Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Craig Burley and Stevie Nicoll. There are some very happy Arsenal fans around the world today as they took one huge step to winning the Premier League title. In the early game, they beat Everton by two goals to nil. They left it late and it saw 16-year-old Max Daumann become the youngest
ever goalscorer in the history of the Premier League as they beat Everton 2-0 and then straight after that it was West Ham against Manchester City. City could only manage a 1-1 draw meaning the advantage now to Arsenal is nine points. City do though have a game in hand. Don Hutchinson joins us. Is it over Don? It's over.
When you look at City's fixtures, they've got Chelsea, they've got Arsenal, they've got Villa. You look at their City side, you can't rely on them winning every single game. They'll even, I think, lose a game or two. Towards the end of the season, there's always a game where you think that's the one that's got the team over the line. And that was the Arsenal-Everton game today.
I thought Everton were quite good in the game. I thought they probably deserved a point. But when Max Downman come on, he got the goal and the assist. An amazing goal for a 16-year-old. And you just think, yeah, that's the one. That'll be the one that's played over and over and over again next season and the seasons to come. It's going to be Arsenal's.
Yeah, it's difficult to argue against that, isn't it? Because of City and their inability to put any consistent results together. Obviously, we thought City and Liverpool would be a big challenge this year. And it's not materialised for obvious reasons.
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Chapter 2: How did Arsenal's victory over Everton impact the Premier League title race?
It was another game for Arsenal. It was a bit like pulling teeth watching it. You know, Saka hasn't been playing well. Everton were more dangerous, as Don said. They played well for long periods of the game. But... The worry for Arsenal is they've got this Champions League game in midweek and we talked about it last week about flicking this switch. That's how it feels for them at the moment.
They're just sort of grinding and churning these results in the Premier League. But we saw that kind of bite them in the backside to a certain extent in Germany, in Leverkusen, where they really should have dominated that game and it should have been dead and buried. But they go into the second leg and they've got a proper match on their hands and they're not playing particularly well.
So I don't think that's a foregone conclusion. I think the Premier League title is.
Chapter 3: What records did Max Dowman achieve during the Arsenal vs Everton match?
And look, you can't blame them for not playing well at times because they're trying to get over this line that they haven't been over for 22 years. But I could only imagine what it would have been like for them if these teams hadn't been breathing down their neck because they would have had to have pulled their finger out and been a lot better than they are. But as it turns out,
The challenge to them thus far has been powder puff. And that's exactly right. Manchester City don't deserve to be anywhere near a title if you can't beat Forest and you can't beat West Ham. No, and really, let's be honest, the only reason City were still in it is because of Arsenal dropping points they shouldn't have dropped. And really for Arsenal, the front three...
I mean, again today, I mean, Saka is struggling. He's absolutely struggling for form. They tried Midweki on the left. It didn't work.
Chapter 4: What were the implications of Manchester City's draw against West Ham?
Eze didn't work. Havertz started up front. It didn't work. And actually, I mean, it's always hindsight, but the best thing Arteta did was... was bring Max on. Because it actually changed the atmosphere in the stadium as much as anything else. And all of a sudden it went from moaning and groaning to there was a bit of excitement and everybody got behind the side.
Now, was that the difference between them getting the goals or not? I don't know. But I'll tell you what, if you're on the field and all of a sudden the crowd's behind you instead of moaning and groaning, it makes a big difference. But end of the day, does it matter? No, because they got three points. You've got Bakayasaka who...
You've got a World Cup coming up and he's probably a guaranteed starter. Probably. He was. Definitely when he was at the top of his game, but he's not. No, no. You've got Phil Foden who's out of the team. You've got a few of these players that are sort of out of form, but he's one of them. He's not. He took them off in Leverkusen and Madweki came on and injected a bit of pace. He's lost a step.
Odegaard was in the stands. He wasn't available. And Steve, he said, Ezi does some really good things, but we haven't seen it in the last couple of games. Now, they are winning. Yes.
Chapter 5: How has Chelsea's recent form affected their season?
And they are going to win the title. That's fine. But there's another picture of a Champions League game coming up. And there's another picture for some of these players as a World Cup coming up. And you really don't want to finish the season like this going into a big summer of football. But in terms of a game, it was just a grind.
But lovely to see a young guy coming on and having such a great day. Don, it's interesting with Pep Guardiola, feisty of course in the press conference ahead of this when questioned about his selection for the Real Madrid game. Another change in the tactics today, he had Mamoosh and Haaland up front together. He seems to be just throwing darts at the moment.
Yeah, I mean, I was watching the Real Madrid game, and it looked like to me when you're watching it, because you always sit there watching the game thinking, like, what would you do, or what do you think the changes are? And I thought the changes are in the Real Madrid game. I thought the changes were Doku on one side, Semenu on the other, and Churki or Foden as the 10.
Haaland's getting no service whatsoever. That's a big worry to me. I wound up, he's actually enjoying playing this city side. He got two chances, and the first one came on the hour mark. And then, in the end, I don't really blame him, because it's a game that you've got to win, so you've got to get... your defensive players off, your potential holding midfield players off.
You've got to get as many forwards on as you can. It is desperation.
And until you're probably at ground level, well, I say that loosely because he was sat in the stand, but until you're trying to, you know, make a change and make two and three and four changes because you know you need to win that game, you can't just sit on your hands and you can't go, oh, well, I'll give it another 10 minutes or I'll give it another five. So...
Yes, I think Pep's to blame at a certain point, but I think when he got asked the questions yesterday, I thought he answered them quite well when he said, listen, when I win a game, how many times have people said I'm a genius? When I lose one, you know, pion, pion, pion, he was saying everyone's firing bullets at him. So it's part of the course. I just think when you look at Arsenal...
And you look at Man City now, there's not too much difference between them. And City will come back next year. But Arsenal are the better version. What frustrates me when I watch City is they don't cross the ball. Apart from wide free kicks or corners, they literally work the ball side to side to side. Don't put it in. Come back to the left. Don't put it in.
They've got wingers who can cross the ball. Put the ball in the box. It's just, you watch them, you just think it's very predictable. He's actually struggled all season, Pep, to get the mix right. He hasn't been able to get the mix right at the back. He's certainly not been able to get the mix right in the middle of the park.
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Chapter 6: What are the key challenges facing Manchester City and Arsenal moving forward?
He's done some brilliant stuff. I'm not saying he's always consistent, but he's done some brilliant stuff this season. And then you pick up... You go and look at the team sheet for the next game. He's on the bench. There really has been no... consistency or continuity with their team selection.
And I know sometimes you have injuries, and particularly at the back, but again, I don't have any sympathy for them. Because they went out and they got Kusunov last year, the youngster. They knew John Stones was injury-prone. They knew Akanji was going to enter. They went and bought Ait Nuri, and my God, and they had Matthias Nunes playing it right back.
They never addressed any of the issues last summer with proper players in those positions. One of the first things they did when he came in, they went and bought Kyle Walker and one or two others in the full-back area because it was so important. They didn't address it and they're now paying the penalty for that. Donnarumma bailed them out at the start.
Donnarumma bailed them out.
So now that he's lost his form, it just makes it even harder. So, I mean, really? You think Man City's going to do Real Madrid midweek? You're not putting money on it either. And you're not putting money, obviously, on them catching Arsenal. As we mentioned, though, a huge day for Max Dalman, who became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. Here's his boss.
I had a gut feeling that it was a moment for him and probably it's because he doesn't seem to be fazed by the occasion or the moment or the context of the opponent. He just plays so naturally. He makes decisions to make things happen and what he delivered was incredible. I've seen a lot of players with talent but at 16 very few that can cope with that level of demand.
Could we see you potentially start?
Calma. As your colleague said, let's come down to earth today and enjoy the moment because it was intense and it was worth it. And we'll see you tomorrow.
Stevie, you bought 16 Euro electricians at Parenzis? I was, aye. You never killed yourself or others? I was up a ladder. Can you imagine him coming around to rewire your house? He wouldn't let me through the front door. You'd have to leave the state.
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Chapter 7: What insights were shared about young players like Max Dowman and their impact on the game?
Imagine it. I remember when I was at Derby, albeit it was the year we got relegated to the championship, there was a young lad, I can't remember his name, there was a young lad who made his debut, I think it was Johnny Gregory who gave him his debut, he was 15. And I remember looking at him thinking, holy smokes.
You know, I'm going to think back to when you were 15, or certainly Max Diamond, when you were 16. You know, I'd just gone to Chelsea as an apprentice, a little spotty-faced kid, you know, and I was like, I could not. The very thought of even going on the bench for the first team I would have sat in the bathroom and cried. I just can't imagine it. It's just not normal. It's not normal.
Was it Wayne Rooney not do it at 16? But maybe a little, I think he did. To have the maturity and to have the football brain to do the things that he does, when he's come on previously, he's done some great things as well. But in terms of today, to have the maturity and the coolness and the calmness to score the second goal, it's 16. It's just not normal. It's not normal.
It's the only thing you can say. I just can't get out of my head that he's the electrician's apprentice. 16-year-old Don. Oh, my days. Nowhere near anyone's first team. I mean, literally, I mean, I didn't I didn't move to Hartlepool till I was 17 and a half, 18. So, you know, nowhere near it. I liked Arteta there.
And what I took from that press conference there when he was sort of saying I had a gut feeling. He's basically saying he's coached the life out of Madaweke and he's coached the life out of Bukayo Saka. This kid's not had any coaching yet. He just went on and played. That's exactly the feeling you had. You just stuck a 16-year-old in and gone, I'm not going to give you no coaching.
I'm not going to give you no advice at the minute. You're probably not even allowed in the home dressing room yet because he's so sort of tender at his age. And he just went on and played like it was just, he was in the park with his mates and he made such a difference. Just off the back of the Bukayo Saka chat before when the lads were saying, you know, he's been out of form, which he has been.
You know, this kid now at 24, Bukayo Saka's played over, he's played over 300 games. So you just start to wonder with a few injuries along the way, is he feeling a little bit shattered or is it overcoaching? Because, as I said before, Diamond came on and just lit up the place. He was magnificent.
From 30 for 30 podcast. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. A hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.
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