Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Craig Burley as we kick things off in the Premier League. West Ham taking on Manchester United. United, of course, looking to make it five in a row. West Ham fighting for their survival. And it'd be Suchek who would give the hosts a lead five minutes into the second half.
and it looked like that would be enough to see West Ham get a vital win. However, Cesco coming off the bench, a late equaliser, would see it finish West Ham 1, Manchester United 1. Let's take a look at what that means for the top half of the table. Manchester United sitting fourth in the table.
Chapter 2: What were the highlights of Manchester United's draw against West Ham?
One player of Chelsea, more on them a little later. On Liverpool, of course, in action later this week with a chance to close the ground between them and a Champions League place. For more, let's welcome in, shall we? Nadia Manua joins us, as does Stuart Robson. So, they can't get the five in the row, Craig. 1-1's probably about right, isn't it?
Yeah, I think so. It certainly wasn't one of the most swashbuckling games under Carrick. There's been a couple of them, but they've had a home crowd behind them. That's really pushed them on. They've played some good stuff. They were a little flat today and didn't quite look as sharp. West Ham obviously fighting for their lives. Later, the game went on, they got more defensive.
Nuno made some changes.
Chapter 3: Why did Manchester United struggle against West Ham?
They started camping on the edge of the box. They themselves had a couple of breaks at the end that they could have done better with in the final third. Callum Wilson could have made a better decision or two. They could have maybe killed the game off. They didn't. And it was just a brilliant goal from a player who, I think when he came on, struggled with his all-round game, Benjamin Sesko.
So to see that finish from a player who... Every time the ball went up to him, I mean, we were watching games and whatnot, but when the ball went up to him, it was kind of bouncing off him a little bit. To see that finish from that angle, it was... It was one of the best finishes you'll see.
I mean, from that perspective, West Ham can say, my God, I mean, we did most things right and he scored a wonder goal, which he is.
Chapter 4: What does the draw mean for Manchester United's Champions League hopes?
But listen, you've got to keep clean sheets. West Ham are not doing it. And Man United, it's, you know, unbeaten. Good spirit again. Keep them going to the end. So that's another positive for them.
Chapter 5: Are Tottenham in a relegation fight after their loss to Newcastle?
And I suppose when you look at the... Is that five games you said? I suppose when you look at the five games in their totality... from where they were, that's a very good return of points, even though they're playing a side that's currently in the relegation zone.
Any calls for concerns today, Robbo, for United?
The only thing I would say in the first half, you know, Manchester United have been playing well because they've been getting the ball forward. They've been playing at a fast tempo. They've had runners in behind. But I was surprised that he played Mbembe out on the left wing.
Chapter 6: What went wrong for Tottenham in their match against Newcastle?
So Kunio was playing centre forward but always wanted to come short to receive the ball. Bruno Fernandes was playing quite high, but he only made one forward run and that was in behind when he lifted it over the goalkeeper. and Ahmad was wide out on the right-hand side.
So I was disappointed with the position that Mbembe was playing because he's the one player that gives you that threat in behind, keeps making those runs. And because there was nobody running in behind, Manchester United took too long on the ball, were too slow with their passing in that first half, and it allowed West Ham to do what they do quite well, or what they have done under
Nuno Santos quite well, which was to defend quite deep. They got players behind the ball and then they tried to play on the counter as he did at Nottingham Forest. So it was an OK performance from Manchester United, but not the sort of speed and intensity that we've seen from them in the previous four games.
Well, Kunya's quick, Robbo, isn't he? But he doesn't want to play on the shoulder. He doesn't want to play in behind. He wants to come short. He wants to drift. Brian and Bemo, it's kind of natural for him to try and run in behind. If you watched them at the weekend, they went, particularly in the first half of the game, they went long.
quite a lot when they were pressed and they went long and tried to go long and over the top from Lammans to Bryan and Benno so that was a little strange and we didn't agree with Stuart we didn't see Bruno Fernandes in as good of positions since he's moved back into this 10 role as we have in all the other games where
And maybe that's credit to West Ham because maybe they were flooding that area and he was having to go and find these spaces. He was having to go and look for the ball more than he has been in games that have been a bit more open and he's found some great spaces and he's really linked that midfield and forward line. We didn't really see that today.
It wasn't a disaster for Man United and they dug a point out and they're very much very much in this race for Champions League football which is bearing in mind where we've been with this Ruben Amarim conversation when he was at the club it was kind of unthinkable in some sense but it seems at the moment Michael Carrick is getting a tune today was a small blip
But when you look at Liverpool's struggles, and when you look at Chelsea have dropped some points, and you look at the rest, Manchester United are very much in this race for Champions League football next year.
Just a bit of a blip, Nate, and that is generally how it feels, doesn't it?
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Chapter 7: How did Chelsea's defense contribute to their draw with Leeds?
Have you got 12 days to find a new manager? Get him in quick and then he's got some time ahead of Arsenal?
I don't think they will. I think they'll just stay steadfast. That's kind of the vibes that have been coming out.
Chapter 8: What are the implications of Chelsea's poor defensive performance?
I think if you ask Spurs fans, they would take a change now. But I think they both have made a decision and they're probably going to stick with it at this moment in time. There was a couple of good results early in the season. One of them was at Man City when they won. And you thought, hmm, organisation... Clever counter-attack.
Might be something different about Spurs here and since then there's been nothing. Yeah, the Champions League have done great. Don't ask me how. Don't ask me how because they're a terrible team. But apart from that early season, there's been nothing. They've been battered by teams at home.
I mean, they've got themselves back in some games that they should never have got back into or been allowed to get back into. And... The worry for me is that if the players don't think they're in a relegation battle,
I don't know what the mindset is in the dressing room, but if the players in that dressing room think they're, you know, Billy Big Potatoes and they're not in a relegation battle and they're too good for that. I think Don played at West Ham side. Yeah, and there was always too good to go down. Too good to go down. A lot of good players.
And you get dragged into it and you get dragged into this mediocrity and you get dragged into this... You can have momentum in wins and momentum in defeats. It's not really much different, you know. The mentality, you know, when you're winning every time, you think you're going to win.
And when you're losing games and you're not playing well, it's hard to get out of mindset, well, it's going to happen next week again. But if the players in the dressing room don't understand that they're in a relegation dogfight, they'll be in it quicker than they think and they'll be closer to the bottom three.
They've got to understand that playing football is probably not going to get them out of this next... four or five weeks, is scrapping. Because they're not going to outplay Arsenal next game out. They're going to have to scrap and fight and defend and counter attack and close the ball down.
And if they don't do that, and Forest and Leeds keep picking up points and West Ham keep picking up points, before they know it, they could be in the bottom three. So for me, it's not just, and I know they've got a lot of injuries, but for me, it's a mental side of these players. They're in the position that they don't believe they should be in.
Because they think they're better than that, but they're in that position. If they don't have the mental fortitude to pick themselves up from defeat after defeat, they'll never get themselves out of this mire. Never. So we're going to learn a lot about these Tottenham players as well as the manager. Because they're in a dogfight.
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