Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas joined by Craig Burley and Stevie Nicholl. We'll kick things off in the Premier League. League leaders Arsenal in action against Liverpool. Arsenal of course with the chance to stretch their lead to eight points at the top of the table. That didn't materialise though. They just didn't click in the final third.
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Chapter 2: What were the highlights of Real Madrid's victory over Atletico Madrid?
There was nowhere to go. So first half was complete and utter domination from Arsenal. Arsenal's front three, completely blunt, totally blunt. Jocky Rez probably could have been better off sat on the bench beside his manager. But the second half was competitive. Neither side created any real chances. And at the end of the day, I guess 0-0 is probably the right result.
Yeah, I think it's difficult to argue that. Frank, I think a 0-0 draw probably sums this game up quite nicely. Yes, exactly. I would have never thought that after the first half, but that's the reality of what happened today. If Arsenal were very dominant, as Stevie alluded before, Liverpool showed their strength in the second half.
It needed, I think, Gabriel Jesus' header and the 88th minute for Arsenal to have a chance in the second half. So it says a lot about the fact that Liverpool, if they park the bus in a way in the first half, they try something in the second half. So the result is only fair for me.
Arsenal did something to Liverpool that not many teams have been able to do this year, which made them actually look pretty decent defensively. Because they haven't kept that many clean sheets, particularly on the road, even at home at Anfield.
Chapter 3: What were the key moments in the Arsenal vs Liverpool match?
But I think we saw once again that You know, we've discussed sort of Jacques Cres, and it's not all on him. Of course it's not. But when a couple of those balls are fizzing across the six-yard box, he's on his heels. Eight touches he had in the whole game. He's not in there. It's not happening at the moment. And dare I say, they probably will win the league.
I mean, that's a bit of a stutter for them today. But it might be a case where... He's not the starting number nine. Jesus is fit now. Havertz is there or thereabouts, I believe. And quite frankly, Arsenal are where they are, despite him, not because of him. Why?
When we were calling out last year when Kai Havertz was missing chances, we were saying, right, Arsenal need a number nine, a target man. Well, they needed a number nine. Most of us thought that, but they needed a really good number nine. At the moment... He's not. I mean, Declan Rice talks about the fact that he's getting, you know, defenders are getting tight to him and all that sort of stuff.
You don't think defenders are getting tight to Erling Haaland? Well, you think they're playing man for man on Haaland? They're not. He's just been, well, look, he's a much better player. But his movement and his aggressiveness in the box is just much better. His finishing is much better. A part of it is down to the way Arsenal, I think, play at times with the tippy-tappy.
But they have fizzed a few balls into the box. And he's not been anywhere to be seen. These are the type of games as well where you haven't played great. The opponent is gritty. And you're just looking for somebody to be the penalty box striker and get you the 1-0 win. And at the moment, he's not that man. So there's two things.
You expect your centre-forward to be in certain places at certain times when certain balls are played in the box. And that ball Craig's talking about that was fizzed in, right across the six-yard box, he was 10, maybe between 10 and 15 yards away from that. Right. So he's not read it, he's not anticipated it. And that's the other key.
You know, the best strikers anticipate and read and figure out what sort of area the ball's coming into. Not exactly where it's going to be, but... What area it's going to be. That's why you see Harry Kane scoring so many goals. All of a sudden, guess who's on the end of it? Jokeres doesn't seem to be able to work that part of the game out.
And the longer it goes, the less chance he's got of starting. Because right now, to me, it looks as though he should be starting somebody else. Luis, what do you think? Is this Jokeres not being good enough or Arsenal not using their tactics to support him?
I think that when a striker doesn't score goals or, not that he doesn't score goals, when he doesn't create enough chances, it's because around him there are also problems. I didn't see that the Arsenal players were trying to find him or the crosses were in the right position. It's true that sometimes as a number nine, and we've been talking about Gonzalo Garcia,
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Chapter 4: How did Arsenal's performance impact their title race?
But it's a moot point of Arsenal winning the league. Will they win the league? I think at the moment, yes. I think this is a blip for them. I think the rest have fallen over themselves. It's as simple as that. It is absolutely theirs to chuck away. Even with a dysfunctional number nine.
It all goes away if they win the league, which looks likely at the moment because they're very strong in every other department. Arteta will just say, well, you know what, next year he's going to be better. And it hasn't cost us, so it's not really a drama. However, if one of these teams put a run together, and it looks like it can only be City, although they are faltering,
And Arsenal have a few more of these results and the pressure gets cranked up. You fell away the last couple of years, you finished second, you're all surrounds, you know, the media start picking away at them. That's when I think it's going to become a really pressurised situation. At the moment, this gap is giving them leeway for the odd mistake.
Yeah, but Luis, will they be going to sleep tonight happy with six points or knowing that it could have been eight? Yeah, I think that the way that we saw today the game, I think they might be very happy. They have their options in the first 45, but Liverpool control the second half. Just the last 10 minutes, maybe when the game becomes a little bit transition forward and backwards.
But during the second 35 minutes in the second half, I think Liverpool was... dominating and creating maybe not clear chances because Liverpool is struggling to find the back of the net and, well, without Izaak, without Iquidique.
So I'm sure that Arsenal, and by the way that they set up the lines of four in defence and not giving much space to Liverpool, you could see that they were more worried about conceding than more thinking about going forward. So one point for them, I think, is more than happy to have it. Does this make any difference to the title race for Liverpool?
I think that at the moment, the way that it is, there is... Sorry, I thought that you were asking to me. It's all right. He coughed in the middle of it. Blame me. Definitely blame. Frank, do you think this makes a difference to the title race? I don't. I don't because I think Manchester City missed a chance yesterday to close the gap a little bit more.
And we can see that it could be City or Aston Villa. They're not consistent. And if they want to chase Arsenal, they would have to win almost every game. And Arsenal overall deserve to win that title because... they show that they are the strongest, the more consistent and maybe the most talented team this season in the Premier League.
We saw the second semi-final of the Spanish super cuppa Atletico taking on Real Madrid a place in the final against Barca of course at stake and what a start it would be for Real Madrid. Fede Valverde scoring with a scorching free kick within the opening two minutes of the tie. Atletico Madrid looking to rally but it would be Madrid who would get the second.
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Chapter 5: What criticisms were made about Viktor Gyokeres' performance?
And when I heard and read what Simeone said, I like it even less. I believe that's not the example of a good sportsman.
For me, not everything goes.
You have to have respect for the rival.
There is a limit to everything that happens on the pitch.
An important win, you're in the final of the Super Cup again. But a really tough game, right?
Yeah, it's always tough games against Atletico. I cannot remember many games that I played against them that was an easy win or so. It's always hard work.
Also the circumstances is quite hard especially when you come from Europe where it's one degree or so It's a big change and also the pitch wasn't that good so I think that influenced a bit in the game But after I think two teams that fought well that had their chances and eventually we scored twice and they scored once and I think that sums up a bit But I think we had a big effort from everyone as a team and that's good I think both teams take great a lot of chances We should have scored more we could have won the game.
So this is the feeling we have now and
Yeah, we just have to try to look forward now and we can be disappointed today, but tomorrow is a new day. I'm always grateful to my teammates, who are the ones who give me that confidence to grab the ball and to throw. Many times you don't have that confidence because of moments of play, because the energy is not what you want. But thank God I got in and I'm grateful to the whole team.
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Chapter 6: Will Arsenal win the league despite their recent struggles?
Mario. Bob.
Always.
Sorry, come on. It's late in France. Don't start. It's late. I really think that you are thinking that Manchester United are planning on getting something great straight away. No, they're not. They're going to finish the season. Maybe they're going to get the Champions League. Maybe. But what they think is what's going on next season. So it doesn't.
really matter who's going to get in charge right now, where they're going to position themselves, how it's going to work. It's not even a debate because they know they're such in a big mess that they put somebody and let's see, let's think about the future, the close future, but it's still a future. And talking about the present, it's... It's not doing anything.
It doesn't bring anything to them. So bring Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because the guys, as you say, that's a nice smile, a nice guy, and he's going to do it for like three months, four months, five months, and that's it. And after, we're getting it seriously. Luis, you're a nice guy with a nice smile. Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big fan of second parts, and I feel it this way.
I think that if you are trying to get in the top four because that's the only target or the only aim that you think you're going to achieve, why you get rid of Ruben Amorim and wait until the end part of the season?
You are three points away from Champions League, so why to bring on... It reminds me a little bit of that joke of Nate Vargas, the comedian, American comedian, when you send a mail and the computer says... No, you cannot send it because it's too big, and you wait and you say, what about now? That's kind of the thing. That didn't work before, why should it work now?
Because you think that it's going to be hatching something? I'm not a big fan of that. Just a reminder, more Manchester United chat over on YouTube, where you can also find extra time as well, where we stay late. Look, Robbie's got a standing ovation. What's that for? I don't know, a velvet jacket?
It is glorious goal for Manchester United. Well, don't write them off just yet.
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Chapter 7: What did Xabi Alonso say about the altercation during the match?
No, no, I'm not being funny, right? I wish people wouldn't get carried away. You know, a team, you know, I don't hear anybody talking about Arnold Slott being a tactical genius for blacking Arsenal out. You don't need a tactical genius to get everybody behind the ball. Right. You know, at the end of the day, the better size, the onus has always been on them to break down the opposition.
And for 100 years, teams have been sitting in a defensive shape and it's always been up to the opposition to break them down. So, I don't think it's got anything to do with coaching or tactics. Sometimes the likes of Arsenal, in terms of the final third, don't turn up. I mean... We've been talking about Arsenal all season, and it's been the same question mark every single weekend.
They don't put teams away. And then with the weak Villa force, we go, OK, looks like they've figured out how to put teams away. And then today, considering the possession, considering the domination they had over Liverpool, they couldn't put Liverpool away, never created a clear chance, but yet they were still able to make three. They completely changed the front three.
That's how strong they are, but yet they still couldn't break Liverpool down. So... I'm not so sure it's down to coaching tactics. It's about teams not being able to do it because on certain days they just can't figure it out. Yeah, if I may, I think that we have seen lately teams who are not capable of defending, not being good defending.
The only team who knows how to defend is Arsenal, and they are first. Today, to show what I tried to explain, is that when you defend, you have a chance maybe to win. Liverpool, for the first time this season, they defended well. Last season, they were good. We saw City collapsing last season because they had no defence.
So it's like nowadays, it's not really important to defend, but how to score. But I was born with an education of football where the Italians were the masters of defending and showed to the rest of the world that if you are good defensively, you're going to get titles, you're going to win stuff, you're going to show consistency. And today, right now in England,
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Chapter 8: What were the implications of the comments made by Diego Simeone?
We don't see that anymore. The only team who knows how to defend, again, it's Arsenal. Is there not an argument to say a team like Sunderland, who I think pretty much everyone expected to go down, have been so good because defensively they've been solid, Frank? I think so. I think so. You can add that to Arsenal.
They've defended well as well.
Yeah, yeah, but I mean, for me, it's the basics. We all had that in our education, again, until the 2010, let's say. Maybe, I don't know why it changed, but we all knew that we had to be strong. I mean, I played with players like Desailly, Deschamps, and some others who were playing in Italy. And they say that's what you have to do, otherwise you're not going to get anything.
And I remember playing for Chelsea and working hard with Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, who had that Italian education where you first try to be solid at the back and after you try to develop your football. But if you are a piece of, I don't know, a bad gruyere, as we say, with holes everywhere, you're not going to survive.
And it says a lot about every time you see a winner of a title, it's because he has been good defensively, personally. The other thing as well is, let's be honest, how many great strikers are there in the Premier League now? How many are there in the world? Well, you know, particularly Erling Haaland, yeah? Fantastic. Talked about Jacques Rez. Chelsea haven't got one.
Newcastle have got, you know, Volta Man has done OK. Then Thiago's got Watford up to sixth? Fifth? Yeah. No way. You know, Aston Villa, Watkins has had a better period recently, but it was awful. You know, there's not... So there is that, in a sense there is that as well.
We've been used to, certainly, and other countries are the same, but in England we've been used to having, to name a few, you know, when Shearer was playing and Fowler was playing and Van Nistelrooy and Drogba and all these teams, right, had these people who were just... do something amazing. You know what I mean? And you can throw balls in the box and they were putting their head on it.
And that was the difference. It was goals, it was quality. How many at the moment have we got in the Premier League that can say, that is... Top quality, world-class strikers. I think there was always at least five or six teams. I think at the moment we're looking at one. Is that a result of tactics? All these guys Craig's talking about got service.
Now, the people that get service now are the wide guys. Hi. Your Madwakis and your Sackers and all these guys. Every team, it seems like the most important guys are the attacking wide guys. So your centre forward is not getting enough service. I can even tell you, I can even tell you, you would have done that to Drogba, to Rooney, or any other, to Shearer.
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