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Crystal Palace’s Unbeaten Run | The Steelers Dominate in Dublin | The Warriors Ring Chase
18 Plays14 days ago
🚨Palace UNSTOPPABLE? 19 Games Unbeaten?! 🦅 The Steelers Take Dublin OVER!! 🟡⚫️ Golden State Aiming to Add ANOTHER Ring 🌉
To start this week's Who's Got The Ball?, the lads react to West Ham finally pulling the trigger on Graham Potter 🔥 Is Nuno the right man to fix the mess?
Plus:
- Palace's insane 19-GAME unbeaten run – are they for real? 😳
- Brentford’s surprise surge 💥
- Chelsea vs Liverpool – the Premier League clash you can’t miss ⚔️
- NFL heads to Dublin?! Steelers vs Vikings stuns fans 🇮🇪
- The Ravens’ poor start – still Super Bowl contenders? 🏈
- NBA: Lakers, Kings, Warriors – can any Cali team go ALL THE WAY? 🏆
- Gan Seans underdog picks + major shake-ups in the POWER RANKINGS 📊
🔥 Don’t miss it – tap play, hit like, and smash that subscribe button! 🎧
🎧 Listen if you’re into:
- Football (soccer) analysis
- NBA previews & predictions
- Weekly NFL reactions
- Underdog betting tips
- Draft-style sports debates
- Power rankings across multiple sports
- Sports content from an Irish perspective with global takes
🔁 New episodes drop weekly!
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🌍 Based in Ireland | Talking global sports weekly
(00:00) Intro
(04:02) Potter Sacked, Nuno In
(09:50) Premier League Performances of the Weekend
(20:43) Chelsea vs Liverpool Preview
(29:14) The Steelers Win in Dublin
(39:57) Will the Ravens Make the Playoffs?
(49:04) Gan Seans: Underdog Picks for the Weekend
(55:29) Have the Lakers Added Enough Around Luka?
(01:02:36) The Kings Stuck in Limbo
(01:07:56) A Golden State Ring Chase
(01:14:40) NFL & Premier League Power Rankings
Recommended
Transcript
Casual Anecdotes and Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
Alright lads, welcome back to another episode of Who's Got The Ball. Myself and Shane back here once again. What's the crack, Shane? Not a lot. The sun is shining. Luper win in every week. have nothing to complain about this week.
00:00:21
Speaker
That's usually the you've started the episodes for the last one. but Yeah, exactly. what is Not this time. We have Storm Amy making a tear of the place and Luper will have fallen apart. we we just let's not talk about it until we get into the episode this week.
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah, well, to add insult, at least you didn't do what I did earlier. I was like brushing my teeth this morning. I put toothpaste on the toothbrush and this has never happened to me before, but whenever I push it down, it literally flicked right into my eyeball and it was in flames and straight away my reaction was to close my eye made it like 10 times worse it was like smashing around in my eye so yeah that was a great start ten yeah that's a bit like the time i was wearing contact lenses on the night out and nancy's and a fella spilled his drink into my eye and knocked out one of my contact lenses somehow at a work party so going around for the rest of night with one contact lens in
00:01:13
Speaker
So thank God it was my good eye that he didn't. Sorry, thank God it was my bad eye that he got. He got the right eye. So I guess a little see out of my left eye was, I'd say I was going out for three hours. Obviously he blasted as well.
00:01:24
Speaker
i'm trying to Trying to look out of one eye and not walk into people. But yeah, so. Yeah, that's probably worse. I was too close to the eye, to be honest. So yeah, like at least you were able to get on with your day. Eventually, probably. Yeah.
00:01:38
Speaker
Just about my eyes, just pure bloodshot to start. I was like, if I lose an eyeball to to a toothpaste attack, this is not going to be a good way to start the week, or to start the
Episode Overview: Sports and Beer
00:01:47
Speaker
day. well um Let's get into the topics then. We we touched a lot this week. and Shane had a couple of funny, interesting quotes that he used multiple times. Oh, cliche, I turned into a walking cliche.
00:02:00
Speaker
So many cliches. It was hilarious. But we've got, starting with the Premier League, Graham Potter getting sacked and Nuno coming in there. Then looked at two of the best performances from last weekend.
00:02:11
Speaker
So Crystal Palace and all about their unbeaten run and Brentford, how have they've done well. And we mentioned them again for the second time in like three weeks on how they performed well at the weekend. Then we previewed the Premier League games for the weekend ahead. The big one was Chelsea versus Liverpool. So we previewed that and we gave our prediction on a final score.
00:02:31
Speaker
Moved on into the NFL. Obviously, we had to talk about the Dublin game, our reaction to that. Everything i thought about it from being there and everything Shane taught from watching on the TV screen, two different perspectives, but it was...
00:02:44
Speaker
Really good moment to have it, and we hope to have it back again. next Next up, we talked about the Ravens, how they've had an awful start to the season. to just miserable sitting at one and three, so many injuries. So we went deep on that.
00:02:56
Speaker
Gun Chance continues. The score is sitting at 2-2 now, so going for another week again. Let's see how we get on, picking our underdogs for the week ahead. Then we previewed three more teams for the NBA.
00:03:07
Speaker
We've been doing that throughout this offseason. So we've got about six teams left before we do our full season preview before the season kicks off. This week, we touched on the Lakers, the Kings and the Warriors.
00:03:18
Speaker
And then last up, we gave you our power rankings. So listen to the end to get an update on those and enjoy all the bits along the way. Let's get right into
Premier League Managerial Changes
00:03:25
Speaker
that. i see You actually forgot one thing. You forgot to mention that we did have a bit of a... We had a segment on the beer as well. You forgot to mention that. So there's an effort out.
00:03:36
Speaker
You'll hear about our rankings of Rockshore and others as well. I forgot we went in. That's just after the NFL. yeah so like is anyone The this year is going to be about four years long because we spent 10 minutes talking about beer in the middle of it. So enjoy that as well if you wouldn't mind.
00:03:53
Speaker
Yeah, that was that that just started off as a story and then we literally got into like every detail about Rockshore and yeah, just listen, you'll find out. Let's get into it. Alright, so let's start with a managerial sacking.
00:04:04
Speaker
and Something I gave as my hot take before the season started was that Graham Potter was going to be the first man sacked. The two managers we're going to talk about now were actually one and two. Potter was second and it wasn't due to being in the second worst manager this season.
00:04:20
Speaker
He is probably comfortably the worst but the first one was due to kind of an outside situation that we spoke about last week ah um on Nuno Espirito Santo. So if you want to hear more about that go back and give that a listen but I think Potter going out after nine months into a two and a half year contract.
00:04:37
Speaker
Second time he was sacked in less than two years. And then the aforementioned Nuno gets hired on a three year contract. So massive upgrade for West Ham really, isn't it? Yeah, I think it's the best decision they've made since they rehired David Moyes after sacking him.
00:04:55
Speaker
He's just such a better manager. like du it's It's literal talk chalk and cheese between Nuno and Potter. um I think I said it last week, and if I didn't, I meant to, but everyone was ranting and raving about Potter at Brighton and how good he was, but Brighton brighton never dipped when he left.
00:05:10
Speaker
and they say it's like They stayed the same way, same players, had no drop-off at all, which goes to show that it might have been more the players that were leading Brighton more than him. He just got a reputation. Obviously, the manager does. He gets all the credit when the team's playing well. All day, everything lands at him when it's not going well. So Joe, he got the credit for it, fair enough. But Brighton didn't drop an inch when he left under the Zerby and the same now under Hirsten or Sauer.
00:05:34
Speaker
e So I don't think he really was a difference maker. And he was a difference maker at West Ham, but he was in the wrong way. and So they definitely, he had to go. Quite simply, had to go. And I think Nuno is definitely the best one they could have come in.
00:05:50
Speaker
you'd You'd have had him at United if United did a decent thing and it sat down wearing this week as well. So Joe, like that says enough for me that he's definitely one to watch. Now, ah was talking to the lads about this on Monday night and they were saying that he's good for a year or 18 months.
00:06:04
Speaker
And then he's that's when he starts kicking up a fuss. So giving him a three-year deal might have been an issue. Maybe a two-year deal would have been... um a better one for him so they're not paying out a year and a half and they do eventually sack him in 18 months but I think he'll steady the shape he'll they won't want to be relegating candidates for me now anymore yeah I think if it comes down to someone that's kicking up a fuss and you have to like sack them due to that you would rather that than be in stone bottom of the table and then having to sack somebody 100% so I think when he leaves them he'll leave them in a much better situation than this and maybe
00:06:39
Speaker
they'll actually, you know, put something behind them and focus on him and let him build the thing the way he wants now.
Crystal Palace's Strong Performance
00:06:46
Speaker
West Ham have not done that with other managers, so it's unlikely the evidence points that it's not going to go that way. But it would be good for him and it would be good for West Ham if they did that.
00:06:56
Speaker
he is another Moyes kind of esque manager that'll raise your floor a lot now how high he'll take you ceiling wise it's hard to know because he got Forrest into Europe but we didn't get to see what he could have done that would have been a good acid test but we didn't really have that so I think It would be nice to see him do good with West Ham and then let him see where he can take a team further down the line because he really hasn't got that chance. But potter on the Potter comment, that was a great point about how you know things were steady like and after he left Brighton. like do Do you think it's probably, I think anyway, that it's probably down to more the recruitment structure and the way the team is built.
00:07:40
Speaker
They get coaches that play the way the director of football and the team is set out to play. It's not really like adapting to a manager's philosophy. It's the manager fits it already. Yeah. 100%. Tony Bloom made his money on gambling.
00:07:56
Speaker
So, and you know, like he's he is probably of the smartest men in football, I reckon. and I obviously don't know him personally. I'd love to have a chat with him. But I just think way he goes about everything, like he has a manager shortlist the way's same way teams have player shortlists at Brighton.
00:08:12
Speaker
So he knows, the Derby goes, I want Herzler. Herzler goes, he might want, he'll know who is next in line for him. It could be some, again, a manager in Bundesliga 2 comes in, does a cracking job, gets taken, and in comes the next one. Like he has, I'd say his tenure plan for Brighton hasn't played the exact same way, just under different coaches. And yeah he has players drawn up to sign. I just think, I think Brighton are,
00:08:35
Speaker
If every club was running like Brighton, then football would be a far better place, I think, personally. yeah Speaking of managers in the worst position, I know this is off-topic now, but Wolves giving their manager a new contract, and they had zero points.
00:08:49
Speaker
i know they love him, the fans love him, the players love him. I still think it's a mad decision that might come back to bite him, because they got their first point at the weekend, they were good in solidity in Spurs, but...
00:09:00
Speaker
If they get relegated, what are they going to do? Are you going to keep the manager they got to relegated and try and get you back off You've just given him a new and new deal. I just think it's madness when things are going so badly. He's like, oh, well, now we're a model of consistency. It's like, yeah, but is it the consistency you want yeah when you have zero points in the league? So we'll have to wait and see how that one and kind of plays out. But I think we could be talking about him in a couple of weeks again as a... don't know what they're doing.
00:09:26
Speaker
Yeah, that could be could be the way, because last year we thought how he did like really well to start off, but it was like a long-winded new manager bounce, and then they seemed to fall off massively the start of this season.
00:09:39
Speaker
So maybe getting getting him the new contract will give them another bit of a kick on, but it does seem like a very odd thing to do, given he they had zero points, like you said, at that point. Yeah. We'll move on to what we have covered the last few weeks in our current segment about football now is going to be the performance of last weekend.
00:09:57
Speaker
So it was going to
Brentford's Victory Analysis
00:09:59
Speaker
have to be one team and that's Crystal Palace. They've been spectacular for a long time now. Two teams? Two teams. Brentford as well, we had to give down a quick shout out too. Oh, Brentford, yes, sorry, sorry. forgot we had to shout out Brentford as well because not only we right about something for once, which we have to reinforce.
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah. We said that Brentford were like a team to watch and a team that were given the performance of the weekend like two weeks ago. So it's only right that we double down on that now in a few minutes. But first up, we've got Crystal Palace.
00:10:31
Speaker
They're on an incredible unbeaten run. What do you think of it? 18. There are 18 games. They're playing at the moment and they're winning so it looks like it's going to go to 19 as well. Yeah.
00:10:42
Speaker
It's one of the games where like I was looking at information. They're 2-0 up right now so looking good. Yeah, I was wondering checked a few minutes ago but I was looking at the stats of it and I was like it's not the kind of game you can whittle down into stats because if you read the stats you're like oh Liverpool dominated this and they just didn't. Palace bullied them all over the place.
00:11:02
Speaker
Seven big chances occurred against Liverpool. Alisson was the reason it wasn't 4-0 at halftime. Mateta made Kanata look like a clown. was just crazy to watch. Gwey and Morton, if Liverpool signed to 2am in the morning, I'd be absolutely over the moon. I know Gwey was nearly done, but Adam Morton as well is just...
00:11:21
Speaker
he's He's a Rolls Royce and he's 21. like he's he's just He's incredible to watch from the field. They deserve to win. They should have been out of sight. Liverpool were awful, but Palace were the reason that Liverpool were awful. Yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
The pressure that they put them under, especially in the final third. like In that first half, it could have been 4-0, 5-0. The amount of turnovers they caused and pressure they put them under.
00:11:44
Speaker
Alisson made some big saves, but as you said, Canadi was just like Bambi on ice back there. He didn't know what to do. at all with Mateta and it's not the first time he's been like that this season so it is a bit worrying but I think Palace were a big reason for that now the last time they were beaten was the 16th of April that was a 5-0 they absolutely got hammered but then since then They've turned it on, now it's going to be 19 unbeaten tonight.
00:12:11
Speaker
And along the way they won their first major trophy in their history. They picked up the Community Shield and they're unbeaten going into the first and six weeks the Premier League. So if they can beat Everton this weekend, that'll be a 20-game unbeaten streak. And Crystal the Palace fans would have bitten your hand off if you told them that was going to be the case last April after that loss to Newcastle.
00:12:33
Speaker
Just unbelievable. And you mentioned and one of the people I have highlighted here is Wharton. But the fact I have him highlighted is because of that system that they play. Him and either Kamada or Hughes, whoever plays next to him, is the reason that team ticks in midfield.
00:12:51
Speaker
And another reason the fact they have such good wingbacks and how Mitchell has adapted to that wingback position. And obviously Munoz, they brought him men in a position that he could do that already.
00:13:02
Speaker
And once you have good wingbacks and a strong two in midfield, then that system clearly works. And that's probably the downfall of United right now because they don't have great wingback rotation and they're very leggy in midfield.
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah, so the thing that's kind of, I was trying to pick players to stand out as well and it was really hard not to just put down the whole 7-11 because of how they played, but I thought Ismail Assar was incredible as well. He's just such a workhorse. He does so much damage.
00:13:29
Speaker
Scored the first goal, obviously, as well, but it's not just about the goal. It's He's always pressing, he's always running, he never literally never stops. And then Jeremy Pino is getting up to speed. And while he wasn't as, like he didn't have anything explosive, there was nothing about him that would say, oh, he had an outrageous game, other than the fact that every time the right back, Bradley, had to ball the ball in first half, Pino was in his face.
00:13:53
Speaker
or else Mitchell was in his face. Joe, they have such a good system. There's always someone for everyone. And Liverpool have struggled against back threes for a while now. I can't remember the last time we played well against the back three, but this back three, the Palace do, and we'll get on to United in second when we talk about Brentford, but Palace are showing how to do a back three right, whereas United are showing how when it's wrong, it can go really, really wrong.
00:14:17
Speaker
But what Palace are doing is just incredible. As I said at the top, like seven big chances created. Yeah. they they It should have been game over at halftime. Liverpool should never have had a chance to get a point going into the 97 minutes. Should never have been there. Now, when they got there, they should have held on to it. It's criminal what they do with the from the throw-in.
Chelsea vs. Liverpool Preview
00:14:34
Speaker
Even giving away the throw-in, it could have nearly jumped through the television like Kirk is for not just swinging his right footer and getting it up the field. Like... yes Palace were so deserving of the three points they were just start to finish the better team they were good bit better in the second half but that doesn't kind of that doesn't explain the first half and why they were so bad they just could not get to grips with what Palace were doing yeah no I agree I think Palace were a great value for the win and And getting their win tonight in the Conference League, which assume they will, is massive as well to get into Europe and win away from home in your first game. They're just on a great run at the moment. And as we already mentioned, they have Everton away before the international break. So they'll hoping to take this route to 20.
00:15:20
Speaker
But i' you mentioned already Brentford. They beat Man United Now, this game was like one team knowing exactly what they needed to do and another team not having a clue because Brentford knew the game script before it even went into it.
00:15:37
Speaker
They were hoping United were going to slip up in moments, which they did. They were hoping that they could hit them with... Even one decent ball over the top. And Maguire played an awfully suspect attempt at playing somebody offside.
00:15:52
Speaker
And that's the main reason why I think it was criminal not to start Yarrow. And I can't wrap my head around that. But this is on Brentford now. Not how bad United were. And Brentford did exactly what they needed to do.
00:16:04
Speaker
and Collins was suspect, again, for... maybe the third time in the Premier League this season but... Oh, was Keller? Keller was suspect his own. He was suspect on the first goal but he bailed him out with a penalty save which is the real turning point in the game um and that kind of solidified the win and they they held on easily pretty much from that point and bagged another goal so...
00:16:23
Speaker
A huge 3-1 win. And they have City this weekend. Wondering can they do it again? Because Pep's system clearly has some flaws to it so far this season. um And Monaco exploited them last night. So I think Brentford could give City a good run for their money this weekend.
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. I just think Brentford, they might have a crash later in the season. But at the moment... They just looked like they're a team that knows exactly what they're doing.
00:16:50
Speaker
It took them a couple of weeks. They're only up to seven points now. But um I don't think, unless they have a massive crash, I don't see them having any real relegation issues. Igor Thiago looks like a monster up front of me. He's an absolute machine.
00:17:05
Speaker
That finish, the ball over the top from Henderson first spot is that outrageous. It's such a good pass again. It's like the one he played for Shada put him in against um Chelsea as well. yeah And then Igor Thiago running on to it. He's like the perfect foil for Shada. They're both fast.
00:17:19
Speaker
The big man, small man and it as the two. They're just... It's another team showing how a back three works. We won't talk about United today. We're probably sick of talking about United. But I just think unless they have a massive dip in form, I don't see how they're going to be too much trouble this season.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. And I think the the thing about these teams, that it's rarely the actual three centre-backs, I find, that's the issue with teams that play back threes badly. And I don't think that's the issue at United either, the actual three centre-backs, because Maguire had a bad game, but before that, the week before, he had a good game, and Jaro has been consistently good there. It's, again, I mentioned it before, the utilisation of wing-backs and having...
00:18:02
Speaker
strong midfielders that can run for days and Brentford have no problem sitting back three into that midfield whereas United find it hard to do that so that was an easy domination point for them to overpower United but they also know how to defend the bots very well so they're comfortable sitting back like United left points behind them there because they had the chances but Brentford's did things that teams who know how to finish, you know, where
Brentford's Consistency Revisited
00:18:29
Speaker
they need to finish. Like, Brentford have no illusions about themselves. They're not going to think this season they're going to finish in Europe.
00:18:34
Speaker
But they want to finish maybe between the 12 to 9 range. That would be amazing for them. But they know how to get the points to get close to that. And they just need to consistently do it. And hopefully for them, avoid injuries. Because if they have the same lineup, I don't see them struggling too much this season, as you've already said. um Yeah, i think United's biggest issue, just to have a quick word, them is it is that 4 in the 3-4-3.
00:18:58
Speaker
It's the fact he's playing Bruno as a sitting midfielder is not the answer. And then he finished that game with Mbwemo on one wingback and Mason Mount as the other wingback. Like, come on, bud.
00:19:11
Speaker
At that point, we're talking about strong funbacks. They lose them by a game. Exactly, yeah. I was saying that to Chops today that it's so easy when when you have those players on the pitch, just go to a 4-2-3 or 4-2-3-1. The players there.
00:19:24
Speaker
Instead of literally putting square as paid into the roundest holes, just trying to get every attacking player on the pitch, but still keeping a 4-2-3. It beggars belief at this stage how he's just so... the word looking for? He's so...
00:19:40
Speaker
wedded to this 3-4-3 that he won't even for 10 minutes he won't even go to a 4-2-3 and see what works because he's afraid if it works that he'll have to then switch to it that's his problem he doesn't want to go for it then you United scored two goals win the game 3-2 and he's like oh do I know to go to a 4-2-3.
00:19:59
Speaker
Xabi Alonso's gone to Real Madrid and completely abandoned his 3-4-3 and gone 4-4-2 because he didn't have the players that it suited. you know United clearly don't have the players and yeah I'm sick of talking with him. hope I hope he's still in charge after the international break when Liverpool play him and he can he can get fired in after that. and I think you make a good point as well about going to four three three as opposed to 4-2-3-1 because again it's going to the same issue where you're late in midfield because you've just got two there and it was the same issue as under 10 Haag.
00:20:31
Speaker
with that system the the best it's worked in recent memory is with three in midfield and playing 4-3-3 because they haven't invested in the midfield for some unknown reason but yeah yeah we'll move on then to our preview of this weekend so the biggest game is Chelsea versus Liverpool I believe it's half five on Friday Saturday afternoon half five on Saturday afternoon Poor couple of games for Liverpool results-wise. some But the performance for me has been not amazing this season. We've touched on it before.
00:21:01
Speaker
And there's a couple of games there where they got out of jail. And now there's been flashes of brilliance. But I think the results the last couple of games is not the reason that people are maybe piling on a little bit with questions. I think it's the overall performance of the season.
00:21:16
Speaker
um And the kind of lack of cohesion. Like looking at... how they are in the league, XG isn't everything. You can perform XG, no problem, but they're seventh in the league in XG and over-performing it consistently isn't really sustainable.
00:21:32
Speaker
The fact that they have 64.5% average possession, but only creating the seventh most XG is kind of alarming to me. Chelsea have 61.4% possession across the league and I think they're in the top four for XG created. Now Liverpool are a better team than Chelsea still. The eye test will tell you that. Stats aren't everything.
00:21:51
Speaker
But it is a little bit worrying when you're overperforming that much and you have the ball a lot and it seems a little bit stagnant. And that's going to be an interesting part of this game because Chelsea are at home and they like to have possession. Liverpool like to have possession and they're on the road.
00:22:06
Speaker
To be honest, with the way the last few games have gone for Chelsea, I can see Maresca being the one that concedes the possession here because he might be a little bit afraid. Yeah, I agree. um I think one of Liverpool's biggest issues has again been and midfield balance. and They haven't controlled a single midfield all season and that's the reason they've been struggling in so much.
00:22:26
Speaker
He's also gone to a two in midfield but a one in front with the sign of Wierth. But even when he had Sabasai in there against everything he's still stuck with the two and the one. So clearly this is the system he wants to go with but... I think for the moment he might be better off going back to the three in midfields, dropping Virch a bit deeper and just seeing how that goes because they need that three in midfield clearly because everything they're doing is just being found out so easily and so quickly.
00:22:49
Speaker
But i think i do I do agree with you here. I think Mureska will give Liverpool more the ball and try and hit him on the counter-attack with his fast wingers. I presume Gio Pedro is going to play up front so who does he put in the hole behind him then will be there the the key issue for him I think. So we'll have to wait and see what he does there but I just think like Liverpool have the click at some points.
00:23:10
Speaker
As you said, like they haven't just turned into a bad team overnight. And the last game for the international league be a great time for them to just put something together and come back in and build on it. So I have to wait and see. Chelsea, I don't know what's going on with Chelsea. tree carriage and Three right cards in three games now as well.
00:23:28
Speaker
It's just ridiculous. It shows to a lack of kind of discipline in the squad. Maturity. Overall maturity. Yeah, exactly. And then to add to that point, we went in on Maresca last week, the ridiculous decisions he made.
00:23:42
Speaker
Maybe they don't have full confidence in him, some of the players. And Another point is they're just ravaged by injuries. Like, if you look at how many players they signed, it shouldn't matter too much. But when you're losing Fofana, Adrobayo and Colwell, all from kind of three of your best centre-backs in such an important position, they're going to have to start Badia Shield there probably. And Liverpool might have a field day with him. And then Palmer and De Lape being out too.
00:24:09
Speaker
yeah Two of arguably your best three attacking players there. yeah You're going to have to start some inexperience in Tyree George maybe. yeah It's a difficult decision. um They managed to eke out a win versus Benfica at home in the Champions League. And obviously Liverpool, as we touched on, did lose away. But I think despite all that, Chelsea will sit off a little bit.
00:24:31
Speaker
Liverpool will pick them apart. And i have Liverpool winning 2-0. Yeah, I have Thurne Leroukwood as well.
00:24:39
Speaker
I think Chelsea's biggest problem is going to be their centre-half partnership. It's going to be probably Xhallaibar and Ballyasheel. That's not a centre-back partnership that fills anyone with confidence. Xhallaibar is good at Palace in the truth, but when he's basically going to be doing it on his own, because Ballyasheel is nothing special. Are they going to...
00:24:57
Speaker
get on their knees and beg Axel de Sasse to go and sit on the bench for him this week, or is he even registered in the squad? Who knows? I don't think they have enough centre-backs. Then at front they have Pedro, Tyreek George and Mark Hugh.
00:25:10
Speaker
grief but i don't even know what his name is, I've never seen him play. Are they going to drop Pedro in and then put Tyreek George or the other fella in front of him? like it's just They have so many issues that I just don't see how they...
00:25:23
Speaker
get off enough of it at a seam unless they get a goal from set pieces because Jesus, you know, Liverpool can't defend a set piece for their life at the moment whatever is going on. Maybe they might target them. That might be due.
00:25:34
Speaker
Yeah, with Rhys James taking them, he has always had a really good delivery so that could be an area from the hurt Liverpool bus. I just think if they give Liverpool enough of ball, Liverpool will grow into the game.
00:25:46
Speaker
Liverpool just need to calm down in possession. They always seem to play or try and play the hard pass, even if there's an easy one on. They're always looking for that killer ball. Sometimes you just need to keep it.
00:25:57
Speaker
Play 10 passes before you try and play your killer ball. Try and stretch the team a little bit. yeah It doesn't always have to be straight away, get the ball, fire it up top and hope for the best. That's not what we did last year. That's not how we won the league last year. so They need to try and go back to what they were doing last year. Even if it is in a new formation, it doesn't really have to change. Just keep the ball.
00:26:18
Speaker
Frustrate the other team. Tire him out with running. Just literally make him run into the ground and then when you get to the edge of box, then try and find your pass. But i do, yeah, I think Liverpool 2-0. Yeah, I've mentioned it a few times and it'd be a good time now for Wurz to get his first goal or assist because he really needs to do something.
00:26:37
Speaker
And I have a feeling he will this weekend. I think he'll do something special. So... I think Liverpool will get the win, but again, we'll have another conversation. if Liverpool lose this game, there'll be a lot more questions asked because, as we said, Chelsea are in a bad spot with injuries and stuff right now. Yeah. Liverpool have dropped.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah, Liverpool have dropped with Paddy Power with the second favourites for the league. Now Arsenal have gone ahead of them. Well, it's a bit of an overreaction, but... Yeah, massive. I was looking after putting up a stat today that Veerts and Jack Grealish have the most chances for it in the league this season. They both created 21. So it gets to the point where it's like, how much more can you do?
00:27:19
Speaker
Jack Grealish is top of assist chart with six and Veerts has none and they both create the same amount of chances. People just aren't... I think Grealish has four assists. very i think griish has forestists Yeah, but yeah, oh, you could be right actually, but he's still top with, he's top of whatever it is anyway. And every chance Fierce has created, like Frimpong fluffed one Isaac fluffed one last night. Like he's he's doing all he can and people just aren't putting the ball in the net. And I think, I think Liverpool, there's so many loophole players who are just out of form at the moment.
00:27:52
Speaker
They're trying to do play back into form. McAllister and Salah are my biggest worries really. i Salah just looks on the per periphery and I think it's down to the system as well because he's not getting as much ball as he did last year. It's nowhere near and I think he's missing Trent um quite a lot because Trent would put that ball over the top for him but obviously Trent's not coming back so they need to find a new way of getting the ball to Salah, getting him more involved because he was second or no, he was the top scorer and the top assist for last year.
00:28:18
Speaker
He won't lose that in the space of three months. He's just not getting enough ball to cause the damage that he should be doing so we'll have to wait and see how Slott fixes it. I think Frimpong's strength is going and being an overlapping winger or wingback. And I don't really think Salah fits the mold of someone who can play with somebody like that.
00:28:38
Speaker
No. um So that's kind of a questionable one. Maybe the system will change slightly when Salah moves on and you'll have Frimpong as the basis of that right-hand side with somebody that's willing to play on the overlap. Yeah.
00:28:52
Speaker
Because the difference between between Bradley and Frimpong is so stark. Bradley gets the ball he's always coming inside. yeah Whereas Frimpong gets the ball and always looking to go outside. And it doesn't suit Salah. Bradley and Salah worked so well last year.
00:29:05
Speaker
Salah and Frimpong haven't gotten any sort of connection yet. So we'll have to wait and see what Slott can do to fix that. Yeah, no, you're definitely right. and Let's move on then to the NFL. So we just had...
NFL Dublin Game Experience
00:29:17
Speaker
the NFL Dublin game last weekend I was there in attendance you see I'm drinking out of my and NFL Dublin game cup that I got spent an extra I don't know how much on a drink just to get that was like why not oh you're going to Jaro probably yeah got an old um Vikings hat if you're watching on YouTube you'll see now has a nice Dublin emblem on the side and obviously you have to get an out match program for B just for the moment that was in it it's actually very good there's is there was a lot in it and I think it was worked it was like a tenner so some of them are useless and you're paying like 10 or 15 so pretty good like every single monster game one
00:29:57
Speaker
Yeah, so I think it's nice to have one for a special occasion. But on to the game, the unreal atmosphere. It was so loud. It felt like a home game for both teams at different points. It obviously felt more like a home game for Steelers because it was more Steelers fans there. and It was so loud on third downs for the Vikings. But there was also times where they were doing the skull clap.
00:30:19
Speaker
for Vikings fans and they were making a lot of noise on third down too which was amazing and a lot of people saying it's one of the best international games they've been to um I think Jason Kelsey was saying that on the podcast with Travis I saw that clip doing the rounds but outside of the atmosphere looking at the actual play on the pitch what did you make of it from watching at home The Steelers made the Vikings look useless.
00:30:47
Speaker
And we know they're not because of what they did the weekend before where they just couldn't get anything going to Vikings. The Steelers were so much quicker. <unk> Metcalf looked like his old self again, just ripping off that massive run. He only had five catches in the end, but it was five catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.
00:31:05
Speaker
His longest was an 80 yards. It was just... Like, Kenneth Gamow probably wants to play Dublin every week with how well he played as well. like The Steelers just showed up massively and the Vikings just weren't able to.
00:31:17
Speaker
Their garbage time touchdowns really gave it a far better looking scoreboard than it should have been. um I thought the Steelers were far and away deserved winners.
00:31:29
Speaker
I think can the DK Metcalf touchdown was the longest in international game history. Yeah, it was. So that was pretty cool to have that. And your point on like the garbage time touchdowns, I wouldn't really classify it as that because i feel like they were getting a bit of like a push on there and they still had the chance to tie that at the end if they could have just gotten to like the 40 yard line.
00:31:53
Speaker
But The offensive line was just decimated by injuries. The Steelers' defense is carrying them in this game with the turnovers, but... I'm still looking at the Steelers and they're not a good team.
00:32:05
Speaker
Like they're not good. us they what They're three and one. And don't get me wrong. Like I could be very wrong about this, but they have the highest turnover differential. So I think they're like plus nine or plus seven in turnover differential compared to their opponents.
00:32:20
Speaker
You can't keep turning the ball over that much. um You're relying on your defense to do that and give you multiple chances every game to win. They got absolutely destroyed by the Seahawks.
00:32:31
Speaker
They should have lost to the Jets. They should have lost the Patriots. And they still gave the Vikings a chance despite the massive turnovers. and And the Vikings just looked really poor, as you said. But some of that is down to big injuries. And some of that is down to the Steelers' play.
00:32:45
Speaker
I'm personally happy that the fourth quarter was close because yeah it went for a really, really good last like five, ten minutes. Because the atmosphere was class then when it started coming close. It was a bit flat when it was like 21-3 or 24-3. You're like, oh, Jesus, like this is not a great looking game. And you don't want the first one in Ireland to be like a damn squib.
00:33:07
Speaker
But then i really turned around and it had the second most viewership of any international game, i think. 7.9 million average viewers. I think that was in the US and that bumped up to like 9 million over the last like half an hour. So it was good to have that good ending.
00:33:24
Speaker
Yeah, wouldn't he went to Steelers? And I know this is going to sound absolutely crackers, but I think if they had lost to the Jets in the first game like they should have, I wonder what their record would be because I really don't think they'd have gone on to beat the Patriots and win that game in Ireland. And I wonder, would the Jets be 3-1 or a 2-2 now if they'd won that first game and they just had a bit of momentum? But Steelers are kind of, they're on the crest of a wave.
00:33:47
Speaker
Their defense had six sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hits. They're not having that breathing. No, you're not having that every week at all. like So it's kind of like they really are. They're on the around the top of this wave now and they're going to come crashing down. They're going to go on a losing streak at some point. because as you said, they aren't a good team. And they got the Vikings at a good time.
00:34:08
Speaker
Got lucky in the other two wins against the Jets and the Patriots. And there's only so long you can get away with this. like it's It's like with Tom Bouse, Liverpool overperforming their XG. The leaders are doing the NFL equivalent. They're overperforming their XG. And it is going to have to come back down to hurt at some point.
00:34:23
Speaker
Yeah, i agree with you. Pretty cool point moments for the TJ Watt interception and then the celebration where he kicked the ball into the crowd. That was class. The crowd was going crazy for that. One that I saw backwards, after back afterwards, was when Rodgers threw that touchdown pass to Metcalf. He just, like, banged a smelling salt and, like, flicked it behind him like it was a cigarette and then, like, snapped the ball and threw it.
00:34:47
Speaker
That's, like, so Rodgers. Like, just mad, just hilarious stuff. But I have a question for you here. Have you ever gotten stuck in that horrendous line waiting for points at an event? Yeah, too many.
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, multiply that by about 6 million and that was Crow Park. It was tragic. That was the worst part of the whole organized... The event being organized. God, if could even speak.
00:35:10
Speaker
That was the whole worst part of the organization they had. Like, they didn't... Clearly, they didn't plan for having like 76,000 people all wanted to have their drinks, their seats, because I was standing in a line where there was literally four people working in the bar. It was one of the big bars that like kind of looped around.
00:35:29
Speaker
And there was no less than like 200 people waiting in line. I was waiting 40 minutes to get a point. I missed the DK Metcalf touchdown. Like I wasn't in my seat for that because I literally went to get a point and I was like, great, it's the second quarter is about to start now. I'll go.
00:35:45
Speaker
And look, if I miss like five minutes of play, that's fine. No, I missed like huge chunk of the second quarter because of the line was that bad. And when you're that deep in it, you're like, I'm not going to leave it. You're not giving up. Yeah. Yeah. And I wasn't drinking warm cans of Rockshore that they were handing around at the seats. I was like, I'm waiting for Guinness here.
00:36:01
Speaker
I might as well get it. And that was the fact what it did to me getting this cup because I was like, here, if I'm going up here, I'm getting something to bring home with me after all of this waiting. But yeah, I was like, after that, was like, I'm not leaving my seat. And then...
00:36:14
Speaker
I went to the bathroom when there was that injury, like, with, like, three minutes left. Come out, I hear this big roar run out. Addison, for the big reception, had just gone off. I was like, are you joking me? Like, next time I go, I'm ordering, like, ten pints of Guinness. Don't care if they're warm. Putting them under my seat. Just leaving them at your seat. Yeah.
00:36:32
Speaker
Like, if I have to pee, it's going into one of those Guinness cups. I'm not leaving that seat because I'm not missing another big play next time. Yeah, so but when I he was at the Cowboys and Chiefs game over in Texas a couple of years back, and we didn't have to leave our spot because they had cooler bags going around with bottles of beer, jugular plastic bottles of Bud Light.
00:36:51
Speaker
And it was a cooler bag. They were really nice. They were freezing. That's great. And hot dogs going around. Everything was just so well done. And so like it's their first go at this. They will definitely do it better next time because they'll know they'll know it's like, okay,
00:37:05
Speaker
Everyone wants a pint. and Literally everybody, probably everyone in the stadium overage was looking to have a pint. So they will, they'll have to do better. They'll have to get double the soft day of working. Even like whatever they paid them, they're still going to make a profit on it. And the amount of money it brought in in tourism as well is unbelievable. Yeah.
00:37:22
Speaker
Go ahead. Go on. go ahead I had a friend of mine, Ty from Le Hinch, was brought up by NFL UK to do the interviews with the players and all that. And he absolutely loved it as well. So, yeah, so he he works for Spinsale West and he was just up doing, just doing interviews and just literally hanging around with the players. like So he a great time as well. And I just think the whole thing went off really, really well. And it was really, really good to see all around that everyone enjoyed it.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. I think the atmosphere was brilliant. And... They did, of course, have like people going around with cans of Rockshire, but I honestly think it's like one of the worst drinks. and it's It's the worst beer.
00:38:01
Speaker
And it was like not really cold, lukewarm. was like, there's no chance. like Next year, all they have to all the after change is literally just have someone going around with a proper cooler bag with load of cans Guinness, and I would happily pour them myself at the seat if I had to.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yes. I think the thing is that... that Yeah. The thing is that Rockshire have just bought up so many of these, like they've all of the League of Ireland grounds now said Rockshire because they're just the sponsor of it. So I'd imagine the fact that there'd been a couple of games in the Aviva and stuff recently that Rockshire probably bought up the Aviva and Crowe Park and probably the other grounds. Whenever I get back there again, it's probably going to be all Rockshire to get points. So and think we might just have to accept the fact that Rockshire are just here to stay for the moment, unfortunately. But
00:38:50
Speaker
Oh God, I couldn't. like Their lager awful. their Their cider is is drinkable. Yeah. their lager is absolutely horrific. I think the cider is actually pretty nice, to be honest. But yeah, the cider is awful. Or the lager is awful. But I think they're owned by Diageo anyway. So wherever you see Guinness, you're going to see your Rockshore. um Yeah. So it's just put cans in the bag.
00:39:10
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, brilliant event. Really happy that I went. And I'm sure if it comes back around, you'll definitely be buying tickets after seeing how good that one went. Definitely. But speaking of awful, let's move on to the Ravens.
00:39:25
Speaker
Just one more point I had on that was if it does come back next year, and I hope they bring like a very strong quarterback talent. And meant like Chiefs said, they want to be over here. So if they had Mahomes or even if they could get somebody with like a big arm like Jordy Love or imagine Josh Allen, any of any like...
00:39:42
Speaker
more so like solid level of quarterback play because Rodgers is kind of throwing short passes now the DK one was a lot of run after ah the catch and then Wentz was just not it so that's the only thing I would love to see that next time but it was an amazing start but as you said Ravens not so good what have you got on it They're but somehow it feels like they're owen four because this isn't a team that should be starting a season 1-3.
Baltimore Ravens' Defensive Struggles
00:40:10
Speaker
i think their biggest issue is quite clearly their defence. and i just I think it's it's easy to see. The points they've given up this season, 38-37.
00:40:21
Speaker
um The 17 was against the Browns. The other three, okay, it's the Lions, the Chiefs, and the Bills. Fair enough. Three of the best teams in the league. But that's the level you think you're at.
00:40:33
Speaker
How are you going out there and just giving up that much? And I just think outside of Kyle Hamilton, their defense has nothing to write home about. Like, I just think it's it's so badly put together that they've they've probably focused so much on offense and helping Mar that they're like, oh, we actually forgot we have another side of the ball. And LeMari can't put up 40, 45 points every single week to win those games. I just, I can't believe how bad they've been. Yeah. I just, I i really, really can't.
00:41:02
Speaker
And the weekend, they were atrocious against the Chiefs. Yeah, but it's like like a battlefield out there on their defensive side of the ball. like If you look at right now the players who didn't participate in practice this week, Chidobe Awuza, Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins, three of their best three cornerbacks, all gone.
00:41:26
Speaker
Rockman Smith didn't train, and he's the probably the most important part on the defense, apart from Kyle Hamilton, as you mentioned. Then those who had limited participation, Kyle Van Nooy, who was superb the last couple of seasons, and Brent Urban, D-Lineman, and then Kyle Hamilton himself was a limited participant with a groin injury. So if he goes to on top of everything else,
00:41:51
Speaker
that'll go from conceding like 33 a game to like 45 because they have literally nothing on the defensive side of the ball. And then with Lamar's injury um and looking at their offensive line, they've they've got some injuries there too. And Tyler Lindebaum is injured, and as is Ronnie Stanley. So they're really, really hit by injuries.
00:42:11
Speaker
I think if they didn't have so many injuries, they're probably two and two. they They would grab one of those other games that they lost. But at the same time, it's looking quite difficult because now they're playing ah team in the Texans who really have to scrape and grab to to get everything they can after starting They got a win last week.
00:42:33
Speaker
That's in Houston. And then next up, then they have the Rams and that's in LA. So I don't know. Sorry, both of those games are at home in Baltimore. But The point still stands. They're playing a team in the Texans who need a win and then the Rams who look like Super Bowl contenders.
00:42:50
Speaker
like If they go to 1-5, I find it quite hard to see how they turn things around. don't know if they they get to you know. Could they get on a good run and and get it to tenon seven or 9-8? They could, yeah, but they're making it very hard for themselves.
00:43:09
Speaker
If you're starting 1-5 to get to 9-8...
00:43:13
Speaker
After that horrific start, it takes some turnaround in talent and fortune and just the players, not even their attitudes, their morale. like it's going to be in It's going to be in the dirt if they're 1-5 and you're like, okay, let's go out there and win nine and lose three of our next 12. It's very hard to get anyone to do that. There's not too many teams in in football who'll be able to turn around to one in five I think another issue they seem to have is that outside of, say, Flowers, he doesn't seem to really trust the receivers to put it up and expect them to come down with it. And it's it's an issue I mentioned with the Jets last week as well. That's either Garrett Wilson.
00:43:50
Speaker
They don't seem to really trust the ball, showing it to many other people. Now, clearly the Ravens are a fairer of the team than Jets are at the moment, but they're showing the same kind of issues where even he's trusting Mark Andrews a bit more, but Mark Andrews doesn't have the explosiveness he did have.
00:44:04
Speaker
but he's kind of He's only getting small gains now, whereas where he's getting 30 out of the forwards getting 5 10 now. So that's kind of costing him as well. But it's another where like the quarterback can only do so much. Derrick Henry hasn't carried the ball half as much as he was either. I presume it's because of the two fumbles he had in the last two games where just seem to be kind of leaving him out a bit more as well, which is strange. It just feels like the whole thing has gone...
00:44:33
Speaker
sideways on him very very quickly and they didn't expect they obviously didn't expect to start one and three but they definitely didn't expect to have to be so bad on defence and struggling a bit on offence as well yeah I think the point about Henry interesting one because he looked so dejected after that last fumble he had against the Lions yeah He just looked shocked and confused as to how that even could happen to him, which is, you know, you don't want your star running back to look like that. You want him to be, you know, confident in himself. And that might have played into the snap count that he had, or maybe they held him back late in the game against the Chiefs because it was over. But...
00:45:13
Speaker
again it's not a good sign and Lamar is possibly you're going to be out for one to three weeks that's going to be a tough one you know you're it's a must win against the Texans I think maybe the Rams they can afford to lose that one and if they're two and four they say okay reset but Cooper Rush needs to get the win here against the Texans and get them to two and three and see what happens then against the Rams but I really think it could come down to the wire because if you looked at their last six games, they play two against the Bengals and two against the Steelers.
00:45:45
Speaker
So massive divisional games in those last six weeks. So if the that might come down to the hope that they need to go 9-8 and that might be enough to win the division at the end. And those games are then going to be massive because Browns, Steelers and Bengals...
00:45:59
Speaker
with their issues that they all have collectively, then the division doesn't look that good, so they could win it at 9-8. Yeah, so much. You're very right there because their division is really, really weak.
00:46:11
Speaker
i'm The Bengals are shambles without Joe Burrow. And Joe? They're just, it it's it's it's mad to see. like yeah Obviously, the quarterback is the most important player. um a Everyone knows this.
00:46:26
Speaker
But when you actually see it playing out in front your eyes is the way it is at the Bengals, you see why they gave him so much money. yeah And you can see why they gave the you can see why he gave Chase so much money because he's he the number one target. And when the two of them are both on form, the Bengals are borderline unstoppable with just two of them at times. And then you have Tee Higgins as well on the other side. So I can't believe how bad they've been.
00:46:49
Speaker
It's mental. Josh Browning clearly isn't this. and But what do you do? Do you go and try and bring in Shador Sanders or do you just keep going? Wait for Russell Wilson. He's available, guys.
00:47:00
Speaker
Yeah, Shador Sanders will probably be playing next week for the Browns with the way they're going now as well. They're just going to rattle off their quarterbacks every third week and with the looks of it as well. So i just think...
00:47:12
Speaker
like losing Le Mar here and having to go to Cooper Rush is such a difference in style as well. So... Yeah. It's a good answer....will be back in. Yeah. Is Derek Henry going to get 25 touches again?
00:47:22
Speaker
I need Justice Hill to get a couple of touches my fantasy league because the bye weeks have absolutely killed me here. So... I have him. I need him to be... We're running back one this weekend. That would be lovely. But...
00:47:34
Speaker
I think, as you said, if theyve if they don't win this weekend, they're not beating the Rams the weekend after. So they will they could very well easily go to one in five and then they're in massive trouble then.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yeah, and I think the Texans' defense is unbelievable too, so they're probably going to have to try and throw all things which throw the ball, which means he may force things, and if Cooper Rush is forcing it, that's not going to be a recipe for success.
00:47:58
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And if you have the Texans in your fantasy team, yeah, do not get rid of them anyway before this game. But yeah one point you made on looking at Lamar, and...
00:48:09
Speaker
how you know he doesn't really trust people and outside of Flowers. I think that's a great point because you might say, okay he's he's getting sacked way more this season, so the offensive line isn't as good.
00:48:22
Speaker
It isn't as good, but it's actually a lower pressure rate than they had last season. So it is down to him knowing what receivers he can go to. And Isaiah Lightley, I think, was massive in the first few weeks. They had no... like kind of out ball and I feel like Justice Hill might be used a little bit more because he often does turn to him for short passes out of the backfield and
Underdog Picks in NFL and Premier League
00:48:47
Speaker
maybe that's something Cooper Rush will go to this weekend but yeah i I don't know there's a lot of questions around them I still think they're an excellent team and I honestly still think they'll win this division and but a lot of it may come down to this weekend's game it might be one that gets them over the line come the end
00:49:03
Speaker
and So let's move on then. We've got Ganshans. Last week, I had one win. I had m Brighton beating Chelsea. I believe you also had that. And I believe you had another win as well.
00:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, I had the Chiefs at home too. that was a great point. Before mentioned Ravens, which was... It was mad that they were underdogs considering how bad the Ravens... The Ravens, the Bagans, I just called them. The Ravens weren't going into it, but... Yeah, I got two points.
00:49:29
Speaker
yeah I'm really annoyed at myself that didn't back Brentford last week, and I think I didn't because... was like, I really can't go against United again. I can't go against United every single week as much as I wanted, and I didn't back myself, so It could have been a five-pointer, but anyway, we move on. The Premier League this week was a bloody nightmare to pick from again, wasn't it?
00:49:49
Speaker
Yeah, it was very tough one. I went with two in the NFL because of it. I was just like, I can't. I'll go up with mine first if that's okay. and I've got the Vikings to beat, or sorry, the Browns to beat the Vikings in London.
00:50:08
Speaker
So it's a half-two game on Sunday. I think it's a recipe for success here for the Browns because the Vikings are missing, I think, four of their starting five offensive linemen and possibly their backup center as well.
00:50:20
Speaker
So that Browns defensive front is no joke. And the Browns defense in general is very, very good. So I think they'll have a field day against Carson Wentz. And I think that's going to be a game where the Browns could win it like nine six or something like that.
00:50:35
Speaker
And Dylan Gabriel adds to something a little bit different. He's starting this weekend instead of Flacco. So I think they'll have something to get them over the line and win. They are 17-10 the Vikings 1-2. and the vikings are one to two Then my next pick is the New York Giants, 11-10.
00:50:50
Speaker
I can't believe the Saints are favourite here. It's probably just because it's in New Orleans, but that's 6pm on Sunday. The Saints are ten to thirteen I think the Giants coming off a big win. i just i i think it could be very close. I think the Saints aren't that bad this season, but I just think that and out of all the games I saw in front of me, that was kind of the last one left that I could decide um after I picked the Browns. And then also Brentford is my other pick.
00:51:16
Speaker
I'm going out there. I mentioned it earlier. They're playing City. They are at home in the GTEC. And this is 4.30pm on Sunday. And they are 15-4 and City are 8-13. So I've got Brentford, the Browns and the Giants. If you put the three of them together, it is twenty six to one That's really solid. um I have won the same as you.
00:51:36
Speaker
It's the Premier League one as well. I also have Brentford at home to Man City. Nice. Because of just about how difficult it was to pick this weekend, Brentford just jumped out to me at 15-4. I just think it's a great bet.
00:51:48
Speaker
I didn't back them last week and I should have, so I had to go with them this week. im Other than that, I have the Titans at treat one and I'm just looking up what Arizona are in that because I forgot to write that one down. Arizona are I think that's great.
00:52:03
Speaker
They've just lost Trey Benson now as well. and So they're they're down to Dean Mercado and two other lads. I think they're... Larry? I just think regardless, it's the Titans. like I just think at 3-1,
00:52:19
Speaker
i just i had to do it. I think Arizona could struggle out here, so we'll have to wait and see. And like you backing the Giants, I backed my Jets to beat the Cowboys at home.
00:52:30
Speaker
So let's see. The Jets are eleven to ten The Cowboys are 8-11. Yeah, that was one that i was like, i think that I think it'll be close because the Cowboys' defense stinks, but I also really like their offense. It's really, really good.
00:52:43
Speaker
So the Jets are going to have a tough time keeping them under wraps, but I'm actually looking forward to that one to see if the Jets can pull out a win because i thought they should have last week and they didn't. and The Cardinals one, I do think it's mad to pick just because Brian Callaghan looks like probably the worst coach I've ever seen in the NFL. He is awful and in every facet of the game. The way he manages clock, the way he manages the roster, the way he speaks after games, everything just is wrong about it. and So he needs to go. But I think you might see one where it was like the Panthers just randomly beat the Falcons couple of weeks ago.
00:53:22
Speaker
It could be another one like that. And the Cardinals are the type of team that will lose to a team like the Titans. So look, you're putting it on the line. It'll be very nice for you if you get that as a ah one of your picks up.
00:53:34
Speaker
So it's 39 to one as a treble as well. Just. Oh, nice. Yeah, the Titans one really burns it up. Even if you put them, and I'd say, against the spread um to cover, you'd still get some nice odds there. So worth looking at and you mentioned not putting in united every week i was very close to putting in in sunderland to be united this week i was like teetering between that and the giants and then i was like i have to pick one of my teams and and i was like oh i can't go against i was like if i go with the giants i'm gonna curse them if i go with sunderland i'm definitely gonna lock in a win here for sunderland but i was like
00:54:10
Speaker
Yeah, I just think United at home, they're probably just going to eke out like the crappiest 1-1 draw you'll ever see. So I just have to go through it. They might do the same as it against Burnley, where they just like scrape over the line with a last-minute penalty or something like that. post But top four somewhere around there to be laughed at.
00:54:26
Speaker
No, absolutely not. They're flying. yeah We might have a word next week on the tree from other teams and the difference they've made in comparison to the ones that came up last year because it it is, it again, it's second or third time I've used this now if it's on your Bingo cards, but it's shocking cheese to treat the tree that came up last year, the tree this year. They're They're so much better than what we were watching last year. But anyway, we've done our football.
00:54:47
Speaker
Let's get on to the NBA. I agree with you there. I think that's a good point. That's something we should touch on because it's massive gap. But as you said, and NBA, we've got three California-based teams here to cover this week because we're moving close to the end of the West. I think we've got three more sets of teams to do the NBA preseason well not like they had the summer league but the proper preseason kind of kicked off today i saw this the Sixers were playing the Knicks in Abu Dhabi and it just flashed up there a minute ago that the Knicks won so I'd like to take a look at that box score and see who managed to play for the Sixers considering injuries again but we'll start with the Lakers we already covered the Clippers next LA team up where do they need to improve most from last season
00:55:36
Speaker
ah They're rebounding and they're
Lakers' Rebounding and Defense Challenges
00:55:38
Speaker
in protection. I do think the pick-up of De'Andre Ayton is going to help here, but it's if they can keep him fit. He only played 40 games last year. They need him to be upwards of 60 if you don't have any hope here.
00:55:50
Speaker
um a player I'm going mention in a second as well is someone that they could use to... Try and just protect the rim a bit more because they just, they underutilise him. I'm just, we'll talk about him when I get to the under radar player, but they just get punished in the glass, sorry, in the paint and on the glass every single year.
00:56:06
Speaker
And they really do need to get that sorted this year. When we get there, can I guess who your player is? Because I have a little idea, but I'm not sure. um yeah i I also went to the same thing in terms of looking at rebounding.
00:56:20
Speaker
They were the fifth lowest in rebounding rate per game last season at 42.4 per game. Now, I did note that they've gone out and got Aiton as well, and they do need improved centre play, but I'm not sold that he's the one to do that.
00:56:33
Speaker
He has averaged 10 rebounds pretty much across his... or across last season. And I think in every other season, he's been like between 10 and 11 per season. So he he is okay at getting rebounds, but I find, I think it's mostly defensive. I i don't think he's a very strong force on the offensive board. So I'm not sure he's the best option. Now I'm, I'm happy to be wrong about him because I would like him to, to kind of turn things around and,
00:57:01
Speaker
hit that dominating thing like the Phoenix Suns used to say about him but yeah it never came to fruition and he seems to have fallen with a lot of people along the way so let's see if he can do it but I highlighted the same thing as you and that they need to improve on rebounding is the player you're going to talk about Jared Vanderbilt?
00:57:20
Speaker
No. Oh who is it? Rui Hatemura. Oh okay okay the other forward that can defend the rim. I don't know why they don't. Like, dave when they brought in lu at Luka Doncic last year, they didn't get in the centre they wanted.
00:57:39
Speaker
I don't in some way they didn't just try Rui Hachimura in there. Now I know experts. But they didn't do it enough. Like, so he... Last year, he had 13 points and 5 rebounds in 57 starts.
00:57:52
Speaker
um I just... I think... if If it's not going to be the Andre Ayton in there, then give him a go and see what he does. He's over seven foot tall, so to to the size isn't the problem there. and He's strong. He's willing to put his body on the line as well. So put him in there and see it goes. If it goes terribly, then I'll hold my hands up. Fair enough, it hasn't worked. But if you're listening to me at all, just put him in there and give him a go because I do think he's a really, really solid basketball player.
00:58:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think and that is a good show. He's nowhere in near seven foot tall, though. He's six eight are you sure did you just look it up because I was oh maybe it's Deandre Ayton 7 foot so yeah Deandre Ayton 7 foot yeah because I was thinking when you said that I was like Rui Hachimura definitely not 7 foot was I'll check it But and regardless of that, you are right in everything else you pointed out about him, that he probably needs to be utilized more. And I don't know whether, I don't know if that if the actual right thing to do is play him at center, but it can't hurt if Aiton doesn't work.
00:58:54
Speaker
Just give them a go and see it. they did do it a little bit last season. And going into the playoffs, I think that was something I said. I did say like a few times in across the podcast that they can't do that in the playoffs because they're going to get found out very quickly. But then they end up playing Jackson Hayes there, and that was definitely not yeah much better. yeah So they might as well give it a try.
00:59:17
Speaker
um But I also think Vanderbilt is good in at rim protection and bringing down rebounds too from the forward position. So between the two of them, they have something there. And for my under-the-radar player, I went with Marcus Smart.
00:59:32
Speaker
I think getting him in at a very low price was very smart. A couple... Oh, yeah. panel mind the pun, a couple of years at just over 5 million a year. and Just two years ago, he was given Memphis 15 points per game as a starter. yeah And then at the peak of his powers at Boston, he was given six assists per game. So he can...
00:59:55
Speaker
Score the ball if you need him to. He's he's a quite a good passer, but he's a very, very good defender. and He's averaged two steals and blocks across his career, if you combine them.
01:00:05
Speaker
And he was 2022 defensive player the year for a reason. I think that year they were kind of trying to make a point of picking a guard, but he was deserving of it in that team.
01:00:16
Speaker
And I think they did very well to bring him in. And he's still 31. It's not like he's over the hill yet. So I think he contributes still for them. Next up is looking at the over-under wins. So 48 and a half.
01:00:29
Speaker
Last year they had 50. It's early days with Luka last year and they still managed 50. I think they have a better roster now. So I can see them getting around 50 again, even in a strong West. i I just think Luka being on that team and LeBron, I just see them getting there again.
01:00:46
Speaker
You don't think so? I think they'll be close to it, but I think they'll be more 46 to 48 than 50 to 52. So I went under on this. i think if everything goes right, they can absolutely break 50 and it wouldn't surprise me one bit. But if I am putting my neck on the line here now, I'm saying that they're just going to be under the 48 and a half.
01:01:07
Speaker
Yeah, fair enough. I think it's a decently set line and you could make the argument either way. I just think they have strengthened compared to last year. So I think they could do it. But looking at the ceiling then with the current roster and coach for the season ahead, what did you have?
01:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm doing what I do every single time and completely kind kind i contradicting myself from what I said 10 seconds ago. But I think they're ah top three seed in the West. 52 to 55 wins.
01:01:34
Speaker
and dan I think they can get to conference finals. And after that, then i honestly, I don't know if I would put them as team that make it to a finals. Yes, we'd have to see how the season goes. So at moment, I'm just going to say they're seeing it as the conference finals.
01:01:50
Speaker
Yeah, and just like for everybody as well listening, like these are our absolute push picks. You'll find out what we actually think when we do the full season preview for each team, or for the full season, like where we think these teams are going to land. But we're when we're answering this question, we're looking at like how far can they really go? And I would have to agree with you there. I also said Western Conference Finals is the best they can do.
01:02:14
Speaker
Just not having a really strong centre that I believe in a lot, kind of pushes them to not be able to get through that. But I do believe in Luka and LeBron a lot, obviously, two amazing players. And they're just missing couple more pieces to get to the finals. But I think they could still get to the conference finals.
01:02:31
Speaker
I think it's it's not too far out of their reach. Yeah, agree. So next up is the Kings, where they to improve most from
Sacramento Kings' Strategic Direction
01:02:39
Speaker
last season. I said that they need to decide what's what they actually want to do and because they have no idea what they're trying to do with this team.
01:02:47
Speaker
They got rid of Mike Brown and everyone was saying it was either him or Jaron Fox. Then like three weeks later, they trade away Fox. And in return for that, they basically just became the Bulls of the West.
01:02:58
Speaker
Because they've got DeMar DeRozan and Zach Levine over there now with a European big man. So it's pretty much the same team that we saw in both in the Bulls in Chicago.
01:03:10
Speaker
This time it's on the West Coast. And yeah, it doesn't make sense to me at all. They need to decide if they're, whether they're home or home, like are they going up or they're going down? They can't decide what they want to do here. Yeah, I just think like the back-to-back trades there you just mentioned was...
01:03:26
Speaker
Like a lot of mad things happened in the off-season to be made this season, but I think that is right up there. it's like, oh, we're keeping one of the other. Actually, we're going to get rid of both and just just basically fall apart right in front of everyone's eyes.
01:03:39
Speaker
Just, yeah, and like are they trying to push to get to playoffs? Are they trying to get a lottery pick? Who knows? Like they're literally, they're one of the only teams that are sitting right in the middle of are we coming or are we going?
01:03:52
Speaker
be doing they might be doing both at certain and see how it goes after 10 games and say okay we're actually going and but let's let's not come in anymore so we'll have to wait and see you what they do but i went with their their late game execution
01:04:06
Speaker
They're just, so towards the end of games, they just they just they really do fall apart. The defence just flips. They don't get many stops. They don't score many points in crunch time as well. And that kind of cost them a good bit last year. So if they are going to keep coming instead of going, then they do definitely need to try and sort that out.
01:04:23
Speaker
And the funny thing about that is they had the Iron Fox who led the league in clutch points per game the year before. Yeah. And they had the clutch player of year in the Margaro's and they got rid of one and the other just hasn't really fit in there properly. So it's funny how things change i just by getting rid of one player.
01:04:41
Speaker
But looking at someone then who's under the radar, who do you like for this team? Keegan Murray. I think he's really, really good. 76 games last year, 14 points per game. He's only going to get better. He's still quite young as well. So i just, I thought he was the standout of what they have left there in that roster.
01:04:58
Speaker
Yeah, it was between him and Malik Monk for me. i just went with Malik Monk because he's kind of on the radar, but I think he could be used more in another team. He's a very good shooter and he's a very good offensive player in general. And I think he could contribute to a team that are pushing for much higher aspirations than what the Kings have.
01:05:18
Speaker
I think 17 points per game last season when he did move into the starting lineup instead of off the bench with four rebounds and 5.6 assists. very good all-around player.
01:05:30
Speaker
His three-point shooting took a dip, but he has been fairly solid in this across his career. Could do with a little bit of an improvement, and but he's not afraid to shoot no matter what. So I think he could contribute more for another team and...
01:05:43
Speaker
I don't know. I think he has to start for them this season because they haven't enough to continue to use him as a six man. But looking them at their over-under wins, 35.5 and last year they hit 40. What do you have for this?
01:05:56
Speaker
I think they'll sneak in over if if they keep coming instead of going. I think that's my new favourite phrase now. I think they'll get between 35 and 40. We'll have to see what they do from there then. and So yeah, I'm just going to say if they keep...
01:06:11
Speaker
if If they work out what they want to do they they can get over this line comfortably. They figure out they're chalk or cheese, as you would say. Yeah, exactly. They'll know exactly what they want to do at that point. But I said... I'm going to get so much abuse for these these these things I've come up with today. are Outrageous. What is wrong with me?
01:06:27
Speaker
It's like pure cliches. Yeah. it's yeah joke It's a game of two halves over next minute. like Yeah. but this This is episode 40 and I finally fall into pieces by the looks of it. It only took 40 weeks. Yeah.
01:06:43
Speaker
I actually went to the exact same thing as you here though. I think if you look at last year, the Suns and Blazers both had 36 wins, I think. So this is like Suns slash Blazers of last year level.
01:06:55
Speaker
I think they're around that level, probably high 30s. But I think that realistically they might miss out on a play-in book. I think they have the ability to go over here. And then that leads into their ceiling with the current roster and coach for the season ahead. I kind of done what you kind of said earlier and contradicted. I said they probably will miss out on the plane.
01:07:15
Speaker
But ceiling-wise, I think eighth seed is the best they can do if everything goes right. They click with Damar and they find the best way to use Monk. and But there's no way in my mind they win a playoff series with this team.
01:07:27
Speaker
Absolutely not. No. um Their ceiling is mid-40 wins.
01:07:34
Speaker
Eight seed and losing the first round for me as well. They're not doing anything. like even if Even if they are chalk instead of chalk, they're they're still the playoff series. grab here so Yeah.
01:07:48
Speaker
Look, if you came at two houses in the day, we'll have to wait and
Golden State Warriors' Offensive Reliance
01:07:51
Speaker
see. So let's move on to our last NBA team here before we lose our minds. The Golden State Warriors, last another Californian team, as I mentioned at the top.
01:08:01
Speaker
San Francisco based. Where do they need to improve most from last season? So much of their offense goes through Seth Curry still, and they really, they need someone to help them. it can't just keep going through him he's he's He misses a lot of games through injury and then they just kind of fall to pieces. So they need someone that they can trust behind Steph Curry to, when Curry's off-caller, which doesn't happen very often, does but just someone to relieve the pressure on him.
01:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you there. and I've gone with efficiency and offense and that kind of ties into it because... Yeah. I looked at this, it's kind of some strange sets of stats, but they had the 8th most field goals attempted per game in the league last season with 90.4, but they had the 6th lowest field goal percentage at 45.1%. So they are attempting a lot of shots, but a lot of them aren't good shots. You might chalk some of that up to Jonathan Kaminga and Brandon Bojemski. Some the shots they were taking last year was crazy, but
01:09:01
Speaker
and i I agree massively that too much goes through Steph and ah kind of shows that he is a very good shooting percentage so the rest of them are clearly underperforming massively and when he's not out there it makes a big difference but I think Jimmy Butler together with Steph for a full year will improve that definitely yeah Someone under the radar that you like for the team, if I'll go first here if that's okay. Because this is a guy I really, really like.
01:09:26
Speaker
Gary Payton II. He was a glue guy in 2022 during their championship run. It was great when they brought him back. I didn't like to see him leaving the team, but they brought him back and now they've extended his contract again. So he's been there now for about three years or two years, I think this will go into his third season. This is going into his third year, yeah.
01:09:44
Speaker
Yeah, after leaving in that championship season. But if he can stay fit, as he did in the championship season, he can contribute massively. Like that year, he had seven points, three and a half boards, and...
01:09:57
Speaker
1.4 steals in 17 minutes per game. That's a massive contribution, especially on the defensive end. He can pretty much guard any player who's maybe I'd say below like 6'8", 6'8 down. He can guard anyone.
01:10:13
Speaker
Obviously, you're going to need someone bigger to guard some of the bigger guys, but he's an incredible perimeter defender. And I think if he stays fit, he'll be a massive glue guy once again for him. Yeah, I think he's absolutely quality.
01:10:25
Speaker
um i actually went with someone you mentioned a second ago, really, really under the radar. I've gone with Steph Curry. No, I'm only joking. um I actually have gone with somebody you mentioned. I did go with Jonathan Kaminga, who you just give out about his his shooting.
01:10:39
Speaker
But I just think, so he had 10 starts last year in 47 appearances, 15 points, 2 assists. I think he's 21 or 22. So if he can keep ascending the way he is...
01:10:51
Speaker
maybe learn from Steph on how to take, not how to take shots, when to take shots and just kind of take another leaf in his consistency. He could very well be a third option for them or fourth option behind Steph, behind Jimmy Butler, behind DeAndre, sorry, Gary Payton, the third, second. Jesus. Yeah, we really do need to end this. I'm losing my mind.
01:11:11
Speaker
and I just think I like him. I think he is he's only going one way and it it's it's it's all Yeah, I think and he's someone who has the talent, but I just can never see him succeeding enough on this team because Steve Kerr just hates putting him out there. it just He just can't stand it, and he can't stand the way he plays. he just Maybe Jimmy Butler can rein him in a bit and show him like how he can use when you have a strong physical body and how you can play and the effort you need to put in.
01:11:39
Speaker
So maybe that will be a help. But then again, they had Draymond there, and you know sometimes his mentorship isn't the best when he's punching yeah clear yeah I think there's a good player in there and maybe it's not with the Warriors and maybe he's one of these guys that goes to another team and he's like the star but they're not very good I could see that kind of a career trajectory for him but yeah he's an interesting one to keep an eye on they obviously paid him as well so he's back for the year but then he has the ability to completely re the team has the ability to get to rip up the contract and
01:12:12
Speaker
Sorry, I'm getting that somewhere. Yeah. you We've got then last two questions. Do you think they're going to hit the over-under wins this year? It's 45 and a half. Yes.
01:12:23
Speaker
48 last year. Do you think they'll win to do it comfortably? I think given their strengths that they have, if they, again, Joe, we're talking about everyone staying fit here.
01:12:35
Speaker
They easily get to 50 wins with Butler, Steph Curry, Kaminga becoming a superstar all of a sudden because we've just topped them down. i just so i expect them to get to 50 here and I think 45 and a half.
01:12:48
Speaker
It's a good line, but i just I think they'll walk the over. Yeah, I agree. Full season of Steph and Jimmy, and they've added some good veteran pieces in Al Horford. Obviously, he's quite old, and but they kind of replaced that Kevon Looney.
01:13:04
Speaker
Different kind of player, again, to Looney, but They replaced his minutes, I guess, with somebody who's older that can play center. And then they added Seth Curry, who I always thought would be a good fit for the Warriors because he's a good shooter and he does work hard on defense. So it's interesting having the two brothers there together. um And then they've got running back with Buddy Heald and De'Anthony Melton, who are solid players as well when they stay fit, especially Melton. If he stays fit, he's very good. and So I think they're going to offer at least the same as last year, if not more. So I agree with you.
01:13:35
Speaker
Looking at their ceiling then, what do you have for the season ahead? They can get to NBA Finals for me. and Will they get there? you'll ha You'll see in about a month's time. I think he they can get a win season, get the Finals and maybe even win it. We'll wait and see. But I do did i think they definitely have Finals upside.
01:13:56
Speaker
Yeah, I've gone with championship. I think they can definitely do it. Like, this team showed in burst last year what they can do with Steph and Jimmy when they're both fit. Mm-hmm. If they have the two of them healthy for the playoffs and the other pieces have molded around them, I'm never going to get bad against Steph Curry. like Once he gets into the playoffs, once he gets rolling, like he's probably one of the reasons I fell in love with the NBA. He's probably my favorite player ever. I just love watching him play. The effort, the movement, everything about him is just amazing. And I'm not going to ever bet against him. So I think they have enough to win it.
01:14:32
Speaker
Again, as you said,
Power Rankings Shift Discussion
01:14:33
Speaker
do I think they will we'll have to see when we get closer to the to the season we do our full preview so moving on then to our last segment we've got the power rankings um last week I went first so I'll let you go first this time around if you want to give last week's one and then what you've changes you've made if any Yeah, so I've completely ripped up the book and started again this week. So last week I had Liverpool top, Lions second, Eagles, Chargers, Palace and Bournemouth.
01:14:59
Speaker
This year the Lions have taken top spot for me. They just love their lives, those Lions fans. They're watching an outrageous offensive team every single week putting up points upon points upon points upon points. They're just so much fun to watch. They had to go top.
01:15:15
Speaker
Next I have and two sets of Eagles. I have Crystal Palace second and the actual Eagles third. Liverpool have dropped to fourth for me. They just had a really bad week. No one's having fun. I'm not having fun watching them. They don't drop out because they are still champions, but they are down to fourth.
01:15:30
Speaker
The Chargers stay in for me, but they do drop a place just because of everyone else having more fun than they are. And reluctantly Arsenal are back in at sixth. Second in the Premier League now, they had a really, really late win against...
01:15:43
Speaker
Newcastle, who it it's sickened me when they went and won that game. But anyway, they're back in there as well. So I have Lions, Palace, Eagles, Liverpool, Chargers and Arsenal.
01:15:55
Speaker
Yeah, I've got pretty similar lineup to you. I have one team that's different, but my order is a bit different from yours. So last week I had Liverpool, Eagles, Chargers, Bills, Spurs and Palace.
01:16:07
Speaker
So this week I've put Eagles top. and As I mentioned, I think... If you win the Super Bowl and you go 4-0, it doesn't matter how you do it. You're going to be top of the power rankings.
01:16:17
Speaker
But again... In the second half of the Eagles, kid you only heard a stat. This is unbelievable when I heard it. I actually couldn't believe it. In the second half of their game against the Bucs, the Eagles didn't complete one pass.
01:16:28
Speaker
A single pass. That's the first team to do that in two years. So, yeah, this week I don't blame you for having them lower. But, again, that's my rationale. They haven't lost a game and they haven't lost in 20 straight with ah Jalen Hurts when he starts and finishes the game.
01:16:43
Speaker
So, yeah, I kind of have to put them in there. Second, I've got Palace, same as you. Third, I've gone with the Bills. and I've had them in since the start and they're 4-0 now. Even if they do look a bit shaky at times, I i couldn't drop them out. So they've moved up a spot for me.
01:16:59
Speaker
Liverpool in fourth, same as yourself. and Just a couple of bad losses. And i you know, I couldn't put them below teams that are 4-0 and I couldn't put them below Palace who beat them. So I think fourth is the right spot for now.
01:17:11
Speaker
Fifth then is the Lions. Obviously you have them top but I didn't have them in at all last week so I kind of had to bring them in slowly here. And then sixth I have Arsenal, same as you. i just think they're going well pretty much now at this point and they're kind of on a steady course so let's bring them in here and see how they get on continuing forward. So mine is Eagles, Palace, Bills, Liverpool, Lions and Arsenal.
01:17:34
Speaker
But that's everything again this week. and Hope you enjoyed your chalk and your cheese and we'll catch you again next week. See you, lads. Thank you.