Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Gab, he's Jules. Great skies over West London, but that's okay because we're here to brighten things up for you. What a weekend it was. Paris Saint-Germain back on top in Ligue 1. Inter extend their lead in Serie A. Real Madrid, big win away to Vieira. Not something to be taken for granted and in the Premier League. We say, ¿Habemos Premier? ¿Hay Premier? I don't know.
Because Arsenal's lead down to four-point city, and then probably Villa and Newcastle both win. Villa joined second in the table. How about that, Unai Emery? Let's go with the big one. Arsenal beaten by Manchester United 3-2. You can look at this and say the three United goals... Two of them were improbable worldies. Guy shoots from a million yards out.
You know, talented players, but low probability. The other one was a gift. Nothing to see here. It's fine. Arsenal scored two goals. And they were just unlucky. Is that reductive? A little bit, but it's also true. Even Michael Carrick admitted it, Mikel Arteta, everybody. I was at the game, everybody in the stadium could see it. It was obvious outside of that.
There's a couple of good transitions from Manchester United in the first half. But the first half hour, the first 30 minutes until the own goal by Martinez... There was just one team on the pitch. Arsenal were almost perfect in the way they defended with the ball in terms of control. They didn't create that much apart from the header from Zubi Mendy, but they were great.
And then it looked like they stopped playing or suddenly it looked like United finally got into the game with more intensity, with the block slightly higher. and try to make something happen. And they got lucky with the Zubi Mendy mistake, of course, but before that there was a Saliba mistake that Bruno almost took advantage of. That was really bad.
I think he didn't know he was there, hadn't scanned, didn't know, thought there was nobody that Raya would come out, but Raya obviously didn't come out for reasons that, because Bruno was there. So unusual for Arsenal to be a bit sloppy after they took the lead, because so far this season, in the 24 games where they took the lead, yeah, they always won.
And I think that goal from Mbombo can change the dynamic for the second half, of course.
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Chapter 2: What happened in the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal?
Arteta said something to the effect of it's a game of small margins and the way we played made the margins even smaller, which I took to mean on probability Arsenal still should have won this game, but they hurt themselves and they gave United a bigger probability of winning. I wonder about United, though, because I was really impressed. Look, it's his second game.
I mean, he's had, what, four or five training sessions? Yeah. I was really impressed by the fact that there's a lightness to the way United play. And this goes beyond, I think, just changing managers because, of course, it's not like Amarim left yesterday. You had the Darren Fletcher period in between.
I was struck by the fact that he kept the same 11, which means leaving Sesko and Kunya on the bench. That's like $150-odd million worth of strikers that arrived just six months ago. So clearly, this setup is not a long-term solution. When Carrick thinks, he's thinking, I need to integrate these guys into my starting lineup. But for this game, it was the right call.
Unshackling Dorgoo, using his pace. But you're not going to change the team that beat Manchester City. It'd be stupid from him. Same team, same style of play, same game plan. And it worked the same way, really. Would it be stupid? Because you're playing. I mean, City and Arsenal are both good teams. They play a very different brand of football, right?
And it's also different being at home and being away. Yeah, but that was the only difference, being at home or away. But it makes a lot of sense for him to keep the same team and play the same way. That's exactly what he did. And to be fair, their defensive structure was as good against Arsenal away than it was at home to City the week before. I was really impressed.
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Chapter 3: How did Arsenal's performance affect the title race?
OK, we can say they scored three goals from an unexpected goal of 0.7. So well done to them. But I still think out of possession, they were very good. That midfield three works great in possession, out of possession. And Shaw defended well on the left-hand side. Dalot defended well on the right-hand side too. And it was not always perfect because they were under pressure.
But still, I thought there was a lot of, again, encouragement. And it'd be different when they have to have the ball for 70% instead of having it for 30%. Like we've just... It's the same, right? They've played two very good teams, our first and second in the table. And the old thing, it's easier to go and be reactive. And then what happens is you go and play Nottingham Forest or whatever. Yeah.
But still, what I like is the fact that he's put faith in certain players. He's lost Dogu now to clearly a hands-on problem. So even if he's cramped, I don't think he can play next weekend. So he will have to change something there for the next game. Inevitably. Yeah. You put Mbumo on the wing and play Matias Cunha up front. Or Cesco the other way around or whatever.
But there's going to be a lot of noise around Arteta and around Arsenal. And why can't they be more attacking? Should they be more attacking? We've all seen this stat. From the weekend, Arsenal's top scorer this season in the league are Gyokuris and Trossard. They both have scored five goals, which means they're on pace to score eight goals.
Nobody has ever won the Premier League without a double-digit leading goal scorer. However, again, even those lists of the ones that have had, the ones that have had the lowest sort of totals for a leading goal scorer, you have people like Lampard, like De Bruyne, like Gundogan up there. So you don't even necessarily need a centre-forward to provide those goals.
You just need to score those goals. I'm going to come right out and say it. This does not concern me one bit if I'm Arsenal. What would concern me is, am I scoring goals overall? And obviously they're scoring a lot of set pieces and whatever. That is what matters. Do you agree or is it you need to have one guy carrying the can?
No, I think ideally if you can have a striker that scores you 40 goals a season and everybody else chips in, you take care. But is that better than having four guys who score 10 goals? No. As long as you score those goals. Exactly. The second best attack in the league, I think, with 42 goals. They are, I think, first for expected goals this season. So it's not... that bad.
But when you look at how many goals Saka has in the last 10 games or so, which is zero, if you look at, well, Giocares, I think he's one penalty in the last 10 or so, something like that. Madueke hasn't scored this season in the league. You go down to Trotsa and Gabriels Odegaard. So I know it's a bit difficult.
But the game against Villa, okay, there's the first goal on set piece, but after that, it's nice, flowing football, good goals. Same against Inter. I completely agree. And there's another style we were talking about off-air related to that, right?
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Chapter 4: What were the standout moments from Kylian Mbappe's game?
Yeah, they wanted to rely more on them and maybe have a bit more of a balanced attack in a way. Okay, the pieces is different, but have a left-hand side that could be as well decisive or very good with that kind of input going forward.
to have a number nine also you could rely on and go more central maybe or even Gabriel Jesus could do more in that kind of area and that was certainly something that Mika Arteta was thinking of because we'd seen games in those excellent seasons that they had together where you knew if you blocked that left-hand side from Arsenal doubling up on Salah maybe having somebody very physical on Odegaard but
On Saka, did I say Salah? It's good to double up on Salah too. Salah too. Well, maybe before the season. You knew if you blocked that left-hand side, your left-hand side, their right-hand side, then it'd be a big chunk of Arsenal's creativity gone, really. And I think there's another factor too, which is when Kai Havertz or Eddie Nketiah were playing up front,
You had a very mobile center forward who you sort of encouraged to come short to go wide and whatever else. With Jokers, you don't want him to do that. You want him. And so if I'm Udagard bursting from midfield or if I'm Saka on the break, I have this large Swedish object in the box. I will probably try to serve him rather than try to take it myself.
There's going to be situations, and I think it's a law of football since the beginning of time, You want your best players to take over and take charge and show that personality. I go outside your scheme in certain moments when you need them. It is extremely difficult to know when and how to do that. And I think that's going to determine...
one of the factors determining how Arsenal finishes the season, is can Odegaard and Saka make those right decisions at the right time? I think Arteta will empower them to do that. But that is a really, really difficult call to make. I think that has a lot to do with it. That said, an hour into the game, we see Arteta making a quadruple substitution.
Now, quadruple substitutions, I'm sure it's happened a couple times this season across all the football that we both watched together. But it's extremely rare. It's extremely rare at the 59 minutes What was he thinking? And you're not allowed to say, I don't know. You have to read his mind. Yeah. What was the logic? The logic was he was clearly not happy with what he was seeing.
Maybe there was a bit of tiredness after playing four away games in a row in 12 days or so before this game. And I think I don't really buy the freshness and the tiredness as an excuse. I didn't buy it for Liverpool on the FC show on Saturday night. I'm not going to say Arsenal were tired and United were not.
the fact that United have played 10 games less than Arsenal already this season and we are in the end of January, probably...
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Chapter 5: What does Endrick's hat trick mean for Ligue 1?
You would have taken that at the end of January at the start of the season. What I would wonder a little bit is, and you've made this point several times about how you've said it's a poor league this year. There's a lot of teams that we can point out flaws. Other people, our friend Ted Knudsen says, no, it's actually a really good league this year.
And it's just that you don't see it as much because there's good managers out there. They know how to make life difficult for you. And every game is more of a struggle. That's his view. Yeah. I think what's undeniable is Arsenal right now have 50 points, right? Yeah. Which means that they are on pace.
And I'm using, I'm not doing the math in my head, but since I did the math for Gyokuris' goal total. Yeah. It means that Arsenal will end up on around 82 points. Yeah. 82 points, that's like a throwback to like the early 90s. That's when you used to, you know, we're getting used to teams, 90 points, 95 points, winning the title. Yeah.
Does that suggest that Arsenal are not that good, or does it suggest that maybe everybody else is? Like I said, when you see that stat, does it actually lend weight to Ted's argument and suggesting that you're maybe wrong, or that actually...
I don't think the level of the, I mean, I think yesterday we had two really good games in the Arsenal United game and the Newcastle Villa game, but we haven't had this quality a lot. The fact that, and I can probably go with Ted a little bit, but look at the goal difference outside of City and Arsenal who are 26, plus 26, plus 25 or plus 25, plus 24. Villa have plus 10.
After that, after that, between fourth and 14th is plus six, plus two, minus two, minus five, plus one, plus three, which is a sense of it being average. I guess like if we were to say Arsenal are the best team in Europe or one of the two best teams in Europe, most people would agree with that based on what we see in the Champions League.
Well, if you're the best team in Europe and you're getting 82 points, I think Ted would say in your domestic league, that means that the rest of your league is also really, really good. Not really bad. I guess that's, it's a philosophical argument. It is, right.
Because I think the quality that we've seen in games, and again, maybe it's because... You're talking about the aesthetic quality of what we're saying. Yeah, the level, the quality of the football we've seen. It's definitely more tactical. I think you see that in every game. It's more tactical. It's more defensive than it's ever been.
You don't have coaches making, or you've got very few coaches making stupid, stupid mistakes. Yeah. And I think that's what, that's part of what makes the Premier League compelling. Whether it's good or bad, another issue. We've got to talk United. Yeah, of course. So, Casemiro's announced that he's leaving at the end of the season.
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Chapter 6: Why is Andy Robertson's potential move to Tottenham significant?
No. even, you know, I think it has certain physical limitations and athletic limitations in getting around the pitch. You need probably two central midfielders at a minimum. Finally, up front, and formation-wise, we saw this 4-2-3-1. Like I said, it's a big call leaving Cesco and Matias Cunha on the bench.
It's not something, you know, if you're talking about planning for the future, no, you can't do that, right? But Michael Carrick's job is to get them in the Champions League this year and plan for some hypothetical future. This coming weekend, obviously with Dorgo out, they're going to have to switch things up. Yep. What would you do? I like Mbombo in that number nine position.
I liked it because he worked against City and Arsenal and the runs in behind and against a team that played in your own half. Fulham, who travelled to Old Trafford on Sunday, are not going to play in United's half. They're not going to have their centre-backs literally 20 yards in the United's half. That's not going to happen. So there won't be that space to run into for Mbombo.
So maybe if you want to keep that pace going, At wide, you could put, let's say, Ahmad on the left and Mbombo on the right to keep Mbombo in his favorite, more likely position and put Sesko or Kunia as a 10. I think that could work. Even Kunia on his own... You say as a 10, you mean as a 9. I mean as a 9, sorry. On his own there, Kunia could work too because I think he's just that good anyway.
But maybe a more traditional number nine like Cesco for a game like that is better suited, but then he's short on confidence. Fulham knocking on the door. They're up to seventh now in the Premier League. And Riccardo Pepe could be on his way. We're going to talk about that later. I think you would expect Marco Silva's Fulham to come and be a lot more tight, a lot more defensive.
That to me suggests... Maybe pace wide isn't as important in this game. But by the same token, I don't want Mbumo ferreting around amidst the center backs. So maybe I want a more physical guy up front, whether that's Cunha or just a tall guy like Cesco. Interesting call. So far, not hard to get the motivation up for City and Arsenal. Confirm the 11.
Just, you know, win friends and influence people just by not being Ruben Amarim. Yeah. But now is when Carrick earns his bacon I think. All right, and off United. How about some quick hits instead? Let's go, Gab. Second versus third in La Liga. And you know who scores both goals for Real Madrid in a 2-0 win. Yeah. Jules, big result. Not sure it was a big performance too.
No, I would agree to that. I mean, the first half until it was pretty boring, I thought. And indeed, we need to do something a little bit special to cross the ball for Kylian. And then the penalty at the end to win 2-0. You didn't concede, I guess. And they're a very strong defense this season. Maybe stronger than some people think they are.
Probably most likely due to Courtois having, again, another very good season. The most important thing, I guess, to win and keep winning. That win against Monaco, this win, even without being too convincing. I'll say this. We can say it wasn't too convincing. They're still playing a very good team, a team that had rested. A team that never win big games, though. In the Champions League.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of Manchester City and Aston Villa's standings?
Erling Haaland, Will Foden and Jeremy Doku start on the bench and Manchester City roll to a 2-0 win over Wolves to pull within four points, Jules. Yeah, I have to be honest, I didn't think it was that great of a performance from City's point of view. They scored super early with Marmouch on the cross by Mateusz Nunes and then there was a lovely goal by Semenyuk. I like his first touch a lot.
Right foot, left foot, finish. That worked. He hit the crossbar later on his own again. But collectively... against a team that is obviously not very good I was just not really that enthusiastic about I think they were good in the first half and probably should have had that penalty as well yeah but yeah after the break we didn't see too much
Gab, let's celebrate the other team within four points of the leader. Unai Emery's Aston Villag, a huge win away at Newcastle. OK, so as you know, I don't understand Unai Emery, how he can keep doing this again and again, what his voodoo is. I've had very smart people telling me that Boulogar Kamara is essential. He's a secret to this team. And the guy gets injured and they keep winning.
Oh, no, it's John McGinn. John McGinn's a secret to this team. He gets injured. I mean, they didn't win without them last weekend, though. It's fine, but this weekend they did. This weekend they did. They did away to Newcastle. This game could have gone the other way if Sandro Tonani scores, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah, we saw. But, come on. To keep going like this.
And I think part of what he did was... He brings his wingers inside, so he's got more people in midfield. And Eddie Howe doesn't adjust. And it seems simple after the fact. Yeah. You have to teach your guys to do it while keeping your balance. And he obviously does that very, very well. And a shout-out again. Okay, I mean, when he scored his great goal, whatever.
Morgan Rodgers is absolutely ridiculous. Like, he's not going to win Player of the Year because I don't have a vote. Not yet. But, man. Like honestly, like in terms of difference makers, there's not, you can count on one hand. Because you know, the cross for the second, I mean, the second goal in the end didn't make a difference, but the cross is Dean to Watkins.
But the ball from Rodgers to Dean for me makes that goal. It's a wonderful ball after a game where he's run so much and worked so hard to still have the lucidity to find Dean like he did. It's just brilliant. I love him. A tremendous, tremendous footballer. It was tough for England at the World Cup, I'm telling you right now. Tommy T, make it happen.
Amin Adli condemns Liverpool to a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth with the last touch of the game. That's what you call a buzzer-beating three-pointer, even though it was from about, what, three inches away. Jules, this is not a good performance from Liverpool. Yeah, with the ball, attacking-wise, again, the same kind of...
boxing midfield if you want this time it was Gakpo and Salah not Ikitike and Salah as we saw in Marseille in the Champions League not working out for Mo Salah we said it on Monday we repeat it on Thursday we repeat it today not good with the ball really two goals on set pieces Van Dijk with his back So both lie on a free kick. Yeah, two shots on target.
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Chapter 8: How does the current Premier League season compare to previous ones?
And then... He says like, oh, it was a handball, but it was accidental. So you're only getting a yellow card. I mean, if you're a Palace fan, you feel like you're... What did she say? She said, yes, intentional. So, and then everybody thought, okay, no penalty. It feels like that was never a penalty, in my view. Me too. Marseille, bro, pass long, 3-1, which is good news for Paris Saint-Germain.
Jules, even... Noirnieri, even... thrown in straight away, right? This is Marseille. It's an intense game. Big game. You're coming off a humiliation at home. He gets thrown into the deep end with Quinton Timber. And he scores a phenomenal goal. Yeah, he could only play 55 minutes, which is what he played. Scored after 13. A pure one-year goal, if you haven't seen it.
Because if you don't know his team, you would know his team, if you see what I mean. Outstanding he was. I'd picked him up massively in the French media in the days before this game, since he signed. So I was hoping for a big performance. He gave it. There's much more to come because he's clearly short of much fitness as well. But a big win for them.
And big win for Marseille, too, who rotated, obviously, because they got that big game against Bruges coming up in midweek. Yeah, very good. Very much in the title race, too. Roma and Milan battle to a 1-1 draw on Sunday night. Allegri looked pleased. Should he be, Gap? No, he should not be. I mean, he is pleased because, oh, look, I got a draw against Roma, which means they only have one record.
So I move ahead. They were atrocious in the first half. Magic Mike had to save the ball a million times. Daniel Malin could have had two hat-tricks, not one. Yeah.
whatever you take the lead then concede a penalty and you can sit and argue about the penalty but I thought it was it was legit I mean the penalties that I got called this is not a good performance you need to go you don't you don't play you play once a week I expect more from you and you can't go on like this yeah
This was way, way back on Friday, but how about Paris Saint-Germain going back to the top of the table? Thanks to that man, Speedy Barcola. Yeah, I mean, it was about time he finally scored a goal, but... Oh, come on. No, no, no, no. Come on, there's competition. There's the way. No, no, no. Trust me. And he's still speedy. No, trust me. He hasn't been good, but good for him to score.
And he got even a bit lucky. Not a good performance from PSG with a few players rested as well for the game against Newcastle in the Champions League. Even Luis Enrique saying a bit short of confidence, which is true. I think the most important was to win and they did. And then Marseille did them a favour, as we saw earlier.
So how do you get, you're literally the current Champions League champions.
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