Shocking Bench Decisions: Pochettino's Last-Minute Moves Spark Outrage Among Fans!

In this thrilling episode of Football Yanks, Ryan and Derek dive into the drama and excitement of EPL Week 31! The table sees a shuffle as Tottenham stakes a claim to the fourth spot. Arsenal's victory over Brighton is dissected, alongside Havertz's recent standout performance and Arsenal's title chances.

The tension is palpable as Liverpool and Arsenal go neck-and-neck on points and goal difference. City's face-off with Crystal Palace scrutinizes Gvardiol's gameplay, while Pep's reaction to a player's performance stirs the pot. With Chelsea languishing in 9th place, our hosts passionately debate their European football aspirations and dissect their faltering form.

The Chelsea vs. Man United midweek match is under the microscope, highlighting key goals and penalties, player contributions, and future lineup speculations. Ryan and Derek also reflect on Chelsea's distinct halves, Antony's pivotal contributions (finally?), and Ten Hag's controversial comments about Mount's transfer ahead of the "mid-off."

Amidst tactical critiques of Pochettino, player transfers, and game-defining penalties, don't miss Cole Palmer's lauded hat trick or the Mount vs Enzo altercation. The hosts navigate through shithousing and this weekend's Sheffield stalemate.

The episode is packed with insight into England's squad depth, a critique of Southgate's managerial tactics, and a comparison of Anthony Gordon and James Harden's skills in drawing fouls. The VAR debate heats up, as do comments on the goal-laden Brentford vs Villa encounter.

Pulisic's career revival and Barcelona's financial maneuvers get a spotlight, adding depth to Ryan and Derek's spirited football banter. Join us for heated discussions, in-depth analysis, and a touch of humor that only Football Yanks can deliver. Tune in to The Football Yanks for all this and more – it's a matchday analysis you won't want to miss!

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Transcript

Ryan [00:00:00]:
Hey, everyone, it's the football yanks here. And today we covered a lot of EPL content. There were so many games in the last week. We paid special attention to Chelsea because they are a fucking fiasco. And we. We covered their disaster against Sheffield today and the mid off, as everyone came to call it, between Chelsea and Man United in the middle of the week. We covered that. We covered the primary contenders in the title chase.

Ryan [00:00:42]:
We talked about Tottenham and how they've now moved into a guaranteed Champions League slot because Villa has sort of imploded here. And I think that's about it. We talked about the mentality that Arsenal has shown and I think gave our predictions for, or I guess, recommitted to our predictions for who will see this out and win the title. We talked about my falling out of love with Pochettino, to put it mildly. But, yeah, lots, lots of content around the PL. And then we covered a few other fringe things. Derek, you.

Derek [00:01:24]:
Yeah. So we talked about the. The exemplary leadership of the Barcelona board as that fiasco continues to unfold. And then also a little bit of attention from Yanks of the ranks on christian politics march towards his goal of breaking Clint Dempsey's scoring record in the top five leagues.

Ryan [00:01:45]:
Yeah, we also touched on Tuchel a little bit and how he is just.

Derek [00:01:51]:
Back in the market.

Ryan [00:01:52]:
Yeah, he'll be back on the market. He is just so dysfunction and Byron and will be looking for a job here soon, but lots to get into. Thanks for tuning in.

Derek [00:02:03]:
Yeah, we're here.

Ryan [00:02:04]:
Enjoy it.

Derek [00:02:05]:
But we're talking about soccer here. Hosts Derek Ryan and Luke are all football fanatics tracking our fellow Yanks in the EPL and abroad. Enjoy today's episode.

Ryan [00:02:28]:
Hey, what's up, man? How you doing? How's it going today?

Derek [00:02:33]:
Make sure to get on a jersey other than Chelsea. I forgot, but this one's been collecting dust. I should wear this more. Although this is a Tigray jersey that somebody, a coworker brought back from. I think it's a Columbia. From Columbia, like a long time. I got this like 14 years ago, maybe something like that. It's a pretty cool looking one, but, yeah, just I'm.

Ryan [00:03:01]:
They don't put collars on kits enough anymore, you know?

Derek [00:03:06]:
Yeah. The city one they were in yesterday almost had like a hybrid collar on it. I mean, I'm not, like, necessarily a big fan of it from like, a playing standpoint.

Ryan [00:03:15]:
Yeah, I don't like playing in them for sure, but I'm also not a.

Derek [00:03:20]:
Big collared shirt guy in general, I guess. I haven't seen you not wearing a collared shirt in the last ten years. So.

Ryan [00:03:28]:
You had one at that party we were just at? You had one on.

Derek [00:03:31]:
It was a polo shirt. It's the most bro ish thing I could have been wearing.

Ryan [00:03:34]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Derek [00:03:36]:
But, yeah, it's. Yeah, that was a. There was a good, good time for Steven's birthday, so. So. And, you know, distracted us a little bit from the Chelsea game, which is good. And then, yeah, for whatever reason, I behaved myself while I was at the Bayside Finch concert by myself on Friday. Had, like, two drinks, because that's, like, what a normal human being does. And then last night, I just decided, oh, you know, this whiskey is really good.

Derek [00:04:02]:
I might as well just keep pouring it. And that's why I am the way I am today.

Ryan [00:04:10]:
Which is what hung.

Derek [00:04:12]:
Over and then had some more, you know, hair of the dog to even things out. So I feel all right at the moment just drinking some soda. Keep things even keeled.

Ryan [00:04:21]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:04:22]:
How you doing?

Ryan [00:04:23]:
What is it, week 31? Is that what we're in?

Derek [00:04:25]:
Yeah, week 31, which, you know, they combine two for one this week.

Ryan [00:04:30]:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. So I was not, like. Like, heading into this week. I was not prepared for anything. Well, yeah, I mean, life in general, but also, I was not prepared for it. There to be two, like, every team to be playing basically two matches for it to be midweek, midweek games, I guess.

Derek [00:04:54]:
Well, I mean, some teams played two matches. Some played, you know, 60 minutes, 80 minutes, total worth of effort. You know, there's the United world, and there's everybody else.

Ryan [00:05:07]:
Dude. I. There.

Derek [00:05:10]:
80 minutes is a lot.

Ryan [00:05:12]:
Yeah. So, for context, if you're listening to the podcast, we will. One, obviously, Luke is not here anymore, like, or, sorry, not anymore. Today. He's not with us anymore.

Derek [00:05:27]:
Big announcement for the show.

Ryan [00:05:28]:
Yeah, no, no, he. I. We fired Luke. Luke. So the, like, urgent thing that he had to deal with last week was he needed to talk over his new job with his wife, who was. Who I think was about to go out of town, and there was, like, a pretty narrow window for him to go over the implications of that, and he's now accepted the position. Hopefully. That's, like, public.

Ryan [00:05:59]:
He's. Yeah, must be. And then. Yeah, he's like. Yeah, he's, like, working on wrapping that shit up. So, I mean, hopefully one day, Luke will be back on the podcast. I had to point out to him that he chose this time for us to record. So hopefully start.

Derek [00:06:20]:
It's hopefully next week. You'll be back.

Ryan [00:06:22]:
Yeah. At some point, surely Luke will be back. I do like the balance that he brings. This would have been a good week for him to be on. On the podcast because I think.

Derek [00:06:35]:
I don't want to fucking talk about any of these games.

Ryan [00:06:38]:
Sure. Also, I think it was like, if you're a Tottenham fan, I think this was a very good week. Like, villa drop points, United drop points, Tottenham back into the Cl spots. It's. Everything's coming up spuds right now, so. Yeah, but it. I can't feel anything anymore. So for context.

Ryan [00:07:10]:
Right, that's what I was saying. It is. Well, on the east coast, it's 315, the Chelsea on Sunday. The Chelsea Sheffield game just wrapped. And I just like, what does that mean? Meme? I expect nothing. And yet somehow I'm still disappointed.

Derek [00:07:34]:
What is it about your life experiences that made you so much more resilient that you made it, like, eight more weeks to this point than it took me to get there?

Ryan [00:07:43]:
You think it was only like, I think you bailed, like, far earlier?

Derek [00:07:49]:
Yeah, there's. There's recordings we can go back to. Yeah. I mean, it's been a while.

Ryan [00:07:53]:
Yeah, I can't answer that question. It was sort of like, if my attitude was like, until I think it's impossible. I'm just gonna keep hoping. But let's look at this table. So. Well, Chelsea moved into 9th, so that's something. We're in the top half of the table for the first time since, who knows, december sometime maybe we did have a run where we made it up to 8th. I think we are Chelsea with 44 points.

Derek [00:08:35]:
Um, I mean, not inconceivable based on how this looks. Like you said, with us having 44 in United having 49 and us having game in hand, that we end up weasing our weaseling our way into european football.

Ryan [00:08:52]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:08:52]:
This season.

Ryan [00:08:53]:
And it's kind of crazy. Like, our run of form is okay, weirdly, like, you don't want to. You don't want to drop points to Sheffield. You don't want to drop points to Bournemouth. You know, sorry if you're a fan of those two teams, but they're bad. But I. How long has it been since Chelsea lost in the pl? It's been a while. So, like, I don't know, like, maybe.

Derek [00:09:27]:
Yeah. I mean, the results don't look horrendous. And this. This where the movement on the table doesn't look bad. It's just, you know, some other things that are hard to look past.

Ryan [00:09:39]:
Yeah. It was wolves February 4, was the last time we lost in the league. Lost to wolves over towards. Yeah. So, like, I don't know, should I be happier? I can't be. And I think that's because. So let's. Let's.

Ryan [00:10:02]:
Let's talk.

Derek [00:10:03]:
There's drugs for that, but I want to see where you're going with this.

Ryan [00:10:06]:
All right, so let's, like, sort of dig into this. So the highs and lows of being a Chelsea fan. So Chelsea played a fucking unhinged mid off in the middle of the week against Man United, who are also dreadful, man. But Man United are. They're like, these two team. Clubs are dreadful in. In similar ways, at least to, like, similar degrees of dreadful. But the.

Ryan [00:10:39]:
The difference between these two clubs is the lucky that, like. So there's always an element of luck, right? And it seems like United use all of their good form to secure. Like, what is. I think United have a negative goal differential. I believe that's correct. So United, negative one goal differential. Chelsea with plus three. Somehow Man United in 6th place.

Ryan [00:11:21]:
So where I'm trying to go with this is, like, statistically, like, if you look at the stats here, and this is like a Pochettino line, I'm not using it to wave away how bad Chelsea have been, which is kind of what pach has been doing. Uh, what I'm saying is that whatever hex is on Chelsea, United has, like, the opposite. Whatever the opposite of a hex is. Right. Like, they are every bit as bad, but they get lucky enough where they are. They're, like, in Europe positions, right? Yeah.

Derek [00:11:59]:
They've overachieved on the body of work.

Ryan [00:12:02]:
Yeah. It's like somehow they have utilized their goals to maximize points in ways that we have not. All right, let's tackle. So the good. Let's tackle the good. Chelsea four, man United three. There are. I feel like we cover Chelsea a lot, and our intent of this on this podcast is not for it to be a Chelsea podcast.

Ryan [00:12:32]:
It's to be like, obviously, like, cover the american players, also the EPL. But I think that the most interesting things that are happening in the PL right now are the title chase between Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, and then whatever the fuck is happening with Chelsea and Man United. Right. So that's kind of like the focus here or why the focus is drawn to. To these. The club relegation battle. Yeah, the relegation battles. Fun, too.

Ryan [00:13:09]:
Yeah. But, yeah. So if you're at a neutral, if you're a casual observer of soccer, of the Premier League, this. This was one of the craziest. Games of the, of the season, this Chelsea Man United game, just to roll through it. Chelsea for Man United three. Connor Gallagher opens the score sheet in the fourth minute of the match with sort of a scuffed shot that goes under Anana. A lot of people gave Anana some grief for not stopping that.

Ryan [00:13:56]:
I don't know. It is like the conditions during this game were crazy. Like, it's absolutely pouring for most of this match. And, yeah, he could have done better, but I don't know, it's. It's through traffic in the pouring rain. It's a weird shot. But anyway, Gallagher puts Chelsea up one nothing. Then up the.

Ryan [00:14:24]:
The left wing Kukureya, of all people, gets goalside of Antony, who sort of shoves Kukureya to the ground. And I think mostly because of the player positions, a penalty is given. It's soft for me. What did you think of this penalty? Also? What did you think of that first goal? Like, what did you think Onanna should have. Should have stopped that.

Derek [00:14:54]:
I think by the time I sat down, they were up to nothing.

Ryan [00:14:58]:
Oh, right. Watching this game, you didn't rewatch it?

Derek [00:15:02]:
I ain't rewatched those two plays. I went back and watched the part, the end of the game that I also missed at one point because I was working.

Ryan [00:15:10]:
Yeah. Derek chose this day of all days to work.

Derek [00:15:16]:
I was trying not to. It's only I picked up, made the mistake of picking up the. For somebody I liked. It wasn't because I actually beholden to doing a good job, but that seems to be the consensus. That was pretty soft. But then again, people also said Delos is soft, so I'll weigh in on that.

Ryan [00:15:33]:
Yeah, yeah, I'll be. I think we might disagree on that. I'll be curious what you said, you have to say. And then Garnacho scores. This was right. So this was bizarre. I'm trying to, like, remember there's so much has happened, but also my fucking life has been mayhem with work. So, like, everything in my life is sort of a blur right now.

Ryan [00:15:57]:
But Garnacho, I forget who intercepts it, but, like, basically Caesado has the ball at midfield and then Baddie Ishiel, who is fucking. What has happened with Baddieshiel? What has happened? What have we done with Baddieshiel?

Derek [00:16:16]:
He looked like.

Ryan [00:16:18]:
He looked like one of our best signings last year. And it's. It's. I can't explain what has happened.

Derek [00:16:29]:
It's been a race from my memory. Kind of like your football manager.

Ryan [00:16:32]:
I was looking at a lineup for, like, I was looking at someone's predicted lineup for today's game against Sheffield. And he had baddie a shield on there, but had written his name as Baddie B Adi. And I, at first glance, I thought it just said bad with an exclamation point. And I was like. I was like, yeah, yeah.

Derek [00:17:02]:
Like the right way to fill out the team.

Ryan [00:17:04]:
She. Yeah. Anyways, first summer next to it, it.

Derek [00:17:07]:
Says silver just said worse.

Ryan [00:17:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. So for some reason, Keiseido is the furthest player back. Like, baddy Ashiel is up. The pitch from Kaiseido.

Derek [00:17:25]:
I had to rewatch that a couple times to understand what the hell the positioning was.

Ryan [00:17:30]:
Yeah. Hard to understand what is happening when Kiseto makes this pass, but he makes a pass to no one. For me, the obvious thing the case should have done here was just played it all the way back to Petrovic, but he did not do that. He. He, like, lays it off to. I don't. I forget who. Is there an assist? It might have just.

Ryan [00:17:58]:
It looks like it was just a garnacho. Like, he may have just intercepted it. There's no assist credited. So Garnacho might have jumped on this and just ran it up the pitch and takes. Takes his chance and scores. Yeah. So now two one Chelsea. And then Bruno Fernandez scores off.

Ryan [00:18:22]:
Just a classic. Like the goal I've seen not a hundred times, let's say ten times this season scored against us. The far post cross. Nobody covers the. The. The far post, but in this instance, it was like, so, like, you would think that Kukureya would be there. Ku Korea is all the way on the other side of the pitch by where the ball is played from Dallo, and Gusto is nowhere to be found. Like, it looks to me.

Ryan [00:19:08]:
I've watched this back so many times, it looks to me like Ku Korea came all the way over to the other touchline to cover for gusto and then just. Nobody picks up. It was two free runners. It was. It was Fernandez and somebody else. Anyway, basically an open net header. And it could have been. It was probably Fernandez and, like, hoyloon over there could have been either of them to score this.

Ryan [00:19:40]:
It was just a free header into an open net. So now we're level and we go into halftime, and we know what happens at halftime with Pochettino, and we're going to talk about that, but I think he goes back there and, like, fucking inhales some whippets and I don't know, like, I don't know what happened? I've no idea. There are no tactics. I don't know. He probably has that fucking believe sign from Ted. Lasso up like the only.

Derek [00:20:19]:
Just hoops down like a couple cheeseburgers.

Ryan [00:20:22]:
Yeah. Yeah. Who the fuck. There's never a plan. Never a plan. Cut. I've. This is.

Ryan [00:20:31]:
I don't think this is hyperbole, actually. I'm gonna say I know this is not hyperbole. I know this is accurate because Chelsea. So let's talk about this now. I saw statistics and if you compare the, if you place teams on the table based on how they performed in the first half of fixtures versus the second half of fixtures this season, Chelsea for first, the first half, I think they land like fifth or 6th for the second half. They're 19th. They're 19th.

Derek [00:21:06]:
It's not great.

Ryan [00:21:08]:
So nothing tactically is happening. Like only bad things are happening at halftime. And so we come out from the half and Antony makes the only good play he's made of the season in the 67th minute, which was frankly a wonderful cross off the outside of his foot. Hooks it around the defense, if there even was defense, which is another thing to talk about in this match.

Derek [00:21:44]:
Gusto got cooked on this again, I think, if I remember.

Ryan [00:21:50]:
Okay, gusto, bad game. The sassy fucking nightmare of a game. Baddie. Ishiel, bad exclamation point. Ku Korea had an okay game.

Derek [00:22:08]:
He's trying his best out there.

Ryan [00:22:10]:
Yeah. And Petrovic has just plummeted back to earth. But anyway, Garnaccio scores his second goal of the game in the 67th minute off. An absolute peach of a outside of the foot cross by Antony. Wonderful goal, honestly. And that was Antony's first goal involvement in the league on the season against Chelsea.

Derek [00:22:38]:
Leave it to us.

Ryan [00:22:39]:
Yep, yep. So then, then the changes come. Mikhaila Mudrick is yanked. Definitely not the problem in this one. I didn't think. Raheem Sterling comes on. Moises Kaiseido is yanked for Chuquameka. So definitely an offensive change.

Ryan [00:22:58]:
Kaiseido had a. The worst game I think I've seen him have since his debut game where he, where he made a similar error that led to a goal. And then Poch decides he's seen enough of this defense. He yanks Gusto and Desasi for Gilcrest and Chalaba McTominay comes on. And then the snake himself, the Judas piece of shit Mason Mount is brought on for Garnacho. I think my favorite comment that I read about this, about Mason Mount, is that when Enzo was yelling at him. He couldn't understand it because he only speaks parseltongue, which I thought was pretty funny. You look confused.

Ryan [00:23:59]:
That's. I think that's the, like, snake language from Harry Potter. I'm a little, like. I'm a little, like, old for Harry Potter.

Derek [00:24:08]:
Yeah. You know, guy Nacho as. I'm gonna start calling him, because I.

Ryan [00:24:13]:
Don'T like guy Nacho.

Derek [00:24:15]:
Yeah, that's what I'm gonna start calling.

Ryan [00:24:17]:
You don't like Garnacho either. Are there. Are there any.

Derek [00:24:22]:
I don't have appropriate. I don't have a joke to make about the way guy Nacho looks that won't offend at least some of our listeners? He's a weird looking dude, but, no, I do think Guy Nacho is a. Is a. An excellent player.

Ryan [00:24:40]:
He's really good. He's a baller.

Derek [00:24:42]:
He's misplaced on this. This bag of garbage team. Um, I disagree with certain people who go unnamed, who think there's good players on this United team. I think it's a pile of trash and their coaches trash, but whatever.

Ryan [00:24:58]:
You don't think there are good players on United?

Derek [00:25:00]:
I mean, there's a couple big nachos. Definitely a, you know, a great player, great young player. Right? And he looked pissed coming off and, like, confused. And frankly, I was confused.

Ryan [00:25:15]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:25:16]:
Because Mount is terrible now, and Ganacho, at least, you know, was just. Was just whipping people up and down the left, right. And so, like, even seeing out the game, he seemed like a better option than putting Mount out there.

Ryan [00:25:31]:
Well, so that's the. That's the significance of this, I think so. This is the 86th minute. All of your points are valid. And that's why I thought this was so. I don't know if you caught it, but Pach and ten hag were, like, going at it on the sideline. This was at Stamford Bridge. There was a lot in the media about whether Mount wanted to leave or was forced out or what happened.

Ryan [00:26:01]:
And then at his press conference, Ten Hog said that. That mount wanted to leave, that he was done with Chelsea. He chose to go to United, that he was not forced out, that Chelsea had, like, ten Hogg did Mount no favors here, was, like, Chelsea put many offers in front of him. I forget exactly what he said. But, like, most of this is, like. This is directional. Yeah. He wanted to be a United player, and so, to me, this was the, like, middle finger to the bridge.

Ryan [00:26:37]:
It's the 86th minute. Let's card out the former golden boy as an f you to these fans, like, because it, like nothing else makes sense. Right? And so then Pochettino was like, you know what? 89th minute, I'm bringing Noni Madwecky on. Yeah, let's change the game.

Derek [00:27:03]:
Yeah, maybe I will try and win this one.

Ryan [00:27:06]:
Yeah, let's change the game in the 89th minute. And we were joking about this earlier today. Noni Madweke said, you want me to go up against Dallo and Maguire? All right.

Derek [00:27:19]:
Yeah, I'll play a 15 minutes shift.

Ryan [00:27:22]:
Yeah, I could get that done in a minute. And. Yeah. So Nonimadwith just, this is where this game, this is just, it's so unhinged and it's. It's why soccer can be so fun to watch. But 90 plus nine, I think there were. I think there were nine minutes of stoppage time. I think when they held the sign up, it was nine minutes at 90 plus nine.

Ryan [00:27:52]:
Or Cole Palmer scores a penalty, his second on the day off of a foul, a penalty that Noni Madweke draws off Dallo. So what are your thoughts on this one? I thought it. I thought it was soft. And I've had trouble finding a ton of actual contact on this foul in the replays I've seen.

Derek [00:28:18]:
Yeah, I mean, a couple things. A, I think because mad wake a was beating him because he is faster and he made a good touch. I think it was a very reasonable foul. The call, at the same time. Yeah, it wasn't the most. The clearest. Right. But, like, I get it.

Derek [00:28:40]:
Like, he, he went to turn the corner on him and I. I think, you know, whether there was enough force or not, whatever, like, Dallo had to do what he had to do to stop them. And the reason for that is because there's not another person within ten yards of trying to help Dallo, even though they're. They're protecting a one goal lead. Like, the team defense for them is almost. It might be worse than Chelsea's, to your point, like, the statistics that the points in the table might not bear it out, but, like, to me, like, just such bad defense. Whether it was not just McGuire, but everybody, nobody helps Dallow. And so, like, yeah, they deserve to give away pk there because that's terrible defense.

Derek [00:29:23]:
You can't leave him one on one with mad Wake, either. You see what nobody's trying to do there. It's just bad defense. So that was my perspective on the foul, but I could see it going either way. Right?

Ryan [00:29:34]:
Yeah. And, and so the thing is, is like, the, the ref on the field called a pen. And you can disagree with that decision, but when that goes to VAR, it's, it's, it's like it's not going to be overturned in that circumstance, I guess. So then, like. Like insanity unfold. Unfolds like it's a six on three breakaway.

Derek [00:30:06]:
That we do.

Ryan [00:30:07]:
Yeah. Some right, somehow. So now it's three. Three somehow. Yeah. Chelsea gets numbers forward in the dying minute of this game. And who was it? Somebody, I think it was Chukwamaka got a shot off. First of all, I think that on the breakaway there was.

Ryan [00:30:32]:
If somebody had picked their head up and picked out Cole Palmer. Cole, what was the plan for United? Like, we were talking about this earlier when we were hanging out like ten hag. Took a look at Chelsea. It was like, who's their best player? I'm just going to leave him unmarked. Basically. Cole Palmer is unmarked in the box.

Derek [00:30:54]:
The game winning goal.

Ryan [00:30:56]:
No, no, I'm talking about the, like. Like, what led to the corner? That breakaway. If somebody on the left side of the pitch, I think it was like Chukwamaka and Nico Jackson. If somebody picked their head up and seen Cole Palmer, he was open.

Derek [00:31:12]:
That was a poorly executed breakaway.

Ryan [00:31:14]:
Yes.

Derek [00:31:15]:
There could have been three goals played.

Ryan [00:31:17]:
Yes. Yeah.

Derek [00:31:18]:
There's one after the 99th minute.

Ryan [00:31:20]:
Yep. And so then it goes out for a corner and there's this, like, there's a photo of this all over social media, but, like, there's, like, what I called out maybe. I don't know. I haven't. What did you call out?

Derek [00:31:35]:
I didn't put it. I don't know if I put it. The notes I was this texting about.

Ryan [00:31:39]:
Yeah. It's like half of the United defense in the box on this corner is pointing at Cole Palmer.

Derek [00:31:49]:
Yeah.

Ryan [00:31:50]:
Unmarked. And they, they lay it back to him.

Derek [00:31:54]:
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford, by the way, is marching away from Cole Palmer to zoom, presumably in the zone of the pitch. He might be picking up the mark. Somebody with the ball to mark double mark somebody or because he's taller and, like, just literally just. He takes a stroll and doesn't even know a goal scored, I don't think. Because he's just walking around in the pitch. Yeah. And you're in Cole Palmer just completely.

Ryan [00:32:23]:
Unmarked, like, acres of space and takes a shot into traffic and. And bags a hat trick for his second ten out of ten performance on, on who scored in a row. Cold Palmer just carrying this team. Like, where would this team be?

Derek [00:32:50]:
I thought he looked. I like, I thought he looked like. So tired. And he was still going at him throughout, like, that entire run of stoppage time where, like, they really couldn't get anything going into mad way gay drew that. That penalty, but, like, he understands. Like, he understood, like, in that. That point in the game, like, it was on him to, like, figure something out.

Ryan [00:33:13]:
Yeah. Anyway, crazy game. One of the craziest games I've ever seen. Enzo goes at Mason Mount at the final whistle. Love it, apparently. Calls him. Well, like, calls them a lot of unsavory things, but among them, he calls them a coward. They're, like argentinian translators who have tried to figure out what was said here.

Derek [00:33:42]:
Yeah. We have a high level of decorum on this podcast, so we can't repeat.

Ryan [00:33:45]:
All right. Yeah, yeah. The shithousing in this game, I really liked. And that's. And that's the thing.

Derek [00:33:56]:
What was he doing? I forget what it's called, but the ball. Well, doing ball rolls around when he sees Anthony coming at him.

Ryan [00:34:02]:
Yeah. So there was a moment in the match where Niko's on the ball, he's on the left side of the pitch, and he sees Anthony coming over to him and he does, like, a spin with the ball. Like, you see Nico Jackson pick up his head. He sees Antoni's coming over to mark him. He does a spin and then makes the pass that he was always going to make. Like it was just completely meaningless shithousing. I loved it. Loved Enzo going after Mount.

Ryan [00:34:30]:
Love the crowd booing mount. I hope Mount never plays for England again. I hope his career is shit and everything goes to shit for him and he never is happy again in his life.

Derek [00:34:47]:
And that's probably the gist of what Edzo told.

Ryan [00:34:51]:
Yeah, yeah, I just fuck that guy. And so that was. I mean. Well, let's. Let's roll into the. The game. The match we just watched Sheffield and Chelsea. So Pach has this new swagger about him.

Ryan [00:35:09]:
He comes out to the press conferences this week and he's like, if we win all of our games, then we'll be in Europe and this team's coming together, which I don't necessarily disagree with him about. But for me, an unfortunate consequence of that united outcome is that I think if we had lost that match after being up to two nil, where is it called? Soccer. Go, USA. Yeah. Two nothing.

Derek [00:35:41]:
He might have coached up the team on how to play defense at some point.

Ryan [00:35:44]:
No, I think he would have been let go and.

Derek [00:35:47]:
Yeah.

Ryan [00:35:48]:
And I think that is the way forward. I think Potch is washed to me the most damning. And I have, like you said earlier, I've tried to be as optimistic about all of this as possible, and I think that he's had unreasonably.

Derek [00:36:03]:
So, in my opinion.

Ryan [00:36:05]:
Yeah, he's had. It's been rough, the injuries, but I also think he's part of the problem. Like, we talked about his handling of Romeo Lavia playing. Apparently playing him against the medical team's wishes. Lavia, this is lobby.

Derek [00:36:24]:
Okay.

Ryan [00:36:25]:
Yeah, I have no idea what happened to. He doesn't exist anymore. As far as, like, he could have died. I have no idea. Like, there's no info on Leslie Yukachuku. Yeah. So, yeah. And then we get to today.

Ryan [00:36:44]:
So we're playing a completely impotent Sheffield United, one of the worst premier league teams I've ever seen, make it, like, be promoted.

Derek [00:36:56]:
One of the worst in the last decade.

Ryan [00:36:58]:
Yeah. I mean, dreadful Sheffield United. And a thought I had was, okay. I'm angry that Pochettino has bought himself some more time. But games like that are important for young teams because you start to learn to never give up. Like, you. Like, it's a. It's a win when you're against.

Ryan [00:37:22]:
You're up against the ropes and those sorts of. Yeah.

Derek [00:37:26]:
And how you finish out games in general.

Ryan [00:37:28]:
Yeah, yeah. And that, like, builds character and gels the squad and adds maturity to the squad. Right. Because, like, a thing that is lacking for sure in Chelsea because of how young they are, is they give up. Like, you can tell that they lack belief when things go wrong. And you don't see that with these top teams. You certainly don't see that with Arsenal City or Liverpool. And so I was like, well, that could be a galvanizing event for this team.

Ryan [00:38:05]:
And then we get to today, I don't know. If you're looking at the statistics, how many shots do you think Chelsea took against Sheffield?

Derek [00:38:17]:
I think we only had, like, it was twelve in the game or something.

Ryan [00:38:22]:
It was six.

Derek [00:38:24]:
Oh, geez.

Ryan [00:38:25]:
We took six shots against Chef. Six fucking shot.

Derek [00:38:33]:
Second worst in terms of shots allowed in the prime, right?

Ryan [00:38:36]:
I think that's right. I think the worst is united, by the way, that United game, it was like that. We were just talking about it. I forget what the shot count was. I'm pulling it up now. It was like, yeah, Chelsea took 28 shots. I think Man United this year, like, this calendar year, not this. This PL season, I think they've allowed, like, 20 plus shots a game or something.

Ryan [00:39:05]:
Anyway, so this game, real quick. Tiago Silva converts on a Conor Gallagher corner. Kick really well worked. Thiago Silva. We like thawed his corpse out and put him on the pitch because of how bad, how shockingly bad baddy is. Sheila and Desasi were. Desasi had to play on the right because Gusto has been redlining and there's, there's nobody like Reese James is still returning from injury. And then on the left we had Kukureya who had a pretty, pretty bad game, if we're being honest here.

Ryan [00:39:46]:
I think got cooked for the opening goal. What is it? Bogle. Jaden Bogle. Is that how you say his name?

Derek [00:39:55]:
Yeah.

Ryan [00:39:57]:
And yeah, Petrovic, who scored, has him at a six seven. He absolutely should have done better on the opening goal for them. But anyway, 11th minute Tiago Silva scores. Jaden Mogul. Improbable shot angle somehow finds a way in off Petrovic. And then in the 66th minute, Nonimadweke scores an absolute banger, which is like all this dude does. Noni Madweke, who I think we're going to have to sell this summer. Nobody's talking about that.

Ryan [00:40:40]:
But just logically, I don't know what we do with him if cuz Palmer is gonna have to play out there because we're gonna want in cuckoo on. And I don't think people talk about in cuckoo like he's a nine. He just doesn't have the build to be a nine in the Premier League for me. And rumors are that Chelsea's going in for a true nine this offseason who Jackson would play deputy to. So like at the ten you've got in Cuckoo and Chuquameca, Palmer's gonna have to go out on the right. And then we have Angelo Gabriel also out there. So like in this, this. I think I might have mentioned this, but like, Madweke and Palmer are the same age playing for the same country, in the same position.

Ryan [00:41:36]:
And we bought both these guys and both of them need to develop, right? Like if their ages were staggered, then you could like sort of have a plan to like phase one in, you know? But like. No, there's no plan. We just. Yeah, so anyway, Madweke, I think will have to be sold. My brother said that he'd be good on like for Newcastle. I don't know. Well, yeah, we'll make a profit on him. But it like, he's, he's phenomenal.

Ryan [00:42:04]:
Madwick is really, really good and he worked his ass off this game. He was all over the pitch covering for Desasi.

Derek [00:42:14]:
No joke.

Ryan [00:42:15]:
Yeah. Anyway, so Noni scores a wonderful goal. And then in the dying minutes, 90 plus two. McBurney off of flicked header by Archer. Baddie Scheel, who it would literally just subbed on. I think the two subs we made were involved in this. Cassaday did not get the ball away when it was worked in, like, uh, to the. The tilde into the box.

Ryan [00:42:50]:
Like, it was worked into the right side of the box or. Or, like, Petrovic's left. And Cassaday was marking. Whoever it was didn't effectively clear it. Which led to the flick tetter by Archer and Baddie. Ashiel is just rooted in place. And McBurney scores the tying goal. And we dropped two points to just the worst pl team I've seen in a long time.

Ryan [00:43:19]:
Again, after leading twice in this one.

Derek [00:43:22]:
Yeah, absolutely pathetic attempt by baddie Schulz there. I don't. I don't get the Cassidy substitution. We're trying to see out the game.

Ryan [00:43:31]:
I don't know why. We recall, we recalled Cassidy from Lester. He was playing at Leicester. He was. He was actually playing for a team that was gonna be promoted, doing well in the championship. We recalled him. Have barely used him. And then we just throw him on in this game.

Derek [00:43:54]:
Yeah, I mean, I get we were short, so that maybe that explains we're calling him, but, yeah, this is not. I don't get the. Again, it's. It's more befuddling shit with. With podge where, like, there doesn't seem like there's any plan other than him just throwing shit at the wall. But, I mean, it's bad tea. It's also bad. Again, it's bad team defense.

Derek [00:44:17]:
That ball shouldn't have been. Shouldn't have been worked around there.

Ryan [00:44:22]:
Yep.

Derek [00:44:23]:
Could have gotten cleared out. Bad marking, too, to allow the flick, you know?

Ryan [00:44:30]:
And this.

Derek [00:44:31]:
I don't even fault the CDs on that particular plate. Well, Betty's show fucked up, but, yeah, the flick was really nice. Like, two of the three guys are offside, by the way. But, yeah, you know, the guy it went to, like, it's a great timing on the flick, great timing on the run, and that's what happens.

Ryan [00:44:48]:
So we talked about, when we were hanging out, we talked about how undersized Chelsea is. I think it's like the. Like, in terms of height, it's like the third shortest team in the PL and stuff like that. Like, they just couldn't clear it out at one point, like, the ball was falling to I don't know who it was on Sheffield. Like, as it was bouncing around, it was. It was coming down and like the person who had like the, the Chelsea player who was closest to being able to attempt to clear that was Mikhailo Mudrick.

Derek [00:45:31]:
Yeah. And like he also looked lost on that play.

Ryan [00:45:34]:
Yep. Yeah, yeah. And so I don't know, it's like one step forward, two steps back and I don't know how to feel. I don't feel anything anymore. I want Pochettino gone. We hired spurs manager and we became the spurs. And I think this guy is a fraud. I like he is tactically, like just he's useless.

Derek [00:46:08]:
I, with the lead in implementing team defense, he's shown nothing. Yeah, I would agree there. I I guess I come. It's tricky for me because you can only change coaches so many times than in, you know, the problems elsewhere. It's the same thing with United, frankly, but. So. But you mean I don't the case. The case is very logical for him not to be around anymore.

Ryan [00:46:36]:
Yeah. I mean there's what, nine matches left after this or something like that? Eight matches, I think. I think eight. Yeah.

Derek [00:46:48]:
Well, again, like he they conceivably as bad as it is, they could end up playing european football next season.

Ryan [00:46:56]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:46:56]:
So we'll see.

Ryan [00:46:57]:
Still could. Yeah. But I hope that the board. Well, so that's the. I don't know who comes in to manage this team is the other thing. Like so I can walk potch out all I want but I don't know who are. I don't know what our options would be. Especially because Javi Alonso committed to RV.

Derek [00:47:22]:
Back on the market.

Ryan [00:47:24]:
Yeah, I put a tugel is destroyed. Tuchel has sold Byron for another part.

Derek [00:47:32]:
To throw in a furnace and just.

Ryan [00:47:34]:
It burned the dad, dude, I don't what, I don't know what has happened with that guy. So anyway, I guess that. Did you have any other thoughts about Chelsea? I don't know where we go from here. I don't care. It's this has got to get a lot better next season or this club is in real trouble, man. Wow.

Derek [00:47:56]:
I don't want to talk about this anymore.

Ryan [00:47:58]:
Yeah. All right. So rolling through. There were a lot of games. We're gonna cover some big ones. City four, villa one. I didn't actually mark this, Derek, but while we were talking, it occurred to me Phil Foden scored a crazy hat trick in this. In this one.

Ryan [00:48:16]:
I don't know if you caught this game.

Derek [00:48:19]:
I don't know if I bothered watching. Uh, I forget.

Ryan [00:48:24]:
Yeah. Um, it was fun, uh, I think. Yeah, that's, that's right. Yeah. The first half ended. One, one. Um, so it was like, it felt pretty close in the first half. And was this that? No, no, no.

Ryan [00:48:40]:
It was the match on the weekend that guardiol was yanked. Um, yeah. Anyway, coming out in the second half, Phil Foden was like, I fucking got. Got you guys. And just. It was. It was a lot of fun to watch. He just.

Ryan [00:49:00]:
Yeah, I mean, he came out and did the TJ Khalid. He. Yeah, all of these goals, they're, they're very different and they were. It was just a lot of fun to see.

Derek [00:49:15]:
The one in particular, the one I do remember well, one of the ones that stood out was his, his one timer from the top of the 18. On the ground of the fighting, it went off the far post.

Ryan [00:49:25]:
Yep.

Derek [00:49:27]:
Yeah, that's. That's some Kevin De Bruyne shit. There's only, there's only a few people doing that kind of stuff. And you put that against everything else he does for that team. It's. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Yeah, I think. Yeah, I added the notes.

Derek [00:49:43]:
I don't know if he talked about it. Wouldn't. But for me, he's the x factor that, I think, in my mind, gives them the advantage in the prem. The prem race the rest of the way.

Ryan [00:49:55]:
Yeah. I'm still backing Arsenal. I'm not backing.

Derek [00:50:01]:
Because of how much you like.

Ryan [00:50:06]:
I don't. I don't know. It's my. Remember I said that I think that us getting rid of Kai Havertz would haunt us and then it looked like it absolutely was not going to haunt us and now it definitely might be haunting us. Like, we're going to play them again here soon. I forget what. Like, that is a fixture of our final.

Derek [00:50:27]:
He might very well score another goal from a yard out against us. I'm not. Again, like, I'm not going to be impressed. I don't think.

Ryan [00:50:35]:
Yeah, I. What are some of my. I don't know if I have many other thoughts. A thought that I've had about. Good.

Derek [00:50:47]:
I was just gonna say, yeah, I mean, I think this. What stood about this game, and I think I must have watched the highlights after, because it was earlier in the workday, but, you know, the gap between the top three and everybody else is pretty stark at this point. And I think, again, we talked kind of like mid season about the layers. And to me, like, it's crystal clear. Right. There's a top three.

Ryan [00:51:15]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:51:15]:
There's Tottenham and Villa and Man United isn't anywhere near any of those five.

Ryan [00:51:22]:
Yep.

Derek [00:51:23]:
And then there's this mishmash of shit from them down to, obviously, including us.

Ryan [00:51:31]:
I don't even distinguish united as separate from that group. Like, it's just this group of middling teams and it goes all the way.

Derek [00:51:44]:
Spectrum from United.

Ryan [00:51:46]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:51:47]:
Basically down to. Down to Everton, Brentford and Palace. Right. And then there's a relegation battle.

Ryan [00:51:53]:
Yep.

Derek [00:51:55]:
It's really kind of weird.

Ryan [00:51:57]:
Yeah, it is. It's. It's a bizarre pl. Season because. Yeah, those teams, that whole, like, it's got to be like ten teams or something. If I'm maddle, they, like, if any of them play each other, you have no idea who's going to win. Like, just no clue. And apparently, if it's in the last minute of the match, the last minute of extra time, you still don't know who will win.

Ryan [00:52:26]:
A point I wanted to make or something that I've been thinking about is like, if you're Garrett, if you're Southgate, right, you have Foden, who you could argue his natural position is out on the right. He played as the ten in this match against Villa, so. But at your ten for England, the name there is, is Jude Bellingham. And will forever be Jude Bellingham for the next ten years. So then you've got, on the right, you have Bukayu Saka, you have Phil Foden, you have Cole Palmer, and you have Noni Madweke as options. That is crazy depth for that position. And then on the left, what do you have? Rashford.

Derek [00:53:21]:
What? Who?

Ryan [00:53:24]:
I mean, that's who they play up there. That's who always makes the plan.

Derek [00:53:28]:
Comes back to my first retort, which is, if.

Ryan [00:53:31]:
I guess if I'm gonna have to.

Derek [00:53:32]:
Talk about Gareth Southgate's England squad, I'm gonna have to renegotiate my contact. Yeah, well, I mean, but you're. Yeah, I mean, you're right. It is a. There's a plethora of riches. I don't know that, like, mad Wakey is quite at that level, that point yet.

Ryan [00:53:51]:
No, he's not. But he's gonna have to get there, right? So he, like.

Derek [00:53:55]:
Well, maybe. I think Palmer will get there. I'm confident that I don't. Madwicke, I need to see a little bit more.

Ryan [00:54:00]:
Madwicke is one, like he said, he plays for the England. Twenty one s and he's won, like, I guess, the last out of the last three international breaks. I think he won player of the break or the tournament or whatever. Yeah, twice. So, I mean, he's cooking for the. Some point he won't be able to play for the mean. I think they can play a couple senior players. I forget how that works for international, but yeah, I mean, at some point he's got to move up or he's just not going to play internationally.

Ryan [00:54:32]:
I don't know. It was just the thought I had there. There's the like England has. They have and I think it's just benefiting from the, the, the PL, like how important the PL has come become rather. And that is like had a ripple effect into the amount of money in England's soccer programs and academies and all of that.

Derek [00:55:00]:
Yeah, I guess what I would say is I think that those school, there's been, there's been a lot of talent in those squads over the, the last couple top decades and throughout history and ultimately alive. It comes down to like how they're able to mesh and how those teams are coached. And so I think they've entered into another very good cycle talent standpoint. But luckily for the rest of the world and because I don't particularly enjoy rooting for England, I enjoy rooting for.

Ryan [00:55:35]:
They're always my backup after the United.

Derek [00:55:38]:
States get that, I guess I. Southgate is just so bad and I'm not going to root for a team coach by Southgate. And it, and I think it's hilarious if they continue to stumble just because they have a terrible coach. But yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah. Part of its preference. I don't know.

Ryan [00:55:57]:
So you put a bunch of you kind of like through a collection of like Fulham and Newcastle sort of like not being very prolific lately. Newcastle's got, they're in a bad way with injuries. I think it keeps getting worse for them. One thing about Gordon is this is something, this is not an original thought. It's something I saw online. He has gotten very good. He has this move. He's basically turned VAR against itself or he has learned to game VAR.

Ryan [00:56:31]:
The comparison that I heard was they were comparing what Gordon, Anthony Gordon is doing to what Harden was doing in the NBA, where he got very, very good at drawing fouls to the point that like he like basically played his way to being in the MV MVP conversation in the NBA by being very good at drawing fouls. And there, I think in this Everton match and then it was against West Ham also. He drew penalties by like he jumped in front of Phillips.

Derek [00:57:15]:
Yeah, that was weird play.

Ryan [00:57:18]:
Yeah, but he was never playing the ball. Like, if you watch these replays in both of these, these games, the Everton game and the West Ham game, he's not playing the ball. He's playing to get in the way to be kicked.

Derek [00:57:31]:
Yeah.

Ryan [00:57:32]:
And when you slow it down, I mean, this is, this. I'm like giving Luke credibility with his anti VAR stuff. But like, if you slow it down, like, they're going to have to litigate this somehow. Like, say, like, you have to be making an actual play on the ball for it to be a penalty. I don't know.

Derek [00:57:51]:
Yeah. I don't think it's the heart, but to your point, I don't think it's the hardest thing to fix. Like, and I actually didn't. Maybe I'm ignorant to how the rules are written or interpreted, but what, you know, interpreted. It's weird that. It was weird that they gave those, that penalty. The one I'm thinking of, that penalty away because you're right. Like, he had no chance play and the players ball foot's already coming back.

Derek [00:58:14]:
Like, you're basically just present your base to me. Like that's fouling the player who's trying to play the ball.

Ryan [00:58:20]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:58:21]:
You're doing is obstructing them.

Ryan [00:58:22]:
Phillips is just trying to clear it.

Derek [00:58:24]:
And that's mid swing. Yeah. I don't know how that's a foul when you're not playing. Like, it's no different from any other move that obstructs somebody. Right.

Ryan [00:58:33]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:58:34]:
But again, I guess maybe I'm not into the nuance of how it's written or, or what the interpretation is, but it's kind of, it's kind of fucking stupid. Needs to get fixed to your point.

Ryan [00:58:45]:
Yeah. Also of note, what are we at, 55 minutes? So we got to start sort of wrapping this up. Brentford and Villa, three three. Sort of fun to watch. Emblem. Oh, I think is how you say his name. He had a great game, Whissa. Another great game.

Ryan [00:59:07]:
Whissa, I think, is like quietly had an outstanding season. He certainly had a great game against Chelsea a couple weeks ago. Yeah, Watkins, he scored a couple goals. I think it had been a while since he was. He was really. He really had a good game. So this, this was good for him. But poor defense by Villa.

Ryan [00:59:31]:
They were at one point up two to nothing.

Derek [00:59:36]:
That's the story this week. Right. That's seven goals this week.

Ryan [00:59:40]:
I think so, yeah. Yeah.

Derek [00:59:42]:
Really, really in Brentford.

Ryan [00:59:44]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:59:45]:
They helped out Tottenham for sure.

Ryan [00:59:48]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:59:48]:
And they probably deserve to lose this game, I thought.

Ryan [00:59:51]:
Yep. Was. Were they? Yeah, they were at the empty hod for the game against City. Yeah. But, yeah. Everybody talks about how Villa park is difficult to play at but this did not look hard for Brentford. Another again, like, this was sort of a fun game to watch and I think that if Ivan Tony were healthy and could have played the full 90, they, like Villa would have had a, they would have been a handful for, for Villa. I mean, they already were.

Ryan [01:00:23]:
So, yeah, another interesting game had, yeah. Big implications on the top four because, yeah, like we said earlier, Tottenham got it done against Forrest and they have moved up to the fourth position on the table.

Derek [01:00:44]:
Did you catch Tony yelling at his teammates at full time?

Ryan [01:00:48]:
Yes. Yeah.

Derek [01:00:49]:
Do you think he just, he lost a bet that he had placed?

Ryan [01:00:54]:
Dude, I knew that's what you were gonna say. I fucking do that.

Derek [01:00:59]:
I've said from the beginning of this podcast, the jokes aren't going to get better, but I'm hoping they don't get worse.

Ryan [01:01:05]:
Just more of the same. The, yeah, we promised quantity.

Derek [01:01:10]:
Yes.

Ryan [01:01:12]:
Yeah. And then, yeah, Arsenal, they did what they had to do against Brighton. I mean, Brighton is not the easiest team to play against. They got a clean sheet. Everybody's talking about how in the, in the dying minutes of this game, who was it? It might have been Saliba or. Yeah, it must have been Saliba. I'm looking at the subs. Anyway, Brighton had an opportunity to score.

Ryan [01:01:41]:
They had like a real chance there at the end and I think it was Saliba, I don't know, doesn't matter. Whoever it was, the defender for Arsenal, they celebrated. They were up three nil and blocked a shot to preserve the clean sheet and they celebrated like they had won the Champions League trophy, basically. Like, and that is like that mentality, you know, that just is completely lacking from Chelsea and that mentality I think is what's going to carry them to the PL win. Like this team is playing for each other. Yeah, they're playing a, they understand the system. Kai Havertz looks like a world beater.

Derek [01:02:35]:
I don't know any more hot takes or that you're gonna just leave us with that.

Ryan [01:02:40]:
You look confused about Kai. My statement with Kai, when was the last time he didn't score in a match and I think he got an assist in this one.

Derek [01:02:51]:
Was that good? But yes, I don't know, I'm trying to, I'm trying to remember back to a goal I was impressed with, but.

Ryan [01:02:57]:
That'S his assist to Trossard was, was great.

Derek [01:03:03]:
Yeah, it was good. I remember being that fantastic. But yeah, I mean, like his, his, yeah, I mean he's, he's playing well in that position. I, again, I still think a lot of it has to do with the team, the team around him. Right, right. And. But to your point, right, this is a team that prides itself on stopping shots, blocking shots, playing team defense. And again, I highlight Jesus and Saka.

Derek [01:03:29]:
Their efforts on defense is much more like mad wake than it is like a Mudrick or a Rashford. Right. And I think that makes a big difference on the whole team. Um. And over the course of a season too. Right. Um. It's tough.

Derek [01:03:47]:
I don't think it's tough to contrast it with City in Liverpool because I think these teams have different kind of dynamics and, you know, kind of x factors in their play. But, yeah, I mean, this team has. Has been on a mission defensively all season.

Ryan [01:04:06]:
Yeah, I'm struggling while you're talking to find a breakout of. Oh, wait. Yeah, so.

Derek [01:04:19]:
But, yeah, and you know, Brighton, Brighton, the injury is a real problem. Right. Matoma's out. We thought Fati was gonna be good or useful. He hasn't done shit. Lampy got absolutely hooked by Jesus and anyone else that was in his vicinity in this game. So, yeah, I mean, they're. They're short staffed.

Ryan [01:04:47]:
Kai Havertz has nine goal involvements in their last nine games.

Derek [01:04:53]:
Okay.

Ryan [01:04:53]:
Yeah, yeah. Across the five goals and four assists. Yeah. Like, I mean, he's in some form, man. Um, yeah. So I don't know. Um. Yeah, Arsenal, they're still my pick.

Ryan [01:05:12]:
I don't want that to happen. I'm a Chelsea fan. I desperately do not want Arsenal to win, but I think they're going to, um. I don't like any of the options. I. I don't know. I. I don't know what my ideal outcome is.

Ryan [01:05:26]:
But Liverpool made things very interesting today by dropping points to Man United. So they. They drew two two against United. United once again looked like they had this game in the bag and in the. Was it who. Who committed? Oh, is Wanbasaka fouled your favorite Harvey Elliott in the box and then Mohamed Salah, he. He scored the penalty to tie the game and. Yeah, I don't know, it's interesting now.

Ryan [01:06:09]:
So Arsenal and Liverpool have both played 31 matches and they are level on points with 71 points. Arsenal takes the lead with. On goal difference. They're on 51 for their goal difference to 42 for Liverpool. And Man City right behind them on 70 points. Again, 31 matches played and a goal difference of 40. Yeah, so it's. I mean, it.

Ryan [01:06:41]:
It is. This isn't a very interesting title race. I think that the dysfunction of Chelsea and Man United are big stories. What is going to happen with managers at the end of the season is a big story. And then the title race. I think those are the three biggest stories and I think that is, that should about do it for your Premier League update this week. City played. Who did they play yesterday? I watched it.

Ryan [01:07:19]:
Who was it? Anyway? They got it done again.

Derek [01:07:22]:
I literally have no recollection of that game.

Ryan [01:07:25]:
Yeah, I think it was the early. Oh, they played Crystal palace. That's right. That's why they played Crystal palace. Yeah. And I thought. I thought that the. An interesting thing about this, I think Vardial has had a hard time adjusting.

Ryan [01:07:45]:
Like, I don't know, maybe it's like a selection bias of some sort with mine, but I feel like I've watched him get yanked very early by pep several times this season. It's kind of interesting.

Derek [01:08:01]:
Yeah, I think that's one of the few positions where they have any fluidity and optionality and that leads to part of it. And then also, it's like the way they set up with that three. It's very. It's a very. It's admittedly very difficult to play in.

Ryan [01:08:16]:
Yeah.

Derek [01:08:17]:
And like, there's a lot expected in your alma and then there's a lot expected from a total kind of package of play. Getting forward passing and then all the defense that comes with playing in a back three.

Ryan [01:08:31]:
Yeah.

Derek [01:08:32]:
Yeah. I mean, he's had his moments, his ups and downs. I think that's fair.

Ryan [01:08:38]:
Yeah. Anyway, yeah, it was just interesting to see after he took. He took a yellow card and then pep, like, immediately put a kanji out, warming up before the half had even ended, which, like, is just such a. Maybe it's not even passive aggressive thing to do. It was just like, you're fucking up and I'm gonna. I'm gonna flaunt the fact that I am unhappy with your performance for everyone to see.

Derek [01:09:12]:
I mean, he did take that yellow in the 46th minute, which wouldn't have done him any favors.

Ryan [01:09:18]:
Yeah.

Derek [01:09:19]:
Or the 45 plus one, I should say. Right.

Ryan [01:09:22]:
And then he yanks.

Derek [01:09:22]:
So I wonder if some of that had to do with that.

Ryan [01:09:25]:
Yeah, I think it absolutely did, but, yeah, I think it was right after that card, Pep had Akanji running like loose, like, like warming up on the sidelines. Anyway, Ward prowses corner versus wolves. That's worth seeing if you didn't see that. He. He scored straight from a corner. Beautiful goal. Crazy audacious thing to even attempt to do. Yeah, I would definitely check that out.

Ryan [01:09:56]:
Anyway, that's all my Pl. Thoughts. You want to talk through your Yanks notes?

Derek [01:10:01]:
Yeah. I don't know if we want to save some of this for next week with Luke or not or how much we might go through but I think you and I both were thinking about Pulisic. He was back in the lineup this week. Interestingly enough, he was playing more of a cam position, got out there, scored immediately back to cooking. Yeah. I think again he is having an amazing season.

Ryan [01:10:27]:
Season to really revived his career.

Derek [01:10:30]:
Revived his career. Probably the. It's crazy to think about it. So it might be the most important still the most important player on that team. Even with Liao out there. Versatility and where he can move around. You know, I think this again will be interesting. I think we don't play the system where we need a cam as much or we, you know, I guess we have geo that is more natural there but right.

Derek [01:10:53]:
Cool to see him moving between the right in the middle there. Especially because, you know, Chukewasi is very good for them on the right. So they keep chugging along. Not the best competition against Leche in this, this game, but Liao and then.

Ryan [01:11:09]:
Scored two in that one. Right. I think one.

Derek [01:11:15]:
And I Shuquasy drew a late penalty and I forget and I think you're right about Leo having one in there.

Ryan [01:11:23]:
Yeah, yeah. We can table this other stuff. Hopefully Luke's back next week.

Derek [01:11:31]:
But you said Pulisic broke his six season scoring record, right?

Ryan [01:11:37]:
Yeah. And you know what's really interesting about all this is like, Chelsea could not keep Pulisic Loftuscheek healthy and they've been available for the vast majority of this season and they've both had great seasons. Milan has been a lot of fun to watch when I have caught them. Yeah. And then we talked about England's right wing abundance of riches. And then another thing I wanted to throw out there, like, not that Jabi Alonso would want the Barcelona job at this point, but Javi, Barcelona's current coach, announced earlier in the season that he's leaving. And apparently now because of how the market has shaped up with available coaching options, Javi might be staying. And it's just the super awkward, super stupid position that Barcelona and Javi have created.

Ryan [01:12:49]:
Like, yeah, but he came out and said that he, he will. I forget like what Barcelona has a name for like, their fans and he basically, like, they call the fans of Barcelona some like name pet name of some sort and uh, uh, hopefully that's not offensive that I called it a pet name. But anyway, there's some, like, I forget it's some spanish name. And, uh, anyway, Javi came out and said, I will always be that, a fan of Barcelona. And because of that and the way the situation has gone, I think it's best if I, you know, like, after this season, I will step aside and better times are ahead. But now, like, I think Barcelona are second on the table and there are no options. Yeah, there's second behind Real Madrid. 75 points for Real, 67 for Barcelona, 65 for Girona, 58 for Atletico Madrid.

Ryan [01:13:55]:
And they are likely gonna try to stay with Javi. Yeah. Really awkward situation. I just wanted to point out, and then we talked about Tukal.

Derek [01:14:07]:
Oh, do you think they should keep them? I haven't given this much thought, to.

Ryan [01:14:11]:
Be honest, but I don't know whether. What other options they have.

Derek [01:14:15]:
They do.

Ryan [01:14:16]:
It's a. That team has been. I mean, Chelsea could be very quickly in the financial hell or like, a similar degree of financial hell that Barcelona are in. I don't think people realize just how bad it is for them. They have no money and it's only getting worse. And the expectations are sky high. And their biggest competition, Real Madrid, has absolutely navigated their club's finances masterfully, like the exact opposite of Barcelona. And, yeah, the mechanisms of financial fair play are such that I, like, it's going to be a while before Barcelona can compete.

Ryan [01:15:11]:
They're going to have to do it through their academy, which, thankfully, la Macia. They academy is like one of the best in the world. It's just produced Lamine Yamal, who is the most promising or among the most promising, like, let's say, sub 18 year olds in the world, and. Yeah, so it's gonna be weird. It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be a very, very tough job. If I were Javi, I would just stick to my guns and I would be like, look what I did with this dysfunctional team. They forced me out the door.

Ryan [01:15:47]:
Door. And I would. I mean, I would go take the Liverpool job or something. Yeah.

Derek [01:15:51]:
I mean, I think he. He's at a point where he could have. He could have and probably should rebuild his career up from a coaching standpoint somewhere else.

Ryan [01:15:59]:
Yeah.

Derek [01:16:00]:
The situation just continues to be over me because the board talks about it like, they're turning the corner there. They've got, like, the best, probably the. Arguably the best U 21 midfield in the world, but they refuse to sell anyone. Like, they're getting 200 million dollar offers for people that they could then either.

Ryan [01:16:19]:
Yep.

Derek [01:16:20]:
I don't know. This is a crazy idea. Become solvent again. Right. Or you know, invest in. In the other positions where they're weak, and they're like. I just don't get what the hell the strategy is. It doesn't seem like they've actually, like, come to terms with.

Derek [01:16:34]:
With reality, which.

Ryan [01:16:35]:
Yeah, they are in complete denial of their. Their position.

Derek [01:16:42]:
They're in point of changing the board over in the first place, though, right?

Ryan [01:16:45]:
Yeah.

Derek [01:16:46]:
We were gonna bring in new people and figure this out, and they figured out exactly nothing.

Ryan [01:16:50]:
Yeah. And they have. They're like, everybody jokes about their levers. They're pulling levers or whatever, but they are. They are levered up to the point that, like, it's not going to get better for decades. Like, they have such a hole to climb out of. Yeah, it's. It's crazy because they have squandered their future to pay for the present, and the present isn't great.

Ryan [01:17:20]:
Like what? Like, the team that they have right now is a good team, but they've spent so much on aging assets, and remember how they got so much money from Neymar? What was the fee? I'm looking. They got €222 million in. Yeah. When was that? Or is this happening with transfer marked? He went to PSG in 2017. They bought him for 88 mil.

Derek [01:18:05]:
Wow.

Ryan [01:18:06]:
That was a big fee for Neymar back then. In 2013, they bought Neymar for 88 mil. I guess that was well worth it because he was cooking with messy and. Yeah. What's his name? Sanchez. That his name?

Derek [01:18:27]:
Suarez.

Ryan [01:18:27]:
Sorry. Yeah. MSN Suarez. Luis Suarez. Yeah. Yeah. They were cooking, but, yeah, eventually sold them for 22. €222,000,000.

Ryan [01:18:41]:
Well, I don't know. We're kind of wandering here. We're right about on time here. Thanks for tuning in. Wherever you're listening to this, if you could like it, leave a rating on a podcast platform, follow us. All of that helps a lot. Numbers have been a little flat lately, so, yeah, anything you guys can do would be super helpful. We have a discord.

Ryan [01:19:13]:
I'm doing my best to be more involved on social media, but that's coming in the form mostly of tweeting, especially at Man United fans. It's, like, all I can do. I haven't had time to edit, like, clips from our podcast for a little while because of my work.

Derek [01:19:33]:
The crops are ripe. You got to cultivate them, Ryan.

Ryan [01:19:35]:
Yeah, yeah.

Derek [01:19:36]:
It out there on Twitter. It's God's work.

Ryan [01:19:41]:
Yeah. What did I say that I asked if United fan had hit their head today or so? Yeah.

Derek [01:19:49]:
They're, like, looking forward to that Liverpool batch up, are you?

Ryan [01:19:53]:
Yeah, you? You okay? Well, wellness check for United land people's health. Yeah. Are like borderline gambling addict friend who is also a Man united fan. You asked him today if he bet on the United game, and he was like, no, I won't. I like you. Not even. He will bet on Man United. Yeah.

Ryan [01:20:18]:
Yeah. So anyway, we will catch you guys next week. Hopefully Luke will be back. And until then, yeah, join our discord, you fucks. We'll see you there.

Derek [01:20:31]:
Thanks for tuning in to the Football Yanks podcast. Be sure to subscribe wherever you heard this podcast so you never miss a future episode. We'll see you next time.