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HAIR-PULLING MADNESS! 🛑 Lisandro Red Card Rocks United & City CRUSH Chelsea at the Bridge! | Episode 21 | Don't Blame the Ref
21 Plays2 months ago
In this week’s episode of Don’t Blame the Ref, we dive deep into a weekend of tactical brilliance and officiating chaos, starting with Manchester City’s clinical 3-0 dismantling of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. We break down how Pep Guardiola’s second-half adjustments allowed Doku and Guehi to seize control, leaving Chelsea with more questions than answers in the race for the top four. The drama only intensified at Old Trafford, where Leeds United pulled off a historic 2-1 upset against a ten-man Manchester United. We dissect the game’s turning point—Lisandro Martinez’s shocking red card for a hair-pulling incident on Dominic Calvert-Lewin—and debate whether the VAR intervention was a masterstroke or a step too far. We wrap up by looking at the high-stakes title race, as Arsenal maintains a slim lead with 70 points, but a surging Manchester City now sits just six points behind with a crucial game in hand, making every whistle and every decision feel like a season-definer.
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Transcript
Introduction and Light-Hearted Banter
00:00:36
Speaker
Yo, don't cry, don't beg, welcome to another episode of the Don't Blame The Left podcast. In the blue corner you've got me, E-man. And in the red corner you've got me, Dom.
00:00:50
Speaker
Well look, it's been a while, I've been i've been running from the grind, I've been skipping out. I've been finding excuses. I've been blaming my wife. been blaming everything. You see how you waited for both of us to lose and now he's happy to be a pod.
Chelsea's Performance and Enzo's Controversy
00:01:08
Speaker
You see
00:01:11
Speaker
Whatever accused me is always him, isn't it? if I can't lie. For my mental health, for my peace of mind, I've just been skipping this. like I'm not even trying to talk about Chelsea too much.
00:01:22
Speaker
so But unfortunately, I'm going to have to talk about them today. um And yeah, I'm just... It is what it is at this point. It is what it is.
00:01:36
Speaker
ive I've got some things to say, though. I've got some things to say. And
00:01:42
Speaker
ah Look, let me let me give a quick rundown of the game, of how I think it went. The line-up was pretty standard. I'll be honest, didn't even see the line-up before the game started. I just turned on the game and see what's happening.
00:01:55
Speaker
I mean, the obvious big... um person who was left out was Enzo, but he's he's been moving mad the last couple of weeks. So, you hear the engine or anything? This is like a disciplinary for just talking too much.
00:02:09
Speaker
That's what it is. Do you know what i find strange? Is the, like, all the pundits and ex-players, they're like, oh, this, even his agent were like, oh, this punishment's unfair. Why would you punish Enzo but not punish Kukuella?
00:02:22
Speaker
Kukuella did one interview. Enzo did, like, four or five. No. Bro, he was really mad. I can't lie. I don't even know what came over him to make him think, now's the time for me to do that. bro, we're not even in the transfer window. There's still games left in the season. Like, what?
00:02:38
Speaker
What do you think is going to happen? Bro, I was so confused. Man was on a street corner selling himself.
Chelsea's Tactical Analysis and Challenges
00:02:44
Speaker
Honestly. Bro. Like, bro, what? What's the... I was about to say, oh, God, no.
00:02:51
Speaker
I used to come off social media. i was going to say something like crazy. What?
00:02:57
Speaker
Bro, he was doing too much. And, bro, if we would be, they if we didn't punish him, they would have, they would have like, they would have criticised us for not doing anything.
00:03:10
Speaker
So you're damned if you do, you're damned if don't. Bro, it's so like it's so common for players to, like, hint, do one interview and say, oh, yeah, I'd love to play for that club one day. oh yeah, like that's the dream, I've always supported them, but like and then just keep it stepping.
00:03:25
Speaker
Every interview he had, he was basically twerking, bro. Just met saying with Madrid! Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, like bro, cool down, you're going to get some!
00:03:38
Speaker
You're going to some! He might not get some, do you know what's so funny? I've never heard Madrid links to him anyway. Nah, of course not! He's trying to force them, he's trying to force them, but anyway man...
00:03:49
Speaker
Anyway, look... They never played. What what i said I was saying to Chelsea fans anyway, like, watch, going to play a lot better without Enzo there. And for 45 minutes, it looked like we was. you know what We had a double pivot two defensive midfielders. We looked a bit more balanced. We we were attacking with some zip. We were putting them under of pressure. Yeah.
00:04:11
Speaker
I was thinking, what did you not get the... We didn't get the memorandum. You don't understand what we're doing here. I was thinking, oh, here we go. Now Chelsea are playing well. Now Chelsea are... I was thinking, bro, what was that? Did the cash-up not go through? the vendor all work?
00:04:31
Speaker
Now for me, you know, I'm used to a win in Chelsea. However, this is one of them games where it's a win-win. My boys lose.
00:04:43
Speaker
City might win the league. My boys win. I'm happy. you what mean? So for me, I'm not going to say i was looking for us to lose, innit? I'm not going to say that. But I was 100% going to... Like, there's a silver lining. There's always a silver lining in those sort of scenarios. So i'm I was good with losing. It's just...
00:05:05
Speaker
it's what the losing represents. It's the manner in the loss. It's, it's everything surrounding it. It's the chaos around the club. It's like, yeah, it's just, it's just, it's just mad at the moment.
00:05:16
Speaker
And for me, like, what Chelsea did in the first half was just play with energy. um i think we, we, we played out really well, especially on our left-hand side.
00:05:28
Speaker
yeah,
00:05:31
Speaker
City adopted like a front four sort of press, but it was sort of mid block and the they picked their moments when they were going to go into a high press. But we we did quite well to to navigate across that. And they didn't their press wasn't really done well. So it gave us little gaps that we could just take advantage of.
00:05:50
Speaker
um we Midfield battle was OK. We were snapping back. we were We were snapping back and then we were um we were winning quite a few duels and we had a bit bit of um quite a few counterattacks.
00:06:03
Speaker
um I noticed that we tried to find the gaps in between the two four two fullbacks and the centrebacks. So we were really trying to drive into those areas with third-man runs and movement or whatever. So, look, it it was decent for a while.
00:06:16
Speaker
It was decent for a while and I liked what i see i saw. But the key thing here, guys, is second half. when the energy goes down, when the opposition make a tactical tweak.
00:06:29
Speaker
And for me, all City done was, for me, it looked like what Pep told his wingers are. Stop dribbling. And if you watch the first five minutes, compare it to what Semenya and Doku were doing in the... um Compare that first 10 minutes in the second half to what they were doing in the first half, they dribbled lot less. And if they weren't going to dribble, they passed it off quickly.
00:06:54
Speaker
And you could see the tempo of the whole City team was just faster, faster, faster. um We just didn't have the we we just didn't have to build the talent or skill to... to to do anything about it. even the physical to me To me, it seemed like only one team had a team talk.
00:07:11
Speaker
It's like is that you guys went into the changing room, just sat down was like, yeah, you guys are good, man. Anyway, just keep doing the same. And then Pep actually gave clear instructions to his players. And like you said, um it became more prevalent that Doku and Semenyo were more trying to get in behind rather than actually try and beat that man 1v1. It was pointless at that.
00:07:37
Speaker
There you go. By the end of the first half, it wasn't working. So, of course, you have to change that. And I did notice as well, Shirky was floating more in between the lines. He was kind of moving from right to left a bit more, trying to link up with the with the wing guard to give them that support. So, you can so you do have the option for a 1-2. But I did think in the first half, he struggled to get into the game. But the more he got...
00:07:59
Speaker
comfortable and the shackles came off a bit more. You started to see him dictate the game a bit more and you're just like, Pep has been hiding this monster the whole season. I don't understand why. it Because he doesn't like him. I know 1v1 Pep don't like him. Pep don't like Turkey.
00:08:17
Speaker
And he doesn't he doesn't like his cockiness. He doesn't like his flashiness. He wants a... It's like it's like he wants a church-going, homebody kind of man...
00:08:29
Speaker
If he doesn't do any whistles or bells and just goes to work, goes home, hey, this ain't Cherky, bro. This guy's out with them and them on the corner the street, smoking a Ziggy, like having a good time. they um I saw the best analogy of like the Pep-Cherky relationship. Cherky's the last mornin'.
00:08:49
Speaker
the last born. He's done all his discipline with the older children. He's just the guy who just gets away with whatever. So you're just like, I'll just go and do what you're doing then, man. Like you tried to discipline him, but eventually I just, I'll just go and I love players like Cherky because number one, he's got the skill to back it up. But at the same time, he does not care. Like you can blast him for doing that trick and it didn't work and or juggling a ball and taking it taking taking a mickey out of your opponents.
00:09:20
Speaker
But he's just going to do it again the next week. You know what? Over time, my my opinion on that has kind of changed a bit. Like before i was like, yeah, that's what we grew up on and all that. But I'm not saying that as like, oh, it's disrespectful. Don't do it. No, I'm saying like, you're still in the title race. You don't want to give the other team, the other team in the race with more motivation. like Because now when they see you on Saturday, yeah, some someone's going to whack him.
00:09:48
Speaker
Someone's going to whack him.
00:09:51
Speaker
within the first five minutes someone's going to take it yellow and it's not going to be just and that's because of all the extras you're doing and then Pep doesn't want them like they're going to use that motivation you know every team meeting they're playing on the what'd they have? have the TikToks playing they're just going to have Shirky doing kick-ups and the training guys Mads
00:10:12
Speaker
i did So, look, that it's a very quick rundown of the game, but that's just
Critique of Chelsea's Strategy and Financial Mismanagement
00:10:20
Speaker
literally how it went. And for some people, for some Chelsea fans, it looks like, oh, wow, these guys came out in the second half. We didn't look like we were pressing. We didn't look like... Bro.
00:10:34
Speaker
That thing you mentioned about the wingers running in behind them, that pins the full-backs back. So they the full-backs couldn't press. what Then happened is the wingers Then the striker has to drop deeper.
00:10:47
Speaker
And then it just keeps you pinned in. So yes, of course, you want there are ways around it. And let's say we could have been ah way more aggressive. Once we've gone into a low block after 30 seconds or so, once the ball goes back, we have we needed to push up and be more aggressive and force City back we weren't um they kept us in and in and in and in and eventually You get a lovely whipped ball from Turkey and the ball is in the back of the net.
00:11:17
Speaker
So I know there's ways around it, but it's tough. It's tough. And you can see the tactical changes that that Pep's made. And we didn't adjust to it. But I don't think it's for a lack of effort.
00:11:30
Speaker
I really don't. They are better than us. Man for man. player that You look at every player to to a tee. They are better. Like, their team is way more balanced.
00:11:44
Speaker
Like, come on, guys. Let's be truthful. Let's be truthful. And I'm tired of Chelsea fans overrating the players we have. And they're thinking, oh, we can go toe-to-toe with anyone. Like, no. Over 38 seasons. You said you're the minimum.
00:11:59
Speaker
i said your laminium mar so but You Who? Hey, Steve. fix Steve out. But in the first in the first half, in the first 20 minutes, you can see the guy showing his age.
00:12:12
Speaker
You know? it gets frustrating that Palmer doesn't pass to him twice. yeah Then the next time when he actually gets the ball, he's too eager, gets offside. Then he kicks the ball away, gets an easy yellow card. At that moment, he can't defend properly because he's he's he's fearful of getting the yellow card and then see get through on that side quite a few times in in the second half. Mate, he shows his age there.
00:12:35
Speaker
He shows his naivety at this level. like So my point is that that he's not going to be our saving grace. He's not our saving grace. Yeah.
00:12:46
Speaker
The problem will always, always, always come down to the the balance of the squad and the quality of the players on the pitch. It's just a fact. And look, I get it. The manager's not doing great.
00:12:58
Speaker
I'm not going to sit here and back him and say, oh, it's Ineo, it's not his fault, blah, blah, blah. he told He said in his first first post press conference, he said he wouldn't change much. He's changed the whole thing.
00:13:10
Speaker
He's changed the way we press. He's changed our structure on and off the ball. He's changed the whole thing. So, yes, it's the same formation, but the way in which we're acting, he's changed completely changed it.
00:13:22
Speaker
where He's trying to be way more high-pressing. He's trying to be way more intense. He's trying to... And we do not have to... I'll keep going back to it. Chelsea, for these players do not have the physical capacity to play the game that Vizinho wants to play.
00:13:37
Speaker
And I don't know why you're forcing it. It's like Amurim all over again. Like, you do not have the players to play... of of a darkrk soyer Sorry for the PTSD. You don't have the players to play um the theres philosophy and style that he wants to play.
00:13:53
Speaker
or we do not have the physical capacity to play it. So why are you doing it? Why are you doing it? You know what it is? even forgot that he came mid-season because it feels like he's been there for a while now. He must have managed over like 30 games at this point now.
00:14:10
Speaker
He must be pushing somewhere around there. He'll be pushing 2025, think. Yeah, by the end the season, he'll be up 30 games. So I think initially that's what he thought. oh yeah, let's just keep the same thing going. But then he struggled in a few... Well, Arsenal slapped you like three times in a row.
00:14:29
Speaker
Probably got to his ego a little bit. So now he's like, okay, cool. So you guys will think I'm a bad manager. Watch, I'm going switch this whole thing. I'm going try imprint my thing onto the team.
00:14:39
Speaker
And then now he's struggling and realising that... this team doesn't really have what i need, but it's too late. I've already changed it. So this is what we're running with until the end of the season. And if you guys don't get Champions League football, oo that's a whole bigger problem, boy. That's a bigger problem.
00:14:57
Speaker
Let crash and burn. Let it crash and burn. I don't care, bro. Because like you have all these guys at the club that are just not good enough. They're not good at their job. Whether it's the manager, the players, the sporting director, let it all crash and burn.
00:15:13
Speaker
I want to put a fat reset button on it and let it all crash and burn. I need that. Because they'll never... and the solution is what is not what other people are saying like a lot of people keep, it's really pissing me off.
00:15:31
Speaker
They keep going back to experience. Oh, they don't have any leaders. Oh, they don't have experience. It is talent. You are, they're reducing the issue to to experience. Like you just get a few old heads in there. there'll be No, it is talent.
00:15:49
Speaker
Look at the past Cherokee plays. Cherokee is what, 21, 22? Yeah, 21, 21. twenty two yeah twenty one look one Look at the pass he played. The two passes for the cross and the football to Gehi. That football to Gehi, Chelsea do not have a single player that will play that pass.
00:16:06
Speaker
Bro, that that was so ridiculous, bro. And that was from a corner. It was from a corner. took the ball... right foot dribbled all the way across the penny box and then no look, left foot pass right into Gehi. Don't get me wrong, that was a good touch by Gehi, bro. He got him straight out of the seat and slotted it. Bottom corner, composure. Because a lot centre-backs have just tried to lash at it. Mate, he's a better striker than certain man striker.
00:16:31
Speaker
Like, certain man are top of the league and they don't have a better striker than City centre-back. It's crazy. It's crazy. Hey, man. hey It's dot that's dark. That's dark. Don't worry. Don't worry, Arsenal. We'll get to you later. We'll get to you later. We'll save you for later. We can't help it. There's always a couple.
00:16:48
Speaker
But yeah, go ahead. It's talent. Stop talking to me about age. Stop talking to me about experience. It's talent. By the time a football player 21, do you know how many games they've played in their whole life?
00:17:00
Speaker
In their whole life. Do you know how many games they're 21 in your professional? Nowadays, Nowadays, they're going to have like 300 appearances, bro. The way these men are getting run through the ground.
00:17:12
Speaker
and And I get it. Okay, cool. Experience at this level. But the play that there's not many players that have gone to the quarterfinals, semifinals of the Champions League that are obtainable for Chelsea to buy.
00:17:24
Speaker
Like, who are they? Tell me the people that you're saying that are experienced and you want me to want us to bring in that are going to elevate this team. Tell me. Tell me who. Tell me who. I think it's hard for Chelsea in particular because...
00:17:38
Speaker
Like you said, if we really actually sit back and have honest conversation and look at who is actually talented in your squad, we're probably going to have like five people, bro. like everyone know why this it and Everyone else clothes is replaceable. I'm so tired of it. I'm so tired. I've won through the team right now. Kukubella is mediocre as F. He is mediocre.
00:18:05
Speaker
He's just a left back that's slow, can't turn, can't jump, can't win a header. He's just functional. Stop calling him world class. Stop saying he's top class.
00:18:16
Speaker
He's not. He's not one of the best left backs in the league. Stop it. Stop it. Because if he gets 1v1 versus Cherki, I am scared and you are scared. you've You've got to be scared because he's not good.
00:18:31
Speaker
he doesn't He looks fast. He can't jump. He can't win headers. He can't defend one v won He can't cross. What are we talking about? He can't dribble. What are we talking about?
00:18:45
Speaker
What are we talking about? Gusto. Gusto is a horrible defender sometimes. Horrible. He can't. Half the time he can't cross. He can't shoot.
00:18:56
Speaker
He can dribble a little. And he thinks he's chavvy, so be doing these stupid no-look passes. Bro, if you do that no-look pass again, I'm going to... Bro, he's getting banned. He's getting banned. But how can a man do... man did a no-look pass. It was 2-0, bro.
00:19:10
Speaker
It was 2-0. Go watch it, man. 2-0. We're losing 2-0. And a man's doing a no-look pass. Stop it. Stop it. Take this seriously, big man. no sort j yeah when it When it comes to Chelsea, like I think it's easier to name the people who are potentially actually talented. So, Rhys James, you would say Estaval, Palmer.
00:19:39
Speaker
I like Jao Pedro, I'll put him in that category. And then maybe Kaiseido. And then outside of that, everyone else is just... And if i if I speak on Kaiseido, this man will... Yeah, that's why that's why I had him last because i was even a bit hesitant. Just like, you guys went too early. Bro, we've had 21 episodes of this podcast, yeah?
00:20:01
Speaker
I've been talking on Kaiseido's name for ages. The guy is okay. He's okay. yeah we have We have okay players across the board with massive weaknesses.
00:20:13
Speaker
Massive. And the fees that we're paying, they don't complement each other at all, at all, at all, at all. Like Enzo. let me Let me talk to you about Enzo. Enzo.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah? Chelsea fans love Enzo because, cool, yeah, last year he got, what, 15 goals, 12 assists, something like that. This year he's looking to get 12, I think he's got over 10 goals and a few assists, whatever.
00:20:38
Speaker
look Just please watch a game. Don't look at anything he does with the ball. Just watch what eat what how he is every time we don't have the ball. And I want you to see how many gaps leaves open.
00:20:50
Speaker
And I want you to see how many um tackles he misses. want you see how many times he gets dribble pass. Because it's too often. And it's completely throwing off our midfield.
00:21:02
Speaker
OK, on the counter attack. So when we when when ah your position is countering us um and we are defending in transition, see how quickly he runs back.
00:21:14
Speaker
Just watch him, please. Just watch him. By the time that ball is in the box, I promise you he's out of the picture, the camera. I promise you. So many times I've seen it again and again and again and again. And that's why I can't get that image out of my head.
00:21:29
Speaker
I can't. Because I know i've I've seen it. I've seen it. I've seen it. I've seen it. That ain't worth 100 mil to me, bro. So, and youin you ain't, you have even, you hasn't even got the creative talent of Cherokee.
00:21:41
Speaker
If he had the creative talent of Cherki, then I leave it. oh you I swear to you, if he had the creative talent of Cherki Hazard, then, man, I leave it. Because you want players like that. He ain't got that so don't don't that. So, when you haven't got that level of talent, you better start running.
00:21:57
Speaker
You better start running. Bro, the other day, I was even asked, like, oh, right now, if we if I could go back in time and sign Pogba for 80 million again in this day and age, Yes. had another thought. had another thought. had another thought. I've seen what's been going for 100 mil nowadays.
00:22:14
Speaker
Flipping hell, boy. Them are garbage. But I did want to... You did mention earlier on that you didn't mind losing because you believed that...
00:22:30
Speaker
it was actually for the benefit of your team. So I've been listening to a few Chelsea content creators and it seems to be like a common sentiment of you kind of want Blueco to feel the punishment of what, how they've been signing players.
00:22:47
Speaker
So all of these crap players that you've signed, all of this financial trouble that you're potentially in, they need a reality check. Are you in line with them?
00:22:58
Speaker
With that thinking?
00:23:02
Speaker
i don't I think that their goal is not what they portray in the media. I don't know if it's as heinous as I would like to guess and speculate.
00:23:14
Speaker
um But their goal of trading players to make money, they haven't made money. We've seen the facts, we've seen the financial, they haven't made money.
00:23:26
Speaker
And you can't say that's through, like the this the amount of money they've lost is so extreme, there is no possible way somebody could have planned that and said, this is how we're going to make money.
00:23:37
Speaker
It's so extreme. Like let's let's all use our common sense. Like 1.5 billion loss in three years is crazy. It's generally insane. So when I think about who who you've sold as well, like,
00:23:50
Speaker
It's only Mad Waker that's really sold for profit. Who else have actually sold for like... And bro, this is what I'm trying to say. A lot of signings have gone for less than we paid. Nkuku, less than we paid. found Felix, less than we paid. um I can go on and on.
00:24:04
Speaker
Less than we paid so many men. They've got a 20 million Brazilian striker who no one's ever heard of. you know his name? I can't remember his name. He's playing in our academy, bro. think they spent million dollars on It's not that Wellington you.
00:24:22
Speaker
well Yeah, well, I don't i can't remember his name. Wap into Detro, Fofana and all those guys. 10 million. He's he's he's at Strasbourg. So they've made no profit on any of these men.
00:24:35
Speaker
So my point I'm trying to make is the truth is somewhere is something more heinous. The truth is something more heinous. And when you start looking at how private equity firms operate,
00:24:46
Speaker
You can fear for the worst, bro. You can fear for the worst. Asset stripping. ah Making sure that they their their business is tied to a loan that's tied to the um to the private equity firm.
00:25:00
Speaker
Oof. Paying 12% on 600 mil, bro. Do you know what 12% 600 mil is? It's lot of money.
00:25:08
Speaker
lots of money oh that All this information is out there. So I think people just need to start using a little bit more common sense. And I feel like these reporters aren't actually doing their job.
00:25:20
Speaker
They're more of like a mouthpiece for all the things that they want to say because it gives the journalists access and... then no one's actually... listen love scratch You scratch my back, I'll scratch your back. right I'm not going to ask crazy questions. You know, might have to ask one little one, but I'm not to press too hard.
00:25:40
Speaker
And then just give me the access, give me the team news and all that injury. and And to answer your question, now... It needs to get so bad.
00:25:52
Speaker
Their goal is never to to be the top team in the world because if it was, they wouldn't do what they're doing. You just wouldn't. You wouldn't do it the scale they're doing, the the amount of losses and money they're losing if you were genuinely trying to be a top team.
00:26:05
Speaker
yeah You wouldn't buy half the players they bought because some of these players were never going to make it. All I had to do was watch one match.
00:26:14
Speaker
going to be top class. You will never make it. No, black ball you would like, Some of these players, like Mark Guigui, their £6 million signing for Barcelona. It only took one game for me to see, yes, this guy is not good.
00:26:29
Speaker
Like, he's okay. He's an okay footballer, but he's not good enough to be Chelsea level. Yeah. yeah is It's different than Chelsea with only prodigies. Like, even though he hasn't really...
00:26:43
Speaker
hit his stride but someone if you guys would have ended up with like Endric I would have at least been like alright there's better hype around them but there's talent there's talent there's actually talent there's actually talent there's actually talent it um some of these some of these man they've got they it's not talent so i need it to get so bad that these man just give up whatever it is they're doing it needs to get so bad that their losses are so mad that they just need to go like yeah because i way that happens is if we if you don't make champions league football so
00:27:19
Speaker
It is what it is. And i just I just completely disagree with the whole narrative of experience this, experience that. Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it.
00:27:31
Speaker
have The youngest team to ever win the Champions League was PSG. Their men were were um younger age, average age than our team. um and they bopped off us off the pitch.
00:27:43
Speaker
The average age of Chelsea's first team 25. he's twenty five What are we talking about? Everyone's walking around acting like we've got a bunch of 19-year-olds. The 19-year-olds are sitting on a bench. They're not getting games, bro.
00:27:58
Speaker
I'll go through it. Neto, 25. Pedro, 24. Palma, 23. Enzo, 25 now. Sanchez, talking about?
00:28:11
Speaker
for fauna twenty five twenty six cu and twenty eight exchange twenty six what are we talking about you're acting as if there's little kids running around here what we actually took about yeah i i forget' just miss me that nonsense It's just a misallocation of funds. It seems like you guys were just trying to grab whatever young talent you could find and hope that they blew up so you can make some money. But you overspent on a lot of dross and that's where you are right now. So Chelsea need to go for another rebuild. You're going to be hampered by ffp or whatever financial implications you're facing. You will get that transfer ban, 100%. And then it's going to start looking like, okay, what do we do here? You're going to be a mid-table club for a little bit. And that just has to hurt Bluecold or Clear Lake, whatever you the company is.
Title Race Discussion: Arsenal vs Manchester City
00:29:02
Speaker
It's like...
00:29:03
Speaker
it's going have to hurt their pockets for quite a bit and make them go, you know what, maybe football is another thing, but they're already too deep in with the money. But Dom, you're still not getting it. You're still not getting We're designed to lose money. It's intentional. They want us to lose money so that we can take out more loans and vote i'm I'm doing bare conspiracy theories now, but it is actually intentional for us to lose money. So they don't care.
00:29:31
Speaker
Because they make money regardless if the company that they, that's handling our loans is associated to them anyway. oh look at it, bro. Like, bro, it's mad. It's mad. It's way more, hain in my opinion, it's way more heinous than people are actually trying to choke to wake up to. Like people are not even looking into the same agents, same agents doing every deal, every deal.
00:29:59
Speaker
You've got a certain man doing free-for-transfers. buying just dross, players that will never play for the club. Like, what?
00:30:09
Speaker
What's going on? What's going on? Yeah, good luck to them, man. bit Good luck to them, man. Let's let's segue over. We'll we'll skip City for a bit. we' We'll get into them a bit more later as well. Our segment, as you can we we keep hinting to, is going to end up being about the
Manchester United's Performance and Defensive Issues
00:30:27
Speaker
title race. But for now, guess I have to talk about football again. Bro, we haven't played in like...
00:30:34
Speaker
two months bro that's what it feels like it feels like bro man's been fasting from football bro we ain't played since Eid you know how long ago that Eid was bro it's crazy man and these guys should be all fresh and rejuvenated and ready to put out good performance because at the current stage that we're at now I think if we got that win we got 10 points clear of you lot that's Champions League secure that's it done yeah so that's it Even though now i'll still I'm still saying that, yeah, we're done. We've got champion seat. It's gone. Yeah, you'll be fine. you just You just want to put the final nail in the c coffin so you can chill for the rest of the season. So for me, there wasn't that much pressure on this game. And I'm starting to feel like with the way that we came out, that the players are starting to feel like the work's already done.
00:31:24
Speaker
That's what I think, personally. we We were missing... um So Harry Maguire, he got red carded last game. So Martinez coming back in first game from injury. So he's obviously got to be a bit rusty.
00:31:38
Speaker
um Kobe Manu picked up a knock as well. So he had to be dropped. So that means that Ugarte is starting his first game for... So what, Ugarte starting was not a choice.
00:31:50
Speaker
No, no, Kobe mainly picked up an injury. we They haven't released how serious it is, but it's enough to not even have him in the team. And then, um, Sesco starts.
00:32:02
Speaker
And I don't know if you remember, but, um, before, um, the international break, I did mention that there was a rumor that Sesco actually been carrying the injury for basically the whole season. That's why he hasn't started any game. So I guess he's over that now because he played the full 90,
00:32:20
Speaker
today. and then you had Ahmad and Kunio and Bruno, obviously, but Yeah, if if I'm just, bro, started off terribly, bro, just go 1-0 down, boom, like that. thinking, bro, I didn't even have the game turned on at that point. I was still getting my dinner together, like, you know what mean? I'm coming back to the TV, it's 1-0 down, I'm like, bro, bro, I'm ready, that you guys, steve give me a chance. You know what I mean? but Yeah. sla of ma madam Maguire maguire doesn't doesn't let that go happen, by the way.
00:32:55
Speaker
If that's Maguire instead of your... don't like writing off young players too early, but for me... I don't think he's ready for us to be rolling into the Champions League next season as him as our starting centre-back.
00:33:11
Speaker
We just gave Maguire a new contract saying that. But then even then, I'm not happy to run the whole next season with Maguire and Juro as our centre-back parent. i'm not I'm not happy with that personally.
00:33:23
Speaker
Because Martinez is still going to his injury issues. Delit, bro, ain't seen don't know if Delit's going to be alive. I don't know. don't know what the hell's going on. But...
00:33:35
Speaker
Yeah. I'm i'm just concerned with him. i he He needs a defensive partner who's a leader and who's going to be the controls one out of the two because he has all the physical attributes. Saying that...
00:33:51
Speaker
Calvin Leung kind of bullied him a little today. He kind of had him. He was rag... Sorry, excuse me. He was ragdolling him a bit. All the jewels, bro, it looked a bit rough. Anything on the ground, he was kind of cool with. But anything else in the air, yeah, that's not a guy I'm ready to go to war with just yet. But...
00:34:15
Speaker
He's not going to time to go on no loan on that. That's a big money signing. You're going to have to get ready now. so what he's this is This is the worry with signing young players before they've actually really proven themselves. but We wanted to get him at 50 before he turned into a £120 million defender, which is what I guess our club was projecting he was going to be.
00:34:40
Speaker
um But he he's really good though. um you know look yeah In moments like this, he probably be does need to be bulking up a little bit, does need to be a little bit smarter, does need to learn those different aspects. I think he's a great 1v1 defender when the ball's on the ground. um When the ball's in the air, though, I think he does he does get it can be got at and your more experienced guys like Calvert-Lewin can take the better of him. but
00:35:12
Speaker
I'd rather spend the 50 million and focus on the talent like that that's got PNP that can jump, that can header, that can defend 1v1 than some of the nonsense defenders that Charles Superin by him.
00:35:25
Speaker
Yeah, because you're kind of assuming that he's already got the physical attributes. All he needs is the game time. The game time in the Premier League and within two seasons, we're really looking at him, calling him like top five centre-backs in the Premier League. Like, that's what we're hoping. The same sort trajectory that Saliba had, even though he went on loan for a bit, but that's kind of what it kind of looked like United were looking to do. But yeah, not to not to blame it all on Lenny Euro, because I just think, well, we struggled today. We absolutely shot. That first half, Leeds were...
00:36:07
Speaker
they They were breaking through us. It looked like the old Man United where teams were just running through us, doing whatever they wanted to. All you need to do is dribble with the ball and you'll get past a whole midfield. That's what it looked like at lot of points. But then at the same time as well, even though we were bad in the first half,
00:36:24
Speaker
I wasn't necessarily worried. Even though we were 1-0 down, I was saying like, bro, we're just messing up the final ball. We're actually getting into decent areas. like There was the um a ball that was played over to Ahmad. The ball was just a bit too soft, so he had to check back onto his left foot. There were a couple of opportunities where Sesco got the ball. And I remember he could have slipped through kuna but he decided to come in instead. So then Bruno had to be the one to play the pass, but by then the chance is gone.
00:36:53
Speaker
i Ahmad slipped through Sesko and he had a well he was one on one with the defender and then I think his legs gave up he looked like he was tired and this was in like the 15th minute and then bro man just it's just like man just lost the ball but yeah so when I was looking at that i was saying to myself Oh, it's only about time. We'll definitely score today. We'll score. We just need to not be stupid. And then the second goal, man, that was just like, I don't even know what that song is called, but you know the clown music? Just play some clown music in the background with that, bro. No one went to clear the ball. Martinez gets the ball, yeah? Yeah.
00:37:31
Speaker
and And Casemiro's looking over his shoulder. He looks right. I don't know how he didn't see the player coming. Even though he was far away, he didn't see the player coming. Then he looks to his left. By the time he looks up, the ball's at his feet.
00:37:42
Speaker
And then he's like... Well, the ball's rolling towards him. And he kind of throws. He just throws. And then he's dispossessed. And then we're looking... We're just in trouble. with Like the ball's bouncing around. The ball's going up and down. The ball just drops to the lead striker. And he just...
00:38:02
Speaker
shoots, Lenny Uro turns his body away from the ball. So it kind of spins away from the goalkeeper as well as he hits him. and then that's course That's one of my biggest pet peeves. And maybe you get that with younger players.
00:38:17
Speaker
No, you probably get that with players of all ages. But what I try and teach on my under-12s never turn away from the ball. Ever, ever, ever. Because number one, you're making yourself... Just take it to the chest, man. Just take it. Take it. If it's hitting you in the private areas, if it's hitting you in your face, you've got to take it. You've got to be strong.
00:38:37
Speaker
Because when you turn, you make yourself smaller. So the deflection off you is likely to be smaller as well. So it's more likely to go in the goal. that's That's just from my personal experience of of coaching and watching games.
00:38:52
Speaker
you have to make yourself perpendicular to the ball, make sure you're as wide as possible without using your arms and so that you can and keep your eye on it so that you can do any last move, last ditch movement of your body to, to send it, you know, wider of the goal. But, you know, he, he does that and, and gives the keeper no chance.
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah. We, we come from the era of, John Terry and Nemanja Vidic throwing their heads up at the player's feet. Bro. That man went cycles, bro.
00:39:27
Speaker
John Terry got whacked in the head. Bro, he dived to the ball. Like, feet, bro. Bro. I'd like... I'd big up... um What's my man's name? Your centre-back from... The centre-back that did it. He flopped like a fli fish on the floor.
00:39:45
Speaker
Who, Vidic? Nah, man. The one that was also good that got injured all the time and then left. Bailly, Bailly, Bailly, Bailly. Nah, I think maybe Bailly did it, to be fair. with The white one. Probably has Bailly. Salix bought him.
00:40:04
Speaker
What? You're not talking about Stam, are you? No. The guy, he's just left. He's just left off like a 10... He probably did a 10-year... you're talking about Lindelof. Nah, didn't have a fuck on you.
00:40:19
Speaker
Before Lindelof, he never played. He was just always injured. We were talking about him. He was actually good. He was actually good. Phil Jones. Phil Jones. That's it. My brain. My brain. No, because he didn't play for us. We're ages. Do you remember the one he did? Yeah. He was alive. He really looked like he was going be the best at the back of the world when we signed him.
00:40:44
Speaker
yeah but i'm convinced I'm convinced he was going to be, man. Yeah, so shouldn't have turned his body away from it. So now we're going into the second half, 2-0 down. Look at him saying, I'm not even really that disheartened. I'm not crashing out at this point because at the same time, it's kind of like a dead rubber game. If you lose this game, it really mean much, bro. Like... Like me, I don't crash out every loss, isn't it? It has to be... It has to be like this. Like, all right, cool. These are fighting for their lives, bro. They're fighting for their lives. They got more to fight for. So what can I say?
00:41:28
Speaker
ah So the second half, I think... we Second off, you changed our approach. Yeah. say we changed our approach. We we were more concerned with maintaining possession.
00:41:40
Speaker
weren't being as erratic. We were um just being a bit more careful in the final third and not just trying to back and forth basketball game. And I think that's a clear instruction from Carrick because normally that would just continue. it would just continue. And for me personally, like I said, when this guy's head goes, it goes, bro. Bruno, yeah.
00:42:01
Speaker
He went back to his hero ball stuff, man. He was just, bro. He just started launching it into channels, bro. He was like, bro, get the ball up the dam filled. Don't get me wrong. This thing that Bruno does, it when people say hero ball, I don't know what people are looking at it in the same way as me.
00:42:18
Speaker
It's a completed pass. But you've hit a ball to, who is it? Mbwemo in the corner and there's three men around him. He's got the ball, but he can't do anything. So what's the point? Like, it's that kind of stuff. It's different if you're hitting balls in behind and players are running into it. But no, you're just hitting the ball to where a player is. And there's no lack of further thought about it And with Bruno, he gets like...
00:42:45
Speaker
impatient especially when we're losing. He's like, come on, come on, come on. We need to get scored. Come on, come on. And you can feel it. And it builds the sort of anxiety within the team and people start making more mistakes. It starts getting more frustrated. But we had time.
00:43:00
Speaker
We had time. I was actually not that worried at all. But the goal comes from the man himself, isn't Bruno. He puts in a good ball. And that's prime example, bro. prefer someone like that, man. like you've got You've got too many safe people. You've got too many of those. You need at least one crazy guy that just wants to get it forward because otherwise, what's the point? What's the point? And then you end up playing football like Chelsea.
00:43:30
Speaker
Fair enough. Yeah, it's true. and Obviously, the other key moment within the game besides the goals... so of beside of goals Martinez red card, bro.
00:43:42
Speaker
Talk to me about that, bro. Am I bugging? That's a bunch of nonsense, to be honest with you. Bro, like don't get me wrong. Yes, he he he grabbed his hair, but it wasn't a pull at his hair.
00:43:54
Speaker
he sort of had his He grabbed his hair, and as soon as Calvin Newton started moving away, he already let go. Calvin Newton didn't feel the yank. You remember Cucurello got dragged by his hair, and he fell over.
00:44:05
Speaker
It wasn't that so long. No, that was completely different. No, no, no. Like, it needs to be with intent. Man said a little tug, like, we children?
00:44:19
Speaker
ah we do it would have been holding this shirt Like, you what I mean? It's not like, I can't reach him. Let me grab his hand and pull him back to the ground. Like, it's, for me, the intention means a lot. And the fact that i even went to VAR, I'm thinking like, bro, you've just killed the game. Like, obviously you have no obligation to make the game easier for us, but come on, use some common sense. if you know what that's It's going to look worse, isn't it?
00:44:43
Speaker
Do you know what that's like? It's like, all right, cool. you're not meant to touch anyone's face, but if I give you like a little tap on your face, it's like it's like give it's like, give me a red card for that. Yeah, if we it's what be seen as like the whole thing of like, you know when someone's shielding the ball and they've got their arms up, like trying to block the player and they catch him in the face. You're not going to give that as a red card.
00:45:04
Speaker
You're just not going to do that. They're both congesting for a header. He's falling down. He's just trying to feel where he is and he's made a grab in motion. As soon as he felt that he's grabbed his head, he's let go.
00:45:15
Speaker
And then... Do you think the first challenge on for the first goal, you think that
00:45:25
Speaker
he's led with his arm it could be given as a foul like me personally I wouldn't be surprised if it was given as a foul he's jumped with his arm first and caught him in the face it's a it's a free kick outside like it's a free kick if it didn't lead to a goal you get what mean but so that's making that's why I'm confused For me, it was one of them ones where if you play it in full speed, it it doesn't look like a file.
00:45:50
Speaker
But then when you st slow it down, it looks like a file because then you see like the full contact on it. didn't put file, did it? Nah, no, didn't. That's what I'm saying. I'm just looking at it and thinking, this is so weird.
00:46:03
Speaker
Whatever. The nature of our podcast is don't blame the ref. We performed well enough in the first half anyway. But I still think if we didn't get that red, we could have salvaged the draw at least.
00:46:17
Speaker
I think we probably even could have won. We've been doing a lot of last-minute goals. um Leeds did look like they were full to it. I do think our best chances came in the second half. We had that flurry of when the ball was in the box.
00:46:29
Speaker
who... Sesko had a good... should have scored. He should have scored. He should have scored that. Ugarte had a shot Casemiro had a shot that was blocked. Yeah. We had yeah some good chances. You should have got your second.
00:46:43
Speaker
I can't look back and just blame the ref, but yeah, for me, dead rubber game. It's a bad loss. We haven't played in ages, so it is
Upcoming Chelsea vs Manchester United Match
00:46:51
Speaker
what it is. i'm not I'm not really too... Like I said, I'm not crashing out every loss, man. It's actually alright, man. But...
00:46:58
Speaker
Yeah, ah don't I don't really have anything else to say about United. You? Or... Nah, man. Let's move on to the main event.
00:47:09
Speaker
Actually, I will say, I don't know how we almost went without mentioning, bro, our next Premier League games are against each other. Oh, yeah.
00:47:22
Speaker
Don't blame the ref derby, you know. hope we've played each other since we've had this pod, you know. Yeah, that's the pod title. Don't blame the ref derby next week. Cool, cool, cool. At Stamford Bridge as well. So I'm hoping to smoke you lot, bro. I'm not even joking, bro. I'll be disappointed if you... If I was you, I would be very disappointed if you don't beat us. Yeah, no. I'm not even
Arsenal's Title Race Challenges and Strategic Needs
00:47:47
Speaker
trying to be... We should be looking to turn you over. 100%, like...
00:47:51
Speaker
If I was you, man, I'd go full pitch press, attack, full ultra attack in and then just just finish us, bro. Trust me. Yeah. We'll obviously talk about it on the next pod.
00:48:04
Speaker
Luckily, because it's ah because it's um both of us playing each other, we could probably hes even record the pod earlier. Yeah. It's a Saturday. It's a Saturday. Oh, it was a Saturday? Yeah, Saturday 8pm kick-off.
00:48:20
Speaker
All right, let's try and do on the Saturday. Yeah, ah yeah. so But yeah, let's move on to our topic, man. I feel like since we started this podcast, we were talking about Arsenal. feel so fulfilled.
00:48:34
Speaker
I feel vindicated. I feel...
00:48:41
Speaker
I just feel some kind. I just feel so good. Honestly. And, Mishri loves company. So like, look, these men can say, oh, but you support Chelsea, you man are here, you man are this, you man are that.
00:48:56
Speaker
But, do you know what feels more of joy? Knowing that you, You think you're good, but you're not. that's That's what fills me with joy. Arsenal Football Club, come to the stage.
00:49:07
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Bro, this title race, obviously obviously, like we have preface before, we're going to be discussing the title race and how it's going to pan out.
00:49:18
Speaker
For the last remaining, is it six games we've got in the Premier League? Yeah. Left? Yeah. Currently right now, Man City are six points behind with a game in hand. And also, there's a game at the Etihad to be played between the two of them.
00:49:33
Speaker
So... Right now, the way a lot of people are looking at it is, bro, they're level one points. That's already the way. People are already choking that Man City game. People are already choking up that Man City game as a Man win. Like, nothing less. Goal difference is already swinging in Man City's favour.
00:49:50
Speaker
So... Bro, it's jokes. It's actually jokes. They're just all assuming, yep, City will get the points. Yeah. And I am too...
00:50:03
Speaker
Yeah, if we if we focus on each team individually and might well start off with Arsenal, but remember what I've got the most to say about Arsenal. This whole season, I think they've been horrible to watch for the most part of it. There's been a few games here and there where like... ah They've battered the team and whatever.
00:50:25
Speaker
But when you look at this whole team and you look at what they've done, this Premier League is a result of what Arsenal have been doing. Everyone doing long throws now.
00:50:36
Speaker
They're taking like five minutes to take corners. Everything's just slow. And then outside of that, there's nothing happening. they They have literally the worst set of attackers ever.
00:50:47
Speaker
I've seen to ever potentially even win the Premier League. It's actually They're all individually just as bad as each other. Now, hadjips obviously, Saka's got cachet. He's done well in the Premier League for a while. But as we've both mentioned at some point this season, he looks finished, bro.
00:51:10
Speaker
He's 25, 24, 25, he looks physically done already. So, bro, just to emphasize your point, Saka has like five league goals. Odegaard, two league goals.
00:51:22
Speaker
Martineni, one league goal. Maduweke, two league goals. And that's the side that's going to win the league. Over my dead body. Even Jokic, I think he's got like 12, but he's got like only nine from open play. And then it's just like, bro, it's not good. It's just not good, bro.
00:51:42
Speaker
and And look, they yeah let's let's let's have a balanced view, yeah? First 10 games, no they were actually... no du Bro, first 10 games, they were all right. They good. They were good. They were... they were good they were They were a lot more attacking, they pinned teams in, and of course they were physically fresh. They were, you know, and they and they really went after teams. um And it wasn't, look, take they got so many corners because of the positive play that they had, constant shots, deflections, things and they had they had a lot of shots, a lot of decent chances, and they just didn't have the quality to really capitalise on the opportunities they were creating, yeah? That's based off why I it. And I think from from my memory,
00:52:30
Speaker
They had a really tough start to the season, if I remember. I think we played them really early on. They had City really early on. And um so I'm just going back to the beginning of the season. And yeah, their first couple of games were...
00:52:48
Speaker
So they had Southampton, Newcastle, Liverpool. Oh, no, no, no, no. Wrong season, wrong season. I was giving them too much credit. So they had they had us they had Liverpool, and then they had
00:53:06
Speaker
City like within their first like five games. Yeah. so So that's not that's not easy to handle. They had a good start. They were playing well. They were playing okay. like um maybe may I think I remember the United game. They deserved to win it or whatever. But look, they they were doing well. And then, I don't know what the trigger point was or where it went, but at some point, this it just went too far the other way.
00:53:37
Speaker
in terms of the cautiousness in their play, the the the slowness in their play, as if they're not trying to win the league, as if they were more concerned about not losing.
00:53:50
Speaker
um And you know what when while you're winning, all that gamemanship, all that slowing down the game, all that lack of attacking and really going for teams, you can stomach it when you're winning.
00:54:04
Speaker
you can Honestly, you can stomach it when you're winning, but the moment you start losing, the fans will turn. The fans will turn. and who And you know who will follow? The players.
00:54:15
Speaker
I promise you. It may not be this season. I'm not saying they're going to collapse this season. I'm saying next year, if they don't get over the line, are the players going to want to play like this?
00:54:27
Speaker
and knowing that it didn't get them the league title. I don't know. The funny thing is obviously, we both know a lot of Arsenal fans. They're littered all over the um football Twitter space, the football YouTube place. So you see a lot of opinions from Arsenal fans. And this season, the running theme is just get over the line. We don't care anymore.
00:54:52
Speaker
all this pretty football staff, who cares, just win the league. And it was looking like they were going to run away with it, but the issue that they felt was whenever City dropped points to put the final nil in the coffin, they just kept missing them up.
00:55:09
Speaker
They would draw. they they had she have They actually haven't lost a lot of games this season. They've only lost four in the league, but they've they've drawn seven games. So where they should be extending the league, and I think it's ah it's all about a mentality thing because they were nine points ahead recently.
00:55:27
Speaker
That's still a big gap. If you told Arsenal fans going into their last six games, you would be nine points ahead of City. They'll say, oh, we'll win the league then. But when you look at the narrative that is related to the actual situation that they face now, it's a lot more different than it presents. You've had so many opportunities to kill them. And once you put the final nail in the coffin, the City players do now.
00:55:55
Speaker
And they stop trying us out. They start just saying, who cares? Who cares? about Because you kept leaving the carrot dangling in for them, they've always felt like, guys, just win. Just win. And then now you're turning around looking, you're like, hey, we're right there. And then The Carabao Cup comes and the way they dispatch from Arsenal, you're looking, City players would all look at each other and be like, these men were going to win the league.
00:56:20
Speaker
These men are food. These men are food. This man are... And honestly, that Carabao Cup win was more, and I think both managers knew it, that was more important. That was one of the most important...
00:56:33
Speaker
port games, like not just for the trophy, but that psychological effect that that will have on in this game coming up. like We talked about Turkey doing kick-ups and you know getting the other team riled up. Yeah, cool, maybe Arsenal will look at that and and come back with the vengeance. However, the confidence in which City can go into that game, knowing that we've dealt with these men already, whew,
00:56:56
Speaker
fools Good luck. Good luck to Arsenal. Honestly, if they can go there and get a draw and not lose, fair enough. But I think City have got this in the back, in my opinion. The thing is as well, it's not Arteta's nature to go for it in this game.
00:57:15
Speaker
especially of recent times. It's not his nature to be like, okay, we've got City, we need to get this win. No, he's going to be more than ever... from Yeah, apart from the 5-1. He's going to be looking at this game more than ever as we cannot lose this game against City. Because even if they draw...
00:57:37
Speaker
It's still six points until City play their game in hand. So they still might think, okay, it's still in their hands. It's still in their hands.
00:57:48
Speaker
But what's going to happen, this is what I'm predicting to happen, yeah, is... Those Arsenal players' mentality is such a big thing that's been questioned over the last couple of years. Finishing second three years in a row, especially when you've been in pole position to win it on two out of those three seasons, I would say. The the first season where Arsenal came out nowhere and they were playing amazing football, at one point they were eight points clear, threw away, end up losing. Then the other year, they were top four the longest period of the time,
00:58:24
Speaker
end up losing it again. Bro, you're looking like a bunch of bottlers at this point. And who within that dressing room is going to pick them up and be like, you know what? with We're going to do this. We're going to get over the line. it's I don't think they have that.
00:58:39
Speaker
There's a reason why Pep kept Bernardo around. Even though people have been saying he's going to leave, he's going to leave. not like They're all looking at Bernardo. They're looking at Rodri. Like, these are the guys who are saying to them, guys, we've done this years, many times. Look all these trophies that we've won.
00:58:57
Speaker
We've done it. but Just follow our lead and you'll see. i think, I think, touching on what you're saying about who's going to be there to pick up the team, and you're going to have good characters in there that can do that. So, you know, Gabriel, I'd assume Rice, Odegaard, those would be the voices, the main voices in the team. And, you know, maybe these guys can say something, but, but, but, but...
00:59:27
Speaker
I think it all stems from the manager. And you have a manager that instils confidence in you, that gives you, and i just want to say that he doesn't, but feel like through his tactical choices, he paints a picture that is not quite matching what he says in the press conferences.
00:59:47
Speaker
So, for example, him saying that, you know, it's time for us to really go for it, but then come game day, the your team um look like they're not going for it. He he said that after the United game, and we haven't seen Arsenal turn it up.
01:00:04
Speaker
yeah And I think we paid them in like Feb or something. And, mate, like, that's madness, bro. Like, how many games does it take for you to, can like, push the team to, like, really go for it and go for games and and and put key teams to the soil?
01:00:20
Speaker
Are we saying that they the Arsenal we know can't go to Sporting Lisbon and go win 3-4-0? I know it's ah a European away game and I know it's a midweek game, but nah, sorry. I've seen them do that earlier in the season, going away to to to places and disfaction of teams and then dealing with them properly.
01:00:39
Speaker
um Like, so... I think they're more physically and mentally exhausted than people realise. I think the Christmas period was real slog and real difficult for them.
01:00:54
Speaker
And I think City have an advantage because they're not in Europe. And City don't currently have the team to be able to go Europe league back to back and chase both.
01:01:06
Speaker
um Just because I don't think Pep trusts a lot of the fringe players to really play at that high level. Yeah. i know Like he had previously. um And I think the same is with with Arsenal.
01:01:17
Speaker
I don't think the second string... Contrary to what the fans were telling us earlier in the season, that Nkappé would start for anybody in the league. Mosca would start for anybody in the league. their second Their second squad would start from for all top six teams, apparently. you know But when now it's crunch time.
01:01:41
Speaker
Odegaard's injured, but you're still complaining. Moreno's injured, you're still complaining. Show us. Saka's injured. Show The thing is, when it comes to Arsenal, yeah, is even all that, like, when they do the art, like, we got the best team, we got the best squad, definitely, and all that, like, they just go too early. That's all it is. For me, it's just let the season pan out bit. If you're talking like this by Christmas, I'm saying cool, but you're starting in August...
01:02:08
Speaker
Christmas, you you're starting to see the injuries pile up. Like, cool, it's great it that you have squad depth, but if your best players are the ones getting injured, time for your squad depth to to pull up, right? oh They haven't been here before. yeah um What's his name? So they signed Christian Norgard, who was a starter for Brentford, playing weekend week in, week out the Premier League, got some good finishes on his belt. He was their captain. And he's i think he's only started two Premier League games.
01:02:39
Speaker
de rank So that means Zubimendi and Rice have been running into the ground. Moreno, he's been injured for ages. How many like guys have just been out? Calafuri, been out.
01:02:49
Speaker
um What's his name? Ben White's been out. He only just recently came back. um who Who did I just mention? Moreno, out. Saka, out. Oldergaard, out. Havertz, out. like These men are just not there.
01:03:06
Speaker
So you can't rely on them. So then all this, ah we've we've made some good sign-ins. we did do the the Bro, let them perform first. You don't even believe that these men are as good as you're pretending they are. You you know you don't. Because you didn't really watch them. A lot of these guys, like I have this thing where I say people support their teams. So a lot of people only watch their teams.
01:03:27
Speaker
And then when players get linked to their clubs and they actually put on the um their team's kit, they start over-inflating how good they actually are. I was hearing Zubimendi is the best DM in the league. Like, I was hearing that.
01:03:41
Speaker
A month in, a month in, like, bro, get something under your belt. and least At least get, like, six months under your belt so people can be like yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear that. But we're saying after a month, just because he played he played them the second half for Spain in the Euros final. Like, come on, man, like, that's to start being honest. Now, now they're saying, Kanye, he's he's not press press resistant. Any bit pressure, he crumbles.
01:04:04
Speaker
um He's giving away bare goals like that. When you look back at the end of the season, Arsenal don't do it. The goals that I'm going to remember are like Mbwemo's goal. Zumba Mendy just gives the ball to him and he just scores.
01:04:18
Speaker
That's it. That's it. You draw that game, you potentially win the league by one point. You know what mean? It's... Obviously, the football doesn't work or it like that. It's a lot more layered than that. But this is all... And then you're talking about their striker, bro. How long have we been talking about their striker, bro?
01:04:38
Speaker
He's not good. He's not good. He's the least Arsenal striker I've ever seen in my life. he's he's a He's such a... Bro, he's like a truck, bro. He can't turn. He can't. He's got no agility. All he is is just strong and he can run fast in the straight line. That's it.
01:04:56
Speaker
That's it. He ain't even that strong, bro. That's the man. Bro, not even. It's true. He ain't even that strong. And his technique and technique in a lot of actions are just...
01:05:07
Speaker
very, very, very poor in terms of his back-to-ball play. He's always flat. like You know when I spoke to c when I said i said about Sesco and him being flat with the defender coming back? Do you know how easy it is to push someone in the back that's flat?
01:05:23
Speaker
That's what Hoyland was doing the whole time. have to be side one foot in front of the other, creating balance and being stable so that when someone hits you, you can you can knock them back and then control the ball.
01:05:36
Speaker
Gokeres, I never see him side on. Ever, ever, ever. The only thing he actually does for Arsenal is run channels and gets the ball in the channel. and then helps them move up the field. That's all it is. I'll start under pressure, someone just knock into the channel, Jokor and just run into the channels. that's That's all it is. But outside of that, he's not doing anything. and then when you don't look at the yeah go And you know what? He's racked up a good amount of decent amount of goals, 18 goals in all comps. And really and truly, if they really want to progress, they need to get rid of them. But they won't.
01:06:12
Speaker
But they won't. They're tied in with too much money, man. Arsenal aren't known as a ruthless club. A lot of these players, like, when you speak to Arsenal fans you see Arsenal content creators, bro, there's a big list of players who are allegedly going, but when you think about it, there's no market for a lot these guys because a lot these guys aren't good.
01:06:31
Speaker
They're not good. They're either injury prone or they're not good or they're on big rate wages. That's a bad combination, bro. They're basically in the phase that United were in a couple years ago where we just had everyone on the massive of wages and we're just going to struggle to sell them the only difference is between Arsenal's they actually have a potential of winning something so they just need to get over the line if they look back on this situation all this investment all the billions spent and they say they have one Premier League title at least they can say they've got one Premier League title that's how you look back on it but realistically it's not enough it's not enough and if I'm being honest this they should have two by now already they probably should have two
01:07:17
Speaker
So, look into the future. Let's finish off on this. yeah you What do Arsenal need to do in the next six games?
01:07:28
Speaker
See, they've got eight games or nine or eight or seven games. They've got seven because they've got one. awesome And then Arsenal have got six. What do Arsenal need to do in those six games, including City, to get them over the line? What do you think?
01:07:46
Speaker
It's going to sound silly, but they need to hope they lose in the Champions League. they they they don't They don't have the squad to do both because after sporting, it's athletical or Barca.
01:08:02
Speaker
You ain't got the squad for an extra two more games. You're already running on fumes like right now. And it's just, it sounds dumb because the end the day, you don't know what psychological effect. That could be it. That could be it. If they lose in the Champions League, that's them being knocked out of a cup.
01:08:19
Speaker
In their last five losses, they would have been knocked out of three cups. That's what the cycle is. Yeah, that's a big blow. that That's what I'm saying. It's not something that you want to do. But look, the only game that I'm looking at in their calendar that can say, yeah, they'll win that, is Burnley.
01:08:38
Speaker
Out of their last six, they got Burnley at home. But when I'm looking at it, saying, bro, you got you got Man City away. Tough. Newcastle at home.
01:08:49
Speaker
Tough. You got Fulham. Fulham aren't that great of a team, don't get me wrong, but they got players that can hurt you. You lot aren't a good team. They can hurt you. Then you got a wall West Ham away who are fighting for their lives.
01:09:04
Speaker
Bro, they might have something for you. And then by then, you know, City might already be ahead by three points. Yeah. And then it's tough. So for me, i think the ah two things that need to happen.
01:09:20
Speaker
So for me, when I've noticed that my team is low on confidence and um struggling to to you know play out of their shell, ah go for attack in mutot I and go full press.
01:09:34
Speaker
Generally, like, and I just accept, where if that ends in a loss, I accept it and just and just say to them, yeah, we weren't good enough. And just, but i need to build confidence in, I need to shake them out of that confidence that makes them hesitant in their possession.
01:09:53
Speaker
Like, so I need them to feel that. And the only way they can feel that is through goals. And the other way I could score goals is by being direct and and and committing loads of numbers into the box.
01:10:06
Speaker
And then by the time you get a couple of goals, even if you're losing four, three, two, four, two, the feeling's better rather than you, you know, lose like do you get what I'm trying to say like yeah they're like they're like crawling over the line bro they don't know exactly and no no and it can't be like that it's got to be a guys let's get up for this we're going to aim to go and score three today we're going to aim to go and score four today um and I think from an attacking point of view Arteta's got to buck up his ideas bro
01:10:38
Speaker
I have seen no innovation from him bro this is the thing I think at this stage of the season we're not going to get anything different no he has to he has to he has to the only thing that's to drag them over the line from this point onwards to the end of the season is these players who they've been telling us are so good need to be good that's the only thing that's going to be the only thing he's got to be better how about Havertz Saka Oldergaard, Eze, all of these men, someone needs to carry them. Someone needs to get the team, put them on their back. Like, I'm talking about, cool, they got City, yeah?
01:11:19
Speaker
So he's got a rough game. One chance, first first shot on goal, goal. That's where it has to be. if If you're not getting that sort of level of production, then unfortunately, you you guys aren't good. Okay, you big you make a good point, yeah? And that's fine.
01:11:36
Speaker
But I still think that starts from the manager. And when I say that, no so so remember when I said about like The reality of coaching is picking a small detail that can snowball and then have a large effect on the game. so freak But obviously player quality has a huge effect on that. So for example, yeah I might say, hey, as a coach, I need to notice what which City's weaknesses are. yeah And I think their weaknesses are in behind their fullbacks. So if I say to him, yo bro, I need um
01:12:10
Speaker
Maduweke, every time you pass the ball back, I need you running in between the fullback and the centre-back. Every single time. And when that happens, can a midfielder or the fo the the the or whatever their right-back's name is, Ben White, can you play that ball into Maduweke if it's open, if it's on?
01:12:29
Speaker
Yeah? Even if it's not on, just do it. Even if it's on, do it, whatever. But the point I'm trying to make is giving that sort of detail to then... Now it's up to the player quality for them to bring that alive.
01:12:43
Speaker
Arteta has to create that. He has to spark it. He has to he has to watch something. he has to He has to have some innovation in his play. He has to give some sort of tip that helps them. know what mean? Like, they're lost.
01:12:56
Speaker
They are freezing. the like if you If you imagine them on a street on the stage with fu a million people watching, they are freezing scared. They are scared to play. They are scared to attack. They are scared.
01:13:09
Speaker
And what it takes now is not just a few nice words like, everybody calm down, everybody, no. Bring your pant on, bring your shoes. um Everybody come to the party. Like, no.
01:13:21
Speaker
What it takes is for you to do the coaching and for you to instil that confidence, for you to find and a weakness in the opposing team and for them to attack. They have to attack, attack, attack, attack.
01:13:33
Speaker
attack. He has to go full attack. When he goes to City, go full attack. F it. F it. Like, all this, oh, it's not over. Full attack. He has to go. I think if would try to go machine for machine with, what's it called, Man City, I think the fans would change their tune.
01:13:53
Speaker
I think it would make them go, oh, whoa. okay, cool, we've been missing this the whole season, but at least for sure... This is what I'm saying. If if they lose 2-0, 3-0 sitting in and being scared, the fans are going to hate them.
01:14:07
Speaker
If they lose full-on attack, having a go, the fans will, I swear to you, they will respect them a lot more. Other fans might go, oh, that's a bit naive, but you they would have more way more respect from their own fans than sitting in deep doing nothing.
01:14:26
Speaker
Yeah. But obviously, we we can't really touch on City too much. You know, it's the typical Pep stuff. He's done well rotating this squad um up until this point. Everyone looks fresh.
01:14:38
Speaker
They ain't got no Champions League. They've basically got their full start and their level back. They've still got their bench.
Manchester City's Squad Depth and Managerial Style
01:14:45
Speaker
Bro, where's Foden? He ain't injured. He's got sight in London. At least for the game. Harlan's been AFK for three months, bro. He ain't done that. He scored the other day, though, when they batted Liverpool. But, bro, like, he's just, there's something pending. There's something pending. They got too many weapons. Semenyo, Doku, he's not, Pepe isn't overcomplicating it anymore. And I think this is the, sorry, this one of the last things I want to mention, yeah?
01:15:16
Speaker
Look at the mannerisms of the managers here. When you watch Pep's mannerisms on the sideline compared to Arteta's, Pep is sitting down now. He's got his arms folded.
01:15:30
Speaker
go do your thing when you see Artel he's saying no pass it there no pass it there pass it there no no slow down he's like the nerves are just building onto the players they can't make a decision without this guy telling them what to do like allow me let me do something let me play stop telling me off for doing simple things just let me do something but I can't play because you're micromanaging me And... It's our match. Let's go win the league.
01:16:02
Speaker
I can't do anything. The perfect example what you just said is literally... I think Zuby passes it out and then vice Ben White and Super Mendy start arguing and then Super Mendy looks over to the bench and they so they not argue, but they're going back and forth and like, yeah, it's just a mess. It's just a mess and they need to snap out of it.
01:16:27
Speaker
Couldn't have happened to a worse bunch and I wish of nothing but the worst. Yeah. All the best and honestly, I cannot wait.
01:16:37
Speaker
If City win this league, I cannot wait for it.
Podcast Dynamics and Guest Contributions
01:16:41
Speaker
What? 58 nowadays, man. Does he want to come back on the the pod at any point? You need to get to that. Do you know I I need someone other than Yusuf, because he's too composed. I need my other mate, Thomas. I've got a couple of hotheads as well. i can't let him. I need the hotheads. I need the hotheads, man. I need the hotheads. Those ones that are just going to make it so funny. So if you do have anyone, a few hotheads, I'm going to see if I can get Thomas on.
01:17:16
Speaker
Yeah. But that would be funny. Yeah, that would good. But um yeah, I think we're going to leave it there because we're a bit late on a monday Monday night. So United aren't going to ruin my sleep for too much longer. So...
01:17:31
Speaker
ah don't cry don't beg thank you for tuning in make sure you like subscribe we're obviously on YouTube make sure you like and repost on Instagram and and what's at TikTok but yeah thank you so much for listening and peace peace