Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Gab, he's Jules. Cloudy skies over West London, but certainly not over the red half of Manchester as they win the Manchester derby. That's going to be our main talking point. Obviously, we'll be talking a lot of AFCON in the second segment. That was remarkable. Bayern Munich on pace to break records.
Chapter 2: What was the significance of Manchester United's win over Manchester City?
What else is new? Arsenal drawing, but extending their lead in the table. How about that? Yep. So, tons of stuff to get into. Oh, and Real Madrid. I think this might be Florentino's worst week, certainly since his second term as president. But let's start at the Manchester Derby. It's 2-0, and it's pretty much, I thought, it looked... like a completely different United. I know it's a cliche.
I don't like cliches. And you can say it's the new manager bounce. But then again, they already had the new manager bounce with Darren Fletcher. It just looked like there was a level of organization. And I guess not that they were disorganized under Amarim, but a level of organization, a system that people are familiar with. They're actually in their better positions. Yeah.
And a level of calm and almost like a quiet confidence from Michael Carrick's team.
Yeah. And we need to start by obviously praising Manchester United and Michael Carrick before criticizing Pep Guardiola.
That's what I was doing.
You were right. Yeah. Because it was City's worst performance by far this season. Terrible from Guardiola to the players. But credit to United. You're right, the 4-2-3-1 to go back to that, to put Bruno Fernandes in his best position as that number 10, to have Mbombo. All the decisions in terms of team selection that Carrick made, Mbombo as a number nine ahead of...
I don't know, Kunia, Cesco, Zergsy, to have Dogu on the left and Ahmad on the right. For example, in that front four with Bruno, Mainu back as a starter, his first start in the league this season, obviously was good with Casemiro. Even, I don't like Harry Maguire, but Maguire and Alessandro Martinez together against Erling Haaland. All of that worked.
What I liked maybe the most is the intensity and the passion that they showed, which had been sometimes there with Amorim, but this time...
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Chapter 3: How is Michael Carrick's performance influencing his chances for the Man Utd job?
you could tell they were really up for it.
Yeah, I don't like to talk too much about the metaphysical, psychological side of football because I think we over-egg it too much, but it was definitely there. And I think, and let me ask you this because I asked a question in the column. I think we both agree, I'm putting words in your mouth, Diogo Dalo should have been sent off, yeah? Yeah, after 15 minutes. Okay, so if he gets sent off,
it's possible that they don't win the game. Absolutely. But do you think it would have affected the way they played other than being down to 10 minutes? In terms of intensity, in terms of vibe that Carrick gives off?
No, yeah, you're right. Probably not. You would have probably played deeper with a lower block, but keep that intensity in. All the duels, they were on top of everything, winning the first one, winning the second one, fighting for everything. And at some point I thought, okay, they're going to run out of gas at some point and maybe sit in the last 20, 25, 30 minutes. Yeah.
would just come back into the game, score one, and then he'd be very tense and things like that. But no, never. They kept going and going.
And again, and I think Guardiola is right, and I'm not trying to defend him, but to have played on the Tuesday against Newcastle away in the League Cup semi-final first leg, when United obviously had a whole week to prepare, even with a new manager, I think took his toll. But then, we can then criticize Guardiola for the team selection after anyway.
Yeah, no question about that. I would imagine, we didn't say it, Ryan Shirky on the bench.
How is he not starting? He's beyond me.
There's another factor too. Erling Haaland had 14 touches in this game, three in the opposition half. And you look at the guys who were out there, Certainly in midfield, you expect a midfield trio of Rodri Foden and Bernardo Silva to be able to control the game and to provide regular service. And the two wingers, of course, that they had out there. But it wasn't there.
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Chapter 4: What were the key tactical changes made by Carrick in the Manchester Derby?
But we still play such a high defensive line, away at Old Trafford. I know it's a team that United hadn't won much and were in crisis and all of that, but they've got pace. They've got Bruno that can pick a ball anywhere, as we saw on the Dogu chance that the Aruma saves. Incredible ball.
Two exceptional saves from Donnarumma, I thought.
This could have been 4-5. But you can't play that high line with such a passive press in midfield. Rodri can't run anymore. Bernardo can't run anymore. They can't press. We know that Haaland, you said the other day on the show, is not a good presser of the ball either. So how can you go into his game like this with that kind of game plan from Guardiola is crazy.
All right, Jules, let's talk the defense. Obviously, Pep kind of feels the same way because Guardiola out for the season. Yeah. Ruben Diaz out until the middle of February. John Stones in and out. We don't know. So they've lined up 20 million pounds for Mark Gay.
And I'm being super cautious with this because I remember another team that had agreed a deal for Mark Gay and he was having his medical and stuff and Steve Parrish was in the sauna and then suddenly the deal collapsed. And to this day, we still don't know. We still don't know why. And no, it's not because Oliver Glasner threatened to resign, by the way. Yeah. We assume he's going to go through.
If he doesn't go through, but I want to, Gabe would obviously be a tremendous addition. He'd have to make an adjustment, I think, from going to a back three to a back four, but he's a smart guy. Yeah, he does that with England anyway. He's better than Kusinov and Max Salin, where Max Salin is right now, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I think the broader thing is they realize that they need another centre-back. And as you know, I love being critical of clubs and Monday morning quarterbacking. I gave Liverpool a super hard time because they went into the season with Karnate, Van Dijk, and then a young Leone and an old Joe Gomez. And botched the gay thing. I wonder, have I been too kind to Pep?
Because you could look at it and say, oh, you went into the season with Diaz and Guardiola, and I guess Ake is the extra. Yeah, yeah. But Ake's not that good. Yeah, hasn't been that great for a while.
Yeah.
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Chapter 5: What were the major incidents during the AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco?
And then he scored. Wonderful. They'll have new signings from January 2. They have young players who are coming through who are really good, who are making a name for themselves in Ligue 1. It's just looking great. And there's the pressure from PSG and Marseille, who are not fine. By the way, next Sunday... They play Marseille, yeah. It's a way of Marseille they're playing.
So it's a huge test for them. But for now, it's been wonderful. They've been the best team in the league.
I'm going to put you on the spot. Percentage chance that we're going to be celebrating with our buddy Joseph and uncorking the champagne. Well, you won't.
I would be happy for Joseph, for sure. I would say right now I still have PSG, even if they're behind, slightly have to be in favor. Yeah, one point behind. They have to be slightly in favor. So I'll probably go for 60 PSG, 30 Lens, 10 Marseille. All right. But Zadaby, thank you for remembering him. Stanislav Lobotka scores early for Napoli, who beats Sassuolo 1-0, gap three points.
But now Hakmani and Politano are injured as well.
Yeah, he can't catch a break with the injuries. He gets angrier and angrier. I think at some point, since we're talking muscular injuries, and I hate doing this. Look, you're medically adjacent. You would know about that. We don't know from the outside, right? Is there a randomness of the medical things? People attack medical departments. They question, blah, blah, blah.
It's certainly not normal to have this many injuries like they've had. Obviously, they haven't all been soft tissue injuries. But this is a massive blow. They have the Champions League coming up. Conte can't be happy. No. It's always feast or famine for Marseille, isn't it, Jules? Yeah. They feasted on Angers, 5-2. So I guess our boy Roberto de Zarbi is happy.
Yeah, very happy. He said one of the best first halves he's ever seen, not just at Marseille, but even from previous clubs. Counting his time, it's a swallow. Probably. They were outstanding to defend that first half. And Angers are a good team, but they're also a playing team and there were some key players missing.
Actually, Marseille are about to sign Angers' best players who didn't play at this game on Sunday. on Saturday, on Sunday. But incredible for Marseille. Greenwood, Guiri, Traoré, all of them really, really good. Perfect two before they host Liverpool on Wednesday at the Velodrome where I will be and the atmosphere is going to just be incredible. So, can't wait for that.
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Chapter 6: Why did Senegal walk off the pitch during the AFCON final?
What gives? I feel abandoned. I'm left here on my own. He's touched upon it before, but never to the same degree. The owners could come back and say, well, Liba Oliver, if you were so committed to this club, maybe you would have signed a new contract and you wouldn't just let your deal run down. Why should we, who we are a smallish club historically, we don't have an enormous fan base.
We're not Manchester United. Yeah, we had this run. We spent money. We got you players for the run. We did very, very well. We might be willing to continue if we would commit. But if you're not going to commit to us, why should we commit funds that are scarce for us now when we're going to need a new manager in June? And he might like a different kind of players. He might want to.
So I get both sides. Both sides emotionally are right. Intellectually, both sides are wrong. Viewed from the outside. Because clearly promises were made and weren't kept. Or the ownership misread Glasner. Yeah, maybe. You can't have a guy talking like this. The Times, who are close to Steve Parrish, the Palace chairman, reporting that he's going to stick around until the end of the season.
Yeah.
Maybe so. I feel first and foremost for Palace fans, because this is not what this season was supposed to look like. Now, sticking with Palace, Jean-Philippe Mateta could be the next star to exit, which would obviously fuel further frustration from Glasner. He's linked to Juve. Does it make sense for Juve, Jules?
I mean, yes, because they obviously don't have a number now. Vlaovic, Openda, David, they play one up front. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I know it's a profile that they don't have, I guess. Unless Vlaovic is fit. Yeah, but even that, Vlaovic may be probably a bit more still dynamic than Mateta, old school kind of number. I don't know. 25 million, really?
So he will be alone, like with a fee, with an obligation to buy in the summer. I can see from him why he would want to be to a club like Juve. Amazing dream come true. He's had a career where he struggled to make a name for himself. Now finally he's there. He can maybe go to the World Cup. Okay, all that. Make the most of it now, no problem. But from a UV point of view, I'm not too sure.
Also from UV's perspective, you do not have a lot of resources. Yeah, a lot of money, right? He's going to be 29 years old in June.
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Chapter 7: What were the reactions to the disallowed goal in the AFCON final?
It doesn't mean he's finished, but you won't have any resale. Why do this? And I know Vlaovic is leaving, but Vlaovic is coming back in March. If you do need, if you can't win without that kind of figure between now and the end of the season, you'll have Vlaovic. And then, you know, maybe he'll stick around. Vlaovic will be very motivated when he comes back, obviously, right?
Because he's facing free agency. And then cross that bridge later. To me, this doesn't make sense at all.
I know.
And Jaknoff scores deep in injury time to risk you a 3-3 draw for Antwerp Frankfurt away at Bremen. But Gab is not enough to save Dinotop Molle's job.
Yeah, I feel for Dino Topmuller solely because he was apparently named for Dino Zoff. Yeah. What a weird German thing to do. It is weird, absolutely. Like the guy who beats you in the World Cup final, the captain, like, yeah, I will name my son after him. I don't know. It's what Luis Van Gaal might have called masochismus. Yes. But anyway, they're seventh. They have 27 points.
They didn't expect to be there.
They won one in nine or something like that.
They've conceded a bazillion goals. Yeah, I defends that they're an absolute mess. It was fun while it lasted. Time to move on. Antofati scores. There's a blast from the past. But Monaco fall at home to Lorient 3-1. Jules, seven defeats in their last eight in Ligue 1. For those watching, Jules is wearing a Monaco jersey in their honor.
Of course, a clioche.
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