Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Spurs would take the lead, Solanke making it 1-0 and then it would turn into an absolute nightmare. That event sent off Spurs down to 10 men. They would convert the penalty, Palace, and then they'd run away with it. Sarr would get another goal just before the break. Strand Larsson getting in on the action as well.
Crystal Palace winning by three goals to one, which leaves Spurs still just one point above the relegation zone with nine games to go. Where should we start? Do you want to start today or just overall?
we'll talk about today because I think today in itself felt like a must-win game like a must-win game for Spurs which we haven't really seen for a long time we've seen them trend in the wrong direction but that buffer to the bottom three has still kind of been there so at times it almost felt like we were dragging them into the bottom sort of three or four ourselves but now as you look at it you see a Forest side who got a great point for them yesterday and a West Ham side who've been you know finding some wins and points in the last few weeks when most people thought they were doomed I think it was around early December time
So for Spurs, you see the situation they're in. I think what's alarming from my standpoint is as I watch them, if something was to happen, it just needed to be an individual that would just do something. Somebody's just running really hard by themself.
And it looks like such a poor, poor Premier League side, relatively speaking, because all those teams around them, beyond them, you've seen the sort of recent rise of Leeds. You've seen what Forest could potentially do. You've seen what West Ham have been able to do on the road and at home in recent weeks and sort of have that sense of belief. But for Spurs... You see nothing.
You've seen a captain in Romero who's been out for four games and now you see your next captain make a mistake which leads to his side going 1-1 and him missing a game now going forward. You've seen Pedro Parral, the third captain, coming off and showing real anger.
You've seen him not be able to create much, not be able to defend well, not be able to do much in midfield and a manager on the sideline who basically said all of those things as well in a press conference. He says, we have no attack, we have no midfield and we have no defence. So it's hardly inspiring confidence.
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Chapter 2: What happened in the Spurs vs Crystal Palace match?
the players that are available now the ones who will have to play in that game against Atletico Madrid bearing in mind you still have that game against Liverpool on the weekend and you know they need to start getting points on the board like if the next weekend doesn't go their way before you know it they're in the bottom three they will be in the bottom three just like that so it's such a tough situation to be in and such a bizarre one as well when's the last time we saw a team be in the knockout rounds of the Champions League and somehow deservedly in that top eight
be a team that's also thinking they're going to get relegated in the Premier League. I'm sure it might have happened in other leagues elsewhere, but this isn't something we expect to see in those fixtures. For Forest, they've got some fighting spirit. For West Ham, they've got some fighting spirit and some form. And for Spurs at this moment in time, what do they have over those other two sides?
Right now, they have nothing. There's not availability. There's not really continuity. There's not really a huge sense of belief. They've not shown anything. As you've said, in the year of 2026, they have not won a game. Their last win was away to Crystal Palace. I think it was on the 28th of December last year.
Since then, they've more or less shown nothing apart from the occasional good second half to make people believe that maybe something better is to come. But as you say, you look at those fixtures, finishing the season with Villa, Leeds, Chelsea, Everton.
If they needed to win, say, two of those games to stay up right now, how many people would say, yeah, that's going to be something that Spurs are going to be able to do? That's the problem, Shaq, because you look at that and you think, oh, Spurs, they should be able to get something from them. Enough. But then, it's not real Spurs. This is 2026 Spurs.
Of the three, I think Forest probably has arguably the hardest run. But when you're near the bottom as you are, the old cliche, no game is easy. I think the big difference, the big differentiator between Forest and West Ham, and I know Spurs were far too close in the bottom three last year themselves, but that was two managers ago. That's a different kind of pressure.
A pressure which Forest and West Ham are more used to. And again, I know what Spurs did last season, but you just wonder if that kind of experience, being able to keep you cool, keep you calm under that pressure, and that's a very different kind of pressure, serves both Forest and West Ham all the better. You've seen Spurs kind of come apart at the seams.
You spoke about Porro and his reaction to being substituted. Van de Ven in discipline in getting sent off. Romero is just about to come back from his four-match suspension. All these things kind of adding up just points to a Spurs team that are in total disarray. And I'm not sure that they're unified enough. to survive the kind of pressure that will come their way, that's on their doorstep.
Talk to me about the psychology. We saw the form there of Forrest and West Ham in comparison to Spurs, Nadim. As you said, you've been in relegation fights. The other two teams knew they were in a fight for a long time. Spurs, this has kind of crept up on them. How does that affect them mentally going into this final stretch?
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Chapter 3: Why are Spurs struggling at the bottom of the Premier League?
Like Forrest, for example, have had four managers. You've had West Ham side who've been down near the bottom as well. They've had struggles with managers. So they've gone through a tougher time. And they've had those team meetings where it's like, we need to figure this out. We need to show more character. We need to show more fight.
And as a consequence, the makeup of their sides is almost built around that. Whereas I think for this Spurs side, they can be very good, but they can be very good as frontrunners. But how does it fall now when teams are coming up against you and they have all the belief in the world that they can bring a fight to you, put you under pressure and you won't be able to back it?
I think we've seen in years gone by, whether it be Mourinho, Conte, some other managers as well, have sort of asked questions about the character of this side in terms of what it's like to fight, because they're all good footballers. But can you play like a different type of football that will help you stay in this division right now? I don't think that's the way the squad was built.
So anyone playing against them will have a belief that if you turn this into a dogfight, it will favour you more than it will favour them. So for this Spurs side that are down there now,
i bet there's never a chance in a second in the first half of the season that they think they'll be involved in a conversation about being down there in this relegation zone especially after how last year went but here they are they're probably not ready for it they were not planning for it they're gonna have to show a whole different level of like characteristic but then all of a sudden you ask like with all due respect to him is this why javi simon's side for you is this what he thought was going to be sort of being involved in you know and other players like that this is a very very specialist thing and in some ways you don't want to be the specialist player in a dog fight
But they need to show the personality, the character, the drive, the desire and the quality that they have. Otherwise, as I say, bizarrely, they could be in the Championship next year. Spurs desperate for just a glimmer, some hope, some good news. Well, it came today because the Championship now will have six playoff spots from next season.
Now, just to take you through, obviously, how it stands at the moment, top two go through automatically and then from three to six, They play each other obviously into a final. That will now be open to 7th and 8th next season, so there'll be a one-off game. 5th will play 8th, 6th will play 7th.
The winners of those two games will then play a two-legged semi-final against Ipswich and Millwall and then of course through to the final at Wembley to see who will be promoted. Do you like this idea, Nadim? To be honest, I'm not one of those people that's instantly hesitant towards change.
But what I would say about the Championship is that there are usually, you find the top two, maybe the third team as well will be inside who's worthy of essentially going up to the Premier League. But as you drop down further into those playoff positions,
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Chapter 4: What challenges does Real Madrid face in their upcoming matches?
Like, every sort of player, every fan base, they'll believe that they're not getting enough of those 50-50 decisions. Everyone will believe it. But surely that can't necessarily be the case for everyone. Otherwise, like, you know, it ends up just being fair.
I can see why he's disappointed, and I can see the emotion of it, the significance of, say, coming into the season, what it would mean to not get penalties like that in a game that's so tightly contested. But it's just the way the football goes. Looking at that, I think it's a penalty, but the referees thought otherwise.
And now, as you said, they dropped two points, Arsenal have got a seven-point lead, and the title's not in their hands anymore. So I think if I was in his position, I'd probably be a little bit upset as well, to be honest. We heard Rodri as well complaining, and then you've obviously got other fan bases saying, well, look, Gaze should have been sent off against Liverpool.
It swings and roundabouts. We talk about this on the show a lot. Do players really believe it? No. I think they feel it in the moment. I think they feel it in the moment. And we've spoken about this at post-game press conferences where there's a manager or player who's asked to speak. You get the very raw emotion of that moment, the disappointment of dropping points.
in a game that you needed to win to keep your title chance, or at least push, alive. But once the dust settles, you know, yeah, listen, okay, maybe it could have gone our way, but let's be honest, so many other things during the course of the season did. Complaining about it is really nonsensical. But you speak to players immediately after the game, that's the reaction you're going to get.
It's always going to be emotionally charged, even if it is a little bit unfair. We know Dr. Shaka Hislop is a very level-headed man. Is he speaking on behalf of all players there, Nadim? No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. Dr. Shaka speaks only for himself and nobody else. I think, obviously, after the game, the emotion is there.
But for the way that football works and fan bases work, they would have spent so much time watching Arsenal and other teams near the top. And every decision that they think is 50-50 goes Arsenal's way. Obviously, that should have gone that way.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Arsenal's time-wasting comments?
But it would be the same for Arsenal and other teams, whoever you're up against. You can't just casually watch games of football when you're very much involved in every second of it. And also, if it's a 50-50 decision that goes your way, you will believe that it was always the right decision anyway.
Chapter 6: How does the injury situation affect Spurs' performance?
No one remembers at the end of the season all the good luck that they've had. They just remember the decisions they feel that should have gone their way. And I think that's pretty much me speaking on behalf of everyone else, except for Dr. Shaka Hizmet. Okay, so yesterday, our fine doctor had it at 78-22% wise with regards to Arsenal winning the title. Stevie went 60-40, I think.
Nadim, where do you go with this? I think I'm probably closer towards Xhaka, to be honest. I think it's more an 80-20 type issue because for City, they have to remain perfect. But some of the games that they have, I can see sort of roadblocks with that, especially with the Champions League potentially going on for at least another round and potentially an FA Cup run as well.
So I could see them potentially dropping more points. But the fact is, Arsenal have it in their hands. They can afford to play against City. They could lose by 20 goals to City, potentially, in the weeks ahead. And it might not make any difference whatsoever. And not least of all, in my opinion,
Those last four games for Arsenal, the games where you really fancied them to be able to do enough to win that, to sort of see things through. So, yeah, I'm leaning, I'm probably going to go 80-20.
Obviously, it's not impossible and football can change very, very quickly, but Arsenal dropping points and dropping that many points as they're already in the 30-game bracket, I just don't see it, to be honest. I've just seen that running. That's pretty nice for Arsenal, isn't it? I've seen that before. Wow. There we go. At least we don't have to discuss that at length.
Arsenal going in the top, and if they don't, they've really mucked it up, haven't they? Of course, they went to Brighton yesterday. People thought that maybe that could see a swing in the title race.
However, with Manchester City dropping points and Arsenal getting the three against Brighton, all the talk has turned to the style in which Arsenal have gone about their ways, particularly yesterday against Brighton, where a lot of time was wasted. This is what Fabian Hertha, the Brighton manager, had to say. There was only one team that tried to play football tonight.
I will never be the kind of manager who tries to win it that way. The Premier League has to make clearer rules for time wasting because they have to protect the referee. Sid Lowe joins us as well to join in this discussion about if Arsenal have any obligation to play football better or not to time waste. I just want to start with you on this though.
Yeah, it's an interesting one because they sit atop of the tree and the way that they've done it at times hasn't really like made some people happy about it. But in the grand scheme of things, if you're an Arsenal player, fan, anyone associated with the club, like who cares? The referee is going to referee the game however he sees it.
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Chapter 7: What are the key factors impacting the relegation battle this season?
My hope is that they evolve from there. But to somehow this mean, well, this is how football is going to be played from here on in for eternity. I just don't see that overreaction. I don't know how that narrative has become. Nadim, you can see why, unlike Xhaka, there is a concern that this could be a trend moving forward.
We've seen it in more than one Premier League games, obviously throughout the season, where it seems to be about set pieces and not conceding, where the entertainment level seems to have dropped. Yeah, there's interest in that. I don't necessarily believe in the entertainment level dropping overall, but I think the focus on set pieces, I think it has become a thing.
In my opinion, why it's become a thing is because in the last, say, couple of years, I don't know if Shaq would agree with this, but most goalkeepers these days now are more or less redundant from corner kicks.
because a team is going to whip a ball into the six yard box and they're going to be upwards of 10 people in that space so goalkeepers advantage of being able to come and use their arms and catch the ball before you know there's no space for them to be able to come out and do that so some of the crosses and stuff that come into the box now it's more about sort of percentages just pure physicality trying to get first contact second contact keep the ball back in the zones and i think i remember having played against like a sam allardyce team when he was when he was at bolton
And it was about that. It was about percentages. And some might say it was ugly, but it's deeply effective. But now that the Premier League is in this position, it's not just say Arsenal do it.
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Chapter 8: Why is there criticism surrounding Arsenal's style of play?
There are lots of teams that are doing it in that manner. Like the other day, I think it was Villa decided to try and counter Chelsea's corners by leaving four players up. Well, not many managers and teams feel comfortable doing that. So before you know it, there's a crowd scene just right in front of a goalkeeper.
And the Premier League itself, for all the quality that it has, the individual quality, the collective quality, It's still becoming that time now where if you want to score goals, here's a long throw, sling it into the box. Here's a corner kick, just put it into the space. And I think when there's more creativity to it, it feels nicer.
But if it carries on in this manner, in my opinion, that becomes the USP of the league itself. And I think that's when it will become quite disappointing because I like to see in some ways, and I'd never really say this,
I think I'd like to see goalkeepers probably like supported a bit more because then you'd probably see more creativity in how people try and approach their pieces instead of just bringing like a huge level of physicality to where all it is is putting a ball into an area and everybody just fight for it. To that point, I don't think there's any...
more or less bodies in the box now than there was when I was playing. Everybody would pile into the box, you'd leave one or two up at best, and after that everybody's a free-for-all. I think the difference is it's become more orchestrated in that you've now got these set-piece coaches and you have, while you still have 16 or 18 players in the box.
Certainly the attacking players have a role to play in where they start, exactly where they go. So it's more orchestrated than it was 20 or 30 years ago when I was playing. And as a result, it looks different. But to that point, again, we put in this on Arsenal today, which... Chelsea did the same under Mourinho.
Under Mourinho, if you look at Chelsea when they were winning titles, look at how many of their goals came from set pieces and look at how orchestrated they were. It wasn't at the hands of a set piece coach. Mourinho just figured out this is what we need to do if the ball goes deep, somebody's got to run across in front of the goalkeeper. It's not different.
And I just feel that while, again, I am as critical of anybody about Arsenal and their over-reliance in set pieces and lack of otherwise attractive football or attacking football, what they're doing, still in terms of set pieces, is not new. It's just become the focus. Because it's, to the point I was making earlier, because it's so different
from Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, and dare I say, on a slot of last season. It's just so different from what we've become used to. From their perspective, no different from what Arsenal have been doing the last few seasons, where they finished second. This time now, they've just gotten a little bit better, or everybody's gone a little bit worse.
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