a centre-forward. Zero goals. On Saturday, he wasn't involved.
00:05:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah and that's not you know That's not great. um i mean, fair, he might have been picked up on injury, but that's not great. ah Fair Lopez. £23 million. centre-half. cre g and a half A loan fee of £22.5 million. Jean Arias, he's pretty much the only new signing he's been playing all the time.
00:06:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
£17 million. pounds Half of them are on the bench. Half of them aren't really playing very much. And it just feels that the for the second year running, they've let go their best players.
00:06:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
and they haven't recruited to that same level. And if you look at the Wolves' top scorers this season, well, they've all got something in common. That's Santiago Bueno, Hichan, Strand Larsson, Crecchi, Gomez and Munezzi.
00:06:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
They've all got something in common in as much as they've scored one goal. So a top scorer, joint of top scorers with one goal. And that probably tells its own story. They can't defend and they can't score.
Wolves' Offensive Struggles and Fan Tensions
00:06:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's says it's a recipe for disaster, is it not?
00:06:41
Nick
Yeah, and I mean, thank God they didn't sell Stran Larsson because it felt like they wanted to. And I think they turned down 60 or 70 million from Newcastle. If he was gone, there would be no hope at all.
00:06:54
Nick
And i don't think they have anyone to create chances for him. And maybe last season was just a season-long purple patch that some players can have. So this feels too far gone.
00:07:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and we and we looked at our team. It does start to feel like that, isn't it Because Gary O'Neal, I mean, look bear in mind, the hope that they've got, isn't there, is that this time last season, they were in exactly the same position. They had two points on the board. They hadn't won a game.
00:07:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
They were then on a run of four games unbeaten. Then they lost some, and then Gary O'Neal was sacked. And then ah Vito Pereira came in and did a good job getting them out of it and keeping them alive. But as you quite rightly just pointed out, they had the safety net of the three promoted teams getting relegated again.
00:07:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
So Ipswich Town, Leicester and Southampton. They don't have that this season. So that's going to be a real challenge for them.
00:07:47
Nick
Yeah, and I think on top of that is the fact that whenever they replace a manager, the fans will be speculating about all these really positive and kind of in in-fashion names.
00:08:02
Nick
And then Jeff Shee, their owner, will go and get someone nobody's heard of. And yeah, they might do the job for that season, but... They're not even, from the fans I've seen at the moment, they're not even letting themselves dream about getting a nice, positive manager to turn things around, because know what's going to happen.
00:08:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:08:19
Nick
So they got maybe got a little bit of joy today, because there was a few rumours about John Texter, who left Crystal Palace this summer after the kind of debacle with UEFA, and There was rumours about him buying the club today, but they seem very early stages, if they're even true at all. So maybe they get a bit more joy from that.
00:08:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and Pereira, obviously, we saw at the game yesterday getting involved in a ah discussion, shall we say? That's a polite way of putting it, with some supporters at the end of the game, players getting in that same discussion.
00:08:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
When you see these kind of things, it's a long way back, isn't it i mean, it's only three or four months since Pereira was drinking pints in the pub with Wolves fans after their ah curious escape from relegation.
00:09:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
That has now turned, this the relationship seems to be turning sour. But who are Wolves going to realistically, if they, well, do you think they should get rid of Pereira? And if they do, who realistically they going to get in to do the job?
00:09:22
Nick
I think they have to get rid of him. I just don't think it's fueling a positive environment. I spoke about a little bit in one of podcasts last week where there was a few teams where if they lost, it felt like the morale was going to be really bad and potentially unsavable. And when you see those sort of scenes, because it was, it was obviously him shouting at the fans, but there was players involved as well.
00:09:44
Nick
But, and there's just no coming back. ah There's no names that jump out at the moment because, you know, I know Danny Roll went to Rangers. That probably would be a name that they could have hoped about because he didn't have a job.
00:09:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and won.
00:09:57
Nick
Yeah.
00:09:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and won on Saturday. Oh, there's won a Sunday.
00:09:59
Nick
Yeah.
00:10:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
Won yesterday, which is Rangers' first home win the season, yeah.
00:10:03
Nick
So that felt like a name that they could have looked to. And now that doesn't, that doesn't feel like any huge popular names at the moment. So no doubt it will be a Portuguese manager managing in the arse end of nowhere and maybe he saves it.
00:10:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, quite possibly. So yes or no answer here for you, for your Nick, or yes or no question, shall I say. Are Wolves going to stay up this season?
00:10:30
Nick
No, it's very early, but they there's nothing inspiring about that team.
Arsenal's Defense and Title Race Comparison
00:10:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, there you go. There you go. Right. Well, we're going to go from the bottom of the table to the very top in just a moment. But first, as Vito Pereira knows, although it's not doing much good at the moment, it's important to select the right team. And here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spend a lot of time selecting our delivery platform and Zencastr came out the clear winner.
00:10:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
4K video recording from your phone, AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs. It is super easy to start a podcast. It sounds great and is delivered efficiently, as you can hear, by the way, as you can hear.
00:11:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah So if you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn a bit more ah about Zencaster. Right. Nick Bird, Arsenal fan extraordinaire. I'm going to ask you the question.
00:11:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Is the title of race over already? What do you think?
00:11:28
Nick
It's far too early for it to be over. work We've seen how quickly that this league has shifted already. Only, i think it was four, five weeks ago, Liverpool were multiple games worth of points clear. I think it was four or five points clear.
00:11:42
Nick
And now Arsenal were four clear of second, six clear of City, seven clear of Liverpool. So things can change very quickly, but on on the other hand, this is potentially the calmest I've been in one of our title races in the last four years.
00:11:58
Nick
And usually at the start, it was really sort of giddy and, oh my God, we might actually win to now it's just like, we'll score eventually and we won't concede.
00:12:11
Nick
We've still only conceded one open play call all season. That's from potentially the best striker in the world in Haaland. It
00:12:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and the other the other thing is it's getting so ridiculous, right? It's getting so ridiculous. is When on on Sunday when they're playing Palace, I'm going to come to the game in just a moment. ah So yesterday when they're playing Palace, Palace had a shot and a commentator got very, very excited because it looked for a moment like the shot was going on target.
00:12:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
and and And he's like, nobody's had a shot goes shot on target against Arsenal, let them score against them. And and and that's that's kind of how good it is. And it is, as was saying to you off air here,
00:12:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
It had the air of, the the the game had the air of, and indeed the team has the air of, ah the Arsenal team from back in the day. And I can remember the Invincibles. i can remember the old Tony Adams and Steve Bold hand in the air.
00:12:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Nigel Winterberg one side, Leedix in the other hand in the air, offside, 1-0 to the Arsenal. And this team kind of has that feel to it. I it wasn't a hyper-exciting game yesterday. fact, it was quite dull. But they they got the goal and they just didn't they were just impenetrable at the back. And Palace, to be fair to them, threw what they could at them in the last 15 minutes. But Arsenal never really looked troubled.
00:13:19
Nick
No, it that that final 10 minutes was probably the most stressful that we've had all season, which is quite like quite an ah alarm bell to send to the rest of the league that you've really got push for to get even closer and they still didn't have a shot on target or really challenge Raya.
00:13:39
Nick
in that final 10 minutes. And the one shot on target was when Raya took the ball off and kept his forehead, basically. And it probably shouldn't have even gone down as an on-target shot.
00:13:50
Nick
So, I mean, yeah.
00:13:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, it was a cross. It was a cross, really, wasn't It was a cross. no That's all.
00:13:55
Nick
like
00:13:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And the goalkeeper caught it a fraction of a second before and Ketier came in ah' to head it.
00:13:58
Nick
Exactly.
00:13:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
So, yeah, that's all it was.
00:14:02
Nick
So, i mean, it was a game yesterday where you knew that it was going to be a set piece that changed the game because Palace's block was probably the best we faced all season and they were just giving us nothing.
00:14:16
Nick
So, but Mendy didn't have a particularly strong game on the ball, which is probably his first kind bad game, which feels harsh. But like you say, you win the ball against Arsenal and you've still not got really any hope.
00:14:30
Nick
And this is what... I watched all the other games apart from City because it was obviously at the same time, but was watching the match of the highlights and even looking at their lineup before the game, it's like their midfield had alarm bells before they'd even started. And then I was watching the match of the day highlights and...
00:14:49
Nick
They had Rinders as the six who was notoriously awful at defending at AC Milan. And you see every highlight that Villa had attacking-wise, and he was just getting bypassed.
00:15:04
Nick
It was awful team selection. And Haaland's not going to score, then nobody else is going to score for them at the moment is what it feels like. But then on to Chelsea and Liverpool.
00:15:16
Nick
Both of their out-of-possession structures looked awful, and think that's the big differentiator between Arsenal and the others, where you're just not going to score against this Arsenal team, because even if you get a counter-attack, Arsenal will get the numbers back quicker than you, and this centre-back partnership is...
00:15:35
Nick
unbelievable and even with Saliba coming off, Mosquera came on, you didn't
Victor Gjorkovic's Impact on Arsenal
00:15:40
Nick
really notice much difference and that depth is crucial. and i don't ah this I've seen Arsenal fans saying it but if Gabriel and Saliba get a Premier League title then I think they go into some very interesting company conversations about the best centre-back partnership in the club's history and potentially in the league's history. so it It's just so easy at the moment for Arsenal.
00:16:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
it's
00:16:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it is. It feels it it feels that way at the moment. It definitely feels that way. Let me ask you about Victor Gjorkovic because what what sort of player is he? yeah I can't quite make up my mind because he doesn't look like a traditional kind of nine.
00:16:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
he's He's top scorer, but he's only scored three goals. He seems to drop in quite a lot and link up the play and and he does he works hard, but he doesn't look like scoring that often. What what is your opinion of him?
00:16:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
What should we expect from him going forward?
00:16:38
Nick
I think the the linking up of the play is not really what he was bought for, but he's learned and has improved on it basically every game. and But I think the big thing for him was he's there and occupying defences more than Havertz was.
00:16:54
Nick
Havertz, you could put one guy on. And although I love Havertz, I think he's shown why he was bought and was going to have a really good goal record before he got injured last year.
00:17:05
Nick
But Giocarez occupying to two defenders. It's then giving the wide players more time and less defenders to face. Saka kind of notoriously faces two or three players and now he's getting chances one-on-one.
00:17:19
Nick
So that's helping, but... for Giocares I think it was mainly that running in behind if you watch all his goals at sporting it's running down the channels and you're just not really going to get that much at Arsenal because teams will very quickly get back in a mid to low block and he's not aerially dominant despite his size he doesn't he just doesn't really score headed goals and I think he's suffering as well from the fact that Arsenal aren't creating loads from open play at the moment, which is potentially the only massive concern.
00:17:54
Nick
But i also think it's kind of game state stuff at the moment because Arsenal won, I think it was... It was 3-0 against Forest and had like one XG from open play but won comfortably. like so
00:18:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. It's...
00:18:11
Nick
i don't think he's doing as bad as noise is saying. i think Arsenal fans are... It's not this world-class guy who's constantly scoring to Haaland levels, but...
00:18:22
Nick
He's doing a job and you're seeing, wrote in my notes about ah these players coming back from injury probably after the international break are going huge because these players are starting to look a little bit tired and him primarily because he's playing 90 minutes constantly because Haber's been injured the whole season. So I think once we get some rest for him, things will look a lot better, which is like fine at the moment I think he's you want a few more goals but I'm i'm not too concerned about how he's played
00:18:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and they are sharing. I mean, you mentioned Haaland a few moments ago saying that if if he doesn't score, Man City don't score. And that's a very important point because the work he's doing for the team, it is a team game.
00:19:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's not just about one player. So if he is creating, know, he's allowing, I mean, Saka's got a couple, Timber's got a couple, Zubimende's got a couple. Eze scored a great goal yesterday. It was a great finish, wasn't it?
00:19:14
Nick
yeah
00:19:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
It really was. It had to be. It was always going to be against Crystal Palace and who he left, obviously, in the summer. to go to Arsenal. So, yeah, well, and there's no an interesting it's an an interesting assessment.
00:19:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
If I was going to get you to get your crystal ball out, finally, on this issue, how many goals do you reckon he's going to score this season? What are we to expect?
00:19:35
Nick
In the Premier League or overall?
00:19:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
In the Premier League? No, in the Premier League, because anybody can score a shed load of goals in Europe. We know how easy
00:19:42
Nick
yeah
00:19:45
Nick
I think he needs to score at least 15. I think because Havertz was on on course for pushing 20 before he got injured. So he'll have mixed up makes minutes once Havertz is fully fit. But I think 15 is fair to expect from him.
00:20:02
Nick
And I think as this team gels more, there's I think there's been a tension on how many players Liverpool are trying to integrate. I think Arsenal signed more players and although the system is more defined than Liverpool's, you're still seeing the issues ah in terms of integration, I think.
00:20:21
Nick
So when when things are bit more fluid, I think we'll see more goals from open play for him.
00:20:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
it'll get even better to strike a chill of terror ah down the spines of every single Premier League team. It's going to get better for Arsenal. Goodness me. ah So i'm going to ask you, I'm going to ask you, I didn't mean to do, I didn't set out to do this at the start of the podcast, by the way. It's just arrived like this.
00:20:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm going ask you my second yes or no question of the day in that case. Are Arsenal going to win the Premier League, yes or no?
00:20:49
Nick
At the moment, yes. It's the most comfortable I felt as a national fan in terms of our title hopes in the past four or five years. So I have to say yes at the moment.
Sunderland and Newcastle's League Standings
00:21:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
You're listening to the Daily Premier League podcast, part of the Global Sports Podcast Network. Thank you for making this your regular listen for all your news and views from the Premier League. We are going to finish off this podcast today looking at two sides in the North East, really.
00:21:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
Sunderland... have taken the league a little bit by storm after getting promoted. And Newcastle, their great rivals, have had a bit of a slow start, it's fair to say. If you look at the league table, we are looking at Sunderland in the heady heights, and it is heady heights, of fourth position, 17 points from nine games.
00:21:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then Newcastle, who of course finished in the top four last season ah and are playing Champions League football, you're scrolling down and down and down, you get to 12th So 12 points from nine. Now it's only early days, we yet to double figures in terms of games played and only a very, what, 12, five points between them.
00:22:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
How good is my math? Five points between them. So... Yeah, I mean, look, who's the better team? It's its an interesting one because you feel that Sunderland are playing above their level because nobody expected them to do this well. And what a joy it is, by the way, to see a premier a championship team promoted and then taking the league by storm.
00:22:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
Newcastle, we feel after all the Alexander-Isak drama of the summer, bringing in two strikers late in the day, one of whom hasn't played because he's been injured. That's Johan Wisser. Vultimada's done well and he's hit the ground running, but it still feels like they're settling into their season.
00:22:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Nick, what are your thoughts on all of this? um let's Let's start with Sunderland. How impressed have you been with them so far?
00:22:53
Nick
Really impressed. so was watching i watched their full game at the weekend and I texted my mates quite early into the second half saying Sunderland will definitely steal this late because their block was incredible. that it was It was quite passive until the ball went wide and then there was three or four players to hound either Neto or Garnaccio.
00:23:16
Nick
and they they just Chelsea never looked like scoring. They could still be playing now and they wouldn't have scored. Whereas Sunderland were getting chances on the break and committing probably like four players every time, but they still had a lot of players back. So even if Chelsea quickly...
00:23:34
Nick
won the ball and went the other way they were ready to sit deep in their block again so Sunderland are far better than I think anyone was expecting but I'm sure it will sort of regress to the mean and but they'll definitely I think it's kind of self safe to say now that they'll stay up which we we couldn't say for any promoted team for quite a while nine games into a season and
00:23:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
a little bit a nice
00:23:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, not this early. Yeah, nine games into the season. not Not this early. i mean, there' ah there is a long way to go, but they've shown enough already, haven't they, to suggest that they could easily be, you know, top 12 side this year. It will get harder. It's always, second half the season is always, always harder for promoted teams because the surprise element has gone...
00:24:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
If you don't have that experience of playing in the Premier League, it can it's a real drag. It's hard work week in, week out getting points on the table. But I always think that the most important thing that peren promoted teams can do when they come up to the Premier League is get points on the board early.
00:24:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah Get points on the board early when you've still got that promotion momentum behind you, when you're still a little bit of a an unknown quantity in the Premier League. And when other teams are kind of adjusting as they as they do, get points on the board early. And to be fair, Sunderland have done that to slightly lesser extent. Leeds have done that.
00:24:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Burnley, again, they had a great win, as we've talked about already, at Wolves. And after nine games, to find all three promoted teams out of the relegation zone is some going. is some going But Sunderland seem have got it right because they've got a solid defence,
00:25:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
And they've got people who can score. And Isidore scored again at the weekend. And yeah we wondered last year, can he make that step up to the Premier League? And he's doing it. He's doing it and he's doing it well.
Sunderland's Success and Key Players
00:25:20
Nick
Yeah, I looked at the attacks of all three of the promoted teams and was thinking they they're all going to struggle, it felt like. But Isidore's massively surprised me.
00:25:32
Nick
And you even for their winner, as much as it is like painful to watch the defending from the two Chelsea centre-backs, probably just holds them off and then they go.
00:25:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
like Well, it yeah, I mean, probably well he held him off. Sorry to try, he held him off.
00:25:48
Nick
That's fine.
00:25:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
but But Chelsea were so passive. They didn't make any attempt to get the ball off him, did they? He literally just stood behind. I know he's in the area, so you don't want to risk giving away a penalty. But for goodness sake, try and get the ball.
00:25:59
Nick
Yeah, I mean, force force him to kind of go down the line and try and beat Sanchez from a really difficult angle. Don't just stand off him and then let Talby just pass it back. But I don't know if you've seen the analysis on Match of the Day where they show the fourp full field, but the ball goes long and then I think it's Kaiseido and someone else, I can't remember who it was, kind of just walking back expecting the centre-backs to deal with it.
00:26:27
Nick
And about two or three players just sprint past them. me And that was that was kind of happening all game to Chelsea.
00:26:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:26:34
Nick
They just weren't tracking back. And that's the same issue Liverpool have been having where they're not working hard to get back into their shape. So Sunderland, felt it felt inevitable they were going to score on the counter at some point in this game.
00:26:48
Nick
And they did and got what will probably be quite a famous victory.
00:26:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and they got their award for being brave, and that's what we like to see. um Newcastle, similarly, a good win, and I think a much-needed win, albeit very late in the day on Saturday against
Newcastle's Challenges and Predictions
00:27:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Fulham. Bruno Guimaraes scoring in the dying moments of that game for a 2-1 win.
00:27:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
and Their season sort of stuttered, but they had a very good win last week against Benfica in the Champions League, followed up with a league win against Fulham. They will hope that this will kick their season on because it hasn't quite felt like it's got going yet.
00:27:24
Nick
No, they I was looking at their results and it's win one, lose or draw one, win one, lose or draw one. So they need to find some momentum. They need kind of someone other than Vultemada to really hold some form in the attack because Anthony Gordon hasn't scored in the Premier League since January.
00:27:43
Nick
So you could do with a little bit of help from him as he's kind of your star attacker otherwise. But... they go in They play West Ham next week, so they should finally win back-to-back Premier League games this season.
00:27:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:27:56
Nick
But I've not already and i got too many many concerns in about them having a good season, it's but i don't it doesn't look like it's going to be a Champions League qualifying season for them at the moment.
00:28:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, they needs not at the moment, but they've got it in them. And I think Johan Wisse, when he's in and fit, if you can get him in and fit and firing, he's great. Anthony Gordon's had it. I think Gordon, you're right, he hasn't scored. And they, of course, tried to play him as a nine earlier on in the season when Veltemar wasn't available or hadn't come yet.
00:28:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
And Issac obviously wasn't ever going to come. Didn't work. ah Harvey Barnes, likewise, we will chip in with your goal here. Although they don't have a natural striker.
00:28:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
other than Volta Marder. And Wissa can play there, but obviously we're waiting for him to come into the team after his injury. They've obviously got the rigours of Champions League football and it is difficult playing you know Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, or wherever they're going to play But that midweek game is is hard.
00:28:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
So squad depth might be an issue with them. So it'll be interesting, won't it? It'll be interesting to see who is going to finish higher. If I was going to put you on the spot, who would you say?
00:29:04
Nick
Certainly Newcastle. Sunderland have to fall away at some point. As much as a ah miracle season would be quite funny, well, a miracle season to an extent that doesn't impact Arsenal's Premier League title hopes, but ah they're going to fall away at some point because teams will adapt to what you're doing. And as much as sitting deep in a ah low block passively and trying to hit on the counter,
00:29:32
Nick
will work in some games. you can of Especially with how much this league's dominated by set pieces so far, even if you're blocking them out from open play, they're going to cause you issues from set pieces. And Chelsea are a team who don't seem to want to use that using Maresca's own words. he He said he's not going to use throw-ins, which would set alarm bells off if that was my manager.
00:30:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
massively already i mean look everybody is using them everybody's using them and they're proving to be very successful ah so i don't know quite i don't get his thinking in that i mean that's a bit too kind of purist and maybe maybe arrogant but look everybody's doing it so just get on the bus would be my advice and do it do it as well because it's working
00:30:23
Nick
yeah we We saw what happened with Ange being very stubborn around his set pieces last year. they kept a and They kept conceding from them. In his last game at Forest, they conceded three last weekend. so
00:30:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:30:35
Nick
you You just kind of have to adapt to what the league is. and If you're not going to, you'll be the victim of it. Sunderland got that win partially because of a great throw-in and it's not necessarily the first phase of those long throws. It's can you win the second balls? and It was something I wrote in my notes about Liverpool. they They've moved away from physically dominating to small technical players and now Slott is suffering with those second balls. so
00:31:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, we're seeing a lot but aren't we we're seeing a lot of those second balls go in and and and whoever is attacking them and Brentford are the past masters, seeing as you mentioned ah Liverpool there, you know, their first goal particularly was was exactly that.
00:31:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
And yeah, very good. Right.
Conclusion and Next Show Preview
00:31:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
OK, well, that brings today's episode to a close. Nick, you're back on tomorrow, aren't you? You're back on with Victor.
00:31:25
Nick
I am. I'm sure we'll talk ah Man United because Victor is a United fan and they probably had their best game under Amarim at the weekend. So I'm sure we'll talk that.
00:31:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Yeah, said at the top the show, you're looking pretty pleased with yourself. I'm sure Victor's feeling very buoyant at the moment. I'm not sure though. I'm not sure. I had this discussion with Ken the other day and he's, a oh yeah, Man United back, Man United back. I'm not 100% convinced by any of it yet. We've had a couple of good results, but I think there's a lot about Man United still that I think needs ah he's ironing out. So we we'll leave that discussion for you and Victor tomorrow. So do do join Nick tomorrow.
00:32:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah But until then, thank you very much indeed for listening. Have a great rest of your day or evening, wherever you are in the world. ah Look after yourselves, look after each other. Goodbye.